sellers showed just how upset they were with the company by going out
on strike. That is, by not posting any listings. Guess what? It looks
like it didn’t happen folks. Not in the numbers many anticipated,
anyway. My own survey of top sellers, including members of the
all-powerful Professional eBay Sellers Alliance, found that very few
PowerSellers, at least, are participating in the strike. The numbers
I’ve seen suggest listings are down anywhere from 3 to 16 percent. But
that could be due to seasonal issues, or the fact that eBay’s
competitors are doing everything they can to win over sellers this
week. I’m sure no one at the company feels the drop is a material one.
This is not to say the strike sizzled out completely. The media has
been all over the story (what story there really is, anyway). There
were definitely people who chose not to list this week. But the vast
majority of successful PowerSellers walked right through the strike the
way a tough boxer walks through a jab.
Here are some reasons why:
*Sorry, but these guys are too busy selling. They don’t have time to
strike and frankly they don’t want to give up the income. Some of the
PowerSellers I spoke with were not even certain of the details of the
strike, like when it was!
*Many top sellers think the strike really won’t accomplish anything
anyway. eBay is going to do what it’s going to do, regardless of what a
tiny percentage of its sellers do. Haven’t any of these folks ever
worked for a corporation? It’s all about the stock price guys. That’s
what management is ultimately paying attention to.
*A few sellers actually think the changes eBay recently announced are
GOOD for their businesses, and are not about to strike. One seller I
spoke with noted that this will force some sellers to raise their
Customer Service standards, to ensure their overall ratings are high.
That’s a bad thing? Certainly not if you’re a buyer.
*Some sellers have left, or are leaving eBay’s site anyway, and are
busy moving their wares through other pipelines, such as Amazon’s.
So despite the media circus, the strike has struck out folks. Let’s move on.