EBay’s Square Trade – Do We Require It?
As an eBay trader, I’ve built a little but enjoyable company on eBay. I pay my listing fees, I pay my final fees, I pay my PayPal fees. Not a problem. Now it appears eBay would like additional. Let’s take it into context: if (as eBay claims) 3 million web pages are paying for the privilege of displaying this ‘Square Trade’ logo – what exactly is eBay creaming from this? The sums are straightforward – 3 million x $9.50 per month = $342,000,000 a year. That is suitable. Study it again. $342,000,000! It really is a staggering amount of cash, most likely more than the GDP of some nations! And for what?
You get to display just a little green logo in your web site. Wow. eBay says this can bring about -
A 43% reduce in long term negative feedback. What’s that? eBay are presumably here presupposing that you will take care of buyers who’re bursting in the seams to provide you negative feedback. Piffle. In any company you may encounter customers who’re, for whatever reason, determined to trash your service. It is just life. It’s up to you, as a trader, to make sure that your customers are happy with their purchase. It’s no good expecting eBay – or everyone else – to bale you out if you are promoting low-priced rubbish. Deal with your customers on a professional basis, respect their desires and rights, and they may respond with constructive feedback. Ignore them, rip them off, treat them only as a revenue stream and also you will fail inside your enterprise, eBay Square Trade logo or no.
eBay also appear to suggest that their Square Trade logo will entice customers that are hunting for a seller they’re able to trust. It is a fair point, but surely eBay really should do some domestic cleaning and rid themselves with the crooked sellers they still seem to harbor? The UK’s BBC hung eBay out to dry having a documentary lately, pointing to the truth that some sellers – who I am sure are in the minority – cheerily flood eBay with counterfeit and fake designer goods. Now, eBay aren’t the culprit right here, and I’d not recommend for a single moment that they condone this behaviour. But it would be intriguing to know just just how much of eBay’s untold millions is spent combating this unwanted incursion – and what they intend to complete to cease it.
Search at the Square Trade sign-up page. Apart from the ‘free to begin with month’ tempter there is a really salient phrase – and right here I consider it can be fair to quote – ‘join eBay’s largest community of trusted sellers’. Does that mean that these of us who do not wish to further line eBay’s pockets by joining the Square Trade programme are untrustworthy? The implication is, I feel, present. eBay has discovered but yet another profitable income stream – the ‘trusted seller’. It’s unfortunate that, provided that eBay was started as a ‘matey’ community venture, it now sees fit to promote such items as the Square Trade deal. If eBay are so committed to fair and honest dealing, combined together with the wish to promote ethical and honest dealers, then why do they seemingly supply this Square Deal to everyone who’s prepared to pay their fees?
I have just been by way of the sign-up process ( I haven’t signed up). A really annoying point is that eBay ask you what sort of member you wish to be – US or non-US. It really is on exactly the same mindset level that, in days thankfully now gone, a single utilised to become asked (in a job application) should you had been ‘Catholic’ or ‘non-Catholic’. Does eBay not realise that by carrying out this, by setting the US on a pedestal because the ‘prime’ registration, that they may be alienating members within the UK, Europe, India, Australia, South America – in truth, the ‘Rest Of the World’ (which, in case eBay has forgotten, is actually a lot larger than the USA!). If all those members chose to abandon eBay in favour of a additional ‘friendly’ auction site, 1 cannot aid wondering how lengthy it would take prior to eBay realised that they are not alone within the on line world and revised their charges accordingly.
In summary, I’d say that eBay are getting above themselves. Yes, they are a huge business. Massive corporations come and go (exactly where are IBM now?). Yes, they’re (were) innovative. So are many others. Yes, they’ve made loads of dollars. I’ve no issue with that. It really is when providers squeeze their cash-cow lemon so difficult the pips squeak that they need to think about several things – such as the truth that there are actually a myriad of other auction web-sites biting at their heels. Do not take the mickey, guys.
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