eBay Needs Imagination Not New Programs

eCommerce
Written By Rick Watson

Recently I talked about PayPal being stuck in eBay's time warp. Speaking of warp.

Can we talk about eBay product detail pages? I just visited a $200+ retro-Jordan listing, after being inspired by eBay's recent authentication announcement.

The entire page is a masterclass in flea markets. Wow.

The listing page is a comedy of errors:

  • Pictures are tiny/small.

  • eBay Money Back guarantee - Was this ever in doubt? In 2020?

  • "Fast N Free" - first, what's with the spelling? A week to get it to me? No. Not fast.

  • No easy installment payments. Miss.

    Sponsored listings appear on the PDP, above the description of the item. They really want me off this page. - But there is PayPal Credit. Clicks me off the page. Killing conversion.

  • eBay MasterCard! Wonder how much margin is here? Also links me off.

  • goVerify "legit check". What in the bloody hell is a legit check, and why do I need one? Again, links me off. As if it's my job to figure out if your marketplace item is legit. Sorry, that's your job.

  • Adam Trachtenberg added another “favorite classic flea market eBay-isms. Depressingly, in this case, it’s been updated for 2020. From the description: ‘Comes from smoke, pet, and virus free home.’”

  • Matt Chiera added one more item to this list: “The fonts. Terrible font choices - serif right next to sans serif, teeny-tiny font for key info like item location and delivery, tiny link font, various font color schemes (light grey, why?) It's like they couldn't come up with a font style guide so they just used as many variations of Helvetica as possible.” - He’s not wrong. Yikes.

The entire StockX experience for the same item is infinitely better. Trust from the first search box, pricing transparency, enormous pictures, and clean descriptions.

New programs are not what eBay needs. A re-imagination is. And maybe a massive streamlining/clean-up of their interface. Maybe.

Rick Watson

Rick Watson founded RMW Commerce Consulting after spending 20+ years as a technology entrepreneur and operator exclusively in the eCommerce industry with companies like ChannelAdvisor, BarnesandNoble.com, Merchantry, and Pitney Bowes.

Watson’s work today is centered on supporting investors and management teams incubating and growing direct-to-consumer businesses. Most recently, in partnership with WHP Global, Rick was a critical resource in architecting the WHP+ platform, a new turnkey direct to consumer digital e-commerce platform that powers AnneKlein.com and JosephAbboud.com.

Watson also hosts a weekly podcast, Watson Weekly, where he shares an unbiased, unfiltered expert take on the retail sector’s biggest players.

In the past year alone, Rick has spoken at many in-person and virtual events as well as podcasts on topics ranging from retail/ecom to supply chain/logistics and even digital grocery including CommerceNext IRL, ASCM Connect, and Retail Innovation Conference.

https://www.rmwcommerce.com/
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