eBay and VoIP

January 18, 2005

skibare and I shared thought provoking thoughts about Xten. skibare theorized, "seems the PRESENCE factor of being able to click and call could be USED for EBAY to ask a seller a question."

I too have thought of that as well, but then I thought about all the Web "call-me button" companies that have come and gone - Hearme, Lipstream, etc. There are a few call-me button companies still around, such as eStara. Basically, if you click on a button on a web page you can initiate a VoIP phone call. If you don't have the softphone client installed it installs automatically with your permission. But for whatever reason, except for a few exceptions, like Lands End, very few websites implemented call-me buttons. (Actually I just checked Lands End, and it appears they took the VoIP button offline - you have to enter in your phone number and they call you over the PSTN.)

But then I thought, what if Xten or Skype landed eBay? Just imagine the ability to sense that the seller is online and you can ask them a quick question about the item they are selling.

The buyer and seller get the benefit of anonymity - you don't have to give your home phone number or cell phone number out - yet they can still talk with the seller to ask questions.

eBay could simply add a checkbox when the seller is creating the item listing called "Allow buyers to Skype/Xten you?" or whatever softphone client they choose to let the seller decide whether or not they wish to be contacted on a per auction per item basis.

I know I've had questions buying stuff on eBay and it was such a hassle having 3 or 4 back and forth email interactions when one simple VoIP call would have sufficed.

Are you listening eBay?

Comments to eBay and VoIP

Rich Tehrani :
January 18, 2005 12:15 PM

Just curious. Wouldn't this lead to a problem for eBay where sellers will try to persuade buyers to skip eBay altogether and sell offline without having to pay eBay a percentage. I realize this can b done with e-mail as well... Just seems more practical when you are speaking live. Of course the buyer doesn’t get the customary eBay "buyer protection."

Tom Keating :
January 18, 2005 1:57 PM

Interesting point. Like you say, they can go around ebay via email as well.

Either way, even if they try and cheat the system, eBay still gets the listing fee from the seller. You also assume that if they try and cheat that there were no bids on the item. If there is even 1 bid, ebay considers it a "sold item" and takes their percentage - unless there is a reserve price that isn't met.

Assuming there is no reserve and there was a bid, the seller would then have to claim that the buyer renegged which ebay would then handle via their dispute department. No one wants that hassle.

Also if the buyer & seller attempt to go around the ebay system, the buyer and seller would lose any "feedback" from the buyer if they claimed the item didn't sell which most people don't want to lose.

It probably doesn't make sense for low-ticket items to do this.

But for high-ticket items such as cars, certainly the seller can save money by dealing directly with a buyer and avoid eBay from taking their percentage cut.

For >$1000, eBay's cut is: 5.25% of the initial $25.00 ($1.31), plus 2.75% of the initial $25.00 - $1,000.00 ($26.81), plus 1.50% of the remaining closing value balance ($1,000.01 - closing value)

YIKES! Talk about highway robbery.

Skibare :
January 18, 2005 3:39 PM

I think the ""ONLINE DATING"" is even a HOTTER application for XTEN or SKYPE like device

with the Skype aspect, you could browse the hotties,NOTICE her ''online'' presence and click and pray ya get lucky...........

EBAY, AMAZON, GOOGLE.........the sky is endless!

skibare

ANGRY EBAY BUYER :
January 24, 2005 12:59 AM

Anyone who’s alive today in North America knows what eBay is.
Assumingly, it’s a wonderful place to buy and sell goods using the internet, an e-commerce mainframe and the postal service.
In a perfect world, perhaps.
My experience with eBay, however, was very different.
I was defrauded and eBay, PayPal and even the United States Consulate refused to do anything about my claim.

I heard that sitting on a yoga ball is good for your abdominal muscles. Desiring a leaner tummy, I decided to buy one.
I went to numerous Toronto stores in search of my tummy-trimmer, however, prices were overly expensive for a piece of rubber.
I decided to check eBay.
Oh, there it was. A beautiful 63 cm yoga ball, and for the low price of $8 US! I couldn’t believe my eyes! The shipping would cost $10, but it was still cheaper than buying a ball up here.
I’ve always been a very loyal citizen, trying to support the Canadian economy by not patronising Starbucks or Wal-Mart if I could shop Canadian, however, this yoga ball deal was too good to pass up.
I placed my bid on the item and I won!
As I verified my payment through PayPal, an e-commerce tool that draws money on a credit card or a bank account, I felt safe and secure in my purchase.
Little did I know that after one and a half months of waiting for my yoga ball to arrive (due to the holiday season and US customs), and two weeks of back and forth emails with my “seller”, questioning where my item was, I was the victim of fraud, and no one wanted to take responsibility.
“It must have been lost in the mail,” wrote the seller.
I decided to use the proper channels to file my claim.
First, I spoke to eBay.
For such an enormous corporation, their customer service department is completely half-witted. Upon getting 30 seconds into my complaint, I was told to send an email. So I did.
A few days later, I received a response stating that, since the auction closed over 60 days ago, there was nothing that they could do.
So I called back.
Again I was told to send an email. At this point, my temper began to flare and I explained to the bland customer servant that I had already sent an email and received an inadequate response. “Sorry, you’ll just have to send an email.”
After numerous emails with the same response, and no supervisor to speak with, I am still searching for assistance…four months later.
And they wonder why their shares dropped so significantly.
I decided to speak with the people at PayPal. They, as usual, were also useless, explaining that the payment was too old and I was not covered by their protection policy.
Since I paid for the item using my bank account, there is nothing that I can do.
I, then, called the United States Embassy and, yet again, useless. I was sent on a wild goose-chase through Customs to State Police, etc., and no one wanted to help.
How is it that an honest buyer such as myself, cannot seem to get any assistance when she has been de-frauded?
Is this what the world has come to? Where the listing site, the transaction facilitator and even the federal government refuse to take responsibility for what has occurred?
Apparently, In the good ol’ United States of America, it has.
I will never use eBay again, nor will I use the “services” of PayPal.
Both of these corporations have proven to me that their monetary ravenousness supercedes their desire to communicate quality customer service and maintain virtuous public relations with their users.
The US Federal government isn’t much help either, but what do you expect?
I don’t think that my money will be returned to me, but hopefully, through this piece being published, I will be able to raise awareness of the corporate greed that these “people-friendly” businesses subscribe to and cause others to question their safety and security before clicking the “bid” button.

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