I don't like this, BNWT. It is the actuality of what was presaged a while ago - that is, listings of sellers whom eBay know to be bringing in the best return (highest fees paid to eBay) are going to appear higher in the search results than listings of sellers that best match what I, as a buyer, am searching for.
I object to this strenuously. It will make my buying on eBay even harder. I don't WANT eBay to steer me to results from which they think I should buy. I want to search for the things I want to search for, and I want the "best match" to be a match with my search expectations, not eBay's expectations. I don't expect eBay to listen to my objections; as much as eBay projects itself as having the concerns of the buyer very much to heart, eBay's main concern, as expressed by eBay's executives and ratified by those who work to execute those executive decisions, is for eBay's profit. The irony is that I believe eBay's decisions are negatively impacting eBay's profit - but the executive decisions are in line with Mr Donahue's "vision" of eBay's future money-making, and to that end he's prepared to see eBay slide downhill in the interim because he is convinced it will rise up like a shiny new stallion in the future.
I fear that these decisions will result in eBay being more like a shiny new... mule. Something sterile, never reaching its fantastic potential, and unlikely to even be an entrant in the online sales and auction venues equivalent of Ascot or the Melbourne Cup.
I could be wrong. However, increasingly, eBay is the last place I'll look for an item.
I knew this was going to happen. It was indicated by the slanted questions of surveys; it was mooted by Donahoe in American newspapers; ra, ra, ra, we knew it was coming.
If I am wrong and my buying will be EASIER, I will have no hesitation in saying so publicly. But eBay's decisions have consistently (during the last 2 years) made my searching and buying HARDER.
Oh well. I will no doubt be looking for items on eBay and I'll try to remember to report the results here. I HOPE I am wrong. I truly do hope I am; I am afraid I'm not.