The fourth Collectibles Summit has just concluded and as usual it's a bit of information overload that will only get worse as the week and eBay Live! starts.
Well-known names from the world of collecting and antiques met with the eBay collectibles category staff and managers to learn more about new programs, updates on existing issues and possible solutions to problems now faced by buyers and sellers.
This year's theme was Collectibles 2.0: Collecting and the Social Web.
The summit was lead by Laurence Toney, Director of Collectibles Business Unit. We were also welcomed by Bill Cobb, President of eBay North America.
Attendees
Publications and companies represented included: American Numismatic Association, American Philatelic Society, American Political Items Collections, Antiques & Collecting, Antique Trader, Antique Week, Atlantique, Art Business News, Beckett, Better Homes and Gardens - Special Interest Publications, The Certified Collectibles Group, Collector Editions, Collector's Universe, Comic Buyer's Guide, Country Home, Country Living, F&W Publications, Fenton Glass, Forbes Collector, Gifts & Decorative Accessories, Giftware News, Global Authentications, Glass and Pottery Sellers Association, Hallmark, Informart, Brimfield, Lenox Group, Peterson Consulting, Professional Numismatists Guild, Rinker Enterprises, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Tuff Stuff, The NW Times and yours truly, along with About's Action Figures Guide and Antiques Guide.
The group is diverse, but we have many common interests and problems. For instance fakes concern everyone, education is a main concern of most, as well as ways to appeal to the younger generations as collectors get older.
MyCollectibles and Collector's Corner
eBay announced the new MyCollectibles (find out more), in partnership with Kaboodle and Collector's Corner powered by Mpire, with promises of more announcements on Tuesday of ways for collectors to create and expand their social web. Think blogs.
eBay Express Yourself
We (the attendees) were all encouraged to try this new way of buying on eBay before attending the summit. Most were satisfied with the outcome, although a few bugs still apparently need to be ironed out. Items are pulled onto eBay Express from Buy it Now and eBay Stores. All sellers must have at least 100 feedbacks, with at least a 98% feedback rating. Personally I still can't quite figure out what the purpose of Express is. If a buyer wants something immediately, they can look for the Buy It Now feature, Express just adds another layer of searches to go through. Making it even more complicated.
Some concerns included -- the 100 feedback number required should be from selling, not just buying. Another concern was the way the Express is populated with items, e.g. some sellers might not realize they are on Express and items are not shipped out quickly enough. what's the use of calling it Express and not getting the item for ten days?
A positive for me was the ability to use a credit card for instant payment, instead of going through PayPal. I also think that might encourage newbies to buy on eBay, those that haven't set-up a PayPal account.
Trust and Safety Discussion
Rob Chestnut, Senior vice President of Rules, Trust and Safety, fielded questions about various items. Of course reproductions and fake problems were a common thread in many of the questions. There will be some changes coming to the feedback tool, although we weren't told just what will be happening or when. Shilling was also discussed - people have been successfully prosecuted for shilling.
One exciting bit of news was about phishing. All the major players - IE 7, Firebox, Netscape and Goggle will all have anti-phishing browsers. This could happen in the next few months.
Chestnut said a lot of energy goes into dealing with suspended users, with results that will be apparent to the users in the next few months.
Another fairly recent innovation is the verification code used when emailing another member through eBay, there has been a 95% decline in fake 2nd chance offers since it's been in use. Chestnut made one comment that I am still not sure if I heard him right and with all that was going on and discussed, it was not mentioned again. He said something to the effect that eBay is looking at and might have to do away with or change the ability for users to email each other through the eBay messages program. Surely not, so I keep hoping I heard this wrong?
Chestnut also talked at length about excessive shipping charges and how eBay will be implementing changes. Examples cited were 99 cents for an item, with $50. shipping fees. eBay considers these fraudelent. The only surprise to me is how long it's taken eBay to start cracking down on these sellers, after all the main purpose is to cut down on the listing and sales fees.
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