Where did the "Ask A Question" button go????

They sent an email to sellers recently explaining that they intentionally made it harder for buyers to ask questions, as a service to sellers. The new location is meant to encourage you to read the listing, notice if the question has already been asked, etc. And then you have to answer two extra questions and type a captcha to prove that you really, really want to ask. I get the intent, but it's really annoying.
 
I get their intent, but I think this wasn't thought through. The serious buyers are just going to get frustrated and move on. The people who like to waste time will still go through all of that because it seems like they have time to waste.

As much as it is a pain to receive questions that are already answered in the listing, most sellers don't put all the vital information in the listing and serious buyers need to ask (i.e.: measurements for clothes, expiration dates, cosmetic wear for electronics, etc).

This just deters the buyers to go to the listings that provide the info or to not buy on Ebay at all.

Who is creating their business plans? Because they are very very amateur.
 
I have been looking at a few things and I just noticed how they seem to have thrown up a couple of roadblocks to asking questions. Where did that come from? I have heard many buyers on here chastized because they did not ask the right questions. IMO, communication roadblocks at the outset are just going to create more SNADS.
 
They sent an email to sellers recently explaining that they intentionally made it harder for buyers to ask questions, as a service to sellers. The new location is meant to encourage you to read the listing, notice if the question has already been asked, etc. And then you have to answer two extra questions and type a captcha to prove that you really, really want to ask. I get the intent, but it's really annoying.

Yes, it is very annoying! Especially because the listing I was looking at only had 1 picture...and I needed to know more about it before I hit buy it now.

Thanks to littlerock I found it, asked my questions and bought it ;)
 
Ebay is run by a bunch of lunatics, I swear! First they make it so the buyer is always right (even when the buyer is a scammer), then they make it harder to ask questions. Guess what? When you WIN an item and want to ask the seller a question (like, have you shipped yet?) you can't find the question button either. Stupid.
 
I get their intent, but I think this wasn't thought through. The serious buyers are just going to get frustrated and move on. The people who like to waste time will still go through all of that because it seems like they have time to waste.

As much as it is a pain to receive questions that are already answered in the listing, most sellers don't put all the vital information in the listing and serious buyers need to ask (i.e.: measurements for clothes, expiration dates, cosmetic wear for electronics, etc).

This just deters the buyers to go to the listings that provide the info or to not buy on Ebay at all.

Who is creating their business plans? Because they are very very amateur.

I REALLY think that most of the changes RARELY seem to be thought through, or they are thought through by folks who do not sell or buy on the site. What ever they are thinking does not make business, marketing or sometimes even 'common' sense.

I see the customer asking me a question as an opportunity to add a personal touch to the sales effort. No matter how strange, misguided or rude the question, I get a chance to say "Thanks for your interest"

It would seem to me that I would want the page be welcoming and comfortable to the new and repeat customer. I would try to avoid causing confusion, or anxiety to someone who is trying to make a purchase.:nuts:
 
^^^ totally agree with you Ebay Guy! I worked many years in marketing and advertising before grad school sucked all my life away, and their decisions make no sense, particularly for the long term (heck, not even the short term). You sometimes see bad decisions that help the quarterlies but make no long term fiscal sense. But here? It boggles the mind. Ebay grew fast because it was able to tap into some brilliant business minds. Now it seems they've hired a bunch of pixies and faeries who are making mischief!

I also feel that Bonanza needs to redesign the user experience on their site. It can be done much better and made to be more user friendly very very easily.
 
I also had a hard time finding the "ask buyer" button--did ebay really think THIS was a major issue that needed to be changed? Did sellers really complain about buyers asking questions?

This is one change that was not thought out, I agree with ebayguy.
 
I honestly wasn't too thrown off by them moving it... I just hit Ctrl + F (to find text on the page - or you could hit edit at the to dropdown box on your browser, then hit "find") and typed "ask" in the box so that I could find out where it went.

It just seems that eBay is always fixing what isn't broken. Moving things, changing fonts, search boxes, colors, etc. So nothing they do really shocks me anymore!