Mark - A medium size seller

Today, I had a chat with Mark, from Utah, America - Mark is a medium size seller on ebay. Here is an extract of our conversation which Mark has authorised for publication:

Me: What do you think could be done better by ebay? I know I have gripes with Paypal and feedback as you could see from my listing, but what would you chnage if you could?

Mark: "A very big question, with many answers on many levels. But to begin I have to say that the root of the problems with eBay's market place is in the massive culture of corporate mis-management and greed"

Me: Yes, I think youre right, it does seem to be at the heart of ebays ethos. When do you think this started to happen - over what period of time?

Mark: "It was there from the beginning, but in a more "hip" form. It became increasingly entrenched as eBay grew and ther came to be really big corporate dollars to waste and grab for. Management took out huge amounts of money for themselves and there cronies, and that's what eBay is all about for them, a giant cash cow. The old bit about the "eBay community" was largely exploitation and propaganda. Management probably thinks they are very smart for having made eBay a success, but I think it was largely an great accident taking place at the right time and place. Now that EBay has grown so large, it's problems are also now very large. But management isn't smart or skilled enough to actually solve those problems. In other words, I think that eBay's fundamental problem is simple greed and hubris. All the monkeying in the world with feedback, fee schedules, etc. will not solve eBay's problems or those of it's sellers and buyers."

Mark goes on to say that he will indeed continue to use eBay as he relies too much on its services to leave. I would like to thank you Mark for your time and some very interesting points.

Do you agree with Mark? Whilst I agree with Mark, I am lucky in that I do not depend on eBay sales. I do however feel very sorry for people that do - what an awful situation.

So What are the good points of eBay?

I would like to hear all points of view as unlike eBay, I welcome alternate points of view.