My Love Hate Relationship with Ebay
I love to hate Ebay. I also love to love Ebay.
Let me explain. I am a shoppaholic (oh how cliche!) But no seriously I must spend any money that enters my bank account within a designated period or I feel like I am wasting away. That’s when Ebay comes into it. The thrill of the bidding! The test of your courage!
OK so it’s not really that exciting, but when you get a piece of clothing, or some other random object you really didn’t need, it is quite exciting. So basically what I’m trying to say is that the idea of Ebay suits me to a tea!
BUT! The design of the Ebay website drives me insane! It is so difficult to navigate, especially when you are in the ‘My Ebay’ section, it is always going to different screens, then you have to hit ‘back’ and you lose your product that you wanted to bid on. The worst part about the Ebay website is the home page, it is crazy! So busy that there are things just everywhere. But you know…I think they do it on purpose. It is the objective of Ebay to create a sense of panic and excitement when you reach the home page so you immediately start bidding on unnecessary items and feel like you have to BUY BUY BUY!!! How sneaky of them….but it works a treat!
twoblueshoes said,
March 31, 2008 at 12:11 am
Hi Elizabeth,
You’re exctly right about the setup of the Ebay website! So busy and frustrating! I was making a similar point about Amazon, but I’m not sure if their layout is a conscious effort to stimulate buyer-panic, or if it’s just what I think of as bad, old, American web design… I can’t understand why they don’t tidy these sites up, apart from the notion that they rake in the profits just as they are. D’you reckon you’d use the sites more (or spend more money) if they were cleaner?
e.
elizabethmcdonald said,
March 31, 2008 at 5:58 am
You are so right about Amazon – always confusing. But to be honest, as much as I hate the way Ebay creates this buyer-panic, it works! I’m bidding on 3 items of clothing right this minute and I check all the time to make sure I am still winning! It works!!! I think if it were a site like Google, there would be no excitement and buyers would not be compelled to buy these ‘last minute’ items. So as frustrating as it is, they have won in my books.