Brace Yourself - More Ebay Changes Coming After April 2010

While I predicted there will be some serious problems with the 3/30 Update (see March 18th Entry), I did not think Ebay would simultaneously attempt to make even more changes.  Well, Auctionbytes just reported that Ebay will be announcing more changes in April that will take effect later in the year.  The kind of change?  Best Match search changes of course.  Somebody at Ebay must have a programming job for life just working on search.

But here is what bothers me: -  If these changes are in response to the "store to core" because "Store listings to core next week, it could exacerbate the problem [with search] and create a glut of merchandise in certain categories." - then why didn't they think of that before proposing the 3/30 changes?  Their approach sounds reactive instead of proactive.  If you and I can anticipate issues with a massive change like this, shouldn't Ebay?

Another way to look at this is that Ebay has no idea exactly what effect the 3/30 conversion will have on search, listings, and sales.  In that case, wouldn't it make sense to let these changes settle a bit with sellers and buyers before immediately launching into yet another new series of changes?  After giving the market a chance to absorb and normalize after this change, then they could see exactly what tweaking is needed - or if any is needed at all.

Right now sellers are frantically trying to decide exactly what to do.  Do they upgrade their stores?  Do they list more or less?  Will they sell more or less?  Nothing hurts a market worse than uncertainty.  Some people tend to sit on their hands doing nothing while they wait to see how things pan out, while other embrace change as an opportunity to "get a jump" on everyone else.  It will probably take a couple of months before anyone really knows the full effect of these recent changes.  Sellers sitting on the sidelines may then join in - or quit completely.  Most sellers will make a series of adjustments during those first couple of months.  Personally, I need to decide exactly how many fixed price listings is optimal in this new selling environment.

So wouldn't it make a whole lot of sense if Ebay actually sat back for a few months, took a deep breath, and let this change sink in a bit before racing towards the next series of confusing search modifications?  Better yet, why not plan on dedicating the entire programming staff for 60 days to fixing all the new glitches the 3/30 changes are certain to create.