The first page of the "My eBay" message board on eBay Thursday evening read like picket signs at a Greenpeace rally. (http://forums.ebay.com/db2/forum.jsp?forum=73)
Postings with titles like, "Let's go to the Media," "Boycott eBay" and "Petition to get Old My eBay Back" seemed to express users' frustrations over a new version of the "My eBay" tool that was made mandatory for eBay users on Thursday.
One lonely thread expressed a different perspective on the new version: "I like it! Anyone Else?"
Under the heading, "Fascism is alive and well at eBay," one eBay member posted a tip for desperate users: "If you want your old ebay screen back, login through either ebay.ca or ebay.co.uk - neither site has been updated. Pass it on."
In February, eBay announced it would be offering an updated version of My eBay, and in April, eBay made available a Beta version (http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jsp?forum=73&thread=410021481&modified=1085111385263). It appears from reading letters and online postings that many users don't see any benefits to the new version in the first day of universal use. But eBay's FAQ section says the new version of My eBay is more powerful and more customizable. New features include ability to:
- Customize the number of days that you can view items you've bought and sold.
- See totals of costs or revenues from buying or selling for up to 90 days.
- Receive Buying and Selling Reminders of actions still needed to complete sales and purchases.
- See a simple, graphical view of the status of each item's checkout, payment, shipping, feedback left, and feedback received.
- Print reports of your eBay activities with My eBay's new print views.
- Attach your own note to any item you're watching, selling, or bidding on.
- Customize the My Summary page to suit your needs.
- Select which page of My eBay you'd like to land on first.
"I would have much preferred eBay to develop a page with less of the junk to require less loading time, thereby giving more time for constructive activity, like buying and selling," wrote an AuctionBytes reader.
One eBay member with the ID melrose_stamp created a discussion group on "eBay Groups" called Ballot Box and polled users, "Do you like the functionality and usefulness of the newly implemented My eBay 2.0?" On Thursday evening, 18 people, or 11%, said "Yes, I find My eBay 2.0 to be an improvement"; 134 people, or 88%, said "No, I still wish I could use the old version."
eBay is holding a special workshop where eBay staff will explain the newest features in My eBay 2.0, including how to customize it. Workshops are hosted in discussion threads on the Workshops Board. To get to the Workshops Board: Go to www.ebay.com; Click on Community at the top of the page; Click on "Workshops" in the "Events" section; This will bring you to the threaded Workshops Board.
http://pages.ebay.com/help/myebay/index.html