Who’s that guy with the reflective shades? Is he a cop? Nope, but he will give you a ticket if you move too slow with your delivery times, LOL. This guy is Randy Smythe and I need to introduce him to some in our audience and reacquaint him to others.
Since I got started in eCommerce I had always wondered who the big kahuna was behind some of the big sellers on eBay. Randy was one of those big name. Back in 2005 I bought this book by Scot Wingo called eBay Strategies. I was enamored with what Randy was doing with his business of Glacier Bay Video. Boy that was ages ago. But it was not until I began blogging and hosting my Podcast that I was fortunate enough to score an interview with him. Since then I have watch Randy go from eBay biz owner to Buy.com 3rd Party Marketplace Big Wig!
It is an amazing transition and what he now knows and has experienced is a complete transformation of greater experience and insight for eCommerce. Randy is mad cool and he "plays well with others" LMAO. But in all seriousness, you would be hard pressed to find another person in corporate ecommerce that has the experience, knowledge and understand as Randy does. For years now he has been keeping in tune with the pulse of the landscape and I am now fortunate enough to have his number in the rolodex … well my cell phone
Here is a FANTASTIC interview he did for our listeners. Also you should go back and listen to some of Randy’s other interviews you will learn much as I always do.
Listen to the Interview NOW! (press play button and be patient, it takes a minute to buffer)
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It is that time again…yeah time to get back in the game of the interviews. You know it was put on the back burner as the summer season just made you want to run free. But now its over and our noses are too the grind for a successful Christmas shopping season.
So to kick start this whole interview series back off you want to go to the well that has some of the deepest water. And you all know that Randy Smythe of Buy.com is always full of good QUALITY content for ecommerce merchants.
You do NOT get "hand picked" by the big leagues unless you can swing that bat. Randy simply knock it out the ball park every time I am fortunate enough to get an interview with him.
What is the best parts of it is that his depth and breath of knowledge from running his own business, and historically one of the MOST successful eBay stores in history, is how this experience with Buy.com has added to his understanding.
Yes, we all miss his daily rants back when he was a blogger, but his new insight as the 3rd Party Marketplace man for Buy has really UP’d his game. The dude is just tight with the ecommerce wisdom.
I got friends in HIGH places now. Yep, if Randy Smythe was not big enough before, he just upped the ante. Randy joined Buy.com just a few short weeks ago, among some “hoopla” for lack of a better term.
So today, I got the opportunity to get him on a call. The dude has been crazy busy and I wanted to check in with him. I must say that he has acclimated to the new roll over there VERY nicely.
Randy is responsible for the 3rd party platform marketplace. And what he says on the call was SHOCKING! Look out eBay and Amazon, it sounds like there is a new “playa” ready to sit down at the table. Should they be “dealing in” Buy.com as a marketplace heavyweight? Hmmmm, things could get interesting…LISTEN NOW!
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This is sort of a carry over from the Follow Friday stuff. I was just thinking about good news/story sources on eBay. NOT the folks that are sellers, but more of the folks that actually Tweet stories or even write them about eBay.
This is NOT a top 10 list or even a popularity list, it is just my personal folks that I follow SPECIFICALLY for information on the goings on in eBay. There are many more that I can include, but this is all I felt like sharing this week. Plus it is the weekend and I want to take the rest of the day off … ENJOY!
Marsha Collier is probably the MOST well known author of eBay books on the web. And hey, she is ON TWITTER!
This is Richard Brewer Hay and he is the editor of the web site for eBay at www.eBayInkBlog.com
This is the eBay/ecommerce blogger from www.MyBlogUtopia.com and also consultant to Buy.com for 3rd Party Sellers.
These guys are putting out small business news bits that others might be missing. Many of the members are also eBay sellers and as such, they keep up on eBay developments as well.
Ina Steiner writes about ecommerce, eBay, online payment services and reputation systems for www.AuctionBytes.com
this is Marlene Gavens Certified Education Specialist Trained by eBay /podcaster/ blogger
Talk show host and blogger Wally Kolenda. Does a few shows and writes several colums on eBay, ecommerce and topical business news.
Dave White Host of the eBay and Beyond the Basics radio show airing weekly. Killer content and alot of fun. He and the “eBaybes” bring a new twist to old radio.
eBay seller and a GREAT blog writer with her The Whine Seller blog, I just love it!
CEO of ChannelAdvisor and Blogger and Author. He does not tweet that often, but when Scot Wingo does, eBayer’s should listen up.
Dana Crawford is a Social Butterfly! Teaching eBay and Marketing! Radio Show Host – Blogger – On-line Consultant – Public Speaker
Debbie Levitt has been speaking and training small and large groups of people at private events and public conferences for over 12 years. Now, Debbie is one of the most visible speakers at events relating to eBay and online selling with specialties including branding and marketing, selling strategies, operations management, and entrepreneurship.
Wow, we got a new “intelligent” President, a Clinton back in power, an Indian movie sweeps the Oscars and Randy Smythe working for Buy.com?!? Now that is change! LMAO
So it has been a little over 4 weeks since Randy went venturing to the “other” side of things. I check in with my friend to see how things are over there. He is such a great guy to chat with ALL THE TIME, and this one is NO LESS exciting that all the other calls we have done (more Randy Smythe Interviews and stories).
The big topic on this call is the eBay’s TOP secret, Top Seller conference. Randy crashed the party, LMAO and now gives us his take on the state of things. All things eBay, Buy.com, and his new roll are addressed and YEAH, I was stunned again buy his openness and views on My Blog Utopia, eBay and ecommerce and where we are going in this tough economy.
Hey, I just listened to the eBay earnings call today. Not too good, and I am sure Randy Smythe is doing a little “happy dance”. He was pegged by readers on AuctionBytes blog to be the new CEO of the company, LOL
But I made this video earlier today to post later on, but after hearing the call today…I figured it is good to go right now.
So, PLEASE re-tweet this one if you think it is worthy?!? I know that the folks at eBay must begin to listen up, or the writings of Circuit City, a company 3x as old as eBay could be repeated on eBay.
I dunno about you, but there is something to be said about ALL sellers, not just the biggest ones. You need ALL of us or none of us will be around too much longer. I am sure THOSE GUYS at Circuit City never thought laying off 8% of their sales force would lead to the demise of their business. Maybe it did not, but I say IT DID and I am sure eBay would not think losing “small sellers” would impact their bottom line either but IT DID!
You all can cover a MULTITUDE of errors under the umbrella of a bad economy, but this Circuit City blunder was from May 2007! So even if you make bad decisions earlier in time, the repercussions will be felt at some point. And during a down economy, that reverberation can be 10,000x worse. Circuit City, after 60 years in business, could not recover from bad decisions when the money started to dry up in a bad economy.
Dear Mr. Donahoe, please hear my video…
Wow, I am just looking at all the great comments that have been posted about this SPECIAL interview series we are doing here on ColderICE.com this week.
Some where in all of these interviews (we are now at 4 out of 7, so 3 more are to come) there is YOUR answer. You can find it, no matter what you SELL or where. There is an answer, a morsel, a grain of wisdom, strategy or encouragement that can make your 2009 the greatest EVER.
How do I make my business the best it can be? I listen to smart people, and I have personally interviewed some of the smartest people in e-commerce and put them up this week on the site.
Honestly, this is NO BULLSH*T ….
IF you have not told a friend or Tweeted about this series of special e-commerce interviews YET, you are cheating them out for sure!
Look at the comments that people are writing OMG these interviews are from the “BEST” minds in e-commerce its incredible already and we are only on day 4 of 7!
Please RETWEET THIS man. I never ask you to do that, but this is way too good!
So far we have had….
Tues…. David WhiteWed… Randy SmytheThurs… Brandon Dupsky
Today … Ina Steiner
Who will it be on Saturday? or Sunday? or Monday?
RETWEET THIS or share this man, do it for me please!
These folks are the best and the brightest and they gave SO MUCH good useable, practical and information packed interviews ever.
Simply go to the tool bar above and SHARE THIS!!!
Thank you for the sharing this with others for me, it really does mean alot You guys ROCK!
Look folks, I am doing this whole week of interviews, before my birthday on the 13th for many reasons. But a big reason is to highlight some of the mentors, movers and shakers in eCommerce and reflecting on how they made a difference for me and my business personally. So I am so glad to have Randy spend a little time with us here on ColderICE.com for this interview. – John
Look folks, I am doing this whole week of interviews, before my birthday on the 13th for many reasons. But a big reason is to highlight some of the mentors, movers and shakers in eCommerce and reflecting on how they made a difference for me and my business personally. So I am so glad to have Randy spend a little time with us here on ColderICE.com for this interview.
– John
Got your attention with that title didn’t I? Well that is really a valid question and our buddy Randy Smythe is the man who can give you an “educated guess” for the answer. And I DID ask him too.
Listen to the Interview NOW! (press play button)
You know, when I was selling my used books off of the shelves of my house just to keep from going broke back in the beginning of 3rd Power Outlet, I used to see this buzz around the now defunct, Glacier Bay DVD on eBay. Back then, Glacier Bay was eBay’s top feedback seller with over 15 million in sales from 1999 – 2006. Which I must laugh about the fact that eBay STILL buys Google Adwords for his company name even today!
But I got off topic there… I remember back in the day I would say to myself, how could this company have so much volume, traffic, and most coveted of all (back when it meant something) positive feedback?
I remember just wishing I knew “that guy”! I remember interviews where Randy would spring thought and wisdom that blew me away. I would literally sit and take notes on the rare occasion that he would give an interview. I also remember the day I got Scot Wingo’s book (eBay Strategies) and how delighted I was to see Glacier Bay DVD in the case study. WOW, and now I got both Randy and Scot on my speed dial? OMG that is so cool!
Randy is by far one of the coolest and most giving ecommerce big dawgs out there. He is so much fun and so freaking smart at the same time. I have done a couple other interviews with Randy and I will tell you this; you have to be careful when you listen to him talk because his wisdom is spewed out in such a conversational way that you might miss a BIG NUGGET that could make or break your year. I am serious about this, the dude knows his sh*t, and if you don’t subscribe to his blog over at MyBlogUtopia.com, you are missing a whole lot of good stuff.
Ok yeah, that movie version sucked, but the story of a young woman ran out of town with a scarlet letter “A” on her bosom for the act of adultery is one hell of a good analogy for what I read today!
This morning our friend and eBay “watch dog” Randy Smythe (one of my Top 5 eBay bloggers!) from My Blog Utopia posted what feel is a burn burner story. He writes on his blog today a story that is titled On eBay: The Little Guy Can’t Take it Anymore!”
Now after endless protests over the years by sellers on eBay bitchin’ bout everything that eBay has ever changed under the sun and boycotts over price increases, price decreases, listing tools, feedback changes, the color of fingernail polish…blah, blah, blah. This “scarlet” letter simply smelled a little different.
So I had to call Randy up ASAP and get the scoop on what the hey is going on. Randy was so cool that he did an on the spot interview on what I believe could really be a game changing position for eBay sellers upset with the removal of the level playing field and the sweet Diamond Seller positioning on eBay.
I am all for competition on any platform, but I do not like having the scale tipped in ANYONES favor, just cause they are larger. That sucks ass to me, but that is just me. Give this a listen and tell us what you think?
(press play button)
Below is a full reprinting of the letter that was sent anonymously to Randy this morning…
Topic: Why we’re not buying at buy.com
Nobody likes a bully. They push and shove to get their way and don’t care about others. Pretty selfish behavior.
Usually they get away with it too. If they are bigger and stronger, who is to stop them?
Well we can’t speak for patrolling the school corridors, but when it comes to companies like buy.com bulling their way onto the eBay marketplace we believe it’s time to take stand. Together.
Everyone knows that eBay is the best place in the world to find a huge variety of merchandise. It is the self-titled “World’s Greatest Marketplace”. The diversity of eBay’s products is matched only by the diversity of people who buy and sell on the site. In fact, it is these people, millions of them around the country, who actually create the eBay marketplace. Without them, there would be no buying and selling on eBay.
Approximately 1.3 million people make a living selling on eBay. Most are hard working Americans like you and me who are trying to make ends meet in a very tough economy. Some are stay-at-home moms and individuals with disabilities who count on non-traditional jobs, like selling on eBay, to pay their bills.
We applaud all of their efforts, courage and hard work and want to support them.
So who is bullying our hard working neighbors on eBay? They are what eBay calls “Diamond Sellers” and they get special treatment and fee discounts on eBay that gives them an unfair advantage over the smaller sellers who are the heart of eBay.
These Diamond Sellers use their size to push other sellers aside by listing thousands of items and monopolizing the categories they list in so eventually they get most of the customers on eBay too. Not exactly the “level playing field” ideology that was a founding principle of eBay. So Diamond Seller growth is coming at the expense of small businesses who conduct hard, honest work every day…Not cool.
What type of company you ask, would do such a mean thing? I mean what type of a CEO wants to answer this question:
“Do you think it is ethical for your business to enrich its executives and shareholders at the expense of working mothers, disabled persons and small businesses around the country?” Uh, next question PLEASE.
So we would like to ask senior management at buy.com what they were thinking when (based on what we can see on eBay) they decided it would be okay to dump hundreds of thousands of items onto the eBay marketplace in return a sweetheart Diamond seller deal on listing fees?*
* All sellers must pay a fee to list an item on eBay in order to avoid crowding the marketplace with stuff. eBay has historically spoken of how important this listing fee is to ensuring the diversity and quality of products on the marketplace but does not disclose the specific terms given to Diamond sellers.
Do you think buy.com considered the 1.3 million hard working Americans around the country that rely on eBay to make a living? Did buy.com think that a stay at home mother raising children and using her eBay business to help pay the bills would get a job as an accountant instead? Do they think that an eBay that resembles the local mall and only sells homogenized goods from big name retailers is what this country needs more of?
We hope not. We’re guessing they didn’t think about these things at all and maybe it’s not their fault. The eBay team and the buy.com team probably had some meetings. Maybe even a nice steak dinner and they looked at the numbers together and smiled and said, “Hey, we can definitely afford desert now!”
Fortunately it’s not too late for buy.com. They can do the honorable thing and excuse themselves from their eBay “test”. They probably didn’t know how many businesses they would wipe out with this deal. Hopefully they have a better understanding now.
After all, if we wanted to buy from them we could simply go to the buy.com website. Isn’t that the reason they added us to the buy.com mailing list (we don’t recall opting-in to that, hmmm) after we made a test purchase on eBay?!
But until buy.com removes their items from the eBay marketplace we won’t be buying from them. We won’t be buying from them on eBay and we won’t be buying from their website either. We won’t be buying from them now or when we start shopping for holiday presents this year. In fact, we’re not sure why anyone would want to support buy.com at a time when they are putting our friends and neighbors out of business.
After all, nobody likes a bully.
And as for any other large retailers (you know the ones with the huge customer service departments that make you wait on hold for an hour when you call – if you can even find the phone number) who are considering selling their mass-market products on eBay, we strongly encourage them to reconsider.
So, are we calling for a buy.com boycott you ask? No, not yet.
