Guest Author - Scott Prock
It may come to a huge surprise to many who read this article, especially if you are familiar with my website "The Powerseller Report" , and yes this is a bit of a rant so forgive me ...
Since 2002 I have ran a successful subscription based website geared towards eBay's Powersellers. My main focus has been to show other sellers what it takes to become a Powerseller by reporting on the activities, strategies and secrets of the eBay Powerseller.
I may sound like I'm against eBay and the Powerseller status, but it's more like disappointed, and surprised eBay has fallen short of the expectations one would associate with becoming a Powerseller.
In Nov 2006 I hit my third month of qualified sales for Powerseller status, I met all the criteria including the $1000 per month in sales. I was very excited, as this had been a goal of mine ever since opening TPRweb.
I expected to be notified and welcomed by eBay into the Powerseller ranks soon as I wanted to proudly display my Powerseller status for the Christmas season sales.
Christmas came and went, and with at least two unanswered support requests to eBay I still hadn't received any notification as to my Powerseller status. This was becoming very frustrating, so between Christmas and New Years I started emailing support, talked with live support, posted forum posts and really started bugging eBay as to why I hadn't been invited yet.
I finally got a response on Jan 2 2007 telling me that all I need to do is confirm my registration by going to the Powerseller member sign in page.
BINGO!
I was instantly transformed into an eBay Powerseller with the click of a button.
At least now I can show the shiny little Powerseller logo next to my eBay ID, but where is my welcome kit, where's all the fan fare and excitement behind my acceptance into this elite club ?? After all ... eBay makes a HUGE deal every time I hit a milestone in positive feedback, so where is all the hoopla around me becoming a Powerseller.
DEAD SILENCE ... I'm still waiting for my welcome kit, I have no certificate to proudly display in my office, or to include a picture of in my auctions, no one sent me a congratulations email ... in fact I had to beg and hound eBay about my status. Then I get told to just login to the Powerseller members area and activate the logo.
As you can tell, I was and am still really disappointed in eBay. I worked hard to become Powerseller, I wanted the status to help with Christmas sales (was qualified during that time). I was expecting eBay to keep my excitement going but instead I got the typical run around - cat and mouse from them.
Yes ... I sound like a little kid throwing a fit because I didn't get my way, however, eBay places a lot of hype around becoming a Powerseller and I just wanted you all to see that it's not all that it's cracked up to be and DON'T STRESS over getting there.
The key is, to continue with your sales just as you are doing, and you will make it to Powerseller just don't get your expectations up too high.
I haven't seen any additional support ... it still can take up to two weeks to get a response from eBay and that's if I get one at all. I have had auctions shut down that shouldn't have been, to have eBay come back and apologize for the mistake, but to watch it happen again and again. One would think if I were a valued Powerseller that there wouldn't be a knee jerk reaction every time my competitors report me for violations that are not true.
Bottom line ... eBay should have never lowered the requirements to becoming a Powerseller, all it did was dilute the status and sellers don't get any additional benefits until they reach the Gold level anyway ($10,000/mo).
Please don't get me wrong ... I still believe obtaining Powerseller is a worthy goal, just don't put a lot of effort and stress into getting there, make it happen naturally without big expectations and you won't be disappointed.
Enjoy ... Scott
