The Power of the Public
Posted by kylistah on July 3, 2008

It amazes me these days watching businesses make bad decisions (TimeWarner anyone?) only to be slapped in the face by the general public. Lately, I’ve been noticing companies non-chalantly toss out a small piece of news with their new ‘idea’ or make a general statement here and there to test the waters and see how well it’s going to go over with the public or how hard they’re going to be smacked.
Tonight, I read an article about another company making or beginning to make a bad decision - eBay (imagine that!). It seems that eBay decided it would be grand to form a PayPal monopoly. Apparently they thought that they could force all of its users on to PayPal. This policy would have locked out all other payment methods such as direct bank deposits, checks and money orders - except PayPal, which eBay owns, and cash on delivery and pick-up.
I wonder what moron brilliant person came up with that idea?
eBay’s proposals inspired a massive backlash among sellers, who would have been slugged with extra fees because PayPal charges them for each transaction.
Sellers complained eBay users should be given the choice of which payment method to use, rejecting eBay’s claims that the decision was purely to protect users from fraud.
Protect users from fraud. When I read that, all I could do was laugh (as I am now just from typing it). Did they really believe that using that as the excuse was going to fly with the public?? C’mon now!
As this article asks, “If PayPal is truly the best payment option, why does eBay need to force people to do business with them?“
No matter your business, large or small - if you’re going to succeed at all, you better pay attention to your consumers and their thoughts/feelings when it comes to making decisions. Today’s power of the public via social networks, blogs, and the like can certainly make a huge impact, right or wrong in how people view your business.
Posted in General, Internet, Rants, Technology, applications | 6 Comments »


