"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." - Bill Cosby

As eBay marches toward the bargain basement, I can't help but think back to a conversation I had with Kevin Pursglove when we worked together at eBay. Kevin was eBay's spokesman in the early days, and I think he was great at what he did. In those days so many people paid attention to eBay they needed a guy like Kevin. eBay was cool, surprising, and interesting. Leno and Letterman mentioned zany stuff found on eBay.

I remember after work one day commenting on how eBay was moving toward the large sellers. I was disturbed at how the goods on eBay were the same as those found in every big box store in America. They weren't unique, and they weren't interesting. But lots of listings brought lots of revenue, so eBay pushed hard to get sellers to add more stuff.

The result was, the collectors, and treasure hunters were being left behind. I predicted nearly eight years ago that it would kill eBay, and it's slowly happening.

That was also about the time eBay introduced Buy It Now, allowing buyers to buy items instantly. It became necessary in part, because eBay had begun leaning toward the "practicals," everyday items like toasters and shoes. People didn't want to get involved in an auction for those items, so eBay let them buy right away.

Eventually, eBay Stores came along. This allowed even more merchandise on the site that was not hard to find, or interesting. eBay constantly encouraged sellers to make a home at eBay. They tried to teach them how to start a business on eBay. They built seller tools to help people list more and more.

eBay also tried hard to please buyers - often at the expense of the sellers. It's been very difficult to strike a balance between buyers and sellers. eBay has tried to please both, and the result is they are failing to please either.

As former eBay exec, Bill Cobb pointed out - shortly before he announced his departure - auctions are part of eBay's DNA. Another part of their DNA is unique, interesting items that are not easy to find at Wal-Mart. In their efforts to please everybody that came along, and in their efforts to please themselves with more profits, eBay corporate has failed. They're ruining a very cool brand. They should have spun the "practicals" off to their own site and kept the real eBay. But I'm afraid it might be too late for that.

When I buy an item online - particularly on eBay, there is always a tiny little bit of doubt in the back of my mind. I wonder who I'm dealing with on the other end of the deal. I always expect to get my item, but it's often not quite as I had expected. Why would I put up with that nagging little doubt if I didn't have to? Only if I couldn't get the item anywhere else. That's why eBay worked. The interesting items were enough to get people over the discomfort. Now though, eBay is playing ball on the turf of every other marketplace on the web, Amazon being the largest. When it comes to buying toasters online - I will go straight to WalMart.com to buy.

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