Devoted to branding and building and protecting brands

The value proposition of eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) has withstood the test of time.  It has represented one of the best brand promises to come along in many years.  It has offered value that exceeds the purchase price and the cost of adoption of any and all products sold at auction online.  It has amounted to classic value.

This feel-good brand may be in some jeopardy at the moment in the wake of a controversial new policy that will withhold payments sent through PayPal for up to three weeks depending on the “riskiness” of the transaction.  The value proposition of eBay has been based to a large degree on the voting and the rankings established by buyers and sellers of all sizes.  The risk here seems to be the alienation of the small-fry sellers.  There’s also an inherent market- development problem:  sellers on eBay come aboard in the first place with small sales.  They’re made to feel good about their transactions and then they become bigger sellers.  Is eBay selling out to the big players and their bigger transactions?  What’s eBay’s value proposition now to newer, smaller customers?