eBay reported good results yesterday.  Unsurprisingly, PayPal did great again, it now accounts for 38% of eBay's total earnings! But the announcement again highlighted again its weakness in our own favourite area - collectibles and auctions.

The new fee structure and emphasis on fixed-price sales and high-volume merchants are moving the site away from auction sales; eBay's auctions GMV was down 4% FX neutral year-over-year. It accounted for only 31% of Total FX-Neutral GMV while Fixed Price GMV was up 16% FX-neutral year-over-year, accounting for a total of 58% of Total FX-Neutral GMV now and most of it from large consumer brands that you can get everywhere.

The report is a clear snapshot of the bigger picture, with sellers in Antiques and Collectibles, once one of eBay's strongest categories, moving away from the site in search of other online venues for their business.

Talking to these sellers brings up the same complaints that have been rumbling for some time now. They feel eBay has favored powersellers, ignoring and even penalizing smaller sellers, despite the fact that they make up a large chunk of the market.

As a result, the ecommerce giant has transformed from a collector’s paradise into a "soulless shopping mall" for “Target merchandise, CDs, and electronics.” Collectibles sellers also cite eBay’s increasingly high fees as a motivation for them to look elsewhere. "I really learned how the game is played," said Greg Horoski, who runs DollsAmerica. "I have an innate creativity for writing and describing items. But even using all my talents, it was costing me more than 20% of my gross revenue to sell on eBay!"