There’s an old saying that goes: “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” That is unless you’re eBay (NASDAQ EBAY). While the product auction and retail giant has made small and subtle changes, it remains a trusted friend to many. Unfortunately, not as many as there once was.

I don’t remember the last time that eBay made a significant change to its juggernaut selling machine. And apparently that’s becoming a problem in this age of change for changes sake. The effort today is to be “relevant.” To catch the visitors eye in fewer than 5 seconds. To tweak and tune a web site until it reincarnates itself every year or so.

I must admit that my use of eBay has gone down. It used to be that if I wanted to buy something online, my first choice of places to check out price and availability was eBay. I haven’t really thought about it much, but my buying habits have changed over the past couple of years. I find myself using eBay less and less.

The two main reasons for my shopping eBay were: price and selection. Oh sure, I might have to settle for something used or last year’s model, but the savings were enough to lure me in. For whatever reason, today, I prefer to purchase the newest model of whatever, purchase it new, and save as much as I can.

If anything, my online purchasing behavior has increased. But rather than going to eBay as my default choice, I find myself more and more buying from sites like Amazon.com (NASDAQ AMZN) and Overstock.com (NASDAQ OSTK). I usually can find what I’m looking for, quickly, at great savings, and I get my selection new.

Apparently, I’m not the only person whose buying patterns have changed. The president of eBay, John Donahue, is promising a “ruthless” change in the overall look and feel of eBay. A change brought about by a loss of customers to the aforementioned retailers. In an effort to ease fears that eBay’s best days are long gone, eBay is counting on growth at its PayPal payments system, and jump-start its lagging core business.

Mr. Donahue, I hope you are counting on more than PayPal to re-energize your site. Whether it’s out of the need for instant gratification, sub-par merchandise, over-charged shipping fees, or a less than user-friendly interface, eBay’s position as the dominate online store has changed.

My suggestions: improved search capabilities, so I can find what I’m looking for more easily; somehow reverse the trend of most eBay sellers who see shipping costs as a profit center; perhaps even having separate new and used sections where I can compare prices.

In the end, do I still use eBay? Yes. But not nearly as often as I once did. Would I increase my eBay usage? Again, yes. But only when it becomes more intuitive and user-friendly.