EBay fee hike sparks seller rebellion
Run an eBay business? What's your take on the new fee structure?
From mazy shermantx I think they were designed to see how well they can shaft buyers and sellers.
Follow the $$$$$$$$ trail.
From mazy shermantx Next time I need anything elctronic I'm heading to the local office supply with my cash!!!!!!!!!
From mazy shermantx Hold of funds that I authorized is deceptive. Purchased electronics and now I have $285 iin limbo! PP is too big of a monopoly!! BUY IT NOW is not really buy it now but is deceptive. Talking to PP is like talking to a rock. If I trust my money to be released great. I think they hold funds and make interest off of YOUR $$$$$$$$$$.
From Aaron, Midland Michigan Ebay can go to hell as far as I am concerned. They are now holding my money that was needed to ship the item I sold to the buyer … but how the heck can I ship it and get the money if they are holding it?
This has got to be the most IDIOTIC thing I've ever heard of …
From Pen, Driggs, Idaho I buy and sell on eBay for both personal and business. I cringe every time I take a hit on the fees from eBay and Paypal and I have to remind myself that it's a necessary relationship. But now I'm realizing that eBay doesn't even have my back. Yes, there are bad sellers out there but you can't create a blanket label to imply that we're all bad so this shift to more "buyer-friendly" rules is like kicking a guy who's already down. Our margins are small enough as it is and our feedback is everything to us. Now they add insult to injury … well, let's just to say "to the victor goes the spoils" and it isn't to the seller.
From Anonymous eBay is a terrible business with no concern for seller protection against petty buyer problems. eBay and Paypal definitely need a serious competitor.
From Lisa, Cleveland, Ohio In short: As an ebay seller, I've reached a point where I LOATHE ebay and all their selfish, money-hungry fee's and changes.
From Chris, Swansea, UK I have been with e-bay more or less since the on-set & their new "holding funds" policy has definitely not been thought through properly. I hold 100% feedback of over 700 and being a small family run photographer listed a commercial advert on e-bay. I received a review from someone called the brainwaver – "stay well away from this couple known all round wales for scamming" thebrainwaver added "ordred a amount of photographs,the hitchmans added 3 times the postoge amount and the qaulity of photographs where has if took on a standerd throw away camera" We can categorically state that we have never though e-bay or by any other means dealt with this person as we NEVER POST OUR WORK OUT! I opened a new account as this review was embedded in all my new listings and even though we have requested copies of the alleged photographs nothing has been forthcoming since May 09. I listed a solid silver bracelet on e-bay through a new account with zero feedback and it was won by member paulmeredith. Within minutes of winning this member requested I reduce the cost and suggested negative feedback if I did not do what was asked. On checking his payment it had been placed on hold by e-bay/paypal until a certain timescale had passed without feedback or until positive feedback had been received. Negative feedback is neither life nor death but in this case the member by leaving negative feedback would have had the item and his money refunded! Although we keep receipts what was stopping him saying that he had received an empty package? Paypal/e-bay make interest on held money, treat you like children and protect nothing but their own interests!
From Don Dulmage, Belleville Ontario Canada I was a buyer caught in the 21 day hold. The seller would not ship when the funds wereheld. Frankly i did not blame him. As a former small businessman and even former Ebay store owner NOTHING leaves my shop tilll I see the $$$$$$$. I have now stopped using ebay completely. It has become useless to me. When I buy a used item I make my own judgement call just as i would at a regular live auction.When I send money I expect it to be delivered not held. This Ebay paypal policy has nothing to do with buyer protection. It has everything to do with earning 21 days interest on buyers money. As I buyer I felt my trust in paypal was violated. When i pay I expect it to e delivered. Period.
From Rebecca, Yes, I have had it with ebay too. I recently had a bad feedback for no reason and it was not my fault. The buyer out of meaness (I think was acompetitor) left me a neg feedback. Ebay has these new policies that do help the sellers to suceed and now I have looked for another auction site. I heard on the radio this week of another auction site (PutItUp4sale.com)starting up and I am trying it out. So far, my listings were free and I will only have to pay a final value fees, which are so much cheaper! No listing fees unless I choose to bold or highlight etc. Already I have had many hits.
From Rebecca, Yes, there is PutItUp4sale.com. I discovered them when I heard their advertisement on the radio. From the advertisement, they have just opened to the public this week. At first I was not familiar with the listing process, but then I found it to be so much easier and faster than eBay. Ebay took so long as they were so slow in between clicks. Already I have had many hits on my items. It was totally free for me to list all my items and I understand that the final value fee is so much cheaper than ebay's fee. I have a really good feeling about PutItUp4Sale.com.
From steve i have not used ebay before and as several of my friends recommended it, i thought i'd use it to sell my old phone as a quick way to generate cash for my holiday in 2 weeks…. the sale was no problem, and i have the confirmation of delivery… however because the buyer has not left feedback i have to wait 3 weeks for the funds….. they are earing the interest off my money! and i can not do anything to stop them!!!!!!
so lets just say i will NEVER recommend ebay and paypal no will i EVER use it again to sell!!!!!!
From William Hollingsworth They are trying their best to kill small time sellers like me. I don't sell enough every year to make the minimum, so their CoHorts PayPal freeze my payments for up to 21 days after each sale.
Well, I've had it. Goodbye ebay: Goodbye PayPal.
Done deal!!!!!
From Dan HAdley, Queen Creek, AZ I'm a long time Ebay seller (and buyer) and I'm looking for alternative sales venues. Ebay's recent anti-seller policies are forcing me to look for a different sales outlet. Are there any other auction sites available?
From Patty, Alaska Yes, I'm a small seller that sees eBay as its own worst enemy. As a buyer too, they've sure grown away from their early days. Too bad.
From JamesterDude,Florida Wow eBay just bit my hand that was feeding them!!!when a person get pos feedbacks and generates $1200 plus dollars a month they still envoked the stupid gold star 4.1 crap(five minutes after paying a $265 invoice) wonder what part of those states made me a bad seller? I am moving on I am trying out http://www.multi-sale.com it is twitter enhanced using the twitter api evey item I list is tweeted to my and @MultiSale simultaneously way cool Thanks ebay for saving all those listing fees http://www.multi-sale.com is free and charges 1% final value at this rate I am sure it won’t be long before ebay is down to 1% sellers
From Dee The Colony, TX I was shocked as well to find the payment on hold. Who is earning interest on that money? Also, ebay is taking the seller's fees out of my account and the money is still on hold. If its held from me it should be held from ebay. I may just give the buyer neutral feedback as I'm not receiving POS feedback even though they received the item. Hopefully, this will end up in the courts as illegal.
From Jake, Metro Detroit, MI I too am a long time eBay member (since early 2001). I feel that the new eBay funds hold policy is arbitrary and out of line. Who is eBay to dictate such a policy? I was informed by an eBay representative that the policy does not apply to sellers with a feedback score of 100 or higher, and 100% positive feedback… Just because I haven't completed 100 transactions on eBay yet, and don't necessarily sell as much – and pay as much in selling fees – as others, why should I be discriminated against? (My feedback score, by the way, is 64, and is 100% positive). PayPal was established on the principle of helping small business owners and entrepreneurs, who can't afford traditional methods of credit card processing, to safely accept payments online. This policy certainly does the opposite! This new policy, combined with constantly rising eBay fees, has sent me looking for another online marketplace – as I'm sure it will do for many others. I would love to see Google start an online marketplace!
From Brad Arnold, Ridgway, PA I have been a member on ebay since 2000. I have a 100% feedback rating of 79. I have always shipped immediately after payment or cleared check, and described my items accurately with lots of photos. I happily offer 30 days return on everything too, no questions asked. I sold an item last week, and all of a sudden came to find out that my paypal payment for $305.00 has been put on hold. I've tried to correspond with paypal about this, asking what I did to deserve this. I only get prepackaged responses from indifferent support personnel. I absolutely did nothing to deserve this. I even built a really nice wooden shipping crate for a small engine I just sold, which is above and beyond what most people do. A lot of people just throw them in a cardboard box. I even spent more money on the crate materials than I charged the buyer. And wouldn't you know it, the buyer never even left positive feedback. Shame on you ebay, I'm looking for other venues. What goes around, comes around.
From Anonymous ebay are lucky that the general public dont kinow where else to sell their stuff as their idea of running a sucesful business is to treat the seller like naughty school children I cannot wait for their share price to drop through the floor as it will when you alienate your main source of income! go get it you idiots
From NonYa Ebay is Out of line for holding payments, I have 100% feedback and rating, and sold a BRAND new camera for 250.00 Unopened and my funds are being held, this is BS. When we signed up with ebay many years ago and signed the agreement, i didn't agree to be treated like this, also i notice their road dog paypal took their money out all ready but holding ours, some people don't even send feedback back ;-( Im a single parent on a fixed income n raising a teen and we need the money NOW not later, its ok to take their percentage out and pocket it but we can't who appointed them GOD, to say ,when,where and how ? If everyone participated in a protest ,canceling sales and buying for 1 week, it would send them a message that without us you'd be nothing, and the people can't shut you down if you don't treat them right.With the sucked up hardships,cutting our SSI,raising this and that, we need what belongs to us and not when you decide.Greed KILLS and Destroys all.
From Mary, Spring Texas I have only sold on Ebay for the last year, and I am looking for another place to go. The fees, and So called support, I had to send 6 emails ( over this last 2 weeks)..to which ONLY one did I get a response back from. I was a small business seller, so I guess they just don't care. I have kept a 100% feedback since being a customer & seller for 9 YEARS….Paypal held up payments several times, and TRYING to get some communication on their part is non instinct. I filed for a refund from Paypal on an item I returned, did what they told me to do, and I never got my $$$ back. SO I am looking for somewhere to go where I will be treated like a person and not talked down to.
From Berk Alantic NJ Yea Iam now using tropicalfishauction.com to sell my aquarium fish and supplies.
From Hartford I had been selling on ebay for some time, but I am fed up with ebay taking $ at the list at the sale and at the REQUIRED pay pal transaction, for the most part I have stopped selling on ebay and have gone to craigslist, for all my sales . As it turns out, keep close watch for the scammers and you can make more income on craigslist then ebay
From Robert McKenna, Port Jeff. Sta. Ny i was one of those people. stayed with them 6 months. paid $48 in monthly ($8 fees) and did not make one sale even though I listed over 200 items at rock bottom prices. $8 is a bargain only if onlineauction decides to drive some traffic to the site. I hate ebay but the current score is over 15,000 sales on ebay to zero on onlineauctions. They just don't have traffic. 6 months without one sale is way too long.
From Nichole, Chicago IL I'm a small seller myself, but have been a member since 01. I remember taking care of buying/selling and receiving the item all in one week, no issues. Now with this idiotic hold policy through Paypal/eBay it can easily give sellers a bad rap because it looks like were just taking our time delivering the item. After speaking with a rep from Paypal, it was suggested I take my OWN money out of pocket and ship the item to the buyer. Great, why didnt I think of that! The other idiotic thing is waiting for feedback?? You cant be serious….the rep was serious. Not only waiting for the buyer to receive the item, but now I have to wait until they feel like leaving feedback?! One thing I have accomplished is a new meaning for the english language. Shame on them, they are losing more sellers/buyers than they believe.
From Richard Allen Mich It is unfortunate that ebay changed the feedback. I have been with ebay since 1997. and have been in busness since 1971. Now i will limit what i sell on ebay to a trickle, of the last 5 items sold 3 have not been payed for and of course they refuse any communication. this just causes a lot of time waisted, items on hold, and no recourse and of course ebay does little to nothing to the deadbeats and they should get negative feedback,
e
Ebay protects them, WHY?
Anyway BYE BYE, EBAY.
EBAY CAN NOW WRITE A BOOK " HOW TO SCREW UP A PERFECTLY GOOD COMPANY"
From Sydney Australia Shill Bidding on eBay: A Case Study
For anyone that is interested, a detailed case study of another instance of blatant shill bidding on eBay, and a detailed comment on eBay’s apparent attitude thereto, at http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=24033
From edward mitchell caryville fla… I AGREE WITH THE COMMENTS POSTED HERE. E-BAY IS JUST CHARGING WAY TO MUCH FOR THERE SERVICES. I,VE BEEN SELLING FOR ABOUT A YEAR ON E-BAY AND HAVE REACHED A FEED BACK SCORE OF 253 100% POSITIVE. I HAVE REACHED POWER SELLER STATUS. BUT HAVE REFUSED TO ACCEPT BECAUSE ALL THE RATE HIKES IT IS NOT FAIR TO EVERYONE WHO HAS WORKED HARD DON,T THINK E-BAY SHOULD FAVOR A FEW PEOPLE WITH STATUS AND TURN THERE BACKS ON EVERYONE ELSE THE PEOPLE PUT E-BAY WHERE THEY ARE TODAY SOMETHING THAT THEY HAVE FORGOTTEN.AND IT IS THE PEOPLE WHO CAN CHANGE E-BAY.. ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS LEAVE SOONER OR LATER IT WILL HIT HOME. IN FACT IT HAS ALREADY BEGUN PEOPLE ARE FED UP WITH THE WAY E-BAY IS TREATING THEM THEY ARE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING BETTER.. AND SO AM I. SO COME ON AND JOIN THE REVOLUTION TOGATHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE………..
From Steve Castro Valley, CA I am so furious over this new policy. I made three sales over the weekend totalling 3000.00. The buyers sent me a total of 650.00 for shipping fees along with my Paypal Payment. I wnet to schedule the shipments with freightquote and when I used my paypal credit card it was denied. I checked my account and all payments that were sent to me were placed on hold for 21 days or until I can prove the merchandise was received. I spole to Paypal who is owned by EBAY, and they told me there was nothing they could do about it. Unless I had 100 confirmed saled over the last year this is the way it was going to be. I have been a seller on ebay for 9 years and have used paypal for the same time. They siad the 100 sales had to be in the last year not all combined. WOW what a scam!!! So I am completely cut off from doing business. I have 4 items that need to be shipped and cannot ship them because I do not have the mopney to do so because Paypal is holding the money the buyer sent me for shipping fees. I told paupal that I was going to have to refund the money because I couldn't ship out the merchandise and the manager said fine I ca do that right now in a very sarcastic tone. I asked her if they could contact the buyers and explain the situation so they wouldn't leave me bad feedback for not shipping the item and she told me that was not her responsibility. I also asked her If the seller fees from EBAY were going to be deleted and she said absolutely not. I also asked her if they were going to pay me theinterest on the 3000.00 they were holding for 31 days-plus 3 more days for processing and she literally laughed and said no sir we are not a bank. I cannot believe this has happened. They have monopolized the market and are making millions on interest by holding these funds. I am just one seller with 3000.00 they are holding for close to a month could you imagine how much money they are actually making off interest! I am completely and thouroughly disgusted by corporate greed in our country. In my opinion this is a criminal act and there should be a law against it. So ti summarize; I used there service to sell an item which I was charged a listing fee and a percentage of the sell. They automatically put on there shipper infor "freightquote" who I am pretty sure they get a percentage from. The buyer sent me a payment for the item and the shipping with Paypal, "who they own" which charged me a service fee for the sale. Now they are holding my money for 21-30 days and collecting interest on it. What a scam!!!!! Shame on you.. You are no different from all the other corporate crooks in our country today.
From Julie "eBay Inc. (Nasdaq:EBAY – News) today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009. The ecommerce company posted first quarter revenue of $2.02 billion, a $171.6 million year-over-year decrease."
Shows how well these fee hikes and feedback changes are working out.
Their PayPal division, on the other hand, "reported a strong quarter with $643.0 million in revenue, an increase of 11% year-over-year."
It would be very interesting to know how much of that was due to interest they earned on the payments they are HOLDING from Ebay sellers for up to 21 days! PayPal is supposed to release those funds 3 days after proof of delivery, but since the hold program started they've claimed to be having "technical difficulties" with the automatic release. Sellers have to call them on the phone to get payments released after delivery, during which time PayPal is obviously making good money on the held funds.
From Meekhan Jackson MI Well I will be looking for an alturnitive for Paypal. They have frozen my account with out notice. Their explanation was "That I faled to ship an item" The item sold on Easter Sunday. By the time the post office was open they had canceled my postage, and froze my account. That was this morning. Now it is we are under suspicion of fraud. Because I buy things at Auction and sell them on Ebay. Some Fraud
From Marcio, San Francisco, CA I'm going to check out amazon or froogle, this whole thing is unacceptable NOT RIGHT NOT FAIR SHOULD NOT BE LEGAL – I buy things cash and resale on ebay but guess what – Ebay is using my hard working money for almost a month and there is nothing I can do about it. THEY SHOULD AT THE VERY MINIMUM ALERT THE SELLER – THIS IS A HIRGH RISK ITEM FUNDS WILL BE HELD FOR 21 DAYS. DO YOU WANT TO PROCEED????
when I use somebody elses money I pay interest but I guess ebay can just have free loans.
Anyway ebay call it whatever they want I call it 'Stealing'
From 64bay.com-William Cash 525 Cassi Road,Chuckey,TN Hello Everyone,I'd Like to introduce myself and My new Website. My name is William Cash I just setup a new Auction Website called 64bay.com I to was fed up with the fee's and the lack of personal support from the big name auction site,so I decided to do something about it and started searching for a secure Program to run a full featured auction site after several years of rescearch I finaly narrowed it down to 3 and started rescreaching those more closely and finialy decided on the one we have ,it's the most secure out there not a clone or available template or script you can buy ,we're now working on the payment system,it would be easy to setup paypal but ebay owns paypal along with skype,part of craigslist among others,this information is freely available by doing a search on your favorite search engine. So here's my Wiki I submitted come over and check us out you can go ahead and setup an account and list your items,open your store and get things ready to go, by getting in first you will be able to choose what username you prefer which is important ,our programmers are working on the payment system and shipping system, we expect to be ready for business full force in a few weeks here's our wiki I submitted: Auction Website , Our Goal is to help People get there new Business on the web and sell their Things or Products without cutting deep into their Profit. We are offering A website that is free to join and to help you get started we're giving you a $100.00 credit to your sellers account. That means that you can start selling free,pay no fee's,Open an online store with us, we're here to listen,send us an email,post in our forum,let us know how we can help you. The $100.00 credit will go into your account as soon as you join and start listing your items. Open a store,post your items the first $100.00 is on us,get in early and get your pick of username and store name .You will find that selling on our site is alot cheaper than the other big name site's,you get to keep more of your hard earned dollar. Send us an email at staff@64bay.com with any questions you may have a real person will respond,not a computer generated response.Tell your friends about your new online store at 64bay.com.Joining and buying is always free,you have nothing to lose and all to gain. Thank's in advance!!! Enjoy
From Jane Huard Well, been selling since 2000. The spike in fees is astronomical. But, the fact of they promote free shipping, when, item is sold, and, of course you have to add shipping in the price, they recieve final fees and a double payment of paypal fees for the same item. Called double dipping, with "free shipping". Then, takes 4 days to recieve the money where they profit even more. Doing really well on e-crater No fees. I discount for no paypal.
From Phil I had 99% feedback rating with ebay. I was charged fees for listing items thought I was getting a service of having my listing show just as other users but because my rating dropped to 98% ebay decided not to give me full index in their searches I think this is fruad. I paid to have my things listed and then they dont get seen. I want to sue them for fals services and having me lose sales up to 75%. Ebay sucks it is a rip off site now. Do not join they have their head up paypal butt and paypal has their head up ebay butt and niether no where they are going. Its all about the buyer advantage n ow on ebay and paypal is in with that.
From Shaun Power, Templeogue, Dublin Hello folks!
If you can still log onto Ebay, the read their February announcement! More fee changes and not good..
I now announce an Exodus of Ebayers and I humbly redirect my learned friends to join EBID, BONANZLE and WEBIDZ..
Come on over and join us. Tell all your customers where to find us.
Free listings, free stores.. come and check these FANTASTIC auction sites out and reconnect with me (former ebay seller, left them in February 2009 with NO REGRETS!) and currently enjoying the camaradarie on Ebid, Bonanzle and Webidz
From Mark Nguyen, Orange County, CA Very unfair feedback policy. Ebay only favors to buyers and for sellers, no winning battle. I have been selling on ebay for more than 3 years now and it only took 3 consecutive negative feedback and I was suspended. Ebay did not even give me enough time to solve the issues with the customers and towards the end all 3 customers were satisfied and regret ever leaving those neg. feedbacks, but demaged been done. I'm suspended with a 98% 3800 feeback score.
From 30 day suspension over nothing…Where's the door? Just another ebay PowerSeller~looking for the exit door! Looking around for a decent alternative now as they just suspended me for 30 days over nothing at all. Arrogant #%@$$@!
500+ feedbacks at 100% positive 5.0 DSR's. Idiots! Anybody found a viable alternative? EBAY UPPER MANAGEMENT……Don't forget>>>WHAT GOES AROUND EVENTUALLY COMES AROUND!!! May you get your richly deserved 'reward' for your treatment of your fellow man come judgement day. :)
From Brian Everhart, Winter Haven, FL I think Paypal has just become the largest scam on eBay. If you stop to consider the potential amount of money Paypal is holding in theri coffers from these bogus holds and the "float" they can earn, it is clear they are simply abusing newer sellers on eBay and taking the interest profit to the bank. They are penalizing people who have not done anything wrong in the miniscule chance they will! I have only been buying on eBay for about 2.5 years, but in that time I have spent probably $3-4000 with 100% poistive results. As I started selling for the first time this month, I had over $250 in two transactions held under this new policy even though I have done NOTHING to ever raise concerns about my integrity in their system. More importantly, they made no public or direct notice of these onerous rules to me when I began selling, and, they publish on the back pages of the transaction screens that you will get funds when either 1) The item is delivered, or 2) you are given positive feedback or 3) 21 days pass wihtout dispute. NOT printed there is the fact that even after it is delivered or positive feedback given, there is another 3-4 day wait for your funds. When I paid for items over the last 2.5 years, those sellers got their money immediately. When my current two buyers paid with Paypal, those funds were immediately available to Paypal, and I was held accountable for past ills by OTHER people!!! I don't give a DAMN about banking rules, Paypal rules, if it is legal or not, IT IS ABSOLUTELY DESPICABLE for Paypal to treat their customers this way. eBay used to be a fine avenue for everyone, small and large to buy and sell practically everything. These new policies dramatically favor big, commercial sellers and slam little folks as eBay doesn't want to police itself, and Paypal simply wants to cash in on us. I intend to contact my State Attorney, the Office of the Governor, the Florida State and Federal Department of Commerce and any other agency I can to complain loudly about this abuse of force by this greedy company. DO NOT BE FOOLED BY CLAIMS OF BAD PEOPLE ON EBAY, THIS IS ABOUT STEALING THE FLOAT ON YOUR MONEY!
Just like Wall Street and our Banking system, the Executives at Paypal and eBay jsut decided to rape your wallet in favor of theirs, and do it to the little people while favoring the large commercial cuatomers. I will not accept these holds. As a matter of fact, when I complained loudly (but not profanely) to a Paypal support supervisor, in both cases they immediately released my funds. What does that tell you? They know this is a lousy rule that is tantamount to stealing and that they cannot enforce it. DEMAND YOUR MONEY! Do not take no for answer. Do not be profane, but be as loud and angry as is necessary to get your money.
From Flower Mound, Tx I think if enough people ditch EBAY it will suffer. Listen to what PAypal did to me. I had to refund 2427.00 I had 2403 in my paypal acct. When i went in to issue the refund and befiore I hit the "Issue refund" button, it said "note: If your PP acct balance doesn't have enough money in it to cover the refund, money will be automatically transferred from your backup funding source." Well, I figured that the $24 I needed would be taken from my backup bank acct. But no!! PP took $2427 from my backup account. This caused 5 overdrafts and fees totaling $175.00. After 2.5 hours on the phone to dolts I spoke with supervisor who would not do anyhting until I threatened to file complaint with TX Atty General/consumer Protection Div. He then sent a fax to my banker asking them to waive the fees. What a bunch of _____. It took 6 days for the money to be transferred back to my acct. All that interest must be in the billions. I AM FINSIHED WITH EBAY AND PAYPAL. I WILL GO AMAZON OR CRAIG'S LIST AND EXPLORE OTHER OPTIONS. WE CAN LIVE WITHOUT THEM. I AM PI—ED
From Mark Tunis, Tucson, AZ It came to a head with me 2 weeks ago ago when I decided after almost a year to list a couple of items on ebay again. I followed all of their new %#$& rules including paypal only payments and even went with free shipping for more search results. When one of the items sold, a $40 sale, they had paypal freeze the funds for 21 days for no reason. I have no customer disputes and 100% positive feedback on both ebay (zonakid57) and ETSY (designsbyzonakid). My wire wrapped gemstone jewelry will only be found on ETSY (designsbyzonakid), ECRATER (GemstoneJewelryByZonaKid) and of course zonakid.com. See ya ebay and may you rot in %$#*.
zonakid
From CHRIS, DAYTONA , FLORIDA EBAY IS GETTING RIDICULOUS. IT CLOSE YOU DOWN FOR NO REASON WHEN OTHER ARE ON WITH FAKE STUFF. THE FEES ARE TOO HIGH YOU CANNOT MAKE A PROFIT ON YOUR ITEMS. I AM SEARCHING FOR OTHER SITE AND HOPEFULLY I WILL DO BETTER BECAUSE EBAY IS A REAL PAIN IN THE A……..
From mike lockwood fairview pa I agree with the comment that Ebay should be investigated. They have a discount on seller's fees for power sellers. Your discount is based on your 4 sellers ratings. Funny thing, my average always drops right around the day the invoice is tabulated. It is a bad system to begin with. If the buyer doesn't give you the best rating it hurts you as the seller.
I feel the problem with Ebay today is they forget who their customers are – SELLERS not buyers. They make their money off of the buyers. They are doing everything possible to drive sellers away. I doubt anyone who sets policies has ever been a serious Ebay seller. It has been my experience that 95% of the buyers are a pleasure to deal with. The other 5% can't read, are just stupid, habitual whiners or scammers. Rather than deal with the problem buyers, Ebay has decided to put it on the backs of the sellers. There is no winning if you are a seller with a dificult buyer. To add insult to injury, with Paypal they are very quick to hold your money if a buyer whimpers. Recently Paypal was holding my money because a buyer claimed he never received his item. It is beacuse he ignored the post office notice that he had a package. I can see if a seller out and out screws a buyer, his money should be held. I have 100% positive feedback and I sell my items as-is. There is no reason for Paypal to ever hold my money.
If Ebay let the feedback system work the way it was intended to things would be much better.
From tony patterson fayetteville,tenn ebays'gluttoness behavior represents all thats wrong with america today.i suppose if jesus christ were on earth today he'd be chasin their management with the jaw of an ass
From Steve, Lake Zurich IL TO HELL WITH THIS COMPANY AND THEIR GREEDY AND DECEPTIVE PRACTICES!
I too have used this platform for years to buy and sell (well into five figures and 150+ transactions with a 99% rating).
Almost anyone (buyer or seller) that has used this service for more than a little while is aware at some level of the ill-practices of this giant.
If we allow this to perpetuate by continued use, we have ourselves to blame.
Personally, I lived for a long time without ebay and paypal…..and I will live without them.
Power to the people!
From Murad Esmail, UK I Have been trading on the ebay platform for the past 4-5 years…. and now due to this change of best match…. my sales are down by 90%… i give up….Ebay was meant to be a level playng foeld for all, the 'work from home moms' to the professional sellers… but now only 1 person wins, the professional powerseller is always at the top of page 1 for the full 30 days….us nobodies are on page 50 and above…
well o'm saying good by to Ebay… and hopefully joining the smaller auction sites…. good luck to all ex-ebayers…
From Chris – Fort Worth, TX I used to be one of the angry sellers on eBay. Tired of their soaring prices and lack of any real attempt to stop the bad apples who were taking advantage of their site but I finally made a change. I found a site called Up4bidz.com and I was very impressed with their site and motto. They seem to be very active in keeping things equal for buyers and sellers alike which was a big problem I had with eBay. Up4bidz claims to have a feedback system in the works which will be equal to both parties in a transaction. A big plus for me in deciding to use them was the fact that they do not charge final value fees. I highly recommend that if you are fed up with eBay and looking for a new online auction site to use that you try http://www.up4bidz.com.
From Sonja Holmgren, Moorhead, Mn. I'm a buyer and and have been searching for other online auction sites. Ebay is no longer fun. They are making it more difficult for buyers too!
From Mary, Belmar, NJ For what it's worth, I've been selling books, CDs and DVDs (just things I want to get rid of for some spare cash) for a couple of years now, and Amazon makes the entire process easy for both sellers and buyers. There's no PayPal involved. Buyers charge their purchases, and Amazon takes a modest fee, but that is partly offset by Amazon giving seller a few bucks to defray mailing costs. When I want Amzaon to transfer my earnings, I just tell it to, and it starts the transfer immediately. I'm very happy with Amazon, given what I sell. I think you need to set up a store to sell things other than books,CDs and DVDs but if it's run as well as it is for occasional sellers like me, it might be a good option.
From Bill Jamison, Bartlesville, Oklahoma What's infuriating beyond the higher fees and Pay Pal BS is how they communicate with you. You have a genuine gripe and they treat yuou like a little kid "We understand your frustration but…….." I have well over 5,000 feedback and if I has nother venue I'd be gone in a heartbeat. I'm working on that too with a few good options springing up. God Bless this woman for mustering the courage/nerve to walk away.
From Charles, Oakland, CA I am FURIOUS about the Paypal 21 day hold policy! I have been selling on Ebay for nearly 7 years and have a 100% positive feedback rating, but because I have not sold over 100 items, Paypal considers me risky? This is absurd. Someone, with power, should remind Paypal that it is not THEIR money to hold. They are essentially stealing it for 21 days. Can you imagine walking into a store, buying something, and then telling them you will pay for it in 21 days- IF you are happy with it! They would laugh at you.
But I think there is a way around it… Has anyone ever tried this: Ask the buyer to transfer the money, as a cash transfer, through Paypal, without paying through the Ebay checkout page. I am thinking of putting a new policy on my auction pages: "We will not ship an item until funds have cleared. If Paypal will not release the funds, buyer is responsible for paying another way." Thoughts??
From Diane, Orlando, FL I too have sold on ebay on and off for years. I do have the feedback and other of their qualifications to prevent holds. But my 22 year old son, who works very hard to pay his bills and run his life, sells an occasional hobby item on ebay. I was shocked when he discovered this aweful new policy. So much so that I was in disbelief. I called PayPal and verified it. I really cannot believe this, its just criminal, but just one more instance of "they just dont give a S***!. The outcome of this, I feel will be a continued degradation of ebay as the personal flea market market place it was to become just a haven for huge vendors drop shipping trinkets from hong kong. I see craigs list becoming bigger and bigger for the individual sellers.
Just SAD :)
From David GOOD RIDDANCE PAYPAY AND EBAY!!!
I had NEVER heard of this issue until last week when I sold a convection oven from my restaurant and paypal sent me a note saying my 600 payment was frozen for 21 days!
I was in shock, I have a 100% rating and I use the service now and then and have a total of some 58 transactions over a 3 year period.
The transaction had ALREADY received POSITVE feedback from the client, althought I had not shipped the item yet, and by Paypals own rules this should have released the hold…but it did not.
I wrote a very firm letter to Paypay and told them I wanted the hold released in 24hours or I would contact my attorney. They sent an email saying that it had been released "one time only" and that in the future they would not release such a hold.
My follow up email to that one was simple…..GOOD RIDANCE…I will not deal with them any longer!
People…think of it this way….if you order ANY ITEM on the internet….through AMAZON, TARGET, ANYONE..they ARE NOT GOING TO SHIP YOUR PRODUCT WITHOUT FIRST RECEIVING YOUR MONEY!!!!
For the few abusers out there, there is a host of solutions to fix a bad deal, but there is NO WAY I am going to ship ANY PRODUCT without having money in my hands first.
I can only imagine all the false claims that will come out of this from buyers who want a "better deal" once they get the product and understand that they hold your "future" in their hands if you don't play ball.
EBAY & PAYPAL can KISS MY GRITS!!!
GOOD RIDANCE!!!
From Anon Hello Everyone.
We agree with most or all of the comments in this blog.
We also know that our continuous words mean nothing or make no difference against these giants.
We speak to release our anger and frustrations, but that's all we can do.
Remember that these "giants" only have power and money because "we the people gave it to them."
Therefore, "we the people" can take it away from them.
So, "we the people" JUST have to take action into our own hands.
(Legally & Safely With Peace In Mind!)
In conclusion, it only takes one's actions to start a revolution.
From MJANE Damn son geet it togethter. It's not that bad. You can see there are economic issue in our time that may only get worse. If you are paying more for goods, the chances ebay is as well. Do what you can in life and thats all you can do. It's going to be alright bro, just chill out what ever way you know how.
From Todd, Columbus, OH I had my first impact on the "freeze" of funds from Paypal. I have zero negative feedback on Ebay and sell stuff I don't need from time to time. All of a sudden my latest sale triggered the freeze and now two weeks later no money. I am still not sure what made my transaction "high risk," but I do know trying to get a buyer to leave feedback to get your money is crazy. I am trying to figure out what my next move is. Craigs list maybe. So now I have to front the shipping charges and wait for the person to leave feedback or pay extra for signatures through the more expensive shipping companies just to get my money. Nice!
From Pamela, Haverford, PA The mainstream business press needs to do some real investigative journalism into eBay. Here is a company that has sacrificed incredible potential and long-term growth with immediate profit via both Meg Whitman and John Donahoe. Via their purchase of PayPal, their total disregard for customer service and, now, their practices of cooking the books by double billing sellers, billing sellers for services that they never subscribed to, "holding" funds for no apparent reason and freezing bank accounts, eBay is operating criminally and should be regulated. Is PayPal even regulated? Many PayPal business users, independent of eBay, are leaving in droves because of their practice of theft.
From OG, Calgary, Alberta, Canada Ebay fees + Paypal fees are rediculously high. I have stopped selling on Ebay long ago.
From geroge romero, santa fe, nm I have been selling on eBay on and off for years. I am barely living on SSI of $637 per month and $20 in food stamps thanks to my disability. I sell books on eBay and make a few extra bucks–very few. I go out of my way to please buyers, often giving them free insurance, free delivery confirmation, free giftwrap. Was building an eBay store–after reading this column–FORGET IT. I have noticed lately that despite my sales my Paypal account is barely growing at all. Also eBay has told me some things I must do that I don't see any other sellers doing: namely you can't say: "Looks like, or probably is" while offering 100% money back guarantee. Funny, in reviewing 1000's of listings I see many items described this way. I was also told by eBay certain items I offer must be authenticated by ebay approved authentication services. I have seen only one other items authenticated this way–1000's and 1000's of other similar items have no authentication. Arbitrary rules haphazardly inforced. eBay is a dictatorship. We are tired of the threats. We have 100% positive feedback. Everytime we turn on the computer we dread the possibility of eBay suspension for breaking some esoteric rule. Living way below the poverty level is stress enough. We have tried to become self supporting through eBay, put a great deal of energy into it and eBay takes all the money–keeps threatening us. CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT is the answer. Here we have a huge extremely rich abusive, corrupt corporation and many thousands of furious potential plantiffs with damages. Where are the ambitious attorneys? CLASS ACTION! CLASS ACTION! Lawyers: Begin by contacting all the posts here and then contact all eBay sellers. We will sign on but are afraid to put our contact info here in view of potential eBay retaliation. Fortunately we sell books so it looks like we will be moving on to Amazon. Good riddance eBay–you could have helped so many people–your karma is coming. The folks in charge of eBay are greedy, rich, callous people. Where are the Bolsheviks when we need them? Where the guillotine? I have become so upset by the threats from eBay that I am beginning antidepressants tomorrow and have been battling suicidal thoughts. eBay was one of my only hopes to escape poverty.
From Nicholas Bradley. Melbourne, VIC eBay is money sucker. After selling my old stuff on eBay, and after paying all the fees that eBay created, it's like me giving away all my stuff for free…
From laurel croxton ebay not only is raping sellers with fees and now banning the acceptance of money orders or checks, but is also protecting the nonpay bidders and calling them buyers,allowing those nonpay "buyers" to leave negative feedback for something they did not even purchase but doing nothing about lewd, profane, threatening emails sent by those very nonpay "buyers" i am in one of those situations right now and ebay emailed me saying there is nothing they will do to the nonpay threatening "buyer" my only recourse is to wait 7 days file a dispute and give him a strike which he can dispute. fair honest seller loses , non pay "buyer" wins. i am through with ebay after one more auction which will be a copy of those emails and copies of ebays responses showing how they are not protecting the ones who make them their profits.let's see which policies they say this new listing violates. I demanded to speak toa supervisor and was denied any help or response.
From geo I've been a ebay buyer and seller since '03.I,m tired of searching through hundreds of listings of what I call useless chinese junk to find what i'm looking for.Their fees have made me not sell anymore.Searching for hours has made me not buy anymore.
From anonymous I, too, was a seller on ebay. Notice the past tense. I gave up after I realized that the sellers had no safe guards to protect them against ebay and dishonest buyers. I became disgusted with the $1 doorbuster scam that ebay did nothing about. The fees are outrageous. Not only do you have to pay ebay, but, due to their "don't discuss alternative payment measures" you have to use Paypal and be charged more fees. Judging by the threads posted on ebay, I would say there are 1000s of dissatisfied sellers. Most of the threads describe a frantic desire to get out of ebay and find a new site to sell on. Fortunately, I have found a new site. I am surprised the major news people haven't picked up on this topic more and written about it. As the threads promote…feebay.
From Anonymous THERE IS OVER 3700 COMMENTS!… This page takes forever to load…
From Joe K. You're right D. Henson, it's about time the world knows about how crooked Ebay and Paypal really is. It has been over a year since the crap hit the fan and nothing has been said by anyone. Someone must put an end to this non-sense.
From D. Henson Canton Oh CNN When are you going to do a story on all of this? With the way the stock market is falling Ebay can not offord a story such as this to air. We as common people has turned to you for help. PLEASE everyone who reads this contact CNN & let them know that now is the time to do the story Ebay's stocks are low & a story such as this would drive their stocks even lower & maybe close their doors.
From Leilani, Akron, Ohio I also used to sell on eBay, and made just enought to help out with some of the expenses. But unfortunately two dishonest buyers brought my megar earnings to an abrupt end. PayPal and eBay sided with the buyers without investigating the situation at all. So I was out over $70.00 which may not seem like a lot to some, but I am only a part timer trying to make a little extra cash. I an now selling on Etsy.com but am looking for an alternative to PayPal since buyers seem to prefer paying online as opposed to Money Orders.
I'm not taking eBay's side but I think part of their problem is inexperienced help, sometimes the customer service rep. doesn't understand the situation or doesn't take time to read the entire message when it is presented to them in an email. Either way I am through with eBay and PayPal, they were making more money on my items than I was.
From Gerald Carlstrom One final thought: the kind of people who make it to the top of the corporate food chain are not morons. They are, if nothing else, cunning self-promoters. I am sure that they are well aware of what they are doing, and the public reaction to it. What if these people quietly acquired short positions in ebay stock about six months back, even on other world exchanges where Ebay may be traded, but where there is less transparency? Or through well-paid proxies.. What if, when ebay stock is just about worthless, they quietly cover their shorts and buy the stock back, then announce to all the world that they finally figured it out, fire the “bad guys,” to much fanfare (and to handsome retirement in Majorca, or a job as an advisor to the Department of Commerce.), reinvent the “new Ebay” and ride the stock price back up on the next wave of optimism. Sorry, that’s just my skepticism (or maybe cynicism) rearing its ugly head again.
From G. Carlstrom I have been an ebay member since 2000. I sold quite a bit the first few years. Since then, other more important things kept me occupied. I did continue to maintain an inventory at half.com. Not a significant income, just a way to get rid of books I no longer wanted. I didn't realize how much things were changing for sellers. Well, maybe an inkling when, for example, someone on half would buy one of my books, then, ten weeks later, ask for a refund because the book was "no longer needed." After a long search at half (to find a way to get a human to talk to me), I complained about the situation. In both cases, the decree handed down was that a refund would be debited to my account. I suspect that, in one case, the person simply wanted to read the book. In the other case, the person had a half.com store, and I am convinced he wanted to list my book to see if it would sell for him (free inventory). Apparently no sale was "final." These were "the rules." No appeal was permissible. After that, although I still have listings there, I no longer searched for bargain books to add to my inventory. It is a waste of time when such buyer practices are rewarded.
At ebay, although I had not been selling in years, I continued to buy an occasional item. I found that I had to bid on a lot of items to get even one at a price comparable to driving somewhere like Microcenter and picking one up. Many of the things were, once one factored in S & H, not any cheaper than Wal-Mart, and I know that, at least at the latter, I have always been able to get an immediate no-hassle refund. So, there was no incentive to use ebay.
It was only when I started trying to sell a few things again about six weeks ago, that I realized why sellers are trying to squeeze a little extra out of S & H. It seems the only way for sellers to even remotely make a profit on inexpensive items, given the increased fees inflicted on them. I tried to get rid of a lot of little items that usually bring less than $10.
I can live with listing fees and even 12% FVFs, provided that it is a venue that brings me lots of buyers. But that is no longer true: I can list an item that has price and shipping as low as anyone and have a 100% feedback, yet my item is still down around page ten, behind a bunch of stuff drop-shipped from Hong Kong. In about half of the auctions, I don't think anyone found my listing, Still, I had to pay the same listing fee.
The really crowning insult is to tell me I must use Paypal exclusively (and its exorbitant fees) in my auctions. If I sell a small item that costs me $.75 at an unclaimed freight auction, and I start the bidding at $.99, and only get one minimum bid, and the postage is $2.75, Paypal charges me $.41 for receiving the $3.74. $.41/$.99 means Paypal is charging me 41% of the sale price for an electronic fund transfer, usually from one Paypal account to another. My ebay fees are $.29. My net, according to several calculators I use, is a minus $.46.
Even if it is bid up to $5.00, PayPal fees are $.52, over 10% of the sale price, simply for a computerized balance transfer without human intercession. Ebay fees are a further $.64, so (.52 + .64)/ $5.00 = a commission of over 23% of the sale price.
The other piece of preposterous nonsense is that my buyers can rate me anyway they like. But I can only give them positive feedback and, if what some say is true, must give them, if I am to get paid. What am I supposed to say? That everyone who actually honors their side of an uncoerced contract is 'marvelous', 'wonderful', 'brilliant', ad nauseum. How is this an accurate gauge of anything other than management's arrogance and ignorance of the most fundamental of conditions necessary for a market system: integrity.
I had my suspicions something wasn't quite right when, earlier this year, I read that Ms Whitman was stepping down, after a successful decade at the helm, where she had become a billionaire (that's with 9 zeroes!). My first thought at the time was that I hadn't heard of any ebay sellers becoming billionaires.
The last I heard of Ms. Whitman was that, because her "great achievements at building ebay into a colossus of commerce," she was being considered as possible presidential timber. Such are the delusions of Ivy-League network elites who "know what is best for the little people."
Just one man's opinion…
From John, Cadiz KY Just got an email from LutLot.com which was mentioned several times early on in this thread. They are now inviting sellers to try them out for free until December 31st. After that their fees are only $1 per listing with no final value fees or anything.
I think the site has great potential if they can get the right traffic. I'd so love to see a site that is well put together like LutLot.com is take on eBay. Maybe then eBay will see that just because you're on top now, you can't force everyone to do it your way.
I'm listing my items at LutLot. If the frustrated ex-bayers on this thread joined and did the same perhaps we could say GOODBYE EBAY!
From Melanie, Daytona Beach FL I think I am in a nightmare. I've been selling on Ebay off and on since 1999. Since my husband and I are both now retired, I have been listing more seriously until a couple months ago. My hand was slapped by Ebay and I was "put in the corner" for 1. Copyright infringement (because I mentioned the word Swarovski in a listing)& 2. Manipulating the search engine (because I mentioned my other listings in new listings) ?? About 6 listings were cancelled….no warning or courtesy email from them explaining why. Then they did it again, lowered my search status because they thought my shipping was too high??? 99% of my items shipped Priority flat rate at MY cost ($4.75)and I even refunded cash in some shipments because the buyer lived close and it was cheaper than I thought. So what gives??? They did finally raise my search status to "raised". This really bursted my bubble. (I have 100% positive feedback). So whether discouraged, frustrated, insulted, who knows. I have not listed since then. And low and behold, mysteriously, my search status has been lowered AGAIN????? How can that be with no listings?? At any rate, I too have been looking for an alternative. We suppliment our retirement income and pay for vacations with Ebay sales….But not anymore. I would rather go back to work or not take a vacation than to deal with Ebay. And I just pulled my PayPal funds out. If a million dollar a year seller will pull out of Ebay, that should say something. I think everyone is right when they say Ebay is down the tubes. That's really sad since I met some really wonderful buyers and sellers. But maybe they will find the other auction sites. If there is a forum outside of Ebay for their "refugees", I would like to know about it. Thanks CNN for making this possible and your email updates are welcome!
From Chaz, Hahira, GA You go girl!!! I too, am sick and tired of eBay getting away with all their high and mighty rules & regs! They think they are the ONLY ones on the planet to bring EVERYone together! Pooey on them! We'll teach them, some humility!
From Jane Powell, Milwaukee Wi Bravo. I switched to ebid too,& it is wonderful!! Originally an English site, they have manners & rules that make sense. Low fees too. They are #2 in the UK for auction sites.
ebay's shenanigans drove me to the swtich after selling & buying for years: one problem, I experienced severe technical problems w/ virus contamination from Christmas 2007 thru March 2008. When my service finally fixed, MSN pointed finger at ebay. Whatever it was went right thru my firewall and Norton! Turned my computer off every 5 minutes, and oddly, reversed payments on ebay, etc. I wasted 60-80 hours trying to fix my computer never realizing ebay was the carrier.
ebay finally admitted a "glitch" in March 2008 which took techs a month to fix. I experienced reversed payments, payment status changes, lots of items marked "payment returned", links broken betwen ebay and Paypal, inability to send invoices or emails to buyers, etc. ebay never fixed mess this caused. That was up to us.
Since ebay did not openly announce this "glitch" to all members, those affected ended up taking the bullet for ebay's tech problems. I got at least 20 negatives for unmailed items, etc., which ebay at first indicated it would reverse, then promptly forgot about. Now no one remembers any ebay problems in March at all.
The problems began to repeat in June, July, Aug 2008, and notifying ebay was useless. If techs could not duplicate the problem, it did not exist. And it became my fault; Reps told me I was not supposed to take the payment information furnished by ebay seriously. I should have known better than trust this info because it just furnished for convenience, not for accuracy (where else were we do get it).
More problems followed because my feedback scores were lower. I had auctions closed, and was MAYBE suspended for a month because a buyer forgot to close a $1.69 claim, or maybe it was sbecause omething else (rep said it was "too complicated to explain").
I did try contacting ebay, etc, and no one knew what to do. They were not authorized to do anything anyway. Rather than waste any more of my time, I turned ebay in to my State's Consumer Protection Division. I figured for $6000 a year in fees (ebay/paypal), ebay should be able to answer questions and explain better than it did. Add their 21 day hold on all Paypal payments, during which sellers are urged to "mail immediately", using what for postage??? That has got to be illegal. The buyer actually believed it was giving money directly to seller, yet Paypal was holding for 21 days.
I urge everyone with ebay problems to start by filing with their state's consumer protection division. Write them a detailed letter and they will contact ebay and demand answers. ebay should answer for its shoddy business practices.
From James Childress, Cut Bank, MT I just found about this change of policy today when I received notification of the payments received. I searched for info on the matter and this article turned up. I have canceled all my sales on Ebay, apologized to my buyers, and refunded the payments that were placed on hold. When Ebay goes belly up from these ill thought out policies I will be laughing hard and long. How can they just tell the very people who made Ebay what it is today sorry we don't value you anymore. Without the sellers who built Ebay, I doubt they will last more than a couple years before going bankrupt. I also will be refusing to pay any fees associated with the cancelled auctions. They clearly do not deserve them.
From Susan Muurphy Mission Viejo California I am a senior that has falled on hard times, so a few weeks ago I started selling on E-bay. They kept flaging me to reduct the shipping fee and incourage me to ship for free. On one item that I keep deducting the fee so ebay would accept, it cost me $7.00 more at the post office. They took off 20 itms up for sale and put me on a 7 day restriction They they said that I could not sell fakes on ebay.(a handbag) I emailed them that I had the original receipt for 17 pcs I just purchased in Sept. hoping to may 10% on each item. I became ill over this because we could not get anyone to talk to us. MY daughter faxed the original receipt. and got on live help. No help I was put on restriction but also my rights were taken away as I can not reply to emails for ebay customers asking me if I have sent their item. And of the 1200.00 I made in one week 600.00 is being held for 21 days.(I asked them if they pay me interest, no answer) I have to get myself well first and then I would like to fight for my rights. No one should be harassed. Is this what a monopoly is?
From Bill, Kansas City KS I joined LutLot shortly after I read this post (early november). Although its very new, it does have potential to be an ebay killer.
Just my 2 cents.
Bill
From CT, The Great Midwest I'm glad I found this thread. The stories are horrible but have made me realize that if I keep giving GreedBay chances to do the "right thing" I will just end up as another sad casualty.
I've been a member since 2002 and just started selling at the end of August. I have 100% positive feedback as a buyer and seller. Since then I've been suspended once because someone with the same last name bid on some of my auctions. They waited until I had the most listings up I've ever had, cancelled them all and was told I violated their Shilling Policy. This sale had taken place a few weeks prior and the buyer didn't even leave feedback. Also, during this time I started receiving phishing emails through Ebay's Messaging Center. I inquired about these emails and lo & behold I found out that someone had been trying to access my account information! I was told that it looked like identity theft and was forwarded to SafeHarbor. Did I receive any warnings or alerts? NO! I was promised updates, etc. and have heard NOTHING. Last week another listing of mine was cancelled due to VERO. I emailed the company who told me that my listing violated European trade mark rights. I sell only in the US and sometimes to Canada. BTW the item I had for auction you can buy at Nordstroms, Saks, Bloomingdales and their online sites right now. My account has now been restricted because I'm considered a "high risk seller" although I have 100% Positive Feedback. I have already been assaulted by nasty buyers, no one leaves feedback unless I ask them to and even then they don't, it goes on and on. It is a Buyer's Market.
As most everyone else has said here, Ebay doesn't care about the Sellers and just forget it if you are a small seller like me. I don't know if I have been abused enough to report them to the AG or my local Congressman, but why not? They are profitting off of fraudulent policies and ridiculous fees. They have promised me fee credits on items that didn't sell but then reneged on those by hiding behind a new policy effective October 22, 2008 that states they will not refund a sale if you use "Buy It Now", have it as an option in a regular auction or relist it with this option and complete the sale. The item I requested the fee credit sold on October 19, 2008 but since I contacted them on October 22, 2008 this transaction was considered to be under the new policy and they wouldn't refund the fee credit.
Don't sell on Ebay!! It's just a matter of short time before your money and or identity is stolen, you are waking up to a new surprise daily, your account is hacked and you are contacting Ebay or PayPal daily about their latest stunt. And while my short-lived sales aren't my primary income, they allow me some very important things in life like being able to get medication that insurance refuses to cover and to pay escalating non-covered health care costs.
We have to take a stand and MAKE the alternative sites WORK FOR US! WE must give the other sites a chance otherwise there really will be nowhere to go. Nothing happens overnight, not even Ebay.
From Jack, Clarksville, TN LutLot.com is small now, but with the right traffic I can see them becoming a major player. The site is nice and functions well. Very familiar format for ebay "ship jumpers".
LutLot.com's fees are reasonable at only $1 flat rate fee to list items for sale. There are no "final value" fees or any other hidden fees.
Each day I visit the LutLot.com website I see more improvements, and signs of more traffic judging by the bidders usernames and the items listed.
Ebay seems to want to dump its smaller sellers and LutLot.com is right there to pick up ebays "throw aways". Kudo's to LutLot.com for recognizing the void and jumping right in.
From Jason, Boston Mass. I have never heard of lutlot but after looking I see it does have potential. Thanks for the headsup here.
Jason
From Try Ebid !!! Ebid is totally free and Ebay should be shaking in their boots. Ebay treats customers like enemies. I have just converted to Ebid.net and like what I see so far. I purchased the seller + lifetime membership for 49. and I get a free T-Shirt to Advertise Ebid which I will proudly wear everywhere I go. Get the Word out–Ebay is a Huge Rip-Off.
Think of it this way–either get the totally free basic lifetime membership or get the advanced membership for $49. and NEVER PAY A FEE FOR LISTING OR FINAL VALUE FEE EVER AGAIN. I’m sure this offer will not be around for long–so take advantage of it and let’s start a new community that appreciates our business!!!!!
From Vick, Vancouver I'm done with that company move on to amazon I guess..
From Powerseller since 1997 Suspended over 50 times on eBay and still Going
I am a multiple powerseller…Scratch that was until the DSR change….I was stripped because of a 4.4 in the shipping catagory…So I pay ebay over 15,000 in ebay fees every month and can not even get a human being…Live chat says the same revolving BS ebay manual…Cant help email Trust and safty…They threaten me every minute of everyday with suspension on my seller dashboard…Send me false warnings and will not even give me human contact…I received a warning and it was never emailed to me or in my ebay alerts…Just failing Policy compliance….And I cant even call anyone to discuss this.
Ebay is now and has been for a good while a joke…I however have over 20 ebay accounts….I paid friends …family members….Even paid a crackhead to open a bank account and get his social…Ebay can not stop the elite powersellers however I know how they treat sellers and buyers…They only stop to sh*t on them.
Dont let me get started on Vero…Ebay states they dont take sides on the validaty of the Vero accusation but you still get the waning and possible suspension even though the complaint has not been proven true.
I am going to make a huge set of videos bashing ebay for what they have done to me over the last 10 years…Its really sick what they have done.
Anyway if there is any information or help I can provide anyone please let me know…I have saved every warning and every response from ebay over my entire ebay career….Over 500 wanings and ebay bs responses….If you need anything just let me know.
eBay profits off of fraud because they get their cut upfront at the begining of every transaction. That is why they do not care. After listing an item 3 to 4 times to get a sale …Paying final value fees, double dipping paypal fees, ebay takes 20% of the sale…How many of you even have a 20% profit margin and if you are one of the elite and have say 23% profit margin….You give ebay 20% …Now can you 3% profit margins??? Ebay wants you too!!! Wants you to starve.
I hope ebay dies a slow miserable aids infested death and just before they die they are set on fire and put out with gasoline!
Everyone can already see and smell the fire!
From Rich, Abingdon VA Ebay has some idea the buyer are their customers. WRONG!!!!! Sellers are. We pay for everything. Without sellers there is no Ebay. That is not hard to get. Ebay knows this. It also knows that the days of unions strength is gone. As a Ex-Union president for ten years, I can say that Ebay looks at sellers as weak. Why would they no? This may never happen but if an organization with the AFL-CIO would take a look at the millions of sellers and reach out to them. They could start something that is called lobbying. Just like the federal labor laws. That Fortune 500 Company would have to answer to the feds under the national labor standards. They would be subject to the labor board just like Chevy and Ford, ECT. This is an new era of high tech but the same old system will still work and big business can not escape it unless the people in this country are afraid. Remember EBAY the sellers can take your power away!!!
From claire, york, pa I totally agree. Paypal and Ebay did the same to me – just 2 small items sent to Europe by 1st class air mail package and reported never received. I have Customs receipts which confirm they were accepted for shipping by USPS – I am sure it is a scam in France and Netherlands to buy stuff, say it never arrived and claim your payment back. Paypal then withdraws money from your account "while they review the issue". Basically, they say if you can't prove it was delivered, they they give your money back to the buyer. Am I supposed to hand deliver it? Now I am $90 out which is a lot on my small profit margins. Ebay bought Paypal, now they say Ebay sellers can only use Paypal – no checks, no money orders. The Attorney General needs to be involved. SOS.
From John, Cadiz KY Ebay has done me in. Im through and have found a great alternative without all the fees and stupid politics. Ive moved to LutLot.com which has all the features without all the fees and crazy policy changes that make an unfair selling situation.
From Scott, Hermann, MO David in Beaverton with 80 feedback said "NO MORE MR. NICEGUY".
Well, David, you got that right. I have been on Ebay since 1997. I have over 1200 feedback. 100% positive.
I used to be a nice guy.
Now, behind my smile is a grimace. I have a suspicious mind. Ebay made me worry that each customer might stab me in the heart.
I never used to feel this way. I used to feel that Ebay was the best, most rewarding place to sell antiques & collectibles. Emotionally rewarding as well as financially.
No more.
No more Mr. Nice Guy.
Ebay was fun for many years.
No more.
From Mr. Smith in Conway, Misouri I've been a seller on ebay since 1999, I average $1100-$1500 in sales per month. I have been very happy with them the whole time…..until 2008. I swear they are TRYING to chase their sellers away. I prefer auctions to any other type of selling, and no other online auction gets the same hits/bids (yet), so I'm still selling on ebay (for now). John Donahue either needs to RESIGN, or apologize and reverse all of the MINDLESS changes over the past year. The ebay board members need to sell 20 items per week on their own site, and imagine they need the money to pay the bills, and see how much they like their own changes.
Ebay had problems before, but they didn't directly tackle those problems. It's like ebay had a toothache so they shot it in the stomach so the tooth pain would subside.
From Rhonda M, Dover DE I quit selling at ebay in March of this year, as the insane new rules and higher fees finally made it impossible to make a profit. BUT, I have found a great new home: ATOMICMALL.COM
They have no listing fees, and I only pay a FVF if I make a sale. I've only been a member there for a few weeks, but I've already made several sales, many of them multiple item orders. These guys are new and fresh and according to their traffic charts are starting to skyrocket. I highly recommend them because of their no-gimmick, no upfront fee aproach.
Open a storefront and list totally for free so there's no risk at all. This is a nice change since the ebay days when I was paying through the nose just to get my stuff listed with no sales guarantee! They also have great forums with lots of friendly people eager to assist the newbs. Give em a try folks, I doubt you'll be disappointed: http://www.atomicmall.com
From dp, josephine, tx To JK in Pittsburgh and many others looking for a refreshing change, many of you have looked at http://www.onlineauctions.com. Some of you are still there, others have left because of an insufficient customer base. Some of you may not have found it yet. Well, I am here to tell you that OLA is slow, but I didn't expect another eBay overnight. On the plus side, and this is huge, they have a flat monthly charge, which includes the ability to post a few photos on your auctions. You can buy more photos if you like, but the number they allow within their base monthly charge is plenty for a lot of folks.
If you check ola out, please be patient. Some people who have tried it out did so for a couple of months, then pulled out with no or only a small number of sales. With that continually happening, you cannot possibly expect this, or any other auction site, to be able to replace the monster that has become eBay.
From C. Tunberg, Los Angeles, CA Something very disturbing about ebay is that it charges small sellers the same fees as large sellers, but it gives search preference to the large sellers. Using ebay's search & keywords (including the brand name), I tried to find two auctions that I knew existed, but they wouldn't come up. After many unsuccessful attempts to bring up the auctions, I emailed the friend who asked me look at them and she sent me links. I noticed that the auctions contained the keywords I used, including the brand name. Out of curiosity, I used the exact title of the auctions to search, and the auctions still wouldn't come up. The search didn't bring up the auctions until I used the actual auction item number. I heard that the search engine had changed, so I went back and compared the types of sellers that came up in my searches and, sure enough, I was trying to find the auctions of a small seller and only the larger sellers were coming up. I was shocked. I'm still shocked when I think of what a rip-off this is to small sellers, who are paying good money for the right to have their auctions found by potential bidders.
From rjsenior Ebay is doing this all on purpose. I have 2500 transactions w/ 100% feedback and am close to being suspended..They are trying to eliminate all the small sellers off ebay w/ the hopes of adopting a similar model as Amazon.com.
They will fail. They will fail fast. The Sellers are the heart of ebay & made them what they are today. Boatloads of us are no longer selling & their stock continues to drop.
Wait for the 4th Q results & Ebay is done.
From David, Vancouver, WA Amazon is looking better and better everyday. Hold money unless seller has 100 feedback? That's crazy. Makes me wait to pay my ebay bill also. Do we get a 21 day grace period to pay YOU ebay?
From David, Beaverton, OR I LIKE THE NEW RULES.
I'm sick and tired of sellers selling one thing, but sending another that is ***almost*** the same thing.
It took me from 1999 until September to hit 80 feedbacks, but in October alone I have purchased 20 more things on ebay, some for hundreds of dollars, because I know I can't be held hostage by the seller anymore.
Recently a seller described some 77mm DSLR camera filters as "black, multi-coated, made in Japan" and sent me silver, non-coated, made in china junk. No more Mr. Nice Guy.
From JC, Arlington, VA I've been a buyer for about a year now and eBay is getting ready to drive me away.
I keep getting notices from PayPal about "getting verified" and that I have only $70 of credit left and who knows what will happen after that. PayPal wants me to give them my bank account number or take out their special credit card. I certainly don't need another credit card and after the horror stories I've read on this site about PayPal arbitrarily yanking payments, I'm fearful that they might loot my bank account one night. Besides, my current credit linked to PayPal has a super limit and has worked just fine every month up to now. And of course, you can't contact anybody at PayPal to question why they insist on verification. I guess I'll be gone when I use up my last $70 of their authorization.
From Matt, Ft. Worth, Texas I've bought and sold on ebay for 7 years now, and I agree with most everyone here has said. Another major issue is buyers, leaving negative feedback out of spite. Most of these buyers are newbies. My feedback rating was %98.7, I've sold $1500 worth of merchandise in a single day recently. Now, I being threatened by ebay with suspension, because of one negative feedback I received over a $38 printer. Which I offered a full refund on, but the buyer refuses to work with me.
I'm working on a alternative website to ebay, in the meantime I'm open to suggestions. You can email me at myhtr1@gmail.com
From Brett Yollis, Los Angeles, CA She's right, "Vegas". I used to firmly believe in good faith posting of + feedback after receiving payment too. BUT, EBAY erased that "be nice to your neighbors and act in good faith" environment themselves!
All that's left is "let's see how many buyers WE can get to file complaints–and increase OUR bottom line." "Let's see how long we can DOUBLE-DIP on EVERYONE'S money–by finding clever ways to HOLD it." "Let's cut-off most every route of ACTUAL customer service–replacing it with dead-ends and BOILER-PLATE replies." "Let's promise the BUYER the Moon–The HELL with the SELLER!"
This is why sellers appeared to become more hostile. It's been EBAY's breakdown in policy all along. Join the revolution. When's the next Boycott, and how do we spread the word?
From D. Henson Canton, Oh I was a seller on Ebay & because of all of this I stopped. This weekend I set up a booth at an antique show & I have talked to several dealers & customers there & they all said the same that they have stopped selling on Ebay. They all gave me the same story of how they are being ripped-off. I guess the only thing I have left to say is GOOD-BYE EBAY you have sealed your own coffin & there is no one to blame but the Executives there making these stupid policies. Look out America these executives will be running for publice office after all their resume will read Succefuly ripped off thousands of american's and run one of the most succesfull companies in world history into the ground.
From Jacques M. Montreal, Canada DO NOT SELL ON EBAY
I have been a seller since 2003. With a feedback rating of 99.7%, they told me that my customers were not satisfied and that they would restrict my account.
Just like all of the other horror stories I read, I have contacted them and tried to get an explanation as to why my account would be restricted after years of paying them exorbitant fees and proof record of happy buyers!
Of course, I received a copy / paste reply. Bla bLa bla…we can do what we want…bla bla bla.
After checking my options and my account, I also found out that they had placed me in a REDUCED SEARCH category ddue to my "low" 99.7 feedback rating. This means that buyers looking for my items will NOT see them until they scroll WAY DOWN at the bottom of whatever search they do..
I had NEVER been informed of this and kept paying their normal fees.
So, I am being restricted, pay their regular fees for the sake of being harassed…
PLUS, I if decide to keep selling…I must now abide by their maximum shipping costs and insurance of $3 for every DVD I sell.. WHO THE HECK SHIPS FOR $3?? On top of that, ANY customer who paid by paypal can request a refund if they claim non-receipt. Paypal expects you to ship WITH a tracking number… At $3 shipping, plus all of the ebay and paypal fees, NOBODY should sell on Ebay…
let alone that you cannot post negative or neutral feedbacks to deadbeat buyers..
YOU WERE WARNED!!! DO NOT SELL ON EBAY!!
From GREEDBAY, OHIO I have been put "on hold" with Gaypal as many others have. Although I have followed every guidline they gave me to get my funds released, needless to say, they have not held up to thier rules. It has been over a week now and I am still waiting for my money! Yes, I am quite sure the longer they hold peoples money like this, the more they can draw interest on it! Another needless to say, they have only responded to my emails by telling me what needs to be done to have the funds released? THIS HAS BEEN MET! This is all due to a bad buyer leaving me 1 negative feedback. So, I think all of us sellers that are no longer allowed to point out these bad buyers by leaving them neg feedbacks should expose Greedbays new policy! I believe we all should buy something small from sellers and leave as many bad feedbacks as possible. This will bring EVERYONE down to one level! Y not? It has been done to us! It will be sad for them honest sellers, but WE are honest sellers as well! RIGHT?? YES! I will just look at it as exposing this ignorant policy that Greedbay has imposed. I will be starting this as of today. All is welcome, WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE by simply exposing this to Greedbay!
From CB, Chicago, IL Well, it's interesting to see this board still going. I used to sell on eBay, but I have only sold two items since the boycott back in February, just because I needed some quick cash and sold some brand new designer items. I have not sold one thing since April, right before the feedback changes went into effect in May. I am terrified of the stories you've all posted since that time, and I'm so happy I have not sold things since then. Now, with fee raises and "max shipping" rules, I will absolutely not be selling on eBay anymore. Any designer items I no longer want go to family/friends, or to charity instead of eBay. If they are new, they go back to the store for credit. The hassles with eBay and Paypal are just not worth the few bucks you end up getting now (which used to be more than a FEW for me).
And since I often purchased items with the money I made selling, I have not been doing much buying, either. EBay might have noticed the dropoff in selling/buying, because they're ALWAYS contacting me with *new deals!!* and *selling discounts!!*… which are often neither deals nor discounts.
Nice work, eBay. You really ruined a good thing.
From Kayla Anderson, Santa Barbara, CA BOYCOTT EBAY FROM OCTOBER 1-3, 2008! That is the only way they are going to pay attention. No buying, selling or posting of items. Instead of filling their pockets, they need to stop the moneygrab and allow sellers to make a buck on their own items now and then and return eBay to a fun place to do business. You can no longer post items cheaply anymore because you have to factor in all the fees before you even start. I have been a member of eBay since 1999 and have over 1000 feedbacks.
From J.K., Pittsburgh, PA I know the following is just one of many horror stories of what being a Seller on eBay has evolved into.
My wife and I are going to the Attorney General in our state and filing complaints (that is multiple) on PayPal for aiding and abetting fraud. We have lost time and shipping on one Item, an antique clock, which the Buyer removed parts from and then sent back at PayPal's direction. Another idiot broke a $3,000 lamp after receiving it, then tried telling PayPal we had not packed it correctly. We take photos of the packing process on high-end items and UPS verified in writing it had indeed been packed correctly. PayPal released the hold on our funds, told us we should try and work out the claim with UPS, then several days later, they hit our PayPal account and left us $600-plus in the hole. More people should file complaints with their Attorney General's office about PayPal, and eBay should be reported for trying to corner a monopoly by forcing Sellers to take PayPal and not receive payment by Money Orders or Checks any longer. We are Silver PowerSellers and the fees we pay to both are ridiculous! Our feedback rating is 99.8, we work long and hard to give Customers quality items. Then we wake up to a rude surprise, PayPal draining our account after they said they would give us the opportunity to straighten it out. What they did in regard to the lamp was take it upon themselves to try and pay an insurance claim, ILLEGAL in every state in the union, under every state insurance commission. It took two days of wrangling with them to have the money replaced, a "courtesy credit" they called it! It seems we need to call them now about every other day, a situation that just about drains my wife! Today, a PayPal "agent" told her 2 to 5 business days to receive the credit after a manager had told us the day before, 24 hours. Then the agent said, oh, it is 48 hours and when my wife asked her why she changed her story, she said she wanted to tell my wife something so my wife would not be "upset."
So they tell you what they "need to" and none of these people have last names, badge numbers or employee numbers, so the complaints to the Attorney General will all be based on "first names."
We may eBay and PayPal a PILE of money! The Silver PowerSeller "hotline" is a bunch of big BS, they are there to "chat" and not do anything. My wife tried reporting a Buyer: funeral_party. This person wrote and we blocked them because of excessive negative feedback left for others. Look it up, they are showing 100-percent positive feedback, then look at the feedback left for others.NO ONE WHO DOES EBAY WHO HAS SIX SELLERS IN A ROW THEY HAVE NEGATIVE TRANSACTIONS WITH SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE USING EBAY! They assured my wife on the Power Seller Hotline that Trust and Safety would remove this person, however all we got from Trust and Safety was an admonishment that blocking buyers because of excessive negative feedback left for others "undermines the feedback system."
We want to find an alternative site badly, the new ones just do not seem to have the juice eBay does, unfortunately. Has anyone any suggestions?
From Chris, Knoxville TN The 21-day hold is terrible. I am a seller on ebay, and I have 100% positive feedback. However, for every 5 sells I make, on average only 3 of the buyers ever leave me feedback. All have gotten their items and are immensely happy with them, but they just forget to leave feedback. This has come back to bite me now as ebay and paypal consider me a "high risk seller" because not everyone leaves me feedback, even though the feedback I do have is at 100%. I am going to do everything within my power to fight this ridiculous new policy, even if that means taking my business somewhere else from now on.
From Leslie Lingscheit Braham MN If the bail out is truly about Main Street, let's lend them the $. How much further would it go if we eliminate CEO wage and bonuses. Also, I would rather give the taxpayers the interest on my kids student loans than a CEO.
From DP, Rochester, NY I am discontinuing using eBay over this exact issue. PayPal and eBay are rude to talk to and say they "understand" but proceed to tell you what you don't want to hear. I've been a member since 1999 with 100% positive feedback, sold seven items last week that had no freeze on funds and the last several have been frozen. Now I am at the mercy of the buyer leaving positive feedback (not that I am worried but it just is not right) or confirming that the buyer received delivery to get my money released. Who the hell ships a product with no guaranteed payment?
From Mike SMith another thing Ebay isnt taking into consideration is the fact that some people dont know how to give feedback…LITERALLY… before you laugh and say "impossible" I am dealing with this now a person wrote me back a ebay message with a review of the item he bought; like I even explained that if you dont leave feedback my funds from paypal from the item you bought from me wont clear; his answer was sending me a message on ebay; so I wrote to ebay and said the person wrote in my ebay mailbox that they received the item can you release the funds (from the item they bought) from off hold ebays response was "no they have to call paypal and verify that they got the item" so I say "well they said IN MY EBAY EMAIL BOX THAT YOU CAN CHECK that they recieved it isnt this going overboard" so despite me giving ebay a tracking number; despite the person WRITTING ME AND SAYING THEY LIKED THE ITEM (a obvious confirmation they recieved it) this isnt enough! what more does ebay want as confirmation? I am being punished coz some guy doesnt know how to write a feedback but says he got the item via ebay email inbox? I dont understand these policies wayyyyyyyy overboard
From ozgood, Poughkeepsie,N.Y. ALL TOGETHER NOW :
LOCK THE BASTARDS UP & THROW AWAY THE KEY
THROW AWAY THE KEY
THROW AWAY THE KEY
AGAIN !
From Valentine Hughes, Valdosta, Georgia I had a buyer who bought an unlocked cell phone in new/mint condition from me.
She gave the phone to her boyfriend and then they decided after they used it that they did not want it anymore.
This person even gave me good feedback and even a letter saying that they would definitely buy from me again.
When they got tired of the phone they "threw" litteraly threw the phone and part of the assessories back in the box (did not return all parts to me) and claimed the phone was not as described. Part of the phone arrived back to me damaged and the new install cd scratched up and user manual dirty. I sold the phone to them in like new/mint condition. The sale stated "sale final"
I contacted ebay chat and was told it was up to me if I were to give a refund or not.
PAYPAL gave it to them anyway
I even faxed info to paypal that proved they were lying about the phone not being unlocked (where I bought phone new and unlocked)
And even faxed my good feedback and actual letters the buyer sent me saying she would definitely buy from me again.
Paypal never looked at my faxed proof and decided in their own kangaroo court to refund her money while she still has part of the phone (did not send it all back)
Paypal has really turned me off to ebay now. I had requested my account be closed and am reconsidering, but how do you get around a kangaroo court that paypal held?
I so fed up with paypal, and told them they could refund her money but I am not paying them.
She let her boyfriend use the phone and the phone has scratches on it and like I said the install cd was all scratched up and the envelope torn and written on (but she said they did not use it or open the install cd and the manual is dirty.
I have had all good feedback and this buyer is new. She just bought the phone and then did not want it and it was in new/mint condition. Well not any longer is it in new mint condition. I don't even have all the phone parts back. I cannot sell it as that now since her abuse.
And she lies and gets away with it? Where is the justice here?
I am more than fed up with Paypal and its unjust method of refunds to an lying abusive customer!!!!
From MARYFERRIS ST. JOSEPH, MICHIGAN I knew I should have left Greedbay last winter. Fees have gotten worse and worse. They just charged me 15.95 for my store that was only 9.99 month before without even notifying me. THEY GO OUT OF THEIR WAY TO HIDE ANY PRODUCTS IN STORES. 12 cents on each dollar sold AND SOME CASES, I SEE NOW THEY CHARGE 15% ON CLOTHING AND COLLECTABLES. then, outrageous fees by Paypal. And, if people do not pay, do not expect charge back for fees and listing again anytime if at all very soon. I have blocked most of my international sales, because of the exhorbitant paypal charges.
I now sell on E-crater, e_pier, and auctionwarehouse. Free pictures, reasonable ending fees on E-pier, and no ending fees on E-crater and Auction-warehouse. One page listing, that takes hardly a minute to do.
Going with google for payments 30 cents and 2% charges, no waiting 5 or ten working days to recieve payment like paypal does.
If you give free shipping and lose money to paypal and post office on a daily basis, you qualify for powerseller, where the rates go down.
kinda like the mortgage companies, that rip the balloon payments of housing market. little guy always getting messsed with. Last time, my nerves were shattered, was when powersellers got to list for ten cents while e-bay rips the little guy with huge final fees and listing fees.
Grinds my goat when I see some guy selling his book. "How to sell on E-bay". Making 30,000 in just one month? come on now, maybe 30.00, while qualifying for state aide and food stamps under many aliases, but, not on e-bay.
Been selling on E-bay since 2000. The site has turned into more coporate greed, with China as main benefactor with overprice chinese goods.
Ten more days and I am out of there.
TOO MANY PEOPLE GETTING WISE AND MOVING TO OTHER SITES, WHERE WE CAN SELL THINGS A LOT CHEAPER AMD PEOPLE CAN PURCHASE WHOLE LOT CHEAPER, AND, LESS OR NO CORPORATE GREED.
ALSO LIST ON CRAIG'S LIST. FREE FREE FREE.
From asdasdasd I forgot to add; theirs no motivation to sell anything on ebay now; YOU WONT GET PAID; I was talking about a antique radio I sold on ebay; had I known I wouldn't be getting paid a FULL WEEK AFTER I SENT OUT THE RADIO; whats the point of selling it? where else in life can you have a item you sold to someone and shipped to the customer then 1 FULL WEEK LATER you don't receive your money as it is on hold; as a shop owner? imagine that as a business model and how FAST you would go into debt and lose money
From ssdfsdfsdfsdfsdfsdfs I honestly Agree this is complete garbage… with someone who has 29 (sales/buys) score; 3 Positives in the span of one month and a feedback score of 96.8% (I had 1 negative review and one neutral). in the last 6 months 16 positives reviews and 1 negative? and not even one negative this month? So I don't understand this "holding" garbage; I could see if you HAVE A CLEAR PATTERN OF bad reviews like 2 in a row or 3 in a row. But 16 Poss and 1 neg in a span of 6 months is a pattern alright – a pattern OF POSITIVE REVIEWS lol. But Yeah this new ebay policy is absolute garbage; people who are honest people are being punished; not everyone has the money for shipping & handling upfront man; this will hurt the proverbial "little guy" small time ebay business man/woman. Now I have my money on hold; DESPITE sending out the radio to the buyer and providing paypal with a TRACKING NUMBER; they get their radio they bought and I don't get the money from hold; then ONLY IF they decide to leave a review if they don't? I am further "punished" by having to wait 21 days; AND THEN I ONLY GET the money if I get no further bad reviews or complaints; now how is that fair?
From Philip Anyone see eBays new "Max Shipping" policy that is going in effect in october? They are killing themselves, I guess thats why their STOCK IS AT A 52 WEEK LOW HAHAHHA.
Anyways, here ya go!
http://pages.ebay.com/sell/August2008Update/MaxShipping/
Max on a video game system is $15.00 that you are allowed to charge. Ive sold systems that cost as much as $35 to ship.
Enjoy losing money people, now the ebay fees take up 10-18% of your auction prices alogn with paypal, get ready to get that raise even more when we have to EAT shipping costs!!! Antiques the max you can charge is $4.00 shipping lol
From m.j. malik Estero, Fl. “TRINKETS ONLY?” Will Ebay be offering expensive hard to find collectibles, antiques, paintings, sculptures, and so on to the Ebay buyers in the future?
Will it be worth the risk of the possible “total value loss to the seller” due to MORE NEW EBAY POLICY? Where’s the seller protection?
Sooner or later, all sellers selling expensive items on Ebay will be forced to offer their expensive valued merchandise in exchange for a 180 day (6 month) option for all ABUSIVE BUYERS to cheat sellers days or months later for any reason whatsoever when purchasing items thru the mandatory merchant account or “push pay pal” paperless program come October 2008.
Even if items are marked “as-is”, perfectly described, or noted “no return policy” , it won’t mean anything anymore. Sellers will now be required to except merchandise back within 45 days of purchase for whatever excuse the buyer has under the new policy terms of item not as described. Believe it or not it even gets worse. Pay pal will now not only snag the money for the item out of the sellers pay pal account, it will also now reimburse all shipping and handling costs to the buyer as an added bonus.
Now ABUSIVE BUYERS can purchase items thru PAYPAL that they may have had no intention of paying for, remove parts they need and then either return or not return item to seller, then filing a claim of not as described, missing parts, or lying that it was broken and force the seller to reimburse including the additional shipping and handling. If the seller legitimately complains about the ABUSIVE BUYER, he will then receive an UNPROTECTED NEGATIVE and all the buyer will get if seller takes the uncompensated for time and effort to prove the buyer was a fraudulent or abusive, according to: Clint from clint-us@ebay.com Aug-14-08 14:57 PDT 34 Quote: “We would reevaluate the case and, if we agreed that the buyer was at fault, we would flag them as an abusive buyer and prevent them from taking further advantage of the claim process.
Best regards,
Clint"
FLAG THEM?? Are you kidding me????
WHAT KIND OF GARBAGE is that? WHERES MY MONEY??????
WHAT IS GONNA STOP THAT THIEF FROM DOING THE SAME THING TO ANOTHER SELLER USING SOMEONE ELSES USER ID or A NEW USER ID, or A DIFFERENT NAME ETC… THIS NEW POLICY MAY ENCOURAGE MORE THIEVES, FRAUD AGAINST GOOD HONEST SELLERS and put the final nail the coffin of EBAY.
It sure doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see how disastrous this new policy will be. You can see how well the new one-sided feedback system is working. Encouraging buyer dominance, black mail, control, and abuse over the seller.
Brilliant Mr.Donahoe ??????????????????????????
From Pablo Vitaver Actually, eBay/PP finally did the right thing, and they refunded my the amount of the sale. They made me whole and I appreciate that very much.
From IRMA BRIGMAN BALTIMORE MARYLAND I RECENTLY PURCHASED(WITHIN THE LAST 3 WEEKS) SEVERAL ITEMS ON EBAY FROM 3 DIFFERENT SELLERS. I PAID EACH ONE IMMEDIATELY VIA PAYPAL. NOT ONE HAS LEFT FEEDBACK FOR ME. I ALSO SOLD A FEW ITEMS. WHEN I RECIEVE PAYMENT, I LEAVE POSITIVE FEEDBACK. I HAVE HAD MANY SELLERS EMAIL ME (SOME SEVERAL TIMES) ASKING FOR POSITIVE FEEDBACK EVEN THOUGH THEY HAVEN'T LEFT ANY FEEDBACK FOR ME AND I ALWAYS PAY WITHIN A DAY. I IGNORE THEIR EMAILS. THIS IS FEEDBACK EXTORTION AND NOT THE WAY FEEDBACK IS SUPPOSED TO WORK.
From dave omaha, ne hey i left a comment for the buyer said he will not do it until he gets item but my thing is if buyer paid for shipping how do you ship if they put the money on hold until item is shipped. Its a rip off, the seller is not protected is like our prison an justice system.
From RICHARD, TOLEDO,OHIO YES, ONCE GOOGLE LAUNCHED IT'S AUCTION WEBSITE, IT WILL BLOW EBAY AWAY…. I HEARD IT WILL BE ALOT BETTER, JUST CHECK GOOGLE WEBSITE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR IF I KNOW FOR SURE I WILL POST IT HERE,,,, THANKS
From RICHARD SMITH, TOLEDO,OHIO I THINK WE SHOULD FORM A UNION, SUCH IF JEEP, MEIJER, DANA CORP,,, ISN'T EBAY A GIANT LIKE WALMART WHICH BOTH DON'T CURRENTLY HAVE A UNION, WE NEED THIS FOR THE SELLERS AND BUYERS ON EBAY… SO WE COULD STRIKE OR BOYCOTT SUCH A ISSUE WITH EBAY HIKING FEES ETC.. I JUST THOUGHT I SHOULD THROW THAT OUT THERE.
From JOSEPH, Mesa, Arizona Where to begin? My story is not much different than any of yours, when it comes to ebay. I had a store, and listed 3 or 4 fixed price listings a week in order to get buyers interested and hope they would find my store link and make a purchase. This was working well for me for about a year, until, you guessed it's another rant about fees. To be upfront and honest, I was selling a product that was new and had a very tight profit margin. I was averaging about one sale a day in the price ranges between $25-75 and was only netting about $5 per sale after ebay and paypal fees. Later it became a wash to sell. Being that I was such a committed seller and always provided the best possible customer service, I even fulfilled transactions that I broke even on, in hopes that my reputation would boost sales and in turn I would be able to become profitable again. Well…… it never happened because the fees just kept climbing. So what was let to do? BAIL! Ok, heres the point that the BLOG patrol may flag this entry. I started my own website that allows sellers to list what ever they want for only $0.99. No FVF no Picture fees, and you can even try it for free. Now I know what you saying there are a whole lot of other sites out there doing the same thing, and what could be better than Craig's list as a FREE alternative. Although CL is a great option, there seems to be no listing structure, which I have come to realize, a lot of buyers and seller like, but for those who like to be able to get a snapshot of a listing(Key Info)Structure really is important. Oh and While we're dropping names, my site is BuyItUsedAndSave.com, if we can mention ebay, Craig's list, and Paypal, why not mine. I want to be the alternative to the alternative, and the only way to make that happen is for sellers to stop stressing about their current selling vehicle, and choose another that promotes your goals, Affordable Selling, not the goals of shareholders and corporate executives. Whether or not it's me just choose one and tell a friend, that's how the big guys started and made it happen, before they changed their business plan, and forgot to tell us about it. I welcome responses to this comment, and look forward to hearing from anyone who is looking for an alternative to the alternative. The Selling Revolution Has Begun!
onecoolseller@buyitusedandsave.com
From Brad in Hillsborough, NC I've been buying and selling on eBay since 1998 0r 1999 and I used to think it was great. You could find anything you imaginable from rare beriliyum nickel Ping putters to original photographs by Harry Benson of Coretta Scott King and her children on the day she buried her husband.
When selling it was certain that you would be able to find an eager buyer who would pay much more than you could get locally, especially if you had something special or rare to sell. Sellers and buyers were cordial for the most part, we communicated, and were basically fair & honest with each other.
I've been selling less and less lately and am wondering if eBay will survive their own management and it's increasingly foolish decisions of late. In the past, I only accepted money orders or cashier's checks, but over time I decided that it was probably worth while to start accepting PayPal as an option as well. It is convenient and saves buyers having to go out to the bank or PO and makes getting paid pretty quick and simple. I don't like the addition fees, but I decided that my customers convenience was worth something and maybe that would help them decide to bid more.
Anyway, I figured it was a wash; the extra fees being offset by higher bids. As most sellers know however, there are a lot of people who still preferred to pay by money order sent via snail mail. They don't want their personal credit card or bank account information entrusted to the good folks at eBay or it's ugly stepchild PayPal. Well, as many of you know eBay has been changing their policies of late and I believe they are ruining what was an ingenious, well functioning business model; linking interested buyers and sellers in a network set up on good communication and trust. Now sellers can't leave buyers negative feedback, so the incentive to behave in a cordial and respectful fashion is lost. Before this change, I rarely had a problem as a seller and had only 1 or 2 buyers that were not happy every year. I was able to work it out whenever there was a problem and have maintained 100% positive feedback rating with over 900 positive comments. In the last few months 15-20% of buyers demand either partial refunds or to return items and these individuals are nasty. I still show the same good quality photos and describe each item thoroughly, nothing has changed except eBay's policy to not allow negative feedback to buyers. The change in buyers behavior has driven me to quit listing items for sale on eBay; it's just not worth the hassle to deal with these jackasses.
Two days ago I and probably every other eBayer received an email saying that they would be "Driving more sales with a more consistent buyer experience" by (among other things) placing limits on shipping charges and not allowing payment by check or money order. Well for me that's it, stick a fork in me I'm done. It's one thing to make selling experience miserable by taking away the feedback system, the only thing keeping some buyers from behaving with a Lord of the Flies mentality, but to force us all into the PayPal system to increase eBay's take, no way. Further to limit what we charge for shipping. Have you been to the post office or UPS lately? Have you tried to ship a guitar across the country for less than $40? No way eBay, no way.
Over 10 years, I've paid thousands of dollars in listing, PayPal, and selling fees. I used to think eBay would be a great company to invest in, it was such a good idea, but the people in charge now are making very poor business decisions. Maybe we'll get lucky and there will be a corporate coup d’état, but until then this seller has decided that now it's time to NOT eBay.
What was that website I heard about? Craig's something???? Sell locally!!!
From Pablo Vitaver, Boca Raton, FL Watch out with PayPal! I sold a Nokia N95 8GB phone on eBay, using Paypal, for $500 plus $35 postage. The transaction ID is 52F59575C25824352. Item number of the auction is 290251938218. User ID of being reported is pal-eng2. The item listed as paid on eBay, I got the usual email notification from Paypal that the transaction took place. Because of the amount and the buyer being out of the Country, I waited 48 hours to ship it. Went back to Paypal, the money was there. No notifications or communications of anything wrong from eBay or Paypal, so I shipped the phone. Today, 3 days after I was told by Paypal that the money was in my account, I get a new email from them telling me that they reversed the transaction because of unauthorized use of the Paypal account by the buyer… They took the money from me, I lost the phone and they tell me there is nothing that I can do. PayPal is not responsible and I am out of the money and phone. Watch out, do not use PayPal.
From Jana Chele, Vancouver, Canada just wanted to let everyone know about the trick some of the buyers are using.
We were trying to run a small business selling music items on eBay. We've just lost a few hundreds dollars thanks to paypal. One buyer sent us a clear message stating that he received the package but the item was stolen. I sent it as a proof to paypal since there is no our responsibility for that. It didn't work and paypal sent a refund to the buyer.
In other case the buyer was asking us to send the package the cheapest way with no registration. We did it and the buyer later claimed her money as the item was not received.
If we'll ask the buyer to pay the additional $15 for a registered mail nobody just buy anything from us.
From Jack Sole I'm doing everything I can to SCREW EBAY. They've made it personal now. I even list auctions on ebay & when people ask questions, I direct them to other auctions sites where I have the same items for much lower prices just to SCREW YOU EBAY.
I sell $2000 to $3000 items, I always email buyers & tell them I will split final value fees with them if they agree we both don't complete the auction through ebay. Well so far 100% have agreed, I get credit, then send them a refund. Everyone is happy! (Excpet ebay!) I have NEVER HATED A COMPANY SO MUCH IN MY ENTIRE LIFE AS I DO EBAY!!
All my selling buddies feel exaclty the same way too.
SCREW YOU EBAY!!
From Joe Smith, Pleasantville, GU Let me just point out that as unfair as all these new rules, fees and regulations are, to compound the problem, they have all been rolled out at the worst possible time that I can think of. The US Economy is headed for recession if not already in one, and they want to charge sellers more for selling? They want buyers to show patience and willingness to communicate after spending their hard earned money? Americans are more sensitive with how they spend their money now more than ever, so if you don't treat that buyer like your one and only buyer, chances are you're gonna get a negative comment. but how do you have time to give that buyer the kind of treatment they deserve if you have to concentrate on selling more just to keep up with the new fee structure? Basically every seller on eBay is now on borrowed time. They will either leave on their own or get suspended. Who will be left? Looks like after eBays agreement with BUY.COM, that they are focusing on bringing in bigger stores to sell on their site so that those stores have more exposure to the public. Just a few years ago I was listing stuff from buy.com for sale on eBay and then shipping straight from their website to the buyer simply because the buyer didn't bother checking BUY.COM first. now the buyer doesnt have to. Every major online retailer will take the place of eBays mom and pop sellers, ebay is trying to compete with Amazon without actually having any inventory of themselves. they aren't stupid, they know what effect all their new rules will have. They have a master pl an, and like I said, all sellers are on borrowed time and there is absolutely nothing anybody can do about it. yes there are alternative auction sites, and they ALL are terrible and have nowhere near the exposure of eBay. You can make your own website but you better realize all the work of getting people their is on your own shoulders. so there are basically no options. Google has google base and i think thats as close as they want to come to taking on eBay. After all eBay gives google tons of money through advertising. so ebay sellers, get ready to pack up shop and get a real job, its your only option left, and a sad end to what was a really good run for the everyday person making something out of nothing. if anyone does have a better solution, let me know. if anyone is willing to take ebay and paypal down, let me know. i'm not going to post my real name or email on here. why, because ebay monitors these and will suspend my account when they read it. yes it has happened before to others and will keep happening. ebay is a monster.Good luck to all.
From Danny Henson Canton Oh If you read Ebay's policy on fb you will see their rule is simple they require that the buyer leaves fb first.
From Danny Henson Canton, Ohio After selling an item on Ebay in May of 2008 for $230.00 I recieved a message from the buyer stating that if I did not send her $65.00 back she would give me a neg fb. I filled a complaint with Ebay and they do nothing to this buyer she left me a neg fb. Since this time I have been watching her and she has extoted or tried to extort money from several other sellers so I contact the sellers to inform them and to encourage them to file a complaint and most of them have but she is still on ebay extorting money from sellers. After several complaints Ebay has done nothing to this buyer. Ebay's policy on extortion is plain they say they do not allow it at all they can not stand behind their own policy. I do not understand how Ebay plans on staying in bussiness when they support crimanal activity such as this.
all they are concearned with is getting money from the sellers they do not care what the buyers do. We as sellers are the one who pay the fee's not the buyers but now with the new fb policy we sellers are on are own with no support from Ebay. Ebay I ask you why should I keep selling on your sight and paying my money when you do not care for me. Ebay I challenge you to denie these accusations for I do have all the proof that I need and alot of it is on the fb left for others of this buyer and after contacting about 25 other sellers they will support me.
From Phil, Lyndon, MA I love the new seller rules. First thing I sell since they went live, I get a buyer that buys something, never pays, I cant leave bad feedback to tell anyone else, and now I have to wait 2 weeks for ebay to refund my $10 in fee's. Thanks eBay. For nothing.
From Dwight, Lake Arrowhead, CA Posted By wheels460 Las Vegas Nevada
Sellers complaining about the new feedback system have nobody to blame but themselves! When I pay for an item I expect feedback but there were about 75% of the sellers holding feedback as hostage ensuring that they receive positive feedback this is called extortion. You brought on the new policies by your actions the policy in place as of this writing is still wrong but until the sellers can understand that when they are paid they should leave feedback whether it be positive, neutral, or negative holding it as ransom has caused the turmoil now present.
This is exactly the illogical thinking that eBay is using to justify the feedback change. Why should buyers expect positive feedback when they pay? The transaction from both a buyer and seller perspective is NOT over. The seller must pack, ship and communicate with the buyer. The buyer must receive the items and inspect them and communicate any issues if not satisfied with the items received.
The resulting dialogue between buyer and seller if there is an issue MUST be considered as part of the feedback evaluation by both the buyer and seller. If a seller has already left feedback, then they have no way to respond to a “bad buyer”. This is why so many sellers do not leave feedback until after they receive feedback from the buyer.
Unfortunately, it is also sometimes through the feedback mechanism that buyers communicate their dissatisfaction, without ever contacting the seller to resolve prior to leaving negative feedback (I had this happen 4 times but worked with the buyer to resolve and they agreed to removed the negative feedback in all cases). Or during the dialogue, the buyer is unwilling to work to a reasonable resolution, or the seller is unwilling to offer a workable solution. In either case, both parties should be able to leave appropriate feedback regarding their experience.
As stated by eBay, it is the retaliatory feedback that is really the problem. Where a buyer HAS tried to work with the seller but the seller has been non-responsive, abusive, and/or unwilling to entertain any workable solution to resolve the dispute. So the buyer leaves honest negative feedback and gets kicked in the face with retaliatory negative feedback from the seller – often very nasty and personally offensive.
eBay states that sellers are eight times more likely than a buyer to leave retaliatory feedback. But eBay feels this is due to “Bad sellers”. But this is not exclusively because there are so many “Bad” sellers (yes there are some), but it is also the result that seldom are sellers the first to leave negative feedback, except in UPI cases. Without sellers leaving negative feedback first, buyers have fewer opportunities to leave retaliatory feedback. Why is this? What seller wants to piss off or alienate a buyer by leaving negative feedback first? This just assures the seller of getting negative feedback and instantly puts the buyer on the defensive. But, once a buyer leaves negative feedback, in the mind of the seller it is a lost cause and especially if the seller feels the negative feedback is unwarranted or “nasty”, unfortunately they often respond with retaliatory negative feedback. This does not necessarily make them a “bad” seller. If someone calls you names or makes claims that you feel are unwarranted, how many of us rise above it and just move on, especially in an environment when no physical punches can be thrown, our ID are somewhat masked, and especially when there is NO consequence for the seller in leaving retaliatory feedback.
But eBay’s new policy of eliminating the sellers of posting negative and neutral feedback to a buyer really misses the boat. Yes, this solves the problem of retaliatory feedback, but it does not foster a more collaborative exchange between buyer and seller, it eliminate all value of feedback received by the buyer, and it puts the buyer in a position of absolute power – unstated power, but power never less. So let’s delve into this a bit more, for clarity and with a few examples.
1) Why should a seller now EVER leave feedback for a buyer? Buyers will only have 100% positive feedback scores, rendering their scores useless and meaningless. As the scores are useless and meaningless, it is now a waste of time for a seller to leave buyer feedback – who cares – it can only be positive – it is not like there is a choice. This policy, in the very short term and most definitely in the long term, destroys the integrity of the Buyer’s and Seller’s feedback, quite in contrast to the belief held by the initial founders of eBay.
2) By eliminating a seller’s ability to leave buyers feedback, buyers now have little to NO incentive to work to a mutually beneficial resolution when there is a problem. They do not even have to state it in their correspondence (as eBay hopes they will so they can be tagged as a threatening Buyer), there is an implied threat that if the seller does not meet their demands, negative feedback may be the result. eBay likes to think that keeping track of policy violations and UPI’s will provide the incentive. Yet buyers get 4 policy violations or 2 UPI’s in a 30 day period before they have any downside. Heck, they get 4 chances to ignore eBay policies before a seller can restrict them from buying. That translates into a buyer having the ability to “punish” three sellers before the buyer suffers ANY consequence, yet each seller may be devastated by the negative feedback and low DSR’s received by this “bad” buyer.
For example, a domestic buyer recently claimed that they paid a seller for their purchase and even received the purchase. However, the seller, in checking their deposits has no record of the money order being received and deposited. In addition, the seller uses the PayPal Multi Order shipping in shipping 100% of their domestic shipments. There is NO record of any shipment to this particular buyer. The buyer was asked three times to provide the seller with any documentation supporting the payment. Buyer never responded except to state it was a Money Order, the date of the Money order and the amount. The seller requested a number or some other tracking ability to try to locate this payment, yet the buyer would NEVER provide. So the UPI was closed. Buyer receives strike. Buyer instantly leaves negative feedback for seller. eBay was contacted to remove negative feedback, but eBay refused as the buyer responded to the UPI stating they paid. Seller offered to provide copies of bank statements, deposit slips, access to the PayPal shipping records so eBay could confirm seller never received payment or shipped anything to this buyer. A representation of the Trust and Safety department REFUSED to provide a way for seller to forward documentation for review as this was beyond their policy. Buyer had unpaid strike removed based upon just their stated word that they paid. This is one quick way to eliminate any seller trust in eBay’s Trust and Safety department (is this an oxymoron?).
Here is another example. Take a look at the feedback this buyer left for others: twinkletwice789. This buyer really knows how to work the system. Since July 9, this buyer has left 8 negatives, one neutral, and NO positives. There is one positive, but the buyer states that this one positive, several years ago, was not left by them and is fraudulent. 4 of the negatives, each to a different seller, are because the buyer claims they did not receive their purchase. Now, what is the likelihood that 4 different sellers did not send this buyer his/her purchase all around the same time? Is it not more likely that something on the buyers end is the problem?
Another two are negative feedbacks since this buyer purchase two items from a seller who does not ship to Canada – it is stated right on the listing. But the buyer, who wanted it shipped to Canada, ignored this and demanded it be shipped to her in Canada. The seller refunded her monies and then the buyer retaliates with negative feedback against the seller for not doing something that is clearly stated in the auction listing as something that is not done. Yet, eBay has done NOTHING to this buyer. eBay has allowed a buyer to request services from a seller that the seller does not offer and then when the seller declines to offer the services, eBay supports the buyer by allowing the buyers negative feedback to stand. But there is even more. When the seller left a positive feedback with a negative comment on the buyers account just to convey his/her seller frustration, eBay REMOVED this comment of the Seller, but did nothing about the buyers negative feedback. Again, remember, the buyer even states in the negative feedback how upset she is that the seller will not ship to Canada even when the listing clearly states the seller ONLY ships within the US. Can anybody figure out eBay’s logic in removing the Sellers comment but allowing the buyers negative feedback to stand.
3) Finally, this new policy encourages fraudulent buyers to flock to eBay. They can coerce quite a few sellers BEFORE eBay pulls the plug on them. And if they learn the system well, they can wreck havoc on numerous sellers before eBay would have the documentation to support terminating their account. eBay requires a buyer to clearly overstep their bounds before they are considered a “bad buyer” and sanctioned. But eBay forgets that with the new structure, sellers always feel the implied threat of negative feedback – even when it is never stated by the buyer.
This is no way to run a business. But eBay thinks it is. So, let me challenge eBay. I challenge eBay to create a feedback system and DSR rating that is PUBLIC and VISIBLE for eBay. Buyers and sellers can comment on eBay’s quality of service, timely response to inquiries, helpfulness, etc. whenever we access any of your support personnel. But eBay can only provide its customers (buyers and sellers alike) positive ratings, regardless of how rude, inconsiderate, demanding, unreasonable, etc. we are in speaking with your customer service representatives.
If eBay’s score falls below a 4.7 out of 5 stars, then eBay cannot raise or alter their fee structure since they are not providing quality service in the view of their customer. Once eBay is delivering the same level of service you ask of your sellers, then, and only then, can eBay raise their fees. Is eBay willing to accept this challenge? If not, then I assume the reason is that you feel the system of one way feedback is inherently unfair.
Here is a more workable proposed solution that the one eBay has implemented.
Instead of eliminating seller feedback of the buyer, why not put into place a system that punishes sellers who leave retaliatory feedback. Allow buyers the ability to report Sellers who leave retaliatory negative feedback and if it is decided the seller did in fact leave retaliatory feedback, they get a "ding". Then, when a seller has more than one "ding" within a given period of time, they loose the ability to leave buyer neutral or negative feedback for a specified period of time and this restriction is noted on their account for all to see. Once their feedback privileges have been reinstated, if they continue to partake in leaving retaliatory feedback, they then lose the ability to list anything for sale for a period of time. The third time they are found practicing retaliatory feedback, their seller account is suspended indefinitely.
This method allows buyer’s recourse to retaliatory feedback, provides all sellers with a clear reason not to leave retaliatory feedback, and targets the sellers who are abusive in leaving retaliatory feedback, yet still allows sellers a way to identify bad buyers.
So, one may ask, how does eBay identify retaliatory feedback? Easy, when the buyer files a complaint, the correspondence between buyer and seller is reviewed (require all correspondence to be within eBay – I believe this is even in the works). If it is clear that the seller was not working to a reasonable solution, was non-responsive. Rude or insulting in their correspondence with buyer, unwilling to abide by their own policies on as stated on the listing, or terminated the dialogue prematurely with the buyer, etc. then consider their feedback to be retaliatory.
On the other hand, if the buyer was asking for something beyond the listing terms, or in conflict with eBay policy, was non-responsive, rude or insulting in their communication, was unwilling to discuss how to resolve the issue, or was clearly not interested in finding a solution, then consider the seller negative feedback justified and let it stand.
Simple solution. This solution reinstates the integrity of the buyer and seller feedback. It will help quickly eliminate bad sellers without punishing the good sellers along with them. But most important, it reduces the number of convoluted policies and minimizes the incentive for fraudulent sellers to flock to eBay. What a shame eBay did not think of this possible solution?
I too am preparing to leave eBay before the third quarter is over. I would love to return some day when the new CEO wakes up from his dream.
From Tiffany Sellers complaining about the new feedback system have nobody to blame but themselves! When I pay for an item I expect feedback but there were about 75% of the sellers holding feedback as hostage ensuring that they receive positive feedback this is called extortion. You brought on the new policies by your actions the policy in place as of this writing is still wrong but until the sellers can understand that when they are paid they should leave feedback whether it be positive, neutral, or negative holding it as ransom has caused the turmoil now present.
Posted By wheels460 Las Vegas Nevada : July 14, 2008 3:40 pm
You have obviously never sold on ebay. We as sellers are held hostage on a regular basis, mark the postage down, or I will leave negative feedback. Get it here overnight or I will leave negative feedback. It goes both ways my friend, and now we as sellers have no choice but to be ripped off. Our choice is to now leave ebay, so those great deals you are getting now?….Enjoy them while they last, because many of us are not putting up with it anymore!
http://www.sunshineandbutterflies.com
From D L Indiana As a 10 year Powerseller, I have closed up my autions and my store and left. It used to be fun. Today it is suicide to stay.
The "new" ebay comes from a simple-minded child's view of a perfect world.
No longer can the neighborhood shopkeeper call the parents to tell them that little Johnny has been shoplifting candy again and soaping the windows.
Buyers are now being actively encouraged by ebay to intimidate sellers, extort free items, kick the dog, scream at the waitress, vandalize with feedback, and no one is allowed to tell on them!
The new policies must be a deliberate ebay suicide attempt since no one in their right mind could think this could be anything other than extremely destructive.
They are urinating in their own food supply and bragging about the great new taste!
Either they have completely lost their minds, or someone who has worked his/her way into the internal power structure wants to scuttle it.
The new ebay head was quoted in news reports as saying ebay looks too much like a flea market. ebay always was a flea market for everybody. That was it's success. Today the management is so arrogant that they would rather commit suicide than to be the lowly flea market people any more.
THAT'S REALLY SAD. Stupid, but sad.
One example of many I could tell you about- one buyer bought a perfect-condition antique movie projector. He demanded that I find him a 50 year old owners manual for it. I don't have a 50 yr old manual, so he left me a neg.
ebay says there is nothing I can do but lay down and die. I am not staying to wait for it. I have other better things to do.
Only people from the ANIMAL HOUSE fraternity could possibly think this is a good thing for business- for sellers OR for buyers.
Does anyone like the great new taste?
From Simon, Clifton NJ I was an early ebay adopter, buying on ebay when many of my friends were too skeptical of it. This led to me buying and selling, and I sell so sporadically that at times I dont pay attention to ebay fees. The new fee structure… WHOA… is ebay out to drive its very existence away?? Ebay management — wake up, dont drive your sellers away by such high fees (8.75% and 3.5%). Additionally ebay rakes in money by paypal fees of over 3%!! I used to use paypal quite a bit, but will be using google checkout now. WAKE UP EBAY!!!
From Liz C, Indianapolis, IN Craigslist has filed a lawsuit against Ebay. I've found articles dated May this year. Just Google. Ebay, up to no good.
From kat, herndon, va. Ebay has taken the fun out of selling. Too many fees and strange "out of the blue" rules: on one listing they MADE me say I'd accept paypal–which I don't want to do because that's yet ANOTHER fee I'd have to pay. My father, with more than 600+ feedbacks was limited in the number of items he could list at once. Ridiculous. Ebay: go back to your roots, or become yet another failed company.
From Koogrie, Nora Springs, IA I'm leaving eBay.
I object to their policy of holding funds.
I object to the fee rate.
I object to eBay on principle.
From walter astoria ny Yesterday I got suspended from trading on ebay for a feedback violaton. I left two times a comment over many weeks to 2 buyers in a positive feedback which could be interpreted as a negative comment. The first time I left a conflicting statment was right after they changed the feedback system. I wrote : this buyer made a fake claim of none receipt" I got a warning for that and figuredok no more – play by the rules. Now 3 weeks ago I left a comment which I thought was just factual and not negative. I wrote in a positive feedback " buyer left me negative feedback" that was all. Based on that second incident I got suspended with an ultimate warning. This was the final blow. I will do whatever necessary as not to list on ebay anymore just to fish some buyers. I spent over 12000$ on average every single month for over 9 years on ebay. never a thank you note nothing. I am gone and spend the money on google and yahoo amazon, ebid, ricardo etc. and let the Asian merchants take hold of ebay USA which they already anyhow. I was a good power seller with over 25000 feedback. my rating plunged to 96% from 99.4 in just a few month because of some negative feedback. I was ill and was not able to ship fast enough. Ebay truly sucks and now I am done with it.
From Jillian, Medford, OR I've been on ebay some 8 years with thousands of sales (and some buys). It is no longer 'fun'. I have had one negative from a new person who didn't know any better. This no longer affects my ratings.
BUT, in the new 'best match' I barely rate a mention. I have 5,5,4.9,4.9 star rating and because I don't list 10 in a month, I am considered 'mediocre' – if buyers are using best match to search they would have to go back about 10 pages to find me! My lookers have dropped from over 100 to around 30 (and that is probably from my own advertising. Yet I pay the same listing fees as those that end up on page 1!
My disenchantment with ebay started over 12 months ago with the 'indexing' fiasco – listings didn't show for hours and days. Ebay said it was security, but that was when most buyers were looking, and ebay refused to acknowledge it. Yet another back-pedal. There are too many changes, and now it is an unpleasant experience to be there. It's uninteresting with the bidders names not shown, too.
From Leslie, Irvine, CA Well, we all know where we're headed using Ebay..down the proverbial sewer!! I started on Ebay in 1998. In 10 years, I've had 7 neg FB's, all from buyers who retaliated for leaving non-pay negs for them.
Over the years I've seen many changes implemented by Ebay, all of them making Ebay harder and harder to use instead of easier for sellers. Ebayer users have always complained about each and every idiotic change made over the years. Ebay's answer was 'everyone complains at first..you'll get used to them' (I read this repeatedly on past message boards)..!! Since the new CEO came onboard recently, we now have these current changes and we can see what Ebay execs think of us.
I, too, saw my DSR move from 99.5 to 97.4 with the new changes. I couldn't care less as I'm no longer using Ebay other than an occasional listing and have sold all my Ebay stock. I hope and pray that someone has the means and money to initiate a Class Action Suit. I believe that there are discriminatory, if not fraudulent, policies implemented and I'd love to see Ebay muddle thru yet another lawsuit. If all goes well, Ebay will hopefully soon lose enough of its sellers and will go down the sewer where they're sending our business.
I've been following Ebay's stock prices even tho I've sold that stock and the good news is that the share price is lower than what I sold at months ago (even tho Ebay keeps insisting that complaints have not been detrimental to business). Oh really?????
From wheels460 Las Vegas Nevada Sellers complaining about the new feedback system have nobody to blame but themselves! When I pay for an item I expect feedback but there were about 75% of the sellers holding feedback as hostage ensuring that they receive positive feedback this is called extortion. You brought on the new policies by your actions the policy in place as of this writing is still wrong but until the sellers can understand that when they are paid they should leave feedback whether it be positive, neutral, or negative holding it as ransom has caused the turmoil now present.
From Mad Doodads, SLC, UTAH maddoodads.net we were a powerseller on Ebay peying $6000 a/ month in fees we had to make so changes so we opened an amazon store, started our own web site maddoodads.net and opened a store on Ebid.net where listing is alway free. Hope that helps
Maddoodads.net
From looking for alternatives, Bradenton, FL I think the new fee structure is too high for the small time sellers. I am a silver powerseller and have been selling on eBay for about 5 years. I sell clothing. I buy my clothing at outlets and on sale and re-sell it for a marginal profit. Most of the time eBay makes more than me on an item. If I put it in my store, they take a little more than 10% of the selling price. If I have an item that I list for $70, eBay gets about $8, paypal gets about $3 and I get about $6. That is not a partnership that is going to succeed. The problem is that eBay is a publicly traded company. They HAVE to make money for their shareholders. This comes at the expense of their members.
From Pamela, Bay Saint Louis, MS I have a small jewelry store on eBay, all handcrafted branded jewelry created by me. I have 100% positive FB for all time, not just the last year. Not so much as a neutral EVER. My dsr ratings are 4.9, 4.9, 5.0, 4.8. When they started the best match search, my sales stopped completely. I recently found out why. I'm at standard, with ratings like that. I don't agree with the new policy, but if it's going to be enforced, it should be for ALL good sellers. My ratings don't count because I don't have enough sales. I thought with this new system my sales would increase, not STOP altogether. They killed my business with the new search ranking, then punished me for not having any business by burying my items even deeper.
Another thing that just fries me is that I had 3 – 5.0 & a 4.9 until a newbie left me straight 4 stars, probably thinking that was the correct thing to do, since eBay does NOT educate new people AT ALL. It's bad enough I get dinged for shipping costs I can't control, but that was just too much. Here is how I ship: piece is placed in organza gift bag, wrapped in black tissue paper, Thank You So Much silver stickers, with a rose, if I have them, are placed on the front, back is taped with silver tape. A handwritten product tag is tied onto the organza bag. An extra is always included, usually matching earrings, these are on a display card, complete with rubber safety nuts, placed in organza gift bag, wrapped in black tissue paper with A Gift For You handwritten in silver. A sticky note (printed to match bus. cards) thanking them for their purchase is included with the invoice & a business card. This is all placed in a jewelry store silver bag with a black rose on it, rolled with extra bubble wrap and shipped priority mail in a bubble mailer. There is even a return address label that matches the bus. card & sticky note. It's a complete package and presentation that I spend much time and care with. Even doing all of that, I got 4 stars, which took away my 3 X 5.0 & 4.9 rating. Then, too, many people don't want to mess with that rating system and ignore it, so the chances of recovering from someone doing that are slim. Almost half my sales did not complete the dsr ratings, yet eBay uses it against us.
I have a handling fee, which I lowered from $2.00 to $1.80 when the post office raised rates again. It puts a small dent in fees and shipping expenses. VERY SMALL. People ding me because I only ship Priority mail, but no one ever said they didn't get their package! Or that it took forever to get there! People don't realize, eBay chews us up with fees, those are costs of doing business. If you buy something at a brick & mortar, do you think they didn't include a markup to cover their overhead? I can put some of that in a handling fee, which eBay will only get a portion of via Paypal charging a fee on postage, or I can eliminate it and raise my prices, thus raising my eBay fees even more, thus requiring me to raise prices even MORE to break even at the same place I am now with a handling fee. I'm definitely NOT getting rich off $1.80 per item fee and most of the time, I don't even charge the handling fee for a second item, I just eat it and ship the second item for free. I still get dinged. But just let me ship 1st class and listen to them scream when the post office screws up…and that ends up being my fault, too…which is why I only use Priority now.
Every time the greedBay brainiacs think up some new money making scheme, the sellers get screwed to death. I have personally done everything I can possibly to do satisfy my customers and eBay has managed to come up with a system so convoluted that I cannot possibly survive it, yet alone thrive. Last night I set up my Etsy account, a site that sells only handcrafted items at about 1/25th of what GreedBay charges. I have my own little store on Freewebs which I am building up, leading to a full blown premium store. There are several other sites I plan to set up on, as well. GreedBay can KMA, although I'm certain getting rid of me and those like me was the goal all along.
From Ted,Glendale,AZ Ebay has truelly Shot themselves in the foot on their feedback syste. I have been selling on Ebay about 4 years now. When the changed the feedback system, they opened the door for scammers and blackmailers. And even when you let them get their money back and keep the product, you get bad feedback and nothing you can do about it. Unreal. Ebay made the feedback system so the seller can only give positive feedback with positive comments. Thats it.
No way to screen people who may be leaving negative feedback on their purchases either. You have to sell to them soon as they click buy it now.
Scarry isn't it. And no way to stop them because you do not know it is a bad buyer till they have bought from you and you have no way out of the transaction.
Folks, Ebay raised the fees time and time again, and they took more protection from the seller each time they charged more.
I hope someone will get back to what Ebay was before the greed set in and the Buyer is never a crook philiosophy.
Crooks out there, now is the time to scam on ebay. Nothing the seller can do about it. Ebay has no mechanism to protect the seller any more. Plus Paypal (part of Ebay) is going to start holding your money on big ticket items for 21 days to protect the buyer. So that means if you sell a 600.00 sterio to someone, good chance they will get the sterio and get their money back.
Ebay is gone folks. Join and wait to see what happens when you have someone say they want money back via telephone or will give you bad feedback. Yes they can get your phone number from ebay. And since they did not email you, then ebay will not even think about addressing it. LOL
From Gleacia, Fort lauderdale, Florida I was just laid off my job and was pondering what to do. Selling stuff on ebay seemed like a good start seeing that I want to start an online business, but thanks to your article and ebay defectors comment and experince I will start somewhere else. Thank you for presenting this first time online auction seller the alternative info. needed for a "good start" in the auction world and that does not include ebay.
From Jenny, Ohio Just found Ecrater, have read and heard good things. I will be giving it a try and I have already let all my ebay friends know about it too!!! From what I've read they get good traffic and it's FREE or minimal fees in some cases. When enough GREEDYBAY sellers get fed up hopefully that's where we'll all go! :)
From Jenny I could not agree more with most of this. This is completely unfair to sellers. I've refunded and made things right only to have a buyer leave negative feedback after I left positive and they had their money back! Ebay is shooting themselves in the foot. They need for people to leave in droves and when they go out of business because of NO customer service to their sellers, maybe they'll get it. I hope to see the day when 10 other auction sites 'eat their lunch!' Greed and monopoly mindset but that WILL change. Mark my words! I know of ubid, bidz and ebid, are there any others that are good?
From jf san anotonio texas Part of Ebay income is from interest on money they hold for weeks at a time in collusion with their butt buddy paypal. I know they are breaking fraud laws by conversion of funds. If I had the money I would take that to court.
I know one thing is certain, companies that rip off the public do not stay in business. That's right not even mega companies. Somebody will come along with a better place to sell and adios ebay suck offs.
From New Smyrna Beach, FL First of all, most of us sellers don't own stock, so who's going to inititiate a hostile takeover?
I would just like to say that I've been selling on eBay for 4 years now, I've paid them almost 30 thousand dollars since I started (and, NO, I'm not a large Seller….The MOST I've ever netted in any one year was 33K)and do you know, they have never even so much as sent me a coupon? Not a thank-you gift, a card….NOTHING!
So I wrote to them the other day with my own concerns about their recent changes and also expressed the aforementioned; just as a little icing on the cake.
Well, today in the mail I received an eBay stores cheap, notebook binder. Gee, THANKS EBAY! You're just swell (Ooooyyyy)
But I never did receive a response to my letter. Go figure. I'm just little beans to them and it's time that us "little beans" start branching out on our own and leave them lying in bed with their big businesses who specialize in sweatshop creations and cheap plastic crap.
By turning their backs on the type of Sellers who actually made them what they are, who put them into their Lamborghini's and slapped those Rolexes on their wrists; who made little Jeffrey Skoll the 114th richest man on the Planet Earth…they are only cutting their own throats in the long run.
Frisky Frocks Vintage
From Becky, Exeter CA Actually, buyers expect their item within 2-3 days. My business was booming in Feb. of this year; I was SO busy. Then, with all of the tornadoes across the country shutting down post offices, and re-routing mail, some of the packages took over a week to deliver. Who do you think was blamed for this?
According to eBay's policy, Sellers are not responsible for transit times; however, they will do nothing to remedy the situation when negative or neutral feedback is left (eBay states that neutral will not alter feedback score – another LIE). My seller rating based on shipping time during that period dropped from 100% to 94% and I was also a PowerSeller.
I racked-up $716 in listing fees (without bells and whistles)for items that were eBay stuck at the bottom of the last page of the "Best Match" default search. I couldn't figure out why I wasn't selling, until I received a notification from eBay informing the Sellers that their DFR could effect the exposure of their listings; now they decided to tell me. I lost thousands of dollars in sales, but eBay still raked-in the bucks for fees.
I've refused to pay my seller fees, because I feel that eBay has been unfair to me; what do they do? They suspend my account and send
e-mails to everybody I purchased from during the fee accrual period, notifying them of a "Cancelled Bid." This is SO wrong! I won those auctions, and already paid for them. What it is however, is an attempt to get me to pay the fees for fear that my reputation on eBay may be tarnished. The party receiving the
e-mail can click a link and eBay will tell them I've been suspended for non payment of fees, and not to have any contact with me.
From Dewayne Legge 2008 Downing, Oklahoma City, OK 73120 eBay has become a waste of my time and effort as the only one making any money is eBay and their other company, Paypal. Then when you look at the unfair changes they made to their feedback system and that spells DOOM for selling on eBay! In retalliation I have quit selling on eBay and I use Craigslist and just sell locally. I thought it was a proper approach using a media that eBay owns 25% of, against them! Benefits are, cash in hand, no listing fees, no final value fees, no Paypal fees, no feedback worries, no "eBay Policy" worries, etc. Just say "NO" to eBay!
From Susan, NJ This is such a shame! I had to leave my job, and was hoping to start an ebay business. I decided to start by selling off some stuff I have around the house, which I have had some success with in the past, and then eventually start an ebay jewelry store. I found that I would end up paying about $2 to sell a DVD for $10. It is so not worth it. I am going to try to get a booth at the local flea market instead. It is such a shame that ebay is going to become just another store.
From Valerie, Minneapolis MN I have found many alternatives to selling online besdies E-Bay, some are even free to sell. I cannot stand that E-Bay punishes its sellers by not letting them rate buyers. I have completly no respect for the lack of thought that went into the choices they made and I am complely willing to not sell or buy on E-Bay ever again until they figure out what horrible ideas they have come up with. I am glad I am not the only person to see what garbage this is. High final value fees = garbage. No feedback other then positive for buyers = garbage.
Also taking away sites such as squaretrade for feedback withdrawl, how are you ever supposed to weed out the bad buyers?
I am very upset and did count on E-bay for income. I now moved my all of my product to other websites to sell. I personally hope E-bay goes bankrupt!
From Hugo Miranda, Canada Toronto I run a Ebay store with about 3400 items. I do not like any of the changes regarding fees and feedback and DSR's.
I am currently in the process of setting up my own online store. Due to the DSR I have lost my Power Seller Status and the discount that ebay added.
Basically ebay offered a power seller discount on fess but then put in place a way to make sure nobody qualified(DSR's) for it. So now due to the changes with feedback and DSR's. I no longer qualify for the discount and ebay has lowered my search standings as a result of the lower dsr ratings. I am being judged by 4 neutral and 9 negative feedbacks. Even though over 70% of my buyers never leave feedback, ebay states on the feedback pages that it is an accurate rating of the sellers performance.
On top of all that I am located in Canada so my shipping time rating will never improve as the majority of my buyers are located in the US. Us buyers expect items within a week. Shipping from Canada takes two to three weeks. Ebay's changes without taking into account the effect that it will have on sellers will eventual bring them down.
From Tony Lusk Wyoming Well, for the sake of a good argument, I just had 8 items listedon ebay that are all good merchandise ranging in prices that were below common selling prices across the country if I were to sell in a show. The items I listed were all Hot Wheel cars from the early years and desirable ones at that with most being in mint condition. The prices I listed were from 20 to 50 percent below book values and I offered free shipping in the USA. Due to my being dropped in feedback ratings from 99.6 down to 98.4 my supposedly bad customer service got me knocked down on the search bar to less than standard. I was experimenting to with these 8 pieces to see how badly I would be effected by this new greed policy ebay now has. I had no sales. Every car ended without a bid, but worse yet was I had hardly any looks showing on the counter. Wonder why? I see now that this last $20.00 in listing fees will be the last dime ebay will ever get from me. I was a long time seller, I had been selling on ebay since June of 1996. I had some feedback that was Negative, 13 total. I think not too bad for 12 years. But, since they changed policy and are screwing everyone the can, I already started listing on other venues, USiff is one, OLA is another and soon I will be on eCrater. If it weren't for my wife and I opening up an e-store a few years ago we would be in financially big trouble. We are finding that all in all, many buyer are getting tired of auctions, especially when there are now stores that have pages and pages of merchandise marked at reasonable cost. In our store we have repeat buyers all the time, We offer a reduced cost for shipping and if a certain amount is met we will pay for the shipping ourselves. 99 percent of our sales go overseas. We are pleased and will be opening more stores and much less auction venues. Ebay was at one time great, but I even remember the very first rise in cost for listing fees and saw way back then that ebay provided no extra service, but to be literally stabbed in the back by them now is more than anyone deserves. I do doubt that with more and more people leaving ebay will be in some serious financial ruin, that we may not see for awhile yet, but let all their stockholders see their dividends fall and then you might see an end to greedybay..I'm done with them completey and I hope more people leave them dry. Loyalty cannot be one-sided and still be called loyalty.
From morgan, georgia You are so right about that!! When we go out and work for a company and they "pay" us – they have a right to observe and correct us – we work for them! We pay ebay all these fees then they come back at us …I believe we should be up front here…we pay them – not the other way around! -something is wrong with this picture!! What gets me is the low rating we get on shipping – you can give free shipping to a buyer and they still rate you low. We might could improve some of the other dsr rating, but this one is out of our hands. They should by all means remove the s/h from dsr dashboard.
From Anonymous I agree.It looks nobody has their own business.Now every body works for ebay.
From Volvo351, Weymouth, MA Why is it that every other form of business that revolves around bandwidth and computing power is getting CHEAPER, but the Brainiacs now running eBay think they can get away with RAISING prices? Didn't these people learn ANYTHING from the downfall of America On-Line?Pretty soon, eBay's business tactics will make AOL actually look good! Think it was hard to get an AOL "customer service [sic] rep on the phone? Try eBay – if you feel like growing old while on hold!
I'm a great eBay seller – had 99.1% +FB until the 2-digit IQ's at eBay decided that the word "neutral" really meant "negative!" George Orwell was onto something when he described "Newspeak" which is commonly called "doublespeak."
From Kevin Taylor, Philadelphia, PA IF GREED COULD KILL A COMPANY THEN EBAY WILL FALL.
From Brien,Pasadena,MD 11 Year Platinum Power Seller (25K in sales a month) Moving on. Looking real hard at ecrater.com. Watched our feedback rating drop from 99.2 to 96.8 when the new feedback system went into effect. Our Power Seller Rep suggested we stop selling internationally for a couple of months to get our % back up and get our shipping DSR up (4.2) Most of our negatives or neutrals were from International orders that where held by customs. We ship to a lot of countries other sellers would not touch. Let’s see 60% of our sales our INTERNATIONAL!!!!!!!!!! So then he suggested we offer a faster shipping service. We started shipping everything Priority with insurance…then we get a MC listing violation that our shipping is to high ..He suggests we lower our shipping rates with the higher service. I told him how about we don’t charge anything for shipping and let the buyer decide what they want to pay and sell it at that. Then in the middle of what was going on above, Paypal starts holding funds randomly. They said it was because we sell in a high risk category (Video Games)…When I say random I mean Random..250.00 order to Malaysia ..They don’t hold….13.00 order to Virginia (We are in Maryland) ..They hold. Then when the funds where suppose to be released (Positive Feedback was left or Delivery confirmation) it wasn’t. Paypal said they had an IT problem and I would have to call in everyday and review the holds with a supervisor (regular customer support could not release the funds) to get them released. This was the 2nd time they tried the Paypal hold policy. They tried it in early Feb but had IT problems then. They again tried at the beginning of May and that lasted a week. They stopped holding funds after 1 week when they finally realized that they where BREAKING THE LAW by holding the funds and not releasing according to their policy. Back to the DSR rating problem…which they said had something to do with the holds because of the 4.2 in shipping times. Neither Paypal nor my account rep could tell me if I got the 4.2 up to 4.5 if my funds where still going to be held since I was still selling in a High risk category according to them. Not that we had been selling for over 10 years…not that we had over 12,000 positives…Not that we are a Platinum Power Seller. Then starting last week they started holding funds (for the 3rd try) randomly again. This time we where blowing out some DVD’s at auction (Most of our sales are fixed price) . They held a couple of these payments. I called and said why are you holding DVD sales. I was told that they are in a high risk category…I said DVD’s are a high risk category ? She said no Electronics are. That about covers everything we would or have sold on eBay. We were paying 2500 to 4000 a month in fees. Received 2 negatives yesterday from a buyer in Spain. His package was held by customs in Spain for a month. Blamed it on us. He did not want to pay for Express shipping just the Priority. We have had it. Every time we turned around they where changing the rules or asking more and more out of us. We are a mom and pop shop and where selling pretty hard over the last 5 years so the wife could stay at home to raise our 5 yr old twins. We where not making a killing, profit margin on video games is small but it was enough that she could stay at home. We figured out it would have cost us about 25,000 to 30,000 in investment to get things to where eBay wanted us to be and there would still be a risk. We figured if we did that …what where they going to change 6 months from now that would cost us more again. Seems all there changes are aimed at getting rid of the small business sellers. They want the occasional seller and the deep pocket sellers. The only way to make money is to have a unique self produced item or volume. Sorry about the rambling but we have been battling them for 4 months over this.
Brien
From Bee, Saint Paul, MN What I can't figure out is why the Federal Trade Commission hasn't been more active in protecting ebay sellers and Paypal account holders with better consumer protection..For example, ebay seems to not enforce many many of its policies for the big sellers…I've seen hundreds of big sellers who have more than 15 identical items available in one listing…..which is against ebay policy. I never see those sellers get busted for breaking ebay selling policy. Why isn't the Federal Trade Commission protecting the ebay sellers better??…..i.e. ebay's new method of charging people fees to list items to sell but then ebay gets to 'screen' "rank" and 'filter' how that person's items will or will not be found when a Search is performed by a prospective buyer. This means that everyone pays the same, but everyone does not get the same service for their money. ebay always gets to do whatever it wants to sellers….and no one bats an eye. Similarly, The new star rating feedback option available for buyers is discriminatory against ebay sellers because buyers have ZERO accountability in leaving their opinons. The biggest problem on ebay is people who want to complain about postal fees; ebay never supports its sellers on Anything….if ebay clearly stated to buyers that sellers have a right to charge postage, and shipping/handling fees. Just exactly who is supposed to pay the increased price of gas to get to the post office? Also, I'm certain that the hundreds of items I listed using Firefox Mozilla browser actually were charged monthly by ebay but never registered visits to the site…even though I saw Watchers watching. I have hundreds of items listed which have been there for about 2 years, .. with zero visits from searchers…which is statistically impossible. As soon as I relist them using Internet Explorer, the visits counting begins immediately. Also, Paypal and ebay both keep seller or account money in its account and then do not take any accountability to contact 'dead' 'inactive' account holders to let people know that money is in the acount. i.e. never any monthly statements for inactive accounts. Robbery, it is. Bold face robbery. The spirit of ebay has been broken by its greed, its imperialistic attitude towards sellers, and, worse yet, it has never tracked the people who repeatedly buy from an ebay seller and then claim the 'item never arrived.'
From Graham Thomas, Nabirat, France GreedBay. I love it ! You are so right.
From Graham Thomas, Nabirat, France. You are right on all counts. I live in France & trade on Ebay all over the world. I've complained to Ebay about their new policies but don't expect to recive any poitive replies. So now, it's "I did trade on Ebay ", that's until they alter their policies.
From Ted Marx, Mays Landing, NJ Wow You hit it on the head. Why else would a company do what they did. This is the most profound and reasonable explanation I've read to date. Thanks! at least I see there motive. Greed is not totally it, really it's total disrespect. This company fails to realize that people make the difference, and a difference it will make without them. Thanks for the enlightenment. Shame is too weak a word for the present 6/5/08 leaders of Ebay, greed and disrespect have a different master. Ted Marx
From Jack, Kenosha, WI I had a 100% rating till THE DAY the new policy went into effect and a person I was in a dispute with, and mind you the ONLY dissatisfied customer I had thus far, left me a neutral because she lost the paypal dispute, just retalliation, nothing more!!!
I myself am going to ebid, they have a no listing fees if you pay for the initial setup fee for your account and the final value fees are extremely low, You can also use PayPal or Google checkout, I'll keep the paypal for those who want to use it, the fees themselves are not that bad, just make sure you don't let them hang onto your money!!
From Linda, Fountain Hills AZ So….Let me get this straight about the new E-bay Feedback Policies that DO NOT PERMIT SELLERS TO LEAVE NEGATIVES OR EVEN NEUTRALS FOR BAD/NON-PAYING BUYERS:
(1) Sellers take the time to photograph, write up, and post auctions (for Ebay, which maintains NO inventory whatsoever)
(2) Sellers pay a Listing Fee depending on the value of the item (to E-bay)
(3) Sellers pay a Final Value Fee depending on the final sales price of the item (to Ebay)
(4) Sellers pay a fee to Paypal for payments made via this option also reflecting the sales price (to E-bay)
(5) So Sellers are the ones who actually write the paycheck for ALL OF Ebay!
(6) Sellers should go on strike or move en masse to an alternate site. You may infer that I am DEFINITELY NOT IN FAVOR OF E-BLUNDERS NEW FEEDBACK POLICIES!!!
From Dawn cleveland ohio Hey have about 60 stars, sell little stuff, have had no problem most sellers contacted me about problems we worked it out first starting. To get a Negitive just because the person did not read descrpition? Contacted ebay not anything they could do, instrusted that I leave reply to there Negitive.
Lets put it this way, if this was a court case about the Neg. would win to remove. Went from 100% to 97.8% one strike. So long ebay, single mom trying to support a special needs child. PS. Let me try your policy at the store and see it works.Oh yea then I would have to suspend the store for bad feedback.
From Jeff, Milwaukke WI I just sold my 1st item on ebay for 300.00 dollars. Paypal which is owned by ebay is holing the funds until the buyer leave positive feedback. This will be my 1st and last auction on Ebay
From BJ, Orlando, FL eBay SUCKS in my humble seller's opinion! When I first started selling with them 8 years ago, they were the most user-friendly, customer-responsive website around. Now they are money-grubbing corporate hogs. They are buyer-biased and their system has helped to screw me in favor of lying, cheating buyers more than once. Don't get me started on the PayPal extortion. THAT's where the fee-rape occurs. I cannot believe that eBay sellers put up with paying fees to eBay (via PayPal) assessed on POSTAGE! And SELLER BEWARE – PayPal will override any auction terms you state about refunds in favor of the buyer – without any proof or concession on the buyer's part at all. So if you think your auction listing means anything or that you have the right to set your own policies, you are wrong. PayPal extorts refunds from you with the blackmail threat of cutting you off from the "official" eBay credit card system. If we all banded together with our examples of this, we would have a great class-action / anti-trust suit! All that I am saying here is my opinion based on my experience with what USED to be a good company that has now gone bad. There IS such a thing as becoming too big and eBay is growing themself out of business. I APPLAUD and support any company who seeks to be an eBay alternative and I encourage buyers and sellers to do the same. Eventually eBay's stockholders (who are the only people eBay cares about any more) will demand that they get back to basics and stop screwing their sellers. Or not. But what WILL the sacred buyers buy when there is no one selling there on eBay any more???
From Brad, Memphis Tn My wife has been a Power Seller for almost a year now and she is continually expanding the business. I retire from the military next year and we intended on making Ebay-selling our major source of income. Based on the latest Ebay fee hikes and more importantly the treatment of sellers concerning feedback restrictions we are intently looking to set up our own site and/or use other sites. Ebay had a great premise, but I fear they have gotten to big and forgotten about what got them started, namely the small sellers and buyers.
From Colette Warde New York, New York When I first heard about the new feedback no negatives for buyers, I was intrigued. I am mostly a buyer and have had some negative experiences and have not left a negative for fear of retaliation. So, I felt it would be a more honest system. But, the new feedback is not the way to go. It doesn't take into account all the issues that sellers have with deadbeat buyers and people who just prefer to leave negative comments. I joined the boycott in my small way and never sold anything again and I don't buy now either. The site is just no fun anymore . It's like how I feel about WalMart. I know they have the lowest prices but, when I go there I just feel so bad about the workers and the shabby treatment that it just makes for an unpleasant experience. I would rather cough up the extra money and go to a place with a better vibe. So long Greedbay.
From Craig. Los Angeles, CA I suspect that Ebay has sights on becoming the Walmart to the world. They have the Billions to Buy inventory in volumes that make Walmart look like a Mom and Pop's.
This is why they are Deliberately driving Sellers out. The Reason? They don't want us anymore.
They used us to Establish their Brand so one the as the market place thins as a result of their Direct sabotage they will start opening stores on their own sight stationed in sectors all over the world. They will have Massive warehouses employing Millions of people around the globe.
The New GLOBAL WALMART!. I know it sounds far fetched but that is the only thing that makes any sense.
Why else would you bite the hand that feeds you?
Answer: You don't Need us any more.
Ebay is already Running a direct selling site: shopping.com.
I imagine there will be a place in Sector management in the "New Global Mall" for Sellers who somehow survive.
Enough said…I'm getting sick in the stomach!
From Vernon Patterson Longview Tx I am a small seller on ebay and have 100% positive feedback I pay for a premium store subscription that was promoted by ebay as a way to get my listings higher in search, with the new DSR policy because of one seller who thopught my S&H was to high my listings have all been buried in search and I have not had a sale since. My shipping and handling charges are all in accordance with ebay policy so this should not have happened. Ebay is trying to force sellers to all offer free shipping which is obvious by telling us we can improve our DSR by doing so. I will not be bullied by ebay anymore and I will not allow them to ruin my online buisness. I am leaving ebay for another site and I will not come back to them when they lose all of thier core sellers who built them and they lose there buyers. Bye Bye Ebay.
From sarah, westmidlands, united kingdom I sell alot on ebay and was suprised to see the new feedback system. i understand what there trying to do and i feel that a buyer should leave honest feedback without feeling if they left a negative they would get one in return.
HOWEVER
Ive had 2 problems with 2 buyers.
I sold an item 9days ago and sold another item 14 days ago.
no payment has been recieved so after the 7th day i opend an unpaid item dispute. the 2 ebayers gave excuses about payment so on the 14th and 9th day i closed dispute and put a strike onto there account.
you know what i got in return.
2 NEGATIVES
Complete lies in the negatives. so i rung ebay and told them. i asked them to remove feedback and they said NO.
so they won the items, didnt pay, and left me a negative.
NEGATIVES SHOW UNPAID ITEM STRIKES DONT!!
Under the circumstances above i feel sellers should be able to leave a negative feedback. this way it warns other sellers. Also i feel they should increase our buyer preferences so we can block buyers who have left say more than 3negatives in 1 week etc.
I'm totally discusted now so i sent ebay a goodbye message as i will no longer sell on there site if this is how it is.
sellers make there site what it is. we keep it running. if it wasnt for us they would be nothing. now the sellers are decreasing and ebay are going downhill. ive been a memeber since 1999 and i sell around 100 items every month. well i did anyway. sarah
From Sharon, Florida http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280230016844&_trksid=p2759.l1259
Bid to neg the seller and receive a thank you card up to $6,400.00 Questions on page state all the reasons buyers are bidding, discussion board on eBay ongoing too. Item number: 280230016844
From Jane, Detroit, Mi I feel that there is no need to complain. Use this as an opportunity to build your own business and not someone else's. We cannot control Ebay's policies or decisions because it is their website, but we can control our own business. If you are really passionate about your business and what you sell why not take a leap of faith and start your own website.
From Betty, Perkasie Ebays new Feedback system has already cost them numerous Sellers. People are outraged, as they should be. Ebays new system has put an increased risk to their Sellers, both in their ratings and bottom lines, and many longtime Sellers have closed up shop, with plenty more planning to follow. Ebay has ruined good standing Sellers by creating a new neutral-is-same-as-negative rating system, and to add insult upon injury, will restrict visibility of the Sellers for their reduced ratings. Bigger Sellers pay more fees because of this by losing the discount schedule. By removing the ability of a Seller to leave feedback in kind for a Buyer, ebay has gagged their Sellers and hit their pockets, and no self-respecting business person will stay on board for long. I predict, unless they change their practices very quickly, Buyers/Sellers like myself will move on to other venues.
And as for the Buyers out there: I am truly sorry you are losing your favorites. Start using your search engines, because most of them are moving on.
From marko,monkton,ont. while looking at the article about 5 people/businises that have left ebay, bargainland was one of the biggest ripoffs on ebay and should have been kicked off long ago. Sure they sold a lot but they mailed a lot of junk to people too. hundreds of well deserved nagatives each month with hundreds of complaints but ebay kept them alive because they made ebay a LOT of money!! they should be shut down where ever they set up shop!!
From Kay, Washington I have 2 guides listed on Ebay that are worth reading.
The first one is called – FEEDback and is located at http://reviews.ebay.com/Feedback_W0QQugidZ10000000002375010 this tells all of us sellers what we can expect, besides the obvious negatives and what we can do about them under Ebay's new rules from the powers that be.
The second one is called How to Collect your Money and is located at http://reviews.ebay.com/How-to-Collect-your-Money_W0QQugidZ10000000001922511 . This guide shows you how to collect your money from dead beat buyers who are trying to blackmail you, haven't paid, did and then withdrew the money after you mailed the package, etc.
This should help a lot of people to know just exactly where you stand and where your buyer really stands.
I predict that Ebay will become mired in lawsuits for deflmination of character due to their recent feedback policys.
From Cindy, Lancaster, CA What a shame for both buyers and sellers – it's a lose-lose situation. I've purchased a few items via e-bay and have been pleased with the service I've received from the sellers. Unlike going to a brick and morter store where customer service is non-existent.
However, I think my buying days from e-bay are over since I don't like being "forced" to leave feedback if I don't want to. As a consumer, I get annoyed by anyone, in person or electronically, bugging me to say nice things about a merchant. If I'm unsatisfied I'll say so, if I'm happy then leave me alone!
From Wayne J. Nielander My letter to Lorrie Norrington, president of ebay North America on May 20, 2008 regarding the new ebay feedback system which has all but ruined my reputation as an ebay seller.
Today, upon implementing ebay's new feedback system, in a matter of seconds my unique feedback rating dropped from a respectible 99.7 to 98.6. This was because of one neutral feedback left by a new ebay member a few months back on a .99 cent item. Under the old feedback system a neutral feedback would not have affected a rating one way or the other.
I have been selling on ebay since September of 2000, nearly 8 years! In that time I have amassed over 2500 positive feedbacks, vs 5 negatives, none of which were deserved!
As stated earlier, within seconds my feedback record changed giving me a 98.6 rating which I consider the raising of RED FLAGS to a would be bidder.
Buyers should be wary of anything less than a 99.0 percent feedback rating which signals that something is amiss with that seller and EXTREME CAUTION should be used in bidding on any items that seller is offering!
How will this affect MY future sales? I don't know, however, if most viewers/prospective buyers are anything like me, once I see a low feedback rating such as this, I will move on to another listing!
THANK YOU EBAY FOR RUINING MY REPUTATION AS A SELLER! I will be checking my legal options before saying good by once and for all…Wayne logjammer58
From park sutton, fort collins, colorado I have been selling on ebay for over 5 years and now I am going elsewhere. I am not sure where yet I am going to try a couple of different places to start. I am done however with ebay.
From C. Allison Central Pa 8 years and a power seller. Almost 5000 feedback (not from selling drop shipments). Have listed everything from antique washers to Fullsize firetrucks! Now PayPal (AKA eBay) is holding my payments until the buyer feels like leaving feedback. Paypal blames eBay… eBay blames PayPal! Total BS that a buyer can control MY money!!!!! I'M LOOKING FOR ANOTHER SITE EBAY!! And when I find one you can kiss it!!
From M.C. Nygard, San Rafael, CA We are Platinum PowerSellers with eBay and have 100% Feedback ratings, including high detailed seller ratings 4.9/5.0 in every area, but shipping, which is 4.8/5.0 (incidentally we lose money on shipping). We told our eBay representative recently that we are TOO SCARED TO SELL ON EBAY.
Selling on eBay is a risky venture for entrepreneuers. After a sale, the buyer can:
1. Extort for "replacement product" saying it was the wrong product, missing product, defective product, damaged product (even if the client didn't purchase insurance), wrong size, wrong color. To preserve their reputation then seller must then replace the product and pay shipping costs.
2. Say the seller complies and sends replacement product or simply refunds the money. The buyer can still penalize a seller with negative feedback!
3. In addition, the buyer can add insult to injury by reporting "item not as described" to PayPal to penalize with retraction of funds.
Theoretically a seller could ship two identical products to avoid negative feedback, pay for all the shipping costs, suffer from a reversal of funds on the transaction, and get a negative feedback from a disgruntled buyer in one fell swoop. It's a patently unfair process for sellers.
We won't return to eBay until they have developed tools to document buying disputes enabling sellers to identify patterns of unscrupulous buying behavior.
From ADRIAN AUSTRALIA I AGREE.THERE WOULD BE NO EBAY IF IT WAS'NT FOR THE SELLERS. HOW LONG CAN WE TAKE THIS FOR? NOW SELLERS CAN RECIEVE NEGATIVE FEEDBACK FROM BUYERS YET CANNOT POST A NEGATIVE IN RETURN?
NOW AUSTRALIAN EBAY GOING STRICTLY PAYPAL ONLY (FEWER OPTIONS = LESS BUYERS).
NO ONE TO ONE CUSTOMER SERVICE FOR SELLERS.
EBAY GET A GRIP WITHOUT US THE SELLERS YOU ARE NO EXISTANT.
ALL EBAY SELLERS SHOULD UNITE AND MOVE TO A DIFFERENT BASE. JUST A MATTER OF TIME.MOST OTHER AUCTION SITES ARE ALREADY 30% UP ON SALE/MEMBERS WITHIN LAST 2 WEEKS.
ON THE BACK OF BAD PUBLICITY IS THIS THE SLOW DEATH OF EBAY????
From Nora, Boston, MA The trend Ebay is taking is unbelievable. Buyers are being given too great a power, while sellers (who pay the fees that keep Ebay alive, might I remind you) are being treated like worse than dirt. Is there any other business in the world that ships goods before receiving payment? It would be like going into a store and taking what you wanted, then going up to the cashier and saying, "I'll send you a check."
How is it fair that Paypal can refund a buyer's money if they complain, but doesn't have any system in place to ensure the seller gets his item back? Paypal claims no responsibility for your item, and no matter how legitimate your claim is, they will ALWAYS side with the buyer. They said so themselves.
I think the solution is unfortunate, but simple. Don't sell with Ebay and you won't get burned.
From frustrated seller, HK Ebay sellers doesn't seem to be the group that deserve service and attention. When we have questions or problems, what we got is just standard email answers which usually take days / weeks to solve! No hotline, no live chat (in most countries)! Why we deserve such kind of service with the very high and increasing fee we pay?
Now the site is giving the absolute power to buyers as sellers can no longer give negative feedback to those very bad ones. Without a balancing feedback system, some buyers will just abuse the system which will make serious sellers get more and more frustrated.
From Cammy, Corona, CA I signed up with ecrater a few months ago and absolutely love it!! This of course after being on eBay for many years. It's no secret why people are leaving there, and I am no different. I think the idea of having a place to sell your products for free is terrific. If you wish to have more store exposure which does cost a fee, the choice is yours to make, they also offer many different places where you can get your store noticed for free.
I emailed all of my customers and let them know where I was going and why and now they can easily shop in my new store that is free to me. I can offer a great deal to my customers because of ecrater. Ecrater gives people an opportunity to give the online market place a chance at no monetary cost them, just a little time and effort. Ecrater is the best solution out there as far as I am concerned. Glad I found it and plan on staying.
From Ex-eBayer I was stunned to see that eBay has moved 99.99% of it's "Boycott" posts (in their Community Chat under Seller Central) to the last pages of the thread. I believe they all start on page 79, regardless of when you post!
Tell me they're not afraid.
From Joanne Mayville, WI Seems like ecrater and ebid are the two front runners as far as the capabilities to handle sellers quickly. We need to stay together and not get to fragmented or we are all doomed to failure. Very simple business. Buyers will not follow if we are too fragmented.
Check out Fair Shake.com. There is a forum for sellers and buyers who support sellers. They are planning a media blitz and a are trying to get people on the same page.
From Deb. N. Ohio Hey Donahoe!
What makes you do these things you do,
It’s GREED that’s taken over you,
You’ve forgot who made you who you are,
The little people from near and far
People signed up and sold for you,
Paying the fees with out a fuss,
A little more and a little more,
You started taking part of us.
Bigger and bigger you became,
The little people signed up more,
Your profits went through the roof,
And ours were going out the door.
Now you’ve just gone too far,
Our profits, our rights and more,
Selling on your website,
Just isn’t fun or profitable anymore.
So wake up Mr. Donahoe
You will be joining Mr. Cobb
Ebay will soon become silent
And you too will be out of a job!
From Don, Ironton Missouri Hi,
I am trying to get a handle on how eBay sellers really feel about eBay.
Please participate in a simple poll.
http://donscycleware.bravehost.com/EBAYFEEDBACK.html
I would like to obtain at least a thousand data points.
Fortune is welcome to access and use the results.
Thanks
Don
From Roderick N. Smith, Old Buckenham, Norfolk U.K. My last auction on eBay finishes on 28 April (7 year+ member with 3100+ f/b, 99.8% pos) – on April 29 eBay 'requires' the dreaded PayPal to be mandatory as a form of payment in all listings in the U.K.
I have managed for 7 years without it – why should I be forced to take a form of payment I do not want, like, or trust???
Adios eBay – more power to Amazon & eBid.
From et cetera, Clarksburg, MD The largest auction site aside from Ebay, is iOffer.com, judging by traffic stats.
it has 1/6 the traff of Ebay and is growing every day given the exodus from Ebay.
From Lisa Nicholls Sydney Australia Hey guys, if you think things are bad in the US, check the Australian Ebay site. Users are laving in droves thanks to changes that were announced on April 10th. It will eventually probably effect you guys in the US, so check it out. We need your help!!!
From DebNottke Heres a little diddy for Ebay. The real boycott starts soon!!!
Hey Donahoe!
What makes you do these things you do,
It’s GREED that’s taken over you,
You’ve forgot who made you who you are,
The little people from near and far
People signed up and sold for you,
Paying the fees with out a fuss,
A little more and a little more,
You started taking part of us.
Bigger and bigger you became,
The little people signed up more,
Your profits went through the roof,
And ours were going out the door.
Now you’ve just gone too far,
Our profits, our rights and more,
Selling on your website,
Just isn’t fun or profitable anymore.
So wake up Mr. Donahoe
You will be joining Mr. Cobb
Ebay will soon become silent
And you too will be out of a job!
From Mary B I understand that everything is going up in price, but the no negatives for buyers is a bad rule on Ebay's part and I think it will be recalled quickly. Feedback is a very important part of the Ebay experience so you can see who to buy and sell from. I'm very proud of my Feedback number.
my store address Sagharborgifts.net
From Naiara, Dublin, Ireland As a buyer only, I'm very happy with Ebay- great choice, easy payment and even payment protection. To be honest, I don't really care about seller's profits, if you forgive me. And I don't really see any difference if sellers leave, because there is always someone who has what I need. I never had any problems with sellers and will go on enjoying buying, no matter from which seller.
From John Zanetti I was there when eBay was born – i have watched you grow and even gave you an allowance when you were a teen – you have grown into a disgusting monster which i cannot live with anymore – yes – someday even you will die – don't expect me at your funeral … yada yada..
From Adios ebay A must read.
http://shamaniceconomist.blogspot.com/2008/01/ebay-completes-transition-to-retail.html
From Robin, Easley SC I awoke one morning to find that my ebay account was suspended due to the new regulations and rules that ebay has recently passed. I had a seperate account which had "too many" negative feedback. SO ebay closed my power seller account, with over 5000 positive feedback. I sold thousands of items per month. I paid ebay $1000 in fees each month. So they shot theirself in the foot and kicked me off. It's absolutely devistating. I've lost my business, my entire business is gone down the drain. I've begged and pleaded with ebay to let me back on and finally I realized something *I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK TO EBAY*. Ebay doesn't treat their sellers fairly, never haved. So I am going to open accounts with other internet sales/auction sites. I registered with ola.com last night and I am going to sign up with ebid.com tonight. I see a lot of people talking about their site. "GREEDbay" can keep their snotty little attitude. I will not only sell, but I'll also BUY somewhere else!
From DON SCHUTTE, NEILLSVILLE, WI. 54456 CAN SOMEONE HELP ME GET STARTED ON MY FIRST LISTING TO SELL ON E-CRATER ??
From Lois, Tampa, Florida One thing no-one seems to be mentioning is that it seems ebay is violating anti-trust laws by insisting listers accept paypal (their company), and having their selling format default to the seller accepting paypal and eliminating buyers who don't have a paypal account. They are out to create a monopoly and get their percentage on all fees coming through the website. Paypal is a huge and – so far – unregulated bank. I wish some of you lawyers out there would tell people how to start an action against them, and where would be the most effective place to complain. I have spoken to the Federal Trade Commission, and they will take complaints against paypal, but it seems it would only be effective if all the boycotters organized and complained by the thousands.
From Adios ebay I just had this post pulled from the eBay discussion boards:
"I will never come back here to buy or sell. I left in
Feb. and dropped my expenses per month significantly.
This is my first visit back here to check out how
things are going and the conclusion is: This
place is a convoluted nightmare."
Ebay is pathetic. They must be really feeling heat over there.
From Raia, Mt Hood, OR I loooooove eCrater! :)
A great bunch of sellers, super FAST, clean and easy!
It makes shopping FUN again! :)
Sincerely,
Raia of:
http://gurlz.ecrater.com
http://threads.ecrater.com
From indiana I am doing whatever I can and doing what it takes to move completely away from ebay. My fees are more than what I am making and my items won't sell for anything higher. This will be the downfall of ebay. You won't have any buyers to worry about if there are no sellers!! I have opened my own boutique in the mean time and will be leaving ebay for good. Please support those of us who have had not choice but to go on our own. Visit: http://www.sunshineandbutterflies.com.
From San Diego,CA Hello, Please please start a new link for the upcoming second Ebay boycott – coming May 1ST!!!This one will be huge and NO ending date! Also are you able to control how one posts so they do not stretch this site?
Also May 1st – check out OLA – the Friendly Auction Site. Onlineauction.com
Huge RUMMAGE SALE starting May 1st. Search for RUMMAGE SALE. All auctions under Rummage Sale will start at .99 and no reserve. There will be lots of great items!
From Ann Marie Levittown, NY I am an ebay powerseller over 1500 positive in a year and a 1/2 ..I sold something on buy it now to a newbie zero feedback under 30 days..Guess what she does Leaves me a negative..I am curious why I am going on a week with no sales at all..Now I understand this is most crushing to hard working people that do ebay to make ends meet..I was driven to Ebay when my ex husband left me wth 3 kids and no money..Now 4 years later I am on Ebay still..thank God I am now remarried & Ebay is no longer counted on as the sole income..BUT I still need to run a small business.NOT TO MENTION the thousands of dollars of non returnaable merchandise in my bedroom..I am one of the most honest & ethical people you could ever meet..Now this neg has given me recourse But to lbe forced to look for other websites to sell my stuff..There are always unethical buyers..In the past there were ways of dealing with it..Due to recent changes those unethical buyers have been empowered and those same rules have resulted in me being extorted from Ebay..This is depressing beyond words to see the demise of my 4 year business.. Ebay will eventually fix things as they will have no choice..BUT by then there will be another website and Ebay will never again be what they were..
From Tom Bombadill eBay has stifled free market choice at a bad time. Now they can watch Google eat their lunch at anytime. They will devolve into a bloated Pricegrabber site or an Internet outlet mall that pimps junk while real sellers with unique and interesting merchandise will move off to their rivals large and small alike.
Remember: Nobody is required to sell on eBay. Leave whenever you can and meet me in the free market. Take six months and advise any eBay customers of your decision to move on to a more economically viable system with the integrity that eBay lacks.
The key to breaking their back is to use Google checkout, a legitimate and safe service eBay has attempted to ban. Use Google checkout, the Revolution card or services like Moneybookers.com to accept payments. Much of eBays business is their ability to charge you twice for an auction, once when you list and once when payment occurs using Paypal which is only a friend to eBay.
I am moving my sales off of eBay and when they are bankrupt I will delight in watching them try to unsuccessfully re-invent themselves or beg their formerly loyal user base to return.
From Crestview Florida Make that 6 ex-ebayer with over $10K in monthly sales.
From kai, adelaide, south australia ebay used to be a fun, safe and an enjoyable place to shop and sell. Now they have become nothing more than bullies and puppets being played by companies such as games workshop – yes! those whinging poms from muggy ol' england. they repeatedly pull down my listings siting violations of trademark etc, while allowing others to freely commit the same violations over and over and over again. they do not investigate the issue, ask relevant questions, or do anything remotely fair to a seller like me. no….big company complains and ebay drops their pants and bends over immediately! they don't even look to see if there WAS any trademark violations!! all they are doing is allowing the monopoly of one company to ruin things for many avid collectors and hobbyst. they happily obey and charge their fees.
you're crap ebay, and oh so gay, gay, GAY!!!!
From Deanna Figueroa, Victoria TX Ebay has torpedoed our business twice now.
In December 2006, we were selling over 50k a month in gross sales. They allowed the manufacturer of the products we were legally selling to perjure themselves and illegaly file false Trademark violations on 187 of our listings.
We then ramped up to sell high-quality digital downloads and it was coming together…I'm disabled and it was something I could do without having to lug heavy boxes around.
Ebay announced on Monday the 24th that we had 6.5 DAYS to end our listings.
I think that Ebay is the most despicable, irrepsonsible, uncaring group of cretins ever to hit the face of the Earth.
Seller Outreach called me today telling me 'easy' it would be for me to ramp up to sell our products on CD..RIGHT.
Every CD seller out there is violating multiple listing policies without any enforcement whatsoever or are engaging in such disgusting sales maneuvers that their fb is horrible.
That's where we're going to compete with SIX DAYS NOTICE?
Imagine what I had to say to her.
EBAY: You have STOLEN MY LIVELIHOOD FOR THE LAST FREAKING TIME!!!
From mimi,New York NY I too am an ebay seller and remember when ebay was a fun place to sell but now I'm also leaving ebay due to the fees and the feedback is the last straw for me. I sell on ebay and have noticed how it's been slow in sales this is really sad because it helped moms like me who enjoyed staying home and working. Sorry Ebay but I'm officially gone.
From Maya, Cleveland, OH Ok, this kills the whole basis of what ebay grew on. Feedback rating is and made ebay. The basic fundamental safe system, that helped ensure trust between the seller and buyer. A system that allowed the seller to decide if they should continue with the transaction based on the buyers feedback. Not being able to rate the buyer gives the seller a huge disadvantage. Where are the credentials in that? Where is the safenet? This is a bunch of horseradish (frootloop term for BS). I am an avid ebay power seller, that is slowly leaving the ebay system. I once encouraged ebay usage, and introduced many friends to their selling infrastructure. No more. I now look at ebay with disgust. And see a bunch of fee-sappy, money hungry vultures sitting at the top. I mean what more do they want besides a company that allows its owners to make an ever continous flow of money without inventory. Ebay makes money for nothing. A mere website. They raise fees so they aren't affected by the pay fluctuations imposed on them towards their employees, give a person a raise, charge an extra penny in sellers fees. New overtime laws, add two cents. God forbid Meg Whitman loses $10 to employees wage hikes. Oh well, farewell to ebay. Ebay forgets we are the epidomy of their success.
From Lori E Hollywood, FL I'm fully disgusted! I was a Powerseller and a Power Buyer! My days of selling and SHOPPING on ebay are done!
As we get closer to the date ebay is again changing the rules and not even telling the sellers of new policies that have not even been announced yet.
Right now they are pulling ebooks over a policy that has not been announced or put into effect! I don't sell ebooks and never have… But this is the beginning! They will start with items everyone thinks are "horrible crooks" and it will spread like wildfire!
I find this deceptive and underhanded! I'm sure they kept the fees as well! Ebay MO….
I am already seeing some of the Ebay cheerleaders changing their tunes. One seller (who is a friend of mine) Did not think she would be affected by these changes. Well she has just been cut off selling because she reached some cap on name brand items.
She's waiting to hear from Trust and Safety…. my guess is it will be a long wait. Since anyone who has dealt with ebay knows it takes forever to get an answer if you ever do!
I feel for the sellers who will be left. I'm watching my friends get picked off one at a time. It's almost as if ebay is saying… Ok what we announced in Jan was not enough to get rid of you? Well how about this?
From Marian, WPB, FL I considered myself an Ebay Person, you can ask all my friends and family. I bought, I sold and I talked Ebay. Now, that things have changed and Ebay has grown into a company that forgets that it was people like us who helped make it grow. I had the option to sell my old bible class books (for my entire class), but choose not too. They forgot the little people.
Seems like things fell apart since Meg has been gone
From Nichole, Livonia MI This is crap. I was an Ebay powerseller for over a year. I had 100% feedback. Paypal frooze 25k in my account. Siting they didn't have an updated invoice for my products. HUH?!? I have been a registered seller for over a year? They held that money for over 30 days, thus creating me to lose big money. I was not allowed to accept, withdraw, or refund any monies.
They are crooked.
From Peter H., Playa Del Rey, CA I'm a former eBay seller and I have since left and moved onto other sites. One in particular which I liked was Flippid.com, its free to join.
From Kevin K. Palmdale, CA Absolutely STUPID, but tell that to STUPID CEO'S
From Adios ebay SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Meg Whitman, eBay Inc.'s outgoing chief executive officer, will co-chair the national presidential campaign of U.S. Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee.
http://fsbfeatures.blogs.fsb.cnn.com/2008/01/31/ebay-fee-hike-sparks-seller-rebellion/
From Dennis Manistee MI When I put a proxy bid one a axe for $265, and a person with no feedback bids in small increments about 10 times to hit my proxy and go above it the quickly does a bid retraction and the owner of the axe sends me a second chance offer that is for the shill bidders bid, I think I can say for sure that this was a shill bid and second chance offer to inflate the price. I no longer sell on ebay, I bid once and a while but never win anything anymore because I do not trust the system. The not so funny part is ebay is using this as a wat to sope illeagle things on the site, but it has made it much worse. I had 6 years with out any serious problem, not they are rampart.
From Bob, Watersmeet MI There are new kids on the block. The auction block that is. Many new auction sites offer a real time solution, to an over crowded ebay. Although, many are not known. They are out there, you just have to look for them.
The world of online auctions, just got a little bigger or smaller depending on your take. From an auction business owner standpoint. One more auction has been added to a growing list of online auciton sites. However, From an auction sellers standpoint Ebay just got a little smaller.
Ebay, an Auction site, for all intents and purposes, is still a market place, and is governed by the same rule as any other market place. Supply and demand. One thing noticed, the prices for many items on ebay have gone down. This is not by accident. Ebay is just simply over crowded and because of this, has an abundance in supply. This over supply causes less demand, and in turn, forces prices down.
While it is not known if this is good or bad for ebay. We do know it's bad for the auction seller. Items that use to sell for dollars now sell for pennies on the dollar. While Ebay fees continue to rise. Hence the search for a solution.
The only logical solution is, reduce the supply and thereby increase demand. By finding and using new or little known auction sites. We can drive our prices back up. And force ebay to lower listing fees to competitive levels. Now I'm not saying leave ebay altogether. But when our ebay auctions start selling below market value. It may do us well to move or at least copy our auctions to other auction sites.
Now as I stated there are many new online auctions. Even free ones. Here's one I own and started myself to help you get started. You can start listing right now, at lower listing fees today!
Maxbidauctions.com Online Auctions – New Auction site. Listing fess start at 10 cents with one free photo upload. Even for a car. No auction limits. Post as many auctions as you like. You can start posting auctions the minute you sign up.
http://www.maxbidauctions.com
From Jason, New Albany, IN I buy as much as I sell. I own a rather large ebay store, and most of my inventory comes from things that I purchase off ebay. Once these feedback changes go into effect, I am packing up shop and moving to a new place that I am slowing listing on.
From Adios ebay There's no doubt they are losing money now and they deserve it.
Between subscription cancellations and this economy they are going to have a rough year and it will be compounded when those new feedback changes go into effect next month and a new round of sellers leave.
From DM Bedford PA It's just another way for the rich to get richer and make the poor poorer.
Someone should start another auction site. That would take the wind out of there sails.
From LV Dallas TX See: http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN2923696420080301?sp=true
It's all telling but in the last line, the analyst says:
But Squali said the impact of the latest "sellers' strike" has yet to be reflected in any dramatic fall-off in auction listings. "The buyers don't go on strike," he said, but added: "Now sellers are looking for new options off of eBay."
He doesn't get what Ebay doesn't get:
Great sellers are also among the great buyers…when the sellers leave they leave as buyers as well.
From Kim, St. Petersburg, FL As a 9 year seller/buyer with 99.9% feedback (2 buyers who didn't get their pgs in the 2 months after 9-11 when their post office had anthrax cleanings and destroyed pkgs gave me a negative) the feedback changes are disastrous. I've been victimized by feedback extortion as a buyer, but that's nothing compared to the buyers who threatened me to get me to lower the final price–if I couldn't leave feedback then I'd have even more negatives–wrongly so.
The fee increase is bad for many of us and the "many" is why there are buyers.
Ebay DOES have competition–may not have been serious before, but watch the numbers rise for them now.
It's easy to open an online store now–wasn't so 9 years ago.
Be careful Ebay, don't cut off your nose to spite your face!
From RW Cols, OH 36 hours, THREE posts, all from me.
Stacy – I believe the posters have spoken on CNN's coverage! If you care to present OUR side of the issue, maybe we'll see fit to come back.
From RW Cols, OH Ebayers reactions to being endowed w/a blogger:
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=2000530335&tstart=0&mod=1204901197567
From RW Cols, OH An article on ebay's new blogger?! C'mon Stacy. Ebay certainly seems to get THEIR voice heard!
From PeterP Peoria Il I can only hope that a company which grew to such proportions from the loyalty of a membership of small sellers will find their demise from not returning that loyalty to this same membership. We were responsible for making Ebay a household name and now they no longer want our "small business" "flea market" sales.
From PPP Massachusetts Thank you CNN for hosting this forum.
Has anyone one had any trouble signing up for Paypal's Money Market Account – where your money is held in the Money Market as opposed to Paypal making $ on your $? They said you could sign up online – which I tried to do, however they said they could not verify my ss #. The error I got was that I must have changed my information recently or something like that. I have not changed any information since I joined (I believe it was 2004). I am an ebay seller with over 4000 positive feedbacks, so not sure why all the trouble.
So they said to fill out a form and fax a copy of your social security card and license. I did that. I then receive an email saying that they can not read my driver's license and that it is illegible. So I faxed it to them again, except this time with a lighter copy. I again get an email back saying they could not read it. The next step is to mail it in.
I guess this all could be legitimate, however it just seems as though they are making people jump through hoops in the hopes that people will not follow through. Just curious if anyone else has had the same trouble.
From RW Cols, OH Stacy – MORE "odd" auctions.
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000661380&start=0
From Mark Casillas, Whittier, CA E-Bay is sowing their own demise. Maybe they should fire the CEO or not even pay a CEO. The Fee Increase = Ridiculous. This is such a Sad Day, first Brett Favre retires and now EBay is planning its funeral. How I treasure this site for my Collectibles Addiction! Anybody want to start our own Star Wars Auction Site? ALOT of people are going to defect from EBay, join up to open up competitors everywere and the one positive thing it will do for US as collectors is derail the Retailing price of Collectibles. EBay was the standard pricing module and now there will be none. Anyone know how to write to EBay regarding these Stupid Changes? A Classic example of the Greed of one Rich Man to drain the life-blood of the rest of us! A Good Weeklong Strike will FORCE EBay to fire its CEO and not even have one!
From Done W/ Ebay Denver Co No one is losing faith in CNN……we should all be very grateful for their wonderful coverage…….There is a lot of news out there and this is just one story…..Don't be so demanding
From RW Cols, OH Stacy – the sudden LACK of posts should be quite telling. Maybe we are losing faith in CNN? The cards are on the table. Time to put-up or shut-up! Is CNN going to sit idly by and allow such a major story to languish?
From RW Cols, OH Bruce – Thank you for that testimonial!
From mmartin, muskegon, MI Mr. Hershenson– BRAVO for your decision, and for the concise evaluation of Ebay's changes. I have mainly been a buyer on Ebay, but have sold also. I have almost perfect feedback, my only one negative came when I was a buyer and was given shoddy merchandise with astronomical shipping. I tried to work through Ebay, but it was a "you guys work it out" thing, so in the end I left neg feedback for seller, she left it for me. So, you're right, their Trust and Safety Dept is a joke, and they could make the appropriate changes to get RID of crooks and both sides, but they won't, it would affect their fees. Creating this hostile buyer-seller environment is going to be their downfall.
From Bruce Hershenson, West Plains, MO My name is Bruce Hershenson and I am the owner of emovieposter.com. I joined eBay in 1998, and in 2000 I moved my entire mail-order business of vintage movie posters to eBay, and since that time I have sold 300,000 movie posters on eBay, for total sales of $16 million (3 million in 2007 alone). In all that time, I have auctioned all of my items with 99 cents start bid, and no reserve, the very kind of auctions that made eBay so successful when they first "took off".
The recent price changes affect my business greatly. They will result in the fees I pay going up 40% annually! If I were to achieve the 5% discount eBay is offering a very select few, my fees would go up by approximately 27%. If I were to achieve the 15% discount, my fees would go up by approximately 13%.
I feel that the price increases are extremely misguided. Normally, companies only raise rates when THEIR costs increase, or when they are delivering better results to their customers. In THIS case, eBay's costs have not risen and they are not only NOT delivering better results, but they are actually delivering lesser results (lower sellthrough rates and lower ASPs). Any company that did not perceive themselves as a monopoly would never raise their rates under these circumstances, but, if you feel your customers have nowhere else to go, then you CAN raise their rates, to make up for the lower profits you are having due to the lesser results you are realizing.
eBay has miscalculated in my case. I have to examine how much I pay eBay per year, and what I received in return for that money. I have concluded that I can do far better opening up my own auction on my own site. Unlike many other sellers, I had my own business for 10 years prior to starting on eBay, so I am now reversing the process I started in 2000! At that time, I moved my entire business ONTO eBay, and in 2008, I am moving my entire business OFF of eBay.
I really don't understand why eBay would drastically raise their rates on people like myself, who sell 100% of what they list, and have "fun" true auctions, where all the final prices are set by two or more actual bidders (the very kinds of auctions that made eBay so popular), and I have virtually perfect feedback (only 14 negatives in 300,000 transactions!).
What is equally difficult to understand is that eBay has slashed their rates to media sellers only, who sell very little of what they list, and who have generally mediocre feedback, and who often charge disproportionately high shipping, which eBay says is their number one concern! It also is odd that eBay chose these sellers to be the first recipients of their new "non-level playing field", for I can see no reason to single out these sellers as being especially important to eBay.
But it is not solely an issue of rates that is causing me to leave eBay. I believe their recent changes to feedback will have a disastrous effect on their company. I believe they made those changes because their research showed that buyers do not return to the site (either ever, or as often) because of dissatisfaction over high shipping, and because they get upset when a seller leaves negative feedback on them. So they made their recent changes (primarily trying to force sellers to lower shipping rates, and stop leaving "bad feedback") because they think that will improve sales.
I believe they are completely mistaken. In spite of what their research shows, I believe the number one reason buyers buy less often (or quit the site) is because they were cheated in some fashion. Similarly, I believe the number one reason sellers sell less (or quit selling altogether) is because they are tired of having buyers who never pay.
The solution to both these problems is to verify all other users on the site (both buyers and sellers). When a buyer or seller breaks the rules, eBay could then ban that PERSON, and not just that ID (which has no effect, because the person can get a new ID, under the current rules). If all users are verified, then a bad buyer or seller will be banned, and they can't easily get back on.
I believe eBay is aware of both these problems, but there are two things that prevent them from implementing my solution. One is that verifying all users would mean they would have to admit they would actually have something like 80 million users, instead of the 250 million users they claim (which counts all IDs as separate people, which everybody knows is complete fiction). The other thing is that eBay would have to have a REAL Trust and Safety department which would need to go after bad buyers and sellers, both with police and through the courts, and that would certainly be expensive, and would not bring eBay any additional income in the short term.
Under the current setup, eBay benefits greatly from the problems that beset the site. Many "bad sellers" are among the largest sellers, and pay eBay great amounts of fees. Many "bad buyers" cause items to have to be relisted a second time, and this generates a HUGE amount of revenue for eBay in listing fees they never refund (and surely many people never bother to get a refund of their final value fees, so that is an additional revenue source as well).
To sum up, eBay keeps raising the fees sellers pay, without delivering additional value of any kind, and in fact recent years have seen a deterioration of the value they have provided. They also continually micromanage their sellers, taking control of a greater and greater percentage of their businesses.
Sometime in the middle of March, I will hold my last eBay auction, and I will hold my first auction on my website http://www.emovieposter.com. I am currently in negotiations with other major sellers of collectibles and antiques, trying to help them leave eBay as well, and set up similar auctions on their own sites. I have hope that, at some time in the future, I can help set up an auction site SOLELY for collectibles and antiques, so that all of the smaller sellers on eBay will have a place to sell on that is run by actual sellers, and which truly only does provide a platform for them to sell from. I believe such a site would be very welcomed by almost all sellers of collectibles and antiques.
Bruce Hershenson
President, eMoviePoster.com
From oldtxgal As an ebay seller since 1998, (powerseller, 6982FB, 99.9%) I'm appalled by the changes recently implemented. EBay trotted out the fee hikes, proudly spun as reductions. That was a trifle insulting… we can add. Then they blamed sellers for running off buyers with negative FB, so they summarily silenced the entire selling side of the community. What?!?! I've posted over 11,000 feedback comments in ten years… less than a dozen were absolutely appropriate negatives. That's hardly abuse!
The depth of anger and dissatisfaction among sellers is chilling. Many great productive sellers have closed their eBay stores, reduced listing volume, and are testing the water on other sites, as well as building their own.
Ebay may or may not have "juiced" the listing numbers by running over a million bogus auctions during the recent boycott. Doesn't really matter, since I see a dramatic decline in traffic on, as well as sales of my own listings.
Sellers are leaving in droves, and taking with them their customer bases. What a ill conceived… no stupid blunder on eBay's part! Ebay has forced me to seek alternate venues, and I, too, have a personal website under construction. I'll not leave ebay immediately, but I'm heading for the door. I've been paying eBay/PayPal between $1,000 and $1,500 a month for years. Not much by eBay standards, but I'll be paying about the same because of the decreased traffic, and costs to relist. If I take what I'm paying eBay, I can go to a competing site, reduce my prices for my customers, and everyone will be happy again.
The changes illustrate that ebay management is totally out of touch with it's core business… the sellers, who bring products people desire to the marketplace. They would have been far wiser to better police the site, and permantly ban repeat offenders… both sellers and buyers, and leave the feedback system alone! Instead of a burdensome price hike, they should have lowered fees, across the board. Business would have flourished! As it is, Ebay has splintered the base, lost credibility, and I'm not sure there is anything they can do at this point to stop the hemmorage.
Sad. Shouldn't have happened.
From RW Cols, OH Sorry, multitasking here, that SHOULD have read shoppingdotcom not sellingdotcom (Freudian?).
From RW Cols, OH Stacy – Guess who RESTORED the pulled thread concerning the discovery of the "test" auctions buy sellingdotcom (an ebay sub) after word got out to the PUBLIC they pulled it? Don't know how many posts have been edited out while it was MIA, but here's a link to the restored version: http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=2000527568&start=0
From RW Cols, OH Stacy – You've been awfully quiet, again. We've provided the tools. . .
From Karl,Texas eBays not done yet,today 3/3/2008 they announced later this week they will be rolling out SMI(hidden bidders IDs) on all auctions regardless the price.
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200803.shtml#2008-03-03092747
So,even though buyers can leave negative feedback without fear of repriasal….they will pay for it in higher EOA prices.
I guess this is compensation to some of the shady sellers for losing the feedback angle.
any buyers who plans to continue to buy on eBay…GOOD LUCK!
From n/a n/a n/a eBay are doing it on purpose people, it's part of their business plan, they know full well they are hitting the sellers with all these recent changes, they want you sellers to go, they do not want small independent sellers anymore, they don't want a "flea market" They are going to turn eBay into a channel for faceless corporate retail giants to flog brand new mass market items, eBay themselves will have a financial interest in the retail of these items, remember those phony shopping dot com listings ? well that's the future of eBay right there. they figure they have this huge customer base, (yes they see the buyers as their customers not yours) and they're going to have all the pie to themselves soon. They want YOU gone, the wheels are already in motion, just watch and see.
From Jake Davidson, St Matthews, KY feeBay must be reading this board, they have deleted ALOT of the topics in the links on their forums that the members have posted on here (even the ones posted yesterday hahah)
Anywho, thought you all might like to see this! Its from a conference call eBay had back on Feb 6th. Since they cant delete it here, im going to post it:
http://imamerchant.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/deutschebankpatel020608.pdf
DEUTSCHE BANK
Moderator: Jeetil Patel
02-06-08/12:00 pm CT
Confirmation# 34216181
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DEUTSCHE BANK
Moderator: Jeetil Patel
February 6, 2008
12:00 pm CT
Operator: Good afternoon. My name is (Carmen) and I will be your conference operator today. At this time I would like to welcome everyone to the Impact of eBay Recent Changes and Perspectives on the Internet Merchants Association Conference Call.
All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker’s remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star and the number 1 on your telephone keypad.
If you would like to withdraw your question, press the pound key. Thank you Mr. Patel, you may begin your conference.
Jeetil Patel: Yes, thanks (Carmen). Welcome everyone. Thanks for joining us on this call. I’m Jeetil Patel, analyst here at Deutsche Bank Securities to dive a little deeper into the eBay changes that were recently announced about a week ago as well as just some overall themes related to eBay. As well as just overall channels in management and kind of e-commerce strategies as a broad perspective as well.
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I’m actually joined by a couple folks here from the Internet Merchants Association. For those of you that may not be familiar with the IMA, they have approximately 200 members that focus primarily on e-commerce on their Web site, on eBay, through Google as well as Amazon out there. And I think it’s going to be important to here what some of these folks have to say about some of the changes and other issues around the eBay market place.
Joining me are Steve Grossberg, President of the IMA and they’re pretty large seller on eBay alone also; as well as Ben Mandell, Vice-President of the IMA. And Ben, I think you’ve had quite an extensive experience selling on eBay and, you know, still do. So I think it’s going to be great to hear both of your perspectives on different issues as related to the company.
We’re going to go about 30 to 40 minutes on the overall presentation and open up to Q&A. If you guys – if anyone on the line has a question and would like to email it, you can email it to me at jeetil.patel@db.com or just simply queue up and we’ll be – I think we’ll take questions at the end here.
But we’re going to break it down in a couple of key segments here. I guess to kick it off we’re going to focus on the seller conference that was there last week out on the East Coast. And Steve – and then I believe you both were in attendance.
First of all welcome. I guess, you know, is there, you know, I guess – can you talk about first of all, the overall feedback and perspective of sellers? How do they feel about the conference in general and the take-aways? And then we’ll get into a little bit more deeper – just deeper issues as we move ahead.
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Steve Grossberg: Yes. Hi, this is Steve Grossberg from IMA. Want to thank Jeetil for having us on the call and we’re pleased to go into this. I just wanted to start off by telling the listeners they can visit our Web site at imamerchant.org. And in a few weeks from now we are hosting our annual e-commerce conference and there’s going to be a host of eBay management in attendance there. As well as folks from Google and Amazon and a host of other e-commerce companies. And (Stephanie Poleneus) who is the new Senior VP over at eBay North America will be delivering the key note speech. So it should be quite interesting.
As far as the changes; as you know, there has been many changes introduced by eBay last week. Specifically fees and feedback are – appears to be the big one. And we can go into talking about the fees a little bit.
We had some concern because eBay’s had – eBay has had issues for years. And eBay’s take rate seems to be quite high in many areas and that has caused these issues. And I believe eBay is acknowledging they’ve had issues and problems; hence, this why they came out with these radical and drastic changes last week.
However, with that said, we truly believe that while we applaud eBay for making these changes and acknowledging that they have issues on the site that need to be addressed – and this is the first time I believe that eBay has ever really done anything about it – we also believe that they are misinterpreting their own data. And that these changes will not be successful.
Jeetil Patel: Steve, I mean, we ran some numbers ourselves here relating to just the different pricing bands, you know, final value fees and listing fees. But, you know, I guess of the end IMA or broadly the folks in attendance I guess, can you talk about, you know, how – what percentage of sellers do you think are
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seeing an increase in fees as a result of this, decrease in fees and also no change in fees, you know, as you looked at, you know, as you’ve spoken to IMA members or folks in attendance out at the conference.
Steve Grossberg: Okay, well the best we could tell it appears about 1/3 of our members are going to see a fee increase. A third of our members will see a fee decrease and the balance – about 24% – will be revenue neutral.
Okay, so really this was not a – when you look at the fees there was not a radical change that – and the stimulus that eBay needed to get this site back on track. We believe they needed to have a sweeping and broad fee decrease across the board and all they did was reshuffle fees. Okay, it’s like shuffling the cards and they come out differently but at the end it’s the same 52 cards. And that’s not going to solve their problems here.
Ben Mandell: And the other thing too, from our point of view is they have rewarded sellers that weren’t doing such a good job as far as sell-through with this fee structure. And the ones that actually had 100% sell-through or close to 100% sell-through, those are the ones that are really getting a major price increase.
Jeetil Patel: Do you think it’s specific to a cat – different categories or do you think it’s specific to different ASP bands? If you look at that 1/3 increasing, 1/3 decreasing and, you know, 24% revenue…
Ben Mandell: Well you have to remember that most sells on eBay are in the $40 to $42 range. So anything that they change in other category does not have a material effect because most of the sales are in that $40 to $42 range.
Steve Grossberg: Yes, and under.
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Ben Mandell: And under. That’s correct. So what happens is well, sure, if I sell a $100 item and you give me a discount off of an already inflated price that I can’t make money on to start with, it really doesn’t do me any good to have the discount at the $100 range. And that’s what they’ve done here.
Steve Grossberg: If I may add onto that Jeetil, because we’ve dissected the numbers as well here. And when we’re talking about percent of sellers, we don’t really want to focus in on that area. We want to focus in on percent of transactions. Okay? Percent of GMV.
Jeetil Patel: Yes.
Steve Grossberg: The transactional volume in sellers being engaged, I think here, is the more important measurement to look at. So when you look at who got fee release, they are making up a much less percentage of the total eBay transactions. eBay has hit most of the high transaction volume sellers with a fee increase which in our minds mean buyers will become less engaged in the site because seller are going to have no choice but to pull back.
Ben Mandell: I think that’s a fair statement.
Jeetil Patel: So, I mean, if you – just to go back to that quick point. But if you look at the percentage of volume, how would you break up the 1/3, 1/3, 24 against the volume base?
Ben Mandell: Well based on what we…
Jeetil Patel: …a majority that are seeing a price increase at that point?
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Ben Mandell: Let’s just to specialize…Guys, there’s some specialized sellers that are on eBay in the high volume category that did see a fee decrease. And those sellers are folks that were using the Gallery option which up to this point has been 35 cents.
Jeetil Patel: Yes,
Ben Mandell: All right and there’s a large shoe seller that had to use the Gallery item – or Gallery option because he sells shoes. Well in his particular case, he sells a lot of shoes and does thousands of listings a day. He’s going to save 35 cents on each listing that he puts up there each day. So if he’s got 1,000 listings, you can see how the numbers start to add up.
Jeetil Patel: Yes.
Ben Mandell: But he’s the exception to the rule in the high volume category. Most of the high volume folks didn’t use the Gallery because the Gallery costs 35 cents. And you could basically could list something else for either 40 cents or 60 cents and they – the high volume folks said, “Well, I’d rather have another listing for 40 or 60 cents than put 35 cents as an extra fee on a listing that I already have.”
Steve Grossberg: And what it comes down to Jeetil, if you look at it and you look at the guys who did the high transaction volume – such as books, music, video, video games and also the guys who are doing the true 99 cent reserve model – those guys got hit with a wicked fee increase. These are the guys that are bringing the buyers to engage on eBay on a daily and weekly basis.
Okay, now if you look at, for instance, a $15 or $14 ASP item. Somebody who had a 17% sell-through only who was not doing a great job got hit with a
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4.3% increase – and the reason why I said that is those sellers are not using Gallery cause when they had a 16.7% increase Gallery on the old system would’ve cost them about 15% of GMV just to put a photo up of their add
Jeetil Patel: Yes.
Steve Grossberg: They couldn’t afford it, they couldn’t sell the item on the site. eBay wants to come back and say, “Gallery is free.” Gallery is not free. They hit the sellers in this category in the back end with that huge whopping fee increase in the back end of their fees.
Ben Mandell: In effect, what they’re doing is forcing everybody to pay for Gallery now. That’s what they’re…
Steve Grossberg: You know, right now lower tier – which is bringing in the high transaction volume. So now, if we look at the same $14 ASP item where the seller had a – remember it was a 4.3% increase if he had a 17% sell-through…
Jeetil Patel: Yes.
Steve Grossberg: If you double that sell through to 33%, he got hit with a 13.4% increase.
Jeetil Patel: So it’s actually affecting the better sellers, the larger volume sellers. I mean, basically the power sellers more so than the marginal seller that’s there for…
Ben Mandell: Absolutely.
Steve Grossberg: And the seller who’s bringing buyers to engage in the site, that has a better sell-through ratio. If they had a 50% sell-through, they’re getting hit with a 20% fee increase. All that’s going to do is push these people on to other sites
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– mainly Amazon. And eBay already drove the good sellers to Amazon two years ago. Hence, Amazon is experiencing hyper growth in those categories.
Jeetil Patel: So basically you have a slew of high volume sellers that are seeing increases where all the volume is and you figure that’s where buyers are interacting, right? You have massive purchase frequency. If I read a book , I’m done within a week or a month and I’m coming back for more.
Well, if you’re now conceding this category or wiling to raise rates and drive that business out of eBay, then you’re going to lose just going to by retention the ability to bring them back constantly every month or every quarter to transact more frequently.
Steve Grossberg: Exactly. And, I mean, I don’t think this is rocket science and I, you know, we certainly don’t need a whole lot of schooling to figure this out. Look at some of the best and brightest retailers such as Best Buy and Wal-Mart.
Jeetil Patel: Yes.
Steve Grossberg: Every Tuesday new DVDs come out. These guys advertise them, they sell them out at a low cost. Why? To get consumers engaged in coming in their store on a weekly basis. Okay, because those consumers engage and buy other items in the store. Okay, what eBay is doing is driving buyers away to engage in other sites.
Ben Mandell: And we haven’t been able to have DVDs – new release DVDs – sold on eBay in years because it just costs too much to sell them. There’s not enough marked up in them to pay the eBay fees.
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Steve Grossberg: So we don’t understand why eBay wouldn’t drastically lower fees in these type of categories to get buyers to engage more instead of doing the complete opposite. And that’s why we feel that they are misinterpreting their own data here. Because that would be the right thing to do. Because where does the new buying experience happen on eBay?
Well they’re certainly not coming on eBay and buying $2,500 flat panel TVs in their first buying experience. They’re usually going to start on a lower ASP item, those items didn’t have Gallery. They are forcing that transaction volume off of eBay and scaring away the buyers more.
Ben Mandell: And think about this. If you walked into a large store and all of a sudden a lot of your merchandise that used to be there is no longer there. And now you’ve got to go somewhere else to get it.
Jeetil Patel: Yes.
Ben Mandell: It’s a pretty good chance that you’re going to go to the one place that has all of it instead of making two trips or three trips.
Jeetil Patel: So basically the Trojan Horse – which is the low ASP, high volume categories at eBay – they’re basically raising rates to drive it out.
Steve Grossberg: Yes, and let’s touch on the 99 cent no reserve guys.
Jeetil Patel: Yes.
Steve Grossberg: Because these are also a lot of eBay as well…
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Jeetil Patel: I think before you get into that, I mean, I know – I understand the dynamics of the 99 cent no reserve model and what’s been happening. But I guess, can you talk about, you know, what – as you describe it can you just give us a sense of what it looked like maybe three to four years ago when, you know, 99 cent no reserve really worked effectively and seems to have lost its legs, you know, each and every year? But I guess, as you jump into that in more detail can you describe what’s been happening, you know, over the last couple years in that…
Ben Mandell: I can talk about that a little bit. Okay. It use to be on eBay in the late ‘90s early 2000s you could put an item up for 99 cents and it would close at a price that was the value of it. And that’s what eBay really wanted you to do. Start the auctions at 99 cents, let them roll and they’d close at a market value. That’s back when people really bid on the site.
And that business has been declining as people get wise as to how to actually shop on eBay and snipe and not get into bidding wars and things like that. But there are a few of those guys that have still been around that have done a wonderful job.
One of them is a large seller that sells CDs on – 1 cent CDs on eBay. And he’s got a following and he puts up 1,000 listings a day and there are a bunch of CDs and he starts them all at a penny basically. And lets them roll and that’s just his business model and he’s been quite successful with it.
And there’s another – one that’s in our group that sells movie posters and he starts everything at 99 cents and lets it roll and some of these movie posters sell for – depending on how rare they are – sell for $200 or $300.
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So those are the guys that we actually talk to at the conference and those particular guys are going – one of them has said he’s forced off of eBay at this point. The other guy has indicated that his fees are going up to the point where now eBay is making a lot more in fees that he makes.
Steve Grossberg: And let’s frame this a little bit more, Ben. And the fact that these 99 cent no reserve sellers – and I did some quick numbers – if it’s a guy who didn’t use Gallery – because most of them don’t – because they’re working on ultra thin margins. Hence, that’s why they were able to survive with this 99 cent no reserve model because a bunch of their stuff they’re selling they actually lose money on. Okay, but they’re getting customers to engage in eBay on a daily basis because they’re looking for bargains and scouring the site, you know, for bargains. And I think everybody understands that analogy there.
Anyway, these guys got hit – if they sold – if they’re selling $100 ASP items – they’re getting hit with a 23% increase. If they’re selling $200 ASP items – which we have sellers who do that – used PDAs and Blackberrys and the like – they’re getting hit with a 18% fee increase.
Okay, we are estimating – this is coming out to dollars per sale. Okay, when you look at the dollars per sale and these guys were listing anywhere from 3,000 to 10,000 items a week on the site, eBay just took away 25 to 50% of this merchant’s gross profit.
Okay, so they’re either going to force these guys to go off the site or – and that means less buyers engaging in the eBay site cause these people are bringing them buyers – or eBay becomes a much more seasonal business where they start focusing on other channels and stop selling on eBay 365 days a year like they used to. And just come back during the high season when the ASPs are a little bit higher, such as Christmas.
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Jeetil Patel: So in the case of those folks that use the 99 cent or penny no reserve models, you know, what type of fee hike are you guys seeing or hearing from those individuals?
Ben Mandell: I’ve talked to a number of folks and their fees are going up by thousands of dollars a month. I mean, $3 to $6,000 a month is what I’m hearing. And the question that I ask on this is, “Are your – if your fees are going up $3 to $6,000 a month and that’s what you’re paying eBay, what are you getting for this?” And the answer was, “Absolutely nothing. I’m not getting higher ASPs, I’m not getting higher sell-throughs. I’m strictly paying eBay more fees.”
Jeetil Patel: But, I mean, switching subjects, but, I mean, the DSR should allow you to get a better fee discount. And I guess I’m curious…
Ben Mandell: Well, this is another – this is smoke and mirrors – this DSR discount. Because I asked – there were 200 top sellers, the 200 very top sellers at eBay were at that conference. And I asked the question in front of John Donahoe and the whole eBay executive team during the question-and-answer session – and I wanted to know how many of the 200 sellers in that room which are the top sellers – had DSRs of 4.8 or above on all four categories because that’s what it takes to get the discount. And ten of them raised their hand.
Steve Grossberg: And Jeetil, like Ben said, it’s smoke and mirrors and I – and as I said earlier in the call – you don’t want to focus on percent of sellers. eBay wants us to focus on percent of sellers, I want to focus on transaction volume. We’re estimating that 1 to 2% of the transactions conducted on eBay have this 4.8 DSR or better.
Jeetil Patel: Yes, and…
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Steve Grossberg: The number of sellers is totally irrelevant and I would caution people not to focus on that number.
Jeetil Patel: And just, you know, describe DSR as detail seller rating. It’s made up of four key elements of the eBay kind of scoring model around sellers. And, you know, I guess can you guys talk about exactly what are…
Ben Mandell: All right, let’s talk – also, first of all it’s important to realize that the offer of the discount is 15% off of the listing fees only. It’s not all the other fees you pay on eBay. So first of all…
Jeetil Patel: Sorry Ben…
Steve Grossberg: …fees. It is that.
Jeetil Patel: I’m sorry.
Ben Mandell: Is it?
Steve Grossberg: Fifteen percent of the final value fees, not the listing fees.
Ben Mandell: Okay, 15% of the final value fees, not the listing fees. But it’s not any other optional services that you buy. It’s not your entire eBay fee bill. And that’s important to realize that, that translates into a discount on your total overall bill of somewhere around – we’re thinking – 6%.
Steve Grossberg: Well if you go back Jeetil, I had written a piece on this back in September ’07 and it’s on the IMA site on our blog. There’s a link to our blog and it’s called,
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“Looking at eBay’s detailed seller ratings – I am concerned.” So I brought this to the forefront back in September.
Specifically, I talked about the shipping and handling DSRs and if I can dive into it for a second. At the time, I analyzed the top 100 sellers in eBay USA who were actively selling on the site. At that time, only – the average score of the top 100 sellers by transaction volume – okay, because that’s what concerns me is transaction volume – they scored a 4.1 on shipping and handling. Okay?
There was only 44% of them scored a 4.5 or better so that means 56% of the top 100 sellers are not going to be in the Power Seller program any longer – based on eBay’s new rule.
The third thing is only one of those top 100 sellers qualified for the 15% discount. Now it’s funny because if you look at 4.5 or better – eBay’s new power seller requirement – item as described 99% of the top 100 sellers are in there. Communication 93%, shipping time 81%. But shipping fee was 44%.
eBay should not even have shipping fee in there cause it’s the only one of the four DSRs that the buyer knows with 100% certainty what those costs are up front. It was clearly communicated and even John Donahoe’s coming out and saying, “Buyers have remorse after the fact about what they paid for shipping and handling.”
So I’m going to call it Big Brother or the government. You know, we all know that government doesn’t do things well, that de-regulated industries are the best industries.
Jeetil Patel: Yes.
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Steve Grossberg: Well eBay cannot regulate it and they need to stay out of it. And by trying to regulate it – as we’ve seen in the past with any other government agency who tries to regulate things – they have a tendency on screwing things up.
Ben Mandell: Okay, and keep in mind also that according to eBay’s own data, shipping and handling is not the number one complaint on eBay.
Jeetil Patel: What is then?
Ben Mandell: The number one complaint on eBay is delivery time. And they focus nothing on delivery time whatsoever. And I can tell you, our members shine on delivery time.
Jeetil Patel: Yes. And so – but the biggest waiting is placed on shipping and handling charges which is…
Ben Mandell: Which is…
Jeetil Patel: No, no…
Ben Mandell: You cannot solve that. I mean, it’s one of those things – it’s like taxes. Nobody likes them but you can’t solve it.
Steve Grossberg: And it comes down to…
Jeetil Patel: Well you called it based on the fees that eBay charges its sellers.
Steve Grossberg: Well and that’s a huge part of it. But what it comes down to, what we’d like to see it replaced is would you buy from the seller again.
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Jeetil Patel: Yes,
Steve Grossberg: Which would work better for sellers and it would work better for eBay. Why do you want to – why does eBay want to go market that 56% of their sellers – of their top sellers are not power sellers.
Plus let’s talk about the discounts they gave us for a minute. If – I’ll look at my personal numbers. If I was to try to get mine up to a 4.8, the bonus that eBay is offering me comes out to 19 cents per item. So as a business person, that tells me if I strive to earn eBay’s 4.8 and get a discount, I want to lower my shipping and handling somewhat less than the bonus they’re offering me. So let’s say I split it with them and I said I’m going to lower my shipping and handling a dime. That will have no effect on raising my DSRs and it will ultimately serve just to lose me money.
Jeetil Patel: Yep.
Steve Grossberg: So…
Ben Mandell: It also…
Steve Grossberg: …it tells me to look at their own economics. This is not enough of a carrot to incent sellers to strive to get there. And sellers need to look at their own economics and run their business the way they need to run their business. Again without interference or regulation.
Ben Mandell: And also you have to keep in mind that our sellers that give free shipping – which should translate to 05 only get a 4.7 on DSRs.
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Jeetil Patel: That’s strange.
Ben Mandell: So even if they give the shipping for free, you’re still at 4.7 which is below the rate that it takes to get the discount.
Jeetil Patel: Sounds like that’s the wrong waiting that they have in the system. But, you know, I guess if you’re at about a 4. – I think you talked about a 4.4 on average – what do you think happens now as you go forward with this new DSR rating? And I guess one of the other big themes out of this was it seems like sellers cannot rate buyers but buyers can rate sellers.
Ben Mandell: And this is going to be a disaster.
Jeetil Patel: Okay.
Ben Mandell: Okay, you’re looking now at the point – what they’ve done is they are taking away the seller’s ability to leave negative feedback on a buyer. But buyers can leave negative feedback on sellers. And so there’s no repercussions at all for a buyer to do that. Even it he’s totally 100% satisfied he can write that he’s not satisfied and that’s the end of it.
And my prediction is that we’re going to end up with about a 20% negative feedback ratio on eBay. You’re going to see red ink, red ink everywhere.
Jeetil Patel: So you’re basically going to see an average of 4.4 go to at least 4 if not lower?
Ben Mandell: If not lower. And I think when people start to see all of these negatives start to come out of the woodwork – buyers especially – they’re going to be scared like you’ve never seen before. And right now they get upset over just 2% negative. And when this expands to 20% – and everybody’s going, “Why in
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the world are you saying 20%? Where are you getting this from?” And where I’m getting this from is I’m looking at the CSI Index ratings for the largest chains in the country. And the best department store in the country, the best rating – and that comes from Kohl’s – …
Jeetil Patel: Yes.
Ben Mandell: They’ve got an 80% Customer Satisfaction Index. That means 20% of the people that go in there aren’t happy. And Costco, which we think is a phenomenal company, they have a 79 which means 21% are not happy.
Jeetil Patel: Yes.
Ben Mandell: All right. I don’t see how in the world eBay is going to do better than Costco or Kohl’s – on the CSI Index. It’s just not going to happen. But they’re trying to get there.
Jeetil Patel: And already it appears as though buyers are buying fewer items per buyer already. Or in the world of retail that would be referred to as comps for sales. But if the comps for sales are negative on eBay already and you’re going to start to see the feedback deteriorate further – let’s say 80% or less -…
Ben Mandell: Or less is right.
Jeetil Patel: Wouldn’t that actually put greater strain on the buyer’s interest or just overall ability or interest level in purchasing from eBay?
Ben Mandell: Absolutely. When you come in there you’ll see all these negatives as a buyer goes, I don’t want to deal with those guys. They got too many negatives.
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Steve Grossberg: And if we look back for a minute and we go back to the beginning, what we’re saying is, it’s good that eBay has recognized that a change is needed and radical change is needed.
Jeetil Patel: Yes.
Steve Grossberg: But I think we’re pointing out here in our opinions, clearly they are misinterpreting the data and not making the right changes that are needed to fix the site. Our hope is now what appears that the management team that John has put in place is intent on fixing it.
And it seems a little less political even though all big companies are political in nature and were hoping – our hope is that they’re listening – which it appears they are – and are ready to make additional changes on a moment’s notice. And we sincerely, you know, hope – we’re cautiously optimistic that is the case because we are convinced that these are the wrong changes to make.
Jeetil Patel: Well certainly the question of would you buy from this seller again seems to be a very logical question to ask at the very least. And it’s almost like a very kind of consulting asked question of, you know, would you recommend this company to, you know, to your friends as a reference to purchase from.
Steve Grossberg: Absolutely.
Jeetil Patel: And, you know, the same idea I think speak volumes to, you know, a particular seller and the quality of that particular seller, you know, and the customer service.
Steve Grossberg: Right, I mean, let’s face it, those 20% who are rating Kohl’s negatively…
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Jeetil Patel: Yes,
Steve Grossberg: I guarantee a large percentage of those people may come back in the store – for one reason or another. So really that says it all…
Ben Mandell: What if those 20% were out in front of Kohl’s picketing that they had a bad experience in Kohl’s? How would that effect Kohl’s business?
Jeetil Patel: Probably wouldn’t keep people there.
Ben Mandell: And that’s what happening with this system that eBay’s put together.
Jeetil Patel: So know lets – I’m going to switch a bit, the subject a bit more here. But, you know, non-paying bidder which kind of ties into kind of the buyer-seller feedback mechanism coupled with the buyer’s side equation in general.
But, you know, non-paying bidder – we’ve thought about it as a 7% hit, i.e. potentially 7% of all transactions don’t even get paid for from a payment standpoint despite the fact that sellers do get charged for it from a commission standpoint.
I think Steve, you had mentioned something on the order of 6% and I guess I wanted to elaborate on that in particular. I guess, can you describe, you know, what is – what do you think the non-paying bidder rate runs at today? And I guess, where, you know, what can you do to improve it or what can eBay do to improve it that you see in the business?
Steve Grossberg: Well…
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Ben Mandell: There’s two rates there that he needs to cover and I’ll let him do it but I just want to say there’s the rate that eBay admits to and then there’s the other rate.
Steve Grossberg: The real rate.
Ben Mandell: The real rate.
Steve Grossberg: Okay, but eBay can only admit to what people report. Jeetil, first you have to understand their unpaid item process.
Jeetil Patel: Yes.
Steve Grossberg: Their unpaid item process works, we cannot report an item as unpaid until after minimum seven days. Okay, so at that point we have to start a process and file it on eBay and give the seller a chance to respond as to why they haven’t paid. So we have to wait until either A, they responded; or B, they did not respond which is another seven days after we filed the strike. And then we can close it out.
So we’re potentially tying up our inventory for 14 days here. Okay, waiting to see if that buyer is going to pay.
Jeetil Patel: Yes.
Ben Mandell: And that’s under best circumstances.
Steve Grossberg: Now we are looking at it as when the buyer won the auction or clicked the Buy It Now button which a tremendous amount of eBay’s volume is off of Buy It Now or fixed price, they indicated that day they were going to pay.
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So now here it comes in a buyer – eBay claims they are going to remove the negative feedback if a buyer does not respond to the unpaid item strike – which again is smoke and mirrors. Because I can tell you that 99% of the buyers plus answer the unpaid items strike and the usual response you get is a little check box they check on eBay that says, “Buyer indicates they will pay for this item.”
Well as a seller, I immediately close out that strike and file it as a strike unpaid because 8 days ago or 14 days ago or whenever when they actually bought the item…
Jeetil Patel: Yes.
Steve Grossberg: …they indicated to me they were going to pay. And at this point either it’s paid or it’s not paid. The excuse – you know, and I might have some personal feelings but I’m running a business. So I keep my personal feelings aside that their kid’s leg got amputated and the million – litany of excuses that you hear from eBay buyers. So you just close it out.
But anyway, we’re equating it that this also – eBay does not have enough skin in the game here and we’re equating it to a $100 million plus that eBay is making off these non-paying bidders which is a tremendous amount of eBay gross profit are coming from the non-paying bidders.
Ben Mandell: Also I want to point out too, the way Steve is closing out his non-paying bidders is about the fastest way that you can close them out. I know when we were selling on eBay we didn’t them close them out nearly that fast. If they told us they were going to pay we basically gave them another seven days to pay – and did that. And a lot of them did and a lot of them didn’t. So…
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Steve Grossberg What the problem with Ben’s way is it becomes a manual task.
Ben Mandell: That’s right.
Steve Grossberg: A highlight of sellers cannot do it that way. And you have to understand the process when a buyer responds to a non-paid item strike thing – console, if I was not to either A, close it out because it wasn’t paid; or B, close it out because it was paid, I would then have to monitor those manually. I cannot automate that with any software cause eBay will not allow us the third party providers to automate it with software. So then it will become a manual task where I would have to monitor tens of thousands of items I sell in a month which I’m not willing to do.
Ben Mandell: Yes, he’s absolutely correct. But that’s where…
Steve Grossberg: Either they’re paid or they’re not paid.
Jeetil Patel: So clearly there is an inventory carrying costs that you are having to absorb tying up the inventory – the opportunity costs of inventory as well. But, I mean, I guess when you take a step back and look at the selling commissions you pay eBay, what percentage of those selling commissions do you think are pay – you are paying them as a result of non-paying bidders?
Steve Grossberg: Okay, again commissions and final value fees, that is refundable on a non-paid item.
Jeetil Patel: Yes.
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Steve Grossberg: The listing fees are not refundable and again, eBay likes to have smoke and mirrors and say, well the seller can relist the item and if it sells the second time around we’ll give them relisting fee credit.
Jeetil Patel: Yes.
Steve Grossberg: Well let’s look at this. Like when you look at my categories for instance. The average sell through rate – you know, you’re looking at about 30%. So in essence only 30% of the listing fees are going to be reimbursable – 70% are not. Because we know that 70% of these items or maybe less will not sell in the first time around.
Jeetil Patel: Right.
Steve Grossberg: So again it’s smoke and mirrors. eBay need to give us number one, 100% credit on all those non-paying bidders because they’re the ones who brought them to the site and didn’t verify them. We are at the point where we’re saying eBay needs to collect payments on behalf of sellers. Just like every other site in the Internet works.
Ben Mandell: But we believe they can actually save a significant amount of money and a significant amount of employees by actually collecting the payments themselves.
Jeetil Patel: Sounds like a dicey situation given the amount of revenue at stake here or the amount of business they’re collecting on those fees…
Steve Grossberg: Well on the same token, is money coming back to them Jeetil, because right now when you have – you get your eBay bill let’s say on the 31 of the month,
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let’s look at January 31 – the seller will have until the end of the last day of the following month to pay that bill.
By eBay collecting payments on behalf of sellers they reduce that float, okay, and they’re getting their payment immediately.
Jeetil Patel: Yes.
Steve Grossberg: Okay, so there’s going to be a lot of money coming back to them. Also there will be a lot of money coming back because in our minds PayPal would be the payment and automatic credit card processor if a buyer wanted to use a credit card – PayPal will become the automatic payment processor for credit card. All of that non-paying bidder money will come back, it will eliminate all the non-paying bidders. Okay, it will eliminate the inventory tie-up to sellers and…
Ben Mandell: And it’s going to eliminate a great deal of trust and safety’s department.
Steve Grossberg: So when you look at eBay’s issues, the issues are the high seller fees – which we discussed. Okay, the trust in the market place is a huge issue both on the buyer and seller side. And the only way to get this trust issue under control we believe is to collect payments on behalf of sellers. That eliminates 99% of the trust factor problem.
Jeetil Patel: Yes. Now I know – I think they indicated a while ago that they were going to simplify the checkout process between eBay Buy button and the PayPal Buy button. But do you think it makes sense to go to one unified Buy button when you hit the Buy button on eBay? You all actually instantly hit the Buy button on PayPal and it clears the transaction, the cash is collected and it’s done.
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Steve Grossberg: Absolutely, just like on Amazon. You’re registered on the site and you’re credit card information or your PayPal account, whatever you choose to use as your preferred method of payment is registered on the site. Then at that point you should give the buyer the option after they click the Buy button if they want to change their preferred payment method to an alternate. And allow them to have alternate methods associated with their eBay account.
Not a hard thing. Every other online retailer has done it.
Jeetil Patel: Yes.
Steve Grossberg: Okay, so…
Jeetil Patel: The key take away it seems like you’re not a layaway plan even though eBay wants you to be one.
Steve Grossberg: No I had a guy last week and he bought an item from me and I filed the UPI and this is a funny story, he said do you mind waiting until I get my tax return check? Okay, well I’m sorry, I can’t wait a month or two and put your item on layaway till you get your tax return check.
Jeetil Patel: Right.
Steve Grossberg: Why did you hit the Buy button? Another IMA member just posted, he used my philosophy on closing out these strikes early and not waiting. And he just said he reduced his tied up inventory – where a month ago he had $20,000 at the end of the month tied up – he reduced that down to $1,500.
But tied up money and unpaid items seems to be a good thing for eBay.
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Jeetil Patel: Yes.
Steve Grossberg: Okay, it’s not a good thing for sellers and we have a unique community here where eBay has to win and flourish, sellers have to win and flourish and buyers have to win and flourish. And if there’s any combination of those three that don’t win and flourish it doesn’t work.
Jeetil Patel: Which leads me to my last set of questions. But I guess I’m just trying to do a bit of comparison here. But if you look at eBay first of all, do you think it’s a buyer or demand problem, a seller economic problem or a structural problem on eBay?
Ben Mandell: It’s a basic structural problem at this point. And that’s causing problems for both buyers and sellers.
Jeetil Patel: Do you think that now they’ve gotten feedback after their power seller event last week the company could lower fees or change fees again or change the feedback DSR system?
Ben Mandell: I’m just disappointed they didn’t get it right the first time. I mean, I talked with somebody the night before they announced this and he said, “What do you think?” I said, “Well I’ve got my fingers crossed but, you know, based on their past experience they have a habit of messing things up.” And, you know, they came up the next day and they made it worse than it was.
Jeetil Patel: Do you think they’d change it?
Ben Mandell: You know I don’t know if they know what to do?
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Steve Grossberg: We don’t think that eBay knows, the effect that these – we’re convinced of that too. eBay themselves don’t know what type of effect this will have happen and are misinterpreting their data. Okay…
Ben Mandell: And they’ve continuously been misinterpreting their data for a long period of time.
Steve Grossberg: Now we’re cautiously optimistic that some changes. But I can tell you one thing. I did have some conversations with some eBay executives after the fees were announced on Tuesday night. I know they are going back and looking at the Media category and they are concerned and we could see some changes forthcoming.
But my question is, number one, why didn’t they contact us before and discuss this before – which they had but they didn’t go into great detail cause we could have helped them before. And number two, is I haven’t heard anything back from eBay in this regard, asking us our opinions directly – a direct call from eBay – on where they may have gone wrong and what they could have done better.
Jeetil Patel: What about the DSR front?
Steve Grossberg: The DSR front? I think somewhere they’re getting some bad data and they’re convinced that’s the way to go. I think that one they’re going to have to learn from their own mistakes when Ben’s scenario – which I agree with – will most likely play out because the CSI as you mentioned, the Consumer Satisfaction Index – which is done by the University of Michigan – that doesn’t lie. And the same economics will play out on eBay as play out in the rest of the world when in comes to retailing.
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And, you know, like Ben says, it’s going to scare away buyers. So I think they’re going to have to learn the lesson the heard way there.
Ben Mandell: Yes, the way I looked at this is they made this tremendous feedback change based upon the negative experiences of less that 1% of the buyers on eBay. So for that miniscule amount that’s far less than 1%, they have now basically messed up the entire feedback system for everybody else.
Steve Grossberg: And, you know, going on with saying there eBay made it clear and John Donahoe and Lorrie Norrington did an interview in AuctionBytes. And Lorrie Norrington came out and said as long as sellers are accurately describing their item and they’re being very clear on what is being offered to the buyer that they will make sure the buyer and seller both have a vehicle to express satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the transaction in an accurate way.
So if the seller is accurately and clearly describing what they’re charging on shipping…
Jeetil Patel: Yes.
Steve Grossberg: …why should they be able to come back and ding you and later in that interview John Donahoe was quoted as saying, “One of the biggest problems effecting eBay is that the buyers after the fact, have buyer remorse and do not feel good about the shipping and handling.” So they’re contradicting one other’s statement there.
You can’t clearly describe what you’re offering and then allow somebody to have remorse after the fact and be concerned about because there’s no way we can change what we’re clearly offering, is there?
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Jeetil Patel: That’s right, no. So just to switch it up a bit more before we go into Q&A. But eBay, Amazon. A couple of key themes or questions that I’ve always had are and, you know, we’ve obviously polled a lot of folks. But what is the selling commission that you hear about on eBay versus Amazon? It seems like Amazon is 15 to 17 from what we gather. And what do you think the overall payment – payouts run relative to the payout to the gross dollars coming in?
Ben Mandell: Well you know Amazon…
Steve Grossberg: First of all, Amazon is not more that 15% anywhere.
Ben Mandell: And that’s including payments.
Steve Grossberg: They top out at 15%.
Ben Mandell: That’s including payment.
Jeetil Patel: Yes. eBay?
Steve Grossberg: eBay they top out in the 30s.
Jeetil Patel: Okay.
Steve Grossberg: And they just went higher.
Jeetil Patel: And I guess ASPs – we’ve always thought about eBay having lower ASPs out there than Amazon by a rate of 10 to 15%. What’s your take on that number?
Ben Mandell: The fee structure artificially depresses ASPs. And…
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Jeetil Patel: What do you think…
Ben Mandell: What do I think what is?
Jeetil Patel: The spread between Amazon and eBay on pricing ASPs.
Ben Mandell: I think it’s in the 20 to 25% range.
Jeetil Patel: And that’s pure profit if you adjust for obviously costs of goods.
Ben Mandell: Yes.
Jeetil Patel: And then growth rates. I mean, can you talk about maybe listings growth versus transaction growth on eBay? And then Amazon growth, what you’re seeing there?
Steve Grossberg: Well the growth – the trend is certainly shifting to Amazon as well as other venues. And what eBay just did here if they don’t make more changes before implementation date of February 20…
Jeetil Patel: Yes.
Steve Grossberg: It’s just put sellers to go – sellers have always been gravitating towards Amazon and other venues, including their own Web site. Now you’re just pushing the sellers more to allocate more their eBay dollars – their advertising budget – and we call eBay an advertising venue – to other venues such as Google AdWords, you know, paying SEO Expert, Pay Per Click management companies, and so on and so forth.
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You have to because you just can’t be spending 20 to 25% of take rates on eBay. And again, they are in essence managing our Pay Per Click management, SEO and everything for us. Well we could do it much cheaper and more effective ourselves.
I go back to the big government scenario, you know, I gave you. Big Brother cannot manage that as effective as us, not at that costs anyway.
Ben Mandell: Not anymore. They used to but not anymore.
Steve Grossberg: And then, you know, one other thing on that issue, Jeetil. And we talk about and we all look at like right now everybody is concerned and I’m sure you’re – the people on this line they know all about this, it hits home. The perceived recession we’re in or that is upcoming.
Our government looks to have a stimulus package and put $6 to $1,200 checks in people’s hands and sometimes more if they have children. This will stimulate the economy because you’re putting money in the hands of the people who need it and they will spend it.
eBay needs to provide a stimulus package to the sellers because if we have money in our hands, we’ll grow our business. eBay just hit me personally with over a $30,000 fee increase. I just hired another full-time employee. I was looking to grow my eBay business buy more inventory, expand my product line. Now I have to look at laying off that worker and retracting my eBay business.
Stimulus only works if you go in and it gets into the hands of the majority – not the minority.
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Moderator: Jeetil Patel
02-06-08/12:00 pm CT
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Jeetil Patel: They put an over-ride tax on you.
Steve Grossberg: Yes, they taxed us. Okay, and they gave some people tax relief. But again, if you want a stimulus package to stimulate the eBay economy…
Jeetil Patel: Yes.
Steve Grossberg: You need tax relief to the vast majority of the eBay economy.
Ben Mandell: And you have to also remember too, we’ve lost in the past 18 months, we’ve lost a lot good top tier sellers based on the prior price increases. And we are now left on eBay with a lot of second and third tier sellers. And that’s creating problems with the buying experience also.
This latest stunt that they’ve pulled here basically is just making it worse. And we’re going to lose more and more – the last top tier sellers that we have on eBay, we’ll lose them because they simply can’t work on a very thin margin. And then once their profit that they had in the sale just go to increase fees, it’s just not there.
Jeetil Patel: Well on that note, why don’t we open up to questions and we can come and follow up with some final thoughts and questions at the end. But operator, can we poll for questions?
Operator: At this time if you would like to ask a question, please press star then the number 1 on your telephone key pad.
Again, in order to ask a question, please press star and the number 1 on your telephone key pad.
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Moderator: Jeetil Patel
02-06-08/12:00 pm CT
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There are no questions…
Steve Grossberg: While we are waiting Jeetil, sorry.
Operator: There are no questions at this time.
Jeetil Patel: Okay. Go ahead Steve.
Steve Grossberg: I was going to say while we where waiting, another problem with this feedback is eBay encourages international cross-border shipping. And I truly believe in that myself. Now I looked at my shipments a couple days ago on eBay and understand that those buyers are going to rate you lower – in our minds – on shipping and handling because it costs more to ship international. And shipping time because you’re dealing with international shipments and customs of various different countries.
Well anyway, a few days ago when I looked at my eBay sales, 30% of my items going out were going to international and that represented 15 different countries. Now what kind of control can I have over customs and duties when I’m dealing with 15 different countries in a day on average – and 30% of my shipment?
They are setting us up to fail and we’re just sorry that they haven’t seen, you know, these things themselves and hopefully they will.
Jeetil Patel: If you, I guess, can you just take a step back and look at the growth rates on eBay versus Amazon, I guess. What do you see – what do you think the spreads are, what do you think the mix of business looks like for a typical seller today between eBay and Amazon? Is it 70/30, is it 60/40, 50/50? Any sort of idea then what are the underlying growth rates between the two?
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Moderator: Jeetil Patel
02-06-08/12:00 pm CT
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Ben Mandell: Obviously Amazon is growing and eBay’s not here.
Jeetil Patel: Yes.
Ben Mandell: At this point and that’s problematic as we – we’re able to continuously sell on Amazon and make money doing it. We’re not able to do that on eBay. And that’s an issue.
Steve Grossberg: And they didn’t really pass on – going back to the fee increase. They lowered the fee a nickel. They forced you to buy Gallery with the back end. So there wasn’t fee relief on the front end.
But I see it Jeetil, as probably – it’s more like right now you’re looking at 10 to 15% on their personal Web sites. You’re looking at 25 to 30% on Amazon and the balance – you know, 60% or so – 55, 60% eBay.
But that trend has been shifting away from eBay and this is going to accelerate that trend in many areas.
Jeetil Patel: So do you think the – do you envision by say, this time next year. You’re probably looking at eBay becoming, you know, 40% of the mix and Amazon and personal Web site becoming far more substantial pieces…
Steve Grossberg: I would think that eBay will be for the first time less that 50% of most seller’s businesses, yes. And also remember, the guys with the fee decrease…
Jeetil Patel: Yes.
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Moderator: Jeetil Patel
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Steve Grossberg: Whether they see this coming or not, they’re going to get hit as well because as those high trends – action volume sellers leave eBay…
Jeetil Patel: Yes.
Steve Grossberg: As we talked about earlier, there’s going to be less buyers engaging to buy their product.
Jeetil Patel: Yes.
Steve Grossberg: So their conversion rates are going to go down and hence, their fee increase is going to be evaporated. And then eBay…
Ben Mandell: Also eBay’s going to come back to hit them with a fee increase on the next go round.
Steve Grossberg: They’re going to have to. They’re going to be hit the next go around. I mean, and this is what we’ve been facing for years and here we go again.
Jeetil Patel: So I know the intended consequence here for eBay was is they wanted, I think, probably because the stated listings that they want to go up based on this fee reduction quote-unquote…
Steve Grossberg: Not going to happen.
Jeetil Patel: So you think it’s going down?
Steve Grossberg: Not going to happen.
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Moderator: Jeetil Patel
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Ben Mandell: Neutral at best is our best estimate, neutral at best. That’s our most optimistic estimate.
Steve Grossberg: I mean, bottom line they decrease each listing by a nickel and they raise the final values fees by dollars. That’s the bottom line you can sit here and say it’s percentages and this and that. They took a nickel off of each listing and they raised it by dollars.
Jeetil Patel: Yes.
Steve Grossberg: On the backend.
Jeetil Patel: So I guess, you know, as we wrap up this call. I think there’s a couple of themes I think stand out for me here which is, you know, certainly eBay is, you know, moving – put a step in the right direction here in trying to make change and improve the economics out there as a whole. However, they seem to have missed the mark somewhat on their kind of fee or pricing strategy here.
And, you know, maybe on the feedback system and the DSR system as well. Sounds like we’re probably not done in terms of the changes and tweaks they’ll probably make based on, I guess, your conversations you’ve had. But, you know, I guess at this point, you know, your left with a fee increase unless otherwise stated by the company.
And, you know, it’s probably more an issue of the consumer and buyer – they buyer and seller trust in the system. It seems to be getting worse with this type of change as opposed to improving.
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Moderator: Jeetil Patel
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Steve Grossberg: Yes, I think that’s fair. I think that’s a fair statement. But at the end of the day, this will not accomplish what their intended goal and objectives were.
Jeetil Patel: Yes.
Steve Grossberg: And that’s to get more listing up, more buyers back to the site. We just can’t figure out how this will accomplish any of that.
Jeetil Patel: Yes. Well I guess with that again, thank you Steve and Ben for joining us to talk about some of the changes and I guess some of the broader themes on eBay.
Your conference is March 3 through 5 and I think in Vegas with, you know, again quite a few folks from different companies to talk about their e-commerce strategies as well. So it sounds like it’s going to be a pretty good event in general.
I guess we’ll see you at least – at the very least out there but we appreciate the time today to, I guess, to hear your overview.
Steve Grossberg: Yes, thank you for having us Jeetil and I know you’ll be presenting there as well with a couple other analysts on our Wall Street panel, State of Ecommerce of 2008 and Beyond. So we appreciate that and we’re looking forward to seeing you.
Jeetil Patel: Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you for joining us.
Steve Grossberg: Okay, bye bye.
Operator: This concludes today’s conference call. You may now disconnect.
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Moderator: Jeetil Patel
02-06-08/12:00 pm CT
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END
From Joanne Mayville, WI From powersellersunite site. ( not for powersellers only by the way)
Ebay says that boycott had no effect.. Ha! Last night ebay members found several sellers who had 1000's of listings that had NO option to pace a bid! Two of these "sellers" were NOT a registered user and still had active listings.
sdc_prod_434012 = SpectrumSuperStore
sdc_prod_9021_2 = Buy.com (who is NARU!)
sdc_prod_9124_14 = TheNerds, Inc.
sdc_prod_9452 = eTronics, Inc.
sdc_prod_409455_97 = Sababa Shopping
sdc_prod_9090 = CompSource Inc.
sdc_prod_310426 = ANTOnline (who is NARU!)
sdc_prod_9074_35 = pcRUSH.com (who is NARU!)
sdc_prod_9352_67 = Digital Foto Club
sdc_prod_301013_74 = The Twister Group
sdc_prod_305839_99 = BargainBasementBatterie
All various items were listed in WRONG categories, most of them had 50-150 items listed in one auction. Combined items count will be over 2 million! When ebay members started talking about it these listings started disappearing within hours (at night!)
Today I noticed that some of canceled listings were changed from Ebay listing without bidding option to Ebay express listings with buy it now option. Check item number 320199384960 it now shows as item no longer available (on Ebay express). I have a screen shot of THIS VERY ITEM, with item number shown and it is EBAY auction with NO bidding option! Seller has 0! FB and 50K listings?!
One more thing… sdc = shopping dot com = owned by ebay
This discussion is not moved to Steve's thread:
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=2000516079&start=1040
No rating
From RW Cols, OH Stacy – a GOOD synopsis of the negative effects.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/66733-ebay-bares-its-ugly-new-face
From RW Cols, OH Stacy – I HOPE you got a chance to investigate the LARGE thread concerning the "test" auctions I posted. It has now been pulled by ebay.
From Andrew A. Atlanta, Ga With the raise in fees and limits for sellers to defend themselves from fraud via feedback…
eBay is destined to turn into a online gangsters paradise.
As a buyer I can rip off sellers easily if I so desire with little to no recourse from eBay or feedback.
As a seller I may just decide to pack up shop and rip off a ton of buyers on my way out.
What is to stop me and what do I really lose? Nothing at all.
eBay has gotten so far from how it originally started it is amazing. It would be nice if they could just go back to the site where collectors where selling to each other and it was a fair and reasonably priced platform.
Oh well off to build a Amazon.com online retail store.
From Jess,San Diego, CA Wow!Wow!Power! You HAVE to see!
From Adios ebay EBay = Machiavellian idiots.
EBay sees growing risks to business in coming year
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Online auction leader eBay Inc warned in an annual report on Friday that it faces difficulty getting former customers to return, adding to the normal challenge of attracting new users to its sites.
In its annual shareholder filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, eBay cited a variety of new threats to its business that reflect "changing customers demands."
EBay acknowledged that its main auction business faces slowing growth in each of its top three markets.
The San Jose, California-based company also acknowledged that significant changes made in January in fees and policies on its marketplaces have been controversial with many sellers.
"If these changes cause sellers to move their business away from our sites or otherwise fail to improve gross merchandise volume or the number of successful listings, our operating results and profitability will be harmed," eBay said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN2923696420080301?sp=true
From RW Cols, OH A post by Mrs Steiner, someone I have asked you guys to talk to directly.
http://blog.auctionbytes.com/cgi-bin/blog/blog.pl?/comments/2008/3/1204379814.html
From Karl,Texas I do applaud CNN and other media who for a pleasant change reported in-depth,objective information other than the typical "eBay said" approach.
eBay is still maintaining the boycott is nothing more than a minor inconvenience,just noise.Their listings are increasing,not dropping,so the boycott is a bust.No doubt the listings are encreasing….and it shouldn't be a big surprise.
The fee restructuring alone would result in more listings,especially by the mega sellers,who can put up thousands up on thousands of listings a day.It's cheaper to list and gallery is free so why not?
The number of listings is not as important as where these listings are coming from.eBay has rolled out a number of international listing specials recently such as eBay.au and others,which are showing on the U.S. site.There are also other factors to take into account.
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=2000527568&tstart=0&mod=1204373181272
Investors,annalist and the media should connect the dots on the new changes going into effect.When you take into account how eBay works and why it's been so successful you get a better picture of what the out come will be.
In 2005 when eBay decimated eBay Stores,investors,annalist and the media seemed to think it was a brilliant move.It was viewed as reinvigorating the core auctions.
Of course it did,store owners could no longer afford to keep their stores.They had all that innovatory they were forced to dump on the core market.
eBays triumph was short lived,after several years of promoting and pushing stores as a cheap and efficient selling tool,they used it to manipulate and use their own customers for a quick show of growth and profit.
A few years later the actual results became apparent.After sellers dumped as much of their inventory on the core market as they could,a substantial number left.These were not the overall scammers and junk dealers,some were eBay's finest.
The results?
The emergence of Amazon and other competition.
There's a number of moves eBay has made with their Company Store business model that has had long term negative effects.eBay has no actual customer support,it would cut into their profit to do so.The UPI process for sellers is a joke,eBay makes millions off sellers from unpaid items.
The hidden bidders function? sure it works,sort of…if you can't see shill bidding it must not exist,right?It does make off eBay sale harder also.Wonder who benefits the most?
The mutual feedback withdrawal? another brilliant move,and the main reason for the current feedback disaster.
Instead of fixing the problems eBay is using them to their finical advantage.
eBay's new changes are no different than their past approach.Their thinking is still focused on the ancient Company Store model.
Change in the business world is inevitable.
eBay the company is not changing to fit the business world,they are trying to change the business world to fit them.eBay's attempt to move into markets where established competition exist is an example.In China for example,even with all the financial and shear world dominance,they still failed.
As TaoBao's CEO once said of eBay,"They have no concept of who their customers are".
Their new changes indicate they still have no idea.
I don't see eBay turning anything around until they start viewing their customers as such instead of tools.
eBay's current state is due to their on conduct.
No doubt eBay will initially show profit and growth.Due to the feedback changes their current users will create new ID's,one user can have as many as they want.They will defiantly make more money,they just take it from the sellers.The new policies alone provide the opportunity for substantial revenue growth.
What happens when the new plan plays out?
What happens in the next year or so when eBay needs more money?
Do they just take more from the sellers?
Personally I don't see sellers listing just for the privilege of saying they are an eBay seller.
From RW Cols, OH Whole thread.
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=2000527568&tstart=0&mod=1204345419080
Stacy – WHY are these bogus listings floating around the site? Maybe to HIDE the effects of something?
EXPOSURE is what we need, plain and simple.
From RW Cols, OH Posts 263-269
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000652686&tstart=40&mod=1204341923497
From RW Cols, OH Stacy – see these posts (55-58)
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000656275&tstart=0&mod=1204352908353
From RW Cols, OH Stacy – LV has given you a detialed list of changes. I'm kinda burnt, a personal tragedy this week, I know there's a couple of points missing, I'll review tonight (or tomoorow) and add (the manipulation of auction numbers for one, but I gave you a link for that). You can CLEARLY see the FEW postives are far outweighed by the VOLUMINOUS negative aspects. What is their TRUE endgame? Do you REALLY think they have dcided to "shoot themselves in the foot w/a HOWITZER"?! In-depth investigation and exposure of this issue is required, NOT gloss.
From Adios ebay I just signed the class action suit against ebay.
Ebay is now the most unsafe, unfriendly and untrustworthy enviroment for buyers and sellers on the internet.
I have my own website up and an ad campaign going for my products and business with google (funded by those ebay fees I am no longer paying) and began listing on onlineacution.com.
OLA has upgraded their servers, working hard to get new buyers to their site and is 1000 times more receptive and respectful to new sellers than ebay.
You're not treated like dirt there.
I'm not missing ebay at ALL!
From marian,fl When I search, google, yahoo, msn etc..an item I want to buy..I get EBay AU.com instead of EBAY US, like I have in the past, This never happened before…
From Marian, Fl Losing my faith in Ebay, going to craigslist to sale my items. Interesting that EBAY bought 25% of Craigslist stock from a private seller.
From Marian.Fl That explains why when I ebay search, I get AU Ebay 50% of the time. This never happened before. I don't do business outside of the US, most search engines now direct me to Ebay AU.
Damn.
From LV Dallas TX Stacy…and other interested parties:
I am going to give this to you as simply as possible.
Here are all the changes that Ebay is making as I see them…positive and negative depending on what side of the aisle you are on…buyer or seller. The ones with an ASTERISK are ANNOUNCED changes…the ones without are happening but are “slipped in” and unannounced.
POSITIVE CHANGES FOR BUYERS
• Sellers can leave no more negative feedback or neutral feedback* thus no more bruised egos. Eliminates perceived or real seller feedback extortion
• Repeat buyers CAN receive positive feedback credit for more than one purchase a year from a seller.* If they buy one item a week from one seller that seller can now potentially receive credit for 52 positives from that seller rather than having just one count previously. More total positive feedbacks for sellers = more credibility = more buyers willing to buy from that seller.
• Repeat buyers CAN leave multiple negatives for sellers* and have them count towards the seller’s score
NEGATIVE CHANGES FOR BUYERS
• Because of no more negative or neutral feedback being left* buyers who have spent years building great reputations through positive feedback will not be able to differentiate themselves from the buyer scammers and players who have no intention of paying for what they bid on.
• Because of no more negative or neutral feedback being left* scammer buyers who purposely “bring down” a seller through undeserved negs…an honest buyer will no longer be able to see both sides of the transaction to make an informed buying decision as to whether to buy from a particular seller
• Because of the ramifications of all the other changes Ebay is making, Mom and Pop sellers are leaving resulting in less buying choices for buyers. Less sellers mean higher prices for coveted items.
• Higher overall Ebay seller fees* will be passed on to buyers in terms of higher S/H fees or higher minimum fees or reserve prices
• The vicious circle continues…higher S/H fees will result in LOWER DSR’s for shipping and handling charges which may result in loss of Powerseller status for the smaller sellers which will result in loss of discounts for sellers which will again raise prices for buyers.
• Potential Paypal 21 day holds of buyer payments* MAY result in delays in sellers shipping their purchases. Many sellers have said they will not ship until payment have cleared because 1) the amounts due for shipping are included in the payments being held and 2) Paypal’s rules in the past suggested that sellers NOT ship until they have received cleared payment.
• The vicious circle continues…shipping delays brought on by Paypal holds will result in LOWER DSR’s for shipping time which may result in loss of Powerseller status for the smaller sellers which will result in loss of discounts for sellers which will again raise prices for buyers.
• Ebay labels each of the 4 DSRs [Detailed Seller ratings] where a rating of 4 is service meeting all buyers’ expectations. A rating of 5 is outstanding service. But Ebay itself sees a rating of 4.5 or less as Seller PUNISHABLE service resulting in loss of Powerseller status etc. So if a buyer rates a seller as giving GREAT but not OUTSTANDING service, he is potentially causing himself [and other buyers] HIGHER PRICES through the increased fees the seller will have to pay.
• The blue bubble showing over the DSR area can prevent a buyer from leaving a 4 or 5 rating leading to the same issues as mentioned above…sellers flunking the Ebay generated arbitrary DSR Bar resulting in higher prices for buyers
• Loss of Powerseller status can also cause sinking of items in searches* [Best Match] resulting in browses by buyers becoming unwieldy in categories with large listing populations. Simply, buyers will have a hard time finding that special item listed by the Mom and Pop seller.
POSITIVE CHANGES FOR SELLERS
• Reduced listing fees for items*. 5 cents less for items up to $24.99, 20 cents less for items up to 49.99
• Possible 5-15% discounts on Final Value Fees* [commissions paid to Ebay on the sale of the item] which will be all but unattainable due to the purposeful unfair skewing by Ebay of the DSR criteria.
• Sellers can now receive duplicate positives* which show up in their scores for repeat buyers. The double edge is that their scores can be affected negatively as well as buyers will also be able to leave negatives that can count more than once.
• Paypal’s protections for sellers expanded in SOME COUNTRIES to include unconfirmed addresses
NEGATIVE CHANGES FOR SELLERS
• Sellers are no longer able to leave negatives or neutrals for Buyers* so sellers will not be able to cancel bids on undesirables
• Only feedback for the past 12 months* will count towards Ebay rating negating years of built-up reputations
• Rolling 30 day review of all sellers*to be kicked off the Powerseller program…causing sellers to lose discounts, payments to be held by Paypal and listings buried in search. Only takes 1 negative FB in 19 transactions or any DSR to drop below 4.5. It will take 12 months to restore Powerseller status.*
• 21 day hold of payments at Paypal’s discretion* for losing Powerseller Status, selling in high-risk categories or other “potential” to Paypal problem transactions
• Because of Paypal 21 day hold*, sellers will either have to pay for shipping themselves long before they are themselves paid or wait until payment is released and risk blown DSR and negative feedback for slow shipping time.
• A single buyer will now be able to leave a negative feedback each week for a seller with impunity and won’t even have to pay for the items he bids on
• Increased TOTAL fees* even though a majority of sellers will have their items buried in search. See examples below which don’t even include possible Paypal increases. These include all categories except: Books, Music, DVDs & Movies, Video Games
• A sale at 4.99: Old combined Ebay fees .66 [13.2% of the sell price] New fees .79 [15.8% of the sell price] an increase of 19.7%.
• A sale of 9.99: Old combined Ebay fees .92 [9.2% of the sell price] New fees 1.22 [12.2% of the sell price] an increase of 32.6%
• A sale of 19.99: Old combined Ebay fees 1.65 [8.3% of the sell price] New fees 2.30 [11.5% of the sell price] an increase of 39.4%
• A sale of 24.99: Old combined Ebay fees 1.91 [7.6% of the sell price] New fees 2.74 [10.9% of the sell price] an increase of 43.4%
• Potential new sellers MUST take Paypal or merchant credit cards ONLY* with their inherent fee structure and CANNOT be Powersellers thus their listings will be buried in search
• A DSR system* that dooms sellers to fail. Possible 5-15% discounts on Final Value Fees* [commissions paid to Ebay on the sale of the item] which will be all but unattainable due to the purposeful skewing of the DSR criteria. To a buyer a “4” is an excellent grade based on Ebay’s definitions, to Ebay it is a failing grade with all its seller penalties swelling Ebay’s coffers
• A red [negative] banner is put on all a seller’s items if buyers cause his “DSR Grade” to fall below 4.5
• Once feedback has been left, the item STILL WILL SHOW a link where a buyer can report the item as not received planting a seed of getting something for nothing with no penalty in the minds of all buyers
• Default Best Match* in search will cause large column Powersellers’ items to have preference over new and Mom & Pop sellers’ items
• Rumored “rolling server outages” limiting views worldwide even though fees are supposed to cover full exposure
• Neutrals will now count as negatives* because they are “non-positives” thus lowering overall feedback scores
• The blue bubble showing over the DSR area can prevent a buyer leaving a 4 or 5 rating possibly causing falsely lowered DSR scores and its penalties mentioned above
• There are three ways to deal with increased Ebay fees: 1) absorb them…thus reducing seller margins 2) include them in increased S/H charges in auctions …risking lower DSR’s on S/H charges causing penalties mentioned above 3) including them in higher listing prices or reserve prices resulting in higher Ebay fees being paid.
• Ebay is raising their fees precipitously to its customers [the sellers] but is structuring the process so that the only way for a seller to avoid forced lower profits and penalties is to offer free shipping to their customers [the buyers] in the S/H charges. This is especially difficult to do if you also sell internationally and your average prices are low.
As you can see, the changes are skewed way towards the negative for everyone…except Ebay in the short term.
If I missed anything please let me know.
From Tom from North Coventry Pa. I just need to say that what ebay's doing directly effects the little guy as well as all the talk of power sellers. i, like everyone else wants to get the most for my product and on the flipside of things get it sold. now to get it sold ebay sometimes makes more than myself. how did that happen. are we suppose to send them a 1099 tax form for that? the whole thing stinks and i hope everyone finds their place in the http://www.com world. the world is changing. we'll all adjust.
good luck to everybody. Tom since 1999.
From M, Kaneohe, HI People were posting that eBay added Australia (eBay.com.au) auction counts to eBay.com to increase the auction totals.
CNN, want proof of eBay rigging the auction counts during the boycott?
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y08/m02/i28/s01
eBay Australia and eBay UK are holding listing promotions this week. In Australia, eBay sellers save 50 percent on insertion fees on auction and fixed-price listings between February 29 – March 3
Look at the increase of auction listings beginning 2/29/2008.
http://www.medved.net/cgi-bin/cal.exe?EIND
http://www.powersellersunite.com/auctionsitewatch.php
An increase typical of an eBay listing sale. If eBay.com.au counts were NOT part of eBay.com, that listing count spike would NOT show up.
Or is this being swept under the rug because of advertising revenue from eBay paid to CNN? And eBay INC stock held by CNN, Money, Fortune?
From LV Dallas TX Stacy…and others…from the article RW Cols mentioned:
It says in part: "Meanwhile, Dealscart.com, an independent service that tracks eBay, said that the company's listings on Monday, about 10.5 million, was roughly equal to that of a month and a year before."
You would THINK…with decreased listing fees AND ALSO even MORE decreased fees in the high volume categories such as Music and books, that the number of listings would have SKYROCKETED not stayed the same.
Note: the decreased fees mentioned above SHOULD NOT BE CONFUSED WITH the listing sale Feb 13-20. They are not one in the same.
So the boycott and sellers quitting HAS HAD an effect that is cloaked by Ebay's responses.
From RW Cols, OH Stacy – Here's a link. While this gentleman doesn't quote Steiner of Grossberg – he does have a "better feel" for what is going on.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/GadgetGuide/Story?id=4359608&page=1
From RW Cols, OH Stacy – Yes, you are correct. However, your quotes are the same used in many other stories circulating the web. How about a full story from our side? With new and detailed information from Mr Grossberg and Mr Steiner.
Mr Grossman even posted to THIS BLOG about how you have not contacted him directly (about 35-70, or so, posts ago). You need insiders to explain how this move is a money grab and an extermination order for the antiques and collectibles dealers.
From scowley RW:
I see CNN giving ebay and paypal reps their spin on things, but why no word from the IMA and Auctionbytes (OUR side of things)
We quoted AuctionBytes' execs in four of our stories (here, here, here and here) , and other stories quote other sellers and activists. Every single one has voices from both sides in it.
-Stacy (FSB Web news editor)
From Stephen Moore I failed to mention the shipping companies who are well over 70% of your final charge. They are making millions on this arrangement.
From Stephen Moore My opinion of increased in fees is quite simple. Those of us who use ebay more or as a buy or trading zone. Are not nieve to beleive that there is anyone other than Ebay or Paypal that are getting the raw profits. Anytime you sell any thing with a profit it is immedatly absorbed by your monthly charges.
I don't agree with the fee increase, but I don't look at ebay as way to get rich either. I buy and sell. So while I may get nothing for a sale. I get something on the other end when I buy from somebody who is getting the same results or treatment as I am.
From Dan Daniels Fort Worth,TX Sellers-Check out http://www.sellmyinventory.com to find great deals on liquidation merchandise to sell in your online auctions.
From James Lakewood CO What's my take on the new fee structure?
What is eBay thinking? Are they trying to get rid of their core sellers?
Every single policy is in place for eBay to make more funds and sellers to fail. Every single one.
It is truly the most bone-headed move I have ever seen eBay make and they have made some doozies.
We have stood by eBay through many hard times. How is loyalty paid back? With this unbelievably biased set of new policies. eBay is setting themselves up for a long slow death.
From RW Cols, OH Stacy – Mr Grossberg (of the Internet Merchants Association) and Mr Steiner (of auctionbytes) are who you need to talk directly to about this matter. I see CNN giving ebay and paypal reps their spin on things, but why no word from the IMA and Auctionbytes (OUR side of things)? I know the DSRs sound arcane to an outsider, that is why I suggested you find a staff ebayer who cab explain exactly how the deck is stacked against all but the highest volume carp sellers. Mr Grossberg and Mr Steiner should be allowed to present OUR side of the dispute. They are official sources who can detail the devastating effects these changes will have if implemented. Don;t you find it intriguing that Deutsche Bank thinks this is a bad idea?!
From Ron – Montreal Stacy,
Here's an example of the disgusting aiding and abetting of slander of the DSR and new ebay feedback system. Last week, I sold an item too big for the post office in size and weight to handle. Customer sees clear shipping rates in description. He becomes expert after winning auction and sends link from post office for costs half the weight and size. He tells me my shipping rates are too expensive. He lives on the coast, I ship him item not backing down, and actually cost me $7 more than what it actually cost me. Now he'll ding me on the DSR and maybe get my first negative. Just my 2 cents, but I'm sick and tired of the disfunctional new ebay regulations.
From scowley We haven't done an article specifically delving into the DSR issue, even though I'm certainly aware of it, because it's kind of inside-baseball to anyone who isn't a hardcore eBay person. (It would be a great issue for one of the auction or online retail trade publications to dig into.) But it's on our radar, and as it fits into future coverage, we'll certainly deal with it. If it goes live and sellers have problems en masse, we'll chime in with a look at what's going on.
-Stacy (FSB web editor)
From RW Cols, OH Stacy – THANK YOU for a response, but a major point is the stacking-of-the-deck w/the DSR rating system. It's designed for sellers to fail. Your placement in search results, your supposded "discounts", red warnings placed on sellers auctions WITHOUT their knowledge, and sundry other "sanctions" are based upon the DSR Ratings System. If you personally do not understand ebay's use of Stars, PLEASE get a small ebay seller from your staff (there is certainly one lurking around CNN) and have them explain in-detail how the deck has been stacked against the antiques and collectibles dealers.
Ira Steiner has come out and publically verified this is indeed the case. It's scandalous that in these economic times they pull this on people. They ARE destroying ebay and rigging the system so ebay makes all the cash as surely as you and I are exchanging posts. They expect us to fold our shipping costs INTO the opening bid price – THIS IS A BLATANT EFFORT TO RAISE THE FINAL VALUE FEES of the auctions so ebay gets a bigger cut as their fees are based on Final Values and not shipping. Paypal ALREADY takes a cut of the shipping because of their percentage taken for the entire payment. Again, go get an ebayer to explain this to you. PLEASE?
From Disgusted Denver co If someone has proof of rolling blackouts on ebay, please post it…I have often wondered why one weeks auction would get buyers from the Northeast, next time they'd all be from Australia!…..I have been told that even tho I paid full price, Ebay has rolling server blackouts so you only get limited exposure???……would explain a lot….Apparently Ebay is dishonest in all ways….Can't believe they demand perfection from the sellers and are so miserable performers themselves…….
From Susan Ebay the WORSE experience ever in my life like a buyer, the 99% of the products were fakes, I will never, never going to buy nothing from there, Pay pal fees so expensive too.Some Sellers are honest unfortunally a lot of them no plus pay pal fees is a nighmare.EBAy never again!!!!
From Mike, Jacksonville Florida We've seen a huge surge in business at http://hosted4.us as a result of ebay raising their fees. A lot of merchants seem to have decided that it's more cost effective to pay a flat monthly fee and run their own website without someone taking a cut of their profit margins. We have sold more of our prepackaged ecommerce solutions http://qcs.hosted4.us in the past week than in the past few months.
Thanks eBay!
From Chris / Portland, Oregon For Ebay to make such a big deal about new, lowered listing prices and then hike up the final value charges (which were high to begin with) is a slap in the face to sellers. Sure, you pay (slightly) less to list your item, but when you sell several items at a time for high values, it really takes a large chunk out of your profits. Not to mention that this is already on top of the Paypal fees you have to pay.
It would be nice to think that the increase in fees will go toward fighting the fraud that's running rampant on Ebay lately, but I hardly think that's what the increase is for.
Honestly, does my hike in final value fees go towards that Ebay junk mail I get in my mailbox every week? I already use Ebay, why are you sending me more mail about it?
From warren zbon http://www.piperstreasurechest.ecrater.com
another potential site, check it out!
From Tiffany, Hobart Indiana I have gone from a seller posting a number of items at least 3 times a day, to now maybe posting a couple of items once a day or every other. I can't afford feebay anymore. I am now rising above feebay and have opened my own website boutiqe selling christening gowns and custom photo purses. Please support those of us who are now trying to make it on our own. Visit http://www.sunshineandbutterflies.com
Thank You,
Tiffany
http://www.sunshineandbutterflies.com
From scowley UPDATE FROM CNN/FSB
I went quiet for a bit because we had a lot of stories to crunch through, but they're up now. Our latest dispatch: What PayPal does with your money, aimed at answering the question we kept hearing, "Does PayPal make money off its float?" (Answer, yes.)
That story has links at the bottom to our full run of eBay coverage: 8 stories, two galleries and a video, exploring every major angle we've seen raised here and in comments elsewhere. For now, we're wrapped on features coverage — I'm not sure there's any rock here we've left unturned. All totalled, I think our package (more than 10,000 words) covers the eBay changes and their problems pretty comprehensively.
We'll still stay with the story and cover new news, of course. If eBay introduces new changes, adjusts these planned ones, begin phasing them in, etc., we'll cover it. So keep letting us know what we should be watching.
On a practical note: I realise this thread is unwieldy; tech hasn't been able to solve the problem. We have a second ebay thread running, and a PayPal thread.
-Stacy (FSB Web editor)
From RW Cols, OH I am demanding CNN make a statement to us about this issue. Are you just gonna roll over and allow this to happen? I'd expect this from FOX, NOT CNN.
Stacy – we have been here posting for weeks. The last post I saw from you stated for us to keep posting. Many of us have provided links and information. YOU have ALL the tools necessary to expose this Megacorp gone bad. What is CNN's response?!
From LV Dallas TX Re: treeslothsales (an eBay employee)
[see posts below]
VERY interesting.
1) 19000 feedbacks in 4+ years and now has 19000 items on?
2) All 19000 items posted in February with 8000 of them listed on the 25th of February? How convenient to list that many on the last date of the strike?
3) Ships UPS when the rules state only paypal will accept USPS or FEdex delivery confirmation?
4) $7.95 to ship a PAPERBACK BOOK?
5) 2 DSR's at 4.5?
6) His store items show on "items for sale by seller" without being shown in a store yet when you go to his store it states "books" Qty 1 OTHER qty 18940 and all the "others" are books. Strange!
Not only does it give the appearance of Ebay padding listings but his employee discount must make up for the fact that he's going to lose his powerseller status. Wonder If paypal will hold HIS funds for 21 days like they will for all other NON-Powersellers.
From Linda Bolf Minneapolis MN If we sellers have to rely on buyers to leave feedback we are in real trouble! When I once suggested that a buyer leave feedback, I received an avalanche of mail stating that it is not the buyer's responsibility to leave feedback; but it is the responsiblity of the seller to leave feedback. I am not sure what I will do about selling on e-Bay.
From LTD Investments, Monroe, NC Just a quick note.
Saw in an earlier post about the user – treeslothsales (an eBay employee)
Currently this user has a feedback of 99% with just under 19,000 FB. Been an user since 2003.
Now this user has just over 19,000 auctions active! eBay IS inflating the numbers! Check it out – http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZtreeslothsales.
No way one person can process this volume of auctions!
From gauctions Yet another eBay Trick.
The DSR Discount is another trick by eBay you see if you change all your auctions to free postage you still wont automatically get 5 stars on your shipping costs which seems a bit stupid
DSR was designed to Reward good sellers but IMO Good sellers are people that Dont scam their Buyers that dont send items not as described
All this postage price thing is stupid because Asian sellers Use highly INflated priced postage to make profitts and they have been doing it for ages and still getting good feedback
eBay says its changes are for you well when the TAX man (dun dun duuun) gets to your door cause eBay made you sign up as a business and passed the info to the tax man under their new rules the tax man will slap on his gloves and the rest is history.
People dont want to do whats good for them rather they want to hope and cross fingers eBay will change.
Any major competitor will try to follow eBays Launch stratagy of which only http://www.eBid.net has done
1 Always make international sites as many people in Uk buy from people in the US
2 Always set up good incentives for first to site users at the moment http://www.ebid.net has a one charge free life time listing fee yes if enough people sign up they will stop it. but the first couple that sign up will never pay listing fees again.
3 we all just want another ebay with out the suits so why not move to a site that can actually be as big as ebay it has the potential people in this week i have been seeing this boy cott there has been many things i have noticed alot of people angry very few that actually say i am moving to this alternative and it is the action of opening a new auction site account that will in the end cause eBay to take notice
ALL THE MOANING HERE IS JUST NEGETIVE FEEDBACK AND WE ALL KNOW THAT FB DONT BOTHER EBAY
When people start using an alternative website in larger numbers eBay will do somthing for sure because we will not be paying the guys in the penthouse suit of the eBay mansion
More and More users must switch to
http://WWW.EBID.NET (one of the Highest used sites with Both US and UK sites)
http://gauctions.wordpress.com/
Make a request for an ebay alternative
From ADY BELL, MIAMI FLORIDA IF I MAY BE SO BOLD, ALLOW ME TO QUOTE DONALD TRUMP, "EBAY YOUR FIRED!"
From LV Dallas TX To: Karl/Tx and anyone else:
Re: http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=2000509113&tstart=0&mod=1204063344000
I read this in its entirety. Ebay. their reps and ChannelAdvisor should run for political office!! I have never heard so much doublespeak in my life!
There is one thing that EVERYONE missed and that is the conflict of interest factor on Ebay's part.
1) IT IS NOT IN EBAY'S BEST INTEREST to make DSR's fair.
2) IT IS NOT IN EBAY'S BEST INTEREST to explain to buyers how to leave DSRs.
The hidden agenda? Because the LOWER the DSR's the LESS Ebay has to pay out in discounts to Powersellers. Also they can make news and sound fair by OFFERING the discounts even though they will be unachievable by most.
The mentality I loved the most was:
From the Ebay DSR proponent:
"Yes we read these all the time. There are over 2m sellers on eBay and if 1000 leave due to DSRs, that won't really matter.
For example, the big boycott you read about has had zero impact."
That tells you how much EBay appreciates it's seller customers!
From Karl,Texas Amazing,the people at eBay are completely out of touch with anything related to reality.
A link to the recent DSR workshop,a little comic relief.
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=2000509113&tstart=0&mod=1204063344000
From gauctions The problem here is too much chatter not enough action
More Requests for eBay alternatives
here http://gauctions.wordpress.com
More members Use http://www.ebid.net
Sign up dont use it now if you dont want to wait till May when the Tax man will be sitting at ebays office waiting for them to give them the info on all business Traders which many people will be forced to become
Anyways For now people Tell your mates to tell their mates to consider eBay alternatives now
rather than all expect it to change overnight
its been over 10 years to make eBay what it is
http://www.ebid.net
http://gauctions.wordpress.com
Simple as that
checking out for tonight Jim
From Shame on you ebay! I'm not here to complain
I have moved on.
You should too. Be assertive. Make a DIFFERENCE!
From anon Steve G. Here's the link you meant to post: http://www.imamerchant.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/deutschebankpatel020608.pdf
CNN has had access to this link for several days. I, also, find it curious they haven't contacted you and the IMA directly for comments.
From Jane, Colorado I joined the boycott last week and spent the time looking for other venues. I signed up with four of them, but unfortunately they don't have a sub-catagory that I need to sell my items.
So, I'm going to try to stick it out another week, but may have to sell a piece on ebay to tide me over. I will be listing on the other sites, but don't really expect to be found by buyers until those venues are fully "mature".
From Bear Payne Hi,
I read your article. One point that is being missed: In certain instances PayPal will be able to hold your payment for a sold item 21 days or until positive feedback is left for a seller.
That means you have to even pay to ship the item out, from your own pocket, in advance before getting paid. Now that's a bit abnormal eh?
I've bought and sold on ebay for 11 years and this takes the cake. In advance, thanks for your time.
Regards, "Bear"
From Les Wiley Your article frustrated me. You spent 90%of the article talking about the “strike” but almost no time talking about why the EBay sellers are mad at EBay.
Once again the MSM tries to sell the Sizzle but not the Steak.
I want meat in my news not fluff.
From Rebecca Zambarano My Paypal funds are frozen and I have over 900 positive feedbacks, NOT ONE negative. I have been a member since 1998. Didn't Paypal say this wouldn't happen to me? They are lying! My ebay ID is home4toys , check it out. (The funds frozen are from a transaction where the buyer is confirmed and delivery has been verified with his signature)
From Bennett Hall Thanks for your great article – I have another thought regarding the Fraud which Ebay likely does not want the public to know
we were recently charged by something called Ebay-Creative for about $82 –
total fraud -
Ebay cannot explain it
does not respond in a timely manner (except sending survey about our satisfaction – right)
Will not help removing it
AND, we have now spent more time trying to remove it that the recovery is worth
Of Course Chase-Mastercard is pathetic as well – round and round on phone trees with no where to go – time burn>$80 there as well
Sub-$100 amounts – you may as well let these companies just STEAL from you, as their "customer control" departments only know how to say the infamous mantra of corporate Amercia
"I am sorry you feel that way" ( THEY ARE SORRY WE ARE NOT BEING GOOD "SHEEP")
Not sure what this world is coming to anymore – but I thought you would like this story
We are thinking of dumping our Ebay store over this
the only satisfaction left here is NEVER spending money with Ebay or Chase again
Best Regards
Bennett
Creative Director and President
Business Image Group
From Dan Spivey Thank you for the article on the recent changes at eBay/Paypal. I am an
eBay seller who has weathered eBay's changes for over 10 years. This
series of changes announced recently is yet another example of the
on-going disrespect to it's sellers. Ebay covets the buyer. They
regularly refer to sellers as the culprits of all wrong-doings on eBay.
They refuse to view things as a two way street.
Let me tell you it is! Even with just the paypal thing alone. Last
year, we started experiencing a new gimick by buyers: Cancel your
paypal payment after the seller ships the item. Ebay and paypal have
refused to even answer these charges or assist. Repeatedly. Both
venues claim ignorance and refer you to your own private lawyer or local
law enforcement. Yet both will continue to allow these buyers to do
business with them. Any now I can't even leave a negative remark to
help warn other sellers.
Then, we stated having problems with Paypal "inquiries." After being
hit 14 times last year, I think I have figured this new one out. Paypal
is allowing buyers to purchase via eBay without having current
information at Paypal; resulting in a charge-back of sorts for the
seller. What happens is the buyer's credit card or banking information
has expired at Paypal and yet the buyer is allowed to continue to use
the account. When the transaction goes through to the bank, the bank
denies the charges. Paypal in turn recovers the money from the seller.
The buyer often was unaware of any this – so they claim. They have
their item and they think you are trying to extort money. Both venues
turn a blind eye to this as well. The frustrating thing is they will do
the chargeback months after the transaction has been completed. In
October, I got dinged for a transaction that was completed 10 months
prior. No bank would do business that way! Paypal does not even email
you as this is happening or after they have reverse the funds. I have
complained to no end. They refuse to acknowledge any of this. Yet my
money shrinks.
So now both venues want to hold the sellers money for 21 days to protect
the buyer. Who is going to protect the seller from unscrupulous
buyers? They are out there. Just when we had gotten to a somewhat
content place. No longer did sellers have to endure the "I paid you
paypal" from buyers when they did not complete the transaction. When
x.com became paypal, we were plagued with buyers who would claim they
paid and put the burden of proof on you. The ending result was often
negative feedback and loss of funds via commission or final value fees
that were not recoverable. Now this, like so many other things buyers
have exploited over the years, is to easily verifiable. So the buyers
have to move on to a new way to rip you off. Holding the sellers
money, will only open the door to these buyers and the damage they cause
to the market place.
Yet eBay wants to blame the sellers. Well, this is my line in the
sand. I am shopping for an attorney who will take on both. For any
reason I can find. I am also, once again, shopping for other venues.
Ebay doesn't seem to care that I spend over $10K per month with them and
want to sever the relationship. The last two year in particular have
been too much!
Thank you,
Dan Spivey
clockshocker on ebay
From Steven Grossberg Curious how come you did not contact the IMA regarding this interview http://www.imamerchant.org/
From Ann Degenshein I am a small Ebay seller who does an occassional sale for fun; selling new and almost new things I have purchased but do not use (mostly clothes). My usage ratio is about 3 (purchases) to 1.
Waiting a week for a money order was such a hassle that I allow people to pay through Paypal; now owned by Ebay.
I just sold a new Nike headband for $5.34 including S&H. Paypal took 45 cents which is about 8.5%.
Add this to the first class postage of $1.48 and the Ebay .60 cents Ebay fees and it costs me $2.53 which is over 47%.
From Mark Gordon Hi Kathleen,
Early on I was quoted in one of your online articles
regarding eBay’s fees.
Reading over this particular article, I’m sure most
eBay sellers can survive this latest attack.
There is a loophole that most people are not yet aware
of. With Paypal, you can invoice anyone for anything.
As a seller, just refuse to accept Paypal but let it
be known that you will invoice the buyer after the
auction ends. Simply send the buyer an invoice through
Paypal for “Goods”. This way the Paypal transaction
does not reflect an auction purchase.
You can invoice through Paypal for “auction items”,
“non-auction items” and such.
Sellers need to be made aware of this.
Mark Gordon
Alamo City Collectibles
From Julia Hi,
I hoping this email and the link to a discussion on the eBays Store Board regarding eBay seller turtlegaby , can help other sellers avoid serious PayPal issues regarding PayPal’s rule of holding funds for 180 days. This is not the same as the new 21 day hold rule.
This seller tried to upgrade their PayPal account. I do not know this seller, but my heart goes out to her and I feel it is my civic duty to bring this injustice to light.
You can read my posts on this thread, my ID is 19yearoldcat.
Link to thread is below.
Thank you for your time it is greatly appreciated.
As of this morning the seller was finally able to have her account restored.
The reason was because PAYPAL made a clerical error when typing in her first name. If you look at post number 250 in the thread you will see.
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000644779&tstart=0&mod=1202765319387
Thank You,
Julia (aka 19yearoldcat)
From Ms Donahue I am a buyer on Ebay. I was telling the truth when a seller sent me damaged goods. I read her feedback before buying and there were only a "couple" negative feedbacks. After going through 2 months of torment, harassment, and retaliation from this seller, I am convinced Ebay's new policy is a great one from a buyer's prospective. I was contacted by several other Ebay members that read the negative feedback. Each one sided with me and told me a story of how they were too afraid to post negative feedback, for the very same reasons that happened to me. I went through complete hell from this Ebay seller, just for telling the truth about a sale transaction. So if some Ebay members leave, so be it!!! It's worth it to me.
Ms Donahue
From JT Most of these Ebay sellers are a bunch of pre-madonas. They get
away with more crap than any legitimate business ever could. Flat
out….a consumer is at their mercy and they know it. I run a
successful business for 16 years with 65 employees and a fuel bill
alone of over 40 thousand a month. I get rated and picked apart by
my customers all the time….thats life. I dont get to publicly rate
them. As a rule the customer is always right. Not on ebay and
thats the problem. The only rating a customer should get is whether
they paid or not. Ebay sellers made their own bed here. Only on
ebay do you pay by check….and wait till it clears – before they send
the merchandise….thats not what happens when you pay at home depot,
macys or other establishments. Ebay sellers have a license to
steal. Its common knowledge – a buyer rightfully leaves poor
feedback for a seller who took the money and than took 3 weeks to mail
a fricken item…..than the seller – responds with negative feedback
for the buyer saying he was a deadbeat………..what the hell are
they striking for?
Jtn
From Harley Mom Ladies and Gentlemen:
I am a Silver PowerSeller on eBay and have been since July 2004, which was 13 months after I started selling. I don't want this to be a dissertation but when discussing ebay policy changes, it is hard not to make it so. Also I tend to be verbose and will try to curb that also. If there is anything here that you believe can help the cause of true business people on eBay, please feel free to edit as you wish.
Most people use eBay as a game — they call it a hobby. I am retired on disability and have worked very hard to build my eBay business as a necessary supplement to a fairly comfortable life in my old age.
I, too, am upset with the new eBay changes. I am not going to reiterate everything I read on your site because I agree with 99.9%. I have just removed most of my store items. I am leaving a few to see what happens.
What I DON'T hear is anyone talking about is a substantial change eBay made in 2007 that greatly affected my sales. Before the change, I had over 400 store items, plus I ran about 33 auctions, several of which were the featured plus. After the change, my sales were immediately reduced by 60%.
Let me explain. For those of us willing to work this like a business, what we did was list an item for 3 days. Then with about 13 – 24 hours remaining, we would increase the time to 5 days, then 7 days, and then pay the extra $0.40 to 10 days, all legal under eBay policies.
In 2007, eBay stopped letting us revise the time on our listings, and we were stuck with the number of days when it was listed. We could not even pay the extra $0.40 when the 7 days was up to go to 10 days.
eBay gave the "excuse" that the buyers didn't like it. If the buyers didn't like it, they would not have been buying, right? If buyers' didn't like it, why did our sales immediately drop to 60% and sometimes even lower!
I equate my eBay store with a storefront. When you have a physical store, you don't stock the shelves and then do nothing for 10 days — if it sells, fine, and if not, well that's just the way it goes? If the traffic is slow, you make adjustments; you don't just sit and wait for 10 days to pass for a sale. Good grief, can you imagine such a business practice?
When this change happened, there were several postings by eBay members praising eBay. Of course, those people had to be the game players and not the business people. Their general thesis was that those of us who worked many hours a day and very hard at our ebay business were getting an advantage. The truth is they didn't want to handle their auctions as a business.
In any event, best wishes and thank you kindly for your help,
HarleyMom
From Terry Nice article.
Here's a link to charts that track ebay auction activity. As you will
see, activity is on the decline. One time, ebay was a partner with
both buyers and sellers. Now, they're snobs who don't want to be
bothered by those who feed them.
Regards,
Terry
http://www.medved.net/cgi-bin/cal.exe?EIND
From Jennifer Bell I read your article on Ebay, and thought I'd make aware an interesting glitch Ebay has deleloped. It is on the Ebay annoucement board, and is also being talked about on several of the message boards under "Community".
Ebay is showing several auctions to have "Free shipping" when the seller didn't select free shipping when listing the item.
I can just see many unhappy buyers finding out the item isn't actually intending to be shipped free, give a negative rating to the seller, thus hurting the seller under the soon-to-be new feedback / DSR search ratings Ebay will be implimenting.
Sounds like a VERY fishy glitch in light of the changes being made, and might be worth some looking into.
From Jeffrey Ebay is still in business? I neve trusted it—seemed too dangerous.
What we really need are online sellers that will instantly refund the buyer if anything at all is wrong with their order, no questions asked.
Email purchases are unsafe and often the buyer is stuck with junk. How many times do you think buyers will put up with broken or defective merchandise, be forced into a long return process, and eating additional shipping charges, before they start going back to regular stores?
Me2 would be a nice name for a site, I give it to you.
From Hercy Lord, Lyme, CT As a long time ebayer, first as seller and now primarily buyer, may I say that it is NOT just sellers who are upset, it is buyers. The Discussion Boards are FULL of angst from sellers and buyers, not just about the fee changes, but the HUGE change to FEEDBACK.
Did you know that ebay is going to STOP sellers from leaving NEGATIVE or NEUTRAL feedback for buyers? But, buyers can still leave neg or neut feedback for sellers.
How will a seller know that a buyer is a good buyer.
Already, just the day of the announcement, sellers are receiving NASTY, THREATENING EMAILS from buyers demanding such things as refunds for perfectly good item, or demanding FREE things along with the item, and threatening to leave seller NEG feedback when the transaction was perfectly fine.
Is this fair???? NO.
Feedback should be a two way street. I have a LIVE shat with an ebay Customer Rep, and all I got was the "party line".
ebay has finally done it! They have gone way off the deep end and their actions threaten the bottom line. I have told a relative that her ebay stock will likely NOT recover so that she can sell it even where she bought it.
I spent many years in the corporate world and KNOW when a company has lost its way. ebay has losts its way.
If you want to read some of the comments, go to ebay Sellers Central, go to the different categories in Discussion such as Antiques, Collectibles, Home and Garden, etc. Sellers are going to be getting the short end of the stick, and buyers WILL suffer. There will be fewer products to choose from.
Plus – Paypal holding payment for 21 days is off the wall. I worked in Money Management and KNOW that the REAL reason for this is that PayPal can invest the HELD MONEY in OVERNIGHT REPO. I used to work in Short Term Bond Trading – I know how things work.
WHO IS EBAY KIDDING?????
Every Financial Guru and Analyst needs to jump on this story.
From Donald Hello Ms. O'Connor: Simply thank-you for helping to expose what eBay is doing to us.
From Judy Hello, I really liked your article on E-Bay, I have a large store on E-Bay and am just fed up, i have been questioning E-bay about one of the new policies and you may be interested to see the reply, if so let me know and i will forward it to you, I myself am looking into the new auction sites you have in your article to sell on, E-bay could sure use some good competition!
Sincerely, Judy
From LV Dallas TX Do the math. Just did my taxes on Ebay receipts.
LAST YEAR my TOTAL FEES [Ebay insertion + Ebay final value + Paypal] represented 22.3% of my entire Ebay intake (sales dollars + S/H fees]. This includes relisting fees and UPI issues.
That was BEFORE the new fee increases.
Checkout the example of a fee increase disguised as a decrease:
Item listing price $24.99
Last year:
Insertion fee .60 + Final value fee [5.75%] 1.43 = $2.03
This year:
Insertion fee .55 + Final Value Fee [8.75%] 2.19 = 2.74
That's an increase of 35%…or 10x the rate of inflation!
And remember buyers who are so enamored with the changes, since sellers are not charities, the increases will be PASSED ON TO YOU!
And listing fees were DECREASED and final value fees were ADJUSTED??????
No wonder they call it Greedbay.
From GGU Griffin, Portland, OR Ebay Powerseller since 1998, it was a great venue for moving dead inventory out of our store locations. It still works. However, the profit margin is wiped out. Since 2005, we noticed a glut in the ebay market driving prices down to levels that defeat the purpose of hiring labor to maintain auctions since we kept our ebay auctioneers seperate from the storefront operation in order to keep quality professional service to ebay buyers. We quit selling on ebay in 2006 due to fee and policy changes. I hope for the day to return when the general public thinks about eBay, they'll think of the original E-Bay acronym used among barhoppers and nightclubbers that means East Bay, Calif. i.e. "Dude, we gonna party on E-Bay instead of the city tonight"
From RW Cols, OH I have a new cost associated w/the boycott. Ebay/ Paypal have apparently been passin out $50.00 gift certificates. Here's a link to a thread reporting this ocurrence: http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=2000525311&tstart=0&mod=1204040897093 . What is the TRUE cost of the boycott? The world may never know.
From Carl DeFranco, NY As a subscriber of over 7 years, and an occasional seller, I'm not really affected, but as a cynic, I doubt that E-Bay's intent was to reduce costs for it's larger, more active sellers…it's about the almighty dollar, folks, and how to bring more of them in.
E-Bay was cool place to look for bargains years ago, but when it became another flea market, I cut back on my browsing. It's not fun any more. Maybe Google will look into a new auction site – they have the exposure to make it work.
From Morris Wade, Orlando FL Well everyone is in arms about Feebay and I for one will no longer participate.
After almost 11 years I have closed all my accounts with ebay and have moved on.
In 2006 when ebay did it's rate hike I decided to diversify my online business and Iam sure glad today I did not put all my peas in one pod.
If you truly are dissatified with the anti-seller tactics, then try looking elsewhere to build on. Maybe you can't leave today but in a short time with a little effort you will find other markets that are just as profitable and maybe more so.
A couple of suggestions for those interested:
http://www.jellyfish.com This is a recent acquisition by Microsoft. This particular site offers no listing fees and allows the seller to make their own final value fee starting at 2%. With MS money behind them, they may be the next online makrket giant. What a unique concept. Check them out!!!
Another http://www.ebates.com – with over 6 million memebers this company again has no listing fees. They have just opened to the general seller market and may be viable for many sellers.
Threats, Complaints, and blogs will not work with Ebay. They are too big with too much money to suffer any impact by this.
Keep in mind that this is not a first for ebay and most certainly will not be its last. Take an action today to protect you investment tomorrow. Begin diversifying today, trial and error if you must, but begin today!!!
From R. Mann Uhrichsville Ohio The eBay fee's change is just to divert our attention away from their real ploy. The changes to the feedback are being made for one reason only. They need a way to put more sellers on their list of "High Risk Transactions" so that when the new PayPal changes take affect they can hold onto more peoples money. eBay is only covering their real money making scam which is to hold as much of everyones money as possible, for as long as possible, so they can collect as much money as possible from the interest on the money they hold.
I would really like to know how they "Bank" the money they hold. I believe their is a Federal Law against making a profit from someone else's money during a transaction.
From gauctions LISTEN PEOPLE WHY OH WHY DO YOU DO IT ???
Stop moaning. come on its like a baby and milk.
1. Next poster should sign up to an eBay alternative
2 your next post should be where you signed up as an alternative to ebay
then follow it with your views
eBay acts the way it does because people are more gossips than proactive humans
Be proactive Go to an eBay alternative sign up and put an auction up or buy something tell two friends simple
if all the posters on this blog did that trust me eBay would change on way or another
Com on people less waffle and more Hussle
i use and recommend http://www.ebid.net
Remember if you just keep coming here saying things bad about eBay this page will get millions of views but No action
If you start coming here stating you have signed up to an alternative each poster then hmmm who knows what will happen next?
http://www.ebid.net ( i would love for them to advertise on tv or somthing )
http://gauctions.wordpress.com
My personal site
People did you know paypal charges 100% more than Google Check out?
From Frank, Rochester NY I sell on Ebay regularly. I have been doing so for 10 years.. With the current fee strucutre and how I sell, I am paying about 12-13% of the final sale price. I will continue to sell though because there is no other venue out there at this time where I can get the same $ for what I sell. I do not actually mind the fee hikes so much but I do not like the new feedback policy. I would rather take a hit in the pcketbook than my reputation. I can only hope that my good rep is not in jeopardy. The term buyers remorse will have a whole new meaning in May.
From Kim Jackson Boulder City, NV I have sold on ebay on and off for 10 years, I now am a stay at home mom doing it full time and cannot believe the Monopoly between ebay and pay pal, forced to use their online payment system does not seem legal, and their new "hold your money deal" they are already doing it and have been for some time. I sold a $2000 watch a few months ago, Fed Exed it and waited 10 days for the money. Wow if they do this to 10,000 people a day imagine what they can do using our money as far as interest is concerned the figure is huge!!! Now they are going to decide what is a "potential risk" transaction and who decides, and by the way do you get your money once it is verified delivered??? This urks me more than the fee structure which has been bad for some time. Sincerely, Frustrated in Nevada Kim
From Anna, Medford Oregon There's suppose to be an extended boycott of ebay going on through the 9th of March, but I see people have listed. Unity is needed in order for a boycott to work! I will NOT shop there!
Infact, I won't buy from people who I saw list during the first week of the boycott. I've saved those ID's.
Perhaps enough people who've migrated to other auction sites will at least help get some competition going, even if it takes a bit of time and work.
As a buyer I'm over at onlineauction.com now and very much enjoying it. Can't beat the low fee and the very amiable people there.
I also found an alternative to paypal, it's called xcoin.com They will NOT freeze your account!
If you think things are bad at ebay now, just wait until this early summer.
From Adios ebay Congratulations to eBay for creating the absolute WORST buyer and seller atmosphere on the internet!
From Andreas, Jacksonville FL Ebay is my worst Internet experience (I am online since '95). I am just wondering in years why no other company can shows up and offers better service. It is like nobody wants to try.
From Caleb Murdock, Warren, RI I honestly don't know why so many people have stayed on eBay. I left eBay after their 2004 fee hikes and never looked back. In 2002 sellers lost about 5% of their sale price to eBay, and now it is 10%. When is it going to stop?
From Pamela dayton, oh I sold on Ebay for 7 yrs. through my store but not again. I quit after hearing I was no longer allowed to rate people who bought from me. That means all the deadbeats who bid and don't follow through get away with it while we get the fees. no thank you. I will get a booth at the local indoor market before continuing to be tread upon by the Ebay/paypal crooks…
From Christina, Los Angeles I am through (even before the rate change) with ebay and Paypal. I just got a chargeback for an item I sold on ebay last October!!! Never heard anything from the buyer-so I assumed 4 months later that all was okay and threw away the mailing receipt-now, not only do I lose the item I sold, but also the money I was paid! Complete robbery! Paypal took the money out of my account and I will probably be charged a fee for investigation by the credit card company (which they charge Paypal and they thoughtfully pass on to me!) Absolutely disgusting. I have over 800 positive transactions and 8 negatives (all of which were completely undeserved). I will not give another penny to this greedy, uncaring company which caters to those who steal, cheat and lie, and lets the honest ones go by the wayside. I hope ebay goes under-its what they have coming to them.
From Steve, Miami, FL I recently sold a Picasso Vase on Ebay. With all the fee's from Ebay and Paypal, I could have sold it faster and for the same amount not on the auction.
From DS….Valley Cottage…NY Strike the E-Beast…The strike continues againt E-Bay!!!!!!!!!!
From DS…..Valley Cottage…NY The Strike Continues until March 7……..bring the beast to its knees!!
From David Wright, Flippin, AR eBay went the wrong direction with their fee structure changes. If they need to make more money, do it on the backs of the folks that shotgun junk onto the site for 99 cents, give bad service, write obnoxious auction ads, etc…by increasing listing fees on the bottom end, and decreasing listing fees to nothing on the top end. Then, reward the successful sellers by decreasing the final value fees. Or, contrarily, do like Amazon does, and share the risk by only charging when an item sells. EBay should also look closely at Amazon's two-tier fee structure for sellers. It is very hard to lose money selling on Amazon. It's very hard to make money these days on eBay. So…guess where I now have my 1500 book and music listings…and growing every week. Over the past 10 years I have had more than 2000 listings on eBay. Currently…mmm…maybe 15. Wonder what that says?
As far as the feedback issue is concerned…no big deal. You had to be a really stupid seller to leave bad feedback anyway. All the buyer had to do was retaliate and you looked bad forever. Out of all my sales, I had one negative, and one nuetral…and I never left a negative no matter what happened. Didn't pay.
From John, Greenville, SC For me, I cannot do business in such an atmosphere of fear and oppression. I was a gold powerseller, now I have nothing on eBay. It is going to take several months for anything to change at eBay. Some sellers will go back, many won't. Many won't go back because of the horrible bias against sellers. But eventually eBay will have to backtrack in a way to "save face". But things will NEVER be the same.
From Yadgyu, Harkeyville, TX All that Ebay needs to do is ban those who complain about the new rules. They should have gave people who disagreed with the new rules the boot. There is no need for this wonderful site to tolearte dissidents who want to destroy the business. If people can find better alternatives, then they should do so without complaining.
If Ebay wises up, “fires” those who complain and keep their prices high, they can retain a loyal base of users who help make the site a good deal of cash. It is not worth it for Ebay to chase every little dollar out there. This site can make more money with fewer hassles if they dump those who complain and are not brining in a lot of cash. Cash is king. Customer service should only be used for those who pay without complaining.
From Kelsey TUS,AZ The silliest thing ever, is that REDUCING THE UP FRONT FEE A NICKEL is ebay's answer and idea to get new people to buy and sell.
The second silliest thing ever, is the pride ebay has in offering
up leaders who are so proud to say I HAVE NEVER EVEN BEEN ON EBAY.
Starting with Meg, and ending with the newbies who are making these
new breakthrough ideas, that are fit to work on every other site, BUT EBAY.
WHAT EBAY NEEDS TO DO IS EXPAND EBAY UNIVERSITY
they need to trave.
town to town, in a cool ebay bus, FOR FREE, giving classes.
Hand stuff out, be friendly. Care that we like them. (that would never happen)
They should save their silly nickels.
Ebay is such a drag, and I loved it ten years ago when
it started and have had so much enthusiasm which is obviously
on a major decline as yet they swoop in with major changes, AGAIN.
My biggest complaint: WHY DO THEY CHANGE THINGS CONSTANTLY
Big and small. It is a constant whirlwind. While some things they do work,
it is hard on the seller
I know their University program works because being the somewhat small powerseller I am, I get sales from one paticular area in bulk, whenever they swoop through.
Why won't they focus on this!? It drives me crazy.
I thought when they announced a fee reduction, oh, a flat fee
like the good old days – simple to understand. Nope.
More crazy confusing rate trees. TOTALLY RIDICULES.
From Adios ebay Ebay has become a vile place to do business. It's become an intense,UNSAFE and stressful disaster.
Good riddance to that place. Ackkkk
From Jane, Colorado I wonder if an IRS audit of Ebay would be in order?
From Joan, Salem, NH Folks,
The following is a list of eBay owned or partially owned companies.
CARad.com
Craigslist
Deja.com
EachNet
GittiGidiyor
Gumtree
Half.com
iBazar,[36]
Internet Auction Co. (IAC)
Lokau
Loquo
Marktplaats.nl
Meetup.com
MercadoLibre
Opus Forum
PayPal
Rent.com
Shopping.com
Skype
StubHub
StumbleUpon
Tradera
Up4Sale.com
VoIP
When choosing alternate sites to list your auction items on, please consider the above list, and try to avoid them!
1. Increase in Fees
2. Feedback changes hurt both buyer & Seller.
3. Best Match – (Where is my listing? I paid to list, and I can't find it in the search!)
4. PayPal 21 day hold on all funds in your PayPal account. In some cases the holds can be 180 days.
Support the Boycott February 18 – 25 & Beyond!
From Jill McAbee Please continue to report on the horrible changes that Feebay & Paypal will be making. These changes can and will do great damage to the average seller at a crucial time in our economy. I have included a link to the online petition for you. Thank you for your time, Jill
http://www.petitiononline.com/FVF/petition-sign.html
From Sharon, Hastings on Hudson, NY I'm a new eBay seller — great time to start with eBay — and I wrote them directly to protest their new fee and feedback policies. What I received in return was what can only be called a threatening email, which explained that anyone who wrote on this topic would have their accounts "investigated," and was I sure I wanted this looked into. This is really tough for me, as I am disabled, living on a very small income, and can only supplement by selling things on eBay. However, they are looking more and more like the marketplace bullies we've been dealing with for the last 25 years or so, and I have to rethink my participation in this.
From Joanne Mayville, WI Just to set the record straight. E-bay does not own Craigs List. They have a 25% ownership. If they can take them over I'm sure they will but at this point that isn't the case.
From Melody, West Palm Beach, Fl Many angry eBayers launched a boycott against eBay or feebay as they would call it. Long term eBay users are just plain fed up with eBay's greed. Since eBay started many people have been loyal customers but now eBay wants to get greedy and give their LOYAL customers less bang for their buck! The constant raising of fees and the limitations they are putting on feedback is a big slap in the face for everyone. They tend to forget who made them what they are! They are trying to run off the little people and only keep the customers who are "power sellers" who spend a fortune with them. This is wrong on so many levels! Ebay will crumble and in time just become a faint Internet memory!
So many people are turning to Craigs List. But, what most don't know is that Craigs List is owned by eBay. Sure you can list certain thing for free, but you have to list it city by city. There isn't a store option or any other options for that matter. Lets face it how long do you think it will take for eBay to make Craigs List completely overpriced as well?
There are alternatives. We at USAuctionsLive.com have seen this coming for a long time. And like many of you we too were tired of being ripped off by eBay! We decided to take it to the next level and create an auction site that allowed live auction to be enjoyable once again. The sheer thought of having to pay out a percentage of your hard earned sale is sickening! And what you want your own store but you have to pay a monthly fee PLUS pay for every listing? It's obsurd; you should be encouraged to do so by receiving a huge price break! And that is exactly what we have done.
From Dennis Elkin, Schenectady, New York I guess you would consider me a "mom and pop" seller as I strictly sell baseball cards I have accumulated as a kid out of my home, to supplement my small retirement income. I've sold on Ebay since 1998 and have a 99.9% FB rating with just over 2000 positive comments.
As sellers we all have unpleasant stories to tell about about buyers, but I thought I would share one that occurred last week or so.
A buyer bought an item from me that ended on Feb. 6. I contacted him the same day with payment details. The postmark on his payment was dated Feb. 11 and it arrives at my home on Feb. 14. I shipped his item the same day, Feb. 14. On Feb 20, he wrote the following feedback about me, "I GOT WHAT I PAID FOR,BUT SHIPPING WAS A SLOW." I have no idea what he put down in my DSR regarding shipping, but I am certain he lowered my overall score.
Do you believe the nerve of this guy, indicating that my shipping was "slow." I've written him, but he has ignored my request to rethink his negative comment.
How unfair is that? Why should I suffer when a buyer clearly has no clue as to how a totally false and misleading comment like this will hurt our "business"!
This is only one example of what sellers will be forced to deal with in the future, if Ebay doesn't reverse its horrific decision regarding feedback/DSR etc.
I will boycott for as long as it takes and will look into other options.
From Kenneth Ondracek Iowa I have been with eBay since 1999 and have had good and bad moments. eBay need a staff of compitent employees who know what they are getting in to. The need to know the law and bylaws of eBay which they do not. I understand this is a drop – ship organization but, why must they be so feeble and ineffective. Ask a question and no one seems to know the answer. Yes eBay sucks! Now the disgrace part. Meg and Cobb end their short tenures with eBay???? I woder why?????? Come on Meg and Bill – start up a rival of eBay – I'll join! We were recently slapped in the face however, many scabs are still selling and buying. The problem in the US of A is we cannot band together and continue to fight for the almight dollar. Soon our lives will end and remember, all we can take with us as we depart this woeful world, thanks to scabs and those who find hatred in their hearts just may be our very best suit if it isn't already given away. Shameful making the big dollars that eBay has to squeeze even more out of the seller. BOYCOTT for verily in the end it will bring results. Heed these words.
From B. Cook El Sobrante CA Sellers go to dsrwatch dot com. This will show you where you will come up in the listings. Looking at my won DRS, it just makes me sick. I take detailed pics, describe my items well, charge $0.50 above postage for handling. I have a 99.8% positive feedback and over 1000 transactions and have been selling since 2001. Looking at my own DSR I'll be lucky to have any buyers find me much less want to bid on my auctions. My DSR are 4.5 across the board, so that make me part of the 25-50% lower end of the sellers performance. It's not worth it to me to sell on ebay anymore.
From Harry South Florida Sellers-check out http://www.sellmyinventory.com
From Adios ebay Sellers would be extremely foolish to give up this strike.
Two months from now the new feedback policy goes into effect and they will get hammered.
Don't be a short term thinker. It will cost you big time.
If we stick to our guns or work to get as far away from that place as we can now – we will be set up before the next holiday season.
Don't be a scab seller and don't be foolish. If there is a time to put your foot down, it's NOW.
From gauctions Sorry to sound like ebay for a minute.
1 Do you guys really think Going on and on about eBya here is going to do anything ?
2 Dont you people know if you united as a front why not move united as a front in one direction
3 People i see on here sound like annoying kids i am a real seller and i sell loads i am not hear trying to be one of the number of people i am here trying to make a difference to my online sales.
4 Only a chump would be worried if they read this considering all these people here are going on about mainly us based sites. You wanna Hurt ebay properly go sign up to one site all the people that are angry go sign up to one site
Consider the following signing up to sites that dont offer global sign up's or global web sites is a waste of time
eBay is worldwide not your local auction site i have done the analysis and i can safetly say the only site currently able to really take on ebay without investment from a third party would be
wait for it…
http://www.ebid.net/
If you keep going to us only sites eBay will just laugh at you
the stats say ebay has more than 6 times more business than there nearest rivals and ebid has a great system and it has one that i can see in the long run wont sell to ebay as soon as it gets alot of eBays customers.
You guys on here wanna try different sites, fair enough but one thing is certain this boycott is not going to mean anything if you all run around the place like sheep cause eventually you will all be back at eBay cause eventually you will need more people at the sites your going to
UNITE at one Venue Stop this rubbish of going to 10 different sites its a waste of time if your going to do that
Again i use http://www.ebid.net/
Cause they have the use(very High)on both sides of the atalantic ocean
If you cant see that all of us going to many diferent places means alot less people on the individual sites then eBay is right in trying to get rid of 80% of its users cause they are not as smart as first antiscipated by eBay
View stats be smart dont let this boycott be a flickering out candle
http://gauctions.wordpress.com
From topseller As a former retail exec I found that the best guage of success or lack of success of a business is TY vs LY performance during the same time period.
Based on the information found on the MONTHLY link in http://www.medved.net/cgi-bin/cal.exe?EIND…you will find that listings as of 2/24/2008 vs 2/24/2007 are DOWN about 1 million.. about 7.3%
This is especially telling as listing fees were lowered by Ebay as of 2/20/2008 so you would expect a pretty good upward spike in listings as of now.
Not so grasshopper.
From Karin R Port Richey Fl I have already left ebay for ecrater.com http://theeclecticcollector.ecrater.com/ and I am not going back. I was mostly a buyer and I will continue the boycott that has been extended until March 3 2008 and probably beyond. As far as the "Test Auction- Do not Bid" that ebay is throwing on the site to inflate numbers, we should all bid the hell out of these auctions, just so they have to go through and do all the work of canceling all those bids LOL! Isn't that the kind of buyers ebay wants? the kind who can't read the ads??? Boycott victoriously- move to another site to sell and buy!
From Annie FL http://www.dealscart.com/count/AuctionCounts.html
http://ccc.domaindlx.com/DealsCart/User_Auction_Count.asp
http://www.medved.net/cgi-bin/cal.exe?EIND
http://db.powersellersunite.com/auctionsitewatch.php/
I think ebay must be having money troubles, because this whole Seller thing is so strange. It's as if they want to blame the Sellers for their problems, but I looked over all the charts from the last 10 years (available at the above links) and sales have been steady. Sell-through has also remained consistent at 40-50%.
Of course, they haven't continued the extreme growth that they experienced before 2004, but that couldn't go on forever. They went from 1 million auctions on a steady climb up to 19 million. Since 2004, Sales have settled into a predictable annual routine of ups and downs according to seasons and holidays. Last fall was a strong selling season that didn't taper off until just before Christmas. Ebay continues to be a consistently strong presence online.
So, why are they attacking SELLERS because it's obvious we're all working hard and doing our part. It almost seems the desperate act of desperate people. If ebay is having financial problems, I think CNN or somebody needs to look at ebay MANAGEMENT. This boycott and the seller discontent is not actually the big problem: the big problem seems to be WHATEVER IS GOING ON WITHIN EBAY HEADQUARTERS and I think we STILL don't have any decent, logical, sensible, understandable reasons or explanations for their OUTRAGEOUS new policies.
And the CEO apparently has a huge golden parachute so it doesn't matter to him if he succeeds or fails because the rumor is he'll get a ton of money either way. Is that true?? AND, if he was OFFERED a huge golden parachute to TAKE THE JOB, then that indicates that whoever OFFERED him the job already knew that the situation was NOT GOOD??
I would like somebody to analyze ebay: WHAT is their REAL problem?? God knows we've been paying them our fortunes, so WHAT did they DO with all that money?
I do NOT think the SELLERS are the problem at eBay! And attacking the sellers is not going to help them any.
How can we BEG Yahoo to start up their USA auctions again? Does anyone know?
From Karl,Texas The reasoning behind the changes with eBay are apparent.
Growth and more profit,which is the goal of businesses.
There is a twist to eBays approach though,ebays not putting much into to the pot.
All the loss and burden are placed on the sellers…or so they think.
By announcements and work shops eBay is conveying their take on what sellers will be required to survive the upcoming changes.Providing 24/7 costumer service and providing either rock bottom shipping pricing or free shipping.
I suppose it's just a coincidence that those guidelines will put a lot more money in eBays pocket.Moving all or any of the shipping cost to the starting price will give eBay a greater take of the final value fees.If your a high volume seller selling small light weight items it's feasible.If your a small volume seller selling large heavy items,you cannot survive.
eBays top sellers have been complaining for years,they deserve a prominent place in the search.With the new changes eBay plans to do just that.One problem eBay had was,for the most part the top sellers feedback and DSRs weren't sufficient to justify top billing in the search.Considering most the top sellers leave feedback at payment and rely on shear volume to keep their ratings up,eBay found the solution…the new feedback change.
A link to eBays best…the top sellers.
http://www.topsellerlistlive.com/
As far as 24/7 customer support,that's just impractical and basically unattainable.
eBay is promising a higher level of customer support for sellers,but I've heard that for years.eBay has no meaningful support in place,for buyers or sellers,it's unlikely that will change.Most all of eBay's policies,including the new changes are designed to be handled through automation.It hasn't worked in the past and it won't work now,just a lot of smoke and mirrors.
As far as the reports of the boycott not working,I'm not so sure about that.
The increase in listing the past few days doesn't tell the true story.
During the listing special the counts rose around 4 million,and sellers still had to pay for the gallery feature.
The new fee realignment was designed to increase listings,free gallery and a reduction in listing fees.Actually a better deal than the listing special.Where's the big jump in listings?
The increase is a 1/4 of what the listing special produced.
The agreement with GM alone will provide eBay with an estimated 600,000 new listings alone.eBays top 100 sellers could boost the listings a few million.
Of course eBay provides little data to the public,but I would be real interested to see the data on where the listings are coming from and the number of sellers listing now compared to pre-boycott seller listings.
From Adios ebay What's still stunning about this is how eBay always panicked if you dared to link to a site off ebay.
Are they so stupid to think sellers are that stupid that they wouldn't use their email lists to take buyers away from their site and smash their already terribly shakey reputation?
The horse is far out out the barn now ebay. You may as well just let anyone post any link they want on your message boards and listings now.
Too, before this, they decided to add sponsored links in their searches that interfere with a sellers chance for a sale. They are getting paid to undercut their own sellers via this route.
Don't DARE link to anyone else outside ebay, but they can and force still more competion on a sellers back who are paying them fees.
This is definetly wrong and unfair trade practices and as I mentioned before I think it's time for congress to step in and do a complete audit and investigation.
After all, this affects an awful lot more people than steroid use.
From gauctions Guys and Gals alike the main point of this boycott is to affect a change to eBay.
I doubt angry Rants will do anything of that nature.
1 People should start moving their business to 1(yes only 1) main competitor
My Suggestion is http://www.ebid.net/
If we go in one direction then the volume of users on that site will go up so much eventually eBay will take action.
In my opinion Companies like eBay first get rid of compitition before abusing their users because if you check the stats ebay have more than 300% more users than alternatives
If one company was to get alot more users it would get in the rader of ebay.
WE MUST ALL MOVE IN ON DIRECTION
PEOPLE SHOULD STOP ANGRY RANTS AND POST SUGGESTIONS NO POINT IN BARKING LIKE A MAD DOG NO ONE WILL LISTEN SOB STORIES ARE ALL TOO COMMON ON HERE
POST ACTUAL SUGGESTIONS LETS GET PRODUCTIVE PEOPLE!
I Suggest http://www.ebid.net AS they dont charge listing fees anymore if you sign up now they have a one off charge and you will never pay listing fees ever again only 1% Final V Fees and auction add ons like feature +
This is peoples way of making change guys dont all just Rant here it wont get us anywhere(you know i am right)
I can tell you some stories about my experience with ebay but many of them are so nutty you wont believe them.
REMEMBER LESS RANT MORE SOLUTIONS GUYS SAVES THIS BOYCOTT FROM BEING FOR NOTHING.
Some ebay forums chatter
http://forums.ebay.com/db1/thread.jspa?threadID=2000523762&tstart=0&mod=1203814209578
http://forums.ebay.com/db1/thread.jspa?threadID=2000523762&tstart=0&mod=1203813438139
http://forums.ebay.com/db1/thread.jspa?threadID=2000523762&tstart=0&mod=1203812936872
http://forums.ebay.com/db1/thread.jspa?threadID=2000523762&tstart=0&mod=1203812278106
http://forums.ebay.com/db1/thread.jspa?threadID=2000523762&tstart=0&mod=1203812515700
http://forums.ebay.com/db1/thread.jspa?forumID=102&threadID=2000523762
http://forums.ebay.com/db1/thread.jspa?threadID=2000523762&tstart=0&mod=1203812639704
THIS IS THE PRESS EFFORT EBAY COULD DO ONLY FOR THEM TO FIND OUT THE PERSON THAT WON THE AUCTION WAS LIKE THE AUCTION NUMBERS THEY HAD FRAUDULENTLY AFFECTED
http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=140206309501
lets just hope gives him back his auction costs or he will be in debt for a while lol
HERE YOU CAN EVEN SEE MULTIPLE LISTINGS eBay ADDED DURING THE BOYCOTT TO TEST (IN MY OPINION FOOL) THE SYSTEM IN ORDER FOR INVESTMENT BY UNKNOWNING INVESTMENT FIRMS
http://gauctions.wordpress.com
From Toni, Greenville, TX I've been a seller and buyer on eBay for over 8 years. Maybe I should say I WAS a buyer and seller on eBay. I began participation in the boycott to make a point, and in doing so have found other auction sites that suit me better. And my costs have decreased dramatically. Thanks eBay for making me see the light!
From anon Mark – something else to consider is there are four "legit" uses of multiple IDs – buying ID, Selling ID, Sniping ID, Posting ID – ALL are considered registered users. Scammers can have literally hundreds. How inflated are ebay's registered users counts to begin with?
From Paul, Virginia Beach, VA To pad the auction count, eBay recently added Australian and other international listings to eBay.com
Want to see why so many Australian listings?
http://forums.ebay.com.au/thread.jspa?threadID=500074613&tstart=0&mod=1203819285756
Didn't anyone at CNN wonder why the listing count rose recently?
From Joanne Mayville, WI Stacy,
Why are you being so quiet? Did e-bay get to you too?
From Mark I looked through 400 of our recent feedbacks to see how many of these buying IDs were also sellers. Many long term / high volume sellers also use buying IDs which is fine with ebay. I was not surprised to find that 49% of the people who bought from us were also sellers. Which means, when you factor in many buying IDs also have a second buying ID..that means over 50% of all sellers are buyers too. eBay is not recognizing this. The charts show that at this time last year listings were between 13-15 million but they went up and down a lot showing buying…not know. There have been a slew of angry sellers coming into the ebay seller boards who are not boycotting screaming at people to stop boycotting because it won't do any good…yet they are not selling anything…well duh, SELLERS ARE THE BUYERS TOO! SO it IS doing good because thousands of sellers have taken their buying elsewhere. Stupid…stupid ebay.
From Jeff Dreyfous, Redmond, Washington This is just another mega corporation flexing its muscle in cyber space. Without any real competition (where’s Google when you really need them!), and now with what appears to be a legalized Monopoly in place after bringing PayPal in under their wings, all of us sellers both large and small are ripe to be screwed by yet another round of changes ushered in by some pencil pushers in eBay’s upper management. I have been a buyer/seller on eBay for over 7 years, and with nearly 1700 positive transactions under my belt (“which I worked my ass off to accomplish”), all my hard work is about to be dashed to bits like some tiny boat on the open sea during a white water squall!
Over the years I have had my fair share of problem buyers and sellers, but through time and effort, I was always able to come to an agreeable resolution. I am not a fan of negative feedback, as it typically leads to retaliatory feedback whether you deserve it or not. And if you pay much attention to who leaves negative feedback, it’s almost always done by some newbie eBay member that has unrealistic demands of how the whole process is supposed to work. Whether uninformed, or rogue buyers, they simply do not comprehend how the system works, or have chosen to exploit the loopholes in eBay’s services. So while it’s bad enough now that a disgruntled buyer can leave you unjustified negative or neutral feedback, what eBay is proposing to initiate in the weeks or months ahead is completely counterintuitive to what the feedback system was put in place to accomplish in the first place. What moron can’t see the inherent problems this is going to create? And most importantly, what moron or group of morons decided this concept was even valid, much less a smart business practice to put into action?
This isn’t rocket science people, anytime you have a one sided view of anything in life, you only have 50% of the equation! The feedback rating is the only monitoring tool available to anyone wanting to get a feel for how a perspective buyer or seller has done historically in this marketplace. Personally I don’t even mess with sellers below a 98% positive approval rating, and this grows exponentially for any seller having below a 98% rating over the course of thousands of transactions. Just by looking at the various feedbacks you can almost always see a pattern developing. They are either slow shippers, bad communicators, ship items that were not as described, damaged due to poor packaging, or some combination of these. By using this rating you can decide with usually good justification, to proceed to bid or buy from a specific seller, or move on to the next one with the same merchandise. Leave this critical piece of information up to the buyer’s discretion only, and you have a worthless indicator in a forum where few indicators are available as it is.
The feedback system, though flawed to a degree, works pretty well as it stands right now. EBay is somewhat self regulating based on the input of buyers and sellers on a global scale. The only improvement would be to allow dispute resolution when negative feedback was left without due cause. This would be resolved in the same manner as a non paid or non received item is now.
As for the lowered listing fees and higher final value fees, eBay needs to stop trying to sell us a golden platter when in fact they are offering a crappie paper plate! Explain the changes so everyone knows without a doubt what is going to take place. Don’t sit there and blow sunshine up are butts on the front-end, and then turn back around and insert a rusty pole up that same butt on the back-end, so to speak. We are not intellectually challenged, although it appears the eBay management thinks we are, or none of this crap would see the light of day! There is slick marketing, and then there is complete dishonesty, it’s pretty clear which way eBay has chosen to implement these changes.
One by one they keep taking away our ability to remain profitable in this forum. I don’t know about you other sellers, but I am in business to make a living at selling on the Internet, not support the life styles of the rich and famous want to bee’s in eBay’s upper management. You don’t have to have a math degree to understand the magnitude of money changing hands on eBay. Listings and sales are counted in the millions, so every time a seller decides to sell an item or upload a large inventory into his/her store, or post in the mainstream auctions, listing fees, gallery fees, additional image fees, and on they go are levied against the seller. Then on the backside of the transaction you get hit again with final value fees, or re-listing fees if the item didn’t sell, and most likely PayPal fees just for the privilege of using their service. Pretty quickly 25-30% of your profit goes straight into operating expenses, which less face it, amounts to server time and some tweaking of their software to make sure the data goes into the correct fields in the mega financial database.
Historically nearly everything in the technology field gets cheaper over time, so what’s up with continually rising costs and the removal of capabilities to retain as much profit as possible for each item being sold? I’m all for making a profit, but as a fair seller on eBay, if I were to blatantly screw over every customer that made a purchase from my store, I would be run out of town on a rail in a heartbeat. Yet eBay continues to squeeze all of the users of both the eBay Auction Services and now PayPal as well, and try to pawn it off as a reduction of costs! I didn’t fall off the turnip truck yesterday, and the writing on the wall has been getting clearer by the year as to just how the eBay (or FeeBay) machine wants to operate. Take every last penny they can, charge for every service available, and keep on removing options that used to let us sellers stretch your listing dollar to maintain a profit in this market place.
They removed the ability to extend an auction to ten days 12 hours before a 7 day auction was about to close. Now you have to decide to fork over the additional 40 cents within 2 hours of posting the item. Never mind that not all auctions would require the use of the extension, never mind that they will still make 40 cents for each auction extended for 3 additional days, no they want the whole enchilada. So that feature is no longer available. It was an effective way to stretch your listing dollar on some of your auctions (not all), but the Cha-Ching factor was not in eBay’s favor, so it’s now history!
How about listing sales in 2007? Well I can remember one that was like the “Good Old Days” (.10 or .20 per listing for anything), and it just happened to take effect two days after I had a heart to heart conversation with one of the Store Customer Service Specialists. Coincidence, probably, but you have to realize this was a great way for store owners to move large quantities of their merchandise into the mainstream auctions for a small fee. It also was a day that eBay could sit back and monitor the money pouring into their coffers, because unless you were brain-dead, you took advantage of these sales when they came around.
That used to be about every quarter, now it’s maybe once a year. And please, don’t even get me started on the cheap-ass promotions they did run during the year. Like 33 1/3% off listing fees, how frigin confusing is that? Or for fixed auctions only, or for bidding style auctions only, or automotive only. Then when you did take advantage of the promotion, where it would post the sales value of the listings in real-time, the discount didn’t show like it used to, and of course you were asked to accept the charges before allowing the listings to be posted. So I backed out of several of the sales because where it should have only cost me $5.-$6 dollars, the total I was to accept was like $45.00! I finally called and asked what was going, on and did a test posting while on the line with a customer support representative. Sure enough, after about 5 minutes it posted to my account showing the discount. My point was how many sellers did exactly what I did and backed out of the promotion when the total rang up at 10 times what you were expecting!
eBay and PayPal is probably one of the slickest selling forums on the planet, but they are holding a gun to the heads of all sellers with many of the changes they have already put into play, and those they are about to implement. As it is we take all of the risk now, and shortly we will be up to our eyebrows in “Dookie” simply trying to make a go of operating in what used to be a class act selling venue on the Internet. I for one can not afford to absorb more responsibility, more fees, more worry about trying to make every transaction perfect in an imperfect system. I will have no choice but to close my account with both eBay and PayPal, and find other auction sites to sell my merchandise.
This is one of those pivotal moments in history when power in numbers should be able to make a difference in an injustice being played out against all the sellers that made eBay what it is today. I would love to believe that justice will prevail, and that eBay will realize what a huge error in judgment they have made by eroding the confidence of its members in what used to be the premier online buying and selling forum. But the pessimist in me knows deep down inside that greed and power have ruled mankind since we first set foot on this planet; and that at the end of the day, I will most likely have to close my store and start over again in an up and coming, user friendly auction site, somewhere out in cyber space…
BUMMER!!!
From David,Jefferson,Wisconsin We Sellers are uniting across the world and preparing another Boycott NO SALES FEB 25-MAR 3! , to voice our deep concerns regarding eBay’s newest policy. We have taken the steps to gather and to stand together once, and boycott. We plan to do it again!!! We have read eBay’s responses and disrespect for us doing so, and how it won’t have any effect. We will see if we dent your revenues. We do this together as one voice. One way, for eBay management to hear our collective concerns. We used to think this was a community. Our community. But we now know it’s more like a one way Dictatorship. Many ,Many of eBay’s best sellers have already closed their doors, and they will remain closed forever. More are contemplating it as eBay chooses not to fix its problems and drags its feet. Why not? The other sites are courting us, and are offering incentives, opening their doors and saying… welcome Sellers. What we ever wanted was a fair market place for both the buyer and the seller. eBay never delivered that, but instead chose to change the rules for all of us, instead of signaling out the bad sellers who were leaving too many negatives for buyers. You played with us, played and used fuzzy math logic that will only lead to more fee’s for us, in a struggling economy. What you didn’t realize that there were many smart business men and women who analyzed the true cost and effect of doing business on eBay and exposed the truth of the fee changes. When you realized many were united, you threw us a bone and lowered your media fee’s and cut listings, to tempt some away from being united and standing together.
As far as we are concerned you can keep your deceptive tactics and or unfair acts or practices.
This is a world wide outcry not just the USA site.
We will keep our negative exposure up across the channels of mass media available to us until everyone is alerted and made more aware and stays away from eBay. Quite possibly changing the online auction marketplace rankings in favor of other more fairer online auction venues.
Driving revenues to the other guys.
Fair Auction Trade to us, Means giving us our Dignity. What does it mean to eBay?
1. We honor the value of eBay Sellers united seeking justice and hope.
2. Sellers who demonstrate concern for other sellers and buyers welfare.
3. Sellers who in the past exemplified the highest standards in their business practices, only to be now at risk
BOYCOTT II VICTORIOUSLY!!!
From V Reeves, Orlando FL Mike Saratoga, you are a genius! That was hilarious…and really, aren't all the funniest things based on truth? Sad–but true.
From Adios ebay After seeing this comment:
"For the past few days when a buyer goes to leave DSR ratings there is a balloon covering the 4 and 5 star,which says “be sure to leave accurate ratings”.Which in it’s self wouldn’t be a problem.Problem is as long as the balloon is there you can’t click on the 4 and 5 star and the balloon is next to impossible to get rid of."
I think it is time for congress to step in.
From RW Cols, OH Stacy – I posted a link (earlier in this blog) that is a transcription of a conference call between Deutsche Bank, The Internet Mechant's Association, and ebay. During this conference call DB AND the IMA totally AGREED that what ebay is doing is counter-productive. Have you READ this exchange? Do you NOT think it is NEWS that DB AND the IMA agree with what we have been telling you?! CNN's SILENCE is not very assuring!
From Yelena, S. I., NY May 2008 might be the downfall of eBay.
Did eBay forget that many of eBay sellers use eBay to sell used or collector items every once and then, as they would if they had a garage sale. Online marketplace allows to expand the visibility of items to buyers from across the country or even worldwide.
There is a big difference between occasional sellers or garage sellers and big retail companies, so why does eBay trying to enforce the big business rules, rates and fees upon small sellers?
When you buy something in a garage sale in person, sales are usually final, and is there is a problem both parties are able to mutually resolve the situation, that is when both parties are able to express their opinions about the transaction, and turn mutual dissatisfaction into amicable resolution. But if a seller's freedom of speech is held hostage by a third party, unable to express their opinion about transaction with the buyer, then buyer who might have reacted differently will loose incentive to resolve the negative situation with the seller or remove negative comments even if situation is resolved and comment no longer applies. While if seller would have equal rights to express oneself in leaving feedback, then both buyer and seller would be interested to resolve the situation and then mutually remove the negative comments.
In the new eBay feedback policy combined with Seller Non-performance policy, eBay sellers would be forced to pay third party like SquareTrade to remove negative feedbacks, just to keep their seller accounts and avoid account suspension by eBay.
While big businesses and PowerSellers might have the allocated resources for situations as such from overall profits gained from selling on eBay, and benefiting from eBay's popularity and marketing, smaller sellers may not be able to afford same expenses in addition to all the fees already paid to eBay.
I understand when you make a purchase from retail company online, and buyer is only their buyer, buyer who is not being rated for other selling companies to review and consider buyer's reputation to allow or block certain buyer from purchasing on their sites, therefore for buyers from individual independent sites and businesses there is no reason for the retail company to rate buyers.
However, it is a completely different situation with marketplace such as eBay, where many sellers and buyers participate in transactions based on each other's reputation. Most sellers on eBay are also buyers and vice versa, and it is necessary for each to be able to fairly describe their experience with transactions.
eBay's discriminating strategies and endless new fees and rate hikes, that even big businesses wouldn't appreciate, are nothing but discouraging sellers from using eBay listing services and encouraging sellers finding alternative places to sell their items online.
While eBay makes it nearly impossible for sellers to survive selling on eBay, Sellers are the ones eBay profits from regardless if sellers profit from using eBay listings or if listed items do not sell and sellers keep paying listing fees without any profit again and again.
Sellers are not even provided with basic eBay phone customer support, and email support takes many days to receive a response, and most times answers are vague and concerns need to be rephrased and resubmitted many times to receive a satisfactory response (if ever).
If eBay Inc. would be rated by their customers – the Sellers – in accordance to eBay's own Seller Non-Performance policy, how confident is eBay that they would not themselves be suspended? – Well, I believe majority of sellers would agree eBay would stand no chance.
In a meantime if sellers started leaving eBay for alternative less greedy companies, then potential buyers would be less likely to find what they are looking for to buy on eBay, and likewise would be more likely to shop elsewhere where their desired products are available for sale. When Sellers and Buyers leave, eBay would be nothing but a memory of a good idea and bad execution..
Sellers Rights Group
http://groups.ebay.com/clubforum!boards.jspa?forumID=1500035924
From Doug Fullerton, Michigan Been getting around on lots of blogs lately…
Having been a fan of Ebay before all this, I've done a bit more with Ebay in the past year and up to 36 feedback so far but at 100%. It may not be a huge amount but it's taken a lot of time and care to earn! Once they change over everything I'll be lucky to have 20 points left, not to mention all the other mess they've caused.
Seriously, I don't care if you do cut the listing fees down a little; to sacrifice safety and honest ratings for people who deserve other than good, positive feedback is atrocious.
Looks like I'll be going somewhere else.
From LW Dallas Tx I agree with Done Denver with one addition.
ONCE A BUYER HAS LEFT FEEDBACK the item WILL STILL SHOW a link to "report an item as not received".
This, along with the nuances mentioned by you below seems to indicate that Ebay is doing EVERYTHING IN ITS POWER to encourage buyers to malign or cheat sellers.
If I were an international buyer and I received my item and left positive feedback…here's Ebay telling you "hey…there's no tracking on most international items….even though you have left a positive…go ahead and file a claim. You'll be able to get the item free…compliments of Ebay. Won't you be happy? Won't you keep coming back to Ebay because Ebay treats you so well? and the Seller won't even be able to leave you a negative!
I have never seen such a concerted effort mounted to destroy the hand that feeds it…the sellers. Ebay's customers. Wow.
They could save themselves a LOT of aggravation and expense by just telling the 80% of sellers they don't want to just get off the site (maybe by stipulating sales of $500k a year or above to remain on the site].
From gauctions There is one thing we all know.
eBay boycott is working people are leaving many for good
But the thing is we all need to move to one competitor and have a third site.
May i recommend that CNN Take a poll of people's secondary auction site and third choice site.
This was on a whole all of us can move over to one place. Cause at the moment- If 10 people leave ebay that has 100 and those 10 3 go to ebid 1 goes to bidville and so on and so one instead of 10% of ebayers moving to one site only around 1-5 percent move to one site
PEOPLE WE NEED TO UNITE SELECT 1 HOME AWAY FROM HOME CAUSE ALL THIS 10 different options is only making it harder for all of us
eBay did the right thing at first they bought out the named compititions
I like eBid personally as a seller they do charge a 1% commision but the idea is the same as ebay only that your not restricted to payment options
i think if CNN does a survey then maybe we can all head in one different direction away from ebay
Remember if we all head in different directions we will all definatly end up back at ebay!
http://gauctions.wordpress.com/
on my blog i have images of ebays tests auctions during the strike
No Doubt Big Investment banks would think the Usuage was back up and start investing again but me i dont think this eBay problem will end by just a Boycott
i think people need to go in one direction if eBay sees people heading to different sites they wont care.
From John, Greenville, SC Someone else stated that leaving eBay was "liberating". How true. Now I DON'T CARE about their stupid feedback system. I DON'T CARE about their stupid STAR system. I feel as though a great weight has been lifted now that I have left. They drove me away…I guess that was their goal. I suppose once they get rid of ALL the sellers they can do some real business!
From Luna, Buffalo, NY As both a buyer as well as a seller on ebay for the past 7 years I am applalled at the changes that are in the works. These changes will create a hostile envirnment for both buyers and seller and eliminate any trust in the marketplace. What drew me to ebay and what has kept me there over the years, is the sense of community with my fellow members. Ebay will now become a playground for scam artists and dishonest buyers. Any seller who values their reputation or their income would be foolish to continue selling on ebay. If ebay can hold my funds for 21 days (without interest) with no recourse on my part while I am expected to ship the goods to the buyer at my own expense it is starting to look like a very bad deal for small to medium sellers like me. I intend to leave ebay and go to a seller friendly site-I may have fewer sales but I will have less anxiety and may be able to see some profit on the items I do sell. Good Bye, it was nice while it lasted.
From Silkfair Silkfair ( http://www.silkfair.com ) , is a new online marketplace. We have just launched and we are striving to be the next premier global marketplace to help bring products into the global marketplace.
What do we do? Think of us as "E-bay" + "You-Tube" with style!
We offer the internet community a place to set up your own free store where you can buy and sell pretty much anything. Plus, our system offers very cool capabilities like video marketing, one-step shopping cart check-out, cool in-line editing of listings (point-click-edit), integration with PayPal and Google Checkout, and many more!
Silk Fair features
- FREE store
- unique URL with every store
- easy to use, easy to setup
- custom domain name supported
- sell your products with video
- import/export listings
- customizable product attributes
- one-step cart checkout
- integrated payment gateways
- Google Checkout
- PayPal Standard / Express Checkout
- Authorize.net
- order processing
- payment processing
- blog and forum for each store
- link existing e-bay rating
- double-blind feedbacks
- unique Feedback Mapping – see where feedbacks came from
- and many more !!
So, take a few minutes and join us today! .
See you soon!
From Done Denver Colorado What amazes me is all the new little changes that are popping up and no one knows about……..when you buy something and try to leave the DSR rating there is a little blue box that discourages you from leaving a 5 and reminds you to give your honest opionion as they are anonymous………If you are a seller and your DSR ratings dip to a 4, there is a red warning on your auctions to be sure and check the feedback……..If you are a buyer and haven't left feedback in a certain amount of time there is a yellow notice to be sure and file a dispute within the time limit if you aren't happy…….
Ebay is encouraging all the buyers to assume that all the sellers are crooks…I don't understand what is going on and am very afraid of what other little surprises are in store
From Mark ,Texas HI, Eaby won't get my fees any more. My store is closed and no more acutions. We actually stopped selling about 1 week before the boycott. Were doing about 2500-3000 in sales a month part time with feebay and paying over 500 a month in fees for what!!!
Ebay is feeling the boycott :) as stated they are pading the site with all kinds of auctions from test to international. they added 4-million by doing the 20cent listing just before the strike,they are spending millions on ads in prime time this week on the networks to offset the strike and hopefully bring buyers and we all know how tight Ebay is when it comes to ads, jee they wouldn't do that for us during the holliday season would they!!!
Ebay knows that we have the POWER to control their profits if we unite.They CANNOT let us think that we are hurting them so the battle is on. Try buying on other sites and support the sellers that have left this will black Ebays eye.
BOYCOTT VICTORIOSLY!!!!!!!
From Lucy, Plano Il Mike Saratoga….that was soooo funny, Thanks for the laugh, I needed it.
From LW Dallas Tx Aren't you glad that Ebay released their info on that Record Collection Sale to the media WITHOUT CHECKING IT OUT FIRST. Just like they put these changes in place WITHOUT CHECKING IT OUT FIRST.
Since they got that 3% spike in share price on Friday as a result of the "good news" of the $3M sale, I wonder if they are going to DO THE RIGHT THING and INFORM the trading public that IT WAS All A MISTAKE and that $3M sale was BOGUS by one of their CHERISHED BIDDERS that CHECKED OUT [according to what Ebay told the seller].
No…no need…Ebay will just KEEP THE FEES generated by this BOGUS SALE which will ADD TO THEIR PROFITS.
From - J -, Elko, NV The Boycott IS working, we need to stay the course. I have closed both my ebay and paypal accounts and won't be going back as a buyer or seller. One blogger Timothy Church at: http://seekingalpha.com/article/65640-how-does-the-boycott-impact-ebay How Does the Boycott Impact eBay? Estimated that every time they do a promo to pump the listing numbers it costs them an estimated 3 million dollars at a minimum. Also check out the "page hit" chart for Greedbay at http://www.alexa.com. They are about a week behind on the totals so we can't see the #s yet for the boycott yet, but when one looks at the 6 year totals their page views are now below their 2002 numbers. Their stock prices are down from $40 last Oct to $27 now. These are dramatic numbers and signs that Ebay is failing. What is unbelievable is that their solution is to chase away both sellers AND buyers with higher fees and crazy feedback policies. Mind Boggling.
From Mike Saratoga, NY THEY SAY SELL ON EBay, what say you..???
Once upon a time….I called the office of the feeBay Mall to see about opening a store there. Here's the transcript of my side of the conversation
"Good Morning, I'd like to open a store at your Mall"
"Yes, I understand you are just a venue, that'll be great"
"You want my credit card number first so that I can register…well OK, here it is XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. OK, so I'm all set?"
"You want an up front fee for everything I bring into the store?"
"Ok, and then you want a cut of everything I sell, I thought you were a venue"
"Oh, you are just a venue, but then you want me to use your bank that's not a bank to process my customers' payments?"
"What? Sometimes I'll have to let the customer leave the store with the merchandise and afterwards you'll notify me that your bank that's not a bank is holding my funds for 21 days or until the customer calls in to say they like it. Is there anything else I should know?"
"As customers leave my store YOU will poll them to see what their reactions were – something called DSRs – and then you'll charge me more to sell my merchandise if they rate me me as merely good – 4 out of 5 DSR stars, anything else?"
"Oh, and you get to hang a RED BANNER warning my customers that I have problems outside my store if my DSR scores are only 4 out of 5, in other words merely what you call good? My goodness, is there anything else?"
"AND you'll place other merchant's merchandise in front of my store so that my customers see it first, and then my RED BANNER?"
"What else could your venue possibly do for me?"
"Oh, from time to time you'll let a deadbeat shoplifter come back in to slap me around in front of my other customers, and all I can do is say how much I liked it"
"I see. Let me get this straight, you are just a venue but YOU collect a fee everytime I offer something for sale, YOU collect a fee everytime I sell something, YOU REQUIRE that I process payments through your bank-thats-not-a-bank, YOU ask my customers how I did on your scale that they don't understand, YOU get to hang a RED BANNER in front of my store if my DSRs are merely GOOD, YOU get to place other merchant's wares in front of my store, and YOU will bring in shoplifters and deadbeats to slap me around with no recourse. Do I have this right so far?"
"OK, can you tell me what's in it for me?"
"Hello"
"Hello"
"Helloooooo"
"Anybody there?"
"What?, I can barely hear you, what? I have to supply my own Vaseline and smile too?"
click
From Karl,Texas For those that's becoming disheartened by the listing numbers rising.
Since the 19th eBay has included an increasing number of International listings on eBay U.S. site.
In some categories I had to double check to be sure I was still on eBay.com
It also appears eBay has devised a plan to lower sellers DSR rating before the new policies take effect.
For the past few days when a buyer goes to leave DSR ratings there is a balloon covering the 4 and 5 star,which says "be sure to leave accurate ratings".Which in it's self wouldn't be a problem.Problem is as long as the balloon is there you can't click on the 4 and 5 star and the balloon is next to impossible to get rid of.
….and the 3 million dollar record auction that got all the press…the buyer was fraudulent.A problem that's more common than eBay cares to admit…fraud against sellers.
A problem that will increase once the new policies go into effect….and sellers won't be allowed to say anything about it.
Personally I would think the SEC would be a bit more concerned about eBays manipulation of the site.
From AM Vegas, NV Record Rama bidder turns out to be a fraud
Saturday, February 23, 2008
By Scott Mervis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The $3 million winning bid for the Record Rama collection on eBay was a fraud, according to J. Paul Henderson, agent for the sale.
Mr. Henderson said he got a call from an eBay executive last night explaining that the "jopsoup" bid was not legitimate and the account has been suspended.
The Irish man with that screen name says he didn't even know about the bid until after the fact.
"Jopsoup" told the eBay executive that he was a victim of identity theft.
"He claims he went to an Internet cafe and got the e-mail with the invoice from us and wondered 'what the hell is this?' " Mr. Henderson said.
Mr. Henderson says he and owner Paul Mawhinney plan to re-list the collection and run the auction in a more "semi-private" fashion with screened bidders.
They also have a few private collectors coming into town who will examine the collection of 3 million albums and CDs, cassettes and 8 tracks.
From Gem NE Pa. I've been reading this for days now & feel compelled to comment!
First thing I want to say is….
Lets get the facts straight about the new feedback policies.
Some sellers are thinking that these new FB policies are already in effect, as of 2/20
The new fee structure went into effect on 2/20 but the FB policies DO NOT go into effect until May.
As for buyers, 1000's think this new FB policy went into effect on 2/20, as well. Just another prime example of one of our biggest complaints, buyers "DO NOT" read.
Time to benefit from these clueless buyers, don't you agree?
These clueless buyers are already milking it to the max now. Come May, look to see a 100% increase in this, as the "clued" buyers "have at it"
So I URGE all sellers, that are still selling & are getting hit by the clueless buyers, to follow through with ALL non-payers RE: UID, including leaving ALL deserved negative FB.
Do "IT" while you still can & report report report…. ALL blackmailing tactics, as well.
Don't BOYCOTT VICTORIOUSLY!
Leave Ebay VICTORIOUSLY… to lick their wounds.
And anyone watching Ebay's listing counts, don't waste your time!
Ebay is listing 1000's of bogus "test" auctions every day, just to "try" to show that this BOYCOTT is failing & listings are up anyway.
It's NOT failing. Bottom line, it is having an effect & an indefinate BOYCOTT will catch up to them & bite them in the butt.
You can only list bogus test auctions for so long, before it starts to hurt your bottom line & stocks!
Ebay has to eat all the fees!
I wish all of you small sellers, the very best in your new ventures. I am one of those too!
I would love to see more venues that cater to only the small sellers of collectibles, hand crafted items & good quality used items.
Let Ebay keep their GIANT mass produced, $ store, cheap imported garbage sellers all they want. That is their plan anyway!
More venues need to keep these carp dealers out!
A prime example is Overstock auctions.
They already had Overstock.com but when they started the auction venue, it quickly became flooded with mass produced garbage! They didn't even have a collectibles catagory until a group of sellers got together & complained.
Just another Ebay, scaled down… But seems to be getting better now, somewhat!
Just my 2 cents worth!
Gem
From terri, LI, NY After almost 10 years with ebay, i just closed my account.. (of course they told me that it would take up to 180 days to actually close it and i may receive a phone call!). I received negative feedback from a deadbeat buyer who just paid me for an auction which closed Jan 22! Ebay gave me my fvf back, i blocked the bidder from future sales, she pays me thru paypal , i refunded her money because i am an honest person (I didnt' have to..) and ebay will NOT remove the negative feedback, wants me to work it out with the customer! THE BOOK IS GONE, IT WAS SOLD TO SOMEONE ELSE! they would not remove the negative feedback..my 3rd negative and only negatives i have,from deadbeat buyers in retaliation.. i was going to dump ebay if they didnt' change their new rules, i have been boycotting along with everyone else, but this is the final straw! If they cannot see what the feedback changes alone will do, not to mention the OUTRAGEOUS FEES, then on to OLA and iOffer.com with me! Good Luck everyone..i feel liberated, i am DONE WITH EBAY AFTER 10 YEARS! LET'S MAKE SOMEONE ELSE BIG NOW! eBay is in the past..last one out, turn off the lights!
From Adios ebay It's only phase one of sellers leaving. After the new feedback policy goes in to effect it will be phase 2 of the exodus.
Onlineauction.com is working on a new advertising campaign relocating servers to an extremely large data center and purchasing several new servers to handle their current expansion.
Thats where I moved too. I won't be a puppet with ebay pulling my strings.
It's best to stay ahead of the game and get out and set up somewhere else right now.
Not like the changes are bad enough with ebay, but as a business person you sure have to wonder after this – then what(?) — what's next?
Abandon ship. There are other auction sites that actually like having you as a seller. I found a great one.
From gauctions HAHAHA
http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=140206309501
lets just hope gives him back his auction costs or he will be in debt for a while lol
http://gauctions.wordpress.com
From gauctions Sad to see ebay diddling the figure by making test auctions
Very disturbing that they are actually willing to fight with the sellers
that made them what they are
1 thing i find is that ebid as an alternative is lacking users ebay has alot of users much more than other sites
I would suggest that alternative sites start advertising on tv or something just to get their names around.
Now is the time for them to do such a thing
http://gauctions.wordpress.com you will see images of eBays test auctions
From Paul, Virginia Beach, VA Here's two stories.
alpha – eBay's new policy says Detailed Seller Ratings (DSR) of 4.5 or less is unacceptable. Unless you an employee of ebay.
eBay employee and Power Seller treeslothsales.
http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=treeslothsales&ftab=AllFeedback
DSRs 4.9, 4.7, 4.5, 4.5
194 Negative feedbacks.
eBay once more setting the standard.
beta – Remember the sale of 'The World's Greatest Music Collection'?
http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Worlds-Greatest-Music-Collection_W0QQitemZ140206309501
Was it really sold? Or the second highest Non Paying Bidder in eBay history?
Don't bother asking the high bidder, jopsoup. According to eBay he is 'Not a registered user' (NARU). A title given for cancelled accounts and fraud bidding.
http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=jopsoup&ftab=AllFeedback
Come on CNN, follow this. Was this sale a happy ending for the owner? Or a massive Public Relations lie by eBay? Covering up a massive failure of their brand new policies?
On holiday.
From Misty – Wyomissing, PA Posted by Keith:
"Ebay is an internet business…"
eBay is listed on Nasdaq as an Industry On Line Retailer.
Can someone please tell me what exactly they "Retail?" Where is their "Inventory?" Where is their "Warehouse?" Where is their "Shipping Department?"
While you're at it, can someone please tell me How eBay Gets Away With So Many Illegal, Unethical Practices?
From Lisa Maisonneuve, Canada ebay's changes ARE NOT NOT NOT SOUNDING GOOD. feedback should be left mutually, the final value fees e bad enough, and paypal has no right to hold money from payments and expect the seller to ship item etc without the funds in their OWN hands…ebay is getting ridiculous and it's time for rthe world to find another 'ebay' type site to change over to.
From Paul San Antonio Texas An open letter to ebay:
February 21, 2008.
Dear Ebay,
The fee increase advertised as a fee decrease was not only a slap in the face, but the biggest insult to the intelligence of the ebay selling community ever. It served to show just how far the management of ebay has removed itself from the old style online trading community once advertised as a 'family'. Ebay was founded on the idea of a community of collectors, sellers, traders, and buyers, working together to bring about a pleasant and equitable transaction of goods. But I would venture to guess that the powers that be have forgotten from whence they came.
Instead of remembering the first years of growth while we all traded or sold our duplicate Pez dispensers or our GI Joe's with the kung fu grip amongst ourselves, you have chosen to look down on us and proclaim us as no longer a part of your idea of what an online community of sellers and buyers should be. Why else would you lie to us and advertise an actual increase in fees as a 'decrease' in fees, and take away our right to leave feedback appropriate to our trading partner.
You recently ran a large advertising campaign that said "it" is coming. I wondered what "it" was and could hardly wait until the day "it" was to be revealed. Finally "it" was revealed,… "it" was everything!
If you needed "it", "it" could be found on ebay.
Sheer genius as an advertising catch word. But now "it" is getting harder and harder to find, as many of your sellers are making a mass exodus to the other online auction companies thanks in part to your unwillingness to even run these new changes by us and let us have some input on them.
An old proverb states:
There once was a tiny tree that struggled to get sunlight and rain amongst all of the other large trees in the forest. But the tree kept trying to survive, and with each passing year grew larger and larger until it was so large it towered above all of the other trees in the forest. It thought it had need of nothing, and was tired of being held in place, so it pulled mightily until it broke free from its roots and fell to the earth. And there it lay until a farmer saw it and cut it in many pieces and built himself a beautiful new house.
You are acting just like that mighty tree that thought it no longer had need of its own roots.
Not only has the strike become much larger than you had anticipated, but even BUYERS are jumping on board and pledging not to buy until things are put back the way they were.
I personally know of several HUGE power sellers,
one with annual sales of around $3,000,000 MILLION dollars, and another who has ended 15,000 + items for sale in their store who are standing with us in the strike.
And that is just the few I know about.
Untold thousands have already closed their stores, and many more will shortly do so. Thousands of former sellers, from gold power sellers down to the mom & pop operations have already left ebay for the other online auction sites, who have recorded record registrations since the new changes took effect on February 20th.
Mr. Donahoe, are you sure your actually working for ebay?
The strike has garnered world wide support,
with many sellers in other countries like Spain, Germany, India, and many more countries also striking against the new changes.
The strike is not limited to sellers, but buyers both in the United states, and all around the world are also vowing not to buy on ebay until the planned changes are reversed.
Media coverage grows larger day by day, and with plans to continue the strike well beyond the original strike date, more news outlets will be covering the strike.
Ebay stock holders will start to see their stock fall by substantial increments unless something is done in short order to remedy the mass exodus and boycott.
So I ask you ebay, have you become too big for your own roots?
Sincerely,
ONE unhappy camper.
From FUeBay, Nowhere, Romania I am BINing on the test auctions to close them out. The ones posted by eBay employees will be followed with negs and 1-1-1-1 DSRs.
I opened a new account with a fake name, fake address, fake phone number. I was able to BIN ~$5k before I hit a buying limit. eBay encourages scammers because it increases their fees (they don't refund all fees in an unpaid item process) and inflates their user count. As a former seller, I am disgusted that eBay makes it so easy for scammers to waste my time and money when it would be so easy for eBay to prevent this.
At least I have the satisfaction of wasting SCAB sellers' time and money (oh, and their feedback ratings and DSRs, too).
From John, Greenville, SC I am a PowerSeller. I started selling on eBay in early 1997. I have a 99.8% positive feedback and over 8000 sales. Sadly I have now closed my store and have nothing listed. I will rely on my own website and OnlineAuction.com. I will survive without eBay. But some of the comments I have read here are heartbreaking. I especially feel sorry for single mothers and those who have used eBay as their only income source. How can eBay do this? How can these people look in the mirror and sleep at night?? But, we all know that everything we do in life will come back to us sooner or later. Too bad for eBay and the new management! They should remember Enron!!
From frances, London, TX I'll never sell on ePay again. I found a great new site which has a great idea. No-one need ever pay eBay again. This is a great alternative for sellers who want to band together to beat ePay:
Sellers, instead of having their independent auction/ecommerce site, use this software on their site and run their own auction with folks they invite.
It is fantastic for sellers as they pay NO fees, but they help by running their little portion of the site for customer service etc. They set their own fees, or not, but by all working together they are building a Network which already has hundreds of websites. There are sellers and, most importantly, buyers.
If you don't want to run your own website, you just list your items for sale at:
I joined up and just started selling.
From Tiffany Well I have chosen to create my own web business!! Thanks to the wonder ful help at Draknet, you can now visit http://www.sunshineandbutterflies.com!! Ebay thanks for helping me make such a great choice!!
From Tracy A customer asked me about a volume discount today. I told him no volume discounts on my eBay store items, but if he buys through another venue, I'll split the savings on eBay fees with him. You know what? He preferred to save money over eBay's inadequate "buyer protections." eBay lost a large commission on the sale.
Wow, wow, wow. I signed up for iOffer this morning, hoping to transfer all of my listings over the weekend. I hit a technical glitch (of my own making) and sent an inquiry to customer support. I though, well, that's it, I'll be lucky to get an answer by Monday. They fixed the problem within a couple hours – not just a canned response, but actually fixed the problem. I copied my feedback and my listings directly from eBay. All in all, even with my mistake, I spent less than an hour creating an account and fully populating my store.
I realized something surprising – eBay, with much, much higher fees than iOffer and many more employees – has taught me to accept service so terrible that we eBayers reach out to the community for help before asking eBay. In fact, eBay's customer "service" department is a last ditch effort, like appealing to strangers for a donation to pay for a life-saving transplant. It's worth a try, but odds are, you'll get no response or an inadequte response.
If we all just use this week to try other services, we will open the door to alternatives that value our business and charge lower fees, allowing us to keep some of our hard-earned money. Thank you, CNN, for giving this issue coverage!
Boycott victoriously!
From LW Dallas Tx Think Ebay got to them? Every listing from every date back to 1999 is graphed by these people EXCEPT the 12 hours between 9PM on 2/20 through 9AM on the 21st when the Ebay listings lowpoint after the sale would have shown up.
I wonder.
http://www.medved.net/cgi-bin/cal.exe?EIND
From topseller Gotta Loveit!
2500 or so mad sellers show the world on this Blog for over a WEEK how blatantly Ebay is undermining it's OWN successful business model by dumping it previously revered customers, the small sellers…
and Ebay announces ONE GUY that sells a $3M music collection on Ebay, it gets TOP BILLING in the medis, and the stock goes UP almost 3% in 45 MINUTES!
I will NEVER understand…..
From Cathy Peters, Auburn Ga. Hello, I am also boycotting ebay, I have also quit ebaying forever,I have been a ebayer buyer & seller from 1998.I started ebay selling because my Mother was very sick and I had to take care of her and try to make a living too. I did ebaying at night while my mother was sleeping. I have also used paypal as long as I can remember and I am closing my account with them … I am now at bidville.com. It may take some time to get built up and thats ok too. At bidville they have a great way to make & recieve payments. It is called moneyexchange.com they also give you $25.00 cash on the spot to join. I read the information and liked what I read. If you join let them know you heard it from cathypeters2004@yahoo.com
Cathy Peters
From Joanne Mayville, WI Diana,
Contacting the Oprah show might not be a bad idea. Go to Oprah.com and on the left click on The Oprah Show. Somewhere in there you should find what you are looking for.
From John Powers Truth or Consequences, NM IF you want to get Ebay's attention go to the institutional and mutual fund shareholders and LET THEM KNOW WHAT EBAY IS DOING: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/mh?s=EBAY If even one of them gets nervous and starts to sell shares it could start a chain reaction. IF you own shares of their mutual funds tell them if they keep Ebay stock you will sell your shares in their mutual funds. Mutual funds typically keep a small percent in cash and if enough people sell shares they have to sell stock to raise cash and this is disasterous on their returns. See what I mean? Ebay stock for $15 a share how about $10?? Pierre Omidyar owns 178 million shares what do you think he and these institutional managers will demand fron top management – THEIR JOBS! Donahoe and the other morons at the top who came up with these retarded policies will be out on the street.
From terri LI, NY Diana.. Oprah.com
they read ALL MESSAGES! good luck!
From Joanne Mayville, WI I just got off the powersellersunite.com site and many of them are also going to extend the strike.
From Robin Hood You want to make a difference? http://finance.yahoo.com/q/mh?s=EBAY Call all the institutional and mutual fund holders of Ebay stock and let them know what is happening here and that Ebay is listing phoney auctions to keep up their auction numbers and about all the retarded changes Ebay is implementing. Tell them how they are going to take a bath if they continue to hold Ebay shares. If even one of these institutional holders starts to dump their shares it could start to a chain reaction. If you own shares in these mutual funds tell them you want them to sell their Ebay shares OR you'll sell your fund shares. Mutual funds only keep so much in cash and if enough people do this they will be forced to liquidate holding to raise cash which kills their investment returns. Get the picture? How about Ebay for $15 or even $10 a share (LOL) If this happens – bye bye to the dumb morons at the top running Ebay. Let Pierre Omidyars 178 million shares lose 20% of their value or more and these institutional shareholders as well AND THIS WILL ALL GO AWAY. The super rich understand money and when they start to lose it – the morons at the top like Donahoe will find himself out the door.
From Debi Pieraccini I am a Power Seller on Ebay, Have been with them since 1998, and I am BOYCOTTING them along with millions of others…
The Greed has to stop, and for me, I have to take a stance against them…
I have 100 percent positive feedback, over 4000 either sales or purchases combined and I've had it with them…
The stocks are going down for Ebay and I'm afraid that this time they have pushed and stolen from their bread and butter just a little too much…
From Diana Thanks for the articles. Many housewifes make ends meet with Ebay. I will be honoring the strike. I have been a member since 2004. Please as a respected news team. I urge you to give this a lot of televised time. There are thousand of Ebay'ers watching for your next broadcated story. The more that you expose this, the more viewers you will have. A win for CNN and Ebayers. I would really like a way to contact Oprah, laugh if you want but many of us women watch Oprah. Stay at home moms have made her famous. If you know a way i could contact Oprah maybe she would do a show with Ebay members. This would be a ratings booster of a show. Thousands upon Thousands would be watching. People who don't watch Oprah would be tuning in. Please help me with this. Keep up the great work CNN.
From Barbara I think that eBay has now created a hostile working environment for sellers. Not only do they keep raising their fees in spite of earning record breaking profits of over $1 Billion for the past couple of years, they have changed the feedback system so that it is very unfair to sellers.
Last May eBay brought out what they call Detailed Seller Ratings. That is, in addition to just leaving a positive, neutral or negative feedback rating, buyers could now rate sellers on four elements: Item as described, communication, shipping time, and shipping and handling charges. Buyers can give sellers one to five stars on each item. Here are the problems with this system:
Item as Described: Many buyers don't seem to bother with reading the item description but then mark you down for their failure to read the description. For example, my listings give measurements of the items that are for sale and some photos even have measurements in them. However, I have gotten feedback from buyers saying that the item was smaller than they thought. They then mark me down even though I described the item accurately. Why should I be held accountable for someone else's failure to read the description? This is unfair.
Communication (eBay has not defined what this means): I always respond to every buyer's question and emails are sent to buyers when their package is mailed yet my rating is only a 4.8 out of 5. Why? Maybe it depends on the mood a buyer is in when evaluating this?
Shipping time: I can only control when I mail the package. Once it is in the mail there is nothing I can do as it is up to the USPS or International postal service to deliver the item in a timely manner. Yet buyers evaluate me on when they receive the package and not by the shipping date printed on the label when I mailed it. How fair is that? How would you like to be evaluated and held accountable for something that is beyond your ability to control it? Yet eBay does it.
Shipping and handling charges: This seems to be a major sorepoint with eBay since they don't collect final value fees on shipping charges and there seems to be a movement by eBay to try to force sellers to move these costs into the price of the item just so that they can collect more fees. In the listings I explain to the buyers that shipping and handling fees include not only actual postage costs but the cost of mailing supplies and administrative costs such as eBay and PayPal fees. At least $2 or more of the shipping and handling fees goes towards paying these fees. If eBay would lower their fees, the shipping and handling fees could be lowered. Instead, sellers keep being harrassed by eBay to lower these fees.
I will be joining with other ebay sellers to boycott eBay later this month by not listing anything due to their fee increases and further eroding of support for sellers by taking away their ability to leave negative feedback for buyers. It is unfair to be unable to be alerted to buyers who consistently pay for items late or don't pay for them at all. People who refuse to pay for an item happens more often than you think and sellers are then stuck with having to list the item again at the cost of more money for fees and lost time.
Several months ago I started listing items on ecrater as well as eBay. While I did get a number of sales before Christmas, things have definitely slowed down. This could be due to the economy but ecrater is still a fairly new site and just doesn't have the traffic that eBay does. I have let all of my past customers know about this site however. I will continue to look for alternatives to eBay as the situation for sellers keeps getting worse. eBay makes more money on my listings than I do and this apparently isn't enough for them. I feel that I have no other choice but to go elsewhere and I am a powerseller with a rating of 99.6.
From Julie McLaughlin PLEASE READ MY COMMENTS TO YOUR ARTICLE.
THE EBAYS BUYERS ARE BEING RAKED THROUGH THE COALS BY GREEDY EBAY SELLERS…..EBAY HAS IGNORED THIS PROBLEM LONG ENOUGH!
From Jesse Abraham You have written a lot on this subject but never included DETAILS about the increase in costs to the merchants. HOW MUCH?
How much WERE they paying, and HOW MUCH NOW?
From keith This article only explores a current Ebay explotation of ebay sellers. As a Power Seller on Ebay, the Heely Corperation filed vero reports against all sellers of a cheaper version of its product(roller skate shoes).Ebay never investigates vero reports to verify their legitacy, they just pull listings to cover their own legal responibility. they don't respond to emails or phone calls or investigate seller complaints that document false vero reports. Eventually Ebay suspended my account for one year. Then paypal froze my account and kept my money for 5 months. As an Ebay seller , I never had a purchaser complaint. Ebay is an internet business, virtually unregulated and unaccountable to anyone which allows the company to abuse its sellers and buyers as they wish with no repercussions. Ebay doesn't care if they leave a sellers with thousands of dollars of product with nowhere to sell they're merchandise or having Paypal tie up sellers funds for 6 months. I will never buy nor sell on Ebay or use paypal again. The US Senate and Congress needs to criminally investigate Ebay and Paypal's business practices. They are not above the law.
From cathy Did you ever once say what the changes are? How can I care about the story if I don't know what the changes are.
From MK I don't support fee hike, but removing the right of sellers to post negative feedback for buyers is a thumbs-up. I have been blackmailed before by a seller ho left negative feedback to me after I left negative feedback or him, and then bargained with me that he will remove his negative feedback if I removed mine.
He was along-time seller with hundreds of feedbacks, and I was the occasional buyer with just two feedbacks – so my negative feedback was more damaging.
His service was not good and I still was forced to remove my negative feedback. What a blackmailer. Good decision EBay!!
From Nancy Spaulding Thank you for your coverage of the issues on eBay. Please continue, the upcoming weeks and months should be very interesting !!
From Mike Milonas I've been an active member on ebay since Oct 14, 2001. During that time I have made more than 250 purchases and about 20 sales. The majority of my purchases were tools and supplies. My next largest amount of items purchased, were firearms parts & components. Actual firearms can't be auctioned on ebay and I fully support that restriction. However, just like the recent policy change announcement covering fees, charges, and feedback changes, ebay instituted changes last August banning the sale or auctioning of any firearms related components and parts such as barrels, magazines, triggers, shell casings, re-loading supplies, etc. That decision not only affected the sellers who sold these items, but also the collectors, hunters, and shooting enthusiasts like myself who relied on ebay sellers for these items. Since that time I have pretty much abandoned ebay and I?ve made only 3 purchases on ebay over the last 6 months. I don?t regret my decision, but I?m concerned about the small individual sellers being severely impacted every time ebay makes policy changes.
Ebay's latest round of fee increases may be directly related to trying to replace the listing fees and auction selling fees it loses every time it expands its list of banned items. Perhaps ebay underestimated the revenues it would loose when it periodically adds to its list of restricted items. These changes can affect millions of buyers and thousands of long time sellers who are forced to move their newly banned items to other auction web-sites such as gunbroker.com or face closing their home based internet businesses.
Ebay appears to no longer be interested in the "little guy" seller who built it into the powerhouse it is today. That is evident by the recent anti-seller feedback changes and the announcement of the alliance it has formed with GM. That alliance allows GM dealerships across the country to have FREE listings of all GM certified used vehicles on ebay motors. Nothing is ever truly free, so who's paying for the cost of those free GM listings? The ?Mom & Pop? business sellers on ebay, who?ll begin paying higher listing fees and auction fees just as GM begins getting free listings. Unlike GM who has actual dealerships, most ebay sellers are not ?bricks and mortar? business trying to supplement their revenues by selling on ebay as an additional option. The vast majority of ebay sellers rely on the income they receive from selling on ebay as their sole source of revenue and they have nowhere else to sell their wares. They're scheduled to see their operational costs increase through individual higher listing fees and through higher selling fees at the conclusion of each auction. Ebay also has announced it will begin holding much of the money these seller?s collect through ebay?s online payment service called Paypal. Future paypal transactions may be held for a period as long as 21 days. If ebay/paypal is collecting interest, on those funds while it holds them, and it?s not passing that interest on to its sellers, it calls into question the legality of such practices. Put the term ?paypal? into any search engine and you?ll find thousands of horror stories showing that paypal has never been seller friendly. Paypal, like it?s parent ebay, is the dominate entity in online transaction payments.
At present time there isn?t a good alternative to ebay for most online sellers, since ebay is quite simply the largest online auction site and commands the largest share of online auction transactions.
It appears that the most effective action that all ebay sellers can take is not to participate in the ebay boycott that some sellers are trying to organize, but to instead exercise their power by purchasing ebay stock. Each ebay member should purchase at least one share, or purchase as many shares as each can afford. Then ebay?s members can make their voices heard as a collective voting block at the next shareholders meeting where as a group they can demand the restructuring of the listing and selling fees, and repeal of the new anti-seller feedback changes. If the board won?t listen to ebay's members as shareholders, then its members should vote their shares and replace the board with people more like themselves who will be receptive to seller?s and buyer?s concerns. Remember, ebay sells nothing itself. It has no products. It?s a publicly owned and traded service company whose existence is totally dependent on its sellers and buyers who generate the vast majority of ebay?s revenue through their millions of daily transactions on ebay, ebay motors, and through using ebay owned Paypal to conduct online payments.
Mike Milonas
From Ed Rogoski E-bay has become another giant in the business industry, the days of catering to it's customers are over. They will not listen nor do they care about your problems though they put up a good front making you think they care. They have stockholders who expect profits and they will keep raising rates in order to improve their bottom line no matter what. So folks, deal with it or get a part time job.
From terri, LI, NY Reports on other blogs from ebay sellers are stating that buyers are learning how to scam from all the publicity ebay is getting! they are leaving negative feedback, claiming they never received their items and putting in for refunds. They will get these refunds, as usual.. because ebay is for the buyer, not the seller who actually puts the money in their pockets!
I have been selling on and off with ebay for almost 10 yrs now.. I do not think I will go back, not now. I have learned about a lot of new sites reading all the blogs..OLA looks good and I have already tried/listed on iOffer.com. The only problem is, all sites are so slow because I think all ebay sellers are doing the same thing I am! This is a good thing! I can wait! thanks for the opportunity to state my feelings..i have been frustrated with eBay for quite sometime now with their high fees and not responding to problems that arise. This is like therapy knowing i am not the only one who feels this way! I am glad we are all uniting and trying to do something about it! If not..hey, we made eBay HUGE, WE CAN MAKE ANOTHER SITE EVEN BIGGER! Hang in there everyone! and GOOD JOB!
From arnold ziffel Monopolies can be run by incompetents to meet walls street numbers instead of doing what is correct. Could a 5 year old run the company or a utility company as good as a CEO YES YES YES.. they keep raising prices without the cleaning of their own house and many times they and their empoyees are the peter principal ones. But monopolies can take 8 hours to watch 60 minutes instead of 30 to be sure all the asses are covered.
1) penalties for buyers not follwoing thru, charge their credit card a fee. Nobody joins without a fee that can be rebated later. get rid of the trouble the smart way with a security deposit.
2) no buyer should be able to leave negative feedback unless they have a rating of 25-50 or more. Many of the complaints are competitors, just look at all the negative feedback from people with 0-5 ratings.
3) lower the fees and do more business and make wall street wait, sure they won't get their bonuses as fast.
From topseller Bad enough about the buyer negs that will come seller's way…but even with the GOOD SELLERS…IT AY BE A DISASTER.
Newbie probs:
I just saw one negative from a Newbie: GREAT SHIPPING, GREAT PRODUCT + GREAT EXPERIENCE…and it was a NEGATIVE FEEDBACK!
I have gotten negs for things that were CLEARLY stated in the auction…pointed it out to the buyer in an email, buyer said SELLER IS CORRECT, I MISSED IT, SORRY in a followup note but the damage was done. It was a NEG.
Used to be it only bruised my EGO…now with the DSR fiasco and the "95% satisfied customers in 30 days" rule I guess those ERRORS will cost me CASH FLOW AND MONEY AND BURIED LISTINGS as well as a bruised Ego.
And I'm talking from FAIR BUYERS. Can't WAIT until UNFAIR BUYERS and SCAMMERS get into this. It will be target practice like shooting fish in a barrel…and the ones making hay on this will be EBAY in terms of higher fees and interest on the held payments.
And Oh by the way…if leaving FEEDBACK is VOLUNTARY like it says in the user agreement, then why is Paypal looking at "when buyer leaves positive feedback" as a criterion for releasing funds? Another BOGUS perk.
So if a buyer does something he is told he DOES NOT have to do paypal will pay the seller. Hmmmm.
Sellers…can you spell GROVEL TO THE BUYERS to leave feedback so you can get PAID?????
And if you WAIT until the Paypal 21 day funds release to ship [so you can pay for the shippng costs] you will get KILLED on the DSR shipping time and THAT will cost you discounts and buried listings.
So Ebay is counting on BUYERS to do their dirty work so Ebay can collect higher FEES and generate greater profits.
GREAT!
From terri Long Island, NY ummmm, Julie??? do you understand that just YOU are not allowed to leave negative feedback? Your customers can slam you with it for any reason..and for that matter, for NO reason, and you are stuck with it? i think you better do some more reading on the eBay changes before you make any permanent decisions here!
From Vickie, Bethesda, Maryland jodi:
SIGN THE PLEDGE _ NO SALES FEB 18-25!
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000636290&tstart=0&mod=1203715221604
From haneshotrods, Almena KS We are making the move so far hibidder.com new site but sent an hour on the phone with the owner Rich. Super nice guy. All I paid to list is $.03 to have my item featured on the home page and it was there instantly. When you finally use up the $50.00 credit he gives you for signing up you can sell a $600.00 item for $.30
Beginnner Store 1000 items, Price: -, No Fees
Pro Store 5000 items, Price: -, No Fees
PowerSeller Store 50000 items, Price: -, No Fees
From 0.01 USD To 100.00 USD 0.10 USD
From 100.01 USD To 500.00 USD 0.20 USD
From 500.01 USD To 1,000.00 USD 0.30 USD
From 1,000.01 USD To 5,000.00 USD 0.50 USD
From 5,000.01 USD To 10,000.00 USD 1.00 USD
From 10,000.01 USD To Above 1.50 USD
again this is hibidder.com
The second site I just listed on is bidville.com I paid $.10 to list a $600.00 item the FVF system is very similar to the original ebay setup years ago.
From Joanne Mayville, WI Hurrah for Ebay.
I sell vintage jewelry on ebay. Kudo’s for them getting rid of negative feedback. The most stressful part of the job is trying to get people to pay for their winning auctions. I have one person today who has waited X2 months to pay and is glad because I haven’t left a negative feedback, ” because she would have to leave one for me”.???????? Feedback is only hurting my desire to do business. So afraid that my “reputation” will be damaged, it is taking the fun out.
Seller’s as well as buyer’s rationalize, minimize, avoid and deny that they are doing anything wrong in their transactions. The feedback system only allows these defense mechanisms to continue.
Most people are fair and try their best to do a good job. Feedback just adds to the stress.
Posted By Julie Beck : February 22, 2008 2:55
Ummm Julie,
It sounds as if you think feedback is going to disappear entirely. I hate to break this to you, but feebay did not get "rid" of negative feedback. The buyer can still leave a negative for any little reason they want. It is only the SELLER who will not be allowed to leave a negative. So good luck with that and I hope I didn't burst your bubble.
From Joanne Mayville, WI Jody,
The boycott is for real. In fact it started Monday. Some of us, if not most are looking at and joining other sites and hoping to leave feebay for good. The strike was set for the 18th-25th but is looking like it is going to have to go past the 25th date. We are still just noise to them and why should they be worried if we all go back on the 25th. It would be pointless on our part to go back.
As an aside. You stated you don't think e-bay realizes that most sellers are just ordinary people not retailers. Ordinary people trying to make ends meet. Believe me when I tell you, they know. They plain and simply DON'T CARE!
So yes, join the boycott. NO selling, NO buying for however long it takes and start selling on other sites. You should do okay with the product you have and you will make more profit due to less fees.
From leona mosley I will be part of the boycott of e-bay as a seller and as a buyer on 2/18 -2/25. Its my hope that a lot of buyers out there will do the same. Being informed by CNN would be a real public service.
I will be droping my e-bay accounts and my paypal accounts on the first of march. I will be relocating my store, auctions, and regular customers to hibidder.com.
We long time ebay sellers need to help get newer auctions online a boost. After all thats how ebay grew to be the giant they are!
Leona
From Ed Stokes Why don't they all just go to Craigs list which is free?
Don't protest, switch!
From Wendy Kimball As a Seller, I am completely frustrated and outraged with Ebay. The seller is treated so unfairly. We take all the risks, we pay all the fee's and we do ALL the work while the buyer has nothing to but click and pay. Feedback in particular has never been fair. Most buyers don't even know how to complete a transaction by submitting it in the first place. Many times, the same buyer makes multiple purchases and instead of the seller being commended for being "worthy of repeat business", all the feedbacks left by that particular buyer have been reduced to one measly point. It is impossible to maintain a perfect rating with careless buyers out there. They don't know the importance of feedback and how much a negative comment can hurt a seller. I have made over 400 sales on Ebay, I have received only 1 negative comment, but that 1 single comment has destroyed my score and it has become an endless chore to regain my once perfect rating. Not only can the buyer kill me with a negative comment, now they can criticize my packaging, shipping time and description. What can I do as a Seller? Not much. I cannot complain if they were slow to pay or had bad communication. I cannot complain if my listing said Paypal only and they sent me a check. I cannot complain if my listing stated US only and someone from the UK wins my auction. It seems that every change Ebay makes, hurts the seller. Freezing money in Paypal completely blows my mind. Sellers have earned that money and Paypal holding it for up to 21 days is just another torturous twist that Sellers must now endure. I thought Payal was supposed to be a convenience. I will be happy to take part in an Ebay strike. I would like Ebay to hear the concerns and complaints from the Sellers. Why are they so eager to help the buyers anyway. Don't we, the sellers provide their paychecks?
From Jay Wendt This is no good for the bottom line – obvious. I was more injured by eBay's store rent increase from .02 to ..05 along with increaing our store rent. We put up about 100 auction lots per week and have over 6,000 store lots. The increase in store listing prices cost us about 2,000 lots – that were not cost effective.
From Karen Ostrach eBay has serious problems. See their response when you buy an item, pay directly from the eBay link through Paypal, then never receive the item. This recently happened to me. First they said the item was never purchased (despite their OWN EMAILS) then they said I must hav made a mistake (despite PAYPAL confirmations). It went on and on and on and on. So frustrating!!!! No longer using ebay. Can't stand it.
From Donald Merrick I have sold items on ebay for 3 years. I had been considering discontinuing my ebay business because ebay fees and paypal fees eat up most of the profit from a sale.
If the new fee schedule goes into place I will discontinue to use ebay as a site for selling or buying.
There will be an ebay strike from Feb 18-24. Those participating will neither buy or sell anything on ebay during that time. I will certainly participate in the strike.
If ebay decides to put the new fee scale and feedback program in place, I will permanently discontinue my use of ebay. I hope that ebay realizes the huge mistake they are making and recinds these changes. If not, there will be many people like me who will have to leave and find other ways to continue to sell.
It is a shame this is happening. Ebay presently makes huge amounts of money from the sellers and buyers who use this service.
From Steve Taylor Ebays new Policies will draw every Scam Artists, Thieft and create so many new abusive buyers that every seller is going to face blackmail and Negative Feedback Threats from buyers to a point they will be held hostage – very soon – conerning even the price he want to py for anything .. Pay Pal is the same with thei new policy.. I had a buyer buy an item from me one day, then bought another exct same one from another sell and then filed a item not as described through Pay Pal.. I refunded his purchase price accordig to Ebayu's LEGALLY BINDING CONTRACT POLICY.. This Policy states shipping and Insurance is non refundabel.. The buyer filed a calim for ALL HI MONEY BACK.. I proved I refunded the buyers purchas price ack to him .. The case lasted almost 3 months and guess what – Pay Pal also refunded the buyers shipping cast back t him even after I proved to Pay Pal that the buy stripped the item he purchased from me before he sent it bacl.. Did Pay Pal listen to my ideof the story .. NO .. EBAY and PAY APL care noting for there sellers and treat every scam artist buyer out there as Gods .. Why dosn't EBay and Pay Pal realise what there doing ..??.. I have no idea but I do know this.. Every Scam Artists and Thieft in the intenet world will now be at ebay ripping sellers off with EBAYS and PAY PLS HELP.. Said but true as being a Power Seller I face Threats and Abusive buyers more and more ach day.. they tell me IF I do not sell them wha tthey want at there price I will get Negative feedback from them and then add a LOL – Because they know there is nohting I can do.. Can't leave an HOPNEST FEEDBACK FOR THEM ANYMORE and CAT GET A JUST RESOLUTION THROUGH PAY PAL EITHER .. Surely everyone ca see where this is going to end up ..A legal Site for every THIEFT AND SCAM ARTISTS TO DO BUSINESS WITH THE HELP PF EBAY AND PAY RIPPING OFF THERE SELLERS ..
From Michael Clabough I imagine more people will start using craigslist.org
From Richard Swain Thank you for the national exposure on these issues with eBay. I too am an angry ebay store owner / seller. Maybe this will get eBay's attention and more people would look into not selling or buying. What would be great is tv time on this subject. I wish congress would step in also.
From jodi I have to give my opinion on this. I am group leader of a large childrens clothing selling group on ebay & have been on Ebay for about 7 years now. I am a powerseller as well. Most of the woman in our group are stay at home mothers with 2 or more children under schoolage at home. This is why we stay at home. The cost of daycare versus work in this struggling economy is absurd. I can tell you with 2 major selling groups of childrens boutique clothing & the amount of members between them it is alot of mothers. This secondary incomes allows to recycle the kids clothing & bring in money to buy new larger clothing , health insurance & car payments as well. I know these new changes are going to take our business right out the window.
We do not make a large amount of money at this time to begin with & are now losing our shirts on our more expensive brands due to the declining economy. I dot think that ebay has looked at the fact that alot of their sellers are not retailers selling but ordinary people helping the actual income in their homes. This news is devestating to us all. if there is any truth to the proposed ebay strike I would love to hear because we will all be a part of it ! Please advise if this is truth or rumor.
If it is truth the rest of the sellers can count on us to join in !
From Henry Ganster Incredible! Our "Reputation is an opinion". It took me ten yrs to build up my 99.9% feedback with excellent customer service. I can kiss it good-bye. New buyers are getting emails left & right from ebay begging them to sell "it's easy, we'll show you how". Are they gearing up for all the loyal sellers who are and will be gone?
Taken from a break-out session with Mark Halpern from greedbay's Trust & Safety
Q: Shipping – how does eBay validate excessive shipping?
MH: Buyers tell us what they think and they are usually right.
Q: Why aren't buyers accountable for FB?
MH: eBay wants to get accurate feedback from buyers instead of sellers if they have to choose. Reputation is an opinion.
Q: Why is neutral now a negative?
MH: Neutral is not positive.
From Julie Beck Hurrah for Ebay.
I sell vintage jewelry on ebay. Kudo's for them getting rid of negative feedback. The most stressful part of the job is trying to get people to pay for their winning auctions. I have one person today who has waited X2 months to pay and is glad because I haven't left a negative feedback, " because she would have to leave one for me".???????? Feedback is only hurting my desire to do business. So afraid that my "reputation" will be damaged, it is taking the fun out.
Seller's as well as buyer's rationalize, minimize, avoid and deny that they are doing anything wrong in their transactions. The feedback system only allows these defense mechanisms to continue.
Most people are fair and try their best to do a good job. Feedback just adds to the stress.
From Rita Buford I am a Power Seller on EBAY – Sunday night, I received a message from a person that I had never had a transaction with – It was insulting and he explicitly outlined how he would destroy my business starting May 1 when there are no repercussions i.e. I could not leave a negative feedback. He called me white trash and a PIG – I was very upset – I immediately reported it as an inappropriate e-mail, then contacted EBAY Live Chat. They told me to call EBAY TRUST & SAFETY Dept – I called them Monday morning – read the message to one of the men employees and he said there was nothing that could be done, because the person had not threatened me physically – I am closing my store Feb 12 – I would like to do it sooner but I still have over 1,000 listings to end and I need to copy them to a disk so I don't have to redo all of the typing when I go to a new location.
What this guy threatened me with is Entirely Possible May 1 – Many people are concerned that Unscrupulous Sellers will do the same thing to drive out their competition. Please go to my store: rbcatscollection – I have posted it so all of my customers know why I am leaving. Also, many Buyers are also Sellers, so this gives them an opportunity to block this person before he harms their business and reputation.
A customer suggested I contact you via this horrible thing that is happening on ebay. Regards, Rita
From Angie The no feed back for buyers and paypal holding funds My kids will starve as a single mom one bad buyer will end it all for me.
From warren zbon these are sites popping up, spend your time researching, keep busy listing, or looking, we have to avoid e-bay at all costs for as long as it takes.
I put them in alphabetical order,
http://www.auction.com/default.aspx
http://www.auction.overstock.com/
http://www.auctionaddict.net/
http://www.auctionfire.com/
http://www.auctionquests.com/
http://www.auction-usa.com/
http://www.auction-warehouse.com/
http://www.bid-alot.com/
http://www.bidville.com/
http://www.blujay.com/
http://www.buyselltrades.com/
http://www.cqout.com/
http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites.html
http://www.ebay.com (NOT A CHOICE ANYMORE)
http://www.ecrater.com/
http://www.epier.com/
http://www.hibidder.com/
http://www.ioffer.com/
http://www.itsgottago.com/
http://www.onlineauction.com/
http://www.overstock.com
http://www.oztion.com.au/
http://www.plunderhere.com/
http://www.specialistauctions.com/
http://www.tazbar.com/
http://www.ubid.com
http://www.ubidright.com/
http://www.us.ebid.net/
http://www.wagglepop.com/
http://www.webidz.com
http://www.wensy.com/
From Joanne Mayville, WI Hello Again Everyone,
I would just like to address feebay's stock. I have seen people say their stock price is tanking. Well it isn't "tanking" There have been days where it is down modestly but certainly not tanking.
At the moment it is up 13 cents from yesterdays close. Now, why do I tell you this. Not to discourage you by any means. I tell you this so you know we are not being taken seriously because as I said before, feebay and the stock holders think we will all be back after the 25th.
I tell you this so that we all creat a new goal. Our new goal should be to give feebay a new 52 week low stock price. Right now their 52 week low is $25.64 and the stock at the moment is $27.15.
So, come on, everyone. Let's get there stock to about $24.00 and give feebay a great new stock experience just as they are giving us great new seller experiences.
Just so you know, this isn't easy for me either. I am unemployed at the moment so it is very hard for me to not try selling anything. But we HAVE to stick with it even after the 25th.
TWENTY FOUR DOLLARS OR BUST!
From Tom G.Parkesburg,pa The sellers that are continuing to sell are getting their ears boxed in with dramatically lower prices.The favorite search i use shows 2 things. The added listings are from a few store owners that never auction venues, however he must have been contacted and told that for little or nothing they wanted to put his items in the auction venue to keep the count up .
Second, the items i buy are being sold for 2/3 less now, for the bidders that are serious about the continuation of ebay in it's original form are not bidding ,even though the prices are low .Sure i would love to bottem surf, but the sooner the non boycotters see what is happening to the prices they are now getting, they will stop listing, and the house of cards will come tumbling down. I am in this to keep the overall costs affordable, the feedback fair, and to not have pay pal stuffed down my throat. So ,i won't bid on these under priced items for immediate gratification. The long run expenses and changes are much more important . Anybody else pick up on Meg selling millions of dollars of stock in the 40 dollar range before This Donahue character started upsetting the applecart? I would consider this insider trading at its best. She thought that the stock could take a powder when these things were introduced and i surmise she will repurchase when it hits the cellar.
I would think stock holders should also be alerted about the fill in listings facade that are keeping only half of the stock analysts from joining the other half in the downgrading of the stock.
From C. Yee, Youngtown (Phoenix), AZ Buyers who wish to participate in the boycott but still want to find great items that they used to find on Ebay can go to ioffer.com and bidville.com. They seem to be the places where most Ebayers are going. Handmade goods can be found at etsy.com, and some people have also gone to ecrater.com.
My point here is for anyone not wanting to return to Ebay, there are many options out there, and if a lot of people use them, they can give Ebay a run for their money, which is the only thing that might make Ebay reconsider its changes.
From mmartin, muskegon, MI Sorry for the repeat…when I first logged on, my other posting wasn't there…
Stay strong.
From mmartin, muskegon, MI Hi, I posted this before, but the posting disappeared…. anyway, type in the search engine at Ebay "do not bid" or "test auction", and see how many you come up with…. I came up with several hundred…but there could be lots more. I agree Ebay is trying to mask the effect of the strike.
I am a 60% buyer, and 40% seller, and will continue boycotting.
From RW Cols, OH Stacy?! Hello?! Can we have an "official" word form CNN, PLEASE?
From warren zbon I am so with everyone, we need to stop using e-bay. After this boycott, we need to not go back to e-bay, as bad as some want too, meaning, no end until the suit's make some intelligent changes .e-crater is a site i've tried, had a few sales already, more will follow, we have to be patient, we did not help build e-bay in a week, it will take longer to tear them down. their arrogance is the worst part of all this, they are putting so many spins by e-bay to make us feel we don't matter, please stick with it. The media says the boycott won't work because you have to be organized. However this is by far the most talked about, and spread by word of mouth boycott I have ever seen. kepp it up, one day at a time!
thanks for letting me vent!
peace=)
From Siobhan , Norton, KS I am among the many frustrated and disgusted. I am a seller since 1999. I have gone from $5000 a month 2 yrs ago to only hundreds now because of the saturated market and feebay fees! I find myself giving things away now just to have sales for the month. I am so sick of feebay and the ever increasing fees and increasing insensitivity to sellers who by-the-way keep feebay going! Without us there IS no feebay! I hate to admit it though, I have searched and tried other venues and I came back because this was the only one that worked effectively. I will happily go in a new direction, if someone just shows me the door! I am done with Wepay… Feebay…ebay! I am no longer able to suffer fools gladly and am so looking forward to saying Sianora ebay!
From A.M. – Las Vegas, Nevada My feeling is that there has been a power struggle at eBay — Whitman, Cobb, and team versus Donahoe and cohorts. I think it is significant that Bill Cobb announced he is leaving as well as Meg Whitman. It is Donahoe who brought Matt Carey of Wal-Mart on board, who is implementing these major changes on the site (although he had never used eBay). I think the power struggle theory explains eBay's repeated 180-degree changes in direction. Trying to attract more buyers, then attracting sellers. Wanting used collectibles on the site, then preferring new items. Promoting stores, then discouraging the stores.
Bill Cobb announced at eBay Live in 2006 that eBay needed more buyers and that they were doing things to bring more buyers to the site. He also said that although eBay was gaining many powersellers of new items, that they felt the Collectibles market was their core and that they would always stay true to their origins. He had a photo of Collectibles items on the screen behind him at the presentation. He talked about how he was able to find a vintage Monkees lunchbox on eBay, an example of how you can find the unique and rare only on eBay.
eBay tried to lure large corporations such as Sears and Home Depot to list items on the site.
eBay offerred the first month free if you open an eBay store.
Then eBay hiked the eBay Stores fees by 60% to force store owners to close their stores. There were too many stores. They did not want the small store owners / sellers on the site.
They had the "You Can Find IT on eBay" campaign to attract buyers to find unique items.
Ebay had the marketing campaign: "Clean out your house and garage and sell your excess things on eBay."
They started up eBay Express on which only NEW items can be listed, and which has only fixed-ptrice listings and requires PayPal for all transactions.
Then eBay had a special offer to brand new sellers: "Get your first 3 listings FREE, for new sellers only."
Bill Cobb announced that eBay was going back to its roots of having auctions — everybody loves a good auction! They immediately had a cheap listing day for the auction format.
They are trying to bring more buyers to the site with the current advertising slogan "Shop Victoriously."
Now Donahoe states that he wants only Fixed Price listings on eBay and wants only the top power sellers.
The goals of this company and the messages that this company send out are contradictory. You never know where they are headed. Who is really at the helm and for how long?
We need to keep going with this eBay Boycott, beyond February 25th and probably beyond March 3rd, and stand strong together! If we keep this boycott of both sellers and buyers going, eBay can change direction again, as they have done in the past. The shareholders can not be too pleased to see all this negative publicity — and believe me to Wall Street this "noise" IS negative — and before Donahoe even starts his first day as CEO.
BOYCOTT VICTORIOUSLY — TILL MARCH 3 AND BEYOND!!!
From John, san diego, ca Its very interesting how power sellers unite displays an increase in auctions now , its back in the green again by 10,268 auctions bringing the total to back "up" 12,950,571
Whats interesting you say? that looks like around the number of fake test auctions that have been put up in the last 24 hours.. see for yourself do a search for these key words, also do a completed auctions search (when they switch that to only 2 weeks back? ugh):
do not bid
test lot
test auction
test bid
and any others you can think of. ive been around since the 90s and have never seen that before. hmmmm
From Jim Adams Guys eBay are really fighting this strike
Last night eBay deployed alot of "test auctions"
Is this a simple attempt to fool the Investing public into thinking the site is doing better than it is? or is this Just a site testing its auction features? You decide
My Computer Wizz(grad IT Programmer) friend says software needs testing but no doubt many of you and i know the test date seems a bit Odd.
As i write this i am emailing this to many investment firms accross the globe to prevent silly Stock traders from pitching the stock to small families whilst thinking that site activity is genuining rising
It is not fair if eBay is manipulating the total auction count in order for people to lose count of their Sites Gross failure since the strike began
People say that one man cant make a difference i say when you add them all up eBay you notice they can and yesterday eBay felt the need to Run "Test auctions" thousands of them maybe millions. The fall of the giant has begun
My real question is did eBay pay for its auctions and if yes boy their budget is really being abused
Keep Up the good fight people
http://gauctions.wordpress.com/
I have switched to http://www.ebid.net/
I dont have all the customers on ebay but i have my money
Try to wrap your head around this
If i buy a Phone for £300 Pounds i sell it on ebay for £340 i listed it with a starting price of £340 as shill bidding is against rules (lol)
Now all the maths here says i must make a profitt
As i dont actually pay eBay anything more than 2.5% really
But i have found i dont actually make a profitt at all How is this possible?
See if you can work it out?
Ps Dont forget you have to pay Paypal Fees
From Annie FL I've been looking at all the charts at the http://www.medved.net/cgi-bin/cal.exe?EIND MEDVED site, which shows ebay's listing census since 1999. It has daily, weekly, monthly, yearly charts showing how many auctions listings. And charts for Sell Through. From what I can tell, business has been steady all along. It has the usual peaks according to seasons: seasons which the long term sellers are familiar with. I assume that all this nonsense with ebay's new policies has something to do with money problems, but according to the charts we (the sellers) have been doing our job. We haven't been slacking off. And the Sell-through rate is consistently at 40 to 50 percent for the most part. So whatever their problem is, it's not because sales are bad. Sales are steady and the last four months of 2007 were strong, with peaks up to 20 million auctions at a time. So I want to make the point that EBAY should be looking for internal problems rather than pointing fingers at sellers and making plans to get rid of us. If they're trying to solve some kind of "problem", I think they're looking in the wrong direction. WHAT DID EBAY DO WRONG TO GET THEMSELVES IN THIS MESS?? Has anybody analyzed THAT?? Business has been GOOD, if you look at the auction numbers. But their stocks are in trouble. What's their REAL problem? Here's another site that gives ebay statistics, pie charts, graphs etc http://www.dealscart.com/count/AuctionCounts.html AND, on that page, further down, is a link where you can pull up the current auction listing statistics anytime you want: http://ccc.domaindlx.com/DealsCart/User_Auction_Count.asp That list is interesting because it tells how many auctions in each category.
From AB, just outside dc "Boycott" ??????
As someone else said, we need to go longer than a week !
So far no appreciable change can be seen in listings.
Continue to NOT LIST, NOT BID, DON'T SEARCH, and encourage everyone you know to do the same.
From Adios ebay Well, I for one will never sell on ebay again. That site can't be trusted.
They always like to have YOUR business in the palm of their hand. And, you have to ask yourself – what's next? What prevents them from making it even worse? It's not possible to adjust to systems that can't be adjusted too.
I'm wondering if this might be an enron situation with them.
They said they were going to modernize and decided on a giant leap backwards instead. Major stockholders selling off. Maybe they are driving themselves down to be bought up by a bill gates.
From Stupid seller on eBay (I suppose) ""In a bazaar attempt to keep eBay’s Shareholders calm and in the dark, and to keep the boycott silent, eBay has FRAUDULENTLY MANIPULATED the number of “New Listings” by listing hundreds of thousands of “TEST LISTINGS” that are being counted as “NEW LISTINGS.” One example:""
YES, I noticed this as well, the amount of "test auctions" has risen by enourmous amounts (LOL) I do believe this is the ONLY way to keep the auction count up for them? I ALSO noticed this morning that eBay stock was falling as well, HOWEVER has anyone thought to email the stock holders themselves? it APPEARS most stock is owned by only a handful of people, do this companies run other business's? if so I will also boycott ANYTHING they market! Are the stock holders the main frame behind all this idiot thinking? Just my personal opinion, and feelings here, but it SEEMS like eBay is tRYING very hard to manipulate the sites auction numbers….again..we stupid sellers just do see, or recognize anything that goes on huh?
From mmartin, muskegon, MI Go to Ebay and type in "do not bid" in the search or "test auction", and you'll come up with several hundred hits just on that. Some come out of San Jose, CA, strange, huh?
I agree, I was going to go back to selling a few things after the strike, but I think I'll keep up the strike…I also will strike BUYING anything… I was a 60% buyer, 40% seller. I think a lot of sellers also bought, so keep your money in your pocket folks!
From Adios ebay Yep, boycott part II from FEB 25 – MARCH 3rd and include Half.com.
From Joanne Mayville, WI Hello All,
I would like to urge all of you to stop selling beyond the week long boycott. They have repeatedly stated they are not worried about this strike and will not change their policies. That is because they figure that after the strike, we will all be back and listing like mad so they won't be out anything. In reality, I would like for us all to go elsewhere and leave feebay and let them choke on our dust.
I have signed up at e-crater. I don't know if it will work out or not. Bidville seems to be third after feebay in sales. I would like to say something about Plunderhere.com. I'm not sure if it is the right venue for what I sell (maybe some of it) but the owner seems very dedicated to making a very good site. I must have e-mailed half a dozen times or more and always got a prompt, friendly, and informative response from the owner, not auto response. Now that alone does not make a site good but from talking to her you can tell she wants to continue growing the site, will do what she can to help and seems very honorable. She genuinely wants to see sellers succeed. You might want to check them out.
I know that most of these sites don't have the amount of buyers at this time and there will be growing pains. We need to keep that in mind. We need to give them a chance to adjust to a higher customer base and I'm sure they will start advertising more to get us more buyers.
If you won't leave e-bay for good, then please at least consider no selling for more than the one week.
From TR Hobart, Indiana Check out the auctions for the user name herouxworship. They have 3 pages of auctions and 1 1/2 have some name with a test and the auction makes no sense!! I think it's a filler auction!!
From Jim Adams Strange but true.
Anyone else notice that eBay is slowly forcing its sellers to use only paypal
I think i actually dont know a catagory that It is not a must for you to use paypal to pay in
I guess when you think about it its hard enough being a seller that has to pay nearly 10% over all to ebay and Paypal as fees but having the choice of payment option being removed its just not right.
Some(imo all) Catagories require that you select ONLY paypal as payment method
Damm arent i paying ebay enough fees already ????
From KANA EBAY SAYS THE MAJORITY OF SELLERS ASKED FOR THE CHANGES.?.? I WOULD LIKE TO MEET A COUPLE OF SELLERS WHO WANT A BUYER TO BE ABLE TO LEAVE ANY TYPE OF FEEDBACK AND THEY CAN ONLY LEAVE A POSITIVE. I'D LIKE TO MEET ANOTHER SELLER WHO WANTS THEIR PAYPAL MONEY HELD 21 DAYS. I'LL WRITE THEIR NAMES DOWN BECAUSE THEY'LL BE OUT OF BUSINESS AND GONE FROM EBAY IN NO TIME.
From Misty – Wyomissing, PA HELP! I've fallen and I can't get up!
Check it out:
http://tools.morningstar.com/charts/Mcharts.aspx?Country=USA&Security=EBAY&sLevel=A
From Misty – Wyomissing, PA "You can try any amount of other auction sites – but the problem is the buyer population at eBay exceeds all of them combined."
There may be some truth to this now, but where are the buyers going to go when all that is left to buy on eBay are GM Vehicles and Time-Shares in Florida?
From Jim Adams Clearly we can all see one thing here
eBay dont like its own rules
I am reading this from the class it auction in the uk that was removed for breaching the nothing listed policy
Dear class-it
We appreciate that you chose eBay to list the following auction-style listing(s):140205210628 – SONY VAIO VGN-NR21J/S LAPTOP BNIBHowever, your listing was in breach of eBay's No Item policy and has been removed from eBay. We notified members who placed bids on the item that the listing has been canceled.
We would like to take this opportunity to let you know what part of your listing is not permitted.Your listing(s) contains the following information:
**** STOP PRESS **** PEOPLE THERE IS NO POINT BIDDING ON THIS ITEM. IT WILL SURELY BE REMOVED VERY SOON BY EBAY. YOU CAN FIND THE EXACT SAME ITEM AND MY DETAILS ON TAZBAR (GOOGLE IT). ANYWAY, IM OFF OUT NOW, IF THIS IS GONE BY THE TIME I GET BACK ? HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED IT AND EBAY, THERE IS A SERIOUS SIDE TO THIS. SOONER OR LATER THE TRICKLE OF THOSE OF US LEAVING WILL TURN INTO A FLOOD. READ THE LETTER YOUR FOUNDER WROTE AND THEN TRY AND FOLLOW AT LEAST SOME OF IT!
You may not list intangible items or items whose existence cannot be verified, such as ghosts, souls or spirits.
(and then they add this bit)
We value you as a member of our community and wish to continue this relationship, so we must ask you to refrain from further breaches of the User Agreement and eBay policy.
So, Im a valuable member of the ebay community, but I cant auction Ghosts – and heres me thinking it was a laptop???
Is that the best these morons can come up with Ghosts, Souls or Spirits???!!!!!! Fantastic.. Just goes to show how insane this people are ……… So, it took a while – but finally ebay ran for cover !!!!!!!
You can delete the auction ebay, you can even delete my account, but you can not avoid the truth.
Hahaha I think even eBay itself didnt think we the sellers would be so angry and all the people they upset over the years wouldnt come back to bite them on the "you know where" Big shame the stock Holders are the ones feeling the pain and not the Directors
Not fair people that invested on the site should be losing out on the bad judgements made by the site maintance
With great Power comes Great Responsibility
This also helps us all know why the president is not a nobody that is on a power trip…. Hmmm ???
I am still waiting for any maths wizz to tell me if i do make a profitt on my phone investment
eBay you make the rules so the least you can do is follow them
For eBay to list auction fraudulently like this only makes people ask where is the eBay watchdogs the people that make sure things like this dont happen
http://class-it.blogspot.com/
This is where i got the above info
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZliveauctionstest2
282 Auctions all fake from 1 User with less than 10 feedback wow (if your rules dont allow you to do what you wanna do then you should consider them unfair to others)
How i wish there is a New group that will air eBay making its own auctions to Fraudulently alter the Auctions on the site total count
Secondly
http://gauctions.wordpress.com/
Request an eBay alternative from Google (we need our auctions done by another big name)
From RW Cols, OH Thanks for that Google Finance link, Jim! Cheers!
From nohalfbrain sugar loaf nd Don't forget to close YOUR 1/2 . Com accounts also people. Boycott Half Dot Com right along all other Ebay Products.
From Misty – Wyomissing, PA In a bazaar attempt to keep eBay's Shareholders calm and in the dark, and to keep the boycott silent, eBay has FRAUDULENTLY MANIPULATED the number of "New Listings" by listing hundreds of thousands of "TEST LISTINGS" that are being counted as "NEW LISTINGS." One example:
You cannot bid on this or any like it. (Well, you can…but it won't get you anything!)
eBay has paid, and paid well, it's "Favorite" Power Sellers (a/k/a suck-ups) along with their very own eBay employees to list these fraudulent auctions, which makes eBay the WORST SCAMMERS in the On-Line Auction Field! And I call it Fraud because they are only trying to drive up their numbers. Damn the honesty and full speed ahead!
This is only a small indication of how low eBay will go in their never ending quest to APPEAR to be the largest on-line auction site with the MOST listings (even if most are phony.)
One could call it "Shill-Listing" at best; "Fraud" at worst.
Either way, the SEC should be addressing this ASAP!
From M, Honolulu, Hawaii eBay Auction count
http://www.medved.org
02/13/2008 12.3 million listings
02/21/2008 11.8 million listings (down 4%)
Interesting.
"The peasants are revolting." Young Einon
"They've always been revolting, Prince. But now they're rebelling!" Brok
Dragonheart (1996)
From #%! seattle wa You can try any amount of other auction sites – but the problem is the buyer population at eBay exceeds all of them combined.
Posted By Cliff, PA : February 21, 2008 10:54 am
Maybe not so true…. The peeper's and sellers eploring the market of their similar items are generating most hits alone. The serious buyers are diffently eleswhere.
From Jim Adams London Uk Here is a tip for all you wanna be ebay sellers
Till date i have not been able to actually bet my life on what my total fees for a particular eBay auction would be (No Joke i just paid what i am told to pay) But i have got one for all you Maths Wizzes
Try to wrap your head around this
If i buy a Phone for £300 Pounds i sell it on ebay for £340 i listed it with a starting price of £340 as shill bidding is against rules (lol)
Now all the maths here says i must make a profitt
As i dont actually pay eBay anything more than 2.5% really
But i have found i dont actually make a profitt at all How is this possible?
See if you can work it out?
Ps Dont forget you have to pay Paypal Fees
My current auction site is http://www.ebid.net/
I find them to be the easiest as they charge a £49.99 fee and you pay no auction fees for life and a 1-2% final value fee when you consider that and you finish doing the maths above you will see a huge saving if your a bulk seller
People just need to remember we Made eBay by word of mouth and we can take it all away by word of mouth
http://gauctions.wordpress.com/
This is another ebay alt search page
http://finance.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=EBAY
You will find Stock info on eBay how i would hate to be a stock trader right now with that stock i would cry
Remember eBay has done with it wanted to now your the one left to do what you want to
Ps if anyone figures out how much i would make on my phone please let me know i think its funny how much eBay fees are then dont forget the Tax man knocking on your door for his cut too so many hands to grease not enough Grease
From Paula Elofson, Lakewood, CO I think some of the poster's are right. I've been watching the posting trends from these tracking sites:
http://db.powersellersunite.com/auctionsitewatch.php/
and
http://www.medved.net/cgi-bin/cal.exe?EIND
The FEEBLEBAY nosebleed levelled off, and started to climb up a little overnight into today. It looks like they are artifically boosting listings with foreign auctions to mask the effects of the strike.
I checked via the powersellers unite website throughout yesterday and today. The amount of new traffic on the other auction sites is more than double what ebay lists as lost postings.
Keep up the strike as long as you can. As we can see, they are already trying to cover up the impact. If this goes on as long as possible, like the WRITERS STRIKE, FEEBAY won't be able to keep covering the impact up.
Its time to LEAVE FEEBAY like lemmings…ecrater, overstock, plunderhere, ioffer, bidville, etc. are waiting and happy to SERVE YOU. Let them have their bed of bad service, disloyalty, roses and thorns and STRIKE WITH SOLIDARITY,VICTORIOUSLY.
From Jake Davidson, St Matthews, KY eBay listings are now down 17% since boycot started, GO BOYCOTTERS GO!!!
2ND BOYCOT FROM FEB 25 – MARCH 3RD!!!
From RW Cols, OH This is a post taken from an ebay thread. I think you may find this to be interesting reading. . .
Deutsche Bank has performed several analyses of ebay and none of them are good. DB is recommending ebay as a sell NOT a buy and they were doing that back in October. A synopsis of the October analysis: http://seekingalpha.com/article/50580-deutsche-bank-ebay-may-be-facing-a-worst-case-scenario .
Brief article with the sell recommendation (when ebay stock was at $33.00): http://seekingalpha.com/article/54775-ebay-watch-downgrade-from-deutsche-bank-paypal-launches-secure-card .
Transcript of conference call between DB, the IMA, and Ebay on 02/06/08: http://imamerchant.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/deutschebankpatel020608.pdf .
From The Card Yard Hatboro,Pa I sell sports cards on ebay and I got fed up with all the fees. I have made my own site http://www.thecardyard.com for anyone who is looking for great cards at great prices! GO AWAY EBAY!!!
From RW Cols, OH Stacy – Can we have an "official" word from CNN on this matter. Are they going to get behind us and expose what is really going-on over at ebay?! Peaople who depend on ebay for their income (like stay-at-home moms, caregivers, etc. the little sellers) are having it yanled out from under them during a recession?! Further, anybody can clearly see how they are gaming the system. They've been hiding declining US site auction counts under a smkoescreen of revenue by continually rasing fees for the past three years. Is CNN gonna help us out, or what?
From Heather,Tulsa,OK I removed my store and closed all my listings! View my video starring my 2 year old daughter who is also boycotting ebay!
http://www.jumpcut.com/fullscreen?id=A5944658E02211DC8E04000423CEF5B0&type=movie
My auction on Ebay, boycotting Ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=270213413095&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=017
Show your support!
Heather Haney
moroccantreasures@hotmail.com
From Cliff, PA You can try any amount of other auction sites – but the problem is the buyer population at eBay exceeds all of them combined.
From MB, Tampa, FL The traffic on ebay is SLOW!
I just logged on and checked how many listings are under two of my favorite searches and there is a big drop!
These 2 searches are set up by category, name brand and the distance to my home.
the 1st one usually has about 200+ listings, its now at 134.
the 2nd usually has 1,100+ listings, right now it's showing 886 listings.
I also tried a few other combos that I am familiar with and came up with a lot less for listings than I am used to seeing, I also see a lot less biding.
From mmartin, muskegon, MI Annie from FL: Is the site you mentioned for real? Everyone, look down a few postings…it's a site that shows Ebay's listing counts by month, year, whatever you want.
Also, Annie, thank you for the auction list. I copied it and pasted into a Word document so I can access at my leisure and check out these new sites.
I said this before, Ebay is going to become a location for just the big guys…wholesalers who buy cheap and sell in quantity….perhaps they could rename to ImportBay or BrokenBay or DiscountBay…. the little sellers were what made Ebay cool and fun to roam around. If I want what Ebay will be offering soon, I can drive down to the dollar store.
From Chris Grimes, Dallas, TX I am glad to see that the topic hasn't gone away. I hope that people will leave Ebay by the millions. I myself have been fed up with all the wrong done by them. As a buyer and a seller I have felt I have been done wrong. What can you do though when they are the biggest auction site on the internet.
I got mad enought to start my own. http://www.bidjunk.com no fees of any kind. All of the features are completely free. If you want come by and check it out. If not, at least check out some of the other altenatives, you have many other choices.
From eBay seller Dollarstitch Watson Oklahoma As a seller on eBay I "believed" eBay would protect me from the scams on the internet, this is apparently not so. I run an embroidery website where we digitize unique designs, and projects. We start our items for sell at 25 cents apiece for low income families, and small business's so THEY can live, and grow to become succesful. I listed my items on eBay in groups of 5-25 for a pittance of a price, however with the new fees there just is no way to make enough to warrant paying an employee to list them any longer. We have moved over to onlineauction.com where it is only $8.00 per month to sell. No listing fees, no final selling fees, only a once a month $8.00 fee. WOW!! imagine that, a site that doesn't rip you off to sell YOUR goods!! what a concept…All I can say is good ridance to eBay, they have commited suicide!
From Flyover, Columbus, OH I have been watching the decline of Ebay for some monthes now. The current changes for the sellers will be the nail in the coffin for me. I have already been sent around the bend by all the postage requirements. Most of my business is international and there is no way to "streamline" the postage info. I also check the main category I list in every so often. Six monthes ago this category had a little over 250,000 listings. Today it has 139,000. Something is going on here, and Ebay better take heed.
From Annie FL Has anyone seen this? This site has charts showing ebay's auction census, updated every hour and a half. The charts go back months and even years, showing the number of auctions in 1999. Annual charts, daily charts. The complete chart for yesterday. It's interesting. AND, they have SELL-THROUGH statistics, too. It's great information. http://www.medved.net/cgi-bin/cal.exe?EIND
From Scotty, Tulsa, OK I have sold on eBay for over 4 years. I closed my store and let all auctions run out by the day of the strike. i joined online auctions and opened a store with google checkout (really cheap payments compared to paypal).
I had a problem with setting up the store and called their tollfree number for help (I didn't think I would get a answer with the years of dealing with eBay). WOW they answered a real live person. they took care of the problem and even called me back to make sure,
So bye bye ebay and hello onlineauction.
BTW go to skip McGrath site and get a code for a lot of freebes from onlineauction, http://www.skipmcgrath.com/newsletters-2008/2008_02_February.shtml .
Good luck everyone.
From Gayathri, Chennai, TN Hi! I came across an alternative for ebay http://www.elfingo.com.. They charge only 15 cents per listing and no commissions or final value fees. Just try if it works well for you..
From rob LA CA time to short this stock
as a power seller paying ebay and paypal combined 3300$ a month avg. im SERIOUSLY looking at alternatives. I have joined the boycott and have closed down shop for the week. im taking this week to sign up at alternative auction sites. over the last 3 years i have paid ebay and paypal a combined over 100000$
traffic is dROP dEAD SLOW.
3 years ago, i got 50 hits per page avg. Now im lucky if i can get into double digits.
Im just small fish. i'll take my 40K a year else where. getting fed up. shorting this greedy troll.
many power sellers i work with have ALSO closed shop and turned else where.
cant wait till the era of ebay is over and something new starts.
im still greatful but no longer loyal.
powerseller x
From JB Portland OR I am livid! Who are the idiots that made these decisions and how did they ever make it this far in the corporate world?
I'll take the top 500 sellers on Ebay any day to run a company before I would hire any of these knuckleheads.
As a seller with 99.9% positive feedback and over 10,000 transactions I have had to deal with the 5 percenters out there who have made my life miserable with bad checks, fraudulent money orders, buyer remorse, non payers, bidders with zero feedback bidding on on every item I had up for auction and never paying. Now I have to give these leaches a positive feedback? Guess what? Ebay doesn't absorb any of these costs while I sit on my inventory as it goes through the lengthy process of a dispute and an FVF refund before I can re-list and they keep raising my fees? Most sellers will re-list right away rather than sit on the inventory while Ebay "investigates" the claim and the sellers are losing money.
I can tell you too that there is no way in hell I will ship anything until it is paid for. I inadvertantly once sent a bidder their item before it got paid for and I never saw any money and just gave up after Ebay as usual did nothing to help me. There are far more scammers buying than the media reports and sellers losing money. You just don't hear about it because it isn't good copy.
This is nothing more than a shameless act of corporate greed and totally disrespectful of every Ebay member. I plan on listing nothing on Wednesdays even after this boycott until these idiotic issues are resolved in a more professional manner and urge everyone else to do the same. Spread the word!
From Adios ebay The FIRST day some of the changes were put into force a customer leaves me a Neutral on ebay. From a sale I had made before the strike. I have nothing up for sale there or won't be selling there in the future. I've had a pristine record for about 2 years now and I get a Neutral.
The buyer writes positive things about my service and product and leaves me that feeback.
Evidently the buyer was just being a jerk and testing the new power, however- the feedback changes don't go in effect 'till May according to the eBay help reps.
So I was able to leave a feedback. I could have left a negative but chose to leave a Neutral.
This is just a taste of things to come for sellers there. The new system will be abused horribly.
That place in RUINED.
From A former eBayer in South Florida Wow.. It goes to show no matter how 'rich' a corporation is, (i.e. eBay), they're always looking for ways to get more money because they must want to bleed green. Sad to see eBay taking this turn because the new C.E.O. feels they have to be greedy. I was going to start selling again on eBay after taking a long hiatus but after hearing all about this, I'm going to cancel my account with eBay and Paypal. I will be taking my business elsewhere where 'honesty' and 'good business ethics' prevail. There are many, many other venues that will grow bigger and better because of this BS that eBay had to come up with. I'll be proud to call myself Ex-eBayer. Good-bye eBay.
From chris b. bayville nj To Bob,
It is amazing…the lack of common sense that exists in someone such as yourself and some of the others. You just post this drivel without even listening as to why we the sellers are upset with the feedback change…it has nothing to do with punishing good buyers with legit complaints…it is about protecting ourselves from all the scammers out there…soon ebay will be a complete mess with tons of scammers, deadbeat bidders, con artists who blackmail or bribe to get discounts or whatever….it happens now with ebay/paypal's lax rules….you think when ebay takes away sellers only bargaining chip…it won't happen more? unreal…
As a very frequent buyer, the feedback changers are incredibly welcome. I’m tired of being held hostage buy shady sellers on eBay who retaliate against legitimate complaints with negative feedback and automated “replies” that simply gloss over legitimate complaints. To the sellers who want to boycott, good riddance. If you’re so afraid of your customers that you won’t do business with them unless you can punish them for raising legitimate complaints, then I don’t want to do business with you.
Posted By Bob, St. Louis : February 20, 2008 6:23 pm
From Annie FL Here is a long list of auction sites.
I put them in alphabetical order, here:
http://www.auction.com/default.aspx
http://www.auction.overstock.com/
http://www.auctionaddict.net/
http://www.auctionfire.com/
http://www.auctionquests.com/
http://www.auction-usa.com/
http://www.auction-warehouse.com/
http://www.bid-alot.com/
http://www.bidville.com/
http://www.blujay.com/
http://www.buyselltrades.com/
http://www.cqout.com/
http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites.html
http://www.ebay.com
http://www.ecrater.com/
http://www.epier.com/
http://www.hibidder.com/
http://www.ioffer.com/
http://www.itsgottago.com/
http://www.onlineauction.com/
http://www.overstock.com
http://www.oztion.com.au/
http://www.plunderhere.com/
http://www.specialistauctions.com/
http://www.tazbar.com/
http://www.ubid.com
http://www.ubidright.com/
http://www.us.ebid.net/
http://www.wagglepop.com/
http://www.webidz.com
http://www.wensy.com/
From Annie FL OnlineAuction.com — You have a beautiful site that's well organized. If you would change the bright blue text to black, please. Or, blue with hex #000080 is a good color for text other than black. And change 4 column directories to 3 columns so you can make the text in your menus and directories and lists Adjustable to accommodate people with poor eyesight. Apparently you don't have Sub-categories? It would be helpful if all the doll categories could be grouped together under a subcategory for example.
From Crystal, Cheltenham, PA So far I have only bought on ebay and was about to set up an account to sell. With all of the changes, I have changed my mind. I agree with the boycott, but I think the sellers need to look elsewhere. Your only hurting them temporarily by selling again next week. I have read a few stories about former ebay sellers doing well on other sites. The best thing anyone can do is move on. This will cause a drop in their revenues and eventually their stock. The best way to hurt any company, even a giant like ebay, is to hit them in the pocket.
From Jane, Colorado I had never noticed those Ebay T.V. ads before. Have they always been on, or is it some way of trying to counter-act the outcome of this outcry? They must have anticipated it would happen.
From Melanie Orange County, CA I am both a buyer and a seller on ebay, and I think all of the changes that ebay has made are generally positive.
As a buyer, I have received retalitory feedback one too many times from sellers. I have also observed sellers give a negative in exchange for a neutral that they received. It happens FAR too often and it needs to stop.
I am not at all worried about receiving negatives from buyers as I am very careful to accurately describe my items, and I don't pad my shipping charges.
Sure, there will be the occasional difficult buyer, but that is a part of doing business.
Sellers have learned how to exploit the system all too well. Ebay is aware of that and they lay out very clearly all of the reasons for the changes.
The hubbub on Seller Central is but a small fraction of the sellers on ebay. IOffer is a haven for knock off handbags and they are the site that has the next highest number of listings a 2 million or so. Some competition. They also have little traffic.
From Hank, Columbia PA I find it ironic that in ebay's description of their expanded unpaid item and seller protection, they state "earning loyal customers is what it’s all about"
From G Man, Memphis TN I always try to see the unseen in a situation like this. I think ebay is actually hoping to lose us small listers. I'll explain.
I'm starting to think the bay feels it can dramatically lower it's costs by focusing on high volume and wholesale sellers. No doubt their site costs a fortune to operate. A huge chunk of those costs are probably from the small seller segment I'm in. If little guys like me go away their administation costs will drop significantly.
It all comes down to gross profit. Even if their grand totals go down, a big increase in net or gross profits is what counts. The easiest way to do this is lower internal costs. Something tells me I'm a cost that needs cutting to them.
It's their racket and they can run it however they see fit. I think it will backfire on them but we'll have to wait and see. The market always works itself out though and this will no doubt be a boost for ebay's competitors.
I both buy and sell on ebay. The selling is a huge amount of work to do right. The buying is a snap. They have gotten what they wanted as far I go. It's no longer worth the effort for me to sell with them. I think I'll give those competitors a try.
From Connie Perry It appears the eBay boycott is doing something, http://www.medved.net is showing a HUGE drop in listings on eBay within the past two days, and the TRUE day will be AFTER the "boycott" ends. I will NOT reopen my eBay store, nor will I resell on eBay. eBay wants to wait it out, however a LOT of sellers like myself are moving over to other auction sites. I myself moved to onlineauctions.com to sell. and will NOT relist on eBay as long as these policies remain, and fees are so high. By the time eBay gets done only Foreign JUNK will be for sell there, and its already flooded with the garbage that breaks within a few hours..IF it lasts that long. eBay USED to be a GREAT place to shop before all the cheap garbage started to be sold on it. Yes, I have been "stung" by a bad seller or two myself, but thats al lpart of it..I learned to read feedback..sellers, AND buyers feedbacks.
From Bart Perry hmmm, I see a LOT of people who welcome the new feedback changes..so lets look at this. buyers complain about sellers not giving immediate feedbacks, I JUST this last month sold a 5,000 item embroidery cd from Dollarstitch.com for $59.99 on eBay(R)mailed it the very next morning, insured it, and explained in the auction that IF the cd arrived broken, scratched, and was lost to PLEASE inform me immediatly. I sold 10 of them, ONE was received broken (or so was told) I then immediatly emailed the buyer back within 50 minutes and let him know to send it back to me. FIVE days later the buyer emails me " I am sending it now" this has been 16 days, and no return of the cd. No biggie for me, as I have it insured, HOWEVER..I BELIEVE this was a scam in the making, the buyer realized the item was insured, and did NOT want to defraud the USPS(R). Now, had I NOT insured the cd, OR if this had happened during this new feedback policy I would have immediatly been given a negative ( I BELIEVE SO) so, Yes, MANY sellers including myself only leave feedback when it is done for us to PREVENT fraud. I have closed my store, and auciotns as well. so those who were looking for a HUGE bargain on our companies embroidery designs….look on onlineauctions.com because we will not list on eBay(R) while these policies are in affect. Now who looses? not our company, we can sell our over stocked cd's on ANY auction site, or even our website. eBay was just easier at the time. Its to bad eBay feels like they need to protect all the buyers from all sellers instead of getting rid of the FEW bad apples.
From Tiffany, Hobart Indiana Have you seen the latest numbers for ebay? The 20cent auctions are going and so are the numbers of listings for ebay!! -785093 -5.68% at 10:05pm. Keep it coming!!
From Kenneth Albany, GA Powerbay. Someone needs to set up a site that allows sellers with 97% or better positive feedback to put links to their private online stores.
From Mark, Texas We will Bob, we will. You can stay on that loser site feebay with their loser sellers and loser buyers. Because the rest of us will go elsewhere where we will have good buyers and be protected from idiot buyers like you. So you enjoy what feebay will become. The best site on the web for crappy sellers and crappy buyers.
Posted By Joanne Mayville, WI : February 20, 2008 4:56 pm
well put Joanne what buyers don't seem to under stand is in the business world increased cost to the seller is past to the buyer but Greedbay will profit either way and we both lose!!!
Also across the retail markets in America the top seller's are lucky to have an 80% customer satisfaction rate (Walmart,Bestbuy,Khols, ect) Feebay want to hold you the seller at a minimun of 95% or we you will suffer the rath of Feebay. This is insane and impossible with the new feddback rules and buyers like the one above.
Feebays days of rule are over!!!
From Anne, Columbus, Ohio I feel, in short, like an idiot.
I read the predictably sweet messages from eBay about how they were listening to me and making changes that would "save me money and make my eBay experience better" and I went about my business.
Until today, when I (belatedly) heard about the strike and went back to read the fine print about the changes. I feel like I have been hit with a two-by-four. I used to feel that eBay was almost a partner in my life. Now I am disgusted, and more than a little shocked at the arrogance and the stupidity behind some of the most appalling corporate decisions I have seen.
I want to cry.
I am a single mother who "earned" more time with my kids and kept my head a bit higher above the water by selling objects (from humble to wonderful) on eBay. This has been a significant part of my life; last month my net sales were over $5,000. Sometimes it has meant affording something special; more recently it has meant keeping a cushion in times when not having one has become quite a bit more scary.
I have worked hard through my nearly 9 years on eBay and I have learned and grown as a seller. I have learned how to take care of my buyers, and I have built a network of loyal clients and eBay friends. I have had nearly 1,000 transactions and have never had one negative–not even a neutral.
I cannot believe how much these changes are now weighted against the seller. The 3% final value increase is incomprehensible. I might have tolerated a fraction of a percent, but not this and I am stunned at the sheer amount. What greed!
Equally horrible are all the changes in feedback. The "star" system was bad enough. Some of my categories are still perfect–but the system is very flawed. I have received less than perfect "stars" when shipping a massive British commercial mixer. The buyer chose Parcel Post to save money, then complained when it did not arrive two days later and lowered his star rating. EBay has NO idea how hard sellers work, how much we pay, how difficult the "customer serice" end can be in the face of customer needs and expecations–usually fair but at rare times bizarre, and how many risks we take.
They also do not understand how different policies leave us stuck–and vulnerable. Seller protection especially at the Paypal level has a milion holes and formidable risks to be carried by the seller.
I particularly cannot continue on eBay without the checks and balances provided through equal feedback rights. I am dismayed that feedback over a year old will not apply–I worked so hard to build those numbers and it is so important to me to keep them and have them count.
It is the confluence of all these decisions that leaves me feeling that I am at a breaking point–and ready for a break-up with eBay. I am stunned at the arrogance of the "we care about you and we are listening to you" message I received–one that never mentioned the 3% rise in fees. I am disgusted with a system that so clearly disadvantages the sellers, a group that already assumes so many risks and costs.
I didn't strike, but I simply didn't know. I am certainly not going to add anything new during this. What will I do in the future? Realistically I will need to sell the last few things in my little inventory, but then I am gone. I am clearly ready to research other options and will read all the postings on this board for ideas.
The only people benefitting from this are eBay and the few bad egg buyers, who now have nothing more to fear.
Bye, eBay.
From Tiffany, Hobart Indiana Oops, I meant have a new buyer give you negative feedback!!
From Adios ebay It started already.
I am honoring the strike. No products in my store or up for auction. And I will never sell or buy on ebay again.
As of today I got my first neutral feedback in more than 2 years.
I'll tell you this ebay. If any of those remaining buyers leave me negative feedback and destroy my hard work and business reputation. I will sue you.
From Debbie, Elkton, MD Bob, why do you buy from shady sellers? This is another area that I find frustrating. Geez, you can read every detail about the seller in his/her feedback, in addition to seeing how many items they've sold. An educated buyer should be able to avoid "shady" sellers. Why bid on an item if you have any reservations about it or the person selling it? If the seller has pristine feedback and you are unable to resolve a dispute after buying from him/her, maybe you need to look in the mirror.
From Paul G, Atlanta GA Ebay is making a big mistake. I have never seen so many people upset about these changes. This is more than a fee increase to keep the stock pumped up for Wall Street. First, the feedback system will be a joke – sellers are at the mercy of the buyers. 99% of the people I deal with are great – the problem is that Ebay has listened too much to the people who dont shop on Ebay anymore…they complain about shipping…well I dont like taxes either but I have to pay them. If they dont like shipping they can hop in their SUV and pay $3 a gallon to go to the mall and back…hmmm I think Ebay is still cheaper to shop at.
The feedback of 4.5 or better for shipping charges is Ebays way of acting like they are giving a discount when in fact they know that VERY few sellers will qualify. I currently sit at 4.6 but I sell a lot internationally – my international buyers complain about the high cost of shipping all the time (even though they know what the cost will be upfront). I have to use Global Priority since I need to protect myself with tracking (otherwise Big Brother Paypal will give my $$$ right back to some person in a foreign country who "claims" that they never got it. The people who run Ebay now seem to act like they made Ebay instead of the sellers who toil on here everyday….they act like they hit a triple but they were born on 3rd base…I hope that these morons get picked trying to steal home. The fact of the matter is that revenues cannot continue to keep increasing at a rapid pace to prop up the stock price…why do I have to pay more in fees since I never was asked by these morons if it was smart to buy Skype in the first place.
From Tiffany, Hobart Indiana Mr. Bob from St. Louis- Not all of us sellers are shady. You have NO idea what it is to be a seller and have some new seller give you negative feedback and then say oops, it was for the wrong person. What is my choice then? Have a mutually withrawn mark on my record!! Or somebody from another country rip me off and get there money AND my item? There are reasons for both sellers and buyers to feel this way, I do agree about that. But, why not stick with us good sellers so we stay around. The sellers that are going to stay are the ones that really don't care about you or anyone but themselves. And good ridence is right. My choice is to leave this ebay thought process behind and move on to bigger and better things!! You enjoy!!
From Bob, St. Louis As a very frequent buyer, the feedback changers are incredibly welcome. I'm tired of being held hostage buy shady sellers on eBay who retaliate against legitimate complaints with negative feedback and automated "replies" that simply gloss over legitimate complaints. To the sellers who want to boycott, good riddance. If you're so afraid of your customers that you won't do business with them unless you can punish them for raising legitimate complaints, then I don't want to do business with you.
From topseller Sandi…these were all part of the original release. There are ISSUES with ALL OF THEM:
You wrote:
Tell me we’re not making an impact!!
Just received this from Ebay Power UP:
New PowerSeller Rewards
At the same time, we’ve boosted the benefits for PowerSellers. As a reward for your good service, you’ll get:
5% to 15% Final value fee discounts and an advantage in search results with high DSRs
YOU WILL BE UNABLE TO ACHIEVE OR MAINTAIN THE HIGH DSR'S BECAUSE OF THE OPPOSING DEFINITIONS GIVEN TO BUYERS AND SELLERS. TO BUYERS "4" IS EXCELLENT SERVICE TO SELLERS, 4 IS FLUNKING THE PROGRAM AND YOU WILL NOT GET THE DISCOUNTS. IF YOU CANNOT MAINTAIN THE UNREASONABLY HIGH LEVELS YOUR ITEMS IN SEARCH WILL BE TANKED.
Expanded unpaid item protection
Expanded seller protection from PayPal: unlimited annual coverage and coverage for all shipping addresses–even unconfirmed.
ONLY PROBLEM IS…THE INTERNATIONAL SHIPMENTS MUST BE TRACKABLE. TRACKING STARTS AT ABOUT $25. [EXPRESS MAIL IS ONLY TRACKABLE SERVICE WITH USPS AND FEDEX IS EXPENSIVE.] ARE YOU GOING TO INCREASE YOUR S/H FOR INTERNATIONAL SHIPMENTS BY $25? GOOD LUCK!
And since earning loyal customers is what it’s all about, for all sellers, Feedback from repeat buyers now counts!
WAIT UNTIL YOU GET A NUTCASE GIVE YOU 15 OR 20 NEGS AND THEY ALL COUNT! BYE BYE DISCOUNTS AND HELLO PAYPAL HOLDS!
From Sandi, GA Tell me we're not making an impact!!
Just received this from Ebay Power UP:
New PowerSeller Rewards
At the same time, we've boosted the benefits for PowerSellers. As a reward for your good service, you'll get:
5% to 15% Final value fee discounts and an advantage in search results with high DSRs
Expanded unpaid item protection
Expanded seller protection from PayPal: unlimited annual coverage and coverage for all shipping addresses–even unconfirmed.
And since earning loyal customers is what it's all about, for all sellers, Feedback from repeat buyers now counts!
From Ginny, Bristol, TN The new structure hurts small sellers! I'm part of the boycott and have already sold two items on another, cheaper auction site. The eBay listing fees may be lower, but the final value fees take a bigger chunk out of what your item sells for. This will result in increased cost to the buyer just so the seller can make a reasonable profit. No one wins.
From Lisa, St. Louis, MO Ebay used to be a fair trading market. Buyers complain and so do sellers, it's a two way street. You take chances on ebay, and that is why we give feedback; both ways. Ebay is now a buyer's market…I'm a buyer just as much as I am a seller with 100% feedback. It's too bad, we had a really good thing going. GOODBYE EBAY.
From Josie Greensboro, North Carolina The changes ebay have made are crazy and unfair! I have been a powerseller for years and this is how I make my living. I am with many of the other sellers and I am in protest this week- no listing until Monday! The new rules give no protection for sellers. Without sellers ebay would be nothing. Ebay once was a great place to have a bussiness and now it is going down hill fast. Clearly ebay no longer cares about loyal sellers and our rights. Hopefully ebay will realize that the new changes are bad for everyone and get back to their once respectful ways of bussiness. If not sellers should take their goods some place else. If I stay with ebay I am not going to allow paypal to hold my money for 21 days, that's not how it works in the real world. If I don't get paid I don't ship! I also will not be selling to buyer's who have given other sellers lot's of negatives. I think that there should also be more media involved- maybe we can get more results….. something that is fair to both seller's and buyer's. Maybe CNN and will continue coverage and get the public aware and get results from ebay because they don't give a damn about how we sellers feel.
From Joanne Mayville, WI I bought 5 items on ebay. The 6th did not work, and seller would not respond. Posted feedback, seller responded only then, and posted defamitory lies about me. I never bought from ebay again. Sorry Sellers, but your false buyer feedback did you in. Enjoy your higher fee’s. (NOTE:If sellers did not post false things about buyers, you would have more buyers, and ebay would not need to raise the fees it charges you. The sellers did this to themselves. Enjoy yourselves!)
Posted By bob, watertown, ma : February 20, 2008 1:19 pm
We will Bob, we will. You can stay on that loser site feebay with their loser sellers and loser buyers. Because the rest of us will go elsewhere where we will have good buyers and be protected from idiot buyers like you. So you enjoy what feebay will become. The best site on the web for crappy sellers and crappy buyers.
From mmartin, muskegon, MI Let's talk about Paypal for a bit…does anyone know how many people cancelled their accounts because of this? I cancelled, and something I noted on the website before I closed (and an added reason for closing my account)– there was a posting on the left of the Paypal website screen about their new policies. They outlined the 21 day hold, but also, I was sure I read that if you had a Paypal account, from then on, Paypal would be the vehicle by which seller fees from Ebay would be paid–no matter what you had set up before (like a credit card or bank account). Perhaps someone with an active Paypal account would like to read the fine print on that one.
From J.R Gillespie, Mesa, Arizona Boycott for a week..
and then what? comeback and
take more disrespect.
No Thankyou..
have found..many many other auction
sites and will make use of them.
one more of your little peeons gone ebay.
From Kelsey I am a seller with a store and I am boycotting ebay for the entire week. I won't even look at the site so they can have the darkest shadow possible. It's hard to know if anyone is out there, so I'm glad CNN has this site so we can offer support eachother. If you are wondering if you should be boycotting, you should! We have to try everything we can to save ebay. Unless they are determined to be Amazon (minus all of the stock) Sometimes it's the companies intent to get rid of riff raff. Something is obviously up, since they consider their customers, sellers, noise. Good luck everyone STAY STRONG AND STAY AWAY FROM EBAY. Also I have been listing on Amazon and I am trying eCrater which is an easy free store that you can easily put a paypal button or google checkout on.
From Troubleshooter, Minneapolis, MN eBay just spent a king's ransom on an ill-conceived television and multimedia ad campaign, and it just dawned on them that someone has to pay for "it".
Well, that someone ain't gonna be me!
From EMMA PHILADELPHIA, PA Former reputable eBay seller of 10 years here. I am done with my nightmare. Yesterday I signed up for onlineauction.com and google checkout. Onlinineaution.com will cost me $8 a month for unlimited listings and almost no other fees, most listing options and 5 photos are free. No listing fees, no final value fees!! They have other enrollment option, including store options…….but even then it is less than $300 for the year!! THEY HAVE A TOLL FREE NUMBER FOR CUSTOMER SUPPORT!!!! Google checkout has very low, simple fees for receving transfers. 2% + 20cents for each transaction, no matter what the amount is. They also have ad tools which can greatly increase your fees if you impliment them into your business. Also today I will be researching another payment option called XCOIN. I feel better already! The traffic WILL pickup! We CAN do this!
From Bobby, West Palm Beach, Fl. As a seller I am currently boycotting Ebay for the entire week. It will work if sellers don't give up. We have to continue sending the message that we the sellers are the one's that made eBay's success. Hang in there!
From BC Kennewick WA I have been a causual seller on ebay for about 4 years now. I have a 100% feedback rate and I would wish to keep it that way. If the fee hike was a little smaller and the feedback system stayed the same then I would stay but as of now I am not going to list anything again unless I absolutly cannot sell it anywhere else. Also the only reason that I am going to still offer scampal is that so many people out there have accounts. I am going with google checkout on most of my stuff from now on. I see in some of the posts that people are saying that the sellers deserve what they get. All I can say about the bad sellers and buyers is they are mostly people who are not happy with anything that they get or do. Constantly blaming the other guy for their problems is their way of life and no matter what anyone does it will never make them happy. I have never had any bad experiences as of yet on ebay with sellers or buyers. I would have to say that about 90% of the buyers and sellers are honest people and the few bad apples ruin it for all of us. They have started a website http://www.rottenbidders.com with a list of bad bidders and as a seller maybe they should do the same for the bad sellers. Just my opinion.
From Ed Barnes, Moore, SC As a buyer I am concerned that too many frivolous negatives can be posted about sellers, scaring me away from good sellers. I have left negative feedback when I felt it necessary, and the seller has responded when he thought it necessary. The seller needs a means of giving negative feedback if he has to. Let the potential buyers sort it all out.
From drtyllama, Greenville, TN The woman in the video says that the seller is paying for the fees when 95% of the populations KNOWS that is Bull Shite! The sellers pass the fees to the buyer indescretely by adding it to the item or shipping cost silently. So in the end it's the buyers getting screwed and not JUST the sellers.
From I.A. Waldman, Chicago, Illinois A strike is a great idea, but it should be for a longer time period. If we are serious, as are unions that strike, then we have to take a serious position. But there are other issues than the increased fees. Sellers support ebay, we pay all the fees, buyers pay nothing. Yet ebay seems to feel buyers are sacrosacnt, and sellers are the devil. All of their policies of late penalize the seller, and the buyer is totally untouched. The new restriction on feedback posting is just the latest whack at sellers. But there are even greater issues potentially at play, much greater issues – legal issues. Ebay has grown to a point where it has become a monoply in the online auction business. In addition, they acquired PayPal, and now control both ends of the auction arena – sales and payment for sales. Yet ebay has always stated and taken the position they have no part in the auction – they merely supply the platform for auctions to occurr. Well, not only is that false on its face, but if they are not involved in auction transactions, on what basis are they going to be holding back funds at PayPal until THEY are satisfied a transaction is ok.
Then there is the issue of ebay deciding some months ago, they would only allow certain coin and currency grading companies to be mentioned on ebay, and all other were banished to the hinterlands. Isn't that considered restraint of trade,which the government strongly frowns upon. Given all of this, maybe it is high time a federal investigation of ebay take place, and the federal government taking strong action against ebay if it is found to be outside the law. Ebay says its fee structure will save some 60% of it sellers money. How, prove it – their statements are hollow, misleading and condescending to its members. And since we don't believe we will save money, but will indeed lose money, we will have to raise our prices – which puts even more money into ebays pockets. Maybe the buyers on ebay should start complaining and join with the sellers, for higher fees, result in higher prices, and higher prices result in buyers paying more for the same items. But ebay says it isn't involved in any way with the auctions – they just give us the platform to be able to sell. All of this can be summed up in one word – BALONEY!! It is time the feds stepped in to take a long hard look at what ebay wants everyone to think is this little, unimportant, uninvolved, paternal company helping out the little guy. GIVE ME A BREAK.
From LKS Dallas, TX It's obvious when the comments are from a non-seller. All who sell know you have a ton of buyers who DO NOT READ your terms, and the next day after auction end they are complaining that you didn't mail the item yet even though your auction CLEARLY states to allow 7 days to ship! If they leave neg feedback for this reason, totally unfounded, the seller has to suffer.
From Doing Something About It, Santa Fe, NM eBay says they want to "LISTEN" to all of us Sellers…. OK
Sellers take the poll so eBay can "LISTEN"
Please post the poll link anywhere you can…LET'S HEAR YOU SELLERS!
From Don Barthel, Louisville Ohio Hi
I am so glad to see that I am not alone. The seller is going to be put out of business quickly with this new policy. This is what I posted on my listings to try to protect myself:
EBAY has implemented a new policy to benefit the buyers. Unfortunately it can and will hurt the seller. The new eBay policy permits buyers to have the freedom to leave any kind of feedback they want, even if the buyer has caused problems. The seller has no protection at all and is not allowed to leave negatives feedback, which can alert other sellers that there could be a problem with a certain buyer. Of coarse once the buyer realize the freedom of leaving negative feedback good sellers could realistically be put out of business. EBAY did not give a date for this to happen, but did indicate it will be implemented soon. I have decided to protect myself from having any problems with the buyer who feels the need to consistently leave negative feedback . I will monitor each bidder on my site and if the bidder has left others negative feedback of more than 2 in 60 days I will immediately cancel that auction. I am so sorry I have to result to these kind of measures but I have to protect myself .
Thank you in advance for understanding
I hope this works. I am sure I will quit selling soon. I am afraid the ebays policy will put me out of business
From MWR Axelrod,North Caroliana As an e bay powerseller with 8 years on ebay I am aboslutly astounded with the recent announcements.The leadership of e bay has obviously steered the good ship ebay into the rocks.This is clear. We immedietly took action same day as the announcment was released and began trnsferring our stock to a variety of other sites.We where large volume on e-bay and regularly paid fee's of $1,300-$1,800.00 per month.
We are still on the site but will be closing our stores within the week.
We have dropped from listing every day to "0" and have not listed a single item since the 15th of February.
Fee hikes are expected and can be managed even dramatic hikes like these.
The feedback changes are absolutly NOT acceptable PERIOD and we will not tolerate them so we are done.To a volume seller who deals with daily international graft on the site this is a non-viable situation.
I would have never imagined that the end of E-bay would come from internal leadership.The e-bay customers ARE the sellers,WE pay the bills.I am extremly upset and would give ebay a big Negative negative feedback if I could.If this option was available to sellers right now ebay would get about 500,000 negatives!Isn't this baloney about customer satisfaction on the site?
Well I am a buyer as well,about $1,500.00 a month and I am definetly not satisfied with e-bay and it has nothing to do with the stock I have recieved.When you aliantate your primariy source of buisness to a point that they will not return?
Brilliant! I had expected E-bay to fall as a buisness due to US Government intervention but not from bad leadership.
Ebay thinks that they are bullet proof and that they can do what ever they please.Dictate how sellers should be concerned with customer satisfaction?Take a look in the mirror if you.".think these changes are for the best."…
Take a look at ebay stock today??
They had better back off and back off quick or it's game over for ebay.
From Karen Johnson Yakima, WA I'm glad I read the comments,as I was about to cave in and list something on ebay. BUT, I WON'T GIVE IN thanks to the posts here encouraging sellers to stick with it. Here's a point – if sellers can't leave neg. feedback, how are we to know if a buyer is trustworthy? I like checking up on a buyer to make sure I'm not going to get stung. I don't want to sell to some rip off artist. Ebay is pulling a "Hillary" if you ask me. Hopefully this week will be a huge success for the boycotters. What is the best alternative site found for sellers so far?
From topseller I see examples from sellers re: bad buyers and examples from buyers re: bad sellers.
In ANY population of people there are good and bad ones.
There is NO perfect venue, store or relationship.
The key is for the owners [Ebay] to cater to the MAJORITY [the good sellers and buyers] and police the MINORITY [the bad sellers and buyers]. Since it can't [or won't] do that, it is throwing the baby out with the bathwater and punishing ONE SIDE of the transaction which will end up alienating BOTH SIDES.
Get a grip!
From DSR Central WA As a seller I am currently boycotting Ebay for the entire week of the 18th-25th. I hope it does make a difference and I allways speculated that Ebays downfall would be the government getting their sticky fingers in the pie. Whoever is heading the ship into the rocks over at Ebay is doing a marvelous job without the governments help and I suspect never sold any items on Ebay for any length of time.
As a powerseller my monthly fees range anywhere from $1,200-$1,500. My average RTI is around 45% which does not include my time spent in front of the computer or buying and shipping an item.
I am extremely upset with Ebays new rate increases and am especially more upset with the changes to the feedback system. I have been a seller on Ebay for just under 3 years and as of today there are currently 162 buyers on my block bidder list, most of which are there for non payment or other unscrupulous acts and all would have received negative feedbacks if I did not fear retaliation.
They are turning a nice venue with some minor issues for buying and selling website into a ginormous disaster waiting to happen.
From bob, watertown, ma I bought 5 items on ebay. The 6th did not work, and seller would not respond. Posted feedback, seller responded only then, and posted defamitory lies about me. I never bought from ebay again. Sorry Sellers, but your false buyer feedback did you in. Enjoy your higher fee's. (NOTE:If sellers did not post false things about buyers, you would have more buyers, and ebay would not need to raise the fees it charges you. The sellers did this to themselves. Enjoy yourselves!)
From Heywoord, Los Angeles, CA Many people buying from sellers are looking for opportunities to leave -ve feedbacks to the sellers. It is a social sickness problem. They just want to find a way to express their frustration somehow.
I feel bad about them.
From Darrell Hughes, Sedalia, Mo I have been selling on eBay for 5 years and average about $750.00 per month in total fees. I have shipped over 6000+ items. They do not realize the new feeback is not all about non-paying bidders as their return emails dwell on. It is about feedback extortion against sellers. It is our only defense against bad & scamming buyers. EBay has no idea the problems sellers face with buyers. They can drop a negative on us because they are having a bad day, or because they want a better deal, or to rid the competition. We as sellers can only leave positives making it seem as all buyers are perfect. Would you stay in a motel knowing it could only be rated 5 stars. How are we supposed to know other sellers opinions on our bidders. I have a large blocked bidder list and half are NOT non-paying bidders. I have quit selling on eBay and am on 4 other sites now. All have free stores and pictures and only 2 have very small final value fees. My blood pressure is down cause they are so relaxing!!! Boycott the eBay MONOPOLY game.
From michele lower ohio its about time that the buyers can leave bad feedback and not have to woory about what the seller will do to you!!!!thanks ebay!!!!!!!!!!
From Amanda Williams, Mesa, AZ As a Multiple Thousand Item a week powerseller, I am taking this fee increase very seriously. People look on Ebay to find a Deal. If they werent looking for a deal then they would go to the store and pay RETAIL for it. Being a Whole-Sale Powerseller for years.. Typically you have to sell items at 60% of Retail on Ebay to get a Buyer.. So if you can find your items at 50% of Retail then after all fees, you break even.. NOW I HAVE TO FIND WHOLESALE ITEMS AT 40% OR LESS TO MAKE A PROFIT… THATS IMPOSSIBLE!!!!… I calculated my fees on Ebay for last month and I paid $2398.76 in SELLER FEES. NOT TO METION THE PAYPAL FEES THAT EBAY IS GETTING RICH OFF OF. I then went back and changed to the FVF at 12% and it would make my monthly expenses $2987.34.. That $600.00 So if my profits are $2400.00 a month that means because of this new fee increase I am loosing 25% of my PROFITS!!!!!!! THAT IS HUGE!! It looks like only 2% but in reality it is going to crush those of us who have businesses running on ebay!!! It is time for sellers to get SMART!! List all your Items at $00.01 and make the shipping $100.00 or $50.00 ect to make up the difference that way you dont get slammed with the FVF.. When people ask why the S/H is so hi you need to clearly post it in your listings that this is due to the new fee increase.. EBAY IS A BILLION DOLLAR COMPANY!!! THEY DONT NEED TO GET ANY RICHER OFF OF US!!! WE HAVE MADE THEM RICH ENOUGH!!! THIS IS CRAZY AND CRIMINAL… THERE OUGHT TO BE SOMETHING WE CAN DO!!! Also what is they now inpose a sales tax on all items for 7%… Now our cost goes upto 19% of your profits…GO TO EBAY!!! If that takes place my profits will go from $2400.00 to $1800 (NOW) to $876.97 WOW!!! It just a year or so I have lost more than 66% of MY PROFIT!!! AND EBAY GETS ALL OF IT!!! THATS NOT RIGHT!!!
From topseller Retail 101
Rule 1. An established company DOES NOT alienate its CORE customers.
Ebay's CORE customers are its sellers…not only it's sellers but it's UNIQUE MOM AND POP type customers.
When Ebay was REALLY successful it found ways to LAYER ON additional businesses but not messing with it's core business. Such as EBAY MOTORS or Real Estate.
What if GM decided tomorrow that it really wanted to be an upscale Auto Mfr/seller because it made more money on each luxury car. Therefore decided to ONLY sell Escalades, Corvettes and the like? How long would you think they'd last?
What if FORD similarly decided to ONLY SELL pickups and SUVs for the same reason?
Do you think their PROFIT at the end of the year would be ANYWHERE NEAR the year before when they had a full line?
What if Starbucks decided to ONLY SELL LATTEs because they made more money per cup on them than on other products.
What if WalMart tested designer dresses in their stores, found they sold well, found they made more money per dress than on what they currently carried, and then decided ONLY to sell designer dresses in their Women's Department? Oh and those people that previously bought their softlines were nothing but NOISE!
ARE YOU LISTENING EBAY?
I was in retail for 30 years [yes I know Ebay is not IN RETAIL but is a RETAIL VENUE for retailers]. The landscape is littered with company carcasses who forgot who their core customer was in their quest for more profits: WT Grants, Woolworth, Two Guys, JM Fields, Venture, Caldor and MANY MANY more.
So Ebay, your current Flea Market Sellers are NOISE?
Check out your stock price today.
From Samantha, Des Moines, Iowa I’ve bought and sold only casually on eBay in the past, but I thought it was a great tool. Keeping up on these changes and the backlash has interested me greatly because it seems so familiar. This type of thing, in the broadest sense, happened to me and hundreds of thousands of others through another “online service,” and I still wonder what motivates a corporation to completely scrap what made people love them and more importantly, how successful these changes generally turn out to be. Do they really meet the goals the company set out?
For many, many online gamers, the MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) Star Wars: Galaxies was a home. It offered so many things that the MMORPG’s today do not offer – thousands of ways to customize the appearance of your player, your very own home (or homes), the things that you craft, your character progression, and more. On November 15, 2005, the game that we knew and loved, that we lived in, built homes in, and had family and friends in, was irreversibly changed by the “New Game Enhancement” (NGE). Much of the customizability was removed, the user interface regressed, and it was turned into a cookie-cutter game fashioned after the most popular MMO (still going strong with millions of subscribers even today) World of Warcraft. Items and goals that people had been working on for months or years had been made utterly worthless. People, including me, left in droves. Previously bustling cities were barren. Empty houses littered the landscape.
I’ve read that in focus tests, they included 18-25 year old males who lived in the California region (where their headquarters are), for making these game-breaking decisions. But that demographic was not the one they had attracted with the robust features of the game. There were grandmothers and married couples and children playing, of all ages and backgrounds, NOT the “console generation.” For those who have never played an MMO, it’s hard to understand. But the friendships forged and the accomplishments created there were real, despite it being a virtual world. Tearing those things away in the name of – what, profitability? – gave us all a reason to never buy another Sony product as long as we are alive.
While this is somewhat different – people’s real life livelihood and income are being taken away by eBay – the two companies have done the same thing. They’ve taken what made them successful, what made people love and trust them, and ripped it away. In instances such as this, people realize that they are merely credit cards and dollars signs, but who wants to be regarded as that? It makes them sick to their stomach, like a freshly dumped girlfriend who is told, “I guess I never really loved you even though I said I did all those years.”
What I want to know is – why this trend? Why now? Is this going to continue? Why change your demographic of an existing product, instead of adding another offering? You would get the best of both worlds – retain your existing customer base while giving new customers a different product to increase overall company profitability. And is a heartless corporation after only the bottom line going to survive when they create such emotional distress?
If it’s happened twice, it’s probably happened more times than I’m aware. I fear nothing is sacred anymore. The internet is a great, vast place, with tons of resources and information, but it seems that it’s shifting sand.
From Joe Falcone, Brighton, Michigan The stock market seems to think that the loss of goodwill that eBay has brought upon itself is a problem. Just look at the drop in its stock price. At one time General Motors, Ford and Chrysler thought that they were the only game in town. AOL and Yahoo were also pretty confident that they would be on top forever. We all know how things worked out for them. The wheels of competition grind exceedingly fine.
From Tom Gundlach Everyone knows that Ebay cooked the books with their 20 cent listing day last week. Listings spiked by over 3 million that day, and those listings still have not ended, making the strike look like a nonevent. Ebay knew that this would happen, and hoped that the lemmings would think the strike was not effective and give up or surrender and start relisting. Just wait until those 20 cent listings all end. I think people will be shocked to see the TRUE EFFECTS of the strike. We will NEVER GIVE UP! NEVER SURRENDER! STRIKE VICTORIOUSLY!
From KDH, Orlando, FL CNN FSB YOU NEED TO LOOK INTO THIS!
I am a buyer and very much in support of the boycott. Some of you sellers may find the following link interesting enough to "spread the news" of a STRONG alternative to eBay.
I have been watching the boycott post on Seller Central, but no one seems to be talking about Overstock.com auctions, just iOffer, OLA etc. I've looked at any and all alternative sites that have been mentioned in this discussion and others and found Overstock to be what eBay used to be like.
And, while I'd love to notify everyone on eBay that Overstock is a viable option for them, I don't want eBay to knock down a helpful discussion by putting Overstock's name up causing a discussion to be closed.
Overstock, at least to me, looks very much like eBay used to. Also, a friend who sells on eBay and is slowly moving to Overstock sent me a copy of an email notice he received this morning, Overstock has a special for those who use channeladvisor, no listing fees(I take this to be insertion fees) through 2011. Sellers looking for eBay alternatives really need to know about this…Overstock is making a direct challenge to eBay to get sellers to consider them. This may end up being a very viable and immediate alternative to eBay.
From Debbie, Eklton, MD As both a buyer and seller, I've joined the boycott this week. Like others, I realize the impact probably won't be felt by eBay, but am doing so as a matter of principle. One comment I'd like to make is in regard to eBay's statement that their final value fees are still below those of auction houses around the Country. Who are they trying to kid – comparing oranges to apples?! An auction house will physically pick up the items to be sold, market them (which in some cases includes widespread advertising with photos), display them, sell to a buyer, and hand over a check to the seller! The seller never even touches the goods, spends no time marketing, communicating with buyer, packing, etc. – give me a break!
From MB Tampa, Florida It's not just about a 1 week strike, it's the long term effects it will have on ebay.
While a 1 week strike is a good start it's not going to make ebay change it's mind, ebay was not built in a day, it's taken them many years to build up, that being said I feel that this is the begining of ebays demise, it will be long and drawn out, I don't think they will ever close up shop, but they sure as hell will NEVER regain the client base it had.
Here is what I see happening in the next 4 weeks:
Sellers will begin to feel the impact of the changes, their listings will be burried by "best match".
Paypal will hold funds 3 to 21 days, leaving sellers at the mercy of the buyer and ebay. Dishonest buyers will take advantage of this and scam you out of your item & money. I hope that anyone faced with this scenario will not expose themselves on ebay for it to happen again.
Although your buyer did not pay within the time frame you alloted in your listing, they will demand you stop what you are doing and rush to ship the item.
Then they will be "kind' enough to claim the shipping was to high, not fast enough and not what they expected, so you get a NEGATIVE!
So much for busting your ass all these years to get good feedback.
Sellers will begin to see less and less $$$ from their sales,"gee where did that money go?" answer- ebays pocket.
So as we can all see, it will take time for people to get burned and realize and they can no longer do biz on ebay. It will take time folks, but ebays days are numbered.
From RW Cols, OH Stacy – PLEASE see my earlier post and this article, from Auctiobytes, is an analysis of current Power Sellers' DSRs and how they measure up to ebay's ARBITRARY standards they have imposed upon the DSR system. It shows how the VAST MAJORITY of curent Power Sellers do not live up to the standards ebay has imposed: http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y08/m01/i02/s01 . They are gaming the system to raise fees and hide the miserable state-of-affars that has been building for several years. Total auctions numbers are down significantly from previous years. PLEASE dig deeper into this fiasco. I KNOW you have some ebayers on staff, go find a couple and have them explain the implications of these changes.
From Karl,Texas We’re tagging along to see if the boycott is having an effect
There needs to be a referee in this game.eBay isn't playing fair.
I just checked the listings in the categories I usually buy and sell in.
eBay has uploaded an unusual amount of International listings on the U.S. site.
In just one category I counted multiple listings from 18 different countries.Not even close to normal.
From Maggie, PA I think the boycott has inspired a lot of people to start selling elsewhere. So, even if the boycott doesn't make a huge dent this week thanks to the 20 cent listing day – Down the road it will. The best indicator of this is the rise of listings on sites like Amazon, Ecrater and other online auction sites to name a few.
I also believe that eBay is not worried because they indeed want us to leave. They are trying to change their whole company image to compete with Amazon. eBay management – you should have stuck with what you were good at – before all these changes. But they won't be as good as Amazon because they are not good at monitoring their own site where they have many many violations of listing poloicies that just go unchecked.
From Adios ebay The other thing is this too – ebay shouldn't be permitted to destroy your business.
No matter what you agree to insofar as when you sign up and agree to sell according to stated rules and such- it shouldn't apply to actions by the company to destroy your business.
Something like what they are doing has to be outside the agreement and there are enough questions that lie within this thought where it should handled in a court of law, imo.
And in an extreme situation, if a customer in ebay pulls stunts on me that ruins my business- I should be able to go after that buyer legally.
Something is not right here and it really should be dealt with. What I'm going to do and I recommend it, is to sign the class action suit and write your U.S Representive and include a copy of what you wrote for being part of the suit and the URL to the lawsuit.
It can't hurt and it is an election year.
From Larry Port St Lucie Fl SELLERS CHECK OUT http://www.sellmyinventory.com
From Tracy Stacy, Yes, please outline the changes and the relevant dates. I think I understand them, but given eBay's tendency to obfuscate and mischaracterize information, an impartial summary would be helpful.
From Annie FL There are 2793 comments on this ONE page and their article is STILL directing people here. Why can't they start a NEW page with links to previous pages. This is brainless. The page will hardly even load anymore. I've asked about this before and yet here we are. We need a whole big forum for this discussion and we get one page. ONE page. For how many weeks now? HELLLOOOOO. We have a technical PROBLEM happening here!!! Would somebody tell me if this discussion is going on anywhere else where there is a little more elbow room??
From onlineauctiondotcom Grants Pass Or. Declaration of Cyber Independence
"United we stand, divided is not an option."
Thanks to our members OnlineAuction.com (OLA) is experiencing the fastest rate of growth ever. Because of YOU we feel a new energy of optimism for OLA.com. We plan to embark on a new advertising campaign to bring more buyers and sellers to our site. We hereby make this Declaration: We vow to earn your trust and loyalty and will endeavor to be the world's best online auction. We will keep the cost low so that ALL people can afford to enjoy the use of this site.
A personal statement from OLA Founder Chris Fain
Hi everyone, I'm Chris Fain. The first and most important thing I want to say to all of you is, THANK YOU! You have truly been a blessing to OLA, our employees, our families, and myself, and from the bottom of our hearts we mean it! All of us here know and will NEVER forget that if it were not for all of you, there would not be an OnlineAuction.com. We promise to be loyal to you, our customers.
I may be the one who founded OnlineAuction.com, but, I feel funny saying it, because it wasn't just me�it's really been all of us. Like most of you, I know what it's like to have a physical business at an obscure address in small town USA. Then because of the miracle known as the internet, in 1997 I started selling more items than I ever believed possible and at higher prices. I have to say it was (and still is) very exciting to watch your selling prices escalate. Or bidding competitively on an auction you want to win. Lets face it, I love and am hooked on the online auction experience.
Here at OLA we really want to be the best and we believe we have done some great things for our members. For instance, we have five different auction formats to create a variety of ways to sell your items. We also have a different auction ending method: Our site is programmed so that auctions are scheduled to end at a displayed ending time. However, if there is competitive bidding within the last seconds of an item's ending, then the auction time extends so that the highest bidder gets the item and the seller gets the highest price possible. We also have a reasonable flat monthly or yearly membership rate for sellers. Think about it, if you pay almost nothing to sell your item that means you can sell for less and still make more. This will keep your customers coming back to get the best deal.
OnlineAuction.com is different from other auction sites. You see we don't like to go to a site and see pages and pages of identical listings. That's why OLA allows multiple items listed within one auction listing. Sure, if we wanted pages of identical listings we could break those auctions apart and boom! Auction listing would skyrocket. The reason we don't is simple; I don't want to give our buyers a boring site to look at, with pages and pages of identical items. I also want to give our buyers and sellers a place to trade large quantities of inventory at one point of sale. After all why would we care, since we don't charge individual listing fees. Creating a better way of doing business has been our goal since day one.
Since our beginning, the most important thing we have learned is: If you don't have the people behind you then you don't have anything. That's right� you can have a better product, but if you think you don't need the little guy then you've made a big mistake! We have learned this lesson by watching our competitors. I remember thinking, "Wow� here we've built this great online auction and no one's coming over, can't they see we're better?" I know we weren't the first ones to create an online auction but we are the ones who are committed to making online auctions better.
Some people ask "Why should we sell on your site when there are others where I can list my items on for free?" That's just it…if you think they will always be free, you're dreaming. First of all they probably will not be around long, and if they survive they may do what others have done and raise rates after you become successful. Think about this� If you were the most powerful market place in the world and somebody started to really compete in the market place, it might be smart to help create or fund a bunch of free listing sites to divide and conquer that competition. Remember, if nobody else is successful, sellers would have to swallow their pride and go back to where the better sell-thru rate is. However…
Can you imagine if everyone became a founding member of OnlineAuction.com? There would no longer be any individual listing fees or final value fees (commissions). You would have the ability to sell everything you own for one flat yearly fee. It will revolutionize the online auction world forever.
We're not saying we're perfect�yet. But we are striving daily to better serve our members' needs. We have many upgrades scheduled to handle all of the traffic that we have been getting from our new members. Site improvements are taking place�for instance our bulk up-loader and off-line listing tools are being improved and other programs are being written. United we stand. Divided is not an option. If you are really fed up with having to pay outrageous listing fees and being controlled by a site that makes you work harder without creating more benefits for you, the people who helped build them, then join us and help build the world's greatest online auction site. If we stand together, WE ALL WIN!
I know most of you have tried listing on other sites, so why should you believe this is the one that's going to prove successful? Numbers don't lie. If you do the math, we are the ones with a solid plan. Remember, the first one million Founding Members are going to list their items for only $196.00 the first year and then $96.00 per year thereafter for the rest of their lives. (or until they quit) If everyone banded together and helped to promote our Founding Member program, we would have our one million Founding Members. This would generate $196 million to help promote and grow our site. All of you who are tired of paying too much to list an item should become Founding Members. If we all band together we will build the world's best online auction.
Remember: Our competition may be an online auction. Together we are ONLINE AUCTION OnlineAuction.com.
Thank you and May God bless us all.
From Adios ebay Word of mouth has got to be killing their new seller signups too.
And, if a new seller for some reason, hasn't heard what's going on and they visit the message boards before posting the first listing I doubt the they would follow through on it.
There are so many furious sellers out there out there that are really resenting the scab sellers.
I don't see the scamming of sellers going away for a very long time.
It's not safe to sell or shop there anymore.
They tapped into something they shouldn't have and it will be a long term major league PR disaster.
I just heard Onlineauction.com is accelerating in putting in new servers too to handle the influx of new sellers signing up there.
From Valerie Stacy, effective dates haven't been made really clear and there is alot of confusion.
I know the fee increases and free gallery goes into effect on Feb 20th. I also know the feedback changes go into effect May 2008 but don't know the exact date.
I'm guessing that Pay Pal and Best Match will kick in in May 2008 too, but I'm not sure.
From Rob LA i pay ebay every month about 2000-2600$
and 800$ a month to paypal!
3 years ago, i was paying 1600$ a month and seeing 4x the traffic and my sales where 6 times more with 50 hits per auction.
Now im lucky if i get 10 hits an auction!!!! im paying more and getting a hell of a lot less.
Im no longer listingn this week. for the first time i 4 years i am SERIOUSLY ACTIVELY SEEKING another alternative!!!
over 4 years i have paid ebay and paypal well over 140,000$ in fees.
its time to stop and once im done, im NEVER EVER COMING BACK. im a power seller. i work hard and just get taken every year.
From RW Cols, OH Please see this thread: http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000650483&tstart=0&mod=1203473774116 . We caught them doing this to sellers last night. Read the whole thread as there is an effort to make it appear a fraud – then verification of the actual ocurrence comes in. Let me be clear a 4 in speed of shipping is termed "quickly" by ebay.
This link goes to the thread in Seller Central where ebay verifies they were "beta testing" a 'new design" on buyers. The pink (ebay employee) comes in and verfies this (page 11). http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=2000520439&tstart=0&mod=1203486229558
THIS is the type of abuse they expect us to pay for! It is THESE types of changes we are vehemently against. The FB issue is merely a smokescreen to hide these horrendous abuses they have tied-in to the DSR (Detailed Star Ratings) system instituted last May. Ebay's teminology in the DSR system tells buyers a 4 = Quickly Shipped and a 5 is "Very Quickly". DSR ratings will also be tied into one's placement in the search results.
PLEASE CNN, investigate all the shenanigans going-on behind these changes and don't fixate on the FB issue alone. It was upsetting to hear JW be kinda snarky about it on-air today! Regular people's livlihoods are at stake because a megacorp has become to greedy for its own good and has begun to cannibalize the backbone of its operation. There is a HUGE story here if you guys care to look for it!Please, show some concern for your viewers, many of which are ebay sellers.
From Jack Baytown,TX I have cracked the code
GodBay wants the bad buyer to continue to buy and destroy sellers so they GodBay can make a profit at the seller’s expense.
When a good seller get a few neg's from crack head buyers then decent buyers don't buy from them, what will the seller do? Lower there price! This is the master plan to get more buyers due to the lower item cost
Bottom line, increased cost to sell at lower prices to buyers!
Hide and watch
I have been GodBay free since 2/3/08
17 Day and counting
From Jon, Surrey, BC So did any of these alternative websites work for any of you? I think not. There are loads of listings on those sites but there are no buyers. Completly pointless.
Honesty….eBay is still the best auction site and they are not out of it and they won't be any time soon. It's just with these changes, the "game" has changed. We need to revise our business model to accomodate these changes.
With this fee increase, it's now more important than ever to create your own site. But, you still have to list on eBay because eBay has tons of traffic. What you need to do is slowly direct that traffic to your own site. Now that's easier said than done since eBay prohibits sellers from listing links on auctions. However, there are ways around it and you just have to experiment and be more creative.
In regards to the new feedback system, it's not a big deal since it applies to everyone. You just can't sell bullcrap like wholesale lists on eBay anymore since that would guarantee negative feedback. But if you are selling legit items and you are not charging a fortune on shipping, chances are you should be fine. Of course, there are always some really nasty bidders. But you can blacklist them, eBay has increased the bidder block list from 1000 to 5000. If you join sites like http://www.rottenbidders.com, you can download their databases of "rotten" bidders that sellers have had problems with….you can also search to see if your current bidder is on their list of "rotten" bidders, if so you might want to cancel the bid…of course you can also submit really nasty bidders you have had problems with. See….there are people out there trying to solve problems instead of quitting.
Don't quit!! By quitting you are simply giving other sellers less competition. A profit can still be made, you just have to be smarter.
From bernadette elizabeth city nc As an e-by seller, all of my 3500 items are " on vacation" and not available.
This is a financial hardship for me, as ebay charges me between $400-$800 per month, including just under $550 this month (I just got the statement), and I will still have to pay that, not to mention the charges paypal has already gotten.
I also know there are lots of boycotters out there for which it is a bigger hardship than it is for me.
IT'S WORTH IT!!
Ebay is like every other corporation- they will take all they can get. Their employees are rewarded for making the company money, and they will work thier tails off to do it. Of course they do, and rightly so. They are not paid to care about the sellers that are working hard at this just to make barely enough to live on (if that).
We have to stand up for ourselves, because no-one else will.
Ebay will ignore us if they can, for as long as they can. But when they realize it is hurting their bottom line too, and I know they will, they will respond.
ebay has, and will try to skew the stats. But I can easily see when I search for the kind of items that I buy & sell, the listings are WAY DOWN.
I'M GLAD I'M NOT TRYING TO SELL THIS WEEK, AS I'D JUST BE GIVING IT AWAY ANYWAY. Sellers aren't buying, and more buyers are pledging not to buy every minute.
Tomarrow we will be harder to ignore, and that might be the day that dawns on them that there is a limit to how much sellers can take before we pick up our toys and take them somewhere else-
ONE SELLER AT A TIME.
From scowley UPDATE FROM FSB/CNNMONEY
We're tagging along to see if the boycott is having an effect; today's update is posted now: EBay boycott begins, to uncertain effect.
Do people actually have a clear idea of when the various changes — feedback, PayPal, Best Match, etc — take effect? Do we need a story doing a rundown of those dates, or has it been made clear internally to sellers?
-Stacy (FSB Web editor)
From Monica S., Pocatello, Idaho I am actually a buyer on Ebay and have never sold anything. Still, this change has also annoyed me highly. First of all, I love having my 100% feedback from the people that I've bought from! It's always been something for me to be proud of! Ebay taking that away annoys me very much! And second, even more annoying, is them hiding the listings from sellers with less than a 95% feedback from me! I will make my own decisions on whether or not I want to buy something from someone! A lot of the items I want are a bit obscure and lessening the chance of me finding these things just because Ebay wants to treat me like a child and protect me when I am perfectly capable of protecting myself? Not something that makes me happy at all. I will be observing the strike, and possibly taking my business elsewhere because of this mess. Thank you Ebay for ruining something that I've enjoyed so much.
From Martha in KY I just set up a new 'buyer' account on eBay and am buying up a bunch of stuff from non-striking powersellers. eBay only required my new, fake eMail address!
I never realized how much fun it can be to shop with no intention of paying! Two sellers are already shipping COD to a randomly chosen restaurant's address in a big city: they are NOT going to be happy!!
I will deserve every nasty, negative feedback my useless new account gets! I will demonstrate how much havoc a deliberate bad buyer can wreak before eBay budges to protect sellers!! Sure: awful behavior on my part and it's giving me insight into the BAD buyers I have fallen victim to!!
Have you, as a seller, been ripped off, like we've been? Was eBay even sympathetic enough to offer to refund their fees?? Absolutely NOT@!
I will lose sleep, but my point remains: sellers NEED the feedback system to warn each other about bad buyers every bit as much as buyers need the system to help protect themselves against bad sellers.
eBay's painting this picture of all buyers as little angels is WRONG!
eBay's never-ending attack against s/h charges is wrong, too! eBay fees are part of our 'h' and will be increased. If we include eBay fees in our purchase price, then eBay charges commission on its own fees: when eBay grabs 10% from a $100 sale, then the 'sold' price is $90; so, should the seller pay $10 to eBay or move $9 to s/h? eBay fees are part of our 'h!', which PayPal again double-dips and taxes the eBay fees! 'FREE' shipping makes eBay SUPER happy!, and shows that a seller does not understand the math as well as eBay's blood-thirsty accountants do. eBay's vampirish war to triple-dip fees is a MAJOR source of buyer distrust of sellers and an equal or greater source of distrust of eBay's ethics by sellers! If eBay wants sellers to have good ethics, then eBay should lead as a less greedy example! The movie 'THE CORPORATION' makes a good case that eBay is a psychopath – incapable of moral ethics and ONLY focused on sucking up cash.
I have not heard anybody compliment eBay's choice to remove all neutral & negative feedback left when users are removed from or leave eBay. This feedback 'cleansing' should downgrade retaliation concerns from both buyers and sellers. I like this proposed change real well! We've had EVIL buyers who have earned our negative and have celebrated when they're 'no longer registered.' We'd've been happier if their feedbacks had been removed!
I disagree with the seller leaving feedback 1st: the sellers job is not done until the buyer says he/she is happy, and can NOT make a statement before the whole story unfolds! Good sellers do 24-hour babysitting! I agree with most seller reasoning I've read and add one that I've not heard mentioned:
We have several thousand feedbacks and 100% once the 12-month rule kicks in – this is NOT easy, given the number of nut-case buyers we deal with each week. We DID leave 1st feedback early on and only 1 in 5 buyers returned the favor, which is in line with how Amazon buyers behave. In NOT leaving 1st feedback, 1 of 2 buyers leave feedback. When you've busted your butt and done 5000 sales, do you settle for 1000 feedbacks or have you EARNED the 2500. How about if eBay leaves an automatic positive if the buyer has not left feedback once their time to do so expires? I would appreciate the 5000 that I've truly earned! Feedback is not a big issue for, in my observation, roughly half of buyers on eBay. They just want their item, prompt and as advertised, in a hassel-free manner and that's what a good seller's job is.
From Annie FL YES, if there was a site that was set up PROPERLY!!!! I am furious with all these auction sites that have teeny text that cannot be adjusted. This is so brainless it makes me wonder about the entire SYSTEM: what else are they doing wrong that they don't even have a CLUE?? Do they think everyone can read 5 point text? What about older people? What about handicapped people with poor eyesight? What about people on laptops with a small monitor? What about ME with a 19" monitor set at medium resolution 1100 (by something) and I still cannot SEE the teeny light gray text on all their menus, even when I change my monitor settings to lower resolution?? Light GRAY is for GHOSTING. Not for reading!!! How can anyone relax and browse auctions in an evening, when they have to have their nose ON the monitor in order to see the words. Sheesssh, you'd think they could make it pleasant to VISIT their sites. This is VERY frustrating. Of the Top TEN sites, only three have text that is adjustable to a comfortable level for my NORMAL eyes: Ebay, Bidville and Wagglepop. Bidville is a nice site for many reasons but it's intolerably SLOW. And Wagglepop, I can't really tell if it's fast or not because there's hardly anything there to slow it down. SO that's it. What are my options?? Ebay isn't an option either, as far as I'm concerned. THe horror stories are already beginning, as if it hasn't been HORRIBLE enough with buyers lately. Even off of ebay they don't think they need to respect any merchants anymore. Thanks a lot ebay!!! I've been online selling for more than ten years. I would THINK that in TEN years, all these auction sites could set up a SENSIBLE system. Yahoo!! They had a good auction. It really was very nice. Yooooo HOOOOOOO!!!! Yahoo!!! Do you hear me CALLING YOU????? How difficult would it be for you to plug in your equipment??
From EO, Long Island, New York eBay's under-handed way of changing the fee structure is what bothers me the most. Cut upfront cost and double and triple the Final value fees? We are therefore paying more than ever!! Shame on you eBay!
From Joanne Mayville, WI Don't forget about that stupid Best Match. Even if fees weren't raised and you could leave feedback, you still have the possibility of paying them and never having your item seen by a buyer.
From UNHAPPY CAMPER N.O.L.A. WHAT HAPPENED E-BAY ??? THESE ARE THE GOOD OLD DAY E-MAILS:December 30, 1999
Dear eBay Community:
With my responsibilities, I don't get the chance to talk to you on a regular basis about the issues impacting our community. But as this year draws to a close, I did want to take a few moments to reflect with you on some of the events of 1999 and to talk to you about our vision for 2000.
1999 was a phenomenal year of growth for eBay. Consider this. In the third quarter of 1998, we were at 1.3 million registered users, 9.2 million items listed and $195 million in gross merchandise sales. One year later, we climbed to 7.7 million registered users, 36.2 million items listed and gross merchandise sales topped $741 million.
These numbers are testimony to what has been accomplished together with you, our users. I believe that together we have helped expand the boundaries of Internet commerce. I believe that together we have helped to dramatically change the way that people buy and sell collectible and non-collectible merchandise. And I believe that eBay has helped people achieve success on their own terms.
1999 will also be remembered as the year that someone actually broke the 10,000 Feedback Rating and became eBay's first "Shooting Star."
The year was not without its challenges, however. We experienced some tough times with issues like site stability and policy changes that upset some of you. Your loyalty to eBay has been incredible, and I want you to know how grateful I personally am to you – our community members – for having stood by us through all of this. These experiences were difficult for all of us, but they helped me remember something very important – something I learned when I first joined eBay in 1998.
eBay is about people. It's about finding success on your own terms. It's about giving people the freedom to work for themselves, to supplement their income and even to generate their own income through trading on eBay. It changes the way people do business. It changes lives. I was reminded frequently this year that everything we do makes a difference to all the people in the eBay community. And it's a tremendous responsibility.
A member recently wrote to me and said, "The amazing fact is eBay has done something that has never been done and with no owner's manual, guide book, or mentor. Now you're the model others are emulating." His words really struck me. Yes, what we're doing is pioneering, and we will have challenges for 2000…
Site Stability
As we have said many times before, Site Stability is our Number One Priority. We spent the greater part of this year focused on implementing a high-availability system. In November, we put this high-availability system in place in addition to having the "warm backup". While this system will not prevent all future problems, it is most certainly a tremendous step toward improving site availability. We will continue to provide you information on our progress in this area through periodic Tech Updates.
We understand that the availability of eBay is vital to your businesses, your livelihoods, your hobbies and your fun. We believe our efforts to stay ahead of the growth curve are paying off. We have achieved significant performance and capacity improvements. We feel that we are exiting the year far stronger, and we will keep building strength from here.
Customer Support
In an effort to meet the growing needs of the eBay community, we more than doubled the size of our Customer Support staff in 1999. We improved our Customer Support training and quality assurance programs to ensure that our representatives better understand your needs as traders on eBay. We believe that these initiatives have helped us greatly reduce the response times and the quality of our responses to you. Additionally, we launched a major initiative to track and to improve your satisfaction with our performance in this area. We plan to share the results of these surveys later in January.
I believe that we have made great strides in Customer Support, and I am confident that we will continue to improve in this area next year. Like you, I am looking forward to the launch of Online Customer Support in 2000. Working together, I am sure we can make this a huge success.
Features, Functionality and Services
In addition to making system improvements in 1999, we also added features and services to help you trade more easily at eBay – Gallery and Gallery Search, Mister Lister 2.0, Personal Shopper, My eBay, About Me, and One-Time Credit Card Payments, among others. In June, we launched an improved User Interface to help you find information on the site more easily. We also told you about iEscrow, Insurance, iShip, and E-Stamp to help you trade more easily and quickly and about eBay-a-go-go to get eBay updates wherever you go. And we acquired a company called Billpoint and launched a new program to help facilitate payments between buyers and sellers at eBay.
Throughout the year, we worked to make eBay a safer place for trading. We clarified our policies on permissible items, on Feedback and selling requirements, including the credit card requirement for new sellers. Our plan for 2000 is to continue refining our features and services to help you trade more easily, efficiently and safely at eBay.
Categories and Expansion
During the last year, we have endeavored to make eBay a more vibrant marketplace by entering new trading regions. We expanded the number of categories for buying and selling on eBay, going from about 1,500 categories to nearly 3,000 over the year. I have been intrigued and amazed at all the unique trading areas that have popped up at eBay, like nodders and flue covers! But I believe that these new categories are a testament to our wide-ranging interests and to the uniqueness of all things eBay.
We expanded to reach new areas of the world – including the United Kingdom, Australia and Germany. We also entered regional markets to help bring trading closer to your hometown – Atlanta, Philadelphia, Houston, Denver and a host of other locales across the country.
We also entered new trading areas to add to the variety of items in the marketplace. In April, we announced the acquisition of Butterfield & Butterfield. And in September, we launched Great Collections – a new area of eBay devoted to fine antiques, art and rare collectibles. We also announced the acquisition of Kruse to help build an area of eBay devoted to cars.
The Year 2000 should find us well established in these new areas. And who knows what new collecting areas you will bring to eBay!
The eBay Foundation™
We also continued our work with the eBay Foundation™ to help build communities in the real world. This year, the Foundation made about 20 grants to local and global organizations, such as The Odyssey, a group that uses the Internet to promote global awareness among youth. The eBay Foundation™ won two major awards for charitable giving, one from the National Society of Fundraising Executives and another from the Community Foundation Silicon Valley. I am very proud of the continuing charitable work of the Foundation.
As the new millennium approaches, I did want to tell you that I feel privileged to be a part of eBay. I am proud of what we have been able to build together in the last year. And I look forward to continuing to work with you to build the world's greatest personal trading community.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
Regards,
Meg
From 9yearPOWERSELLERNOW REGULARON STRIKE FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH ,I JUST RESPONDED TO AN E-BAY E-MAIL ABOUT AN ITEM THAT WAS KICKED OFF 5-6 DAYS AGO FOR SUPPOSEDLY NOT BEING AUTHENTIC CIVIL WAR ERA . IT TOOK THEM 5 DAYS TO TELL ME I COULD RE-LIST IT OR HAVE IT AUTHENTICATED BY ONE OF THEIR POWER AUCTION PEOPLE . I JUST RESPONDED I MAY DO THAT AFTER THE STRIKE IS OVER FOR E-BAY'S UN-FAIR POLICIES. I AGREE , THE STRIK IS NOT LONG ENOUGH TO HURT THEM . THOSE WITH OTHER INCOME SHOULD FIND ALTERNATIVES AND THOSE WITHOUT , TEST THE WATERS . ONLY LIST 5 ITEMS YOU KNOW WILL SELL ANYHOW . NOT 200 . THIS IS GATHERING MOMENTUM BUT MAY BE OVER BEFORE HALF THE POPULACE HEARS ABOUT IT .
From leo There is a lot of good coverage regarding this issues on this blog
http://thenostalgicnugget.blogspot.com/
From mm, Oregon Maybe we could try ~
eBay @
1 ~ 800 ~ 717 ~ 3229
From ben, dallas, texas Everyone can leave feedback here:
ebayfeedbackforum.blogspot.com
From DM ; Philadelphia, PA RE: WW in Oregon comments
COMPROMISE!
What a Great Concept!
This is one of the best suggestions I have seen offered on this blog since its inception!
I believe what you propose would work for all!
How can we help to get it implemented?
I will continue to offer my support of the boycott and will not be listing or buying on ebay.
From Mary Anne, Birmingham, Michigan Well, today I dealt with my first fallout from these new Ebay changes. I sold something. The buyer blatantly lied about it's condition and wanted a complete refund. I received my items back today and not one thing they said about it was true. I think she had sellers remorse for bidding so high. Now, she can do that. Now, buyers can bid on any number of items and keep the one they paid the least for. We sellers are at their mercy and Ebay could care less. I bet if there was one site that was set up properly right now, a large group of Ebayers would move in a heartbeat. I know I would. I am trying some smaller sites to see how they work. Ebay should be ashamed. They have what they have because of the sellers.
From topseller For all you naysayers, look at the Math that has been admittedly clouded by the .20 listing sale last week:
Listings averaged around 12.3 million the few weeks BEFORE the listing sale.
The listing sale added approx 3.6 million listings.
If you assume 10% of those sale listings sold BUY IT NOW that would mean the CURRENT listings total is affected positively by about 3.2 listings.
If you SUBTRACT the 3.2 Million sale listings from the day ending [2/19] 14.1 Million listings it would leave 10.9 Million listings.
This would be a 10.1 decrease in the number of non-sale listings on average over the last month.
Lots of numbers but look like Ebay is feeling us…at least THIS WEEK.
From mm, Oregon It just seems that eBay has grown into
two distinct parts that need to have rules addressing them each with regard to their individual dynamics.
To attempt to squeeze both of these very different business styles into a
one size fits all set of regulations
IS NOT GOOD BUSINESS! hello?
Come on how about alittle COMMON SENSE?
Isn't the goal to grow together?
Not run right over each other?
THERE ARE POSITIVE OPTIONS eBAY!
If eBay were to be measured by their own feedback system how would they fare?
From topseller 1) I find it interesting that the listings count was dropping on a predicable curve until between 3AM and 10AM ET this morning when it spiked UP 40000 listings. Since when is THAT time in the middle of the night on Tuesday the optimum time to be listing on Ebay? Go To: http://www.medved.net/cgi-bin/cal.exe?EIND and click on the date.
2) Don't forget tomorrow the 7 day auctions that were listed as a result of the listing sale Ebay had on the 13th will end. So the big drop in listings will be expected. Thursday will hold the tale of the tape.
From John Breckenridge, Andover, Ks. I as a buyer only, will join the boycott starting tomorrow February20, 2008, I have many good friends as sellers. I purchase at leasdt something every week. Already I have watched how much more difficult it has become just to buy items, and the biggest problem has been PayPal, we take your first $2000, then let you down because of the PayPal paying requires one to register, so I work with sellers to use other options, none of Pay Pals business about my bank account. So I will support the seller 100% as long as it takes.
From mm, Oregon Here is a concept no one has brought up and one that might be worth while to consider:
A two part eBay!
One like the original, geared for the smaller sellers with quality items and
a second with all the new aspects they
are proposing.
Then let the sellers and buyers thrive in the atmosphere that best suits them.
eBay 1 or eBay 2
It would be a win/win for all.
There is no need to bring an end
to what was working for so many.
How about some Compromising ~ eBay?
You do not have to alienate the old sellers and buyers in your projected hopes of new sellers and buyers…
What in the world are you thinking?
The whole concept of a world wide market place is just one of the best concepts! Especially with the economy
going thru the changes that it is experiencing. This was one of the
few places an individual could respectfully be independent and part of a greater whole at the same time.
The multiple fee changes and the proposed feedback and PayPal changes
are rendering sellers impotent and powerless in their own stores.
EBay really thinks this is going to be an improvement? How? For Whom?
From Tami, Winston Salem, NC This boycott isn't long enough. Ebay has its sellers right where it wants us, and there's not enough traffic on other sites.
It really stinks that what started out as a company offering folks a way to buy/sell, especially the disabled or those that couldn't find/do other work, a way to help support theirselves. Ebay was making a profit then, and a huge profit now. I wish Google would step up and start an alternative site with some exposure.
From Dave Garrett,IN It seems there is a struggle going on between Ebay and the US Post Office on which one can get the biggest piece of the pie.Its pricing by attrition.The fees will continue to rise rappidly by both as long as enough people continue to BUY & SELL on Ebay.A change in the Balance Sheet is the only thing corporate America ever understands!
From Jane, Colorado. WMB
Thanks for that link, maybe we should all call our local stations.
From Joe, Kansas City, MO I have been a buyer on ebay for over 3 years. I have a 100% rating. I have been following the changes that ebay has made. I was just a few days away from starting to sell on ebay – I was actually looking forward to it. What they have done is business suicide. I am leaving ebay as of today and will be taking both my purchasing and my selling items elsewhere.
From Richard, Los Angeles, CA eBay does NOT CARE about sellers whether they can leave -ve feedback or not.
For as long as there are sellers selling and buyers buying on eBay, they will make a deal out of it. That is her bottom line.
Unless the strike is massive – we want it to be massively affecting the revenue of eBay – this strike could be a noise to eBay.
We shall make this strike BIG and boycott eBay extensively.
eBay won't listen to anyone except for the stock price or share holders.
From Jacqueline, Benicia CA Historically, any time one segment of the population does not have an equal voice, it opens the door to all manner of abuse from the population that has the upper hand and broader voice. And, the Ebay community is no different. Sellers not able to leave feedback, open themselves to the potential of both verbal battery, slander and abuse from unscrupulous buyers (and there are many). Ebay leadership has already set a demeaning prescident when it was stated that the people taking issue with the new policies were making "noise". This clearly shows that Ebay has no interest in fairness, equity, or protection of the selling community (their bread and butter). That the prevailing mindset has already been established from the top, is an additional concern in terms of the direction of the company. Personally, I feel that it exibits a complete lack of foresight, and reeks of unabashed greediness. There is nothing wrong with making a profit. However, when it becomes exploitative in nature, when those in charge don't listen or afford protection and equity, alternatives must be explored. This will be a boon to the first to see and respond to those of us now seeking a viable alternative auction platform.
It is the hope of all of us who honor the strike that Ebay will acknowledge that its foundation was established on the backs of grass roots, mom & pop, homegrown small businesses, and when they turn their backs on the population that built their company, they will in effect be turning their backs on themselves and in the end it will be their undoing.
We ask that you please join us in the Ebay boycott this week.
From Anna in TN I've already started moving my inventory little by little over to eBid.net. I've paid one flat rate for a LIFETIME, no fees to list and you only pay if it sells on incidentals like gallery. If you catch them now they are running a special on that lifetime membership at $49.99 (half off)- I think they are trying to grab the eBay sellers who want a way out of eBay. I'm hoping I have warned my buyers enough in advance to have them follow me that I'm closing up shop…. This PowerSeller who has found other avenues is closing up shop.
From WMB, Texas ATTENTION!!!CHECK OUT THIS NEWS STORY SHOWN TWICE IN COLORADO!!!
EBAY BOYCOTT
http://www.9news.com/video/player.aspx?aid=48703&bw=
EBAY You Want NOISE ???
YOU GOT IT. Thanks Colorado News.
From Powersellersforum,Staffordshire UK I’ve really got to question the thinking behind this.
Why would a self employed person go in strike? Who is going to feel the effect most from that action?
If these sellers can not cope with the change, then maybe ebay is not the best venue for them. It’s ebay’s site and ebays rules. We’ve all signed, and agreed to the T&C’s that say that they can change the rules as and when they want, and whilst we are playing with their ball, in their court, then we have to stick with it. If people want to leave, then that is their prerogative, but ebay has the biggest court to play on, and at the moment I am still happy to pay the price.
What I am thinking though, is what will the striking sellers do after the strike? Come back to eBay, tail betwixt legs and saying very little? Surely any action should be a continual process until change or conformity is achieved.
I’m not denying that ebay are without fault, far from it, but I just do not see the purpose in the strike in the way it has been organised.
Teddies are out of the pram, but on the 25th, it looks like they’ll all be quietly put back in again.
http://www.powersellersforum.com
From Julie, Minneapolis, MN Nice of ebay to claim that the BUYERS on ebay are their "customers." In more than 500 transactions on ebay as a buyer, I've never had to give ebay a dime, but I'll bet the sellers I've purchased from have paid a pretty penny! Join in the boycott, do NOT buy or sell on ebay until they fix what is broken!
foffebay.com
From Joyce, Stamford, CT I too am sick at what is happening on Ebay and I found a possibility of a relief. A possibility of a true fair Auction site. Visit
http://www.squidoo.com/NOTEBAY
From Joanne Mayville, WI Member PlanB posted yesterday that ebay added Australia and UK counts to the US counts. If true, this would explain why there is no significant overall drop.
I put some of my favorite sellers' things on my watch list before the boycott. The selling prices were and are increasingly criminally low, one-bid minimums. Before the boycott started, there were over 16,800 listings for Victorian fine jewelry, now there are less than 6,000. And that includes the reproduction stuff and listings from Canada, Israel, England, China, and Australia that I could see just on the first couple of pages. I was careful to just look at the search results, not to go look at the actual listings, as I don't want to add to the views.
So I do see an impact of the boycott, both on the number of listings (at least in this category) and on the low low bids on items that are just about to end–when compared to a typical Tuesday mid-day.
Let's hear about how you think your own main cat seems to be affected by the boycott at this point.
Copied from a PSU forum. How utterly deceitful of feebay. LOL
From Anonymous The arrogance of eBay on this issue is almost unbelieveable. Who in their right mind would think these changes would improve business?
From Tiffany I have made my move!! I have gone to onlineauction.com. I am also in the process of finishing my website with Draknet.net. Wonderful webhosting service. I will spend thousands less going through them then ebay. Launching http://www.sunshineandbutterflies.com either by the end of the day today or this week. Until then it is redirected to ebay, so don't support it until it is switched over!!
From Starla Fayetteville NC It is ridiculous to not allow negative feedback on the buyer. It is offering the power of the transaction fully to the buyer as well as bribery tactics.
What moron from EBAY put that into place? I am off to ECRATES.COM
From Karen, Loveland, Colorado I guess I'm in the minority here. As a low quantity, low cost seller, I will actually be ahead of the game. Plus, I'm more likely to list items of a low value since I won't have that much of a loss if they don't sell.
However, I do not like the notion at all that I cannot leave negative feedback. My feedback usually consists of specifics of the amount of time it took the buyer to pay. Why shouldn't I be able to give negative feedback when it takes 3 weeks, multiple emails, and a couple of phone calls to get paid? What was eBay thinking?
From BILL General Motors Dealers do not pay e bay a dime to post their used car ads ON E BAY . Who is paying you ask the Little guy WHO ELSE
From Mitch North Little Rock AR I am joinging the Strike, wwwarmysurplusmajor is my handle, tired of ebay's arrogance, they have come along way but still have further to go. If all the other auction sites united they could topple ebay, just takes one company to buy out ALL the others and combine, you would think one of the pinheads at microsoft would have that idea. They could finally get a strangle hold on google and do it for a fraction of what YAHOO costs. Sometimes you cant see the forest through the trees.
From Kyle Archer Orlando Florida I WILL NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE STRIKE – I LOVE EBAY!!! That is what this ebay POWER SELLER (chrismanart) is saying when he decided to ignore the strike and continue to list his items on ebay. You would think a power seller with THOUSANDS of item listed already would have the decency to support fellow ebayers during this strike. It is sellers like CHRISMANART who think they are above everyone else. I say let's boycott these BIG POWER SELLERS who boycott the strike. Send them an email and let them know we don't approve.
From Jeffrey, Palo Alto, CA CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST EBAY:
http://www.hagens-berman.com/eBay_classaction.htm;jsessionid=axSi-6yY8K-6
From CLS, Maine It seems to me that the majority of eBay sellers don't realize that the customer service they are providing is sub par. Where else do you find sellers who fight so hard to publicly berate their own customers. Buyers are going elsewhere, and I think the changes eBay is making will help weed out the bad sellers and leave the good ones.
I think serious sellers will see the boycott as an advantage. It will help get rid of some of the sellers that are causing them to lose buyers.
From Cheri Denver Colorado There is now no doubt in my mind that ebay is trying to force off all the small sellers…look at this auction……..330211950026………their DSR for shipping is 4 out 5 and there is a red warning sign on their auction…..when you buy something and rate it a 4 for shipping time it says quickly……..when you rate it a 4 for cost it says reasonable……buyers are being misled in the ratings and sellers are being slaughtered by ebay…….I quit once and for all after 8 years!
From SLC, California Correction on last post: it is ecrater.com
:D
From SLC, California On some recommendation – I checked out and then set up my shop at eCrates. It's WONDERFUL! The system is easy to use and maintain. It does take some time to do the initial set up – but once the frame of the shop up, it's easy to add your wares.
You do have to work harder to put your name out there, but after I announced my shop at online communities with like-interests, LiveJournal Comms, etc – I've already gotten sales. Think of it this way – all the listing $ and commissions that you save from eBay, use a fraction of that and buy ad space at a popular hub and you still will make out.
This is one ex-powersellf of eBay who will never go back. Ever.
From Jamie St Lucie,Fl Sellers check out http://www.sellmyinventory.com
From Cravin Moorehead Denver Colorado Same old stuff from ebay. No real customer service and ever increasing fees that are presented as a benefit to sellers and not the blatant increase they actually are.
The essence of impersonal corporate greed. The perfect example of what is wrong with making ever more profits the absolute and sole goal of existence.
I walked and I am now making more money than I did on that glorified online yardsale!
NOBODY NEEDS THEM! VOTE WITH YOUR NAVIGATION AND SPENDING…JUST DO NOT GO THERE TO BUY OR SELL AT ALL!
From Adios ebay I want to add one other thing.
If you are getting promotional emails from scab sellers during this strike week -unsubscribe to their newsletters.
From Adios ebay They can pad those auction listing numbers all they want – and who would actually doubt they would not do such a thing(?)- but this week and the weeks to come will see their revenue drop significatly.
As smart sellers use their email list to introduce previous buyers to their new selling venues, buyers will get smart and realize they can get much better deals than can be found at ebay due to the excessive fees that sellers are constantly faced with.
The promotional wheels are in gear at other sites since all the new ex-ebay sellers are joining in to assist in sharing ideas and strategies.
In the coming weeks ebay will be a fool's paradise where you will simply end up paying more money for items just because it is "eBay". Dumb.
And, the atmosphere on the other sites, especially on the dicussion boards – postively refreshing. Onlineauction.com for instance. It's great. Not the nightmare that ebay's discussion boards have become.
I'm out of ebay and I sure won't miss it. And, a definetley won't miss paying those fees.
From SUBAT, Boston, Mass The silencing and concealment the previous poster mentioned (not technically censorship as only the government can censor) is nothing new. EBay empoloys a team of lawyers to silence user opposition to their policies, as a constituent of their monopoly status, and has done so for years. Sellers union sites have been harrassed and driven from the web since 1998. EBay personnel have called site hosts and advised that users be terminated at any sign of an effectively organized strike, let alone an effectively organized sellers' union, so Diggs is no surprise. This cannot be permitted to happen again. Strength in numbers is the only defense against a corporation like eBay.
<a href=""> This Sellers Union site is prepared to withstand the pressure and it's permanent. Any past OLASU (Online Auction Sellers Union) members should contact SUBAT. Some are there already and it's essentially just a new name for the same seller-resistance to eBay.
Newer eBay users, take it to heart: It is a legal right to organize and belong to a union.
A Company Policy is not a law, it's just a Company Policy.
There are 222 million eBay users but less than 15,000 eBay Inc. personnel, worldwide.
Do not be intimidated by them, they can't hurt you for simply speaking the truth.
The Internet, used effectively, can be the solution to the problem of the eBay monopoly.
WHAT TO DO NOW:
–Tell everyone you know about the situation of striking eBay sellers.
–Connect with protest sites that will survive an eBay Inc. attack, including beyond the 25th of February.
–Get your e-mail on the mailing lists and join campaings so that you cannot be isolated and intimidated by the Company.
–If you or anyone in your employ is contacted by eBay or its attorneys, preserve all records, correspondence, headers, and take notes of any calls, including dates, times, names and departments of the callers. Verbatim quotes are best.
–If your ISP terminates you account while pro-strike or pro-union material is its sole or primary content, demand an explanation for the termination in writing.
–If you are threatened directly by a representative of eBay, preserve all records scrupulously and contact SUBAT.
The eBay monopoly has become an issue of Internet freedom and the silencing of user dissent an issue of speech. They have come to rely upon our disorganiztion. If we unite against them effectivly they cannot silence 222 million people.
From mm, Oregon My simple observation is this:
eBay will only suceed if there is
~ B A L A N C E ~
for all three parties involved:
eBay ~ Sellers ~ Buyers
I will not be supporting a company
whose bottom line has become so
~ M I S G U I D E D ~
From Jeremy Boise, ID Ebays gotta help out the Gatsby's and let them keep getting richer, while the average joe has to pay all the fee's…Ebay's modeling after our American tax system!!! GO TOP 1%!!!
From Paul, Virginia Beach Rebellion is about eBay's new seller destroying changes too.
eBay was arrogant enough to trash a seller's reputation by using eBay's brand new selling format
http://ngvi.ebay.com/vi?ngvi&backtoid=1&ppsp=0&li=1&pdp=0&sspagename=STRK%3AMEBI%3AIT&dsr=0&item=330211950026&backto=http%3A%2F%2Fmy.ebay.com%2Fws%2FeBayISAPI.dll%3FMyeBay%26CurrentPage%3DMyeBayBidding%26ssPageName%3DSTRK%3AME%3ALNLK&pass=sT%2BfUzQ%2BXdhJ99MVsJ5UQwpVHQs%3D
And eBay didn't bother to tell the seller
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=2000520439&start=400
sushetty@ebay.com Feb-18-08 21:18 PST 406 of 439
Hi everybody,
My name is Subha and I can help answer some questions you may have about the new design we are testing.
1) We are testing in US and UK for 0.25% and 2% of our users respectively. Due to this extremely small volume, we decided to not do a broad announcement, however if you are a Voices member, they should've received an email notification of this test before it began, plus have discussed this project with them a few times. Again, only if users are in the test can they see the new design, any clicking on the ngvi.ebay.com url takes the user to the home page.
2) For the 1st two days of the test, we realize we had problems with the bidding and watch functionality and have corrected those.
3) We recognize that there still might be some performance issues in terms of speed and are working on this.
4) Regarding the questions you may have on the message we display for sellers such as "this seller has low ratings for shipping time, etc", this is something we are again testing with the goal of increasing the transparency to buyers regarding detailed seller ratings (DSRs) of sellers, especially when the DSRs are low.
Just FYI – henceforth, I will be consolidating my replies on the thread provided below, so if you have any more questions, pls direct them there.
Thanks much,
Subha
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
eBay has no problem playing with people. That new listing format could be YOU, NOW.
Boycott and spread the word.
From Orem, Utah After 9 years as an ebay seller I am knocking off for a week. I don't think I have had a week with no auctions in years but I will not list for awhile. The feedback and the Paypal money hold and forced Paypal is a horrible decision. Fees are already high enough but the rest ticks me off more.
From Chris, Dallas TX As a result of the Ebay fee increase I have created my own site. It is completely fee free. Stores are free, features are free, and everything else is free.
From Orem, Utah After 9 years on ebay this is the first boycott I am joining. I also set up an account at onlineauction.com where for a flat fee of $8.00 a month you can list an unlimited amount with NO FINAL VALUE FEES. If I can do O.K. there I may be gone alot longer. I listed my first 5 items there and bid on 2 today.
JVC
From Cindy, Parkland, FL OOPS! This is the CORRECT link!
http://www.hagens-berman.com/eBay_classaction.htm;jsessionid=axSi-6yY8K-6
From Jay Morgan, ebay id = darquestknight, Sherwood, AR I, for one (but most assuredly not for ONLY), am completely at a loss as to what comes next. I've worked my ass off, extra mile and all that, to get my feedback rating where it is now. I own a brick-and-mortar store that actually feeds my eBay store, and I've just opened accounts on Amazon and onlineauction.com. I just don't know what to do next. Move it all? "Permanent vacation" settings on my eBay store? Ebay's monopolistic approach to online "free enterprise" has already made them the target of a justified class action lawsuit (http://www.hbsslaw.com/files/Class_Action_Complaint_secured1178576984126.pdf),
but the hits just keep on coming. I am a father of two, husband to one, with 70+ hours a week invested in what I do to keep all that together. Now I'm being told that PayPal "may" hold my money for up to 21 days before I get paid? Geez, I wonder how much THAT'S going to generate in interest income for them!?! And one fraudulent claim means I don't get paid? So now it's going to be "we may take up to and/or over 21 days to ship your item, pending your ELECTRONIC PAYMENT clears"? Makes me want to go back to work for someone else. So much for my Tuesday "eBay listing, work-at home" days. Now, what am I gonna do with all these Yu-Gi-Oh cards?
From Karl,Texas Looks like eBay at it again,they are testing a new page layout….and a new feature to the DSRs.
It appears that once a sellers DSRs drop below a certain level they put a buyer warning in red on the page.Forum link below.
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=2000520439&tstart=0&mod=1203393614292
From Diane Los Angeles, CA I am a buyer and only a buyer and I had no idea about the kinds of fees Ebay was charging it's sellers. It is terrible. I will boycott Ebay this week and pay attention to what is going on and may continue to boycott afterwards. I will also think twice about using PayPal on other non-Ebay sites. Good Luck Ebay sellers!!!!!!!
From Pat Miller, Vancouver, WA Ebay is in dire need of competition. Ebay has become just another big parasitic stock, courting the large retailers, and fleecing the little sellers (who work very hard on their auctions for perfection). It is sad that ebay took the route to evict the little guy. It was the little guy that started it, and the big guns stepped in. The little guys will find another way. They always do. After all, it was the little guy that created you.
From collectselltrade.com ca. ok all, my sellers name is and was collectselltrade, I have been a seller and buyer….in the years past it was great…UNTIL greed took over, then paypal…..they robbed me in the past and I all but gave up with a sale here or there but nothing like i was doing,here is my current account listed rating
collectselltrade ( 737) Contact
Member since Sep-02-99 in United States
Feedback Score: 737
Positive Feedback: 99.1%
Members who left a positive: 744
Members who left a negative: 7
All positive Feedback: 843
Find out what these numbers mean
Recent Feedback Ratings (last 12 months)
1 month 6 months 12 months
Positive 0 0 0
Neutral 0 0 0
Negative 0 0 0
but to make it short ..SEND EBAY THIS LINK>>>EVERY ONE THAT IS SAD ABOUT THEM AND THE BAD ISSUES GOING ON..
let them pay some one to read the distaste from the source…the bread and butter of the CEO on down!
that is the best way for them to see and feel…the truth….every one send this link!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From cashflow420 All of the major rap cd sellers from siccness.net including me are joining in on this eBay boycott!
http://www.Cashflow420.com
From Murf Just joined SUBAT …we need to band together! Get on board!
From Patrick Q. Gulfport, MS I'm an eBay buyer, and I am supporting the boycott. I am horrified by the changes in feedback, along with eBay's bad attitude toward its customers. They are greedy. I now expect to see their monopoly crumble.
From WMB Texas I am adding a followup to my previous comment about the Diggs site. Took off Ebay forum. Ebay is Diggs top sponsor. They sensored the Blog. Not Right or Fair !!
CHECK IT OUT!!!
Just want to let everyone know that digg.com censored that story that people were linking too. It really bums me out! TOTAL BOGUS!
It got to the very top of the upcoming stories and was 70 diggs ahead of the post behind it, but when it would have normally moved onto the front page it just dissapeared out of the rankings POOF!
The page is still there but it is no longer ranked so it doesn't help much and will not ever be on the front page. It probably wont even turn up in the search now. We could try again but I bet they will censor us again.
Don't know if ebay advertises on digg but I'm sure it's NOT a coincidence.
Oh well, word got out ot a lot of people before it was censored. And it's getting out through a lot of different media sources. We have plenty more ways to spread the word!! Keep telling people and calling the newspapers!!!
You are absolutely right. WE GOT CENSORED BT DIGG! If you want to understand how we got censored on Digg.com HIT THIS LINK
http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2007/05/censorship-issues-continue-for-digg.html
They have been exposed for this several times in the last year. Their staff censors stories internally especially if you talk bad about one of their sponsors (which ebay is). That's why I quite using that site.
We don't have time to get distracted with them now though. Our beef is with ebay. Anyone who was working on that needs to just drop it and refocus themselves on another outlet.
START SPREADIN' THE NEWS
I'M LEAVIN' TODAY
GONNA MAKE A BRAND NEW START OF IT
OFF OLD EBAY
From Darrell Wright, Anderson, Indiana E-BAY is commiting suicide with their new changes!
Although I have not been on the site for as long as those boycotting the site, there is a common thread binding us together. (WHY SELL OUR STUFF FOR NOTHING AND GIVE ALL OUR EARNINGS TO E-BAY!)
Anyone in the resale business knows you will earn more money selling stuff in a yard sale or flea market than you can on E-Bay. At first E-Bay was flexible with their fees. A person could start a business on the site with little or no overhead; however, with this increase in fees, a person is better off renting a booth at a local Flea Market, or setting up a resale shop.
Many former E-Bayers I have talked to have stated that they have spent up to $25,000 on E-bay advertisements last year. For this cost many could have opened a local resale shop and paid the rent. Of course this was before E-Bay's new policies. If E-bays new polices are not stopped, many sellers could end up paying double the old amount to E-bay. This means less profit for the seller, and more profit for E-bay. Since most stuff featured on E-Bay sells for a fraction of the cost of most retailers, more sellers will feel the strain as they start selling items for the same cost as their wholesalers. In the end E-Bay will be required to change their policy, or face a site limited to wholesalers only.
From Patrick Flannigan, Tucson, Arizona I have been a 100% positive feedback seller for 7 years. The last items I've sold were land parcels and the fees tallied $65 for listing and $35 for final value. Lucky me, those fees are rising yet. Paypal fees are roughly 3% more. I have had mulitple non paying bidders (on $3,000- $4,000 auctions) and now I can't give them poor feedback! I've paid more than a fair share to ebay over the years.
goodbye.
From Jess,San Diego, CA SUBAT
SUBAT will begin work on the creation of a collectively owned and operated free people's on-line auction marketplace to ultimately replace eBay.com if 10,000 people vote 'YES, I'm fed up with FeeBay!' and JOIN NOW.
https://www.thepoint.com/campaigns/subat
From Carol Lancaster County PA After 10 years selling on eBay as my full time job, I believe eBay forgets where they came from. I pay higher and higher fees each year and while some services have increased—they, together with PayPal, still make a larger profit than I do—so my bookkeeper tells me. As to the new feedback policy, there has to be a better way than to have sellers "held hostage" and powerless over buyers who will threaten negative feedback as a means to manipulate sellers to their will. eBay needs to put more thought into a fair solution immediately.
From Jake Davidson, St Matthews, KY Google already has a paypal alternative, Google Checkout….Funny thing is, feeBay has BANNED Google Checkout as a method of payment for eBay auctions lol
From Rick Martinez, Los Angeles, CA. One again, management misses the mark. Follow the money. I (as a seller) am EBays customer, the buyer is my customer. I am the one who has to answer to the EBay community as to why I might have a negative remark. I am the one who has to answer to PayPal if someone has a complaint and wants to do a chargeback.
Likewise, EBay has to answer to ME (the seller) who has been selling on EBay for almost 10 years. I have had 1 negative comment in those 10 years after well over 500 transactions. Why did I even have 1? Because you can’t make 100% of the buying community happy 100% of the time. In this case I offered a refund and the buyer wanted the refund and keep the item. Last time I looked, you can’t walk into a store, demand a refund and walk back out with your money and your purchase in hand. Thus he left me a negative. By the way, this was on a non refundable item.
Between EBay’s parenting of my auctions (description is too vague, shipping charges don’t fall in with others etc), I have just about had it with EBay. What most people don’t understand is that EBay was built on more of a garage sale type attitude, not a Wal-Mart attitude. EBay is working at increase power sellers while alienating the mom and pop sellers that made them famous. Yes, Power sellers have a place otherwise they won’t sell there but the majority of the people are looking for those one of kind items, or close to new items.
I am proud to join the boycott and will continue well past this week.
From Greg, Lebanon, NH I am also a small buyer/seller with 100% Positive Feedback who will be joining the boycott. I don't have a store and am not a power seller, but I too am worried about the rogue buyers who will have free reign to scam me and ruin my standing. It has taken me several years to get where I am. I am honest and upfront with all people I sell to. Now someone can trash that it one or two auctions, with no recourse. I will be looking for other avenues. Thanks for all the idea's being put in here.
From Jen, NY A lot of people are forgetting that EBAY OWNS PAYPAL. In essence, every time an auction ends and the buyer pays with Paypal, they are getting a huge percent of the profits. Insertion fee, final value fee, and of course the Paypal fees… one recent item I sold I made $34 on while eBay/Paypal made $47. Screw you, eBay. We need to jump ship. I hope the guys over at Google will create an eBay/Paypal competitor.
From Cindy, Bedford, MA CNN missed the boat on this headline–the fees are only tip of the iceberg. Only a new CEO at eBay would not understand that eBay's "customer" is the seller–they are the only ones paying anything to eBay. The buyer is the sellers "customer". I think I can handle my customer base all by myself–they don't need any "help" from eBay. The new system is ridiculous—fee discounts for ratings that are impossible. I sell everything with totally free shipping and ship the next day and my shipping rating is only 4.7! Buyers aren't totally trustworthy with their feedback. You need a 4.9 to qualify for the discount–if shipping free isn't good enough what is? I am an honest seller with exceptional customer service, and yet I have met some really shady bidders. I should be able to honestly rate the scammers to warn other honest sellers. eBay you are biting the hand that feeds you. Don't be surprised when the only sellers left are oriental importers. The buyers will go where the sellers are–afterall that is what you based your business on.
From Carol, Kansas City, MO All for the boycott and for finding an alternative web site. I've done the math and I will experience a substantial fee increase. I have a very high sell through rate; sellers like will be paying ebay many additional dollars.
Here's the height of ebay's corporate greed: in Aug. 2007 ebay announced they would be granting $5,000 each to 10 charities at the end of Oct. 2007. Power sellers were able to nominate charities for the grants. As of yet no grants have been made. Emails to ebay have been ignored until this weekend when I got a power seller rep to tell me that decisions had been made but no announcements had been made. HUH? What are they waiting for? It was stipulated by ebay that one had to be a power seller when the announcements were made or the nomination would not count; just another sales promotion?
From len "Hi, I also am putting my store on vacation. As soon as my last auction is over. I probally will stay on vacation, till the end of Feb. I stand behind the boycott 100%. There comes a time in a person life, when they have to take a stand.
This would be the prefect time, for someone or a group of people, to start a auction site like ebay. Let their sellers bring all their feedback & customers over to the new site. I’m not talking ioffer or the other sites. I find those other sites have system flaws"
Do you realize the work/ time / money involved and exposure it takes to get a site up to par???? I have been on ebay over 9 years, silver level..you can find me at ecrater and buyitsellit..busy building, but both software programs ARE 100% FREE and work very well.
If you have decent items, then you will stand up and do well.
From B. Metcalf, Eastport, Me. Hi, I also am putting my store on vacation. As soon as my last auction is over. I probally will stay on vacation, till the end of Feb. I stand behind the boycott 100%. There comes a time in a person life, when they have to take a stand.
This would be the prefect time, for someone or a group of people, to start a auction site like ebay. Let their sellers bring all their feedback & customers over to the new site. I'm not talking ioffer or the other sites. I find those other sites have system flaws
From marty houtzdale PA Well, our store has over 600+ items in it, and most are sold between $5-$20. OUR BOTTOM LINE with ebay AND paypal fees will now equal 18% of our overall sales. That's right 18% is going towards fees. I have a designer working on a new website now. I guess the $500+ a month in ebay fees alone arnt enough for them. What even makes me laugh, is if you are a power seller, you can qualify up to 15% back if your score is higher than 4.8 OH WOW..on a $10 item, that is 18 cents rebate. Talk about a kick in the teeth.
It is very ironic that their upper management team is jumping ship–wonder how many stores will close due to this. Dont forget, the new CEO is devoted to the ebay sellers and buyers.
From Debbie, Kenton, Ohio I too am boycotting! eBay has gone from a wonderful forum for selling to making it's sellers paronoid, and for good reason. After being suspended with more than 1400 positive feedbacks and having a 100% score, and with no explanation as to why I was suspended, and with many, many more sellers receiving the same fate as me, it's only a matter of time before eBay meets it's demise………what a pity! Biting the "hand" (the sellers) that feed them. How totally unnessary! Greed only drives eBay.
From Jon, Denver, Colorado check this out guys,
a website has been created to help sellers get around the new feedback system:
rottenbidders.com
Check it out, it's self explanatory. Spread the word….let's unite and make this work
From mmartin, Muskegon, MI Dear 'Sad' …yes you are. For all the people out there who are buyers only and said they will be supporting the boycott… Thank you!
Ebay is not interested in the selling/buying community which created it. Holding a sellers money for 21 days? Can you imagine Amazon or any other online group not charging your credit card for 21 days until they know you're happy? Boo hiss ebay.
What needs to be done is Ebay address fraudulent buyers and sellers, but they won't. They have always had a policy of "you kids work it out" as long as they got their money, which they did.
I had some major-event tickets I sold 2 years ago… I listed them as being offered in the United States only, and I was immediately hit by scammers who had hijacked legitimate ebay users ID's, every day of the auction. I e-mailed Ebay and reported these. When I looked the users up myself, they were all in Australia, England, etc. I e-mailed Ebay several times and told them that I was only selling in the United States, so please only let people residing in the U.S. access the auction. No could do… they don't care about the fraud…because in the end they will get their money. But, I had a nightmare of reporting fraudulent emails, and I would say over a dozen Ebay users had their ID's hijacked.
Ebay was formed and made by the small sellers, and they are now being treated like criminals. Ebay is the criminal.
From Kat, Norman, OK It's really worrisome that eBay's the only viable online auction candidate. If there's going to be a mass exodus, we need to pick another site and stick to it. As for me, I'm boycotting for as long as I need to.
From WMB Texas Hi,
I have joined the boycott. I found this on Ebay Forums…
ATTENTION! BOYCOTT SUPPORTERS!
Here is your chance to help get the word out.
Go to the story linked below, click the "digg it" button under the number of diggs and DIGG THIS UP TO FRONT PAGE. Digg is one of the top 50 sites in the entire world with millions of users.
Don't forget to hit the button under the number of diggs that says "DIGG IT". – That is what counts your vote and moves it up in the stories.
you can also digg the comments of your fellow ebayers and digg down comments you don't like if there are any. A couple of ebay staff are there digging down each of our comments as we leave them, so fight back.
Yesterday one of our stories was the number one story in the world and business section for several hours, but fell a few diggs short of reaching the home page. We need to reach the home page this time so hundreds of thousands more will hear about the boycott. Ebay had paid staff over there trying to "digg it down" (AKA bury it). I'm sure that will happen again but this time we will be ready.
CLICK HERE
http://digg.com/business_finance/Virtual_Labor_Union_60_000_Ebay_Seller_s_Strike_over_Fees
You will need to register if you haven't but it is really fast.
UPDATE: our story in on page one of up and coming stories in all categories. Next stop: the home page. Digg it now!
From N.Sinclair, Free Union, Va A long time eBayer with 1224 feedback rating 99.7% positive and DSR in the 5 star range OTHER THAN SHIPPING COST, which is 4.5.
I sell saddles, big & heavy packages so nobody is going to be really happy over shipping cost unless they are knowledgeable regarding dimensional weight.
Worst of all these eBay changes is the new feedback policy, which is so bizarre that I can't figure why any sane person would have considered it.
Must be someone who has never dealt with an unreasonable (to be kind) buyer?
From Jessie CNN – Stacy has been great giving us the ability to communicate/voice our concerns by having this post – and hope this post will remain. Last week there was a post regarding a NEW auction site in progress. I contacted them – they now have a page to sign up. The link is included. They will need 10,000 to sign up to get this going. Don’t pass this link by if you are thinking/looking for a new opportunity. Yes – Yes we can AND it CAN be done. Please check it out!
Hello!
http://www.thepoint.com/campaigns/subat
Quote from thepoint front page
We’ve had enough of eBay, Inc! With the recent fee hikes, we no longer believe that the corporate-run eBay site serves the needs of its users, we who made that site in the first place. However, the eBay Community now has a massive userbase. We must secure the commitment of a critical mass of sellers in order to develop a realistic alternative.
If we can secure the commitment of 10,000 eBay members to migrate to a new site, that will give us the numbers we need to make the move without risking our livelihoods. Run the seller unity badge in your sales, wherever they are! We’ll show FeeBay who really runs that site!
From Amanda, Brooksville, FL I have been an eBay Seller: User ID: abprules, Store ( http://www.shopeBlairClothing.com ) for over 5 years. We have built our business up and currently have over 1500 items listed. I realize that fees have went up, the overall average being about a 3% increase, which to me, for the amount of advertising that eBay does and the notoriety that it has, seems sufficient. I am a person who can see both sides and for me, the feedback rating is really just an adjunct to my businesss. It is not the "end-all – tell-all." I appreciate customers and in return, hope they do the same. I believe that people are basically good and will do the right thing. Some buyers, no matter what you do, will not leave the appropriate feedback and that seems to be out of my control. If others are so disappointed, then, yes, move on and allow space for those of us who want to continue selling. Or…the other alternative, somebody come up with another auction site to compete, one in which items actually sell. There are other sites but it appears that there are not many sells going on, at least, no way for one to see the completed items. Perhaps, the programmers can get busy and add those features so others can compare.
eBay User ID: abprules
Store Name: eBlairClothing
Web Name: http://www.shopEBlairClothing.com
From George Guadiane Austerlitz, AN Fees will always be an issue, sellers want to list for free and eBay would like to find a way to take 85/90% of the seller's take, so let's set that aside for a moment.
The REAL issues? FEEDBACK – PayPal's new (Patriot Act) payment withholding rules.
I don't know about anyone else, but if buyers can leave me negative feedback, just because they feel like it, completely protected by my inability to respond in kind, AND dispute an item at the same time, causing PayPal to withhold payment to me for up to 21 days, just because they feel like it. If it were an expensive item, it could bankrupt me, JUST ONE!
What reason would a serious business person have to invite that kind of abuse? What kind of businessperson would subject themselves to that kind of danger???
From bg new york ny I have studied the new Ebay plan for all users and have concluded that I will remain a loyal Ebay'er. Afterall it was Ebay that sent me to college. Even if it was Ebay University. Thank you for my education Ebay.
From Kathleen Rhome, Rocky Mount, NC ——————————————————————————–
CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT EBAY/PAYPAL
I've been informed that a current class action lawsuit is pending against ebay and paypal.
http://www.hbsslaw.com/files/Class_Action_Complaint_secured1178576984126.pdf
JOIN NOW.
From Nick, 61801 I am really heart-broken.
I've been with ebay for nearly seven years now, and I've been having a blast buying and selling. I buy mostly. I sell sometimes. Over those seven years, I have earned a 100% positive feedback score with my 87 actual feedback replies. Now, with Ebay's new FB policy change regarding comments that are over a year old, my score will go from 87 to….39! It took me nearly seven years to build that small number! Now, all my hard work just goes out the window!
Regarding Ebay's new PayPal policy: That is just nuts holding a payment for 21 days! Doesn't Ebay realize that this new policy — coupled with the new FB policy of Sellers not being able to leave Neg FB to deserving buyers — will open the Pandora's Box of fraudulent, unscrupulous buyers stealing from sellers? For me to actually get money instantly from items I sell, I will have to re-build my actual FB replies to over 100 from 39. I will also have to sell items while being at risk of being robbed from stupid and dishonest buyers.
I do sell from time to time. My main goal of selling was to have fun first, and make back some money second. Yeah, my profits were small, but they were profits none the less. I am not a "store" or a business on Ebay. I was just hoping to make some money on the side, as a hobby.
I really, really hope Ebay reconsiders their new policies. The sellers — even the big ones — are not pleased with them. The small sellers, like me, are going to abandon ship. They will go to an auction site that actually protects the seller from unscrupulous buyers.
Honestly, the only thing that Ebay has going for it is the fact that they have quite a bit of traffic to that site. Unfortunately, that does not counter-act the fact that small sellers will have to list items with higher fees, only to risk having thieves bid on those auctions.
I absolutely cannot sell on Ebay anymore. It is just too expensive and risky.
It was fun while it lasted.
~~Nick
From boise oregon Posted By Murphy Dallas, TX : February 16, 2008 9:47 pm …..
You Are A Kick In The Pants….
Does this attorney work for free?
I got a list from an attorney, and I wanted to pass it on to all of you.
Here are a list of sites:
Hibidder.com
Bidville.com
ioffer
eCrater
Craigslist
Everyone go there and pass this info on, send Ebay packing and make it a name of the past that didn’t appreciate or reward people for their loyalty…
From A Black Utah I have been selling on ebay since 1998, the days that you would have to send a check to pay for fees and wait. I have stuck with ebay through the years and many changes. I had average sales of $1000 a month after fees and supplies. It was a great way to pay for our family high health care cost and allow me to stay at home.
Last September was the end of ebay for me. I usually sell at least 60 items a month, usually more. September we moved and our house closing was a mess so I only sold 10 items. One item was to a new buyer who left me a negative over a .99 new item. I gave the buyer a refund and they posted a follow up to the negative that they made a mistake and were a happy customer. A few days later I got an email from ebay saying my acct was suspended because my 30 day avegae was less then 95% positive. I was shocked since I have over 3000 and overall feedback of 99.7%. Just because I had one confused buyer and sold only 10 items i get my acct taken away. first they said 30 days. Then after the 30 days past I wrote asked and they said do not contact ebay, they would contact me. I wrote in early december because I had a ton of items to sell for christmas and they would not lift the suspension. they finally did a day before christmas, saying they lifted it because of my great progress, what progress I sold nothing on ebay. I ended up selling my christmas items on craigslist, on local tv/radio selling boards and did just fine. It was actualy easier not to have to worry about shipping or paypal fees.
The biggest change people need to look at is this not fees, it is the rolling feedback. If you have one bad feedback and only sell a few items , your items willnot show up in the search. This is the rule that is crazy! How could you sell or improve if the item does not show up??
Since 1998 I have sold over 10,000 items on ebay. In the early years I was very pleased and ebay got us through some hard finiancial times. I am thankful ebay was there but now it is going on 5 months and I have been fine without ebay. I;m sad to see the changes. they are obviously pro-buyer and not seller, and who pays the fees and pays ebay?
I support the strike. I hope there can be better local alternatives, espcially in smaller cties and towns weher craigslist is not as popular.
From Dave, Cedar Rapids, IA My take on this is that the e-bay board needs to start basing its executives' incentives on their being powersellers with a 4.8 DSR or over–the bar they are foisting on the rest of us. Get some people at the helm who actually understand their own markets. These changes are so hostile to sellers, and ultimately buyers, that they defy understanding.
As a seller and a buyer (with 100 percent feedback), these changes cause me grief as they will only lead more momentum away from e-bay and a loss to a community that was once vibrant. All for what? A bit of greed and arrogance at the top?
E-bay–put some skin in the game! Rather than claim you listened to your users, actually do it!
From Heather, Washington, DC This seems like the ideal type of thing to self-organize around…rather than waiting on eBay to make a decision. Check out collective action sites like http://www.PledgeBank.com for an idea of how to use all of the free tools on the web to rally both buyers and sellers around this idea.
From Dragan, Alexandria, VA http://youtube.com/watch?v=U4MtVPuU9-Q
As a proud member of the eBay community, hard working PowerSeller, with thanks to you, strait 100% positive feedback, and as eBay Buyer as well, I AM NOW supporting my community, thousands of fellow eBay sellers and buyers!
I'm notifying you, and asking for your support in our eBay BOYCOTT, starting today!
I've been so thankful to all my past and present buyers, highly value them. I was lucky to meet so many WONDERFUL PEOPLE from all around the world. Now I and many others need your help and support!
Here are the reasons why…
The recently announced eBay changes will take place on 20th of February. The eBay community is strongly opposing these changes, that will negatively strongly affect both buyers and sellers.
* The intended changes include much higher fees for sellers, final value fees increased by 68% (the fee that the sellers pays to eBay after and based on the price the item sold for), which on the other hand will reflect to the buyers as well, as the sellers will have to include these higher fees in their item price. Other important fact is that eBay is coming openly forward, saying that they have actually lowered the fees and "take offs". THIS IS NOT TRUE, this is well know eBay marketing policy now and in the past, saying the complete opposite of what they are actually doing. The lowered policy fees will only affect less then 1% of the sellers, the big giant sellers that will eventually transform eBay in to a MALL. The rest of the sellers will have fees increased in the range of 15% to 68%.
* The other significant change is the buyers feedback, as the buyer will always get positive feedback. This means that the basic eBay principle that worked so good for so many years, is about to be abandoned, and the true honest trading on eBay will be lost. This artificial radical feedback change can be abused in many ways, which as a result will not give accurate picture about both Buyers and Sellers. I must point out, the majority of the sellers never give buyers negative feedback, as this is not in any sellers nature and interest as it is not good for any business! The idea that the right TO EXPRESS your thoughts and experiences had been taken away, is not acceptable by anyone.
* New "best match" (future DEFAULT) search results, will not give buyers accurate results in their search, as many sellers/stores/items will not be displayed. Only the high volume sellers will be displayed, forcing the buyer to buy where they wouldn't otherwise. The great bargains that eBay is all about, and we all know it about, will be lost forever. Ebay will become the biggest soulless on-line MALL.
* The changes also include new PayPal regulations, (PayPal is 100% eBay owned company). These regulations will allow PayPal to hold any transaction funds for 21 day before clearing them. This means that sellers will have to delay shipping the item you've bought during that time, since they have no guarantee that the funds will be cleared after that period. Many sellers depend on the funds immediately, as they can not run their businesses. Again this takes us back to realize that only the big sellers will be able to work by this principle. All smaller sellers will be forced to leave eBay.
We are about to lose eBay trading if these changes take effect.
WE MUST SAVE EBAY FROM ITSELF!
We CAN NOT sit in judgment of others who never traded on their own venue!
PEOPLE MADE AND MAKE EBAY!
So do your part, SUPPORT this boycott for the sake of us all.
PLEASE IF YOU CAN: NO BUYING NO SELLING NO WATCHING AS OF FEB 18th
Please, do your part in reading and posting a message in the eBay forum (link is below), as well as forwarding this email. Read some of the links given here. CNN, BBC as well as many other news networks had gave us their support by publishing the eBay strike story on their sites, read it, it will make all of this very clear.
Many people, many families, younger and older, depend/live on current eBay trade. Help the seller that you've bought your so loved item from! These changes will cause them tremendous financial suffering as they will lose their small businesses. Many of the sellers are now refugees from their own businesses they have created with very very hard and honest work, and now are massively moving to other auction sites. PLEASE HELP THEM!
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000636290&start=8480
Remember the words of Margaret Mead:
"Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
We are the Citizens of eBay – UNITED WE STAND – WE BOYCOTT VICTORIOUSLY!
From Karen, Mogadore, OH I am also boycotting Ebay. The most disturbing is the feedback. I go out of my way to keep positive feedback with my customers but there are just some people that have chips on their shoulders and they are going to make your life miserable and leave negative feedback unless you just give them the item free of charge. I'm not going to ruin my positive feedback after I have worked hard to maintain it. I have just paid $196 for a year's membership to onlineauction.com. That is all it is going to cost me to buy and sell for a year. Now I can lower my prices since I don't have to pay outrageous
Ebay fees. Maybe one day Ebay will realize they needed me more than I needed them.
From Linda, Oklahoma City, Ok I believe that these new changes seem to have been developed without even thinging about the long term ramications to buyers, sellers, and e-Bay.
I have been on e-Bay for 9 years, most as a buyer and casual seller and a full time business for two years. I have 1250 feedbacks left, 99.7% feedback rating, and a DSR average of 4.8.
I have been here long enough to witness that there are just as many bad buyers as they are bad sellers. I have had buyers try to get a refunds by fraudulent means, I have had buyers purchase an item, then back out and never pay. I have received 4 negatives in 9 years of e-baying.
Three of those were retaliatory negatives from buyers who responded to the non-payer dispute, but never sent payment. So retaliatory feedback, is a two way street, not just against buyers as e-Bay has made it seem in their reasons for these changes.
I have no mutual withdrawals (feedback) on my account as I wanted other sellers to know about these bad sellers.
If feedback retaliatation against buyers is the main reason for these new changes, then please go after those that abuse the system. I doesn't take rocket science to figure out those that do abuse the system are those with the high number of mutual withdrawals of feedback.
Simply, they could have alleviated the problem of bad sellers by doing away with the mutual withdrawal of feedback. Those negatives will show the true feedback of the bad sellers and they would have been taken care with e-Bays current seller restrictions in place or by the drop in sales their customer service would have caused.
I have worn my 4 negatives with pride as I know I did everything I could possibly do in those transactions and I have helped identify those bad buyers to other sellers.
They say that they will have systems in place for sellers to report feedback blackmail from buyers. If these new systems are the same as their current reporting systems (almost non-existance), then the sellers are already beat.
I have finished my own website and will be moving 450 e-Bay listings to that site. Then I will be done with e-bay. It is just not worth it to possibly see a few bad buyers ruin all the hard work and years I have put into my feedback rating and reputation of my e-bay store.
From scarythought seattle, wa watch out folks….to much money withdrawn with closed accounts at paypal might force them to use some even nastier tactics for those who are left behind.
From Cat Anchorage, Alaska Ditto, Leah from Richmond. I'm an eBay buyer only with over 1000 feedbacks since 1999, all 100% positive and I am boycotting.
My auction watch list has been cleared and I'll be buying from other sites this week. Whether the boycott will make an impression, that remains to be seen. But to do nothing is unacceptable.
The changes that eBay will roll out will not immediately affect me as a buyer but will make future buying more costly and potentially more risky.
Count me in.
From Leah, Richmond, Virginia I am only speaking from a buyer's perspective. I have been a buyer on eBay since 2000. A few times I had issues with some transactions (seller sent me the wrong item, did not answer my email timely, items arrived broken, etc…). However, I always tried my best to work out the problems with the sellers instead of immediate leaving them negative feedback. I believe communication is key! And things do happen! I don't like the fact that some sellers do use feedback to retaliate and you think buyers don't do that? However, the majority of sellers and buyers are good and honest people.
So far, I have over 1200 positive feedback and I am very proud of my feedback. It indicates my honesty and integrity and differentiates myself from crooks and scam artists who will receive the same green circles no matter what they do.
eBay must be out of their mind to come up with this one-sided feedback system. I am also boycotting to support many of my great sellers who really went out of their way to make me their happy customer.
From SDB Texas Hey check this auction out BEFORE EBAY ends this auction. VERY Funny.!!!
From Katy Cook, Avondale AZ Just one more thing. Don't give up the fight even if Ebay is padding their auction listings with test auctions to hide the effects of the strike. Stay strong, and keep to the cause. No buying and selling during the strike. STRIKE VICTORIOUSLY! We will make a difference.
From Kathleen Cook Someone reporter needs to investigate the fact that starting today, Ebay is padding their listings with thousands of fake "test" auctions in order to cover up the effect of the strike. CNN, PLEASE look into this!
From Paul LaCroix, Anthony, FL eBay Auctions drop 1.7 million (1,758,127 — 12.65%) by 1pm on 2/18/08 (first morning) of eBay Strike.
http://powersellersunite.com/auctionsitewatch.php
Boycott eBay 2/18/08 – 2/25/08
From AB, just outside dc Do NOT just quit buying/selling.
Page hits are a significant part of ebay's ability to charge advertisers. Don't even go to the ebay website. Lower pagehits=lower ad revenue. We have to hit them in as many ways as possible !
From Ruth, USA Proud "Sad" So we are pathetic fools because we're standing up and saying NO?
Ebay is treating its sellers like dirt. They are not standing behind them. WE the sellers pay the fees. WE the sellers have a right to some protection. You are "sad" indeed.
Don't Buy, Don't Sell.
From J, Elko, NV I SUPPORT the BOYCOTT and as of midnight closed both my Ebay account (of 10 yrs w/100% pos) and my PayPal account. I will NEVER be selling OR BUYING at ebay ever again or using Paypal for any purchases anywhere. For the big mega power sellers it would seem that squeezing out the mom & pops would be a great idea, less competition of course. Ebay seems to agree with this sad mentality so eventually this will just be another Amazon with the same assortment of goods. I have wondered why ebay didn't split into 2 different totally separate sites to more effectively cater to both types of sellers & buyers? Why not EbayStore and EbayAuctions? Without the unique merchandise of the mom & pops, what will attract the buyers to ebay? I suspect Amazon will garner an increasingly larger share of this market. I wish Google would start an auction site and freeze out ebay from it's search engine…
From The Music Den, NJ Below is a copy of the email we sent to Ebay this week. As of 2AM EST 02/18/2008 our listings are down for the boycott.
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To Whom It May Concern at Ebay,
We at The Music Den (ebay ID music-den) are writing to notify Ebay that we are participating in the Ebay Strike Feb 18th-25th, 2008 and we want Ebay to be aware of why we are doing it. For the record, we are a Gold Ebay powerseller and we list anywhere from 800 to 1800 different items on Ebay each month. We have 99.7% positive feedback, over 1000 feedback, and our lowest DSR is 4.7.
1) We are angry about the new fee increases. While they have been deemed "fee decreases" by Ebay, the truth is that when you do the math Ebay is taking more off of our sales than before. We deal in Musical Instruments, and that is a low margin business… so even a increase of 1% is significant to us.
2) We are angry that Ebay is no longer allowing negative feedback to be left for buyers. We believe that it will ultimately put Ebay out of balance. It is creating a situation where sellers will essentially have to beg for feedback, will increase feedback extortion, and will ultimately see fewer and fewer sellers meet the new power seller criteria.
3) We are angry that the new requirements to be a Powerseller are based on high DSR's. This is particularly a problem because two of the DSR ratings are based on shipping, and shipping is a highly subjective matter. We feel it would be better if Ebay did away with DSR's all together and just set STANDARDS. For example, set a standard that if the Ebay shipping calculator is used to estimate the shipping costs and if a tracking number is submitted to Ebay in "X" amount of days, then the DSR's are irrelevant.
4) We are angry because we feel that the combination of fee increases, increases in negative feeback from customers that will come from a lack of "checks and balances", and placing too much weight in DSR's will create a situation where more and more Powersellers will "fall through the cracks." Perhaps that is what Ebay wants. We currently meet the new Powerseller requirements, but will we by the end of next year? Will anyone?
5) We are also angry about the announcement that Paypal has the power to hold funds for 21 days. If this starts to happen frequently, we can assure you we will not use Paypal any longer for anything.
In conclusion, we are not trying to hurt Ebay, we want Ebay to succeed. But we also want Ebay to respect its sellers, to respect the community it has built, and to respect the fact that for us to continue being a part of Ebay, Ebay must also be concerned with our success. And not just the success of Power Sellers, ALL SELLERS. Right now, Ebay seems to be only concerned with it's own bottom line. After the strike, if Ebay continues to prove itself an ungrateful host, then we will go elsewhere.
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From William, Clearwater, FL Karen in Nassau
I agree with you and posted a similar email yesterday. On the feedback changes I plan to use eBay features not allowing buyers with non-paying strikes to bid on my merchandise and also require they have a PayPal account. On the fees, I will benefit because I sell approximately 40-50% of the items I list and on the FVF I will simply raise my prices 3%. I have always left feedback first and two times I was dinged, resolved the issue with the buyer and had the feedback withdrawn.
From Nora Brabham I am boycotting eBay FOREVER, both as a buyer and a seller.
I have put my eBay store on "vacation" until Dec 31, 2009; or for as long as it takes me to relocate my merchandise to alternate venues i.e. iOffer, Blujay, eCrater, OnlineAuctions and my own webstore. After I close my store, I will close my buyer and seller accounts.
I have also removed my money from PayPal. I will offer Google Checkout in my new online stores.
I predict a slow, agonizing demise for GreedBay and PayMorePal. A death by a million slices. Every buyer and seller that flees their clutches will take a slice until there is nothing left but bloody bones and poor quality Chinese junk drop shipping sellers.
From Ted – Stafford – Virginia I have been a seller since 2003. I have watched many changes on Ebay since I began. I cannot say that any of them benefited me as a seller. I am not sure who they are benefitting but it is not myself. I have 100% positive feedback and no negatives. I have worked tirelessly to keep it that way. Without a doubt I know this will change. I have done my best to keep customers happy. I have made mistakes through the years but when I do, I make sure my customer is completely happy. I have on occasion sent the wrong item. When this has happened I let the customer keep whatever I sent the forst time and resent the correct item overnight shipping at no cost to the customer. Still yet I have had cusotmers who made my life miserable. No matter what I tried to do to correct the problem they were hellbent on leaving me negative feedback. I have also had custoemrs who said they never received the package also and then after checking the tracking number the Post Office shows it was in fact delivered. The opportunity to not leave feedback for the customer is very disturbing. It seems that if Ebay wants to continue doing a high volume business this is one of the changes that has to go. I have many items to list but will also not list any items or sell this week. I have a feeling it will take more than a week to get the pont across that people are really at teh end of their ropes with changes that only effect them in a negative way. I wish I could talk with someone who could explain how this is good for the Ebay community because at this point I do not see it.
From sad "SUPPORT THE BUYERS, NOT THE BOYCOTT!
As an eBay seller….I SUPPORT eBay’s changes. Sorry, but I think too many sellers have been abusing buyers for too long, and it’s time to weed out those who don’t have the skill and perspective to be in business. With it’s low barriers to entry, eBay has given all kinds of folks the opportunity to be in business for themselves, including those who aren’t qualified to be in business. It’s time to clear out the nonsense, and restore buyer confidence!
Yes, I know some sellers will say – what about all those abusive, fraudulent buyers? Well, that’s part and parcel of being in business. If you’re business plan doesn’t account for those problems, then your business plan is not adequate for this industry.
Fee hikes? Well, the cuts in fees mitigate the increases, so it’s not all as bad as everyone’s complaining about, and since when do costs NOT increase over time? My brick and mortar landlord gets a raise in his rent, each and every year!
While some disgruntled sellers will be out boycotting, filling the blogs, and checking out the copycat sites this week..smart sellers will be fine tuning their operations to prepare for the changes to come."
You are in the 5% minority of people who agree with these changes. You know what that makes you? An ignorant fool. Pathetic how you cannot even see how this will severely effect your buying ability. You my friend are what so many good buyers and sellers are afraid of.
From Lisa, S.S. Washington I only sell on Ebay on a small scale. I do buy quite often. I do not agree with the new fee scale they have created. The small seller will be put out of business. Buyers who are all for this do not realize that to compete, prices have to be raised to continue to make a profit. The majority of sellers sell at a reasonable rate, and shipping charges are listed for most part. If people feel the price is too high, just don't bid. That is what I do. You can't go into a Walmart and have the opportunity to find competing prices.
As for the buyers, how would they feel if they could only leave positive feedback for the seller, no matter the outcome of the transaction?
From Mike, Ohio Isn't it interesting that ebay say they have good reasons for increasing fees (again) and denying seller feedback.? Well I know what it is is….. They are greedy s-o-bs who want us to tighten our belts even more whilst they become even more greedy. Apparently belt tightening doesn't apply to corporations like ebay! They are like pigs at the trough. No bad comments from sellers of course means fewer people they need to employ to investigate buyer scams etc.
If this leads to other auction services growing to challenge ebay, then they really will have got what they deserve.
From Angie, Atlanta, GA It's very frustrating for someone to take over 50% (yes, that's what it ends up being after everything is deducted) of something that they never saw, never worked on, never had to struggle with to promote. All my items are handmade by my own standing on my own feet, by my own backpain from working so many hours, and they have the audacity to take 50% while precious CEO Meg Whitman sells $88 million in stocks in just two months? Go to iOFFER people, do the humane thing. This is not 1860 anymore.
From Melissa Ryan, Warsaw, Indiana I have been a buyer and seller on ebay since 1999. Started as a buyer only and moved over to a seller within a year. I have 4 accounts on ebay I buy and sell on with over 3000 total feedback.
I am supporting the BOYCOTT! I am using the week of the BOYCOTT to list on other sites and build my own website. It's time ebay has REAL competition. Without viable competition, ebay will ALWAYS make changes without considering the fall out, just as they have ALWAYS done!
Without competition I will always be vulnerable to whatever half brained ideas an executive at ebay who has never really bought or sold on the site, comes up with that will hurt my bottom line. This time their bottom line needs to feel the pinch!
THANK YOU for bringing the BOYCOTT to the attention of the stockholders and the public and giving those who have supported ebay for so long a voice!
From Maria, Columbus, Ohio It just does not make any sense-to take away the right from the sellers to leave negative feedback, if necessary.
I'm pretty sure, all of us-sellers (and I'm a buyer too) have had more than bad experience with a buyer.
It doesn't cease to amaze me, how rude/incosiderate/fraudulent/ stupid buyers can be. They pretty much rule the EBAY.
I will pull off all the listings, and join with the boycott.
LET'S SHOW THEM!!!
From Brenda Savini Uniondale New York I signed up to Ebay afew months ago and have only purchased items so far.
The new changes are a real concern to me because the original game plan was to sell. This mess has made me more aware of all the potential pitfalls and I will now do a comparative study before I do anything further.
The feedback system was changed because of abuses. I believe that there was way too much latitude allowed in how feedback was allowed to be phrased. it was meant to be a means of judging the worthiness of both buyer and seller. IF EVERYBODY INVOLVED HAD UTILIZED THIS TOOL PROPERLY AND HAD EBAY HAD THE FORESIGHT TO INSTILL PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS OF BEHAVIOR REGARDING THE FEEDBACK SYSTEM ALL OF THIS COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED. FEEDBACK WAS NOT INTENDED AS A PUBLIC TRASHING GROUND FOR WHOEVER CHOOSES TO BE NASTY.
Telling consumers some of the things that I've read IS NOT GOOD BUSINESS!!!!!
You cannot have the attitude of doing a favor to a customer by allowing them to purchase something.
AND EBAY THE SELLERS DO PAY THE FEES AND ABSORB THE COST OF PROVIDING THE PRODUCTS THAT ARE BEING SOLD. I BELIEVE THAT YOUR INTENT WAS GOOD BUT TAKING A LAISSER-FAIRE STAND ON THE GROUNDS OF FREE SPEECH CREATED THIS.
IF YOU HAVE THE POWER TO ARBITRARILY SHIFT FEEDBACK POLICY IT SEEMS TO ME THAT REQUIRING PROFESSIONAL DEMEANORS FROM EVERYBODY INVOLVED IS ALSO DO-ABLE.
Now a question, is enforced use of Paypal by newer sellers some sort of conflicting interests legally? I've seen it written that Ebay acquired Paypal and I will now be looking into the options of a merchant and doing comparative shopping to see what else is available in e-commerce. Question number 2, Does Paypal offer any of the FDIC protections that I would receive in a traditional bank?
From Tiffany, Hobart Indiana Support the buyers not the boycott? I don't think so!!
As a seller, I have had more than my share of people trying to scam me and feel taking away the negative feedback will only bring in a new round of scammers!! I have had people tell me they never received the item when the tracking went straight to their door. I have had people send me back christening gowns for a refund after they used them in a ceremony!! I have also had people file a claim for unauthorized seller, after they were notified the item was shipped and keep my money and my item. Luckily my item was a smaller item. The same person did this to a single mother selling game system to help support her family. How is that fair. I support the boycott!! If we have no say, we are only going to be ripped off on a regular basis!! I therefore will be leaving ebay if they do not stop this!! My website opens at it's regular site sometime this week!! Please visit http://www.sunshineandbutterflies.com!! You made the choice ebay!! Now live with it!!
From David, Bourbonnais IL This is a bad move for Ebay, on in which I won't be supporting. If they want my business in the future they will have to rethink their fee structure increase. If you feel the same, make your voice heard. There is a petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/ebayfee/petition.html with 29681 current signatures.
From dan. california, la ebay is going to end up going downhill.
its all about money. they r money grabbers and thats it. Greed comes to mind.
From Denver, CO COMPETITION LAW
* prohibiting agreements or practices that restrict free trading and competition between business entities. This includes in particular the repression of cartels.
* banning abusive behaviour by a firm dominating a market, or anti-competitive practices that tend to lead to such a dominant position. Practices controlled in this way may include predatory pricing, tying, price gouging, refusal to deal and many others.
* supervising the mergers and acquisitions of large corporations, including some joint ventures. Transactions that are considered to threaten the competitive process can be prohibited altogether, or approved subject to "remedies" such as an obligation to divest part of the merged business or to offer licences or access to facilities to enable other businesses to continue competing.
COME ON PEOPLE, WHERE ARE THE CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS? *COUGH* PAYPAL *COUGH*
From Kim Clift, NJ Few will deny that eBay's feedback system has always been flawed. However it has created a balance that each side can get to know each other by past transactions on eBay. Let's face it we rarely if ever see our trading partner in person. We do not know any of the people they know and we have none of the traditional ways of knowing the honesty and integrity of the person we are dealing with.
As a buyer I want to be able to read a sellers rating and feedback comments so I can limit my risk.
As a seller I want to be able to do the same. I have had people buy from me and want to extort me into changing the terms of the auction after they received the item. They want a partial refund on a claim it does not work, yet when I offer a full refund if the item is returned I never hear back from the people except one that went directly to Paypal and filed a claim to get ALL of the money back without returning the items. Sadly weather you are talking about buyers or sellers there are a small percentage that are trouble and we want to avoid. By eBay's own admission 1% of the sellers cause the problems on eBay. But instead of eliminating the 1% they are willing to make the other 99% suffer through their changes. Will it remove the 1%? some but not all & there will always be more that come along. What it will do more than anything is drastically reduce the # of good sellers and in turn the great selection of items at cometitive prices that buyers currently enjoy.
It will not be long before buyers as much or more than sellers long for the original feedback system and the wonderfull selection of items at great prices.
Buyers do not be fooled that these changes are in your interest. Ebay wants to get away from used items and only have new items which will mean you will not see the great deals on used items that drive the excitement on eBay. eBay is also in the process of nudging sellers to offer FREE shipping. Sounds good to you buyers right? Think again, it will only raise the prices. The shipping cost has to go somewhere and that somewhere is into the price. If it goes into the price then eBay collects more fees and sellers will have to raise prices higher to compensate or they will stop selling on eBay. Selection of items is reduced again. How many people go to a huge mall that has only a couple of small stores? Not many.
Sellers this is just a 1st step to test you and see how far they can push you. They know if they can force you into these changes in feedback then they give all of the power to the buyers who unfortunately there are just enough bad ones to destroy your seller reputation and cause you to be lowered in the searches and have your payments held by Paypal for up to 21 days of more if a claim is filed by the buyer. Just like there is not a huge number of sellers that are bad there is not a huge number of buyers that are bad. Unfortunately it does not take that many running around with free reign to leave negative feedback for any reason to destroy many many sellers reputations.
As a Powerseller I have been greatly concerned which led me on an exhaustive search for a solution.
I was fortunate to find one, at least for the feedback problem, the rest of eBay's imposed nightmares still loom.
I found a sight created by a Professor of computer science that has friends that are sellers. The site is called AFTERTHEGAVEL.COM and it is FREE for all of us sellers to use. It gives us the balance back by allowing us to submit neutral and negative feedback for bad buyers. With enough seller participation it will be able to repair the gaping hole that eBay is creating in the feedback system.
If you are a seller please go look at this site. It is professionally developed and is our best chance of retaining our balance.
From Michael Denver, CO I just cleared out all of my listings, 160 less pawns in their game!
From Karen, Nassau County NY SUPPORT THE BUYERS, NOT THE BOYCOTT!
As an eBay seller….I SUPPORT eBay's changes. Sorry, but I think too many sellers have been abusing buyers for too long, and it's time to weed out those who don't have the skill and perspective to be in business. With it's low barriers to entry, eBay has given all kinds of folks the opportunity to be in business for themselves, including those who aren't qualified to be in business. It's time to clear out the nonsense, and restore buyer confidence!
Yes, I know some sellers will say – what about all those abusive, fraudulent buyers? Well, that's part and parcel of being in business. If you're business plan doesn't account for those problems, then your business plan is not adequate for this industry.
Fee hikes? Well, the cuts in fees mitigate the increases, so it's not all as bad as everyone's complaining about, and since when do costs NOT increase over time? My brick and mortar landlord gets a raise in his rent, each and every year!
While some disgruntled sellers will be out boycotting, filling the blogs, and checking out the copycat sites this week..smart sellers will be fine tuning their operations to prepare for the changes to come.
From DMS EBay has made it difficult for small sellers like me. They have created an environment where the seller has to meet unrealistic expectations of buyers or else run the risk of overall negative feedback. I have always used the shipping calculator and charged the exact shipping cost, but buyers still feel obliged to give lower feedback about shipping costs. This will only encourage sellers to go back to flat shipping fees and list with higher starting prices. The numerous changes to their site and tweaking of fees has only encouraged me to seek another selling site.
From nataly, los Angeles, CA People! Ebay is my only source of income ( and not a bad one), but I am ready to leave, I am so tired from all unjustice they do, taking in consideration that they are making so much money from each and every my sell!!! Folks, there are millions of us – abused EBAY sellers – why don't we combine our efforts, we should make a huge joint venture and create a safe online selling space, alternative to ebay, I know it is expencive, but if each one of us invests from $10 to $100 – we can make a perfect auction and we can make it known! Buyers will come to us! People, let's do it, let's make it fro us and all other sellers, it is absolutely real!!!! Please write me back if you want to join!!!!
From A. P. Frederick MD While eBay claims the changes are to keep the byuers inplace and ecourage new, it is important to know the change in feedback is not what will control that. The feedback system has always been badly flawed, and continues to get worse with every change eBay makes. The truth lays I belive, in that eBay has very poor customer service for buyers and sellers both. The lack of involvement in disputes by ebay is a real problem, the fact eBay is extremely slow to respond to emails, or sends no response at all. Often when you get a response it is if the agent did not read all the question. I am sure that many sellers and buyers would agree this is a much larger problem. I could provide many examples as could many other users. I could name many more areas were eBay fails, eBay's customer service is the worst I have ever experienced. eBay should strive to work harder and provide excellent customer service for the seller and buyer rather than making harmful & unpopular changes. I am both a seller and a buyer and I honestly feel that most sellers offer very good customer support while eBay dose not. It is not the only sellers some buyers fear to work with, but eBay it's self.
From Frank Port St Lucie,Fl Auction sellers should visit http://www.sellmyinventory.com
From BR, Los Angeles, CA The feedback change is especially a change for the worse and shows a complete disregard for the sellers without whom Ebay would not be able to exist. As someone who has been with the site since 1997, I'm pretty disgusted.
From Bobby, West Palm Beach, Fl. I've been on Ebay since 1999 (mostly selling) and have watched it go from a great site to a disaster. I am also not listing or buying, nothing at all period. I joined OLA and will begin to list on there.
BD
From Judy, Elko, NV I have just closed my nearly 10 yr account at ebay and Paypal, in protest to their new insane fees and changes. My 400+, 100% positive feedbacks will mean nothing soon with the changes they have made. They are losing both a buyer and a seller but I suspect they couldn't care less. I did copy and save my feedbacks to use at another auction site as advertising. I hope Ebay understands that by punishing sellers they are driving away those of us who are also buyers. Best of luck to those who have courageously left the greedy E… Hopefully the boycott will turn into a mass exodus.
From M. Baumann, Monroe, CT April 9, 1999 will be my 9th anniversary for selling and buying on eBay. Tomorrow, sadly, I will close my eBay store and I will clean out my Paypal account, in addition I will join the boycott.
In the beginning I really enjoyed eBay and actually made money on my sales, but now it has become nothing but a hassle. I have great feedback with over 1,500 FBs, only 2 negs (both from people who were allowed to give it for no good reason.) I give great customer service, ship within 24 hours or less if possible and only charge actual shipping costs. Many of my items are consigned so when I pay the consigner, eBay fees up front and back end and Paypal fees, I am left with little profit but lots of work.
I find most of the buyers are really super, but no matter how much information you put in the auction, some of the buyers just do not read. I recently refunded a woman who said the jeans I sold her were much too short. Well, yes they were short. Before listing, I took the time to measure them and put the inseam measurement in the auction (27") very short indeed. I could feel a negative coming with the attitude she displayed in her email so I said she could return them for a refund. I lost $6.00 in shipping cost and eBay didn't even give me a FVF refund or the chance to relist free (yes, she did put in a dispute but I was awarded nothing back from eBay even though the description was correct and I was nice enough to refund fully.) I will say the woman did give me good feedback saying I was nice enough to refund her even though she was the one who made the mistake. But that is little consolation for the money and time I lost.
Giving the buyer freedom to leave negs with no consequences is about empowering those scammers who just decide the item is not for them, etc. – so very easy to threaten neg feedback. I just can't afford to lose my fees plus shipping costs on their whim, which has been minimal to date, but I am sure will escalate with the new system. If I stay with eBay, I will consider getting a merchant credit card processing account through Costco (lower percent rate than Paypal and no monthly fee) or push bank checks/money orders.
If a negative is left unfairly, I guess we can leave them a positive but tell the true story. Wonder if eBay will pull them???
Best of luck to everyone.
I used to have eBay stock, which fell like a rock so I got out before it tanked completely. What is amazing is that eBay does not pay a dividend to stockholders – so tell me where is all the money spent? Certainly not on customer service. Oh, yes, I forgot SKYPE. Good move!
Instead of using eBay, I will try listing with recommended sites listed here. Hopefully, we can stick together as a group and can build up another site that will won't change into a FEEbay.
From JH, LA, CA Wounds my heart with a monotonous languor.
From Mark,Texas http://imamerchant.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/deutschebankpatel020608.pdf
This is a must read if you sell on Feebay!!!
Feebay has shaken the very top sellers (IMA) world to the point that they have begun to jump ship. It is a little long but very good info.
From Jon, Vancouver, BC "If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. The old feedback system worked for so many years. And what is with the price increases. Needless to day, I will be looking for other options."
Yah, the new feedback system is really unfair…but a website has been created to help sellers work around the new system: http://www.rottenbidders.com
Take a look, it's self-explanatory…I think you will like it.
From topseller Ebay has turned buyers [especially new buyers with no experience] into suicide bombers against sellers AND THE BUYERS DON'T EVEN KNOW IT!
[By the way, I've read a number of blog posts from buyers happy that sellers are now being "put in their place" by Ebay with the new changes because the buyers have had 1 bad experience with a seller in 116 purchases or 3 in 520 purchases.
You can't see that the other 99% of sellers that you had GOOD experiences with are being BLOWN AWAY by these policies?]
On DSR's:
Ebay tells BUYERS that a score of 4 on ANY AREA means everything went well
Ebay tells SELLERS that an average score of 4 means a) Loss of Powerseller Status, loss of discounts on FVF's, burying your searches and holds on your funds by Paypal for 21 days.
Ebay tells BUYERS to rate SHIPPING TIME but doesn't EXPLAIN what SHIPPING TIME MEANS. Shipping time to most buyers means the time between when they make or send payment until their item is delivered.
SHIPPING TIME TO SELLERS means the time between receipt of payment[after check holds or echeck holds where Paypal tells sellers NOT TO SHIP until echaecks have cleared] and the time the item is shipped.
Ebay tells BUYERS to rate SHIPPING AND HANDLING CHARGES but does not tell buyers that the Ebay/Paypal fees AS WELL AS fee increases ARE LEGITIMATELY included by many sellers as part of the SHIPPING AND HANDLING charge shown in Ebay auctions. Also Paypal requires delivery confirmation which is in ADDITION to postage. You've also got packaging and shipping materials as well as travel time and fuel.
SO WHEN BUYERS RATE SELLERS WELL, and give them a 4 DSR, they are actually costing THEMSELVES more money on the BUY SIDE because the increased costs suffered by sellers as a result of that 4 rating will be passed on to buyers.
ON FEEDBACK
Ebay tells BUYERS they are PROTECTING THEM and IMPROVING THEIR EBAY EXPERIENCE by not allowing sellers to give negative feedback
In truth, BUYERS will NOT be able to differentiate the good sellers who are being sabotaged by bad buyers, and bad sellers, thus HURTING their Ebay experience.
The GOOD BUYERS will not be able to differentiate themselves from the BAD BUYERS. (All will be at 100% positive in a year or less.)
The GOOD BUYERS shouldn't FEAR feedback because they will get good feedback most of the time…if they get retal feedback from a seller, anyone can look at the feedback that seller has left others to see if they are being fair.
A BUYER doesn't NEED good feedback to buy from a seller. A SELLER NEEDS good feedback to sell to buyers.
ON FEES
Ebay tells SELLERS they will have insertion fee decreases but final value fee "adjustments".
Ebay lets the sellers figure out that that is a Massive INCREASE $25 AND UNDER ITEMS
Ebay touts "free Gallery".
Ebay doesn't tell sellers that you are really paying for gallery which all must use with higher Final value fees. FOr those sellers selling items where gallery has been too expensive to use will now be required to use and you will pay for it. It's included in part of the increased final value fee.
Ebay doesn't tell BUYERS that those fee increases will ultimately be included either in the S/H charges or the minimum price of the items they buy but gives thebuyer the chance to punish sellers in the DSR S/H category when they really should be upset with Ebay.
I guess that's Ebay's definition of smoke and mirrors.
From Bath and Body Essences, Virginia I am also joining the boycott due to eBay new feedback system and PayPal's ability to withold seller's money for up to 21 days. I already closed my store and don't know if or when I'll be back. For now, eBay can kiss my $550/month good-bye.
From Victorious Seller, Denver, CO Ebay censorship lives on: seller Valllerie has had the most incredible spoof listing called: "AMAZING Boycott Ebay Feb 18th – 25th TOAST" on today. The last price listed for the toast was approx. $156,945.32.
Ebay removed it earlier, and removed it again at 22:30 Denver time. The comments have been very funny and pithy. In less than a day, she had 2305+ lookers and about 88 comments.
IN SOLIDARITY, BOYCOTT FEEBAY AND FEEBLEPAY!
From Adler im never selling on ebay b/c of this. Everyone should start selling on craigslist.
From Blacksburg, Va My husband and I have sold on ebay since 1998. All the new fees/feedback changes are outragous! We are participating in the boycott, hoping it makes a difference and ebay takes notice. We have closed our ebay store and don't plan to open it back up. We will only list a limited amount of items on ebay going forward, as many items we sell are under 30 dollars and we can't afford hte FVF plus paypal fees on these items. The result, ebay looses money from us-GOOD! We are going mostly to http://www.onlineauction.com (OLA)Unlimited listing for 8 dollars a month. We hope to transition over completely this year! Good Bye eBay! Check out onlineauction.com
From Adios ebay To Shawn – thats what I did too. I just completed emptying my ebay store and am listing on onlineauction.com.
I can offer my items cheaper now since I am unloading all the ebay fees.
The better buys and deals will defenitley be found on other auction site from now on.
With all the sellers moving to other auction sites a new bargain hunters paradise has been born.
Once I get my store up there I will simply use a google adwords campaign and links and emails to direct customers to my OLA store.
From PJsCornerGiftStore, McHenry,IL We are joining the fight against the new higher fees and new feedback changes by letting the items in our Ebay store lapse for at least one month. After an item ends, it will not be relisted in our store for at least 30 days. If we return remains to be seen.
From SRT Polson,MT I'm very new to eBay but a 30 yr. retail veteran. I have found the site to be a difficult maze indeed, but I now live in the hinterland and online selling makes the most sense-There are no buyers here. I am an artist and jewelry maker-the two things that do not sell on eBay! so I'm probably barking up the wrong tree anyway. In a recent entry, I decided to take them up on their "second category" when I clicked on "fees apply" to see what it would cost-They listed the insertion fee only-when I completed the entry, they had doubled the gallery fee and every thing else -but didn't state it up front!
When I read that some fees will be "reduced" and others "adjusted" I asked my husband,"Who do they think they are kidding with the semantics?" These slight of hand dealings feel smarmy and dishonest.Is this the way it has been for a long time? My regret is that I wasn't in this in "The good old Days". I see room for a competitor already!
From joyce, lakeland, florida I am joing the boycott because I do not agree with the changes Ebay is making. I am looking to other auction sites to sell on instead of ebay.
It looks like ebay is going to be hearing "JUST NOISE" when so many are leaving not too quietly.
Face the facts people, no matter how much you sell or how well you sell it, eBay/PayPal will always make more profit than you. You are a puppet eBay is your puppet master. Here try this site http://www.hagglerhouse.com/ start selling & making profit for yourself again.