Has eBay hit its twilight?
With listings up but sales flat, eBay isn't yet showing any benefit from a blizzard of drastic changes made earlier this year to its e-commerce site. What do you think of eBay's changes?
From Steve Davey, Galashiels, Scotland I am a full-time business trader. I closed my ebay shop a year ago in response to fee increases which were going to push my monthly listing fees up from around £50 per month to £125+ (not inlcuding FVFs). There has been nothing to attract me back to the site with the degraded search facility, pop-up listing images, compulsory free domestic post in more and more categories, restrictions on feedback for sellers, automatic seizure of funds during 'not received' and 'not as described' disputes, and slow sales on the odd occasion I try some auctions. On the other hand I find ebid a much more appealing option, with excellent support, friendly forums, clear, uncluttered layout, inventory upload from Excel spreadsheet (when saved as a .csv file) and best of all the built-in link to youtube videos is a really exciting way of building interest in my listings.
Ebay have totally alienated me as a buyer and seller. I expect to pay a share of my profits for advertising services, but as it stands, I would have to send out around 100 items a month just to cover my listing fees. Sell anything less than three items a day and I would be losing money. I can't take that chance, that's the bottom line for me.
From Jacob Orangeville, PA Time has passed and eBay has slipped further into decline. They blame it on the recession but considering eBay's double digit growth in the last recession that is not the problem.
http://www.rexxindustrialparts.com
From Richard, Cambridge, UK we're on to our third seller account at the moment, having been trading for over 6 years through ebay (via 2 x previous accounts, both of which had 99.2% positive feedback and 2000+ ratings by the last quarter 2008). However, the first 2 accounts were closed by ebay within 3 months of the new feedback system coming into force. We have a lot (and I mean about 80%) return rate on customers and have managed to draw many of these away from buying our goods through ebay. Similarly, we've moved away from selling through ebay to the end-user. As a recycler of computer hardware, we've found it less painful to sell to businesses, in bulk quantities, where we keep revenue high, but cut out the end user, which unfortunately contains what we call the 5% of ebay buyers- those who like to use their heightened rights on ebay to drive us down. Our current account has a feedback rating of 98.2% after being opened only 9 months. It's got 225 ratings, with 180 of those being from end-users rather than businesses. Since switching to wholesale through ebay, we've seen a drop in negatives, a drop in stress and the need to do far less listings for the same turnover. Profit for us is up as well. In effect, I stand by my original throughts when ebay rolled out the new rules for sellers. I think they've had their day. The hypes over, which is resulting in them loosing core business to new, more exciting ways of buying. In the UK, auction houses, car boot sales and cash convertors are doing a roaring trade, whereas ebay's market is dwindling. I think they don't quite understand the core market, which is and always will be the sellers. If they're going to use Amazon's model, then they have to expect an equivalent market share to Amazon- some 5% of the total marketplace.
From EDK, So. California "I almost can’t believe the people that show up in droves to complain and claim their huge business has been diminished by eBay’s changes. These mega-sellers are apparently being chased away by big bad eBay, but they aren’t intelligent enough to use the proper form of the word “to” when they type their comments. Riiiight…
I am sick to death of reading eBay’s obituary. Surely they are still changes to be made, but it’s still a tremendous opportunity for an entrepreneur to get in and start a business with minimal capital and lots of ambition. The reality is that it was even easier and cheaper 5 years ago… and now, somehow, because it is not as easy or cheap, it is not worthwhile. Change is difficult and sometimes very harsh – but eBay is every bit as viable an option today as it was 5 years ago. I firmly believe (and I vote my dollars, not necessarily with my heart) that eBay will prevail and be a stronger community as a direct result of the changes currently being made.
I am NOT an eBay employee. I am NOT married to an eBay employee. I do NOT agree 100% with all of their policy changes… but my eBay business has substantially increased in the past calendar year and I expect it will continue to do so.
Posted By Treesalt, The Great Southwest : October 21, 2008 8:51 pm"
This is the most sensible comment I've read so far in this forum. Thank you, Treesalt for a saying exactly what I've been wanting to say.
Even though I readily admit that ebay has some serious flaws and they had seriously challenged me this past March because of their own lack of knowledge of a term used in my industry (they mistakenly considered my titles/descriptions of my items as "significantly misrepresented") and abruptly, without warning – and I feel, unethically – ended most of my 700 listings, I still bounced back after 2.5 solid weeks of diligent relisting. I started relisting the bestsellers first, even improving the look and feel of my listings along the way, and my watchers and sales came back almost immediately. Regardless of that setback, and with all that has happened over the past 18 months with ebay's (sometimes inane) changes, I now pay LESS THAN ONE THIRD of the monthly fees since just last summer, my sales have almost doubled, and I am at the point where with just a little more knowledge, I will actually be able to do this fulltime by the end of this calendar year. And each item I sell averages only $2.59, so I must be doing something right.
With a little perseverance, a lot of sweat, a willingness to experiment to see what works to increase sales, an open mind, and good old-fashioned outstanding customer service, you can succeed. Sure, you will have to jump through some hoops, some lined with burning wicks. Don't you have to do so in any business venture? I have thousands of 100% pos FBs, all 4.9 DSRs and plenty of repeat customers who have turned into off-ebay regulars. If you can't play the game, by all means move on; but until ebay is nothing but a pile of charred remains, as TreeSalt stated, it will prevail.
From Laurel Michener, Mayfield Heights OH eBay has gone way too far with its radical changes, and the "quid pro quo" between eBay and PayPal smells like monopoly to me. Glad to see the addition of Paymate and other services, my guess is eBay HAD TO do that rather than wanted to. Now this is the funny part. If you go to the signup page for Paymate, using the link that eBay gave to get more info, you'll see a blurb proudly announcing "Paymate scores 8 out of 10 again!" In eBay terms, that's 4 out of 5 stars, which is far below the failing grade of 4.5. So while Paymate may be proud of its 4 stars out of 5, and the rest of the world might think that's a pretty good satisfaction rating, Paymate would be promptly booted off eBay with an "unacceptable" customer satisfaction rating.
From Rob Jones. Edgewater, MD Ebay's drastic changes leave them in hot water. I don't think that they have thought this through, because they are guilty of breaking several laws. I have proof! They are no longer just a venue for sellers and buyers, with the new policies that they have implimented. They are therefore hiding information pertaining to sellers Defrauding buyers. Email me for more info. I have the proof. I believe a lawsuit is in order, and will be very easy to prove, I have the evidence! Email me for more info. This is the big story for CNN. Be the reporter to expose it! I am contacting Fox news also. I know Sean Hannity will expose this. This could be a big story. Like I said I have the proof.
From Carolyn, Twin Falls Idaho The new "Best Match" search is a joke. It's hurting every -GOOD- seller I know, and all my buyers tell me it takes forever to find what they're searching for. You type in gift box and you get earrings. You type in mattress pad and you get brake pads. If they don't fix that, I don't think many buyers will keep shopping eBay. From what I'm hearing, it's too frustrating and it takes too long, and the pages freeze on the advertisements so you can't find anything quickly. Very bad move.
From Justin, Phoenix, AZ What really gets me is the pat answers you get from "customer support." If something isn't working, your cache must be full (usually responsible for slow performance, but not really for any other technical problems). If you're not getting any traffic, it must be your listings. If there's an issue with billing, expect to receive the same response five times – the response that didn't make sense the first time. Customer "support" on eBay consists of getting a form letter from an 18-year-old kid who knows nothing about anything except what the form letters say. In other words, there IS no customer support of any real value.
From Michelle, Seattle, WA One little note about Hattie's directions for blocking ads – if you are a seller, you'll have to delete the "include.ebaystatic.com" from Restricted Sites in order to create a listing and to use other tools on eBay. While you're browsing, it works fine. Just don't forget that you may need to change it back for other functions.
From Hattie, Denver, Colorado We are a mid-sized eBay seller offering antiques and unique one-of-a-kind items. In October, our sales suffered badly due to the "search bug" that eBay allegedly fixed after a few weeks, and they have never recovered. We used to sell 15-20 items per week, and now we sell 3-5 items per week. Concerned, we sent a survey to the customers on our mailing list, trying to pin down the reason for our slump. What our buyers told us was that there are 3 reasons for it. The answers were, in ascending order of frequency:
#3: the economy
#2: recent changes to search, e.g. "Best Match" search doesn't give relevant results
#1: ANNOYING FLASHING ADS and POP-UPS on EVERY page, asking for zip code & other information, or suggesting potentially dangerous file downloads from advertisers
We are sending instructions to all of our customers on how to block these ads. But John Donohoe, we hope you're listening/reading. How can you expect buyers to TRUST eBay when you're allowing potentially dangerous pop-up ads and file downloads to appear on every search page, preventing the shopper from shopping? (You can't keep shopping until you close these pop-ups – who wants to have to close out three pop-ups on every search page?)
J.D, YOU are eroding buyer trust. YOU.
eBay buyers: Block these ads by adding these sites to your restricted sites zone under the "Security" tab in Internet Options:
http://cdn.fastclick.net
http://include.ebaystatic.com
Select the "Restricted Sites" icon, then click "Custom." Go down the list, and for everything that has a "disable" option, select disable.
End of ads.
And if this rediculously poor management doesn't stop . . .
end of eBay.
Wake up, John.
From Arthur M., Palo Alto, CA Mr. Holcomb is quite right. To be a business leader, you must have the ability to distinguish between innovation and idiocy, an ability which Mr. Donohoe is sorely lacking.
From Michael Holcomb – Tyler, Texas. Donahoe needs to wake up and smell the coffee!
You can't abandon a successful business model, antagonize an entire client base (eBay Sellers who pay the fees) and destroy one of the strongest brands in history and expect to stay in business.
Donahoe's Innovative Disruption of eBay is insane. The theory was never meant to be applied to an existing company.
Donahoe stated that the creation of eBay was a disruptive innovation in the worldwide online marketplace, and that now, he intends to disrupt the disruption.
Does this sound like someone with a firm grip on reality?
John Donahoe is not qualified to lead this company, or any other for that matter.
Investors, Sell eBay and Don't Look Back.
JD has made more business enemies than you can shake a stick at. This company is going down for the count.
Get out while you can.
From helen vanschindel uninspired management is root and cause.
From Blogs to personal websites, to Google groups,
everyone is echoing the same thing.
Ebay has the network, but they are focusing
on paypal and other ventures, and pricing
the ebay site like it's a neiman marcus store
From Ted C., Las Vegas, NV Ben, you make some good points but you'd sound a lot more credible if you'd spell check what you write. Good points from someone who spells greed wrong tend to be discounted or disregarded as coming from someone who's not too bright.
From Ben, Corallis OR Unless eBay rolls back all these great changes they will fall like a giant in the sky. Donahoe has a vision of squeezing the last penny from the seller while trying to say he is making eBay a better place to shop. Sellers like myself who have 100% feedback are looking for other venues. I paint and sell art sucessfully for the last 4 years on eBay and never have I seen things get this bad. They have you comming and going. If you want your listing to be seen you have to offer free shipping. But it's the seller who has to pay the shipping fee's not eBay. They like this as they can now collect a percentage of the sale. Now eBay wants us to only use PayPal which is owned by them and the collect on that as well. But not everyone of my buyers like to use PayPal and prefer checks. Now they are using "Best Match" which is completely random and at best very confussing to find anything. The fact is that eBay wasn't broken, they just needed to keep it the way it was in 2004. The advertisement that Donahoe likes to brag about takes buyers away from eBay sellers. I won't be able to stay on eBay nor will any small – mid sized seller. This system is setup to only benifit the big dropshippers. But why would anyone go to eBay for massed produced discounted items? You won't find great deals on eBay for long, the sellers are taking there stuff and moving it to greener pastures. It's a shame because corporate gread is what is killing eBay. All they had to do is sit back and enjoy the ride. Sales on eBay should be doing great in this economy. People look for a bargain and you used to be able to find it on eBay. Not anymore!
From Tom C., Portland, OR That isn't the worst of it, CB-K. If you are a new seller on eBay, PayPal will hold your funds from every item you sell for 21 days -THREE WEEKS. And what's PayPal's definition of a "new" seller? Any seller with under 100 transactions to their credit. In other words, a very, very, very, very long time. If there's a better way of discouraging new sellers from selling on eBay, I can't think what it might be. Who wants to start selling there if they can't have their money from any sale for three weeks? And who's going to put up with that for the year or two it'll take to rack up 100 sales? And here's the best question of all – what bank could get away with holding every deposit you make (and investing it elsewhere for profit, no doubt) for three weeks, for the first two years you bank with them?
These people are clearly on a power trip, and they're overdue for a rude awakening. You can't treat people like that and get away with it indefinitely.
From Dan Shea – IL. Ebays Fees are always increasing. If sellers stopped selling at ebay and started selling at places like Ziing.com, then that may send a message to Ebay that they NEED to do something to get their sellers to return. It may make them wake up and lower their fees and try to please the people that made their business. So come on over to Ziing.com today and start sending a message to ebay that you won't put up with their high fees!
From CB-K, Chicago Hey, has anyone seen the new Paypal scam? I had a balance in my Paypal account (from when I used to sell things), and I wanted to withdraw it because I haven't been buying or selling on eBay lately. So when I tried to withdraw my funds, it says that I am limited to $100 per month withdrawal "for security reasons." I am so glad I have only a few hundred $ in there!
What about other high-volume sellers who have thousands in their Paypal accounts? It will take years to get your cash out! And now that eBay requires Paypal payment, it is a hige issue!
Is Paypal recognized as a bank now? I plan to have a discussion with both my bank and a representative of the FDIC very shortly. As a bank, this organization must be regulated accordingly.
From Ocean County New Jersey Ebay has given buyers the power to become judge, jury and executioner over a sellers right to operate a business thus adding to the U.S. unemployment rate. I never thought someone could be charged, punished & convicted without facts, proper representation and a trial. The extinction of the ebay seller has begun. I stopped selling. The constant extortion from buyers, for "FREE" things or face public negative feedback and eventual suspension, was too stressful and sending me to the poor house.
From Michelle F., Seattle, WA Pamela, you're lucky you have 30 or 40. My feedback is also 100%, and I provide excellent customer service, which eBay tells us is the key to getting visibility. Nonsense. I get 3 or 4 hits on my items per day. That's practically nil. The new "search experience" is a joke. It shows all the items from huge sellers and very few of the items from small sellers – and that's when it IS working properly, which isn't often. I used to clear over $3000 per month before the new search protocol was instituted. Now I'm lucky if I gross $300. Add to that the higher fees, and I might as well not bother. All that effort listing items for a measly 50 bucks a month just doesn't make financial sense. I'm starting my own website and leaving eBay behind.
From faqs4u, Ann Arbor, Mich. IMPORTANT!
FIRE JOHN DONAHOE PETITION:
http://www.petitiononline.com/jdonohoe/petition.html
Share your ebay horror story with ebay Board of Directors:
http://www.myblogutopia.com/2008/11/looking-for-more-dolphin-stories.html
Read what ebay employees are saying about ebay's EXTREMELY poor management:
http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/eBay-Reviews-E7853.htm
Please remember that Meg Whitman was a co-conspirator WITH Donahoe in this "Disruptive Innovation" scheme against ebay, it's users and it's shareholders. Here is a site that is full of information for thoseb seeking more (search the left-hand column:
From James Gordon, Sugar Land, TX EBay has destroyed many businesses including mine with their policy changes. Forcing us to have to have fraudulent buyers because we can't leave negative feedback for buyers that don't pay, falsely claim non delivery, or demand returns of items that match the detailed copy and pictures when listed. Subjecting sellers to buyers who can leave negative feedback and present a completely false story without retirbution and having that feedback cost us more in fees is rediculous. No wonder they are becoming known as FeeBay. I opened a business under one set of guidelines only to have them be changed without representation cost me over $200K in investment. PayPal refunded monies to buyers who claim they don't recognize charges more than six months after the completion of the tranaction even when we produced the invoice, auction close data, proof of delivery, proof of signature upon delivery and they didn't even have the decency to call to say they ruled against me the seller. All information other sellers should know and eBay should be protecting their sellers against accordingly but don't. I will never recommend them to anyone, seller nor buyer. Way to treat your customers.
From sj trowbridge wiltshire england A Donahoism:
"If you have the buyers the sellers will come"
Really? So how many people stand around in a field waiting for a mall to be built?
Donahoe and Ebay are now a joke.
From barb,phila,pa I have been selling on ebay for 3 years. My feedback and detailed sellers rating are fine. I have stopped selling because of the stress, fear of backlash from buyers that I cannot do anything about(tho this hasn't happened yet, but a matter of time), huge fees and unfair and one-sided feedback.
What ebay has done is destructive and heartless. There are sellers with positive feedback for years of loyalty to ebay that have stopped selling because of unfair policies. People whose income came solely from ebay. Single moms adding extra income( what about their children who notice and have to accept the fact that their parent can't afford shoes, or extras that that money was used for because ebay is no longer an option?), retired people trying to get extra money for perscriptions and because social security doesn't pay enough. Injured people who cannot do a fulltime job but sold to have some income, people who have built businesses on ebay that took years to build and have stopped selling. Me? I sold more on ebay last year as my fiance' died, I lost most of my customers for my business, his income,and after about with depression sold more on ebay to save my apt, pay overdue bills and keep my two kids fed and clothed. I was one of those people who actually found myself depending on that income. So, I know first-hand.
I often wonder why Ebay does not have the guts to address the people whose lives they have destroyed because that is what they have done. I did try to get an answer but I am not important enough to them to get an answer. Now, it is not just the sellers they have messed with –it is the buyers who used to come to ebay for bargains either on their childs clothing or household goods that were needed, shoes etc. Bargains that ebay had always had a stock of because the sellers were there. Ebay can become a fixed price venue–true -but not all buyers were there to buy high-end stuff they were there for bargains,collectibles, one of a kind stuff and things you just couldn't find just anywhere. The truth of the matter, is that Ebay should revert back to the old feedback system it had or revise it –not have one-sided. Ebay could have fixed price and auctions and kept all happy. Ebay shouldn't tell sellers what type of payment it can accept–that is none of their business. They provide a venue for businesses they don't run the individual businesses( who gives them the right to do that?). The fees are hysterical–With the economy the way it is more people would be selling on ebay for extra money–they could've made a killing on quantity alone without raising the fees to the point it isn't worth the risk to list and pay even if the item doesn't sell. Buyers would be here to try and get things for lower prices than stores. Look at the thrift shops that are now getting more customers than ever before.
The fact is the sellers and buyers deserve an explanation as to why Ebay has done this, why we don't matter and if they are going to take steps to fix the problems they created. Or perhaps Ebay has become a money-hungry, heartless, uncaring bunch of people who have no regard for anything but their bottom line. I hope they get their bottom line as they have surely destroyed alot of peoples lives. I am an honest person,honest seller and do not want to work with the dishonest –which is what ebay has become. I appreciate the ability to post here and to all that read I wish you well. Barb
From Caitlin, Key West, Florida Roger, What you fail to understand is Ebay was a better and more profitable company (not counting the Pay Pal contribution) with the deadbeat sellers. I dont care if you believe what I say or not, you are the ignorant one who just does not get it so you have a hard time understanding the big picture which is your problem, not mine.
You seem to think that the buyers are key and it was the bad sellers that forced ebay to change because the deadbeat sellers as you say were driving the buyers away. What forced ebay to change was the revenue growth that amazon and other online sellers were realizing and it was a faster growth rate than what ebay could deliver or keep up with as they had hit their near maximum potential in the auction segment in the united states. hey had peaked. That has nothing to do with dead beat sellers, it has everything to do with profit expectations from shareholders and Wall Street both of whom demanded MORE.
What GOOD sellers are upset about is the lack of insight at ebay and ebay not understanding where the money they once had in auctions came from because all of us have seen the death of our sales as a result of their new policies and how they keep screwing us. Bad sales numbers for ebay sellers is bad for ebay. If we dont make money, they dont make money. By getting rid of deadbeat sellers as you say, you change the diversity and variety of what was being offered for sale and now the crap that is left is not enough to keep the buyers interested and that is why they left.
But you are too supid to figure that out just like they are.
It was the sellers, deadbeat or otherwise, that turned ebay into a great company. The buyers came because of US!!!
It is the loss of those sellers that has made Ebay enter it's twilight.
Perhaps you should keep your mouth shut to avoid looking ignorant yet again.
From Pamela, Burbank, CA. Don't waste your time or effort on eBay any longer. Their entire system is rigged for the buyer's benefit and to line eBay's pockets with as much of the seller's money as possible.
I currently have 3 estate items up for auction. My feedback score is 100% and I've never had a problem in my career at eBay. Yet, my items are completely buried. Where once I would have had hundreds of potential buyers looking at my items, I now have a mere 30 or 40.
eBay can put any pretty spin on their sagging numbers that they choose to, but CEO Mr. John Donahoe is in the process of ruining one of the world's premier auction sites. It's shameful and unconscionable.
From Auds, NY I started selling on Ebay in early '08 after being a long-time buyer. I just wanted to sell a few items of worth (perfumes, books, movies, cds) hoping to make a buck or two on something I no longer had use for. The items I was selling sold for between $2 and $20 dollars, and on top of the 50 cent listing fees, and 15% of the sale fees I was paying, I started seeing charges of $1.99 show up on my credit card once a month for 3 months straight, and I hadn't sold anything during those months! I emailed customer service and they said it's a standard once a month charge that all "sellers" must pay. When I asked to close my sellers account they said they couldn't "close" the account, just remove my credit card information so the charges will accrue but my card won't be charged. They gave me a whole run-around going back and forth between people, asking me to fill out and re-fill out the same forms in order to "close" my sellers account, the only catch is that the second I have to make a payment if I buy something, BAM, my credit card information will be back up for them to charge…
From Roger Chicago, Il Caitlin, wrote:
"Like I said before you are a moron and have become more moronic as the day has passed…. , you are a moron who thinks he knows everything. … Oh, and moron …. as you opening your mouth again …. stupid people everywhere, they dont even know they are dumb. "
You're hostile and condescending attitude defines what has been wrong with eBay sellers for a long time, the attitude that has chased away many good buyers. That's what eBay's stats began to show well over a year ago. The logical reaction to that was that they had to get rid of dead beat sellers before they could begin to lure back the buyers those sellers turned off.
That's why eBay stopped sellers from leaving feedback and started the DSR, which rewards good sellers and bans the cheaters and poor sellers. You seem very bitter toward a company that is responsible for sustaining your own business. If you are unhappy with the current fee's leave. As far as going to Amazon, they tend to deal quicker with deadbeats and I predict they will have their hands full in the coming year.
Even though I don't believe a word you wrote, I do wish you the best of luck and I hope you learn from your mistakes. But again, I wish more luck to your future customers. They'll need it.
P.S. Thank you for providing such a graphic example of what eBay is trying to reconcile: hostile and ignorant sellers.
….
Mark wrote, "you can find EBay’s Soul at Bonanzle."
Now, that's a scary bit of spam. But like I said, eBay has recently ejected their worst sellers and those people are rushing to alternative sites, most of those sites offer less protection for the buyer. A buyer gets stiffed on many of these alternative sites and he's left high and dry. But like eBay, Bonanzle rakes money in from sellers, not buyers. So, you don't need buyers.
…
95% is not a "lofty" goal, as suggested; it is in the middle of eBay's bell curve. The number itself doesn't mean squat. Those who were earning over 92% were in the BOTTOM 1% of THE WORST sellers and let go. The actual star and percentage system is not an articulate measure like a grade school report card. The figures are rigged so that even poor to midland sellers "appear" to be great sellers to the buyers. It seems that many buyers would quit complaining if eBay gave them a C-, rather than 4.3 stars out of 5, because the C- better reflects their performance to the real world.
I do agree that new and smaller sellers have to work harder to prove themselves, just like new restaurants have to work harder to get customers but if they are unable to deliver they also have a better chance of failure. The thing is, if small sellers do survive they stand a better chance of growing their business, at eBay or anywhere. For the time being eBay has ejected the worst sellers onto anyone who will have them. They often go to sites that are no different than eBay was before the changes, (remember what got them into trouble in the first place by catering to sellers and ignoring buyers.) Perhaps that is why Google hasn't taken up the slack, why would they want eBay's worst sellers and they certainly don't want to copy eBays failed model, the model that buyers yearn for.
From Jason, Porthmadog, Wales I started selling used mobile phones as a hobby on e-bay a couple of years ago and nearly all of my profits went into buying things on ebay. Ever since Donohoe's new policies, my sales have completely dried up. I no longer buy nor sell on ebay and won't be using paypal either.
From Bob in Ann Arbor, Michigan To eBay stockholders: Get rid of Donahoe before he destroys eBay. Today's economic conditions cannot support his mistakes…
From Tom, wyandotte , mi I auctioned an item and was paid $160.00 plus shipping through PayPal. I sent the item and the buyer left positive feedback and still the scumbags hold my money. For 21 days. They say they will release it 3 days after confirmation of the buyer receiving and being satisfied. Also, I am still waiting for payment on three other items auctioned at the same time even after three weeks. But I can't leave negative feedback. Ebay and PayPal suck.
From Bob, Dallas, TX. John Donahue is a moron.
From D. Taylor, Mayfield Heights, Ohio I'm with you, Susan. Donahoe has turned eBay into a corporation-friendly, person-hostile environment for sellers. Every other week there's another policy that makes it harder on individual sellers and easier on big companies like Blue Nile, etc., who already have their own successful websites and don't need eBay for their survival. The "Best Match" search is a crock. The first several pages of any "Best Match" search (the DEFAULT search) show 95% corporate listings. Items of smaller volume sellers are pushed to the back pages. eBay will try to tell you that this is because items ending soonest are pushed to the front, but that's B.S. On page one of a search in fine jewelry/rings, for example, there are items with 2 days left, 4 days left, 8 days left and upwards of 20 days left to run. However, all but a handful of them are Blue Nile or other corporate listings. Donahoe's greed is so obvious and pervasive, eBay stinks with it. Even his own employees agree that he's bent on killing the golden goose. What I can't figure out is why the stockholders haven't removed him. I'm sure he's finding ways to rob them of their earnings too. This is a classic case of ignorance ruling the roost because the people who CAN do something about it are too complacent to bother. It'll go down in history as a classic case of "what not to do" in college business programs around the country, and if we're all very lucky, Donahoe will end up behind bars.
From Fed up with FeeBay Donahoe has turned eBay into a miserable experience for sellers and cut so far into their profits that many have been forced to wash their hands of the whole eBay marketplace. By turning feedback into a senseless, one way only, extortion ridden tool, implementing the truly ridiculous DSR system, massively increasing Final Value Fees while only advertising lower insertion rates, enforcing a low cap on shipping charges and no longer allowing sellers to accept any form of payment other than their own PayPal, coupled with the critically flawed search program, John Donahoe has left sellers no choice but to leave the site they helped make so successful in the first place. What a shame.
FeeBay and PreyPal now triple and quadruple dip into sellers’ profits, freeze sellers' PayPal funds for weeks on end, offer ZERO seller protection, and customer service has been diminished to cut and paste email replies and employed "script readers" on the phone. It has become a joke. Mr. Donahoe had the nerve to refer to seller's complaints this past year as "NOISE". It would appear that he is having trouble squelching the volume of that noise now. Face it, when the economy is bad, people look for a bargain. eBay used to be that perfect place to find fabulous deals at great prices. It also used to be a fun and exciting environment to be in. Now it's just a nightmare experience for more and more every day and the stock is indeed reflecting the pitiful course Donahoe has chosen. What a waste…
From Roger, Midwest Caitlin, Key West, Florida wrote:
"Like I said before you are a moron and have become more moronic as the day has passed…. , you are a moron who thinks he knows everything. … Oh, and moron …. as you opening your mouth again …. stupid people everywhere, they dont even know they are dumb. "
You're hostile and condescending attitude defines what has been wrong with eBay sellers for a long time, the attitude that has chased away many good buyers. That's what eBay's stats began to show well over a year ago. The logical reaction to that was that they had to get rid of dead beat sellers before they could begin to lure back the buyers those sellers turned off.
That's why eBay stopped sellers from leaving feedback and started the DSR, which rewards good sellers and bans the cheaters and poor sellers. You seem very bitter toward a company that is responsible for sustaining your own business. If you are unhappy with the current fee's leave. As far as going to Amazon, they tend to deal quicker with deadbeats and I predict they will have their hands full in the coming year.
Even though I don't believe a word you wrote, I do wish you the best of luck and I hope you learn from your mistakes. But again, I wish more luck to your future customers. They'll need it.
P.S. Thank you for providing such a graphic example of what eBay is trying to reconcile: hostile and ignorant sellers.
….
Mark wrote, "you can find EBay’s Soul at Bonanzle."
Now, that's a scary bit of spam. But like I said, eBay has recently ejected their worst sellers and those people are rushing to alternative sites, most of those sites offer less protection for the buyer. A buyer gets stiffed on many of these alternative sites and he's left high and dry. But like eBay, Bonanzle rakes money in from sellers, not buyers. So, you don't need buyers.
…
95% is not a "lofty" goal, as suggested; it is in the middle of eBay's bell curve. The number itself doesn't mean squat. Those who were earning over 92% were in the BOTTOM 1% of THE WORST sellers and let go. The actual star and percentage system is not an articulate measure like a grade school report card. The figures are rigged so that even poor to midland sellers "appear" to be great sellers to the buyers. It seems that many buyers would quit complaining if eBay gave them a C-, rather than 4.3 stars out of 5, because the C- better reflects their performance to the real world.
I do agree that new and smaller sellers have to work harder to prove themselves, just like new restaurants have to work harder to get customers but if they are unable to deliver they also have a better chance of failure. The thing is, if small sellers do survive they stand a better chance of growing their business, at eBay or anywhere. For the time being eBay has ejected the worst sellers onto anyone who will have them. They often go to sites that are no different than eBay was before the changes, (remember what got them into trouble in the first place by catering to sellers and ignoring buyers.) Perhaps that is why Google hasn't taken up the slack, why would they want eBay's worst sellers and they certainly don't want to copy eBay's failed model, the model that buyers yearn for.
From Susan, San Antonio, Texas I've had it with eBay. I sold there for 8 1/2 years, but I'm done. I've moved my inventory to Etsy and I've made over 40 sales in a month….more than 4 times more sales there than in the same 30 day period on eBay. The whole eBay experience has soured for me and I'm a seller there with 100% positive feedback. They've turned hostile towards their sellers and I won't put up with it. I won't stay where I'm not made to feel welcome and where I'm not allowed to make even one mistake without serious consequences to my ability to sell there. Ebay has made selling there too uncomfortable, too stressful and too expensive.
From Mark, Washington DC Donahoe and his cronies have no idea how eBay should work. They lack vision and are ethically challenged. Ebay could have it all: large and small sellers, auctions and fixed prices, domestic and international sellers, buyers who sell, sellers who buy, etc. Intead they are punching holes throughout the corporate structure and if this is not stopped will cause the complete destruction of a company that HAD no peers. Why Donahoe? Why?
From Paul South Florida If you need to sell or buy merchandise in bulk,try out http://www.sellmyinventory.com
Simple to use and very cost effective.
From Jeff, Houston TX John Donahoe is a liar and he has everyone snowed, except sellers. I have been doing business on eBay for 10 years and we do over a half a million dollars in business on eBay a year, well we used to, and I can tell you that it has nothing to do with the economy, or any other excuse that John Donahoe and eBay tries to fool people into believing. Ebay's listings are DOWN, NOT UP. The only reason it appears that eBay's listings are up is because sellers have moved their store listings to fixed price listings thinking they were finally going to get some sales. Thing is sales have decreased for most every seller on eBay. Yet sellers are spending more money for fixed price listings than they are for store listings. Store listings do not count towards eBay's listings numbers so this is all another lie that eBay feeds the media and their investors. Give it a couple of weeks and you will see eBay's listings decrease again because once the initial rush of fixed price listings start ending and sellers see that sales are less than they were before they will quickly be moving their listings from fixed price back to store. Fixed price is 35 cents while store listings are a max of 10 cents. John Donahoe lies to the board and to the media and everyone believes him. We account for 11.5% of the listings in our category which accounts for 11.5% of the listing fees in our category. We have nearly 40,000 feedback of which 99.8% are positive over a ten year period. However, with John Donahoe's brilliant piece of trash best match search system we only have .05% of our listings displayed on the first page of search results. Talk about not getting what you pay for. eBay's new best match system is supposed to highlight the best sellers but what it does is highlight the sellers that have free shipping and sell cheap trash. When you walk into a store is the first thing you see clearance merchandise or is the stores most recent merchandise. Ebay shows you the clearance merchandise and hides th good stuff. Buyers are getting to eBay and finding nothing but trash and backing out. John Donahoe's brilliance has brought us Skype and eBay Express. Ebay Express, which used the best match search algorithm is no longer around. Of course, John Donahoe said that we no longer needed eBay Express when the fixed price listings were lowered and sellers started listing fixed price listings. The truth is, eBay Express was a disaster front the get go and he used that as an excuse to get rid of eBay Express without having to call it what it really was, A COMPLETE FAILURE. Skype never did make it on eBay and eBay claims that it is doing well but now they are talking about unloading it for less than what they paid for it. NOW Mr. John Donahoe is destroying eBay and everyone is sitting back and letting it happen. STOCK HOLDERS, if I owned stock in eBay I would sell it now because this man has done nothing but create policies and procedures that are going to fail just like everything else he has done with eBay. Someone better really look into the bull that this man is feeding everypne and do something about it before it is too late. Go to glassdoor.com and see what his own employees are saying about him. He has a whopping 28% approval rating. One of the worst CEO approval ratings of any company in the country. Sellers think he's a disaster and so do his own employees so why doesn't the media and stock holders see this. WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!!!! I will be more than happy to lend my 10 years of eBay knowledge to any stock holder or news media who wishes to contact me. I have a wealth of information to share and I have the documentation to back it up. Feel free to email me at whackyshak@yahoo.com.
From Gary Jones, New Britain, Ct. No ones feedback was ever reset. I have been on eBay since day 1. I do it for a living (I know I'm dumb). There is a "3 strike rule", I should know as I am currently going through this on eBay. I have 312 positive feedbacks in 12 months and got 2 negatives in the past 12 months (due to idiot buyers, not my items)and my account is under suspension. My feedback rating is over 99% and my DSR is 4.8. Why was I suspended? eBay only has me down as having 287 positive feedbacks because they are behind. eBay should have left well enough alone. The changes/policys/rules are awful. If there was another site that offered the same thing with the same amount of traffic I would definatly say goodbye to eBay but unfortunatly they have cornered the market. I hate to say it but all you people that think eBay is going to be out of biz are sadly mistaking because we have no where else to go.
From Bob in Ann Arbor, Michigan Ebay is losing it. Where else have you been able to buy an Elmo doll and an original signature of Abraham Lincoln on the same day from sellers a world apart in space, size and interest. Ebay made history as the first truly democratic market place. Why are they set on destroying this?
From Tom Dumbo Ebays recent changes seem to of been made by a pre-schooler. Tom Donahoe is the biggest moron on the planet.
First lesson in business is to build loyal relationships with your customers through quality service. Treating your loyal sellers of 7, 8 and even 10 years like crap and forcing out of the marketplace is his mentality on customer service. If Tom Donahoe was a eBay seller his store would be full of #&*!.
From Michelle Gardner, Seattle WA No one is arguing that there are some shady sellers on eBay. There certainly has been a need to get these con artists off the site so that people can buy knowing they'll get what they pay for. That's agreed and no one is contesting it. I myself was swindled for $800 and was lucky enough to get it back through PayPal. Many people are not so lucky.
What we are arguing here is essentially just the numbers. 95% buyer satisfaction is a pretty lofty goal even for a good seller. And there are, again, a lot of bad buyers who will slander a seller's reputation just for fun, or who will try to swindle the seller and leave a negative if they are refused. There is no margin, with a 95% satisfaction requirement, that takes into account the usually nice buyer who has a bad day and slams a good seller with a negative because their boss yelled at them earlier. One of the people who left an unwarranted negative for me was very apologetic a week later and tried to have the feedback removed, but eBay would not permit it. She said, "I don't know what was wrong with me that day." It happens, and eBay is not allowing for things like this. 95% is just too high, and THAT is why good sellers are being hurt. Circumstances can cause even the best seller to fall below that number pretty easily. If you're less experienced or a low-volume seller, you're at more risk of this. 200 (positives) divided by 203 (positives plus negatives) equals 98.5% feedback rating, which translates to eBay suspension. Just 3 negatives. But 2000 divided by, say 20 negatives = 2020, and you're still at a healthy 99 percent. So yes, the small sellers are getting hit harder. eBay isn't taking this into account either, which means that new sellers and small sellers are going to be forced out because they don't have the volume to survive, and that's a shame. These are the people offering unique, one-of-a-kind items that are hard to find elsewhere.
While I love Bonanzle's concept and wish them all the success in the world, I must honestly say that right now they are no more a viable alternative than iOffer, Atomic Mall, or Overstock. They just don't have the traffic (yet?). I'm on Bonanzle, and I'm on Atomic Mall, and I'm on Etsy. While I adore these places for their great concepts and home-y feel, I haven't made a sale on any of them in the two months I've been there, using the same listings I use & make money with on eBay. They just don't have the exposure of an eBay or an Amazon, and that's the problem right now. Amazon doesn't do much for vintage or one-off items. Overstock Auctions doesn't have the traffic either, though they could be a contender. Neither does eCrater. Much as Google may be a bit too corporate for the average eBayer's palate, they could indeed be the most viable alternative, if they would step up to the plate and do it. They already have the framework in place with Google checkout & the exposure of Google search.
Bottom line: eBay has bitten the hands that feed it one – make that one thousand – times too often, and people are ticked off. They're getting hurt and they either have left eBay or they plan to do so in the near future. There are literally THOUSANDS of eBay sellers who would move to an alternate site, like a "Google Auctions" or some such thing that could offer them a comparable home with comparable traffic, in a HEARTBEAT, if it were only available to move to.
For now, that place doesn't exist. And you will find many of these sellers on sites like PowerSellersUnite.com, talking about alternative sites and their pros & cons, discussing web site design, getting and giving help so they and their fellow sellers – not just POWERSellers – can keep feeding their kids in spite of eBay's madness. And it is just that – madness. The only way that these new policies and regulations make any sense is if the idea behind them is to destroy eBay. If they are not abandoned in favor of a fairer system, eBay WILL fall. It's happening right before our eyes, it's in the news, it's all around us. They are finished if something does not change, and fast. Personally, I'll never go back, no matter what they do now, but they could salvage some sellers if they got their heads out of their collective ***es right this minute. Unfortunately, I don't think they will. I think they'll just keep screwing up until they lose everything. The sad part is how many good people they'll be taking down with them.
From Mark Wilson, LasVegas, NV I used to buy and sell on EBay regualarly, but now I rarely even buy and never sell. EBay and PayPal are only in it for the money. They'll keep on taking and taking until the gravy boat is empty and they'll wonder what happened.
From Park K, Pasadena, CA buyer first and seller last, it is how ebay runs its business. Some ebay sellers are so deep in to the ebay game that they found difficult to quit selling on ebay. What is the point of selling full time online auction? To me it is about freedom and to be my own boss, but I am sure for a lot of us, selling on ebay seems like working for ebay (or worst). If ebay is my boss then this is the worst one that I can think of, always complaining about how I do my job, never do anything for the employees (no benefits not even a pad on the back, remember feedback are from buyers not ebay), hold my pay check (paypal), and for some reason ebay just attract the worst kind of customers (I am not saying buyers are all bad, I just think ebay should set the same type of requirements for buyer as seller.)
My fellow ebay sellers, please stop selling and find different outlet. I had stopped selling on ebay over 6 months, and since started my real business, In this short 6 months I have customers that love me, work shorter hours (9 hours instead of 16 hours while work as ebay seller) and make more profit. My partner found OK job and the most important of all he is just a happier person, (at less I can talk to him without arguing). I am sure I had learned a lot from selling on ebay, but I strongly believed I am a better person after stop selling on Greedbay and start living again.
life is too short to be working on something that heads nowhere. Just try to apply for a job and put down you have 40000 positive feedbacks on your ebay account and see what other people think. it is like a cult, it does mean a thing in the real world.
From Sam Hill, Los Angeles, California People should consider spell check, proper grammar and clear thinking when they post their comments if they want others to take them seriously. A few may want to have someone proofread their post before submitting it. I read comments that don't make sense and some that are nothing more than a rant. Maybe they should focus more on what it would take to make eBay better. I am only buyer on eBay but sympathize with the many sellers who have integrity and are professional. I understand the anger and frustration but there are still too many cheaters, con artists, "Soup Nazis" and bullies selling on eBay. I'm Sam Hill and I approve of this message.
From Mark, Seattle, WA I would like to thank eBay for abandoning unique items in favor of mass produced items. That has left a huge void in the market which we are filling nicely. So thank you eBay, you have helped many buyers and sellers discover our site. Now unlike some of the comments above, I would like to direct you to all of the alternatives listed in this entire thread. After you have seen them all then please stop by http://www.bonanzle.com and see what we are about. I promise that you will be pleasantly surprised.
Come and see why we are the fastest growing eCommerce site on the internet. Come and see why EBay Blogger Randy Smythe said that you can find EBay's Soul at Bonanzle.
From Caitlin, Key West, Florida Watch this video about ebay
From Caitlin, Key West, Florida Like I said before you are a moron and have become more moronic as the day has passed. You assume too much in your statements. I have over 2,000 positive feedbacks with a 99.9% rating and I still sell on ebay and I hate it, my sales are down, my costs are up… I am getting screwed and when my inventory is gone, so am I, but you say I am a deadbeat seller, you are a moron who thinks he knows everything.
Oh, and moron, I was also a huge buyer on ebay and you say all the buyers got screwed, I never got screwed, not once.
You sure drink a lot of Koolaide…
Go read a blog on Amazon or Google and see that there is not even a fraction of complaints like there is about ebay. You think we just make this up and we are all deadbeats??? Well seems to me us deadbeats sure built a big company that is failing now and there is a reason their growth is retracting…. See what happens when you run the deadbeats off.. If you reverse their fees to before the increase and recalculate their revenue they are down 40% YoY since they initiated this disruptive innovation plan. AKA destructive noninnovation.
Oh and many of us deadbeats actually OWN the company as shareholders and we never voted for these increases. We bought ebay shares because we were Ebay.
You also dont know sh(t about marketing, marketing is all about focused targeting of information about your goods and services directed at your customers effectively. Without customers, there is no marketing. You need to know who your customers are so that you may market your products effectively. Not knowing who your customers are is as big a mistake as you opening your mouth again trying to act like you know what you are talking about.
The amount of buyers that were cheated on ebay compared to positive transactions was in direct proportion to your IQ and head size.
I see stupid people everywhere, they dont even know they are dumb.
From K. Johnson, San Jose, CA As a bronze power seller with almost 4000 FB (and never had a negative)I closed my ebay store last month, and reduced my listings from 200 up at all times to 7. I put up the seven to test their .35 month long listing. What a joke. There are no sales. Fees have skyrocketed since last year. My listings are buried. I have lost my power seller status, and discounts.
I am so mad at ebay over ruining my online business there that I REFUSE to make any purchases from ebay, use paypal, or use my account at their recently acquired Bill Me Later.
From Roger, midwest Caitlin, Key West, Florida wrote:
"You are a moron.
"You comments clearly show the moron you are."
And your comments express very clearly why buyers have left eBay and why eBay is banning hostile sellers like yourself. Good luck too you but I wish better luck to the people you encounter.
Myself, I am stopping all on line shopping for the next year until the dust settles after eBay has begun banning poor sellers. Many of the worst offending sellers on eBay are finally being banned from selling. Rather than change their ways they are whining and going to other auction sites to do the exact same thing. I don't trust the new auction sites who now have a larger number of bad dealers migrating from eBay, Amazon included. It will take a while for sites like Amazon to get rid of these dead beats.
To Keith Jarvis, (M.B.A., Harvard, class of ‘82): the "first rule of business" might be "know your customer" (for eBay the seller) but the "first rule of marketing" trumps that rule. The first rule of marketing is that WHEN there are NO buyers there is NO exchange of money and therefore there is NO market place. EBay's lax attitude toward cheating sellers and hostile attitude toward buyers has chased good buyers away from their market place. That is the problem they began to face over a year ago. eBay can get to know their sellers like their best friend, that still doesn't bring back the buyers that that best friend has cheated in the past.
From Alan, Deltona, FL I've never had success selling a lot on eBay. I assumed it was because I had little feedback, even though my products were competitively priced. I gave up on selling there, mainly because I spent much more than I earned.
Bottom line: eBay is good for buying, bad for selling.
From Treesalt, The Great Southwest I almost can't believe the people that show up in droves to complain and claim their huge business has been diminished by eBay's changes. These mega-sellers are apparently being chased away by big bad eBay, but they aren't intelligent enough to use the proper form of the word "to" when they type their comments. Riiiight…
I am sick to death of reading eBay's obituary. Surely they are still changes to be made, but it's still a tremendous opportunity for an entrepreneur to get in and start a business with minimal capital and lots of ambition. The reality is that it was even easier and cheaper 5 years ago… and now, somehow, because it is not as easy or cheap, it is not worthwhile. Change is difficult and sometimes very harsh – but eBay is every bit as viable an option today as it was 5 years ago. I firmly believe (and I vote my dollars, not necessarily with my heart) that eBay will prevail and be a stronger community as a direct result of the changes currently being made.
I am NOT an eBay employee. I am NOT married to an eBay employee. I do NOT agree 100% with all of their policy changes… but my eBay business has substantially increased in the past calendar year and I expect it will continue to do so.
From Dani Smith, Boise Idaho I joined Ebay in February of 2004 as a buyer AND a seller. I had to stop selling books on Ebay after the latest fee increase because for many of the books I listed I barely broke even.
Compounded by the problem is not being able to leave negative feedback. While there are many honest buyers and sellers, you do occasionally get scammed. It happens. And there is no way to contest it now. Ebay has all the power right now with the sellers. They control your listing (where it is, if it's actually there), your money ("holding" it in Paypal), your fees (if you get dinged by an unhappy customer kiss your good fee rate goodbye), and your ability to retaliate against negative feedback (how can you dispute it other than responding???).
Now, as a buyer I find myself equally frustrated with Ebay. Type in a particular book you are looking for, and get thousands of erroneous listing that have nothing to do with your search. But they're power sellers with "great" high volume feedback (fees are lining Mr. Donahue's pockets).
The unique items I look for are gone. Replaced by power sellers like buy.com and greatbooks. Which both suck.
And while many people blame all the fraud on the people committing it, I blame Ebay. They had a chance several years ago to put this fire out, and chose instead to look the other way and hold there hands out for the fees. Now they're catering to the buyer. The buyer is not always right. The target is sellers. Unique mom and pop sellers with a genuine product not a Chinese knock off.
But Mr. Donahue doesn't feel that way. Instead he's delusional in thinking Ebay is a great marketplace now.
And they've lost a lot of people. I for one only buy items now on Ebay if they're something I can't find ANYPLACE else. I'll go to Amazon, Ecrater and Craigslist first. In my eyes it's equal footing there. And I sincerely hope that the companies currently competing with Ebay take notice of this fiasco. Public relations NIGHTMARE.
From K. Jarvis, Warwick, Rhode Island Far be it from me to question the way another man runs his business, and God knows I don't have an M.B.A. from Stanford (mine's from a rather more conservative school near Boston). But Mr. Donahoe seems to have forgotten the basics. The first rule of business management is – know your customer. Definition of a customer – the people who pay you. That would be eBay's sellers, wouldn't it? And the first rule of business reorganization is – don't change too much. It looks to me like most everything on eBay has been or is in the process of being changed. Perhaps Mr. Donahoe should consider a refresher course.
Keith Jarvis, M.B.A., Harvard, class of '82
From Annie L. Boston Mass None of this is going to matter if ebay doesn't fix their search bug, which they keep saying will get fixed in 24 hours, but its been over three weeks and it still isnt fixed. My ebay income is 30 percent of what it usually is, and dropping. People are already turning to other places for chrismas shopping because they cant find what they want on ebay. I think the giant is pretty much already on its way down and probably wont recover from this. I'm looking for an alternate place to set up shop & start over by the new year. eBay is dead.
From Jonathan in NY,NY To lm in Edmonton:
What else does a buyer have to do, other than pay for the item, to get a positive feedback rating, you ask? Well, one, not attempt to steal the item by starting a paypal dispute or a chargeback without returning it; two, not leave a seller negative feedback when you got exactly the item that was described within a reasonable time for the price you agreed to; three, not pester the seller for months afterwards with silly questions, requests, demands and complaints over a $100 item that you paid five bucks for; four, not EXPECT that a seller is going to give you a $25 freebie in addition to selling you a $100 item for five bucks…how's that for starters?
Maybe you sell on eBay, lm, but I can tell that you don't do very much of it. Buyers can be a pain in the butt, even good ones, and that's something you handle as a part of doing business. However, if you give people too much power, they tend to misuse it, and that's what's happened to eBay buyers since the feedback policy change. You don't see people buying an item from Wal-Mart, then going straight to the returns line and demanding their money back while insisting that they be allowed to take the item home for free. Wal-Mart would treat them as shoplifters trying to steal from the store and would call the police. eBay sellers don't have that option. They have to rely on the framework within which they sell – that is, eBay – to help them control this kind of theft, and eBay is not doing that. In fact, it's doing the opposite and encourageing buyers to do whatever they want with no repercussions. People are "resisting change," as you call it, because it's costing them money and even putting them out of business. If your annual income was cut to 1/4 of what it was due to a policy change, I'm pretty sure you'd be resistant to change too.
The story Ms. Garner tells is a very common one right now, all you have to do is go to http://www.powersellersunite.com to see that this is happening to a lot of sellers, many of them powersellers who have always been the cream of eBay's crop and considered the best and most reputable sellers on eBay. They are being kicked off eBay for no reason other than they received a few negative feedbacks from buyers who were unreasonable or playing games because under the new rules they can get away with it.
It's just common sense .. you don't drive away your seller base, because they are the reason people go to eBay. If the sellers leave, the buyers will leave too and they ARE. The only reason eBay hasn't already crashed hard is that there isn't one big competitor who can be "the" alternative to eBay. I can guarantee you that if Google, Amazon, Overstock or some other site with consistently good traffic decided to open itself up to eBay's homeless by offering a solid auction site where you can buy & sell any kind of legally-exchangeable item, the kind of site eBay used to be, you would see a HUGE exodus from eBay. The only reason it hasn't happened is that no one has offered them a good home yet. When someone does capitalize on the potential there, eBay is flat-out finished. People will leave in droves, and I'll be one of them.
From Lorraine Desrosiers, Hadley, Massachusetts I've been selling one of a kind antiques, mainly textiles, on Ebay for 8 years and doing well. All the reporting about Ebay's changes are accurate and troubling. Due to the lower pricing of listings and raised final value fees, Ebay now favors sellers who deal in the same low priced items over and over, hardware store sellers and the like, no offense. On the other hand, the higher the prices go for my goods, the more of my profits go to ebay. This is a disincentive for me. In addition, all the site changes are distracting and require learning new formats, features, and pathways to old information, so I am spending more time staying in the same place, which takes time away from selling. Although some of the substantive changes are good ones, more of them are merely tossing options up and reordering them as they come down. On top of that Ebay is not very responsive to sellers like me — there are fewer of us selling unique and sometimes expensive items so our voice is not heard compared to the many thousands of others who have spoken and who now benefit from more of the changes. I still find Ebay a good venue and changing to another selling site would take a good deal of adjustment. I believe Ebay remains the most used place for the kind of items I sell. But I find it scary to think I am at the mercy of decision makers who don't seem to know when they have a good thing. The success of sellers who offer fine goods and do it professionally and honestly is based on their good and trustworthy practices. Manipulating buyer behavior with the "best match" ordering of items — rather high handed — or seller behavior with discounts for good feedback — putting sellers at the mercy of disgruntled buyers — is an exercise in fixing what wasn't broken, gilding the lily, any metaphor you like. It's a mistake to use power for change just because you can. Such changes call for restraint of the most delicate sort. Sorry to have to say this, but I want to slap them.
From PW, Winslow Arizona eBay's draconian policies are hurting buyers and sellers. Fewer sales, lower selling prices, inability to list some items because of some new policies, all add up to a declining business.
eBay needs the small sellers because they sell unique items, and that is what brings in buyers. People turn to eBay to find things they can't find elsewhere, not the same crap they can buy at Wal-mart.
People also like the auction format because bidders may get a great deal and sellers may get more for items that are difficult to put a fixed price on. Forcing the fixed price format will drive even more people away on both sides.
How long will it take for eBay executives to figure out they are killing the golden goose?
From Im, Edmonton, Alberta I have been selling on ebay for a long time. After reading the comments here, I am beginning to feel that the backlash is simply "resistance to change". Ebay's new rules are not much worse than other marketplace's like Amazon – and where else can you get so many people look at your listings for less than a dollar. Compare the cost to PPC advertising at Google and Yahoo, and Ebay will look like a bargain. As for the changes at ebay, here's my 2 cents worth:
1 – No negative feedback for buyers – If buyer has fully PAID for the item, WHAT ELSE do they need to do to get a positive feedback??? The previous system gave sellers like me too much power and blackmail buyers…
2 – Not allowing Google Checkout – Many online stores don't allow Google Checkout – so its not just ebay. Amazon doesn't take Paypal or Google Checkout
3 – Buyers hurting Mom & Pop shops by filing Paypal disputes (to SCaM the seller) is not exclusive to Ebay. Online sellers with their own online stores also face similar issues with chargebacks, fraud, lost shipments. However, they seem to get by – as dealing with sellers like this part of doing business, and your margins should offset losses.
These issues are very unpopular at ebay becasue it is a very competitive marketplace…in essence a "buyers market". For a long time, sellers have been making sales at very low margins and are now feeling the pinch when some buyers are scamming them with Paypal chargebacks.
Other sellers are complaining because ebay has clamped down on illegal/pirated goods that they can't sell anywhere else.
From M.L. Follette, Philadelphia, PA I am a stockholder and I will be proposing Mr. Donahoe's resignation at the next stockholder's meeting.
From Eric, San Diego, CA The dashboard and DSR is a joke.
How could a seller know which customer were unsatisfied ? How do you know eBay didn't lower your rating to prevent you from getting the discount ?
Some sellers have Free Shipping on all of their item, yet their S&H DSR is still below 4.5 (means no discount)
From Belle Miller, Chicago, IL Selling on e-Bay as become far too oppressive. Big Brother, or the Gestapo as I like to refer to them, watch your every move as a seller and unfairly threaten you when you leave a Positive/Negative feedback for a deadbeat buyer. The dashboard ratings for sellers is totally unfair as well, What seller can control when the post office delivers, for instance. It is a hateful, vile atmosphere now to sell in and no wonder so many thousands of sellers have walked off. I can only hope that e-Bay goes down in flames soon. They earned it!
From Lin Mountain Top, Pa. "Okay Folks Here It is. The math has been Done. This is what we Need to do if we are to, Once Again, become Prosperous.
The Following is NOT a Generic Statement, but a Direct Communication to me (nymarts.com) from Chris :
From Chris Fain President, CEO OnlineAuction.com, OLA.com October 18, 2008 :
“Lets roll….Tell everyone to head to OLA.com and become Founding Members this should drive enough traffic our way and build up enough revenue for us to have a substantial advertising budget. For instance if everyone kicks in their $196.00 and we have One Million Founding Members I will spend no less than (90%) $176,400,000 dollars promoting all OLA Members products ! …Tell everyone on the boards to get over here!!!….Lets do it. ”
This refers to the All Important TELEVISION Advertising.
Email EVERYONE who Ever Sold on Ebay and is Looking for a Brand Shiny New Home !
Email EVERYONE looking to Turn Back the Clock to the “Good Ole Days” of Auction FUN ! ! !
Remember : THE ACTION FOLLOWS US
LET’S BRING IT !
OLA > No Hassles, No Rediculous Fees, No Big Brother Crap.
Posted By Nan Merte, Poughkeepsie, New York : October 19, 2008 7:05 pm"
I just have to LOL at this:
Fain is a bigger rip off & liar, then even Ebay & Donkeyhue!
I left Ebay… no, I ran away AFAP from Ebay. I was lured to OLA with promises of it being the best alternative site out there….
What I found was the biggest Crock-O-BS, a total waste of time & money & left with a really bad taste in my mouth. TG I didn't fall for the 200.00 floundering member fiasco!
I urge all sellers that are thinking about OLA, to go to http://www.powersellersunite.com & read the thousands of posts (99% negative) about OLA & Fain! As well as the 99% negative about Ebay.
And buyers too. You'll be paying OLA to buy on their site. A "hidden" fact!
You know what OLA really stands for?
One Loses All
"BE WARNED"
As for GREEDBAY… Nuff Said!
From Ann Huminski, Bethel, CT I think Ebay has made some big mistakes. They're making it difficult for honest sellers to make a living. I am a full time seller on Ebay and I now need to have 2X as many listings to make what I made last year. They are losing a lot of buyers due to their new changes only allowing credit card or Paypal payments, especially with the current economic crisis where more and more people want to cash because they only what to spend what they can afford.
From Michelle Gardner One thing I neglected to mention and that eBay has neglected to consider…when I say I was a silver PowerSeller, that means I was doing over $5000 a month in sales. The way my fellow PowerSellers are being run out of business en masse by these unfair policies, sooner or later someone is bound to file a class action lawsuit against eBay for the huge loss of income they're causing people to suffer. The amount would be in the tens of millions, at least. That will probably be the last nail in eBay's coffin and the signature on Donahoe's termination slip.
Be prepared to be out of a job for a while, John. People don't like it when you destroy their thriving companies. Your name's going to be on the "blackballed" list for a long, long time.
From Patrick M, Fife WA Additional info, clicked send too soon – goes with previous comment. Didn't put city & state in. Sorry.
From Patrick M. If eBay is under the impression that all this is bringing in buyers, they're sadly mistaken. I sold on eBay for a while a couple years ago and made $12,000 in six months. After I lost my job this year I decided to turn back to eBay selling. I've been listing the same things as before and have only made $55.00 in the last 2 months. That's not the economy. It's obvious that the hard-nosed policies and unfair tactics are driving people away across the board. Not just sellers but buyers too. As far as I can tell, the twilight is over. It's the dead of night, and when the light of day comes, eBay will be gone.
From L. Howe, San Jose calif It seems like an easy choice for Mr. Donohoe: admit you were wrong and go back to the old way, or lose the stockholders money until they fire you. No-brainer.
From David Kramer, Las Vegas, NV Let's spell this out clearly so John Donahoe and his elitist dingbats can understand it. In order of potential negative impact on your bread-and-butter sellers, these are the big mistakes you've made:
1 – No negative feedback for buyers. It's the same concept as checks and balances in government. Take the power away from one branch and give it all to the other, and absolute corruption is all you can expect to get.
2 – Suspension or restriction of sellers whose ratings drop below 95% buyer satisfaction. You're not taking into consideration that there are as many bad buyers as there are bad sellers, and some dissatisfaction is a part of doing business. 90% would be a much more realistic and fair percentage, and would more accurately separate the good sellers from the bad.
3 – Leaving Google Checkout completely off the option list for payment methods. Giving sellers a choice between an expensive merchant account or PayPal is such a monopoly ploy, it's criminal. It's certainly anything but fair.
4 – Letting sellers determine their own refund / return policy, and then forcing them to give refunds through PayPal, which completely disregard's the seller's policy, is ludicrous. If you're going to dictate, do it across the board, and be consistent.
5 – Forgetting that the Mom & Pop sellers do have other options, and they're the ones who made eBay what it is today. You've put sellers in a helpless position. If they receive negative feedback, they can do NOTHING. If a buyer blackmails them and steals from them using the threat of negative feedback, they can do NOTHING. Many buyers now file PayPal disputes as a matter of course on everything they buy, with or without cause. Why? Because they CAN. You've essentially told your sellers, "Make that buyer happy, whatever it takes. Give them anything they want. Then, when they leave you negative feedback anyway, just take it. And, when we restrict your account due to the negative feedback, sit back and lose hundreds or thousands per month quietly, please." Well, we're quiet, all right. You'll never hear from us again.
From ROBERT LONG ISLAND NY LET US STOCK TOGETHER. PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION AND TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW TO SIGN. CLICK THE LINK BELOW http://www.petitiononline.com/jdonohoe/petition.html.
From Michelle Gardner, Seattle, Washington You clearly don't know what you're talking about, DJ in Ronkonkoma. No one's feedback was reset to 100%. No one. And there may not be a "Three Strike Rule," but there IS the suspension and/or no-selling restriction that eBay will slap you with if your feedback drops below 98.4%. It is damn near impossible for a seller to rip people off or offer poor customer service for any length of time with the same user ID, because their Detailed Seller Ratings would drop below the 4.5 mark and eBay would suspend them. There is, however, nothing to keep bad buyers from blackmailing sellers, stealing from sellers via the chargeback process or by demanding a refund while keeping the item, hassling sellers, threatening sellers and then leaving undeserved negatives anyway. They can go on doing that FOREVER.
From Michelle Gardner, Seattle, Washington I had 100% positive feedback since I started on eBay in 2005, and I was a silver PowerSeller. Then the feedback changes came. One woman left me a nasty negative feedback without even contacting me first to tell me anything was wrong, something buyers used to do out of fear that they'd get a negative in return, but don't do any longer because of the changes. I then had a buyer attempt to blackmail me into giving her back her money AND letting her keep the item she purchased, and when I refused, she also left me a negative. I wrote eBay repeatedly about these incidents, but they refused to do anything. Well, as any seller knows, buyer confidence is key. With two new negatives dropping my overall rating (and increasing my fees), other recent buyers started finding reasons to leave negative remarks. One insisted that a diamond ring he'd purchased was not genuine, that the diamonds were CZ's. I knew that to be incorrect, and I knew I could prove it – but why? He'd just leave me a negative anyway for refusing to give a refund. So I told him to send it back, and I'd refund his money. I waited, but he never did. A month later, he left me a negative, saying the diamonds were CZ's. Goodbye PowerSeller discounts, goodbye customers. Hello eBay suspension. End of business.
From claire I agree with all of the above. It is frustrating in the extreme to be doing everything you can think of to get it right and still be in the wrong with no redress. Ebay are wiping out my livelihood – PLEASE SOMEONE TAKE THEM ON & PUT US ALL OUT OF OUR MISERY.
From Ray, Dallas, TX As one who has left two to three neutral feedbacks in the past, eBay changing my neutral to a negative feedback constitutes a computer crime by falsifying my feedback. Plus, with sellers not receiving the money I sent them via Paypal unless I submitted feedback there must be several sellers that never got paid. Ebay, that's theft using me as a proxy and I will no longer support you! It's all about the sellers and buyers. Ebay can be replaced.
From charles debra, tulsa oklahoma ebay stinks for sellers now and is getting worse.
From Mic, Australia I'm a 9 year ebay seller with 100% FB (over 6000).
I just wish google would come along and replicate what ebay has but do it differently.
Believe me … if there was a viable alternative I'd jump ship pronto. Really have lost patience with ebay.
From Don, Ironton, Missouri What I think about eBay's changes does not matter. The amount of money I make or lose on eBay sales does.
Approximately two years ago eBay wanted to get rid of fixed price listings. My fixed price items went to a Yahoo store in addition to eBay: HTTP://DONSCYCLEWARE.COM Lower overhead meant lower prices.
Then Ebay wanted to get rid of small sellers. I closed my eBay store where I listed a variety of items that sold on a slow but steady basis. Those items went to a Yahoo store.
eBay seemed to think that the Amazon format is a winner. I agreed, so I opened an Amazon store earlier this year.
Now eBay wants to get rid of auction sales. I just opened an eBid account.
My overall on-line profits have steadily grown since 2003. The percent that eBay accounts for has steadliy dropped. I did a projection and the drop is almost linear. The line hits zero about 2010. Increased expences and less traffic is taking it's toll.
Nothing personal eBay, but you had better get your act together. Your company is like any other vendor to me. If I can't make a profit from your goods or services there are plenty of other vendors I can do business with.
From Rick Smith, El Paso, TX Ebay is chasing us away- I'm done with them. It used to be a great place to buy and sell, but not anymore. They now force you to use rip-off Paypal (which stole money from me and others) and wont allow payment by check or money orders anymore. The feedback system is horrible.
From Scott, Hermann, MO Donahoe cast that shift as a positive one for eBay. "We see clear evidence that the site today is safer and easier to use than it was six months ago," he said.
Three words: OUT OF TOUCH.
Soon to be OUT OF a JOB, John?
We can only hope.
From Catfish Slater Mo. http://www.petitiononline.com/jdonohoe/petition.html
From Caitlin, Key West, Florida Sorry Rog, you are wrong. If you sell one item a month and you receive 1 negative feedback you are automatically suspended by Ebay.
I suggest before you get on your soap box and claim to know what you are talking about and call people whiners, you get your facts straight, any buyer can sabotage a good sellers account.
In the real world ROG, a business owner has the right to refuse any customer service.
Have you ever heard of credit reports???? Is that a form of buyer feedback?? Of course it is. That is what ebay HAD now we do not know what customers are HIGH RISK!
You are a moron.
You comments clearly show the moron you are.
From mike donahoe Wow. We are doing the exact same thing. We are setting up two new e-commerce sites. Instead of selling on ebay, they have now creating competition. This entire ebay thing is really a blessing. you can sell 10 times the amount of merchandise with your own websites. What you do is simple… develope the sites, and email your customer list you built over the last 10 years to visit your new site. It has worked for us. It's really intimidating to leave ebay, but trust me…use the downtime to develope the new sites. You will be less stressed out, and you will make 10x the money.
From Rick Toronto Canada Their Monster is simply having allowed comments on feedback.All the AAAA+++ in the world mean nothing after a while.The neutral are just a sellers and buyers personal opinion as good as the variables in a room of 100.The negatives are just as full of lies and personal opinions.
Ship and if it not there in record time you may get a negative due to the carriers slow delivery. Crooks are bountiful and have found the pot of gold at cost of sellers.
Get rid of the stupid comments in the feedback as that is where the real problem lies.
Feedback should have been for both the seller and buyer poz neg neutral and only the two involved in the transaction may post. None of this he said she said. I see a seller with 1200 feedbacks and 5 negatives I will still buy.It's the comments that are twisted around to destort the actual truth cause everyone want to save face so they lie and even honest sellers and buyers will try to distort it to make theirselves look better. As for the crooks you will never get rid of them they will alsways be crooks. Ebay new feedback system is making more and more honest people become a a little shady cause everyone is doing it as their excuse.Crook theives liars,scammers are the same as shoplifting in any store,They will always exist and more so on Ebay as Ebay does not report them to to local authorites.Thus Ebay is a vessel in all this. Theft is theft and if you had knowledge as ebay of a theft taking place then by all means if you say nothing then you are just as guilty.It is amazing how many people will come on list like this and say everything is honky doorey That is until they get ripped off by a buyer or a seller.Are the scammers reading this comment thing? You can bet your bottom ebay dollar on it.They watch all the sites and learn new angles.The seller go on Ebay community sites and tell all exactly how they got scammed and the theives all learn something new for the next time.
You can complain all you like but Ebay will do nothing.Get off your butts and do as I have.REPORT THEN TO THEIR LOCAL AUTHORITIES !! Make sure you ahve every little tid bit of info saved and recorded. I simply do not understand why the police themselves are not in Ebay themselve to plice a little.Ebay does not want to get involved.They are too busy comming up with canned responses that do not even realte to the subject.SOMEONE HAS TO be held accountable.
I am not scared of the taxman I am scared of Ebay!!
Ebay you created your own monster fix it yourself or be gone!
From Noor, Los Alams, NM Ebay faced a lot of competition in the early days and won out because they made no mistakes. Now that they are practically a monopoly, they can afford a few. But there are other forces at work that are beyond their control, and they need to be careful. But they are not doing so. For instance, I think that a lot of the 'low hanging fruit' has been picked – America's attics and basements have been cleaned out. There are fewer good deal to be found. More buyers & fewer sellers = higher prices on ebay. Higher gas costs = higher shipping fees, so that gives Craigs List a leg up. Even if ebay pulls their head out & fixes things, I think that their era has peaked. Still, there's no e-auction challenger with the critical mass to overtake them, so they will be around for some time, mistakes or no (yet one more dot-com prediction, subject to hourly change).
From Anon A previous comment suggested that a buyer could get their money back from paypal/ebay if the seller was fraudulent or misrepresented an item or outright stole from the buyer…when did you EVER try to get your money back from ebay or paypal? Honestly, after all these years, I'm still getting burned by rotten sellers. I don't buy anywhere near as much as I used to though
From Rog Chi town Running your own business is tough, very tough. Whiners often do poorly in business. I just hate to hear all these eBay sellers whine. If you don't like eBay don't threaten to leave, just do it! Please. I don't want to hear how you've been insulted by a buyer's negative feedback. (I've lost over a $2,000 from dealers on eBay. That's something to whine about.)
There has always been a distinction between sellers and buyers on eBay and a distinction from other folks who wheel and deal on eBay, Dealers. Someone who is a "loyal buyer and seller" on eBay is a Dealer and doesn't fairly represent the actual Buyers on eBay who bring money into that economy rather than shuffle it around. To note: that shuffling does make money for eBay and the USPS.
Big shock to alot of people: the sellers are eBay's customers not the buyer's. The sellers pay the rent, so to speak. EBay has had a hands-off relationship and been soft on sellers who cheat and continue to defraud buyers; It's taken years, but enough buyers became fed up that over two years ago it started to show up in eBays data. The reason for the new policies is obvious: eBay needs to assure buyers that their venue is now a safe place to shop.
Any seller who has recently been banned because "one buyer" left a negative feedback is lying to his probation officer, you need to disappoint many more than one. It's like a restaurant that burns 10 out of 100 dinners -they usually go out of business quickly. Yet, many types of shady sellers have been allowed to continue to sell on eBay. (I can only guess that's because eBay made money off the cheaters because they did.) The anonymity of online sales and greater exposure to new customers allowed unethical sellers to flourish and make a livelihood on eBay where they never would have in a brick and mortar establishment. EBay seemed to do little to stop the cheaters and only did so when they had to. The "honest" sellers were unwilling to police their own as well. The time has come where buyers are just not buying it! The unethical sellers had finally started to bring the site down. We are seeing the ramifications of that only now, but as a buyer I think it was blatantly predictable years ago.
The buyers are the fuel that dives eBay and any economy. When buyers stop buying, as we know, everything lags. Until recently eBay encouraged a hostile attitude from sellers toward buyers and still does to a certain extent. But internet buyers are becoming more savvy, we don't like to have our chains yanked, we don't like to be subclassed and we hate to be cheated on a blind sale where we pay before we receive the merchandise.
EBay is now taking an easy route. Catering to big box companies which can better absorb the loss taken from the few bad buyer; while finally putting pressure on the poor sellers who they are cutting like gangrene -a few inches above the wound. (a benefit for eBay that goes unnoticed is that many of these poor sellers are migrating to the competition, sites like Amazon, rather than stick with eBay and clean up their act. Let them deal with 'em.)
Yes some good sellers are being offended, but where were those "good" guys 5 or even 10 years ago when I joined eBay? They were following the party line of bash the buyer before you bash eBay itself, or any other seller.
The sellers who feel they are 'forced' to stay with eBay though disgruntled are paying the cost of eBay's errors by way of higher fees; but many of these are the same one's who should have been sticking up for their customers, the buyers, 5 years ago but didn't because of the eBay climate of "Us Against Them", "How can we make a buck off the rube" and "Hate the buyer."
Why does this sound like a microcosm to me?
P.S: the feedback system was always skewed in order to allow sellers to intimidate buyers. A restaurant, like a seller, should get reviewed to inform customers before they go there. However a patron of a restaurant never gets reviewed before he is seated. EBay buyers shouldn't never have been reviewed in the first place and that's the first wrong that eBay is trying to make right. If you run an honest business you would see that, rather than look for a cheap shot against your poorer customers or the ones who leave a negative review.
From Anonymous The buyer is protected with pay pal and their credit card company for any non received items, or most of the time not as described. This is the biggest risk to your online business. Credit card companies just give the buyer their money back. What is the risk of buying anything online? Sellers are getting being screwed by the biggest hidden animal of all paypal. Ex. You sell a brand new item. Your eBay policy says EXCHANGE only. Pay pal overrides your policy. The buyer returns the item without contacting you, files a paypal dispute, and paypal awards them the entire amount of money and leaves you negative feedback. The seller has to pay all the shipping and restocking fees and waste all the time with the paperwork. This buyer deserves negative feedback. How can you control that buyer if we can’t leave the buyer negative feedback? How about a buyer that purchases something from you and you messed up your inventory one day? You made a mistake, sent the buyer and email stating you where very sorry, you refunded their money, and you leave them positive feedback first. They jump on and leave you negative. Hey that is fine. That is their right. You as a seller should have a way of blocking buyers who have a history of returning things and leaving negative or neutral feedbacks. I do not want that shopper to buy from us. Let that shopper go hassle someone that has the staff to deal with that type of person, and has a continued history of returning items. I also do not want a buyer who has a history feedback of like 97% or more. The buyer decides if they want to buy on me based on my feedback why can’t I choose the type of buyer I want. Why can’t I block a buyer with bad feedback? Currently you can only block buyers with a feedback score of 0 or lower, countries that you do not ship, have unpaid item strikes. Why can’t I block a buyer with a feedback score of less than any number I choose? This would deter buyers from leaving negative to sellers, because many sellers will block them and they may not benefit from the good deals they are getting from sellers on eBay. We as sellers do not have enough ways to block bad buyers. On our website if we have a bad buyer, we refund their money say we are sorry and move on our merry way. On eBay if you happen to get 5% buyer dissatisfaction in 30 days eBay will basically shut your business down with their SNP policy. The SNP policy does not affect sellers who can out run the 5% numbers. Why are we wasting all this time with the feedback game that eBay has set up? It is like a game to buyers now. Buy something cheap, file a claim, leave negative, it don’t matter. It’s all fun for you. Meanwhile on the back-end eBay are restricting and suspending seller accounts and promoting sellers that have just as many negatives or neutrals as other sellers, but just more positives. What does that say? Says eBay is helping the ultra volume sellers. The ultra volume sellers can piss off people, because they have the volume. So is it okay for them to have bad buying experiences. I predict we will see more policy change soon. You can’t run off your sellers and expect to survive unless you eBay wants to start selling products like Amazon does. If eBay starts selling products I would love to see their feedback profile.
From Toby, Orlando Florida The CEO's term "highly rated seller" is code for high volume seller. As a single negative hurts low volume sellers many times more than someone who closes a hundred deals a month. Forget the other bad moves, that one alone is causing me to say bye-bye ebay, I'll take my business elsewhere.
From J. Stratzer Ebay got greedy..what we need is another online auction like http://www.ziing.com
I've been with ebay since 1999, the changes are pathetic, you mean to tell me you cannot leave neg feedback for a buyer that doesn't pay you yet he can still leave you neg feedback because he's simply an a****le, this doesn't allow you to warn other sellers ABOUT THIS NON PAYING BIDDER, what idiot implimented this change on ebay?. Ebay ceo's are not in touch at the street level, they're all overpaid stuckup idiots…ebay is going down, way down, you'll see. What used too be a good outlet for everybody's unused items and a real auction has now become a online shopping mall, 90% of items are at a fixed price, you call that an auction? The buyer has all the backing of ebay while the seller has none…sellers will stop, then where will ebay be? YOU'RE GOING DOWN!
From cris,lake geneva wisconsin Hi, I had been a seller on ebay for many years until the horrible changes ebay made over the passed year. I was absolutely appauld at their changes and their lack of help and support for their sellers! Ebay explained to all of us in an email sent this passed summer about feedback changes which would make ebay a safer place to buy and sell.Well, I am not sure who they were talking to, but it sure was not any of the sellers. Their idea made it impossible for sellers to leave a negative feedback for any and all buyers…even if a buyer had commited fraud and or had not paid! The dishonest buyers were starting to come out of the woodwork like roaches! Wow, how ignorant can you be ebay! Didn't they realize by doing this most of their sellers would hit the road to sell on other auction sites! Its a wonder they have to lay of 10% of their people! Do we have to remind ebay that if it hadn't been for sellers like me…ebay would still be run out of the founders one bedroom apartment! Their days are numbered!
From PS, Clifton, TX If you have left eBay for a different selling site, please sharetell us how your profits compare. We, too, have noticed a large decline in our sales. We are a powerseller that checks our charts for store and site visitations. Since these new search ratings have been set we have seen a huge decline in the hits (visits) on our eBay site. Last year October was our biggest selling month ever. This year is not good at all. If you are selling on Amazon, ebid, online auction or etsy, please share how it compares to your 'old' sales on ebay. We are really wanting something where we are actually selling our items.
From Leslie Auburn WA As an eBay Powerseller with 100% positive feedback, over 10,000 feedback recieved, I increasing bitter and frustrated with eBay's platform. Their polices are punitive and arrogant; their customer service is ludicrous, and their site is a joke for technical difficulties.
This is a company that sorely needs a vision, and the balls to execute it. Instead we get site outages, a search that may or may not actually turn up something you are looking for, policies that are vague, subject to random enforcement, and endless changes in the rules, requiring constant revisions:
WHen the site randomly started adding FREE SHIPPING to my 900 listings, I was told just to change my listings to say it was an eBay glitch and that shipping wasn't free.
Right – eBay breaks, and I have to spend hours revising my listings for their error. (WHich they never did acknowledge, even though hundred of seller are dealing with the aftermath)
If I gave my customers the level of service that eBay provides me, I'd be out of business – and I should be.
Shame on eBay
From C.C. Christen Santa Clara Ca It's even deeper than the lopsided philosophy Ebay has put forth regarding the supremacy of the buyer over the seller.
It's about freedom.
In 1997, Ebay was a free-wheeling marketplace. That's what drove people to its site.
Since that time, it's been interference and regulation on a scale that rivals government.
People don't want that. Sure, there has to be some protection built in, but by and large, people govern best when they govern themselves.
Much like any other super-company, who in the beginning enjoys dominant marketshare, it ends up going to their heads.
Mr. Donahoe is no exception. He and the rest of the Bloated staff at Ebay will ride this sucker all the way down.
Competition is a wonderful thing…
From Gail Marsella, Allentown, PA As with many other ebay sellers, I'm now a FORMER ebay seller. I had a store for a couple years, 100% positive feedback over several hundred transactions, and made a nice profit. But the byzantine eBay rules! And the nickel and dime fees! Even before the final bizarre feedback change, I was considering quitting and going elsewhere. Ebay assumes all sellers are idiots and all buyers are saints. One of my buyers insisted on a full refund including shipping for breakage, but wouldn't send clear pictures of said breakage. I held my nose and paid up because I could see she had left negative feedback for other sellers who had sent partial refunds. That's blackmail, yet eBay thinks the only buyer problem is non-payment. (Except for custom work, non-payment is actually pretty mild. They don't pay, I don't send. Simple.)
I now have a booth in an antiques mall (I sell fine china and other collectibles) and a standalone business website that people can buy things through (http://www.gailsfinechina.com). Not quite as much money, but a lot less hassle.
Twilight for eBay? Yep, with Taps playing in the background.
From m.j. Malik Estero,Fl. I just got kicked off ebay's discussion boards and had my truthful honest comments censored by Ebay staff claiming that I was previously warned which I wasn't. In fact they repeatedly get away with lieing about anything and everything they feel like thinking that the public is going to actually believe them . We all no better than that. Ebay, and J.J, Donahoe's track record speak for themselves. They think were all vulnerable ,stupid, and unaware of what's going on arround us. They don't want the leftover community to really know the truth of whats going on around eBay. I've said this once and I'll say it again . "screw me once, shame on you, screw me twice, shame on me". Remember, If you plan on selling anything on ebay that is an Expensive item (either 100's or thousands of dollars) it's only a mater of time and you are guaranteed to get ripped off by the new policy encouraging abusive buyers and fraud. There is absolutely no seller protection whatsoever. Later this month when Ebay enforces it's new push papal paperless program where honest sellers will be forced to exchange their valued merchandise for a 180 day (6 month) option for any and all abusive buyers to either return item's or steal item from seller demanding a refund thru PayPal or credit card company for whatever excuse they have knowing that their bank' the issuing bank get's to make the final decision . Knowing that the cardholder owes the issuing bank the money and they want to be sure that they continue to receive payments without pissing off their customer, It's obvious who they will side with and that is an example of how unfair and one sided the system is. Granted, electronic payments are quick and most desirable for smaller ticket items where it's easy to absorb the loss from an abusive buyer. Although being forced to accept electronic payments on large ticket items is most dangerous by sellers and totally unexceptionable. This will be the final nail in the coffin of a once loved community. Goodbye Ebay
From Frank, Raleigh, NC I have been shopping on eBay quite a lot a few years ago. After I bought something which was not as described on eBay, I left eBay and made Amazon my primary shopping site, and enjoy fast, free shipping and the quality of the products. I think the new feedback policy is great, at least it makes feel better to try eBay again some day.
From Los Angeles, CA As a buyer of Mr. Donahoes new ideas and changes I would like to return them for a refund and leave Donahoe a NEGATIVE!
From Frustrated eBay Seller As a Seller on Ebay, I am so discouraged about the new policies, fees, etc. Recently, I received a negative for a transaction that the buyer did not read the details. After communicating with the buyer, there was remorse for the negative and wished to retract it…However, Ebay would not allow them to do this. With that negative, it dropped my percentage….and could I leave a negative? NO!! So sellers doing all they can to make a buck or their only source of income and to have a buyer hot tempered and leave a negative without even considering that they may be in the wrong. It is true that there are horrible sellers on Ebay or the internet for that matter. But there are honest sellers that make their online business their life and they get short end of the stick. Then, to see that "discounted fees" for certain categories…Little slow on that eBay as Amazon offered that months ago. eBay, needs to focus on the sellers, if you don't have us, you have nothing for buyers. So come on, make us happy! Amazon is one short click away.
From DJ,Ronkonkoma, NY I am both a buyer and seller on eBay, and I am very happy about the changes. I've been burned several times as a buyer on eBay, but never as a seller. The changes are good for a few reasons:
1)Buyers were afraid to leave negative feedback because a seller would retaliate (this happened to me, causing me to not leave negative feedback even when it was warranted).
2)Negative feedback does not prevent a bad merchant from selling (there is no "Three Strike Rule"), since there is nothing from preventing them from selling, their behavior does not change.
3)Everyones feedback was "Reset" to 100% (for the year), buyers and sellers were given a clean slate. You make your own name on eBay. If you do right by customers, they will do right by you.
From exfeebayer I am a platinum power seller on feebay which means I sell over 2000 items a month. We have several stores on ebay as we sell different items. Ebay used to be the best site to sell items, it was fair for all. Over the many years I have been selling every 6 months something changes and when you have 1000's of items it is very time consuming to update. I also have seen my share for chargebacks. One lady keeps changing her name overseas and bids and then files a claim with her credit card…ebay has no control even though i give them the information. i have over 100k feedback with very few negatives. 90% of the negative where people did not take the time to read the description. Now we sellers are out of luck as we cant leave bad info about bad buyers but yet they can damage us.
Ebay used to be fair but not anymore. If as being a seller you don't get a negative your listings are raised in search engines. But if you get a negative then you are lowered to standard search,yet it should be equal a fair to all. Also I have noticed that one week I will have sales all from the west coast another week all up north then another most international. How is this possible if the searching is fair?
I pay ebay and paypal 1000's in fees every month yet they feel a responsibility to the sellers. If you do not have sellers you will not have buyers correct? Every time I have a dispute paypal rules for the buyer every single time. I have lost 1000's of dollars because of them. One lady filed a 300.00 dispute, did not like some of the items. She wanted to send them back which was fine but out of 700 items she sent back 17 yet paypal refunded her the whole amount because she provided proof of mailing. So the lesson I learned from paypal was that i can buy 1000 items send back 20 and get all my money back plus the order free!!!
Yes I am about to leave ebay and just opened my store at amazon. it is too bad they ruined ebay. They know this for now they are promoting features trying to be like amazon. There was a day when people wanted to be like Ebay, shame
From Mark, New York I'm a buyer on eBay, but, even though I have never sold anything on this site, I fully sympathize with the sellers. I have been buying for 5 years now and many of my favorite sellers are gone. If eBay wants to make its site look like Amazon, it's simple, I'll SHOP AT AMAZON!
From Anonymous If eBay is making CNN news that is awesome for sellers. Being that we are a very busy business owner I want to keep this brief and to the point. Instead of wasting time on this post I should be putting up products on our website immediately to try to move off eBay. This post is to eBay Non Selling Performance Policy. If you are selling and not familiar with this policy, you will be unless you can beat the numbers with percentage of positives to negative and neutral. At this point in time today Oct 17th, 2008 there is no way to remove those feedbacks, and eBay will eventually only allow you to only remove 5 out of a 1000 in the future. If you rely on mutual feedback withdraw you are at serious risk. eBay has done well to bring tons of buyers to the site, which is why we are all so angry because it was a platform to run a successful business more easily than a full bore ecommerce website which takes multiple thousands of dollars to implement and run. We sell about 100-200 items a month at 30,000 in sales a month. Put it to you this way if you sell 200 items and only 95 customers leave positive feedback and 5 leave negative or neutral and the other 105 forget to leave feedback or don’t respond to your request to remind them to leave feedback you are at risk. If you are right at the point of your business in growth phase, are a busy business owner troubleshooting all departments of your business by yourself, and are transitioning to a mature phase of business which every business will go through you will be at risk. That business owner is their own accountant, own it(Computer) guy, the person that answers all those questions from eBay buyers (ridiculous questions I might add), puts in your own tracking numbers, adds your own products, hands returns, researches new business, adds secondary channels of income besides eBay, and you have to worry about a small number of buyers pestering you over a negative feedback for most of the time ridiculous reasons. That is fine that small percentage of buyers do that, it is their right; however why is eBay restricting and suspending seller accounts based on 5% buyer dissatisfaction. You are lead to believe that since you are creating a bad buying experience that you are running buyers off the site. Again let me state it is not hard to fall in this category. Just takes one bad month, one bad product, or anything else that buyers can complain about. Here is what will happen if you are facing Non Selling Performance.
You will be restricted for 30 days on and maybe suspended on eBay. As the seller you are faced with unavoidable neutral and negative issues that will occur on your account that are normal occurrences in ecommerce selling. At this point in time today Oct 17th, 2008 there is also no way to remove those feedbacks. Some of the issues unavoidable, international customers leaving negative about customs fees, slow shipping negative feedbacks (might I add it takes 5-6 business days across country for an item to be delivered ground not counting processing time), backorder and refunding customer negative feedbacks if you occasionally have backorders (note most successful and very large corporations have backorders), and a host of other reasons the buyer can leave negative feedback for normal every day operations. The eBay buyer without recourse can and will eventually put you out of business with the help of eBay unless we do something. If the customer is upset with some aspect of your business they have every right to leave negative or neutral and not buy from you again. Let the future buyers decide from your profile if they want to order from you are not. eBay is mandating a non-seller performance policy, and not letting us mutually withdraw the feedback with the buyer. eBay is a platform for many businesses and not this notation that bad buying experiences on eBay is causing buyers to never come back to eBay is absurd. What about bad buying experiences on any other ecommerce platform on the web including eBay? Will the buyer stop buying on the web including eBay, or will that buyer buy from someone else? The answer is MAYBE. The buyer will perhaps never buy from that particular merchant again or seller id on eBay, or they just may not buy on eBay again. How does eBay expect to control all that? You let the market and feedback profile determine all that. Let the market work. Based on the way the buyer is protected in pay pal, I seriously doubt they will stop shopping on eBay, and if they do most ecommerce sites offer pay pal an eBay owned company on it. So if eBay loses the buyer, do they lose the pay pal business? The real fact is the buyer is smarter than all that, and are continuing to shop on eBay and on other shopping sites. The buyer shops all over the place and eBay can’t control that. EBay has crossed the line with the new Seller Non Performance Policy.
The majority of our neutrals and negatives are from backorders which we promptly refund. I would like to know of one ecommerce store on the web trying to grow to a successful online business that does not encounter backorder issues. Throw in a couple of irrational buyers that do not understand feedback, and you will be joining this union soon because this is what will happen.
1.) EBay will restrict your account for 30 days. That’s right no income on eBay for 30 days. You best have another source of income.
2.) Your TSM and Trust and Safety will give you programmed answers and not help you.
3.) Your account may get suspended.
From jleebs In reading the prior comments I would like add some comments. EBAY went to hiding the identity of buyers for one reason and one reason only, to condone and encourage shilling in order increase their income. Also, private auctions should not be allowed except for high dollar items with a high dollar starting price. This makes sense in order to protect a high dollar buyer from a possible theft and or confrontation with a thief. Private auctions allow a seller to shill at will without detection by buyers. A rule of thumb is you should not buy from someone that runs private auctions because they probably have something to hide. If they are running private auctions on low end dollar items you can bet they have something to hide. If it is high end items that is another matter.
Prior to the hiding of the ID of the bidders you could look at the past buying history to see if the item they now were bidding on is in a category they have bought from in the past. You could do this by checking their feedback information and clicking on past auctions going back 30 days. You could by past bidding information see if they were always bidding on items from this seller, but never winning. Admittingly you do get some information now, but it is insufficient to really see what might be going on. I think this has backfired somewhat with EBAY because the smart bidders are now bidding more conservatively if the price point goes to a point that they deem is an artificial high when in fact it might be legitimate.
From John, New Mexico Stanford University should revoke Mr. Donahoe's MBA degree…or maybe it was Stamford…?
From PBClark, Raleigh NC I've been on ebay for 11 years and a powerseller for 6+ of those. I've basically stopped my ebay sales after the fee increase. Ebay/Paypal together take 15% of my selling price in fees. That is crazy! Once they get this back to 8% or so then I'll return — until then I'll stay a small sller and occassional buyer.
From RSaunders, Clarksville MD As an eBay user since 2001, I was mostly a buyer. These comments have focused on the impact of sellers, but the real loser in the Donahoe debacle has been the buyer. eBay used to be about finding a bargain. Now the only sellers are big mega-dealers who sell commodity merchandise at just-below-retail prices. Where's the deal in that? When eBay says it is cutting down on fraud, they mean they are cutting down on information. I can't see who I am bidding against, and sellers can't leave them negative feedback. That means I don't know if I'm in a real auction or not. My response, I just stopped bidding. Sure, I buy some buy-it-nows, but most of the time I shop on Amazon.
From screwebay I run an eBay business, am a SILVER POWERSELLER, and have been a buyer and seller on eBay for more than 5 years. I have been nothing but pleased with the site until these new and ridiculous changes that have been implemented. I was running an eBay store, but now it is unreasonable for me to sell merchandise from my store. Between the ever-raising "FINAL VALUE FEES" for store sale items, my monthly store fee and PayPal fees, it is nearly impossible for me to make a profit by selling through my store. I have resorted to doing only auctions, a practice which ensures me at least some profit. I have also noticed that I no longer have the ability to leave negative feedback for deadbeat bidders. What sense does this make? How is that fair? What does that do for eBay? I'll tell you what it does: it ruins it. It allows anyone to bid up my auctions, auctions that often end at over $100 each, and then not pay. There is absolutely NO repercussions! That's right eBay buyers; bid away!!! Beacause if you decide you son't want something, just don't pay for it! EBay obviously doesn't care. Why should they? They still get their chunk from ME the seller and from YOU the buyer. Also, the security department at eBay and PayPal is a total laugh riot. As a Loss Prevention Manager for a world-renowned high end retail store, let me tell you they suck. I have received TWO chargeback claims in the last 2 months from overseas "customers" claiming that they never purchased items from me. They know that with international shipping, there is no way to trace parcels. So, not only did I lose my merchandise, I lose money, time and I STILL had to pay eBay and PayPal their fees. They didn't lose a dime. And here is the funny thing: in BOTH cases, I emailed other sellers from whom the buyers has made purchases and ALL THE OTHER SELLERS were victims of the same scam. And I can't leave negative feedback to warn other sellers of these criminals? PayPal Security department actually told me they suggest I contact a lawyer. So, I guess I have to go over to Norway with my lawyer over a $150 auction…
Yes, it's a fact: eBay SUCKS now.
From Florida For Donahoe and the other corporate managers at eBay to making these changes in this ecomomic climate is ludicrous. "The customer is always right," in this instance, means the "seller" who pays all the fees, NOT the buyer. And as many have said in their comments, almost all of the core sellers are buyers but few of the new buyers are sellers. To Donahoe: Duh!
From Rick W., Fredericton, NB Canada I have over 2300 positives and have been an Ebay buyer and seller since 1999. I've pretty well given up selling through Ebay because of the various changes this year. The most egregious change for sellers is the inability to leave a seller a negative feedback. It defies reason really. I've also been amazed at the way Paypal deals with claims. About 6 months ago I bought my daughter a used pink Blackberry. When it arrived it was pretty obvious that it had been recently spray painted pink. I returned it to the seller after being told by the seller (through the Ebay mail system) that I'd receive a refund. I had an email from the seller indicating that they had received the item back and that the head guy would deal with the refund. When the time to file a Paypal dispute came up I filed a Paypal complaint. Despite having various emails through the Ebay system and providing Ebay with them and a mail receipt showing that it had been sent, Paypal refused my claim. I lost $80 out of the deal. This was so unfair that I have simply given up on Ebay.
From Ann Arbor Ebay stockholders: GET RID OF DONAHOE SO WE CAN ALL MAKE SOME MONEY – both stockholders and eBay sellers.
From anonymous Wolverhampton, UK I am a fairly new seller to ebay but started just in time to experience both the old and new ebay. Ebay used to be willing to discuss any problems in a fairly even handed manner.., now it seems like sellers are at the bottom of the pile. I had a buyer who wanted a car part that would not work on his car. Loads of emails later he still was ignoring fact that I kept saying do not buy this item it is not suitable for your car. I blocked him from bidding so he made an offer. As ebay hides the names of buyers making offers I thought the offer was from another buyer who had just made an enquiry. Discovered to my horror that the buyer I had been trying to avoid (he quite unnerved me) had won the item. Refunded his money thru paypal immediately and explained why to both ebay and the buyer. He lodged a non selling seller complaint and ebay upheld it. Am still waiting for the issue to be resolved. The negative feedback has affected a lot of things for me. Also an instance when paypal took a payment twice for an item, refused to refund, had to take a cheque from the seller and lost £9 in ebay fee's. If there was another way for me to reach a similiar audience I would without doubt use it instead of ebay.
From Paul South Florida Ebay's demise is near. You can hear it and feel it. Greed destroys all. If you need something it most likely is listed on Craigslist and you can find it with one click here: http://www.searchtheentirecraigslist.com
Email Google's customer service daily asking them to launch an auction site. They have all the ingredients to topple Ebay in one fell swoop.
From Matthew Knight, Barry, UK The policies on ebay are too unclear and you cannot get a stright answer from their robotic contact centre. I was selling bucket loads of a certain clothing line when for no reason ebay capped the amount I could sell. When asked how much this was I was told " we cannot tell you because others might infultrate the system". I mean, what the hell does that mean ? As sales were going so well I had ordered about £1200 of stock with the view to make both me AND ebay some good money just to have my hands tied for 30 days with no further idea of how much of the stock I had bought I could sell when I was back "live" again. I am running a business here ! I have lost all faith and respect in ebay and an alternative will be sourced. They have lost it when it comes to sellers and are more concerened about the buyers "experience". Get a grip ebay
From Dave-tx A friend of mine once said,'the only way you can make money on Ebay is you are getting stuff to sell for free"
Now you can't make money on shipping, have to pay Ebay 15% to sell a dvd, then pay paypal a percentage, as you are not allowed to take offline payments.
Ebays days are numbered, won't be long before its up for sale, only problem is Google will probably end up as the buyer.
From N.E., Hol., California Donahoooooo is an IDIOT! PLAIN and SIMPLE!
As
a former powerseller who paid thousands of dollars in fees to EBay and PayPal
and now selling our products through our own websites and Amazon, I say hit them
where it hurts.
If you are planning to start your own website, just get your own
merchant account and do not offer PayPal at all!
EBay are losing a lot of money now, so I say make them
loose even more by NOT offering PayPal on your own website. PayPal is what’s making them money now and it is
growing to be a monopoly and increasingly ripping their customers “sellers”
off in every imaginary way.
To all sellers: .. try to STOP this monster now and do NOT offer PAYPAL on your own websites! Instead, contact
your bank and get a merchant account to deprive these idiots of getting their
hands on your hard earned money.
EBAY is heading down in a big way and I am enjoying
watching it go down the drains for what they have done to their customers
"SELLERS"!
When it is all over .. Donahoooooooo should be behind bars!
From HyperLight Research, Canada We're almost done winding down our eBay operations and moving to our own e-commerce site.
As someone who's sold almost a MILLION dollars worth of merchandise on eBay over the past ten years I just think its so sad what eBay has done to themselves.
eBay is *already* dead. They just don't know it yet.
From Dave C, Sunnyvale, CA Lots of disgruntled sellers here, I see. And you are right, the new "no negatives for buyers" system is not fair. And the high listing fees add too much overhead for small sellers of specialty items to even think about listing their wares. Now let me give you the buyer's side. I abandoned E-Bay as a buyer long ago because it became a den of theives. A few fraudulent sellers poisoned the well, and E-Bay did nothing about it. The musical instruments listings were laughable — choked with obviously fraudulent listings. I knew people that used to bait the instrument frauds just for the entertainment. I also used to follow two-way radio equipment. Page after page of illegal equipment up for auction, E-Bay did nothing. And then there was the sniping and the sniping software. E-Bay's response to that was for years to simply deny that it existed. E-Bay needs to die so that the good auction sites can flourish in their wake.
From Rob, Derby , UK I have just given up with E-Bay, they are getting too greedy, too arogant, and too high handed. It smell's to be of new marketing people who have little or no idea of reality, just the ability to put dumb ideas into the head's of exec's. It's always a shame when power corrupt's any organisation!
From Carol C To sell vintage or handmade items, some have migrated to Etsy.com. Low fees and a free store!
From Cindy Pearson, Carson CIty, Nevada I loved eBay when I first started using it several years ago, however, a few years ago everything began changing for the worse. I am so disgusted with why management would take such a great site and completely screw it up. It is so sad, something so good is now so bad. I probably will no longer sell once they switch to PayPal only, what is up with that? Are they completely insane? Who are these people and where did they come from?
From Jay, Buffalo NY I'm sick of the "inconvenienced seller" comments. eBay used to be a seller's "mafia" market, where the sellers had free reign of terror over their auctions. They could charge outrageous fees for shipping and handling (example: I bought two camera memory cards, the seller wouldn't negotiate on shipping, charged me $8 EACH for the two, then mailed the two cards in a bubble-pack for less than $1 shipping. RIPOFF.) or set their own idiotic policies (Buyer must contact seller within 24 hours. Buyer must pay for delivery receipt, even on piddly $4 items. Buyer must use completely-unfriendly third party checkout in order to be harvested for worldwide mailing lists. Buyer must have payment to seller in three days-even though seller is in CA and buyer in MA-pre PayPal days. Buyer must also kiss seller's butt in five other ways. Met all these, OR INSTANT NEGATIVE). Buyers with any amount of negatives were excluded from many auctions, so not wanting to anger hostile sellers and earn a negative was paramount. Then small, medium, large "business" sellers began to enter the picture. Sellers started auctions high, or set high reserves, and bargains were no longer to be had. eBay became less personal- the whole "buyer contacts the seller" became a wasted effort when sellers auto-emailed payment requests. Large sellers never bothered to respond to "personal" contacts by buyers. It was a was of time to Email and say "Hi! I'm John Doe. I won your auction #xxxx for YYYY. Here's my address blah blah."
Ebay themselves went from personal/fun to corporate/rule-based, and took the auction environment with them to the state it's in today.
That's what is killing/killed eBay. The pendulum is finally swinging to give the buyer an advantage over the sellers. But in the corporate state eBay is in, its too little too late, and the days of glory are gone.
From steve crapps,live oak florida Will Ebay management look at these valid responses? Do they even care? The answer to this question is this. Hi im a corporate bean-counter looking at a bunch of charts and graphs and dont use the service ,therefore I dont care. I am not worried because all of my upper management team consists of my clones and noone need to worry. Wait news flash Batman!!! you have invited competition in and welcomed them with open arms. The stockholders are bailing out and your stock will be for sale for 10.00 or less in 2009. There are some new big players on the block willing to take it all and leave you with nothing. But what do we know,we,re just the ignorant consumer,stock holders who pay your salary..
From Kasey, Seattle, WA Many of friends and I who have been loyal buyers and sellers on eBay since 2000 are fed up with ebay's new policies. We are going to flee from eBay and will go to Amazon. Amaon.com is a far better comapny anyways. I have sold all my eBay stocks because I only own stocks. To own a certain stock, I must like the comapny too. I have bought 1000 shares of amazon now and I think it is for the best. my friends who all owned eBay stocks have sold and have turned to amazon. Although eBay ownes Paypal, Skype, and 50% of Craigslist.com, I really will never go back to eBay again!
eBay's stock might look very tasty right now at $15.35/share, but I know for a fact that tons of people in my network who were eBay sellers are switching to or back to amazon.com . Now be smart and make the switch people and lets make eBay suffer for making us small business entrepreneurs worse off.
Kasey in Seattle
From Phil Grimm. S. Hadley, MA I shop regularly for PC parts and systems on eBay and have a pretty good sense for pricing. After all the comments concerning ebid.net I had to check it out. The prices are ridiculous. The site has a long way to go.
From Julie L, Rural Hall, NC I started my home base business selling my hand sewn childrens clothing on Ebay 8 1/2 years ago under the user name Carolina-Creations. I have seen many changes to Ebay over the years. They were not that bad and needed. But I have to say that this past year is the worst. No negatives for buyers who bid and win but do not pay..they drop the listing fees by a few cents but raising the final value fees even higher……only the high volume power sellers get the exposure while the smaller sellers are shoved to the side…ect…ect…ect. Now you can not accept checks or money orders. Paypal only…owned by Ebay. Come on!!!! After 8 1/2 years and paying thousands in fees I have left to sell elsewhere. My business is now thriving again. My income has more than tripled in only 4 short months and my fees are 75% less. It is such a shame that they forgot about the unique sellers who made this company. It used to be such a great site.
From Rick Corrigan, Ketchikan, Alaska For those of you who are tired of paying six dollars to sell a twenty dollar item, you're welcome to help me build an auction site for the people at http://Bartster.com
From Tim, Memphis, TN One of the really sad things is this: Once Donahue resigns or is removed, & I assure you that it will happen soon. It will be way too late for ebay to recover to a fraction of what it once was. I say this because it's already too late. Many of the sellers were buyers, and many of the buyers were sellers. The people that are still remaining are all presently leaving in droves. Ebay simply doesn't understand that most of the good people who have left (built the company) will never return no matter what they do. Now please consider this: What happens tomorrow on 10/20 when they start with the paypal only rule? I'll tell you exactly what will happen: They'll be eliminating another 18%-22% of their buyers & sellers. I guarantee you that many, many people will never use the site again after midnight tonight because they simply won't be pushed around & ordered to use paypal. They actually have choices & will exercise their options. I sold all of my stock in Ocotber of 2007, and stopped selling and buying back in March of this year. As a former customer & stockholder I will say it one more time: The ebay that we once knew will never ever happen again & it's truly very sad. Extremely poor management from Whitman & Donahue have totally run it into the ground. These people obviously never used the services of the company they represented. Again, once the stockholders wake up & have had enough, and once Donahue is gone it will be way too late. The millions of buyers & sellers who have already left will unfortunately never return, & I'm proud to say that I'm one of them. To sum it all up: The greedy, egotistical & self centered idiots will never admit that they made a mistake. When Donahue is gone he'll probably say that his changes didn't have enough time to take effect, & that the economy didn't help either. We're now in an economic climate where this company should be thriving, and instead it's at its lowest point ever. Donahue did exactly what I thought he'd do. He made ebay nothing more than a happy memory of the past. What a shame!
From Jerry Woodlock, Tampa, FL We get quite a few sellers of collectible coins on our site CoinBug that have left the large auction sites due to complaints of charges from the sites, the fees, and feedback issues.
From Johnson Awosina. Richmond, Virginia I have enjoyed being on eBay for over six years as a seller and sometimes buyer, but all that good feelings has changed for me, I do not feel as a proud self employed business owner on eBay anymore, eBay made sure of that with their new changes, they now control my business and also what type of payments I can accepts, leaving me as a seller at the mercy of their fraudulent buyers, well good luck eBay, I like my freedom, I do not want to work for you, I am opening more local stores now, I will sell my products my way and accept any form of payments I choose.
From Audrey S Ebay is a buyer's market. This is really unfortunate for sellers. Profit margins are very slim after you take out the huge ebay and paypal cut. I know tons of sellers are losing money on this and it was ridiculous of them to reduce listing fees only to hike up the final auction fees discreetly. Making Paypal the only mandatory payment option is also pretty ludicrous but the reason why they do this is because Paypal is owned by ebay so esentially the money is going back to the same person. Also watch out: if you link your Paypal account to two ebay accounts this will automatically warrant account suspension. Heck, anything will get you suspended nowadays since ebay, short of your SSN number, tracks your IP number, the computer you use, your address, phone number, and every other info it can get its grubby little hands on. Also I made the mistake of changing my real name to a "fake" name (to prevent identity theft) and they suspended my account. I had been an ebay member for five years and I was really surprised they did this because it is so arbitrary. Meanwhile the person selling 10 fake LV bags still has an active account.
From Melbourne Very unfair for sellers…even the good ones.
You cant leave negative feedback for no buying ,paying , no contacting buyer.
Not fair.
If you dont open dispute…EBay takes money out of you.
Dispute takes 2-3 weeks lost time!
Fees are very high!
What makes you put your item on higher sale…less buyers!
Very many good sellers are leaving and hard to find other for replacement.
Cuts loose people who dont like pay via Paypal.
Paypal fees are + additional for item sold in eBAy….+ Paypal takes around 3% of GRAND total ( inc. postage what has been transf. to paypal acc.)
so! with beginning fee, sold item fee, paypal fee with postage…grand total from your item could come up 10% of your item price.
Ebay encourages people to start item with 99 cents.
if you item will sell with 99 cents…you could be paying on the top to get rid of your item!
Its better to take it to salvation army. At least you dont have to pay on the top.
I`m very disapaointed about their new ideas.
Mrs: Eljaste
From Dave, Victoria BC Canada On Ebay's stock evaluation I think analysts should maybe factor in such a thing as "bad will" (the opposite of "good will") to the ebay valuation – this sentiment is a strong force and ebay has alienated so many of its customers (mostly the sellers) that this should be factored in – I know many folks, including myself, who started out loving ebay – fun, profitable, great! but now will simply never have anything to do with ebay or its egregious paypal – maybe if they changed their names they could get around the amazing negative branding they've developed, but otherwise any alternative seems to have big appeal by comparison. Reply |Report abuse
From cant say who i am simple math. The amount ebay charges for fees is immaterial as long as there is still a profit for the seller. If the fees are too high either the seller is forced to raise prices to cover the fees and make a profit or reduce the profit. It is all about bottom line. Before the changes I did 300k in sales. My ebay fees were about 38% of my gross. That is big. The only reason I was able to survive was because my item was a high markup item. Now my sales have plummeted to about 85k. My fees now are less than 20 % of my gross. Almost half. But I am making a lot less money per month even though my fees are almost 50% less than before. I would rather pay the higher fees and have the higher sales.
From Lise, Melbourne, Australia Seems like things have changed even for the worse since I was a powerseller with eBay in 2006/7.
Issues I had:
* No actual person to communicate with if an ebot decided you were doing something wrong. Ok as a powerseller you had a contact but it really didn't make much difference. I was accused of shilling (didn't do it), selling something I shouldn't (didn't do it), oh gods heaps of crosses against me and I had fantastic feedback to boot.
* A buyer's paradise. Obviously as sellers we need buyers but eBay made it purely for sellers to have a field day and we as the sellers had no protection and obviously the changes have made it even worse. Can't see how they couldn't see what would happen.
* Buyer of a CD asks for insurance, he gets it and then mail being what it is in Brazil, it doesn't reach him. He in is fear as this has happened before with a different buyer, files a claim against PayPal. I was devastated, though understood his fear. Paypal then cuts of my money in my account, unbelieveable! Lucky I wasn't a family with kids to look after. Frozen for a week, even though we had insurance for him (proved through multiple faxes to PayPal). It turned out in the end, but after weeks of tooing and froing it was the beginning of the end for me.
* Feedback changes. Absolutely stupid!
* Ballpark changing all the time but unless you spent hours reading all the changes, you could be wiped off with an infringement in an instant.
eBay's day has come and sadly for them, Pierre Omidyar's company is going to go belly up because competitors will come along and they are, and slowly gobble up the hungry pack of people buying out there.
I had a fab time on eBay the first year but after my first problem with eBay, the taste soured. Ultimately the company grew so fast it could never keep up with the amount of people it was dealing with. Lack of telephone contact was a huge problem, the online chat whilst a great idea, never solved anything, you were also told to go and check out this or that and if you had problems with your account being closed, there was no one to talk to at all, unbelievable!!!
Look forward to seeing another company learn from the mistakes of eBay and make another place for people to buy and sell.
From Christian Shultz, Manhattan, KS Ebay SUSPENDS INNOCENT FAMILY MEMBERS!
Did you hear (see) what I said?!
If ONE family member gets suspended for whatever reason, the WHOLE FAMILY goes with them.
Even if that family member does not live in the SAME HOUSE, eBay has ways of knowing who are all related. They can suspend someone THOUSANDS of MILES away for being related to a suspended user.
Think of North Korea – for the crimes of one, the WHOLE FAMILY is sent to political labor camps.
Please try iOffer.com and watch their eBay parody at http://www.ioffer.com/feepay
From Nan Merte, Poughkeepsie, New York Okay Folks Here It is. The math has been Done. This is what we Need to do if we are to, Once Again, become Prosperous.
The Following is NOT a Generic Statement, but a Direct Communication to me (nymarts.com) from Chris :
From Chris Fain President, CEO OnlineAuction.com, OLA.com October 18, 2008 :
"Lets roll….Tell everyone to head to OLA.com and become Founding Members this should drive enough traffic our way and build up enough revenue for us to have a substantial advertising budget. For instance if everyone kicks in their $196.00 and we have One Million Founding Members I will spend no less than (90%) $176,400,000 dollars promoting all OLA Members products ! …Tell everyone on the boards to get over here!!!….Lets do it. "
This refers to the All Important TELEVISION Advertising.
Email EVERYONE who Ever Sold on Ebay and is Looking for a Brand Shiny New Home !
Email EVERYONE looking to Turn Back the Clock to the "Good Ole Days" of Auction FUN ! ! !
Remember : THE ACTION FOLLOWS US
LET'S BRING IT !
OLA > No Hassles, No Rediculous Fees, No Big Brother Crap.
From Sean Kelly, Bellevue WA I joined eBay as a seller very enthusiastically in 1999. After roughly 8 years, I accumulated 500 feedback points; 100% were positive.
Last year, I watched as eBay threw firearms enthusiasts under the bus by unilaterally banning thousands of legal accessories and items, simply out of political correctness. Yes, you can still buy midget pron on eBay, but God forbid you want a metal canister.
The worst was yet to come. Earlier this year unveiled sweeping changes. Yes, they hiked fees, taking 12 – 20% skim on every transaction (listing fee, final value fee, transaction processing fees).
But fees are one thing. They are quantifiable and business can plan accordingly. Don't list items that you aren't making at least a 40% profit margin on. OK. Fine. People can sell fewer things.
But sellers are under attack from more than just eBay. You see, Donahoe unbalanced the buyer/seller power relation, far out of whack. Sellers cannot leave negative feedback. Now, buyers can literally shake down sellers, asking for additional rebates after a successful transaction. All they have to say is "give me a few of my dollars back, or you get a negative feedback and therefore higher fees". Insanity.
Who would try to do business in an environment like that? You'd have to be some kind of masochist.
Anyway, I spoke out against the changes on eBays forum. Their employee monitors of the forums threatened to ban me. I said that I needed to speak out. So they did ban me, citing "obscenity". Ironic that they would consider the telling of my tale to be obscene. I considered the whole story to be rather obscene myself. But under no circumstances did I ever use four letter words.
So, I let them ban me. I was glad to leave that little puppet fest behind. I used to be one of eBays biggest fans. An evangelist. Now, I hate eBay. I'm one of hundreds of eBay antagonists. Working towards creating a new future, a new, more perfect marketplace. One that makes eBay as obsolete as AltaVista or HotBot were when Google came out.
Thanks
From ____seller_since_1998____ Donohoe is an I D I O T. Fire his ass as soon as possible
From Peter, Laguna, NM In an attempt to purchase some wood from a VERY reputable seller, we had a problem of not having a PayPal account. We offered to pay with a credit card and even a money order. But the seller was constrained to the PayPal only system. In an attempt to set one up, PayPal pings your account with a certain amount of money. Usually a 1 cent or 2 cent deposit. Upon starting the process we could not get the deposit amount. We even did a records search through the bank for $20.00 to find one, and NOTHING. So we sent e-mail after e-mail to the seller BEGGING to pay with a money order or some other system… to no avail… We never got the wood, and they lost a sale. We wanted to deal with this company but the constraints of the PayPal only system screwed that up. Now, I cannot get what I wanted for the price I wanted due to this stupid and greedy system..
From Ed lukowski, Denver CO No more checks or money orders!! These guys are idiots!!! Wipe out the sellers, THEN wipe out the buyers who dont use paypal…. And they just Fired 1,000 employees… why dont they just fire all of them, turn the lights off and go home… Seems to me that would be much easier!
That CEO is a ST*U*PID A*S*S!!!! Somebody should tattoo it to his forehead! Cramer, hit that sell button a few times will ya please!!!!!!
From tony, south ockendon, essex I loved selling on ebay, but they killed it for me by insisting on paypal having to be accepted and not being able to leave factual negative feedback for bad buyers. I still keep buying, but the new search features make it frustrating and I find myself visiting less and less.
I to now sell on ebid as Santa45 the site is improving day by day, as are the sales. The support and forums are friendly and helpful with none of the witch hunters out to report you for the slightest infrigement of auction policy.
Would I go back to ebay if it were to revert back to how it was before. No I enjoy ebid to much and have made a couple of good friends through the buddy link.
Which ever site you sell on I wish you all plenty of sales and happy trading. But leave you with this advice from Santa try ebid, you won't regret it.
From Eddie Russell, San Diego, CA I saw the writing on the wall three months ago. Dropping sales, disgruntled sellers. ebay's management has ruined the site and the end is nigh. Pity it used to be so much fun trading on ebay. Well, I suppose nothing lasts forever. Even good old Microsoft looks poised to see it's end coming now that Google rules the software world.
I have not stopped selling or buying on ebay I just do less, much, much less. In time probably nothing.
From Mike Kennedy, Trabuco Canyon, CA I was a small but steady Ebay buyer and seller of video games and eventually started a new auction site dedicated to the hobby. I just got sick of all the new formats and advertising they were shoving down my throat all the time.
So Cal Mike
http://www.ChaseTheChuckwagon.com – The Less-Expensive, Community Drive, Auction Alternative Dedicated To Classic & Modern Video Games
From anonymous I have 1842 feedbacks with EBAY all positive. I sell and buy collectable radio equipment on EBAY and there is a rather small group of people I deal with so I have regulars that bid on items. Out of the blue EBAY accused myself and an occassional buyer of shilling and suspended my auctions for a week. The other party bid on two items never hitting the reserve in the bidding process. He was not the high bidder on either and was maybe the third or fourth highest in the end. Any moran looking at the bidding could see he did not drive up the price. He also was bidding on like items on other auctions and bought in one case. We both asked EBAY for the basis of their convictions without trial or evidence being presented and they refused to state their grounds for our conviction saying it was to protect us and also protect them from disclosing how they determined that shilling was taking place. Since now the both of have crimminal records with EBAY we pushed this issue for months and got nowhere. What I suspect is someone I had turned into EBAY on numerous occassions for actually shilling turned me in as retaliation and EBAY who has never punished that person decided since he was such a big customer with a 97.6 feedback rating and was still a power seller in spite of his % to go after me. To sum it up I we were convicted of shilling without trial or
a hearing with no evidence presented. My business with EBAY has dropped off 50% since then and more so with the other party. These people deserve to go out of business.
From Mike Char NC I still sell on eBay, but no longer buy. They don't treat me fairly as a seller, so they don't get my business as a buyer.
I'll pay more elsewhere, before I give my business to eBay.
From Mike Charlotte NC Absolutely no competition, has eBay absolutely arrogant. Ebay has no accountability to their customers (sellers).
Ebay's made enemies of their customers and when significant competition comes, these sellers will jump from eBay like a sinking ship.
Bring back the pre-Donahue eBay.
From J. Powley E-bay is deliberately forcing small sellers to go elseshere. For example, LP and CD sellers (outside the USA) are being forced to use shipping fees which are not realistic. For example, it costs a minimum, $8 Can. to ship an LP from Canada but e-bay will only let you charge $4. Small sellers cannot absorb these costs so they will be forced to go elsewhere. Plus sellers only being allowed to use PAYPAL (owned by e-bay) is restrictive and monopolistic. THUMBS DOWN ON THESE POLICIES !!!!
From Manchester Sorry ebay but you have brought it upon yourselves. GREED has been your downfall.
There are alternative sites out there.
http://www.ebid.net is one.
Since my sales have plummeted (down 75%) since the changes have come in, I have started to move my shops over to http://www.ebid.net It is a much friendlier site with lots of bargains.
From London Ebay does seem intent on destroying what was an amazing and unique worldwide market place.
A place where you could be almost guaranteed to find almost anything you needed. Any thing from an every day umbrella to rare and very hard to come by items.
It does seem that lunatics have taken the helm (Such a shame)
However there is an alternative. And that is http://www.ebid .net
From Anonymous I started buying and selling on ebay in 2002. I sell mostly collectables and remote control vehicles and their parts. About a month ago I joined ebid.net and am now only selling on there. Just paid the last of my ebay fees, and now I am done with them. I will stick to ebid.net from now on. Much friendlier place to be, and no insertion fees. I joined as a lifetime member and will only pay 2% because I chose to upgrade to gallery. Much better than the almost 50% after all fees were calculated on ebay.
From elizabeth kurtz magnolia texas Ihave been an Ebay seller just breaking even and usually losing more than I profit. I recently hit on a hot selling item and have invested a thousand dollars into merchandise to resell. I was profiting when ebay had raised my search for my items. Now though that my search standing is at standard I have a pittance of sales. I will quit selling on Ebay soon as I am not making a profit and am in fact paying extravegant sellers fees at my loss just to stay in business.
From E M , UK As a buyer I find ebay's new 'search' facility bewildering …. I recently searched for a leather recliner chair and the results were oak dining table & six chairs ??????? I stopped selling on there AGES ago….. think it was a round of fee increases that did it…. and there have been plenty more since.
http://www.ebid.net is my home now and I'm looking forward to it becoming a household name :-) It's FREE to list !
From l.hudson, bradford,England I used to sell regularly on ebay, not high priced items, but good collectables etc, still have 500+ positive feedback but am priced out with their fees, am now seller+ on Ebid and it's so wonderfully refreshing, can list item as long as I want for free or with gallery just 2% and only if it sells, it is so much better and less stressful than Ebay. Lorraine***penny291 on ebid
From Ed Becker, Branson, Missouri As an Ebay seller for 8 years, I can only say they have lost their purpose. They forgot they are a "seller's" service. Instead, they have advertised so much buyers protection that they have tainted the sellers image that they represent.
They have driven off the unique sellers who once provided those treasures that Ebay wasw once known for to create a new image as just another web store.
They have squeezed every nickel they can from their seller base, and now treat their true customers with antagonism. EBay RIP.
From Jeremy Rak, Lorain Ohio I have been one of the largest sellers on ebay for the last 10 years… Ebay name RAK. Go onto ebay and look up seller name RAK…which has a rating of 26,506. Keep in mind that for us, only 1 out of 5 people or so would leave feedback, so our actual number of completed sales on the site is much larger. I registered an account with ebay on April 8th 1998 in my parents garage. Over this 10 year span, I completed over 130,000 orders on ebay. Yes, over 130,000 orders over ten years. In the beggining, I made up 1/2 of 1% of all sales on ebay. Take a look at ebay name RAK. I'm no longer regisitered because ebay didn't like my 97% positive feedback. Yes, 97% happy customers, so ebay decided to kick me off their site. Our sales were over 1 million per year on ebay, and they decided to throw this away….and you wonder why their stock is dropping?. In the beggining, ebay actually would call me from time to time, and ask my opinion on how to improve the site. I also offered advise on some of the ebay software which they incorporated into their software programs. Anyway, I feel burned because I have spent 10 years of my life dedicated to offering ebay customers great customer service. The funny thing is that if ebay has done this to me, I'm sure they are doing this to other ebay sellers. Don't believe anything ebay says. They blame their lackluster revenue numbers on a downturn in the economy….give me a break! LOOK AT WHAT THEY ARE DOING. DO THE MATH. I did 1 million per year on ebay. When I spoke to ebay on the phone, they said they have banned tens of thousands of power sellers on their site over the last couple months. They blame their bad numbers on the economy, but from my insider point of view, it's obvious they brought this upon themselves. Actually during the last recession, their sales actually increased. This is a fact. During a slowdown in the economy, people look for bargains, and you would think they would turn to ebay for bargains. Well, not this time. Where are we now? We are in the process of completing two new websites designed to compete directly with ebay! They will be up and running within two weeks, and we will start our national marketing campaign this month. My feeling is that we will be much more successful with our new website than we were ever with ebay. I always said I would stay with ebay until they gave us a reason to look elsewhere. Well, they gave us a reason. I want to thank ebay for making us a powerful competitor now instead of an ebay supporter.
From Paul, Tulsa, Ok We need a HUGE effort to boycott Ebay… for the month of December. Everyone should send out an email to everyone they know requesting them to boycott Ebay the month of December.
Send your negative comments to feedback@ebay.com That is a real working site by ebay for customers to send their feedback on how ebay is doing. Not many know about that address.
If there are as many of us unhappy sellers as there seems to be then we need to do everything we can to hit them where it hurts. The bottom line.
Come on people, lets do what we can to show this company they can not treat good people like they have. Please send an email to all your contacts requesting them to boycott ebay for the whole month of December. If we do this, we can make a difference.
From Grant C. London. John J Donaghoe has pursued the boom economy ethic of screwing everybody for everypenny he can get out. He has devalued the skills of established sellers by making it easy for anyone to list. In short he is chasing listing fees not sales. A stratedgy that is doomed to failure in a recession economy. John Donahoe's integrity lays somewhere between himself and his bonus. He has cut the cash cow's throat with a rust razor blade. Without integrity sleers cannot invest their time money and future with what has become a scam company
From Jim Sweetheimer Harrisburg PA eBay fundamentally altered the feedback equation by canceling the ability of the seller to post negative feedback. If eBay truly policed the site, and prohibited bad buyers (buyers who bid and don't pay, buyers who attempt to extort sellers into offering discounts or they will leave unwarranted negative feedback, buyers who don't read item descriptions and clearly posted seller policies) as well as offering a clearly posted and enforced contract on the conditions for buying and selling, it would be fair and workable. What eBay has done is sacrifice the uniqueness of the site in favor of large volume sellers. Instead of continuing to support and encourage low volume sellers of unique one of a kind items, eBay has sold its entrepreneurial soul to high volume sellers who list masses of 'run of the mill' items available anywhere. eBay used to be my largest venue to sell unique one of the kind collectibles. However it has faded to a distant third, and I see no prospect under current eBay imposed seller restrictions. Increasing costs, decreasing profits, and an obvious eBay bias against sellers who list 'one of a kind' unique items, in favor of mass sellers who list 100s of the same item, clearly indicate who will list and sell on eBay, to the loss of both buyers and sellers. How to kill the goose that laid golden eggs?, bite the hand of the very sellers who made eBay's phenomenal growth possible.
From tom parkersburg iowa I have been on Ebay since 1998. my 1st id was americanstrays. I also sold for my parents, byrnarae. my current id is aplington1. my store has about 900 items in it at any given time. when paypal/CC only payments start I am letting my listings end. :)
From Jack, Sarasota, Florida What everyone does not realize is the management of ebay does not care about any of your complaints because they want ebay to be a different company than they were. They are doing nothing but trying to maximize the return to the shareholders (and option holders) any way they can even if that means allowing only one seller to control the whole site as long as the numbers look good. That is just the way it is. Us sellers were only a tool to develop the company run by a different vision than what they have today. Now they dont need us anymore and that is why we have been tossed out with the days garbage. All companies change, Amazon has changed. Remember when it just sold books??? Now it is totally different, much much better, but different. The problem with ebay is they want to be like amazon because amazon is kicking their tail in Buy it now listings and sales. Ebay does not understand that a banana will never be an orange so rather than Ebay trying to become an orange, Ebay should have tried to become a better banana and let the oranges be oranges and bananas be bananas.
If ebay did a lot more to help the sellers that built the company, ebay would be a better company. The new feedback was implimented to weed out the small sellers. One negative feedback is a disaster to a small seller but ten negatine feebacks is nothing to a HUGE powerseller and ebay would never dream of blocking them in the first place. They wanted the small sellers out pure and simple and they made the changes they needed to make to get rid of us so they could make it what it is, fewer sellers listing more items paying higher margins. It allows the company to be smaller, fewer employees, and delivers more value to the shareholders…. But it will prove to be a fatal mistake because the internet does not need another Amazon, we are happy with Amazon, what the internet needs is another Ebay to fill the hole that ebay is creating. Ebay is creating a great opportunity for another auction site to pick up all the money ebay is leaving on the table it feels it does not need or want anymore. I wish the best of luck to http://www.ebid.net, they have a chance to become everything ebay was and never will be again.
From Dan, Rockford Michigan The slowdown for Ebay is the beginning.
I do not sell or buy on Ebay any more. I sold a new car on Ebay 10 months ago, and waited for 1 1/2 months for PayPal to allow me to get my payment. The funds were available via e-echeck. It cost (after all fees) was over $500.00 to sell it. The boycott and poor service is why I have boycotted Ebay. The web enabled Ebay to get rich quickly and easily. Unfortunately for Ebay, the accessibility of the web will bring them down as well.
No doubt- Ebay is a massive ripoff. I will not buy from a business selling on Ebay- never. You will get MUCH better results on Craigslist.org. If Ebay (thru their crooked attempt to manipulate Craigslist) shuts down Craigslist, there will be Bob-list, Danslist all to eager to make sure that Ebay's greedy reign is over.
From Alex J. I am a former ebay power seller. Ebay has become a joke for both the buyer and seller. I will never go back!
From TOMMY NYC NY JUST READ ALL THE REMARKS. ALL NEGATIVE NO POSITIVE. MY 10 YEAR OLD COULD TELL YOU EBAY IS FINISHED IT STOCK WILL BE WORTHLESS VERY SHORTLY.FIRE DONAHOE AS A START.I WONDER WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF EBAY WAS NOT ALLOWED TO COUNTER ALL THIS NEGATIVE FEEDBACK. FIRE DONAHOE. DUMP YOUR EBAY STOCK WHILE YOUR STILL ABLE TO GET SOMETHING FOR IT . FIRE DONAHOE.
From Gerald C – Edmonton, AB, Canada I joined the eBay user ranks in 1998. Buying and selling tens of thousands of dollars worth of items since that time. In febuary of 2008, fee and feedback changes force me to move my varied inventory to other sites – I now moved my listings and busines to OnLineAuctions.com as it is better than eBay everwas for support and the number of listings are growing daily as well as sales and users – this may be the new rising star. as eBay's sun is setting.
From Robert James, NY, NY I've been on Ebay for 10 years. my peak sales years reached 4,000.00+ a month. I've been in the collectibles business for 30 years.
In all my dealings with businesses and people over the years, I have yet to have met such an arrogant, hypocritical entity such as this. (Maybe I should try Wallstreet)
Ebays mission statement and "goody-two-shoes" approach was a load of crap from the time I joined. They were a legitimate venue for making a profit and have done their best over the years to gouge out and squeeze as much as possible from its customers, the sellers. Always pushing the envelope to see what they could get away with before it negatively affected revenues. The uniqueness that gave it a meteoric rise is gone. All that's left is some donkeyho that will be responsible for its resounding crash. The cowardly weasels running this operation didn't have the guts to be straight with its customers. They implemented devious little barriers(DSR ratings, seller posted feedback elimination) to the small business person to weed them out slowly but not lose the buyer base that the 1,000s of small sellers established for these creeps. Basically trying to steal the customer away and pimp them to there larger johns.
It's backfired! With the downturn in the general economy and Ebays need for greed, they badly miscalculated the negative publicity all these assinine changes have brought about. Even the possible plan to repurchase their own stock while it's bottoming out is a testament to their Titanic arrogance.
It is a hope that what will rise from the ashes or replace this selfcentered, one-way-business entity, is a unique again auction site.
What truly could have been a haven for 10,000s of small business people, has become their hell. Pity the dependent seller that relies on this as their sole income.
Had Ebay lived up to its word, it could have been a positive force in these negative times. Perhaps sacrificing a small % of profit for a longterm commitment to honest business practices. Establishing a network of merchants supplying needs and wants and remaining the giant innovator of its once unique selling platform.
Poor John McCain, pushing Meg Whitman into his cabinet picks. What started under this womans reign at Ebay will assure Senator McCains 2nd place finish.
The crushing of small business in America continues with the Ebays and Walmarts and all the other conglomerates pushing low qualty, uniformity, riches for the few. These practices actually encourage credit card debt, preying on consumer ignorance and lack of self control in their spending practices. Oh, sounds like the mortgage crisis?! That's another story.
Well thanks for the venting venue. Don't expect this to get past the intern that reads this but at least it was a cathartic exercise in the futility of small business in America these days.
By the way, someone throw me one of those ships donuts. Hey maybe I can find an original night to be remembered one on Ebay!:):):)
From John, Baltimore, MD Why isn't the CEO of eBay sick in the hospital now? I would be after reading that nearly EVERY single comment, from both buyers and sellers, is NEGATIVE. What does it take to make someone understand that what they are doing is morally wrong and that it takes a strong individual to admit their mistakes and make the necessary corrections and alterations to reverse this corporate tragedy. People at the top of eBay: Virtually EVERYONE disagrees with what you are doing. Don't you get it?
From TL Minneapolis, MN I sense some bitterness here. Surely you all must realise that John Donablo has the best interest of ebay in mind. Hang in there and keep paying those ever increasing fees as it is in the best interest of ebay. You wouldn't want to see ebay fail would you? If ebay fails, onlineauction.com and ebid.net won't have any proper competition. You wouldn't want that – would you?
From Bryon / Kalamazoo / Mich Been buying & selling on Ebay for about 7 years; I used to list from 10 to 45 items a month, but not since July. There is a terrific amount of wisdom in the old adage, " If it ain't broke — don't fix it!", yet Ebay continually tries to fix that which is not broken. Perhaps Ebay should take a good look at what happened to Coke when they tried to fix something that wasn't broken.
If a politician asked for your vote, and campaigned with the promise that he would RAISE taxes, would you vote for him? If already in office, and raising taxes ( fees ) how long would he last? We should all be GRATEFUL to pay more in taxes so the politician can vote to pay himself a bigger paycheck, right? Well, whip out your checkbook boys, 'cause Ebay thinks they deserve a bigger percentage of your meager profits, no matter how bad the economy is. ( Ooops, I forgot – they only take Paypal )
Ebay raising their fees is no different than a politician raising taxes, with both fading from view the moment a better deal comes along. That little spot I see in the distance — is that Ebay? Was that Ebay?
Ebay seems to have forgotten that they need balance; yin and yang, hot and cold, day and night, buyers AND SELLERS. Sure, they can make Ebay a great place to buy stuff ONLY if its a great place for sellers to sell stuff too.
I might continue to sell on a limited scale, but will definately check out the other venues out there. If I need gasoline for my truck, and there are 8 or 10 gas stations in a row, and they all have the same price per gallon within a few cents of each other, except for the station named Ebay Gas which sells for 60 cents a gallon more, how long can Ebay Gas expect to still be in business?
From Jody, Buda Texas Ebay is following the same path as the US automakers followed in the 1970s and Motorola(cellphone maker) followed int the 1990s. They have gotten arrogant and have forgotten their customers(buyers and sellers)
I have been a buyer, but this latest move to force customers to used either Ebay owned Paypal or credit cards(no money orders) just cost them my business. I will go to Amazon and other sites from now on.
I predict that unless Ebay changes their tune, they will end up just like the US automakers and Motorola-loosing business.
From Lynn, Windsor VT I have Multiple Sclerosis. I am unable to work a regular job and I do not qualify for disability. Fortunately, over the past few years I have been able to earn over $1000 per month selling vintage items on eBay. During this time I sold over 2000 items and had 100% positive feedback. I tried to keep an open mind about eBay's changes, but last month, out of the blue, eBay suspended me INDEFINITELY because I am "associated" with another seller with a lower rating. I am now in danger of losing my home because I can't pay my mortage, let alone my heating bill. eBay will not respond to my pleas for help. This is how eBay treats its small sellers.
From Rosie—Massachusetts Has anyone of you sellers that have been fraudulantly cheated out payment for your goods considered the possibility of a class action law-suit for larceny,& accessary to to larceny against Ebay? This is clearly fraud and deceptive practices. As collectors of fees for services,there should be some inherant responsibility for their actions taken.
From fawn Vancil, colorado springs Colorado So Donahue, admit your plan failed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yep it failed form the bottom to the top.
Your buyers want the flea market atmosphere.
We can go to AMAZON AND bUY.COM to have the hard sale atmosphere.
From Walter, Raleigh NC Ebay is a HORRIBLE company. They are greedy, and only make changes that are in there favor. They do not care at all about any buyers or sellers.
Their policies are REDICULOUS, and border on illegal and immoral. No more money orders or checks….WHAT??????
I have been with Ebay since 2000, and have sold literally nearly $500,000 in products on Ebay, and I can say that each day I am with them the company gets worse and worse. It used to be an excellent place, but due to incompetent management, they have made Ebay into an absolute mess.
Meg Whitman, and Mr. Donahue are both incompetents who have been the ruin of Ebay. How Mr. Donahue stays in his job is simply a mystery. In my 30 years in the business World, I have never seen a single company run as bad as Ebay is. If I didn't know better I would say they are trying to self-distruct.
Ebay, you are a disgrace.
From D L Indiana I think this years eBay changes have been brilliant moves….
I am waiting to find out which competitor was able to get a mole so high up the ladder to scuttle the eBay ship from the inside.
The new CEO is doing a marvelous job turning a great invention that has worked marvelously for many years into something completely unworkable while publicly patting himself on the back every step of the way.
Fake feedback has become a pathetic joke.
Payments are riskier than ever.
Transactions are costlier than ever.
And now- the EBAY TAX on the US Post Office! They are pushing sellers into free shipping so all shipping costs will be heavily eBay-taxed as part of the selling price. That will make Congress quite jealous.
As a ten year powerseller who has ended all auctions and closed down the store months ago for my own protection, I now understand that I was one of the thousands of sellers that made eBay the giant success it is today.
It fed my kids, paid the bills, and kept the lights on. I really depended on it.
Until the eBay execs lost their minds.
Then my ten year job vanished overnight.
Do I get a gold watch? a thank you?
I now discover that I am looked at as one of the 'problems' that made some of the shoplifters, the trolls, the card-scammers, feel uncomfortable and less welcome to ply their trade at eBay. Can't have that.
Today the new Animal-House rules, made by double-talking eBay execs who are urinating in their own food supply and then bragging loudly about the great new taste, will certainly make the scammers and shoplifters, feel much more at home at eBay than ever before.
eBays earlier success was because it was a 'community' that could communicate with each other and rate each other without company interference. People used to work with each other for their own interests. And it worked marvelously.
Until.. They poisoned the water by encouraging everyone to pick fights with everyone else.
Today eBay insists that everyone goes into a transaction as ADVERSARIES.
Todays eBay site is designed to make everyone into combatants for their own good, you understand.
Do you want to get an offer for some free stuff? Click here and scare the seller a bit…
Want the whole thing for free? Click here, and take all the money back. Keep the item for free.
The seller didn't like it, and didn't beg 'please please please' enough? Here- throw rocks at him anonymously.. click this..
Caught shoplifting again? Don't worry. The shopkeeper is forbidden from calling your parents, or even telling ANYBODY.
Wanna spray paint the shopkeepers windows? here- click this..
I havent turned in a deadbeat bidder for many years because I didn't want a negative. I paid eBay the fees anyway. eBay likes that.
I believe that is also why eBay is pushing for free shipping. If it is factored into your higher selling price, eBay takes a cut of that too. Tax the Post Office.
The list of their crooked gimmicks is long. Everything they say today is politician-speak doubletalk.
Let eBay try to correct the 'problem' by 50,000 new rules, crackdown after crackdown, and handing out bigger and bigger billy clubs for the remaining people to fight each other with.
WANT TO HEAR SOMETHING FUNNY?
In my ten years of selling, I had NEVER been suspended or sanctioned in any way.
Months after I closed my store, ended my auctions, and fled for my safety, they sent me a letter.
Months after I quit, REMEMBER- NOTHING WAS SOLD FOR MONTHS, I was told that my performance was unsatisfactory and I was about to be suspended. THREE MONTHS AFTER I QUIT.
About a week later, I got another letter from Animal-House eBay saying that my performance has greatly improved and that I was being reinstated. I hadn't put ANYTHING up for sale for THREE MONTHS.
Brilliant minds at work.
I watched some good sellers that I have bought supplies from for years go way down in their ratings and then vanish.
I see another who sells the warehouse stuff that the forklifts drove over, who I know has a whole lot of negatives, and who stiffed me once with a non-working DVD recorder, come back with 100% perfect feedback. Cleaned up by the 'NEW EBAY'.
YEP. I have watched them boot out my favorite suppliers who have always been honest when I dealt with them, and 'clean up' at least three crooks who have cheated many, to look spotless today.
I still have trouble thinking that the top execs are scuttling eBay by accident. I wonder who sent them over to destroy eBay from the inside.
Who cares anyway, I left, and I am busy with other things.
I have all the affection for eBay that I would for an ex partner who ran off to Hawaii with the bank account.
From CS Salem Oregon I used to sell on ebay. Now I just donated all the goods. Ebay has made it so hard for sellers that it's not even worth the bother.
From Joe Monticello, GA I've been on Ebay since 2003 and have been a Powerseller and have had an Ebay store for the last two years. Many people, especially occasional sellers have the idea that Ebay is only catering to Powersellers. This IS NOT TRUE. Ebay is catering only to HUGE retailers that can undercut small sellers. They are eliminating the small sellers in a way to integrate the LARGE sellers into their market place slowly. That's why they have moved to make the changes methodically. If they made the change suddenly, it would cause a dramatic drop in revenue that would be hard to rebound from. The stock would be sharply downgraded.
This is a calculated plan that is clear to see with the recent changes in feedback, fees, and now no payment option other than Pay Pal or a merchant account. Most smaller sellers will not be able to afford a merchant account. This means that all fees, both through normal Ebay fees or Pay Pal fees will be a direct payment to Ebay(They Own Pay Pal). In most instances this will result in around 15% to 20% or more of an items final value going to Ebay. There are not many sellers that can afford that.
But, deals made with large retailers or even wholesalers to offset those fees for them will make it almost impossible for small business to make it. Seems to be a trend in this economic environment. Within the next 24 months Ebay as we now know it will cease to exist. I only hope that another viable venue will come on the scene to replace the once fun place to shop. Since this is a CNN site, to see this posted would be a surprise to me.
Thank you for reading and good luck!
From Debra Oronogo, MO eBays changes benifit them and PayPal no one else. Sellers have no recourse when there are fruadlant buyers. Sellers can't leave negative feedbacks but buyers can. That makes no sense. Fees are getting way out of hand. They offer Featured but if you read the small print it is on a maybe they will use your auction in it. They demand only PayPal now. Of course PayPal is owned by eBay. Instead of catering to the sellers who make them money they have done everything they can to hurt the sellers. Debra Jadick Lasting Memories Nursery http://www.lastingmemoriesnursery.com
http://www.dgdiecastgarage.net
From Peter Combs, GLoucester, MA If Ebay cannot make positive improvements to the Perception of indifference to its sellers which the sellers feel is nearly universally negative they are done.
Ebay has fogotten the SELLERS make it go….not buyers. Buyers simply go to where the goods are that they want at a price they are willing to pay.
I am A Gold-Platinum Power Seller with 4.9-5.00 DSR's. Sales are declining as are vistors by 30%.
plcombs
From Sally Watkins Woodbridge Va I know my listing volume is way down because I cannot afford the new fees.By the time you pay the listing fees and the paypal fees most of your profit is gone. The change that is being made now that won't allow you to accept checks or money orders as payment is going to cost quite a few sales and I think the only one benefitting from this is Paypal. I have been a member for 5 years, have a 100% feedback score, with a 2003 feedback rating and I am a bronze power seller. I haven't purchased any new merchandise to sell and I am strongly considering leaving Ebay all together when I run out of the items I have left. It just isn't worth it anymore for all of the effort that goes into selling an item for what you get back
From Debra Oronogo, MO eBay took something good and has turned it into a nightmare for sellers. We have no recourse when it comes to buyers whose sole purpose is to destroy sellers. They have become even more greedy by now demanding that only PayPal can be used for payments. Of course eBay owns PayPal so it lines their pockets while it cuts the throat of the people who are making them money to begin with. eBays only concern is the power sellers if you are just a regular seller you might as well give it up. And God forbid you have a conflict with a Power Seller. Even if you have all of the proof to back up your claim they will side with the Power Seller. It is all about the money with them now.
From Wendy Upstate , N.Y . I have been selling on ebay for nearly three years . When I go to list an item on ebay they charge me an average of $24.95 . This is for what they choose to call a featured listing . Which is now with their latest changes NO advantage at all … Your item that is supposed to get the MOST exposure is only getting that in the last hours of a seven day auction … then they have the audacity of taking another $20.00 dollars in end value fees when my item sells . But , it doesn't end there because as we all know Pay Pal and Ebay are one and the same so when we are allowed no longer allowed to take money orders or bank checks and are only able to accept payments via paypal they then get an additional $20.00 dollars …so lets see now . I sell one item and Ebay gets it mitts on $64.95 from my pocket . Ebay was a great place to sell . Not any more …
From WW, Myrtle Beach, SC I had a deadbeat scammer/bidder bid on one of my auctions. I left their real name and location on a third-party website identifying them as being a deadbeat bidder on eBay. Next thing I know, me, an honest seller with 378 positives and only 2 negatives had my account permanently suspended by eBay! Because I "outed" a con-artist/fraudster! I don't care if I ever get back on eBay!
From Tina, Saginaw MI I am a small seller on Ebay. Within the past year the increases along with the feedback situation is wrong. But to top it all off, Ebay is making the seller cut there shipping prices on media to a maximum of $4.00 They are going way to far as to tell me what to charge in shipping. What right do they have? Ebay is getting to greedy! We should all leave and find something else.
From TG orlando, fl customer service at ebay is an oxymoron ran by morons. I have had issues with buyers not paying or cusing me out and ebay hasn't done a thing to stop it. not being able to leave negative feedback on a buyer, so as to warn others, yet having obnoxious buyers wreck your good name with negative feedback is like being punched in the face with your hands tied behind your back.
if it weren't for having to pay off doctor's bills i'd tell ebay to take a flying leap, or better yet "I hear Lehman Bros or AIG have an awsome CEO needing a job. Maybe they can bring Ebay to thier knees too.
Bitter? . . . I wasn't until i keep running to debeat buyers and have no way to protect my good name.
From Mark, San Jose, CA I haven't bought from eBay since the boycott. There just seems to be too much bad energy. I've liked the items that I've gotten in the past from electronics manufacturers, but other than that, there's just much less hassle buying from other places.
From Jim B Whitby, Ont Used ebay for about 4 years buying and selling but quit about 1 year ago after bad experience with paypal and quite frankly my life has been 1000% better since dumping them. There is really nothing ebay or paypal could ever do to get me back to there site.
Read all the rest of the comments they pretty much sum it all up.
From joel g, Mountain View, CA I have used Ebay on occasion in the past but the site has really gone downhill fast. Even though I have a 100% seller rating the huge "listing" fees and all the tiny, annoying extra charges are outrageous. At the end of the 10 day auction my listing got 12 views. Ebay then asks if I want to pay them additional fees to keep the listing up, and I realize that their whole operation is not designed for an individual or small sellers but rather Ebay Powersellers.
It is waste of time for individual/small sellers to list on Ebay, Your item will never have any real exposure let alone get sold. This is a pure cheat and I am surprised they have not been shut down by the govt or sued silly yet.
From Tom Flint, Michigan Ridiculous feedback scheme, Paypal only for payment, a CEO that is completely out of touch with auction mentality,
manipulation of searches, higher and higher fee structures, total control of items that can and cannot be sold on their site irrespective of the total legality of a free market economy, etc. etc, etc. I believe it is simply a matter of the selling public finding out that Ebay was only the training wheels of internet commerce. New search engines will completely eliminate the need for Ebay picture hosting and sales. Any good Google search will find more items I need on Craigs list or Amazon thatn Ebay these day. I say screw Ebay!!!
From G-Man, Houston, Texas I am a small eBay seller, (about 300 sales over the past year), and a sometime buyer, (about 75 purchases since 2004.) Although I have a 100% positive feedback score, I have greatly curtailed my listing activity on eBay. The main reason for this is that eBay takes too much effort for too little profit. eBay management is greedy and forces me to fork over about 15% of every transaction. On small items, this means making almost nothing. What's the point of that when I can just hold a garage sale or post my items on Craig's List – which I have done many times – and not have to pay anyone for the priviledge of doing so?
My impression of eBay is that they don't care about the small sellers of unusual and unique items who made eBay the phenomenal site it once was. They are strangling the goose that laid the golden egg by alienating millions of sellers and buyers alike with their greedy and dictatorial policies.
At this point in time, I'm simply sitting on the sidelines waiting for eBay to go bankrupt. As soon as that happens, one of the alternative auction sites will quickly replace it – probably one of those modeled after the OLD eBay of ten years ago. But first, the eBay monopoly must die….so I eagerly watch their stock price decline each week and look forward to the day when honest sellers will once more be able to trade with honest buyers in an online auction forum that respects both and does not treat them like cash cows to be milked to death.
From spring, co It is obvious that eBay is cutting out all forms of payment that they cannot collect a fee from, forcing sellers to use Paypal and other forms of payment that eBay owns. Greed will eventually take them down. I am through with eBay
From London, UK Ebay management are determined to destroy their business.
In the UK we call this "doing a Ratner".
Max, London UK
From Michael Humphries-Dolnick, Chicago IL I started buying and selling on eBay in 1998, when it was still a very close community. I've never been a huge buyer or seller; I'm not making a business of it, or looking to buy everything I need via eBay. Just the occasional transaction, where it makes sense.
Recently I listed some items that I didn't need anymore; recent technology and the items were brand new. However, because my feedback rating is low (no negatives, but not a lot of transactions either) I got no bids on a $1 minimum.
Since then I have not been back to eBay, and I don't expect I will go back. As the eBay representative in this article stated, more buyers are gravitating toward power sellers with lots of feedback. It sounds like that's what eBay wants – good for them. They're big, they don't need little old me selling my extra computer parts anymore.
From chad muskegon mi Ebay and paypal had screwed me over several times…You get customers who would by items in bulk and complain that they weren't the right things and then paypal ALWAYS goes against the seller….Also paypal makes it so difficult to get your money
From Catherine I am both a buyer and seller on ebay. my business is mostly operated from home. I had been very successful in selling on ebay over the last three years. over the past year, ebay has become a less attractive place for people looking for good deals. this is true for me. I have stopped buying from ebay and trying to get rid of all my inventory and stop selling on them as well. they succeeded because they turn people's garage sale into big online business. however, over the last year, they have lost the business idea that gotten them this far. there are less and less good deals on the site because there are more and more limitations to list on the site and their policy of taking away the ability of seller's feedback has tinted the trading environment it once had. in addition, paypal has become a giant cash machine, they think they are god. they start to use their power on people who can't fight back. ebay is repeating a cycle that a big company can't avoide these days, they are going down.
From Jacob Orangeville, PA It never ceases to amaze me that even though Donohoe was told by a large number of sellers that eBay's changes were bad for business and now even Donohoe has admitted that the changes are bad he still is not talking about going back to the original community oriented maketplace it once was. You know the successful one! I am not sure what brand of beer goggles he is wearing that makes him think a small change in the "safety of the marketplace that has caused signifigant reductions in sales to be better than the community policed system that created the 800 pound gorilla that was once eBay.
http://www.rexxsales.com
From J I've been selling on ebay since 1998 and over the last few years, it really has gone downhill in every conceivable way. Like everyone has said here, sales are down, fees are way up. Profit margins are slimmer than ever, making selling not worth it for the average Joe.
It's not just money issues, either. Ebay screws up the little things just as frequently. Best Match is absolutely worthless. There is no plausible reason to ever use it. If you are shopping, you are interested in low priced items or items ending the soonest, not items that are vaguely similar to what you are looking for.
The new single-page sell-your-item form is now a slow-loading Javascript nightmare. I've sold items on many different similar sites and ebay is by far the buggiest. Their coders and programmers must be fresh out of middle school, because there is no excuse for such shoddy design and implementation.
Now buyers can't even pay via mailed payments. Doesn't ebay realize that many, many buyers absolutely hate Paypal and have no intention of signing up? They are about to lose another huge chunk of buyers. Good job, ebay.
-J
ebaymorons.wordpress.com
From Gary Fraley Sacramento CA As a buyer of many years I now find ebay having less competition among sellers and higher prices for products. The seller loses and so does the buyer. Time to look for the next ebay market to buy from
From Larry, Los Angeles, CA After 8 years of buying (and occasionally selling) on ebay, I've logged well over 1000 transactions. This past year it seemed that I was finding fewer of my favorite collectibles. I thought the market was drying up (attics and basements cleared out, etc.).
When I learned in August about the coming end to paper payments (checks & money orders), I started reading eBay's discussion boards and lodged a few notes of my own protesting and discussing this with others. I also learned that sellers had been pulling out since the beginning of the year and some were boycotting fee increases, etc.
Having had my own negative experience with PayPal years ago and, after suffering through their idiot customer "service" reps, closed the account.
I'm saving several hundred dollars a month now not "winning" things on eBay. Thanks Donahoe, whoever you are! P.S. eBay is useless/wortheless now in my opinion.
From Amy, Jamestown NC I quit using eBay regularly over a couple of years ago. First they changed how to post listings that made an already tedious process worse. Programs like Auctiva didn't help much with that. Then it got so the fees cut so much into your proft that it wasn't worth the time or effort.
As a buyer, the dominance of the Power Sellers and professional merchants have made it impossible to find any real deals anymore. Everything, when you add in s/h, is about retail. Unless something changes, I'm probably done for good with eBay.
From Manuel Hanssens, Montreal, Quebec, Canada I agree with almost all of the comments, I never was a powerseller but I have a 100% positive review with almost 400 feedback You can check my handle porkepik27, was a member since 2003 and was doing about 50% buying and 50% selling. Since the change in politics I have not bid on a listing or posted a new listing. I do not want to be burned as it is almost impossible to contest a buyer stating he did not receive the item or the right item (even with a tracking number). I never tried to rip off someone and for the few times a problem happened I resolved it with the buyer or the seller. I do not intend to sell again on ebay due to the hike in fees (eating away my small margins) and problem with the feedback system. Nowadays I mostly sell to local buyer, face to face, most of the time it is even easier than listing on ebay and them stressing when you send or wait for the package. I would not be surprised if ebay post big losses starting next year if you combine the fact that a lot of sellers are leaving the ship and the economic downturn affecting a lot of buyers.
From No name, no city-afraid to say-eBay is too vindictive (Oklahoma) There are so many things wrong at eBay right now it's impossible to list them all in a single sitting.
One of the worst things that has happened is the search feature. eBay states that people told them that they were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of items being offered. Apparently those buyers can not be bothered to narrow their searches and wish to have eBay do it for them. Well, they are. They are hiding perfectly matching merchandise and replacing it with totally irrelevant ones. eBay calls it "Best Match". The buyers and sellers who are being abused by this pathetic system call it "Worst Match".
I did a search for a specific item this AM. I put a phrase in quotes so I would get a very specific item.I've recently discovered that the results you get differ depending on the browser you are using as much as a lot of other things. They are literally hiding more than 70% of an item in a very small niche. On Internet Explorer, I got FIVE listings in their awful "Worst Match" system of searching.I changed from IE to Firefox and got 23 listings with an identical search and identical parameters for that specific search. Then I went to http://www.getitnext.com to search and received over 100 listings with that exact search term.
Basically, small sellers are paying either equal or higher listing fees to have their items on eBay but those listings are being quite deliberately hidden from the buyers by eBay's flawed search.I will never understand how this is beneficial to the buyers as eBay claims it is. Aren't the buyers intelligent enough to know what they wish to purchase? Don't they have the right to see all of the offerings available to them? Apparently eBay feels they know their buyer's minds better than the buyers themselves. Personally I find this an insult to my intelligence and my ability to make my own decisions.One of the other things that The New eBay has created: A continuance of the idea that buyers are no longer required to accept any responsibility for any of their own actions and decisions. They can read a single word in a listing title, bid and win or buy it now and realize that it was not exactly what they'd hoped it might be based on that SINGLE WORD in the title. They file a patently false Significantly Not as Described (SNAD) claim against the seller and often they get their money refunded without having to return the item to the seller. PayPal will refund their money based on any lie they wish to tell. They get their money back and many times they blame the seller for their unwillingness to READ the description, post negative comments and low DSR's and cause the seller much pain and damage to their business. It is a very sad day when people are so irresponsible, self-righteous and completely self-absorbed that they believe that punishing a seller with the literal theft of merchandise and profits from them via eBay is appropriate behavior and when a pair of huge internet giants – eBay and PayPal – are complicit in that fraud. Since this is apparently the tack that eBay is taking, it's very sad and their demise will definitely be righteous when it does come about.
Remember that phrase from "Spinning Wheel" – "What goes up, must come down". If they think they are above it all as eBay seems to believe, they will most likely be the next big scandalous new story – "eBay dies a horrible death – leaves millions out of work!" Enormous damage will be done to the American economy (and other countries as well) because so many millions of people are literally making a living selling there. Small sellers used to be able to make a decent living on eBay. Now, Mr. Donahoe seems to think that all small sellers who do not have hundreds of employees and enormous warehouses full of made in China trash are BAD BAD BAD and need to be squashed like the bugs he believes them to be. It is a very sad situation!
From J Roche Jax, Fl E-bay and pay pal do not protect their buyers from fraud despite their claims of safety. I am a Skype user and would not be had I realized there was any connection. I have not bought from ebay or used pay pal in 3 years and I never will
From KOkon, Petaluma, CA Peter (Fairfax, VA),
I can't agree with you more. I honestly don't really mind about the feedback system, but this new fee structure is horrendous.
I'm a gold powerseller, and I'm moving my items to Amazon and other sites. I can't imagine a company wants to ditch you, when you're willing to pay thousands of dollars every month.
Good luck eBay!
From AF Daytona Fl I have never sold anything on Ebay but have bought hundreds of items through the years with no terrible experiences. Thanks to their feedback system.
But I have noticed things have changed in the last year.
There was a time when you could find just about anything on Ebay.
You needed some weird part they haven’t made in thirty years?
You could find it on Ebay.
But not anymore.
I have read through these Posts and I agree that making the Feedback system one sided is ridiculous. As Ebay alienates its buyers then there will be fewer buyers as well.
And I DON”T LIKE the Paypal as the only means of payment!
I don’t have a Paypal account and I don’t want one. There have been dozens of auctions through the years that I passed on because I did not want to forced into signing up for Paypal.
I agree with the other posters. What is the point of making Ebay so difficult to deal with that you give up and leave?
I will make this prediction.
At some point the foolish management will reverse these policies that are destroying the company but it will be too late.
Once the majority of people get fed up and move on to other sites they will never come back.
I have seen this through the years with local businesses. Someone will buy a successful business and change everything that made it successful in the first place.
The customers get disgusted and go elsewhere and the business goes under.
Ebay is going down the same path.
From BRUCE PORT JEFF NY EBAY WILL BE 7.00 STOCK WITHIN 6 MONTHS. A CEO OUT OF TOUCH WITH REALITY,CORPORATE GREED. WHAT A SHAME.
From Terry Miami FL If Ebay wants to keep the sellers that made it an e-commerce giant, they need to have a recourse for buyers leaving negative feedback for the seller. That means the seller should be able to dispute the feedback. No matter how hard you try, you cannot please everyone. The feedback should be allowed to be negative only under certain circumstances- there needs to be more regulations or guidelines implemented if the seller has no way to dispute the negative feedback. Someone people are just out to damage other people's feedback and selling reputation. How many Ebay sellers have fake Ebay IDs and are buying just to damage their competition's reputation? One way to stop the fake Ebay accounts is to require EVERY person who signs up to provide a valid credit card or go through the Verify ID process. I recently opened an Ebay account in the name of my dog and I was able to place bids! I only did that just to see if I could, and I retracted the bids. Ebay is seriously flawed and I no longer buy or sell on it.
From Joe Johnson I see the subject of an EBAY seller, radio-mart has come up prior. He is a true example of a seller who should have been terminated years ago. He buys off EBAY and misrepresents the item when he turns around and sells it on EBAY and makes a profit by misrepresenting the condition and history. He has a 100% retaliation record in the past to keep the number of negatives down. His feedback was always in the 97% area till they said neutrals would long longer count against you. He maintained his power seller rating even though his feedback % said he should not have. EBAY has hundreds of complaints about him but does nothing. He obviously shills and runs private auctions to mask this activity. If you wish more information on him Google radio-mart and go to the eham.com link for a real eye opener. Then ask yourself the question why is this guy allowed to do business on EBAY? The answer is simple, they condone his activities because he is profitable and that is the only thing that counts. There is no concern when it comes to protecting the buyer.
From rick -HB CA I have been selling and buying on ebay since 1999. Used to be fair regarding fees prices and community policing. Now it's just an overpriced venue who owns the marketplace in shear numbers and gets away with overcharging for the service. There is not another marketplace that compares, so we are all holding our breath and waiting to make a move to a more fair environment. Simple as that- a couple thousand completed positive transactions and I cant wait to move to another venue……. and yes I have been burned by fraudulent members to the tune of thousands of dollars and ebay will do nothing. Their participation ends at collecting fees.
From Scott Raleigh NC I was a power seller on Ebay for 3 years. I had all good feedback, and I had a very generous return policy. I had long time repeat customers. I was making about $1000/2000 a month selling vintage toys and collectables. But this year everything changed. First, with the new feedback policy, I had a buyer win 3 vintage dolls from me, then after I combined shipping, he opened 3 fraudulent Paypal disputes claiming he never got the items. Luckily I had the USPS tracking number which prooved delivery to his house. Then the buyer threatened feedback blackmail unless I gave him a hefty partial refund, which I refused. After I stopped his blackmail and false Paypal claim, this buyer left 3 negative feedbacks, all lies, and then opened a Paypal claim that the dolls were not as described. I called Paypal and told them that the guy already opened 3 false claims and was still lying- but they gave him his money back anyway and he returned 1 different (damaged) doll to me. I reported all this to Paypal and Ebay and got automated emails, nothing more. I got no help from Ebay regarding the feedback blackmail. That con artist buyer is still on Ebay.
The last month I sold was in August. Every time I listed, I tried to think of ways to stop the theives from scamming me, and Ebay just allows the con artists to flurish. The seller has NO protection. You may as well list "free item" because the buyer (I use that term loosely) ends up getting the item for free anyway. You have to think like a con artist to sell on Ebay now. I added up my sales for August 2008. I sold $145.98, verses last August of nearly $1000. My Ebay fees were $98.46 for August '08. I didn't bother to add up the Paypal fees. Needless to say, because of the skyrocketing fees and feeback changes that allow buyers to take advantage of the sellers, I will never use Ebay or Paypal again.
From Martin. south Carolina E-bay should have left is as it was. Now its a mess to use, and as for digital downloading products…what crime did we do, We sell skills to get jobs, but ebay has all but made it impossable for us to trade.
No worries, may the other companies rise and fill the gap.
From Glenna Hook I hate ebay now and feel that they really mistreat and disrespect sellers. I am not a big seller–I only occasionally sell items I don't use or kids clothes,etc.I have about 80 transactions with 100 percent ratings but that was put in jeopardy by ebay. You see a recent buyer did not pay in a timely manner. I sent kind emails but no reply. Then per policy I notified ebay. They must have sent buyer stern email so buyer paid via paypal the same day he received ebay's email. The very day buyer paid, before I could even send him his merchandise, he gives me a nuetral rating! I didn't deserve such a rating as I did nothing wrong at all!! The buyer did wrong by not paying!!!! The nuetral rating at that time (about 2 or 3 months ago) counted and brought my perfect, hard earned rating down to low nineties! I contacted ebay and their response basically was too bad, so sad, They gave me some line about it all equalling out….What BS! They know they have higher fines and other penalties for those with lower rating and the thing is I did nothing wrong….Nothing AT ALL!! Buyer was obviously mad that he got a notice to pay from ebay and took it out on me. Ebay should not have this procedure since they know this can and will happen. Recently, they did change policy to make nuetral not count in percentage and I am now back to 100% but that is not the point. What if the buyer had given me a total negative? Ebay would not have done anything to help me even though they would know I was innocent and their policies and procedures caused this> They obviously do not CARE about the little sellers. I HATE EBAY AND HOPE THEY GO UNDER> If you have stock, please sell as the writing is on the wall for this very arrogant and haughty company. Rest in peace EBAY. NOT!!!
From Joseph, Salt Lake City, Utah I used to be a Platinum Powerseller, I sold my products very well on ebay, and it was almost an amazing gravy train for the wife and I. That was 2004-2005. Then ebay started changing policies and adding new features that A) weren't needed and B) weren't useful to sellers or buyers. Ebay added so many STUPID search features that made the site very hard to navigate. I love when I would search for an item, and ebay would think I should search for a different item instead and remove what I typed and replace what they THINK I wanted to type in the search bar……….. (sigh)
I finally threw in the towel with ebay because of increasing fees and also because of paypal. If I can say one thing about paypal, in one word, it is that paypal is HORRIBLE! Paypal has single handedly screwed me out of THOUSANDS, while transferring dishonest buyers payments back into THEIR pockets!
I agree with all that is written in comments above me. Ebay can't blame anyone but themselves. I fault the current CEO, but let's please not forget Meg Whitman, she wasn't even HALF as special as ebay thought she was. She just tap danced over the landmines a little bit better.
Sellers are leaving. Sellers signed the paychecks for ebay every month. Why ebay chose to alienate the very people that pay them is beyond me. They signed their own death certificate in my book.
Add to all that how ebay wants to push their paypal agenda on EVERYONE and make it the only form of ebay payment……that is insane to the point of being sick.
I can't wait for the day that ebay completely falls! When they do they can't blame anyone but themselves.
PURE GREED!
From Mike, charlotte NC The new feedback policy is crap.
Just because a bidder wins, he is a 'buyer' and cannot receive negative feedback as a buyer now.
Ebay doesn't care the 'buyer' NEVER PAYS me for the item he won, and as a 'buyer' he is now immune fron any negative or even neutral feedback from the seller….that's not a two way transaction, then….ebay doesn't even give you back the listing fee for the non-paid auction??
Greed-bay is more like it!
From Ikman Dykstra, Manchester, UK If eBay and Paypal offered some sort of protection for their main customers, i.e. eBay sellers, then maybe eBay would be a better palce to buy and sell.
Currently, we pay almost 10% of our profits to eBay / Paypal, and in return we get the following:
No safety net against fraudulent chargebacks – where the paypal account has been opened using a fake credit card (or the user has claimed someone used their account fraudulently). We can lose all the money from our sale, and no one from Paypal or the credit card companies offers us any help.
Secondly, there is no protection against negative feedbacks being left incorrectly. I recently sold a faulty item, and clearly listed (in 36pt red writing, at the top and bottom of the listing) that the item was FAULTY – the buyer then left a negative feedback…. saying that the item was faulty! If eBay intervened here, there wouldn't be a problem, however they don't help us…. why is that?
… could it be because we have to pay higher fees if our reputation is affected by a negative feedback? Therefore, it's in their best interests if we sellers have bad reputations.
Could you even go as far as to say that eBay might actually pose as buyers in order to leave negative feebacks? Surely not.
From HARLEY, TOCCOA, GA I WAS SLANDER BY A BUYER WHO STATED HE NEVER RECEIVED THE ITEM. WHEN IN FACT, IT WAS PROVEN BY THE U.S. MAIL SYSTEM THAT HE RECEIVED IT! ON PAYPAL HE REFERRED TO ME AS A HOMOSEXUAL AND THEN SHORTY REFERRED ME AS "MO" MEANING GAY THIS BUYER BIKERDAVE 47 HAS A STELLAR RECORD OF RIPPING OFF OTHER SELLERS WITH OVER 20 NEGATIVE FEED BACKS, IN HIS FEEDBACK TO ME, HE CALLS ME A HOMO. IT TOOK ME EIGHT MONTHS TO REMOVE THIS COMMENT BUT STILL I HAVE THE NEGATIVE MARK. IT IS NO WONDER ON WHY EBAY AND ALL IT'S GLORY IS LOSING BUSINESS.
From Patricia None, Glendale, CA To add to my last post – don't be fooled by the high level of listings you see on Ebay now. That was a brilliant move by Donahoe to try to make the site look more successful than it is. He came out with a 35 cent 30 day listing fee that caused desperate sellers to empty out their Ebay stores and put those items in core! Its the same stuff that's been on Ebay all along only now its come to the front instead of being hidden in Ebay stores. Expect this to decline as sellers realize most of it is just NOT selling or even being seen and the raised final value fees put on these items will cut deep into any profit the seller makes!
From Bill Spicer, Ocean City, MD There is a direct parallel between the direction eBay has taken and the government is about to take with this election. eBay over taxes and regulates sellers in the name of protecting buyers. Sellers move and buyers have nothing to buy. The government over taxes and regulates corporations in the name of protecting the middle class. Corporations move and wide spread unemployment results. The lesson is there are always unintended consequences. As eBay goes, so goes the Nation.
From John C Waldorf Md. I,ve sold some coins AND Football
tckts off and on for the past 10 years..I always ask for money orders..
In a few cases I never received payment for these items ..It's always
the Seller's fault in the eyes of Ebay. If I gave the buyer a negative for not rec. payment, he would lie and
always say HE sent the payment.I got
3 negatives in a short period of time
and was banned from Ebay (selling ) for 60 days..Too many con artists on Ebay now. It's a big waste of time if ou contact Ebay for non-payment from a buyer ..– always your fault-the seller …
From Tim, Scottsdale, AZ eBay has made it mandatory for buyers to use their captive payment service, PayPal. PayPal looks and acts like a bank – at first.
All a buyer has to do is receive whatever expensive piece of merchandise you sent and then tell PayPal it's "not as described."
From the seller's point of view here's what happens: PayPal debits the seller's checking account to do the refunds (because you should ALWAYS IMMEDIATELY transfer funds out of PayPal). This could cause overdrafts, whatever – they don't care. If the PayPal balance is zero it goes negative in the amount of the transaction and you eventually get turned over to a collection agency.
Also, if the amount of money is over $1,500 they will "hold" it for like 20 days. This is for "your protection" (gives the buyer more time to pull the "not as described scam and PayPal collects the interest.
Seller and listing fees are too high and the likelihood that you will be robbed by the buyer with PayPal's help.
I've stopped using both since the changes. I doubt I'll use either account ever again.
From Patricia None, Glendale, CA Has Ebay hit its twilight? Does a bear (blank) in the woods??? Sellers have been saying all year that Ebay is coming down. A combination between Donahoe's outlandish changes and disgusted sellers (who are also buyers) leaving in droves because of it all! Its NOT the economy!!! I have items on Ebay that can't even been seen – get almost no views and NO sales. Yet my own website is selling well and I'm looking forward to a good holiday season there.
Donahoe chose the wrong path – he sees the profits made by Amazon and wants to get there – but without the sweat equity and without the manpower needed for good customer service! He wants to usher in big box stores and offer them free or reduced shipping while he beats up small sellers and squeezes the revenue out of them and its not going to work! Ebay is making a name for itself and its not a good one at all. Word spreads like wildfire and sellers, such as this 10 year Ebay seller, have been spreading that word since January of this year! Donahoe and his crew need to GO! The ship needs to be turned AROUND! Some respect needs to be shown sellers and some RELIEF from exhorbitant fees so they can operate their businesses on the site profitably! Unless those things are done – wave bye bye to Ebay!
From Michele Melbourne FL I had 100% postive for 15 months. Now I have 99.1% positive. Why? Because they item they received "Is not what was expected". Now come of on folks how is this fair? The picture and description was clear as day. There were no surprised – I tried to contest and Ebay didnt care. I knew making it easy for buyers to leave negative would be the end to sellers. We have no recourse. And buyers know it.
From Henry, Dallas, TX Ebay has gone WAY downhill with customer service and the way they treat sellers. Their Payfoul sucks and I DON'T WANT TO USE IT! My listings have always been cash, money order or cashier's check payment. I have 100% perfect feedback and that's the way I want to keep it. So, au revoir Ebay!
From leon, Tucker, Ga Must look deeper into the 87 million + users, as there is no limit to the amount of ebay ID's a person can have. I would bet that it is under 50 million actual users. ebay does not limit how many ID's a person can have, simply for that reason!!
From steve a, des moines I began selling in late 1998 and for the first few years it was pretty good. Then the corporate greed factor went to work and the fee structures started to escalate. Once that happened I tapered off and only sold "sure things" because all the non-selling items were impacting and drawing down on the good sales. With the recent round of changes and slowing sales I doubt that I'll sell through this venue again. Partially I wasn't satisfied with their selective policing practices either, and the non-seller feedback implemented pretty much sealed the deal.
From Tom, Lisle, IL I have been an eBay collectable buyer for a number of years. Since ultimately it is the buyers that cause the sales to happen – let me tell you what I find to be their current problems.
1. Popups for things other than eBay that take you to other sites. I do not go to eBay to leave. It is distracting and makes the pages load a lot slower.
2. The use of Flash and JavaScript in the popups which are blocked or slowed down in many offices make it harder, or impossible to access the site.
3. The default of "Buy It Now" which tends to make the listings huge and takes a lot longer to search through.
4. Steering business to their power sellers causes a lot of higher opening bids rather than a true auction. Part of the fun of buying on eBay is the opportunity to get a bargain. When the opening price is virtually retail, why bother?
I think eBay is one of the greatest things to happen to the world of collectables, but they need to realize what drives sales and maximize their value to the buyers, or there will be no reason to use them.
From Mike, Reading, PA I sell only once and a while on Ebay; usually the clothes and other items we or our children outgrow. When these new rules came into effect, especially the Paypal only payments, I flipped! What's the point now? I'm getting hit up three times by fees, why bother? I've listed a few things on Craigslist and am looking to move to Ebid.net. Hope to see you all there :)
From Paul Lally Reference the posting by Ed Smith: October 18, 2008. I am certain he is referring to none other than radio-mart and Ed is dead on with his comments about this seller. He was saved from losing his power seller rating when EBAY stopped counting neutrals like negatives in calculating feedback percentage. He has a lot of neutrals for the reason Ed mentioned, too many were rightfully afraid to give him a deserved negative and sacrifice their feedback rating. It would really impact a screwed buyer's percentage figure since most only had a small number of feedbacks. They dicovered, after buying from him, this had happened to many others. He abused the feedback system in order to hold his rating up and at the expense of buyers he screwed. I know for certain EBAY had received numerous complaints about what he was doing and they did nothing. Rather than address the problem of feedback abuse that a small number of sellers were involved with they put the new rule in place and hurt the good sellers who used this where appropriate which was in the best interest of sellers and buyers.
This guy should have been tossed off EBAY years ago. Shame on EBAY for allowing people like this to use EBAY to defraud unsuspecting buyers. They knew what he has been doing and looked the other way since he is providing them with revenue. Short term thinking with long term consequences. In the long run by allowing him to do business on EBAY they have lost far more revenue by turning people off to both buying and selling on EBAY. It sends a very bad message about EBAY's business ethics.
From Big Sur It's the management stupid!
This is a corporation that:
Does not respect, relate to, know how to identify, communicate with or retain CUSTOMERS. They spin and condescend with perpetual disfunction.
Cheerleaders are extinct.
From Northampton, MA Ebay is starting a new policy that forbids cash, check or money order payments. Their fees are driving me away anyway, but to force another fee at the end is the end for me.
Also, cash has always been "legal tender" which makes me think this policy is outright illegal.
From Terri, Fort Scott, Kansas eBay is going to hide behind 'the economy' to mask its own disastrous policies.
I've put this question to several analysts and no one can answer it.
————-
If eBay's poor results are a result of the overall downturn of the economy and e-commerce, wouldn't PayPal, an e-commerce payment gateway, also be taking a hit?
——————
PayPal is consistently posting solid results. That means the sites that take PayPal are also posting solid results. Except for the mothership – ebay.com.
Analysts need to STOP allowing Donahoe and company to hide behind the current economic problems and the 'terrible holiday shopping season' to excuse their own failures and that they are running a good company into the ground. If 4Q results are as expected and the economy is to blame, then PayPal should post equally poor results. I doubt it. PayPal will continue to thrive as e-commerce dollars move away from ebay and into other e-commerce sites.
From Peter Lincoln Nebraska A very BLACK cloud is hanging over our country & world its called CORPORATE GREED, noones safe from it anymore, our own USA Gov now has TOTAL POWER, illegally OVERTAXES its people (who's Megs working for now) eBay must have received "A's" in GOV (screw the people) ECONOMICS because now even eBAY has total power & OVERCHARGES its people. BOTH have made ECONOMIC SLAVES of us all & if we dont WAKEUP WOOOO to our children! SPEEK UP or forever hold your INSANITY!
From Murray, Westbank, B.C. Canada I'm a buyer, over 1500 purchases and 100% feedback from sellers. I use to love eBay. Now I hate the eBay set-up and rates. Also as a Canadian, I can not buy from anywhere in the world now, except China maybe, because of 'since 911 postal high rate changes'. Canada is now a 'foreign country'. When a purchase was $5., the post was $5.00 – now the post is $30. One year ago I said "This is going to kill good eBay sellers and buyers businesses worldwide period, even in a good economy".
From gc from ohio ok they make it sound so good,35 cent listing fee.list an item for $475 throw in the shipping for free aproximately $150, the final value fee is $31.50.if you take paypal take another 3% from the original asking price.buyer does a charge back you've lost it all.the listing numbers are up because they are fake! donahoho is a joke.
From surf reno, nv wont sell there any more. dont like the lack of ability to challenge negatives from grumpy buyers. I was a power seller of computers — still have 100% positive
From Ebay seller Hillarys_scarves John Dunnegan I have suggested that Ebay implement a waiting period before a buyer can leave a negetive feedback against a seller, similar to the waiting period we buyers must adhere to before filing an unpaid dispute. This would allow the buyer to cool down and give time for the seller to resolve the issue.
On the flip side, on one occasion as a buyer, I waited a month and a half for a purchase to arrive and it was junk. On the old system, I left a negetive feedback. The awful seller, in turn left me a bad feedback. So the old system was not perfect either.
Fees are very high. I figure about 10% by the time you account for PayPal. They should have a flat rate of 3% and lisitngs should appear in order according to time listed. I list products accordinnly to account for fees.
I don't attribute flat sales totaly to ebay right now as our economy is in bad shape. Also I think June-October are generally slow months for ebay as most people are outside doing stuff.
Just take a look at any car dealer or the housing market. FLAT SALES.. GM & Ford cannot blame Ebay. It's high oil prices that has driven our economy into the hole. NOTHING ELSE! DO NOT believe the media when they say we are running out of oil. We went thru this same crap in the early 80's.
Ebay's new 35 cent flat rate listing fee for 30 is a step in the right direction. It has allowed me as a seller to list items for longer periods for less money.
If you're buying, it's a buyers market on Ebay right now. Some sellers are practically giving items away. for buyers, Ebay has never been better.
Let's hope ebay can make changes and keep their sellers. The Ebay sales will pick up more as gas prices drop, Wall Street calms down and hope is restored to our country by a new a President.
From RH Largo, FL I used to sell full time on eBay and had to downgrade to part-time and pick up a full time traditional job a couple years ago because of the ever increasing fees taking too many of my profits. I am still a PowerSeller and now with the ridiculous new guidelines that have 100% disapproval from the core people who made eBay successful in the first place, it is no longer a fun place to be… you worry that you will turn your computer on one morning and because of silly mistake that a buyer never contacted you to resolve (so your were completely unaware that you even made a mistake) or some new rule that was not never clearly explained all of your listing will be pulled and you will be out of business…So far I have been lucky, but I have several other longtime PowerSeller friends that have not…it just isn't fun anymore… so I am researching some other venues as well, I am looking at Bonazle.com to add crediblity you can import your eBay feedback and buyers can chat with you about the items in your booth when you are online which gives them the ability to see that you are a real person and if you are not online they can see posts from when you were, so they have the opportunity to kind of get to know you just like if someone was to frequent your brick and mortar store, has a small town feel, but online. I think they will do well. But eBay… it has gone to far, I don't know if they even have the ability of pulling themselves out of this. It is no longer the place for the little guy, I think it is headed toward the big warehouse guy selling multitudes of the same items you can get anywhere else for the same price or less. Eventually the buyers will realize this and will be migrating to the other venues as well.
From Lee S., Atlanta, Georgia I do not sell on EBAY, but I have been in Sales and Customer Service for almost 50 years, and the idea that negative feedback cannot be contested is Completely, Utterly, Totally (C.U.T) ASININE!
Some customers live for the SOLE PURPOSE of being able to be C.U.T. Buttfaces, causing damage and trouble whenever, wherever, and however they can.
In every job I have ever worked, when confronted with these waste-of-good-air losers that no amount of time and effort will ever satisfy, I DO and HAVE in fact request(ed) them to take their business elsewhere.
True enough, I have received "spankin's" for this, but in most every case where the customer actually left, the Manager has come back to me later and said privately, "Thank God they're gone!"
The funny thing is, FAR more often than not, when customers get hit with my response, their attitude turns 180 degrees and, for the most part, they turn into reasonable facsimiles of human beings again.
The old saw of "the customer is always right" has a little known, seldom invoked addendum that says "but some customers simply are NOT worth having; let them go".
It would appear from this blog that the Doomsday Clock for EBAY is ticking. It’s easy to see why!
From RH Largo, FL I agree, I have been monetoring a discussion on the PowerSeller forum (those are the top rated sellers they are depending on in the article) that started with one PowerSeller announcing their departure right after the holiday season, which met a flurry of responses from other sellers stating that they too are beginning to plan their exits either to other marketplaces or just back into the traditional workplace. If something doesn't change quickly this is only going to get worse. Sellers are no longer protected, a competitor can come in buy a couple items and leave negative feedback for each and everything you worked for is gone.
From Mark Naperville IL Ebay telemarketer called me not too long ago about my inactivity. He mentioned ebay lowered their fees is a great value, yada yada… I told them while listing fees were lowered, closing fees went up! Then told them Amazon is much cheaper and hung up!
-Done w/ Ebay
From Chris M, Henderson, NV My sales are down 90% since July. That means ebay is collecting 90% less in fees from me. It does not take a rocket scientist to see that they need to make IMMEDIATE repairs to their supposed improvements. I was telling a friend about how searching for one of my items for sale on ebay is like trying to find something hidden in a box in the back corner of the basement.
From J Evans Glasgow uk ebay are ripping people off..i got fed up with high charges..lack of sales and moved to ebid.co.uk
ebid are almost worldwide now and listings/sellers and buyers are growing everyday…ebid is the new way forward for me..
From ebid all the way, lancashire, england, uk i was with ebay for 2 1/2 years powerseller for 2 of them- i have also jumped ship for ebid.net and find a friendlier buying and selling experience and the £500+ (before price hikes) per month i am saving on fees makes a welcome change.
ebay take note- the buyers are following the sellers- many of us have already contacted our regulars and they are still with us.
From Ben, Ornage CA Finally! I news article that addresses the REAL problems of eBay's dieing business: Seller Rebellion.
From baltimore, maryland Ebay used to have interesting things for sale. With all the great sellers having left or leaving soon eBay has become boring. Many of the new and big sellers list the same items OVER & OVER…!! How could eBay have such bad upper management? By taking away the "flea market" atmosphere they have made it into the world's biggest five and dime store. Change the CEO and reverse eBay's direction and I'll come back to BUY…Oh, and for all you eBay stockholders, now is YOUR time to SELL…
From David Fletcher Rome NY I have sold on eBay since 1998 and have been watching eBay destroy itself with greed. I enjoyed buying and selling postcards for a couple of dollars being able to make a profit until yearly fee changes made it impossible to sell small ticket items. I am glad it is coming back to bite ebay in the behind.
From W. Smithers Los Angeles,CA EBAY SUCKS. Period. Find another auction site. This one is no go. They are the perfect example of corporate profits first and to hell with everyone else.
From Sofia Balm, Hilton, Ohio Having 100% feedback and a silly colored star, I quit selling and buying with eBay about 9 months ago.
I have never been happier! The only thing that makes me happier is watching eBay stock price plummet down into the abyss!
From Visse Volkers I am glad you are all reading and writing things like this.
I have written about 35 articles all over the internet about eBays betrayal and failures since the feedback changes.
I also have a website plan that could restore trust and safety in ebay. It is very simple but nobody is paying it any attention. TRANSACTIONREPORTSYSTEM.COM. It would need someone with verification proramming knowledge. I have assembled most of the perl scripts.
It is based on the restrictions of allowing only a maximum of one out of five transactions to be reported as bad, and feedback can only be left by those with at least ten sucessful transactions. Members must chose from one of thirteen categories of transaction contention, no personal comments. Scores are averaged on a bell curve, all results would be searchable by area code, product category, value, brand, etc. Top ten percent sellers in your area could be searched, hottest items, trends, totals, etc..
If not reported within 45 days of auction end it is tabulated as positive in both members scores. The reporting members must of course be confirmed, etc..
I believe an anonymous system like this is necessary along with allowing performance levels of bidders for high risk categories. Selecting established sellers could also be an option in the perfect auction site. True free enterprise, with everyone able to select thier own risk comfort level.
JW
From Sandra Hollywood, CA I have been selling and buying on eBay since 1998. During that time I had a total of over 6,000 feedbacks with just 2 negatives.
I also have had a store since the beginning of stores. It was a wonderful way for a disabled person to make ends meet.
Now I have more fees than sales and will be closing my store and quitting eBay any day. I do not know where we will get extra money to live on.
From Ed Doub Where can you go?
Try eBid.net the site that is rapidly replacing eBay as the preferred auction site on a lot of surveys and the winner of more and more awards.
When was the last time eBay won an award?
From donnas ho "EBay's user base is also growing"
Yes due to many sellers having multiple accounts as protection against being susspended on a selling account due to the DSR/Feedback/SNP policy
eBay is a complete MESS
@ Both Lucy @ Bobby the cheerleaders you are in wallyworld as your comments are just plain dumb !!!
Listing have risen DUHH???? of course idiot many moved store items into 30 day core listings
From RALPH BRANDEAL HALEDON NJ E BAY HAS GONE FROM A SUPER COMPANY TO ONE OF THE BIBEST JOKES ON THE INTERNET I USE TO SPEND 200.00 TO 600.00 DOLLARS A MONTH IN LISTING FEE,S BUT NO MORE I PULLED OUT IN MARCH AND WILL NEVER GO BACK TO A HILTER LIKE COMPANY LIKE THATWHAT THEY ARE DOING IS AGINST ALL FREE TRADE LAWS AND EVERYONE ON THE SITE SHOULD SUR THEM ONE ON ONE THAT WOULD KILL THEM FOR SURE JUST IN LEGAL FEE,S I HAVE FILD A CASE IN COURT AND PAY PAL IS JUST A CROOKED COMPANY FLAT OUT WELL I ASK ALL TO PULL OUT AND TRY E PIER.COM OR AMAZON THAT IS THE WAY TO GO A VERY HAPPY EX RIP BAY MEMBER WHO IS NOT AFRAID TO PUT MY NAME TO THIS PLEASE CONTACT ME IF YOU LIKE RALPH BRANDEAL 45 TILT ST HALEDON NJ 07508
From BJ Dallas, Texas Interesting that all the bitchin seems to be from sellers. Part of the idea of "no negatives" was to cure the problem of buyers being afraid to give an honest review because many of the sellers were giving negatives as reprisal.
I suspect that a better solution might have been require sellers to give feedback as soon as they aere paid, rather demanding that the buyer provide their feedback first.
To my mind, the changes were generated to control a relatively small number of sellers who basicly acted like jerks.
From Hiram, Hong Kong I've used ebay for 8 years and was happy until recently I listed a number of genuine designer items for sell. One of them was cancelled by ebay citing they suspected it was a counterfeit. I contested them and told ebay I can prove to them that it is genuine but they refused to do anything, refund my listing money, gave non-existent answers and at the end, simply refused to answer or communicate on the subject.
Then when I tried to relist other unsold branded goods I was blocked. Basically, ebay's mentality is if you live in South East Asia most likely what you sell are fakes.
Recently, there was the postal issues with sending items in the US. What if you are an overseas seller but list with ebay US? You cannot send a vinyl record airmail from overseas to the US for $4. They can't even do their system properly.
It's clear that ebay has no policy or guidelines and am now trying to dig their way out. I had been a staunch supporter of ebay until this year, but I hope they sink and something else better comes along. It's now evident that they are mismanageing & without clear policies.
From Ruth, Scituate, RI EBay listings are "skyrocketing" for two simple reasons. One, they lowered their listing fee to a flat rate of 35 cents and extended listings from 7 days to 30 days. And two, nothing is selling, so the listings just keep piling up. Also, sellers are putting any piece of junk on eBay now because of the new lower listing fee and 30 day duration. How is that a good thing? It's almost impossible to weed through all the garbage currently on eBay to try and find quality items for sale. Definite turnoff for your average buyer, IMO.
From Auctoogle Truckee ca Come to the new FREE auction site…www.AUCTOOGLE.com list what you want auction style or classified ads. Free Free Free. So seller fees what so ever…. http://www.auctoogle.com
From LARRY KINSEY DALLAS, TEXAS PAY PAL IS TRYING TO FORCE THE USE OF THEIR OWN CREDIT CARD THROUGH GE CREDIT. I FIND THIS TO BE ANOTHER BAD BUSINESS APPROACH ANSD I HOPE IT COST THEM A MILLION CUSTOMER LOSSES. WILL BE GLAD WHEN GOOGLE GET'S THEIR SITE UP.
From Ed Smith EBAY seems to overlook fraudulent activities of large customers rather than police them and lose revenue. One particular seller sells used radio equipment, most of which he buys right off of EBAY and then misrepresents when he resells it in order to make a profit. EBAY has hundreds of complaints about him and does nothing. He is constantly shilling and they do nothing. Same item comes up for sale over and over again after being supposively sold and when the shill ends up owning it pops up two days later. So obvious and it is reported time and time again. In the case now where the buyer is not able to leave a negative he is one of the reasons this happened. He had a 100% retaliation record so if you dared give him a negative you got one back so a lot of unhappy buyers never left a negative. EBAY has hundreds of complaints on this and again did nothing. He of course runs private auctions so you cannot nail him down for shilling since EBAY will not and also so the people he has screwed will not be able talk with one another. To sum it up they condone fraud when it is putting money in their pocket.
From Fed Up It seems like someone who is completely uninformed as to how eBay actually became successful came into power and decided to do what he/she felt eBay needed without any actual experience in the real core of the company (i.e. never bought or sold on eBay) This move to attract buyers is totally alienating and doing a MAJOR injustice to the buyers that have made the company what it is today. Another prime example of some corporate suck-ass who made it up the ladder without any real concept of how things work. I have been with Ebay and Paypal since the end of the 90's, and I'm out! The fees were bad enough, but now I have kids bidding with no intention of paying me and I have NO recourse as a seller. It's a waste of my time and money. I have been burned more in the last 2 months than I have in the last 10 years. That is the truth. So long Ebay!!!
From Greg Palm Springs, CA PSSSSST here’s a secret….THE SELLERS HAVE MADE YOU WHAT YOU ARE EBAY! Piss the sellers off and it won’t matter what kind of business model you have or are re-creating. You’ll be standing there with an empty model. ( Maybe this is a wake up call to other online business as well? ) I was once a eBay Power Seller too…The excitement that once belonged to eBay has LONG left the building. If they make significant changes, to my satisfaction, I will consider staying with eBay after the first of the 2009 year.
From J H Atlanta, GA I have nearly 3000 stars with eBay and a 100% score. I can't tell you how unhappy I am with eBay at the moment. In fact, I think my eBay days are over. The fees are too high and nothing is selling.
From paul As a former Powerseller on ebay for 6 long years, I can tell you that the joy of ebay has been zapped from a lot of people. eBay has lost their soul and now is no more than an online wal-mart.
I moved all of my inventory to my own website and although my sales are not as high as they were on ebay, my profits are just the same. So basically I make the same amount of money with 1/3 of the work.
From Michelle A ,Seattle Wa After 4 years as a power seller adn 30,000 feedbacks on Ebay ,I WAS SUSPENDED for association with another Ebay user which had the same name as me but was not me .
EBAY will not reinstate me & they wont even answer my emails
Yes they can do such a thing ..WHICH DEPARTMENT STORE,CATALOG HOUSE ,BOUTIQUE ,RESTAURANT would kick an honest ,reputable customer that spends $10,000 a month with them ?..THE ANSWER TO THAT IS STUPID EBAY ….& they are doing it all day long wrongfully
From Davey, Cedar Rapids, IA What Mr. Donohoe disingenuously doesn't say, is that the reason the "lower rated" sellers don't see any business, is that eBay's search now excludes anyone but the favored few, forcing a downward spiral. This, and the poor quality of new buyers in general leads to unfair dings against ratings of conscientious sellers with no previous problems. The lowering of sales becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy with ebay's defective and biased search! A lot of sellers I buy from have disappeared from ebay due to rising fees and frustration, so I don't buy as much there anymore, if at all. I rarely buy retail at ebay, but rather at Amazon, where I know customer service will be available if I need it, and the prices better.
From Brian B,Jackson Miss If you own EBAY stock ,you would be wise to sell .Let me list why
1)ALL EBAY SELLERS ARE UNHAPPY
2)EBAY SELLERS ARE LEAVING BY THE DROVES
3)EBAY MAKES MONEY OFF LISTING FEES AND EBAY FINAL FEES AND PAYPAL FEES FOR TRANSACTION
4)A VERY LARGE PERCENTAGE OF EBAY SELLERS WILL STOP SELLING ON EBAY AFTER FEBUARY 2009
5)EBAY SELLERS ARE DISGUSTED WITH EBAY & THEY CAN'T WAIT FOR THE XMAS SEASON TO FINISH TO LEAVE EBAY
6)I SPEAK FOR MANY UNHAPPY SELLERS WHEN I SAY ,JUST A THOUGHT OF LEAVING EBAY MAKES ME FEEL LIKE I HAVE JUST BEEN UNCHAINED AND THROWN INTO PARADISE
7)NO SELLERS …NO SALES …NO FEES…NO PAYPAL FEES ..HORRIFIC EBAY QUARTERS COMING UP
8)YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED ..IF YOU OWN EBAY STOCK ,SELL, SELL, SELL, SELL
From John, Pulaski County Missouri We have been with eBay for over 10 years with 7 being fulltime sellers and have over 14,000 successful auctions. We are currently liquidating our inventory on eBay and moving it on over to onlineauction.com. It is true user friendly and a large savings while remembering the little guy who eBay has forgotten. It costs us 30 – 35% of our gross in eBay and Paypal fees. Now some of my best customers cant purchase any longer because no checks or money orders are allowed. We are even going to close our eBay ProStore. So Long eBay!!
From Greg Hayfield, MN There's a better way than eBay…
Someone with some programming experience out there needs to write a freeware program like eDonkey so buyers can find seller items on sellers own PCs in a product 'shared' directory just as eDonkey can search for shared software. No need to continually UPLOAD ads and pay fees. 'Store listings' could be managed on sellers own PC – LIKE IT SHOULD BE. Program could make listings viewable worldwide (while online) and should include 'home store builder' software. Simple two way feedbacks could be posted to a secure server somewhere. All issues handled between the seller and buyer as it SHOULD BE – no middle man mediator. No "memberships" required.
eBay would VANISH OVERNIGHT I'm happy to say (and so would all the others ). But do us a favor – charge 3 bucks for the listing program if you must but forget all the other 'creative eBay type fees'. Keep it simple. If you don't somebody else will. People will love it. You'll be remembered as the 'David' who killed the 'eBay Goliath'. Your program will go viral.
From Victor S.New York N.Y IS ANYONE HAPPY WITH EBAY .
If there is one ebay seller that has anything nice about ebay I would love to hear it??
I have been on over 20 blogs with ebay as the subject and 100% have been NEGATIVE .
IS anyone listening ? Does management realize that they have close to 100% DISSAPROVAL ?WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DO TO GET THE SELLERS feeling safe and comfortable to do business on ebay ?WHEN WILL THIS EBAY NIGHTMARE END?? Yes I'm a very DISSATISFIED SELLER
From Ron Michigan I do not like ebay's changes in feedback or fees. I sell less and may stop listing entirely. Buyers can now leave negative for no reason at all and there is no recourse for the seller. ebay fees for listing are lower, but add those to sales/final value fees of 9% and paypal fees another 4% and it's difficult to list anything and make a profit.
From Brian Smith, Albany, NY Hi, I have a 100% positive rating on EBAy with over 200 sales, but I quit once they raised rates and changed their feedback system. I felt betrayed by them because it was people like me that made EBAy so successful over the years. My account is still open, but I haven sold in months, and don't plan to.
From carl westerville, ohio a couple of months ago i bought a vacumn cleaner from a young fellow with a 100% rating. being primarily a buyer myself and having been on 'ebay' over four years, i have always looked at a persons rating. if a buyer see's a low rating he should look at the seller's ammount of transactions and then read any negitive feedback carefully. after "winning" the vacumn cleaner i became concerned about the transaction because he did not return my emails. i did a search and found his phone number and the phone had been disconected. before contacting ebay i waited approx 11 days, then, there it was, a message from the seller appoligizing and saying he had been moving. the cleaner came the next day. another buyer didn't wait. the kid got a negitive that knocked him down to approx. 85%. the kid couldn't reply to the neg. feedback and is basically finished on ebay. it seems it's always "the suits" up top at hq that ruin the game. greed i guess.
From sherry, pilot oak, ky One of the worst things Ebay has done is– Sellers pay a listing fees for auctions,fixed price and their stores. Yet ON PURPOSE Ebay hides these listings way down in the pages of the listings.Meaning a listing ending in 8 hours may be on page ten, while a listing ending in Six days shows up first.
Meaning Mr Donahoe special sellers get top placement, even though the other sellers may actually pay more in listing fees!
A smaller seller's listings may never be seen by a buyer!This DOES include seller with 100% feedback and DSR of 4.8 or higher.
Now how is burying/hiding listings a better buying experience for the buyer?
From Gerry, Springfield, Ohio eBay is run by a bunch of greedy con-men & women. Buyers will no longer be able to use checks or money orders, just PayPal, another eBay greed factory. Buyers can libel sellers anytime they want, BUT sellers are not allowed to criticize buyers. What a bunch of bunk! eBay has turned against the original users of their site! Where else can we go????
From Lou Emond Lady Lake, FL The new auction display pushes the buyer into the Best Match category, so Ebay can showcase the bigger items and bigger sellers. When you click on Ending First to really try to compete in an auction, nothing happens. The display sticks with Best Match. I for one have moved on to other auction sites.
From Part Time Ebay Seller You don't HAVE to use PayPal to sell on Ebay (unless you are selling to the UK, Australia, or Canada), but they do hide that fact from you. When they do make PayPal absolutely mandatory, I'm gone. I'm not going to take that screw job on both ends. Besides, if you get into a pissing match with PayPal, you can't win. They have your MONEY and they won't release it until you admit you were wrong. Ebay used to be great. Now it is just another multi-national corporation that is absolutely worthy of scorn.
From Cutler Bay, FL eBay is on its way down, just like JetBlue and other companies that have installed Management that is completely without understanding of the company "soul". We have been operating a eBay retail site for about 18 months and we have generated over 1.000 positive comments (100% of buyers), this up until the recent changes kicked in. Now a couple of completely "out of this world" customers left negative comments and as a result our fees have gone up and traffic is down. One of the customers that left a bad comment even went out of his way, trying to contact eBay to have his comment reversed after we contacted him to remind him that we returned his purchase price, including shipping within 5 days. eBay told him he could not change or reverse his comment after it was made although the customer has both called and emailed us, profusely apologizing for leaving an unfair negative response. As many have already noted, there are now 1.000's people that routinely dispute the charges and threatens the seller after the purchase has been made, all very well aware that sellers are likely to make concessions unheard of in order to avoid negative comments. The board of Directors should immediately fire the new CEO and install Management that have a deep understanding of eBay's core business. Mikael Petersson
From MARK MORRISON PORTLAND OR SIMPLY PUT,E-BAY HAS BLOWN IT…
From Caitlin, Key West, Florida Without a doubt ebay has decided to become a different company with a new business model than the one that created it. I am a surviving seller only out of need because I lost my job and what little I do sell helps put food on the table and that is about it. Last year I had $75,000 in sales, last month and had less than $1000. I have had 2 account suspensions from non paying sellers leaving negative feedback. My monthly ebay fees went from over $1000 a month to about $100. I loose my discount because I have negative ratings in shipping charges when I have always charged actual shipping, not a cent more. As soon as I find another job, my ebay days are finished. I have had enough. They are becomming the "ross" of on line stores. I do agree that it was all the unusual items from occasional sellers that made ebay fun. I averaged about $2000 a month in purchases and that has dropped to zero and most of the items I purchased were from smaller sellers on Ebay and then I resold those items for a proffit ON EBAY!!! …As I am sure a lot of other people did. You can not do that anymore because all the smaller sellers that sold good stuff cheap are now gone. It is really very obvious that at least 75% of the sellers in my categories are gone but that has not translated in more sales for me and I am a larger seller with over 2,000 feedbacks. I think the only thing making ebays numbers each quarter is the fees they charge to offset the sellers and buyers they have lost. I also think the quarter after Christmas will be the quarter of reconing for Ebay because investors ill only buy their BS for so long. Soon they will have so few sellers that offer the same old stuff that the buyers that looked at ebay as fun will finally get sick of it and say goodbye. I dont know where that clown running the show came from but he really is a pathetic businessman…. I will have a toast to the demise of this company for sure.
From sockpuppet, ny, ny I can't wait for Ebay's funeral. It will be a party with tears of joy flowing from every seller that got scr**ed by Ebay.
From Cy, Columbia ,SC Ebay doesn't care about its end users anymore and for that it will die. There used to be everything on there , now it is mostly over priced new junk. I don't think they will ever come back.
From Robert,Jackson Miss. EBAY IS GOING DOWN, IT IS TOTALLY IGNORING ITS CUSTOMERS, WHO ARE EBAYS CUSTOMERS???? THE SELLERS, THE SELLERS ARE THE ONES THAT POST THE LISTINGS ON EBAY, THEY ARE ALSO THE ONES BEING ABUSED BY EBAYS NEW FEEDBACK SYSTEM, THE NEW FEEDBACK SYSTEM ALLOWS BIDDERS TO COME ON TO EBAY, BID ON AN ITEM, NOT PAY FOR IT AND THEN EBAY TELLS THE SELLERS YOU CAN NOT SAY A NEGATIVE WORD ABOUT IT, BASICALLY HIDING THE SITUATION FROM THE ALL OTHERS, INCLUDING FUTURE POTENTIAL SELLING VICTIMS, THEY HAVE CREATED THIS NEW SYSTEM TO PUT A WARM FUZZY FEELING IN ALL THE BIDDERS, CLAIMING THAT SO MANY WERE NO LONGER BIDDING, WHAT WAS OCCURING WERE THE DISHONEST BIDDERS, THE ONES THAT DIDN'T TO BE OBLIGATED TO HONOR THE EBAY SYSTEM OF IF YOU WIN THE AUCTION, YOU NEED TO PAY FOR IT. NOW THOSE BIDDERS THAT ARE NOT PAYING ARE COMING OUT OF THE WOOD WORK, MY NON-PAYING BIDDERS HAVE INCREASED HUGE, OTHER SELLERS ARE SEEING THE SAME THING, WHAT INCENTIVE FOR BEING HONEST ON THE WEB SITE IS THERE IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT RECEIVING NEGATIVE FEEDBACK FROM THE SELLER YOU JUST DIDN'T PAY??? BASICALLY NOTHING. THE SELLER BEFORE COULD LOOK AT THE BUYERS HISTORY OF FEEDBACK AND DETERMINE IF THEY ARE A PROBLEM OR COULD BE A FUTURE PROBLEM IF THEY ARE THE WINNER. NOW, THE NEW SYSTEM WILL GIVE EVERY SINGLE WINNING BIDDER ONLY POSITIVE FEEDBACK, NO NEGATIVES EVER?????? SORRY, BUT IN REAL LIFE….SOMETIMES THE CUSTOMER IS WRONG AND DOES SOMETHING WRONG THAT OTHERS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT. EBAY HAS BASICALLY TORN AWAY A TOOL FOR SELLERS TO COMMUNICATE WITH OTHER SELLERS ON PROBLEM BIDDERS. THEY HAVE ALSO CREATED A NEW FEEDBACK SYSTEM FOR THE WINNING BIDDERS THAT THEY FULLY DO NOT UNDERSTAND ABOUT, IT IS CAUSING MOST EVERY SELLER TO FALL BELOW SPECIFIC STANDARDS THAT EBAY HAS PLACED, THAT ARE NOT OBTAINABLE. THEY ARE PLAYING MAJOR GAMES WITH THEIR SELLERS ON EBAY AND I GUARANTEE THAT IF THE GAMES CONTINUE I'M NOT STICKING AROUND. I HAVE BEEN A SELLER FOR MANY MANY YEARS, WITH MANY GREAT CUSTOMERS AND IT HAS BEEN A PLEASURE TO SERVE MOST ALL OF THEM, HOWEVER WHEN EBAY DECIDES THEIR GOING TO TELL THIS PERSON THAT HAS BEEN IN RETAIL 25+ YEARS HOW TO RUN MY BUSINESS OR TELL ME THAT I'M NOT DOING MEETING THEIR GOALS????? WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE TO TELL ME THAT A 99.9% FEEDBACK RATING ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH?? THIS COMPANY HAS LOST ITS MARBLES, MAYBE THEY CAN BUY THEM ON EBAY…….NO WORRIES EBAY YOU CAN'T GET NEGATIVE FEEDBACK FROM YOUR SELLER YOU'RE BUYING FROM. JUST ALL THE OTHERS ON EBAY THAT YOU ARE FORCE FEEDING SOMETHING THAT DOESN'T TASTE LIKE ANYTHING WE HAVE EVER THOUGHT OF EATING BEFORE. COW CHIPS COME TO MIND. Article: Goldman Sachs Downgrades eBay (EBAY) to Neutral
From Timmy,St. John, Indiana Ebay has implemented a progressive battery of rules and regulations, seemingly geared to satisfying the Buyer, and only the Buyer. That's all well and good, but ultimately it is the honus of the Seller to make the transaction a mutually gratifying one. Ebay cannot will this to happen with redundant rules and regulations. The ultimate downfall of Ebay, in my opinion, will be the implementation and forcive acceptance of Sellers to use PayPal, soon to become the only allowed method of acceptible payment. I have been an Ebay User since 1999, a Power Seller, often selling vintage lamps, art glass, pottery and a fairly eclectic mix of finer items ranging in price, up to my largest dollar selling item, a $35,000 vintage working Model A popcorn truck. In my nearly 10 years of selling, I have taken almost exclusively personal checks, and money orders (mainly due to several frivilous disputes opened by unscrupulous Buyers who I allowed to use PayPal). I have had maybe only two bounced check, of which both were made good, and few issues surrouding payment. I have drastically curbed my selling on Ebay as a result of all the mandates, and so have many of my friends who also used to sell higher end items. It is not uncommon for me to look up a friends User ID to see nothing listed, sometimes for months on end. I think Ebay has lost touch with the grass roots Collector who does not have the time to comb antique malls or attend auctions, but who are willing to buy high end, expensive collectibles, by failing to recognize that it is really the Seller who is the engine that makes Ebay tick. Most Sellers that I know, spend an inordinate amount of time traveling to auctions, sitting there for hours on end, bidding and buying merchandise for Buyers they do not even know! If one considers the amount of time, risk, and expense involved in what amounts to an educated guess, or gamble, in buying inventory to list on Ebay, all the while them (Ebay) chipping away at your potential margins, before the item is even sold, and after. One would wonder why folks continue to do it, sell on Ebay that is. I for one was sage enough to keep a log of my good Buyers, their contact information and desires. I sell far more outside of Ebay to Collectors I've had transactions with through Ebay, than I have by listing items on Ebay during the past couple years. I suppose that one good thing to come from my near 10 years of selling on Ebay is the networking it has allowed me to do. They may have ultimately run me and my friends out, but at least I snatched some of their Customers and made them my own!
From Jose S ,El Paso , Tx Ebay is going down hill
Take it from me . I make a living off Ebay and have 40,000 feedback score …Sales are HORRIBLE . they have never been so low in the 5 years I have sold on Ebay . EBAY's new policies are DISCOURAGING and make it extremely difficult for practically anyone to do business. Many Sellers are LEAVING EBAY and I will be leaving Ebay after the Holiday season .I have Ebay fees of $10,000 a month . THEY WONT HAVE MY MONEY COMES FEBUARY
From JJ SMITH,Phoenix,AZ AGREE WITH ABOVE
EBAY has become a very unfriendly place to sell . All my Ebay seller friends are leaving ebay . Take a little poll . Me and my friends (10 sellers)give Ebay about $150,000 in fees a month .7 out of the 10 are leaving Ebay in the next 6 month and the other 3 would love to leave if they can find another outle to sell their items . EBAY is really a great venue but have EXTREMELY BAD MANAGEMENT THAT DOESNT CARE ABOUT ITS SELLERS
From Jermaine,Reno Nevada EBAY is EVIL
I'm reading the blog and cant believe how many ebay sellers share the same negative views about ebay management and their new policies . My business is down 60% on Ebay . EBAY management is really the worst I have ever seen in my 20 years in business . PEOPLE ,all you have to do is read the ebay blogs .NOT one blog or buyers writes with a positive tone about this company
From Sammy B,Washington D.C I'm selling on ebay for 4 years now………….
……Sales are getting lower and fees getting higher and management is really toying around with us like we are garbage . Wall street should really listen to the blogs .WEare the real people within the company .WE ARE NOT HAPPY . No one warned you about the sup-prime mess ……WE ARE WARNING YOU ABOUT THIS COMPANY .This company is running itself into the ground ..whats weird about it ,it seems like they are doing it intentionally to themselves
From OnlineAuctions, Grants Pass, OR. All I can say is "keep it up eBay", you're helping us grow our market share and revenue stream almost better than we can our own. We hope and look forward to more policy changes from your leadership team in the future. Through these actions, we continue to benefit and appreciate the positive impact this has had on our site this year. Keep up it. Thanks again, OnlineAuctions.com
From Laura,San Francisco,Ca ebay is finished
donohoe has killed ebay. my sales have gone down severely. 65 to 70 percent. a steady decline since may when the donohoe dumb changes started. with each new change came less and less sales. i'm leaving before the holidays because i need the holiday sales and they won't be happening on ebay. 25,000 a month gone from me!
From DAVE W,QUEENS,NY IF INVESTORS REALLY KNEW ……
….If investors adn potential buyers of this stock really knew what was happening inside ebay .THEY WOULDNT TOUCH IT . NO ebayer seller is happy ..Ebay sellers are the customer .. Anyone knows ,IF THE CUSTOMER ISNT HAPPY ,then ebay is in trouble . INVESTORS have been warned .. Investors and potential individual buyers should BEWARE OF THIS STOCK
From Steven G,Boston MA own 1000 shares of ebay and have been reading many different blogs throughout the websites . THEY ARE ALL UNHAPPY ..this is an unbelievable sign to sell .. I will be selling my stock this morning . I may buy it back at $9 ..Its surely heading that way . the blog by tim sums it up beautifully ..tim ,you really said it all.
From Jerome,Lancaster PA. Ebay took the management and oversight of their affiliate program away from CommissionJunction, one of the largest and oldest affiliate aggregators, in April. They gave directorship of their new program, eBay Partner Network (ePN) to a man named Steve Hartman. He admits in the eBay forum to having no affiliate marketing experience and the fiasco that has insued under his management is a clear reflection of his inexperience and inability to lead or run an effective program. Large affiliates who control millions of visits a day, and millions upon millions of dollars in sales are fleeing to Amazon and other programs. eBay has destroyed the trust of their buyers, sellers and affiliates. They have killed their core market by trying to turn the online yard sale into another big box retailer, and that is a very sad end to what was a great place for many people to earn a decent living.
From Bob,Beumont ,tx I'm enjoyed selling on eBay over the last 7 years as a powerseller and I'll tell any who can read – this company has seriously alienated its sellers (the people who pay to use their service). I not only will not buy or sell on eBay after the holidays but I look forward to the company going bankrupt. As an investor mark my words – almost all of eBay's powersellers will be gone after April 2009. With the new law coming in that requires sellers to report any income, eBay is in serious jeopardy of going under. I have never seen a poorer managed company in my life. If you care about your money avoid this company like the plague – don say you weren't warned! Article: Merrill Lynch Downgrades eBay (EBAY) to Underperform
From Jim Joyce Tucson, AZ I am a powerseller and have been selling on Ebay since 1999 back when Ebay was fun to do for a business. Now with Donahoe in charge the last year and making all his stupid changes like sellers can't leave negatives to buyers who don't pay and now you can not take a check or money order for payment my business is as much fun as working a job where you clean out Port A Johns with a bucket in 110 degree weather shirtless and no gloves! My sales have dropped 40% in the last year and I get more non paying buyers and lost sales because I can not leave any feedback for these buyers but positive. I will be leaving Ebay around the first of the year and opening my own web site and not giving any more fees to a communist company that was founded in the USA. I would not recommend Ebay to any of my friends and sure would not buy any of Ebay stock as I have been saying sell Ebay stock on blogs since it was at $28.00 because as a seller for the communist company I saw what Ebay was doing to their own business through what they did to my business. So long Ebay fees and hello to free enterprise back in the USA!
From Stephen,Chicago , Il John Donahoe AND Meg Whitman are both responsible for the continuing downfall of ebay. It was their "Disruptive Innovation" scheme, outlined in Donahoe's September 2007 speech at the Legg Mason Capitol Management Thought Leader Forum (search "legg mason disruptive innovation donahoe"). Search "eBay’s Disruptive Innovation, How’s that workin’ for ya?" (genuineseller.com) for an analogy of that speech. Whitman was previously Donahoe's boss at Bain's. She created a new position at ebay and brought Donahoe to ebay to fill that position. Together, they worked on and began implementing their "Disruptive Innovation" scheme, well before Whitman offered up Donahoe as her replacement as CEO of ebay. Whitman is still an ebay employee, has weekly meetings with Donahoe and continues to sit on ebay's board. It is no accident that Meg Whitman has now placed herself in the political limelight with John McCain. Whitman and Donahoe are covering BOTH bases in the political campaign. Donahoe's WIFE is now the chairwoman of the National Women for Obama finance committee (search "Obama's $150 Billion `Cleantech' Pledge Lures Deal-Hungry VCs" found at bloomberg.com). While deliberately destroying ebay, ebay inc. is pushing/forcing it's use of Paypal. A quick internet search of "Paypal Scams" or "Paypal Rip Off" will give anyone a huge jolt as to what that company really does to it's users and it's not pretty. Searches of the following will give you far better insight into ebay's recent ativities: "Anyone Up For A Little Investigating? This Could Be A Biggie!'" (at forums.ebay.com), To hear what it's users are saying read the various threads at "Seller Central" at ebay.com (note ebay severely censors their boards & suspends users for honest discussion, so what you read there is only be the tip of the iceberg). Also, paid employees have been caught disrupting the posts. ebay employees comments about John Donahoe's incompetence as a leader can be found at glassdoor.com. He now has a deplorable 24% approval rating from his own employees. Raising fees twice this year, the numerous damaging "tests", an amazing number of "glitches" and massive, destructive new policies are obviously and deliberately designed mechanisms to destroy ebay and it's users. Instead of welcoming these ebay affiliates into their campaigns, the government should be investigating the monopoly called ebay.
From John & mary ,Kansas city,ks I decided to list in 30 day auctions my entire stock .
Over 10,000 items and at a cost of $3,500 .
Ebay then suspended me for being associated with another ebay ID in the same address as me .
my building has over 30 tenants in it and I dont even know who that buyer is .
Ebay will not refund my fees and they cancelled me for no reason .
THINK ABOUT IT ..THIS IS A JOKE AND ITS NOT FUNNY
From AM in VA Ebay's new policy changes this year so slanted the playing field to the buyer's side that I abandoned selling on Ebay and am now only a buyer. Lately I've been finding more buying deals on Amazon anyway.
From Bill,Cleveland Ohio As both a buy and seller on ebay for almost 12 years, I will no longer be active after the 20th of October. From the poor decisions with Blackthorne, the listing tool for sellers, to the inexcusable decision to limit feedback input to buyers only, and now the forcing of Pay Pal down our collective throats, I've pretty had it with Ebay. And I haven't even mentioned the escalation of fees to the seller in the past few years. Ebay was founded with the idea of being a place where people could buy and sell with no problems. It's success was pretty much made by people such as myself, the small time seller, and we have been pretty much pushed aside in recent years for the mass seller. It's really too bad, because it's been a good place to find that elusive collectable item or a place to be able to sell those collectables no longer wanted and receive more than one might from your local antique dealer. It will be interesting to see how much of a drop in sales and sellers is incurred in the next few months. I'm betting it will be quite a shock to those who are running the company, but then, maybe they just don't care…. I guess I can take comfort in the fact that are thousands of sellers who feel just as I do. It's been a nice ride, but it's time to get off da bus….
From Donald W ,Chula Vista , Ca John Donahoe AND Meg Whitman are both responsible for the continuing downfall of ebay. It was their "Disruptive Innovation" scheme, outlined in Donahoe's September 2007 speech at the Legg Mason Capitol Management Thought Leader Forum (search "legg mason disruptive innovation donahoe"). Search "eBay’s Disruptive Innovation, How’s that workin’ for ya?" (genuineseller.com) for an analogy of that speech. Whitman was previously Donahoe's boss at Bain's. She created a new position at ebay and brought Donahoe to ebay to fill that position. Together, they worked on and began implementing their "Disruptive Innovation" scheme, well before Whitman offered up Donahoe as her replacement as CEO of ebay. Whitman is still an ebay employee, has weekly meetings with Donahoe and continues to sit on ebay's board. It is no accident that Meg Whitman has now placed herself in the political limelight with John McCain. Whitman and Donahoe are covering BOTH bases in the political campaign. Donahoe's WIFE is now the chairwoman of the National Women for Obama finance committee (search "Obama's $150 Billion `Cleantech' Pledge Lures Deal-Hungry VCs" found at bloomberg.com). While deliberately destroying ebay, ebay inc. is pushing/forcing it's use of Paypal. A quick internet search of "Paypal Scams" or "Paypal Rip Off" will give anyone a huge jolt as to what that company really does to it's users and it's not pretty. Searches of the following will give you far better insight into ebay's recent ativities: "Anyone Up For A Little Investigating? This Could Be A Biggie!'" (at forums.ebay.com), To hear what it's users are saying read the various threads at "Seller Central" at ebay.com (note ebay severely censors their boards & suspends users for honest discussion, so what you read there is only be the tip of the iceberg). Also, paid employees have been caught disrupting the posts. ebay employees comments about John Donahoe's incompetence as a leader can be found at glassdoor.com. He now has a deplorable 24% approval rating from his own employees. Raising fees twice this year, the numerous damaging "tests", an amazing number of "glitches" and massive, destructive new policies are obviously and deliberately designed mechanisms to destroy ebay and it's users. Instead of welcoming these ebay affiliates into their campaigns, the government should be investigating the monopoly called ebay.
From Miami,florida I decided to list in 30 day auctions my entire stock .
Over 10,000 items and at a cost of $3,500 .
Ebay then suspended me for being associated with another ebay ID in the same address as me .
my building has over 30 tenants in it and I dont even know who that buyer is .
Ebay will not refund my fees and they cancelled me for no reason .
THINK ABOUT IT ..THIS IS A JOKE AND ITS NOT FUNNY
From Jason C. Middletown, CT As an e-bay powerseller, I am sick of the unfair practices that e-bay has put on us sellers. In Feb they doubled the final value fees, it now cost me about 20% of the sales price in e-bay fees and paypal fees to conduct business. With increase competition it is now almost impossible to make money on e-bay. I have begun taking inventory off e-bay, and by Jan 31, 2009, i plan on having all my items off e-bay and on my own site, and give e-bay the boot. E-bay is nothing but greedy and unfair to its sellers (they forget no sellers= no e-bay) and as sellers, e must get off e-bay and let the greed hogs rot.
From Franks Why is everyone unhappy with ebay and yet still do whatever they want . I mean we the sellers are the customer .
Any other business where a customer continues to be mistreated would not work .
WOW ..Ebay has found its nitch ..mistreat,confuse,,depress etc your sellers and you will grow …WHAT A JOKE .Anyone can see that over 90% of sellers are unhappy .TIME FOR NEW MANAGEMENT THAT CAN TREAT SELLERS LIKE HUMAN BEINGS.
Is Ebay committing SUICIDE ?
From Beth Ebay's greed has written their own demise. I have been on ebay almost since day one, as a seller, but mostly as a buyer. Today the only seller's out there are the bigger businesses that I can find anywhere, they have run everyone else off, I use to love to find a good buy from a mom and pop operation. Ebay is controlling everything right down to the searches you do! Too bad Ebay had to go and destory a good thing.
From Anthony, Melbourne Australia Ebay is in decline from the larger volume and long standing sellers, sure ebay will get new sellers who stupidly believe the ebay propaganda that starting the auction at 99 cents will attract more bids and visitors and a higher final price.. Once they discover that this is not true and that buyers can leave negative fb for no reason or simply to eliminate competition they new buyers quickly move onto other areas to make money, over time ebay will remove the mum and dad seller to allow large corporates in and the new gen y buyers will not go on ebay as they are quickly discovering new sites and are more informed about the new marketplace.
the new buyers are not going to have the loyalty as those who built ebay had, those original buyers are starting to move onto other areas and buying from multiple sources. however they will check back every now and again to see if there are any new green sellers who are starting a item at 99cents or submitting multiple bids and retracting the bids at the last minute so a friend can get the item at a much lower price… the platform need a new revamp and the first step is remove donna ho….
From Cricket Jones E-bay has consistently changed their policy to protect the buyer (in some cases the fraudulent buyer) and has no concern for the seller. The buyer can slam the seller with Negative Feedback however when a buyer is a fraudulent E-Bay user E-Bay protects them. Case in point. E-Bay buyer "REEDS5969" set up on E-Bay earlier this year. He and his wife started buying anything they could. Soon after they started disputing the items through Pay-Pal after they knew the items had been shipped which is also owned by E-bay. Pay-Pal then ties up the funds of the seller and lets the buyer keep the item, not return it and also gives the buyer their full refund. This buyer was then caught after many complaints and the same person sets up another USER ID TOWERHOSEMAN immediately the next day and does the same thing over again with no recourse. The Fairfield California Police have been notified and did confirm that this buyer has a prior record for the same type of fraud. Check the case number 08-14684. E-Bay policies have changed almost monthly. being a member over 9 years I have also shut my site down as they offer absolutely no protection to the seller at all any longer. Their dispute process is a joke. members can e-mail the most foul e-mails to each other as though it was a smut line and E-Bay does nothing. I could go on for another hour as to the downfall of E-bay policies as of late. I am finally glad to read that it is catching up with them as in this day and age the company needs to listen to it;s consumers and E-Bay has continued to thumb it nose at it's consumers feeling that they are the only game in town, however they are not.
From Gonefrom ebay…NY Hi…I did that and e-bay removed my
feedback…said I was in violation and
allowed the spiteful non-payer to leave
negative feedback on me…attacking me
and destroying my rating!!! How can
a non payer be allowed to rate!!!…I
was a $20 thousand a year buyer…sold
a bit NOW…I am gone!!!
E-bay is no longer for anyone but itself!!!
From Mike B.C. Canada Maybe they should start calling Feebay the Titantic. They thought it could never sink either. I was a power seller for 6 years and now I'm disgusted with their security team. They give no support to an honest seller. They use autobots so they can line their pockets more. I've since moved to eBid.net I think it has good potential and no listing or selling fees. 2% FVF if you use pictures. Hope to see you all there.
http://ca.ebid.net/stores/UBUYWAREHOUSE
From Gene Brimson, MN We own an antique shop. In 2002 we got a computer to buy and sell on ebay. There was a time when it was fun. With all the stupid totally unnecessary changes, it is difficult to list an item, and you HAVE TO take payments through PayPal and be charged there also! Then they bring this thing about not being able to dispute a buyer's NEGATIVE feedback!??!! UNBELIEVABLE! They have gone too far. It's time to find another on line auction place that will listen to the ones who made them (the sellers). I hear CRAIGSLIST charges nothing to list items for sale. Sounds good to me. SEE YA!!!!
From Mark, Lancaster, PA !!!!!!!!! HELP !!!!!!!!!!!!
I have been a active Ebay seller (over 300 sales) for a few years – today my account was suspended for 30 days due to 2 people leaving negative feedback recently – both feedbacks were not even justified as I took care of the matter (item returned to me and I refunded their money – WHAT MORE CAN YOU DO FOR THE BUYER!) Even after taking care of the customer I received negative feedback – it is terrible for sellers now since Ebay has changed their feedback policies! I have NEVER had problems in the past with negative feedback until the policy changes went into affect! Buyers threaten frequently that they will leave negative feedback if something is not to their liking (shipping fees, item condition, etc). I even experienced issue with PAYPAL with buyers saying the "item was significantly different than described" in order to extort money from me! I am so upset and frustrated that I would like to sell my items somewhere else. The problem is that I cannot find a site that has good "traffic volume" like Ebay has – it seems like Ebay has a monopoly when it cames to the online auction business. WHAT OTHER ONLINE AUCTION SITE OUT THERE IS GOOD TO SELL ON? Any help/insight would be greatly appreciated! I would love to take my 10k a month in sales to another online auction site – I am sure they will appreciate me as a seller and it would be a great pleasure for me to tell Ebay to take a hike!
From Eric, San Diego, CA I understand that eBay want every seller to be as good as a saint by preveneting the seller to leave negative to the buyer.
They believe "customer is always right".
But this is not true. There are always fraudulent buyers, scam artists with fake credit card…etc.
They forgot how eBay was born. eBay was given birth by sellers, not buyers.
(There was no listings fee, no commission,and receive payment in any form in 1995 – 96).
When they took the negative feedback from sellers, they kill a lot of "casual sellers". (Casual sellers sell mostly for fun, not for money.)
Why ? because if you are a casual seller,and when someday you get hit by a fraudulent buyer, you will need a way to express your angry or get at least some kind of revenge.
When those sellers are gone, ebay is not a fun place anymore.
Now, with they are gone, all you have are professional sellers, and eBay has became just another Wal-Mart.
And who needs another WalMart ?
From Larry , Joplin Mo As an ebay silver power seller with 100% feedback and a member since 1998 , I sell mostly vintage and antique collectable items. I have found that the changes made in the past few months have effected me negatively as sales and profits are down and fees are up. In 1999 I had a few listings posted and the phone rang. It was ebay calling to apologize that the site was down and to assure me that it would be back up very soon and that they would be refunding my listing fees for the inconvenience. Now you have to beg for the privilege to list something. They have attacked and demoralized the very people who pay there wages .. The seller. Now in another brilliant move they are attacking the buyer. Forcing them to pay via Paypal.
I have many older buyers that send checks and money orders and do not want a Paypal account. These buyers will likely leave ebay. Why would a CEO make changes that will reduce the bottom line and lower the stock price?
From Lucy, Gilroy, CA the listings have skyrocketed since the new fee structure introduced on sept 16th
http://www.medved.net/cgi-bin/cal.exe?ESHMm092008
http://www.medved.net/cgi-bin/cal.exe?ESHMm102008
not sure how much more $$ it'll add to the bottom line, but obviously lots of sellers are using the new opportunity to list. May be just the right answer for the recession-hit holiday season.
Go eBay!
From james, lakeland florida I started selling on ebay in 2001. We used to sell fine jewelry on ebay,and sales were good until they changed their policies. Here are some of the reasons we discontinued our business on Ebay:
1. Paypal payments only.
2. No charge-back protection.
3. We could not dispute unfair negative feedbacks.
4. Listing placement very low.
5. Commission fee hike.
6. Paypal ignored our return policy after buyer posted a fraudulent claim to get their money back.
These are the changes that I can think of now. Once again, these are the changes that made us discontinue doing business on Ebay.
I don't think Ebay knows what they are doing, they are turning away sellers by implementing ridiculous policies.
Sorry Ebay, but you are no longer the only game in town, there are several more places to sell online.
From Bobby, Fremont, CA The problem with all the leaving sellers – they fail to understand – it's not just anybody who can and should be an online seller. True, eBay made it really easy to get there with whatever you are trying to sell, but over years the marketplace resulted in chaos for the buyers, who suddenly started getting many more options elsewhere. E-commerce is not about sellers, it's about buyers – and eBay finally got it. The day-to-day operation on the ste shows that it became much "cleaner" and disciplined place to sell, and that will eventually bring over more and more buyers – as eBay remains far ahead of anybody else in terms of selection and in many cases prices. Personally, my sales are way up this year, and I couldn't be happier.
From shea, m46 0nn I have been selling on Ebay for 8 or 9 years, but the latest changes have proved to much. Since these changes have been introduced my sales have dropped from £1,000 per month to about £70.00 per month.
The Items I sell are fairly unique so it shows that the new searches etc are not working.
I have since joined ebid.net and have moved my stores over to there.
From John, winnipeg, Manitoba Ebay and Paypl care about 2 things, themselves and their shareholders. They have burned me several times by allowing customers to fraudulently take my items without paying for them. As a buyer once told me, "Why pay for something when you know that Paypal will give you an automatic refund after receiving the item?" At that point, you the seller cannot leave a negative for the fraudulent buyer. Don't bother "reporting" the user..ebay and Paypal just send you an automated email (almost everyhting they do is automated)statig that they are "investigating" (again..it's all automated neither ebay nor paypal have any intention of helping you). Tried to call Paypal?..guess what? They only let you see their toll phone number and then make you wait forever paying for long distance charges. When you finally get someone, they begin yelling at you, pushing your buttons just so they can say you were being rude and that gives them the right to hang up.
As for the latest changes, obviously ebay does not like giving the best sellers a 15% listing discount..so they allow unfair negative feedback to be posted, thus reducing the listing fee discount. Remember ebay and PAypal have a responsibility only to themselves and their shareholders..not you the seller. Ebay will do judt fine profit wise on listing fees and store fees alone..regardless of whether or not anything sells. It's the fees that always make people rich..a lesson learned from the commercial banking system.
In my opinion, it is ebay and Paypal that are the real frauds in this world, not us the sellers. It us the middle class sellers who create the jobs and all of the wealth in this society, not the fee collectors like ebay and paypal.
From Mladen Sudarevic After being an active member (buyer and seller) I’ve finally called it quits on Ebay. I am was not some big power seller but over the years I grew tired of high fees, double (sometimes triple) billing, lack of customer service and rules that favor only the buyer. I don’t fool my self thinking that Ebay will miss me. After all, over the years I sold less than 500 high-ticket items. They obviously don’t need my business; otherwise they would have done something to keep it. Curent Ebay policies favor only big power-sellers (read large corporations) and buyers looking for great deals.
From Terry, Motor City, MI It's not a winner for the Seller that's for sure.
It's always about Ebay making a profit.
I have been buying and selling for 7 years and with the rules that Ebay has implimented the last 6 months has hurt Sellers dramically. As of September this year I have not been able to make a resonable sale. Most Ebay buyers are looking for stuff for almost FREE. I can't take a loss either. I use to make a small profit now it seems like if you sell at all you are breaking even. Not worth it! I think Ebay will go downhill unless they change the rules to help the Seller not the things they are doing right noe!
From Peter Fairfax VA I have been selling on ebay for last 9 years and have over 300,000 positive feedbacks. Our sale USED to be over $200K per month. USED is a key word here. Ebay is keep shooting themself on the foot. They are pushing old time sellers like me to other venue like "Amazon" and other sites. Feedback system is a sham. New fee structure is stupid. Giving preference to company like "Buy.com" is not what Ebay represented and was built on. I remember when Ebay used to come to computer shows and hand our t-shirt. It's the mom and pop that has built ebay what it is today. Now my Amazon sale is upto 180k per month and ebay down to 30k per month. I told ebay reps many times that this is going to kill ebay or make them lot less profitable. Did or are they litsening? Heck no. I told them I would move my businss else where if they do not change some policies and they told me do what I have to do. I am sure they miss $20,000 in fees that I used to pay them. I know at least 8 powerseller that has moved on to other venues. I think only way ebay will survive is to change there fees and feedback structure and treat the sellers with more respect. Buyers are definetly important but there won't be any buyers if all the sellers move away. Now I only sell junk that I can't sell on other venues. Well I told you so ebay…….
From jim, Boston MA As both a buyer and seller on ebay for over 11 years the one thing that stands out more than anything else is the TOTAL LACK of customer service. Their new rule
of not allowing payments by check or money order is the last straw. This is my last week on ebay. Thanks for nothing you horrid ebay management!
From Les Smith Pontefract UK Until last April I was a Silver Power seller with an almost exemplary record of customer service, this record was achieved inside 1 year.
I was in receipt of a small Military pension and a small Industrial pension, and having the necessary skills I started a business on ebay to suppliment my income rather than draw state benefits.
Since April the 17th I have been totally reliant on UK state benefits, why? Ebay customer service or lack of it and being mislead by this 'service' in regard to changes of policy at ebay and its effects on my business/income.
My turnover was some £2,000 rising, per month and the fees to ebay some £500 per month. If ebay can sustain losing such business good luck to them.
This may seem small beer to some but if you calculate benefits payment as loss to Government, loss to my 3 suppliers of business since and in the future, loss in Income tax and Value added tax and other ancillary business spendings such as mail, credit, storage rent,loans and stationary etc, I have also moved from private housing to Social housing thus incurring further losses to an individual and State.
You may see that if my situation is muliplied by thousands if not hundred of thousands around the World that ebay changes are having a detremental effect on not just individual economies but also at National levels and also to ebay itself through lower fees and customer distrust as seller and buyer, this of course includes the stock holder.
I think that the 'twilight' of ebay should read the 'setting of the moon' for this uncaring Company.
While investors and ebay CEO think that this is a temporary eclipse perhaps they should ponder the shrinking of the icecaps – once its gone it is gone, or is it just the Almighty being inovative, or a forced retiree being melodramatic?
From Ben Diller Hagerstown, MD is anyone surprised by management's comments? They just can't admit that they screwed up. Ebay used to be simple, but now the selling rules almost require you to be a contract specialist. I can remember the days when it was absolutely FREE. The site was so good that it was worth a small fee. Now they want over 10% of my sale price after paying listing, final value, and paypal. This is certainly a company that lost sight of their success track. I used to sell a fair amount of items every week on that blasted sight. It is becoming a place for larger sellers to dump the crap that isn't moving in their brick-and-mortar. I predict (just like many others already did) that Ebay will wane. Just watch – they'll try to fill the gap in their flat numbers by……. hmmm…. oh ya…. raising fees! Again! Just wait. If they haven't learned the first million times, they certainly won't now.
From matt williams I have been an ebay Power seller since 2001. When e-bay changed the feedback format I now have no recourse for someone that leaves false negative feedback. Even if the feedback is a out right lie, I can not dispute it or have it removed. There are no exceptions to this. You can only issue a complaint with e-bay wich amounts to nothing. I dislike the new feedback system due to its one sidedness. E-bay will loose more sellers if this continues. If e-bay is reviewing any of these comments, my advice for you is to take better care of your sellers. We are the ones that Pay you every month…
From ScienceFare, Vestal, NY eBay is dying. eBay is being slowly strangled by the madman at the helm, John Donahoe.
John Donahoe MUST BE FIRED before it's too late.
From Mary I was an Ebay Powerseller with 100% feedback rating from 1997 through 2006. When Ebay changed their policies with that new dumb CEO who said sellers can't give negative I stopped selling. Me and a million other baby boomers had planned to sell on ebay to supplement our income ..but not now. Ebay you made A BIG MISTAKE and should reverse all those new changes. You'd see alot of us come back to sell. Until then you deserve all the bad decisions you have made.
From Betty Weinkrantz If a winning bider doesn't pay. I just say they were positively awful and hope other sellers read my feedback. I no longer can put a negative feedback but this helps.
From WARREN STEMKE SELDEN NY EBAYS DAYS ARE NUMBERED, ITS GOING BY BY ,JUST LIKE CIRCUIT CITY, THEY LET THERE BEST SALESMEN GO.
From Al, San Jose, CA I'm just an occasional seller, but I have still seen the negative effects of the new search engine, improperly weighted DSRs, and the horrible "no negative" feedback system. Sales have dropped off so much (and the hassle factor has increased so much) tha I am giving up and moving to ioffer.com.
From Tommy, San Francisco, CA As someone who's only bought items on EBAY, never sold in eight years, their changes are making it much less interesting to me as a shopper. I'm bored with crap their high volume sellers are pushing and the interesting rarities and oddball items are disappearing.
From John Pilon, Sacramento, Ca Mr. Donahoe is full of crap.
I had been an EvilBay customer since 1999.
I tolerated the little changes as they had no real effect on me.
What really got my cookies all aflutter was the demand that we all accept only PayPal!
I had done very well, thank you, accepting only USPS money orders as payment.
Now Mr. Donahoe tells me that I must accept PayCrap. This way Evilbay gets me from all sides- listing fees, final value fees and payment fees.
Greedy? Go figure.
I have initiated an investigation in California regarding eBay acting as a "bank". They take our money, play the float, then give it to us only when we request that the $$ go to our accounts.
The essence once was our "feedback". It said everything about us. No longer.
Giving priority to those with imagined better ratings harms everyone.
Mr. Donahoe is well on his way to screwing it up even worse than Meg.
My feedback was 100%. I list very little now.
I do so hope that sanity will return to eBay. Perhaps the Board of Directors can read all the negatives that have come about over the past year.
Return things to how they were two years ago.
Investors!- do not buy eBay stock, please.
From Ed, Clearwater Florida We sold a lot of premium quality vehicles on eBay Motors this year, but since best match became the default search it's like someone turned the switch off.
We have a feedback score of under 200 but 100% positive and dsr's of 4.9 across the board. Been a member in good standing since 2002 as well.
It's true that management has reduced our visibility because we are a small seller, eBay even told us that in an email news letter. They suggested we sell more to get better placement. But we hand pick only the best of the best for eBay.
eBay is Dead for us, but autotrader.com is rocking and rolling. Go Figure!
From Anonymous I used to have an eBay store, lasted a couple of years. I kept it open through a couple of fee hikes and after that I was barely making a profit. I wanted to use Google Checkout but it was prohibited and I had to use PayPal. I got burned a few times through PayPal because users would call their credit card companies and PayPal wouldn't help me out. All the fee's with eBay and with PayPal, that's what pushed me away from eBay.
From A Rothman, Los Angeles, CA eBay has definitely lost some of its novelty. It has also become a mature business. Perhaps when the economy improves, their sales will rise.
As a seller, I definitely do not like the policy of not being able to leave negative feedback for a buyer. There are a lot of low activity and low feed back members who do not care if they back out of a transaction. They do not have a vested interest in preserving their feedback. When they win an auction, sometimes they start to make unreasonable demands. If they dont pay, I cannot leave negative feedback. I can complain to eBay and they will keep track of non-paying members. But they are not specific how many times a member can do this before their account is closed.
The recent rule changes favor the buyer and hurt the sellers. Once eBay realizes that, sellers will return.
From Linda W., Dublin, CA. Last night, my husband said to me "You know, since you stopped selling on eBay, it's made a world of difference in your demeanor. You're so much happier, not as upset and stressed out all the time." And my response was a confirmation that Yes, I am so much happier, I will never go back to eBay. Now I can actually exercise in the morning without worrying about getting packages wrapped and mailed out, I can actually develop a hobby or go for a walk on a nice day instead of listing stuff on eBay. My husband is delighted that most of my "inventory" is now gone, so it's been a win-win-win situation. Oh, and the amount of money I cleared per week with eBay?- about $2.50 per hour. Geez, I could make more money babysitting…even if I was babysitting Bart Simpson, I'd end up with a better deal than eBay!
From Mark, York, Pa I think ebay made a serious error by changing its feedback policies. The seller listings are what built the business. The buyers came because they knew they would get quality goods. By saying a sellercan't rebutt negative feedback will cause them to move elsewhere. As a former business owner, I moved my inventory purchasing elsewhere when I got poor service. Ebay sellers will do the same thing especially since it is a buyer's market and sellers on Ebay need to get every penny they can out of a sale
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I don't know what everyone is crying about , Ebay is a money goldmine if you know what your doing , Maybe its different in Australia where my market is.
money Ebay