Overstock (OSTK) looks to capitalize on eBay (EBAY) seller's strike

"eBay, you maybe the only game in town for now but at the rate you're going you won't be for long."

Actually, they are FAR from the only game in town this time around. There are many venues who have been working on their sites for a few yrs now, and actually have a very decent, functioning alternative.

In the 2006 boycott, there really wasn't much of any place else to go. I opened a Prestostore, which I loved, but it was not paying for itself. I ended up closing it.

This time around, there are a LOT of auction places, store places, etc etc - it is now simply a matter of finding the right one for what you sell and for a price you can afford.

I am very happy with Wagglepop at the moment. They are not perfect, but need I say that neither ie eBay? But, I don't go broke from listing, and I actually have customers who are not simply trying to fleece me.

I encourage each online seller to explore at least one other site this week other than eBay, and see what great things exist nowadays. Then try to list on a couple and see what happens! : )

I have been an eBay seller for the past five years so that I could stay home with my children. I was thrilled when I heard that eBay was going to reduce their fees....then I felt duped and angry when I read about the increase in final value fees and not being able to leave negative feedback for buyers. I am extremely cautious of leaving negative feedback and use it only when absolutely necessary, and I am one of the few that leave feedback for my sellers when I am paid. One should not affect the other. However, I am very worried about buyers leaving feedback knowing nothing can be said negative in return. I have worked very hard to keep 100% feedback and it is a shame when for no good reason a negative is left for honest people. I will definately start looking at other sights while still using eBay...I have built up return clientele who come back often. I don't want to lose all my income but I need to do what's best overall for myself. If in the long run, I leave eBay, then so be it. They should rethink their policies before trying to "sell" lower fees with the higher fees buried under the fine print.

I'm a seller on Ebay, and the new changes are bitter sweet. Many times we've listed items (we sell mostly wagon wheels), and the item did not sell. While listing fees for unsold items add up quickly, so does, to a lesser degree, your exposure on Ebay, and to the internet which benefits you if you have a website in addition to your Ebay acct. Lower listing fees for us are a good thing. We write them off at tax time, anyway.
The increased final fees for sellers are certainly going to freak some people out. While I hear some people damning sellers for 'hiding' extra costs in their items, many sellers are keeping their profit margins down to the white-knuckle zone just to stay in competition with other sellers hawking similar items. While we depend mainly on our website traffic for business, we use Ebay as a pretty effective marketing tool, but the final value fees were too high in the first place. It truly hurts throughout the year, and some sellers are basicaly forced to add extra handling costs, etc. to cope with Ebay's--I hate to say greed, cause I'm a died in the wool Capitalist--but if the Ebay auctioned shoe fits....
The proposed (or newly initiated?) Feedback structure is outright stupid. We find Ebay buyers as a whole to be very demanding and impatient. We try to work this out through good communication and making sure the buyer knows what the costs are up front before buying from us. As a seller, acting in good faith, your still going to find a freak or two out there who can trash your feedback with no more reason than he didn't get laid the night before or she's angry at her Mother In Law. As they have no way of explaining themselves, or pointing out what the buyer may have done wrong, the seller is abused and the buyer just skips away whistling a vindictive little tune. This will ultimately lead to lower sales for the Seller, lower revenue for the King of auction style selling: Ebay. Some Sellers may bail completely and try similar avenues for their products like the ones mentioned in this article I'm responding to.
Ultimately, Ebay will probably not feel the heat and change it's pricing structures all that much until other sites take off in a bigger way. Ebay itself is the one who drives up its prices for it's Buyers. For the most part, Ebay is a Monopoly. They need to learn the lesson of Ma Bell, perhaps?

PS. I'm kinda dyslexic in my writing, and I did not Spellcheck this. I'm fine with you attacking my thoughts, but lay off the sentence structure, spelling, etc., OK:)?

A final thought: I was totally unaware of the Ebay strike. I would have participated if I'd known. I look at Ebay fees much the same way as I look at taxes--they are too high--but you pay them and look for everyway you can get around them.

I have been selling $5000 per month for the last 3 months and am a power seller on ebay. I do all the work and ebay/paypal get almost $600 of that. We have to discount our products to get them to sell and many items we loose money or just break even. Now with the new fees we have many items we will not even be able to offer any more. Why does ebay feel they need to make so much from their sellers? 200,000 sellers at $500 in fees per month is $100,000,000 one hundred million dollars per month just off 200,000 sellers and I'm sure this is just a drop in the bucket. GET A GRIP EBAY! You are chasing off your bread and butter. I am looking for a way to rid myself of this leach! www.haneshotrods.com

I suppose after the new policy takes place it will be wise to spend more time checking the feedbacks to see who is neg happy and try and see which ones are reasonable in their expectations?

ebay is optional and always has been. People are free to come and go as they please. Ebay forces noone to sell.

Perhaps the way negs are viewed should be changed? It should mean there is a unresolved problem to do with the transaction. Why not remove negs after the buyer and seller fix the problem? Why not think of a way to make the ratings Less Personal and more focused on What Happened and what is being done? If the seller sent the buyer a Refund and fixed the problem then it should be publically known even if the buyer is still mad acting like a two year old and doesn`t want to talk or remove the neg.

There are steps to a transaction when bought,mailed,recieved and commented on within the policy stated in the auction. Why not moderate the feedback with more multiple choice so vicious comments like thief and liar can be avoided?(even though sometimes based on my experience it`s true?)

I Know there are crooked sellers on ebay because I have gotten Ripped Off with no way to avoid getting negged myself if I "say something" about it. I bought a non functioning electronic item and another time I got this beat up,badly dog eared falling apart book that was supposed to be in good used condition. I had to wait a month to recover my money from pay pal with the electronics seller kicking and screaming the whole way sending me nasty very distasteful ugly emails week after week. Both sellers couldn`t have cared less. I just needed to return the item for a refund (according to their policy it was allowed)! I question the sanity of these sellers if they thought these products I got were acceptable for anything but the garbage can.

If you are a ebay seller and your product is crummy then you will get negged and you will not get bids. You as a seller will not be the only one getting negs. I suppose the game field will change so that a buyer is hunting for a seller with fewest negs possible?

Another thing bugging me is I see sellers posing as buyers or putting their friends up to bidding on competitors items Just To Neg them and hurt their competitions business. These fruitcakes need to be caught and put out of commision because they increase the fear of sellers who wonder where these unfair hits are coming from. I seriously question the maturity of these sellers attacking each others businesses. Don`t they know it endangers Their own? I hope ebay can get a handle on the unfair fake bidders!

I hope all the sellers with the "whats in it for me" attitude and evil attitude toward people who need good service a notch higher than caveman days will pack up,leave and stay gone from ebay 4 ever.

Rant over.

As An eBayer Of Many Years!!..I Really Hate to see that eBay.com is ruining the lively hood of so many Honest and Disabled and Veteran Sellers!!!!... Many Of The Smaller Sellers Who Helped Build eBay Have No Other Way To Make A Living!!....I Think Sellers Are Right To Take Control!...And,This Strike Is Most Definitely In Order!!!!!...If most of the Sellers abandoned their listings for a Week or MORE!! and Buyers "Don't Bid Or Browse"..It May bring eBay Management to their Senses!!...My Favorite Business Management Professor at GA. TECH always said "If It Ain't Broke...Don't Try to Fix It" ...In My Humble Opinion....The Proposed Feedback Change and the 21 Day Paypal.com Holding Period may be "Unconstitutional" & "Very Illegal"...."One Sided Feedback" may be a violation of the "Equal Protection Clauses" in the the various State and the Federal Constitutions!!.....Additionally....Both The New "Unequal Feedback Policy" and the "21 Day Holding Period" may require that eBay act as a "Law Enforcement Agency" and a "Court Of Law " in order to settle contractual disputes between Buyers and Sellers!!..Both Of These Actions May Be Extremely Illegal!!.... We Need To Help Ebay Save Itself!!....If One Strike doesn't work, Sellers may need to do it Again and Again--->Until it Does Work!! .... Hopefully!!, Persistent Sellers Will Convince eBay Management to Withdraw these proposed changes and return to Business As Normal Before The Law Enforcement Agencies and The Federal/State Courts Bring Them DOWN!! I have heard that One Of The Best Civil Trial Lawyers in Atlanta imay be waiting until the proposed changes take place before filing a multi billion dollar Class Action Lawsuit (On Behalf Of "ALL" SELLERS) against eBay, Paypal and their new cohort General Motors for Violation of the "Equal Protection and Numerous Other Clauses" Of The US Constitution!....Additionally....He may be requesting that US Magistrates and the Attorney General issue Felony Criminal Warrants requesting immediate arrest of all eBay Management and all employees involved in making feedback decisions(in which they act as a Law Enforcement Agency...AND... A Court Of Law!!) I Am Afraid That "Good Attorneys" and the almost Trillion Dollor "Class Action Suit" may Bankrupt eBay, Paypal and General Motors!! It will be Interesting to see how much it may cost eBay, Paypal and Genral Motors to reimburse all of the Sellers that are being be forced to leave eBay and give up their only source of income because of these New Feedback and Paypal Rules!!!! .....Probably Trillions!! ....My Professor Also Said..."Nothing Is "Forever"...Except Death And Taxes!!

Hey! If you hate Ebay, email me at mrauctionexper@yahoo.com, I'd love to hear more about your negative experience with them.

I have been a buyer and a seller on Ebay, and both sides have equal gripes. As a small seller, I found it impossible to do business on Ebay and make money. The admin tasks were insurmountable, and basically people want everything for nothing. The reason why small sellers have to charge handling fees and bump up shipping is that the Ebay fees cut into any potential profits. By the time you are finished paying Ebay, Paypal, UPS, you are lucky to break even, not to mention your time and effort. Most long time sellers I have found to be reputable. New sellers are a big risk and I avoid them completely. But the buyers are just as bad if not worse. Ebay is what it is. If you want Nordstrom service, go there and pay full price. If you shop on Ebay, you take your chances. The feedback system doesnt work for all the reasons stated above. Buyers have more rights than sellers, but frankly, who has time to fight over a $50 item? I have been fleeced many times, but have let it go and learned my lesson. The claims and appeals process is endless, and complex, and Ebay customer service as well as Paypal customer service is USELESS. I found that buyers complained and threatened me to get me to give them a partial refund - they didnt want to return the item, just to get it for less! It's never cheap enough - $4.99 for something that retails for $49.99 - they want it cheaper....It's human nature at its worst. Only the big sellers can really survive on Ebay. I still buy, but I don't sell and I won't sell again. And forget about using resellers - you get peanuts for your stuff. They don't get big prices either and you have to pay stiff commission.