What's going on over at eBay?

Ebay spokesperson should do his homework before he speaks. Such lame excuses. I hate the way Ebay is either trying to overload you with big company lingo, or making statements that are so blatantly false, only the people boycotting, buyers and sellers alike really know what's going on. that's right, just as many sellers are buyers too. this was our site, how dare they slap us in the face! and If it was legal, if this wasn't just a smoke and mirrors to benefit greedbay's pockets, why keep removing these test auctions, How come there are so many glitches, 'er test's, 'er glitches which could range in the hundreds of thousands. it's like How are WE the people suppossed to know, in the middle of all this turmoil , if this company isn't another enron! we need some investigative reporting into this. Is it fair that WE invested our hard earned all mighty american dollar into a masterminded scheme to manipulate the stockholders, into thinking the company is doing better than it is, padding auctions, don't put it past them, these people need to keep those multi-million dollar estates, golf courses and such! meanwhile ceo's are selling stock off in the millions, and when the stock does bottom out, which is planned I believe, they will be buying it all back again. Also why is it okay to suddenly change the rules in the middle of the superbowl. How many lives are affected by the unscrupulous actions of a greedy monopoly which has seeped it's way into the hearts and minds of so many!
Please, do not let this happen. Keep up the boycott or rather as someone else said "evacuation" and move to other sites. don't let the politics of big buisness fool you into thinking you can't win!
and please ,Hear us news media, If you won't take up this story, for us, we the people, we shall stand and be heard!
PEACE :)

Seems like eBay has excuses for everything. I don't think anyone but them believes this was a glitch. They'll do anything to keep their listing numbers up because that keeps their stocks up.

I'll give you a for-instance. Usually if you report miscategorized or banned items, eBay pulls them pretty quickly. However, during boycott week, I personally, one-by-one, reported over 500 listings that should have been either in the mature category (front nudity and sexual acts) as well as hate items (swastikas) but weren't and guess what? When I checked back one day later, and then three days later - only a few - like around 5 - were pulled. The rest were all still there.

So maybe besides the FTC looking into ebay, the SEC should looking into them for stock manipulation, the FCC should be taking a long hard look at just who is responsible for policing this site.

eBay claims no responsibility, and depends on members to pull these type of listings. With the money they're making - they ought to hire some people to keep the site legal, dontcha think?

And finally - when are we ever gonna get the real truth about that $3 Mill record auction?

Well, I finally got the "boot" from eBay -- total site ban, no selling, no posting, no nothing -- despite complying with their every request in regards to my auctions for a "Sellers Guide to Auction Sites".

I should cry and whine and complain I reckon, but instead I'm just PLOTTING my next move.
Anyone want to take the risk of selling some "Sellers Guide to Auction Sites"?? It might get you booted -- but then again, if enough people list it -- people who are interested in QUITTING ebay -- or at least trading in an old eBay ID for a new one -- just contact ME. You can keep the money; version 6 will be for free for you to SALE. As long as I can continue to be a THORN in eBay's SIDE -- and if YOU want to be one, too -- well, get in on this.

As for me and eBay, all I can say is "GOOD RIDANCE!" -- tho' I'll be back on shortly as "guide-to-other-auctions" selling my "guide". IF you want MORE details, visit my Blog on AOL Journals, "Taking on eBay" at http://journals.aol.com/mhogue3909/taking-on-ebay/ for a view of the "objectionable ad" and eBay's "termination of privilages" (ha! likes it a privilage for ME??) letter.

This just goes to show the depths eBay will stoop nowadays -- and the restrictions on their auctions which have gotten WAY out of control! -- to GET RID OF SELLERS! For a company that is losing Sellers left and right -- they sure have a strange method of "controlling it", don't they, LOL!!!

oh, gawd, lemme just fall out of my CHAIR, cuz -- I'm

ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!

Ebay was the first kid on the block with the idea and therefore, collected the most users and ruled supreme. While this is true, they have never been customer friendly and using their system requires a great deal of individual effort to get started as a seller. They are security concerned. They DID charge fair rates. The feedback area would probably have better covered with an ombudsman type of approach. However, this would not have been in line with ebay thinking, which is to be a business that is not really interactive with it's customer base. They are there to make money, insure security and make trading possible. The real problem that currently confronts this company is that it has not kept pace with people. They are reliant on people and as such, must bow to these demands or those that are there will find a new home. This can be summed up easily and proven. The auto industry is a classic example of making what the public wants and the makers of this product go to great pains to do so. If you bring out the wrong product line and the public does not want it - you have a problem, anyone remember the edsel? At present ebay has an advantage as they do not have a viable competitor but a quick tour of U.S. business history dictates that one is just around the corner. When there is a buck to be made and opportunity rolling out the red carpet, someone will rise to the occasion
My suggestion to ebays management would be to take heed or be prepared to look for other employment at lesser compensation.
They are foolish if they do not as they still possess the golden goose.

EBay claiming they do not censor posts is a joke. I have received multiple 30 day suspensions from eBay for pointing out the many flaws Paypal has and how unsafe it is for sellers to accept. I also got a 30 day suspension for having the nerve to mention Amazon by name! They claimed I was promoting Amazon by mentioning the fact that they charge no listing fees. How sad is that?

And try to post something negative on their Paypal discussion board and see what happens. Your post will either be removed or you will be attacked by their eBay plants, Sandy and Cliniclady. Those two have been harassing posters there for EIGHT years! And they swear they don't work for eBay! Right!

What's going on over at eBay is this: management is working hard on a plan to destroy the site entirely.

Whether the intention is to wreck eBay as it is and rebuild from the ground up, modeling itself after Amazon, or whether it's simply ignorance, the result of the changes to be instituted in May of this year will be devastating and will very likely ruin the company.

If I still held eBay stock, I'd be getting rid of it as fast as I'm able.

The feedback changes coming in May will almost certainly result in every seller on the site having 70-80% positive feedback.

For big box retailers, that is expected. For eBay, it is not. The change will be devastating. Occasional shoppers who roll in before Christmas will be shocked at the changes and will move elsewhere.

It's not that the rate in itself is bad. It's that the CHANGE from an eBay where most decent sellers carry a 95%+ rating will not be understood by any but the every day shoppers on the site.

AGAIN, THIS WILL DESTROY eBay. Destroy it. Management EXPECTS that sellers will soon carry an average of an 80% feedback rating. That they KNOW this and are still planning to institute these changes, shows such minimal understanding of the buyer-seller relationship as to be laughable.

It would be laughable if it were not so sad. We are moving our 7 year old business off site as quickly as we can, with the goal to be eBay free by June, at the latest.

We are full time business people with staff and a fully stocked warehouse. There are other venues available and with the destruction of eBay in the offing, traffic at those other online sites will undoubtedly increase.

It's a shame. Meanwhile, SELL!!!! No matter what, do NOT wait until May to unload this certain loser.

CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE!! Here is the link:

http://pages.suddenlink.net/docswife/Index.html

greedbay seems to be having alot of issues lately... much more than what would seem normal in their share of bugs, glitches, accidental removal of forum posts, accidental listings, activation of inactive listings while stores were on vacation and suspension of accounts with no explanation or reason for such. next will be ..... the dog ate your listing on the 'best match' sort.

so..... are they really saying they have an inferior technology dept.? nah, the cto is one of donahoe's wal-mart boys. all makes sense now doesn't it?

the house of cards will fall and fall hard, smoke and mirrors will come to light.

hopefully the employee(s) who takes the heat for following the illegal executive directives which resulted in the bug/glitch/accidents will make a plea bargain and come clean with it all and save themselves.

i guess the 'noise' is getting to them, they are getting very sloppy.

A place to organize.
A place to unite.
A place to focus.
United we stand, Divided we fall.

http://forums.delphiforums.com/boycottebay
http://www.accknowl.com/


boycott victoriously!

As a store owner on Ebay , I can tell you that the recent increases in fees and other changes have held me back. It seems that Ebay is starting to operate like a large American Corporation, insensitve to the community that created its popularity.

I am not part of any strike, but have begun to concider other options as a simple economic matter. When you add the costs of ebay and PayPal it is a big chunk of profit.

I have added my comments about eBay's suspected numbers fluffing on my blog:
http://www.suspendedfromebay.com/?p=71

Note the eBay Pumper screen capture that claimed eBay had a contingency plan if the numbers go beyond the threshold. Very interesting indeed!

eBay spokesperson Usher Lieberman responded by email to Ina Steiner on Saturday, “This was a limited test that has run its course.”
But later retracted his statement. Which was it? A test or pumping the numbers up??
http://blog.auctionbytes.com/cgi-bin/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2008/3/1204379814.html

Also I present this finding in the Clothing Shoes and Accessories Category.

eBay claims there is roughly 2473927 items in 49,599 Pages. If you look at the 50 items per page, they end on page 10,702.

Multiplying 50 items x 10,702 pages gives a total of 535,100 items in that category. Where are the other 1,938,827 Items??

Here are screen shots showing my findings..

http://www.suspendedfromebay.com/postings-archive/
See these examples
clothing-example-1.jpg
clothing-example-2.jpg
clothing-example-3.jpg
clothing-example-4.jpg

I just wonder where the other listings are at?

Something is fishy..

It's very simple.

eBay lies.

Any other questions?


BOYCOTT VICTORIOUSLY . . . until they get IT.

This evening's lastest nasty surprise was that sellers can no longer see bidders' IDs on their auctions. This may seem to someone who doesn't regulary buy and sell on ebay to be like something that would increase safety and sales, but the bids on my auctions this evening have suddenly gone completely silent with this change. Most honest and conscientious buyers won't bid if they don't know or suspect who else is bidding. I not only won't be selling anything at all now on what will REALLY be a paradise for deadbeats and scammers (whom I previously might have been able to identify), I also won't be bidding on anything either. I am one of a community of sellers and buyers in a relatively small niche market. We all used to know and trust one another, but that is no longer possible. Ebay has been rolling out something new just about every day now and every one of them ratchets up the degree of pitting sellers against one another and all buyers against all sellers in a very adversarial and hostile environment. I'm sorry, but I can't sell stuff to people on an even more anonymous basis than I have in the past. It just purely is no longer safe to be an ebay seller. My sales are picking up briskly elsewhere now on sites where I at least can see who the devil is and choose whether or not to go through with the transaction. So this was the final straw and now I'm gone for good and I know that I am not alone.

My name is Bruce Hershenson and I am the owner of emovieposter.com. I joined eBay in 1998, and in 2000 I moved my entire mail-order business of vintage movie posters to eBay, and since that time I have sold 300,000 movie posters on eBay, for total sales of $16 million (3 million in 2007 alone). In all that time, I have auctioned all of my items with 99 cents start bid, and no reserve, the very kind of auctions that made eBay so successful when they first "took off".

The recent price changes affect my business greatly. They will result in the fees I pay going up 40% annually! If I were to achieve the 5% discount eBay is offering a very select few, my fees would go up by approximately 27%. If I were to achieve the 15% discount, my fees would go up by approximately 13%.

I feel that the price increases are extremely misguided. Normally, companies only raise rates when THEIR costs increase, or when they are delivering better results to their customers. In THIS case, eBay's costs have not risen and they are not only NOT delivering better results, but they are actually delivering lesser results (lower sellthrough rates and lower ASPs). Any company that did not perceive themselves as a monopoly would never raise their rates under these circumstances, but, if you feel your customers have nowhere else to go, then you CAN raise their rates, to make up for the lower profits you are having due to the lesser results you are realizing.

eBay has miscalculated in my case. I have to examine how much I pay eBay per year, and what I received in return for that money. I have concluded that I can do far better opening up my own auction on my own site. Unlike many other sellers, I had my own business for 10 years prior to starting on eBay, so I am now reversing the process I started in 2000! At that time, I moved my entire business ONTO eBay, and in 2008, I am moving my entire business OFF of eBay.

I really don't understand why eBay would drastically raise their rates on people like myself, who sell 100% of what they list, and have "fun" true auctions, where all the final prices are set by two or more actual bidders (the very kinds of auctions that made eBay so popular), and I have virtually perfect feedback (only 14 negatives in 300,000 transactions!).

What is equally difficult to understand is that eBay has slashed their rates to media sellers only, who sell very little of what they list, and who have generally mediocre feedback, and who often charge disproportionately high shipping, which eBay says is their number one concern! It also is odd that eBay chose these sellers to be the first recipients of their new "non-level playing field", for I can see no reason to single out these sellers as being especially important to eBay.

But it is not solely an issue of rates that is causing me to leave eBay. I believe their recent changes to feedback will have a disastrous effect on their company. I believe they made those changes because their research showed that buyers do not return to the site (either ever, or as often) because of dissatisfaction over high shipping, and because they get upset when a seller leaves negative feedback on them. So they made their recent changes (primarily trying to force sellers to lower shipping rates, and stop leaving "bad feedback") because they think that will improve sales.

I believe they are completely mistaken. In spite of what their research shows, I believe the number one reason buyers buy less often (or quit the site) is because they were cheated in some fashion. Similarly, I believe the number one reason sellers sell less (or quit selling altogether) is because they are tired of having buyers who never pay.

The solution to both these problems is to verify all other users on the site (both buyers and sellers). When a buyer or seller breaks the rules, eBay could then ban that PERSON, and not just that ID (which has no effect, because the person can get a new ID, under the current rules). If all users are verified, then a bad buyer or seller will be banned, and they can't easily get back on.

I believe eBay is aware of both these problems, but there are two things that prevent them from implementing my solution. One is that verifying all users would mean they would have to admit they would actually have something like 80 million users, instead of the 250 million users they claim (which counts all IDs as separate people, which everybody knows is complete fiction). The other thing is that eBay would have to have a REAL Trust and Safety department which would need to go after bad buyers and sellers, both with police and through the courts, and that would certainly be expensive, and would not bring eBay any additional income in the short term.

Under the current setup, eBay benefits greatly from the problems that beset the site. Many "bad sellers" are among the largest sellers, and pay eBay great amounts of fees. Many "bad buyers" cause items to have to be relisted a second time, and this generates a HUGE amount of revenue for eBay in listing fees they never refund (and surely many people never bother to get a refund of their final value fees, so that is an additional revenue source as well).

To sum up, eBay keeps raising the fees sellers pay, without delivering additional value of any kind, and in fact recent years have seen a deterioration of the value they have provided. They also continually micromanage their sellers, taking control of a greater and greater percentage of their businesses.

Sometime in the middle of March, I will hold my last eBay auction, and I will hold my first auction on my website http://www.emovieposter.com. I am currently in negotiations with other major sellers of collectibles and antiques, trying to help them leave eBay as well, and set up similar auctions on their own sites. I have hope that, at some time in the future, I can help set up an auction site SOLELY for collectibles and antiques, so that all of the smaller sellers on eBay will have a place to sell on that is run by actual sellers, and which truly only does provide a platform for them to sell from. I believe such a site would be very welcomed by almost all sellers of collectibles and antiques.

Bruce Hershenson
President, eMoviePoster.com

I was a new buyer who had had aspirations of becoming an Ebay seller. I don't feel that as a new member I am completely qualified to pass any types of judgments regarding the changes. I do however KNOW that at present I am too nervous to do anything.
I believe very firmly in the addage, "Where there's smoke, there's fire." Too many people have voiced strong negative reactions to these changes for me to discount them as rumblings of malcontents. I have waded through the community answer centers for information and tracked every snippet of news that I can find. I have written Ebay's customer service repeatedly. Ebay doesn't have phone line customer service. (For the life of me, I don't get this. Amazon offers phone support.) The response time for a letter based upon my personal responses IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!!!! IF Ebay's policy shift is being geared to bring sellers up to >95% buyer satisfaction rate, they need to apply at least the same standard to customer service. In its present state it is virtually non existant from a practical point of view. I have also noticed that if one of my questions cannot be answered by a stock response, I tend to NOT GET A RESPONSE. Ebay members have to utilize the community answer pages. There are members who devote alot of energy in an effort to help, but to insure accuracy, shouldn't questions be answered IN A TIMELY MANNER by trained Ebay personnel?
I have worked within the corporate environment, within the restaurant industry, and have found that corporate decisions were usually very well thought out and tended to be very efficiant. I AM NOT seeing that here. I see a disorganized mess! And the more I try to figure it out the more convoluted it becomes. I see the possibility of PLANNED CHAOS being applied. The Ebay website IS NOT user friendly. Products can be found, but by giving favored placement to highly rated sellers, the buyer is not necessarily being steered to choices that might be best for them. Tracking down all the company procedures regarding feedback, returns,unpaid items,Paypal procedures,etc compares to attempting to make sense of the never ending shifts in credit card aggreements. Why would a company feel the need to create such USER UNFRIENDLY CONDITIONS?
I have adopted a wait and see attitude and have begun comparative studies of alternate venues.

I spoke to my sister who has been a seller on Ebay. She feels that you are on your own if you choose them as a platform. I am uncomfortable with the Paypal hold. They are owned by Ebay and it seems to me, that as a venue, Ebay may be overstepping their bounds. I have concerns about the feedback and the anonimity of the bidders. These shifts could have been avoided if Ebay had instituted standards of behavior that went further than just, no cursing and no naming names.
I also wish that someone would investigate Ebay. If their practices are ethical and sound, this will prove out. If not, Ebay will have information that can be utilized to improve their DSRs.

Hiding bidder ids is a very bad practice. It creates shill bidding for unscrupulous sellers. Honest buyers will not bid with this in mind, and I believe this will hurt sales in the long run.eBay's answer is it is to prevent scammers from taking advantage of buyers. I have asked eBay and posted threads in the discussion boards with little response regarding my idea to remedy this problem. Tell me what you think. Here it is.....Make the bidder ids unreply able to all except to eBay and the seller ( During a live sale the seller would only be able to reply through the auction in question and after the sale ends can reply directly to the bidder)....If scammers cannot contact the bidder then they cannot scam them as well.This would allow the bidder search to be used as it was designed for.....Anyway that is my idea, but who am I

I'm so done with ebay... Been there since 1998 and these last changes were the most insulting and degrading that a company could do to it's bread and butter...

Padded listings, 67% increase in fees, no protection for the seller, who by the way, is also a buyer, hidden id's which promotes schill bidding, ceo's selling stock at high prices by the millions then setting the stage for a HUGE drop to "re-buy", NOT GOOD...

No, not for me...

This has caused me to seek out new avenues and to encourage others to do the same...

BOYCOTT EBAY!!

Sell through down to 30% that's not good!

http://www.medved.net/ebayper/W03022008ALLCAT.gif?62999

I have been a small time seller and buyer with eBay, since Feb. of 2002. I find it completely repulsive the way sellers are being treated. It affects me on a small scale, as I sell part time, but some people have really relied on their income with eBay. And they are being stepped on.

Ebay has decided to push out the very people they have built their business on the backs of. I'm sure they have an agenda, but I hope that it comes around to bite them in the back side. I for one will never return unless they make some critical changes. I don't like the idea of selling to someone if I can't see their ID, or I can't check up on.
And if a buyer refuses to pay, they should by all means receive a negative feedback. Positive feedback only for buyers is so incredibly stupid and one sided.

If ebay offends all their sellers, many of which are also buyers, who will their precious buyers purchase from?

I can tell you ebay is censoring-I have been botted out of the Answer Center and the Discussion Boards for nothing more than posting information, no notice or anything just don't have "permission" to go on these areas. Might ebay not like what sellers and buyers are saying about changes:
The petitions:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/ebay-buyers-concerned-re-feedback-changes

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/new-feedback-policy-unfair-for-sellers

ANYONE HOLDING EBAY STOCK
(OR BUYING AND SELLING ON eBAY)
MAY BE GUILTY OF SUPPORTING AN
ON-GOING CRIMINAL ENTERPRIZE!!!!

Everyone suspects that
eBay may be the World's Largest Fence
Of Stolen, Forged & Knock Off Merchandise!!.

I Think It's time for the FBI, Treasury Dept and
The US Attorney General To Begin An Investigation
Into This Company's Employees (And It's Major Stockholders!! )

Operating as a
Purveyor of Stolen Goods
Normally results in Quick & Fast Arrests!!

The US Attorney General May Need To Shut
Down eBay Immediately And The SEC May Need
To Suspend The Trading Of eBay Stock.....NOW!

I think the recent decision to make
the Feedback System "One-Sided"
may be the Final Nail in the eBay Coffin!!

In order for eBay employees to mediate
the up-coming new Feedback Complaints...
They may have to act as a "Law Enforcement Agency",
"Court Of Law", "Judge" and "Jury"....Are These Acts Illegal??..

Why do The eBay and Paypal Employees
(That render the daily complaint decisions between
Buyers and Sellers)...Operate under incomplete False Names??

Do They know that the Decisions
They are making may be Against The Law??...

eBay may be in deep trouble
as the legitimate brick and mortar
Major Retailers like Sears, Target,
and Walmart demand that eBay be held
accountable for selling merchandise that
may have been stolen from Their Stores!!

One Side Feedback May Test The
Laws Of Equity and Equal Protection!!!

The proposed Paypal 21 Day Funds Holding Period
Will Not Work...It May Be Against Banking Regulations..
And What Seller in Their Right Mind is going to ship a product
Before They Receive Payment (and may never ever get paid)???

Dishonest Buyers Worldwide
will have a Field Day...While Legimate
Sellers may continue to Boycott and Go Elsewhere!!

Unless the new proposed one-sided
feedback decision is reversed Immediately
(or the feedback system is totally removed)...The
decline and fall of eBay may only take a Short Time!!

In My mind...
eBay Stockholders, Employees
Buyers & Sellers may be un-knowingly
(or knowingly) Conspiring to support an
ongoing International Criminal Enterprise!

Conspiracy Is
A "Serious" Crime!!

This comment
has been made by...
A Retired Private Detective...
& An eBay User(of almost 10 Years)!

http://www.ioffer.com/info/parody_feepay