hmmm...the economy is a factor? lol

eBay? Are you kidding me now? They are dead and they don't know it yet. A bunch of fools. They managed to alienate everyone who loved the site and made it great. They went from grassroots to blind corporate idiots. And their next target will be how to destroy what we love now: graigslist.

I have been buying and selling on eBay since 2002. The last time I used it was to sell a rare Blu-Ray two months ago. Now keep in mind I have 100% feedback, verified on PayPal, etc. Yet I sold ONE item for under $40 and they held my money for 30 days. A seller with perfect history and who is verified had his money held. Since then, I will never use eBay again.

Add that to the fact that fees are 10% if using PayPal (and what other choice do you have) and as stated above, eBay is long dead.

Ebay prices from sellers are not that different from Amazon or other web retailers. I would rather buy from a store like Amazon with an easy return policy and a quality product delivered. Having said that the only reason I am looking to buy from Ebay is because of the Live.com promotion. Otherwise forget Ebay.

eBay's restoration can only come by returning the site to it's former design and operation parameters. The site must retake the form which existed prior to those changes which resulted in our massively successful fee hike protest of August 2006.

Check the numbers. That's when eBay's decline began.

I'm still available for that CEO appointment. Then we'll let the restructuring begin!

The fact that you can`t buy or sell on eBay without a PayPal account to transfer funds is their downfall. Few people will open a PayPal account just to buy an item there. It seems that good old U S A CASH, Money Orders or personal checks are no good any more to those that run eBay and PayPal. The upper crust of management has gotten GREEDY like the big bank CEOs did and it ruined them as well as it will ruin Ebay. They are DOOMED. I wouldn`t touch a piece of their stock if it were a penny a share and I`ve been a SELLER/BUYER there for over ten years but not now. I can`t hand them 15% to 20% of every transaction in fees as well as loosing sales because buyers don`t have a PayPal account.
Bill

THE PROBLEM EBAY HAS IS THAT IT HES TAKEN THE ABILITY OF SELLERS TO GIVE NEGATIVE FEEDBACK TO HORRIBLE BUYERS. THE SELLERS BY THE WAY ARE THE ONES THAT MAKE THE MONEY FOR EBAY NOT THE BUYERS. THE ASS BACKWARD MANAGEMENT OF EBAY HAS LOST MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FOR THE SAKE OF THE FALSE PREMICE THAT THE COSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT. BUYERS SUCK SOMETIMES. OTHER SELLERS NEED TO KNOW WHO..

e-bay sucks

This was not unexpected within the seller community. Its the way we all felt Ebay was going on the path that it has stubbornly been sticking to. Mr. Donahoe needs to be replaced...and fast. His idea of making Ebay into Amazon does NOT work and is NOT what buyers want! He and his crew need to be replaced with a team who has solid SALES and business experience. Ebay deserves a team who will treat their customers (the sellers) with respect! Ebay has lost the trust of its community and its lost many of its valuable small sellers...they've been bashed around all year by Ebay's ridiculous and senseless policies...many of these sellers are on other sites - helping to build them in the same way they built Ebay - many are not listing at all anymore. Ebay is killing Ebay and somehow they're too stupid to see it - they just keep plodding along toward the cliff!!!

With the falling retail prices Ebay is no longer priced well enough to take the risk of being taken advantage of.

Most but not all of my Ebay experiences have been good.

you may want to look at http://tinycomb.com/2008/11/25/ten-reasons-why-ebay-died/

Ebay is much like coke, coke introduced the "new coke" and no one liked it and it failed, a very large difference is that coke did not alienate its customers and pull old coke from them. The "new e bay" is a failure and its management system leaves buyers and sellers in wonder of why this company has done what it has done to its customers. There are many single mothers and small business been pushed away by a company who needs its customers more than ever it would seem. Many have been watching and seeing what is going to happen and fell that a change back to the "old e bay" when it was friendly to its customers and its customers enjoyed using ebay. That day has far past and it seems like a nightmare to many who made there living, or just enjoyed some extra income or an occasional purchase on ebay. Management is completely callous to its customers, anyone who knows what is gong on at e bay should be appalled that the CEO says "We're absolutely confident of the direction we're going" when the company's customers are being pushed away by the company and others are simply not willing to list or use the site.
It should be clear, I am a wholesaler and not a good writer or a stock expert, but I have a first hand inside look having been a powerseller almost from e bay start, for over 10 years, 1.7 million per year sales and account for $156,000 paid to e bay per year for seller fees, this is the bases in which e bay shows profit or loss in a great way for there core business, this does not account for paypal fees charged, seller manager pro, e bay stores. Buyers and sellers are leaving e bay,
this can be proved by

http://www.sellerdome.com

It is interesting how the 1500 employee lay off received so much attention, however, OVER 10% of total powersellers were laid off/suspended because of flawed aggressive policy poorly implemented has not had a placement. It seems from the data that another 15% has simply decided e bay is not worth doing anylonger. This is proved by:

http://blog.sellerdome.com/?p=16

This study shows that between 25K e bay powersellers who account for $3000-$20,000 in seller fees paid to e bay each month from sellers. This is the only company separating itself from its long time customers, many, like myself, who has been with the company fatefully since inception and made it a community before new management. This seems a larger story than a simple layoff of e bay employees. Ebay saves money by laying off paid employees, but e bays profit takes a hit by getting rid of partners who contribute to e bay profit. For example: 20,000 powersellers/partners laid off/suspended that account for an average of $5,000 per month seller fees = $100,000,000 each month in seller fees not received by e bay. That is $1,200,000,000 per year in revenue given up for aggressively flawed policy by current management. Figure that on 20% margin and facing the headwinds of a slowed economy. The idea current ebay management had was by getting rid of 10% of its selling partners was going drive back 32% of its buyers, however, that has clearly not been the case, because the policy change was flawed and implemented with such aggression over a short period of time, 6 months total, 3 months aggressively.

Ebay seems to have driven away buyers by this and the new search method that sellers or buyers don't like with no concern of management. The company has managed to drive its investors away in the same motion as stock prices show a drop since new management put in place 6 months ago, before market crash. Ebay management charged its sellers/partners for decline in its core business and seems not to have taken into account the increased competition of walmart, best buy, circuit city and many others putting marketing dollars into the online sector of business. Ebay pushing away its partners, sellers and buyers, is only going to make profit softer and push away investors. With 70% more competitors in the market e bay only dropped 30% seems a strong market hold for e bay and a reason to support its partners in a currently working policy rather than place blame partners and will prove to decline its future market share as pointed out by many market analysis and Powersellers.

Ebay, through the wild west style new management, took a look at itself and realized it had a drop in the number of sellers buying on its site. It decided it was because of bad "buyer experience" and immediately, it seems without full thought of backfire, decided it was the sellers fault. In some cases, this may be true, but it is most likely because of a misunderstanding or lack of communication between ebay, the seller and buyer.

Instead of working within the community, that once believed that "people are basically good", took on a policy that made its tight net community fell like "criminals under big brother" and strong feelings of dislike for the symbol that was once regarded by its employees, buyers and sellers. Ebay has aggressively pushed away its partners will prove to decline its future market share and a relationship that may go un repaired when new management is called upon. When the culture was "people are basically good" employees at e bay were chronic buyers on e bay, now that has changed. It should also be noted that the sellers they suspended are also big buyers on e bay generally.

E bay is being accused of being a follower in the last few months and is trying to make itself like Amazon and other retailers. Ebay sellers who use Amazon report little to no sales. E bay has a niche (wholesale products) and Amazon has a niche (books, CDs with unmatched distribution etc) and both worked independently of each other, this is why Ebay sellers are not successful on Amazon and Amazon sellers are not successful using ebay. New ebay management, and even investors, have had a hard time realizing Amazon is a different market plan. Many e bay sellers are leaving to do Amazon but it is feared this will not prove successful for them. The e bay system worked and most were satisfied, buyers and sellers could realize other bad buyers or sellers. I sold $30,000 on Amazon per year with my 82 unique product catalog, but sold 1.7 m on ebay with the same catalog. It would be much different if the items were not $100+, if they were books, cds then Amazon would by far be superior.
Buyers and sellers are not happy anymore and the numbers will continue to show as long as this management stays. Economy will play a roll, that is why ebay can't afford to gamble with management that has proven to drive its partners, sellers and buyers, away. The company is large enough it will be around for a long time, maybe not in the online auction sector effectively as it was before, but it is still a mystery to many who use or used to use the site why this management has been allowed to make this aggressive of a change. If this is where they wanted to go, it would takes years to change a company this size effectively, it can't be done in 6 months times and certainty not given a slow in the economy.

Things are not happy under new management/John Donahoe management has made no one happy, employees, sellers or buyers or its investors. It has been a 6 month meltdown since new management fumbled a working system.
I talked to the owner of onlineauction 1-800-900-2828, Rowen Grisham, a previous e bay powerseller who seen improper change coming long before many sellers and buyers realized. He said he had seen a flood of sellers and buyers calling to learn about the site in the last 4 months. Rowen Grishamw says they are about to roll out a goggle search program that will make it more visible. This is just one example of where e bay buyer and seller base is going. Grisham seems to want to supply its sellers and buyers with a fair service, as when the ebay site was born and acted as a venue rather than an employer. Small companies that are hungry and taking advantage of a situation where ebay is not satisfying its demand.
Anyone considering investing or putting time into future sales may want to take a look at the aggressive, flawed policy’s they have put in place, there are little to no direct policy as there has been. Sellers, buyers and investors wouldn't be leaving if there was any good reason to stay.
Some of E bay's management ideas were good, however, has done a poor job or implementing the new changes and communicating to its buyers, sellers only after a few months of effect, some loosing there e bay business because of improper, unmonitored data, is still learning and it seems no one knows the answers even at the top account managers level.

Many sellers, buyers and investors alike have a dedicated special interest and hope management changes and ebay will turn themselves around, but it is going to take some quick and correct policy change back to the system that worked to undo what has been done in what would be considered by many as well as a powerseller account manager in a telephone conversation said that this is "the most aggressive change e bay has ever done" it is costing sellers there business and driving buyers away from the site. The Best Match search is fatally flawed and $0.35 listings are not going to fix that.

Sellers of the unique items that made eBay famous (and who paid listing fees) are leaving in record numbers, while eBay brokers deals with corporate sellers of new stuff you can get anywhere who don't pay listing fees deteriorate the profits. And their buyers are following them. Watch the Q4 and Q1 09 figures. A company of this size can keep up appearances for some time, but its customers, its customers customers, that is sellers and buyers, are speaking up and cannot be ignored in the long term, the leader of these policy's are and continue to drive away the core business of e bay and investors are taking notice.

E bay bought Bill Me Later, I would have been surprised just 6 months ago, but I am unhappy to report that I am not at this time, the reason is this management has taken down the tread that holds e bay together as can be seen by its buyers and sellers everywhere complaining about the flawed aggressive policies that have taken place over the last few months, maybe you have heard some of them or are one of them. Every comment citing that the previous system was not broken. E bay has had community and trust, this 13 year trust has been violated and has failed both sellers and buyers in just a few months of unfair, faulty policy change that has taken a ship this size and turned it so fast that it is out of control and is facing a challenge to bring the ship back to course as it was before in the core business, although still ignored by management at this time, this is just in the core business, this shows the danger of a lateral move like credit right now. Take into account there couldn't be worse timing as the world economy will not view this favorably given recent events. This policy change was over a short aggressive period, but the negative impact will make it difficult to navigate back in position, if this venture is not successful, it will be even worse for ebay, its investors, and the management that follows. The core business has taken a great hit world wide, now it is committed to a market that is new. A new market during the time when its core business is in jeopardy due to flawed policy and a slowed economy with management proven only to drive away customers. This will prove a challenge that may take years to repair relationships of its sellers and buyers when it has been realized by investors concerned on top of unpopular credit service. Migration back to the system with effective proven 12-15 record, built by previous management over 12-15 years, seems to be the only way to save the future profits and stability the company once enjoyed.

It could prove to be a successful venture, but e bay current management wants its investors to trust it in a huge risk buy, when the investors are clearly concerned and most can see that e bay can not run its core business in a way that is satisfying to its customers, causing them to leave, look for other suppliers that will eventually be able to meet demands of the once complacent sellers and buyers. Employees, buyers, sellers are all saying the same thing, why is e bay letting this happen. Nothing to gain, much to loose.
It would be hard for anyone with basic knowledge of the problems with recent policy of the core business to buy this, having been a seller and buyer for 10 years, it makes it even harder to buy. Why would smart investors believe they will run it any different than there core auction business.

I can say, I am happy to report my family, who bought stock when they seen my success on e bay back in the late 90s, sold there stock when I explained the new managements flawed, unfair, and aggressive policy handed down. The stock has followed since this and many are betting with there dollars fell it will continue to fall. Maybe Jim Cramer, hyper as he is, has a point when he said he could not get behind the company, and that someone should buy the company "and put them out of their misery." It is hard to argue with him, stock sold back in march, when these policies were being talked about, not yet implemented aggressively, sold ebay seems to be the smart move. Stock was $30-$32 per share at that time, March 2008 new management took over, it dropped every since as can be tracked from any stock quote chart. Yes, the economy took the abrupt hit, stock price had already plummeted by 1/3, $19-$22 per share, before it happened that our country was in trouble from bad credit/debt. Some say they wouldn't want to touch this a credit market at this time. I would also not want to answer to shareholders when they learn what long time sellers and buyers have seen in the past few months.


Let me say, I LOVE E BAY, it is just sellers and buyers don't like what new management has done to its strong culture. We have a vested interest and love for the old e bay culture.


Good thing for golden parachutes I guess, maybe that will soften the fall?

They keep raising and raising their rates ... so it's next to impossible to buy stuff cheap enough to resell at a profit on ebay (after you subtract their listing fees, final value fees, credit card processing fees, etc.).

I know the bridge business is not a good business
to be in right now but if anyone is interested in buying one please let me know.

Contact: GMAJORSPRESENTS

I've been buying on ebay for a few years with 100% positive feedback. I decided for the first time to sell something which sold for $260. The highest bidder sent me a message saying she changed her mind. Turned out this isn't the first time she's decided not to pay. In a good ebay universe the company would make her pay my final value fee and I would just go ahead and relist. Ebayers recommended Second Chance offers and to forget trying to punish non-performing buyer. I offered Second Chance to runner up but when he tried to pay my paypal invoice paypal wouldn't process payment because he wasn't winning bidder. Customer service was useless in trying to fix this. I have to wait two weeks if I don't want to pay their commission twice. These types of experiences have a way of getting around on the internet. They are in trouble if they don't start doing a better job satisfying customers.

C'Mon Ebay C.E.O. Johnny D.
Step Down
C'Mon Johnny Boy
GET OUT !
You're Holding Things Up Man.
We Have BUSINESS TO DO.
GET OUT !

I couldn't be MORE HAPPY to hear about ebay coming to an end!
I sold on ebay for 6 years and did really well. Needless to say they made quite a bit of money off me and continued to slam me! I was tired of being ltreated that way... so I left and got a real job.
WHAT IDIOTS! I could have ran the site better than what they were doing. I had several conversations with ebay employees and had warned them "you better find another job because ebay will be laying off soon"! I have read several articals about ebay laying off. GEE... imagine that!

I will never use ebay again and will not recommend it to others as I did in the past. They abused those of us that made ebay what it was. They deserve everything that is happening right now ;)

Are there any potential sellers, buyers, investors or analysts covering eBay out there? Before you swallow allof the corporate dribble, you might want to read this. You could also get good understanding of this company if you interviewed 10 of your friends or relatives who sell on eBay rather than by listening to eBay’s puff-speak. For even further insight, take a look at the U tube video of eBay Live 2008. Some rooms were only partially full; some had very angry EBayers attending.
Hey eBay! Aren’t we seller your customers? You bet your sweet radio button we are. I have never been treated more banally by any other company as much as by eBay.
As someone who has sold on the site for 8 years and with over 15,000 transactions complete, I can speak with experience.

Selling on eBay has become an Alice in Wonderland-like endeavor. I’m sorry but I just can’t wrap my mind around some of eBay’s gibberish and double talk. And please spare me all of the holistic niceties like “for the good of the community at large”. Aren’t I a part of the community? They speak to us as if they were gurus and we are the ignorant flock. They issue pronouncements and policies as though it were Wisdom carved into stone tablets. They declare these policies unwaveringly and ignore views to the contrary. Unfortunately, their arbitrary rules are now putting some of their best sellers out of business. Many of us are self employed small businesses or folks who supplement our incomes with eBay sales, so the figures do not show up in government statistics. Ironically, this follow many years of encouraging small seller to “join the community”.
With great regret, I admit that I put other business interests aside and dove into eBay full time.


Here are a few examples of what sellers have to put up with.
1. We now risk getting suspended if our sellers’ satisfaction rating averages known as dsr’s (detailed sellers ratings on shipping time, shipping & handling cost, as- described and communication) drop below 4.1 out of 5. So a 4 is NOT a good rating for a seller to get from a buyer. Curiously, EBay tells buyers that a 4 rating IS good. Most buyers think they are rating sellers satisfactorily with a 4, unaware that it can actually get them suspended. What genius at eBay designed this system? Notice any wrongheaded thinking here? These buyers have been given unprecedented power to put us out of business due to no fault of our own and for no legitimate reason at all based on erroneous information given to them by eBay. Most of them don’t even know the damage they are causing to some of the best and most unique sellers. They don’t know that they are putting people out of business. Of course EBay exec’s get to keep their hands clean by blaming these blameless sellers for poor performance. This can only be construed as nothing less than diabolical. EBay can say that they are not putting you out of business; we are putting ourselves out of business by giving sub-par service. EBay deliberately skews the system guaranteeing restriction and suspensions. It’s a grand design and it’s working. Neighbors shooting neighbors. Perfectly satisfied buyers are putting perfectly good sellers out of business.
Then there are those who deliberately harm sellers out of malice or sheer stupidity. You’ve run into these people on the highway, in a grocery line and at work. Arrogant, over demanding, unreasonable, vindictive. They’re out there and they will find your auctions eventually. You only have to run into a few of them to be thrown off if you’re a small seller. Way to go eBay!

Do I comply with all of EBay and PayPals polices? You betcha. I always do. Have I done anything wrong? Nope. Can these people get me suspended if I’m a low to medium volume seller? It most certainly can! For 30 days. I can lose 8 % of my yearly income based simply on the erroneous opinion of a few buyers. At the very least my search status can be lowered, I’ll be considered Not in compliance with the Sellers Satisfaction policies and I might be out of the running for any kind of power seller discount. Other restrictions might apply too. For instance I might have my Paypal payments held up for a while. There is no room for a mis-step, misunderstanding, mis-directed package, human error, lost email, personal emergency or any one of a few dozen things that can go haywire in any transaction.
It works something like this. Lets say you have 50-60 positives for the month with decent dsr’s. A buyer side swipes you with negative/neutral feed back and low dsr’s. Your SOL. Yes, the averages are figured on a 30 day rolling basis. Day by day, as old positives and good dsr’s roll off the screen, you may not be getting enough new positives and good dsr’s to replace them. Too bad. Your dsr’s continue to drop because you haven’t listed much lately and now any low dsr’s weigh heavily in your averages and may pull you down below eBay’s averages over all.

To make matters worse, eBay may restrict you from selling many name brand items for 90 days if your dsr’s drop below eBays 30 day average. Even if your dsr’s roll up to a better rating within a day or two, you’ll still be restricted for 90 days. Don’t ask me how they justify a 90 day restriction based on low 30 day dsr’s but this is eBay logic.

If I write to eBay as thousands of sellers already have, I will get a canned email back in a few days telling me that I must improve my sellers’ performance along with a link explaining just how to do that. Naturally, there is nothing useful in the link.
Since I already describe my items accurately, inform the buyer when it’s being shipped, ship quickly and at a reasonable price, there is absolutely nothing I can do to improve my service. Case closed. EBay doesn’t really want to hear squat about it.

Shipping is the most troublesome of all of the dsr’s. Initially, the buyer agrees to pay your stated shipping and handling. They want their item fast. So you ship by priority mail. It’s costly, but the buyer gets the item in record time and says so in the feedback. But as they thought about it, they really didn’t like having to pay for the quick service. What is a seller to do? Ship 1st class and risk a ‘slow delivery’ dsr, ship without delivery confirmation and risk a chargeback? EBay, what is it that you want from me? What should I do?



2. Non paying bidders are a continuing problem. For one thing, they know that they can hurt you, but you can’t really do much about it. EBay urges you to file an ‘unpaid item dispute’, but you’ll find out in a jiffy that you’re in for a whirlwind of scat if you do. As long as they promise to send payment in the ‘unpaid item dispute’ you file, they can leave you a neg and there isn’t a darn thing you can do about it. I’ve decided to never file for a partial refund any more. It’s just too damaging to my hard earned reputation and risks my future income. So much for keeping eBay honest or warning other sellers or keeping eBay honest. EBay has a way to refund your fee without bringing wrath unto you buy filing for a Mutual Withdrawal. This method insures that the buyer will be free to do this to others because they will not get a strike against them. Many experienced sellers don’t bother filing disputes anymore at all. That’s the way eBay likes it. EBay keeps the money and the buyer keeps on keepin’ on. Life is jolly this way for everyone except the seller. He/she loses the fees and has to do more work dealing with the unsold item.

3. While PayPal doesn’t require that your eBay and PayPal addresses match, they will only protect sellers from bogus refunds and chargeback’s if you ship to the Paypal address w/online tracking. Hmmm. This angers buyers who prefer items be shipped to work, or college students who are away at school and want the item shipped to their dorm.
And who do buyers blame when you explain PayPal’s policy regarding shipping? You guessed it, the Seller. Why? Cause they Can. Complaining to PayPal doesn’t get them any satisfaction. And satisfaction is what they want. Any way they can get it. And how do they express this anger? You guessed it again. They express it with negative feedback.


4. Since PayPal requires online tracking of packages in their Seller Protection Plan,
I am forced to ship all international packages via priority airmail. Well, that is
an expensive way to go for cheapie items. A lightweight item that sells for $20 might cost an additional $20 for priority international airmail. Once again, who do the buyers blame?
Yep, the seller. My international customers complain all the time and it shows in my dsr’s. The fix? Don’t sell internationally? Eat the fees? For crying out loud. I’m trying to make a living here!

5. PayPal will let you register with just about any name and address you can think up. You
can leave out apartment numbers, double enter a street, mis-spell a city name, use any cockamamie euphemism for your street or city that you see fit. Foreign addresses are even trickier to navigate. You better not simply cut and paste the address that PayPal provides. It often contains the word ‘default’ in it, very often the country is entered twice, and the street address is often juxtaposed where the town should be, cities are stated incorrectly as Provinces or Counties. If it gets lost or returned guess who gets blamed. You guessed right again. It’s the seller of course. PayPal dumps this issue back onto sellers and feels no need to deal with this bothersome issue what so ever. It’s not their problem, it’s yours. They make no attempt to correct it in any individual case when it’s brought to their attention. They just want to sign people up users and report that growth to Wall Street. My parakeet could get a PayPal account if I assign him an email address.


6. And eBay Support or customer service? It’s virtually non existent. I don’t mean that they won’t write back
to you. They really do write back sometimes. What I mean is that their answer will not have very much to do with your question. And it will only state policy and it will be useless. This presumes that you have the patience to plow thru the list of ‘pre approved’ questions and are actually able to find one that aligns with your issue. They basically tell you to take a hike by sending you a useless link.
At no time in all my years of dealing with customer support have I found a single rep that actually read or understood the issue I wrote about. I’ve never had them listen to reason, recognize the obvious, use common sense, attempt to understand an issue, help resolve an issue, or reverse a decision. Some policies and decisions are clouded in mystery leaving it a mystery to sellers as to how to proceed with the future. Again, this is how eBay wants it.

Any of you sellers out there ever get one of their ‘surveys’? Boy oh boy, do they ever ask the wrong questions.

7. Recently announced layoffs at eBay now guarantee us even less customer service. EBay is sure going to some extreme lengths to keep Wall Street bamboozled. They’re playing a 3 card Monte game here. It will save them money, protect the bottom line and spray more of that pine scent fragrance around a stinky room.


8. And then there are the fees. The relentless fee increases. If you are actually trying
to make a profit (as opposed to simply getting rid of unwanted items for any price at all), it’s simply not worth selling anything for under $40-50. Once you calculate your cost of merchandise, your time and all eBay and PayPal fees, you realize that you could make more money mowing your neighbor’s lawn.

9. There are a number of policy changes that are sure to tighten the noose on
sellers as well. ‘No more paper payments’ is just terrible and will certainly cost me sales. Good for PayPal’s bottom line I s’pose, if that’s all you’re interested in. But not good if you want to grow eBay and sell your goodies to the widest available market out there. Yeah, there will be other forms of electronic payments allowed, but few people will use them and small sellers can’t get a merchants account.

10. EBay is restricting certain (mysterious) name brand products even more. Hey eBay! Listen to this. Get pro active about ridding your site of actual fake merchandise and leave reliable sellers alone. Take a look at our selling histories before restricting us. Doesn’t our long term relationship with you hold any weight at all? Doesn’t a stellar record indicate honesty, reliability, trustworthiness? Doesn’t it say something favorable about me when 25 % of my buyers are repeat and multiple buyer and dealers? It does other places like courts and banks and credit reporting companies, but not with eBay or PayPal. Especially, not if a newbie slams you with an undeserved neutral or negative and not if a non paying bidder slams you in retaliation for filing an unpaid item dispute. It doesn’t even matter to you that the person who slammed my feedback and dsr’s has less than 10 transactions under their belt and has left numerous negatives and neutrals for seller. Do ya think we might have a malcontent here? Even though the above examples have nothing to do with the issue of authentic vs. inauthentic merchandise, eBay will restrict you anyway simply on the basis of lowered and undeserved dsr’s.

EBay, I know that you’re unconcerned with the fact that I just tied up thousands of dollars in items that you arbitrarily decided to restrict me from selling. What do you suggest I should do with these items now? What brands will you restrict me from selling next? How can I buy confidently? How can I run my business like this?

11. And what a cluttered, confusing and bloated site. The Best Match search is a joke. Everybody hates it. Buyers and sellers alike. Ever try to plow through all of the gobbledygook on their site? Navigating through the policies and restrictions and suggestions is dizzying.


12. EBay isn’t the hot selling place it used to be. Almost every seller will tell you that it often takes multiple relisting of an item before it sells. And prices achieved are not what they used to be. So while the notion that you can make big bucks might be true in some instances and with some select items, it is not true for most sellers. Our margins are shrinking. Period.

13. EBay touts itself as a safe place to trade and PayPal as a safe way to transact payments. True for the most part. But it’s only a matter of time before somebody stumbles onto your auction that disrupts this happy notion. Here’s the problem. Most small sellers do not have corporate money to absorb any losses at all.

14. EBay allows you to have your own policies regarding payment, how and when you’ll ship etc. All well and good. This is absolutely necessary because eBay is made up of a huge variety of sellers. As long as you stay within a reasonable range and you’re not violating any eBay policies, you can state your policies on the site.
While buyers are instructed that the must abide by the sellers policies, the truth of the matter is that your policies are 100% unenforceable. Some buyers will harass you into other shipping methods, some will pay late, some will not contact you within your stated time frame, some don’t read the condition of the item, and some misunderstand the item they won. When you run into this messy situation (and you will), not only is it time consuming with note taking and emailing, there isn’t any help available from eBay when a buyer violates your policies. Yes, there is a form you can complete to report them, but that is just a reporting venue. It does nothing to solve the situation. So now the auction stalls, the item sits, the payment doesn’t arrive and you’re in limbo. Guess what? They can leave you a real honest negative feedback too like “seller uncooperative”. Or they can out and out lie. Bottom line? Your policies aren’t worth squat. You can’t have feedback removed on the basis that a buyer violated your TOS.



15. Don’t be fooled by all the hype. Selling on eBay is not easy. It’s extremely labor intense and it’s expensive on a percent basis. And that’s just for the transaction itself and if your item sells. Add to that the following: Responding to questions, leaving feedback, dealing with shipping issues, obtaining shipping and other office supplies, boxes and labels, buying and maintaining software and just plain old monitoring your auctions. In addition to that you must keep up with all new eBay regulations, keep your computer in tiptop shape and monitor your site for any potential blips. For example: If eBay fails to notify you of a sale, too bad. The buyer will contact you with a very unhappy email. If PayPal fails to send you notification of a payment received, too bad. The buyer will be filing that ‘item not received’ claim shortly and be ‘honest’ in their feedback about what a crappy seller you are. Anyone who has ever received one of those ‘special’ emails from an empowered buyer with a keyboard knows what I’m talking about.
All of this presumes of course that you haven’t actually made any real mistakes at any of level of the transaction. There are no less than 20 steps involved in each auction and sale. And all need to go absolutely perfectly. Being human, mistakes are bound to happen. You may put the wrong label on a box, have a personal emergency that delays shipping by a day or two, fail to notice an imperceptible scratch on the bottom of an item. Your buyer will most likely send you an insulting and overly demanding email complete with threats of every kind in their very first contact with you.
Buyers tend to like, and eBay promotes personal attention. Fine, but they want it with corporate efficiency. It’s tough to give that out consistently and flawlessly. They want you to be personable and robotic at the same time. There is no room for error of any kind with the New EBay. None.

Ah yes! Then there is the twisted logic of the ‘no negative feedback for buyers’ system. So much has already been written about this, that I won’t even go into its lack of merit. Let me just say that it leaves sellers vulnerable and exposed. Being self employed I try to reduce undo risk at every level. The No Neg policy puts a bull’s-eye on every sellers back. That is a very uncomfortable position for any business to be in.

Getting’ the picture here? EBay is on a course that has chased away thousands of good sellers and has gotten thousands more suspended or thrown off due to no fault of their own. Tens of thousands is more likely the true number. I doubt they’ll give that number to Wall Street though. Just read the message boards. Better hurry because eBay pulls the posts they don’t like. So how will eBay recoup the numbers? Ad revenues and layoffs are how. Way to go eBay! Now that’s serving the community at large I’d say. You’re quickly on your way to becoming just another homogenous site filled with the same old same old. My how you have strayed.

I know some sellers who are leaving now because they feel it’s only a matter of time before they get thrown off. They’re taking preemptive measures to protect their livelihoods and rightfully so because they sense that their incomes are in jeopardy and that eBay has become deaf, dumb and blind. So you can taut eBay as being a safe and secure place to sell, but in fact it is not. Not anymore. The way it’s designed now, a few online vandals, a few competitors, or a few newbies with nothing to lose can put a seller with thousands of successful transactions and a 99% positive rating temporarily out of business; and a temporary suspension can result in unpaid mortgages and credit card bills for tens of thousands of sellers.
And please eBay, stop using corporate holistic phrases like ‘for the greater good’ or ‘for the good of the community’. The sense of community is dead.
You’re greedy. It’s ok. Just admit it. I don’t care. I’d prefer you treat us as honestly as you expect us to treat our customers. If I made as many mistakes as you have, if I gave the same customer service that you do, I’d have been Naru’d years ago.


My personal reply to all of your oppressive new policies is this. I will continue to offer great service to my customers. I will continue to describe my items accurately and ship quickly. I will not change a thing in that area. But I will no longer bother you with silly questions. I will no longer give you a heads up on non paying bidders by reporting them. This only hurts me in the long run. I will no longer use your Suggestion console. I will no longer report any buyer or seller for any policy violation. I will no longer recommend eBay to my friends. I will no longer seek to increase my business on eBay. I will no longer buy anything on eBay. I will not buy eBay stock. I will tell every buyer and seller who cares to listen just how poisonous the atmosphere has become from management. I will tell anyone who plans to sell on eBay how you are destroying the relationships between buyer and seller. I will tell them to find another way to sell their items. I will tell them that eBay used to be a great place to sell but not anymore.

If I’m not mistaken, many corporations calculate the cost of acquiring new customers. Having spent money to promote their business, customers have a dollar value don’t they? Assuming this is true; I wonder just how much money eBay is willing to flush before they get the message.

While eBay rightfully insists on honesty and integrity from its seller they are woefully lacking in these qualities themselves. They lie, misinform, misdirect and purposefully make it near impossible to get a refund from them when they are at fault on any issue. I believe that Webster defines this as hypocrisy. Trying to get to the bottom of any issue with your account is next to impossible. To make matters worse, any dishonesty on the part of buyers is completely ignored for the most part.

No, I do not wish for eBay’s demise. No one really does. I want to see it to continue to be there but be better for both buyers and sellers. So let this be yet one more shout out to eBay that will go unheard.

It's also becoming clear that they are placing barriers to entry for new sellers.

Vendable - Are eBay Brand Restrictions on the rise? http://tinyurl.com/6376sl

Building off of Patricia013 and the lengthy piece by time, sellers are definitely getting more & more frustrated with eBay's 2008 seller policies that started in January but were not fully implemented until May. EBay is forgetting about what makes them unique and its sense of garage sales finds. Not sure if others saw this but Business Week did an October article entitled the Growing Frustrations of eBay Sellers at http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/oct2008/sb20081021_503608_page_2.htm

If you are frustrated with eBay's seller policies, there's a petition to pressure & boycott eBay's changes with its seller policies at http://www.thepoint.com/campaigns/boycott-ebay-for-fair-seller-policies if you'd be interested in joining. My mother is a small, at-home seller, but her frustrations encouraged me to sign up and at least try to make some sort of difference with eBay. The petition is challenging the following -- all sellers having a lowered listing fee; a higher final value fee; and no recourse when it comes to fraudulent, non paying bidders as sellers won’t be allowed to leave any negative or neutral feedback for any buyer.

Thanks.