Sunday, January 25, 2009

Ebay Rant

When eBay announced last year that sellers could no longer leave a buyer negative feedback, I knew it was a bad move. There are just too many newbies on ebay who may not read the entire description, receive the item , and if it's not exactly as they imagined it would be....bam! The seller receives a negative and theres nothing they can do about it. Some buyers take 2-3 weeks to pay, but guess what? The seller cannot leave them a negative. If the buyer receives a damaged item which was a result from careless handling, they can also leave a negative without even contacting the seller. Many long time sellers left immediately after the feedback change, but many stayed until they realized that eBay simply isn't looking out for the sellers anymore. They have lost many great sellers from this, and just yesterday I heard from a friend who has been a member since 2000. Her account was suspended without notice, for leaving a comment on her buyer's feedback list. Since she could not leave her a negative, she left the positive mark, (while gritting her teeth, I'm sure),but she left a comment that did not sit well with the buyer. The buyer then contacted eBay and the rest is history. You can read about it here. No warning, just flat out suspended her account.

eBay was a great place at one time...back in 2000. It isn't so great now , in my opinion. People have so many other options to sell their goods. Sell from your own web site or Etsy. I'm sure there are others, but you get the picture. By the time eBay charges you listing fees, final value fees, pay pal fees....is it really worth it? I guess it depends on what you are selling, but for a lot of sellers, it simply isn't worth the hassle.

7 comments:

Amy said...

you are so right. It really is not what is use to be* Oh it use to be so much fun, remember that bud? we had so many good laughs..but no it's not fun anymore. and costly, once you do the math you're lucky sometimes if you make a 10.00 profit...and for all the work it use to take to do an item foget about it...no more for this girl...back in 2000 the possibilities for making dough were endless:) how many things did we paint white and chippy up?? hahahahhahahahha! if you still sell in that trap get out of there! I often think about the fab 4 and the sunday girls club bwwwwahhaahha hard to believe that was 7 years ago??? it was fun! xoxoxox

Lady Jane Vintage said...

Nanc....That was said PERFECTLY, and I THANK YOU for giving people who do or do not use Ebay a further heads up! I just FINALLY received an email from Ebay this afternoon - THREE DAYS LATER, and it was a blatant, generic email, telling me simply to read over their policies, fill my name, address, phone number, and Ebay user name into a reply email to them, and my account would more than likely be re-instated. OK, so they SUSPEND me with NO warning or questions asked, but then if I fill in my name, address, and phone number, etc. into an email back to them, I'm back "in" with no questions asked?! I want a Rep from Ebay to CONTACT ME PERSONALLY and ask for MY side of the story AND give me a BIG FAT APOLOGY!!! In the meantime, I did take your advice and opened an account on Etsy. Seems like a great place!:) Jen

Diane Mars said...

Wow, I totally agree with you, I have been a part of E-bay from it's very beginning and I used to love it no longer, like you said the changes in the feedback, what were they thinking? And yes once all the fees are paid and pay pal you might as well just figure out a price and sell it on Etsy.
Hugs, Diane

The Faded Cottage said...

Hey Nancy,
This has been interesting reading all the comments about ebay, I use to buy lots of stuff from ebay, you being one of them that I had saved in my favorites. I always loved looking at your auctions and buying stuff from you. Wow, Amy brought up some good memories about ebay. I remember the fab 4 and the sunday girls club, wow, I can't believe how long ago that was. Yes ebay has changed and not in a good way. I rarely buy from ebay, I like etsy a whole better, I don't have to wait for an auction to end, I can buy stuff at a set price and get it alot faster. Your shop looks gorgeous Nancy, I can't wait to visit Ca again and when I'm there, I'll drop by. I recently started my blog again, if you get a chance, check it out and let me know whatcha think. I'm trying to make way out it "blogland" hahaha........smiles, Janice

Amy said...

tanks budsky! I look forward to your updates too...love love to hear all about life at the puffy wuffy home and shop:) mwah! <3

Maison Douce said...

I, too, am very disenchanted with Ebay, and my sales have slowed down significantly, because I just don't feel like doing it!! I got really tired of buyers complaining about the smallest things just to get money back, or even wanting to send back items claiming the most insignificant of imperfections (for what I think would be buyers remorse...)!
Isabel

robin de koning said...

rock on nancy and jen...i so agree with you on the whole ebay thing and i think that if we all pull out for awhile, ebay will learn to cherish their sellers more...after all, that's where they make their money...something similar happened to me with a authentic "shabby chic" duvet cover...a lady purchased it and demanded that i give her money back, along with postage and return postage cause she was not satisfied with the quality...the quality was gently used, but near perfect...she said there was a "spot" on it...i asked her to wash it and if she was still not happy to send it back...NO, that was not good enough...mind you, she only paid $67 for a $300 duvet cover that was barely used! i was bullied into giving her money back, i washed it and resold it...but, i did contact ebay and actualy spoke to a human being and his advice to me was to report her as an unpaid buyer which did not go over too well with her...that was the only way to receive my fees back, but i don't think i got them all back when it was said and done...but i think i'm done with ebay!
xoxo