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In every issue, readers soundoff about issues important to them. From feedback to payment services, from increased fees to posting policies, AuctionBytes Soundoff gives you a chance to air your views.
Re: "When a Gift is Not a Gift: How (not) to fill out a customs form"
http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y206/m01/abu0159/s05
Hi Brian,
I read with interest your article "When A Gift Is NOT A Gift" in the AuctionBytes newsletter. It was truly informative and educational, and I hope all U.S. sellers read it.
As a Canadian Ebay buyer (and seller), I am in awe about the ignorance of part-time and small-time U.S. sellers when it comes to Customs value declaration when shipping to Canada. Your point about marking the value (on the Customs form) only what the buyer paid for the item on Ebay cannot be stressed enough.
I can't tell you how many times I have purchased a small, in expensive item (say, a used article of children's clothing) from a U.S. seller, only to pay duty when it arrives because the seller has wrongly marked the Customs value as what THEY believe the item was worth, or what THEY paid for it when it was new. This miscalculation often pushes the item's value past the Canada Customs allowance beyond the $19.99 CDN, after which we Canadians must pay duty as well as a brokerage fee of approx. $5 per transaction. While we can file a claim to get the duty back (by providing the Ebay receipt showing the final purchase price), Canada Customs will NOT refund the brokerage fee under any circumstances. Getting the brokerage fee refunded by the mistaken U.S. seller is impossible if they have stated in their auctions, "Responsibility of foreign taxes/duty is the responsibility of buyers", as you have suggested in your article. Brokerage fees are NOT duty fees, but sellers will stand steadfastly on their disclaimers.
To their benefit, I believe U.S. sellers mark Customs forms wrongly because of the same fear of punitive penalties your article articulated. They want to "follow the rules/laws", but are clueless as to how to do it properly. Educating these sellers would go a long way to addressing - and perhaps, reversing - the increasing animosity between Canadian buyers and U.S. sellers.
Best regards,
Julie
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Ina,
Great newsletter but as a live auctioneer I would love to see more stories about actual auctions. We use Proxibid to facilitate our auctions but we use them in conjunction with a large in-house crowd. Makes for a great auction. if we can be of any help let me know. Thanks
Rich
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Re: "eBay Pulls Listing that Contain References to BidPay"
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y06/m02/i02/s01
Dear Ms. Steiner,
I just saw your article on BidPay. I just logged on to their website to discover that they ceased operations effective 31 Dec. 2005. I just won an EBay auction & I am a BidPay member & now I am at a loss as to how to facilitate payment to the seller of the item through online means. PayPal is inaccessible to me as it's not offered in the Philippines where I reside due to regulatory reasons. I checked Western Union's website & they're of no help - their credit-card online payment remittance service is only for the U.S., Canada, & a few European countries. If you can suggest an alternative secure online auction payment site using my credit card, I would appreciate it - it would spare me the hassle of going to my local bank to process a demand draft payable to the seller & then sending it through the mail. Thanks.
Walter
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Ina,
What do you think about (eBay User ID removed by Editor) flaunting these rules? If you check out their listings, first you'll see that their payment terms are in a graphic (isn't that eBay illegal?) and they also note that (1) they accept BidPay and (2) they accept cash.
I know that eBay has been enforcing the BidPay restrictions, as well as the cash payment restrictions for smaller sellers - any thought on why this hasn't been enforced system-wide? Or perhaps it might be a good question to ask of eBay.
I appreciate you taking the time to read this email. Thanks!
P.
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Re "Ten New Year's Resolutions for eBay Sellers"
http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y206/m01/abu0159/s02
The problem with this logic is you forget to point out that listing stuff in an ebaY store subjects you to FVF which more than wipe out the savings of cheap listings. For example, an $879 item costs $5.32 less to list, but $19.90 more in FVF, plus we're only now being promised that it will even show up when someone searches ebaY.
What you say is true, but works only if you have a lot of stuff you want to list somewhere and don't want to sell it, but I thought the whole point of listing stuff is to sell it.
As far as the "discount" for driving people to your items (and making them a click away from your competition), that's bogus, too. If you're going to drive people to your items (and have them available in google/froogle and other searches), you're much better off listing them at http://wwww.ecrater.com and paying no monthly fee, no insertion fee and no FVF. You can't get a better discount than that.
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Dear Ina,
I was reading this story: http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y06/m01/i13/s01 And of course not trying to be forward or rude but I have been operating a drop-off location (retail store) that sells only on behalf of other people since 1998 (see my first fb comment). We don't claim to be the oldest but I certainly think the company you mention is not the oldest. I would be more than happy to provide client testimonials to you who can state they have been our clients since 1998 because we still do business with some of the early clients.
I do think the article interesting but the claim of "oldest" could be corrected if you wish to be accurate. Hope you have a great day and look for my upcoming book "The Auction Advocate" which covers this topic in lavish detail.
Christopher Spencer
http://www.borntodeal.com
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Ms. Steiner,
Hello, my name is Angela and I read your article on Propay (http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y200/m06/abu0016/s04).
I was a victim of fraud by a seller that was an account holder at Propay. I believed that I had checked out the company before sending $ to seller. However, now seller has skipped town. Where does the fault lie? Seller of course...but internet scams are so prevalent is there any responsibility from Ebay, Propay, credit card companies don't just eat fraud for lunch. Is it just "Buyers BEWARE" and take their chances in a domain-sea of con artists that are technically savvy and to bleed so many unsuspecting FIS (frequent Internet Shoppers) DRY?
I was out minimally, but it could have been so much worse...sheer number of victims constitutes large dollars in this case.
Can you respond to me?
Sincerely,
Angela
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Ms. Steiner,
It seems to me you are working on fraud at e bay from the horses tail to its head. We in the antiqueing business have known for many years that our govt. must make reproductions mark their products if they are to come into this country with their country of origin. Not with sticky tags, but mark in the product itself, just like they used to. Otherwise they should not be allowed to sell in the U.S. where most of their profit comes from. That's where to start, with the people that have the control to make this happen and keep it in front of the public, so they know how a lot of us are being defrauded.
Thank you
Donna
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Hi Ina,
I appreciate your emails as often we can learn more about ebay and paypal and other resources available to sellers as well as some intersting articles.
After selling 4 years on Ebay I have watched Ebay become so strong and powerful that they can raise fee's substantially as they did last year, make rules and policies as they wish and yet while Ebay does a great job and especially offer support for us as one of their top 1,000 sellers I wish there were other choices. I am sure in time Overstock and Yahoo will slowly grow but with the combination of EBay and Paypal there is no real competition.
It is quite concerning that Paypal rules lack in so many areas and since Ebay owns Paypal they should be more consistent and cooperate better with each other as well as buyers and sellers.
Power seller support as well as Ebay's own trust and safety tell me they don't have the man power to enforce all violations so only after numerous complaints one may see action. If you are not a power seller like us it is even less likely any violations reported get acted on.
An example is if you search "DREMEL" which is a brand name and registered trademark for small power tools and accessories you get about 1400 hits. For 6 months and with 5 requests via our power sellers account rep I have questioned how about 1/2 of those listings are for Dremel type items and not an authentic Dremel item. I have been told by support as well as verbally by Trust and Safety it is a clear violation of keyword spam policy. I have been successful about having auctions fixed for 1 or 2 sellers and realize it is hard to enforce every violation but know there are several other large sellers doing this deliberately.
Ebay is so big and bureaucratric that instances like this continue.
I see other large power sellers especially on cell phone or small electronics make auctions slightly different to circumvent ebays 10 item listing policy. I have had a malicous buyer close over 100 auctions for several thousands of dollars and mess up our auctions and inventory and all Ebay can say is we have tools in place to prevent a new Ebayer from doing this but it did not work.
I see other sellers use keyword spamming every day and often if it is reported the response from safe harbor is too slow and not effective as the auction already ended. Ebay is too big to police themselves and while I appreciate the attitude of leaving it to the sellers it often creates an unfair playing field. Should Ebay take responsibility to allow sellers ship perfume (fragrances) from the USA to Canada against the laws of Canadian customs - I was told they leave it to the sellers to follow the laws? Personally I feel Ebay should be more responsible as a major corporation and tremendous public image.
I also most recently asked some serious questions. I had an order come from Nordstroms and the item was wrong. Before even checking on my order they asked a few security questions to verify who I was. I also called American Express to question a charge on my statement and the same standard protocol of questions. I also called Paypal to ask about a transaction and got the same questions.
However in the past few weeks we have received numerous Paypal chargebacks for various reasons. The facts are Paypal can only confirm transactions (shipping addresses) in the USA, Canada and UK yet buyers and sellers rely on Ebay and Paypal with our funds. The facts are anyone can register on ebay with a credit card and Email and change this info to be fraudulent at any time. The facts are Paypal does not require confirmed addresses. The facts are Ebay and Paypal can and often do have different names and addresses and do not share this information. The facts are Ebay allows a venue to buy and sell but does not share the info in our case about the buyer such as their registered name and address. We have no idea who or where our buyer should be locacted. Paypal allows a buyer to fill in any shipping address and will not and does not provide the proper name and address on file so once again it is easy to fraud sellers if one tries. I find it hard to believe that Ebay and Paypal are not very corporate responsible to prevent fraud and while such transactions in the realm of all of EBay sales are minimal and most people are honest it is too easy to be set up and we do see a severe increase in fraud as buyers and sellers get smarter.
Personally I feel Ebay and Paypal need to work closer as any instance of fraud is 100% the sellers loss. If we used a 3rd party credit card processor and follow their rules such as verify zip code or calling for authorization if a dollar limit the credit card fee's cover such fraud which unfortunately does happen as well but not the sellers loss. Every day we see emails to ship to a different address, or Paypals not match with Ebay info and when asking Ebay or Paypal the answer is it is not covered and either take the risk or dont ship it.
I am asking for you and your other readers to help motivate Ebay and Paypal to make it a safer buying and selling place for all. Ebay ((Paypal) have a responsibility to do more than take our fee's and so far are slow to help in the 2 or 3 years now they have owned Paypal. Even Paypal tells me other online auction payments have gone out of business due to fraud and risks. Paypal tells me there are risks in every business which I can also appreciate owning a business for 20 years. Why can't Ebay and Paypal do more to minimize such risks.
Thanks for listening
(please keep my name confidential for fear of Ebay not appreciating my comments)
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Regarding a letter from a reader named David published in the last issue
http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y206/m01/abu0159/s08
Hi Ina,
Don't you DARE print any kind of apology or retraction for your headline about Amazon refusing to budge when the postal rates went up, as requested by "David" in the 1/22/06 issue. It was neither wrong nor "grossly misleading". I can only assume that David is not a professional Amazon Marketplace seller.
Here's the way it works: Amazon charges us a flat $40 fee per month. Then they take 15% of our sales.
I've never begrudged them that (although I think it's steep) because without them I wouldn't have my business at all, I've never had to hassle with credit card companies about chargebacks, and I don't have to advertise to bring in customers.
But then, on top of these other fees, they keep 26% of the shipping fee they charge their (our) customers, at least for a CD. (I don't know what the percentage is for other classes of products.) That part has always fried my butt - they have never offered an explanation for why they do that. We are the ones who pay for all the shipping supplies and the postage - why are they keeping ANY of the shipping fee?
They recently changed the window-dressing so that now it appears they're passing the total amount for shipping on to us. Instead, they're taking that same fee out of the sale. The net result is the same: $40 per month, plus 15%, plus .65 cents per transaction. We seasoned Amazon veterans will always think of this as the chunk they take out of the shipping fee. So, when postage rates increase, you'd better be sure we're expecting Amazon to make a change in their fee structure. Instead, they now require us to bear even more of the burden of cost of packaging and postage, without the ability to charge our customers what it really costs to ship.
Sincerely,
Karen
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Re: "eBay Move May Cause Sellers to Cutback on Google Advertising"
http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y06/m01/i27/s02
Ina,
I think this goes against Google's rules for publishers to display different content for the same page.
"Make pages for users, not for search engines. Don't deceive
your users or present different content to search engines than
you display to users, which is commonly referred to as "cloaking."
http://www.google.com/intl/en/webmasters/guidelines.html
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I AGREE on the Ebay issue, I checked my friends listing, that had ended, and they inserted 4 auctions of someone else's that were similar in nature.. now one of them was the same.. So if my friend goes to relist her item, oops too bad the past lookers bidders, have already found something comparable.. I think that reference stinks.. another irate ebayite..
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Ina,
This is from a good friend of mine, a power seller on eBay, who just had this happen yesterday. The "Yellow Button" is becoming a BAD idea! If a message you receive is not on your My eBay Page.....it's a Fraud!
Thought you might like to spread the word!!! I know of no better place to get this out in a timely and efficient manner, than you!
Thanks so much,
Sally
"I emailed a detailed question to a seller though the "Contact Seller" on an eBay auction page.
I received 2 answers in my email. One from the legitimate seller in the format eBay sends to your email address, with my full registered name. This answer was also posted to "My Messages" on My eBay Page.
The second answer had MY FULL QUESTION and AN ANSWER purportedly from the seller, but not worded or spelled properly - though it was the CORRECT information!!!
It came to my email from the alleged seller on the form the spoofers use, with a big yellow "Click Here to Answer" button on it. I immediately forwarded it to Spoof@eBay and though I received an instant "thank you for sending", I have not heard another word 12 hours later.
I am HORRIFIED that the crooks have gotten access to my email question, read it, and have attempted to answer in the words of the legitimate seller. How does this happen???!!!!
NEVER answer an email in your Inbox.
Always go to your "My eBay" page."
Editor's Note: ChannelAdvisor held a webinar about the Yellow Button issue in January
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y06/m01/i04/s02
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RE: Lawsuit presses for eBay changes
http://digbig.com/4gehk
Hello,
I noticed an article in my local newspaper about the Tiffany lawsuit against EBay that caused me to cheer loudly. I totally agreed with your comment that "EBay makes a lot of money from a lot of small unhappy transactions". I experienced one of those small unhappy transactions several years ago when I ordered a movie (twice from two different independent sellers listed on EBay). Both instances were clearly examples of what I called false advertising. When I complained to EBay, I was told that my complaint was too late and they could do nothing about it. In one case, my movie was returned and purchase price refunded, but there was never a word from the other business. My feeling is that EBay should put pressure on those businesses choosing to work unethically. In the meantime, I'm unable to use EBay because of my loss of trust in being assured that I will receive what I order. It is my hope that Tiffany and their resources will help bring about some positive change in EBay's business practices.
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Dear Ina,
In today's New York Times, you were quoted as making a point that cuts to the heart of a major problem with eBay transactions: Feedback can't be relied on, and eBay takes the position that this is not their problem. I once naively thought that the feedback system protected buyers by exposing dishonest sellers. The rude awakening came when my wife made a purchase but never received the item and never got a reply to her inquiries. When she said so, factually, in her feedback, the seller responded at once, by leaving abusive and untrue feedback of his own. Dishonest sellers routinely withhold feedback until buyers have posted theirs, thus frightening gypped buyers out of saying what actually happened.
I was very persistent in trying to get eBay to take a position on this issue, feeling that eBay's refusal to prohibit retaliatory feedback undercut accountability and trust, but all I could get was a letter suggesting that cheated buyers "take one for the team" by reporting in their feedback what had happened, knowing that they'll get trashed in return.
What about a simple rule that buyers don't leave feedback until the sellers have left theirs? It wouldn't solve all problems, but it would be an improvement on the current situation.
Mike
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Dear sirs:
I am a dealer and a collector on Ebay. I have been burned 100's of times in the over 2500 sales I have thus far purchased over Ebay.
I disagree with those who claim "there is nothing we can do to protect Ebay's customers from fraud." THIS IS AN OUT-AND-OUT LIE!
Rather than toss sticks and stones? I would like to make the following positive suggestions:
1) All Ebay items must be photographed fully - front and back. All problem areas must be shown via photographs (IN DETAIL)
2) All heralds, markings and signatures must be photographed IN CLOSE-UP (so anyone could easily read them). If supporting markings don't exist? Certain claims can not be made in an auction description.
3) It should be illegal for someone to use a word in a title that is NOT accurate. In other words, it should be illegal for someone to call a piece of art glass "Lalique" UNLESS it has a Lalique signature. It is NOT good enough to have the seller later proclaim that the piece is "Lalique-like" or that it has a "Lalique-like quality." If the piece doesn't have a signature? A buzz-word name should not appear within any auction copy.
4) The SIZE of an Ebay piece must be reported - IN INCHES. This includes length, width and height. If a piece varies greatly within its design? All dimensions should be accurately reported.
5) Testing of metals and other construction surfaces should be made mandatory. No one has the right to sell a brass piece as bronze. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE!
6) All sellers must write an auction description that contains an honest reportage of flaws (including close-up photos of all flaws and repaired breakage). No one has the right to cover-up flaws or breakage. Period! If a piece is cracked? It must be reported as being cracked. If a piece was once repaired (even if the repair occurred a long time ago before the present buyer purchased the item he is now selling it)? That piece is still the responsibility of the current seller! Period!!!!
I once received an art deco sculpture with some tape around it's neck. The seller claimed: the tape simply held the piece's price information. However, when I received the piece in the mail? I discovered that the tape was put there to hide a crack through the very center of the sculpture's neck. When I confronted the seller? He refused to acknowledge this as HIS mistake, for this was the way he once purchased the item, himself! This argument should not be allowed. ANY PRESENT SELLER MUST TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE OBJECTS HE IS SELLING. It does not matter if the seller, himself, was once duped. It only matters that the seller is not exposing the piece's true condition NOW.
7) Provenance: every Ebay dealer should be forced to tell exactly WHERE he obtained each item - and under what circumstances. Finding a Picasso in a trunk in Massachusetts does not - ipso facto - make the piece a Picasso. If a dealer makes claims upon an item? He should be able to back-up those claims up with hard facts.
8) The question mark should be removed from any auction description. One should never write: "Amazing Plate featuring Woman's Head. Picasso?" If the piece is not signed? No mention of an artist or craftsman should be made!
9) Items without appropriate provenance or proof MUST be reported as such. "I found this drawing signed Van Gogh in my mother's house in Pittsburgh." Just because the item is signed Van Gogh doesn't mean that it IS a Van Gogh! Careful pains should be made by any/all dealers to verify the true and to honestly admit the improbable.
10) How do you keep dealers reputable? Just like in any store? If an item sold at Ebay arrives and it is not to the buyer's expectations? The buyer should have the right to immediately return the item to the seller for a complete refund (including postage) - NO QUESTIONS ASKED!!!
11) Most importantly, I urge Ebay to offer positions of MONITORS to those dealers who actively shop Ebay on a daily basis.
I, for instance, shop for Art Deco Antiques. In my daily travels over Ebay, I notice: almost half the listings are forgeries, copies or out-and-out lies.
It would be easy for me to challenge a dealer as I DO "make my Ebay rounds" every morning. But what good would it do? Without recourse, policing is useless!!!! None the less, it doesn't take a genius to notice that a ceramic bagel cutter is NOT an art deco antique.
The monitors should be paid by Ebay via a monthly PayPal discount. The payment would not have to be great. Most interested sellers would happily become monitors just to clean-up and clean-out that long list of Ebay falsehoods in each category on Ebay..
If a dealer, on the other hand, ever felt he was being expunged unfairly? He could certainly state his case for Ebay and gain his chance to sell the questioned item online once more.
But please notice: my suggestions put the onus on the DEALER - and NOT on Caveat Emptor! This is where responsibility SHOULD lie - particularly within a computer-auction where a buyer can not personally inspect a piece before buying it!!!
FINALLY: I invite you to take a look at this copy (which is written now by me but reflects Ebay copy quite accurately):
WOW!!!! EDGAR BRANDT, RUHLMAN, EILEEN GRAY!
I offer a rare bronze fireplace screen purchased from a fabulous estate found somewhere about glamorous old Hollywood. Look at the high-styled art deco lines! Doesn't it bring to mind the shimmer of the jazz age; the ingenuity of Eileen Gray; the craft of Edgar Brandt ; and the high-style of Ruhlman, himself?
The art deco period, from the 1920's through the 1930's, was a collection of decades often featuring great excess and fanciful abandonment as new styles raged to strange jazz rhythms and new technologies became a part of our modern landscape. Only the best materials were ever used; and often, the finest craftsman in our nation were forced by the Depression's hard-times to create utilitarian objects for 1930's mass-markets. This piece brings to mind the very best of what the art deco period has to offer. What a rare bargain! What a unique find!
What is unique about this auction copy? NOT ONE SINGLE WORD IS TRUE. The piece could be made of brass - not bronze. The fabulous estate could actually have been a tract home in Encino.
The information about the art deco period is fascinating but has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the piece being sold. The firescreen up for auction could have been sold at Macy's and simply LOOKED as though it was designed in the art deco style.
Finally, the piece may not even be art deco (a period clearly defined as being from 1925 to 1945). The piece could have been made yesterday!
Yet intriguingly, there are few out-and-out lies within this written auction sale description. However, the copy contains NO real information about the piece, whatsoever, either - not even its size!!!!
HOW CAN THIS BE ALLOWED????????
It's time to say: we're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore!
FRAUD IS BEING PERPETRATED BY A FORTUNE 500 COMPANY!
While the solutions I suggest may not take care of all problems, they do open doors to a new kind of thinking where sellers must become much more accountable for what they sell and how they present their wares at auction.
These suggestions may not forge a panacea? But they'd be a good start.
How do we force Ebay to take its customer needs seriously?
Whatever you decide? I'm in.
Thank you,
Max
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Hi Ina,
What a superb issue this is. You have outdone yourself once again. The articles are chocked full of great information. I was especially interested in Mike Martyka's article, as I have just opened my own website.
Thank Ron Mansfield for me. His "Ten New Year's Resolutions for eBay Sellers" really pull things together.
Stay well - we need you in this community!
Susan
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