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: "eBay Third-Party Checkout Glitch Affects PayPal Transactions"
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m01/i15/s01

Hi
It was actually me that solved the problem. We are big uk seller (Innovico_surplus). The problem did not affect all 3rd party checkout systems, only those who had the mysterious "superblock" enabled on their account.

Superblock is back end fiddle that blocks payments from the send money tab, permitting checkout bypass.

Essentially only one person in Pay pal knows about it and paypal FORGOT about it when they rolled out the API change at 12 midnight PST, which is 8am UK time.

Due to time differences, we always get hit with this sort of nonsense first. There are all sorts of API rollouts right now (backed up from the newyear) and things are breaking left right and centre. Another one on CA last night.
That's the real story.....
Barry

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Ina,
Today I noticed Ebay was blocking search of current bidders on all auctions. If you go to advanced search and search by bidder you can only see completed auctions and the current ones are not listed. You can however see your own bids. As a seller I like to nose around for info on new bidders with less then 10 feedbacks on my expensive items. Well, today Ebay has changed all that. I can't find any information listed about the new change on the site. I wonder if this is a side effect of the new bidder1, bidder2, etc. rules. Ebay is way too paranoid of second chance offers and should just eliminate them all together. These new search and hiding bidders is just not going to work. I'm becoming more unpleased with Ebay as the years go on. I've been a full time seller for almost 7 years and the past 2 months have been the best ever. But looking forward I'm not to sure about my future on Ebay.
signed: Ebay Pays My Bills aka John

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Hi, Ina -
I was interested in your mention of the impending demise of drop-off stores. This was something that sounded great on the surface, so a lot of people spent a lot of money buying franchises. BUT, if you looked below the surface, it was a flawed concept. There just isn't enough profit in items selling below $50 - $75 to split two ways (owner and seller). And people just don't have that many items that they want to sell that are going to go for over $50 - $75 on ebay.

I think a well-run drop-off store could probably turn a modest profit by working out arrangements with businesses to sell surplus and overstocks, but the idea just doesn't hold up if the target "droppers" are individuals.

There's a lesson here (which has been offered many times before) - When you hear something that sounds like a great business idea (whether it's pushed by ebay, another large company, or the corner flimflam man), it's MANDATORY to assess for yourself whether the specifics make sense. The person or company pushing the idea may believe in it wholeheartedly, but if it requires financial outlay on your part, you're the one in charge of doing in-depth analysis.
Carol

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Ina - "I'll add one other thing to the list of things to keep an eye on: eBay drop-off stores. While the eBay drop-off store trend grew very fast, it seems it is now past its peak. It will be interesting to see what happens this year."

We're still watching, too. Please tell others that want the facts to visit our site. It got a face lift and revised content for the new year. Let us know what you think. Gene & Karen

http://www.amitheonlyone.org

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Ina,
I just bought keyboards on eBay that required a direct Paypal payment and was redirected to a phishing site from the eBay "Pay Now" at the top of the item.

The Phishing page was a Paypal Error page asking me to confirm my Paypal information - however the page was not https.

Here is the log, which I think is incomplete.
shameful,
Charles

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Hi Ina,
I wrote what I think is a different view of the eBay Fees and the commentary on them. I'm no eBay cheerleader, but I think we should all just deal with it and move on.

For what it's worth...
http://digbig.com/4qtjg

Hope you're doing well,
Steve

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Ina,
Happy New Year!

I have made a quick post on my blog about a trial which we ran comparing various auction platforms.
http://www.trevorginn.com/comparison-of-auction-marketplaces

Trevor

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We received the following letter about eBay's new SMI policy. You can read more here: http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m01/i16/s01

Hello,
My name is Mike and something came up regarding Ebay's new face lift that I thought would be of interest to your Business Editor. This new Policy has drastically changed Ebay to the point that many feel it will be reflected in their Stock prices...the Bidders names are now hidden and replaced with "Bidder #1 , Bidder #2" ...we now have no way of knowing if there are any Shill Bids being placed and, there's quite an uproar over this. Many are now hesitant to list Auctions because people are afraid to bid.

Ebay's VP Mr. Chestnut visited one of the Forums to discuss it with the members but ...when confronted with so many complaints ..he just left the Forum.

They want to keep this low key ...which has many wondering if there's another agenda.

Well ...It looks like Ebay has it's hands full with this Brilliant Decision ....We are not the only ones upset about it ....People ( Members) are complaining Worldwide.

Executives do make mistakes ..look at what Coke went through. Coke at least recognized that their Customers were upset with the change and corrected it before their Stock was affected ....the question here is - will Ebay recognize and admit their mistake ?

Here's what the International Ebay "Community" thinks about this new Policy -

United States - http://digbig.com/4qtjm

Australia - http://digbig.com/4qtjk

Canada - http://digbig.com/4qtjj

United Kingdom - http://digbig.com/4qtjh

Thank you for your time
Mike