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.

You can also read the AuctionBytes blog, which has a place for reader comments under every posting (http://blog.auctionbytes.com).

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Hello Ina,
I have been a reader of your column for the past 5-6 months, ever since it was brought to my attention. I much enjoy it.

I just had an unpleasant experience with Pay Pal and I was hoping you might be able to bring the problem wider exposure.

As most full time eBay sellers have found out, when the new Postal regs went into effect back in May, some time saving procedures were also introduced to try to save some time for the Postal employees and, hopefully, their customers in line.

One of those adjustments was that no longer would electronic mail, headed for overseas addresses, be scanned into the system. Where International Priority shipments used to get tracking, at least through the Port at New Jersey, now they are just put on the plane and shipped out... well, hopefully.

I was recently stripped of a $300+ Pay Pal payment, because the Buyer reported that he did not receive the package (to the U.K.). So, Paypal asked for the tracking number, which, consequently, just no longer exists, because the P.O. no longer scans. This seemed to have very little effect on the Brains that run the Pay Pal Dispute Center, even though I explained the changes to them.

They used the lack of tracking to grant the reversal to the Buyer, despite the fact that I have almost 7000 feedbacks with a 99.9% positive rating and have shipped HUNDREDS of packages overseas without a problem. Obviously, I just finally decided that I needed to keep one of these packages for myself!

My problem is that Pay Pal has now set up a system that is guaranteed to insure reversals for any complaint against a seller that ships to overseas locations, because they will not have any way of providing the pertinent information needed to support their case. Any International Buyer can now pay big bucks for an item. Get it. Claim that it did not come and GET THEIR MONEY BACK, all thanks to Pay Pal.

Somehow, I just don't see this as quite fair. Maybe you could do an article and interview the Pay Pal powers that be to see if they even REALIZE the problem exists. The only answer is to once again take all packages through the Post Office lines and drop the use of electronic mail. It's humorous, in that the Postal Service pushed really hard to get the big time ebay shippers to switch to electronic mail, to help speed up their lines at the local P.O. and now they are doing something that will drive everyone BACK INTO the lines again! I guarantee you that it won't take but one large reversal to get a Seller to change his usage, of both Pay Pal and Electronic Mail.

Thanks for your time,
Bill

USPS Response
The U.S. Postal Service does offer an option for customers who ship through the internet and want a scan at acceptance. The customer would need to use a Shipment Confirmation Acceptance Form, available at no extra charge on Click-N-Ship and through some PC Postage vendors. For more information about the SCAN form go to
http://www.usps.com/mailpro/2007/julyaug/page8.html

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I wonder if others have been complaining about the shipping calculator NOT working properly for international buyers. Priority Mail International does not show as an option for foreign customers. Nor does is it even visible when trying to invoice foreign customers. Since these customers only see my other option, Express Mail International, I spend much time explaining my excesssive shipping charges to angry foreign customers. The only way I can add Priority Mail International is to do the calculation on the USPS site and manually add it to the invoice. Doing a recalculate or trying to make any use of the calculator wipes out even the mention of Priority Mail International.

I have complained several times. The last time they never even acknowledged my communication. The first two times I got a canned message that the issue had "been reported to engineering."

This has been going on for over a month with no communication beyond the canned answers. Is it just me, or does eBay appear terribly unresponsive anymore to system issues? This issue has cost me a LOT of time trying to avoid negative feedback and nasty emails from potential customers. If you can confirm this with others PLEASE mention it in your newletters. It seems to me that public pressure may be the only way to get a response from eBay anymore. Thanks for your time.
John

PS: In reading your blog (http://blog.auctionbytes.com/cgi-bin/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2007/11/1194922325.html) it sure seems people are quick to criticize sellers with all this nonsense about putting things in the correct order. Why doesn't eBay have a default order. I guarantee mine are IN ORDER I specified and the calculator still messes it up. Thanks again.

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Ina,
I know you like to hear about success stories so take a look at this one... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=140181373469 Unfortunately this was not my item, but being a Trading Assistant I did get the pleasure of selling it

When I researched this item, I could not find any information on previous sales of this purse or anything that looked like it.

I posted a generic auction with several pictures and another eBayer was quick to give me the proper description.

The auction sat at my minimum bid for almost the entire week, but WOW was there activity today!

PS. I did end this auction on purpose on cyber Monday!
Ron
ebay userid: pahrumpauction
Express Auctions, Pahrump NV

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Hi Ina:
How about this one: a buyer paid me: $399.00 using paypal BANK TRASFERE!! THAT MEANS that paypal takes the money from the buyer bank account!! guess what: 2 days latter I get an email from paypal TELLING ME THEY ARE INVESTAGTING THE TRANSACTION.

Can you tell me if the money is funded by bank account NOT A CREDIT CARD and paypal has taken there money from the buyer and given it to m with the and it was clearly in my account why they should take the money back. and paypal took the money back from my account.

My shipment was packed ready for shipment that day. Lucky for me I did not ship. The peice I was to ship retailed for $880.00 I surely would have been out alot of money and the piece as well.

If I had not turned on my computer and did not see this what would I be doing now?? I would be agravated as H_ll.

paypal has all the power to do what they want. And with these new rules: ebay would be leaving the buyer ++ feedback... where is this fair..Ebay and there rules..All they do is protect the buyers.

It is time for the sellers to find another listing place and the buyers will follow...
rena

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Re: eBay Considering Changes to Feedback System?
http://blog.auctionbytes.com/cgi-bin/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2007/11/1195440811.html

GREAT reporting! Thanks!
One other thought, if positive feedback were automatic, it would make it easier for fraudsters to create accounts with positive feedback by buying cheep items. Imagine the scam of spending $10 or even $100 on $1 info or ebook listings just to rack up the positives. Then, the fraudsters could list big screen TVs, computers... and collect the money but never deliver. Thus, automatic positive feedback could hurt the eBay community. Educated buyers would check what kind of items the seller has handles in the past but most will only look at the positive rating.

Perhaps eBay should just present sellers (and buyers) with a list of "feedback needing to leave" when they log into their account.

Thanks again for the GREAT reporting!