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).

********

Ina,
I am a buyer & a seller on ebay since Sept of 2000 in fairly good standing on both sides. I was upset with the new feedback changes, just like all the other ebayer, but felt I had to attempt a trial period under the new rules. My "light bulb" idea is to reply to all ny feedback left for me in "my feedback". Good or bad will get a response in my list of feedback so anyone will still be able to see what I have to comment on.

Ex:
As described, fast shipping, thanks! by: buyerXXXXX #123456789
REPLY: PAID FAST WITH PAYPAL,GOOD SALE! SELLER:zzzzzz #123456789
I believe most buyer do check sellers feedback and this is a sure way to let them know what the truth is. Some recourse is available for sellers in this way.
Ruth

********

Dearest Ina,
I look forward to each and every issue of Auctionbytes news editions. I also listened to the 2 part interview you had with Mr. Donahue- on Utube which was quite enlightening - not that i didn't expect Mr. Donahue or any of his staff to dance around the words -stall-and avoid answer the questions with a direct answer.

You've pointed out some important issues in the latest issue of Auctionbytes- regarding Amazon's interest in increasing it's seller's memberships (and item's being sold).

From the mere whisper of the changes that Ebay & Paypal will be enforcing - everyone that sells on ebay has been concerned... some more than others. The Power Sellers - depending on what they sell- haven't been as concerned as little people like myself.

There has been little to no mention of merchandise such as "antiques & Collectibles"- ( except from Mr. Donahue - in reference to not wanting to have ebay become a "flea market".)-because those sellers who do sell items such as antiques,vintage and collectible etc- are afraid that the mere mention of it - will send off another alarm of sorts. First -they wanted to get ebay back to what it was in 2004 /2005 - and then gradually work from there.

But the Powerful Internet Auction Giant that Ebay has become- has forgotten - that it was all the sale of all those "flea Market " items that made Ebay as powerful as it is.

I have a couple of accounts on ebay - 2 as sellers - of vintage & collectible items- and 1 as a buyer. I used to sell at various flea markets years back-(and did this for almost 20 yrs) but had to give it up about 10 yrs or so ago- due to a serious health matter-which has left me confined to my home.

I still have quite an inventory-and had learned how to use the computer- how to sell and buy on ebay etc-and it has not only been refreshing -but also played a great part in making me feel useful again and a wonderful distraction from my health condition.

I used to sell mostly vintage (with a few 'antique) jewelry-books,-linens-dresses-toys-dishware-Menu's from restaurants that were landmarks and are long gone-whistles-accessories-handbags etc etc. I've been selling on ebay - i beleive since 2000 or 2001 and have 1 negative on one sellers name and 0 negatives on the other.

There is still and always will be - a great demand for vintage, antique and collectible items... always. I believe Martha Stewart had some of her assistants shopping on ebay for the Jade Fire king dishes she so loves.

Million and millions of people have been able to thrive just selling things like this on ebay. Some sell 10-20 items a week - while others sell 50 or more of such items listed above.

When an auction site restricts their site from things -such as antiques/vintage/ collectibles etc.. .. they are loosing incredible potential to make more money. And the auction & web sites that sell "new" items only - are nothing more than an Internet Mall... which we all know -that there are more than enough of-including the Brick and Mortar ones as well.

I know of several individuals who had lost their jobs -or couldn't make ends meet with real jobs - and started selling things they'd picked up at yard & garage sales,flea markets etc- and couldn't believe how great the demand was for the things they listed. Over a short period of time - a few of them who were struggling - getting ready to file for bankrupty- were eventually able to pay off their bills, and their mortgages and some even put money away for their children to go to college.

Many of the sellers like myself are physically -financially (or other reasons) are either unable to-or lack what it takes to be able to "attempt" to sell $1,000 worth of merchandise for at least 3 months consecutively-in order to become a "power seller".

Will you keep the little people who sell vintage/collectible/antique or "other" merchandise in mind on your next encounter to do an interview with a prospective replacement for Ebay- or even Ebay itself ?

I've joined the Boycott against Ebay (and Paypal as well) and will continue to do so until they've made some serious changes or there is a better alternative. I've given great consideration to signing up with sites like "tias.com" -or other's like that .. but i am not a "commerical Merchant" -and have used "Paypal's Premier Account" since i first signed up with Ebay-making payment for my customers easier-as well as myself-as far as transferring the money electronically into my bank account.

One other point i want to bring up. There's alot of confusion going on about Paypal's new upcoming policy of holding funds for 21 days. I have read- and re-read the terms and conditions and am more confused than ever. Tomorrow i'll have to call Paypal to find out the exact answer- but in the meantime- it's something for you to look into as well and is reader noteworthy.

Many believe that Paypal's new policy of holding funds for 21 days only applies to ebay merchandise... but a group of other sellers whom i keep in contact with - said that it effects EVERYONE that has a Premier or Merchant Account with Paypal- whether they sell on ebay - or ebid or rubylane etc...

If this is so - it would be a financial burden - even if people choose to sell on another site - because they would want to ship the item off to the customer as soon as the customer has paid- and a majority pay through paypal. BUT IF PAYPAL IS HOLDING THE MONEY FOR 21 DAYS... THEN THE SHIPPING COSTS WILL HAVE TO COME OUT OF OUR POCKETS UNTIL PAYPAL UNFREEZES THE MONEY.

I have not yet signed up with another auction or website yet- as i am in a quandry about what form of payment i can offer my customers?

By the way- there has been a recent outbreak of fraudulent -counterfeited USPS money orders. I double checked this with three local banks in my area. Only 2 were willing to acknowledge this. The 3rd bank wishes to make no comment on this matter.

I would love to hear -and read what you think about these matters.

I thank you for taking the time to read my email and also want to thank you for bringing up a very important issue regarding "sellers of antiques and collectibles".
Deepest regards,
Kathleen

Editor's Note: A PayPal spokesperson said of the 21-day hold: "eBay item holds are for eBay transactions only. This wouldn't affect any transactions off of eBay."

********

Re: "Amazon: We Want Sellers. An Interview with Matt Williams"
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y208/m02/abu0209/s02

Ina, Thanks for a great article on Amazon. I went over to Amazon and set up a store (I sell jewelry on eBay) but, after setting up the store, the system would not let me list any items and it appears as though the jewelry category is still restricted. Is the idea to sell under the everything else category (like jewelry) on Amazon? Maybe I'm missing something but, I would love to sell my products on Amazon but, they don't make it easy:-) Gregg

********

I read your interview. I have sold for 9 years on ebay and just switched for a month to onlineauctions.com ebay has gotten rid of the good antique sellers for the high dollar retail sellers of new junk I can buy anywhere. Bad move. Thanks John

********

Ina,
Re: Media Coverage of eBay Strike Unprecedented, Sellers Extend Boycott (http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y08/m02/i26/s01)

Isn't that a bit ridiculous? It would be like a B&M shop closing its doors for a couple of weeks to protest a rent increase. Sellers are free to move to another venue. I can't say I'm in agreement with all the eBay changes, but I've got to adapt as necessary.

********

Re: "AuctionBytes Interviews Incoming eBay CEO John Donahoe"
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y208/m02/abu0208/s04

Hey Ina,
We've never met but I have enjoyed reading your articles. I thought you really put Donahoe to task and appreciate you speaking up for the thousands of sellers who will not have the chance.

Andover has sold about 100,000 items through eBay (ANDOVERCG) and bought 5000 (WINGNUT-OV10). From our buying experience, we have found that the buying experience is awful on eBay: no packaging slips, horrible packaging, late shipping, etc. Nothing Donahoe is doing now will fix it. In fact, we predict that the quality people will depart leaving more weekend and part time sellers to create the illusion of volume. Because the quality has left, the remaining sellers need lots of help and eBay is unable or unwilling to help.

The oncoming eBay disaster seems to be a problem of their own making. When someone writes about the decline of eBay, it will begin with the disenfranchisement of the sellers that began some five years (and this is reflected in the stock price). From that point, any story writer will find a wealth of data on the upcoming stock price collapse.

But first some thoughts on your interview:

• Donahoe does not seem to know a single seller or mention anything about his relationships with sellers. He seems disconnected from the sellers and his attitude seems to be the quantity and the quality of all sellers has always been constant. Nothing he could do would seem to change it except to make it more difficult to sell on eBay and therefore weed out the bad ones. My sense was that he seems to feel powerless to encourage good sellers.
• All his acts seem to be about blaming sellers for the decline of eBay and not eBay management. Not one word he uttered were about any mistakes eBay made. The issues seem to be: bold changes, updating, improving buyer experience, etc. Nothing about what eBay management ever did wrong.
• He mentions retaining buyers but speaks nothing of retaining sellers
• He mentions discounts for powersellers. No one has yet shown who would get that discount. When I scanned the top 200 list, none that I saw were discount eligible. He has not discussed which power sellers are eligible for the discounts by category or by volume. I suspect because of the shipping DSR, only the FREE or electronic shippers stand a chance in this area. eBay will announce at some point that XX% of all power sellers got the discount. Someone should prod him on who the powersellers are that got that discount.
• His hot button was shipping cost at the expense of all other issues.
• He is oblivious to negative feedback issue. He clearly does not like it when someone says something negative about him. "I disagree with a little bit of your characterization - and let me just be direct."
• Donahoe used the word Analysis twice. He never mentioned motivational meetings with sellers as there were none.
• He is the chief sales person at eBay and he has no sales experience. This means analysis is easier to understand than people.

Five years ago, the computer/network category manager would often call to find out what he could do to help improve my sales in his category. He would toss leads my way. He did this for all his big sellers.

Then eBay senior management decided that eBay would get sellers no matter what and that they did not need category managers to be compensated for growth. Sales then went flat in the USA and good sellers left. The remaining sellers were more populated by mom and pop shops and smaller professional stores.

What is clear from Donahoe's decisions is that eBay has disenfranchised the sellers. I used to know many of the management team either because they were neighbors or because they were reachable.

Now, all the great people that I knew that used to work at eBay have left. A few of the ex-senior people I know that are working other places shake their heads when talking about eBay. We are making plans to move the business off of eBay and to reduce our business to using it as an advertising medium or a place to sell "the junk". The quality buyers seem to realize the quality sellers have left and have rightly left.

Again, thanks for the great articles. Please keep writing. I don't have time to read much. But I do read your stuff!
Michael Syiek
Andover Network Liquidators
http://www.andovercg.com

********

Ina,
I just wanted to share with you one of the most eloquent posts I've ever read. This seller really says it all.
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?messageID=1011964845?
Take care,
Nancy
PS: Here's one more.
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=2000511787&tstart=0&mod=1203185654931
These posters have managed to say what so many of us wanted to say, but couldn't find the words......

********

Dear Ina,
I just returned to ebay from my 1 week strike. When marketing a new listing I see that Featured Plus has been increased to $24.95!
Regards,
Gene

********

Hi Ina,
My very best customer and a respected art collector on Ebay wrote this letter to ebay where it probably went into a black hole! She gave me permission to pass it on to you. Its heartfelt - so much so that she is also honoring the boycott this week. I hope you can find a place to print it since it would mean so much not only to artists, but to all those of us who make what we sell on Ebay.
Patricia,

Editor's Note: I contacted the buyer and received her permission directly to reprint her letter. It follows:

Just to let you know that as a buyer, I am respecting the boycott initiated by the sellers. Without sellers of quality merchandise, especially original works of art, eBay would be essentially useless for me.

I have followed the eBay struggles, ups and downs of artists selling there, and seen the lack of support they have had from eBay as it favored larger and larger merchandisers, often epitomized by the drop shippers. I've watched artists have their work copied and never removed by eBay, complain about fakes to eBay and watched as nothing happened. I think of the hapless buyers who purchase fake art that someday will likely bring them to resent eBay for allowing this to happen to them.

I've purchased art to decorate the entire large clinic where I work. I've dressed family members with things bought there. Many of my gifts come from eBay. I have an unblemished record as a buyer.

And I depend on artists who are not large volume drop shippers who can survive making cents on the dollar, leave eBay due to eBay policies, practices, and costs that drive them away. This isn't the eBay that attracted me originally. I'm not interested in buying a collection for a million dollars. I want quality art. I want original art from living artists who sell it themselves. I want them to have a fighting chance to survive. I'd like to see them have some power in the marketplace of eBay.

I can only hope that the boycott is a success and brings the issue of fairness to the attention of the administration. It's never ALL ABOUT MONEY. It's also about recognizing that with artists and artisans, you are not dealing with car, TV, or gadget sales persons. What works for the mass marketers, cannot and SHOULD NOT work for artists and artisans.

In all the ads and promotional materials I've been sent by eBay, I have NEVER seen original art by self representing artists promoted. When the patients, staff, and visitors to our clinic ask about where all the art was purchased and hear it was from eBay, they consistently verbalize shock and surprise. They have NO IDEA that such work is for sale on eBay. And sadly, I fear less and less will be there unless eBay reverses their current path of driving out the artists.
Mary

********

Re: "Media Coverage of eBay Strike Unprecedented, Sellers Extend Boycott"
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y08/m02/i26/s01

Ina:
Long time, no write! But I read something in this article and just had to comment:

You stated: "Reporters are having a difficult time judging the success of the boycott thusfar- some say listings are down, others say there's been no effect. But the fact that so many of them are even attempting to measure the impact is unusual, and the depth of reporting has been deeper than coverage of past strikes."

I think what's happening is really quite simple - eBay's grown up. It's not a cute, little site anymore. You can do things when you're a kid and people just look at you and go 'oh, isn't that cute!'. Then you grow up.... and if you do the same thing, you get locked up, people shun you, or your friends quite calling. No one thinks it's "cute" anymore - you're grown now and you should know better.

eBay's all grown up now... or should be... and it's time to stop acting like a child and start acting like a responsible adult. The fact that they still ignore the working part of their membership is of concern to the financial public. It's not cute anymore. It's shameful, disappointing, and shows a deep lack of understanding by management as to the true dynamics of the site. Slap that step-child often enough and one day he's going to slap back... or just not be there to slap around anymore. Where would eBay be without sellers? Does eBay really want to be Amazon-II or uBid-II?

That is what has all the reporters scrambling to cover this. It's not new - it happens every time eBay rasies it's fees. But what's new is that eBay is not a youngster anymore.
Just my 2cents.
Bob

********

Hi Ina
Barker's Buckles opened in February 2006. We are taking part in this weeks boycott even though I need to make money to pay for medical bills. We opened a storefront on Amazon a year after our eBay Store opened. Within 3 months the Amazon sales where equal to the eBay sales, by this past Fall, Amazon sales left eBay in the dust. My eBay Store has been on "vacation" since mid December.

We don't know if we will ever sell on eBay again. We do have some product that does sell better on eBay, but with the most recent changes, we would rather not risk being held hostage by a keen eBay member who knows how to exploit the eBay/PayPal combo.

PayPal owes me $100, now going on 3 years. I won a dispute with someone who failed to provide a service. I hired someone to provide advice on building a website. That person closed their PayPal account and "unhooked" access to her funds.

PayPal claims they are trying to get my money back to us. This person opened another PayPal account since losing the dispute, yet PayPal can't return my funds?

Yet the eBay/PayPal combo has been able to take over $250 from our account in the past due to us losing disputes that we could never win since we send our products via USPS First Class Mail, which isn't trackable.

We have even got positive feedback from some eBay members who opened the disputes. Once they did receive the item they stopped responding to PayPals questions. Further proof they got their item. All got their money back too, due to PayPals lopsided policy. I'm a small business that wants to grow larger. Right now eBay isn't worth wasting my time with anymore.

When I complained to eBay's Trust & Safety about a eBay member selling counterfeit belt buckles that directly hurt my honest business, they found a way to punish me for keyword violations on 2 listings. Funny because eBay had let me run these listings repeatably for the past year. Leads me to believe eBay is disingenuous about wanting to stop counterfeiting and fraud on the site.

http://stores.ebay.com/Barkers-Buckles http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fsb/0802/gallery.ex_ebay_sellers.fsb/3.html http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/seller/at-a-glance.html?ie=UTF8&seller=A1IW3QSNFUK14X

We saw your article about the current eBay boycott on AuctionBytes. We will not reopen our store there for longer than a week.

The reason eBay has lost buyers is because eBay has lost good sellers. We can't compete with the counterfeiters and copyright violators on eBay. We don't have these problems on Amazon which doesn't have anywhere near the amount of fraud that eBay has.

The boycott might seem like only a blip, but undertstand that when you put you store on vacation, I think your items still count in the daily numbers. eBay even can start to include the UK, Australia, Europe into search results to make everything seem normal.

eBay shareholders need to know the truth. eBay is a juggernaut!

One day someone will force eBay to clean its act and rid its pages of fraud. This will be a very bitter pill for eBay. eBay's numbers will drop hard. I estimate as much as 25% will be trimmed, its that bad. The US government must know that eBay is the biggest front for stolen goods and fraud anywhere.

One of our best sellers is a brand called "Lucky 13". Search eBay for "Lucky 13 Buckle". You will find more fraudulent copyright violations and counterfeits than real legitimate Lucky 13 product. Why would I want to sell there anymore? Would you?

Let us know when "Google Auction beta" is ready.
Sincerely,
Will
Barker's Buckles

********

Hello Ina,
I have been following a number of the postings. One solution that people aren't suggesting is the possibility of transferring their inventory to a virtual mall. I personally have experience with GoAntiques.

That site wouldn't be a solution for everyone, but it would offer an internet presence for much of the antique and collectible merchandise that is on eBay. Once the inventory is on the site, you can schedule it for any number of GoAntiques' auctions, and have it offered under the GoAntiques name. So you have the opportunity to sell it at retail on the GoAntiques site when not up for auction, or on eBay when it is scheduled for auction.

I have found GoAntiques to be very nice to do business with.
Thank you again,
Carol

********

Ina,
I noticed something new on my "My ebay" summary of won purchases today. If it is NEWS to you, and potentially helpful to your subscribers, take a closer look.

Ebay has added a line and link to remind to buyers that he or she has not left feedback, and that there is a deadline to file a dispute if not satisfied with the purchase. It brings to the fore front for buyers that ebay wants them to be happy, or they should open dispute it now. It appears to have been added to listings at and over 30 days' time after purchase, and likely forcing an issue that may or may not have been an issue in the past.

The page they link to help the buyer understand the dispute process is here: http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/inr-snad-process.html

Thanks for your continued timely and useful newsletter, Colin

********

I was writing in hopes that you could help me get the word out. Many sellers on Ebay are allowed to commit fraud.

If you do an advanced search and choose "visit www." It will bring up several hundred thousand auctions. There are many of these auctions that have links to other sites, including the seller's own site.

Now according to Ebay's only policy seller's are not suppose to do this. It does appear there are many powersellers who do this.

I have reported some of these auctions, yet it appears that the people who aren't powersellers have their auctions removed and not the powersellers.

I thought this would be something you might want to look into.
Thanks,
MJ

********

Re: "eBay Sellers Upset over Loss of ChannelAdvisor's Pro Offering"
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y08/m02/i22/s01

Dear Ms. Steiner,
I am a loyal reader of Auctionbytes, so pelase forgive me if I missed any reporting on the MarketplaceAdvisor (formerly Marketworks) price increase. I have been using Marketworks for four years, and I only just found out about it from The Auction Software Review.

The pricing structure is changing from a $29.95 minimum fee to 29.95 PLUS fees, effectively doubling the price for more than half its users. This is a nasty blow for smaller sellers, especially in light of the recent eBay increase. Scot Wingo failed to mention that while users of CAPro would pay more to use MPA, so would all the current users of Marketworks. From his comments on your blog, his ultimate goal seems to be ridding both services of the "deadwood" smaller sellers who do not generate enough in sales percentages.

This price hike does not come with a corresponding increase in service, so this small seller is cancelling her account.
Best regards,
Lisa

********

Re: "eBay Prods Sellers to Lower Shipping Charges"
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y08/m02/i28/s0

"The latest "stick" is a message that pops up when sellers are listing their items that warns them to consider lowering shipping charges."

FYI - the approach is typically mindless. I have been getting a lot of such pop-ups. It's driven merely on price and category. If I have two items for sale, a $199.99 ancient Roman ring which weighs 1 oz.; and a $199.99 antique Chinese pot which weighs 10 pounds; since both are $199.99 and both listed in antiques-->other; I will get a pop-up on the 10 pound pot telling me my shipping price is out of line with MY other shipping prices in that category. It does not seem to compare my shipping prices against shipping prices of other sellers. Only against my own prices in that category.

Evidently if I priced the shipping for the ring at a 10 pound rate like the pot, then I would not get a warning on the pot (an over-simplification, but you understand the point). And if ALL of my shipping prices are high, then a 10 pound pot would not ring the alarm bell. Really then, the effect is entirely off the mark, it's merely yet one more nuisance when you are trying to list items. And the system would then completely ignore over-priced shipping if EVERYTHING else of mine in that same category was equally over-priced.

********

Dear Ina,
Regarding the shipping frustration of ebay's message - warning: I thank you for posting this info - I have stopped using ebay but was thinking of returning, now probably won't. My comment is -

1)USPS shipping will soon go up - is ebay prepared?
2) if the program doesn't recognize Flat Rate boxes how old is the program?
3) even tho ebay doesn't make any money on shipping - PayPal does as the fees are calculated w/price + shipping - and we all know who owns PayPal....don't we?
4) remove shipping from the listing & say you will send an invoice & you will use actual shipping - I did this most of the time as I sell antiques & cannot determine weight until it is boxed & that is determined by carrier - I use UPS & DHL - & destination.
5) stop selling on ebay - get a website, it's not that expensive.

And especially to you Ina - now is the time to feature other auction sites that could use the new traffic to stay in business or we all need to create one.
Wishful thinking maybe, but who knows?
Blessings,
Dianne

********

Hi thought it might be of interest . That several that spoke out at the Ebay detailed seller rating feedback discussion forum have been suspended from posting and that ebay is playing lost and stupid as too why. They didnt like hearing the truth from actual sellers. And the best way to shut us up is keep us from posting

********

can you please write articles and try to interview people at GOOGLE and see if they have any interest in doing GOOGLE AUCTIONS

it is an article that would attact many hits

as right now, the most popular article on the web is a 2004 articles saying its coming.

a report from you, would do alot even raise Ebay's fears
thanks