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,
In the Town Hall Brian Burke stated that the links policy may have been announced prematurely. As quoted below. Is there any chance you can get him to nail down the policy.
The new policy goes into effect in 2 days and noone knows anything yet. We all know Ebay takes the shoot first ask questions later, with anything they implement. We need to know what we can and cant do.
And is it possible for you to find out if email links are still allowed on about me pages.
None of us lowely Ebay sellers can ever get answers.
Thanks
Sharon
********
Ina,
I would like to transmit the following letter to ebay if I can find someone that will read it and understand it. Your AuctionBytes Soundoff may be a place to start.
To Ebay:
I have been a power seller for 3 years and do a good international business and would like to use the new international site visibility for the UK, but I can not because ebay is making a huge mistake. I can not allow my international customers to mail in payments for a whole host of reasons but I must allow my US customers to mail in payments. Ebay has a sentence on my invoices stating I accept mailed in payments from international buyers that I can not delete. Even though I state in my description that I do not accept mailed in payments from international buyers this sentence on my invoices says it is OK. Please, please, please correct this terrible mistake and let me know when you do.
Thank you,
Dennis
********
If anyone wants to see how Ebay beefs up its listings, do an "old book" search. It will show 5,000 plus listings. But go out to the last page and you'll find multiple listings by "Buy's Internet Superstore". When you click on their "list" they show about 514, 600 books available. And their books are all new NOT OLD books. (sometimes 100 available of each title at high prices with free shipping)
I know, nobody cares anymore, but it is such a travesty for Ebay to be putting out PR BS that they want the small seller. They don't and they don't make these shill MEGA-SELLERS adhere to the categories, i.e. listing thousands of new books that come up under "old book" search. Ce la vie (s.i.c) ... and it does make me sic.
It is so simple... Ebay has changed their business model without wanting to admit it. It leaves old-timers trying to do the same thing over and over and hoping to get to get a different result... wait, that's what they call mental illness, isn't it? So, a really sharp trial lawyer should start a class action lawsuit against Ebay for driving thousands of people crazy.
Thanks for all you do.
********
eBay are being deluged with complaints regarding the new search which they intend to introduce. (It's really a poor search front-end)
I do not believe I have ever seen so much blatant hostility being directed against a company.
Have you been paid not to report about it or has it simply gone unnoticed ?
Even your recent article regarding the UK flag being upside down now has quite a number of comments regarding this. Perhaps it would be wise to read the comments left for you on a regular basis
I am able to provide you more links if necessary.
You might check out the ebay community forum in the UK (where it is being rolled out) and the ebay usa community forum as it's going to rolled out in the usa afterwards.
eBay are simply stonewalling thousands of complaints.
Heads up, basically.
Ethan
********
Hi Ina,
Just read your following article about the eBay/PayPal Moratorium.
I find it very interesting, because the ACCC basically forced eBay to stop trying to strong arm sellers into going PayPal Only BEFORE the decision was finalized (since they wouldn't have time afterward to change all their listings).
Sounds like the ACCC has AGAIN listened to what eBay users told them!!!
If only eBay could do half as well!!!
In fact I brought this to the ACCC's attention less than a week ago. While the ACCC took a more behind the scenes approach [which makes more sense], the end result was the SAME as what I had suggested. FORCE eBay to extend the compliance deadline until at least August 1st, so eBay can't force people to change their listings before the decision is finalized. (To see my exact suggestion, see below.)
Thanks for the excellent work.
********
Dear Ina,
Thanks for the great work covering the Ebay Chicago live event. I left a comment on one report you guys did.
I flew all the way from Australia to see a second rate convention and was bitterly disappointed on many levels.
I am sure you are way ahead of me, but I have never seen so much anger and vitriol directed at a company and it's employee before.
There is clearly so much anger, hurt and resentment that there is a much bigger story here. How did E Bay get it all so wrong, and who is ultimately responsible for this disaster we find ourselves with.
Thanks again for the coverage.
James
********
Hi Ina,
I just noticed that I had some .99 cent items core BIN that were not showing in search. Live help confirmed this. I did pay the listing fees. I mentioned it on the stores board and another seller said this is ebay's new policy. ,99 cent items may be listed but will not appear in search at all????? Strange policy Huh?
I also noticed that competitors selling a lot of .99 BIN core items also have disappeared from search. I wonder how many large sellers are merrily auto-relisting .99 BIN items and paying fees and getting no exposure. This is really just plain theft on ebay's part. Can you please do a story so that others may know they are paying fees for nothing!
Thanks,
Brad
********
Hi Ina,
I'm a retired executive from the software industry. I keep busy now by selling vintage electronics on E-Bay (love those old stereos). We are gold level power sellers with excellent feedback and DSR statistics.
The following is a post I left on an E-Bay message board. I doubt anyone with real authority or power in E-Bay will ever see it. Do you have connections where you could forward this message to someone that could actually effect a change?
Thanks,
Gary
Customer Service Hard To Provide in New FB System
We have received 2 neutral FBs in the past week without the buyer even contacting us to let us know there is a problem (which we would gladly resolve to their satisfaction). What can we do about it? NOTHING! Plus, like everyone else, our Unpaid Items are skyrocketing. What can we do about it (that really matters)? NOTHING!
In the real world a good seller of any product normally has a chance to fix the problem and satisfy the customer. If the customer doesn't take advantage of that opportunity, it is not broadcast to every possible customer that seller will see in the future (as it is on E-Bay). This POORLY CONCEIVED SYSTEM takes that opportunity and incentive for good customer service away from good sellers.
PLEASE MAKE THIS SYSTEM FAIR:
1 SELLERS MUST BE ABLE TO LEAVE NEGATIVE FEEDBACK FOR UNPAID ITEMS. The new UPI policy about banning buyers after 3 or 4 UPI's will have little effect on the real problem which is multiple and different buyers failing to pay a single seller. Negative feedback is deserved when a buyer clearly breaches the contract by failing to pay for the item.
2 BUYERS SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO LEAVE NEG/NEUTRAL FEEDBACK BEFORE CONTACTING SELLER FOR HELP - In the real world a reasonable customer complains to the seller, the seller addresses the problem, and THEN the buyer forms an final opinion about the transaction. The buyer on E-Bay is not required to act responsibly in this system and the seller has no reason to pursue good customer service with these buyers. That's bad for E-bay as a whole.
We pay E-Bay nearly $2,000 each month in fees. Right now we are actively pursuing other options to sell our products.
********
You can still sell without their highly speculative, and extremely unsafe Paypal provided you have a merchant account.
Funny how Paypal is sooooo safe, yet no other payment processor manages to be hacked into or spoofed as much as the "highly secure" Paypal.
As they push towards a payment monopoly, people will start taking business elsewhere, so long as they have been screwed by Payapl in the past. There will always be a small percentage of people who love Paypal, but for the people who don't like Paypal (and there are a lot of reasons not to like it), ebay will continue to force people to leave their site. Not sure why that's their goal, but it sure seems like it. Yes, the obvious intention is to increase their bottom line by forcing people to use Paypal and collect the commissions associated with it that they cannot get with other payments, but one look at Paypal's user agreement would make one very wary of using them.
In any case, since ebay stores are not doing well, and the cost of a website goes down, I predict more people will build their own website, and figure out a price for their merchandise. People lived before ebay, and while it's nice to have an opportunity to make more on your item in an auction format, everyone likely can figure out a static price, and take the time and effort to build their own site. Why people grouse so much about ebay's policies, but continue to list is beyond me. I just use it for junk that's unrelated to anything else I do, and don't expect to make much money. Most of the time, if it doesn't sell, I give it away.
********
Hi Ina,
There's a sinister plot a brewin' at Paypal. The gist is ebay poofs an auction, Paypal says "not an ebay transaction anymore" and there is now no buyer protection! They state there is no proof that it was an ebay transaction. So now buyers MUST print out any auction they win as proof that it existed. Paypal is trying to worm out of the promised protection and ebay is completely abetting in that action.
Please read this thread http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000725416&start=0 and the very scary letter from Paypal on post 105 stating that the once an ebay transaction no longer qualifies for Paypal protection.
********
This is Buy's return policy.......holy moley!
http://stores.ebay.com/Buys-Internet-Superstore/Return-Policy.html
********
Hello Ina,
I'd like to draw your attention to a couple of related issues that appear to have gone largely unnoticed as sellers fume about the proposed paypal only policy - yet will substantially have the same effect. These are important issues for sellers, and I believe will eventually if not already be the case in all countries that ebay operates in.
1) New ebay AU sellers for at least the last 18 months have been required to offer Paypal as a payment option
2) Stage 1 of the Paypal only policy has been allowed to proceed (ie. Paypal must be a payment option for all sellers)
Although Stage 2 appears very unlikely to get final approval from the ACCC, the above 2 policies can be very detrimental to sellers who do not like to offer paypal, especially considering the way ebay promotes paypal as the ONLY safe payment choice.
Ebay in Australia has for sometime gone to great lengths to deter buyers from using any payment method other than Paypal.
For example, when checking out a buyer will be given a selection of payment methods;
- Paypal will appear at the top of the choices (of course), with a huge font and graphic, many times the size of other choices
- Also on the payment screen a very large warning box is displayed stating paypal as the only safe option (hence by inference all other methods unsafe)
In addition, the constant promotion of paypal throughout the site in large header and promo boxes spruiking the benefits of buyer protection and paypal as Australia's favourite payment method. Ebay of course has a complete control over what payment method on the site it promotes, hence combined with the profit motive the implications are obvious.
From my own experience, on occasions where I have not offered paypal due to low margin high value products where the paypal fee would be disproportionate to my profit margin, I have had numerous newbie buyers refuse to pay unless I accepted paypal, this is despite it being clearly stated in the listing that paypal will not be accepted due to the high fees and low margin on this product. Despite my excellent long standing track record they have literally been terrified to use any other payment due to ebay's rhetoric. It would be expected ebay will further ramp-up the fostering of this perception.
Through stealth, ebay's stacking of the deck in their favor, will result in paypal being the only defacto payment method.
By forcing sellers to offer paypal is a very clever and sneaky way to effectively get the same result as a paypal only policy. I'm sure ebay's marketing and promotion strategies (on the site and in checkout) and new user education going forward will result in paypal payments capturing some 90+% of all payments. Maybe not 100% as per a paypal only policy, but well enough, and without the PR backlash.
From an outsider looking-in perspective, it may appear that ebay is allowing buyers and sellers payment choice. But is it really choice? I think in this instance choice is merely an illusion. Unfortunately however, I fear this illusion may be enough to placate buyer, sellers and regulators.
Ebay sellers need to wake up to this and take action!
Feel free to quote me.
Regards,
Kevin
********
Maybe it's the real Avery, maybe not. Still worth a look.
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?messageID=2010828866?
********
Hi I thought you might like this Post on Ebay From EX Ebay Employee Avery Pink maybe you should capture it & save it because you just know ebay will make the thread go poof b4 everyone can read it . See below
Kindest regards, Paul
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000721107&tstart=0&mod=1213863895907
********
Hi Ina,
I don't have a personal ax to grind against Buy (or their special no-fee agreement), but I do have a problem with them breaking certain ebay TOS that all sellers should adhere to on the site. I believe in a Fair market for all and these violations should be reportable no matter who does them, let alone a seller that should have had all of the rules fully explained to them.
Thanks,
Ralph
See this listing of Buy.com:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170230480580
Within their "store policies" box are statements concerning what types of Paypal payments they will and will NOT accept. This is in direct violation of the new ebay/paypal rules concerning "Sellers may not communicate to buyers that they only accept, or will not accept, specific forms of PayPal payment." at 4.3 of the User Agreement:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xpt/UserAgreement/ua/USUA-outside#receive-policy
Farther down in that "box" is a section titled, About Us. In that portion they Keyword Spam with "electronics, cellular, books, movies, music, sporting goods", no matter what the listing contains.
This is a different listing design than they previously used, so they certainly should have been given all of the rules and have re-designed to comply with them by now. If they're so buddy-buddy with ebay, you'd think that The Rules would have been discussed. KWIM?
********
Hello,
I enjoy your publication and am hoping to see (or would be glad to write) an article on your web site soon about Senator Chris Dodd's proposal for the IRS to be able to gather data on every eBay/PayPal seller as well as users of other product sale sites like Amazon.com. Senator Dodd hid these new rules in an amendment on another piece of legislation and the press has not paid much attention to the issue. Here is a link to more information.
http://www.freedomworks.org/newsroom/press_template.php?press_id=2571
My personal feelings on the matter:
"Is this a sneaky trick by Senator Dodd? He has fought in the past on the issue of more oversight of credit card companies, which is a good thing, but backhanded legislative inserts like this are terrible for consumers and small businesses alike. Instead of focusing on where to cut spending, Senator Dodd has decided that the government should try and increase their coffers to record new levels by building a clearing house of data on everyone who sells products online, be they businesses or individuals. If Mr. Dodd champions IRS reform, he needs to get together with Neal Boortz and work toward a fair tax solution, rather than crafting legislation that will put the privacy of millions of American consumers and businesses at risk!"
Thank you,
Jason
********
eBay just closed down the Sign The Pledge - No Sales Feb 18-25 thread. This thread had over 52,000 post and people were trying to post on it when eBay shut it down. The thread can not be found any place. Basically the discussions on it were about the boycott, eBay changes, fellow boycotters talking about their pets and other items of interest. Is eBay starting to worry that the boycott is actually having an affect? It seems eBay is running into one problem right after the other - I guess it was not very smart of them to make fun of the mom and pop flea market sellers.
sasswbe (ex-eBay powerseller)
********
just got hit with a beta page for the new page design for the my ebay....made terminally cute but not useful at all....takes up too much real estate, doesnt include enough information in an easily readable form like the current version.. Sent the beta team a blast and opted out.
********
Does this mean that the software provider that I found on ebay (Kyozou) will no longer be useful to me in regards to eBay?
We have spent thousands of dollars using the Kyozou software to barcode our warehouses & barcode our products. We have purchased printers and scanners to use this system and using this software allows us to feed our product line into eBay and our eBay store, offer fast and inexpensive shipping to our customers and quick emails with important info for them.
Are they saying that the software that they recommended to us will no longer be allowed? Marketplace, Infopia....all these software packages will no longer be allowed?
My business blood is running cold by this announcement. Any further info on this would be HUGELY appreciated.
Judi
********
Hi Ina,
I read your blog and site all the time. First "Thank You" for your updates.
I know you are able to ask some questions of paypal or ebay that perhaps some of us regular sellers on ebay can not get answered.
You said that paypal clarified the new ruling for July 9, 08. about if a seller takes paypal and sells internationally, they must accept paypal from all sales.
My question is this. Most international buyers do not have confirmed addresses with ebay/paypal except for some in the UK and Canada.
So how are sellers supposed to be covered under the seller protection plan anymore?
Since some sellers must take paypal, how exactly are we supposed to be protected anymore? Many are not powersellers and do not have the extended unconfirmed address coverage.
If a seller puts in their listing, only confirmed paypal payments will be accepted, is that good enough to satisfy this issue? And will paypal be adding that to their addendum?
If you could get a clear answer on this, I and many other sellers would appreciate it.
Thank you kindly.
Shari
********
Hi.
I wrote yesterday and just thought I would give you an update on my quest of finding out about my seller dashboard.
I spoke to David Smith, the same person who emailed me, yesterday.
My question was "Who can look at my Seller Dashboard and tell me why I am lowered in search and my customer service needs work? He claims that all he can see is the same thing I can when looking at my seller dashboard, He went on to state that the site does not have the functionality to let anyone see what numbers are left by buyers. Bull%*#%!!!!!!
I explained that with 100% feedback, DSR's all above 4.7, doesn't this seem a tad funny that I am in lowered search. He first told me that it was because I haven't sold in 30 days. My response "So you are telling me that Ebay is penalizing sellers because they haven't sold in 30 days?"
I then had to direct him to an announcement from Dinesh Lathi stating that If you have not sold for 30 days, a seller's listings would receive normal exposure.
So, he finally decided it was because of my buyer dissatisfaction rating. I then told him that was what I was wanting to find out. How was mine lowered? Again, the functionality of the site does not allow for him to see those numbers.
I explained that I had received one neutral and it was mutually withdrawn. He then told me that the dashboard did not recognize that the neutral was mutually withdrawn. HUH???
I asked that someone change my status so that I could begin listing without being buried in Best Match. Again, he claimed that the functionality of the site prevented this from being done. Claimed they did not have the ability to change it for me.
He informed me that after 3 DSR's were left, my standing should raise. My response, so I should be content to list 50 items and have them buried in Best Match so that hopefully I could get 3 DSR's. I informed him that no one can tell me why I am in lowered standing now, how can I be sure I will be in raised standing after 3 DSR's. He said the system should work.
He did admit that the DSR system needs tweaked. Their were some flaws. So I say, "I am just in a Catch-22 situation I guess?" His response "That is very astute of you". He did say sorry this is happening to you but offered nothing in the way of fixing it.
Just thought the lies and the response were interesting considering they come from a representative of the Office of the President of Ebay.
Have a good one.
Sharon
********
Ina,
I just wanted to drop a short note to let you know how much I've enjoyed Auctionbytes over the last 3 years. My compliments to you and your staff on the coverage you provided last weekend of eBay Live.
Interviews with eBay management were informative for what they didn't say. Seems to me that they ready didn't have many answers to questions they were asked. I was especially struck by how many times someone in management said, "We could have done better with that."", "We can do better with that.", and "We are listening to you." Too bad that these lame responses from management makes them come across as incompetent and changing policies willy-nilly.
Photos show many empty seats, unlike standing room only of past years. Didn't see any photos of the feedback meeting but can imagine that it was packed as you reported. I'm still wondering what management was thinking when they changed feedback policies. As for DSRs it's obvious that the carrot offered sellers for good performance is rotten, in that they tell buyers that a score of 4 is good but offer discounts to sellers only for DSR scores of 4.6 in all categories. Nice trick to lessen discounts available to sellers. Looks to me like the end game is to do away with feedback and rely only on DSRs. Wouldn't bother me a bit. I just wish they would do it and be done with it. This middle level is a disaster for everyone.
We have tried to adjust to new policies but are finding it impossible. For example, we recently offered 20 1 cent listings with free shipping to drive traffic to our store and other auctions, and to raise shipping and handling from 4.64 to hopefully 4.7. The result was 8 late payments after we filed UID, 7 NPBs, 1 neg, and a reduction in DSR to 4.58 for shipping & handing (all items were shipped for FREE, USPS 1st Class within 4 business days as stated in listings, and in new large envelopes, same as all of our other shipments). None of these winning bidders bought anything else, and we see no evidence that the 1 cent auctions increased sales with other bidders/buyers. We have tried this before over the years with the same result. Won't be doing it again.
Not sure where eBay is heading and find it scary that even eBay's Griff claims there will be no eBay in 2 years. Seems like it is time to create my own website and find other venues.
Ina, keep up the good work! Keep asking relevant questions and lets see if eBay management can give the community any real answers.
Sincerely,
SJ
********
Ina,
I sell on Ebay and came across an article on the Blogger News Network. (http://www.bloggernews.net/116216)
It is a part three to a series of articles being published there. Whoever wrote it seems to have a wealth of knowledge and understanding of Ebay and Paypal and how they seem to be teamed up to screw sellers. While the article was a tad long, it continues to make great point after great point in each of it's paragraphs.
I think the Ebay users need to read this. Is there some way that you can promote this article so that that can happen? Let me know what you think.
SC
********
Hi Ina, just an observation:
I'm wondering if the eBay feedback changes have had unintended consequences.
I've noticed that the number of customers leaving us feedback of any kind has declined sharply.
As in, what's the incentive for a customer to leave feedback?
- It really doesn't matter for a customer if he or she has 10 feedbacks or 999
- since sellers can't neg you, feedback just becomes essentially meaningless, and therefore there is no incentive for buyers to leave feedback for sellers.
I wonder if other sellers have noticed a similar decline in feedbacks being left for them.
My guess is eBay will eliminate feedback altogether in six months or so, and just go with the DSRs.
Best regards,
Beth
********
Hi Ina:
I keep our Auctionbytes newsletters so that, as our business expands, we can go back and see if there is info that now matters to us where it might not have previously.
As I was perusing the 1/3/08 newsletter I read the article regarding the Top Sellers performing poorly under the DSR formula. I then clicked on the Nortica link to check the list.
You might want to do an article in the future to review a shocking insight that can be gleaned from that list. I, completely randomly, checked the ebay stores of about 20 of the top 100 sellers and found that 8 of the 20 I checked are no longer on ebay!
Ebay reps and their blind enthusiasts can say whatever they wish (your recent posts regarding ebay Live 2008) about how wonderful the site is BUT ebay's TOP sellers apparently do not agree and they are "voting with their feet".
Bill
