In every issue, readers soundoff about issues important to them. From feedback to payment services, from fees to posting policies, AuctionBytes Soundoff gives you a chance to air your views.

Send your letter to the editor by emailing ina@auctionbytes.com with "Letters to the Editor Blog" in the subject line. (Remember to include your name as you would like it to appear.)

And be sure and follow the AuctionBytes Letters to the Editor blog!

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To the Editor:
My experience with paypal is that sellers are going to have to accept that if a buyer wants to return an item, no matter what the offer said or if it is offered "as is", then the seller will be hit with a refund of the item plus shipping and handling. I see eBay headed in the same direction. The returns will be automatic with no effective appeals.

This policy requires less employees to handle disputes and thus at the moment has less expenses. Sellers that use Paypal and eBay will have to adjust for this. I personally am increasing my handling cost to handle expected loses. I may look into billing shipping separate. I will also not sell to folks with less than 50 or so good reviews if I can avoid it. I may stop international sells because the double cost of losing shipping and then having to refund shipping. I lost $60 that way on a $40 item to Canada.

I do not expect a change until Paypal shows a decrease in usage. Paypal is supposed to be the engine that pulls eBay out of its hole. If it falters, then a lot of payback is coming. If it keep growing there is no incentive to change. Jim

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In Auctionbytes May 17, 2009 Issue of Letters to the Editor, Kyle noted changes to ebays's radically changed Buyer Protection page, that is now apparently called Protecting the Seller's Reputation. When I linked to that page from his letter, I found a box on the right side stating "Read a note from eBay's founder, Pierre Omidyar, outlining the philosophy, values, and benefits of the Feedback Forum". That box linked me to: (Link) http://pages.ebay.com/services/forum/feedback-foundersnote.html

The page starts with this statement: "Founders Letter In February 1996, when eBay was just 6 months old, the Community had already grown to several hundred members. Realizing the importance of having a simple and powerful way for members to exchange experiences, Pierre Omidyar, eBay's founder, launched the Feedback Forum. Here's the letter he posted on the Web site back then - it reflects the founding values that continue to guide the Feedback Forum today."

Please note the last sentence above which is in direct conflict with the goals set by eBay's Founder Pierre Omidyar in his letter posted in 1996, where he states, in part: "Give praise where it is due; make complaints where appropriate."

So my question is: If the goal of Feedback was to openly acknowledge both Positive and Negative feedback thereby "creating an open market that encourages honest dealings" for all eBayers, and present management says of Omidyar's letter "it reflects the founding values that continue to guide the Feedback Forum today" why are Sellers not allowed to leave negative feedback for non-paying bidders?

eBay itself earns Negative Feedback for all their Anti-Seller/Pro-Buyer changes that do not reflect the "founding values". Gloria

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To the Editor:

Re: What Every Merchant Should Know about New IRS Reporting Requirements

individuals that receive deposits totaling more than $20,000 from over 200 debit/credit card transactions in one year.

I would like the legal rendition of this - $20,000 and 200 transactions - $20,000 or 200 transactions. I am just an retired old guy cleaning the house out - read yard sale casual sale etc - I have been a merchant on eBay when I had an antique business and bought and sold on the 'net (eBay et al.) and had a brick and mortar store - closed the business over 4 years ago and am trying to rid the house (to be sold) of the excess items which are all personal property now.

I sell way more than 200 items a year for the past 2 years but hardly approached 1/2 of the $20000 (If one considers what acquired costs were and storage and eBay fees and packing and and and and and I actually lost money on 90+% of the items so far but with only SS and a small pension I have turned hard goods into food money).

I have a feeling this law may well be the final coffin nail for eBay for the antiques & collectibles section. Just wondering how many others are in this same rickety boat.
Lee

Note from the Editor: It really is AND. Some examples can be found in this article. If you have any questions about your obligation to pay taxes on eBay income, there are books, articles and accountants with whom you may consult. You may find some principles in this two-part AuctionBytes article that ran in 2001.

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To the Editor:
I read "Submitting Content to the Ecommerce Insider Newsletter" and look forward to submissions. In addition to that, I would love to see an ongoing format for those "experts" to offer either instructions or services for SEO, Blogs, Word Press, Pay per click etc. All of the things we need to know but some of us never learned and must out-source.

I'm sure I'm not the only "unskilled" business owner in this situation. I recently purchased a book published by one of your commentators but I can't find the time to read it. Some younger people will want to learn "how to do it themeselves" but I really don't want to learn the techy stuff, just pay someone to do it for me.

I think your readers would value those resources and I'm sure the experts would generate new business.
Thanks as always,
Ann

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To the Editor:
I just took a new survey where eBay is going to offer a 15% discount on USPS priority. They wanted to know if I would lower my cost if they offered it. In response I told them if they lowered their fees I would lower my cost.

Someone should do an article on the continuing .01 sales with bloated shipping its really rampant in some categories, once again eBay doesn't follow through.
Kent

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To the Editor:
New article in WSJ currently readable by all. "Auctions Fade in eBay's Bid for Growth" (link)

My summary is that the business plan of eBay has changed from the unique to the bargain basement. However that opinion seems to be the majority view and not very unique. I sent you another article about the social aspects of eBay ("How Facebook, MySpace and YouTube Killed eBay") (link).

Taking it all together, it seems that the value added part of eBay was social connections and entertainment as well as business. Without that, the value of eBay just becomes selling cheap stuff cheap. That is not a way of making high profit margins. eBay becomes just another commodity like Walmart.

Figuring a Walmart plan, then the idea is that you no longer have a store but a place for producers of goods to present their goods for sale. That requires strict controls over returns, quality and inventory. However a Walmart is not a place to find unique items or slow selling items. It is not a place to have an interesting experience. The business challenge is to change from the unique to the mundane say like a flea market becoming a Walmart clone. The existing social and business interconnections along with the customers are not compatible with the new and the new is unproven in gaining new customers. So far the only real indicators of customer traffic and profitability indicates the new way is not working, much as I would expect from my favorite flea market becoming a Walmart. Folks shop Walmart because it is cheap, not because they like it. Folks shop the flea markets not only because of the cheap, but the adventure of finding stuff and interactions with vendors and seeing friends.

The great unknown is if the uniqueness of eBay would have worn off and eBay declined anyway. I think it would have, but the decline would have been slower. The appeal of actions in general would have declined regardless. Snipping killed most of my interest both on the buyer and seller side in auctions. I do not want to wait a week for an item only to have a sniper grab it at the late moment. Waiting a week or so to complete a transaction lost its appeal tool.

That said and considering the fact that smaller sellers are more expensive, I think eBay could have taken a different route and managed the loss of business better. I do not think it could have regained its glory days but the problem at the moment is that not only is the business declining, but the fix is making it decline faster. Yours Jim

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Hello, Ina,
Can you tell me what's going on with the Search results lately? When searching something like "furniture legs", it used to be that I would get about 200 listings or so to wade through. Now, I get over 800 to dig myself out from under, so to speak, and a large number of those listings do not have the both the words "furniture" and "legs" in the listing, usually only the word legs.

It appears that eBay is returning Search results based on the title having "either" Search term in the title instead of "both" or else they are just throwing in furniture listings in general in spite of what Search criteria is used.

And just to be specific, my Search words were "furniture" and "legs" meant to return results that had BOTH words in the TITLE ONLY.

I understand that eBay is trying to "enhance" the buyer's experience but, as a buyer, I don't feel that my experience is at all enhanced by have four times the number of listings presented to me, including those which don't pertain to my search criteria.

Is this what we can expect from eBay's Search engine from now on because if it is, I would think a lot of buyers would be turned off by it, if they haven't been already.
Thanks!
Cindy

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To the Editor:
eBay recently made a change to their sports card policy with no announcement. The first we heard of it here was when our auctions were removed for "trademark violations." Apparently, eBay now prohibits the sale of ungraded, unopened wax packs. (Packs with a wax paper wrapper.) Thousands of such listings have vanished since yesterday, without warning. We now have a "very low" policy compliance rating for "trademark violation."

Apparently, eBay is trying to prevent the sale of packs from which the more valuable cards have been removed, and the pack resealed. Such an item would be misrepresented, but we fail to see how such an item could be considered "counterfeit" or misuse of trademark. The vast majority of unopened packs of cards on (formerly) on eBay sell for less than $5, because they are unlikely to contain valuable cards.

It is now unclear what is allowable for sale. eBay did not remove the listings for graded wax packs, however they left the auctions for boxes and wholesale lots. There are also wax packs without the word "wax" in the title. They also have not prohibited the sale of wrappers. While collector's items themselves, they can be used to assemble a resealed pack, which makes little sense if their goal is to prevent the sale of resealed packs.

Had eBay given us warning about a policy change, we would have removed the items, however ridiculous we found the policy. We are furious that a policy change instituted without warning can result in a violation on our account.

There is a thread on the sports card forum about this: link
Dave

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Hi, Ina -
Like many ebay sellers, I've been happy using Auctiva for several years and am now looking for a lower cost alternative since their service will be quite expensive starting 7/1. I've googled to try to come up with other services and haven't had any success.

I'm sure many sellers would love to see a comparison of costs and services of other sites. I wondered if you might want to invite Auctionbytes readers to post details of sites they know about. It seems silly for thousands of people to be reinventing the wheel.
Carol

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Hi Ina,
When the new item page first rolled out (a year or so ago), Subha was in charge and very clearly stated that the left hand store navigation bar (with the store categories) would NOT be included. Now, ebay is saying it is. The link to the image of the new item page WITH a store navigation bar and statement about it being included is here: http://pages.ebay.com/sell/newitempage/index.html

And, the ebay ink blog also mentioned that the store header AND navigation bar would remain. But, it is not showing in any of my listings or anyone elses that I can see.

There have been many posts on the boards about it but we are being ignored (as usual). I would really appreciate it if you could shed any light on what exactly is going on. Is the bar staying or going?

This is a very important part of store success and the only real benefit to listing in auction format.
Thank you,
Linda

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Hello, I love your site! I was wondering if you were aware there is a glitch on ebay that is causing it to appear that items have been paid for when they haven't. I bought a store item buy it now, and it says at the top of the item listing " Your PayPal payment has been sent. Thank you. " But I haven't paid yet. I thought maybe it was a buy now pay now listing and I just didn't realize that I had clicked through and paid. But I checked my paypal, and it's not there. I can see how this can cause major problems between buyers and sellers with buyers thinking they've already paid and sellers filing UPI's.

Thanks for your great site and great writing,
Peter

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Hi Ina,
I was just looking at the current eBay S&H Policy and noticed it has CHANGED, since the last time I looked.

It now says: Fees related to Shipping & Handling: Gasoline, mileage, time spent at a carrier, time spent packaging the item, eBay and PayPal fees may NOT be added.

Which leads to the question if you can't charge a "Handling" fee for ANY of those reasons, is there any reason you can charge a handling fee for??? Sounds to me like eBay is planning on eliminating the handling fee completely.
KR

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Hi Ina,
I hope all is going well with you and David. I was tracking some package deliveries on the USPS web site today and noticed something new. The USPS Track and Confirm web page is showing much more detailed information. It's much closer to the information that FedEx and UPS provide showing stops along the way to the delivery destination.

Unfortunately it looks like the detailed information doesn't appear until the package is scanned by the letter carrier at the delivery point so it won't be very helpful if there is a delay in delivery time. It seems funny to me that it wouldn't be updated as the package makes its way along since they must have the information in the system. If possible, maybe you could contact USPS and see why they don't show the location of the package as it travels to its destination. I've attached some screen shots for you.
Steve

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Just saw the new Item Display page today. Unfortunately they seem to have dropped the bar with thumbnails of my other items. Marked as:

Find more items from the same seller. Bid or Buy Now!

Which I suspect is how my Store Items have been selling. Sales on store items tanked after they fiddled with search so they wouldn't appear as prominently. This may be the final blow. And it was just seeming to be a viable way to list expensive items with a buy it now price and avoid paying two or three dollars for a seven day listing. This in spite of the decreased visibility in search.
Bruce

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Hello, Ina. Longtime fan, and curious about something I didn't see mentioned on your site.

Google Base Store Connector has been down for 7 weeks now. The workarounds I've seen floating out there ONLY work for eBay store items. So, if you have fixed price or auction with BIN items, the workarounds don't. For the first 6 weeks, there was one error - can't remember the exact words, but I think it was close to "must specify ID". About a week or so ago, it shifted to telling me that my eBay ID and password combo didn't work. Some speculated that it has to do with eBay's new Stores format.

Speculation online moreover was that there was a tiff between Google and eBay, as Google acknowledged the problem on one forum, then completely disappeared. And no one believes that it takes 7 weeks for Google to fix an acknowledged glitch.

My sales dropped around the same time as Store Connector wandered away. This is not good. Any news you have that you can share?
Many thanks.
deb

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Remember when were told to use 2-3 similar words in a title (on Ebay) to pick up the most listings of an item you wanted (or when listing, to find more searchers for that item)

Well that is not true with Ebay's current listing system. Examples (as of 10 p.m. May 2) for completed auctions:

Old Vintage Tin Bank = 11 hits
Vintage Tin Bank = 182 hits
Old Tin Bank = 36 hits
Old license tag = 59 hits
Old license plate = 345 hits
Old license tag plate = 46 hits
Old vintage license plate = 40 hits
Vintage license plate = 1,549 hits
Vintage lincense tag plate = 83

Moral... you better be "lucky" choosing the word(s) when trying find the something you are looking for on Ebay. Or spend a lot of time with combinations and permutations.

This is a better buying experience? Yeh, right! ... and my old cat can sing the National Anthem in four languages.

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ebay is discontinuing their picture manager, leaving sellers abandoned after August.

Ebay strongarmed andale a few years ago to steal most of their business and I switched pictures to ebay. Now ebay is abandoning sellers, causing me to scramble for my 500 plus listings, each of which has nearly 60-70 photos for the template I use.

It is insane and I am very upset by this.

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Hi Ina,
I'm not sure if other readers have mentioned this to you about eBay's search. Ebay actually gives validity to words such as THE, AND, & and within these there can be significant differences in the search results you get. This is something that I have played around with and noticed for a while now.

Here's an example you can try to verify this. If you look up Hootie And The Blowfish Tucker's Town -CD -LP you get zero results. Granted, the band's name is actually written Hootie & The Blowfish with an ampersand and not AND. Now if you do the same search but replace AND with & you get results for the 45rpm of this song.

I'm not sure what the logic is, but such a subtlety can cost sellers sales and ebay profit. The average person out there may not remember that Hootie is spelled with an & and not AND. If they search with the AND, they may leave assuming no one has this record. Just pointing out this issue as I know it is more prevalent than this simple example.

If I remember correctly it was not like this some years ago. You could use the word THE or leave it out and the results were not affected. Now if you enter BEATLES or THE BEATLES you get different search results. I hope you are having a nice weekend.
Best Regards,
Juan

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Ina,
I'm not really understanding what is going on between Auctiva and eBay. My understanding is that eBay essentially yanked the rug out from under Auctiva financially, forcing Auctiva to start charging fairly high fees.

My question: Do - or will - other third party listing sites like InkFrog and Seller Sourcebook have the same issue? Do you know if there is a possibility they may wind up raising their fees a few months down the road?

I'm an Auctiva user who will be forced to move a lot of stuff due to what just happened, and I don't want to move it to another site with the chance that I may be dealing with this all over again three or four months from now.

I'd be grateful for any information you could give me. Thanks.
Maggi