Why buyers don't trust eBay

[dbfolks166mt]

     This is a good example of why buyers don't trust eBay despite the money back guarantee. This item is listed in the clothing section and everything in the item specifics gives the buyer  the impression that this is a pair of men's size 9.5 pair of the infamous Trump Sneakers. However, the item description reveals the sham of this posting and that what the buyer is bidding on is in fact a picture of the shoes. They also claim the proceeds are being donated to the Trump Campaign fund. Hard to believe that will all the legitimate listings eBay pulls they allow something like this to be listed. What do you suppose the buyers reaction is  going to be when they find out they paid $3K + for a picture? 

[retro_entertainment_collectibles]

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@farmalljr wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@farmalljr wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@farmalljr wrote:

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@erikstuff wrote:

I think it's unfair that the seller has to pay the Ebay fee on the $9.50 shipping charge.  

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I think a processing fee on the tax and shipping is fair enough AND standard. Paying a FVF on those is just a sign of greed. It's also a sign that the platform has no idea **bleep** they are doing since they can't attract enough buyers to make their fee money through a normal channel. Nickle and diming the shrinking amount of buyers and sellers, usually leads to competition coming along and making you Sears or Kmart. 

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You are correct, it is standard in the industry on shipping, but it isn't on sales tax.  I don't know about all the similar sites, but Etsy and Amazon do not charge any processing fee or FVF on sales tax.

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Credit card processors have charged the processing fee on sales tax forever. I still remember all the threads when MP took over from PayPal. Everyone was loosing their minds because now instead of 2.9% on the sales tax, sellers were charged 13%. 

I also have my own merchant account for my business. You are charge the processing fee on the TOTAL of the sale. Sales tax, shipping, product/service price, it all is charged the processing fee. 

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I didn't say that no one charges their fees on Sales tax.  I was pretty clear in what I said before and I stand by it.

FYI as you know a CC is not the same as a site like Ebay, Etsy or Amazon.

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Amazon and Etsy are not a whole industry. You inferred that processing fees are not a standard charge on sales tax. Your assertion is quite wrong. Just because one or two PLATFORMS do not charge the fee on sales tax, does not mean the overwhelming majority do not. Almost every situation, the fee is charged on sales tax too.

For your information, a credit card processor, processes credit card transactions, It's not the same as Amazon, Etsy or eBay. They do not process their own card transactions, they are done by banking institutions. These platforms have agreements with these processors. These platforms have agreements with the processors, just like I have an agreement with mine. They charge the users of the platform a processing fee, just like I charge my clients a fee for using a card or processing a payment. 

You can "stand by" whatever you want. I find sometimes when you respond you either are doing a poor job of wording your response, or you just don't know what you are talking about. 

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At one time Amazon was working towards being an aggregate processor I've no idea if they managed do that and same of Walmart actually, subsidiaries.  It's also likely that the .10 cent increase of the .30 cent per transaction is result of higher card processing fee's.  All the way back mid last year there was reporting on card processing cost increases coming starting in October of 2023 and extending into 2024.

Unlike when I had merchant accounts where I could leave batch open all day then close it and get assessed the batch closure fee eBay would need close batch on each transaction.  This is why it is separate and bot for example part of FVF as Adyen is getting the batch closure fee direct.

Yes, you 100% correct in that the discount rate (commission) via card processor is on the total in all retail.

That said when I'd the merchant accounts through EMS/Wells Fargo and later Card Service International we could process, Visa/MC, Amex, Discover, Diners Club having been approved by all of them eventually we could not add in card processing fees (Discount Rate).  Nor could we set a minimum charge amount, if we had something for sale for one penny we could not refuse charge if that's how customer care pay or assess any sort of additional terms.  You'll see sometimes places will say, "Minimum Charge $10" we couldn't do that.  We were told flat out by our reps at EMS and later Card Service that's the fast track to loosing a merchant account.

Now that's not due to the card processing side of things, its due to the consumer side of things.  Nowhere in the cardholders credit or debit card (checking) contract is there any mention of minimum purchase usage nor fee's assessed as costs of merchant card processing.  So by me charging a consumer 2.5% for using a card whether displayed to them or not is not part of the consumer agreement with the card franchise.  The processor is the processor, they dont care about anything except processing, you get passed stolen card that's just too bad, they'll process it.

Completely understandable why because it open the door to any number of things... Oh well POS equipment costs $300 a mo and I'm just going to charge customers each more $5 cover that.  Oh, I've an employee, well just gonna charge customers extra to pay for him or her or add the old, "We've an 2% electrical surcharge that keeps the lights on."

[retro_entertainment_collectibles]

As to trust in general of the eBay venue that's a real complex matter.  Most consumers are well aware if they shop at eBay they are dealing with some individual party and eBay is the means.  Folks who shop at Mamazon dont usually pick up on that, they are shopping with Mamazon and this is part of ruse of The Buy Box at Mamazon.

Owning the Buy Box is literally a night and day in sales and why it's not under scrutiny as its doesn't tend be lowest price.  The lawsuits about it began in Europe and now floated here as well.  Back in the day when PC Software was Pop-Pop-Popular did ok over there and what was sold almost always was lowest price as I coded up a re-pricer that kick the snot of anything existing than or now for that matter.  Twice by mistake Mamazon gifted us the Buy Box and OH MY GOSH it was a literal flood.  We were normally get about 4-5 orders per hour we were literally getting orders every one minute and thirty seconds.  Could NOT believe it!

Well of course at that point I became a ho' for the Buy Box but the category manager just wouldn't play!  For 99.9% of sellers they'd just go, "OH MY GOSH THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE!"  You couldn't push orders through three terminals at a Walmart Superstore as fast the orders were pouring in.

But back to reality... Trust in eBay falls directly in the laps of sellers just like any place else goods are exchanged.  There are many aspects of that equation from price to actually delivering what was listed and much between.  Back in the day I sold at several of the largest business to consumer venues that existed like Onsale, uBid, Auction World, iDeal etc very similar to say the former Overstock.com.  Every one of them albeit some more strict than others required professionalism at every turn.  Get an argument with a customer you're done, game over.  There was no feedback type mechanisms as they were not needed, the venue category managers/staff made the decisions and they were final.

Now there are all sorts of ways I can think of to boost consumer confidence at eBay but as with anything there are up's and down's which most certainly impact the companies revenues.

[mam98031]

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@ckimodog wrote:

@dbfolks166mt @mam98031 

I noticed most of the photos of the sneakers were removed.  My guess is from what I posted earlier, copyright issues.  Now there are at least a dozen sellers who have the sneakers in their photos, but are selling flags?  What next?? There's also a listing for a painted rock.  Only $1500...lol.  At least they're original. 

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Ebay keeps taking these listings down but thieves are persistent and creative.  Sad but true.

[mam98031]

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@dbfolks166mt wrote:

@dbfolks166mt @mam98031 

I noticed most of the photos of the sneakers were removed.  My guess is from what I posted earlier, copyright issues.  Now there are at least a dozen sellers who have the sneakers in their photos, but are selling flags?  What next?? There's also a listing for a painted rock.  Only $1500...lol.  At least they're original. 

     Yea it's getting really nuts out there. Duplicate listings, pictures, flags .... It will be interesting to see if any comments get posted about the 50 sold items including several that were high priced pictures. Of course no idea whether the items were actually paid for. 

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Yes, but many of those sold items, if you click on the listing, it no longer exists, which means Ebay cancelled the transaction and refunded the buyer from the seller's funds.

[mam98031]

@farmalljr 

I'm glad you are aware of that, but I never said or implied that "Amazon and Etsy are not a whole industry."  So we have no problem with agreeing on this point.  Were you expecting a complete list of all the sites similar to Ebay?  IDK why, I never even suggested I would supply that.  

"You inferred that processing fees are not a standard charge on sales tax."  No I said that Etsy and Amazon do not charge their FVFs on the sales tax, because they don't.  My statement was pretty clear: I don't know about all the similar sites, but Etsy and Amazon do not charge any processing fee or FVF on sales tax.

I'm not sure of your point or if you are just disagreeing to disagree.  I never said what you are saying I did.

This is getting a bit ridiculous.  I did not say what you are CCC were the same as sites like Ebay.  In fact I said the opposite.  You may have missed it:  FYI as you know a CC is not the same as a site like Ebay, Etsy or Amazon.

Maybe you just misunderstood my post.

[mam98031]

@broto_64 

I understand, I've see it too.  It is likely a lame attempt by the sellers to try and fool Ebay into thinking they comply with the Presale policy.  If you look in their descriptions, they say they don't ship until later this Summer.

Some may be hijacked, but it is likely most aren't because they are brand new sellers.  Then there are sellers that are active sellers and have other things listed for sale, so not likely they were hijacked.  But there still may be some, IDK.

[robertgrahamfan]

I'm surprised eBay removed them at all.  Everytime I've ever reported a listing nothing has happened. I had no clue about this sneaker business but there are tons of other fraudulent listings out of China on eBay like brand new designer silk shirts for $35.

I do recall the site removing a 1/6 figure from eBay for being fraudulent,  AFTER I'd paid for it.  Good work eBay!

[mam98031]

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@ckimodog wrote:

@broto_64 

I reported this listing yesterday and it was shut down, yet here it appears again.  This whole category needs to go away.  Many people have no idea what they're in for.  The ones that thought they were getting shoes and got photos instead.  Now the flags that will be digitally delivered & the seller doesn't own the copyrights to that photo. It's getting out of hand.  

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They can't shut down the entire category of Mens shoes.  That would be totally unfair to all the other listings that are legit.

[mam98031]

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@robertgrahamfan wrote:

I'm surprised eBay removed them at all.  Everytime I've ever reported a listing nothing has happened. I had no clue about this sneaker business but there are tons of other fraudulent listings out of China on eBay like brand new designer silk shirts for $35.

I do recall the site removing a 1/6 figure from eBay for being fraudulent,  AFTER I'd paid for it.  Good work eBay!

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Many members have felt that frustration.  When there is a single report on a listing, it doesn't always get reviewed.  But the more reports by multiple members that happen on a listing, the higher it moves up in the priority list to be reviewed.  

This situation is different.  This is where there are multiple members posting something that does not comply with the rules of Ebay.  So Ebay is specifically targeting these types of listings.  It happens from time to time when something in the marketplaces attracts these types of sellers willing to steal from people.  

It is totally different from when there is a single listing that may break the rules.  Here we are talking about hundreds of them.

[farmalljr]

Here is a thought..... Why should sellers take the time to police the listings? Is that now somehow the job of the sellers to police eBay's own site? Doesn't eBay have employees? Doesn't eBay write the code? How hard is it for them to tell AI that "trump and shoes" in a listing title need to be reviewed? 

As has been pointed out, some that have reported, heard back "nothing suspicious here". Which is more than I ever hear back when I have reported listings. I no longer worry about reporting anything. Not my job. 

eBay sure isn't giving any sellers any break for "helping" (aka doing eBay job). Why should I care if eBay loses a bunch of money to scammers? I mean they are quick to tell sellers "its a cost of doing business". Maybe they should learn to love that phrase for themselves?

This is all pretty much, much ado about nothing. Scams happen here every single day. Heck you have sellers and buyers who seem to make out pretty well scamming people for a living. eBay sure doesn't seem to do much about any of it. Masks and hand sanitizer were shut down instantly. And this could have been as well. No one can say it's just too hard for eBay to catch it all. It's not that hard, they have demonstrated that. 

[inhawaii]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

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@luckythewinner wrote:

Why buyers don't trust eBay

Most buyers trust eBay, because most eBay buyers are not shopping for that particular item. 

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The buyers that are still here "trust" eBay at least for now. That said scummy sellers are the primary reason so many buyer left and never came back.

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If any buyers leave eBay because they got burned buying a political stunt with a six-month delivery date, then perhaps that is not a big loss. 

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Survival of the fittest comes to mind.

[retro_entertainment_collectibles]

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@inhawaii wrote:

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@luckythewinner wrote:

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

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@luckythewinner wrote:

Why buyers don't trust eBay

Most buyers trust eBay, because most eBay buyers are not shopping for that particular item. 

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The buyers that are still here "trust" eBay at least for now. That said scummy sellers are the primary reason so many buyer left and never came back.

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If any buyers leave eBay because they got burned buying a political stunt with a six-month delivery date, then perhaps that is not a big loss. 

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Survival of the fittest comes to mind.

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It's a MAGMA thing, "Make America Great Maybe Again."

[retro_entertainment_collectibles]

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@farmalljr wrote:

Here is a thought..... Why should sellers take the time to police the listings? Is that now somehow the job of the sellers to police eBay's own site? Doesn't eBay have employees? Doesn't eBay write the code? How hard is it for them to tell AI that "trump and shoes" in a listing title need to be reviewed? 

As has been pointed out, some that have reported, heard back "nothing suspicious here". Which is more than I ever hear back when I have reported listings. I no longer worry about reporting anything. Not my job. 

eBay sure isn't giving any sellers any break for "helping" (aka doing eBay job). Why should I care if eBay loses a bunch of money to scammers? I mean they are quick to tell sellers "its a cost of doing business". Maybe they should learn to love that phrase for themselves?

This is all pretty much, much ado about nothing. Scams happen here every single day. Heck you have sellers and buyers who seem to make out pretty well scamming people for a living. eBay sure doesn't seem to do much about any of it. Masks and hand sanitizer were shut down instantly. And this could have been as well. No one can say it's just too hard for eBay to catch it all. It's not that hard, they have demonstrated that. 

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Cuz' people care about each other?

I mean I KNOW it's really not all that fashionable but once upon nice evenings it was "United We Stand Divided We Fall."

Now we're in the midnight dreary of Finding Nemo, "Mine... Mine... Mine... Mine..."

There are some in this community who are grateful to eBay for both past and present of which I am one.

[mam98031]

@farmalljr 

Why should sellers take the time to police the listings? Is that now somehow the job of the sellers to police eBay's own site? Doesn't eBay have employees? Doesn't eBay write the code? How hard is it for them to tell AI that "trump and shoes" in a listing title need to be reviewed? 

Nope, you know very well that sellers are not required to police the site.  Sellers have no authority to remove listings.  If you don't want to do it, simply don't.  But there is nothing wrong with sellers reporting a listing for what they see as a policy violation.

As has been pointed out, some that have reported, heard back "nothing suspicious here". Which is more than I ever hear back when I have reported listings. I no longer worry about reporting anything. Not my job. 

You are correct.  And this was address on the thread that is specifically about the Trump shoe listings.  The AI is not always getting it right to remove the listings, but there are humans working on it too and they get it taken care of which is CLEAR because so many listings have been removed.  Sadly some sellers are very persistent and keep posting more listings.  But even with that there are a whole lot less of these listings than there was a couple days ago.

[mam98031]

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@retro_entertainment_collectibles wrote:

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@inhawaii wrote:

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@luckythewinner wrote:

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

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@luckythewinner wrote:

Why buyers don't trust eBay

Most buyers trust eBay, because most eBay buyers are not shopping for that particular item. 

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The buyers that are still here "trust" eBay at least for now. That said scummy sellers are the primary reason so many buyer left and never came back.

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If any buyers leave eBay because they got burned buying a political stunt with a six-month delivery date, then perhaps that is not a big loss. 

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Survival of the fittest comes to mind.

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It's a MAGMA thing, "Make America Great Maybe Again."

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I don't think it is.  These sellers are not turning the money they make over to Trump.  This is good old GREED in play.