Shafted? Maybe. But I'll take selling on eBay over opening another retail storefront any day.
Yeah some buyers are crooks. But if you plan ahead for a certain % of loss, you should be fine financially. And if you take some basic steps to protect yourself, losses can be minimized.
It's been my experience that there are just as many bad buyers on eBay as there are in B&M sales. A lot of people don't expect this; particularly if they've never managed a retail operation before. So it can come as a shock.
Belive me, it's worse if you have a physical store and hire employees.
By far, the #1 reason I've fired people over the years, is theft.
The biggest labor cost aside from wages, benefits, taxes, and other accounting expenses, is theft.
Most people who steal from a store, work for that store; by nearly a 3-to-1 ratio if I remember the latest stats correctly.
Think about it, you're hiring a stranger whose true intent you don't know, and who has access to both your money and inventory.
(Good employees are like solid gold. Which is why it amazes me how many companies don't try to keep them through good wages and benefits.)
So yeah, eBay sucks, is a greedy corporation, cares only about the money, and blah blah blah. But comparitevely, they're not so bad. Most sellers here don't have employees to worry about. Taking some basic precautions can prevent most problems. That's how the PowerSellers do it.
And eBay does offer some protections for sellers. Negative feedback left by a buyer after a Buyer Protection case is won by the seller is removed automatically, for example.
Anyway, I'm done writing for now.
