Disgusted as a Seller

[no-plain-white-envelopes]

As a seller here based in Virginia , USA I am appalled that EBAY lets the sellers from China claim they are in the US on where items ship from. The only way to know they are in China is to check the FB that says member is in China. I made a purchase where the seller states items are from NY , but shipping is out of Los Angeles, CA.  The seller now has over 20 negs on FB and it looks like the item I purchased will never get here. Lesson learned , but the item in question was 150 yards or elastic so we can make our own masks as there is no elastic to be found in any stores locally. EBAY needs to stop this coddling of sellers from China.

[earlyant-77]

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@fashunu4eeuh wrote:

Hi @no-plain-white-envelopes  There are some sellers who deliberately falsify the location of their goods to entice more buyers. But there are also Chinese sellers who have warehouses here in the States and can legitimately claim a domestic location. In fact, former CEO Devin Wenig openly discussed this with the media in the not-so-distant past, explaining how eBay assisted their Chinese sellers in finding stateside locations for their wares.

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And how many warehouses do you REALLY think that chinese sellers use? I'd bet most are simply offices. It's not cost effective for them to bring in containers of goods, store it and ship from here.

[Anonymous]

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@no-plain-white-envelopes wrote:

As a seller here based in Virginia , USA I am appalled that EBAY lets the sellers from China claim they are in the US on where items ship from. The only way to know they are in China is to check the FB that says member is in China. I made a purchase where the seller states items are from NY , but shipping is out of Los Angeles, CA.  The seller now has over 20 negs on FB and it looks like the item I purchased will never get here. Lesson learned , but the item in question was 150 yards or elastic so we can make our own masks as there is no elastic to be found in any stores locally. EBAY needs to stop this coddling of sellers from China.

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Hi @no-plain-white-envelopes, while we do not allow for sellers to misrepresent the location of their items, where the seller's business is located is not something we place restrictions on. You can read more about our item location policy here. Any listings you feel are in violation can be reported directly from the listing page and we will review for appropriate action. 

[chapeau-noir]

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@earlyant-77 wrote:

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@fashunu4eeuh wrote:

Hi @no-plain-white-envelopes  There are some sellers who deliberately falsify the location of their goods to entice more buyers. But there are also Chinese sellers who have warehouses here in the States and can legitimately claim a domestic location. In fact, former CEO Devin Wenig openly discussed this with the media in the not-so-distant past, explaining how eBay assisted their Chinese sellers in finding stateside locations for their wares.

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And how many warehouses do you REALLY think that chinese sellers use? I'd bet most are simply offices. It's not cost effective for them to bring in containers of goods, store it and ship from here.

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I suspect the warehouses store larger items that don't qualify for ePacket service, and according to one of eBay's fairly recent press releases, they have enough stock to last a while.  Freighting the items and storing them here, then shipping would be a savings over using China EMS.

To qualify for ePacket:

"The maximum length of a package is 24 inches (60 cm) and the total length, height, and thickness of the package cannot be more than 36 inches (90 cm).

Additionally, to qualify for ePacket delivery, the package cannot weigh more than 4.4 pounds (2 kg), and the merchandise being shipped cannot exceed $400 in value."

(Shopify)

[earlyant-77]

.... according to one of eBay's fairly recent press releases ....

Think about that statement.

[niftyandthrifty50]

@no-plain-white-envelopes .. We have had the same exact problem !!!! First one I ordered and took two weeks to get it - was supposed to be coming from Hebron, KY and I’m in Louisville - came from North Carolina and took forever ! Found a different seller supposedly from Illinois with one day shipping - Shipping label was generated in California and was supposed to be here on Monday 13th - Thursday the 16th now and still not tracking ! I’ve had it with these excuses and blaming the USPS! I have reported and requested a refund, but still no elastic and people are waiting on it - I have made masks and donated over 380 yards to others to make masks . I won’t be shopping on here again I’ll tell you that

[picknparley]

trinton@ebay 

Hi Trinton,

"...while we do not allow for sellers to misrepresent the location of their items, where the seller's business is located is not something we place restrictions on. You can read more about our item location policy here. Any listings you feel are in violation can be reported directly from the listing page and we will review for appropriate action. ."

So, what does ^that^ mean when it comes to all the buyers getting ripped off by sellers from China? 

This one thread includes a good number of victims to just this one type of scam. 

Will ebay take a more aggressive approach to detecting this and other dishonest practices?

What is being done to stop the theft of ebay gift cards?  That system has surely been hacked as cards purchased at a retail store are emptied within minutes or hours of activation.

Or the scam behind paying for a car, a truck, an RV with ebay gift cards?   There are about a half dozen a day that come to the community forum. Thank goodness the good people on the forum are able to save a few from being scammed, but there are many that come after it's too late and their ebay gift cards are emptied. And each victim is out over $1000. 

Another scam involving addresses and tracking numbers on packages is really out of hand.  Fraudulent sellers with packages being sent to neighborhood addresses (zip code similar) but never to correct address.  Or orders using tracking numbers 2 years old.   

Scammers have gotten in to the ebay system and send sellers fake emails asking for shipping changes.  This has been a costly scam to good hearted sellers wanting to accommodate their customers.   

And what in the world has happened to the feedback system?  How can a seller 2 days old have 2000+ feedback?  It's obvious there's coercion between account holders to accomplish that.

ebay is asking a lot of their buyers and sellers when it comes to the security that ebay should be providing or policing themselves.  Every purchase is now requiring buyers and sellers to do a thorough background check to avoid getting ripped off. This is not the way to a great buyer experience and sellers are losing sleep over whether the $700 watch they sold had an honest or legitimate buyer.  ebay return policy changes have added to that stress level. 

All scams = dishonest and fraudulent players.

Maybe our question is: will ebay help it's buyers and sellers by addressing all the scam issues we're facing? 

Please don't give us the "we're actively working and report frauds" spiel.  Many fraudulent listings, sellers and buyers have been reported time and time again, but they're still there. While we understand the monumental task at hand we also understand the ability to detect fraudulent accounts does exist.  

Yes, Trinton, this is a big can of worms.  But buyers and sellers alike would love to see these conditions improve.

Please give us some good news!

I would understand if this isn't your department, and if so, could you please forward this entire thread to the proper person and to the new CEO.  We would love to hear what his thoughts are! 

Thanks for your time! 

Stay safe.

[chapeau-noir]

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@twnpopcards wrote:

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

Ever since Wenig decided that "China is the future of eBay" with a China office and warehousing here, its just gotten worse.  I used to do business with people in Beijing before eBay even got into the whole China thing, and have several Chinese sellers that I'm pleased to do business with, so I have no problems with trade with China, but he was basically turning eBay into "China West" with two sets of rules and direct competition with eBay's US and other international sellers (including knocking off our vintage products...duh...Devin, the whole POINT is vintage, NOT a cheap China knockoff).  That horse is out of the barn, OK, but there needs to be the same rules for everyone.

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The contract that Ebay has with China is completely different than the UA that we have to deal with.  We are all going to be forced into Managed payments in the not to distant future.  This product ONLY works with Seller Hub so everybody in the US will be forced to use this program, but China still has their own set up and will not have to deal with Ebay controlling their money like we will. 

In fact an article i read some time ago (cannot remember where) stated that the Chinese do not even allow Ebay to track IP addresses so even if they restrict a seller in China from selling, all they have to do is open a new account and start up again with no ramifications at all.  Wenig always took care of the Chinese sellers and did all he could to help them stay in the US market, even helping them find warehouses for their products here in the US. Very few took advantage of that because the E-Packet was just so cheap they could continue to sell things for $0.99 with free shipping on many of their products while we continue to have rising shipping costs via USPS to help cover the the losses on all of their products.  Just another reason that Ebay continued to claim China was their future.

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I wouldn't be a bit surprised if there will continue to be different rules.

No, I don't think there are a lot of warehouses here, but there are some (I once read their locations) - a fair amount of merchandise that exceeds small packet is offered on here and that is what I think is being stored in warehouses because, I agree, it would make no sense to freight all that rip-rap dollar junk sold on here then have to pay USPS rates to ship to the destination. Thing is, though, the larger bulk items cost pennies on the dollar to make and freight is cheap when it's pre-packed in bulk and sent by sea on the China run.  It's a considerable savings to freight here, store, then ship the final mile, even with the USPS rates or whatever.  For instance, I purchase whole body mannequins - the origin is New Jersey, but the box and packing is definitely China made and there's no way that the mannequin would be able to be sent from China, even sea mail, on its own and even be ballpark what it costs to ship to me.  eBay is only one player in that market. 

At any rate, just as a general comment on quality, I deal more in the higher end quality goods from China (not designer, mostly domestic market stuff, i.e., traditional items made for their own country such as court coats, some vintage, etc.), and the tailoring in that case is excellent, but one pays full and proper value for it.  There are two different merchandising streams going here - cheap ePacket and regular commerce.

ETA: I agree, the counterfeit items is a big problem.

[rainbowpearls2314]

I went to look for a new keyboard today. I found some on eBay but bought mine in Amazon because I cannot trust eBay. I bought an item from eBay 3 weeks ago from a seller that claimed to be in USA and item would be shipped from California, but it came 2 weeks late, and from New York?
I messaged the seller, they were definitely from China and not a thing I could do.

eBay is loosing trust of those that want to buy American.

[chapeau-noir]

Aw, dang it!  Should have come by my store - one of my specialities is keyboards and I'm better looking than Bezos. 😆 

[no-plain-white-envelopes]

After a week of the seller trying to drag it out I had to do a full file to get refunded. Tracking Still shows item with no USPS acceptance and in LA still. I am hoping this seller is banned , but being they are from China they will be back.

[rainbowpearls2314]

Wish I would have known . I would have purchased from you in a heartbeat . 

the weird light up gamer keyboard we got from amazon works, but I make fun of my husband for it lol 

[vrie39]

Actually...

If you learn a little bit about ebay's returns system and the money back guarantee and also how Item Not Received works you will find out as i did how misrepresenting an item can work out for both seller and buyer without any human intervention.

Because it irritates me, too... But if they have the product as described at the best price and I get it within the stated timeframe then there exists no problem.

[funnymaniac]

I find it amusing how the E REP popped in and was pretty much ignored. I feel bad because I don't think he get's it.

There are double standards. You are told you can report something that's wrong but if the one you report is immune, it doesn't matter how much proof you send.