I have read through this thread, and the main thread. I both buy and sell on eBay.
As a buyer
My personal opinion is that the eBay commenter is incorrect in the statement about delivery times being consistent. When I buy, I do want it in my hands 3 seconds after. Since that is not possible without extraordinary expense, I do want my shipping label with a few hours. This tells me that the seller has the product in stock, s/he intends to ship, and there were no problems with my order. Then I expect that the package becomes trackable within a few days. I, am a buyer, am less concerned about the delivery date as that is in the carrier's hands.
I bought a movie around Christmas. And this is not restricted to 1 specific seller. Handling time was listed at 2 days. It did not even get the label printed for 5. As a buyer, that is extremely irksome.
I have been looking for camera systems of late. For something more expensive, I am not an international buyer. As a buyer, I don't want to get emails about my products in the middle of the night which is generally the only time you get emails from international sellers. If you are in the US, sell in the US. But, if you are international, it really ticks me off to try to sell local.
Along those same lines, using stock photos are great to further explain your product when you don't otherwise have the means. However, when a 4-pack of 1.0mpx IP cameras show up for $9.99 with free ship (0 feedback), there is a likely chance it is a scam. There are 25+ of these on eBay at any given moment just within that 1 department. And not one of them (as well as thousands of other eBay listings in a multitude of different categories) has picture of the product. Even a picture of the stacked boxes with some visible writing on it lets me know that I am closer to buying an actual product rather than having to visit eBay claims every time I want to take a chance on something.
I disdain the inability to prevent international shippers when searching for products. There are some things I willingly buy overseas. Wires for example. But, some things I want or need quicker than 3 weeks with the possibility of never seeing it. I bought a battery today for a dead solar light. I want it quicker than a month from now. I know the rules and laws of the US. I don't know the rules and laws of somewhere else.
I would also like the ability to filter out sellers of expensive items with less than a certain number of feedbacks. For cheap items that are supposed to be cheap, idc that much.
So, as a buyer, I completely disagree with eBay's point of view on what buyers want.
As a seller
I have read the threads. I get why they think this is a good idea. But it is not. And, I will tell you exactly why. There are millions of sellers on eBay. Some are fantastic and do not make promises they cannot keep. Others just want to make a buck and will tell a buyer whatever to get that sale no matter what. So, why not just guaranteed the delivery with free ship so that eBay is stuck holding the 10% off coupon every time. Then, that 10% gets farmed off to everyone, even the good seller.
There is a seller on eBay that I have recently dealt with that 1) sent me the wrong product 2)sent me a product that did not work. I was in a hurry when I bought it and did not vet the feedback like I should have. Of the feedbacks left, 1 in 10 were negative of 2200 items in the last month. Of the ones that were positive, they really weren't all that positive. This, of course, does not include the tons of shoppers who likely received bad products that just decided not to leave feedback. They are still selling on eBay. 90% feedback shoud be good with the occasional defect. They have 95.something%.
This handle, lets call this handle Dave, has displayed it will do anything to get a sale and hope that whatever they send sticks. How many coupons do you think eBay will have to hand out for this ONE alone should they decide to guarantee ship? Meanwhile, Bob, who wants the customer to get what the customer ordered in good working order has to pay for this other guy's stuff and get his listings buried to boot. Bob makes less profit in an already overcompetitive marketplace and Bob gives up. eBay buyers get the short end because eBay has bread an army of Dave's and not fostered a good enough environment for Bob's to flourish.
As a seller, I can get on board with the shipping only selection of the guaranteed delivery. But, it is prohibitively expensive for the buyer and seller to order-to-delivery ship in 2-3 days. Those people who want that kind of service don't buy here and shouldn't. They should go to where it is part of the established matrix.
If I wanted to do something like FBA, I would do Amazon. But, I want, more than anything else, for my customer to be happy and satisfied with the purchase they made from me. That does not happen with FBA.
As a buyer and seller, eBay needs to balance protection on both sides. The buyer isn't always right, the seller isn't always right. But, we need a set of guidelines, both buyers and sellers, for disputes. Something like adding proof to a claim (and eBay actually requiring that proof and using it to make a fair determination). That buyers can't just say item not as described in order to prevent paying return shipping for items they decided they no longer wanted or needed. I don't offer returns for that reason alone. But, if eBay was an actual fair place, safe place, for both buyers and sellers, and they focused on getting rid of the bad sellers, I would offer returns. I am willing to sell less until that changes. I am also willing to not sell at all.
As a side note, the categories for Parts and Repair, Untested should be divided into For Parts or Repair and Untested. These are not the same thing and putting them in the same category hurts the buyers and the sellers. To weed out those who would take advantage of this new Untested category, there should be a matrix of 50-50 working to not. There are literally things I have that I cannot test that are more than likely fine (I have a GE refridgerator board, but nothing to which to test the board). I am apprehsive at listing things like this at all even though a buyer out there may benefit greatly from this type of category. I did sell a MakerBot controller board I was unable to test. It worked fine according to the buyer.
eBay just needs to know that it is not their job to compete. It is there job to be the best eBay their is. To do that, you have to help Bob instead of constantly rewarding Dave. Sorry if your name is Dave (but you happen to be a Bob). 🙂
