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Question for all the sellers

If you can suggest one change that eBay can reasonably make to better serve all sellers, and not just a sub category of sellers, what would that suggestion be?

 

And please do not make it a simple blank statement like "lower their fees". 

 

I love idea sharing and would like to hear what matters to you. 

Message 1 of 77
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76 REPLIES 76

Re: Question for all the sellers


@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

Ebay please rethink the concept of Feedback. It has become a dinosaur. Making it impossible for sellers to even attempt to defend themselves, let alone take issue with those difficult buyers that refuse to complete transactions after hitting the confirm purchase button. Tieing up inventory and fees until resolved has made selling an annoying adventure. Then having inaccurate feedback held over a sellers head for 365 days just isn't right. Especially when the majority of the transactions are completed with no issues and feedback is rarely if ever left. It's not like you can be better than 100%!!!

 

-Lotz


YES!  I am in favor of doing away with buyer FB all together.  Most if not all other similar sites did away with it a long time ago.  Many issues that arise over the FB system would simply go away by doing this.  I have no idea why Ebay is so resistant to this concept.


mam98031  •  Volunteer Community Member  •  Buyer/Seller since 1999
Message 46 of 77
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Re: Question for all the sellers


@mam98031 wrote:

@snowman420 wrote:

1) Allow a choice between Paypal and Managed payments.  Especially, to the ones of us that do not ship out of the US.  I do not want Ebay, etc. access to my bank accounts, it is a major security hack waiting to happen.

2) Please, return the 30 day fixed listings.  The GTC are time consuming. 


@snowman420 

 

Why?  Ebay has ONE site hack in 2014 that resulting in some accounts being exposed.  But no financial issues happened as a result of the hack due to the hack.  Now we lost buyer confidence for awhile and we had to come back from that, but no one lost their financial info.

 

I think you are thinking of individuals getting their accounts hacked.  That isn't getting hacked through Ebay, that is someone getting access to your information from your computer, emails, visiting a website, etc.  

 

Ebay has been around a long time and to my knowledge there has never been a site wide hack that has cause financial harm to members.  Keep in mind Ebay already has credit card info on many members and have had for many years.


Wow I can't believe it has been nearly 6 years now since eBay was hacked.  I am still bitter and holding a grudge about that fiasco.  That was the point where I realized eBay cares about the sellers about as much as I care about the toilet paper I flush down my toilet.

Message 47 of 77
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Re: Question for all the sellers


@gwzcomps wrote:

@mam98031 wrote:

@snowman420 wrote:

1) Allow a choice between Paypal and Managed payments.  Especially, to the ones of us that do not ship out of the US.  I do not want Ebay, etc. access to my bank accounts, it is a major security hack waiting to happen.

2) Please, return the 30 day fixed listings.  The GTC are time consuming. 


@snowman420 

 

Why?  Ebay has ONE site hack in 2014 that resulting in some accounts being exposed.  But no financial issues happened as a result of the hack due to the hack.  Now we lost buyer confidence for awhile and we had to come back from that, but no one lost their financial info.

 

I think you are thinking of individuals getting their accounts hacked.  That isn't getting hacked through Ebay, that is someone getting access to your information from your computer, emails, visiting a website, etc.  

 

Ebay has been around a long time and to my knowledge there has never been a site wide hack that has cause financial harm to members.  Keep in mind Ebay already has credit card info on many members and have had for many years.


Wow I can't believe it has been nearly 6 years now since eBay was hacked.  I am still bitter and holding a grudge about that fiasco.  That was the point where I realized eBay cares about the sellers about as much as I care about the toilet paper I flush down my toilet.


Why?  I know some were upset that Ebay didn't announce the hack faster.  But most don't realize that a company doesn't know they have been hacked as soon as the hack happens.  It takes a little time for that to surface.  It isn't an immediate thing.  They were hacked in late February or early March of 2014 and announced it later in March or early April.  That isn't an excessive time line.

 

If you look at other big hacks like Target or others, they weren't as quick to find the hack or respond to it.

 

I have no idea why this fact makes you feel bitter or the rest of what you said.


mam98031  •  Volunteer Community Member  •  Buyer/Seller since 1999
Message 48 of 77
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Re: Question for all the sellers

I agree.  When I am looking for items that are in the US only the search engine should screen out all sellers that are not located in the US. 

Message 49 of 77
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Re: Question for all the sellers


@hawkwind5454 wrote:

@kathieskorner wrote:

Stop manipulating visability with ever changing algorithms.  


Just as an observation, I find it interesting that this thread has the most thumbs up of the postings here, concerning the topic. Fact is, we sellers are getting way tired of this gambit eBay plays. And as far as what ebay's policy states, regarding this blocking/throttling modus operandi ....I'm sorry, but "may perriodically" is NOT synonymous with *consistently  and chronically*- 😠


I can always tell immediately when eBay has turned off my listing exposure faucet. Everything, and I mean everything, comes to a complete, and abrupt tandstill. Watchers, Buyers..... a black hole of nothingness. I don't know why the eBay board Kool-Aid drinkers fail to see that this really  DOES happen.. . And frequently-

Message 50 of 77
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Re: Question for all the sellers


@mam98031 wrote:

@mr_lincoln wrote:

@mam98031 wrote:

To boil this down to one thing is extremely difficult IMHO.

 

It is my opinion that the continued decline in the GMV is in part due to the lack of Seller Protection.  Many sellers have come to the conclusion that selling high $$ items is just too risky here and therefore take their business elsewhere.  They will sell lower $$ items and take the risk, but move higher ones away.  If enough sellers are doing that, it impacts the GMV.

 

There once was a bit of hope on the horizon to have some changes happen with Seller Protections to help ensure a more balanced and reasonable system.  However with the recent Town Hall and the Spring Seller Update, for me, Ebay is simply not listening and likely don't see a need to do this.  Even though they keep saying they hear us and agree that some changes should happen to better protect sellers.

 

But instead the Town Hall was completely silent on any specific upcoming changes and worse yet the Spring Seller update INCREASED the protections for a buyer that has filed for a return.  More than doubling their time to actually return the item.  


Great perspective, I agree with you on the higher priced and often higher risk items ... I had a low 4 figures item for Local Pick up only and got a lot of folks wanting it and will to pay the shipping if I dropped it at a UPS store or FedEx depot and they would use their account ... errnt, no way, this particular item was just too risky to have possible damage occur (real or otherwise) ... its now for sale elsewhere ...


@mr_lincoln 

 

Thank you.  If you know anywhere that we can get the stats for transaction numbers on the site I'd be very interested in that.

 

I'm of the opinion if transactions numbers are falling and GMV is falling, then that would be a different issue than I stated above.

 

If the transaction numbers are about the same and GMV is falling, then clearly enough higher $$ items are not being sold on the site to make a dent in the GMV.

 

If the transaction numbers are increasing but GMV is falling, then sellers are opting into selling lower $$ value items in lieu of higher $$ value items.  And as I said before IMHO this is likely to be associated with the horrible state of the Return System / Seller Protection.


You are more than welcome @mam98031 and yes, it would be great to get the numbers to look at.  I don't doubt that Sellers have become leery of selling higher value items and I also think (IMHO) that folks are leaving or thinning out their eBay offered items because of Managed Payments ...

I've posted on more than one occasion that today's online Entrepreneur needs to have a diverse portfolio of venues they sell on.  This can be a combination of on and off line venues where the latter could be consignment shops, local auction houses that do both live and online auctions themselves, etc. 

There are more opportunities to move items today then even 5 to 10 years  ago.

Regards,
Mr. Lincoln - Community Mentor
Message 51 of 77
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Re: Question for all the sellers


@mam98031 wrote:

@gwzcomps wrote:

@mam98031 wrote:

@snowman420 wrote:

1) Allow a choice between Paypal and Managed payments.  Especially, to the ones of us that do not ship out of the US.  I do not want Ebay, etc. access to my bank accounts, it is a major security hack waiting to happen.

2) Please, return the 30 day fixed listings.  The GTC are time consuming. 


@snowman420 

 

Why?  Ebay has ONE site hack in 2014 that resulting in some accounts being exposed.  But no financial issues happened as a result of the hack due to the hack.  Now we lost buyer confidence for awhile and we had to come back from that, but no one lost their financial info.

 

I think you are thinking of individuals getting their accounts hacked.  That isn't getting hacked through Ebay, that is someone getting access to your information from your computer, emails, visiting a website, etc.  

 

Ebay has been around a long time and to my knowledge there has never been a site wide hack that has cause financial harm to members.  Keep in mind Ebay already has credit card info on many members and have had for many years.


Wow I can't believe it has been nearly 6 years now since eBay was hacked.  I am still bitter and holding a grudge about that fiasco.  That was the point where I realized eBay cares about the sellers about as much as I care about the toilet paper I flush down my toilet.


Why?  I know some were upset that Ebay didn't announce the hack faster.  But most don't realize that a company doesn't know they have been hacked as soon as the hack happens.  It takes a little time for that to surface.  It isn't an immediate thing.  They were hacked in late February or early March of 2014 and announced it later in March or early April.  That isn't an excessive time line.

 

If you look at other big hacks like Target or others, they weren't as quick to find the hack or respond to it.

 

I have no idea why this fact makes you feel bitter or the rest of what you said.


Isn't that the same hack that caused the site to go down worldwide?  Then it screwed up all our listings.  When eBay offered to credit people for the issue we had to call, beg, and harass them to get the tiniest of credits?

Message 52 of 77
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Re: Question for all the sellers


@u_cant_take_it_with_u wrote: I can always tell immediately when eBay has turned off my listing exposure -

A-men to that!

Message 53 of 77
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Re: Question for all the sellers

They might try improving SEARCH  to help our buyers find exactly  what they're looking for,, thus helping  the sellers . Searching for the right stuff has become a waste of time in a lot of attempts . Tulips 

Message 54 of 77
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Re: Question for all the sellers

That too . I've gone hoarse asking e bay to bump up advertising . Tulips 

Message 55 of 77
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Re: Question for all the sellers

Many sellers have come to the conclusion that selling high $$ items is just too risky here and therefore take their business elsewhere. mam 

 

I will no longer sell high dollar items here either . Every single attempt I've ever made doing so has ended up in a very expensive disaster .  Tulips 

Message 56 of 77
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Re: Question for all the sellers

Yes, agree with you one million percent here..sales have gone from bad to worse - another very quiet and dismal weekend...

Message 57 of 77
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Re: Question for all the sellers


@u_cant_take_it_with_u wrote:

@hawkwind5454 wrote:

@kathieskorner wrote:

Stop manipulating visability with ever changing algorithms.  


Just as an observation, I find it interesting that this thread has the most thumbs up of the postings here, concerning the topic. Fact is, we sellers are getting way tired of this gambit eBay plays. And as far as what ebay's policy states, regarding this blocking/throttling modus operandi ....I'm sorry, but "may perriodically" is NOT synonymous with *consistently  and chronically*- 😠


I can always tell immediately when eBay has turned off my listing exposure faucet. Everything, and I mean everything, comes to a complete, and abrupt tandstill. Watchers, Buyers..... a black hole of nothingness. I don't know why the eBay board Kool-Aid drinkers fail to see that this really  DOES happen.. . And frequently-


I think it is pretty rare for another poster to say that Ebay doesn't hide listings as they see fit to do.  I mean it is stated they will do that right in the UA we all have agreed to in order to use this site.  So there is no secret at all that Ebay does do this.

 

Where the differences will come in is that many do not share the opinion of an one and off switch for a seller's listings entirely.  Well unless that seller only has a small amount of listings all in the same category.


mam98031  •  Volunteer Community Member  •  Buyer/Seller since 1999
Message 58 of 77
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Re: Question for all the sellers


@mr_lincoln wrote:

@mam98031 wrote:

@mr_lincoln wrote:

@mam98031 wrote:

To boil this down to one thing is extremely difficult IMHO.

 

It is my opinion that the continued decline in the GMV is in part due to the lack of Seller Protection.  Many sellers have come to the conclusion that selling high $$ items is just too risky here and therefore take their business elsewhere.  They will sell lower $$ items and take the risk, but move higher ones away.  If enough sellers are doing that, it impacts the GMV.

 

There once was a bit of hope on the horizon to have some changes happen with Seller Protections to help ensure a more balanced and reasonable system.  However with the recent Town Hall and the Spring Seller Update, for me, Ebay is simply not listening and likely don't see a need to do this.  Even though they keep saying they hear us and agree that some changes should happen to better protect sellers.

 

But instead the Town Hall was completely silent on any specific upcoming changes and worse yet the Spring Seller update INCREASED the protections for a buyer that has filed for a return.  More than doubling their time to actually return the item.  


Great perspective, I agree with you on the higher priced and often higher risk items ... I had a low 4 figures item for Local Pick up only and got a lot of folks wanting it and will to pay the shipping if I dropped it at a UPS store or FedEx depot and they would use their account ... errnt, no way, this particular item was just too risky to have possible damage occur (real or otherwise) ... its now for sale elsewhere ...


@mr_lincoln 

 

Thank you.  If you know anywhere that we can get the stats for transaction numbers on the site I'd be very interested in that.

 

I'm of the opinion if transactions numbers are falling and GMV is falling, then that would be a different issue than I stated above.

 

If the transaction numbers are about the same and GMV is falling, then clearly enough higher $$ items are not being sold on the site to make a dent in the GMV.

 

If the transaction numbers are increasing but GMV is falling, then sellers are opting into selling lower $$ value items in lieu of higher $$ value items.  And as I said before IMHO this is likely to be associated with the horrible state of the Return System / Seller Protection.


You are more than welcome @mam98031 and yes, it would be great to get the numbers to look at.  I don't doubt that Sellers have become leery of selling higher value items and I also think (IMHO) that folks are leaving or thinning out their eBay offered items because of Managed Payments ...

I've posted on more than one occasion that today's online Entrepreneur needs to have a diverse portfolio of venues they sell on.  This can be a combination of on and off line venues where the latter could be consignment shops, local auction houses that do both live and online auctions themselves, etc. 

There are more opportunities to move items today then even 5 to 10 years  ago.


And I once again agree with you. 

 

However I don't agree that those that are leaving or planning to leave because of MP.  Some are not informed on the improvements already made and those still yet to come.  Some are making assumptions about the program and others are passing around bad information.  But it is their decision to make.  I personally try never to make a business decision this large without having the actual facts so that I can make an informed decision.  But again, every seller has the right to make their own decisions and manage their business the way they see fit.


mam98031  •  Volunteer Community Member  •  Buyer/Seller since 1999
Message 59 of 77
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Re: Question for all the sellers

@mam98031 

 

In the past, as a seller I relied on Feedback for information regarding potential buyers. Do they pay right away? Are they difficult? Do they purchase EVERYTHING with Best Offer. Now difficult to check those details. The only buyers that leave feedback with any kind of consistency are the ones that have been around for years and do it out of habit or the new ones as soon as they have a problem with 4.00 transaction where they really didn't read the listing. It's like when you go to buy a bottle of water at 7-11 the last thing one would even think of is leaving feedback. I know I never would!!!

 

-Lotz

Message 60 of 77
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