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And here's why I will stop selling on Ebay............AGAIN!
Just a short rant. I started selling on Ebay in 1998 when thing were very simple and low tech. I am an individual who sold vintage and collectable items that I would find at yard sales and thrift stores. Those times were great and I did very well and I'd like to think I made a lot of buyers happy. I accumulated over 3500 feedback ratings and 100% positive since 1998 just selling individual items from my own home. I'm not a business! I stopped selling several years ago because Ebay was just getting absolutely crazy with the guidelines and making it very difficult to conduct auctions/sales on a personal level like it used to be. eBay became very buyer oriented. I recently decided to list two items I had at home (auction). Both sold and 'low and behold' both buyers are now requesting Return/Refund. One person has accepted a partial refund. All a seller has to say to eBay is that the item was not as described and my hands are absolutely tied - I've got to refund AND pay for return shipping. It is just not possible to sell items as an individual in the manner that I do anymore. How can I possible anticipate any tiny spec, perceived color variation, wrinkle, etc. that a buyer will report as 'item not as described' because they have buyers remorse and just don't want the item anymore. Darn people, it you want off-the shelf, brand new, retail store items, then go to the store and get it!! Once again. I'm DONE with eBay as a seller. Just not worth one woman's effort who is doing it as a side gig to earn some pocket money. eBay is no longer a selling venue for people like me.
kh-cathy
·2 years agoHi everyone,
Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.
Thank you for understanding.
ckimodog
·2 years ago@astroprime
6 month old thread friends. OP is no longer.
Good idea to start your own thread to get the help & advice you need.
astroprime
·2 years agoI have been selling for almost 20 years, and most of my items were glass pottery and old vintage items. I provide the most accurate description with the best pictures, and I have received the most satisfied clientele with the best feedback. Now customers could just wait 15 to 20 days after receiving the item, and claim the item is not as described. The lady said there was a flaw in the glass basket handle, the fused applied handle appeared like it was broken repaired, or damaged, yet to her observation, and also looked like a factory flaw since the basket is made out of glass from the early 1900s. She negotiated it from $100 down to $20, she demanded that I refund her partial of the money and that she keep the basket. I refused and I told her to send the basket back. EBay gave her the full $20 and charged me the shipping cost against me. I took the same basket to an antique shop at a credible appraiser, they wrote the statement there was no Factory flaw there was no crack and there was no repair it was simply a bubble in the glass that looked awkward in the reflection of a light. This is ridiculous that the buyer has the right to use and abuse the system and disrespect the seller by The Audacity Of calling them a liar and having the right to post negative feedback, plus receive their money back in full including shipping! Wow! This is eBay this is the way to make money? Me and scrutinized after all my experience in years of antiques and the best accuracy with the best photo imaging? EBay expects me to donate my stuff online and pay for shipping. Plus have eBay charged me all their additional fees? This is worse than Goodwill, Goodwill used to sell hundreds and hundreds of used items, now I'm going to Goodwill and 75% are brand new items sitting at the front while the old unwanted stuff is way at the back overpriced! There is just no market for it the small-time seller! Too many price comparisons to many online services too many technology methods to cheat the seller and get the money back in favor of the buyer! I was not born to give away my life's hard work money, experience, and expertise plus the knowledge of the value of these items simply because they want it for free! Go somewhere else to sell it or just donate it or keep it it's much more economical than putting it in storage units, or giving it to eBay and paying them additional money to sell your stuff for their profit, not yours!
maxine*j
·3 years agoOf course, you are a business. You seek out inventory to sell, and you sell it. To have accumulated 3500 feedbacks, you sold a heck of a lot, too, for which I congratulate you.
You were in business in 1998 and you are in business now. The difference is that business and business practices, especially in e-commerce, have changed considerably in the past 20 years. If, after careful consideration, you decide that the changes mean it's no longer worth your while to be in business, you would not be alone.
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laststopgeneralstore
·3 years agoSo how is this eBays fault again?
dhbookds
·3 years agoyou still have 2 items for sale.........
ms.rodriguez*
·3 years agoYou need to describe the items better and take clear photos. I too sell stuff that I found in yard sales and toy shows. Very rarely is something mint. When you take photos, you take photos of all of the sides. If there is paint wear, you state paint wear. You don't count the chips because somebody will find more chips. So you say it has chips. If it has a smell, you state it. Photos need to be clear with a plain background. Nobody wants to see your table cloth, flag placemat or worse, your pet or kid in the background. I have not gotten a return in years.
12345jamesstamps
·3 years agoYou can do "seller will take returns but buyer pays for returns"...I did it and haven't had one yet...has it been one year or two...laughingly.
These buyers usually won't return something on their own...too too much work into it.
Some buyers like to get a refund and keep it(seller doesn't do returns).
Partial refund...that buyer knew how to work you.
I am just a one-kid operation by the way.
Some sellers would kill to get your 3568 rating!
Would I give up....never...your rating is too high to drop off.
stainlessenginecovers
·3 years agoWhen a person specifically goes out to 'find things' they can 'resell'; they CERTAINLY ARE a business.
"Side Gigs" are also a 'business'. There is NO Side Gig that is NOT business (unless you simply 'volunteer and give 100% of the proceeds to a charity, then you're a 'charity).
2 items out of 3500 feedback (which would be about 6000 items sold) and you are going to quit??
Makes perfect sense.
craft-stash
·3 years agoWhat about a bunch of stuff just lying About my property from my Ancestors from the last 70 years 3 generations that I just want to sell.
Now I'm a business...Rediculos!
bonjourami
·3 years agoThats really immaterial, you should be filing sales from any side hustle.Its always been required,its just that now the Federal government has finally caught on to all the online tax evaders.
bonjourami
·3 years agoWere all those new items you have been selling 'just lying around your property from the last 70 years,for three generations'? Interesting.
stainlessenginecovers
·3 years agoWhat about it? I was not talking about 'stuff lying around' but since you insist:
If you decide to have a garage sale to sell bunny poopus from your backyard, you are NOW a 'business' and therefore it's very simple. Get a 1099 for $600 or more processed from a 3rd party, and you now get to figure out what you can and cannot 'write off'.
I don't make the rules. These rules have been in place for 100+ years.
maxine*j
·3 years agoYes, you are a business. You went into the business of selling your property, instead of leaving it sit where found, giving it away to individuals, donating it, tossing it into a dumpster, or disposing of it via a glorious bonfire.
The source of the inventory does not matter. You are in the business of selling it.
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craft-stash
·3 years agoOh ok....not!
dbfolks166mt
·3 years agoWhat about a bunch of stuff just lying About my property from my Ancestors from the last 70 years 3 generations that I just want to sell.
Now I'm a business...Rediculos!
If I had as much stuff "just lying around" as you have sold since you have been on eBay I believe I would have had one giant garage or estate sale rather than listing it on eBay and taking 20+ years to sell it.
craft-stash
·3 years agoI,I,I, Capt!
craft-stash
·3 years agoI wasn't even born when someone bought and put stuff on my property but I gotta sell it!
soh.maryl
·3 years agoOK, but what's your point? Are you saying you're being made to sell it, or that you want to sell it, or what?
fern*wood
·3 years agoGetting two returns back to back like that stings, and to top it off, to be the only two items sold recently really stings. I dislike returns and it seems when I get one, I'll get a couple more and then none for months. It's weird. One note, most of mine are for remorse, so my return policy allows for that and I don't have to be burdened with the shipping costs.
monica-sells
·3 years agoI understand your perception of a "business", but 3500 feedback is more than a side hustle.....
...that being said, ebay's guidelines have been dictated by the culture and whims of the
a) government
b) consumer
Returns have become the normal instead of the exception everywhere. All sellers on all platforms online are at the mercy of the 2 entities I mentioned.....all of them....
any platform that 'says' different is lying. There is not a purchase I can make anywhere with a credit card that I can't get a refund for.....
everything from a pair of shoes to a 50 inch Smart TV
As sellers, you deal with it...get your item back, relist it and sell it again...
rinse, repeat.....
now that logic is out of the way...I totally agree with you, it used to be 'fun'....finding Uncle Joe's old pocket knife in a drawer and getting $25 bucks in my Paypal account because it was a collector item......for doing nothing but listing it....but, it ain't going back to the good old days....the genie is out of the bottle
soh.maryl
·3 years agoYou are, of course, free to make whatever decision you feel is best for you.
Just wanted to point out that there are apparently more than a few sellers who are doing exactly what you have done for many years and are successful at it.
Most sellers here are very familiar with eBay's Money Back Guarantee for buyers, yet are still working hard at selling on eBay. They have accepted the fact that eBay is very biased in favor of buyers.
Hope you will find a venue which suits your needs better.
craft-stash
·3 years agoAnd sell a used t-shirt and your a Business!