eBay Decline
I have been an eBay user since 1999 and in 2023 I am done as a seller. What a scam this has turned into. I tried to sell a server I paid 3000 for. There was little interest in it, as ebays used server market is apparently flooded. This devalued my equipment since there are multiple sellers who gather hundreds of the same item and list it for no revenue. The server sold for 300. The shipping was calculated incorrectly and the server was damaged in shipment. I had to lose all the auction proceeds and the extra $40 I spent on shipping, and I had to pay to ship the server back from California, after it had been damaged in shipping. Regardless of the shipping disclaimer, eBay simply refunded the buyer and forced me to pay to ship it back.
I spent more than 500 total to have my server damaged and returned back to me for recycling. I could have just thrown it away and saved $500 and so much torture from eBay and the buyer. Heck, I could have sold it as 75 pounds of scrap steel and earned between $5 and $10.
The only sellers remaining seem to be direct from China and many of them are bad sellers, so I won't be buying much from ebay either.
We need to stop buying Chinese junk. Slave labor does not justify low prices. Pay an American to do something for once. The US needs to get back to manufacturing and working.
I will no longer ever sell anything on ebay. And, since i refuse to buy slave labor junk or used server equipment, there's nothing left for me buy on ebay.
The only things holding up the stock value are paypal, allllllll the short sells.
Good luck with your sales!
jasoheat_0
·3 years agotrue ebay is a shell of a company , they have lost 25% of there customers in the past 5 years , there search engine is the WORST , GMV is back down to where it was in 2013 , there market share has fallen like a rock ( which gave way to many other platforms to be birthed ) the only thing on the rise is ad fees .... ... sell locally for less and make more money .... dont get me wrong i still sell on ebay but no where near what i use to ... they are in third place for my business ... maybe 4th is right around the corner ... no worries plenty of places to make money other than Ebay ... good luck
dbfolks166mt
·3 years agoYou didn't provide a lot of information about the server and I don't see it under your sold items. The fact that you paid $3,000.00 for it means nothing. IT changes so fast that items quickly become obsolete and their resale value tanks.
Not much detail, again can't see the item you sold, on how you shipped it and what the dims and weight were but if you purchased the shipping through eBay and used UPS or FedEx those are only estimates and both UPS and FedEx are infamous for unilateral surcharges when the package is delivered. There are a LOT of postings on this forum about sellers getting hit with those surcharges. If you used USPS I have never seen a post about a USPS surcharge as long as the seller had the correct dim and weight in the listing and when they purchased the label. I am also guessing that you used a shipping class that was not or did not have insurance otherwise why have you not filed a claim against the carrier for the shipping damage?
There are a lot of things I will not ship simply due to the risk of shipping damage and or buyer scams. I sell those locally on a number of forums and venues. I can price the item 15-20% cheaper since there are no fees and the buyer does not have to worry about paying for shipping. EBay is not suited for selling everything.
As for the "Chinese Junk" US labor costs, taxes and a lot of other factors lead to manufacturers offshoring their production processes. You know something is wrong when a company can build or lease a production facility, hire local labor, import production material, and pay the shipping costs to send it to the US or wherever cheaper than they can manufacture in the US.
retro_entertainment_collectibles
·3 years agoFriend of mine does computer sales, doesn't do servers anymore no money in it. He's arrangements with firms getting rid of CAD stuff off lease and does very well at it.
As to China instead of listening to our USA political blather news start getting informed via real news, that's via international platforms. Here's our news just reeks of two party propaganda reminiscent of pre-WW II Europe. Yes, China has thieved much intellectual property but then again, America has done the exact same and even worse back in history.
Is China's labor force abused? By who's standard and who makes those standards? Hundred and sixty years ago America fought a Civil War in large part due to slavery, labor force. Of course that after we manufactured The Mexican American War essentially stealing stealing huge swath's of land from Mexico due mainly to Gold and Silver. Then we fight the Civil War over concerns that the "New States" (California mainly) might become slaver states shifting power from the Northeast. Atop all that to this very day black folks and Latino folks are still in large as disadvantage to white folks... Might consider correcting our own domestic misgivings before pointing fingers at other nations misgivings.
For ages and ages government spout's to the American people, "American workers are the best in the word and can compete against any other labor force in the world!"
Absolutely true IMHO but what they never will tell you is the above statement only rings true if said "Other labor force" competes on OUR TERMS.
Aka you'll never here em' saying for example, "American's need change their lifestyles and expectations in significant fashion so as we might compete on China's terms."
That's political suicide at a party level yet the reality historically is many a nation in history has had to take considerable steps backwards to secure a future forwards. Did anyone hear yelling and screaming about the former USSR labor standards when we sat in a cold war? Nope. Did anyone care that USSR Gulag's (Jails) were incredibly brutal in respect to common human decency or prospect human rights? Nope. Why? Well, they didn't compete with us for building our lifestyles, in fact, that all was good for American lifestyles short of proxy war which again most American's are completely daft to.
American history had no problems whatsoever in exporting around the globe via labor force(s) that were treated extraordinarily poorly and yes, in time we've come along way mainly in the last 40-50 years. The bottom line remains however, until Americans come to realize and ACT understanding that whether black, white, latino, this or that we either sink or swim together we will sink.
dubsteesllc
·3 years agoI'm sorry you had that negative experience. I'm also sorry that there are people that come on here to pick other Sellers apart instead of being supportive.
Ebay has definitely gone way downhill.
albertabrightalberta
·3 years agoKeep in mind that those who help and advise posters here aren't here to coddle and empathize when the poster made errors. Mistakes are pointed out so that OPs can avoid making the same mistakes and running into the same problems again in the future.
Being supportive means offering constructive advice and that's what was done!
dubsteesllc
·3 years agoI will keep that in mind, but you should keep in mind that I'm right in the regard that there are people who come on here just to criticize others and overall act like jerks. There have been non-constructive comments.
blingfling123
·3 years agoSo, because you chose to list something on eBay, did not pack the item correctly, did not handle the return correctly it is eBay's fault you are out funds?
You the seller decided where, and for how much to sell an item.
You the seller were responsible for packing the item to arrive safely to the buyer.
You the seller had the choice to simply refund the return and file an insurance claim with the carrier (but if it is not packed correctly that will also be denied). Because you did not handle the return correctly, eBay had to step in.
The end result of all this lies squarely on you, the seller, not eBay.
maxine*j
·3 years agoPaypal and eBay parted company in 2015.
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luckythewinner
·3 years agoWhat a scam this has turned into. I tried to sell a server I paid 3000 for. There was little interest in it, as ebays used server market is apparently flooded. The server sold for 300
The fact that you paid $3000 for a server you apparently could have bought on eBay for $300 is not a 'scam'.
The shipping was calculated incorrectly
We need more details about why you THINK it was calculated incorrectly rather than you not understanding how shipping works.
and the server was damaged in shipment.
That is not a 'scam'. That is inadequate packaging.
I had to pay to ship the server back from California, after it had been damaged in shipping
That not a 'scam'. That was your choice to have a damaged item returned after you did not pack it sufficiently.
The only things holding up the stock value are paypal,
eBay has not owned PayPal for many years.
Regardless of the shipping disclaimer eBay simply refunded the buyer
That is not a 'scam'. You are not allowed to disclaim away eBay seller protection.
and forced me to pay to ship it back.
They did not force you to pay return shipping. You chose to do that.
The only sellers remaining seem to be direct from China
I buy things on eBay all the time and they are never direct from China. All the direct from China stuff I buy comes from Amazon.
sumsum70
·3 years agoEbay is "flooded" with servers because 10 sellers have over 50000 servers listed for sale that they don't actually have. They list the same server 100 different ways so people who come here to find a server have little chance of seeing any results in search except from that small number of sellers. For every one Dell R730 they have for sale, it will be listed repeatedly over several days with every combination of memory, CPU and hard disk.
I sell servers and the only way to sell around that handful of scumbags is to have the best price for the specs you are selling and to end and relist periodically. I actually sell more servers locally than eBay. There are a lot of buyers on CL. Probably FBMP too, but I don't have a FB account and would like to never have one. When I have a $700 server for sale on eBay, that same server is also for sale on CL for $550.
As for shipping damage, you can count on any server being damaged if it isn't packed well. I use custom cut PE foam in 36x24x8 boxes for 2U servers. I choose FedEx for anything expensive because they pay claims without any hassle if something does get damaged.
Also, if you have something large and heavy get damaged and return requested, NEVER let eBay send the buyer a return label. EBay won't send the same kind of label you sent in the first place, they will send a USPS return label that costs 5x more than FedEx or UPS. Upload your own label in the rare case of a return.
soh.maryl
·3 years agoYour point is valid; however, regardless of good intentions in that regard, there are actually many items that are no longer manufactured in the US because they cannot be produced for as low a cost. Think about it.
mike_jayroe
·3 years agoI agree we need more American made products. If I can not find American made products I look around for items made anywhere but china. If I have to buy chinese junk, then it is something I need, not want. I'd rather do without.
Best of luck to you.