Is selling ending for the small seller? Complaints for any and all types of reasons
I've been selling for 15 years and have never seen it so bad on Ebay. You can't talk with a rep. Everything I sell that receives a complaint is automatically refunded. Two examples. First, a person who claims to be a big chess bigwig wanted to purchase my chess book collection. I sent it USPS media mail. Makes sense doesn't it. Seeing weight doesn't matter I packaged quite well. They said they received with hole in the box and a damaged book. They want to return them all. Boom $100 bucks is taken out on hold. Seeing its media mail usps will not allow a claim. Second, a person asks if an item can be returned if they purchase it. I said the listing said no. They go ahead and purchase the item and a few days later say its not functioning for millions of reasons. A dead in the box item. I try and help to get going. Boom. $100 bucks taken out on hold. They send the item back. I put all my ipod backup info onto the ipod and use for a week and then resell. She just didn't know how to work an apple ipod or just saw a better price or something. I have sooooooo many times wanted to quit selling on Ebay because of all of this stuff. I need a shrink.
kennys-kollectibles
·1 year agoI have never heard that USPS won't allow a claim on media mail.
So, am I buying insurance for nothing then?
Everything else you said, I agree.
mam98031
·1 year ago@kennys-kollectibles
I don't believe that is correct.
https://www.usps.com/help/claims.htm
my-cottage-books-and-antiques
·1 year agoThis is not ebay, it is etsy, but an interesting response from etsy exec on their Q$ 2024 Call. The question was asking about a decline in seller numbers:
"And quickly on your question about seller count, one thing we've seen is that the percentage of sellers who have made a sale successfully has grown as the volume of sellers has come down a little bit. That reflects some purposeful friction that we've put in the seller sign-up and seller acquisition process to make sure that the sellers on the market really have the will and the scale to be successful in the Etsy Marketplace."
Also, as part of that response: "a higher percentage of purchases are resulting in 5-star reviews right now because we're putting our very best sellers and their very best items in front of our buyers, we feel like that ought to be yielding benefit."
Also, related: "And our ability to do that is much greater all of a sudden with the advent of LLMs, understanding what are the highest quality items, what are the most artisanal items, which items appear to be value priced appropriately to the market, who are the sellers that actually do the very best job serving our customers and really lifting those people up ..."
I'm not saying ebay is doing the same thing (in fact, they seem to be trying to make it easier to onboard new sellers), BUT I would not be surprised to find that ebay, like etsy, has been using LLMs (AI) to make some judgments about sellers...judgments that go beyond simplistic "dollar volume of sales" or "items sold" or "feedback".
If ebay is doing that, it doesn't mean ebay is actively working to get rid of small sellers, but it may well mean that ebay is establishing new internal criteria for judging sellers, small and large. Whether those criteria will ever be disclosed to the seller base is an open question.
I don't think ebay is trying to drive away "small" sellers. But it could be that ebay is doing more to quietly reward sellers who bring what ebay wants to see to the platform.
chariot_badges
·1 year agoOh well.
Ya'll convinced me. I am a believer. I drank the Kool-Aid last night with my evening cocktail.
Bottom line is that eBay loves their small sellers.
They treat us fairly. Shower us with perks. Provide outstanding tech support and customer service, and charge way below what they should.
Right?
lakefor94
·1 year agoHey, copy all that.
@inhawaii, sign this member up for the advanced cheerleaders squad you just started. Sounds like a gamer to me.
gurlcat
·1 year agoForgive me but I have to ask, @iyiyi67itrftu556u67 -how do you pronounce that?
turtles-trading-post
·1 year agoMe thinks it’s the difference between selling commercial goods to consumers VS unique items to collectors.
eBay went through the phase of trying to complete with Amazon. Now it seems they have realized their original collector niche may be their best path forward.
luckythewinner
·1 year agoI don't see any reason why those two targets audiences cannot coexist. In fact, they've been coexisting for years and years.
It's not like my vintage LP listings are competing with Chinese knockoff iPhone cases.
turtles-trading-post
·1 year agoI think it’s trying to apply the same set of rules to different markets.
There’s a big difference in the customer mindset of a consumer looking for the cheapest price for hair dye VS the buyer of collectors items looking for an item they would love for their collection.
Unfortunately Amazon and Walmart have already trained the general public to be abusive and demanding of the vendor. I was amused and a bit horrified at a Holiday party where nice middle class women were sharing tips on how to rip off Amazon and get free product. And that has spread to eBay.
I deal in an old school collectors market where people have manners and treat sellers as fellow hobbyists.
And never will those two markets meet!
News flash! As I was typing this an eBay collectibles and pre loved commercial appeared in TV
gurlcat
·1 year agoCan you give any examples of rules that should only apply to new items and not to used ones?
luckythewinner
·1 year agoThere’s a big difference in the customer mindset of a consumer looking for the cheapest price for hair dye VS the buyer of collectors items looking for an item they would love for their collection.
Yes, there is.
I deal in an old school collectors market where people have manners and treat sellers as fellow hobbyists.
So do I. And the buyers have manners and treat sellers as fellow hobbyists and thus I have no issues with fraud.
I was amused and a bit horrified at a Holiday party where nice middle class women were sharing tips on how to rip off Amazon and get free product. And that has spread to eBay.
That is nothing new on eBay. It has existed on eBay since 2008, when eBay introduced the Money Back Guarantee and let buyers win almost every SNAD case.
And never will those two markets meet!
They do not have to meet. As you pointed out, they have separate clientele.
mam98031
·1 year ago@turtles-trading-post
I know that posters in the Community and elsewhere often compare Ebay and Amazon, but the two sites are so very different. They have more differences than they do things that are similar.
Ebay has spent the last few years concentrating on Sneakers, clothing, jewelry and other high end name brand items.
The difficult thing about collectibles is that many sellers don't change over the years even though the buyers do. Things that were considered collectables 20 years ago are not the same today. Younger people are collecting the same things that their parents or grandparents collected. We all have to move forward and not stay stuck in time.
I'm not sure what is tell you "Now it seems they have realized their original collector niche may be their best path forward. "
gloryglorygifts
·1 year agoThat's how they are now selling ebay on tv ads. Much more colorful and fun than the blah Amazon ones I also sa.
chariot_badges
·1 year agoeBay went through the phase of trying to complete with Amazon. Now it seems they have realized their original collector niche may be their best path forward.
Then why don't they ACT like it?
Why don't they allow the recovery of deleted listings?
Why don't they look at return policies and feedback?
Naw ... they don't want us.
gurlcat
·1 year agoWhat do you mean by "recovery of deleted listings"?
What do you mean by "look at" return policies and feedback?
I'm one of the smallest sellers here, and all of eBay's polices make sense to me and work for me. It's a matter of understanding them, so maybe you just don't?
chariot_badges
·1 year agoThen, for YOUR store and YOUR inventory, it's working just fine.
Your traffic is over 6 million. Your click-through rate is 15%. Profit margins are 70%.
Outstanding. Good for you!
That is not the experiences of everyone here.
I am staggering -- gut shot. Bleeding out slowly.
I can hang for a while ... but the day may very well come that I wake up and realize that I am working for $5 an hour in an environment where I am not wanted.
What do you mean by "recovery of deleted listings"?
What do you mean by "look at" return policies and feedback?
These are common English usage words, and easily defined in your Google machine.
If your boss were to instruct you to "Look at our return policy and tell me what you think about it" - you would tell her that you don't understand?
def; "look at something"
phrasal verb with look verb
to think about a subject carefully so that you can make a decision about it:
Examples:
Management is looking at ways of cutting costs.
We're looking at the feasibility of building a shopping centre there.
In this exercise, a word is blanked out and you have to guess what it is by looking at the context.
~ From Cambridge Dictionary
gurlcat
·1 year agoOmg, do you realize people have different definitions of (for example) what "deleted" means, in terms of eBay listings? You could mean ended listings, listings deleted by eBay for (whatever) reason, listings ended or sold so long ago they no longer show up in archived results (or show only title and thumbnail but that's all).
And then there's "recovery" -in what sense? To make them active listings again, or just to "look at" them? 🤣
Telling someone to go to Cambridge dictionary to understand what YOU mean about something as surroundings-specific as eBay functions is beyond obtuse. And the "gut shot" theatrics .... jeez I feel sorry for paramedics if you ever are in a real emergency, when they try to ask you questions and you flippantly tell them to crack open a dictionary.
And what makes you think eBay hasn't "looked at" their feedback and return policies? Because you think they should work in your favor every time?
funfactorychannel
·1 year agoBecause they are not in the business of keeping your photos and history. they are in a the business of selling.
They used the data for terapeak its already saved there.
Photo hosting is a cost and they factor they dont want to pay for your cost.
I used inkfrog and vendoo to keep all my inventory information. Also in case ebay lose all my photos again like last time. (seems it might happen again).
yuzuha
·1 year agoI would presume that would be because they assume that if someone has actively DELETED a listing rather than just simply ended it (where it can be relisted at any time), it would be because they want to get rid of that listing permanently.
mam98031
·1 year agoIt is likely due to the space it would take to store them.
adamcartwright
·1 year ago@chariot_badges
What I would like to be able to do within eBay is to "sell similar" from more than two years ago.
That would be a very helpful time saver.
yuzuha
·1 year agoWeight actually DOES matter in the sense that the heavier a box of books is, the more likely it is for the bottom to tear right out and the box to fall apart. When my sister moved cross-country, she packaged up a couple of boxes of books to send via Media Mail. One of them never arrived, and when she talked to the PO they said there was a good chance that the tape had simply given out and the box had come apart since it was so heavy. Clearly this is not an uncommon happening.
simba6
·1 year agoAlso, small sellers are buyers. Can't lose them.
baydealz
·1 year ago'I'm listening'...no need for a shrink unless you continue to attempt this game (and expect a different outcome). It's a business venue like Amazon, to play those games and let it wash out in the margins as you do 7 figures in sales. If you're doing 4 figures like us, go elsewhere. I quit Amazon very early as it was essentially only for books or items you sell in volume and can absorb losses (just like Amazon). eBay has caught up with that process. I sold for over 20 years, a win-win for community - people got a deal, I got rid of unneeded items in a bigger market than local, stuff stayed out of landfill and China has one less ICBM they could build....'22 was probably my peak as people were still spending a lot and playing fewer games. Then the games started up again so I only sell locally or through other, often upstart, sites. Revenues may be lower, but I went from 100% assurance of problem (lost money, feedback, complaints, whining or bad marks) to 100% assurance of cash. I've sold electronics, computer items, complex items, tools, parts - all would have been subject to high risk in here.
fashunu4eeuh
·1 year agoHi @iyiyi67itrftu556u67 , sorry for your troubles.
I would have handled this differently .
When a buyer claims damage in shipping, i take care of them without question because i give them the benefit of the doubt. They are not going to buy a $200 set of books just to return them.
So when you refused a return or any compensation, they had no choice but to return all the books because that is the return policy on eBay. Can’t return just one of a set. However, you could have given him a partial refund, and let him keep the book. By refusing to work with him, you lost the entire sale and likely got a defect on your account for it. It was also your choice to send expensive items thru the mail without transit insurance. That is a gamble.
All sellers here accept the risks when they list an item for sale. After 15 years of selling, there could have been a substantial suspense fund to cover inevitable losses. A fund created by the seller to hold a few cents out of every sale as insurance against unforeseen/unexpected expenses.
Shrinkage is a reality in retail and projected losses need to be written into one’s business plan as well as deducted on one’s income tax.
Doing these things gives a seller the freedom to take care of the customer without pinching oneself financially too much. But taking care of the buyer is important regardless. Good customer service can help save one’s bacon and prevent costly returns.
But be aware—refusing a return can cause a buyer to open a case against the seller. Don’t let that happen again or you could find yourself paying more in Final Value fees, and lower placement in Search results, among other penalties.
mam98031
·1 year ago@iyiyi67itrftu556u67
"They said they received with hole in the box and a damaged book. They want to return them all. Boom $100 bucks is taken out on hold. Seeing its media mail usps will not allow a claim."
Did they give you proof of the damage? A damaged box doesn't necessarily mean the contents was damaged? Did the buyer file an INAD? Did you have them return the items? Were they damaged? And yes, when a claim is filed by a buyer, the funds go on hold to cover that purchase while the seller and the buyer work through the claim process.
"Second, a person asks if an item can be returned if they purchase it. I said the listing said no."
Well that an incorrect response. Even for sellers with a No Return policy, they must process a properly filed INAD. So the correct answer is yes if there is damage.
"They go ahead and purchase the item and a few days later say its not functioning for millions of reasons. A dead in the box item. I try and help to get going. Boom. $100 bucks taken out on hold. They send the item back."
Yep, they can do that and should be able to do that if the item was faulty.
You are just describing normal stuff that happens to likely all sellers from time to time. And while we do have problematic transactions sometimes, we have far more transactions that go off without a hitch, which is why all of us stay.
I'm not sure what you are looking for. Do you have a question on how to handle a certain situation?
Small sellers aren't going anywhere. We make up about 80+% of the active 18+Million sellers on this site.
tarotfindsandmore
·1 year agoI don't think eBay cares one way or the other who (small/large) is selling. It's all money in the end. It is harder for small sellers, but I don't think it's because eBay favors large sellers. I think it just comes down to who has the resources to keep on trucking in the face of adversity. High volume sellers, as others have pointed out, have the resources to absorb hits more easily than a small seller. Ten negatives in a week for a giant seller is just a nuisance while ten negatives in a week for a small seller is death.
Lots and lots of small sellers, who don't rely on eBay for their livelihood, stick around with hundreds or thousands of items in their stores without making any real money and just sock away that 20-50 bucks a day for their next vacation. They've gone on for decades this way.
Problems arise when a small seller thinks they can transition to full-time with eBay as their only source of income, without considering what that will truly entail. If you want to make an actual living you have to put in the time and be ready to take the hits just like the big boys. Chapeau-noir's point about agility pretty much sums the situation up. If you want to be successful as a small seller, you don't have to get huge, but you do have to be ready to pivot on a dime and have some sort of backup plan ready for the day/week/month/year when what you're doing here is no longer working.
I would love to just sell tarot, they're beautiful and they make good money, but I knew going in that there would be no way that selling only rare tarot decks would offer me a stable living. I don't love selling low ticket items, but I treat those sales exactly like I treat the sales for 200 hundred dollar decks, and I'm always watching for other ways and places to peddle my wares. If/when my sales go south here (hopefully temporarily), I will go to where the sales are being made and adjust my inventory. If that doesn't work, there's always Instacart. 🙂
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 year agoI am one of those sellers who is not desperate for the money, intolerant of sales which become hassles, and been selling online a long time.
I am not a high volume seller and do not want to be, but I am not as small a seller as many who run into problems selling on Ebay.
1. The amount of hassle you have and the returns you receive are related directly to what you choose to sell. I have eliminated many types of item I used to sell on Ebay when there was NO BUYER PROTECTION.
I think I last offered any electronics for sale, on any site, in 2008 and when I did, the serial number was in the listing, and I tested the items for at least 24 hours before listing them.
2. The small seller who does not offer items similar in price, on a regular basis is viewed as suspect because accounts may be hijacked and used for fraud.
3. There are worse things than having returns, like having refunds without returns. Sellers need to recognize that some level of returns are inevitable, and make believe they are cheerfully accepting the return of product which the buyer says does not work. They need to cross their fingers and apologize, whether they are a big seller or a tiny seller.
4. Ebay is not the most buyer-centric internet marketplace, but Ebay's survival has required it to move far from "marche ouvert". There are many sellers who do not understand why, and they never will because they do not stand behind what they sell and think they need not.
redlinear
·1 year agoBack in the day, eBay was mostly small sellers, selling used items.
Then somewhere along the line, BIG RETAILERS showed up.
eBay likes them so much that they made it easy for the big retailers to list hundred or thousands of items per day. While at the same time, making it almost impossible for small sellers to list half of what they used to be able to list in day.
So, competition went through the roof with big retailers "plastering" massive amounts of listings at lightning speed. Thus burying small seller listings.
reallynicestamps
·1 year agoThe real BIG RETAILERS used eBay to learn how to sell online.
Then they opened their own websites and abandoned eBay.
What we have left is a lot of small Chinese sellers with access to thousands of assorted products.
The US government considers a Small Business to be one that has less than 400 employees.
I suspect most of those direct from China sellers have less than 100.
Unlike WalMart or Target, which have moved on from eBay.
toomuchstuffagain35
·1 year agoAnd even worse they opened the floodgates to you know where to sell direct to consumer. That was when the real rot set in.
chapeau-noir
·1 year agoUnfortunately, a site that sells unique items will not have the revenue to pay a failed CEO $56 million firing bonus.
movieman630
·1 year agoActually it's Chinese companies that are making this place bad for American sellers. The "SpeedPaK" shipping is just ridiculous!
They give these sellers priority placement. They also open many accounts selling items that are restricted. When then shut down one account they open up 3 more with the same items. It's awful.
I'm looking forward to the day we sever trade with China.
nh_sales_lv
·1 year agoChina is Scared right now with the threat of Tariffs. They are unloading everything and the kitchen sink at us right now. US Sales always Die when they see Donald Trump. They are truly Fearful people
gurlcat
·1 year agoCan you share any proof of China "unloading everything and the kitchen sink at us right now" -like all of a sudden, more than a week ago, and all their industries or just eBay sellers? Where can we see the data?
movieman630
·1 year agoJust look around.
gurlcat
·1 year ago🤣YES!!!!!
Just ..... look around you.
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6b6vk_look-around-you-module-3-germs_news
luckythewinner
·1 year agoChina is Scared right now with the threat of Tariffs.
Canada and Mexico are bigger trading partners with the USA than China is, and they are facing the threat of even higher tariffs than China is.
They are unloading everything and the kitchen sink at us right now.
If China is unloading everything at the USA, that means the USA is afraid and is panic-buying from China. Because China can't unload anything unless someone places an order 🤔
jerseyboymusic
·1 year ago@iyiyi67itrftu556u67
No offense intended, BUT after 15 years of selling on Ebay and you don't know that the Ebay MBG will override your "no returns" policy?
chapeau-noir
·1 year agoI would say that eBay is agnostic on the subject. Like any corporation, they want to maximise profit and minimise overhead - sellers can come and go and it actually doesn't matter much - we're all 'vendors on a managed marketplace.'
redlinear
·1 year agoYes and No?
Yes: I'm sure 90% of eBay's "problems/complaints" from sellers come from small sellers.
You see it on the boards here multiple times a day. A bunch of he said, she said, I'm right, I got a negative, boo hoo.
Large sellers don't pay much attention to that. They don't go crying to eBay everytime they get a negative or a return. They just keep listing.
No: many huge sellers really don't sell all that much compared to what they have listed. They are more concerned with quantity of listings-vs-quality of listings.
The millions of small sellers actually sell more. SO, eBay likes that.
AND, if eBay loses one big seller? That could easily happen and leave a void.
Not likely for eBay, to all at once, lose enough individual small sellers to have any effect.
EBay wants it to be a marketplace for big, small, and in between. But, they "cater to, and listen to" the big sellers. Which, in turn, hurts the small sellers.
chapeau-noir
·1 year agoI think what is actually stacked against small sellers is simple competition. Too many sellers, not enough buyers, with the really big sellers able to scale better. Small sellers have to depend on agility.
m60driver
·1 year agoThis is the odds stacked against small sellers with capitalism where large sellers are always, always more efficient than small sellers. With my old brick & mortar store I saw myself as the small mammal in the age of behemoth dinosaurs depending upon agility to survive. My key to survival was having developed credit with a large list of suppliers, over 200, that I could turn to and bring in new trends, especially in clothing, quicker than the big box stores, at least for one season. But Amazon ended that advantage.
redlinear
·1 year agoOur strength/advantage was always Good Quality pics and descriptions.
But now, I have to enter so much "mostly insignificant" information that it takes way too long to create a listing.
Well, I don't "have to" enter all that info, but search likes it and I feel I need to just to be found/seen.
Said info is readily available to BIG Retailers, and the blanks are filled in automatically when they list items.
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 year agoYou have it a big thing that divides sellers into classes - credit and its availability.
Many Ebay sellers have no credit other than their personal credit cards to use for inventory purchases. Some of them could qualify for Net 30 terms with suppliers, if they had regular suppliers, but many are buying in secondary markets and are outside normal distribution channels and credit from suppliers is unavailable.
luckythewinner
·1 year agoThis is the odds stacked against small sellers with capitalism where large sellers are always, always more efficient than small sellers.
The term for this is "economies of scale" and really has nothing to do with "capitalism".
lilyswan2
·1 year agotrue...but small sellers tend to sell unique and interesting items...big sellers the new, uniform items...there used to be plenty of these unique or rare items on ebay...now it is pretty much all new and stuff you can get anywhere...so i think a lot of buyers who used to buy the unique/rare items have had no choice but to move on as such items are rare and hard to find on ebay now...
lakefor94
·1 year ago@iyiyi67itrftu556u67
You have had a bad run. Happens to some of us from time to time.
I had 5 or 6 returns in a ~50 day timeframe last summer and none since.
Just make sure eBay is not doing any refunding in your behalf.
Good luck with the items you have up for sale now.
chariot_badges
·1 year agoI have long (last couple years anyway) thought that eBay wants to eliminate all small sellers.
From their POV it makes sense.
If YOU were eBay, would you rather deal with 10,000 sellers who sell three items each a day, or would you rather have eight sellers who each sells 1,000 items a day?
It looks like eBay has answered that question.
gloryglorygifts
·1 year agoI disagree. From the ebay point of view they are collecting fees to open and maintain a store, to list (over the threshold), to promote, to ship (added into the fvf), to collect taxes (added into the fvf) and then get a fvf on what you sold. They are making money regardless if it is 10,000 who sell 3 items or 8 who sells 1,000. They rely on those small sellers to pay those PL fees to be seen and the big ones to sell crap for dollars in large quantities. It's business not personal.
chariot_badges
·1 year agoThen, good business practices dictate that your customers be happy?
How do these harmful policies keep everyone happy and safe?
If you want me here, don't just say it ... act like it.
Be helpful.
Be supportive.
That is what successful businesses do.
Don't just TALK about it. BE it.
The only explanation for treating someone like something stuck on the bottom of your shoe is because you don't want them around.
I've seen this before. I've lived this before.
gloryglorygifts
·1 year agoI seriously don't know what you are talking about. If you think that ebay has "harmful policies" why do you have over 1,400 items listed on here?
What do you consider a harmful policy?
chariot_badges
·1 year ago@gloryglorygifts
What do you consider a harmful policy?
It's like anything else. NOTHING is all good, or all bad. It is shades of gray. Spouses, places we choose to live, jobs and schools ... we all make the best choice we can. Sure I wish I could have gone to Stanford, or Berkeley. I didn't have the money, or the brains. Oh well. I went to the best school I could.
Same with jobs. Did I like everything about the places I've worked? No. But, they were as good as I could do until something better came along.
Some suggestions for 'better policy'?
Ability to recall deleted listings.
Reworking of feedback system to be more fair.
Reworking of returns to be more fair.
Just a couple off the top of my head.
why do you have over 1,400 items listed on here?
As I explained above, 'here' is the best I can do right now. But, I AM looking.
Amazingly ... this is the only venue for used auto parts.
The city-slicker walked into the bar from the dusty street. Looked around and found a poker table with a seat open. He approached and asked the dealer: "Is this a fair game?" Dealer barely looked up and said, "No. But it is the only game in town. Have a seat, pilgrim."
bennotbill
·1 year agoI think if ebay did openly eliminate small sellers ebay would be dead in the water, commercial suicide.
For me personally it's the small sellers that have the interesting items. Anyone googling the common items sold by big sellers will find those items available just about everywhere on many sites.
Buyers looking at the small sellers interesting items must often see the other sellers common items and think, while I'm buying this I just as well buy that common junk here as well.
The failed ebay split in the past proved all that.
luckythewinner
·1 year agoFrom eBay's POV, dealing with a small seller is 100% automated and costs them virtually nothing in incremental costs.
I have absolutely no doubt that eBay would prefer 1,000 sellers who sell a total of 30,000 item a day rather than 8 sellers who only sell a total of 8,000 items a day. That's a no-brainer.
IMHO eBay wants any seller who does not attract returns, disputes, or refunds.
toomuchstuffagain35
·1 year agoBut those 8 sellers don't have the unique (sometimes) items those other sellers list.
gurlcat
·1 year agoeBay is not a college student trying to get a roommate to move out by cooking stinky fish and playing music too loud -they're a corporation. If they wanted only sellers of a certain size, they could make that size a requirement to sell here at any time, and they would have the absolute legal right to do it; that's Capitalism.
movieman630
·1 year agoBut that doesn't make any sense because they "spread around the sales" by hiding our listings and putting us on an "allowance". If they truly wanted to narrow the field they would let capitalism rule the day and true competition just "play out". If you have the best price, etc. You should get the sales. But it doesn't work that way.
reallynicestamps
·1 year agoIf you have the best price, etc. You should get the sales.
The best price is not necessarily the best deal, though.
Packaging is important.
Even if the buyer gets their money back on a poorly packaged /damaged item, they are out time and annoyance.
Speed of delivery is important.
If you are buying for your sister's (or worse your kid's) birthday, you want the item to arrive before the birthday.
Description is important, both text and pictures.
Whether it is a mauve being described as pink, or an unmentioned scratch, or no measurements for the blouse, if the description is vague or wrong, the buyer is again out time and annoyance.
I can't buy clothing online because most large companies (and a lot of small sellers) will only give the size on the label, which is meaningless. And the overseas sellers are inaccurate even when they do give measurements. There is a reason the advice is to go up two sizes if ordering from China.
chapeau-noir
·1 year agoAnd the overseas sellers are inaccurate even when they do give measurements. There is a reason the advice is to go up two sizes if ordering from China.
Just to clarify, standard Asian/far eastern sizing is simply two to three sizes smaller than Western sizing - it's simply how they size their clothing for their domestic market, not any particular inaccuracy with their own sizing (I've sold a lot of Asian styles made for their own domestic market and not normally exported here, plus know their tailoring standards). It does add confusion, though, if people aren't paying attention.
chapeau-noir
·1 year agoeBay CS can't help you - the returns process is automatic and the buyer guarantee inflexible. Don't spin your wheels with that.
Except for the books, you're trying to sell in a very tough market and I understand the frustration. I've sold quite a few electronics down through the years and no longer do so. Sell that stuff either locally or through fakebook.
Did you get the books back?