Why would a founding member leave? Why would one close their account?

[cedar_brewed_bourbon]

I'm categorized as a founding a member. I've been with eBay since: Jan-01-00. I have a 98.5% satisfaction rating. he big question is; Why would I leave eBay after almost 20 years of selling?

A little about me

I am a seller who runs this part time from home as a side business. I do not sell in large scale typically 200 to 300 sales a year. Grossing between $1500 to $5000. ***Both these number's  have declined over time. Recently eBay bumped my free sales per month to 200 then called and asked if I was going to list more items. I told them I was and started to but...

I keep asking myself; Why am I still here?  Especially with falling sales margins and dwindling numbers? The answers are few;

1.) History mostly I've been here for a long time and have adabpted to the changes. I sell across catagories, From Comic Books to Computers and anything else of value. Heck I've evan sold a Ford Taurus wagon many years ago.

2.) When I've used other sites I've not had as much success. bonanza brought me a whopping 5 sales in the last 5 years. Not really worth it there. Unless I pay a monthly subscription. And cannot afford it as my margins are tight and don't leave much room for extra fees.

Overtime I have tried some of the extra fee items with a mixed bag of results. Example; eBay's advertising option which has helped but not so much as to make it worthwhile.

I also donate to some of my favorite charities directly through eBay via sales.

So what is the nail in this coffin? More to the point the direct question; Why would I leave eBay after almost 20 years of selling?

eBay's forcing sellers into their poorly designed single stream payment method. I do not have a lot of working capital to wait 2 business days for eBay to send me my money. I've had 6 sales so far this month and 4 of them within the last 24 hours. Today is the 15th of November and well into the Christmas selling season. eBay's single payer system will force me to ship an item I that has not been paid for and wait 2 business days. This does not support my working business model.

I'm not naive I know eventually every buyer and seller will all be forced to use only eBay payments. eBay dropped PayPal and is going to this method to keep more of our cash as processing fees. When that happens my days of buying\selling on eBay are over.

I wonder how the masses will respond?

[fab_finds4u]

Define founding member.

[libbywebst]

I haven't been selling nearly as much for nearly as long, but yours is the same reason why I am out, too.  If I wanted to ship before getting paid, I'd sell on Mercari.

[dbfolks166mt · Accepted solution]

I am right there with you. In preparation for this eventuality I have been diversifying across other online and local selling platforms and a LOT of these are gaining traction and popularity in the wake of eBay's poor treatment of their sellers. You can find a lot of sites that have low or no fee's and provide a better balance of buyer/seller protection. A lot of these sites are also tailored to particular product lines that attract a distinct forum of buyers. Coins for example. There a LOT better sites to sell coins and bullion on that eBay and they have a dedicated customer base. 

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

I've been in Managed Payments for some months now. I'm set up for one weekly pay out. While ebay says it can take up to four days for the payout to arrive in my bank, it has actually been going into my bank the same day or the next.  From what I've been reading, this isn't too unusual...it seems to depend more on the particular bank than on ebay.  So you really won't know how long it takes until you are in Managed Payments. I've had no problems with MP (and I've seen many other ebay sellers say much the same thing) Yes, it takes a little while to get used to it, but if you've been on ebay for 20 plus years, you've adapted to a lot of things...this is just one more, and it's been no big deal for me. 

Why do I do a weekly payout?  Because it's easier record keeping, and because I pay shipping costs out of the pending payments. Sellers do NOT have to wait till the money is in their bank account before paying for shipping. Once the buyer has paid for the item, that money is available for shipping costs, just like now. 

One thing I did, before I was put into MPs I made sure I had a cushion of money in PayPal....If I would need to, I can pay the shipping (or other expenses) from my PP account. 

I just haven't found it to be a problem. You might want to give it a try before you depart.

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

@cedar_brewed_bourbon. Geez I'm sorry you feel that way. People do not adapt well to change that's a fact. I am still waiting to be "invited" to MP. It really doesn't bother me and I'm certainly not scared of it. I sell only for the pleasure of sharing treasures, I don't pay any bills with EBay money. Now I realize my situation is different than most but I had my career, ebay is purely fun for me both selling and buying. I hope you will rethink your leaving ebay as it sounds like you do enjoy some aspect of it?

[jack_bucks_ghost]

why are you being forced to ship before receiving payment? I'm new to managed payments and haven't encountered this yet--and didn't know that was a possible expectation. if that is the case, that is definitely troubling. thanks!!!

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

I think "founding member" just means someone who's been here a long time. It doesn't mean the person was a founder of the company.

[dhbookds]

I'm not naive I know eventually every buyer and seller will all be forced to use only eBay payments. eBay dropped PayPal and is going to this method to keep more of our cash as processing fees. When that happens my days of buying\selling on eBay are over.

Not sure what you mean by that............the buyers have more choices including PP on how to pay, it's only sellers that have a different way of receiving payments........  like others, I've had no problems with MP........

[m60driver]

First, It is normal for a business to have to wait a few days for funds to go through a processing system.  Second, a business should always retain enough earnings to take care of such situations, or emergencies, or other unforeseen expenses.  If you can't afford to retain some earnings in your account then perhaps selling here as a retailer is not for you.  

[fab_finds4u]

Oh, I know what a founding member means on the boards.  I don't  believe the OP knows.

[mrdutch1001]

very similar story here...

It's hard to remember why I actually started selling on eBay those many years ago, but it was exciting, it was fun just like the much enjoyed  fury of last minute bidders on auction listings.

I was a seller on Bonanza & Etsy until they got greedy and made a mess of their sites...

have tried many of the smaller, lesser known selling venues over the years with 0 success...

currently selling on eCrater with moderate success, a basic online selling venue that will be my last online selling venue after I leave eBay, when I can no longer list because I refuse to sign onto MP. I don't "need" to do this for income; just a hobby these days so selling locally is also an option that I use for selling items.

eBay is an era, a chapter of my life that will soon close and become a distant memory..

[luckythewinner]

---

---

So what is the nail in this coffin? eBay's forcing sellers into their poorly designed single stream payment method. I do not have a lot of working capital to wait 2 business days

If after 20 years of selling on eBay you were unable to build up two business days' worth of cash reserves, I agree that managed payments will probably not work for you. 

I wonder how the masses will respond?

Only time will tell. But some threads on this board suggest that the masses might be responding by switching to Managed Payments and not finding it to be awful:
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/managed-payments/m-p/30716788

[pburn]

---

@jack_bucks_ghost wrote:

why are you being forced to ship before receiving payment? I'm new to managed payments and haven't encountered this yet--and didn't know that was a possible expectation. if that is the case, that is definitely troubling. thanks!!!

---

I think the OP means before the seller receives their own payment from eBay--NOT before the buyer pays. The OP's statement "eBay's single payer system will force me to ship an item I that has not been paid for . . . " is misleading at best. THE BUYER HAS PAID FOR THE ITEM.

Sellers seem to be confused about the time lag between when the buyer pays for the item and when the seller receives the payment from eBay. It appears they think if they haven't received the proceeds from the sale that they shouldn't ship (or whatever the complaint du jour is). 

So. in simplified terms, when the buyer pays a Managed Payments seller, it's the same as when the buyer pays a PayPal seller. The buyer's obligation has been fulfilled, and it's okay to ship. Somehow, these sellers think it's not okay to ship until they get the proceeds into their own checking account.

If the new process doesn't work for a seller, they have the option of finding new selling venues. If it does work, they can enroll in Managed Payments and keep selling here. Simple as that.

[tellmemama]

I guess this makes me a founding  founding member since I've been here since 2/98.  That said, kindly name any retail business online or otherwise that makes you wait until the payment has fully cleared before allowing you to take possession of the goods?  If I pay with a credit card at Target, the item comes home with me right then and there.  If I buy something on Amazon with same day shipping, you can bet it gets here before the money hits their coffers.  And when I managed bars and restaurants, our customers didn't have to wait two days or so for their credit card payments to be processed and deposited into the account.  They got their food and drinks right then.  So what makes this any different?   

I mentioned this on another post but it bears repeating:  If you have a job that issues paychecks weekly or biweekly, do you stop working until you're paid from the previous period?

I bet I already know the answer.