04-13-2021 03:27 PM
I have been reading, and replying to some of the latest concerns as sellers. I too have been a seller for 20 years. Yes, we are who made ebay. We are the ones who got our stuff out of the garage and basement and listed it, yes if it weren't for us ebay wouldn't be who they are today.
I too am very frustrated with all the new changes. Yes paypal was awesome. When my phone went cha ching, I had money in my pocket now!
I too have been hit with the high not as described rate and I too spent hours chatting with ebay personnel who didn't have a clue. I too have been forced into money management and I don't like it one bit.
Here is what I have come up with and my take away.
I am not a high volume seller. I do about 300 items a year/ $20,000 in sales.
I make money and it pays for my toys. I could make more if I put more into it.
I sell automotive parts. If there were another venue as good as ebay Motors I would give it a try. BUT, there isn't SOOO....
After exhausting all avenues with ebay, reading everyone else's complaints. I needed a new plan because I'm not done making money and buying toys.
First, I looked at my returns. Most of the not as described were my fault. Not all, but most. Some I sent the wrong item, others didn't work. And then damaged in shipping ( I don't agree with). And then there are some that the buyer either lied or just checked whatever was easiest to do a return.
Ok, that's what I have to work with. Now, I have to make sure the correct item is sent, check and double check. Next, better descriptions, pointing out flaws as best as I can. Better packing to prevent damaged in shipping. The next thing I did was change my feedback to a custom message. I thank them for the purchase and ask them to contact me before starting a return. I have changed my packing slip to also say that, then I took it one step further and added a sticker that I stick right on the part, again it is thanking them for the purchase and asking them to contact me first. My thinking is to cut down on return requests and maybe I can rectify the situation before a return request is activated.
The next step is after I do get a return request and the buyer states that it is not as described. I talked to several people at ebay about this. I have not used it yet since I've talked to them but, they claim that they will not let a buyer abuse the money back guarantee. If a buyer claims it not to be as described and it is exactly as described I will contact ebay as they told me to do and dispute it before I accept the return.
With these steps, I should be able to cut my returns down drastically.
The next thing that has been a problem as of late is the extra fee's we are hit with. Simple solution to that is raise your prices. That is how the economy works and why cost of living goes up. After I got hit with a 5% charge, I raised my prices 5%. My volume is still the same. Ebay can't keep raising and us eating it. Raise your prices accordingly.
Now money management. I don't like it, I don't want it, I can't change it. Yes I want paypal back, but it isn't coming back. So I have adjusted to deal with that. I set up a separate bank account for ebay only. I keep money in there for shipping and expenses. I do have to say one thing it has gotten better since they first started. I do like the fact that I no longer have a monthly ebay bill. It isn't as good as it was with paypal, I wish I could do something else but I know in the end it is ebay's game and their field that I play on.
For me leaving isn't the answer. I still make money, I can adjust. Nothing stays the same, so why do we expect a growing business to stay the same? There are those who can change and prosper and those who will be left behind. I'm not willing to be the one left behind.
04-16-2021 10:34 AM
@forward-motion wrote:Yes paypal was awesome.
Many years ago, checks and money orders were "awesome" and being forced into using PayPal was going to cause all the sellers to quit and "destroy eBay".
04-17-2021 02:33 AM
There needs to be created a competing auction site with auctions and listings, and all the sellers move en masse over to the new platform.
I agree there needs to be a new platform.
You don't have a right to call them "angry"
cool story bro
you cannot say that sellers should just "raise prices" to adjust. Many, many people operate on razor-thin margins, and they have a right to sell, just as you do.
Simple economics. The bottom goes up so does the top. The bottom can't keep raising and the top stay the same.
04-17-2021 03:58 AM
I remember those days!! You are correct! And we rolled with the changes.
04-17-2021 04:31 AM
I am a small time eBay seller as well. I don't care for the changes in the playing field. But it's a case of put up or shut up. I feel like I'am being squeezed to death by the "company store" . Thank goodness my life does not depend on selling with the "company store".
04-17-2021 04:50 AM
You are exactly right. It is no longer a place for the little guy. It is no longer the "classified section" where you can sell one or two items a year. It has become a go big or go home environment. It has become a world wide market place. I saw an ebay add on twitter saying it's spring time, clean out your closet and sell it on ebay to get a new wardrobe. I kind of laughed when I read that, know that they won't make any money doing that. But ebay will. Ebay is a fee collecting machine and the little guy cannot make money.
04-17-2021 05:29 AM
Come on - that’s bitterness from the doom and gloom crew. Of course people can make money selling on eBay - especially small sellers of stuff that they no longer need.
Those that are frustrated with their own performance are so quick to blame
others, and discourage others from succeeding. They hate to see or encourage success, because that makes them realize that their wounds just might be self inflicted.
04-17-2021 05:36 AM
"I have talked to several people at eBay about this."
Hey, have no idea who those several people were, but, to the best of my knowledge, if your buyer opens an item not as described case, no matter how much proof you have that the item WAS as described, you will be sending that buyer a return shipping label and refunding upon return. eBay does not have the personnel or the expertise to look at every NAD claim and decide whether or not it's legitimate.
The rest of your ideas are sound and solid and I applaud your thinking.
04-17-2021 05:55 AM
No not gloom and doom, ebay has changed. If you can make money as a small time seller, good for you!! Really I mean that. But it is a fact that it has changed to cater to the bigger seller. There are other venues that the small guy can do good on. And what I would really like to see that someone comes up with a NEW old ebay. Where the little guy can sell and not be gouged, maybe even back to auctions?? I would call myself a little guy but at 20k plus a year. I'm talking about the person who cleans out the garage and rather than throwing it away has a market for it. THAT is what ebay used to be. I'm not saying it's a bad thing that they have evolved, but the "yard seller" is no longer a ebay thing.
04-17-2021 05:57 AM
You are probably right, I've not tested it yet. That isn't going to stop me from trying.
04-17-2021 06:00 AM
UPDATE:
One month after starting all that I listed above, I have had 0 returns! I know it's early but this is the first full month with no returns since I can remember. Me fixing me was of utmost importance.
04-24-2021 10:02 PM
All my favorite sellers already left because of excessive fees, managed payments, having to ship before receiving payment, and having to give too much personal info that can be easily hacked. I buy from those sellers' websites now instead of eBay. As a result, it will be difficult to find rare items here now. Sound the funeral march. eBay will cease to exist by 2025.
04-24-2021 10:05 PM
Very good plan......I commend you for taking responsibility and making adjustments.......that's always been very important to prosper on a long term basis......
04-24-2021 10:21 PM
@moxiedrinker wrote:I am a small time eBay seller as well. I don't care for the changes in the playing field. But it's a case of put up or shut up. I feel like I'am being squeezed to death by the "company store" . Thank goodness my life does not depend on selling with the "company store".
Nor do you owe your soul to it.
I'm also a small time seller, but I'm here as I am in my own life - obstacles come along, I just say "excuse me, pardon me" and shove my way along. Marketplace selling isn't really an outlet for the easily discouraged because so much is in other peoples' hands, including out-of-touch Suits.
For the occasional seller there ARE alternatives - mostly social media selling - but no one is going to create a 'replacement site' to 'step in' - people have been going on about that for the 20 years that I've been here.
04-24-2021 10:33 PM
@forward-motion wrote:Nothing stays the same, so why do we expect a growing business to stay the same? There are those who can change and prosper and those who will be left behind. I'm not willing to be the one left behind.
That says it all.
04-25-2021 02:09 AM
Do you have the exact day and time?