eBay

retromedia2 · ‎06-05-2022

I have been a member of eBay for more than twenty years. I have watched their greed progress and their "service" decline. You could once reach them by email - and get a response.

In the early to mid 2000's you could list a popular item (train set, Matchbox car, Movie program etc) and see

a heap of views within twenty minutes. After a couple of days 200 views was not uncommon and rightly so, if your item was supposedly visible to many millions of people. If you had a dozen or so watchers you could be sure of frenzied buyer activity in the closing minutes.

Forcing sellers to use Ebay payment systems (while ousting PayPal) was something Vladimir Putin would have admired. A true dictatorship display from a major selling organization! "Oh, it's much simpler than Paypal" they laughably extolled. Yeah? PayPal's payments were credited instantly. Their percentage take - reaspnable. Ebay takes 2-3 days to pay you what's left of your funds after they help themselves to an extortionate amount of money. However you want to try trowelling over it - Ebay has no right (I suspect no legal right even) to take a percentage of shipping costs - leaving the seller to make up the difference. Very close to fraud I'm thinking. For one thing, shipping costs are not an 'earning' - obviously!

What precipitated this email was just a one liner from eBay "Re-List your item and you're just two clicks away from having it in front of millions of buyers internationally" - 187 million I believe!! I did relist it: "A super rare movie program that I had sold two of previously between $250 - 300) They sold in hours. Similar items have had 2-300 views in the past and concluded with a swag of bids. This same item THIS time attracted just one view according to eBay. Yeah? and hundreds just last year? right! ONE VIEW eh? So I'm supposed to think the other 186,999,999 buyers out there weren't interested? BULL**bleep** - for whatever reason, they didn't SEE it!

"Relist it" they suggest today - "just knock off $50 and it could sell" I won't be bothering - even with the hope it might get TWO views this time!

eBay: The force is NOT with you.

aqeeqsouq · ‎06-05-2022

@retromedia2 wrote:
I
Forcing sellers to use Ebay payment systems (while ousting PayPal) was something Vladimir Putin would have admired.

😂

("Winter Is Coming")

kensgiftshop · ‎06-05-2022

@retromedia2

Maybe more people were interested in it last year, then they are this year.

Have a great day.

luckythewinner · ‎06-05-2022

@retromedia2 wrote:
Forcing sellers to use Ebay payment systems (while ousting PayPal) was something Vladimir Putin would have admired. A true dictatorship display from a major selling organization!

Your observations about dictatorship over payment processors comes many years too late. As a 20 year eBay member you probably recall that when PayPal that got ousted it was also forced on sellers and had been for years.

wrong66 · ‎06-05-2022

?

fashunu4eeuh · ‎06-05-2022

I apologize because I stopped reading at "A true dictatorship display from a major selling organization! "

Business entities in the private sector are not democracies, nor should they be. This is eBay's domain. We sell here at their behest. It is a privilege, not a right.

randyshotrods · ‎06-05-2022

Yes maybe a privilege , but remember if it wasn't for sellers doing all the work and I mean pretty much all of it, and risking their Capital as well, the site wouldn't even exist. They need to remember this when forcing things upon us.

They are only fortunate that they have literally no competition in the Auction aspect. I'm still not sure why an alternative has not been created. Seems like a ripe time to start one.

randyshotrods · ‎06-05-2022

A recent update has decimated many sellers sales. Mine included, to the point I went from $300-$1000 a night to $100-$300 a night and that was night after night after that specific date.

The ironic thing was watch and views both drastically dropped and sales would have probably stopped if it wasn't for a few customers that view I think almost every item I list every day as they put together a month long order.

I even did a Google search of items like mine and they are fairly unique. None of my items showed up on a search, when in the past several would have been in the first line or two of an image search. Other members complained of the same and all after that certain date a couple if weeks ago.

I guess you should count yourself fortunate as you still have the item. My items were all listed no reserve with .99-2.99 opening bids. Many sold for that. Items I will most likely never see again. Very frustrating when this is happening day after day. Thousands of dollars potentially lost.

I know my market, I know my customers, it was an internal issue and nothing more.

I've strongly thought of just stopping listing, as the items I have yet to list are older and rarer. It takes a long time to find this type of inventory. I can't afford to give it all away.