eBay

mg152 · ‎10-11-2017

We had a very pleasant chat yesterday with eBay executive Sarah Brubacher. Very nice person BTW. She has assured us that ebay values & wants to keep small/part time sellers around. I’ve always believed that long time sellers of any volume are the backbone of eBay & according to what Sarah said EBay recognizes that.

This post is for informational purposes. Some will believe it & some won’t.

Have a great day my friends! 😀

Patricia
eBay member for 25 years

thatsallfolks · ‎10-12-2017

@tomuchstuff5 wrote:
I have more to say. Always . Ebay could accomplish Ebay original bringing back the feel of the more personal experience on these items that built Ebay without compromising their grip of control to a certain degree by doing a 90 day commitment on any item by the seller that this will be the only venue it is available on and by at the near end of 90 days to be able to send a Make it Yours offer (price determined by the seller) to those watchers that we don't even know who they are. It should take a click to send out that offer, first to buy-it-now is the new owner. we would never know who the watchers are, so no taking it off site.

This would keep it fresh with new offerings. You have to sell to be able to buy and add new listings. I know I love to look for new items to offer.

On returns: I have a no returns policy. This is to discourage those who are not sure that they want to own it. Why? I as a small seller cannot afford to take what would have been a $12.00 profit and turn it into a 30.00 loss. ( to and from shipping) Shipping is an expense. shipping it properly requires proper materials (more expense) and time to pack it. Time is money. Not to mention the fact that proper packing is not always something that a buyer has experience with even if they have the proper material you provided in shipment. It takes another 2.5 sales to cover the loss and another 10 to at least minimize this loss to a reasonable percentage.

I don' t have a problem offering great customer service on any issue (except those who think once they have your item they can get a price adjustment based on nothing more than they know they have your feet over the fire) . This a constant problem because it is CONDONED.

I have met many wonderful buyers and collectors on my years here. I do believe 99 percent of buyers are honest people. Even some of those that are doing snad to get free return shipping. They think they are abusing the system a little when in reality they are causing financial hardship on individuals. They do this because again it has become the norm, allowed, condoned.

You say you have great customer service, but you also have a no returns policy. Sorry, that doesn’t compute.

the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth · ‎10-12-2017

OK, I have to ask. Doesn't the grammar in your user name make you uncomfortable? It made me shudder.

mr_lincoln · ‎10-12-2017

@pantlandia

@pantlandia wrote:
I'm in the minority and have never thought they had it out for the small sellers. Some of the changes have made it harder, but I've never thought they made the changes to get rid of us.

I tend to agree with you, the changes being made I think are to service the larger Anchor and Premium Store accounts that are selling more new stuff than used, collectibles, vintage, etc. I don't think they are necessarily trying to get rid of small sellers because all those big sellers started small to so they have to keep the doors open for some that come through and make it big. But I do think for smaller accounts there is a tendency for items not to be returned as high in search if competing with larger sellers, that's MHO of course, but based a little on facts watching 2 Everday rate plan IDs here have very little activity with Veiwed and Watched items not to mention a glut in sales.

Regards,
Mr. Lincoln - Community Mentor

u_cant_take_it_with_u · ‎10-12-2017

@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:
OK, I have to ask. Doesn't the grammar in your user name make you uncomfortable? It made me shudder.

Possibly "too" and "2" was already taken?

z50com · ‎10-12-2017

"Ebay could accomplish Ebay original bringing back the feel of the more personal experience on these items that built Ebay"

And the Ford Motor Company could bring back the Model T

We live in an ever changing world. . .

tomuchstuff5 · ‎10-12-2017

@thatsallfolks

@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth

@thatsallfolks wrote:
@tomuchstuff5 wrote:
I have more to say. Always . Ebay could accomplish Ebay original bringing back the feel of the more personal experience on these items that built Ebay without compromising their grip of control to a certain degree by doing a 90 day commitment on any item by the seller that this will be the only venue it is available on and by at the near end of 90 days to be able to send a Make it Yours offer (price determined by the seller) to those watchers that we don't even know who they are. It should take a click to send out that offer, first to buy-it-now is the new owner. we would never know who the watchers are, so no taking it off site.

This would keep it fresh with new offerings. You have to sell to be able to buy and add new listings. I know I love to look for new items to offer.

On returns: I have a no returns policy. This is to discourage those who are not sure that they want to own it. Why? I as a small seller cannot afford to take what would have been a $12.00 profit and turn it into a 30.00 loss. ( to and from shipping) Shipping is an expense. shipping it properly requires proper materials (more expense) and time to pack it. Time is money. Not to mention the fact that proper packing is not always something that a buyer has experience with even if they have the proper material you provided in shipment. It takes another 2.5 sales to cover the loss and another 10 to at least minimize this loss to a reasonable percentage.

I don' t have a problem offering great customer service on any issue (except those who think once they have your item they can get a price adjustment based on nothing more than they know they have your feet over the fire) . This a constant problem because it is CONDONED.

I have met many wonderful buyers and collectors on my years here. I do believe 99 percent of buyers are honest people. Even some of those that are doing snad to get free return shipping. They think they are abusing the system a little when in reality they are causing financial hardship on individuals. They do this because again it has become the norm, allowed, condoned.
You say you have great customer service, but you also have a no returns policy. Sorry, that doesn’t compute.

Proper grammar was not an available user name 20 years ago when I signed up.

I have never refused a return even on remorse. As I am eating the original shipping, I do ask that the buyer pay the return shipping. I do not encourage the theory that it is ok to buy things and then return them at someone else's expense. I cannot afford to facilitate the I want to check it out and return it expense that is so common in NEW items.

What type of items do you sell?

a_c_green · ‎10-12-2017

@tomuchstuff5 wrote:
I read thru it. It did say some things would be answered later? If I understood that correctly. I will pull it up again and check later to see if issues were addressed. It seemed like a standard PR event.

...and that's their standard way of closing out the hour: they lock the thread against further posts, and then add a few replies to catch up, but there's no long-term followup that's posted there.

@sarahbru: Would you please read through the contents of this thread here, and see if you could offer some more substantive replies to questions that never got addressed on Tuesday? In particular, there was a posting from tenbigdogs (here) that went completely unacknowledged, with later replies focusing instead on a discussion about shoes, and people posting photos of each other. That's not really what we were expecting in a purported "eBay Executive Chat."

In short, we could all benefit from actual dialogue with you. It doesn't have to be 24/7; obviously we all have other things to do as well. But as an example of how not to interact with your customers, look at Bob Kupbens: he (or someone writing for him) will pop up someplace, excrete a press release and then disappear again, sometimes for months on end, leaving behind a trail of unanswered comments and questions. That's not how you gauge the interests and concerns of your marketplace. You can do better than that, and it would be enormously encouraging to others here to see you try. Thank you!

southern*sweet*tea · ‎10-12-2017

@z50com wrote:
"Ebay could accomplish Ebay original bringing back the feel of the more personal experience on these items that built Ebay"

And the Ford Motor Company could bring back the Model T

We live in an ever changing world. . .

Yep.

Stuff changes all the time, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worst. I have to change with it in order to keep going. I may not like it, but I do what I have to do to keep going as long as I can. When I can't change anymore, I'm done. It's that simple.

The easier you are to offend the easier you are to control.

We seem to be getting closer and closer to a situation where nobody is responsible for what they did but we are all responsible for what somebody else did. - Thomas Sowell

mr_lincoln · ‎10-12-2017

@tomuchstuff5 I tend to take a different view on the "not accepting returns", I think perception to a Buyer is important and if they see a Seller accepts returns they are probably more likely to purchase the item. I've read enough comments from members here that the "not accepting returns" is a sure way to have a Buyer (who likes to get free stuff) figures the Seller does not want it so if they process a INAD or SNAD the Seller may simply chose to refund and let the Buyer keep the item rather than pay for a return.

As for the 90 day idea ... hmmm, that would mean a vast amount of messages to Buyers and they may view that as being baggered ... just my opinion.

Regards,
Mr. Lincoln - Community Mentor

merrivaleflyer · ‎10-12-2017

It can be grammatically correct depending on the meaning lol

To much stuff, I say, long may you pile high!

tomuchstuff5 · ‎10-12-2017

I agree. It is an ever changing world and the Model T is not coming back. The model T is cherished by car collectors though. You don't find thousands of them for sale. Vintage and Antiques have their place in this changing world. They cannot be streamlined into the likes of selling the latest fad of finger spinners or such. It is a product in many cases of limited availability and should be marketed as such to those that appreciate the history of items from the past.

mr_lincoln · ‎10-12-2017

@southern*sweet*tea

@southern*sweet*tea wrote:
@z50com wrote:
"Ebay could accomplish Ebay original bringing back the feel of the more personal experience on these items that built Ebay"

And the Ford Motor Company could bring back the Model T

We live in an ever changing world. . .
Yep.

Stuff changes all the time, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worst. I have to change with it in order to keep going. I may not like it, but I do what I have to do to keep going as long as I can. When I can't change anymore, I'm done. It's that simple.

As a part time hobby Seller and occasional Buyer I would agree with that, but for us newer Sellers (3 years or less) it has been nothing BUT change so its more like change du jour and adjust accordingly ... of course some of the changes I would love to simply pour down the drain.

Regards,
Mr. Lincoln - Community Mentor

a_c_green · ‎10-12-2017

@tomuchstuff5 wrote:
I agree. It is an ever changing world and the Model T is not coming back. The model T is cherished by car collectors though.

Cherished to the point that, like many other vintage cars, there's a healthy industry devoted to making replacement and reproduction parts for them, so while the Model T is no longer a mass-market item, it's still a valued item.

thenobletuckylife · ‎10-12-2017

@southern*sweet*tea wrote:
@z50com wrote:
"Ebay could accomplish Ebay original bringing back the feel of the more personal experience on these items that built Ebay"

And the Ford Motor Company could bring back the Model T

We live in an ever changing world. . .
Yep.

Stuff changes all the time, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worst. I have to change with it in order to keep going. I may not like it, but I do what I have to do to keep going as long as I can. When I can't change anymore, I'm done. It's that simple.

Mornin Southern,

Well said...and I fully agree.

That's why we closed up shop here.

Mr C