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

vintagecraze50 · ‎10-13-2017

The small sellers and worldwide sellers here bring to this site all the colors of the rainbow so that buyer's can indeed paint their cart with color. Go Ebay! Blah, toilet paper purchase AMZ.

castlemagicmemories · ‎10-13-2017

@thenobletuckylife wrote:
Hi Castle,

When you were a kid did you ever wonder how to spell a word and your Mom would say "Look it up in the Dictionary"?

I would think to myself..."Does she have any idea what she just said?" How could I find it in a dictionary if I do not know how to spell it?

Same with writing...hard to use words that you don't know exist...but there is one little benefit to these online programs these days...spell check...only problem is it may flag your word...but then try to decide on one of it's choices and you can be up a creek of schmazzle without a paddle real quick.

Mr C

My Mom said that all the time!

treasuresoftime419 · ‎10-13-2017

I have said this for soooo long tomuchstuff5....only I used the term "EBAY CLASSIC" using COKE as an analogy....bringing back Coke Classic! If we small sellers of vintage, collectibles, antiques and used were such a "mismatch" to their new business model I wish they would have "sold" us off...but the truth of the matter is we are their gravy train of revenue....selling "just enough" with all their limitations until we leave. What they didn't plan on is that those sellers ....where also big buyers!

castlemagicmemories · ‎10-13-2017

@tomuchstuff5 wrote:
@castlemagicmemories

Shipping supplies is one of my bigger expenses. The time associated with proper packing is also one of my biggest time eaters. I find it so disrespectful to the buyer to not properly package the item. They sorted thru all the stuff to find that one special item they are willing to lay their money out on. I know many sellers live in fear of the late shipment defect. It is just not possible always get things out properly packed in the time frame. I am not saying wait for the next ice age to ship, just don't throw it in a box for sake of hitting the mark. I personally think safe packing should be a DSR.

Wish all sellers thought as you do, @tomuchstuff5, There has been SO much emphasis on shipping quickly. SAFELY is what should be the priority; many large companies don't ship in a day and they have the resources and shipping department to do so. I remember one newbie seller got it out in an hr; that was not a good experience. She was so proud of that; I just wanted my item to arrive safely.

Haste makes waste!

tomuchstuff5 · ‎10-13-2017

@castlemagicmemories wrote:
@thenobletuckylife wrote:
Hi Castle,

When you were a kid did you ever wonder how to spell a word and your Mom would say "Look it up in the Dictionary"?

I would think to myself..."Does she have any idea what she just said?" How could I find it in a dictionary if I do not know how to spell it?

Same with writing...hard to use words that you don't know exist...but there is one little benefit to these online programs these days...spell check...only problem is it may flag your word...but then try to decide on one of it's choices and you can be up a creek of schmazzle without a paddle real quick.

Mr C
@thenobletuckylife wrote:
Hi Castle,

When you were a kid did you ever wonder how to spell a word and your Mom would say "Look it up in the Dictionary"?

I would think to myself..."Does she have any idea what she just said?" How could I find it in a dictionary if I do not know how to spell it?

Same with writing...hard to use words that you don't know exist...but there is one little benefit to these online programs these days...spell check...only problem is it may flag your word...but then try to decide on one of it's choices and you can be up a creek of schmazzle without a paddle real quick.

Mr C
My Mom said that all the time!

Lol,,,, spelling not as big a deal by middle school now. I guess its spell checker in play. Cursive they don't even teach here anymore. Sad.

tomuchstuff5 · ‎10-13-2017

@castlemagicmemories wrote:
@tomuchstuff5 wrote:
@castlemagicmemories

Shipping supplies is one of my bigger expenses. The time associated with proper packing is also one of my biggest time eaters. I find it so disrespectful to the buyer to not properly package the item. They sorted thru all the stuff to find that one special item they are willing to lay their money out on. I know many sellers live in fear of the late shipment defect. It is just not possible always get things out properly packed in the time frame. I am not saying wait for the next ice age to ship, just don't throw it in a box for sake of hitting the mark. I personally think safe packing should be a DSR.
Wish all sellers thought as you do, @tomuchstuff5, There has been SO much emphasis on shipping quickly. SAFELY is what should be the priority; many large companies don't ship in a day and they have the resources and shipping department to do so. I remember one newbie seller got it out in an hr; that was not a good experience. She was so proud of that; I just wanted my item to arrive safely.

Haste makes waste!

I used to buy a fair amount years back. Damage was the biggest determent to shopping for me. I couldn't believe that some of the sellers really thought that item was going to arrive in one piece. I had a New York dealer (was a auction house I think) actually put a 20" tall porcelain centerpiece with flowers and cherubs off the sides in a box with no protection whatsoever. 4" of empty space all the way around. They did me the courtesy of 3 sheets of newspaper, didn't even crumple them. I don't have to tell you how that turned out. I think it was DHL that delivered it, the poor delivery man had no idea why I was crying. I could hear all the pieces clanging together when he put the box down. This was long before all the current RUSH, RUSH.

EBay has made some good improvements on those days with MBG and such that require the shipper to be more responsible. At that time you had to beg to pay extra for insurance. These folks wouldn't even let me insure it. It was a total loss. I do have the top bowl in a box somewhere in storage. It was the only thing I could find all the matching broken pieces for.

castlemagicmemories · ‎10-13-2017

I once got a porcelain doll in an ENVELOPE!

Don't feel too badly about not being allowed to buy insurance. I bought it, paid extra, item came broken, seller said I never bought insurance.

My feedback reflected that I did: I had the receipt that showed where I paid extra for it.

Separate instance. I bought a music box with figures on it and a glass piece that fit over the top, which was placed in one box, bubble wrap over glass piece, and the music box, very heavy and also bubble wrapped was on the bottom. Glass piece came smashed. Of course it would with no separation between the two pieces, and the other piece being larger and very heavy. Neither piece was sufficiently separated or immobile to not sustain damage. Seller thanked me for being so understanding that these things happen. Of course these things happen; the poor thing never stood a chance packed like that. This was a very experienced seller; possibly Top Rated.

tomuchstuff5 · ‎10-13-2017

@castlemagicmemories wrote:
I once got a porcelain doll in an ENVELOPE!

Don't feel too badly about not being allowed to buy insurance. I bought it, paid extra, item came broken, seller said I never bought insurance.

My feedback reflected that I did: I had the receipt that showed where I paid extra for it.

Separate instance. I bought a music box with figures on it and a glass piece that fit over the top, which was placed in one box, bubble wrap over glass piece, and the music box, very heavy and also bubble wrapped was on the bottom. Glass piece came smashed. Of course it would with no separation between the two pieces, and the other piece being larger and very heavy. Neither piece was sufficiently separated or immobile to not sustain damage. Seller thanked me for being so understanding that these things happen. Of course these things happen; the poor thing never stood a chance packed like that. This was a very experienced seller; possibly Top Rated.

That is sad. Packing in most instances is not rocket science. Voids in the box allowing movement are one of your worst enemies. Damage of fragile items can be prevented 99.99 % of the time. I know there are people that will disagree, but shipping time DSR vs Safe Delivery DSR? Fact is, doesn't matter how fast it got there if it arrived damaged. The mission was a total failure. Buyers upset (bad buying experience) , Seller and Ebay lost money. Everbody lost time and effort. Another item somebody wanted to enjoy bites the dust. What's the point.

Occasionally there is no prevention. The elephant finds that 00.01%.

geotouloupos · ‎10-13-2017

Hope that this is true and not just said to calm down part time sellers.

Ebay needs all the sellers to keep its original identity.

llllady · ‎10-13-2017

@geotouloupos wrote:
Hope that this is true and not just said to calm down part time sellers.
Ebay needs all the sellers to keep its original identity.

@geotouloupos

It continues to lose its "original identity" by trying to be more Amazonian, despite their vehement denials. Actions speak louder than words.

“It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent” ― Madeleine K. Albright

Great! 45.8% down over the same time last year with 2x+ items listed. Are you impressed? I'm certainly not!

mistwomandancing · ‎10-13-2017

llllady wrote:
geotouloupos wrote:
Ebay needs all the sellers to keep its original identity.
It continues to lose its "original identity" by trying to be more Amazonian, despite their vehement denials. Actions speak louder than words.

I'm not too keen on eBay trying to imitate much of Amazon, although both companies certainly have to accept and adapt and embrace modern e-commerce retail trends to stay alive these days. It's not 1995.. the Old Ebay days of the past are more than long gone.

But I'm certainly against eBay trying to keep it's "original identity" as that era was fun, but long ago faded from very much interest for most, and those great businesses that couldn't move into modern retail have faded away. The old Montgomery Ward was a great company, now dead. Sears Roebuck is another. Not making it. Radio Shack... is that still in existence? So many companies that couldn't adapt and assimilate all the changes needed to remain viable year after year. So many dead or closing up store after store after store. Every area of the country has their own sad stories of businesses that didn't change as the demands from their customers changed, and then couldn't or resisted changing to stay current, and then were left behind. Too many companies can't seem to successfully morph beyond what they were into what they have to be in the present to remain viable.

I guess a lot of the trick is to keep some of the *flavor* from what you were in the past, and use that to meld with the new tricks and new strengths needed to stay alive and profitable in the present. Quite the balancing act for any that can manage to do it successfully. I wonder what the figures are for all those that can't.. and fall by the wayside.

123papapatrick · ‎10-13-2017

Packing is important and have built wood crates for high value vases going to Singapore. If the item is less then shipping costs the ebay return policy doubles your loss if buyer just wants to borrow the item and return it not as discribed, damaged, two weeks later. Stopped selling international because shipping is more then items values. Used items in mint condition use to sell "nearest first" but lately when listed the buyer is a thousand miles away and shipping is more then value. Then they want a return with seller paying shipping on a common cheep item. Resulution center option is full refund of $14.00 and give $4.00 item to buyer free or pay $24.00 and get $4.00 item returned. They claim that's fair?