So here's an idea... why don't we all reply to this opener just to establish an ongoing thread that'll hopefully turn into a thorn on eBay's side. I've been selling ever since 2004 and it was never really this bad. And by bad, I mean... coming across the wrong type of self entitled whiny ass **bleep**es that don't have the faintest concept of haggling fairly with someone or even have any respect for any and all kinds of courier services out there. Why? Because they always complain about how much it costs for me to ship something out to them. Back in the day, I used to put down an estimate and just hoped that the profit that I made from whatever I was selling would be enough to cover it all... most of the time I got burned on that; 'til I finally managed to get the hang of using eBay's shipping calculator and how it would automatically generate the cost to ship something out to that particular someone in a particular state. And now that I've made this change, you think that they would be accepting that, right? No... not at all. Just the other day I had this interested buyer that wanted to pick up an item that I was selling via local pickup (which is something that I NEVER offer... because frankly, just imagine for a minute how difficult it is to strike a good deal with these cheapskate **bleep**s and now you're actually going to invite them to your place so that they can show you just what a piece of **bleep** they really are in person? I think not!). So... this idiot asked if I'd be willing to let an item go for $15 exactly on an item that I had a best offer price on; starting at $20. I said, no thanks... if you want, I could give you the lowest price possible as long as you pay for the shipping. Then he goes no, I'd only be willing to pay $15 for it... to which I responded okay, so you want me to agree to selling this item for maybe what? $0.99 and the lowest shipping price I have to offer (out of all the four services that I'm open to providing them with... lots of options; mind you) is $15.36 or so. So already, I'm losing $0.36 and that's not counting the eBay seller fees, or the taxes involved which will surely clean out any profit I can hope to get out of this deal. Then I get another prick that low balls me on a vinyl record (which is supposedly making a comeback and the prices are just getting out of hand, right? WRONG! I'm literally giving away these **bleep** things and these cheap ass **bleep**s want to low ball me on it. To which I counteroffer I slightly less than favorable price (at least to me) but I know for a fact that they can afford... only for them to counteroffer a price that's about maybe a dollar more; to which I decline... and then (GET THIS) they lower the next offer down by $0.25, to which I decline again, and then they raise it back to the same exact amount as before... so we're right back where we started and I just decline, because as all this is happening, I'm looking over this piece of **bleep**'s feedback history and I see that they leave negative feedback for reputable sellers. So they're intentionally doing this **bleep**... and from the conspiracy theorist in me, all I can come up with is that they must be secretly working for eBay. I mean, why not? Somehow a business this big has to test out its safety nets, right? So they intentionally get reps to do covert and sneaky **bleep** like this, just so that the situation can come to a head and have eBay protection guarantee cases opened and what have you. It's a god **bleep** money laundering operation, people... wake the **bleep** up already! And this bull**bleep** about the algorithm and how you have to do your best to refine your product description just so you can make more sales, that's also a load of dingo's kidneys! Because think of it from this perspective... wouldn't it be in eBay's best interest to let you make more sales? That way they can cash in on their percentages and profits from your sale? No... that's too logical. Instead, I wind up with eyes on only 20% of all the listings that I have up... and those watchers never do a **bleep** thing. They don't make any offers, they don't respond to my lowered offers... nothing! Nada! Zip! Zilch! So what's the point here? I'm **bleep**in' dying financially here... and this is currently my only means of income. You mother**bleep**ers better get this **bleep** **bleep** together and stop playing games with people's livelihoods! That's all I'm saying... anybody want to rant, please feel free to jump on in. I'm sick and tired of this **bleep** and wouldn't mind reading about other people's **bleep**ty selling experiences on here.
Simply-the-best-for-you Volunteer Community Mentor
