Selling on eBay will forever be my biggest life regret

[gwzcomps]

Overall eBay is a mess.  Between issues like GTC, fluctuating traffic, and eBay's promotion of ridiculous buying behaviors the site is a joke.  The site is plagued with counterfeit and/or dangerous items from China.  Then you run into the company culture issues like their recent stalking pig mask scandal.  eBay is a company that will throw small businesses over a puddle so they can walk over us while using our hard work to prop up eBay's own public image.  This is the same company that does "townhalls" and asks for our feedback while disregarding it.

Maybe other people's experience is different but it feels like every time you get ahead eBay figures out a new way to push you down.  Some times it is little things like unnecessary cosmetic changes that disrupt your workflow.  More annoying things like burdensome or erroneous item specifics requirements.  Other times it is worse through issues like bloated or bad coding that causes pages to load super slowly.  The worst of the issues that disrupt a business are site issues they refuse to acknowledge or policy changes that cause serious problems.

Now for the reason why selling on eBay is my biggest life regret...  I have been here for nearly 15 years, but probably won't see that 15 year anniversary.  I have stupidly built the majority of my business around the site.  The last 5 years have been the worst form of hell.  The site has gone from a great resource to connect with happy buyers who want stuff to a hell hole battle royale.  It is an abusive relationship where eBay tries to push you down, spits in your face and tells you they want more.

In the end avoiding my predicament is easy.  Don't be a moron like me.  Diversify.  Don't rely on eBay as the majority of your income.  Don't use eBay as a platform to grow eBay's business.  Use eBay to grow your business.  Don't rely on other people to ensure you have a future.  Even if you don't think you have the time, make the time to diversify your income.  Excuses today will bite you in the butt in the future. 

eBay doesn't have your back.  eBay doesn't care if you fail.  If anything they are rooting for you to fail.

[monster-deals]

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@foxinsocksllc wrote:

 the scariest thing as a new seller. 

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ebay is not new user friendly...in fact it is a hellscape for noobs.

[gwzcomps]

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@flownzone wrote:

Welp, I just received another return that was obviously not the item they were sent and there's no recourse as a seller. Perhaps if returns are held at the post office and video taped in front of an employee or something? I don't know if eBay would even care then. At least I had the buyer send it back on their own dime. I don't think eBay can force me to refund them return shipping if I didn't issue it myself? What happens if I just ignore the return and the buyer never checks back on it? Sellers need to be able to leave negative feedback for buyers too; or at the least, no feedback at all. Why allow us to automatically leave positive feedback? Just so the next seller feels more comfortable mailing something to someone who's already scammed the person before them? Obviously both of these options hurt eBay, who has little to no neck in the game. 

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@flownzone

eBay won't back you up on returns.  Looks like you might be close to getting TRS (Top Rated Seller) assuming your back end stats are good.  Once you hit TRS if you accept 30 day buyer pays or better returns then eBay is gracious enough to let you lose only half your money.

In the meantime if someone returned something that wasn't what you sent your best option is to take the loss for the sake of getting TRS.  You can report them to the police in your town and theirs, file an IC3 report, and file a USPS mail fraud report.  Also report them to eBay.

[nuclearomen]

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@gwzcomps wrote:

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@flownzone wrote:

Welp, I just received another return that was obviously not the item they were sent and there's no recourse as a seller. Perhaps if returns are held at the post office and video taped in front of an employee or something? I don't know if eBay would even care then. At least I had the buyer send it back on their own dime. I don't think eBay can force me to refund them return shipping if I didn't issue it myself? What happens if I just ignore the return and the buyer never checks back on it? Sellers need to be able to leave negative feedback for buyers too; or at the least, no feedback at all. Why allow us to automatically leave positive feedback? Just so the next seller feels more comfortable mailing something to someone who's already scammed the person before them? Obviously both of these options hurt eBay, who has little to no neck in the game. 

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@flownzone

eBay won't back you up on returns.  Looks like you might be close to getting TRS (Top Rated Seller) assuming your back end stats are good.  Once you hit TRS if you accept 30 day buyer pays or better returns then eBay is gracious enough to let you lose only half your money.

In the meantime if someone returned something that wasn't what you sent your best option is to take the loss for the sake of getting TRS.  You can report them to the police in your town and theirs, file an IC3 report, and file a USPS mail fraud report.  Also report them to eBay.

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sometimes gifs explain it all 🤣

[annieandjr]

I've been on ebay for almost twenty years, but recently due to their constant policy changes, I decided that it was no longer feasible for me to sell on their platform. The sellers and from what I'm reading, buyers as well are fed up with ebay. Now they have introduced (FORCED) their latest Nightmare, called Managed Payments on sellers. They FORCE you to set up a checking account and give them full access to it, with no recourse what so ever, if they decide to empty it. You have to agree to that in their terms and conditions. If you sell an item and the buyer decides to return it, it will be returned to you using priority mail. What if it was shipped UPS to save money and will now be shipped priority mail back to you. Costing much, much, more in shipping. Probably more than the item cost itself. Ebay is nice enough, to not let the seller correspond with the buyer about the return. Ebay sends the label and the usps takes weeks to deliver it back. Sellers can no longer use paypal, but have to use ebays new disaster, called managed payments. This allows ebay to hold your money for a payment of an item sold, but yet, you still have to purchase labels and ship it on time. Buyers are given a license to steal. Let me put it this way, I closed two ebay accounts and went to a different venue to sell on. Ebay no longer, cares about anyone but themselves.

[annieandjr]

Hi, sorry to hear that! I basically have been through the same thing with ebay. Used to be a great company, as I'm sure you can attest. Have you tried different platforms? Bonanza.com will transfer all of your listing for free. You choose the amount of fees that you want to pay. There are no listing fees. Sales aren't as many as ebay, but you don't have all of the stress related with ebay either. You still get excited over a sell, and you can still use PAYPAL! Try it. You can't lose anything. I've been there for a little over a month and have 21 sales. Good Luck in the future.

[turquoisetulips]

To me regrets are more about things I have not done or those I may have wronged  when it comes to the people in my life.  uncseniorsportsfan  --------- 

I can relate to that sentiment . There are many past events  in my life  I wish I could go back in time  and change.  One in particular  that has bothered me for years  is when a friend and I were having lunch at a fast food chicken place one day . We were both in our early 20's  and compassion  for others hadn't fully developed  I suppose . A very old man  approached us and said he was hungry but had no money.  My friend gave him all of the change in his pocket ,,, it was quite a bit of change . I seen the old man walk up to the counter and try and figure out what he could get  with that change  . I felt a tinge of guilt  at that point  but not enough  to  get money out of my wallet . I doubt anyone knows how bad I feel    about that  now.  I could have made a  better difference  but  I let the chance go by   . Ashamed  of that .  Tulips 

[turquoisetulips]

All good points . If I was more computer savvy  I might  try that  . I don't have a lot of faith in myself  when it comes to trying new things .  😞 

[jayjaspersgarage]

How can you not afford to keep a couple extra dollars in PayPal to cover occasional shipping charges for postage? 

[kabilab]

I have not the slightest regret in becoming a seller on e-Bay in 2013; below are my reasons.

Before listing my first item, I had 40 years experience as a self-employed person, with the last 22 years as a retailer. I read all the opinions of the site I could locate and personally spoke with four e-Bayers; I considered the good, bad and ugly. Finally, I ONLY list personal items or those I have been unable to sell in my B&M. To date, I have liquidated approx. 1800 pieces.

It is imperative one understands e-Bay primarily exists to reward their shareholders. Can being a seller, at times, be exasperating? Of course, especially when one knows they are being defrauded. In the end, though, what matters are the PLUSES of business. It is when the MINUSES become the majority, then it is time to consider moving on.

[nuclearomen]

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@turquoisetulips wrote:

All good points . If I was more computer savvy  I might  try that  . I don't have a lot of faith in myself  when it comes to trying new things .  😞 

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it's option, not everyone is computer / code savy, but you don't need to be anymore, these sites/services do it all for you basically, pick a design add photos, text and that's the bulk of it. If you want you can have them build the entire site you want for you (at a cost). The only major thing you need to do is to test the gateway(s) you select for payments to make sure they work...and they give you instructions on how to do that too. For myself the motivation is profits and ability to both offer my items much cheaper to buyers and to run my business by my rules. I like EB, don't get me wrong, I'm just tired of all B,-S, and obviously still use EB, but the more I work to have less dependency on one outlet the better.  

[smileytown18]

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@gwzcomps wrote:

I stopped leaving feedback consistently once eBay's changes made it too time consuming.  I never took the time to learn how to use the automated feature.

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Re: Feedback

That is literally super easy. Take a moment to learn it.

Simply click all the boxes near the transactions on "sold" page and then hit the "leave feedback" on top or bottom of page. It takes less then 30 seconds to leave feedback for all transactions.

There are so many ways to make working on eBay simpler (like this), maybe take the time to learn it.

[smileytown18]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@pburn wrote:

"Selling on eBay will forever be my biggest life regret"

Apparently, you've never been married.

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While I had a good laugh at this post as I find it very funny.  Next week we celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, 1st marriage too, so we are lucky to of found each other.  😍

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I'm happily married and still found it true and funny!!

We all have the moments when we think "seriously, why didn't I just stay SINGLE???

[marie185antiques]

Thank you for your post.....it was very enlightening.  I, too, am in the process of setting up my own site.  After selling on e-bay for the past 16 years with an excellent track record these sickos are out to destroy the small sellers that made them who they are today.  The most important thing is to have confidence in ones self and forge ahead.  E-bay is NOT the be-all, end-all answer.  Not only will they be losing their good sellers but also the wonderful, repeat buyers that I will make certain know where and how to find me!

[marie185antiques]

Amen.......I totally agree with you.

Good luck.

[gwzcomps]

After working through the Shopify video training series one thing is for sure.  eBay doesn't want their sellers to succeed.  Shopify did an impressive job laying out the basics of how to use their site in 1.5 hour worth of concise videos.  eBay could learn a thing or two from this:

https://www.shopifycompass.com/learn/getting-started-with-shopify