eBay

bmp_auto_salvage · ‎12-12-2018

Hello Everyone,

It saddens me to do this but as of yesterday I've made up my mind to no longer choose to sell on eBay full time. I have been doing so since I was 18 (almost 30 now) and it went from something which I truly loved to do and was excited about to completely dreading. I started with a small 5x5 storage unit where I would store my parts to a 1300 SQ FT warehouse with thousands of dollars in heavy duty shelving, a forklift, office, lift and more. My reason for leaving all this hard work behind stems from the lack of respect and protection in which they give us (the sellers) as well as the most greed filled, disgusting, policy yet, the additional 4% hit on final value fees for "high returns". I average about $15,000 in sales a month and between my "anchor" store and final value fees I believe eBay is paid quite well. Now, for reasons out of your control if a buyer opens a return and claims the item as "defective" even when it may not be we take that hit. I sell auto parts and it is a tough gig, buyers usually do not have a full understanding as to what it is they are buying or simply have a remorse return for a misdiagnosed part and unfortunately we take the hit. Just yesterday I sold an air bag (non deployed of course) and the buyer stated it "does not work" now, nothing short of the buyer installing the bag into the vehicle and driving it straight into a wall would this return make any sense. Very upset about this, I called eBay and explained the situation to a staff member, he completely agreed with me however stated that I "cannot have this defect removed" which then causes my return rate to go "up". I am sorry but a 3% return rate in no way shape or form should be considered "high" nor should a 3.50% be "very high" and subject me to an additional 4% final value fee. This whole comparing you to your "peers" is absolute garbage and just an excuse for them to pocket an extra $600 from me a month (on average ). I am disgusted with this and no longer going to invest my time into a company which treats its sellers so poorly. I have since switched all my items from same day handling to one day handling and have begun my new path into the real estate market. After completion of my course I already have a company ready to take me in (its always good to know people). From then on my handling time will be switched to 3 or 4 business days and as I build a new career for myself I will put eBay on the back burner and slowly transistion out of this market until a good chunk of my higher ticket items are sold here and then sell off the rest of my warehouse and supplies such as the racks, fork lifts, etc, in due time. It is something that truly pains me but I cannot take this blatant disrespect and abuse from eBay and the scammer buyers alike. I have put forth neraly 12 years of my life selling on here but I just cannot take it anymore. My stress levels are through the roof, everytime I get a return I get this pain in my gut and I have more grey hairs than a 30 year old should. At the end of the day I'm truly looking forward to this new route I am taking and one thing I'd like for eBay to remember is that they did this to themselves and I am sure more, now than ever sellers like myself are leaving this platform and either seeking new platforms or taking new career paths as well due to eBays greed and blatant disrespect to its foundation which helped make it what it is, the sellers.

fashunu4eeuh · ‎12-12-2018

@bmp_auto_salvage

“...The rest even sometimes take images of the product with the card and sticker still attached in their returns which I see as a major slap in the face...”

One of the best changes i ever made in my life was to let things like this roll off my back. People can be careless of other’s feelings, especially in retail, even more so in ecommerce. The buyer never sees you.

Whatever career path is chosen, there will be stress, particularly in sales. No job is worth your health. I highly recommend learning to let it go, and protecting your inner life from the pressures of business. It’s a trite saying, but it’s true: Remember, it’s business, not personal.

I didn’t free myself until my 50’s. I hope you will at 30 and spare yourself needless angst. Best of luck to you in every endeavor.

goodluckselling · ‎12-12-2018

@zamo-zuan wrote:

The "Peer" calculation is not accurate. I've questioned about this with our partners, basically the "higher" your sales are, the worst the rate is going to hit you, because "peers" does not seem to be separated on sales tiers. It's not even separated by subcategory in Motors!

Being in the Motors industry, it is extremely apparent that the sellers metrics system is completely flawed. Your "peers" are not really peers, and may not be selling the same parts as you at all, and someone who sells 1k/month can be compared to someone who sells 100k/month.

I would not complain about it if you actually were compared to people in the same category, and who were relatively around the same sales volume as you. But this is NOT how it is working.

Sellers peers change probably daily. eBay has given us a set of parameters about who your peers are You can see this right on the service metric page.

Your peers are sellers who list on the same listing site as yours, sell items in the same category and have similar listing attributes such as item price, estimated delivery dates, item condition, and return policy.

Because sellers make changes to what they sell, policies, price points, its make sense that our peers are changing as well.

eBay does not say anything about sales level tiers or sub categories, so those areas are not part of the formula. I get it that you might want those attributes but I am not sure why or how it would make a difference in a SNAD or return which is what these ratings are about?

Higher priced items sellers would not be peers to sellers of lower priced items based on the definition of peers from eBay. However higher transaction volume sellers will only have a 3 month look back which helps keep the transactions with issues below the minimum of 10. Lower transaction sellers will have a 12 month look back which will have them at a much higher chance of being over the minimum.

Good Luck Selling!

gracieallen01 · ‎12-12-2018

@goodluckselling wrote:
Sellers peers change probably daily. eBay has given us a set of parameters about who your peers are You can see this right on the service metric page.
Your peers are sellers who list on the same listing site as yours, sell items in the same category and have similar listing attributes such as item price, estimated delivery dates, item condition, and return policy.

Because sellers make changes to what they sell, policies, price points, its make sense that our peers are changing as well.

eBay does not say anything about sales level tiers or sub categories, so those areas are not part of the formula. I get it that you might want those attributes but I am not sure why or how it would make a difference in a SNAD or return which is what these ratings are about?

Higher priced items sellers would not be peers to sellers of lower priced items based on the definition of peers from eBay. However higher transaction volume sellers will only have a 3 month look back which helps keep the transactions with issues below the minimum of 10. Lower transaction sellers will have a 12 month look back which will have them at a much higher chance of being over the minimum.

Good Luck Selling!

You know, ebay says that a lot of things.

Once, just once, I would like to see ebay prove ANYTHING, in black and white, and have it verified by an independent and unbiased party.

Not saying 'NO' doesn't mean 'YES'.

The foolishness of one's actions or words is determined by the number of witnesses.

Perhaps if Brains were described as an APP, many people would use them more often.

Respect, like money, is only of 'worth' when it is earned - with all due respect, it can not be ordained, legislated or coerced. Anonymous

bmp_auto_salvage · ‎12-12-2018

This ^^^^^^

bmp_auto_salvage · ‎12-12-2018

I currently am in the process, thank you for the advice. 🙂

myjunqueyourtreasure · ‎12-12-2018

@gracieallen01 wrote:
@goodluckselling wrote:
Sellers peers change probably daily. eBay has given us a set of parameters about who your peers are You can see this right on the service metric page.
Your peers are sellers who list on the same listing site as yours, sell items in the same category and have similar listing attributes such as item price, estimated delivery dates, item condition, and return policy.

Because sellers make changes to what they sell, policies, price points, its make sense that our peers are changing as well.

eBay does not say anything about sales level tiers or sub categories, so those areas are not part of the formula. I get it that you might want those attributes but I am not sure why or how it would make a difference in a SNAD or return which is what these ratings are about?

Higher priced items sellers would not be peers to sellers of lower priced items based on the definition of peers from eBay. However higher transaction volume sellers will only have a 3 month look back which helps keep the transactions with issues below the minimum of 10. Lower transaction sellers will have a 12 month look back which will have them at a much higher chance of being over the minimum.

Good Luck Selling!

You know, ebay says that a lot of things.

Once, just once, I would like to see ebay prove ANYTHING, in black and white, and have it verified by an independent and unbiased party.

That will be the day pigs fly by

Reality is the leading cause of stress.

gramophone-georg · ‎12-12-2018

@myjunqueyourtreasure wrote:
@gracieallen01 wrote:
@goodluckselling wrote:
Sellers peers change probably daily. eBay has given us a set of parameters about who your peers are You can see this right on the service metric page.
Your peers are sellers who list on the same listing site as yours, sell items in the same category and have similar listing attributes such as item price, estimated delivery dates, item condition, and return policy.

Because sellers make changes to what they sell, policies, price points, its make sense that our peers are changing as well.

eBay does not say anything about sales level tiers or sub categories, so those areas are not part of the formula. I get it that you might want those attributes but I am not sure why or how it would make a difference in a SNAD or return which is what these ratings are about?

Higher priced items sellers would not be peers to sellers of lower priced items based on the definition of peers from eBay. However higher transaction volume sellers will only have a 3 month look back which helps keep the transactions with issues below the minimum of 10. Lower transaction sellers will have a 12 month look back which will have them at a much higher chance of being over the minimum.

Good Luck Selling!

You know, ebay says that a lot of things.

Once, just once, I would like to see ebay prove ANYTHING, in black and white, and have it verified by an independent and unbiased party.

That will be the day pigs fly by

And the day before they change it.

Chaos is NOT an "industry standard".

goodluckselling · ‎12-12-2018

@gracieallen01 wrote:
@goodluckselling wrote:
Sellers peers change probably daily. eBay has given us a set of parameters about who your peers are You can see this right on the service metric page.
Your peers are sellers who list on the same listing site as yours, sell items in the same category and have similar listing attributes such as item price, estimated delivery dates, item condition, and return policy.

Because sellers make changes to what they sell, policies, price points, its make sense that our peers are changing as well.

You know, ebay says that a lot of things.

Once, just once, I would like to see ebay prove ANYTHING, in black and white, and have it verified by an independent and unbiased party.

It does not seem to matter. I have shown two different articles from third party companies who are not writing for or against eBay in the article but they do reveal some facts complete with links to the info they are sharing and yet the same doubters here seem to try to discredit the info because it does not make sense to them, so it must not be true.

Just once I would like to see some of these conspiracy theories to show even one factual finding.

Good Luck Selling!

skatefool · ‎12-12-2018

Here's a good conspiracy theory news item for you... please don't burst into flame after reading it...

Morgan Stanley downgrades eBay, cuts price target 40%

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/12/morgan-stanley-downgrades-ebay-cuts-price-target-40percent-we-were-w...

richards*rock*collection · ‎12-12-2018

normally I would say something snarky like good more customers for us remaining sellers, but due to the low sales on eBay I'm wondering if we should all leave and try on etsy.

zamo-zuan · ‎12-12-2018

@goodluckselling wrote:
@zamo-zuan wrote:

The "Peer" calculation is not accurate. I've questioned about this with our partners, basically the "higher" your sales are, the worst the rate is going to hit you, because "peers" does not seem to be separated on sales tiers. It's not even separated by subcategory in Motors!

Being in the Motors industry, it is extremely apparent that the sellers metrics system is completely flawed. Your "peers" are not really peers, and may not be selling the same parts as you at all, and someone who sells 1k/month can be compared to someone who sells 100k/month.

I would not complain about it if you actually were compared to people in the same category, and who were relatively around the same sales volume as you. But this is NOT how it is working.
Sellers peers change probably daily. eBay has given us a set of parameters about who your peers are You can see this right on the service metric page.
Your peers are sellers who list on the same listing site as yours, sell items in the same category and have similar listing attributes such as item price, estimated delivery dates, item condition, and return policy.

Because sellers make changes to what they sell, policies, price points, its make sense that our peers are changing as well.

eBay does not say anything about sales level tiers or sub categories, so those areas are not part of the formula. I get it that you might want those attributes but I am not sure why or how it would make a difference in a SNAD or return which is what these ratings are about?

Higher priced items sellers would not be peers to sellers of lower priced items based on the definition of peers from eBay. However higher transaction volume sellers will only have a 3 month look back which helps keep the transactions with issues below the minimum of 10. Lower transaction sellers will have a 12 month look back which will have them at a much higher chance of being over the minimum.

Good Luck Selling!

We have had this discussion before in the past. Peer metrics are NOT calculating full categories. Again, check Motors to see how it works. Ignition coils, as I used in my example, are NOT only being compared to other ignition coils.

Beyond this being true, even if it were only ignition coils, it is IMPOSSIBLE to have average metrics as low as eBay claims in that category. If the failure rate for a single coil is 2%, and eBay is selling in 6-8 or more on average, it's not possible to be under 1% average.

Furthermore, everything you just pasted is NOT "fairness" or even really "peers". If we go with the definition of "peer" it's someone in equal standing. Can we honestly say someone who sells 1 ignition coil per month is a peer of someone who sells 100 per day?

The implementation is flawed (at least in Motors when sub-categories are not separated).

All you have to do is ask someone who is a professional in the Motors category and they can tell you the same. Do you think I'm lying? Or the OP? We are not even in the "very high" category, but we ARE in high.

Let me just tell you, our software is designed in-house specifically for eBay, and whenever we have an order, it gives us a VISUAL list to confirm the correct item is being packed in the box. We have TWO separate employees that must manually confirm the correct item is being packed, based on the product codes AND visual confirmation bsaed on the image. It's nearly impossible to make a mistake.

Even with this type of verification, we are still "high". We have evidence in more than half of cases that are decided against us, yet we can't fight the customers claims, because the return reason they pick can not be debated.

Tell me, if we have such software that is beyond what 99% of the sellers on eBay have, and we are high, how fair do you think the system is for sellers who do NOT have such software?

I feel horrible for all of them, because we see first hand how unfair things are.

We could blindly believe that the system of peers is "fair". But if you ask those who are most experienced in the field, it is most certainly flawed.

All I ask for is fairness. Considering our software prevents mistakes, we have no reason to lie about this. The situation is just flat out, not fair. I'm not even speaking unfair for us personally - we are not receiving any penalties. It is unfair for all the other sellers, becuase it is nearly impossible for them to avoid the "very high" penalty, especially if they don't offer Free Returns and have additional SNAD claims because of customers lying to get free shipping.

It's a pretty saddening situation for us, because whenever I discuss this subject, I'm fighting to protect eBay sellers as a whole. It's discouraging when you are trying to spread this information to help other sellers, yet other sellers on this forum are the ones arguing against us.

gramophone-georg · ‎12-12-2018

@iaintdoingit wrote:
Oh no!!!! Don't leave, please!!!! You are our 'go to parts person' and your customer service is amazing.

I completely understand your position with eBay. Can you go with your own website??????? Guess a few 'bad apples spoils the whole bushel'.

Wherever you go -- we will 'find' you.

This.

I got fed up with selling on eBay in July 2010 when they kept upping the work as the returns on investment dove lower and lower each month.

Almost a decade later, I'm still selling to a lot of my same customers plus lots of new ones.

I reopened my website. Because this thing called "life" got in the way, it was nearly a year in between constructing it and actually stocking it. It didn't matter- people were somehow finding me through the site and pestering me with requests for phonographs and records. I actually had a better Christmas season in 2010 than I had in 2007-9 on eBay- with almost zero Internet presence!

With that said... the Internet is a far more crowded place now than it was then, and all the search engines want to con you into paying for "views"... I'd pay for sales but not for views.

OP, sounds like you may have a loyal following. Just sayin'.

ALL of us would rather that eBay return to being eBay so we could all just do what we used to do here, but I've been waiting for eBay to come to its senses going on 9 years now and it hasn't happened yet.

It appears we've moved on from the first crazy phase eBay misinterpreting the concept of "disruptive innovation" to mean you come up with crazy off the wall ways to disrupt your own business model.

In those years I endured the sudden change from categories to item specifics, forced PayPal "for our protection", the shift from auction to "BIN", the rise of Stores.

They bagered me for a year to open a store. I finally did, but nothing went in it because everything wound up selling at auction. Then auctions slowed down and I put what didn't sell in my Store and things sold like hotcakes.

A couple months later they yanked Stores out of Core. Store sales stopped... DEAD... but auctions picked back up again. So I lumbered on with the Store doing nothing but costing me for 18 months or so. Finally I dumped it and went back to auctions again.

Weeks later, they dumped Stores back into core, and there went auctions into a nose dive again.

I mean... how the hello do you build or even maintain a business with this utter nonsense?? I mean, if I really wanted a schizophrenic business partner with ADHD I'd go to a local group home and pick one out. There's a reason I never did that but eBay knew better, I guess.

So now the new direction seems to be to sell eBay out to China while the rest of the country gets sold to Russia. Being an ex district manager from one of America's once largest ex- retailers during the tail end of the Cold War I just shake my head at what's going on these days while trying to convince myself in my incredulity that it's really real. Somewhere, Stalin, Khruschev, and Mao are having a victory celebration.

I think for a long time (possibly still to this day) eBay couldn't figure out if they wanted to be Amazon or AliBaba. There are two problems with this, though... the first is that there already is an Amazon and an AliBaba, the second is that there is NOT an eBay. Oh, there's this thing out there that SAYS it's eBay, but all it really is is the New Coke of ecommerce.

Maybe one day- maybe after this disaster of a Holiday Shopping Season when eBay flatlines against double digit increases everywhere else- someone in HQ will wake up and acknowledge the problems by designing a new logo... or something.

I'm not holding my breath.

OP, good luck to you. If eBay has gotten counterproductive for you then how will continuing to beat your head into a wall solve that? Sadly... it can't.

Wish eBay cared...

Chaos is NOT an "industry standard".

zamo-zuan · ‎12-12-2018

@goodluckselling wrote:
Just once I would like to see some of these conspiracy theories to show even one factual finding.

I have provided many factual findings, including:

-screenshots

-research data

-terapeak results

-evidence of plummeting top sellers from 40% to 27% market share in just one year

-eBay mods admitting mistreatment from supervisors

-Sellers hub issues that have persisted more than a year.

-Broken catalog entries.

-Still not being able to properly add items to the catalog.

-Catalog team being responsive for 6 months.

-Broken promises by eBay in terms of the new catalog enforcement.

-CFO's admitting to manipulating search to favor high price items even though it led to less sales as a whole.

-Search results not showing your items when sorted by price.

-Search results showing less items when you hit "view all" than before you hit view all.

Yet people still argue and claim there's no facts?

The people such as the OP and myself, we're the ones who have seen the facts with our own eyes. As mentioned, in the topic here, we aren't even personally invested in this issue because we are NOT in the very high tier. I am personally involved in this subject because I know with 100% confidence that there is a problem and this system is NOT fair.

I will never understand why anyone who sells on eBay is not appreciative to receive information about this. You would think a typical train of thought of a seller, would be to be alarmed to hear this information, and want eBay to be safe, secure, and fair to sellers.

For some reason, instead sellers on this forum claim you are "spreading conspiracy theories" and accuse people of "not having facts".

You regularly see that sometimes sellers make false claims on this forum, and a mod comes to the topic to clear things up. Why do you think there has not been a single instance of an eBay staff member coming to one of my topics and saying "These problems do NOT exist"?

Even in my own huge topic about sales drop, and tech issues, where I discussed the issues that we faced over 2018. EBay staff members did come to confirm our issues with customer service. They DID look in to my claims. Not a single one said that anything I said was a lie.

Why do you think that is?

sodelight · ‎12-12-2018

I'd like to commend you on creating such a successful business at a young age and building it to the level you have! It takes a lot of savvy and wherewithall to do what you have! Don't let ebay's one size fits all policies bring you down. Make 2019 the year you take your ambitions to even higher levels and show ebay the door!

Ebay's Money Back Guarantee unfortunately promotes a lack of due diligence in some buying decisions, as they know they can say whatever is necessary to get their $ back without spending a dime. Buyers forget there's a hard working individual behind that sale (or simply don't care) who can be negatively impacted by decisions they make. If returns were on the buyer's dime, we all know they'd be much more careful in making a buying decision, especially when it comes to fit or compatibility issues. You've done what your supposed to, it's not your fault when a customer returns an item when you've properly listed it and enclosed a post purchase card to try to curtail this. Ebay implemented their extra 4% program to take advantage of sellers that sell high return items. They've exploited every possible thing they can to add to their bottom line.

Your 30 year old age is still very young, many are starting to find themselves at that age. Your credentials and youth should give you an edge in your chosen sector and a bright future! Auto parts will always be a necessity to those of any age who drive! Use all channels of social media to your advantage if your not already, find an expert who can get your name out there once your ready to branch out to other online outlets! Create a You Tube video channel with tips, etc. Many of the auto related help guys have huge followings! Come up with a memorable slogan.

I think the majority of folks on these boards are probably twice your age. It's refreshing to see someone self made at such a young age here! Try not to let buyers give you premature gray hair or stress. I know it's easier said than done. Take a walk, do some type of exercise or meditation in order to take pause before replying to issues and try to sound upbeat in your responses. Good Luck!! I wish you a prosperous stress free New Year!

gramophone-georg · ‎12-12-2018

@goodluckselling wrote:
@gracieallen01 wrote:
@goodluckselling wrote:
Sellers peers change probably daily. eBay has given us a set of parameters about who your peers are You can see this right on the service metric page.
Your peers are sellers who list on the same listing site as yours, sell items in the same category and have similar listing attributes such as item price, estimated delivery dates, item condition, and return policy.

Because sellers make changes to what they sell, policies, price points, its make sense that our peers are changing as well.

You know, ebay says that a lot of things.

Once, just once, I would like to see ebay prove ANYTHING, in black and white, and have it verified by an independent and unbiased party.

It does not seem to matter. I have shown two different articles from third party companies who are not writing for or against eBay in the article but they do reveal some facts complete with links to the info they are sharing and yet the same doubters here seem to try to discredit the info because it does not make sense to them, so it must not be true.

Just once I would like to see some of these conspiracy theories to show even one factual finding.

Good Luck Selling!