Why I'm leaving eBay: A Seller's Perspective

[voltagevillage]

After much consideration, I have decided to end my relationship with eBay. As a seller, I take great care to ensure my listings are accurate and honest, but unfortunately, I have consistently felt mistreated on the platform. Despite my efforts to provide excellent customer service, eBay's buyers seem to have the upper hand, and it's nearly impossible to maintain a perfect rating here due to abusive behavior. The platform's dispute resolution process is heavily biased towards buyers, leaving sellers vulnerable to unwarranted claims and refunds, and often resulting in lost profits and damaged reputation.

In addition to these issues, eBay's commission fee of 25% is exorbitantly high compared to the industry standard of 5-12%, which further puts me at a competitive disadvantage and limits my ability to grow my business. Moreover, eBay's business model appears to be outdated and unsustainable in the face of growing competition from other e-commerce platforms. In order to maintain its position as a leader in e-commerce, eBay must restructure its entire business model and prioritize the needs of its sellers.

While eBay still has an edge in the auction market, this is not enough to sustain its business in the long run. eBay needs to acknowledge the concerns of its sellers and take concrete steps to address them. Until then, I will be exploring other platforms that offer fairer terms and conditions for sellers, and a more balanced and equitable dispute resolution system.

[maxine*j]

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@fashunu4eeuh wrote:

OP remains on the site, with multiple sales since the date of posting.

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Yep.  We read all these dramatic announcements of departure, and find that almost never do the OPs actually stop selling on eBay.   Just a form of advertising, I guess, a way to get views.

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[buytodayshipnextday]

ebay will NEVER change policies. they don't have to. their are a goliath. no other major player wants to deal with the ASSAULT on its sellers & ebay enables it. the best way to explain it.... you own a restaurant. you allow patrons to order food only to walk out as you're plating it without paying.  you allow customers to damage dishes possibly the booth or seats, maybe the dishes. when you question them, they say they didn't do it & you allow them to walk out without penalty. you allow them to return food that was prepared properly & even though they ate some or most of it they complain they did not like it & you grant them a full refund.

THAT IS EBAY!

[rugerskick]

The selling costs total percentage includes ebays 12-13%, taxes collected, and shipping costs.  Its not all ebay, and the taxes and shipping costs would be anywhere you sold online.  And unless you are doing free shipping its not coming out of your profit.

[rugerskick]

Its probably a better thing to determine what items you have that sell well here, and keep them here.  Maybe you have other items/types of items that may do better on other online platforms.  No one site is a panacea for every item.  Some people have found items that sat on ebay for years, sell in a week or less on other sites.

[maxine*j]

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@buytodayshipnextday wrote:

ebay will NEVER change policies. they don't have to. their are a goliath. no other major player wants to deal with the ASSAULT on its sellers & ebay enables it. the best way to explain it.... you own a restaurant. you allow patrons to order food only to walk out as you're plating it without paying.  you allow customers to damage dishes possibly the booth or seats, maybe the dishes. when you question them, they say they didn't do it & you allow them to walk out without penalty. you allow them to return food that was prepared properly & even though they ate some or most of it they complain they did not like it & you grant them a full refund.

THAT IS EBAY!

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you own a restaurant. you allow patrons to order food only to walk out as you're plating it without paying

Yes, because you cannot stop them physically, even if you see them walking out.  If you do, you will be facing assault charges.

you allow customers to damage dishes possibly the booth or seats, maybe the dishes. when you question them, they say they didn't do it & you allow them to walk out without penalty.

Yes, because you cannot stop them physically, even if you see them walking out.  If you do, you will be facing assault charges.  If you have CCTV footage of them actually doing the damage, or if you have other customers or stgaff who are willing to put their necks out to be witnesses in court, you may take your complaint to the police and the local DA may or may not press charges.

you allow them to return food that was prepared properly & even though they ate some or most of it they complain they did not like it & you grant them a full refund.

Maybe a full refund, maybe a partial one, maybe a complimentary dessert or glass of wine.  You listen carefully to the customer and you ask the customer how you can make things right.  If you don't, you won't be in business for long. 

The customer is not always right, but he always treated as though he were right.  And you know that, or you wouldn't have that 100% Positive Feedback.

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[mam98031]

@voltagevillage 

Clearly you changed your mind and decided to continue selling.  Would you share with us what caused you to change your mind?  Curious minds want to know!

[goldgoose]

I haven't changed my mind. I am in the process of liquidating my stock. 

[goldgoose]

I agree 110%. That being said. I was a seller for 22yrs

[mam98031]

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@goldgoose wrote:

I haven't changed my mind. I am in the process of liquidating my stock. 

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Thank you for letting us know, but my post was not in response to anything you said, it was to a different poster.

[debped]

I am so frustrated with the lack of protection for buyers. Customers can claim an item is not as described and you are out the item and a refund.  

[mam98031]

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@debped wrote:

I am so frustrated with the lack of protection for buyers. Customers can claim an item is not as described and you are out the item and a refund.  

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@debped 

You don't have to be.  If your buyer files for a Request for return, just approve it.  The buyer has to return the item before you have to refund it.

If you are talking about Chargebacks.  That can very well be true, but it is NOT the buyer that sets the rules, it is their Credit Card Company that allows them to keep the item and get the refund, not the buyer.

[techmalloutlet]

I agree, I have been on ebay for almost 20 years and sell about $100k a month, however theft trough returns has reached almost $100k a year and 90% is due to theft and abusing the system. I started to moving my sales to other platforms and stop selling high price items on ebay. 

[mam98031]

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@techmalloutlet wrote:

I agree, I have been on ebay for almost 20 years and sell about $100k a month, however theft trough returns has reached almost $100k a year and 90% is due to theft and abusing the system. I started to moving my sales to other platforms and stop selling high price items on ebay. 

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With 1.2 million in sales a year, it would be closer to 8.3% return rate.  

With that said, I do sincerely hope things improve for you very soon.

[rugerskick]

The platform is having ongoing problems for multiple reasons.

One is because they do desire certain unwanted types of sellers to get so frustrated they decide to leave on their own.  The ceo has said they don't want low dollar (low value) sellers.  So this strategy of not fixing things/breaking things will aid in getting rid of them.  

But as I said, there's more than one reason for them doing this.

[mam98031]

This is not likely at all.  I know it is a popular opinion of some sellers.  However it makes no sense.

Ebay owns the site.  If there are sellers they don't want here, all they have to do is close their accounts.  It really is as simple as that.  They don't have to have a reason.  They could simply shut you down.

Now certainly we have been ignored for a long time as the CEO has been concentrating on high volume buyers and sellers and not the regular casual and small sellers.  This is indeed discouraging for all of us.