Why does eBay treat sellers as if they're fools?

[antiqueautoparts]

 Why does eBay treat us like we're fools? Why do they consistently implement new rules and regulations which they state are to help their sellers' bottom lines? Those are rhetorical questions because I know the answers; it's because they can. They know they have a captive audience. They know most of us rely on eBay to pay our bills, including feeding our families. Therefore, their attitude is that we will just pay up because we have no alternatives.

 I know this one is old news, but when they came with the garbage that they had to start taking 10% of the shipping fee to combat final fee dodgers, I was, and remain, extremely perturbed by that. They have the most complex algorithms for everything, and they couldn't come up with one to weed out the very small percentage of sellers who were trying to dodge final value fees by making the item price very low and the shipping cost very high? Really? They just saw an opportunity and ran with it. It's disgusting! If you buy the reasoning behind their ludicrous explanation for charging a 10% fee on the shipping cost, then you certainly are a fool. EBay is run by disgustingly, greedy people who couldn't care less about eBay sellers, many of whom have been around since its early days and helped build the site. Sellers are disposable to eBay; they have no loyalty to them. 

  My final straw was when they started the "Managed Payments" **bleep** so that they could make millions or even billions of dollars more on our money (the float) sitting in their bank! PayPal was working just fine; I could make a deal with someone and receive my payment within minutes. Now they want to hold my money for some number of days and release it when they feel fit. Had I opted into that system then I would no longer be able to receive funds immediately. Their Managed Payments system precludes us from making quick deals to raise immediate funds because we have to wait days to receive the payments. No more putting something out there for a reduced price to get some money in your PayPal account right away. I don't know how many times I needed a quick hundred bucks and made deals to get it, literally within minutes of listing an item at a reduced price. Those days are over. Well, everything's over for me because I'm finally done. 

  It's been a long time since eBay has been any fun at all. In the last number of years all I would ever do was worry about who was going to open a case against me and how much money I was going to lose because of it. I constantly worried about losing my right to sell on eBay. I'm elated that I am moving on. I just wish many more sellers would do the same. Don't let them dictate whether or not you will be able to feed your family or have a roof over your head. Of course, some will advocate for eBay, but I couldn't care less. EBay is a tyrant which deserves no support. I always say that even the mighty can fall, and I hope they do.  In closing, I recommend that you find something else to do before eBay kicks you to the curb, because that time will come. I'm lucky in that I saw it coming and I had something else to fall back on. They should be working for us, but instead they treat us with disdain, notwithstanding the fact that their income is derived from the myriad fees we pay. I loathe no company more than I do eBay.

[wrong66]

No, but thank you anyway.

[wrong66]

Looks like you're "sticking around" to me. Hopefully, you can find somewhere else to sell. And post.

[antiqueautoparts]

  You're evidently a big guy with a computer keyboard. If you must know, I no longer sell on any venue. I am doing sonething else. And this is the only thread I have ever started, and only posts I have ever made on any site. I have a real life and never found the need to argue with unknowns who have absolutely no bearing on my life. I started this thread to make statements about eBay. I should have left it at that and never answered any posts, notwithstanding the fact that most posts in some way supported me. 

[glasser]

First off I have been on eBay since 1997. So yeah I remember the good (and not so good) old days. Who remembers a time before printing labels and having to upload pictures from remote sites or write the HTTP code :). There were hassles in the beginning for sure. After all this time, as someone who sells about 100 items a year, eBay remains a bargain. Listing fees are basically non-existent for most of my items unless I UG. FVF fees are far less that I could pay an auction house or having to rent a physical location. The cost of the sale compared to the exposure to the market is a tremendous value for sellers.

That said, my biggest beef with eBay right now is the categories I sell in are a mess. The is way too much overpriced junk and the same listings are seen over and over again, which makes the market feel stale.  I would like to see eBay work to revitalize some of these markets encouraging and rewarding sell higher sell through rates and auctions.  I think the BIN listings that auto repeat forever is a problem. They should tax items in some categories with higher listing fees each month. NOTE: Some categories. I occasionally sell books and they typically can take many months. My collectibles I I sell almost all via auction so they are gone in 7 days.

eBay does too much lowest common denominator stuff as if all categories are exactly the same. They are not and that was the beauty of Pierre's original concept. Categories or markets should be run on eBay to better reflect the way things sell in other places. If you sell cell phones your competition and the way you sell is different then me. eBay needs to accommodate both and stimulate dynamism in all markets.

[thebes_2374]

What other sites you use to sell your better items?  Thank You!

[kh-vince]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.