Why the hell is this site ALL ABOUT THE BUYERS?

[jamesboutique]

We have been on Ebay for over 28 years. Ebay has become all about the buyer. They say there is protection for the sellers, THERE IS NONE! All the protection goes to the buyers! We pay on average $1500 in fees. For what? Pictures and listings? We pay for our store. Ebay sucks now. We cannot even return feedback. UGGH!

[jason_incognito]

so force the buyer to keep a high dollar purchase that they don't feel good about? Is that the answer?

Do you think that buyer will ever come back to eBay after that?

Do you think that knowing there is a hard rule that the buyer cannot return the item, that the scammers will flood eBay with fakes?

[va4vi]

I have no problem with accepting returns.  But to have to pay shipping charges both ways because of buyers remorse is the issue.  Simply saying "I think it's a fake" with no proof is good enough?  Few sites allow returns at the sellers expense unless there is damage.    I am not a seller to forces people to keep things they don't want. Nor do I get upset with non-payers or people who want to cancel.  I reason it is better to stop a sale before unrefundable shipping costs are involved.   But one cannot buy to try things out and then expect the seller to assume the shipping costs.

[goodluckselling]

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wrote:

I have no problem with accepting returns.  But to have to pay shipping charges both ways because of buyers remorse is the issue.  Simply saying "I think it's a fake" with no proof is good enough?  Few sites allow returns at the sellers expense unless there is damage.    I am not a seller to forces people to keep things they don't want. Nor do I get upset with non-payers or people who want to cancel.  I reason it is better to stop a sale before unrefundable shipping costs are involved.   But one cannot buy to try things out and then expect the seller to assume the shipping costs.

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eBay does keep track of things like this when a case is opened.  If the buyer is busy in this kind of activity they will take actions.  I realize this does not make you whole for your involvement but this is really just part to selling online.  It really is just part of doing business as an online seller on one of the largest marketplaces in the world.

Good Luck Selling!

[castlemagicmemories]

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Another one who's been on ebay longer than its existance.

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HAHAHA, yea I was thinking the same thing when I read the OP. Maybe he meant 28 dog years.

So many people claim to be on ebay far longer than it's been around. I see it all the time in this board, ever since the 1950's

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Some remember it when the dinosaurs roamed the earth!

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I loved the pet brontosaurus I had when I was a kid. But cleaning up after it? Whoo — no one in the family wanted that chore!

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I remember that!  EVERYONE wanted one, but not everyone could get one!  Only the super fortunate.  Sigh.

[va4vi]

Do you think that eBay says buyers and sellers meeting on eBay, and then doing the sale outside of e-bay to save eBay fees is "just part of selling online" or do they consider it wrong, unfair, illegal and do everything they can do punish, prosecute, detect through policy changes so that they do not have fair profits stolen by underhanded users?  Nope, they say it is wrong, they want to eliminate it and they act on it.   They don't "just accept" it as par for the course.   I believe that this is a widespread and recurring problem with eBay's return policy and it should receive the same notice and attention for the enabling of unfair business practices which hurt the seller as the policies eBay institutes to protect itself from abuses.  But it seems not only do we have to protect ourselves from dishonest sellers, we have to protect ourselves from eBay.  

[papyruspapillo]

Sellers now outweigh buyers? Time to diet and go to the gym!

[southern*sweet*tea]

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 I believe eBay could do a MUCH better job at protecting sellers. .

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Why?

Is there a reason a seller can't protect themself? I know I do. I don't depend on Ebay for any "protection". I don't depend on Mercari for any "protection". I don't depend on Etsy for "protection". I never depended on Amazon for any "protection".  I trust none of the above to do something that I should do for myself. This is the internet, where nothing should be trusted. (Can you tell I don't trust anything on the internet? lol)

I protect myself by having a loss fund. A percentage of each and every sale goes into that fund, to sit untouched until it is needed for a loss. That hoss could be a package damaged in transit, or a return, or outright fraud. Doesn't matter, since any financial loss will be covered. I won't lose a single penny, since every buyer I've ever had has chipped in their 5% to my loss fund.

This isn't 1999 anymore. Online selling has changed from what it used to be. No longer are buyers at the mercy of sellers who never sent items, or who sent garbage, and the buyer had no recourse.  BUYERS bring in the money, NOT sellers. I do hate to say it,  but Ebay  really isn't for casual sellers anymore. By casual I mean the ones who hold the equivalent of an online yard sale a few times a year. There are tons of apps and sites now that cater to those sellers. Those sites also LOSE a lot buyers because of the total randomness of quality and performance  when it comes to their sellers.

You can have the best stuff in the world, at the best prices, but if you have no buyers, then what's the point? Online retail today is all about buyer acquisition and retention, as it should be. No buyers=no sales=no money for anyone.

[thallidguy]

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Those sites also LOSE a lot buyers because of the total randomness of quality and performance  when it comes to their sellers.

There's a very good reason why I prefer to shop on eBay (or Amazon for that matter) rather than trade over Facebook groups or message boards (like the ones I traded on before eBay) or Boardgame Geek Marketplace: institutional structure, i.e., buyer protection.  

If you have ever traded over a message board (i.e., an environment where there is no institutional structure) and felt your stomach drop when you could sense a transaction starting to go south, you understand why eBay and Amazon coddle their buyers.

[va4vi]

Taking from your profit to cover a loss is still a loss. If you didn't get ripped off your profit would be better. Not sure where you are coming from.

[va4vi]

Unfortunately, that's the feeling I get when I list things now. "There is nothing I can do to protect myself this from a scamming buyer". Take many photos, save receipts, include tags. Makes no difference... if a buyer says they think its NAD or a fake, it does not matter what the reality/truth is or records, phots or receipts show. Stomach drops, profits fall, time wasted. Stop buying on eBay because if I ever need to resell... I won't have any protection as a seller.

[southern*sweet*tea]

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Taking from your profit to cover a loss is still a loss. If you didn't get ripped off your profit would be better. Not sure where you are coming from.

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I don't take from my profit.

5% is added to each and every item I sell for my self insurance, just like I add Ebay, Paypal fees, item cost, profit, ink, paper, tape, my lunch, etc.  It's an expense that all my buyers pay, just like buyers at the grocery store pay for the item, the utilities, the store rent, the store insurance, the profit on the item, the employees' salaries, etc.

Other than a couple of shipping faux pas when I first started selling, I have never lost a penny selling here (or anywhere else).

[va4vi]

An expense to cover for bad sales is still coming from your profit. If you did not have to supply that "fund" for the losses you that now say never happen to you, you would have 5% more profit from your sales. "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

I "unsubscribed" from eBay's e-mails today so that I no longer will get eBay's ad's in my inbox urging me to buy ... It's the best I've felt all day.

[godzilla_goose]

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An expense to cover for bad sales is still coming from your profit. If you did not have to supply that "fund" for the losses you that now say never happen to you, you would have 5% more profit from your sales. "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

I "unsubscribed" from eBay's e-mails today so that I no longer will get eBay's ad's in my inbox urging me to buy ... It's the best I've felt all day.

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@southern*sweet*tea

va4vi,

You STILL don't "get it".

To me, you aren't distinguishing the difference between SALES (which is the top line figure) with PROFIT (which is the desired bottom line figure) in an Income Statement.

When southern*sweet*tea adds a small percentage to the SALES PRICE of the item (at the time of listing), this small percentage "covers" for the anticipated losses from ALL eBay sales for which southern*sweet*tea has made provisions.

In other words, by factoring in anticipated losses INTO the listed Sales Price of the items for sale on eBay, ANY actual (or realized) losses from nuisance returns are already covered by southern*sweet*tea's paying buyers. Furthermore, by factoring in anticipated losses INTO the sales price of the items, this maintains the desired profit margin FOR southern*sweet*tea. Now, IF southern*sweet*tea doesn't actually have any realized losses that were anticipated, then all of that money is "gravy" and goes straight into PROFIT.

If you can't figure it out, think of it this way:

An eBay seller wants to sell using "Free Shipping". As we all should know, there is no such thing as "Free Shipping" since the seller will add the shipping costs INTO the listed price of the item.

Now, IF the US Postal Service should raise its postage rates, it is ONLY prudent for the sellers who ship via USPS to also raise their sales prices of their items at the same time in order to maintain the same level of PROFIT.

[va4vi]

Well why don't I just double all my prices on eBay and make more money so I can put some into a "safe fund" for when I get ripped off. THINK!! Obviously, when you raise prices your sales tend to decline and then your profits lessen. If it just meant raising prices to get more profit everybody would be doing that.

[18704d]

"An expense to cover for bad sales is still coming from your profit

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It's a cost of doing business.

ALL businesses, past, present, and future have such "losses".

Shrinkage..

You either understand the need to cover it, or you don't.

Shrinkage (another cost of doing business) exists everywhere.

No business has a 100% perfect Safety rate.

Lynn