Hello EBAY customer support

[a-ok-sales]

I was just going to send you my comments/thoughts in an email but since I can't find any way to actually contact customer support other than a phone call....this is how I will voice my opinion. 

First let me say, that I am a 20+ year buyer/seller on ebay. I have sold hundreds of items on here....and used to buy tons of things on here too.  Over the last couple of years, I have really only used ebay for used items that I can't find anywhere else. 

Which actually is somewhat sad to me...I used to love ebay with a passion. I was always excited to find something new/different but not anymore. So what's the problem?

First and foremost, shipping is WAY too slow....especially if I buy a "media" item that gets sent by "media mail" through USPS. Yes, I do most of my shopping on Amazon...why?....because as a Prime member I get free two day (and most times...next day delivery). 

I recently did order books on ebay for a weekly Bible study. The first week no one had a book because it's taken over a week to get them and because of that, I probably won't order books on ebay again. 

SOLUTION: If ebay is going to stay in the game...they are going to have to offer faster shipping....but wait....sellers pay for their own shipping methods. True, but ebay needs to get into the "shipping" business and offer a way to receive your items in 2 days. There are many different ways this could be accomplished and some are complex plus costly but if ebay doesn't get this straightened out soon...it's in trouble. 

So why did I post this in the "returns" category? Of the books that I recently ordered, I found that I didn't need one of them so WITHIN AN HOUR of the placing the order, I clicked "cancel the order". Ebay then sent me a message stating they were trying to contact the seller to see if there was still time to cancel it. 

Over the next few days, I received emails from the seller asking me "why I wanted to cancel it". He then went on to state that ebay will still charge him listing fees...and final price fees.... and he asked why did I buy it if I didn't want it. Tell me ebay, why do I have to answer him at all? I shouldn't have to give him any reason why.... if I don't want it....I don't want it. It's my money and I'm the consumer... I spend my money on what I want. 

Well, now I just received two messages one from ebay saying it's too late to cancel...because the seller didn't cancel it and the second from the seller saying he "has" to send it now since it didn't get cancelled and saying "PLEASE DON'T SEND IT BACK." 

SOLUTION: Ebay needs to have control over the cancelling system. If the buyer cancels something within a certain time, then ebay should automatically cancel it. Why leave it up to the seller? Amazon is MUCH more efficient in this area and their returns MUCH simpler and most of the time it's free! They even have the return label right there on their web page so you can print it. Very simple, very easy, no questions, no problems.....VERY GOOD! 

I don't mean to put Ebay down...I love them....but Amazon is doing a much better job in satisfying my wants/needs as a buyer and seller. I wanted to voice my opinion because I want Ebay to become better and EARN my business back again. I fear that if changes aren't made....Ebay will fall into mediocrity....if not into bankruptcy. 

I have a dollar to spend....where am I going to spend it? It's my choice.... 

[cosi-shopper]

Wow. 

I seldom list books but when I do I offer more than one shipping method; Media Mail / Priority. Buyers choice. If the buyer chooses Media Mail it will take longer but in my experience they usually receive it within 4 to 9 business days. If they choose Priority they'll most often receive it within 1 to 4 days. 

No matter WHICH venue a buyer purchases from the final price is; item + shipping cost. "Free Shipping" is a marketing gambit not a reality. 

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@a-ok-sales wrote:

I was just going to send you my comments/thoughts in an email but since I can't find any way to actually contact customer support other than a phone call....this is how I will voice my opinion. 

First let me say, that I am a 20+ year buyer/seller on ebay. I have sold hundreds of items on here....and used to buy tons of things on here too.  Over the last couple of years, I have really only used ebay for used items that I can't find anywhere else. 

Which actually is somewhat sad to me...I used to love ebay with a passion. I was always excited to find something new/different but not anymore. So what's the problem?

First and foremost, shipping is WAY too slow....especially if I buy a "media" item that gets sent by "media mail" through USPS. Yes, I do most of my shopping on Amazon...why?....because as a Prime member I get free two day (and most times...next day delivery). 

I recently did order books on ebay for a weekly Bible study. The first week no one had a book because it's taken over a week to get them and because of that, I probably won't order books on ebay again. 

SOLUTION: If ebay is going to stay in the game...they are going to have to offer faster shipping....but wait....sellers pay for their own shipping methods. True, but ebay needs to get into the "shipping" business and offer a way to receive your items in 2 days. There are many different ways this could be accomplished and some are complex plus costly but if ebay doesn't get this straightened out soon...it's in trouble. 

So why did I post this in the "returns" category? Of the books that I recently ordered, I found that I didn't need one of them so WITHIN AN HOUR of the placing the order, I clicked "cancel the order". Ebay then sent me a message stating they were trying to contact the seller to see if there was still time to cancel it. 

Over the next few days, I received emails from the seller asking me "why I wanted to cancel it". He then went on to state that ebay will still charge him listing fees...and final price fees.... and he asked why did I buy it if I didn't want it. Tell me ebay, why do I have to answer him at all? I shouldn't have to give him any reason why.... if I don't want it....I don't want it. It's my money and I'm the consumer... I spend my money on what I want. 

Well, now I just received two messages one from ebay saying it's too late to cancel...because the seller didn't cancel it and the second from the seller saying he "has" to send it now since it didn't get cancelled and saying "PLEASE DON'T SEND IT BACK." 

SOLUTION: Ebay needs to have control over the cancelling system. If the buyer cancels something within a certain time, then ebay should automatically cancel it. Why leave it up to the seller? Amazon is MUCH more efficient in this area and their returns MUCH simpler and most of the time it's free! They even have the return label right there on their web page so you can print it. Very simple, very easy, no questions, no problems.....VERY GOOD! 

I don't mean to put Ebay down...I love them....but Amazon is doing a much better job in satisfying my wants/needs as a buyer and seller. I wanted to voice my opinion because I want Ebay to become better and EARN my business back again. I fear that if changes aren't made....Ebay will fall into mediocrity....if not into bankruptcy. 

I have a dollar to spend....where am I going to spend it? It's my choice.... 

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[tsylor-31]

This isn't customer service and doesn't the Bible teach about patience?
Amazon and eBay have VERY different business models. Amazon has huge warehouses where sellers can have Amazon ship their items for them.

eBay has many more small sellers, that sell from their living room, garage or even bathroom.

If you're happy with run of the mill blah, shop Amazon, if you want unique items, with unique sellers, shop here. If you need something asap, get off your couch and go get it.

[thehonorabletrader]

Amazon is like Walmart. They have a giant warehouse full of physical products that they can dispatch at a moments notice to get to someone.

eBay is a mall you go to that is full of different sellers and different policies.

People keep saying 'eBay is trying to be Amazon' despite eBay saying it's not. Then those same people are upset because eBay doesn't do more stuff like Amazon despite eBay's insistence it's not trying to be like Amazon.

Amazon isn't just hurting sites like eBay or Etsy but they are disrupting traditional retail too such as Walmart and Target. So everyone is competing against Amazon.

Many sellers on eBay use Amazon Logistics to the warehouse and ship their items. This allows many sellers to get items to buyers in 2 days or less. However, buyers then complain because there is an Amazon logo on the box.

eBay's goal has never been to own shipping business. eBay's goal is a market place that allows sellers and buyers to make decisions.

eBay can't cancel a transaction because the transaation is between the buyer and seller, not between eBay and the members. eBay is only involved at certain points.

While I understand with your frustration and frankly it is valid, you are not comparing Apples to Apples. You are comparing fruit to fruit in that they are both online stores. But eBay is an online Mall full of thousands of online stores, Amazon is a single online store.

[myescape]

There is a major difference in ebay and amazon as Amazon is a huge company w many employees and has control of much if not most of the items sold from there stored in their warehouses around the country so can automate(speeding up)the actual ship process.Ebay has no control over the stock listed here,you are buying from single or few employee sellers not a mega business.

If the seller offers a slower than you wish shipping service contact them BEFORE buying and ASK if they can offer a faster one.If the listing says media shipping say and seller can not do priority do not buy.Find another seller

But it comes down to ebay and your seller's policies are what you agree to when using the site

[kensgiftshop]

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@a-ok-sales 

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This isn't Ebay support.

Why does everyone try to compare Amazon with Ebay?

A buyer can request to cancel an order, but it's up to the seller if they want to cancel or not.

Most sellers will cancel, but since Pay Pal doesn't give back the seller fee's now, there will be a lot less willing to cancel if the order has been paid for.

[bonjourami]

Not sure why you would feel 'sad' that Ebay is not Amazon. They are two different companies with totally different shipping criteria. And Amazon Prime is not really 'free' is it?

[no_zero369]

This seller is out to lunch!

Why any seller would NOT cancel an order is just stupid or crazy.  It makes no customer service sense to irritate a buyer like that.  If the seller isn't smart enough to factor in a few losses into his selling price or profit predictions as the 'cost of doing business' then they need an education.  Also this seller is just ignorant of the fact that IF a buyer requests a cancellation they can cancel the transaction with no account defect and are not required to ship.  Like I said, seller is out to lunch!

Upsetting a buyer like that is a recipe for disaster!  An upset or unscrupulous buyer could receive the item and immediately file a SNAD case and then the seller would not only lose the PP fees, they would lose the cost of return shipping, lose the outbound shipping and/or lose the book all together.  So why take that risk?  Take the 3% PP fee hit and move on.  On a $10 book this is a 30-cent hit.  Is that 30-cents worth all of the time to send those emails and the aggravation they caused them self?

But paying $100+ per year for prime membership does not appear economical.  I had a 'free trial' for a while and figured out that 'game.'  The old adage that there is no free lunch applies to Prime, even though many have ingested the Kool-Aid!  Look, prices for Prime items are ~5% inflated over, not-signed in, non-prime prices!  So is Prime a deal?   Why the extra cost over non-Prime price?

Plus, just like the cable companies, every year or so I bet Prime raises the fee.  Since most are 'locked in' to Prime by a reoccurring charge most are going to grumble and 'take it.'

But I do agree with your contention that eBay needs to do something about shipping!  They set up SpeedPak (or whatever it is called) to help Chinese sellers dump cheap junk in the USA.  They helped Chinese merchants set up warehouses in the USA and they are working with establishing warehouse operations for "Managed Delivery" or drop shipping.  Why not help the small sellers?  Shipping is the KEY to online selling and eBay appears to have shirked an opportunity.  After all if Amazon is setting up its own fleet of delivery vans and subcontractors to compete with the USPS, FedEx and UPS then this must be a business critical issue.

Oh, and if you want to "email" eBay, you are welcome to do so through FaceBook or Twitter.

[fab_finds4u]

Every listing has the method (Economy, Standard, Expedited, One-Day), and an estimated delivery date.   Therefore, you really shouldn't buy and then complain about  how long it took to receive. 

If you're seeing Economy as the method with no other options you could message them and ask if they would ship Priority, and be willing to pay more.  

And in your search you can uncheck no preference on the shipping time in the left column and check 3 or 4 day delivery instead which usually gives you PM.

[2015mhfashions]

First and foremost, shipping is WAY too slow....especially if I buy a "media" item that gets sent by "media mail" through USPS. Yes, I do most of my shopping on Amazon...why?....because as a Prime member I get free two day (and most times...next day delivery). 

How's it free when you have to pay for Prime membership ??