13 Years and 6,000 Positive Feedbacks & We're Below Standard?

[cathykelly]

We have been selling on E-Bay for 13 years and have over 6,000 positive feedbacks.  Now we are considered below standard?  We had 4 customers leave glowing feedback then, for some reason, click on the “item not as described” button.  None of these customers contacted us for a refund,  none of these customers left negative feedback in fact our customers love us, its E-Bay corporate that is causing us major grief.  There is no problem with our customers yet E-Bay has (1) dropped our preferred seller status, (2)dropped our listing discounts (in fact we are being charged to list), (3) limited us to 135 listings per month, and (4) directed PayPal to hold our funds for 21 days (they have over $6,000. of our funds now). 

So to recap:

We have been selling on E-Bay for 13 years

We have over 6,000 positive feedbacks

We haven’t had a negative feedback in over a year

We give prompt and full refunds with no questions asked.

We get glowing feedbacks and are known for our careful packing

And for this we get:

Below standard rating from E-Bay corporate

We didn’t receive a personal call saying that there had been a problem and watch our dashboard.  We just got this Bomb dropped on us.

We’ve talked to E-Bay Josh 8-23, Susan and Patrick (Supervisor) on 8-24, Dillon, Jason, and today Spenser and they all agree that we are great sellers but considered below standard by E-Bay.

Unfortunately we built up quite an inventory, thinking we were in “partnership” with E-Bay, and then this happened.  It will take us a while to sell off and get out of this unpleasant relationship.

If you are a Josh or Susan or Patrick at the E-Bay call center just remember if E-Bay will treat a long time seller that has been with them since almost the beginning this way just think how fast they can close and move a your job.  There’s always Houston or Boise wanting to add a center for less $.  Just a thought. 

P.S. Everytime we pull up our PayPal account there is a banner at the top stating "While you establish a successful history, you may not have access to your money for up to 21 days."  !3 years and we are establishing our successful history?   

[femmefan1946]

Several law firms in St Jose taking on class action lawsuits against Ebay by the hundreds. --- tclaw

This is probably very profitable for the law firms. For the complainants, not so much.

[misterpapagil]

The fees and the feedback system are all rigged against sellers. Ebay knows they are the only game in town and like others have said, they have grown too big and forgotten what they were founded on. When a buyer can leave negative feedback and it sit's visible for all to see for months, before it is resolved, you know Ebay cares little for us as individual business owners. Especially, when you open a store with them

[dzines72s_emporium]

I have been a member of eBay for 17 years plus and have watched it deteriorate  (really got worse around the Meg Whitman era). They try to strangle communication between members and basically whether you are a shopper or a seller, the game is rigged for them. How in the world they get away with charging a percentage on shipping as well as the item sale price is a testament to the concentration of power in their marketplace share. There are other alternatives and 1 very viable one is Etsy, depending on what you sell. They have done illegal and quasi legal measures to insure the bottom line of the business and 95% of the monitoring of the policies is computerized software. Don't fight them, Learn to market other ways if this is your income (God forbid ! ) There really are other ways to sell and in many cases better venues.

[hyperrush]

I can't force buyers to bought my itens, this is unfair and agressive way of selling proposes.

[envyotb]

Umm...you realize they were basically trading pogs on here before the meg whitman era, rt? Considering shes the one that grew it into a viable selling platform in the first place I think thats a bit of a misguided statement. In fact most of the changes everyone consistantly complains about happened post Meg Whitman. Im not saying shes a goddess or anything, she single handedly has destroyed Compaq and severely tanked HP but theres give the devil her due, she did know what she was doing here.
Of course ebay and every other business is from the devil according to everyone on the boards because apparently they should be a non profit organization and aremt aware of that.
So again, if anyone has a comparable platform to sell on thats cheaper and reaches that large a customer base please share.
Or cut the middleman out and open a brick n mortar store if your so sure you would keep more profits thatway , id love to see how that accounting trick is pulled off.

[huntingrgb53]

Good luck with that! I tried that and was turned down by three, that's 3, different firms and they were all in California!

[huntingrgb53]

This is what will bring them to their knees! If we the seller could communicate between each other and quit selling on eBay for just a week, two would be even better, that would be the only way to get their attention is stop their income! Pay everything on your bill to eBay and PayPal, close your stores or end all the items you're selling and let it go for a couple weeks or more and they'll see how important the seller's are to them! Buyers aren't their livelihood, the seller is! Without a seller there can't be a buyer! SO, IT HAS TO START WITH THE SELLERS!!!

[dzines72s_emporium]

Actually, I am quite sure the start of the degradation eBay was during the era of Meg Whitman era, especially if you were a seller. I was here. The draconian measures to make sure there were no off site sales and the smack down of possible viable competition occurred during Meg's era. Having as much consumer reach as eBay has does not make up for lack of reach to that market because of poor platform set up, and yes I will be trying Bricks and Mortar, because with the current fees  on eBay (hopefully as bad as they can get) ~  if you pay for a store setting, they are close to equal for a booth in a mall, as there is no shipping, less competition and way more control of your environment as well as really less labor. it is actually a viable alternative if you are in a location close to one. Yes, some of the really offensive quasi-leagl implementations have been post Meg Whitman, but the best way to win against a business with no integrity and simply awful treatment of it's consumer base  (which BTW does not have to be so to be profitable) is with the pocketbook. Shop and sell elsewhere. As I am close to housebound right now, eBay will work on a limited basis, but I am actively working toward the Bricks and Mortar alternative.

[reallynicestamps]

envyotb

I think the person who suggested a B&M was being sarcastic.

We have a B&M and have has since 1978.

In addition to municipal business tax (and a business license), we have payroll taxes for our staff. Our municipal tax runs over $1000 a month, and we have to arrange our own garbage disposal.

We need staff because we are open six days a week, 10 to 5:30. We choose not to be open on Sundays, but if we were in a shopping mall, we would be required to be open all the hours of the mall, usually seven days a week, 9 to 9, if the mall is large. Strip malls are more flexible, but also get fewer patrons.

In addition, the landlord charges us a percentage of our sales over a contracted minimum, I think about $20,000 monthly.

And of course, we have to collect and remit sales tax, but that is actually a benefit, since the province of Ontario pays us to do that with a rebate.

And we have a cleaner once a week. And hydro (light and air conditioning) and gas (heat) and water.

And the landlord charges us rent. That's $15 a square foot on a 6,000 square foot store annually. About $90,000 a year. We do get one free parking space (days only).

Last Tuesday we made $38 gross in the store and $3500+ online.  (The rest of the week was better in the shop.)

[dzines72s_emporium]

ReallyNiceStamps, The type of retail space that you are talking about is not applicable to 90% of the sellers on eBay. A booth in a local mall here in the US for the size that I need would be about $80 or less a month and as I am no longer buying or collecting, I do not need a business licence. The mall has the staff and and the overhead and they charge 10% of the sales. Even on the scale that you are representing you have eBay is not a good deal. There are other venues that would be better for you.

[dzines72s_emporium]

Also ReallyNiceStamps, the online income quote was from what venues?  and is that before or after your fees for your venues that you use?

[dzines72s_emporium]

ReallyNiceStamps ~ My apologies, I see that both earnings quotes were gross? I am sure that this is not representative or you would not still be doing B&M at all. And from what I can see of your eBay sales, I am assuming the majority of your online sales are other venues as well. Good ! Retail is hard right now anyway, and this place makes it harder. Blessings !

[logicvooey]

I just had a buyer who told me in item was not as described in she was right. I did have a mix up in the listing. So she sent me a message saying she was unhappy and then before even 12 hours had passed which was basically overnight here in my part of the United States, she left me negative feedback, my first writing in 15 years and she ruined the 100 positive streak I have had going that entire time. But she did not give me ample time to respond and rights in my feedback that I did not respond. Of course I responded to that feedback and I tried to report the buyer saying that this was unfair because she did not give me ample time to respond and rectify the situation. Is it just me or does it seem that sellers have left protection than ever before? I mean we can't leave negative feedback for buyers and yet they can leave negative feedback on a whim for us. How come there are no rules saying that a buyer must first contact the seller and wait 48 hours before leaving negative feedback or something like that. And of course I have blocked her. But has anyone else going through this were they don't give you ample time or don't even contact you at all? EBay should have safeguards in place to make sure that happens first!

[tiger1910]

THE SAME THING HAS HAPPEN TO US ,,, BEING DISABLE WE USE EBAY TO HELP SUPPORT NOT ONLY OURSELVES BUT OUR ANIMAL ( CATS PRIMARILY) RESCUE ,,, WE GET OUR FEEDBACK UP AND ALL OF A SUDDEN WE GET 2- 3 PEOPLE BUYING $2.00 TO $5.00 ITEMS ,, GIVING US ALL NEGATIVES ,, AND WE NEVER GET MESSAGES OR COMPLAINTS  FROM THEM ,, AND NO REPLIES WHEN WE TRY TO MESSAGE  THEM ,,, AFTER OVER 14 YEARS OF BEING THE STEPCHILD ,, WE  WOULD GO TO A NEW "FAMILY" THAT WE COULD TRULY BE A PART OF ..... TIGER & TRISH

[otto9573]

personaly I don't worry about negative feedback.If they want the item and you list it as is then go ahead and do your best negative responce.