eBay Live! 2008 is upon us…

TheBrewsNewsOn 06.19.2008 at 6:23 pm Said:

Paypal providing complete buyer protection only makes sense. Paypal is pushing folks to pay with their bank account, rather than their credit card, so that PayPal makes more money (by reducing merchant credit card processing fees). But everyone knows that PayPal buyer protections are limited unless you use a credit card to fund your PayPal payment. This new “Buyer Protection” policy will ultimately help Paypal have lower merchant (and chargeback) fees they pay because buyers will feel more confident using their bank account to fund payments.

Expanded Seller Protection so that smaller sellers are finally covered is long overdue. Asking small sellers to bear undue risk only encouraged off-eBay sales which eBay is fighting a fierce battle over.

PayPal is implementing policies which, of course, benefit them directly but at least it is a Win/Win situation this time (rather than the standard Win/Lose typical eBay policies we are so used to).

Now I’m just holding my breath to find out what exciting news tomorrow brings……

Patricia1On 06.19.2008 at 11:05 pm Said:

“Expanded Seller Protection so that smaller sellers are finally covered is long overdue. Asking small sellers to bear undue risk only encouraged off-eBay sales which eBay is fighting a fierce battle over.”

I guess they finally realized our fee money is as green as a powersellers! For shame that it took small sellers leaving in numbers that ebay finally noticed to give them this little bone! Its not nearly enough though…wouldn’t be enough to make me re-open my Ebay store and list at the level I was listing at before all this stupid mess! Maybe I won’t ever again have the stomach to do that after being made to feel like an untrustworthy criminal on the site!!!! No…ebay needs to give more than that pittance! It would be really nice if they gave ALL sellers the protection of a 7 day wait before a buyer can neg them. There is NO way a seller can or will make a transaction right after a buyer has negged him! This ruling alone shows really bad thinking on the matter and they just can’t see it - that’s the scarey part! What I’ve seen so far will not keep small sellers on the site. This madness makes small sellers feel they are purposely being forced off the site.

T. SwoopesOn 06.20.2008 at 1:08 am Said:

I appreciate that eBay is trying to improve both the seller and buyer experience. Whenever I’m browsing on Ebay, I usually have a few things that I wish could be improved– the user interface, better search results, and more customized recommendations (like style feeder). Starbucks had a great idea that I think Ebay should consider implementing– http://www.mystarbucksidea.com.com It’s a great way to demonstrate a renewed interest in the experience of their customers (and I don’t even drink Starbucks– but I love their dedication. I know you already have the forums– but I’m not a seller, only an occasional buyer who would like to see Ebay better–and I would like to see my suggestions considered– and not just read over.

Anyway, this blog is start– but i’m really looking for an overall better user experience on ebay…. how about a myebayidea.com page?

Thanks for considering

SandiOn 06.21.2008 at 12:53 am Said:

As a seller, I would like to see Paypal provide the same information google checkout does as far as verifying the monies coming in.

Buyer credit verification
Covered by Payment Guarantee [?]
AVS: Full

Account age: 431 days

That provides me confidence as someone about to ship something to someone I do not know. Paypal can make all the promises they want, but they do not have the track record to back them up. You can go over to the answer center any given day and read how it didn’t work like it is suppose to.

MechelleOn 06.21.2008 at 1:50 am Said:

PayPal needs to get their act together! They broke the law and have put a seller and her family at risk of physical harm from a psycho buyer.

She sold a cell phone the guy had it a couple weeks emailed told her the he broke the power port and wanted a full refund. She said no she wasn’t going to give him a refund because as he said he broke it. He filed a paypal dispute - we all know how that turned out- she told him if the phone was returned in any other condition than how he received it she wouldn’t be giving him his money back. Of course that is just us trying to convince others and maybe ourselves that we actually have say over our own damn money and merchandise.

Anyway, he emailed back referring to her as a M***er F***er and told her he knew how to find her and that he was going to kill her and her family, and attached with the email were images of dead people and swastikas. Yeah and we are all the criminals

So a bunch of sellers asked her what she was doing using her home address that she should have a PO on file. Here is the punch- she does use a PO for her selling, but because she has to have an actual address to receive some packages she has her home address on file. When she opened the dispute she used her PO address. PayPal gave him her home address completely disregarded the dispute info and that of the original transaction.

This type of behavior is apparently not unheard of- the people on the posts have it down to a science - they must have had some very unsettling experience with both customers and eBay/Paypal.

Oh, and after this contact she reported it - we all know the message she received from eBay/PayPal- all together everyone- I’m sorry but that is outside of our jurisdiction we are only a venue sorry for the inconvenience! Cowards!

It really is sad that eBay/Paypal have so little regard for us as people that they don’t even respect our rights. Take nothing into consideration give our address and personal information to absolutely anyone.

This is another issue with their having no idea who shops on their “venue”!

HenriettaOn 06.22.2008 at 2:06 pm Said:

That buyer needs to go to the police. Terroristic threatening is a crime.

MechelleOn 06.22.2008 at 6:31 pm Said:

She was told to file reports with the police in her’s and the buyer’s station and to file with the FBI by the other sellers on the board

arnoldtradingOn 06.23.2008 at 4:33 am Said:

Stronger seller protection??? All it will do is put buyers who want their money back to come up with creative lies and file significantly not as described disputes. This is a weak area for PayPal. It is difficult because it is just taking one person’s word over another. Lie Victoriously!!!

MechelleOn 06.26.2008 at 9:36 pm Said:

I was just reading the issue with Buy listing (and I am appalled to learn that eBay has allowed this) of child pornography)on Auctionbytes, and I had a thought (light bulb)!

“There is also a new level of PowerSeller - Diamond Level. It will apply to sellers of $500,000 worth of goods a month and who have a minimum DSR score of 4.8 across the board.”

I am assuming that the only Diamond level powerseller is Buy. I am certain I read some where that a Diamond powerseller is eligible for pricing negotiations?? If this is the case I assume this new powerseller status was invented to give the impression that this isn’t just for Buy- any eBay member can reap the rewards of Diamond powerseller - negotiating pricing discounts for high quantity.

The problem I have with this facade of opportunity- For any & all (except Buy) current eBay seller/powersellers the attainment of 500,000 gross sales will have to be achieved under the fee schedule that all real eBay sellers are charged. Buy started out with free insertion fees and possibly additional discounts on FVF. Real eBay seller would have to accomplish this paying real eBay seller fees and following real eBay seller rules.

Also given the nature of Buy’s pre-eBay established business, which must have a reliance on drop shipping to some extent considering the massive numbers of items sold that they did/do not have, they had the inventory or at least someone does to load into the eBay store. I’m thinking most if not all real eBay sellers would be hard pressed to come up with the inventory to achieve Diamond Powerseller when paying the same fees as real eBay sellers, which buy doesn’t pay.

I suppose the argument could be made that any seller can attain drop shipping accounts and load an eBay store to the hilt as well. Just to get that particular claim out of the way immediately- real eBay sellers relying entirely on drop shipping will find themselves on unstable ground under the new DSR BS. Recognizing that eBay enforces rules on real ebay sellers (unlike with buy) the number of item not received or “sold but didn’t have” violations would rack up and lead to suspension within a month. So, gambling on success of a purely drop shipped or partially rooted eBay store business under the rules that real eBay sellers must follow would be more than a bit foolish and would never make it to month 3 to qualify for Diamond Powerseller, because they would be suspended for policy violations.

My question is why- eBay do you persist in imagining that your customers are lacking in intelligence?? Why- eBay do you continue to patronize us with these disingenuous opportunities?? Why- eBay do you allow and assist an outsider to undermine and wreck the businesses of the real eBay sellers who follow eBay rules, pay eBay fees, have the products they sale, don’t peddle child pornography on eBay, don’t have thousands of thousands of listing violations, and who are here (on eBay) trying to continue their eBay business despite the merciless impediments you have laid on the back of these real eBay sellers???

The biggest question- eBay why don’t you care about all of the people who care about eBay??

MechelleOn 06.27.2008 at 3:35 am Said:

Curious I went to check on good old Buy, and I must say-

eBay you really need to purchase a conscience!!!

First you shut down the business of thousands of eBay sellers with less than a weeks notice.

Second you bring in this company to offer the same products already available- you let them list free- they are running mass 3 day auctions flooding the categories blocking the listings of all the real eBay sellers- you know those that actually paid to have their product out there. The past month buy has sold over 40,000 items - isn’t that fab!! I wonder how many families went without food, had utilities turned off, couldn’t pay their mortgage- may even be in foreclosure by now???

Why don’t you care about people? You masquerade as some humanitarian providing charitable donations (though they have been a bit paltry) (or having or trying to get us to) all the while you have some pig of a company that peddles child pornography - wrecking the marketplace causing starvation among your paying customers and yes those who made eBay in the first place!!!

You know you can try to blame the state of the market on sellers, but it is your fault 100% eBay’s doing. If you want a clean reputation - you want people to hear eBay and think good company - you need to clean up the corporate attitude coming from eBay. eBay is so unattractive on a human level it is shameful- it really is!

DakotaOn 06.27.2008 at 4:18 am Said:

Right on Mechelle!!

I echo the same sentiments!

AmberOn 06.27.2008 at 9:34 am Said:

I’m sure this won’t be posted, as Richard is holding all of my posts for moderation and rarely allowing them to go through, but:

Looking at sales data, Mechelle, Buy isn’t meeting the requirements to qualify for Diamond powerseller status–even with free or nearly free listings.

40,000 items, even with an average sales price of $10 (most are much lower) is only $400,000.

The uproar yesterday over the questionable item found in buy’s inventory (you know the one) wasn’t entirely because it was buy. It was also because this particular seller represents the worst of eBay. Harsh TOS, Policy violations aplenty, a lack of accountability–no action taken despite numerous reports by sellers and buyers. This seller is getting preferential treatment in every aspect of selling, from visibility to fees to immunity on policy violations.

EBay picked a horrible company to partner with. The reasons we have been given don’t jive with the facts, but who cares? Most of us will be gone from the site within the year anyway.

MechelleOn 06.28.2008 at 12:25 am Said:

I am basing my assessment simply on the feedback left for a month and last night it was 42000 received.

Today it is 43733- using my ave feedback not received of 11% that brings buys at about 48,543- considering today buy received over 1400 feedback ratings- I’m confidant when I say buy will have sold 50,000 items by the end of this month.

From looking at the first 200 feedback ratings left for buy today - there are 52 that range from $5.99 to 10. The rest are more than $10.00. Out of the 200 I looked at 11 were greater than $100- and actually totaled to $2817.37- this amount definitely brings the average well over 10 dollars per piece sold- just dividing this number by the 200 transactions gives the average transaction $14 each. The average price of the 200 transaction is at least $20 per transaction.

So - yes they will qualify for the diamond powerseller probably by the end of July.

Thanks Amber - I do realize what the contention is concerning buy, which is why I wrote about that specifically relative to the real eBay seller in contrast to the freeloading seller buy and their pursuit of diamond powerseller status.

My point was/is the diamond powerseller concept is specifically to appear as though this is still a level playing field in that the ability to negotiate pricing is available to anyone who can meet the diamond powerseller status. My second point is this will never be viewed as a level playing field, because any real ebay seller is paying real ebay seller fees and following real ebay seller rules, neither of which is buy having to surmount to reach Diamond powerseller status. So, no there is no level playing field and clearly they are being allowed to break policy, pay nothing to do so, drive other real fee paying rule following sellers out and off of eBay, and to peddle child pornography. Any real eBay seller would be suspended for this BS.

The most sickening aspect is we are paying full fees which are being used to subsidize buy’s distribution of child porn. In essence we are paying for the distribution of child pornography by buy on eBay. That is just sick- buy could at least be paying its own way if they want to distribute child pornography.

MechelleOn 06.28.2008 at 11:33 pm Said:

here is a link of the current diamond powersellers Amber

http://blog.sellerdome.com/?p=11

I must say bravo to the other if that seller did it within the eBay rules and paying the eBay fees

Patricia1On 06.29.2008 at 10:53 am Said:

“EBay picked a horrible company to partner with. The reasons we have been given don’t jive with the facts, but who cares? Most of us will be gone from the site within the year anyway.”

Perhaps only companies such as this one will even want to “partner” with the likes of Ebay. Ebay’s reputation isn’t exactly sterling - though they like to think so and their business logic of late hasn’t been exactly logical