E-bay the "FAIR" way to buy and sell.... WHAT BS!

E-bay is completely bias against the people that actaully make e-bay

THE SELLERS!

12% fees on all items sold and the fact you can only leave positive feedback and paypal will always side with the buyers ex: seller sells a $100 item with $5 shipping and pays $12 e-bay FFV and $3.35 in paypal fees

the buyer receives the item and they CAN lie and say it's not as descibed
and get their $105 back and pretty much keep the item since paypal doesn't care nor do anything to make sure the seller gets it back

so that one sell is really a $-117 loss for the seller and a free $100 item for the buyer and e-bay gets to keep the $12 fee

OH and the kicker the buyer can leave neg. feedback just cause he wants to and the seller can only leave positive feedback

 

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That's just one of the stupid changes lately. :whistle:

Ebay is going backwards when they think they are going forwards. :headbang: Theory of Relativity? :goofer:

Ribbit

 

My theory says: The collective intelligence of a group of eBay executives is inversely proportional to the number in the group.

 

I hear your woe... truly, but take a stronger handed approach if you can:

If you know what your item should sell for, that is, what its actual market value is at any given time, then raise your starting price to offset eBay and PayPal fees. Use your example, calculate those fees and start the auction no less than that amount. State VERY clearly in writing in your item description what you based the starting price on and that this is a factor in the cost of the item being offered on eBay to the Buyers. Similarly use Fixed Price/Buy It Now if you are that certain of the items cost and fees associated. If a Buyer is serious and understands the market and how eBay conspires to profit, they will agree and bid if the item is that important to the Buyer. If they do not understand, do not read terms first and bid blindly then you have a defense in writing and besides, you can't fix stupid.

If you are honest about your fees and item description plus overtly upfront a serious buyer will understand (they don't have to like it, and they also don't have to bid in that case either) and if serious about bidding, and willing to pay the toll, to obtain your item, then they can play. Otherwise if the rising costs of goods on eBay limits sales volume hence profitability then eBay is a doomed loosing proposition for all including the eBay company.

Also DO NOT OFFER A RETURN POLICY. I know this is controversial especially in numismatic auctions. I have never had a problem with any Buyer over this policy except for potentially lost sales due to Buyers that doubt my honesty or my honest descriptions and service promises. Sure some people may distrust you, it's their right, but again, you have to be honest and complete in your item description and indicate this policy very clearly, encouraging Buyers to inquire special needs and questions prior to bidding. If they bid and complain later it's their fault. If they complain to PayPal and get their money back and you don't get the item back but were paid then you were paid, your buyer is a thief and Paypal/eBay should pursue the Buyer -- they will never take action like this because they couldn't operate a business at all if they were prosecuting every scam and whiner out there that yelped.

Lazy Buyers and lazy Sellers don't succeed nor should they expect to, even though you may feel like they are getting away with it right now. Thorough and honest Buyers and Sellers will do a fair business and exchange merchandise and funds with little trouble. Sure profit may be slow but it's a market, a true market place, and not always active nor profitable. eBay's preference of big volume PowerSellers and Stores is only because they make more money off them and have less individual crisis between Buyers and Sellers to deal with saving eBay time and money. Remember Lincoln's sage advice about pleasing people, as the odds are against you having pleasing and pleased buyers, since some people cannot be pleased no matter how hard you try. And while the customer is often not always right, they are always the customer and they can be made to abide by the rules which they agreed to by participating in your auction per the terms you lay out for them.

I say, screw feedback. I don't believe negative feedback to be honestly reflective of any situation someone else experienced and if it was a dubious international seller with counterfeits, the listing likely gave it away and I certainly wouldn't have been looking or bidding there in the first place. The whole feedback system is a sham. It's never worked right, supposedly being a defensive tool for Sellers in the past to protect against dead beat Buyers. It has always been a tool of e-commerce warfare and nothing positive comes from it, including generic non-reflective positive comments. Better to have no positive feedback and merely track the number of successfully completed auctions the way Amazon and PayPal track completed sales. If only Negative Feedback were allowed to be posted then you'd see who was a sure crook. So IF you get feedback you disagree with then contact eBay each and every time and make them remove the comment. Keep writing to them until they respond and be patient about it. Removing comments will not affect your feedback tally.

eBay surely has become a menace to individuals. eBay is a full on nightmare now for Sellers everywhere and it continues to worsen. Take it from an 11 year eBay veteran who has seen everything under the East Bay sun.

 

Entropy?

 

I no longer sell on ebay. I find this to be a very simple solution to the problem.

I also do not accept Paypal when I DO sell. Check, money order or cash. The method of shipping is up to the buyer. I can send real cheap but you get NO guarantees.
I get my money in hand before shipping.

I used to operate like this on ebay and never had problems. Simplicity worked just fine for me.

 

'I no longer sell on ebay." ... "I also do not accept Paypal when I DO sell. Check, money order or cash."

It is currently against eBay policy to not complete transactions through Paypal. Against eBay policy to accept checks, cash or MOs. If you are no longer selling on eBay do you mean that you do not accept Paypal using other online listing sites? If so are those services better or the way eBay used to be, to you?

I welcome the Paypal policy. Too much waiting and scamming in MOs, cash and checks. Lost mail, lost money, lost time. It hasn't bothered me to pay for the convenience and safety of Paypal although the rates are too high.

 

Hello
I agree, I've been selling on ebay for just over 2 years only to pay for my coin collecting hapit. I buy coins at auctions and make sure to buy coins that I believe will sell to cover the cost of my coins. I've seen the change and have been through this with ebay, trying to deal with people who don't really know what they are buying or just want to screw you. Ebay will tell you that they can't remove feedback because it's ones right to say what they want and the only way to remove it is with a court order or if your lucky and the person is removed or removes themself from ebay. I try to sell coins at a fair market value but it seems that people just want to buy coins cheap and I understand, but if you really want a good coin and I don't mean a filler coin you should be willing to pay for it, but if you list your coin at a fair price you can't always sell it, so I just keep it instead of relisting it and losing more money to ebay. Besides most of the time I can't stand to sell some coins even if I already have many of the same.
Good luck on ebay
itsallngoodtime
Bob

 

Hi Bob,

Welcome to the forum!

Yes, that is the reason for an auction. Buyer wants the best as low as they can get it, seller wants the most he can get.

If a person has a coin and can say to themselves, I want $XX for this coin and I will only sell it at that, then list it in the OPEN section on this site, or other similar sites at a set price. When both sides of the deal are good, such offerings go way before I remember to go and check that subforum. It doesn't appear in "new posts" search, which is my normal M.O.

Jim

 

I stopped selling on ebay when they made Paypal mandatory. I don't use it at all and have never really been burned by it.

The time thing? No biggie to me. I don't use Paypal to buy either. I figure if I've lived 47 years without a coin what's another week or two. I know some have to have it right now and I may lose an occasional sale over it but so be it.

I don't sell high dollar items so why give Paypal my money?
If people want to cut their potential profits every time they sell on ebay by following their ludicrous rules let them.
If I really need to sell a coin I have local people and work of course. After ebay fees I can get the same, a bit less, or sometimes more without the headaches.

 

100 Proof

Is it possible to make 100% of the population 100% pleased 100% of the time?

100% of every cell in your body had an inside & an outside, if it works.

So think obv/rev here, ok? It's supposed to be interaction/confrontation/resolution, right?

 

Thanks Clembo, I understand all of your points, they make sense, especially the one about waiting instead of instant gratification, yet for me online auctions and the safety of PayPal opens up a greater realm of Buyers that I would otherwise be unable to reach on my own, or not without significantly greater social and physical effort.

 

Now are you talking about 100 Proof in drinking terms? :eat:

 

Bluegrass

Well, it's not like it grows on trees.:whistle:

But a good Dip every now & then not Always a bad thing....compared to the alternative.hya:

 

First I disagree - buyers make ebay. And buyers need the protection. Second there are crooks out there on both sides - it is the risk you run. Third as a buyer if I use your return policy I should get my money back as soon as I say I am using the return option. Sorry if you do not like that - but I paid you before you shipped the item and as a buyer I should have the same option - return my money and I will ship the item. That is the way it should be - if people were honest on both sides it would not matter. When I look at ebay I see more dishonest sellers than honest - based off the auction and item description. Ooops - I don't sell on ebay so I really do not care about the fees and I expect the seller to include those in his auction. That is what reserves are for.

Just my opinion.

 

LOL you can't have a buyer without a seller but you can have a seller or someone offering to sell without a single buyer for years and years and btw those e-bay fees are sent directly to the seller and the buyer NEVER has to pay a premiumto buy only the seller to sell...


and your post really doesn't mean anything other then a load of crap since you DON"T sell on e-bay and NEVER will understand what it is been becoming and will continue to become if it keeps it's pace

I would like to see a 6% premium on e-bay for the buyer and a 6% premium for the sellers so at least there's a common ground instead of the total loss possible from a bad buyer and the slap in the face possible from the can't post neg. feedback as a seller

I would also like to see you sell on e-bay mark since I could legally buy,receive,make a claim and win it being the buyer, and then stick you with the 12% fees and keep your item and then to rub salt in the wound post neg. feedback and know you can only post pos. feedback to me

think about that one! LOL

and if there is any crooked sellers on e-bay it's ok cause paypal will always side on the buyer's sides so why worry about it?

 

True - it really takes both, buyers and sellers - but it would not hurt me if ebay stopped having sellers. I have plenty of dealers to use. Actually know that I think about it I buy more from dealers than ebay - I may pay more, but feel much more comfortable with what I am getting.

 

Let me ask a question. When a seller only accepts Pay Pal, are the sellers money already collected and deposited into the sellers bank account before shipping occurs ? If your selling "raw" coins, I can understand how a buyer may have a reason for deciding it was not as expected, because photographs can and are manipulated. If a buyer disagrees with the slabbed coin, once in hand , they have a claim against the TPG, not the seller.

 

if e-bay stopped having sellers there wouldn't be anything for sell...and e-bay would need to switch it's business type across to something more useful then having a website that just exists. you do understand that right? the sellers aren't actually working for e-bay as employees...they just pay fees so e-bay stays afloat

what's your ebay id mark?

 

If sellers stop selling at what I deem is reasonable - then I stop buying and if everyone stops buying - then the sellers listings will slowly disapper. I assume if nobody bought any coins from you for months and you had to pay ebay fees - would you still list? I think it takes both to make it work.