Has ebay finally pulled their heads out of their @sses?
By dizzblnd
@dizzblnd (3073)
United States
June 21, 2008 8:45am CST
It seems greedbay might finally began realizing that they are losing more sellers than they initially thought.
I am sure you all got this in your email:
"Seller Update: confident buyers, more seller rewards
We're working hard to give sellers the best deal on the Internet. Towards this end, we're making changes to improve the eBay experience and some of these changes may have an impact on your selling.
1. Rewards for sellers with high buyer satisfaction.
You're delivering great buyer experiences and we're taking our commitment to reward sellers to new levels:
* Improved PayPal seller protection for all US sellers registered on eBay.com
* Advantage in Best Match search results for more sellers
* New benefits for PowerSellers
2. Confident, satisfied buyers: We're making changes to help ensure buyers enjoy shopping on eBay and can buy with confidence--which will make the marketplace more robust for sellers.
* Buyer protection--"Pay with PayPal and you're covered." See eligibility.
* Making eBay safer: New safety measures include keeping member email addresses anonymous, controls on user-generated "active" content, stronger verification of new sellers, and verifying the identity of sellers listing from an unrecognized computer.
* Better shopping experience: Redesigned item page with bigger pictures, countdown timer, more merchandise, and critical seller information right upfront.
For more details on how these changes affect your selling, watch a webcast replay of the keynote speech from eBay Live!, and read recent announcements from eBay executives."
Although I do like some of what they are saying.. I still refuse to go back to selling until/if they straighten out a lot more things that they have screwed up.
If you have stopped selling on greedyfeepay all together.. did this email entice you to go back.. or are you like me and have a "wait and see attitude?"
If you never stopped selling are you fhappy with these changes?
8 people like this
16 responses
@WhatsHerName (2716)
• United States
21 Jun 08
Ha,ha, I got this email also and at first glance thought "Oh good, maybe they are going to have some deals here". Fat chance, what I got out of that letter is pretty much a bunch of nothing. Improved seller protection with Paypal? I thought we already had the best protection. Shouldn't it be a given that they keep their protection updated? And "New Benefits for PowerSellers"? So only the biggest money makers are rewarded here? And of course, they reward buyers, lol, so ebay makes more money...
I'm not listing much until fall, it feels like a waist of time and money, especially if things don't sell.
I found two sites where you can have free stores instead.
www.eCrater.com and www.MyStore.com
2 people like this
@WC1989 (595)
• United States
21 Jun 08
Actually dizz, ecrater does get a lot more traffic than you'd think. I switched from ebay to ecrater and my items get about the same number of hits in a week as it would on ebay. I suppose it's because ecrater is becoming more and more popular.
1 person likes this
@dizzblnd (3073)
• United States
21 Jun 08
Those were my thoughts exactly. I have heard of ecrate.. but not Mystore... Sadly, those don't seem to have the same traffic. Maybe soon though.
The only thing I DID like was the improved Identity . If someone tried to log in to a different computer other then the one you regularly use pretending to be you.. they will have to prove YOUR identity... hard to do .... I hope
1 person likes this
@coolseeds (3919)
• United States
22 Jun 08
I have never been happy with changes on ebay. Sometimes I wonder where they find these morons that think that they can do what ever they want. Well I am sorry to spill the beans... The build it and they will come attitude will get you nowhere.
However I am happy with their fees. I used to pay $.55 to list an item with a gallery photo + FVF + Paypal fees, which lead to a total loss if the item sold for $1 and is the reason why I quit selling the 1st time. I have complained for years. And all that they told me was to increase the amount of the items I sell. Although I understand that it has affected a lot of sellers, I am paying less.
I am not happy with a lot of ebay's new changes. Why even offer a discount if they make it impossible for a seller to meet their qualifications. An example... I ship 2 ounce packages with delivery confirmation. If you go to the USPS website you will see it costs $2.05. I charge $2 for shipping and buyers have been saying my shipping charge is unreasonable on the star rating system. Buyers have no right to give me nothing less than 5 stars. It shows the buyer's ignorance and if they keep it up my shipping charge will be $3.50. If they are going to give me less than 5 stars then I will give them a reason.
I decided to get into ebay's pocket. I became a powerseller by selling out of my store. No auctions or fixed price listings. I've been listing some auctions but only listing 10 auctions a week.
This is something else that a lot of people do not realize. Ebay slows down in the summer. My sales increase but my products pertain to summer but if you are selling books or sweaters you will probably be wasting your time. I don't know if the economy is to blame.
Maybe ebay is slow because all of the sellers are pizzed off and left. LOL
1 person likes this
@coolseeds (3919)
• United States
22 Jun 08
LOL @ I hope it's slow BECAUSE a lot of the sellers left.
I've got a person I am dealing with now.
They emailed me no more than 2 days after they received their seeds and said they didn't germinate. LOL I don't think anyone in their right mind would expect any seed to germinate 2 days after they planted them. LOL
They didn't follow my instructions nor did they read anything. The seeds they purchased can take 3 weeks to several months to germinate. I've seen them take more than 9 months.
Now they are asking me for a refund within 2 weeks of receiving the seeds.
I will issue them a refund or replacements but only after adequate time.
Why would something that takes me 2 months to germinate grow for them in 2 days? I geuss they think they are better than everyone else.
THIS IS THE BEST PART. No one has complained about the seeds not germinating.
Since she was a problem from the beginning I think she was out to get something for free from the beginning. So I will take a negative if she makes demands and tell her to go to Paypal to get a refund (I know they will not give it to her)
. If she wants to act like she has some sense and give them the appropriate time I do what ever to make her happy.
You can't please all of the people all of the time.
If I get a negative, I'll complain to ebay and forward all of her correspondence to ebay to show she didn't follow directions nor take my advice. If they don't remove it... I will not sell on their site. Simple as that.
My ebay fees are normally between $700 & $2,000. I do sell on ebay for $ but also to help others get rare and exotic seeds. So the buyer loses too along with an employee of ebay that will lose their job because ebay will be getting $20,000 less from seller fees if I quit. 
. If she wants to act like she has some sense and give them the appropriate time I do what ever to make her happy.
You can't please all of the people all of the time.
If I get a negative, I'll complain to ebay and forward all of her correspondence to ebay to show she didn't follow directions nor take my advice. If they don't remove it... I will not sell on their site. Simple as that.
My ebay fees are normally between $700 & $2,000. I do sell on ebay for $ but also to help others get rare and exotic seeds. So the buyer loses too along with an employee of ebay that will lose their job because ebay will be getting $20,000 less from seller fees if I quit. @dizzblnd (3073)
• United States
22 Jun 08
I am glad you found a way to beat the system. Sounds like a great plan! Buyers can't be pleased and with the new feedback system.. they can neg you just because. Even if the service, pricing and everything else was A+ some will still neg you just because they can and get away with it. I hope it's slow BECAUSE a lot of the sellers left. I think ebay just got too big and has now realized that they pushed too far this time.
1 person likes this
@dizzblnd (3073)
• United States
22 Jun 08
WOW! I didn't realize your business was THAT lucrative! Good for you. Hows sales on Loudfrog?
Idiot buyers are another thing that irks me. You CAN always figure out when they want something for nothing. I hope you don't get the neg.. but if you do.. I hope it is removed. SOME PEOPLE! HUMPH! 
@dodoguy (1292)
• Australia
21 Jun 08
Hi dizzblnd,
eBay in Australia is just now moving to remove all payment methods except Paypal, but they were blocked by the Australian Consumer & Competition Commission for alleged anti-competitive practices.
I've only ever bought from eBay, but from talking to sellers, it sounds like eBay really grinds them down to the max.
No wonder that there's a variety of ALTERNATIVE online auction sites appearing now here in Australia, and they seem to be filling up fast. I wonder where all their clients are coming from???
eBay had a good idea, and they had a huge strategic advantage when they were the only one, but they've probably shot themselves in the foot by milking it just a little too hard. No doubt they'll be here for the long run, but I think their glory days are probably behind them now.
@dizzblnd (3073)
• United States
21 Jun 08
Their heads DID get to big. I think they underestimated the patience and tolerance that the sellers from all across the world had for the BS that they kept throwing our way. They are now licking the wound that they got by way of that bullet. The glory days of ebay are definitely gone and the only way to recapture what they had is by getting rid of the DSR's lowering their fees and cutting out the ridiculous new feedback system among some other changes. Until then.. I will steer clear and continue to preach anti-ebay to anyone who asks me about it.
1 person likes this
@DonnaLawson (4032)
• United States
21 Jun 08
Doesn't ebay own Paypal now, that is not right to try and block other payment methods, that is the greed of ebay..
@sergeantrom (5721)
• United States
22 Jun 08
I love the @sses and the mental picture it gave me. 
Thats what happens when you are a conglomerate.... in the beginning. They better take notes of their competition catching and passing them. Check out my site called I hate Ebay. Really thats the name of my site. I listed your discussion on my website too! Do you know of any alternatives to Ebay?
http://www.squidoo.com/IHateEbay
Thats what happens when you are a conglomerate.... in the beginning. They better take notes of their competition catching and passing them. Check out my site called I hate Ebay. Really thats the name of my site. I listed your discussion on my website too! Do you know of any alternatives to Ebay?
http://www.squidoo.com/IHateEbay1 person likes this
@sergeantrom (5721)
• United States
22 Jun 08
Wow, thats a big list and growing! Thanks so much and I will be putting this list on my website. Good luck with your sales.
1 person likes this
@dizzblnd (3073)
• United States
22 Jun 08
I am happy to provide you with the mental picture! That's great! 
I am alos honored that you included my discussion on your site. 
I haven't been there yet, but I will. I think they have been watching the competition all along and seeing that they were the #1 dog. They thought they could get away with more and more .... until now. The recent crap changes they have made are the straw that broke the camel er sellers backs. The sellers are leaving by the dozens and establishing new stores so they can cut the umbilical with greedbay all together.
There are alternate free or nearly free sites like loudfrog.com, ecrater.com, etsy.com (for handmade items and supplies) check this site for a list of alternatives: http://www.powersellersunite.com/auctionsitewatch.php this site also shows you how, although feepay is still on top.. but that the other sites are doing better and better everyday.
Once again thank you for including my discussion on your site.
I am alos honored that you included my discussion on your site. I haven't been there yet, but I will. I think they have been watching the competition all along and seeing that they were the #1 dog. They thought they could get away with more and more .... until now. The recent crap changes they have made are the straw that broke the camel er sellers backs. The sellers are leaving by the dozens and establishing new stores so they can cut the umbilical with greedbay all together.
There are alternate free or nearly free sites like loudfrog.com, ecrater.com, etsy.com (for handmade items and supplies) check this site for a list of alternatives: http://www.powersellersunite.com/auctionsitewatch.php this site also shows you how, although feepay is still on top.. but that the other sites are doing better and better everyday.
Once again thank you for including my discussion on your site.1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
21 Jun 08
I think their fees are too high and really don't want to sell there anymore but I probably will. When they changed the feedback-at least I heard they did-I thought that was ridiculous.
*sigh* I'll probably be listing some stuff this week. I don't like that they charge a fee even if you don't sell the item. Or has that changed, too?
@DonnaLawson (4032)
• United States
21 Jun 08
I quit it about a year ago.. I don't believe this will entice me to come back.. The one reason is what was stated in your post, (Buyer protection 
--"Pay with PayPal and you're covered.) I have had words with Paypal so very many times and it has been over the one-sided protection for the buyers.. Paypal can't protect the sellers from dishonest buyers, and I say this because the only time that Paypal found in my favor and I was supposed to get my money back, the buyers charge card company found in the buyers favor and the buyer got to keep the merchandise and the money.. I lost all the way around.. So even if Paypal decides to be so magnanamous and find in your favor, then you still have to fight the buyers charge card company.. I had over 2300 auctions with 92.9% positive feedback, when I quit ebay and I do honestly think about going back to ebay again but always remember how frustrating it was to be scammed by the dishonest buyers.. I will not be happy with ebay nor Paypal until there is some honest protection for the sellers and not just the buyers.. I lost out to people with a smaller number of feedbacks than I had and that was not right.. Everytime that I really think of it, I decide that, no, I will not go back for any reason..
--"Pay with PayPal and you're covered.) I have had words with Paypal so very many times and it has been over the one-sided protection for the buyers.. Paypal can't protect the sellers from dishonest buyers, and I say this because the only time that Paypal found in my favor and I was supposed to get my money back, the buyers charge card company found in the buyers favor and the buyer got to keep the merchandise and the money.. I lost all the way around.. So even if Paypal decides to be so magnanamous and find in your favor, then you still have to fight the buyers charge card company.. I had over 2300 auctions with 92.9% positive feedback, when I quit ebay and I do honestly think about going back to ebay again but always remember how frustrating it was to be scammed by the dishonest buyers.. I will not be happy with ebay nor Paypal until there is some honest protection for the sellers and not just the buyers.. I lost out to people with a smaller number of feedbacks than I had and that was not right.. Everytime that I really think of it, I decide that, no, I will not go back for any reason.. 1 person likes this
@coolseeds (3919)
• United States
23 Jun 08
This same exact thing happened to my girlfriend. She purchased 2 different items from the same seller on different dates. The 1st was $6 the 2nd was $48. The seller used the 1st delivery confirmation to fight the Paypal claim against the larger priced item that was not received.
She had to file a claim with the credit card company to get her money. Then Paypal gave her a negative balance in her Paypal account and said she has to pay for the item that was not received in order to use Paypal.
Now I use my Paypal account to pay for her items. If Paypal tried to give someone something they didn't deserve I would not accept Paypal. I have a successful landscaping company. I can afford to lose some sales because of Paypal's ignorance.
Fortunately Paypal has always been in my favor when someone filed a dispute. Always use delivery confirmation or you open the door for buyers to take advantage of you.
1 person likes this
@dizzblnd (3073)
• United States
21 Jun 08
Alright sister! I had 1 dispute with a seller. I bought 2 shirts from him about 2 weeks apart. I got the first shirt no problem.. I never received the second shirt. I called him, I emailed him explaining I never got the 2nd shirt. To no avail, I filed a dispute. He replied to the dispute with the FIRST delivery confirmation number. Paypal's automated bots closed they dispute. I had to call paypal and have a HUMAN actually LOOK at the DC number so they can see the 1st shirt was delivered AFTER I ordered the 2nd one. They gave me the money back NOT out of the sellers pocket.. buy out of Paypal's pocket. THAT pissed me off and I told them GREAT now the seller will think they can get away with that all the time and Paypal would bail them out. NOT fair.
I won't go back to selling on greedbay for a long time.
1 person likes this
@DonnaLawson (4032)
• United States
21 Jun 08
That wasn't fair, and I am a firm believer of everyone being fair and honest, but sometimes you never know who you are dealing with.. Too many dishonest people ruin the whole ebay experience.. have a great day, Donna
@ashlee67 (95)
• United States
23 Jun 08
I received this email, but didn't find it to be all that informative. Then again, I am only an occasional eBay seller. I'm still waiting for another listing discount so I may put some more auctions up. Between eBay fees, and PayPal fees, my earnings are cut drastically.
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
• United States
21 Jun 08
I'm a buyer, much more than I am a seller. I really like the idea of not getting retalitory negs when the seller does a poor job of gouging on the shipping fees, taking weeks to even get the package in the mail (I had one clown seller that charged me $6.00 for priority shipping, then took 2 weeks to mail the package out...I thought the idea of priority shipping was to get the package to me in 3 or 4 days, but maybe that's just me)
Now I can leave proper feedback w/o the fear of a negative that I didn't deserve. Of course a seller, I don't like the idea that a buyer can take weeks to make their payment and should you report this, you'll likely receive a retalitory neg from the buyer. I think eBay could come up with a better system and maybe eBay could somehow indicate when buyers slow-pay and maybe even indicate how many "strikes" a buyer has.
I personally don't like any of eBay current rating systems, especially the DRS. Buyers can do whatever they want with these ratings. Two weeks ago, my shipping and handling rating was 4.8. It's now down to 4.6, which I could understand if I was charging $4 for a bubble-mailer and first-class postage (usually $1.57) but I was paying the shipping...I shipped for FREE and still was knocked down a couple of notches on shipping and handling fees!
So now, I don't ship for FREE, if I'm gonna get graded poorly, I might as well stop paying out of my pocket for it!
I think the rise in fees on eBay have come from al the cash back programs that eBay pays to and some of the new auction tolls that pay money to the sellers. If eBay is paying for for the traffic from these programs, the money has to come from somewhere...thus higher fees.
1 person likes this
@dizzblnd (3073)
• United States
21 Jun 08
It is nice to hear from a buyer/seller. I agree the seller ought to be able to rate the buyer as well. I have hated the DSR's since they were introduced. I don't like the feedback changes because it seems some buyers took great delight in knowing they could leave negative feedback even if the seller did everything right. I understand the change in fees to a point.. but not when combined with all of the other changes aimed at dragging the seller down.
I appreciate your comments
1 person likes this
@skinnychick (6905)
• United States
24 Jun 08
I think it's a load of shite if you ask me. I have stopped selling on Ebayall together. Unless, their fees come down which isn't happening.
@gemini_rose (16264)
•
21 Jun 08
I have not seen this yet, but not really been paying much attention to my ebay just lately. I stopped selling on there in May due to going on holiday, and have just never got back into it since getting back.
It just became too much and way too costly so taking a break is probably a good thing for now. I expect that in the next few months I will probably start putting a few things back on again. At the moment the market has been hard due to the economy, and so people are not spending. Probably nearer to christmas people will start to look for bargains again.
1 person likes this
@zweeb82 (5653)
• Malaysia
24 Jun 08
I don't sell on ebay.com but ebay.com.my. We're not charged any insertion fees at the moment & I hope it stays that way forever. But once it was free to have gallery view but now we have to pay for that which is kinda sucky. Ebay must really understand that in Rome, they must really do what the Romans do & in Malaysia, the more they really gotta do their market survey. Majority Malaysians don't read through the listings & ask redundant questions. And the joybidder rate is pretty high here compared to other sites I would say & the disability to leave negative feedback has really made these loonies go even more rampant. I think that the removal of the ability to leave a negative feedback is really not good & also not being able to sell digital products the way we were allowed is also
@zweeb82 (5653)
• Malaysia
25 Jun 08
This is real clear prejudice & injustice. They really need to bear in mind that without sellers, there would be no buyers. In fact, they should realize it's the sellers that they're making most of if not all the $$ out of anyway. They're just killing the geese that lay the golden eggs
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
22 Jun 08
even though i am thinking about ebaying again i delete all their emails since half the time its a scam anyways (spam trying to trick) but it doesnt seem much different than it already was.. but im reading this half asleep too
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
23 Jun 08
one thing i really was upset with ebay on is that i bought this book from a guy and it showed perfect condition.. i get it and its all tore up.. so i dispute it through paypal and the guy was trying to tell me to return the book and i told him i wasnt going to talk to him outside of the paypal thing and to settle it through there since i wanted to not deal with him lying to me since he had obviously decieved me through the sale and i had never done a dispute before but i figured that all communication should be through there.. well anyways we agreed that he would refund my money and he said he didnt want the book back because of the problem etc.. well a few days later he rates me badly saying i didnt hold up to my end of the deal and i replied to the rate stating that paypal settled it and he said keep the book etc.. well that one bad comment has kept me from being 100% for years now!! i have never even had a neutral but i have had like 300 ratings and im just now at 98 or 99.. i have been a buyer/seller since the year 2000 and so i think they went a little too far in keeping the bad rating when i could prove that we settled it and then for it to keep hurting me this whole time is bs if you ask me!! im paranoid about buying anything since im afraid i will get something screwed up and then get retaliated against again.. grrrr..
@ZephyrSun (7381)
• United States
22 Jun 08
I don't know I think it's a bunch of hot air myself and I am just sort of waiting to see what they are going to do. I use to sell a lot but since the feedback change I have put less than half of what I use to sell on. The buyers are a pain now, I sold something last week and offered the items shipped by USPS at a set price said contact me if you want to change or add insurance blah blah blah auction ended sent invoice day after paying buyer emailed me and wanted me to track the item at my expense. I was like WTF no sorry I already shipped (which I had) at the terms of the auction. Thanks for the purchase. So I haven't put any thing on yet waiting to see what kind of feedback I will get from the buyer if any at all. eBay is for buyers now and they really don't want to do anything for their small sellers. They really only care about power sellers and I am not that.
@dizzblnd (3073)
• United States
22 Jun 08
Yep hot air and blowing smoke. That's EXACTLY what it sounds like to me too.. Some buyers you can't please. Even if you hand deliver it on a silver platter BEFORE they've even ordered it, give them the best price ANYWHERE and charge no handling fees.. they are still gonna b!tch that you should have been there 2 days before they ordered it. That's why I quit when I did. I still have my 100% feedback score.
I hope your buyer doesn't neg you.. he probably will just because he can and knows you can't do a damn thing about it.... *sigh*
I have said all along that greedbay doesn't give a d@mn about us small time sellers.. but I think they are beginning to understand that $$$ is $$$ no matter how much or how little a seller brings in. It is all about the bottom line and I think they sunk below it.
2 people like this
@ZephyrSun (7381)
• United States
22 Jun 08
I think you are so correct that eBay does not care. Maybe when they see that sellers are not selling at the volume if at all they will figure it out, but until they do see the proctologist it probably won't change.
1 person likes this
@mscott (1923)
• United States
22 Jun 08
Funny how losing business gets them to do things they should have been doing. I was actually ripped off by a buyer, yes a buyer, and I have heard of this happening more and more. It would be nice that they finally added some seller protection. They have such a monopoly on the industry they could do so much more volume if they had decent policies. For a long time I figured they just didn't care cause they make money every which way, listings, selling, paying whatever. I would like them to also address the shipping fees issues. When I saw a guy listing every single item he had for buy it now 1 cent I thought something was up. Sure enough 1 cent buy it now, 19.99 shipping. The whole feedback thing was another joke that has turned me off to selling. If you buy you can leave a positive feedback but give the sellers a 1 for each quality rating. And why not? If it lowers their score it drops them on how the listing appears and if you sell similar stuff then you are knocking down the competition. Wow, I need to stop, to much to complain about.
@dizzblnd (3073)
• United States
22 Jun 08
You are right there IS too much to complain about. I hope they finally got tired of hearing about it, and this is why some of the changes are being implemented. But like you, I wont be happy until/if they either do away with the DSR's or let sellers rate the buyers in the same way. Also, they need to put the feedback rating system the way it was, make some of the extra crap free (like some of their competitors) and care equally about the sellers AND the buyers. (Yeah right)
@jerzgirl (9291)
• United States
22 Jun 08
I stopped selling altogether when they raised all the fees for stores only because the auction sellers were griping saying it was unfair. I'm still not sure how it was unfair since there was little promotion for buyers to find things in stores unless you also used an auction to sell a store item. I get emails periodically (free photos, reduced listing fees, etc), but I don't recall getting this one. It will have to be something special to have me sell on eBay again, although I might still buy. I have a 100% feedback rating, so it's not that I couldn't. I just don't think it's worth it any more.
@thegreatgameguy (85)
• United States
25 Jun 08
um im still with ebay because they have the most traffic(ive seen) and sell your items quicker and better. besides a listing fee is like nothing its only 15 cents....then the final value fee is also generally small (unless you sell something for an outrageous price.
