My Ebay Experiment....
By homealotmom
@homealotmom (235)
United States
January 18, 2007 12:01pm CST
I have decided to use my free time and a little money on testing out Ebay. I purchased 15 items ranging in price from $6.00 to $40.00. I paid for them all quickly, so there should be no delay. These were all random sellers. I will share with you as my packages arrive. I have already had one problem, I ordered an e-book, but they sent the wrong one, I emailed and have still yet to get the right one. Who knows what will happen with the packages as they travel across the Usa. I am alosi looking for a better auction site. I just dont think it is fair for them to try to keep raising fees for sellers.( I am only a buyer) But, they own Paypal too, so they are constantly making money off of somebody. Do you know of a better auction site. Tell me what you think of my experiment.
7 people like this
52 responses
@kittensmommy (386)
• United States
18 Jan 07
From experience , ebay is the safest site,there fees are not that bad compared to amazon , and the paypal yes it's another fee but you get your money right away .I sold on amazon a camera around the holidays,my money was stuck with amazon for 55 days till I had to threaten to call the BBB and file a lawsuit.I've been selling on and off on ebay for 4 years now , it's good , but you have to look at it that way , it's a big big mall with a lot of stores and sellers , buuyers will take time to see you and sometimes they can't ,but don't take it personnally , it' commerce that is how it goes.
I have to say though that my income was very predictable with avon , I am an avon rep from home also , but with ebay , you'll just never know
Good luck....
1 person likes this
@rameshgopal365 (918)
• India
19 Jan 07
As per my knowledge ebay is best to buy/sell;
One more safety to your money is that you can get back the money paid for the unarrived goods by the reverse pay option in paypal.
Have a nice earnings day!
@alternatives (17)
•
26 Feb 08
Ebay has now become far too big for its boots!
Every so often ebay will change its system, of ten to the detriment of sellers. this is usually in the form of a price rise for fees associated with selling.
Each time this happens ebay loses a few more sellers to ebid.net. Thoses sellers also take their established customer base over to ebid.net.
Ebay is now on the road to burying itself and ebid.net, a small and friendly auction site, might just come out on top.
Ebid.net is FREE to list. The knock on effect of this is that ebid.net sellers don't have to start their listings at silly prices, nor do they have state over the top postage and packing fees, in order to cover their costs.
So, ebid.net is also cheaper for the buyer.
Oh and another thing -you are not 'forced' into using paypal with ebid.net
@pohaynerop2 (99)
• United States
21 Jan 07
I payed my ebay fees yesterday, they were 37 dollars.....
rediculous.
1 person likes this
@homealotmom (235)
• United States
25 Jan 07
Just an update onthe ebay experiment: Out of 16 packages 3 have not arrived, but the list of excuses keeps getting longer. And these three just so happened to not have left my feedback yet, so when I leave a negative feedback, they can easily return the favor. This is bad business, and does ebay care? 1 negative feedback really does nothing to their scores.
@xiongqh (791)
• Hong Kong
19 Jan 07
I think ebay is the best one you do shopping online, so you don't nned to change the auction.
You can send your complaint to ebay Admin, they will deal with it, as you know, ebay is more strict with seller, if the goods cannot meet the buyer'reuuirement, the seller will fined, and their paypal will be limited.
I think it is good way to deal with your case.
@incomes1987 (156)
• Nicaragua
19 Jan 07
ok. i didn't know that they are raising the fees for sellers. Very bad. Anyway ebay is the best online market i know. There's one new, trying to compete, called dubli.com, so visit it and maybe you can find something that fits your needs
@dirtpoorboy (156)
• United States
19 Jan 07
well from my past experiences with ebay i have not had a problem with them. i build custom cars and have spend thousands no lie on ebay with only one problem. i ordered sum rims and they ran out, so they let me pick any set they had no matter what the cost was and they threw in sum lugs and extra center caps. so really i paid 550 for a 1400 set of rims! the only thing you have to watch out for is people with no feedback when they are selling items. and if they ever ask you to deal outside of ebay DONT. my brother was stupid enough to do that and the guy took my bros 500 dollars for this so called labtop. you wont find another auction site that is better. and the reason for them jackin up their prices is because people are making six figures off of ebay. for example i bought a old motor from a friend, took it apart sold it piece by piece and made 800 dollars more then what i spent on it! its a great place for sellers or buyers, im sure you will come around. and for them to send you the wrong thing is very uncommon. the only thing i can tell you to make your ebay experience better is to check peoples feedback before buying! good luck!
1 person likes this
@ScrappinHappyMom (914)
• United States
18 Jan 07
I personally haven't bought from any other auction site, but my sister did. Not only did she not receive her product, but there was really no course of action to take. At least at Ebay you get the satisfaction of being able to comment on the seller either good or bad. And you have the ability to check up on the seller's reputation on the site my sister went through she just lost her money.
1 person likes this
@kawillow74 (1416)
• United States
19 Jan 07
I no what you mean about the fees i got a email that they have gone up I think he is making enough people are selling items for 3.00 and have to pay .40 just to post it and then pay a sellers fee. I am also looking for other places.
@homealotmom (235)
• United States
19 Jan 07
How much is a sellers fee? I am just curious. Because sometimes I get stuf for very cheap. Are they even making a profit?
What if you sell a high priced item for like $100. What would they charge you?
@moonmagick (1458)
• United States
20 Jan 07
I am pretty new to selling on ebay. I have to admit I was a bit disturbed by getting dinged twice with fees once from paypal and once from ebay, but I suppose thats just all part of it. I did want to add though, that just because someone has a very few selling feedbacks doesnt mean you should necessarily avoid them. We all have to start somewhere. For instance when I found out I was pregnant, I bought a lot of new and gently used baby clothes through various sellers. Now that my baby is getting bigger, instead of dropping off all of the stuff he never even got a chance to wear at goodwill, I thought I would post them on ebay. So right now most of my feedback is from buying, but by the time I get done going through the baby's closet, it will be about 50/50. I dont think that makes me a bad seller, it just means I am just getting started.
@homealotmom (235)
• United States
1 Feb 07
Well all 15 packages have finally arrived. To sum up my ebay experiment, I had one give a refund because they sold a product they didn't have in stock. I had one item that was missing, but was replaced with an extra item. UPS takes the longest to ship, and seems to be the most expensive. All in all I left 14 positive comments and 1 negative, for the seller who didnt have item in stock.....
He held his feedback hostage, so I ended up with 1 negative feedback. All in all it was a pleasent experience. I will continue shopping through ebay.
@bonbon50 (659)
• United States
19 Jan 07
One thing to do when shopping on e-bay is check out the seller's feedback. If there seems to be a consistant negative left, than don't buy from that seller. Sellers are not responsible for lost packages, which happens more frequently than one would think! Rather, the blames lays with the package carrier; USPS, FED EX, etc. There are a couple of other auction sites that appear to be growing. Here is one, although I haven't done any transaction through them yet. www.ola.com
@angelastreit (287)
• United States
19 Jan 07
I found out that overstock.com has some great auctions. They do paypal also so thats another plus about it. I think that is a pretty cool experiment to try on people and how to trust.
@homealotmom (235)
• United States
19 Jan 07
Ebay Experiment Update:
No packages yet! But I only paid on the 16th. Although it is odd, only 6 out of 15 sellers has attempted or answered my questions on delivery. I figured sellers would keep the communication line open to ensure a smooth sell. We shall see if anything comes in the mail,
@imperial (5)
• Australia
13 Feb 07
Hey homealotmom
I would like to introduce to to an Australian Auction site that is going to take over ebay australia at some point.This site has wonderful sellers and buyers, its free to list,when you ask admin a question an actual person write back not a computer message. They will be opening their doors to international sellers very soon when they put in place more security measures.If your overseas you can buy now.
Cheers
Imperial
@manya_pearl (1901)
• Singapore
26 Feb 08
I dont know what i should i say, because i haven't tried to buy anything in ebay. But i have planned to buy musical instrument in ebay. I'm worry... maybe i should looking for also other auction site which is better than ebay. About your prob, maybe its not caused by ebay but the seller... im not sure. I just think so.
@banta78 (4326)
• India
19 Jan 07
I don't have any idea about selling on ebay site though i have bought few items on ebay and was satified with the service as on of my items was misplaced by the buyer but thorugh regular contacts though ebay and the cooperation provided by ebay i finally got my item. So i feel it isa safe site. Good luck with your experiments though. would like to know however how your experiments turn out.
@brightbluesea (1143)
• United States
19 Jan 07
Ebay has its plusses and minuses but I have had pretty good luck selling things there on and off-not a business but it paid for Christmas this year. The fees are there but I think that if I tried to sell some of my stuff at the garage sale I'd be lucky to make $30 for a whole day and all the work.
I think ebay is probably the safest site right now for buying and selling
@jasonsian (231)
• Malaysia
19 Jan 07
www.ecosway.com/home/S999468
This website has an online auction system which is very interesting. Register as a shopper for free and you can earn points once you bought an item. You can use the points you earn to bid. You will also be able to earn points counted by percentage from your refferals. In this auction system, the one who win the bidding will have to pay only 1 USD for the item. Their item range from rolex watches to health products.
@jsgrand0 (246)
• United States
19 Jan 07
http://www.bidturf.com/register.php?ref=gfambiz4
NO listing fees
No final value fees
Only fees are if you want to UPGRADE certain parts of your listing! It's great..and FREE
@nice_wise4u (109)
• India
19 Jan 07
yup ebay is safe and cheap i ordered for a cell phone i got it for a lot more less than the market here n safely packed and in time.......
they really provide good service may b ur hurd luck... but contact them n they ll b ready to hope i guess good day
@fatrickchords (161)
• Canada
19 Jan 07
There's a couple of auction site but personally, I will stick to eBay
