Some times life happens and you have to cancel an eBay listing. Over the years I have been forced to cancel a couple. Once the item went missing, it was never found. I kept all my eBay items in one spot and I noticed that a necklace was not were I put it. I could not find it and did not have what I needed to remake it. So I had to cancel the listing. What made it hard on me was that I had some good bids on it already. I ended up loosing the sale and still had to pay the insertion fee.
I was very lucky that I noticed it before there was less the 12 hours remaining on the auction and was able to cancel the listing. Other wise I would have had to manually cancel every bid on the necklace right up until the auction was over. That would have been difficult because people bid right up to the last second.
I explained to everyone that had a bid that the necklace was missing so I was cancelling the auction. This way they knew before they received an email from eBay saying their bid was cancelled. Once they knew I would not sell anything unless I had it right there people were ok about it. Not happy, but understood that I did not want to take the chance of selling them some thing I did not have. Good thing I did that as I never did find the necklace.
There are some very strict rules for when you can cancel an eBay listing. EBay does not like it when you cancel a listing and keeps a close eye on why people cancel a listing. Some people have cancelled listings because the bids were not as high as they wanted. So they would cancel the listing, and re-list hopping to get higher bids. That is what a reserve price is for. When people do this eBay sees it as reserve fee circumvention and will investigate if they feel some one is abusing the system to save that fee.
So how do you cancel an eBay listing? First you find the item number, you can get it from your confirmation email, the My eBay page, or the listing View Item Page. Then type the item number into the End My Listing Early form. If there are bids you will have to choose between cancel bids and end listing early or sell the item to the current highest bidder and end listing early. Then you choose the reason for ending the listing early.
OK reasons for ending the listing:
The item is no longer available for sale; changed your mind.
There was an error on the starting price or reserve amount; typo and not checking before posting.
There was an error in the listing; usually you can make a change unless it is under 12 hrs before the auction ends.
The item was lost or broken; the most common reason to end an auction, it happens to everyone some time or another.
Once you have done that the listing will end and is not displayed on eBay and any bidders are emailed that their bid will be cancelled.
This is not some thing you want to ever have to do. You loose sales and sometimes customers. People are less likely to bid on your items if you have cancelled an auction on them before. If I had found the necklace I would have re-listed it and emailed the people who had bids on it to let them know it was available again. Because of the way I handled it they may have been willing to bid again, but maybe not. I could have damaged my customer relations and lost their trust. It shows poor business skills if you cannot keep track of your product, or did not proof read your ad before posting. On the other hand it did show my integrity that I would not take the chance of selling something I no longer had.
Source: eBay
Showing posts with label Selling on eBay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Selling on eBay. Show all posts
Friday, January 25, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
How Go Up in The Food Chain
This article takes about the way to by wholesale clothing in small quantities less and sell them on eBay.
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Ebay Complaints and Ebay Seller Feedback
Ebay Censors Member with 100% Perfect Feedback record from posting any messages on Discussion Boards
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THIS is how eBay works. [PIC]
Seriously eBay, you should of banned that username. Ownage, literally; considering the scammer now owns those things.
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Formula: Ebay + Smart purchases + Hard Work = Fast Cash
I don’t know about you but I get sick and tired of all the dumb get rich schemes out there. If you want to make serious money with Ebay then the most important thing is getting a good product dirt cheap. This is why I go to local auctions especially
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Sterling Silver Dragon Celtic Knot Work Ring Size 8 1/2
EBay auction. I love this Dragon ring with Celtic knot work. It is a good thing it is not my size lol.
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Sterling Silver Chain link Ring Size 8 925 9.25 NEW
EBay auction. This one is kind of cool because the ring moves with you, the links are flexible.
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Sunday, December 30, 2007
How to deal with buyer fraud on eBay
We got burned big time selling on eBay. We learned a lot of what not to do from this and stories from other people. I have put our story in so you know that these things really happen and are not urban myths. I have also taken the information I received from 100’s of people burned on eBay, both sellers and buyers, and used it to give you an idea of what happens and how to keep it from happening to you. If you are going to sell on eBay you need to know how to deal with buyer fraud on eBay. The best thing to do is to prevent it because it is very difficult to fix once it happens.
We put my Grandmothers ring on just before Mothers day. We got an email asking if we would be willing to ship that day as the person wanted it for Mothers day. The person had been on eBay for years and had a 100% rating. They were using Paypal to pay so we felt it would be secure. We said yes. They paid the $1116.00 right away. Once the payment was processed we took the ring to Fedex. By by ring. The next day about 24 hrs after the transaction Paypal notifies us that the transaction was fraudulent. We were one of about 10 people hit all on the same day all for rings worth about $1000.00 to $2000.00, ours was apprised over $1800.00.
Some one had gotten into another persons eBay and Paypal account and then used them to buy items. So we contacted Fedex to put a return to sender on it. It had already made it to customs and we would not be able to get it back until it cleared customs at the other end. At this point in time we were out the $116.00 it cost us to ship it.
Then we get a call from Fedex. The stop shipment order never made it to the ring. The person it was delivered to refuse to pay the Indonesian custom charges. Indonesian customs would not release the ring unless some one paid the $381.00 custom charges. Fedex explained to them that there was a stop shipment on the item and it should never have made it to customs. Indonesian customs response, not their problem, the custom charges had to be paid or they confiscate the ring to pay the charges.
We spent a week talking with Fedex trying to sort this out. We were told to pay the custom fees or we would never see the ring again. We agreed to pay. To help us, Fedex agreed to pay for the custom fees and then bill us so we could make monthly payments. Ring was to show up on a Tuesday. That day, no ring. We decide to wait until Wednesday afternoon before calling Fedex. Wednesday morning we get a call from Fedex. The Indonesian customs now wants over $900 for us to get the ring back, they had added about $600.00 in storage and handling fees for the week we were talking to Fedex.
Fedex stepped in at this point and said “no way”. They started negotiations and after about a month they were able to get the Indonesian Government to step in. We still had to pay the initial custom charges of $381.00 though. So by selling my Grandmothers ring on eBay we were out $497.00. The other sellers lost the rings. The person who bought them asked that they put a low value on the ring so they would not be charged the custom fees, so the rings were delivered right to them. Others lost them to the Indonesian customs because the customs fee was so high. We were the only ones to get the ring back. This person did get away with it, and nothing will be done to them.
Did we contact eBay and Paypal over this? Yes! We had to use emails though as there seems to be no way to contact them any other way. The end result was they refunded us our insertion fee and final auction fee. That is all they do for sellers. There is no protection for sellers, just buyers. That was it. EBay did nothing for us, even though some one had used a legitimate eBay account. Paypal at lest looked into it. About a month after they had contacted us about the possible fraudulent transaction they let us know that it was a fraudulent transaction. That was it. No explanation for how this happened, and no help with the debt we now have because of the sale.
We learned from this experience. If some thing seems to good to be true, it is. Hold all Paypal transactions for at least 3 days to make sure it is a legitimate purchase, then ship item. Do not list large ticket items or items you are not willing to loose. We do not sell on eBay anymore.
We shared out story with quite a few people and were told quite a few other eBay horror stories. Most are from sellers. Why, because eBay does nothing to protect sellers, just buyers and then only for 30 days. Common buyer stories, items were purchased, product was never shipped, and not the item bid on, did not work or was damaged. As long as it was with in 30 days eBay would negotiate for a new product to be shipped or money refunded. Paypal is best to use when buying because if you don’t receive the product ordered you can cancel the transaction with in 30 days and get your money back.
None of this does the buyer any good it the seller was using some one else’s account, fraudulently posting items for sale and then never shipping. You never know who actually put the item out for sale. The person whose account was used usually has no idea who or even how some one posted listings on their account. Another one is to open an eBay account list lots of products, get the payments and shut down the account.
This has been happening a lot. They have you send the money through Western Union and you never see the product or your money back. As a buyer you need to make sure you read the whole ad. If it says “as is” then what you get is it, and chances are it does not work or is damaged. If there is no shipping and handling fee listed, do not bid until you know what the cost is. I had one person charge me $10.00 shipping and handling for a $1.00 item that only cost $2.00 to ship. Check every thing out, and if you have any questions get them answered using the eBay emails so there is a record of the emails right on eBay.
Sellers get hit harder and more often then buyers. People will send bad cheques, which is why you never ship until the cheque clears. The most common scam is people get the product and then say they never received it and expect you to send more products or refund the money. You pay extra to have items insured and signature required when product is delivered. It may cost you more but it stops people from being able to say they never received it. And if they actually did not well then the insurance you paid for should cover that, it was a delivery service problem.
People will claim the product was damaged when received. Always take a picture of product before you send it, and again insure it so that if the shipping company damages it it is their problem. You have to get a picture of the product showing the damage when the person receives item. The problem sellers have is that they damage the item on purpose, or have a similar item damaged and claim it is the same one. This was a problem an eBay seller selling laptops was having. He recorded and photographed all numbers on the laptop and was able to prove several times that the item people claimed to be the one he shipped to them was not the same one.
Another scam he came across was people would receive his product, scratch it up, take a picture of it and claim it was received “damaged” or not as advertised in the eBay ad. It was always cosmetic damage. They would then email him and say refund me half the money because the product was damaged or I will give you a bad review for sending damaged goods. This one there is no real way to protect yourself from. You don’t give them the money they try to trash your reputation. Your only recourse is to refute the damage claim through eBay feedback.
We put my Grandmothers ring on just before Mothers day. We got an email asking if we would be willing to ship that day as the person wanted it for Mothers day. The person had been on eBay for years and had a 100% rating. They were using Paypal to pay so we felt it would be secure. We said yes. They paid the $1116.00 right away. Once the payment was processed we took the ring to Fedex. By by ring. The next day about 24 hrs after the transaction Paypal notifies us that the transaction was fraudulent. We were one of about 10 people hit all on the same day all for rings worth about $1000.00 to $2000.00, ours was apprised over $1800.00.
Some one had gotten into another persons eBay and Paypal account and then used them to buy items. So we contacted Fedex to put a return to sender on it. It had already made it to customs and we would not be able to get it back until it cleared customs at the other end. At this point in time we were out the $116.00 it cost us to ship it.
Then we get a call from Fedex. The stop shipment order never made it to the ring. The person it was delivered to refuse to pay the Indonesian custom charges. Indonesian customs would not release the ring unless some one paid the $381.00 custom charges. Fedex explained to them that there was a stop shipment on the item and it should never have made it to customs. Indonesian customs response, not their problem, the custom charges had to be paid or they confiscate the ring to pay the charges.
We spent a week talking with Fedex trying to sort this out. We were told to pay the custom fees or we would never see the ring again. We agreed to pay. To help us, Fedex agreed to pay for the custom fees and then bill us so we could make monthly payments. Ring was to show up on a Tuesday. That day, no ring. We decide to wait until Wednesday afternoon before calling Fedex. Wednesday morning we get a call from Fedex. The Indonesian customs now wants over $900 for us to get the ring back, they had added about $600.00 in storage and handling fees for the week we were talking to Fedex.
Fedex stepped in at this point and said “no way”. They started negotiations and after about a month they were able to get the Indonesian Government to step in. We still had to pay the initial custom charges of $381.00 though. So by selling my Grandmothers ring on eBay we were out $497.00. The other sellers lost the rings. The person who bought them asked that they put a low value on the ring so they would not be charged the custom fees, so the rings were delivered right to them. Others lost them to the Indonesian customs because the customs fee was so high. We were the only ones to get the ring back. This person did get away with it, and nothing will be done to them.
Did we contact eBay and Paypal over this? Yes! We had to use emails though as there seems to be no way to contact them any other way. The end result was they refunded us our insertion fee and final auction fee. That is all they do for sellers. There is no protection for sellers, just buyers. That was it. EBay did nothing for us, even though some one had used a legitimate eBay account. Paypal at lest looked into it. About a month after they had contacted us about the possible fraudulent transaction they let us know that it was a fraudulent transaction. That was it. No explanation for how this happened, and no help with the debt we now have because of the sale.
We learned from this experience. If some thing seems to good to be true, it is. Hold all Paypal transactions for at least 3 days to make sure it is a legitimate purchase, then ship item. Do not list large ticket items or items you are not willing to loose. We do not sell on eBay anymore.
We shared out story with quite a few people and were told quite a few other eBay horror stories. Most are from sellers. Why, because eBay does nothing to protect sellers, just buyers and then only for 30 days. Common buyer stories, items were purchased, product was never shipped, and not the item bid on, did not work or was damaged. As long as it was with in 30 days eBay would negotiate for a new product to be shipped or money refunded. Paypal is best to use when buying because if you don’t receive the product ordered you can cancel the transaction with in 30 days and get your money back.
None of this does the buyer any good it the seller was using some one else’s account, fraudulently posting items for sale and then never shipping. You never know who actually put the item out for sale. The person whose account was used usually has no idea who or even how some one posted listings on their account. Another one is to open an eBay account list lots of products, get the payments and shut down the account.
This has been happening a lot. They have you send the money through Western Union and you never see the product or your money back. As a buyer you need to make sure you read the whole ad. If it says “as is” then what you get is it, and chances are it does not work or is damaged. If there is no shipping and handling fee listed, do not bid until you know what the cost is. I had one person charge me $10.00 shipping and handling for a $1.00 item that only cost $2.00 to ship. Check every thing out, and if you have any questions get them answered using the eBay emails so there is a record of the emails right on eBay.
Sellers get hit harder and more often then buyers. People will send bad cheques, which is why you never ship until the cheque clears. The most common scam is people get the product and then say they never received it and expect you to send more products or refund the money. You pay extra to have items insured and signature required when product is delivered. It may cost you more but it stops people from being able to say they never received it. And if they actually did not well then the insurance you paid for should cover that, it was a delivery service problem.
People will claim the product was damaged when received. Always take a picture of product before you send it, and again insure it so that if the shipping company damages it it is their problem. You have to get a picture of the product showing the damage when the person receives item. The problem sellers have is that they damage the item on purpose, or have a similar item damaged and claim it is the same one. This was a problem an eBay seller selling laptops was having. He recorded and photographed all numbers on the laptop and was able to prove several times that the item people claimed to be the one he shipped to them was not the same one.
Another scam he came across was people would receive his product, scratch it up, take a picture of it and claim it was received “damaged” or not as advertised in the eBay ad. It was always cosmetic damage. They would then email him and say refund me half the money because the product was damaged or I will give you a bad review for sending damaged goods. This one there is no real way to protect yourself from. You don’t give them the money they try to trash your reputation. Your only recourse is to refute the damage claim through eBay feedback.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
5 ways to make money on ebay
This is for those who are still willing to try and make some money on eBay. This is some good advice on eBay selling. Make sure you still play is safe, don't get taken.
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Yet Another Reason Why eBay Is A Total Joke
I can’t believe eBay is still in business considering the huge number of scams that seem to pervade the site like flies on you-know-what. Just this past week I attempted to use eBay to auction off two notebook computers and quickly discovered that this was an impossible task thanks to all the scammers who now appear to have almost complete control of the site. Yes, you heard that right. Complete control. The way these scammers work is they send you an email asking to purchase your item outside of eBay, then when you won’t bite they hose your auction using a hacked account effectively preventing you from making a legitimate sale and at the same time sticking you with huge sellers fees from eBay. Don’t believe me? Here is the proof.
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Monday, November 26, 2007
A seller's experience - eBay story
Hi,
I used to be a prolific seller on Ebay. My specialty was kids' used clothing, but I also sold the occasional collectible or miscellaneous junk I picked up at yard sales. I still love to *buy* on Ebay, but I have given up selling. I was screwed more as a seller than I ever was or have been as a buyer. My horror story is below, after a few "bitching points."
First, I had problems with people who failed to read auctions. There is no fail-safe way to keep someone from leaving an unfair negative or neutral because they were stupid and didn't read the auction description or terms of the auction. There's nothing worse than explicitly listing something in an auction, only to see it as the main reason for a negative or neutral feedback. There's no way to reverse it, no way for you to be able to click the "bad feedback because this person didn't read the auction" button.
Second, there are shipping problems. There are people who will bitch and gripe if you did not charge them the precise dollar amount listed on the label when you ship something. You'll never hear anything if you *undercharge* them.
Third, shipper/carrier issues. I got to the point I flat refused to ship anything via UPS. Overall, they do a great job, but locally, every single item I either received or shipped with them was ruined. Slow transit times, increases in costs to ship, and problems with verification methods were a few issues I encountered.
Now, to my horror story. This is about eBay's VERO program that is supposed to prevent copyright infringement: I bought some purses wholesale (as a trial to see how they would do) and had them listed on eBay. I didn't have them listed as a brand, but instead as a generic title like "bathing beauties summer purse." I received an auction cancellation notice. Why? Because some purse manufacturer claimed that my purses violated their copyright and were infringing on their business. I protested and fought, but there wasn't much I could do. There was no protestation clause, no arbitration that I could go through, not even a dispute resolution process (like they have with Paypal). They just took down my auction, and that's that. I was warned to not put it up again... not even with a more generic title.
Did I violate the copyright? NO!! The purses I had featured tropical print with ladies wearing 1950's type bathing suits. The person who filed the VERO complaint also sold purses with women in bathing suits, superimposed on a tropical background. That's where the similarity stopped. My background print was a different color, different flowers, different design... different everything. Their item had a very specific background print, specific colors, and the bathing beauties were from a totally different era (1980s women in string bikinis with very modern hairstyles, etc.). The only resemblance was women in bathing suits with a tropical motif made into a purse.
There were literally THOUSANDS of other items on eBay that had very similar prints, and a few had the exact same print as *my* purses, but they were still up. as auctions. Why was mine chosen? Because the other items were shirts, totes, etc., but mine was a purse.
My feeling, at the time, was that the entity that filed the VERO complaint did it as a bullying tactic. They used it as a method to "knock out the competition." At the time my situation happened, there was no governing body to even check and make sure that the complaint was legitimate. All it took was for someone to file a complaint against you, and your auction was taken down, and you had a strike against you for "copyright infringement," even though the items being sold could have absolutely nothing in common.
Something similar happened to a cousin of mine who makes purses. She took a T-shirt that had our local college's team logo on it and turned it into a satchel purse.... a craft item. Her auction was ended on a VERO complaint. She, too, protested it (to the person who filed the complaint; eBay was unavailable for comment). After all, the shirt was for sale, she paid for it, and made it into a purse. What was the problem? The school claimed that was not the intended use for the shirt, and her auction was pulled. No place to argue. The school didn't make purses and didn't sell totes, so there was no competition. The local Wal-Mart had fabric featuring the school's logo, which could be turned into a tote with no problem, but no.... the item made with the T-shirt had to come down.
I believe eBay has since changed their method of determining a VERO violation and requires that a link be provided to the auction, along with a specific reason why the complaint is being filed. However, some of the complaints were so ludicrous that it actually took some people out of business. They were being constantly bombarded for VERO complaints that were untrue.
The VERO issue was just one of many selling experiences that caused me to have a bad taste in my mouth, and I finally gave it up. I will occasionally sell things I have around the house (and I need to do that soon); however, eBay's fee structure is such that the local resale shop is starting to sound like a better deal.
You have a nice blog, and have done a good job. Sorry if I was too wordy, but I have so much excess baggage I'm carrying around about my selling experience that I would love to tell eBay's powers that be what I think about their policies. Insurance is definitely needed for sellers, too!
A seller's experience
I used to be a prolific seller on Ebay. My specialty was kids' used clothing, but I also sold the occasional collectible or miscellaneous junk I picked up at yard sales. I still love to *buy* on Ebay, but I have given up selling. I was screwed more as a seller than I ever was or have been as a buyer. My horror story is below, after a few "bitching points."
First, I had problems with people who failed to read auctions. There is no fail-safe way to keep someone from leaving an unfair negative or neutral because they were stupid and didn't read the auction description or terms of the auction. There's nothing worse than explicitly listing something in an auction, only to see it as the main reason for a negative or neutral feedback. There's no way to reverse it, no way for you to be able to click the "bad feedback because this person didn't read the auction" button.
Second, there are shipping problems. There are people who will bitch and gripe if you did not charge them the precise dollar amount listed on the label when you ship something. You'll never hear anything if you *undercharge* them.
Third, shipper/carrier issues. I got to the point I flat refused to ship anything via UPS. Overall, they do a great job, but locally, every single item I either received or shipped with them was ruined. Slow transit times, increases in costs to ship, and problems with verification methods were a few issues I encountered.
Now, to my horror story. This is about eBay's VERO program that is supposed to prevent copyright infringement: I bought some purses wholesale (as a trial to see how they would do) and had them listed on eBay. I didn't have them listed as a brand, but instead as a generic title like "bathing beauties summer purse." I received an auction cancellation notice. Why? Because some purse manufacturer claimed that my purses violated their copyright and were infringing on their business. I protested and fought, but there wasn't much I could do. There was no protestation clause, no arbitration that I could go through, not even a dispute resolution process (like they have with Paypal). They just took down my auction, and that's that. I was warned to not put it up again... not even with a more generic title.
Did I violate the copyright? NO!! The purses I had featured tropical print with ladies wearing 1950's type bathing suits. The person who filed the VERO complaint also sold purses with women in bathing suits, superimposed on a tropical background. That's where the similarity stopped. My background print was a different color, different flowers, different design... different everything. Their item had a very specific background print, specific colors, and the bathing beauties were from a totally different era (1980s women in string bikinis with very modern hairstyles, etc.). The only resemblance was women in bathing suits with a tropical motif made into a purse.
There were literally THOUSANDS of other items on eBay that had very similar prints, and a few had the exact same print as *my* purses, but they were still up. as auctions. Why was mine chosen? Because the other items were shirts, totes, etc., but mine was a purse.
My feeling, at the time, was that the entity that filed the VERO complaint did it as a bullying tactic. They used it as a method to "knock out the competition." At the time my situation happened, there was no governing body to even check and make sure that the complaint was legitimate. All it took was for someone to file a complaint against you, and your auction was taken down, and you had a strike against you for "copyright infringement," even though the items being sold could have absolutely nothing in common.
Something similar happened to a cousin of mine who makes purses. She took a T-shirt that had our local college's team logo on it and turned it into a satchel purse.... a craft item. Her auction was ended on a VERO complaint. She, too, protested it (to the person who filed the complaint; eBay was unavailable for comment). After all, the shirt was for sale, she paid for it, and made it into a purse. What was the problem? The school claimed that was not the intended use for the shirt, and her auction was pulled. No place to argue. The school didn't make purses and didn't sell totes, so there was no competition. The local Wal-Mart had fabric featuring the school's logo, which could be turned into a tote with no problem, but no.... the item made with the T-shirt had to come down.
I believe eBay has since changed their method of determining a VERO violation and requires that a link be provided to the auction, along with a specific reason why the complaint is being filed. However, some of the complaints were so ludicrous that it actually took some people out of business. They were being constantly bombarded for VERO complaints that were untrue.
The VERO issue was just one of many selling experiences that caused me to have a bad taste in my mouth, and I finally gave it up. I will occasionally sell things I have around the house (and I need to do that soon); however, eBay's fee structure is such that the local resale shop is starting to sound like a better deal.
You have a nice blog, and have done a good job. Sorry if I was too wordy, but I have so much excess baggage I'm carrying around about my selling experience that I would love to tell eBay's powers that be what I think about their policies. Insurance is definitely needed for sellers, too!
A seller's experience
Saturday, November 24, 2007
eBay has made some changes but is it enough?
I have noticed that eBay has made some changes to try and keep people selling and buying. I find it interesting that they still do not have any type of insurance for the sellers though. I do know that fewer people are selling and from the amount of advertising going on there are probably fewer people buying. I still will not sell on eBay again but I am willing to look at buying again. The last person I bought from did not ship the item, kept saying they got it back in the mail. Then when it got past the 30 days they would not return our emails. So we figured we were out our $6.00 and gave them a negative rating. The person responded to that. Gave us our money back and a negative rating.
I used to love hunting for things on eBay. Now I check the rate every one has and what the shipping cost and handling cost is going to be before I am willing to bid. I like that they have more information in the rating system now. I think that this is all for the good. EBay was to easy a mark for thieves. Some thing had to be done. I find that if you give a criminal an opening they will take it.
The real problem is that eBay was one of the world’s biggest market place. You could actually get some great deals, or get ride of your junk. I love garage sales and eBay was just one big one. I do think that if you are careful it can still be a good place to buy. However I am not sure what changes eBay could possibly do to make it safer to sell. At this point you must have a large company and can afford the cost of not selling an item as well as absorbing the occasional theft. Or you must sell items that do not have a high theft rate. If you don’t fit in that category you probably are not going to try and sell on eBay.
The other problem is that you can no longer use eBay to do direct marketing. It was great when you could make reference to your website. That way people would look at your items, possibly buy or bid and check out your web site. It was a good way to get your retail web site known. It was cost effective for the most part. Both eBay and your business benefited. Then eBay changed the rules, no more referencing your retail web site. Now I can still send my business card or put my web site address on the invoice to try and capture a client from an eBay customer. It is not as affective as having my web site address in my eBay ads. I used to look at my ads on eBay as an advertising expense. Not any more. There are much more cost effective ways to advertise then selling on eBay.
There are a lot of other auction sites and free retail web sites out there now. EBay has some real competition now. The only way I can see eBay bringing back the volume of sellers is to put some type of insurance protection for the sellers. I don’t think people would have a problem paying a small percentage of the end price to have some type of insurance. EBay also needs to let people advertise their stores or retail web sites on their listings. More people would be willing to sell or at lest list on eBay again with those changes. EBay needs to remember that with out the sellers, they have no business. If no one is willing to sell, there is nothing for people to buy, no money for eBay.
I used to love hunting for things on eBay. Now I check the rate every one has and what the shipping cost and handling cost is going to be before I am willing to bid. I like that they have more information in the rating system now. I think that this is all for the good. EBay was to easy a mark for thieves. Some thing had to be done. I find that if you give a criminal an opening they will take it.
The real problem is that eBay was one of the world’s biggest market place. You could actually get some great deals, or get ride of your junk. I love garage sales and eBay was just one big one. I do think that if you are careful it can still be a good place to buy. However I am not sure what changes eBay could possibly do to make it safer to sell. At this point you must have a large company and can afford the cost of not selling an item as well as absorbing the occasional theft. Or you must sell items that do not have a high theft rate. If you don’t fit in that category you probably are not going to try and sell on eBay.
The other problem is that you can no longer use eBay to do direct marketing. It was great when you could make reference to your website. That way people would look at your items, possibly buy or bid and check out your web site. It was a good way to get your retail web site known. It was cost effective for the most part. Both eBay and your business benefited. Then eBay changed the rules, no more referencing your retail web site. Now I can still send my business card or put my web site address on the invoice to try and capture a client from an eBay customer. It is not as affective as having my web site address in my eBay ads. I used to look at my ads on eBay as an advertising expense. Not any more. There are much more cost effective ways to advertise then selling on eBay.
There are a lot of other auction sites and free retail web sites out there now. EBay has some real competition now. The only way I can see eBay bringing back the volume of sellers is to put some type of insurance protection for the sellers. I don’t think people would have a problem paying a small percentage of the end price to have some type of insurance. EBay also needs to let people advertise their stores or retail web sites on their listings. More people would be willing to sell or at lest list on eBay again with those changes. EBay needs to remember that with out the sellers, they have no business. If no one is willing to sell, there is nothing for people to buy, no money for eBay.
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