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WHAT IS E-BAY'S BIGGEST PROBLEM?

SciotoScioto Posts: 955 ✭
in U.S. Coin Forum
In your opinion what is e-Bay's biggest problem?

I don't have an account but reading here it seems like the Bay has some areas in need of attention.

What do they need to address?

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Comments

  • COINB0YCOINB0Y Posts: 4,505
    1.) Fees

    2.) Lack of anyone you can talk to.

    3.) No Meaningful Competition (which would solve Problems #1 & 2)
  • jmski52jmski52 Posts: 23,956 ✭✭✭✭✭
    1.) Fees

    2.) Lack of anyone you can talk to.

    3.) No Meaningful Competition (which would solve Problems #1 & 2)

    What Coinboy said. And,

    4.) No Meaningful Problem Resolution for shilling & feedback blackmail.
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    I knew it would happen.
  • ilikebuffaloesilikebuffaloes Posts: 711


    << <i>1.) Fees

    2.) Lack of anyone you can talk to.

    3.) No Meaningful Competition (which would solve Problems #1 & 2) >>



    4.) Better policy for fraud including contacting law enforcement (FBI, Secret Service, etc.) so these people are prosecuted when they pull their scams.
    I'd keep playing. I don't think the heavy stuff will be coming down for quite a while!
  • ziggy29ziggy29 Posts: 18,669 ✭✭✭
    Agreed with the fraud. They're more likely to shut down a good seller who is one day late in paying their fees than they are in shutting down people who sell obviously fake coins.

    Also, 98% of the coins for sale are mostly junk, which helps cause the other 2% to be bid up to the stratosphere.
  • bushmaster8bushmaster8 Posts: 5,616 ✭
    Retaliatory feedback. It is "prohibited", but in reality Ebay does absolutely nothing to stop it.
    "Wars are really ugly! They're dirty
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  • notwilightnotwilight Posts: 12,864 ✭✭✭
    The perception that all the sellers and buyers are scammers. 99.9% of my transactions are smooth and easy.
  • WaterSportWaterSport Posts: 7,034 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Its no longer a blue collar exchange, its just Business and marketing BS.

    WS
    Proud recipient of the coveted PCGS Forum "You Suck" Award Thursday July 19, 2007 11:33 PM and December 30th, 2011 at 8:50 PM.
  • MichiganMichigan Posts: 4,942 ✭
    All that has been mentioned and they need to make more of an effort to attract NEW first time bidders. I think they have reached a sort of critical mass in this regard, there comes a point I think where nearly everyone interested in bidding online is doing it and things begin to
    stagnate without a steady influx of new people.
  • IrishMikeIrishMike Posts: 7,737 ✭✭✭
    Failure to enforce their own rules. For example there were 2 1909 IHC's that were on the block and both sellers included PCGS in their titles and both coins were raw. Furthermore one of the auctions referenced PCGS in the description relative to their price guide. Both auctions went to completion, one coin not meeting reserve and someone paying $182 for a raw 1909.
  • LokiLoki Posts: 897 ✭✭
    4) Refusing to allow online payment alternatives other than Paypal on their site.
    Has ebay been legally challenged for this policy? Is this not a monopoly?

    5) Refusing to reimburse sellers for featured item fees if a listing does not sell due to non-paying bidders.
    This may not the biggest problem but it is a contibuting factor to the perceived notion that ebay is very greedy.
  • RichieURichRichieURich Posts: 8,621 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>1.) Fees

    2.) Lack of anyone you can talk to.

    3.) No Meaningful Competition (which would solve Problems #1 & 2) >>



    4.) Better policy for fraud including contacting law enforcement (FBI, Secret Service, etc.) so these people are prosecuted when they pull their scams. >>



    Agree, especially with #4. But the perception is that all eBay cares about is their fees, so they do very little to pull bad auctions and ban bad sellers unless prodded.

    An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.

  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 47,509 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Retaliatory feedback. It is "prohibited", but in reality Ebay does absolutely nothing to stop it. >>



    EBay could solve this problem quite easily. Feedback could only be left in the 30 day period after the close of the auction. Hide all feedback until both the seller and the buyer leave their feedback. If, after 30 days, one party leaves feedback and the other doesn't, show the feedback of the one that left feedback and disallow the one that didn't leave feedback from then leaving feedback. Problem solved---no retaliatory feedback. Does this make sense or am I missing something?



    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
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  • STONESTONE Posts: 15,275 ✭
    Pretty much fees and counterfeit coin detection.
  • ebaytraderebaytrader Posts: 3,312 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Failure to enforce their own rules. >>




    There, you have it in a nutshell!




    << <i>4) Refusing to allow online payment alternatives other than Paypal on their site.
    Has ebay been legally challenged for this policy? Is this not a monopoly? >>



    Here's a fun fact for y'all. Google Checkout offers the exact same protections as PayPal. The reason it's not allowed on eBay? Google Checkout is FEE FREE for sellers through the end of the year. PayPal is eBay's only growing profit center. GCO would kill it.


  • MrBeastMrBeast Posts: 132


    << <i>4) Refusing to allow online payment alternatives other than Paypal on their site. >>



    Couldn't agree more!



    << <i>5) Refusing to reimburse sellers for featured item fees if a listing does not sell due to non-paying bidders.
    This may not the biggest problem but it is a contibuting factor to the perceived notion that ebay is very greedy. >>



    I believe that they are about to offer these refunds to powersellers.
  • CladiatorCladiator Posts: 18,343 ✭✭✭✭✭
    PowerScrewers and eBay bias towards them.
  • OPAOPA Posts: 17,160 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>4) Refusing to allow online payment alternatives other than Paypal on their site.
    Has ebay been legally challenged for this policy? Is this not a monopoly?

    5) Refusing to reimburse sellers for featured item fees if a listing does not sell due to non-paying bidders.
    This may not the biggest problem but it is a contibuting factor to the perceived notion that ebay is very greedy. >>




    4) Hmmm....eBay does allow payments to be made via BidPay...
    5) Looks like that may change... eBay Link
    "Bongo drive 1984 Lincoln that looks like old coin dug from ground."
  • ShortgapbobShortgapbob Posts: 2,332 ✭✭✭
    I think the largest problems on ebay are:

    1. The major Powersellers with seemingly good feedback at first glance, but who are scam artists in reality.

    2. The lack of significant efforts to keep counterfeit and altered coins off of the auction site.

    3. Lack of auction regulations with self-slabbers and other garbage slabs.

    One thing I honestly think eBay has gotten somewhat better with is making an effort to pull auctions where keyword spamming occurs.
    "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." -- Aristotle

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  • 57loaded57loaded Posts: 4,967 ✭✭✭


    << <i>All that has been mentioned and they need to make more of an effort to attract NEW first time bidders. I think they have reached a sort of critical mass in this regard, there comes a point I think where nearly everyone interested in bidding online is doing it and things begin to
    stagnate without a steady influx of new people. >>



    Correct. Their recent report showed no growth in new members in their biggest markets.

    It's no longer a garage sale on the ineternet.
  • sonoranmonsoonsonoranmonsoon Posts: 2,078 ✭✭
    Actually, Ebay does not really have many problems right now. It is the Sellers that have the problems with Ebay. I think the number one problem from our point of view is lack of true competition. If there was a serious competetor providing decent competition, then many of the other problems we have with ebay would improve.
  • CasmanCasman Posts: 3,935 ✭✭
    I wouldn't mind Feedback ratings for buyers, to level the playing field.
  • ziggy29ziggy29 Posts: 18,669 ✭✭✭


    << <i>I wouldn't mind Feedback ratings for buyers, to level the playing field. >>

    Yeah, but I can only think of two categories to rate a buyer on: prompt payment and not trying to jerk the seller around with unreasonable requests and demands.
  • slipgateslipgate Posts: 2,301 ✭✭
    They are too big for their britches. They have always been anti-gun, but they recently stepped that up a notch by banning all gun related sales instead of just the firearm itself. In short, they need new leadership.

    I agree with the feedback suggestion for the 30 day hidden window - great idea!

    The other problem is that it is not a place for bargains anymore, it is a way of life and storefront for retail businesses. It is not possible to filter out the store fronts from the average Joe seller. You are better off going to Amazon for most items.
    My Registry Sets! PCGS Registry
  • RussRuss Posts: 48,514 ✭✭✭
    At first blush, I was going to say fraud was the biggest problem. Upon further reflection, though, it really isn't. Outright fraud is actually a small percentage of sales and is usually easy to detect. The biggest problem is "near" fraud. Stuff like over-hyping, deceptive images, descriptions that deliberately ignore material facts, shipping over-charges, etc. I think sleazy practices that technically don't quite cross the line hurt eBay buyers more than anything else.

    As for fees, get over it. Operating a business costs money.

    Russ, NCNE
    eBay consignment sales | | Collectibles from Resco CCC
  • CasmanCasman Posts: 3,935 ✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>I wouldn't mind Feedback ratings for buyers, to level the playing field. >>

    Yeah, but I can only think of two categories to rate a buyer on: prompt payment and not trying to jerk the seller around with unreasonable requests and demands. >>



    I can think of 3, some of which can be filled out automatically, Payment, checkout, and communication.
  • ziggy29ziggy29 Posts: 18,669 ✭✭✭


    << <i>The biggest problem is "near" fraud. Stuff like over-hyping, deceptive images, descriptions that deliberately ignore material facts, shipping over-charges, etc. >>

    And "certified" junk in third-world slabs as well as self-slabbers using Coin World holders while quoting the PCGS price guide.

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