Updated Poll: eBay sellers only--with announced changes, how do you rate eBay now?

53BKid · February 1, 2008 10:40PM

Simple poll for sellers on eBay--with the changes eBay announced this week, please rate your satisfaction currently.

Please elaborate

Leiascards · February 1, 2008 11:58PM

As with any changes if you want to keep selling on Ebay you either Adjust or Die. I am not changing anything I will still keep my feedback left to automatic which only leaves after I recieve it.

I am becoming more in favor of a shared BBL for the rare buyer that does use the new feedback framework for their benefit.

storm888 · February 2, 2008 3:03AM

"I am becoming more in favor of a shared BBL for the rare buyer that does use the new feedback framework for their benefit. "

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

http://ebaysellersunited.webs.com/reportabadbuyer.htm

That one does not seem to be particularly well done,
but there will be many professionally put together
before May.

A read of the posts made by hundreds of scummy buyers
on the EBAY discussion boards CLEARLY indicates that
the number of sellers who are unfairly trashed will not
be "rare."

Hopefully, the FB changes are just a red-herring that
is only being used to distract sellers from the impact
of the OUTRAGEOUS fee hikes, and will NEVER be
implemented. SCAM!!!

The DSR "FVF incentives" for PowerSellers are a JOKE.
None of the PSers will be able to maintain the 4.6/4.8
needed to qualify for the 5%/15% discounts. SCAM!!!

(The experts at AuctionBytes - and I - have done the
math on the DSR incentives. PSers will make 500% more
by raising mailing-fees slightly than they would by
qualifying for the FVF-incentives. Look for S&H fees to
escalate substantially.....NOT to decline. This is because
stupid/evil buyers continue to rate FREE S&H below 4.) SCAM!!!

EBAY is now in the hands of post-teenagers, who are
seeking their MBAs online and at night-school. They
have no understanding of how real-world business works.
They spout academic nonsense in defense of screwball
policies that even they cannot expalin. SCAM!!!

EBAY is nothing but an out-of-control RICO gang. They
have NO interest in stopping crime on the site; they
can ONLY exist as long as that crime flourishes. They
must, however, always appear to be trying to clean-up
the venue. SCAM!!!

Sellers who think everthing will be allright, are in for
a HUGE shock the first time their PayPal funds are
held for 21-days. The EBAY/PayPal explanation of
the scheme is extremely misleading. They can
ACTUALLY hold ANY SELLERS' funds for ANY reason.
They will make BILLIONS on the float. SCAM!!!

Small sellers will find it difficult to start new EBAY
ventures under the new scheme. Unless they are
the kind of well-capitalized BIG sellers that EBAY
wants to attract, they will ALL fail.

All of that said: EBAY stores are STILL the best online
business opportunity on the planet. It will now be
more expensive and involve higher risks, BUT it will
remain the best place to make money.

Also, collectible sellers have relatively little to worry
about. Collectible buyers. in general, are the best.
Buyers in the high-risk item categories - MOST of
my businesses - are where the problem is and
where it will get worse.

Changes I will make:

1. No more "FREE" S&H. (EBAY will now lose the
FVFs on my S&H).

2. Retail-prices hiked to cover fee-hikes. (This is not really
a change; sellers do this everytime there is a fee increase.)

3. I will discourage PayPal use by offering incentives to
use my own merchant accounts. I currently ONLY take PP,
across all categories of stores.

4. I will experiment with leaving NO feedback for anybody.

5. I will experiment with leaving FB upon payment in the collectible
category ONLY. (I did this for years, until the scamsters were
allowed to run wild.)

ALL things considered, I rate the joint a C+. Since they are
the ONLY game in town, I can live with them.... since I want
to play.

Blackborder · February 2, 2008 3:04AM

Same as before, they're in this to make money and couldn't care less about their customers. The new policies are just another iteration of that.

So, in the end, it's like everything else, you have to decide for yourself if it's worth using or not.

hankcaddy · February 2, 2008 3:21AM

not going to change anything

clydecoolidge · February 2, 2008 3:25AM

Agreed, either roll with the changes or roll out.

storm888 · February 2, 2008 3:26AM

Forgot to add some notes on the new "search" schemes.

1. DSR rates will determine your place in search.
Pro-sellers will be advantaged over occasional
sellers. Even sellers with poor DSRs will be advantaged
over sellers who have NO DSR profile.

Infrequent sellers will pay the same for the service,
but their items may be on page 100, while the items
of scummy sellers will be on page one. A DSR score
of 2 trumps a score of O in the search algo.

2. The "BestMatch" search scheme may well be the
thing that finally destroys EBAY. The next time you
see them testing it in BETA, you should all try
using it. It returns 100s of items that have ABSOLUTELY
NOTHING to do with the items you are looking for.

When buyers cannot find what they are looking for
on the first try, they head to Amazon is a flash.

3. EBAY also continues to sell click-ads to companies
that compete directly with EBAY sellers. You can
soon expect that such ads will be ALL OVER your
actual listing pages. Watch for it.

RawPlusSlabbed · February 2, 2008 3:40AM

If they keep this up, maybe we can go back to card shows. I enjoyed those days much better.

storm888 · February 2, 2008 3:59AM

"...maybe we can go back to card shows. .."

/////////////////////////////

Shows are GREAT.

BUT, 200-million+ potential buyers are better than 200+.

stevek · February 2, 2008 4:33AM

I am a silver powerseller on ebay.

I don't like the increase in the final value fees. Now with the powersellers, ebay will reduce those fees either 5% or 15% depending on your DSR - my other 3 DSR ratings are a solid 4.9 but on the shipping charges my DSR rating hovers between 4.7 and 4.8 - and my freight charges are about as fair as could possibly be...but of course buyers always want the freight cheaper and I can see why some buyers will give you high marks for the other 3 categories but bop you on the freight category in hopes you'll reduce the freight charges on future auctions - Well...I ain't reducing the freight charges because I break even on the freight charges. Ebay knows all this and knows it is going to be very hard to sell a lot of items, and be at 4.8% on the freight DSR. These ebay marketing bastiges know exactly what they are doing so basically they're throwing a 5% bone to the powersellers while increasing their fees much more that that. They're not fooling anybody...it's still FEEBAY.

Well - I can either take it or leave it, and like the good ebay lemming that I am...I'm taking it. I mean what the f* other choice is out there? How about nothing else, and Feebay knows that!

-

storm888 · February 2, 2008 4:47AM

"... I can see why some buyers will give you high marks for the other 3 categories
but bop you on the freight category in hopes you'll reduce the freight charges on
future auctions..."

///////////////////////////////

The IDIOT buyers are already leaving sub-4 DSRs on sellers who offer FREE shipping.

I doubt many PSers will even be able to get the 5% FVF-rebate, once the
bad buyers are further emboldened. (The incentives are based on 30-day
DSRs. One month you might get lucky, the next month you might not.)

Sellers will make MUCH more than 5% by raisng their S&H rates; rather than
trying to achieve an IMPOSSIBLE DSR. If buyers are going to rate FREE shipping
below 5, sellers might as well increase their S&H fees.

................................

EBAY.......NEG Victoriously

53BKid · February 3, 2008 12:24AM

From my perspective, I am BUYING a lot less cards than in the past due to eBay's fees.

How's that you may ask? Simple, I know that with the fees climbing higher and higher, buying cards profitably has become more risky. While I collect for fun, I essentially was willing to bid and or offer on most PSA graded '53 Bowmans listed on eBay. No longer, the potential for profit has been sucked out by the eBay and Pay Pal fees climbing ever higher.

So the past year or so I adjusted my bidding downward considerably.

crbatt · February 3, 2008 12:39AM

Like it or not, I agree with others that say it is what it is. People can complain for a few days but it won't change ebay buying/selling habits.

AlmostPerfect · February 22, 2008 5:20PM

their fee increases are for the birds.

stevek · February 22, 2008 6:51PM

I had my best week ever as a seller on ebay. I don't know if it was the boycott or not with less sellers, or just collectors getting more interested in cards with the baseball season coming up? - perhaps a bit of both.

Updated Poll: eBay sellers only--with announced changes, how do you rate eBay now?

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