05.19.08
Those crazy folks at Ebay…
I’ve been buying and selling on ebay for just over 8 years. I have had over 4500 transactions.
For years I would hear people complain about listing fees going up, how greedy Ebay has become and I would shrug it off because overall, I have had good luck with ebay. (Knock on wood).
But this last run of sales have been… annoying for me. Out of about 100 things listed, 10 people were giving me a hard time and three of them REALLY tried to manipulate me. One even said they were unhappy with the product and gave it away, so they couldn’t mail it back to me… but if I didn’t give them a refund, they would leave negative feedback. I thought the product and service was acceptable, especially for the bargain price they got the item at. So, I started feeling a little gun shy about the whole selling on Ebay experience.
Then today, Nathan was going to leave feedback on ebay for a seller and got this little pop-up window:
As a seller, being able to leave negative feedback for a buyer was my security net. If the buyer tried to pull a fast one or complain about something, we both knew I could leave negative “retaliatory” feedback. Ebay claims this would “scare” buyers into leaving positive feedback even when they were unsatisfied. Really? Before I purchase an item, I look at the feedback the seller has left for others… if it is smarmy, derogatory and full of *$#! symbols, I refrain from bidding. I also look at their positive feedback, for you know, clues. Ugh.
So, I read up more on the new Ebay feedback policies. Although, it’s sort of hard to understand, the bottom line is that buyers are encouraged to be more “vocal” about their buying experience, and sellers no longer have the ability to leave negative feedback for a buyer. Period. Sellers can, however, wade through the form-filling-out process and fill out “non-paying bidder” forms, “feedback extortion” forms and the like. I love forms, don’t you! Also, the way our feedback score is calculated is different. Normally, one negative feedback would not affect me, but now… if I even got ONE, my score would go down almost a full percentage point.
Sellers are complaining left and right. There are two things at work here… if your feedback rating goes under 98%, you can be dropped as a powerseller and/or your “good ebay seller” discounts can be revoked. Apparently, Ebay is going to revisit this issue in July… sort of let the dust settle and then figure out if they are going to downgrade the powersellers or not. Bottom line is, Ebay gets more money and sellers have less of a voice (those sellers are greedy anyway!)
So, the large guys selling the same stuff by the thousands may survive all the changes and fee hikes, but the little guy will not. Ebay once advertised that they sold “It”, whatever “it” was… well, in my opinion, the diversity of the Ebay marketplace is going to suffer severely for this. That “it” product at a good price is going to go away.
The other thing I noticed with this last batch of sales… people demand above and beyond your normal customer service. The items I sold were new (prices starting at 90-95% off of retail price) or gently used collectibles. I charged either shipping costs or below shipping costs with ZERO handling fees and I still got complaints on shipping costs or shipping time. When is the last time you purchased something online, got 90% off, a low shipping rate AND you got the item in less than a week?? I’m not sure where all these demands came from? Who is meeting this new customer service experience because I would LOVE to shop there! :)
Nathan pointed this model out to me once… really think about it.
1. Good… meaning, excellent quality, good condition, good shopping experience or good service.
2. Fast… meaning, delivered quickly, made quickly or on your doorstep immediately
3. Cheap… meaning, doesn’t cost a lot :)
Pick Two… because really, it’s hard to get all three. Any service… including food service…. it’s impossible to have all three.
For example…
Food. If you want it cheap and fast, chances are it’s not going to be any good.
Service. Let’s say you want fast service for something. If you get something fast and cheap, it’s probably not going to have very good quality. Or, if you want it fast and in good condition, it probably won’t be cheap.
My brain is starting to hurt. I need to go do art or draw or something :) Can someone else handle the “business side” of my business? I just want to throw glitter on stuff ;)
Graycee said,
May 19, 2008 at 2:52 pm
This really shocked me - sellers can no longer leave feedback! I’m a person that only sells once in a while on ebay, so if I can’t feel comfortable as a seller (and knowing I could leave feedback left me feeling very comfortable) then forget it - I’ll just donate stuff.
Kristina Lynch said,
May 19, 2008 at 5:09 pm
http://www.bidville.com
http://www.onlineauction.com
Wish we had the means to start our own and give ebay a run for their money. The “little” guys will leave in droves, lets drive them to these sites “) So far I prefer Bidville to OLA.
Ebay has just created a huge problem for themselves and given dishonest people an upper hand. Pretty much equal to shoplifting…
Susan said,
May 19, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Hi Carrie:
There is another online auction site called wagglepop. I’ve only bought one thing from them, but it seems like a lot of people are trying it instead of “Feebay”. I think it is totally outrageous that sellers cannot leave negative feedback but buyers can. I think they better rethink this brilliant policy change on their part or even more people will leave. It’s just not worth it for the small guy to even go through all that to sell a few things, with their listing fees going up and now this. I’m with Graycee - I’ll just donate my stuff.
I miss your shop here in La Crescenta, but I think it’s great that you made such a brave life change! Congrats on your’s and Nathan’s wedding!
Holly said,
May 19, 2008 at 9:03 pm
I recently started selling things on Ebay and this makes me furious!!! I do not feel it is fair at all, since we will have no say whatsoever when people complain! :( This makes me not want to sell anything on Ebay again… what a letdown!
cutesypoo said,
May 23, 2008 at 12:22 am
man i had no idea ebay was making these changes! thanks for the heads up!
i don’t sell stuff on ebay but as a browser of it i really will be dissapointed with people that are quality sellers leaving ebay but maybe it will give other sites a chance to diversify this problems and ebay will have to rethink all these changes!
Frankie Kins said,
May 25, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Carrie, how about selling just a few items at a time from your blog? Ask them for feedback from their Ebay account and/or Etsy account and use Paypal? People that know you are still going to buy from you. But of course, not as many people are going to see your wares.
Hope all is going well for you.
Frankie
Cindy said,
May 27, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Dear Carrie;
Just happened on your blog today. I’m now living in Tennessee but all my family are from North Carolina and all I can say is Lucky You . You have the beach on one hand and the mountains on the other . I’ve always loved NC with a fond passion and would go there anytime if my TN husband would even consider moving. He won’t, so I just have the fond memories of visiting Grandmas’ and going to the beach when I was little. So lucky you again and I hope you find all the good things I knew in your new home.
Cindy
Michelle said,
May 27, 2008 at 11:50 pm
The worst part about this feedback change is that now neutral feedbacks also count as a negative. The other really bad thing is that now, if you get a neutral or a negative or your star ratings go as low as 4.5, (since when is 4.5 stars out of 5 bad?) they can hold your paypal payment for 21 days, expect you to ship out of pocket and release the funds when your buyer leaves you positive feedback. That’s just wrong, in my view.
I really feel badly for all those small sellers who use the service to make ends meet. I hope something else comes along.
What a nice blog. I am so glad to have found it!
Tonya Miller said,
May 29, 2008 at 9:35 am
Hi Carrie~
I happened upon your site a few months back and I happen to LOVE it! I also did crafts and etc when I was younger. My mom made all of our Halloween costumes for years! I have to agree with you on the whole EBay thing. I don’t sell on it because everytime I go on the site I get a migraine. I say viva revolution! I am really sick of the big guys taking over EVERYTHING! My goal is to someday open my own store, I’m afraid of the success vs. failure ratio.
Nancy Barber said,
May 31, 2008 at 7:33 am
Bottom line here was made public a few days ago. buy.com has been given a deal on fees and now has over a half million items listed. Yup, count those zeros, 500,000+. Negatives will have little effect on their feedback percentage or DSRs due to volume of sales. I’m a 10 year powerseller with 100%, but there is no way I can keep that and meet the demands of the customer. Your blog details exactly my experience and many others I have chatted with online. I’m changing my product presentation. I am no longer going to try to compete in a “WalMart” mode. And, I’m moving on to other venues with the majority of my day spent blogging and chatting to get myself “out there”. Truthfully, if I have to, I will send my $20K inventory to charity and take the write off before I cave into the demanding and rude people on eBay of late. Would love to add your blog to my list.