ebay sellers may want to read this

[Zithy]

Can someone answer this for me. While I can understand Ebay kicking a seller off for dishonesty, complaints, badly misrepresenting their items or outright fraud, what is the reasoning for removing sellers over their shipping fees?

Seriously. If they're too high, buyers won't buy as much. Problem solves itself. IF the seller charges normal rates for USPS 1st class but sends in a PWE, then I can understand it. But can't D/C be tied in to prove it has D/C which means it's 1st class or higher? You already have tracking information on your seller pages, so couldn't that also eliminate the argument that a PWE was or was not used?

 

[lisu]

The craziest part of this is that the buyers agreed to pay the posted shipping fees.

Why the hell should they be allowed to complain about it after the fact? It makes no sense.

BUYER: "Yes, I agree to buy the aforementioned item for the price and shipping. I believe it is a fair price, here is my money."

EBAY: "Were the shipping and handling charges fair?"

BUYER: "No, it was too much money for shipping. The service was great, the item was a great value, but the clearly posted shipping was too much even though I agreed to pay it BEFORE I first placed a bid."

EBAY: "Thank you, we will ban the seller for great service, great value and expensive shipping.

The sheer simplicity of the stupidity is bizarre. It's totally illogical. Those greedy bastards only care about getting their cut of shipping revenues. If anything, take a percentage of the shipping...make everyone money, and everyone happy.

I will say that I will give a lower DSR if someone charges me $4.00 for shipping and throws it into an envelope with no del conf.

 

[200lbhockeyplayer]

The craziest part of this is that the buyers agreed to pay the posted shipping fees.

Why the hell should they be allowed to complain about it after the fact? It makes no sense.

BUYER: "Yes, I agree to buy the aforementioned item for the price and shipping. I believe it is a fair price, here is my money."

EBAY: "Were the shipping and handling charges fair?"

BUYER: "No, it was too much money for shipping. The service was great, the item was a great value, but the clearly posted shipping was too much even though I agreed to pay it BEFORE I first placed a bid."

EBAY: "Thank you, we will ban the seller for great service, great value and expensive shipping.

The sheer simplicity of the stupidity is bizarre. It's totally illogical. Those greedy bastards only care about getting their cut of shipping revenues. If anything, take a percentage of the shipping...make everyone money, and everyone happy.

I will say that I will give a lower DSR if someone charges me $4.00 for shipping and throws it into an envelope with no del conf.

That's because you're a NoCal apologist.

But agreed, if you're a seller charging over $2 and sending in a PWE...you deserve the hammer.

 

[bcubs]

The craziest part of this is that the buyers agreed to pay the posted shipping fees.

Why the hell should they be allowed to complain about it after the fact? It makes no sense.

BUYER: "Yes, I agree to buy the aforementioned item for the price and shipping. I believe it is a fair price, here is my money."

EBAY: "Were the shipping and handling charges fair?"

BUYER: "No, it was too much money for shipping. The service was great, the item was a great value, but the clearly posted shipping was too much even though I agreed to pay it BEFORE I first placed a bid."

EBAY: "Thank you, we will ban the seller for great service, great value and expensive shipping.

The sheer simplicity of the stupidity is bizarre. It's totally illogical. Those greedy bastards only care about getting their cut of shipping revenues. If anything, take a percentage of the shipping...make everyone money, and everyone happy.

This could happen because the buyer receives the item packaged in a less than adequate manner for the cost that was paid. I would say this is not normally the case but it could be a factor.

 

[reljac]

The craziest part of this is that the buyers agreed to pay the posted shipping fees.

Why the hell should they be allowed to complain about it after the fact? It makes no sense.

This is what gets me about all this crap. Any auction with listed shipping fees should not be subject to this idiocracy. If you want free shipping, don't purchase from a storefront that requires $3 to ship. It's pretty simple.

Another annoying point is that paypal and ebay list the tracking number if you purchase your shipping through paypal. Why do they need to let a buyer knock your stars over shipping time on purchases when they can see exactly when your item was scanned into the post office.... as a seller you can't help how long your first class package took to get to middle of nowhere Idaho...

 

[RL24]

The craziest part of this is that the buyers agreed to pay the posted shipping fees.

Why the hell should they be allowed to complain about it after the fact? It makes no sense.

BUYER: "Yes, I agree to buy the aforementioned item for the price and shipping. I believe it is a fair price, here is my money."

EBAY: "Were the shipping and handling charges fair?"

BUYER: "No, it was too much money for shipping. The service was great, the item was a great value, but the clearly posted shipping was too much even though I agreed to pay it BEFORE I first placed a bid."

EBAY: "Thank you, we will ban the seller for great service, great value and expensive shipping.

The sheer simplicity of the stupidity is bizarre. It's totally illogical. Those greedy bastards only care about getting their cut of shipping revenues. If anything, take a percentage of the shipping...make everyone money, and everyone happy.

You're leaving out an important part of the equation: method of shipping.

I once bought a card with $7 s/h. I was trying to get all 25 of the cards made, and this was one of them, so I wanted it despite the shipping. When I bid I kinda knew I would ding the seller for shipping cost. When it arrived a couple days later, it was in a box that was sent priority. Inside the box was a bunch of newspaper and an equisite basketball box. Inside that box was my card in a brand new screwdown. It was just a Jason Jennings card... kind of like serving up McDonalds on silver platters and using your best china, but... I was very pleased with the package, and felt that I had received $7 worth of s/h. 5 stars.

So even though you know what the price will be before you bid, you really don't know the method of shipping. If you pay $5 and get a PWE, it is a reason to be disappointed.

 

[reljac]

I will say that I will give a lower DSR if someone charges me $4.00 for shipping and throws it into an envelope with no del conf.

You just made me throw up a little bit in my mouth remembering how I bought this card raw and it came in a PWE without a hard plastic or any protection... (fortunately mine still came back PSA 6... and I sold it for 4 times profit)

 

[Johan Santana 57]

This is absolutely terrible. eBay already charges fees up the you know what, and then they pull this. Don't they realize without sellers, there are less items to sell, and that means less final value fees?

The DSRs are a joke and just depends on the buyer I guess. I usually charge 3.00 for shipping on lower items and free shipping on a bunch of other items, and my S/H stars seem to be OK. That is why it shouldn't be the way it is, leaving it up to a few buyers to determine the status of a seller who has thousands of deals. Luckily I am a Top Rated Seller and just checked that I have 0 of any of the infractions people are getting, but I see that it only takes 1 or 2 to get you taken off of that status. It really is quite crazy and they are setting an increasingly high standard for sellers that soon will not be able to be obtained.

If anyone is in a bind with this situation and needs help selling some items, I would not mind helping out, just shoot me a PM.

Tom

 

[minors4me]

When I bid I kinda knew I would ding the seller for shipping cost.

wow!!!!

 

[James52411]

I was given the boot by eBay in November despite my 99.6% feedback and status as a seller since 1998. I was upset, but it is their prerogative as a vendor. I decided to use my freedom as a customer of their services to close my eBay store and end all my auctions. So for 2011 they lose $192 in store fees, about $360 in listing fees and about $750 in final value and PayPal fees. I estimate they will lose about $1300 from my decision in 2011.

 

[rookieaddict]

I was given the boot by eBay in November despite my 99.6% feedback and status as a seller since 1998. I was upset, but it is their prerogative as a vendor. I decided to use my freedom as a customer of their services to close my eBay store and end all my auctions. So for 2011 they lose $192 in store fees, about $360 in listing fees and about $750 in final value and PayPal fees. I estimate they will lose about $1300 from my decision in 2011.

I guess the question is, what outlet are you utilizing to sell now?

 

[James52411]

I was given the boot by eBay in November despite my 99.6% feedback and status as a seller since 1998. I was upset, but it is their prerogative as a vendor. I decided to use my freedom as a customer of their services to close my eBay store and end all my auctions. So for 2011 they lose $192 in store fees, about $360 in listing fees and about $750 in final value and PayPal fees. I estimate they will lose about $1300 from my decision in 2011.

I guess the question is, what outlet are you utilizing to sell now?

I am not selling much right now, but plan to use the boards here. I am shifting to purchasing more singles and sets rather than wax. I used eBay primarily to move singles from pack ripping I don't want so that will not be as necessary. I think the situstion is going to be a win-win for me as I will be wiser with my spending and deprive them of a nice little chunk of revenue. It will even help my LCS as they make more money on singles and lots than on wax.

 

[jcmint]

For some time now it has seemed to me that ebay wants to phase out auctions all together and be like Amazon. The auctions made ebay what it is today. They keep raising the fees and pushed alot of grass roots people away already. They took ALL the power away from sellers. What Ebay doesnt realize is the by giving the buyer all this power will and already has lead to extortion by many buyers. Seems like they agree to pay your set shipping price but then bitch about it after they get their cards in 2-3 days. Its all so absurd right now. I wish there was a viable option right now. COMC for larger volume sellers is a waste of time great for low end low volume sellers. Naxcom is god awful and will always be.
Many GOOD sellers are just no longer gonna sell cards which ultimately will hurt this great hobby of ours.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

Yes definitely and 91.6% of all baseball is BIN already. Ebay helped create what the hobby is today... and can change it again - but never 'destroy' it as some like to say. Ebay may just become even more like that over-expensive mall shop everyone dreads.

For some time now it has seemed to me that ebay wants to phase out auctions all together and be like Amazon. The auctions made ebay what it is today. They keep raising the fees and pushed alot of grass roots people away already. They took ALL the power away from sellers. What Ebay doesnt realize is the by giving the buyer all this power will and already has lead to extortion by many buyers. Seems like they agree to pay your set shipping price but then bitch about it after they get their cards in 2-3 days. Its all so absurd right now. I wish there was a viable option right now. COMC for larger volume sellers is a waste of time great for low end low volume sellers. Naxcom is god awful and will always be.
Many GOOD sellers are just no longer gonna sell cards which ultimately will hurt this great hobby of ours.

 

[hive17]

Whitman must be back in charge...

 

[n1astrosfn]

!
this is disgusting. there has to be some recourse for sellers (who people fail to realize are ebays customers). i seriously thought about seeking litigation after they kicked me off WRONGLY for saying i violated some rule (but that is a different and littler animal compared to what i just read) but seriously thinking and doing are totally different. what would it take for these honest sellers to get their account back. cant there some class action or any law suit for SOMETHING. would any lawyer be crazy enough to try and fight a giant like ebay.

 

[Topnotchsy]

From everything I have seen (and I recently spent some serious time researching for a paper for grad school) eBay has shifted its focus from the sellers that made the site what it is, to large corporate sellers (and the buyers.) They don't care if you leave because they believe the future of the site is in stores like Brooks Brothers (who happen the people the store they are touting on the bottom of the front page as I look now) selling as much as thousands of smaller sellers with much less hassle. As long as they can maintain their buyers they believe they will be fine and so every move caters to the buyers.

 

[98Whitesteed]

Just checked my account and realized some dumb woman left a "1" shipping time when the product arrived right in the estimated delivery time. :evil:

 

[hive17]

I've got an idea: how about all you angry booted sellers go all 4chan on eBay and start dinging the **** out of the big sellers that eBay seems to want to favor? Find the biggest sellers, the big "corporate" eBay sellers, buy some stuff, and ding their stars. Then, when eBay doesn't boot them, go to the news media (I'm thinking Fox News) and say how eBay is just out to screw over "small business" guys like us! huh?! :twisted:

 

[boomo]

I believe that by doing this, Ebay is definitely trying to force sellers into offering free shipping to gain more fees. Even though they lose the fees from the sellers they ban from selling, it's just a drop in the bucket short term. By creating the fear of "offer free shipping or be banned from selling", it forces a lot of remaining sellers to do so (or at least lower shipping prices accordingly, and in theory resulting in higher FVF's for ebay).

The only alternative is to leave Ebay, and at this juncture, there isn't another viable option that offers the same exposure and recognition for sellers that Ebay does. It's either take a hit on Ebay, or leave and go elsewhere which will likely result in a bigger hit due to lower sales (for most).

Ebay knows exactly what they're doing. It makes perfect sense for them financially.

there is another viable place, its called freedom cardboard. If everyone here would get a freaking clue and sell stuff at a nice price here and not be greedy going 10-20% over ebay, we could start a nice selling community. I have listed a lot of stuff here at almost nothing, and no one bites. why?? do you want to pay more on ebay? and then i get morons telling me they wont pay gift cus i might rip them off. WHAT?? those people can drop dead, i dont care if someone else ripped you off, dont give me that crap that it isnt your poilicy, just come out and say i really dont want the card cus id rather get ripped off for it on ebay. really sad that we cant all come together here and really put a hurt in ebay. make it very strict, no chance of ripoffs, hell lets go back to checks and MO's and not give any of those effers out money.