Oh, Ebay, how I hate you

[zerospace]

I think its time that more people use some of the alternatives to eBay.

If their market begins to shrink, perhaps they'd actually get the message. The problem is the masses are unwilling to go elsewhere and start over again, but that's precisely what we all need to do. eBay knows they've got us all by the *insert body part here*, so they just keep doing what they want because they know we might gripe for awhile, but eventually, we all given in and keep using their service.

It's time we stop and send the right message to them. I've considered in the past starting to code a site for selling/auctioning cels, but I never thought I'd care to deal with all the hassles of running a site like that, not to mention the fact that there would still be tons of people who wouldn't know about it. I'm still not sure I really want to . Perhaps its time the cel community rallied together and started their own niche marketplace site and give up eBay for good.

[Zag]

I've considered in the past starting to code a site for selling/auctioning cels, but I never thought I'd care to deal with all the hassles of running a site like that, not to mention the fact that there would still be tons of people who wouldn't know about it. I'm still not sure I really want to .

Uhm, I have very little coding experience outside basic HTML, but I'd help any way I could! =D

I've had paypal since before eBay bought it out, and never had a lick of trouble. I've heard the horror stories tho, so I can understand people not wanting to use it.

[zerospace]

I've had paypal since before eBay bought it out, and never had a lick of trouble. I've heard the horror stories tho, so I can understand people not wanting to use it.

Same here, actually. I have nothing really against PayPal (except that the fees just keep going up and up), but I have something against eBay telling me I can't take money orders or checks anymore, leaving basically... just PayPal for the small-time seller.

Case in point: I've been selling a handful of computer parts on eBay lately, trying to clear out my closets here. Each listing tells my buyers that all parts I sell are sold AS IS with no guarantees that it will function --even items that are NEW or never used! I get a message today from one of my buyers that implies he's going to wait until he tests the item he bought from me with the phrase "we'll go from there". I'm not going anywhere from here! I already told the person that I was selling it AS IS... in fact, he/she got it for like 1/3rd retail price simply because I won't guarantee it. People like this are the reason that eBay is going to PayPal... so they can keep them happy by forcing you to refund them, so they don't take their money elsewhere. *sigh*

Of course, if this person were to file a PayPal dispute, he or she would most certainly lose. It's been done to me before, and honestly, I don't mind the negative feedback anymore. It's almost laughable. I think I'm done with eBay anyways

[Jadeduo]

I would have to agree that taking away the M/O and Personal Check option is unfair... Paypal is not exactly safe either I was hacked 3 years ago and all my bank accounts were frozen because someone got into my paypal account.

For this reason I refuse to deal with paypal in general. I know some people have had great experiences with it, but I NEVER want to go through it again. I guess I will no longer be using EBAY.

Jade

[sugarcels]

Sigh. I thought they said they weren't going to do that? Just goes to show - don't trust ANYTHING Ebay says.

I stopped selling regularly on Ebay several months ago, and if it keeps going like this, I'm stopping completely, no buts about it. Just wish there was a good alternative :/

[kira]

where's hidan when i need him to sacrifice some corporate heads.

offer thingy robo mentioned and using celga to sell on yj is sounding tempting.

[Goldknight]

So does this mean if you state in your auction that you would accept money orders that ebay would close it down? Such crap. I would probably create a separate webpage with my payment info and add the link that way. I too have been adding to my shipping costs to compensate for the rise in paypal and ebay fees. I always get the red warning message that my shipping cost are higher than normal, but they have yet to do anything about it. It's sad to see what it has become.

[majinuub]

I'm pissed about this a well, especially since it's limiting buyers with methods to pay for their auctions. Some people are not comfortable with using paypal and what happens would happen if someone has a problem with their paypal account ? I really wish ebay had some competition. This way it would be hard for them to pull stupid stuff like this .

[zerospace]

On a related, side note... I just completed a big batch of auctions and took note of the percentage I paid out in fees to ebay/paypal. It actually works out to OVER 10%. Sad. Very... very sad.

[klet]

Someone once said in another thread that if the item goes for less than $20, you're generally paying a 20% fee.

[zerospace]

Someone once said in another thread that if the item goes for less than $20, you're generally paying a 20% fee.

Ouch.

[RoboFlonne]

There are at least a million people here who strongly dislike the Ebay monopoly...

Why can't we do anything about it???


The basic idea is that if we sell things on :

ecrater.com

ioffer.com

wensy.com

then you can sell them for the same price or even 10-20% less and still make more money.

[duotrouble]

I've started building my own website as my way around ebay fees. It's still in production but I hope to open it up soon.

As far as the padding of shipping, I should also note that if the actual shipping charge is more than $2 different from my flat charge I give partial refunds. (Only whole dollars amounts though so if it's $2.25, I won't) I try not to screw over my buyers like ebay and PayPal fees screw over me. Basically, I just hope for the auction to do well so I don't notice the fees. Hey, they are companies and the fees are how they make money. I have to respect that. It's just when they get greedy for more money from the little items being sold (items under $100) that really irks me.

GK, I've only received those red flags when I list my international shipping charges, which is funny because even if I list the $24 quote I get the red flag stating I charged too much. My auctions have never been canceled because of that though . . . yet.

[lcatino]

GK, I've only received those red flags when I list my international shipping charges, which is funny because even if I list the $24 quote I get the red flag stating I charged too much. My auctions have never been canceled because of that though . . . yet.

Can ebay cancel an auction because they feel the shipping is too high? Isn't it up to the seller to determine a shipping price based on shipping & handling?

I didn't know ebay had control over that too.

[klet]

GK, I've only received those red flags when I list my international shipping charges, which is funny because even if I list the $24 quote I get the red flag stating I charged too much. My auctions have never been canceled because of that though . . . yet.

Can ebay cancel an auction because they feel the shipping is too high? Isn't it up to the seller to determine a shipping price based on shipping & handling?

According to the new policy going into effect in "late October," they will be putting s&h ceilings on certain categories. So, yes, they'll be able to cancel your auctions, or not let you list if you charge too much.

Of course, there will probably be some ways to get around this change. The first step being, of course, to not fill out the shipping form that Ebay gives. Then, you could either list the shipping charges in your auction (though bots may eventually be able to pick this info. out of your description) or requiere bidders to contact you for details.