ebay - why I'm truly hacked off

[Worley]

[vent on]
Why am I pissed at eBay?

Well, now I am FORCED to include PayPal as an accepted payment method. I don't want to receive PayPal payments and pay eBay THREE times for selling something (to list, when sold, to receive payment).

Not content with increasing their fees, they now force me to use the cruddy PayPal .

On top of that, they keep the money for 21 days, before releasing it to me.

The final thing that pissed me off, when trying to list an item, eBay SCANS the text to ensure that the words "Google Checkout" do not appear! If they do, you have to remove them before the listing is allowed.

I'm my eyes, this is anti competitive. I should able to accept any payment I like.

Well, goodbye eBay and PayPal. I can do without you.

[/vent off]

[CycleWriter]

Exactly why after 6+ years I am no longer doing business on eBay. What started as a community-based model geared towards individuals is now aimed more at squeezing us out in favor of PowerSellers and those who derive the bulk of their income from the website. Burdening casual sellers, the real lifeblood of eBay, with more and more BS impediments will drive the service into the ground. It may look good to the bottom line in the short term, but eventually it will start to show its weaknesses. eBay is no longer the only game in town.

[blondandfun]

amazon does a much better job if you're willing to accept their large piece of the pie, but I think it's worth it because they have better guarantees in place. I complained to them once because I received a shipment a day late, and not only did I get a refund but I kept the product.

[wildside50]

Wow, I haven't used E-bay in a long time, and even longer still since I sold something on E-bay. I didn't realize it had come to this with them. That's pretty bad..

[bluegrass]

wildside50 - be very careful of posting personal attacks. i'm a fairly lenient individual or i would have removed your (rant) immediately, and i wouldn't be surprised if one of the other moderaters doesn't do so.

personal attacks have no place on this public forum. if you have reason to be mad at someone, you can IM them.

[wildside50]

wildside50 - be very careful of posting personal attacks. i'm a fairly lenient individual or i would have removed your (rant) immediately, and i wouldn't be surprised if one of the other moderaters doesn't do so.

personal attacks have no place on this public forum. if you have reason to be mad at someone, you can IM them.

Removed. My appologies. Like an idiot, I let my emotions get the best of me. Won't happen again.

[Kyleman]

Ebay used to be good before all of the fees for everything and all the spamming/unfair biding. Just like YouTube, it became overpopulated.


-Kyle

[Worley]

I'm looking at craigslist as an alternative. Not nearly as polished, but it has that great raw feel to it.

My sellers account on eBay has been closed. Good riddance.

The fees I could just about tolerate, but scanning the listing to prevent me using Google Checkout. That just took the biscuit.

[bluegrass]

I'm looking at craigslist as an alternative. Not nearly as polished, but it has that great raw feel to it.

My sellers account on eBay has been closed. Good riddance.

The fees I could just about tolerate, but scanning the listing to prevent me using Google Checkout. That just took the biscuit.

I don't like eBay that much myself even though I have never tried to sell on it. Just wondering if you could have gotten around the Google thing by posting it like this: G o o g l e C h e c k o u t.

Sorry, I'm a natural born jury rigger that likes to figure out ways of getting around things like you encountered.

[CycleWriter]

Ebay used to be good before all of the fees for everything and all the spamming/unfair biding. Just like YouTube, it became overpopulated.


-Kyle

There's that, as well. In just the past year that they have been raising fees, forcing us to use PayPal and forcing us to upgrade to premium PayPal accounts, I have had auctions subjected to various frauds, a number of unpaying bidders, a negative feedback left for me by an unpaying bidder, and fees collected related to unpaying bidders/fraud that took months to be credited back to me.

In this day and age of instant electronic transactions I want to know why I can receive/pay instantly using PayPal, but it takes them 3-4 days to transfer money in my account to my bank? They should be paying us interest on that float.

[kenkyusha]

I'm looking at craigslist as an alternative. Not nearly as polished, but it has that great raw feel to it.

Our local (Boston, MA) Craig's List has been a source for lots of furniture, computer equipment, some lenses for my adapter, a recently purchased 14" lcd monitor (will build a case for it and use for focusing) etc.

Be well,
Jigme

BTW- So far the king of all CL finds thus far was an old, beaten-up Miller tripod. It was purchased by someone at an estate sale and was missing the quick-release plate, pan handle and some hardware (one of the spreaders had cracked too). That all proved beyond repair for him... so after weeks of decreasing listing prices (starting at $400) he sold it for $80 cash. A bit of sweat later, it is a really solid bit of kit!

[nolonemo]

I used to ebay all my old stuff on eBay, but now I'm doing Craigslist. Not nearly the same coverage as eBay, but since I'm in L.A., it's doable. Plus I don't have to pay 15% in fees to eBay. Anyone here remember the old old days of Paypal, when it was really free. The idea was that they would be able to make enough money off of the interest on the "float" in the system.

BTW, as to all the "power sellers" on eBay, I hardly ever see any multiple-sales item that I could not get for the same or less from some other internet seller.

eBay started off as a great idea, like so much on the internet it got corporatized and now just sucks.

[Worley]

Just wondering if you could have gotten around the Google thing by posting it like this: G o o g l e C h e c k o u t.

Yes, I could I actually type G00g1e Checkout but considering allt he fees I'd have to pay, I didn't bother to list.

eBay once was good... but so many new people join, they don't know about the good old days. They'll happily be ripped off by those fees.

[Kyuss]

At least you are not being used as guinea pigs for the rest of the ebay world like here in Australia. They are attempting to force only two kinds of payment - paypal and cash pickup. Thankfully our consumer affairs watchdog has stepped in, although the jury is still out on that one. Bah.

[Worley]

You're luck in Aus. Here the Office of fair Trading says eBay is not being unfair by forcing users to use PalPal and not include Google Checkout.

The reason is that other auctin sites are available.

I suppose, but the same reasoning, that Microsoft need not comply with the EU rulings on anticompetitive behaviour because other operating systems are available.

Forget market dominance.

[Kyuss]

Yeah right mate. Ebay sent out an email to all us saying they were putting the paypal only on hold BUT all sellers must however offer paypal. Grrr.

O well, back to making my lego motion rig. When in Rome...
It only took 13 years and a mortgage to get the technics lego back, sigh... But how sweet it is. Great for mock-ups with all those step-down gearboxes and the like. Nothing to do with ebay, but how I came across the forum, grins.

All hail the King, the king is dead!