posted on January 29, 2008 06:48:07 PM new
" Has anyone noticed that with that ONE little sentence thrown in there about sellers not being able to leave negative feedback..that NO ONE is complaining about the new outrageous fees being applied?? Could there be a method to ebay's madness...like...maybe they will make a concession..be nice to us and take back the feedback thing..as long as we're ok with the new fees....? I mean..isn't that what all big companies do? I could be wrong..have been a time or two before... "
That exact thought crossed my mind as well. The feedback decision is so bizarre that this seems the only explanation.
posted on January 29, 2008 06:56:19 PM new
If we can't neg a stupid buyer, then I'm outta here. I haven't had to neg over this, but I fear the time is coming. A couple of times now I have gotten bitched out because I refused to use the flat rate box to ship in. On one of the occasions, the "lady" failed to notice that I picked up the additional shipping in order to put more packing on the item. If I had shipped in the flat rate box, it would have been broken. It is a wonder she didn't neg me over it, the ditz. The other time I ate part of the shipping fee because the buyer paid a premium for a fishing reel in the original box and then wanted me to use a flat rate box to ship to Hawaii. I wouldn't have had any room for packing at all. Then he tells me to be sure and pack it safely. Geez Louise! With nutty buyers I have to be able to leave a neg if necessary when they are brainless.
posted on January 29, 2008 07:03:11 PM new
The way ebay intends to do FB is the same way that Amazon does it or many other web sites. They email you asking you to rate the seller and the seller does not get to rate You as a buyer.
And how many of use don't leave glowing FB and what we say goes against the seller of that item. So as a buyer when your searching you read the reviews and comments that buyers left for this seller and if you don't like what you read you just pass up buying from this seller.
Well I think the same thing is going to happen here at Ebay with the new FB system. Even though we as sellers can file for none payment which is good but sometimes that's not the problem with the transaction, it's the buyer that's the problem.
posted on January 29, 2008 07:26:59 PM new
Amazon is different, or was different than Ebay. Remember Ebay's supposed position is that it is just the venue. It is supposed to be person to person transactions with Ebay just providing the "venue." That way they cannot be held responsible for misrepresentation, etc.
Feedback on Ebay is supposed to be a 2 way street. If there is not more neg or neutral feedback for buyers, then get rid of it. If you are going to compare Ebay to Amazon, then there should be no more buyer's feedback at all positive or negative.
posted on January 29, 2008 08:04:40 PM new
yes Marrie I know what your referring to.
As for FB here at Ebay It doesn't bother me how they do it. I'm not saying I like the change because I don't, but I am not going to let it bother me.
What bothers me more is the new fee structure.
Who are the ones that always pay when prices are raised? it's the consumer, so in this case the buyer will be paying more for what they could have gotten for less before because now the seller needs to cover these new fees.
There is a lot to be figured out because if you charge too much on shipping ebay ranks you low on the search list since your over charging.
If your stars go low then you ranked low in the search list.
If Sellers Keep there buyers happy....Ebay will keep the seller happy. lol
posted on January 29, 2008 10:26:00 PM new
I haven't been selling lately and now it will affect me with the DSR ratings and the 12 month instead of my overall rating I have. Means I will have to keep selling to be a good seller in their eyes. It makes no difference about your rating now just what you can keep up with. Means if you take a break you lose your rating by not selling and getting your ratings up. It would be like starting over all the time if you are taking any time off.
Does that make sense?
I think the fees again suck and put the thumb screws to the seller. What is the incentive to sell on ebay now it sure is not to make a living for the person like me who saw great decreases in sell thru and lower prices in type of products offered.
Ebay is just not what it use to be, they care nothing about the small seller and probably not even the powerseller.
The feedback situation is stupid and makes no sense, but it is the fees that are a disaster.
Looks like I may not be getting back into the selling on ebay business afterall. Just too much to want to even care about anymore. Sad situation, it use to be such fun to be on ebay--not anymore.
************** I married my wife for her looks, but Not the one she gives me lately!
posted on January 30, 2008 05:38:55 AM new
Memo to Stone:
Check my earlier post. Since 1998 I have had a couple of negs, two from competitors and until the last neg always left pos feedback first. But with the Christmas postal debacle I would have been unindated with negs (including a packge to Germany that was mailed in Nov and didn't arrive until a few weeks ago).
Why should I care? Best match search and PowerSeller Discounts.
I too communicate with customer upon payment recieved, shipping notice with DC number and followup. I also include a flyer with a full refund policy and coupon for vendio store. Also every package either has a calendar or a pencil. Will that be enough?
Beth
posted on January 30, 2008 05:57:56 AM new
I'm upset about the new feedback rules, but I'm even more upset by this: When eBay suspects the transaction may result in a dissatisfied customer, PayPal will delay release of the payment funds to the seller until the buyer has left a positive feedback or 21 days have passed without a dispute.
When eBay SUSPECTS? I've emailed a friend of mine who happens to be my state senator to find out the legality of holding our money hostage.
All I can say is consider what the median age at eBay probably is. These changes are made without much thought by people who have undoubtedly little in the way of life experience. Most of us here and most of the sellers, IMHO, on eBay are over the age of 30. Most of the people working for the Bay are probably 20-somethings fresh out of college. I recognize the thinking. When I worked for a major bank here, my superiors were are in their 20's and fresh from college. It was a nightmare!
eBay can't possibly compare its site to Amazon. Amazon has a totally different breed of buyers! Guess I'm back to eCrater as soon as I can get my things relisted there.
EDITED TO ADD: Fluffy is on vacation, isn't she? Wow, what a thing to come home to.
Cheryl
[ edited by CBlev65252 on Jan 30, 2008 06:07 AM ]
posted on January 30, 2008 07:50:32 AM new
Cheryl
I was very upset about that part as well. I just don't see how it could be legal.
The seller will have to go into their own pocket to ship in this case. How/Who will decide if and when this hold will go into effect??
Please keep us posted.
posted on January 30, 2008 08:18:58 AM new
ladyjewels - It's not only going into our own pockets to pay for shipping, it's shipping before we even have the funds from the sale! How long before buyers start to figure out that this is a perfect way to scam sellers into sending items for free?
There is no way in he** that I'm shipping anything out without the funds being available to me for withdrawal. I do not give things away.
posted on January 30, 2008 09:48:23 AM new
I have an item that I sell that I buy as it is sold.
It cost me $26 each.
I sell a 100 per month.
There is no way i can continue to sell this item if they hold the money.
I make $5 on each item(after fees)
Are they nuts to think i am going to extend to them a $2600 advance PER MONTH.
Will they hold off on their fees on these items till they release the money
posted on January 30, 2008 12:32:27 PM new
How many people look at a buyer's negatives when selling them something? My guess is about zero. The only time you look at a buyer's feedback is when they don't pay. Seller's feedback total is something most people look at. I've sold thousands of items on ebay and do not have a negative. I've bought hundreds of items on ebay and have very seldom left a negative. I've left a few neutrals when the dealer overcharges for postage. Sometimes when I do this I am left a negative by the seller, but I reply to the feedback with the reason why. Negatives can really hurt a dealer, but they don't really hurt a buyer. Now ebay is punishing the majority of good sellers, to try to get rid of the minority of bad sellers. While most sellers and most buyers are honest people, it is the deadbeats in both categories who ruin ebay. Completely eliminating the ability for sellers to leave feedback is a problem. Now buyers can hold dealers hostage. I have perfect feedback as a dealer, because I am ethical. But allowing buyers and sellers to leave feedback is the only fair way to handle it. They have forgotten about Pierre's business model of feedback. Now some buyers can leave a negative feedback for any reason they deem necessary. I doubt anyone looks at a buyer's feedback. As long as they pay for the item the seller is happy. But negative feedback does have an effect on a seller. Especially now that ebay is forcing some sellers into using Paypal. The one time I've used Paypal to try to recover money from a seller, they ruled in my favor but couldn't give me my money back because the seller had no money in his account. I called my credit card company and got the money back immediately. Looks like they are looking at the bottom line and eventually going to force everyone into Paypal. Greed is going to hurt the site. When they raise the fees, it doesn't raise the price I sell the item for. It just costs everyone more money. Feedback has little importance to the buyer as it doesn't effect their ability to buy. Feedback has a greater importance to a dealer. Both sides should be able to leave feedback. That's called checks and balances. Once the new system starts, there will be no way of reigning in a bad buyer. Now most buyers are good. But the few bad ones can come on and just start slinging arrows with no fear of any consequences. If I see someone has left a negative for a seller, I can check and see what kind of feedback the buyer has gotten (from everyone, not just that seller). That can give me an idea if the negative is justified. The same goes for a buyer. He can look at the sellers feedback and see how many negatives. Ebay is tying powerseller discounts to getting a 4.8 star in ratings. I never charge extra for postage. Sending items first class, media mail, when possible. Yet I only have a 4.7 rating for shipping cost. They offer a discount to Powersellers, but the highest discount appears to require that you get a 4.8 star rating in each category, which is near impossible to get. Once again I'm sure they have run all the numbers for the Powersellers in their system and figured out that the percentage of Powersellers with 4.8 stars in all categories might be 5% of Powersellers, or even less! Of course ebay has all the numbers, so they can see exactly how many millions more dollars they can make by adjusting the numbers. Old price structure it would cost $1.65 if you listed an item for $20 and it sold for $20. New fee structure: costs $2.30 if the items sells. That's 65 cents more, a 39.4% increase in the cost! What bothers me is that I have to pay 65 cents more to sell a $20 item. And of course items are not going to sell for more money because of this. My only choice will be to raise the minimum price I list items for. And that, of course, will lead to some of my items not selling. Of course ebay is the biggest , and basically the only game in town. But they will be opening the door for some smart people to start up a site with much lower fees so they can get a foothold. I would just like to see ebay become a smart company that helps buyers and sellers. Not a corporation that just keeps raising prices, to reward stockholders. I used to run 10 day auctions for more exposure. After they raised the price I stopped doing that. As they keep raising fees, they are going to hurt their business. They know how many, that's why they set the standards. 15% sounds like a big savings, but of course very, very, very few people could even reach that. They are a corporation who runs the numbers and knows exactly how much the average auction sells for, so they know exactly how much to lower the listing fee and raise the final value fee to extract millions more. Ebay is a great site for selling. It doesn't really have any parallel. But the sellers made the site great. I just wish ebay would just raise their fees a little. Not cost me a 40% raise in fees when selling an item for $20! 40% increase in fees is too much! My advice would be to write to any newspaper you can to complain. My wife saw on TV yesterday they were talking about ebay's lowered fees! Write to Antique Week, the Antique Trader, business newspapers, etc. Maybe if they get some bad press they may reconsider. The fees are bad, the new feedback system is worse!
posted on January 30, 2008 07:38:28 PM new
Now that buyers will no longer receive (only give) negative feedback, it won't be long before seller's ability to weed out deadbeat buyers will be diminished. Why? Well seller's will no longer be able to prevent buyer's with too many negatives from bidding (since negatives are soon to be forbidden).
Unfortunately eBay hasn't stated if this will be replaced with the ability to prevent buyer's with recent UID to be disallowed from bidding. In the best situation UIDs would be shown on the bidder's feedback so everyone knows to blacklist them or back out of a sale to them...
posted on January 30, 2008 10:22:39 PM new
With all the uproar about percentage increases, etc...... I haven't seen anyone talking about "rolling feedback" for sellers!
"Feedback more than 12-months old won't count towards your Feedback percentage."
So what are they doing with the feedback I've accrued since 1997? What if one 12 month span is 100% and the next is 95% or whatever....Couple nasty buyers.....
posted on January 31, 2008 05:51:33 AM new
What about giving negative positives? I know it would mean you have to more closely look at the buyer's feedback, but it's something anyway. Click the positive button, but let the comment be either a soft positive or negative. Is there anything in the new rules that would cause you to get into trouble for that?
posted on January 31, 2008 07:25:29 AM new
I thought the same thing Cheryl, the only thing is I would feel bad about giving postive feedback to a bad buyer. When you think about it, every buyer is going to have 100% feedback, so it really is a useless record of their performance.
I married my wife for her looks, but Not the one she gives me lately!