Ebay discouraging new 'non-business' sellers

[cuppa500]

Recently I had a one off item I wanted to sell on ebay. First time I have sold anything on ebay for several years. First up I had to register a bank account with ebay, something I did but was not 100% comfortable about. I much preferred the old Paypal system. But what I am less unhappy about is the fact that ebay were not forthcoming about the entire process. To set up the bank account, they failed to tell me the timelines & the whole process to set up a single ebay ad was more time consuming than it was worth bothering with for a small one off sale. But that was only the beginning. The requirement for them to check my bank account by placing two micro deposits in it I reasonably assumed would occur once I set up the ad, but no, it didn't happen until the sale had completed & took several days. In addition to this I am then told, for the first time, that ebay would hold onto the payment made by the buyer for more than two weeks! Initially the way I read the info I found (had to go searching, it wasn't just provided in a message prior to me 'signing up as a seller as it should have been)  that ebay would hold onto my money until the buyer indicated they had received the item & were happy with it - ie provided positive feedback. "Ah well" I thought "that's fair enough provided the buyer leaves feedback - but not all do" & I wondered what would happen to my money if no feedback were left. As it was the buyer received the item promptly & left prompt positive feedback saying they were 'very happy' with the item & with my service as a seller. So where is my money? More searching revealed that ebay were going to hold onto my money for a further week (two weeks after the sale, & one week after the feedback received). Somewhere I read that ebay don't profit from holding on to my money - yeah right! So who does? And why was this whole holding onto my money business not made clear to me before I even signed up as a seller in their new system?  The amount of my time wasted with all of this was worth more than the circa $80 after postage that I received for the item. I really don't think I'll be wasting my time selling anything else on ebay any time soon. It seems that what was once a service for individuals to sell items no longer needed, that ebay is now only interested in 'business sellers', & that's not me. 

[davewil1964]

TL:DNR

Save the paragraph.

Didn't really need to read, as it relates to many previous complaints from people who don't bother to keep up with current policies.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@cuppa500 wrote:

I did not mean to mark your reply as 'helpful'. A slip of the finger.

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puede desmarcar la publicación como útil o como solución desde el menú desplegable en la esquina superior derecha de la publicación mal marcada. Cheers

[countessalmirena]

Deje que el hombre sabio gire su propio burro.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[gutterpunkz05]

Dice mucho, que no pueden darse cuenta de eso. estoy con la condesa y el burro

[gutterpunkz05]

Tratando de encontrar un idioma que el OP pueda entender

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tvdCHi4Qac

[springyzone]

I think you are right in that ebay isn't particularly chasing the small, occasional seller to list on ebay.

They are far more interested in regular, professional level sellers with new stock and a reasonable turn over.

You've only got to watch some of their TV ads, where people are talking about buying new sneakers and such on ebay. That's where their focus is.

It isn't like the old days, I know, as I used to sell back then but not now.

Ebay is a business and I imagine the main hassles they have are through claims. Buyers who claim item not received or item not as described. There are probably less hassles with experienced, regular sellers who have new stock. I would think second hand items could be a bit of a minefield.

Because you haven't sold in a while, it's all new to you and a bit of a learning curve about how you have to set things up, but for regular sellers, they have it all down pat and after a certain number of sales, they get over that initial period where their funds are on hold, so the whole process is relatively smooth for them now.

You have gone through the initial phase and set up your account so the hard bit is over, but unless you sell a bit on ebay on a somewhat regular sort of basis, you're going to hit this hold up with funds every time.

If that isn't you, then I think your best bet is to try alternatives. There is gumtree, which is where I think ebay hopes occasional sellers will go (as a buyer and seller I find it pretty dead there though) and there is marketplace on facebook where some people have a lot of success.

[busyaussiemom]

@Cuppa500, I understand where you are coming from and feel the same in some respects. I've been a long term account holder though I haven't sold in a number of years.

Not only have I found it frustrating and annoying dealing with the banking situation you described but the information about the events that followed for you along with the plethora of ar**hole self-righteous sputum that came after your OP left a very sour flavour in my mouth. I can understand why you thought that some of their responses were perhaps from America. TL;DR. 

Like yourself, I was trying to do my best to pass on things others might enjoy. Vintage barbies, baby beans etc. but it's a drama I don't have time for and I don't need the cash just happy to pass it along for what it's worth. I'll find somewhere else to do that and leave eBay after 22 year of being a happy customer to those that are more cut throat than I. 

I found your post helpful Cuppa500 and wish you all the best in your endeavours.  Cheers.

[gutterpunkz05]

The  OP  was provided with the truth of the situation, but refused to accept this information, and accuse  responders of being wrong and based outside Australia.

Someone once said,  You can't handle the truth

By the way the OP claims info on micro deposits,  was not readily available before signing on to managed payments, again this is wrong  and the use of the micro deposit method of account verification,  is an alternative to ebays preferred method which results in instant verification.

[love_of_cars]

I don't think I'll be able to influence your feelings about eBay but I just wanted to say that I was really put off by the whole Managed Payments thing, the new Reports method of bulk-uploading listings and the incredibly  annoying feedback / rating / case opening system abused by buyers, but once I jumped through all the hoops and got it setup and things settled, it's pretty much been a set-and-forget process.  Items sell, I pack and send them, no issues arise, immediate payments, etc.  You start to get the money pretty much right away after a period of getting back into the rhythm, as they initially look at you like you're on probation again.  I'm sure if you continue with it and find a good method to manage it, it will become smooth sailing after a while.