topic Re: FINALLY - I Think I Get The Message. in Selling

FINALLY - I Think I Get The Message.

cmcoins2000 — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 01:35:25 GMT

eBay do not want Sellers.

They only want Buyers.

Re: FINALLY - I Think I Get The Message.

wilk1149 — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 01:44:43 GMT

Probably a rather simplistic view of what is happening. More likely they aren't interested in supporting low volume sellers. It is blatantly obvious that if there is no one selling then what are people to buy. I know the average buyer can appear a total moron but even for them it's hard to buy nothing

Re: FINALLY - I Think I Get The Message.

cmcoins2000 — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 01:46:37 GMT

@wilk1149 wrote:
Probably a rather simplistic view of what is happening. More likely they aren't interested in supporting low volume sellers. It is blatantly obvious that if there is no one selling then what are people to buy. I know the average buyer can appear a total moron but even for them it's hard to buy nothing

Where have you been since May.

Re: FINALLY - I Think I Get The Message.

wilk1149 — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 01:53:08 GMT

At home. None of what eBay has done has any affect on me so far. I may not sell when the 180 day return thing kicks in but so far nothing they have done has affected my selling. I only sell about two items a month on average and I don't pay to list if I sell nothing it costs me nothing. Much better than before eBay and I advertised in the trading post and paid for every add. I have had trouble buying lately due to the location issue

Re: FINALLY - I Think I Get The Message.

horizon1907 — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 02:28:49 GMT

helen, I think you hit the nail right on the head. Bingo !!!! 🙂

Re: FINALLY - I Think I Get The Message.

2011.narelle — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 02:40:13 GMT

They do want sellers but they don't like them at all & want to tell them how to run their business.

The thing that baffles & annoys me & probably many sellers is that the bulit an empire on a garage sale bargain site that everyone loved & now with some mescaline inspired delusion want to change it to a new upmarket bazaar.It has become a very hostile place to sell & probably buy also.Sellers are also buyers & those who have been shunned will not buy & it is making eBay a worldwide joke.

eBay is & has made a ridiculous tax-free fortune from the sales & market that it has now.If it wants all new & big market sellers why can it not split into a new section or categaory to reap the most from both markets? They can or could have but why didn't they? I thin they have pushed the envelope too far this time & don't see how they could go back even if they wanted to.

eBays treatment of seller/buyers will probably bite them in the a.. & those annoyed at being defected out of business or shunned will be happy to see it fail.

Off with it's head...

Re: FINALLY - I Think I Get The Message.

ozbuyerau — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 02:46:32 GMT

Yeah what the hell is this new Guaranteed Money Back Program that starts after 1st November?

I do not offer returns on my items as my items are always as described.

I have had no problems on my selling account with over 100 positive feedback and all 5 stars except postage charges which is 4.9, why then should I be forced to offer money back guarantee? Does the buyer have to return it via registered post?

That's just carte blanche for buyers to start making claims galore. I send regular post also, I will have to start sending registered for sure, even though I photograph my items and sometimes even film them being packed if the buyer has a low feedback score, I've never had one bad buyer.

Well, I had one claim that he hadn't received a package, then when I told him I have photo's of the item and had spoken to the Australia Post distribution centre, it miraculously showed up the next day!

Wish I could find more information on this but I think the first poster is right!

Re: FINALLY - I Think I Get The Message.

2011.narelle — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 02:59:08 GMT

Also the fact that their precious big box retail sellers are failing so dismally & getting away with defects the like of which the typical TRS would be suspended for is a point eBay are also missing.But the rest of are very aware of their many items not in stock & many neg feedbacks.Yet eBay still continue to chase & protect these truly defective sellers & that is an insult in itself.

eBay wants more plastic Chinese goods,the many 1000's of assorted $1 phone covers& defective retail shops like the underperforming Dick Smith etc then that's what they will be left with & giving refunds for.But eBay does live on fees & no actual goods so no biggie i guess.

Re: FINALLY - I Think I Get The Message.

casbit33 — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 05:57:01 GMT

I am not looking forward to 1st November. The Guarantee money back program I think it's just another way that bad buyers can get money from sellers without even returning the item. If only Ebay could be a fair playing field. It's so one-sided for buyers at the moment.

What can we do to protect ourselves from this?

Re: FINALLY - I Think I Get The Message.

cmcoins2000 — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 06:23:29 GMT

@casbit33 wrote:
I am not looking forward to 1st November. The Guarantee money back program I think it's just another way that bad buyers can get money from sellers without even returning the item. If only Ebay could be a fair playing field. It's so one-sided for buyers at the moment.
What can we do to protect ourselves from this?

It stands to reason - NOT THAT EBAY HAVE ANY OF THAT - a buyer putting a claim forward for an item not as described should be responsible for the description, photos & all pertinent eveidence the item received is not the item purchased.

As it says in the 'new garbage' if a red T-shirt was purchased and a green T-shirt sent the buyer should be able to produce evidence such as a photo of the green said T with the very same logo or whatever - if they could that is.

With the item sent what possible evidence can a seller produce to say a red one was sent - even photographing a red one packed does not mean it went to that buyer.

Like to get this one tested legally (& think I will) how eBay can decide a buyer not 'fraudulent' & a seller at fault when the onus is totally on the seller - TO PROVE WHAT EXACTLY.

From where I stand I think they (eBay) are going to have a few Australian legal problems with this whole scenario.

The whole problem with the legality of 'things' IS most find the law too expensive to pursue.

I don't - it is like everything else - do your homework before - and I mean homework - not much left to do to charge for.

First Hand.

Re: FINALLY - I Think I Get The Message.

digital*ghost — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 08:20:26 GMT

@cmcoins2000 wrote:
eBay do not want Sellers.

They only want Buyers.

I have personally concluded that eBay would prefer buyers to trust eBay over the sellers that populate the site. In a twisted way, this makes some sort of sense (but just to be clear, making sense doesn't mean it's a good idea).

They actively seek to minimise the number of sellers who qualify for eBay's stamp of approval. Now, you would think that their selling recommendations, their effort to get sellers to follow them all etc, would be geared towards giving as many sellers as possible the big eBay badge of approval, but they have admitted that the defect policy is specifically aimed at reducing the number of sellers who qualify for TRS and premium service badging.

Why? Most people have taken that to mean that they'll have less sellers who qualify for the TRS discounts availble, but that's exclusively in the US as far as I know and I'm sure there's at least one person at eBay who is smart enough to realise that if you're concerned about access to discounted fees, you just end the discounts, or implement other criteria for qualifying for them that doesn't compromise a seller's standing on eBay.

So, what possible reason is there for reducing the percentage of sellers who get TRS when if they increased it instead (which could be done by positively and actively encouraging good selling practices), they could make claims like "home to the best sellers around the world - our buyers agree" etc etc. But they don't, they introduce the money back guarantee and market it - in a nutshell - as "if/when something goes wrong, we'll cover you".

Near as I can tell, they're not necessarily looking just for big sellers, but have accepted a big turnover of sellers, and in the face of that, are attempting to maintain buyer loyalty to eBay.

Re: FINALLY - I Think I Get The Message.

black*poppy — Sun, 28 Sep 2014 14:45:04 GMT

Agree with all of the above.

Not usually a conspiracy theorist, but the conclusion I keep coming back to is Amazon. eBay has long been trying to grab Amazon's market share overseas, and obviously want to protect its market here before Amazon fully launch. They launched the Australian website amazon.com.au in March. There are some reports that they are expected to open warehouses or "fulfillment centres" later this year or next.

Amazon's motto is to be “Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company” (matches our new level of buyer-centric policies from eBay).

Maybe the purpose of the Spring release is to clean out the dodgy sellers that discourage buyers from coming back. Fair enough. But there is alot of collateral damage. However, if eBay perceives that small sellers aren't the money-spinners compared to the big sellers, and perhaps even negatively impact the sales of big sellers through their untrustworthy customer service (!), eBay would be glad. It follows then that the system is perfectly designed and balanced.

Sadly, the garage sale type stuff we all love, usually from small sellers, isn't welcome in the future vision for eBay. It will have morphed into something else.

Re: FINALLY - I Think I Get The Message.

sueken4812 — Sun, 28 Sep 2014 22:23:56 GMT

Why oh Why then are they encouraging these small sellers with their 150 free listing promotions. And Clear Out the House promos?

It just doesn't make sense to me.

Re: FINALLY - I Think I Get The Message.

chameleon54 — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 03:11:35 GMT

I agree with black*poppys sentiments. I do wonder if ebay need to keep the general public around to wean them onto the new look ebay. Ebay may be encouraging the non store holding general public to hang around, but they seem to be doing everything they can think of to drive the small store sellers away. Like others I have taken the hint and are spending a lot of time trying to get a new business venture up and running. It does take a lot of time and money to replace the income I am currently getting from ebay. ( it took several years of hard work to build my current ebay business ). I just hope I can have something in place by the time the p00 really hits the fan for small store holders.

Re: FINALLY - I Think I Get The Message.

springyzone — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 23:49:44 GMT

I had a read of the new system, but now I am confused.

Let me get something straight.

Say a seller sold a second hand electrical appliance, a small one. It was working well, no damage, was posted off and received okay.

Then 180 days (or slightly less) down the track, it breaks down. Does this mean the buyer is entitled to a refund?

That seems a bit over the top to me.

Since when do most second hand goods come with a 6 month guarantee?

If I were a seller, I would not be satisfied to have an item returned 1 or 2 or 3 months down the track, broken from usage, where I was not only left with a useless product but out of pocket for postage.

I used to sell in a small way a decade ago. I came on here a while ago to sort of see how things worked but I am not being tempted, might look for a different venue, which is probably what ebay wants anyway.

Re: FINALLY - I Think I Get The Message.

black*poppy — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 00:01:58 GMT

The 180 day return thing is from eBay US - has not been introduced here and is not mentioned in the Spring Sellers' release.

I can only speculate about the 150 free listings, - there may not be anymore after November or some time in the future. Ebay obviously has a long-term game. At the moment the specials are probably making money and could be a good way to introduce people to selling that might continue in a larger scale long-term.

Re: FINALLY - I Think I Get The Message.

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 00:23:10 GMT

i dont know how they are making money at the moment

sales have virtually stopped over the last week and this has been my worst performing month for some time

Re: FINALLY - I Think I Get The Message.

digital*ghost — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 00:37:57 GMT

@black*poppy wrote:
The 180 day return thing is from eBay US - has not been introduced here and is not mentioned in the Spring Sellers' release.

It's actually an extension of the PayPal dispute timeframe, available to buyers in the UK and US so far, and anyone who sells to a UK / US buyer is bound by their buyer protection policies (The PayPal Australia user agreement was recently updated to include that clause).

A lot of the acceptable proof of postage / delivery is no longer available after around 2 months...

Interestingly, eBay's money back guarantee has a shorter timeframe than PayPal, in most circumstances (up to 30 days after eBay's ETA, which is usually well within 2 weeks of the sale date for domestic purchases).

Re: FINALLY - I Think I Get The Message.

black*poppy — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 06:37:12 GMT

That needs clarifying.. I understood it was only for sellers that sold items on the UK/US websites, ie you are a registered seller on ebay.com. or ebay.co.uk.

Re: FINALLY - I Think I Get The Message.

character_parties_aus — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 06:48:20 GMT

I've spoken to ebay on this item and given them the green / red thsirt example. The answer I got was that in a case like that it would result in a return ( unsure on defect position) which is the same as paypal except on ebay you only get 10-14 days to make a claim and paypal is much longer. its pointless marketing noise which wont affect any seller more than the paypal situation does now other than defect situation. And if you are generally doing a good job the odd defect from some little turd wont hurt you.