Unscrupulous selling practices across the entire site

[kent9206]

Hi all!

Just wanted to get everyone's opinions on some changes to eBay that I only just noticed about a year ago, after having signed up for an account well over a decade ago.

Back then eBay was certainly the premier online marketplace for practically anything IMHO. Now it seems as though the company is getting greedier by the day, and encouraging their sellers to do the same.

A simple search for product X, sorted by price + postage, no longer brings up only product X listings in the order you'd expect; rather you're bombarded with what I'd call clickbait ads. Each one is carefully crafted to make it look 10x cheaper than the associated product/s actually are, and you don't find this out until you look at the actual listing.

At that point you realise that the listing isn't just for product X, but also products Y and Z. Oh and they all come in 10 different colours, each one being a different price! Plus, if you buy 50, you get a 1 cent per unit discount! Wow, what a sweet deal! NOT!!!!

OK, I'm obviously exaggerating, but seriously guys...what gives??? And as if everything I've said so far wasn't bad enough, you don't even notice that you're being scammed until you log into your account!

If you're like me and are paranoid about the multitude of cookies that every man and his dog wants to put on your PC these days, then you come to the site as a guest, search for whatever, end up finding a listing that you like, click "Buy It Now" and are then prompted to sign in.

That's when the price can suddenly jump up a few dollars, because you didn't realise that the blue one was more expensive than the red one (for example). But once that cookie exists on your PC and eBay can effectively track your every move, then the price auto-updates via AJAX as soon as you change your selection.

Has anyone else noticed and been annoyed by these things as much as me? Or am I just being pedantic? MTIA 

[kent9206]

OK thanks, I'll give that a try 🙂

[lyndal1838]

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@kent9206 wrote:

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@lyndal1838 wrote:

So two Americans have the same viewpoint as you do? That speaks volumes when you think of the millions of Americans who use ebay.

Compare that with the much lower volume of Australians who use ebay, and the even lower numbers who come to the boards.....how many Australians agree with you?

I am among the many ebayers who never sign out of their accounts.....why do you think it is an unsafe practice?   I have never had a problem in all the years I have done this.

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While you make a very valid point about their population vs. ours, I don't appreciate the snarkiness.

How is it snarky to point out that only 2 people out of many millions agree with you whereas everyone on the Australian boards who has answered has disagreed with you?

And I don't think that staying signed in is "unsafe" per-se, just a violation of my privacy and freedom. As shoppingbag* eluded to after your post, cookies are almost-always used for tracking and ad serving these days - two things that I loathe with every fibre of my being.

If you want to use the internet you need to understand that there is no real privacy anywhere.....and you are quite free to stop using it.

Tthe worst part is, the regular Joe on the street or your mum or dad would have no idea that saving a second of time costs them that freedom. Of course, you have the right to feel differently though, and I respect your opinion in regards to how it affects you. Please pay me the same courtesy 🙂

Nowhere have I questioned your right to your opinion....I just asked why you consider it  bad practice to remain signed into ebay.

The regular Joe on the street can do just as I did when I started using the internet....research, research, research.  There is plenty of information on what to do to protect yourself.

I agree that my parents would have no idea that saving a second of time would cost them anything.

My mother has been dead for 25+ years and never even saw a computer, let alone had an opportunity to use one.  My father has been gone 15+ years and was almost blind for the last few years so also never had the chance to see my computer or my children's.

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[davewil1964]

You ASKED for opinions.

You got them.

Whether you agree or not is your choice. If you don't want answers, or opinions in this case, don't ask.

Regardless of what some say, it is not bullying. Especially when you were asking for OPINIONS. Or are you only interested in opinions that fit into your paradigm?

[padi*0409]

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@kent9206 wrote:

.......predominantly-Chinese thing, but searching Australia only (is there any other way to search? :P) doesn't get rid of them, because many of them have emmigrated to here and set up shops in our own backyards!

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Searching "Australia only" will only filter out those sellers who do not send to Australia, also, many Chinese/Asian sellers will claim they have stock in Australia, while some do, even they don't usually carry all their stock here.

[luna-2304]

Hi everyone, 

A few posts have trailed off the OP and become off topic and interpersonal. Please stick to the topic and remember to keep all posts withing the Discussion Board Guidelines. 

Thanks!

Luna-2304

Community Moderator

[i-once-was-bump]

That is amazing about your parents, my father died 14 years ago and retired 20 years before that and he used a computer at work before retiring. My mother died much more recently but going back 25 years there was a computer in the house from about 1990 onwards. I learned to use 'text to speech' software back in the 1990s.

[springyzone]

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@maranock wrote:

These forums are not about giving emotional support, a shoulder to cry on, or observations as a whole. That is what your therapist, or Facebook is for.

These forums are for giving guidence and advice for real Ebay problems and helping people navigate Ebay rules and regulations.

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Hmm, I would say that that is what the Buying or Selling board is for alright, but if we are perfectly honest, part of the reason regulars turn up day after day to have a browse is because that is not all it is.

If we were just ebay mouthpieces, here to spout policies, it would be pretty boring.

Just about all the threads include a bit of opinion, a few personal comments or observations and in some cases-and this includes some of the big board names too so don't try to wriggle out of it -quite a bit of off topic joking and a bit of fun. I don't see it as a crime.

And Kent, what someone else said-good to see you popping back, your posts have been perfectly polite and don't feel bad for asking about a topic that has been brought up before. If no one did that, this board would be about 20 posts long. It's quite relevant, in my opinion, to talk about things on ebay that are causing angst or problems.

Supposedly no one from ebay ever visits here,but who knows, maybe the most commonly asked topics might be noted.

[countessalmirena]

@kent9206,

I will most of the time not worry about whether I am signed in or not, except when it comes to being signed in to financial sites. (I prefer to have full control over anything related to making payments.)

It may seem creepy to have targeted ads appear; in a way, of course it is. I am probably so used to it by now, though, that the creep factor is less irritating than seeing completely off-target ads appear.

Something that does annoy me (slightly and momentarily, because I'm not the sort of person to take umbrage and nurse a grievance over a surface ripple) is receiving eBay emails about "Still interested in [insert name of something in which I have positively no interest at all]" etc. I look up quite a few listings for the purpose of checking sellers or items in order to help fellow buyers/sellers on these boards.

I'll be frank; I do think that we have a great deal of information about ourselves being taken and compiled by online services. In most instances, that sort of information about me is harmless. I'm not a criminal and I don't have appalling and nasty secrets. I do have the right to maintain my privacy, of course - and I can browse anonymously if I wish. I can delete history if I wish (although that's more for privacy if others were using my computer - which they are not!). I suppose that the convenience of using the internet involves a trade-off in the crumbs we tend to leave behind. All information about potential customer behaviour has a certain value... and of course recent news (such as the ABC's recent article on Beijing's mass surveillance of Australia and the world for secrets and scandal ) makes it clear that even innocent-looking information could be used to influence, convince, persuade, manipulate, coerce, and wage psychological warfare.

Spoiler

❝A Chinese company with links to Beijing's military and intelligence networks has been amassing a vast database of detailed personal information on thousands of Australians, including prominent and influential figures.

A database of 2.4 million people, including more than 35,000 Australians, has been leaked from the Shenzhen company Zhenhua Data which is believed to be used by China's intelligence service, the Ministry of State Security.

Zhenhua has the People's Liberation Army and the Chinese Communist Party among its main clients.

Information collected includes dates of birth, addresses, marital status, along with photographs, political associations, relatives and social media IDs.

It collates Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and even TikTok accounts, as well as news stories, criminal records and corporate misdemeanours.

While much of the information has been "scraped" from open-source material, some profiles have information which appears to have been sourced from confidential bank records, job applications and psychological profiles.

The company is believed to have sourced some of its information from the so-called "dark web".

One intelligence analyst said the database was "Cambridge Analytica on steroids", referring to the trove of personal information sourced from Facebook profiles in the lead up to the 2016 US election campaign.❞

Re the listings that misuse the ❝listing with variations❞ feature, they are almost certainly here to stay, unfortunately. While buyers can report a seller/listing, eBay Australia can really not take any action against sellers registered on eBay China. It is primarily Chinese sellers who abuse this feature.

Spoiler

You may want to read through this thread where digital*ghost explains ❝Just in Time fulfilment❞.

Like others on this thread, I do not even look at listings with variations. I assume that such listings will not fulfill my expectations (i.e., are probably based in China and may be cheaply made or fraudulent). In most instances, I want to buy from local sellers. Depending on the item, I may be looking at overseas sellers but they are most likely to be in the UK, France, Germany, US, etc. I'm going to have to get the Marcato "pasta fresca" machine from an Italian or a German seller, for example, as Marcato don't sell this particular machine in Australia.

Always look at a seller's feedback profile page to see where the seller is registered. The item location information in the listing can be misleading.

And now... I end this post with some cookies to which no one could object!

[*tippy*toes*]

That's why I always use this account to search for items, or check listings for members. I have no idea what the email address is for this account, so I don't see the spam that is generated by clicking on a listing. 

For searching, I'll find the item I want on this account, then use one of my other accounts to make the actual purchase. That keeps the spam a bit lower than normal..........although only slightly!

Spoiler

Anyone else sick to death of the eBay Plus spam?

I trust that your pasta thingamajig will be shiny red?

[countessalmirena]

tippy*toes, if there were a red one, I'd be getting it. Unfortunately it's only available in white.

Spoiler

Yes. The degree to which I'm not interested in receiving eBay Plus email promotions is Plus Plus Plus Plus to the power of Plus Plus Plus Plus Plus.