Why so complicated to sell

[Anonymous]

Haven't sold anything for a while. Just sold a HDD, got notification from Ebay that I had to send it. OK, where do I find the address. Foraged through the rat's maze and eventually got the address.

Used to just go to the PayPal activity and there it was. So packed it up and mailed it. Right, now I've got the tracking number, back to the rat's maze to find where to put that. OK, done. Ignored all the stuff about Sendle and an Ebay number on the address that the post office didn't have a clue about.

I then see that Ebay took $4.00 from the $29 coming to me. Nice, now just wait till Ebay sees fit to pay me.

Gone are the days of a simple interaction with a buyer and PayPal. I'm guessing all in the name of security, something that PayPal did quite nicely with their resolution center.

Supposed to be able to customize that monstrosity of a table when you click on selling/sold. Trouble is you don't know what is in all those  tables so a half hour wading through them and hoping to not cut out something important.

Now it makes me wonder, what would someone new to Ebay do when confronted with this system.

I am not stupid but I think I get it that Ebay  either thinks they are protecting customers or just want a bigger slice of the pie.  Maybe both. If this level of complexity does not deter new customers, especially older ones, I don't know what will. As for that BS with micro deposits....

As I work in IT I can plod on but everything I do in programming revolves around KISS. It looks like that programming rule has been forgotten here

And if you are going to reply with "If you don't like it go somewhere else" please don't bother

[padi*0409]

After the way you interacted with other members in your last thread, I seriously doubt if anyone is going to give you any help on this one.

[oddsandendsoz]

Yes, certainly in the years I have been selling here it has gotten a lot more 'complicated' and eBay seem to like to change things just for the sake of it.

At the same time they have become so paranoid about sellers and buyers doing a transaction outside of eBay that they have created a maze just to make it harder. At the same time they have been slowly making it harder for small sellers and favouring the big retailers. 

[gutterpunkz05]

The level of complexity........ What a joke...... No maze,,,,,All in one place

[gutterpunkz05]

2  Clicks  and you have access to everything you need, speshly if you want to use your own crayons

[paper-jack]

"got notification from Ebay that I had to send it. OK, where do I find the address. Foraged through the rat's maze and eventually got the address."

Strange, in every email from Ebay notifying me of a sale they have clearly set out the buyer's address.

At least now PayPal isn't involved I don't have to make sure the address they also used to give, is exactly the same.

[davewil1964]

I'll bother. You seem to think that you can sail along selling on eBay without keeping up with current policies, or using a couple of braincells. Half an hour? I call hyperbole. If you are particularly IQ diminished, maybe 2 minutes.

I doubt you work in IT, unless at the call centre.

[springyzone]

I haven't sold anything in years so haven't physically seen the maze you are talking of, but here's my take on it.

From everything I have read on here, ebay has tightened things up over the years, especially when it comes to sellers and selling. That will obviously be in order to protect customers, as you say. I can't think of any website anywhere that hasn't made some changes over the years.

It is like most other things, for anyone not familiar with the system, it probably seems really complex and at times confusing, but for regular sellers, they can most likely navigate through in seconds.

I strongly suspect ebay does not care too much about occasional sellers. As long as the bigger or regular sellers find it easy enough, that will be all that matters to them.

I was talking to a fairly big ebay seller recently and he said he prefers the present system with managed payments etc but the one thing he doesn't like is the ease with which ebay will refund a buyer for no good reason.

[shiver_me_shrimp]

Correct, eBay doesn't want Casual sellers. They want to be paid every day, not occasionally.

No idea what maze the OP is talking about. Maybe it's a special maze used only for occasional sellers to deter them from using the site, but if that were the case I would be able to see said maze on this account. I see no maze.

[springyzone]

I'd be sure it comes down to the unfamiliar being confusing at times.

It doesn't mean a  person is silly, they can be bright enough, but sometimes things arranged ina  different way can throw you.

I can remember this sensation years ago (not on ebay but in my job). I was training for a particular position and had to administer and mark a battery of placement tests for a child. I had all the notes in front of me, step by step instructions on each test. It took me 90 minutes the first time I did one. 

I can recall that feeling of anxiety as the minutes ticked away and I was having to revist my notes and go back and forth. It seemed like a maze too and quite complex.

Later on as I became familiar with it, I didn't have to read notes, I was able to zoom through in 15-20 minutes. I still feel embarrassed by how long that first time took me.

I'm sure that newcomers to the boards and to selling on ebay sometimes strike the same sort of thing-confusion and frustration. Practice makes perfect though.