why is ebay paranoid about people trying to avoid paying fees on a sale?

[sarahmajindi321]

Recently we have had a few sellers on Ebay sell us items that they have fraudulently claimed were genuine eg(wool) not synthetic etc. Ebay were advised and did nothing, they are as bad as the fraudsters , as they are complicit, and knowingly endorsing these fraudulant activities, by doing nothing.

We sell like many and feel it best to allow the buyer on Local Pick up to view the item if they are also local, allows them to inspect and see what they will be bidding on!

We also are happy to accept payment when they pick up, makes a clean and honest transaction, they get what they want we get paid cash, 'NO CHANCE OF FRAUD'. Which this Ebay site has an abundance of.

These clowns in the Ebay office have accused us of trying to circumnavigate their fees by doing this. twice, actually we have done it at least a dozen times. And paid the fees.

They judge members by their own greedy dishonest standards.

How can this happen, if the bid is made on ebay and we are of course committed  to paying the ebay fees, they after all just help themselves automatically from our registered debit card on file? anyway.

They should not have Pickup if they feel threatened, in this way.

We have cancelled 6 auctions and they lost hundreds of dollars of potential fees, we have no intention in stopping what is an honest practice.

It appears Ebay has a problem with the rights  we have in Australia of the consumer protection laws.

They think they have a monopoly, sooner or later a properly run and honest site will clean the floor with them, and they will go the same way as Apple.

Ebay your absolutely Pathetic

[sarahmajindi321]

This is by Ric from the USA,

Fri Feb 15 11:24:32 2013

If only the dunderheads in San Jose were paying attention early in JD's tenure - none of this would have been necessary. If fees had not been raised so high, sellers would not be looking for ways to circumvent them. If policies were realistic, fair and balanced, sellers would not have abandoned eBay for other sites or would not have built their own. If eBay listened to their sellers instead of being assimilated into JD's "noise" culture sellers would be a happy lot, sales would be higher and eBay would be profitable without having to resort to parlor tricks in the accounting department. Good on you mate sums this bunch of 'Walliers' up very well.

[imastawka]

You haven't sold anything since July and currently have no listings.

I'm sure ebay will miss receiving your fvfs

[sarahmajindi321]

Correct, this relates to six listings in the last month , we cancelled all auctions due to ebays nonsense and the rest relates to quite a few purchases we have made in the last few months

[sarahmajindi321]

Your attempt to be smart, bit ordinary mate, read the initial post it already states we cancelled our auctions, and some where well into the 400+, so to reiterate ebay did lose 100's in fees. Serves them right

So what was your Point?

[digital*ghost · Accepted solution]

Every now and then, eBay makes a decision that makes no sense to most logical folk, and attempting to explain common sense to almost any rep is a frustrating waste of time. 

I have received a policy violation for attempting to circumvent fees by stating that custom orders were welcome - eBay decided that this was an invitation to sell off-eBay via another webstore (which I don't have), despite the fact that I can't see any way for someone to think 'custom orders welcome' = 'contact me directly so we can deal off eBay'. It made me angry and offended, because my selling history clearly shows that every time someone contacted me via eBay about a custom made item, I listed it on eBay for them, yet having those words in the listing rather than my record pretty much meant I was guilty, no chance to prove innocence and so on...

But at the end of the day I want to sell, so for me, rather than staying angry and refusing to list here (counter-productive in my circumstances), I just had to do it in a way that conforms with eBay's policies, whether I agree with them or think they were applied correctly or not. That specifically meant changing the way I word some things, leaving no room for doubt that any special order enquiries will result in an eBay listing. eBay's happy (in a blissfully ignorant way, I guess, 'cos the less control a seller has over their business, the more likely they are to look for alternatives), I'm (relatively) happy, and selling, which is more important to me personally than a moment of offense and indignation. 

[sarahmajindi321]

Digital*ghost,
Well summarised, and thanks, when I cool down, I hope I see it the same way!

[vxholden01]

Agree with you 100%....eBay is the problem here but are too big, arrogant and greedy to realise that are practically milking a dry udder

[vxholden01]

Very solid reply, however I question why you feel the need to "just comply" with Ebays nonsence. 

I understand the need to make a $$, but are there not other ways or places?

[digital*ghost]

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@vxholden01 wrote:

Very solid reply, however I question why you feel the need to "just comply" with Ebays nonsence. 

I understand the need to make a $$, but are there not other ways or places?

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I make business decisions - that is, I do what is best for my business, and I know full well that eBay doesn't need my business, we just happen to like using each other as long as we both get the pay-off to make it worthwhile, so I would rather pick my fights wisely and direct my energies to things that end in a result I want. This was simply about wording in my listings, I've changed it (took me about 45 minutes to ensure all 250-odd listings were updated) and still receive custom orders, so as far as I'm concerned, though I still disagree with eBay's interpretation of my wording, I made the best business decision.