Another Ebay rule change!

[novakjr]

Ebay is pretty much over-stepping their boundaries, BUT they ARE trying to make sure you get the most out of your auctions. Not because they give a crap about you though, but because they give a crap about their percentage and fees.. There shouldn't be anything wrong with sellers having their own standards or rules, but then again, ebay doesn't care. You're the one taking the risk, and not them.

[slidekellyslide]

Ebay placed restrictions on me two months ago after a good 6-7 year run as a seller with ZERO negative feedbacks...and last month they stripped me of my top seller rating and my 20% discount because in the last three months I've gotten three 1 or 2 DSR ratings for 'communication'. So three of my buyers who felt I didn't communicate well enough with them cost me $170 last month. It's exasperating..I've scaled waaayyy back on my selling this month. Maybe I'll go back to my regular listing habits when I get my 20% discount back. I don't understand why ebay wants to kill off auctions and become more like Amazon...there's already a site like that and it's called Amazon.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide

Ebay placed restrictions on me two months ago after a good 6-7 year run as a seller with ZERO negative feedbacks...and last month they stripped me of my top seller rating and my 20% discount because in the last three months I've gotten three 1 or 2 DSR ratings for 'communication'. So three of my buyers who felt I didn't communicate well enough with them cost me $170 last month. It's exasperating..I've scaled waaayyy back on my selling this month. Maybe I'll go back to my regular listing habits when I get my 20% discount back. I don't understand why ebay wants to kill off auctions and become more like Amazon...there's already a site like that and it's called Amazon.

I found this post doing a search on 'top-rated' seller, trying to see if anyone else was getting weird results with ebay's program.

I lost mine today because of three 1 or 2 DSR ratings for shipping costs. Very, very ridiculous as I LOSE money on shipping every time I run straight auctions, and my BIN's are almost always 'free shipping'. I also had two bad ratings for shipping speed, which is laughable - I ship the day I'm paid, unless the post office is closed. I really hate to even guess why this happened, as none of the guesses are pleasant to think about, but the end result is the same...

...BIN's with free shipping. No more of the take-it-up-the-rear straight auctions which, by the way, nail you for 11% of the first $50...unless you are a top-seller.

Just venting. Off to lunch.

[drc]

My experience is the USPO can be slow these days, and the buyer will sometimes blame the seller for the USPO's delay.

[CW]

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide

I don't understand why ebay wants to kill off auctions and become more like Amazon...there's already a site like that and it's called Amazon.

So true, and how ironic. Somebody now needs to fill the online auction void. I'm surprised nobody has come out with a site that mimics the "old" eBay.

[drc]

The irony would be if amazon starts an auction site like the old ebay,

[39special]

Another reason I don't sell on ebay anymore!

[Jewish-collector]

I don't like sellers having rules & policies. As a relatively new seller, I keep it simple. I don't have any rules. I just describe the item.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Jewish-collector

I don't like sellers having rules & policies. As a relatively new seller, I keep it simple. I don't have any rules. I just describe the item.

I don't get it.

[drc]

I don't agree with eBay in many areas, but do agree that having a relatively uniform selling rules is professional. Each seller having his own idiosyncratic rules isn't good for eBay customers.

[xdrx]

Originally Posted by novakjr

Ebay is pretty much over-stepping their boundaries, BUT they ARE trying to make sure you get the most out of your auctions. Not because they give a crap about you though, but because they give a crap about their percentage and fees.. There shouldn't be anything wrong with sellers having their own standards or rules, but then again, ebay doesn't care. You're the one taking the risk, and not them.

From a buyer's perspective I'd certainly prefer standardized rules. I don't want to have to read the fine print of every ad I look at to make sure there are no unusual terms or conditions. In fact, it is my understanding that a seller's rules don't supersede eBay's anyway, so it really just seems to be added confusion and increased potential for disagreements.

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by xdrx

From a buyer's perspective I'd certainly prefer standardized rules. I don't want to have to read the fine print of every ad I look at to make sure there are no unusual terms or conditions. In fact, it is my understanding that a seller's rules don't supersede eBay's anyway, so it really just seems to be added confusion and increased potential for disagreements.

I have almost no rules at all on my auctions...the only thing my auctions state after the description is "Payment is due within 5 days of auction end." What else is there to add? Most everyone knows ebay's rules supersede anything the seller states so why bother?

[barrysloate]

About a month ago I was bidding on a collection of coins listed on ebay. The seller included a phrase something to the effect of, If you added these coins up individually they would have a catalog value of around $3200. Ebay shut the auction down. Apparently you cannot mention catalog value, that it violates some rule. Does anybody know why?

[mdschulze]

I used to put in my listings, "I leave positive feedback as soon as I receive payment. If you are one of the many that do not leave feedback after a positive transaction, please do not bid on my items". I received the same response from Ebay after I tried to relist an item with that wording.

Additionally, I do not understand why ebay won't change the feedback system all together. If I sell an item with no complaints from the buyer within 30 days after the transaction, then I should automatically get a generic positive if the buyer is too lazy to leave feedback. I have sold about 250+ items and I've only recieved about 50% feedback from the total buyers.
JMO!! -Mike

[Doug]

Maybe they should do something useful and ban phrases like "I found it in grandpa's attic" and "I don't know if it's original, but it doesn't say reprint anywhere on the card". I guess by eBay logic you aren't allowed to discourage bidding, but you are allowed to use misleading statements to encourage it.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by Doug

Maybe they should do something useful and ban phrases like "I found it in grandpa's attic" and "I don't know if it's original, but it doesn't say reprint anywhere on the card". I guess by eBay logic you aren't allowed to discourage bidding, but you are allowed to use misleading statements to encourage it.

Exactly.

Actually, they would prefer you don't list your reprints AS reprints............because that would only serve to discourage bidding on that item. It's for our own good you see.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by Doug

Maybe they should do something useful and ban phrases like [...] "I don't know if it's original, but it doesn't say reprint anywhere on the card".

This wording actually already is banned though, thanks to Ebay's unusable policies/help site, I can't find the specific citation for you.

Tabe

[dstudeba]

Originally Posted by mdschulze

I used to put in my listings, "I leave positive feedback as soon as I receive payment. If you are one of the many that do not leave feedback after a positive transaction, please do not bid on my items".

I realize this is an old post, but I have never heard of this kind of policy. I will be happy to sell to the highest bidder regardless of whether they leave feedback or not. Is feedback that important to people that they are willing to lose customers and money over it?

[slidekellyslide]

It doesn't matter what your rules are ebay's rules supersede any rules you put on your auction. Ebay made a rule last year that supposedly went into effect in December that all seller must offer refunds on returns and that the buyer gets 14 days to return the item after they receive it. Oddly though on their listing site you can still choose "no returns" and you can even choose 3 day/7 day/14 day returns. Even with all that if someone paid with paypal they can pretty much return an item within 60 days. This happened to me with a remorseful buyer who made a paypal claim more than 30 days after he received the item and almost 6 weeks after the item ended. My auction stated 7 day returns.


On an unrelated note to all that this morning I had a discussion with a fellow who unbeknownst to me was blocked and was ticked off about it...he emailed me and told me that I sold something for way less than it was worth because he was blocked from bidding. This guy is not on my blocked bidder list so he must have at least 2 non paying bidder strikes in the last 12 months..I just changed that last week. I asked him if he has any strikes against him and he is very evasive...he wants my phone number for some reason. Creepy.

[drc]

By the same token, I allow international bidders because as a seller I don't want to be turning down bids.

[irishdenny]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

About a month ago I was bidding on a collection of coins listed on ebay. The seller included a phrase something to the effect of, If you added these coins up individually they would have a catalog value of around $3200. Ebay shut the auction down. Apparently you cannot mention catalog value, that it violates some rule. Does anybody know why?

Just a thought...

Might it have to do with promoting sales from another venue other than ebay? You know, pointing you in the catalogs direction vice "The ebay way".

Or maybe it's just because... "They said So!"

[DaClyde]

Someone should organize a month long boycott of eBay, where a large group of sellers move all of their listings to sites like onlineauction.com or bidstart.com. See if eBay even notices. If they don't want to be the premier auction site anymore, then sellers should take their business elsewhere.

[sb1]

Originally Posted by DaClyde

Someone should organize a month long boycott of eBay, where a large group of sellers move all of their listings to sites like onlineauction.com or bidstart.com. See if eBay even notices. If they don't want to be the premier auction site anymore, then sellers should take their business elsewhere.

Ebay would have very little reason to care, they actually want to get away from the auction format and become a retail site for commercial vendors, not mom and pop flea market dealers. Thus, many of the hoops small dollar sellers are required to jump through.