Ebay is dead

Enterprise_1701C

I don't sell on Ebay.

Not down to the fees or anything like that. It is down to the way complaints are handled. So many people I know have sent out a brand new item, had a complaint that it is "not as described" or some other silly thing, been forced to pay for the return and refund, only to receive an item that is either totally different or an older version of the item they sent out. Ebay seems to back these fraudulent claims rather than their sellers.

I have a lot of things I would like to sell, but, as long as Ebay acts in this way, I will never sell on ebay.

Too many less than honest people have worked out they can get new items or replacement items for free with just a little bit of effort. How can that be good for the honest people in the majority amongst us?

RFW

Enterprise_1701C wrote: »

I don't sell on Ebay.

Not down to the fees or anything like that. It is down to the way complaints are handled. So many people I know have sent out a brand new item, had a complaint that it is "not as described" or some other silly thing, been forced to pay for the return and refund, only to receive an item that is either totally different or an older version of the item they sent out. Ebay seems to back these fraudulent claims rather than their sellers.

I have a lot of things I would like to sell, but, as long as Ebay acts in this way, I will never sell on ebay.

Too many less than honest people have worked out they can get new items or replacement items for free with just a little bit of effort. How can that be good for the honest people in the majority amongst us?

I've never had that experience as a seller. I know it happens but it isn't prevalent.
Ebay aren't going to change. Who would want to buy on a site that when a customer says they've received the wrong item the seller says "Tough"?
There isn't a middle way, it's either side with the buyer or with the seller. If you want customers you side with the buyer.

coffeehound

Enterprise_1701C wrote: »

So many people I know have sent out a brand new item, had a complaint that it is "not as described" or some other silly thing, been forced to pay for the return and refund, only to receive an item that is either totally different or an older version of the item they sent out. Ebay seems to back these fraudulent claims rather than their sellers.

Is the seller allowed to state that in feedback for the fraudulent buyer?

soolin

coffeehound wrote: »

Is the seller allowed to state that in feedback for the fraudulent buyer?

Sellers can only leave positives for buyers, if a seller leaves a comment that breaches that rule then buyer can get it removed and seller gets a warning.

hollydays

RFW wrote: »

I've never had that experience as a seller. I know it happens but it isn't prevalent.
Ebay aren't going to change. Who would want to buy on a site that when a customer says they've received the wrong item the seller says "Tough"?
There isn't a middle way, it's either side with the buyer or with the seller. If you want customers you side with the buyer.

Me neither, but my brother sent an item, the buyer sent a message saying he hadn't even opened it, and was sending it back, and opened a not as described case. My brother had to pay for the return postage even though he won an appeal.

StumpyPumpy

RFW wrote: »

I'm often surprised that any Amazon customers don't have a Prime account these days. With the TV and music available as well as the better Amazon service it's good value. Obviously if you don't use the additional services and rarely buy then I can see the lack of value.

Exactly this. We have zero interest in watching TV or continually updating our music collection and in my, admittedly limited, view these days Amazon is seldom cheaper than elsewhere unless you absolutely need next day delivery and we never do.

Therefore, we do not consider ourselves Amazon customers any more. It used to be my first port of call for online purchasing and I had an amazon.com account long before there was a .co.uk equivalent. I can't imagine ever buying enough cheap items online to justify spending nearly £100 a year to get "free postage". All it does is make people funnel all their spending through a single market place in the often erroneous belief that they are getting a better bargain than they can get elsewhere: the annual subscription comes out of a different mental budget so it can be discounted.

Of course none of the above is valid if you spend a lot of time watching TV anyway so would otherwise throw your money at Netflix, BT TV or Sky then the free postage is a bonus. But as I said, we don't watch TV so Amazon for us is one of the most expensive ways to buy things online and we simply don't visit it any more.

SP

RFW

StumpyPumpy wrote: »

Exactly this. We have zero interest in watching TV or continually updating our music collection and in my, admittedly limited, view these days Amazon is seldom cheaper than elsewhere unless you absolutely need next day delivery and we never do.

Therefore, we do not consider ourselves Amazon customers any more. It used to be my first port of call for online purchasing and I had an amazon.com account long before there was a .co.uk equivalent. I can't imagine ever buying enough cheap items online to justify spending nearly £100 a year to get "free postage". All it does is make people funnel all their spending through a single market place in the often erroneous belief that they are getting a better bargain than they can get elsewhere: the annual subscription comes out of a different mental budget so it can be discounted.

Of course none of the above is valid if you spend a lot of time watching TV anyway so would otherwise throw your money at Netflix, BT TV or Sky then the free postage is a bonus. But as I said, we don't watch TV so Amazon for us is one of the most expensive ways to buy things online and we simply don't visit it any more.

SP

It's interesting. As an Amazon seller I don't always see if the customer is a Prime member or not, I can't officially see that information but can tell if the customer has paid for postage.


Incidentally you can buy from marketplace sellers who aren't using Amazon to send their goods.

I often have items listed sent from my own warehouse if I can.

The postage for that makes no difference if you have a Prime account or not. There's at least one good seller doing that (me!) and actually quite a lot of others. You may sometimes have to go past the buy box to find the other sellers. On many occasions the price would be less than Amazon's too (I usually have the same price for sending myself or via Amazon).

hubb

Yep, its dead. More and more items, some brand new boxed and nothing.

RFW

hubb wrote: »

Yep, its dead. More and more items, some brand new boxed and nothing.

Have you thought of a career in comedy?:rotfl:

SuperMoose

RFW wrote: »

Have you thought of a career in comedy?:rotfl:

The problem is they only know one joke :beer: