Ebay Scandal

Cute_'n'_Quirky

patchwork_cat wrote: »

I think that some of the posters to this assume that all power sellers are making huge profits, and unscrupulous sellers. That is simple not the case I was a power seller until recently - I made £2200 profit last year - hardly mega bucks ,huh. I sell to make ends meet until I can return to work. Do you know how much I have paid ebay and paypal in fees in the same period - £2100 !!! Every feedback matters to me and always has and I have bent over backwards for my buyers. I have had the regulation 2 nutters who have left me negs despite both receiving full refunds for items 'lost' in the post! without having to wait the 3 + months it takes me to get the money back off the PO.

To gain bronze powerseller status you need to turnover £750 and 12 items a month hardly big business is it.

That's just it as a Buyer I cannot have an item genuinely lost in the post since the Seller assumes that everyone is out to scam them.

RM are very sloppy with the mail, don't deliver, don't care a hoot yet the poor Buyer gets the blame.

I have been victim of a Seller not actually posting the item out and blaming me for theft.

All of the negatives I have left over the years have been well-deserved and I have no problem with continuing to give them out where necessary - whether the Seller is a 'powerseller' or not. If their attitude towards me as a buyer, or the dealing on the sale has been atrocious then they will get a negative, simple as that.

rainbow_carnage

I've been an Ebay buyer and seller for over a decade now. I don't make a living from it, but I would miss it if it disappeared.

I've dealt with buyers with unreasonable expectations, but from my personal experience, problem sellers outnumber stupid buyers 10 to 1.

I would say that around 80% of things that I buy come with inflated postage costs. I'm not complaining (I know the total before I bid), but it does illustrate the current state of affairs. Yesterday I was going to bid on an item that had a £10 postage cost. Most of the other sellers charged £5 for sending the same item. The actual cost is around £3. So I contacted the seller to ask if I could pick up the item in person. He said yes, but only if the auction price goes above a certain amount. I chose not to deal with him.

And yes, buyers do have higher expectations now than they did before, but it's not a terrible thing. If I'm going to pay for Special Delivery (which is often the only shipping option offered), I expect the seller to post the item within 48 hrs. There's no point in paying extra and still having to wait a week. That's market economy for you. Lots of sellers do post daily. If you want to stay in business, you have to match their level of service. I appreciate it when previous buyers notify the rest of us via feedback whether or not the seller does this. If not, I'd rather buy from someone who does.

I'm sorry that a lot of honest sellers have had their accounts suspended. However, a 98% customer satisfaction record isn't unreasonable. I've been waiting for a long time for Ebay to start banning obvious crooks, both buyers and sellers. It's appalling that it takes 3 non-payments within one month to get a buyer suspended. But even with the old system, buyers with loads of negative feedback continued to operate. Sellers are too greedy to cancel bids from these people. If I see that someone hasn't paid for several items, I block them. Then I see that other people have no issue with selling to them.

lush_walrus

Hi,

It's easy to say there are a lot of bad sellers, but I have to tell you as someone who has an established selling record on Ebay, there are equally bad buyers. As in all walks of life you get good and bad everywhere.

We had a 100% positive recordin the years we have been selling 100s of items a month. Not a bad record. Just before the changes a buyer gave us our first nuetral, giving it as they were not 100% happy with the product, but did not want us to be penalised as it was a minor point that they didn't like. Upon the change that nutral turned to effectively a negative. In that instance we let the buyer know, and the buyer is actually annoyed at Ebay as he feels that is not what he intended and if he had wanted us to be penalised he would have left a negative. In our case it is only one feedback in 1000s, so has zero effect. The reality is, quite a few ps's have had a hell of a lot more neutrals converted to negs by the new system and therefore dropped automatically below Ebay's apparant level of acceptance and now suspended. Bizarely, reading the %s that some have been banned on, quite a few of our competitors are still selling with a lower %. So there are some inconsistancies on Ebay at the moment.


Over the past few weeks more and more PS are leaving eBay due to the changes. As a PS myself i am thinking of doing the same. The whole system as it stands does not take into account bad buyers, which seems to have increased and as a seller can do nothing about.

If i sell an item and the buyer is not happy, then fine the buyer can warn others of our bad service, shoddy items or whatever. But if i have a bad buyer, (ie one that is non paying, sends an echeque then cancels it [i cant get the fees back on this]), or as is increasingly occuring buyers who say they have not received the item, then i have no way of warning other sellers. Ebay was built on a fair system that allowed transparancy for buyers and sellers. Clearly with sellers hands tied the transparancy can not possibly be there.

Maybe sellers should sell to buyers with a minimum of 98% feedback, but after a while ALL buyers with have a 100% rating under this system.

All I can say to any people on this thread who are seeing this as helping buyers, consider how you would feel if you were a seller out there doing the best you can to offer good products and good service only to be banned due to neutrals (which were considered when issued to be exactly that) converting to negs.

Cute_'n'_Quirky

A lot of Sellers demand payment on the day of sale - but then don't send out for 8 days or more

Sellers should be treating their Buyers with the same respect that they expect.

lush_walrus

Cute_n_Quirky wrote: »

That's just it as a Buyer I cannot have an item genuinely lost in the post since the Seller assumes that everyone is out to scam them.

RM are very sloppy with the mail, don't deliver, don't care a hoot yet the poor Buyer gets the blame.

I have been victim of a Seller not actually posting the item out and blaming me for theft.

All of the negatives I have left over the years have been well-deserved and I have no problem with continuing to give them out where necessary - whether the Seller is a 'powerseller' or not. If their attitude towards me as a buyer, or the dealing on the sale has been atrocious then they will get a negative, simple as that.

Really, as much flack as people like to give RM, I really think their service is fantastic and people like to use their service as an excuse for theirs.

We sell thousands of items a month and have done for years (Ebay is just one of the platforms we require their service for), and in all of that time we have had one item lost and one that we thought was lost only for it to have been left with a neighbour. We also generally find that sending something first class by 3.30 will ensure that the next morning it is delivered. Many of our customers comment that they have received their items in less than 24 hours of buying it and although we take our items to the post twice daily, this is only possible as a result of their service.

Really, I think it is time that people stopped blaiming RM for everything (I am not aiming this at you). We can not be unique in receiving this service from them. In my experience RM do not loose very much at all in the post, although it is of great convienience for some to say they do.

Cute_'n'_Quirky

I totally agree with you.

The Buyers need to realise, though, that the RM is no longer as fast as it once was.

I don't sell on ebay any more, I only buy - but have noticed that first class mail takes two/three or even four days sometimes.

wigglebeena

i have noticed a vast variation in the quality of service offered by different post offices and would assume this applies to sorting offices also. just because you get a great service from your local office doesn't mean this applies to everyone.

arthur_dent_2

Cute_n_Quirky wrote: »

A lot of Sellers demand payment on the day of sale - but then don't send out for 8 days or more

Sellers should be treating their Buyers with the same respect that they expect.

When we send out ordinairy post items, they are sent on the same day or if it was a weekend purchase monday morning (no PO service at weekends). Unfortunately with courier service it usually takes 24 - 36 hours after payment due to the need to book in the pick up. Never does it take 8 days.

Cute_'n'_Quirky

arthur_dent wrote: »

When we send out ordinairy post items, they are sent on the same day or if it was a weekend purchase monday morning (no PO service at weekends). Unfortunately with courier service it usually takes 24 - 36 hours after payment due to the need to book in the pick up. Never does it take 8 days.

It wasn't a direct criticism of you in any way

It is my experience of Sellers on Ebay and I can only speak as I find

patchwork_cat

Cute n quirky that is because so many buyers try it on. Just like I am tarred with the same brush as bad sellers. I NEVER say to a buyer are you sure I always refund straight away and say sorry for the inconvenience, but I am CERTAIN that a fair few are not lost in the post, however as I can't tell I treat them as if they are honest - which is a damn site more than the post office do for me, I can tell you.

I have just had a buyer demand that I cancel his bid on an item that weighs over 2 kg or lower my excessive p+p which at £7.25 is £2 cheaper than anyone else on ebay and about 50p more than royal mail are charging me. Ebay is going to hell in a hand cart with brakes off!

If you are buying from sellers that are not sending items for 8 days then a read their dsr's and b give them bad dsr. But make sure the 8 days is their fault and not PO

Lush Walrus are you serious you have had one item lost out of thousands a month!! Well all I can say is either I am getting your quota of losses or I have some seriously dishonest sellers and you have the honest ones! Seriously we went through a spate of about 5% going missing.