Ebay Scandal

kevinyork

I agree that the feedback system as it was suffered because of negatives being given tit for tat. However it did mean that when you saw a seller with negatives they were usually well deserved and alarm bells started ringing. It also let sellers warn others about the idiot, impossible to please buyers out there.

This has now gone to the other extreme. I’ve got 3 non paying bidder disputes which I’ve closed today. On 2 of them the buyer never responded at all. I cannot give a negative to warn others but any negative they give to me will at least be removed since they didnt respond to the dispute. On the third one the buyer responded to the dispute indicating they would pay and then I heard nothing further for 3 weeks before closing the dispute. Again I cannot neg them but they can neg me!! How is that fair! I think it should be made impossible for any non paying bidder to leave any feedback for the seller. The transaction has not been completed since the buyer hasnt paid so why should then be allowed to give feedback.

Also, OK eBay make the changes to feedback but dont make it retrospective. Why should a neutral given 11 months ago affect a sellers' feedback percentage now when the changes have come in. When the buyer left the neutral they did so knowing it wouldnt affect the sellers feedback percentage and the seller may have let the neutral pass without contacting the buyer knowing the same. It was as per the meaning of the word- a Neutral, and didnt matter too much.

It appears the new CEO wants to move towards a website which is more of a retail shop which brings together large retailers in one place. In the US they have just allowed Buy.com to list all of their inventory on eBay (supposedly on a bargain fee structure) . This means smaller sellers have little chance of competing when in search results hundreds of similar items from larger retailers, many of whom can offer cheap or free delivery, are returned.

eBay could not have chosen a worse time to make these changes. Retail spending is down and indeed eBay thrives on the 'I didnt know I needed one of those but I will buy one cos its cheap' sort of purchase which are the first to be dropped by consumers feeling the pinch. If sellers' sales through eBay continue to dwindle but they see their fees continually increase and also feel peeved at the feedback and visibility changes then eBay will see their revenues severely hit as buyers flee to Amazon and invest their eBay fee savings in their websites.

Finally (sorry to go on so much) eBay offers discounts to Powersellers who maintain good detailed seller ratings. These ratings have to be at least 4.6 out of 5.0 to be classed as good and to be rewarded with the discount. Many buyers rightly believe 4 out of 5 to be a good rating however if more than 8% of your buyers rate you as 4 out of 5 rather than 5 out of 5 then you would drop below 4.6 and lose your fee discount.
eBay seem to have redefined the word 'Good' as well as the word 'Neutral'.

brownbabygirl

alooof wrote: »

all it takes is one established online retailer (amazon etc) to develop an alternative marketplace that is both easy to use and affordable and ebay's customers (ie the sellers - the ones who pay them money!) will desert them in droves
a big challenge for the new CEO!

I have been praying for this for YEARS.:j

jaspodeman

Premier wrote: »

The ebay rules were revised based on customer (i.e. ebay users, both buyers & sellers) feedback.

If as you suggest, many buyers are leaving unfair negative feedback resulting in sellers being suspended "left right and centre", eventually there will be no sellers left. Without sellers, there will be no buyers. Without sellers and buyers there will be no ebay.

Don't you think if ebay was losing business, they wouldn't revise the rules again?

I guess the fact ebay have not indicated any further revision of rules suggests they are happy to have listened to their customers, provided what their own customers requested and are pleased with the overall results to date.

Will they revise the rules?? I hope so, otherwise thousands of sellers are stuffed. You may be putting too much faith in ebay's business acumen. Yes, they have been riding the crest of a wave for many years now, but, never have seemed content with this, always fiddling with and changing rules, requirments, fees structures, the list goes on. Now they have just gone too far. They have forgotten their core loyal sellers, the very ones who have built them up to where they are, and now exterminating them effectively. This is not an overreaction. Ask those like myself who have just had their businees flushed down the toilet. The ebay machine is so massive now, it only matches their smugness and complacency. Unless it u-turns now, it will bring itself down spectacularly. It won't be the first time a huge corporation has through greed and intransigence brought about it's own destruction.

jaspodeman

patchwork_cat wrote: »

Does anyone know the % required to not get banned - tbh though is your feedback normally like this or is this new because buyers are being malicious? If your feedback is normally like that it isn't great. Don't want to be sympathetic because I am very - I am seriously slowing my main id due to serious lack of sales because of the credit crunch, but am having real problems with item location on best match search on my secondary id used for second hand items. Despite it stating in my 'dashboard' item location standard I am at the bottom of the pile on best match search with only 2 days to go - so unfair - I too can't get out of ebay why ( no longer got a phone line as lost powerseller on 10 may)

Yes, I was only last month an ebay 'star' apparently with a card and help line number, invited to be a powerseller, now suspension! Come on, what lunatic is running ebay at the moment?? The whole situation is beyond outrageous. I too, cannot get ebay to tell me what merits restriction or suspension, what percentage? Why are there still sellers out there with far more negs than me, still selling?? Why the arbitrary treatment?? And, the new 'improved' search engine on ebay.....my word, no one but no one can use it. I have had several intense conversations with ebay on this one as well. Will they remove it? NO. Are they increasing the amount of users inflicted with this ridiulous and intimidating search function? YES. Why? Anyone's guess. No answers, no one knows why, no one wants to know at ebay.

jaspodeman

G-G wrote: »

I had the same thing happen to me.. 250 ish feedback, the last 20 feedback were positive, no problems at all.. No disputes etc..

But because in the last 90 days my feedback had deteriorated due to 2 negatives then I got banned for 30 days!

No warning, nothing!

I used to be an eBay seller and had an account with thousands of feedback, and 4000 listings, so if that had happened then I would have beed distraught.

When this happened to my account a few weeks back I just opened a new eBay account and carried on selling.. I have 11 feedback now..

So, it's a bit of a stupid rule anyhow, because you can just open another account..

To open another account is a short term solution, and, yes, this is what I am doing at present. But, it doesn't address the problem. It is making ebay listen to it's sellers, the users who bring in ebay's incomes. How many accounts are we going to have to open, if we are going to be regularly suspended? It's ludicrous.

jaspodeman

brownbabygirl wrote: »

I have been praying for this for YEARS.:j

What, a new 'ebay'? Maybe that's what it will take. Ebay may have succumbed as all corporations do to their relentless quest for the bottom line...as long as profits are increasing, whatever it takes, no matter how hard they make it for their customers, and they will use ebay as long as there is no viable alternative, then so be it. There is no such thing as enough for them. Just see what deal Buy.com have with ebay now. Doesn't look good.

continualdiamond

I cannot believe what i have just read as now i fear my 2 sellers who are suddenly 'no longer a registered user' have had their account suspended as a result of the new feedback system.

I bought brain training for my ds off a seller with 706 feedback and bought screen protectors for my ds off a seller with 435 feedback. All suddenly no longer registered within 7 days after i won my items.

I received both my items within perfect time, had no problems with anything and now cannot leave them feedback, which would of course been a positive.

As an occasional seller myself, i would of been mighty upset if this feedback was in force a few mths ago as i sold an exhaust, which was never paid for and had no communcation from the buyer, he never responded to my dispute i filed. Hence i left a neg and he deserved one, but the thought that i wouldn't be able to leave a neg now for something like this is just damn right stupid.

patchwork_cat

Continual diamond - yes and worse what if you had bought the item yesterday and not yet received it and today they are no longer registered - you would be righly anxious. So the buyers are being affected directly, too

continualdiamond

Actually thats exactly what happened to me, with both items. They became no longer registered before my items arrived, the 1st time i actually posted it on this board as i had no idea what was going on.

I feel for them as they've proved their feedback score, my items arrived in perfect time, listing was as decribed, nothing to warrant a neg. My 2nd seller i feel for most as the negs they have got in the last couple of days are pointless reasons, some people buying the same item i did and clearly didn't read the item description and have mis-interpreted it.

Just done a quick count of my 2nd sellers feedback, counting from the 21st - 28th May (28th is the last feedback recorded) they got 73 positives. 73 in 1 week is pretty darn good, but obviously not good enough for ebay.

6th - 18th May = 5 negs
16th -25th May = 3 neutral.

Yep that really warrants closing the account :rolleyes:

soolin

jaspodeman wrote: »

To open another account is a short term solution, and, yes, this is what I am doing at present. But, it doesn't address the problem. It is making ebay listen to it's sellers, the users who bring in ebay's incomes. How many accounts are we going to have to open, if we are going to be regularly suspended? It's ludicrous.

If you use ebay while another account is suspended then you tempoary ban will be made permanent on all your accounts and any associated with them. It is really much better to sit out the short ban and start up again properly after that rather than risk everything.