DUers: Please respect the EBAY BOYCOTT!!!

[sufrommich]

If you buy or sell on Ebay,please refrain from buying or selling throughout the week of Feb.18 to the 25th. Ebay has raised rates on sellers and changed their feedback system unfairly. What once was a people powered alternative to corporate greed and a profitable way to recycle or start a small business for many,has turned into a corporate beast(shades of Animal Farm). Please check this thread in their forums for more information

Im sorry, I had to take the link out as it shows up on my Ebay account. If you can go to the Ebay forums,check the boycott thread in "sellers central"

[msongs]

1. it's a private company & there are other online options. choose one of them?

nobody is forced to sell on ebay. strictly a personal and business choice. take your business elsewhere if ebay policies are causing concern.

Msongs

[sufrommich]

3. That's east to say

Ebay has virtually cornered the market for small sellers.It's easy for a seller to leave Ebay,but useless if buyers only go to Ebay to purchase.How many other auction sites do you think the majority of people are aware of?

[Old Codger]

23. Amazon N/T

[sufrommich]

24. I'll have to check that out.

The problem is that I sell Mid Century era pottery. It's such a small niche market that you need a big audience that includes niche buyers.

[truedelphi]

87. My husband Mark sells his books on Amazon

They are friggin amazing.

It takes us weeks to get our books into bookstores - due to how the book buyers work odd hours and are hard to contact.

Amazon ticks away 24/7.

Every month at the exact same point in the month, we get a check for the books sold sixty days prior.

We never have problems (Knock on Wood)

And I thought E Bay was expensive for selling even six months ago

[aquart]

16. What a completely Bush-like response.

How free and unregulated market of you.

Reminds me of the argument against unions: Nobody was forcing the miners/railroad workers/garment workers/millhands to work in unhealthy and unsafe places for pennies. If they didn't like it, they were free to go elsewhere.

"Free" is such an interesting word to the overprivileged.

[IsItJustMe]

38. I agree. Market place BS. Trickle on you economics.

[AZBlue]

80. What other options?

If there are any, I'd love to find out about them!!!

[JosephSchmo]

2. i use craigslist anyways

I will continue my boycott

[The Gunslinger]

30. me too

It's much easier, no shipping and I can look at what I'm going to buy and so can the person buying from me.

[riderinthestorm]

37. And no posting fees. It's the ultimate market imho. nt

[LakeSamish706]

4. I buy on Ebay.... Can someone give us the jist of what is changing on Ebay?

I actually buy a fair amount on Ebay so would be thankful to anyone for more info. on this.

[sufrommich]

6. Here you go:

Ebay announced that they will reduce listing fees for sellers but tkae a greater percentage of the final winning bid "sold" price.
Sellers will not be able to leave negative feedback against buyers,no matter the reasoon.
Ebay will reward high traffic power sellers by diverting traffic to the biggest sellers.
Paypal will now be able to "hold" your money p to 30 days in the event of a dispute.
There is more at the site,if you care to check.

[CountAllVotes]

12. Negative feedback left for BUYERS

is disgusting. It is used to manipulate, to threaten and harass buyers that do not tow the seller's line. Dare a buyer leave negative feedback for a seller! The buyer will retaliate against the buyer by leaving NEGATIVE feedback yet they have the money. It makes me not to want to have anything at all to do with buying things on EBAY as it has become highly corrupt with one too many crooks (aka "POWER SELLERS") that have ruined it IMO. This is one change I am very glad to see. Extortion is not cool in my book.

[sufrommich]

18. I have never left a negative feedback

for the buyer,ever.
But imagine not being able to.
Buyer wins a vase in an auction and emails you that the winning bid is too high and threatens to post negative feedback if you don't send it free of shipping charges.What recourse does the seller have?

[NewJeffCT]

33. I've had to leave negative feedback several times

always for non-payment. So, i've mostly used ebay to buy things, not sell. I'd say maybe 25% of my selling transactions had non payment by the buyers.

[CountAllVotes]

36. Negatives because the sellers never sent the items out

I got the items about 1 month after paying for them and had to query via eBay and PayPal processes as there were no answers to emails. Each of these transactions were not piddly, they involved over $200 each. It was too much for me to ask to be informed when the items were shipped, hence I got negatives because of this.

Another seller left me negative feedback because I would not send more money after the auction was over for shipping. :wtf: I've tried to dispute these practices and negative feedbacks with via eBay and the sellers to no avail.

I was actually threatened by one of these "Power Sellers". I cannot believe the things they let some of them get away with. Said Power Seller now has over 80 negatives and eBay does nothing about it. It makes me angry and sad both as this is not what eBay started out to be I do not believe. I will never buy anything on eBay again that costs more than $25.00.

The thieves are out with very long knives during desperate times I do believe! Best to avoid if possible under most circumstances IMO.

[Ghost in the Machine]

26. Yes, it's *really* disgusting when someone bids on your item, then never pays..

or worse yet, claims that they never got the item or that it was broken or any other number of scams some "buyer" tries to pull... :eyes:

That's the reason you should NEVER ship an item without insurance or without a tracking number and/or "signature required"...

I'll tell you from personal experience: there are trolls who cruise the DU Marketplace here and scam people. I've had 2 different sites that I've advertised HERE ONLY and have gotten sales from, but had to return money or send product again just to save my own online reputation... because someone claimed they "never got it"... even though I have tracking proof that the items were delivered to the addresses supplied, I didn't want to have any trouble with paypal.. I've been using them for years with no problems, and don't want to start now...

You should really hear from both sides before you just blame the sellers....

[laundry_queen]

28. Yes, there are plenty of buyer scams.

And generally the seller has NO recourse OTHER than filing a NPB (which is useless since you are still out some of your fees) or leaving NEGATIVE feedback (and risking retaliatory feedback), which will soon be taken away. Yes, Ebay is really trying hard to bump the smaller sellers, many of us who need the very small additional income. Greedy bastards. :grr:

[shanti]

61. yeah

and then there are the sellers who pack breakables so poorly that what? IT BREAKS! then they say that it's MY fault as i didn't buy insurance! we won't even talk about the mail fraud scammer who sold me AND someone else the same exact item, took the money and ran...oh the stories i could tell....my claim was DENIED by paypal when this person had about 15 negatives after me! in the long run, i did get my money back from paypal, but had to jump thru many hoops to get it!

yes, there ARE two sides to every story!

[Ghost in the Machine]

68. Yes, that's why I said:

"That's the reason you should NEVER ship an item without insurance or without a tracking number and/or "signature required"...

I make insurance a requirement when selling something breakable. Period. It's not an option. If you want to bid on it or buy it, you ARE going to pay for insurance, too. It's really just that simple.

I know there's some sellers that scam, too.. and I've been a victim of 2 of them... I've worked hard to build and maintain a legitimate online presence and reputation, I'm not going to have it ruined by some scammer, nor will I ever be accused of scamming. Period.

[sendero]

34. Exactly..

... without this change the feedback system is USELESS.

[Suziq]

42. We sell on eBay . . . .

and I cannot tell you how many times the buyer claims they paid for their merchandise, but in reality, did not. Some of these buyers have the gall to give us negative feedback for not shipping the item.

Giving negative feedback to the buyer is necessary. If we see a bidder with a high percentage of negative feedbacks as a buyer, we just monitor the transaction a little more.

[NashVegas]

70. There Are Buyers Who Abuse the System

I sold a rare guitar pedal on eBay a few years ago. The person who eventually won the bid was the same jack I *should have* reported for asking me to take the item down for a private sale, but didn't; I was new to selling and thought the asking was more amusing than fraud.

The final price was $150 over the private offer he'd made; he paid up immediately and sent an email the next day asking for feedback already. Red flag #2. I send out the equipment, next thing I get an email saying there's line noise and would I make a deal for a partial refund? I said 'no way,' and offered him a full refund as soon as I got the pedal back. He came back with an offer to ship it, himself, to the maker for repair, and I paid the fee (which was less than the partial he was asking for). After he got it back, he left me good feedback.

Inexperienced sellers and buyers, both, are ripe for taking, IMO.

[pansypoo53219]

27. i prefer not to use paypal.

and i am pretty piddly. plus only gave negative once. knock on wood, 700+, still 100% pos.

don't have much to list right now anyways. and aren't we supposed to get gallery free?

[sufrommich]

29. I think most of us Ebay sellers are "pretty piddly"lol.

I think Gallery will be free. Of course,when they raise their percentage of what they take from your sale,free Gallery and lower insertion fees only benefit you if you don't sell anything!! :scared:

[2008]

31. I like these changes

2 of them, at least:

1) Sellers will not be able to leave negative feedback against buyers:

I bought a DVD the eBay seller advertised as "new". It was unsealed, used ... basically, this was from a private collection, used carelessly (scratches on DVD, case had lots of shelf wear, booklet handled and dog-eared). I wrote to the seller to ask for a refund, and was told there would not be one because "people burn copies and then try to get their money back."

So the seller sent a used DVD instead of a new one, then accused me of trying to pull a fast one.

I left negative feedback for the seller. Seller responded with neg feedback for me: "lying, burned a copy and then tried to scam me."

I replied (in my own feedback reply field) with: "ATTN. sellers: If you're selling used items and calling them new, block my bid."

Seller replied to my reply, saying I was "a thief and should be banned."

All this because I didn't like getting a used item when I'd paid for a new one. No, sellers should not get away with this. No more leaving feedback for buyers. If the sellers don't like it, they can leave eBay and have a damn garage sale. HA!

2) Ebay announced that they will reduce listing fees for sellers but take a greater percentage of the final winning bid "sold" price.

Good, makes it easier to list an item that I'm not so sure about. Amazon (private) sellers pay NOTHING to list, and all the fees are taken by Amazon after the sale. The less financial risk up front, the better. You can list as much as you want, and later donate, recycle or toss what doesn't sell without ever paying a cent to list those unsold items.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

49. I am worried about that kind of slam from bad buyers

and not being able to defend yourself as a seller. I want to start selling but am afraid of just this kind of thing happening and I dont want my perfect rating tarnished! - BTW, my 100% positive feedback is from having sold 1 item and bought hundreds.

[2008]

69. So imagine having that perfect rating tarnished by...

...a seller who didn't appreciate the fact that you were not content with used junk off the seller's shelf that was advertised as "new and sealed". Imagine being called a thief because you were a victim of theft. That's how my perfect eBay rating was tarnished - by a seller, not a buyer.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

72. My point exactly. Works both ways. Everyone should be allowed to give feedback

positive or negative, or NOT. Not ok to give that privilege to only one side.

[2008]

86. yes, it is okay to give that privilege to only one side

sounds like eBay did just that, based on the o.p.'s post

[sendero]

88. NO...

.... the only thing the buyer can really do wrong is not pay. If he doesn't, your out the listing fee. You're an idiot if you ship before getting paid, nobody does.

The seller on the other hand, can send you crap, send nothing at all, and on and on and on.

You can't leave a negative feedback for a seller, no matter how richly deserved, without running the strong risk that he'll do the same to you for no reason other than revenge.

I agree 100% with this change, as both a buyer and a seller on ebay. The tit for tat nature of the current system is unworkable, and it is the SELLER that has the primary responsibility for the transaction anyway.

[Lemonwurst]

5. Good to know....

I hadn't been buying or selling much lately, but was planning on checking for some household items soon. Not now, and maybe - start finding those alternatives like Craigslist.

Still... for cheap items I won't bother looking for in the store (cellphone cases, etc.) it's hard to beat Ebay. Overstock has some really good prices on things sometimes, but you never know when.

[sufrommich]

8. I sell pottery mostly

so Auction places that sell overstock and electronics don't work for me. I do like Overstock for electronics though.

[Kermitt Gribble]

7. What's wrong with the feedback system?

I haven't been doing much on ebay lately, but didn't realize anything was unfair with feedback.

[aquart]

11. It's an EXCELLENT system, protecting both buyer and seller.

WTF has gotten into them?

[sufrommich]

13. Ebay is trying to attract

big box stores into coming into their fold.I've heard on the Ebay forum that they have already inked a deal with GM for selling cars. There are many small sellers who believe they are trying to become a "big box" auction site for corporations. Allowing only positive feedback for "customers" is their way of signalling to these big sellers that they are more concerned with traditional "customer service" and are moving away from what their CO calls"the flea market" crowd.In other words,the small sellers.

[aquart]

19. Nothing like biting the hand that feeds you.

[sufrommich]

21. Agree,Aquart. It makes me sick that

it's come to this.I used to have a lot of fun on Ebay.Met other pottery obsessed people from around the world and really felt like I was participating in a new economy.Now it's something I barely even recognise.

[Kermitt Gribble]

22. I had no idea they were doing that.

Inviting the big box stores is pretty much opposite of what ebay has been since it's creation, isn't it?

Thanks for the info.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

45. wow - the "Flea market" element is a huge part of the fun and charm of ebay!

I hope ebay doesn't alienate the "flea market" sellers.... I had plans on becoming one of them!

[sufrommich]

51. Most of the "flea market" sellers are passionate

collectors, too. I honestly know nothing about the other elements of Ebay such as the Electronic sellers or big time DVD, CD or sellers who sell "new" products.I'm really sad that the Antiques and Collectors area of Ebay has come to this.It's a great community that cares deeply about the quality of it's items,for the most part.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

9. I am a professional seller on eBay and times being what they are, cannot afford to be

boycotted. Sorry.

[sufrommich]

15. That's fine Oomm

We all understand that there are some who simply can't afford it.

[BeHereNow]

17. What do you sell/specialize in on ebay?

PM me and I'll be sure to visit your store!
I'm a firm believer in keeping the money within
"the circle" of other informed people.
I wont do business with anyone who supports
the status quo.

BHN

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

44. Hi BeHere Now! I sell crystals and minerals, specializing in rare quartz.

Most of my customers are healers and lightworkers. I will PM you in a bit.

And thank you for consciously supporting those of us who don't support the status quo!

:hi: :hug:

[BeHereNow]

74. And I am going to WIN the auction for the Nebula stone!!!

Check your PM!
BHN:hi:

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

75. It's a wonderful stone! Thank you BHN!

Will PM a bit later. I'm almost computered out here! ;")

:hi:

[godai]

10. Will do...

Ebay used to be a good place to buy and sell but they have changed noticably. Tickets for sale now are much less but-able/sell-able on EBay, with Stubhub (I think owned by EBay) the new alternative, with heavy commissions to buyer and seller.

[Ghost in the Machine]

14. I've been toying with an auction script and was going to load it up on one of my sites

but I don't know how much support it would get... it would have to be worth the effort and worth the cost of hosting, etc...

New sites are hard to get a good following on and many of the fail or remain obscure... although the number of people leaving ebay seems to be growing by leaps and bounds.

I've been thinking along the lines of a flat rate listing fee of between 25 to 35 cents, no matter what the selling price is, and allowing up to 5 pictures... How does that sound?

[sufrommich]

20. Ghost,it's not that the small sellers would

not gladly leave Ebay,the problem is getting the buyers to follow suit.It's easy to post an item on an auction but if nobody sees it,it's a tree falling in the forrest that nobody hears.

[Bluestar]

25. Never could stand the auction hassle

I would rather just pay what it says and be sure of getting it. I will continue my boycott.

[sendero]

32. I'm sorry..

... but they NEEDED to change the feedback system, as it is you cannot give a seller a well-deserved negative without getting one back.

A buyer's obligation is to pay, no freaking rating necessary, he pays he gets his stuff shipped, he doesn't he doesn't, end of story.

[sufrommich]

35. Sellers with too many negative feedbacks get booted

off of Ebay.There are a lot of scam buyers out there.The most common is someone who owns a broken widgit and bids on a new one.Buyer complains that widgit is broken when he receives the new one and sends the seller his broken one AND gets a refund.How many sellers will stick around once it's open season on sellers with no recourse against less than noble buyers? I predict many will just get out of the Ebay business and less compitition on Ebay will raise costs to the buyers.

[sendero]

40. Up until recently...

.. I'd never had a problem on Ebay. But I got stiffed twice out of my last 3 (buying) transactions.

Ebay better do something about the scammers, or it will be toast.

[jayfish]

58. That's What Serial Numbers, Tracking Numbers and...

shipping insurance are for. All of these frauds are easy to protect against.

Jay

[shanti]

65. actually

i was scammed recently WITH a so-called "tracking number"! i thought they were infallible too, but did you know that tracking numbers are only good for the ZIP CODE you are located in? they do not track to your physical address, just your zip code. i learned this the HARD way!

[jayfish]

66. Can You Elaborate?

I don't quite understand what you are saying.

Jay

[shanti]

83. yes

read on:

www.scam.com/showthread.php?p=462978#post462978

[NashVegas]

71. This Is Why I've Seen Many Sellers Insist on Refunds for Complainers

That state they will only use a model where the buyer can ship back and get a full refund and that's the end of the transaction, or they keep the item, with nothing in between.

[Fox Mulder]

39. I didn't know people still used Ebay.

:shrug:

[Uben]

41. Did you notice?

They are running a .20 listing promotion during that week to help foil the boycott? It won't do any good, boycotts rarely do.
I have a store there, and I am not shutting it down. I also have new listings that will be running, so no boycott for me. Ebay sellers go rabid every time there is a fee increase! I just pass the price increases on to the customer, just like all businesses do.




edit: I also own Ebay stock

[Vinca]

43. I'm an ebay seller and I tried other auction venues years ago and

didn't get one bid. Unfortunately, ebay still reigns. I could live with their fee changes (although I'm not a happy camper), but the no negative feedback for buyers thing has me irked. Every so often you hit a real deadbeat or bona fide criminal if you sell alot and now they've got cover. The one serious criminal I encountered went on a spree one night, using "buy it now" to purchase higher priced items. They then sent a mysterious email about the money order being made out for too much and when I sent the item could I refund the excess payment. If it hadn't been for negative feedbacks within hours of the auctions ending, some naive people might actually have bought the story. It turns out it was a professional gang of fraudsters in south Florida. Also, ebay isn't taking into account unreasonable people. My one negative feedback came from a person who adamantly refused insurance on an item and when it arrived damaged expected me to refund her money. I'm an overpacker, knew it wasn't me and stood my ground. I'll definitely honor the boycott.

[sufrommich]

52. I agree Vinca and I'm glad to hear you're boycotting, too.nt

[eowyn_of_rohan]

46. Thanks for the heads-up. Some questions...

I have bought many items from ebay over the past 7 years. I just sold my first item last month and was looking forward to doing more selling. Now I am a bit worried. I have not thoroughly reviewed or analyzed all the changes they have made, but here is where my thinking stands on this, at this point, and I would appreciate any feedback you could give (oops).

- Not being able to leave negative feedback for bad buyers seems to be the worst part of this. Being able to leave negative feedback is sort of a "safety net" for buyers AND sellers, to hopefully keep everyone in line. I am worried about this...

- How much have they actually increased the seller's fee on the insertion and final selling price? I cannot remember what I paid last month -thought it ended up (together) being about 3-5%? Can't a seller offset the higher selling price fee by raising the opening bid by that same percent? I am not too worried about this (maybe I should be?)

- The new policy of reasonable Shipping & handling costs I think is a good change for buyers, still allows a handling fee for sellers, and protects ebay from people not paying a fair selling price, by putting too high a % of the total cost into shipping (for which ebay gets nothing).

- I like the reduced cost for multiple photos

- what else am I missing?

Pardon my naivite, and thanks for contributing to my education.

(ps-somebody gave me a heart - thanks! didnt know anyone cared :)

[sufrommich]

50. Hi, eowyn_of_rohan

(love your DU name,by the way,I'm assuming you're a LOTR fan!) I think my biggest problem with this is twofold. I am adamantly against the inability to leave negative feedback for dishonest buyers,I haven't had to do that yet,but I sense endless trouble with this new system as it will encourage scammers to bid and extort sellers who will have no recourse other than to file a dispute claim and hope Ebay will see though the scam(I don't expect this will work out in the sellers favor in too many instances).

Your fee after selling will go to about %8 or higher.I'm at work and can't go to Ebay for the exact figures.Ebay will change their system of allowing buyers to search by highlighting and directing traffic based on your sales,which means small sellers will not get the same traffic as Power Sellers.Check the Ebay sellers forum for a more detailed description.

Paypal will start holding sellers funds for 21 days if the seller starts getting negative feedback(which is just asking for abusive extortion problems from scam buyers).

I do agree that shipping rates should be monitored,I personally use a postage scale and a shipping calculator for my stuff,so shipping is always exact.
Lastly, you can try offsetting the higher end fee by passing it on to the seller,although,depending on what you sell,there is a limit on what people will accept as an asking price when the price of shipping is factored in and postage rates will be going up in May.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

62. I agree the inequity re the feedback is alarming

This will undoubtedly attract more buyers while reducing the number of sellers. Interesting but disturbing.

I found this under "Message from Bill Cobb – New Pricing and Other News" http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200801.shtml#2008-01-29054823
Seller Standards
In addition to pricing changes, we're making the minimum standards for selling on eBay more stringent, primarily to discourage bad seller behavior on our site. And we'll do this in 2 key ways: ...Starting in February, we will decrease listings exposure in search for the relatively small number of sellers who have a high buyer dissatisfaction rate and low DSRs over the last 30 days, especially for charging excessive shipping and handling.

I am not worried about being one of that "relatively small number" of bad sellers, but how will they decrease listing exposure? Does it have to do with this dumb, "best match" option, I wonder...? I don't like to think I am not seeing EVERYTHING available for sale when I do a search! hey, I just want to see ALL matches and be allowed to decide for myself which are best!

I also think ebay is wrong in thinking people are drawn to businesses with "power seller" status. I know *I* am not impressed with it. They seem like big business, and I prefer giving small businesses my money!

I am glad you started this thread. I think some of this may backfire for ebay...


(ps- yes, I am an LOTR fan, and from before the movie came out - I have READ the trilogy (several times)! ;) )

[KharmaTrain]

47. Collectors Will Gladly Boycott EBAY...Many Already Do

I collect antique radios and the one thing that will get the ire of another collector is just the mention of EBAY. We've seen it used by quick-buck artists in ripping off people or trying to rig prices through a bogus auction. Also, there's the quality and reliability problem...what you buy isn't necessarily what you get. I know some eollectors that will refuse to deal with someone they suspect is an EBAY seller.

There are many people who use EBAY for their goods and services and I sympathize with this latest outrage. I think they do so at their peril as the internet is one of the few areas where competition still can be very fierce and some other entrepeneur, like a Craigslist, will pick up a lot of these disgruntled sellers...and when they do, the buyers will follow.

[sufrommich]

53. I hope you're right Kharma.

But the pottery market has niche markets for different eras and styles and Ebay is still the only place to go to buy or sell to an audience seeking a distintive slice of a very big pie.

[KharmaTrain]

54. It's A Valuable Resource

I know a lot of small business people who use EBAY and are very hard-working folks. Many I agonize for some cause they're always wrapped up in 15 auctions at once. Last spring, I had a friend miss a flight cause he was so caught up in an auction...couldn't leave the hotel computer room. Overall, it's been a great resource for small business people and entrepeneurs...but as in any place where you have a lot of people coming and going, you always have to be careful...especially since its so anonymous.

I've long suggested people who are interested in the value of a collectable or to learn about the market to study EBAY, it's great for getting an understanding of what's available. There's been more times than not when I've had someone who claims they have a "one of a kind" go on EBAY and find out there were 100 other "one of a kinds" out there.

The collectors I deal with are a very small group...many who are older and distrust computers in general. They're the type who like doing deals with handshakes and cash under the table. Their biggest fears have always been that they can and do manipulate prices and don't like having competition.

Cheers...

[sufrommich]

55. Ebay definitely sets the bar for all collectors.

I have a very good friend who also collects old radios,he can talk for hours about the romance of old radio tubes. You are a quirky lot,you are.Cheers.

[SidDithers]

48. Sellers should leave feedback once they receive payment...

Just once, I'd like to see a seller post feedback when the buyer's part of the transaction is completed. I ALWAYS pay right away for auctions that I've won, and yet feedback never goes up until I post my feedback about the seller.

I know why it's done, but one's got nothing to do with the other. If I'm a fast payer, then post feedback when you receive payemnt.

Sid

Edit: and no, I won't respect the boycott. Ebay has the right to set the fees and rules on their site.

[jayfish]

60. Exactly!

I have an item that I won and paid for on Friday. The PayPal transaction cleared yesterday and still no feedback. I'll bet I won't get any either until I post my own on the seller.

Jay

[laundry_queen]

63. No they shouldn't.

A transaction is not completed until the buyer leaves feedback that the item is received in good condition and they are satisfied. If a seller leaves feedback immediately after payment, then the buyer is able to leave a neg for dumb reasons (slow shipping, for instance) or is able to try to scam the seller (switching bought item with a broken product, for example) and the seller has no recourse.
Things are pretty tough for sellers on Ebay - I've done plenty of buying and selling and have NEVER been scammed while buying, but have had plenty of Non-Paying-Bidders and buyer-scammer types.

[jayfish]

67. If It Took You Longer Than Needed To Ship The...

item than was reasonable, why shouldn't you get a negative ding? I'm not saying that I would do it but It's not unreasonable. You can also reply to negatives to give your side of the story and let the buyers decide.

Jay

[AZBlue]

81. Feedback shouldn't be left until it's paid for and received.

I don't care who goes first, but for both parties it's best to find out that the other person is happy with the transaction and isn't a nut, to be blunt.

I once sold a Kate Spade shopping bag to someone on ebay. It was a shopping bag from the store, not one of their purses. I stated this, described the item and included a photo. It seemed an odd thing to sell, but I'd seen others do it and it indeed sold for just under $10 the first time I listed it.

The buyer paid me and I shipped the bag right off to her. Imagine my surprise a few days later when I received quite an inflammatory and raving e-mail from her, telling me that I'd ripped her off because she thought she was buying an actual Kate Spade purse for $10. Despite the description, the photo and obvious price, she claimed I'd cheated her and unless I gave her the money back, she was leaving me negative feedback. I told her to go ahead - and I'd be happy to do the same to warn future sellers about her. That was the last I'd heard from her.

I've also had two auctions in which the buyer held me responsible for actions of the Post Office even after they'd waived the insurance (I now don't even make that an option).

Most of the time feedback is used as it was intended - to give an honest appraisal of the transaction. However, sometimes it unfortunately has to be used to "negotiate" your way to sanity. I learned with that transaction to wait it out and make sure everything is on the up and up before posting. Once a buyer has indicated that they've received the item and everything's good, I'm happy to leave feedback. But not before. And as a buyer, I never expect a seller to leave me feedback until I've told them I've received the item.

[jayfish]

56. I Agree That Raising The Rates Is A Concern.

But the feedback change is needed.

Jay

[kentauros]

57. iOffer.com

I don't know how it compares in rates, but at least it's not an auction setup :)

[LostinVA]

59. I LOVE they are changing the feedback rules -- it was grossly unfair before

Talk about lies and bully tactics.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

64. Huh? Buyers and sellers being allowed to leave neg. feedback for each other is unfair?

But only allowing buyers to leave negative feedback is not? :crazy:

[K Gardner]

73. I quit selling on EBay 2 years ago. They really screwed the Booksellers, one thing after another..

its a shame.

[brentspeak]

76. Ebay began to get bad when they allowed Chinese counterfeit crap to be sold

[sarcasmo]

77. Kind of like America.

[brentspeak]

79. ??

[phylny]

78. We occasionally buy off of ebay, but recently we've had bids on items

that are rather obscure, and that there seemingly wouldn't be a big market for, and we've been the only bidder for days, and the same thing has happened three times - we've put a bid on an item, gotten the requisite warning that we "might" be outbid so we should up our bid (I know that's just a normal thing.) Then, we've been outbid by "buyers" who have JUST joined.

I suspect that sellers are artificially bidding on their own items to up the price. Maybe it happens all the time, but this is the first few times we've noticed it. I dunno, we passed on all three items.

Anyway, taking a long break from ebay.

[scarletwoman]

82. No problem. I've never gone on Ebay, and I certainly don't intend to start. (nt)

[nitestar41]

84. I am a Buyer...

I hereby swear that I will not shop at eBay the week of February 18th to the 25th.


I hope that there are enough buyers involved in this boycott to effect eBay's bottom line for that week.

Good Luck

[sufrommich]

85. Thanks,nitestar

Thats nice to hear from a buyer.Of course,like most sellers,I'm a buyer too!I hope there are a lot like you out there who will decide to stay away for the week.