eBay

[The Doctor]

pages.ebay.co.uk/sell/sellerupdate/minimum-standards.html

Remember when ebay was just a bit of fun? You know, just clearing out unwanted crap for pin money? Sigh.

-Ralph

[blueshift]

I'm fine with that to be honest. The DSRs are the marks out of 5 you give sellers for each transaction. They're just saying here that if you are a horrid seller (getting a 1/2 seems to be really hard) then you're out.

[The Doctor]

It's just become more and more unfriendly to use. I stopped selling last year. The fun had gone. I was sending people messages when payment was received, sending their goods out 1st class the very next day, sending them a message to say their stuff was posted, charged exactly what the P&P cost was, and I still got complaints. Then ebay started arsing about with charges and the like and I thought 'sod this' and stopped. I don't miss it.

-Ralph

[Nigel]

After increasingly shafting their private sellers for the last couple of years, it seems they have now decided to shaft their independent business sellers, with the introduction of a dedicated area for large retailers.

deals.ebay.co.uk/outlet/

eBay Outlet includes the likes of Argos and JD Sports.

I find the "What's the eBay outlet?" box particularly annoying (and I even take some offence at it) because it implies the independent sellers don't offer good service and value.

[The Doctor]

Ah, ebay. Knobends.

-Ralph

[grahamthomson]

eBay wants to play with the big boys, eh?

It's like the destruction of the "High Street" by retail parks... but online!

[Andy Turnbull]

Oh the latest thing for sellers is their Minimum Standard with relation to the star ratings. It's a joke given half the idiots on ebay who can abuse the feedback system against anybody selling through it. Let us not forget the people who don't understand the charges are for Postage AND packing. Get really hacked off with people who think the padded envelopes and boxes just appear from thin air.

Andy

[The Doctor]

Very few people understand the concept of paying for postage AND packaging, I found. Also, I would send out stuff 1st class the very next day after receiving payment and would still be marked down for slow dispatch! What do people expect? To press a button and have the stuff appear in front of them instantly?

-Ralph

[grahamthomson]

eBay official time = Stupid O'Clock for people like that.

[Bogatan]

I had my first experience of both those a few weeks ago. First after winning Armada Galvatron with a clear postage price I was asked why it was so high and he knew postage was cheaper. Yes it was cheaper but only a small amount and I have no desire to cover paypal fee's on postage and even though I've managed to get massive numbers of boxes from Asda the tape and bubble wrap costs. I was relieved when he paid up and that was the end of it. Then out of nowhere I get neutral feedback from some fool with a huge 6 feedback saying it took longer to arrive than he imagined. Now neutral doesn't effect the 100% thing but its stil the first time I got anything but positive in 10 years. I sent the thing less than 3 days after the auction ended after stating clearly that it was quite possible I wouldn't send out until the following weekend. I get non positive feedback because hes to stupid to read and undertand the listing.

If I didnt have so much stuff I really need rid of I wouldn't be going anywhere near it for a while. Damn monopolies.

Andy

[blueshift]

Yeah, I love the way sellers can't leave negative or neutral feedback anymore. I've had more and more buyers back out recently.

[Andy Turnbull]

Touch wood aside from some knobhead in italy and a few non-payers I've been lucky so far. But ebay is not a viable outlet anymore. If it wasn't for the fact that I buy most of my comics on there I'd never use the service again as I find their attitude to customers quite repugnant.

Andy

[Deleted]

i dont use ebay alot lately, i tend to use amazon for books now

[The Doctor]

I'm that hacked off with Ebay, I stopped using their services for selling things late last year. Their policy changes made it quite clear they were no longer wishing to cater to the likes of me.

-Ralph

[Cullen]

I hanker for eBay circa 2001. You know when it was just ordinary folk selling tat they didn't want to people who did? There must be some up-and-coming sites offering just that?

[The Doctor]

I'm sure there will be pretty soon, as people begin to realise it's costing them more money than it's worth to use. After all, we are supposed to 'offer' free p&p on printed matter soon.

I look forward to ebay's successor. Flogging stuff on ebay helped me out of some tight spots in the past and helped get rid of clutter.

-Ralph

[Andy Turnbull]

Ebid is the only thing I've seen. But to sell you have to pay some sort of fee. Bought a few things from it though and it's been fine.

Andy

[Bogatan]

For the time being ebay remains profitable for lack of better term even if between them and paypal 12.5% of everything sold gets taken and more if it starts at more than 99p or uses any other features. But there is no longer the fun of using it which is sad really.

Andy

[Nigel]

As a business seller, I've got a different perspective to most people here. Some of the changes do benefit me, but other changes I am just as annoyed at. In particular, the maximum/free p+p on media categories, which stupidly also applies to the memorabilia sub-categories.

Earlier this week, a friend offered me a collection of Buffy and Angel magazines to sell as she's otherwise going to throw them out. I turned her down because they're not worth selling on eBay any more. I told her she'd be better off selling them on a car boot sale.

Since I started selling on Amazon a couple of months ago, I've been quite pleased with the results, but my sales on there aren't yet high enough that I can stop selling on eBay.

[chrisl]

ebay is horrendous - Laura bought a "designer optical USB mouse" and was sent a shitty ps2 rollerball in the optical mouse box and getting the money back is a nightmare.

That and the lack of chinese KOs / decent tfs at reasonable princes.

[The Doctor]

Understandable.

Amazon Marketplace is pretty decent. Some bargains to be had there.

-Ralph

[The Doctor]

*checks ebay message*

Hang on, I give the right to allow them to take money from me as a full refund if a buyer gets sniffy and makes a complaint? Um, where is the seller protection? Eh? fuck off!

-Ralph

[Andy Turnbull]

They are an absolute fucking joke now. If some asshole decides to screw you over then there is next to nothing you can do.

Andy

[Nigel]

Hmm. Ralph has a point. I hadn't really thought of it that way, as the customer's right to a refund was already pretty much the case for business sellers. (Distance Selling Regulations.) Whatever happened to caveat emptor?

[The Doctor]

There's nothing stopping someone now from buying something, making up a complaint to ebay and getting the money back and keeping the item.

-Ralph

[Deleted]

I've pretty much given up on Ebay. I initially liked it when I first came on the internet but since then I've just got bored of it and seldom use it these days.

[Nigel]

On a lighter note, I've had a request from someone who's bought a figure from me: please address it to his son and not include any mention of eBay or my name, because the son had entered a competition and he wanted his son to think he'd won.

[blueshift]

Aaaaaaw that is awesome

[The Doctor]

Here is today's ebay message:

'
To improve service standards there will now be an additional DSR measure. This new Minimum Standard will count the number of 1 and 2 star ratings sellers receive. This measure is being introduced because 1 and 2 star ratings are a clear indication that a buyer has had a bad shopping experience.
Sellers with less than 400 eBay transactions will need to keep their total DSRs of 1 and 2 below the Minimum Standard. The Minimum Standard for item description is 3% or 3 total DSRs of 1 and 2 over the last 12 months. For communication, dispatch, and P&P charges, the minimum Standard is 4% or 4 total in the last 12 months.
If the rate of 1s and 2s goes over any of these limits sellers will get lowered placements in search and may even face limits on selling activity until their ratings improve.
Find out your percentage of low DSRs below.'

A few points. What the hell is a 'DSR'?
Secondly how many average 'clear out the house of crap' sellers will have had more than 400 transactions? FOUR HUNDRED? And if some moron marks you down, your listing gets buried?

I am so glad I no longer use ebay for selling.

-Ralph

[Dezzeh]

I think I'm glad I dont have stuff to sell !