Can't anyone else see that ebay has it backwards?

I'm a16 year registered member of ebay and I can't keep quiet anymore. I am both a buyer and a seller with 100% positive feedback on well over 1000 transactions. Is it just me or are their others that are absolutely appalled at ebay's policy of rating their sellers? I PAY EBAY, I AM THEIR CUSTOMER, I SHOULD BE RATING EBAY, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND!!! My customers have been 100% happy why should I pay ebay to be grading my performance??! This is so twisted I must wonder why I continue to deal with so many unethical and ill conceived business practices.
Message 1 of 23
latest reply
22 REPLIES 22

Can't anyone else see that ebay has it backwards?

"ebay's policy of rating their sellers? "

 

???

 

Not sure what you mean.

 

Based on your feedback, you are about 15% seller, 85% buyer on eBay.

 

As a buyer (most of your activities), you do not pay anything to eBay.  You pay your sellers and you rate your sellers.

 

As a seller, you pay fees to eBay for the privilege of using their site to advertise your products and your buyers (customers) rate you based on their experience with you

Message 2 of 23
latest reply

Can't anyone else see that ebay has it backwards?


@nuts-and-volts wrote:
I'm a16 year registered member of ebay and I can't keep quiet anymore. I am both a buyer and a seller with 100% positive feedback on well over 1000 transactions. Is it just me or are their others that are absolutely appalled at ebay's policy of rating their sellers? I PAY EBAY, I AM THEIR CUSTOMER, I SHOULD BE RATING EBAY, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND!!! My customers have been 100% happy why should I pay ebay to be grading my performance??! This is so twisted I must wonder why I continue to deal with so many unethical and ill conceived business practices.

Feedback % is not worth anything. 1000 transactions? Buying does not count. I have sold 9.000 times and I consider myself a rookie.

You, as a buyer, pay eBay nothing. You use the venue, but, the seller pays for you to use it.

 

eBay does not grade your performance, you do that with the choices you make.

 

Everything that Pierre says.

.
.
.
Photobucket
Message 3 of 23
latest reply

Can't anyone else see that ebay has it backwards?

I understand where you are coming from except we pay eBay to list our items (to use their platform) and the buyers grade our performance by giving feedback. The money they charge is cheap compared to what it would cost to host your own website and pay for advertising.

 

 

Message 4 of 23
latest reply

Can't anyone else see that ebay has it backwards?


@nuts-and-volts wrote:
Is it just me or are their others that are absolutely appalled at ebay's policy of rating their sellers?

I want to say "just hold on a minute" to some of the commentators above, because I do think, from a purely seller point of view, you have an honest complaint. 

 

Although it is true that buyers rate their experiences with a seller, it's eBay that decides how to interpret and apply those ratings.  Let's be clear everybody -- if all eBay did was capture buyer "reviews", we'll all have a much easier time of it. 

 

There are many examples of how eBay has changed the way it uses buyer response to penalize sellers, especially over the last few months.  We all know this.

 

The point is that eBay wants it this way now, for its own reasons - and speculation is rife as to what those are.  As a seller I think you have to accept that this is not the same place it was even 3 or 4 years ago, and will never be. 

 

There are now two choices as a small seller: shape up or ship out.  EBay isn't focused anymore on helping its small sellers to succeed, but on ensuring that anybody who can't keep up is eliminated.  This is the new reality.  EBay doesn't want to spend time or resources on dealing with hundreds of thousands of individual troublemakers.  They are focused on making their big partners happy. 

 

This all sounds very harsh, and it is.  Fairness has little to do with it.  Do what you need to do to keep your head above water, your defects at 0%, and your customers from having any reason whatsoever to be unhappy, and you may live to sell another day.  My Pollyanna days are over.

 

 

Message 5 of 23
latest reply

Can't anyone else see that ebay has it backwards?

Anonymous
Not applicable

If we can rate eBay, eBay would crash with billions of negative comments!

Message 6 of 23
latest reply

Can't anyone else see that ebay has it backwards?

My purchasing history is irrelevant as I am only addressing ebay's policy of rating it's sellers.

 

As a casual home user of ebay,  I have made of $20K in sales (over 16 years) on which I pay 10% fees.  I have received 100% positive feedback from my buyers,  I've paid Ebay over $2000+ ,  then they decide to rate ME.   Nice try;   I will rate ebay,  it's service is dismal and getting worse, not worth the 10% anymore.  Time for them to consider dropping their 10% rate I have already started transitioning to other options with much more success.

 

You are right, I pay ebay for the privilege of using their site but you seem to have missed the part where not only do my customers rate me, so too does "ebay" (either below standard, above standard, or ebay top rated).  Among other indicators, eBay examines how much time it takes for me to ship my items (based on my usage of their labeling service), my customers haven't complained, why is ebay looking for trouble and animosity?  Backwards I say;  I will not make payment to anyone but an educational institution to rate my performance!

 

 

Message 7 of 23
latest reply

Can't anyone else see that ebay has it backwards?

What??!  9000 items and you consider yourself a rookie? I think this provides some insight into the problem;  ebay is now a site for super retailers and not for casual individuals (like me) anymore.

 

I'm not referring to my purchase history.   I have paid ebay well over $2K over the years to sell my items (a drop in the bucket for a commercial super seller),    I get feedback from my buyers and I have worked hard to keep it 100% positive.  Ebay now adds its own publicly visible rating for it sellers based on how fast the seller responds to shipping issues etc.  Why??  100% of my buying customers have been very happy, why is this not enough for ebay?

Message 8 of 23
latest reply

Can't anyone else see that ebay has it backwards?

"just hold on another minute"  My star ratings and my feedback are excellent.  Ebay does use other metrics to create its own seller rating, such as how long it takes the seller to prepare a shipping label (using eBay's label service) and then how long it takes for the shipping label to be origin scanned by the shipping company (not in my control).  They provide buyers the ability to rate shipping costs even though the seller uses ebay's shipping label services and clearly does not include extra for handling or packaging.   Seems to me,  that under these circumstances, the star rating should be directed to ebay!!

 

Harsh and it is;  you are right,  eBay is on path to cut throat large business practices even though its success was founded on small personal transactions;  it is not longer the same forum for trade.   Great if you want to acquire new commercial items, not so good for art, antiquities, and one of a kind items.

 

Message 9 of 23
latest reply

Can't anyone else see that ebay has it backwards?

Great if you want to acquire new commercial items, not so good for art, antiquities, and one of a kind items.

 

I dunno. Living in a big  city, I would never think of using eBay for new commercial items. There are hundreds of businesses in Ottawa, from big box to mom'n'pop, to sell me those.

DD lives in a small isolated town, with WalMart two mountain passes away,  and does find eBay a useful way to buy such items. She doesn't save money, but she at least has more choices.

 

When I am shopping for specialty items, then I turn to eBay and again it's for the options. And as a seller, I offer those oddball items that are not available to most searchers, urban or rural.

 

Most Canadians are urban (heck, most of the world is now urban) so we forget that there is a hinterland where shops are few and far between.

 

I'm starting to think that demographics are the reason for the drop off in specialty sales.

The Baby Boom (1946 to 1964)  is starting to retire, even the Gen X at the tail end are downsizing somewhat.

The Baby Bust (1965 to 1980) are a much smaller cohort.

The Echo/Millenials (1980 to 2000) are building their families and have little disposable income after housing food and clothing.

 

BTW, we are in a new Baby Boom. There are already almost as many Millenials and their babies as there were Boomers. And we Boomers are going to be dying off.

 

How have you adjusted?

Message 10 of 23
latest reply

Can't anyone else see that ebay has it backwards?

Femme, it is called "super aging". Western society is aging at a rapid pace and will start dying off soon. Japan is projected to shrink from 130 million to 90 million people over the next 40 or so years. Canada will be super aged by 2020.

 

By the by, I came across an interesting statistic for all of you 'eBay is in its death throes" people. Amazon runs consecutive losses and has $2 billion in the bank. eBay runs consistent profits and has $17.2 billion in the bank.

 

As one wag opined "What are they saving up to buy?". 17.2 billion in unfettered cash. 17.2 billion, yeah, like, they need "us". I don't think so.

.
.
.
Photobucket
Message 11 of 23
latest reply

Can't anyone else see that ebay has it backwards?


@Anonymous wrote:

If we can rate eBay, eBay would crash with billions of negative comments!




  

Message 12 of 23
latest reply

Can't anyone else see that ebay has it backwards?


@mr.elmwood wrote:

As one wag opined "What are they saving up to buy?". 17.2 billion in unfettered cash.


Maybe they're saving up to buy the USPS?  I keep expecting to see that announcement next. Woman Very Happy

 

"femme' makes some good points that sellers need to consider.  Five or 10 years ago, a lot of baby boomers had extra cash to indulge in non-essential spending on hobbies or collections of various kinds -- many boomers had risen to well-paid jobs and seniority, had financial stability, mortgages paid down (if not off), and substantial savings.  I don't know that any of those parameters can be said to apply to the majority of the following generation(s).

 

Now, with a huge bubble of boomer generation folks retiring, or on the verge of doing so, money has to be more carefully allocated, especially on fixed income pensions, etc.  The legions of people who had fun indulging in their collections in the past decade have gone on to a different lifestyle.  And many of them have found themselves in the position of having to help out adult children as well as elderly parents, so discretionary spending can no longer be thoughtless. Collectibles and antique items have seen a slump in value recently, perhaps for the same demographic reasons. 

 

Things people need will probably always continue to have a market.  Like Mr. E. and his car parts.  As long as cars continue to wear out, there will be a need for bits and pieces.  I don't know about coin and stamp collectors -- I would think fewer and fewer young people are getting into those hobbies in the numbers they used to. 

 

EBay doubtless recognized this demographic shift, which is why they're pushing high-tech gadgetry as their main draw.  Those of us who continue to sell interesting, unique, or OOAK items may be in for a rough ride in the coming year and beyond. 

Message 13 of 23
latest reply

Can't anyone else see that ebay has it backwards?


@rose-dee wrote:

@mr.elmwood wrote:

As one wag opined "What are they saving up to buy?". 17.2 billion in unfettered cash.


Maybe they're saving up to buy the USPS?  I keep expecting to see that announcement next. Woman Very Happy

 

"femme' makes some good points that sellers need to consider.  Five or 10 years ago, a lot of baby boomers had extra cash to indulge in non-essential spending on hobbies or collections of various kinds -- many boomers had risen to well-paid jobs and seniority, had financial stability, mortgages paid down (if not off), and substantial savings.  I don't know that any of those parameters can be said to apply to the majority of the following generation(s).

 

Now, with a huge bubble of boomer generation folks retiring, or on the verge of doing so, money has to be more carefully allocated, especially on fixed income pensions, etc.  The legions of people who had fun indulging in their collections in the past decade have gone on to a different lifestyle.  And many of them have found themselves in the position of having to help out adult children as well as elderly parents, so discretionary spending can no longer be thoughtless. Collectibles and antique items have seen a slump in value recently, perhaps for the same demographic reasons. 

 

Things people need will probably always continue to have a market.  Like Mr. E. and his car parts.  As long as cars continue to wear out, there will be a need for bits and pieces.  I don't know about coin and stamp collectors -- I would think fewer and fewer young people are getting into those hobbies in the numbers they used to. 

 

EBay doubtless recognized this demographic shift, which is why they're pushing high-tech gadgetry as their main draw.  Those of us who continue to sell interesting, unique, or OOAK items may be in for a rough ride in the coming year and beyond. 


http://www.cnbc.com/id/101963821#.

 

Basically, Americans have more money but are spending less than they used to. They HAVE the money. "Banks have put away close to $2.8 trillion in reserves, and households are sitting on $2.15 trillion in savings—about a 50 percent increase over the past five years".

 

People are saving money and also not spending as much with debt. The velocity of money has dropped from 17.2 to 4.4. The 17.2 rate is what we got used to up to the recession. The 4.4 is since. The money and spending ability is there.

 

Collectibles, in all forms are off. They were the get rich quick scheme of the 90's. With the advent of the internet, Antique Roadshow, clearing out Granny's cupboard, the market is over saturated. Everyone wants to sell their hoard and no-one wants the hoard.

One of our posters sold two iPhones, last few days, $1700 a piece. Run that through yer collectible calculator.

 

Unless it is pristine like new in original packaging and first edition, no-one wants it anymore. I can spend the money on a nick-nack or buy something I can use. "OR". It used to be "and". It is now "or".

 

It would be interesting to see the inside numbers of how sales have shifted.

 

 

 

 

.
.
.
Photobucket
Message 14 of 23
latest reply

Can't anyone else see that ebay has it backwards?

"It would be interesting to see the inside numbers of how sales have shifted."

 

Good point.

 

When we look at the big picture - and it is important to see it - we  often miss the shifts that may have taken place between categories.

 

The big picture, looking at eBay's financial report for the second quarter, shows that sellers on eBay have sold

 

US$ 16,153,000,000 in the quarter in 2012 - a 10% increase from the previous year (2011)

 

US$ 18,276,000,000 in the quarter in 2013 - a 13% increase from the previous year (2012)

 

US$ 20,485,000,000 in the quarter in 2014 - a 12% increase from the previous year (2013)

 

So what we see is a continued growth by sellers overall. 

 

We read much on these boards from sellers who have not kept pace with the average growth in sales, for a multitude of reasons.  Those who have experienced and are still experiencing that growth are too busy listing, selling, packing and shipping to post here! Smiley Happy

 

And life does go on.

Message 15 of 23
latest reply

Can't anyone else see that ebay has it backwards?

It would be interesting to see the same comparison for given categories, like antiques, video games, stamps, coins&paper money etc...I'm assuming they don't publish the numbers that detailed?
Message 16 of 23
latest reply

Can't anyone else see that ebay has it backwards?

".I'm assuming they don't publish the numbers that detailed? "

 

You are correct.  That is private information considered confidential.

 

On the other hand, one can make some basic deductions regarding some categories. 

 

Several years ago, eBay lost a large percentage of listings in the "Coins" and "Stamps" categories to other venues. 

 

What did eBay do?  Drop the FVF in the "Coins" and "Stamps" categories from 9% to 6% for sellers with a store (the vast majority of listings in that category come from sellers with an eBay store). 6% translates into 4.8% for most sellers once you incorporate the rebate for Top Rated Sellers. 

 

That is what eBay had to do to compete with other venues.

Message 17 of 23
latest reply

Can't anyone else see that ebay has it backwards?

Yes I remember when they dropped the FVF down in the stamps category, that was one of the rare times that the "news" was happy news!

I do watch some of the folks that migrated partially/totally away to other venues and they do not seem to have migrated back much if at all. However with some of the other changes on the other sites it will be interesting to see what that does, it may migrate some back more. It might also be that the particular style of seller I watch are different as I watch a somewhat specialized type of seller.
Message 18 of 23
latest reply

Can't anyone else see that ebay has it backwards?

 


@pierrelebel wrote:

"It would be interesting to see the inside numbers of how sales have shifted."

 

Good point.

 

When we look at the big picture - and it is important to see it - we  often miss the shifts that may have taken place between categories.

 

The big picture, looking at eBay's financial report for the second quarter, shows that sellers on eBay have sold

 

US$ 16,153,000,000 in the quarter in 2012 - a 10% increase from the previous year (2011)

 

US$ 18,276,000,000 in the quarter in 2013 - a 13% increase from the previous year (2012)

 

US$ 20,485,000,000 in the quarter in 2014 - a 12% increase from the previous year (2013)

 

So what we see is a continued growth by sellers overall. 

 

We read much on these boards from sellers who have not kept pace with the average growth in sales, for a multitude of reasons.  Those who have experienced and are still experiencing that growth are too busy listing, selling, packing and shipping to post here! Smiley Happy

 

And life does go on.


basing ebay's income from ebay.com and extrapolating it to all aspects / countries of sales is not a valid comparison. While ebay has been growing they also have been shrinking.

 

During this steady 'growth', ebay has shut down or not been successful in the following markets/countries:

 

Tawian, Japan, New Zealand, and China.

 

So if you were listing on all those sites you likely would have seen slower growth and then none 🙂 as ebay failed in that market. Maybe they even had a person on there quoting ebay's year over year growth, which I suspect was even higher percentage wise back then. 

 

So it is reasonable to say that while Ebay's OVERALL growth may be positive, there are large markets where they were unsuccessful and had poor growth there. 

 

If you have CANADIAN sales year over year that would be a closer comparison, but still not really valid. 

 

What information is pertinent to these boards is what is the average overall sales of sellers say , under $250k per year, or even under $500k per year. 

 

To indicate that Ebay's overall growth can be compared to an individual's sales is a non starter. 

 

 

 

Message 19 of 23
latest reply

Can't anyone else see that ebay has it backwards?

They do release that, wingo publishes it on occasion on his blog. This is from last fall, he hasn't written as much this year.  Some have seen slower growth then others, there has never been a big category fall other then when gold influenced coins.  Video games were slightly negative before the new ones came out last year.  The same chart for many past quarters is there  if anyone wanted to scroll through wingos site long enough.  There has been no fall in collectibles.  the annual change for this is q3 2012 to 2013

 

wingo.jpg

Message 20 of 23
latest reply