10 years on ebay, It's terrible now.

[mitchellsworth]

Ebay use to be my favourite place to buy AND sell. Buying just isnt the same anymore. Hardly any people selling anymore just big stores that dont have the variety we use to have. I just sold something and it turned out to be a non-payer. You cant even give people negative feedback anymore.

I cant buy from the US anymore now that the shipping and customs is tacked on. It's too bad because there is nothing like the early ebay anymore. Amazon is close but this bloated user unfriendly money withholding racket is going down. Just like the cable companies Ebay has run its course.

[femmefan1946]

Most US sellers are still shipping by USPS/canada post.

It's not difficult to find them.

Just watch for these words in Search

Customs services and international tracking provided

That denotes a GSP shipper, and you will be charged applicable duty and SALES TAX plus a ~$5USD service charge.

So ignore those sellers.

When you do a Search, you can't use Gallery View and you should be on a desktop or laptop not a phone.

And use Price and Shipping as your Search not Best Match.

You could also buy Canadian. There is no duty added when buying domestically, although there may be sales tax from some sellers who have full time businesses.

I just sold something and it turned out to be a non-payer. You cant even give people negative feedback anymore.

No, but you can get your FVF back. Negative feedback won't do that.

Open an Unpaid Item Dispute in the Resolution Centre at the bottom of this page.

You can do this after 96 hours without payment. Use the time to send a polite reminder, just one, around hour 60.

If he doesn't pay, close after 96 hours and relist.

He can't leave obnoxious feedback.

You get your fees back.

He gets a Strike which makes it harder to bid on eBay in future.

And go to your Seller Preferences and opt to Block bidders with those deadbeat Strikes.

[retroman_studios]

You also need to setup buyer requirements to help sift out the ones who will waste your time.

A sample of my requirements:

PayPal account required

Block bidders in countries I don't ship to

Block bidders with feedback less than -1 (this is an old rule, I have to change that)

Block bidders who have received 2 unpaid item strikes within 6 months

block bidders who received policy violation within last xx months

If all sellers actively opened unpaid item cases (or have the assistant do it for them) and had rules to block buyers who don't pay, those buyers would find it increasingly harder to buy on eBay and would leave for other commerce sites easier to have fun with.

As a seller, it's hard work. You have to tweak everything and make sure it's working and accept occasional losses. The trouble is, many sellers who are not full time but rather personal/casual sellers don't take the time or know how to do these things. This I blame partly on the seller, as we have awesome boards here with awesome members, so we need to ask! But I also blame eBay, as constantly I always get "page not found" when trying to look up help topics. It looks like the eBay site is truly broken when it comes to help pages. 

[pjcdn2005]

Block bidders who have received 2 unpaid item strikes within 6 months

You might want to change that to 12 months.

[jersey..authentix]

You shouldn't be surprised. Ebay is no different than any other company that provides a service. They lure you in making what they provide exciting and new and then they squeeze you for what your worth till the Machine can run no longer or they switch gears to something else, as Ebay is today.

Companies dont really care about their customers they only care about profit. Im sure even their employees are disgruntled today from the good old days. You hear this all the time from these kind of companies;" we are family". Well it's not how you treat family. My rant for today. 

[jersey..authentix]

FEMMEFAN WROTE; "Most US sellers are still shipping by USPS/canada post.

It's not difficult to find them.

Just watch for these words in Search

Customs services and international tracking provided

That denotes a GSP shipper, and you will be charged applicable duty and SALES TAX plus a ~$5USD service charge.

So ignore those sellers."

Thats a lot of sellers to ignore. As a buyer myself, I come across more US sellers using GSP than not. I understand what the poster griefs about. It is frustrating to pay out 100+ dollars as most of my buys are, and then add shipping + GSP! I have made purchases well into the 100's of dollars so I really look hard or convince sellers to drop the GSP. Some of these GSP charges can mount up to 100' themselves.

I think the worst thing about this is that there are still many US sellers that are not aware they are opted in to the GSP.( as I spoke to a US seller today). Didn't even know what I was talking about. Too bad because I ended up buying from someone else. Lost sale!

The other thing is, US sellers that opted in knowing why they opted in, did not do so because of not wanting to sell to Canada. It was due to overseas buyers.

Such is life.

[dark_phoenix9273]

I completely agree, Ebay is probably the hardest site to sell on right now and even if you do get sellers, they go out of their way to make that process as hard for you as possible.

Theres always going to be a handful of people who try to tell you your wrong, ignore them, if you search through the forum they go on any thread that points out the flaws in ebay and tries to say we should all just accept it. 

Ebay is driving away seller with one hand and buyers with the other.  Look over the threads and see how few people are selling or getting sales now and every day theres a new thread about another seller leaving.

[jersey..authentix]

I hear your frustration. If it was up to me I would turn the clock around to prior 2007 when for me anyways was great. Even better than just great. Today it is a fight and Im not happy with ebay and my earning results. Its not horrible but nothing close to the old days.

That being said Ebay is what it is. You can rant , you can go on social media to announce how much you despise Ebay. I have no issues about that. But my friend you wont gain much. Sellers will leave , sellers will return. Ebay overall is showing good profits and that is the bottom line. You unfortunately will not solve sellers disgruntled feeling. Sure you can say " we should stand up and fight Ebay" , but you know that's not going to happen for so many reasons.

I have always said this. " I will sell on Ebay till I can't sell no more", and that's it. 

[dark_phoenix9273]

It is horrible, and I think allot can be gained by brining it to light.  By showing whats wrong and warning others about what they're getting into before they sign up.  And you'd be surprised how many people on here are probably more then willing to stand up and fight them.

[jersey..authentix]

For a new seller on Ebay, it is almost a nightmare to navigate through. New sellers figure out very quickly if its for them.

Good luck with the cause.

[dark_phoenix9273]

Some of us don't just lay back and take it submissively. 

[femmefan1946]

It is frustrating to pay out 100+ dollars as most of my buys are, and then add shipping + GSP!

On the other hand, if the alternatives are UPS delivery (which seems cheap to the seller too) or even USPS/Canada Post, the same duty and sales taxes are going to be assessed on those high value imports. Both couriers and the PO have higher service charges/customs brokerage fees.

And all of those are charged on your doorstep, before the carrier will turn the item over to you.

You don't even know what those charges will be until the carrier informs you.

(FedEx is even worse, because they will turn over the parcel and then bill you later. Sneaky.)

I don't buy much on eBay. I am retired and have time to shop and live in a city so I don't have to drive two hours to find even a WalMart on the other side of the mountain pass as my daughter does.

I've even found a shop within walking distance that sells Eileen Fisher!

The GSP was not designed to make buyers happy. It is a Seller Protection program. It is annoying and badly implemented with the worst parts being the difficult tracking process (not that buyers actually need tracking) and a horrible ,opaque system for Refunds and Returns.

I would natter on, but tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day, and I have to be up early if  I am to get my Spectrum/Firefly book.

[towertreasuretrove]

I find it heartwarming that you're retired and still adding to your comic book collection. I hope I never lose the joy of 'collecting'...no matter how difficult Ebay makes it for Canadians...

[dark_phoenix9273]

There are allot of things frustrating about ebay.  Such as a person who buys something for 104 and then has to pay almost 20$ in shipping for it.  That person is simply going to choose not buy, And the seller cant afford to sell it at a loss. 

[jersey..authentix]

"I don't buy much on eBay."

Well I have an addiction to my collection, so I buy a considerable amount of items from the US. 90% and maybe even higher, I get my items delivered to my door without any taxes , duty , or other possible fees. These items will range from 100-1000$. So certainly Im in favor of taking my chances

[dark_phoenix9273]

So your saying you think sellers should just risk it?  And open themselves up to false claims?  To losing both their items and their money?

[reallynicestamps]

Actually, I just started the comic book collection, because there were no new Firefly episodes.

But there are comics!!

I found I had to read all over again, because graphic stories are a very different form of communication.

If I decide to go back and get my MA, those differences could be my thesis. *bemused smile*.

And when I got the Spectrum book, I didn't notice the promised Firefly title so now I have to go back again since a girlfriend told me on FB that it is a heartbreaker. I'm now worried about Emma's safety.

Also I'm a Hugo voter so I have the nominees list for that to fill.

[mr.elmwood]

---

@dark_phoenix9273 wrote:

So your saying you think sellers should just risk it?  And open themselves up to false claims?  To losing both their items and their money?

---

That happens approximately one out of a thousand sales for me. As it is, all I can lose is my postage costs. So, on average, I lose about $10 a year to false claims.

I think I can risk $10 a year.

[reallynicestamps]

But mr elwood in all fairness, it is tougher when you have only half a dozen items up, and those in a high fraud category (on both sides of the fence unfortunately).

One loss out of one thousand is easy to bear, one loss out of ten (or even one hundred) is harder.

But losses are a cost of doing business.

And it's always a learning experience for those willing to learn instead of complain.

It's business, not personal, is the first lesson.

And the second is probably: if all else fails, read the instructions.

[dark_phoenix9273]

That may be YOUR experience, but maybe if you could look beyond yourself, youd think that maybe others might get cheated on a more constant basis.    But why should there be a risk of being cheated at all?  Sellers should have the right to leave a neg feedback and they should have the same protection as a buyer does.