I started my ebay business in late 2011, I have sucessfully created and secured a steady business in this trouble economy.
I think ebay is the ultimate platform to sell on, there are clients and business I have done business on this site that I would of never found if it wasn't for ebay.
Lets face it, when someone needs something, first place they are going to look is ebay. It's safe and secure for the buyers.
I have done 2300 + successful deals, very little issues, I acurately describe my listings, ship my items the following day, and offer free shipping.
If you treat ebay like a full time job, attend to the customers, and provide a fast prompt service, I find it is rare you will have any issues.
However, as a seller, there are a few things i wish ebay would improve on.
This new defect system has increasingly made it harder for power sellers to keep their rank.
Customers will open cases, it's the price of doing business, I feel what is important is the seller works it out.
I had a case where client was oversea's, and he needed a specific part.
Against my better judgement, I sent it to him, urged him to get tracking, but was not feasible.
A few weeks pass, and he never received the package, was lost, so he wanted to protect himself, opened a case. he's not to blame just wants to protect himself.
I refunded him fully, To protect ebays name, and my business name. Case closed.
It's not my fault the item got lost, I did my job as a seller, I packed and shipped it. When there was a issue, I refunded him.
Now i have a item not recieved X on my defect report.
As long as the seller, and buyer works it out, what is the issue? Things will get lost, why as a seller am I being held liable? They say you must include tracking, can be very pricey over seas.
Regardless, I still fixed it with the client. End of story.
Feedback system was hard enough, now this new defect rate has made it much harder.
This new return policy should only be applied for only new products.
I sell second hand computers, anything from 4 years old, to 20 years old. It works when i ship it, but computer can be on borrowed time. What happens if I sell a vintage computer, and it dies in 3 weeks? I have no way of knowing how long the computer will last for. It's second hand, you are basically buying it at your own risk.
We also have to explore the case of clients buying items that they need for something, or they get tired of it, and return it. In turn, us sellers are out the shipping.
These are guidelines for big box stores that can afford refunds and losses. Should be a less time frame for second hand products.
How come sellers only have a certain amount of times for feedback revisions? As long as the seller will fix the issue, should be unlimited amount of revisions.
When i have a client who has bought a lot of merchandise from me, there should be a section where it shows items he has purchased. That way we can give them better deals since they are a valued customer. I shouldn't have to dig threw there feedbacks to see if we have done business/ what they have bought.
There should be a geographical map with pings of where we have sold to. I would like to know statiscally where the majority of my clients are.
Feedbacks should be divided into price categories, not a full some.
Would be great if we where rated by price range.
$1.-$100.
$100-$500
$500-$1000.
$1000. and up.
That way our end users, and business clients are separated. Business can see we are capable of handling big deals. No sense in our rating gets effected with a $30. deal if sellers on here have a wide variety of prices.
I purposely stay away from auctions because in the past, winners barely pay. Then i have to repost.
Buyers should have a deposite taken from there account if they don't pay. That would detur them from bidding, they should be held liable, a deal is a deal. After all, if it sold at a low price, we would have to sell it to the customer.
Ebay should have live messenger/ video chat.
I would love to have the client on video chat, that way it's almost they are in front of the product. What can be a better buying experience? They could ask questions right there, see actual condition, and decided whether it's worth buying. Would lead to better seller, customer relation.
These are some idea's as a seller, i wish ebay would explorer.
Happy sellers equals happy clients, equating into a better marketplace.
