eBay

king_of_kings_1970 · ‎08-08-2013

Anybody else feel like they are being enslaved by Ebay with their new policies? Wow, I am being high fees to have them put limitations on my account. Being a power seller, like so many of you, it is so unfortuante we are being treated this way. Are we supposed to be treated this way? Makes you wonder why I opened my own site and used other alternative to end the madness. Funny think is now I get to keep all the FVF.

inuk_the_polar_bear · ‎08-08-2013

My fees have dropped as a % of sales.

king_of_kings_1970 · ‎08-08-2013

I'll Bet, LOL, How great are your sales? I have lke 2 sales and 2 weeks since these new rules took place. Nothing like persecuting your power sellers for no reason. LOL

inuk_the_polar_bear · ‎08-08-2013

Seriously, my fees have dropped. My sales are above budget. Sorry you cannot handle that. I have been around far too long to swallow that "no reason" line. Reasons exist. That you do not like those reasons is secondary. Get over the PS thing. It is as meanigful as FB.

With acceptance of the New Order comes peace. You want to keep fighting it? Go ahead. The landscape is littered with "not my fault" banished sellers.

Hang-out at Seller Central on dot com. Yer twin, Gideon, posts the same as you do. Hard done by. The world hates me. It is a conspiracy (he is American). Take eBay to court. The whole nine yards.

I assume you are still in business. What are YOUR plans for making this work? I know what mine are. Mine plans do not include any angst, antagonism, anger, retribution, or negative thought.

gifts_of_elegance · ‎08-08-2013

@inuk_the_polar_bear wrote:
Seriously, my fees have dropped. My sales are above budget. Sorry you cannot handle that. I have been around far too long to swallow that "no reason" line. Reasons exist. That you do not like those reasons is secondary. Get over the PS thing. It is as meanigful as FB.

With acceptance of the New Order comes peace. You want to keep fighting it? Go ahead. The landscape is littered with "not my fault" banished sellers.

Hang-out at Seller Central on dot com. Yer twin, Gideon, posts the same as you do. Hard done by. The world hates me. It is a conspiracy (he is American). Take eBay to court. The whole nine yards.

I assume you are still in business. What are YOUR plans for making this work? I know what mine are. Mine plans do not include any angst, antagonism, anger, retribution, or negative thought.

Doesn't look like you are selling anything either.

Or, wait...........aren't you one of those guys that hide behind an alias? All talk, no action, hides behind a mask so no one will find out that your greatest achievement is just talk.

73rhc · ‎08-08-2013

Hit the nail on the head!!!

inuk_the_polar_bear · ‎08-08-2013

Those who have experience here know full well who I am. I do not hide on purpose. If attacking me makes you feel better about yourself, well, good for you.

gifts_of_elegance · ‎08-08-2013

@inuk_the_polar_bear wrote:
Those who have experience here know full well who I am. I do not hide on purpose. If attacking me makes you feel better about yourself, well, good for you.

If you don't hide on purpose, then who is making you hide?

73rhc · ‎08-08-2013

How can anyone attack you. Nobody knows who you are. Keep hidding!

bb_cool_stuff · ‎08-08-2013

Google Salman Rushdie & you will find your answer as to why he is in hiding.

Inuk is just an alias.

73rhc · ‎08-08-2013

???

king_of_kings_1970 · ‎08-08-2013

I didn't think I said something wrong. I had Ebay management look into my case and they said themselves that my case is unique. I am being penalized because our shipping rates are high from the USA to canada and buyers give me low DSR ratings because of it. I can't control it and I won't take the hit for it either. I am not overcharging, It is just the way it is.

king_of_kings_1970 · ‎08-08-2013

And here I thought we were trying to solve a serious Ebay issue.

pjcdn2005 · ‎08-09-2013

@king_of_kings_1970 wrote:
I didn't think I said something wrong. I had Ebay management look into my case and they said themselves that my case is unique. I am being penalized because our shipping rates are high from the USA to canada and buyers give me low DSR ratings because of it. I can't control it and I won't take the hit for it either. I am not overcharging, It is just the way it is.

You're not unique in that all Canadian sellers have to deal with the postage prices here. However, media sellers who list on .com have a limit on how much they can charge so you're competing with those sellers. You might want to hide some of the shipping cost in the price of the item.

gifts_of_elegance · ‎08-09-2013

You can't do that. Read "Truth In Advertising". If you say its FREE then it must be FREE and not added on to the purchase price. It is unlawful..

pierrelebel · ‎08-09-2013

"If you say its FREE then it must be FREE and not added on to the purchase price. It is unlawful.."

To be candid, I was a bit surprised by your post.

Currently, half the value of all transactions on eBay.com are sold on the basis that domestic shipping is included in the price (often referred as "free shipping"). There is nothing "illegal" about the concept. It is used everywhere, both online and offline. Some furniture stores charge extra for delivery while others offer "free delivery". Are they doing something "illegal"? Of course not.

A grocery store charges $0.05 for a plastic bag at checkout while the other offers "free" plastic bags. Are they doing something "illegal"? Of course not.

It is your decision to charge extra for "shipping and handling". Looking at your listings, in many instances, the "shipping" charged includes your labour and packaging materials which could be very extensive for some fragile and valuable items. There is nothing wrong with that. Other sellers may prefer to charge "exact" shipping charge where only the cost paid to Canada Post is charged to the buyer and they absorb packaging material and their time. There is nothing wrong with that. Others prefer to include the shipping charge in the price or absorb it in their margins altogether. There is nothing wrong with that.

Some sellers offer "free" guarantee on some products while others charge for it. Is there something wrong with that?

If I have a brick and mortar store or sell through a table at a flea market or industry show, it is my choice to charge or not charge the buyer to ship the goods not purchased and picked up at my point of sale. There is nothing wrong with that.

Life is too complicated to find faults in others. Folks all have the right to a different opinion, a different marketing approach. Let's not make it "illegal" because we do things differently, within the confines of the rules and policies.

Live and let live.

reallynicestamps · ‎08-09-2013

I am being penalized because our shipping rates are high from the USA to canada and buyers give me low DSR ratings because of it. I can't control it and I won't take the hit for it either. I am not overcharging, It is just the way it is.

And here are some ways Canadian sellers cope with that situation.

a) We use Calculated Shipping. For some reason, this sits better with many buyers than Flat Rate, which admittedly could hide the actual cost. And $4.83 just sounds more "official" than $3.99.

b) We use PP labels. Not only does this give us an invoice number that, again, sounds official, but many services are discounted when PP labels are used. Also PP labels do not show the actual postage paid (stealth shipping).

c) We use discounted mint postage. (Okay, that is kinda self-serving). Your package displays $12 worth of pretty tamps. Shiny! You only paid $10 for them. FTW!

d) As suggested, we use "Free" Shipping. This is both encouraged by eBay, who give sellers automatic Five Stars for shipping cost Ratings, and popular with buyers.

e) We list on eBay Canada to allow us to use Calculated Shipping. Only dot COM and dotCA are allowed to use US dollars as the listing currency.

f) We gird our loins, cross our fingers and use the lowest cost service available, even if it doesn't include tracking or insurance. My demographics make this easy for me, since readers, philatelists and seamstresses are notoriously honest. I'd be leery of this if I were selling DVDs, sportscards, dolls or horsetack.

In fact, "d" may be the fastest method of repairing your low DSRs. Can you add $10 to your asking price to cover the cost of shipping and packaging?

pocomocomputing · ‎08-09-2013

@reallynicestamps wrote:

b) We use PP labels. Not only does this give us an invoice number that, again, sounds official, but many services are discounted when PP labels are used. Also PP labels do not show the actual postage paid (stealth shipping).

No longer true. The new Tracked Packet service shows the postage amount and so does Small Packet (new label format a few weeks ago). I do not know if other services show or do not show the postage. PayPal labels has changed from from full stealth to now showing postage for some services.

gifts_of_elegance · ‎08-09-2013

@pierrelebel wrote:
"If you say its FREE then it must be FREE and not added on to the purchase price. It is unlawful.."

To be candid, I was a bit surprised by your post.

Currently, half the value of all transactions on eBay.com are sold on the basis that domestic shipping is included in the price (often referred as "free shipping"). There is nothing "illegal" about the concept. It is used everywhere, both online and offline. Some furniture stores charge extra for delivery while others offer "free delivery". Are they doing something "illegal"? Of course not.

A grocery store charges $0.05 for a plastic bag at checkout while the other offers "free" plastic bags. Are they doing something "illegal"? Of course not.

It is your decision to charge extra for "shipping and handling". Looking at your listings, in many instances, the "shipping" charged includes your labour and packaging materials which could be very extensive for some fragile and valuable items. There is nothing wrong with that. Other sellers may prefer to charge "exact" shipping charge where only the cost paid to Canada Post is charged to the buyer and they absorb packaging material and their time. There is nothing wrong with that. Others prefer to include the shipping charge in the price or absorb it in their margins altogether. There is nothing wrong with that.

Some sellers offer "free" guarantee on some products while others charge for it. Is there something wrong with that?

If I have a brick and mortar store or sell through a table at a flea market or industry show, it is my choice to charge or not charge the buyer to ship the goods not purchased and picked up at my point of sale. There is nothing wrong with that.

Life is too complicated to find faults in others. Folks all have the right to a different opinion, a different marketing approach. Let's not make it "illegal" because we do things differently, within the confines of the rules and policies.

Live and let live.

Hello Pierre! Perhaps I expressed myself wrong. The instances you mention are not wrong. None of them. My point was that if you add the cost of the shipping to the cost of the item (as suggested by a previous post), that is misleading and not FREE.

I was also surprised by your statement that I add the cost of my labour and packaging material to my shipping costs. You refer to some fragile items that are valuable. Recently I sold a set of 30 pc. of Minton Dynasty China. I charged $250 for shipping to USA. My actual cost was $450. Last year I sold 40 pc. of the same china to England. I charged $1,000 for shipping and it cost me $1,200. None of them included the cost of packaging and labour., the commission eBay takes, or anything else. I actually loose thousands of dollars every year on shipping.

Now, don't take this personally Pierre. We are all in the same boat, trying to do the best to survive. We sell different things, we come from different business backgrounds, and sometimes we see things different. If everything was "black and white", then we would not need judges to decide.

The original post here was about shipping charges and eBay's reaction. If you charge for tracking and insurance, then you are over charging. When there is a problem and you did not send with tracking, then you are in the wrong. You are damned if you do and damned if you don't. The OP was venting his frustration. He did not need anyone hiding behind a non-active identity to belittle him and brag about how great and successful he was. There is a lot of that here. At least that is the way I see it.