I discovered something the hard way.

[Ringel05]

Warning! If you use E-Bay the policy covering offers made by the purchaser has changed. Now if the seller accepts an offer it is now automatically a purchase, the seller no longer has to notify the purchaser the offer was accepted before the sale is made.
This change was enacted 2 months ago.

 

[Mini 14]

eBay isn't what it used to be. If you're a seller, you better be on your toes, because they do absolutely nothing to protect sellers anymore.

They actually closed my account, including my PayPal account, when they "discovered" my website. They saw that I am a gun dealer, and closed my accounts immediately, citing that eBay nor PayPal are authorized vehicles for the exchange of firearms (don't tell that to gunbroker or auctionamerica!)

After pointing out that I do not, have never, and will never sell a firearm over the Internet (even though it is perfectly legal, and we do sell parts), AND then threatening them with a civil discrimination suit (lawyer wrote an EXCELLENT letter, and I almost wish they had kept the account closed, as I'd be a rich man today), my account was restored (with the 1500 positive feedback) and they have left me alone since.

We don't use it like we used to. Now, its just a place for us to dump the crap we can't sell to people who can actually see it or hold it. We sell it cheap, and we offer refunds even though we state that we don't, but we do that in our stores as well.

eBay sucks, but it is a necessary evil in my business.

 

[Ringel05]

I rarely use it anymore, I generally do better with Amazon and a few others but on occasion it's the only place to find good stuff you want or need inexpensively.

 

[strollingbones]

it is hard to make a profit on ebay...between the fees...and there is no protection for the seller now...its a total buyers market....you cant even leave a buyer negative feedback now....

i havent sold anything on ebay for years now

 

[Mini 14]

I rarely use it anymore, I generally do better with Amazon and a few others but on occasion it's the only place to find good stuff you want or need inexpensively.

I still use it, especially as a buyer, but my attitude is "I hope I get lucky instead of getting burned." Its like pulling a slot machine to me.

As a seller, I'm much more methodical and precise with it. We ship IMMEDIATELY, with insurance and signature confirmation, and still, we get burned about 1 in 20 transactions.

I think I've had 4 negative feedbacks in 10 years and 4000 transactions as a seller? And in every one of them, eBay sided with the buyer (one who eventually wound up in prison for charging her purchase to a stolen credit card, $1900 which I had to eat, even though PayPal approved it. The cash came back out of my account, and my merchandise was gone forever. Sucked being me that day, and yeah, I got a judgement that I'll never see

But I admit, I've made a killing having it as an option. Great exposure to markets I don't have, but you just have to expect to get burned, and move on when you do.

 

[Ringel05]

it is hard to make a profit on ebay...between the fees...and there is no protection for the seller now...its a total buyers market....you cant even leave a buyer negative feedback now....

i havent sold anything on ebay for years now

Well this is policy is decidedly pro-seller. I understand and don't have a problem with it, I'm just pissed that I received no notification of the policy change. The seller will take the item back less the shipping cost and a 20% restocking fee so out of the $75 price and $10 shipping I'm out $25 plus whatever it costs to ship it back. I'm thinking slow boat to China shipping.

 

[Mini 14]

it is hard to make a profit on ebay...between the fees...and there is no protection for the seller now...its a total buyers market....you cant even leave a buyer negative feedback now....

i havent sold anything on ebay for years now

There are certain "niche markets" where eBay is THE PLACE to sell. I'm specifically thinking of coins and used tools, but there are others.

I have stopped putting reserves and minimums on coins (I'm an AVID, VORACIOUS collector) because there are so many coin collectors and dealers watching eBay 24/7, that a coin will ALWAYS reach its fair market value (unless it is an inexpensive, common coin).

It all depends on what, and HOW MUCH, you're selling. I agree that it is dead for the average individual who wants to "clean out" his junk. But thee are certain niches that will always do well there, and if you can push volume, it can be very profitable.

 

[Ringel05]

I rarely use it anymore, I generally do better with Amazon and a few others but on occasion it's the only place to find good stuff you want or need inexpensively.

I still use it, especially as a buyer, but my attitude is "I hope I get lucky instead of getting burned." Its like pulling a slot machine to me.

As a seller, I'm much more methodical and precise with it. We ship IMMEDIATELY, with insurance and signature confirmation, and still, we get burned about 1 in 20 transactions.

I think I've had 4 negative feedbacks in 10 years and 4000 transactions as a seller? And in every one of them, eBay sided with the buyer (one who eventually wound up in prison for charging her purchase to a stolen credit card, $1900 which I had to eat, even though PayPal approved it. The cash came back out of my account, and my merchandise was gone forever. Sucked being me that day, and yeah, I got a judgement that I'll never see

But I admit, I've made a killing having it as an option. Great exposure to markets I don't have, but you just have to expect to get burned, and move on when you do.

As a buyer I've had only one negative I gave out and that was to a scammer that E-Bay did shut down and Pay-Pal refunded all my money. I have no problem with honest sellers on the site, I always pay immediately when I win and I carry a 100% rating (mostly from when sellers could neg buyers) and I disagree with the policy that sellers cannot give out negative reviews. When I saw that policy go into place is when I really started cutting back my usage and started looking for other sources.
I'm also familiar with what to look for, one being overly high shipping costs. I won't buy from that seller because it's obvious they're trying to make more money by doubling or tripling their actual shipping rate, that's just dishonest.

 

[Sarah G]

Warning! If you use E-Bay the policy covering offers made by the purchaser has changed. Now if the seller accepts an offer it is now automatically a purchase, the seller no longer has to notify the purchaser the offer was accepted before the sale is made.
This change was enacted 2 months ago.

Didn't you receive a "you won" message in your email? Are you using the word offer instead of bid?

 

[Sarah G]

it is hard to make a profit on ebay...between the fees...and there is no protection for the seller now...its a total buyers market....you cant even leave a buyer negative feedback now....

i havent sold anything on ebay for years now

I agree. It is getting too complicated and there doesn't seem to be as big a market for products that are fairly priced there. I put items in the newspaper now and get cash.

 

[Zoom-boing]

I've purchased about 25 items from e-bay over the past several years. Never had a problem and only gave negative feedback once, just about two weeks ago. Ordered an ELP t-shirt for my son for Christmas. Shipper shipped from Asian and the U.S. Being in the U.S. one would assume my shirt was being shipped from the U.S. After a week past the estimated delivery date I contacted the seller. After six emails back and forth he finally says it shipped from Asia cause the U.S. shipper was out of the shirt. wtf? Like he couldn't tell me that when I purchased it? He finally shipped another shirt altogether and I got it within a few days of shipping. I gave him neg feedback for poor communication and bullshit estimated shipping time. He claimed that the shipping times were generated by e-bay and he had no control over it. Again, wtf? A simple email from him about the shipping would have fixed everything.

To one seller I gave positive feedback but commented on their overpriced shipping cost. (The item cost $1.47 to ship; they charged $5 or $6). They proceeded to warn other sellers of me. lol I just replied with the comment that my feedback is honest. Guess honesty isn't the best policy for that seller.

I was recently looking at the LG Rumor Touch phone. It sells for $150 in the stores. You can get it from ebay for (on average) $100 in auctions. One seller was selling it as a buy-it-now for $70. I thought 'hmmm, that might be a good deal' . . . until I saw his shipping was $50. What a loser.

I always pay immediately via paypal and have 100% positive feedback from sellers. I always check the sellers feedback before buying. Sometimes the negative feedback they get is just people who are too stupid to read what they're buying. Other times? Not so much and I pass that seller by.

 

[Ringel05]

Warning! If you use E-Bay the policy covering offers made by the purchaser has changed. Now if the seller accepts an offer it is now automatically a purchase, the seller no longer has to notify the purchaser the offer was accepted before the sale is made.
This change was enacted 2 months ago.

Didn't you receive a "you won" message in your email? Are you using the word offer instead of bid?

No, did not receive the "you won" and I am using the bid "make an offer". It just showed up in my account win listing. I won't be making any more offers unless they're really, really low, that way I can see what the counter offer would be.

 

[uscitizen]

I have never bought anything on Ebay.
And never will.