Ebay Commandments

[Andrew]

Yes it's me- new Forum new name and the name's actually quite fitting for my current mood.

I just had 7 auctions pulled by Ebay (very frustrating since I put quite a bit of work into my listings). The reasons they gave for four of them were that I could not say i'd accept concealed cash- that used to happen quite a bit years ago- about the last time it happened was 2003 for me, and i'd forgotten it was even there in the fine print. I stuck it in at the time becasue I got sick of saying yes to all the enquiries.

The other 3 were pulled because I said I only accepted payment via direct deposit (internet banking) from people in my own Country- they can easily put the money straight into my account that way- it's just a bit more instantaneous via paypal but I get slugged with the fee. They say it discourages payment methods :roll: I had 3 auctions end early this week and despite advising them all the details they all used Paypal- maybe one of those guys reported me after I politely reminded them of the conditions.

Both of these are code for we want you to use paypal.

The worst of it is that i've now got to re-create the listings from scratch... what a drag. I suspect someone somewhere reported it. It does seem pretty heavy, they could at least give you a warning and order you to change the details. That's Ebay for you, and to a customer of 7 years with 100% feedback.

Another thing- Paypal fees. Once upon a time I used to accept all the fees for my sales, then a few years later I began passing it onto the buyer as it was common practice- I understand that is against the Commandments as well. The last time I went to do that was a while back when I sold to a certain someone :shock: who told me in no uncertain terms what he thought so ever since I split the fees 50-50 which I thought pretty fair, although this is probably vorboten too.

What does everyone else do? If you are selling something exccy the fees can be quite significant. One can argue that as it's a service for both the fees should be split.

Let it be a lesson, go and check what's in your conditions or else good night charlie.

 

[John Lever]

Ebay is getting more greedy with time,as it's charges are always on the up. Paypal is fast and convenient but the exchange rates are lousy and the fees high. It's a place to buy not so much to sell as all the fees are all with the seller. The buyer seems to hold all the cards when a purchase is made through PP, any problems and then monies are withdrawn. I always take my payment straight out of PP and into my bank. I'm not sure but I think even if you do this and the buyer complains, then PP can debit your acc. and so put it in negative balance. If it's a domestic buyer then it's best to insist on a cheque for payment. Even then though if you have a PP account, some buyers will somehow pay this way even though you may have specified otherwise.
I think you have been unlucky with the ebay 'police'. I was bidding on something recently where the seller even provided a mobile number and invited views at his home clearly implying he would sell outside ebay. Have you ended many auctions early ? Perhaps there is a 'flag' on your account.

 

[a2 fng]

I hate Ebay now and Paypal for selling.

When i used to sell buyers quite rightly so wanted the cheapest shipping/postage price but now with Paypal demanding tracking info everything has to go recorded which puts everyone off bidding :cry: :cry: :cry:
TOSSERS

 

[Roughwear]

I can sympathise with all the sentiments so far in this thread. I hate the high Paypal fees. I always ask overseas buyers to use only paypal. Recently a guy in the USA won my ELC redskin B3. He refused to use Paypal, saying he would send cash. Well after 5 weeks the cash had no arrived. He sent me the receipts as proof of postage. I had repeatedly asked him to use Paypal, but he said he did not trust it! Eventually I opened a non-payment dispute through Ebay and recovered my final price fees. The guy has lost $900 and I still have the jacket, which i shall keep for the time being.

The other thing which annoys me about Ebay is those sellers is when they will only accept a cheque and then take several weeks to despatch a jacket despite the cheque only taking a few days to clear. The most annoying ones are those who don't answer one's emails.

 

[shanghai joe]

Andrew (aussie) sometimes the ebay goddess favour some more than others.

Guess you got to get her to be your fairy-godmother.

Com'on guys, you must come up with something to play the system!! Think of all the dosh youll be saving!!

 

[shanghai joe]

Yes it's me- new Forum new name and the name's actually quite fitting for my current mood.

I just had 7 auctions pulled by Ebay (very frustrating since I put quite a bit of work into my listings). The reasons they gave for four of them were that I could not say i'd accept concealed cash- that used to happen quite a bit years ago- about the last time it happened was 2003 for me, and i'd forgotten it was even there in the fine print. I stuck it in at the time becasue I got sick of saying yes to all the enquiries.

The other 3 were pulled because I said I only accepted payment via direct deposit (internet banking) from people in my own Country- they can easily put the money straight into my account that way- it's just a bit more instantaneous via paypal but I get slugged with the fee. They say it discourages payment methods :roll: I had 3 auctions end early this week and despite advising them all the details they all used Paypal- maybe one of those guys reported me after I politely reminded them of the conditions.

Both of these are code for we want you to use paypal.

The worst of it is that i've now got to re-create the listings from scratch... what a drag. I suspect someone somewhere reported it. It does seem pretty heavy, they could at least give you a warning and order you to change the details. That's Ebay for you, and to a customer of 7 years with 100% feedback.

Another thing- Paypal fees. Once upon a time I used to accept all the fees for my sales, then a few years later I began passing it onto the buyer as it was common practice- I understand that is against the Commandments as well. The last time I went to do that was a while back when I sold to a certain someone :shock: who told me in no uncertain terms what he thought so ever since I split the fees 50-50 which I thought pretty fair, although this is probably vorboten too.

What does everyone else do? If you are selling something exccy the fees can be quite significant. One can argue that as it's a service for both the fees should be split.

Let it be a lesson, go and check what's in your conditions or else good night charlie.

Andrew,

Can't you save a template? Unless you're selling items of a different nature?

 

[deeb7]

Andrew,

Can't you save a template? Unless you're selling items of a different nature?

Yes, good idea ...

And I first write up the descriptions in Word, then paste onto the listing page.

 

[shanghai joe]

Andrew,

Can't you save a template? Unless you're selling items of a different nature?

Yes, good idea ...

And I first write up the descriptions in Word, then paste onto the listing page.

glad to be of service, dave!

 

[Roughwear]

I always used a template which I alter according to the jacket-saves alot of time and effort. The photos take the most time now.

 

[Andrew]

ahh yes a template... or at least a cut and pasted word file. I do have 90% of that for the last one I listed (a jacket) but as I rarely do things the same way twice (a bad habit) I had finessed it somewhat in the auction then hadn't saved it.
Yes Joe you are correct if I only sold jackets it would also work but lately I've been going through the garage with years of collecting all sorts of Aviation and Mil stuff and so much is vastly different- which made the listings interesting I guess.

Sorry all, the topic was really a rant and i've cooled off now, but thank goodness for the VLJ to have somewhere to go to actually spew it. I must say that i'm impressed Andrew that you state you accept Paypal for local sales as I have always just seen that as an International tool. Surely you other guys have the equivalent of fee free bank to bank transfers within the Country? Do you really all accept the pp fees for your sales? Last buy I did I was hit up for it by the seller but I accepted it as a necessary evil.

Finally, John, I believe the stealth strike by Big Brother was a tip off, I've never pulled an auction early and have a clean record.

One day maybe there will be an alternative to this monopoly, but wouldn't that make it hard to find all the goodies....?

 

[Weasel_Loader]

I too share a lot of what you all have experienced. I've found no matter how clear you make a listing, it always seems I get the idiot buying my stuff. Likely excuses are usually, "sorry I didn't have time to read your listing and didn't realize you don't accept this or that". Or, "I just had a jacket shipped from the U.S. for much less than the price your quoting". I've gotten so fed up with selling lately and not sure if I'll ever sell anymore. :roll:

 

[siddhartha]

I actually use a program called GarageSale (for macintosh) which simplifies the process of posting auctions. It's nice also to have a record of all I've done.

I recommend it to all mac users

Chris

 

[mazeta]

I dislike the eBay/PayPal fees as much as anyone.
When I get angry about them, I stop and think about it.
Where else would I have been able to take stuff that would be very hard to find buyers for via other methods, and sell, often at a good profit? eBay has made it possible for me to find buyers from all over the planet for stuff I would have probably ended up giving away!

 

[ausreenactor]

Have had the pleasure of eBay's free to sellers "Turbo-Lister". Saves all the listings and pics, and easily edited!! Look under Seller Tools..

Couchy

 

[havocpaul]

I use Turbolister which means you can list offline, set up a template etc and upload to eBay at a time best suited to you. As regards Paypal, yes, the fees are high for the seller but I now only accept it from overseas buyers after several problems with buyers trying to pay me in foreign currency or sending cash/cheques. Accepting cheques from UK buyers I need 5 working days to clear a cheque, some banks clear them faster but it can take that time for them to inform you of a 'bouncer'...sometimes I send out immediately if I see they have top feedback or are known to me. The bottom line regarding fees and eBay's rules is any and all auction houses will charge the seller fees (more than ebay in many cases) so what can we expect, it is wise to incorporate those fees in how much you list an item for, for a long time now sellers cannot charge buyers the PP fees and I agree with that rule, for the buyer what he bids (plus postage) should be what he pays.

 

[shanghai joe]

play the system and play to win...........suggestions??

 

[asiamiles]

Another thing- Paypal fees. Once upon a time I used to accept all the fees for my sales, then a few years later I began passing it onto the buyer as it was common practice- I understand that is against the Commandments as well. The last time I went to do that was a while back when I sold to a certain someone :shock: who told me in no uncertain terms what he thought so ever since I split the fees 50-50 which I thought pretty fair, although this is probably vorboten too.

What does everyone else do? If you are selling something exccy the fees can be quite significant. One can argue that as it's a service for both the fees should be split.

I've never come across anyone asking me to split the fees and I've never asked anyone to do it. It's the seller's to pay. Not saying I agree with it, but it's the way it's become, moreso since Paypal has become the method of payment for 99% of transactions. I suppose no one is forcing us to sell our things on eBay. That said, eBay is now taking sellers for a ride and the fees are becoming higher and higher to the extent that a friend told me last week he was looking for other ways of selling as a result; indeed, if you sell something for only a small profit you could actually end up losing money! One way of at least partly covering your fees would be to incorporate them into the shipping charges. Remember you can charge more than the actual shipping because it's officially for shipping and handling. Unfortunately, if you're selling a jacket for a few hundred dollars the fee will be significantly ($10~20 maybe?) more than you can justifiably charge.

Before complaining too much about eBay, be thankful you don't have to go through the nightmare of Yahoo.jp auctions which is incredibly time-consuming and troublesome for the buyer and where the buyer is often charged a fee to pay for items and where is there is little or nothing you can do if you get sold something less than you expected.

 

[shanghai joe]

Another thing- Paypal fees. Once upon a time I used to accept all the fees for my sales, then a few years later I began passing it onto the buyer as it was common practice- I understand that is against the Commandments as well. The last time I went to do that was a while back when I sold to a certain someone :shock: who told me in no uncertain terms what he thought so ever since I split the fees 50-50 which I thought pretty fair, although this is probably vorboten too.

What does everyone else do? If you are selling something exccy the fees can be quite significant. One can argue that as it's a service for both the fees should be split.

I've never come across anyone asking me to split the fees and I've never asked anyone to do it. It's the seller's to pay. Not saying I agree with it, but it's the way it's become, moreso since Paypal has become the method of payment for 99% of transactions. I suppose no one is forcing us to sell our things on eBay. That said, eBay is now taking sellers for a ride and the fees are becoming higher and higher to the extent that a friend told me last week he was looking for other ways of selling as a result; indeed, if you sell something for only a small profit you could actually end up losing money! One way of at least partly covering your fees would be to incorporate them into the shipping charges. Remember you can charge more than the actual shipping because it's officially for shipping and handling. Unfortunately, if you're selling a jacket for a few hundred dollars the fee will be significantly ($10~20 maybe?) more than you can justifiably charge.

Before complaining too much about eBay, be thankful you don't have to go through the nightmare of Yahoo.jp auctions which is incredibly time-consuming and troublesome for the buyer and where the buyer is often charged a fee to pay for items and where is there is little or nothing you can do if you get sold something less than you expected.

hey I thought ebay was a place to offload your unwanted items, not an entrepreniul project to make profits??? Now, that would be business......

 

[Andrew]

Before complaining too much about eBay, be thankful you don't have to go through the nightmare of Yahoo.jp auctions which is incredibly time-consuming and troublesome for the buyer and where the buyer is often charged a fee to pay for items and where is there is little or nothing you can do if you get sold something less than you expected.

Thanks Miles et al, the purpose of this thread was to work out by how much I needed to pull my head in with regard to what is expected. I feel i've really been enlightened by the replies and looking at many of our memberships auctions it's obvious that's how it is now. I started selling in 2002 and around then it was far less controlled and I admit my conditions were drafted way back then in the bad old days. I haven't sold for quite a while and the conditions hadn't been updated so it was probably time they were so thanks.

I certainly wont be shedding any part of those charges again, but I'll also be careful never again to pay full offloaded pp fees as I did on a jacket recently.

 

[Jason]

Seven auctions pulled and you are not ebay persona non gratia?
Wow, it only took two of my auctions to be pulled (one which I agreed to, the other met all their conditions yet they made up some rule at their whim, not listed in their policy, to justify the pulling of the second auction) and got handed a two month red card.

I've never sold anything on ebay ever since, and I never will now. Private selling all the way for me.
But buying is fine - ebay seems to protect the buyer more than the seller. Though they can always wash their hands of a buyer saying "private treaty between buyer and seller, we're just the advertising medium" thing.
I use ebay as a research tool as much as anything else - keeping tabs on the average moving price of X item, and you do get the occasional knowledgable seller who puts lots of good educational info in their auctions - you get to recognise and know these and sit up and take note when they do appear.
Sometimes, just sometimes, the right item comes along and you pounce on it. Thats what I do anyway.

Paypal is another matter for me - I've never had any problems with PP. I consider their fees and not so generous exchange rate the 'cost of doing business'. We're remote from the rest of the world where most items are bought (USA and Europe) and I have to expect there is going to be a cost in sending funds from my local currency to another location in another currency.

The only hint of a problem I've had with PP is a seller who refuses to send the item until the PP funds (which he has confirmed he's received) clears out into his personal bank account - three weeks and waiting.