Comments on: Those crazy folks at Ebay…

By: Jeanne Rhea

Jeanne Rhea — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:11:14 +0000

I used to love selling on eBay and always, always left feedback the very day I shipped an item. I figured once they had paid their money on time that was all the buyer really had to do. As soon as that sign popped up and buyers got the idea they could threaten negative feedback in order to get SOMETHING EXTRA or negotiate a less amount than bid price, I realized it was time to change that policy. I have sold little over the past year, but every batch I put up, I end up with at least one buyer who drops off the face of the earth and does not pay or a buyer who wants to complain about the defects that I purposely described in detail and provided photos so they could judge if it was something they could repair or overlook. All the while, the starting price was really, really low—often less than I paid. To top it all off, the PayPal fees eat up too much of the profit and few can afford to drive somewhere to get a money order. Every time I package an item and the postal service makes three times what I make, it makes me sick—so I really pick and choose what I sell on eBay now.

For me, craigslist has been the best. Of course, it only works if one lives in town or close to a large population base and it only works if the item is worth someone to drive to pick up. I have sold a $10,000 slide-in camper, $2500 speakers and boxes of LPs for $10 a box and everything else in between.

I have a few cautions. There are always some people who have nothing better to do, but write emails and ask questions about the items. If it is something important, I reply in detail and change the ad to be sure that it is covered. If it is someone who emails and asks for the item for 10% of what I have priced it, I send a thanks, but no thanks email. Still, I have run into one man who sends an email on every item I list and can be very nasty since I do not want to sell so cheap. I keep this man’s email handy as I never want to meet him anywhere and will never sell anything to him. I also have a policy that an item has to be picked up in the evening when my husband is home. I do not give my address in the ad. If the person is really interested, I email the person with my phone number to call to make an appointment. But I never give my address until the person calls and says he is on his way. I do give a general idea of the area of town so they can tell if it is within their driving distance. I also never tell someone that an item will be held for them unless they are on their way. Hope this helps.

By: Nancy Barber

Nancy Barber — Sat, 31 May 2008 14:33:10 +0000

Bottom line here was made public a few days ago. buy.com has been given a deal on fees and now has over a half million items listed. Yup, count those zeros, 500,000+. Negatives will have little effect on their feedback percentage or DSRs due to volume of sales. I’m a 10 year powerseller with 100%, but there is no way I can keep that and meet the demands of the customer. Your blog details exactly my experience and many others I have chatted with online. I’m changing my product presentation. I am no longer going to try to compete in a “WalMart” mode. And, I’m moving on to other venues with the majority of my day spent blogging and chatting to get myself “out there”. Truthfully, if I have to, I will send my $20K inventory to charity and take the write off before I cave into the demanding and rude people on eBay of late. Would love to add your blog to my list.

By: Tonya Miller

Tonya Miller — Thu, 29 May 2008 16:35:17 +0000

Hi Carrie~
I happened upon your site a few months back and I happen to LOVE it! I also did crafts and etc when I was younger. My mom made all of our Halloween costumes for years! I have to agree with you on the whole EBay thing. I don’t sell on it because everytime I go on the site I get a migraine. I say viva revolution! I am really sick of the big guys taking over EVERYTHING! My goal is to someday open my own store, I’m afraid of the success vs. failure ratio.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Wed, 28 May 2008 06:50:49 +0000

The worst part about this feedback change is that now neutral feedbacks also count as a negative. The other really bad thing is that now, if you get a neutral or a negative or your star ratings go as low as 4.5, (since when is 4.5 stars out of 5 bad?) they can hold your paypal payment for 21 days, expect you to ship out of pocket and release the funds when your buyer leaves you positive feedback. That’s just wrong, in my view.

I really feel badly for all those small sellers who use the service to make ends meet. I hope something else comes along.

What a nice blog. I am so glad to have found it!

By: Cindy

Cindy — Tue, 27 May 2008 23:56:53 +0000

Dear Carrie;
Just happened on your blog today. I’m now living in Tennessee but all my family are from North Carolina and all I can say is Lucky You . You have the beach on one hand and the mountains on the other . I’ve always loved NC with a fond passion and would go there anytime if my TN husband would even consider moving. He won’t, so I just have the fond memories of visiting Grandmas’ and going to the beach when I was little. So lucky you again and I hope you find all the good things I knew in your new home.

Cindy

By: Frankie Kins

Frankie Kins — Mon, 26 May 2008 03:40:25 +0000

Carrie, how about selling just a few items at a time from your blog? Ask them for feedback from their Ebay account and/or Etsy account and use Paypal? People that know you are still going to buy from you. But of course, not as many people are going to see your wares.

Hope all is going well for you.

Frankie

By: cutesypoo

cutesypoo — Fri, 23 May 2008 07:22:37 +0000

man i had no idea ebay was making these changes! thanks for the heads up!
i don’t sell stuff on ebay but as a browser of it i really will be dissapointed with people that are quality sellers leaving ebay but maybe it will give other sites a chance to diversify this problems and ebay will have to rethink all these changes!

By: Holly

Holly — Tue, 20 May 2008 04:03:36 +0000

I recently started selling things on Ebay and this makes me furious!!! I do not feel it is fair at all, since we will have no say whatsoever when people complain! :( This makes me not want to sell anything on Ebay again… what a letdown!