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Internet eBay Hit Hard by Boycott, Refuses to Change
Jason Mick (Blog) - February 25, 2008 12:47 PM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 98 comment(s) - last by P4blo.. on Feb 29 at 7:17 AM
Some sellers have had enough of eBay and call it quits in a massive boycott, others keep coming back to the same abusive system

eBay angered many sellers when it raised its fees and overhauled its feedback system in ways which many perceived to be very anti-seller.  The changes particularly hurt sellers of small, low-priced items like CDs and video games, which were faced with sharp hikes in their fees upon successful sales. 

These sellers had to decide to either put up with it, or take their business elsewhere.  DailyTech's Shane McGlaun wrote in a blog an open letter to eBay, voicing his frustration and the frustration of many others.  He cited that he was not alone -- CNN recently reported that five of eBay's top sellers called it quits after the changes.

Since the blog, the fallout against eBay continued.  A group of angered users called for a complete boycott of buying and selling on eBay until the company makes amends.  The boycott, which ends today, had a devastating effect on the already stagnant eBay.

The total auction listings at eBay.com dropped approximately 13% since the boycott commenced in full on February 18.  This brought listings to a low of roughly 13 million items.  The boycott was made particularly potent by a YouTube video, which was viewed over 143,000 times.  The video helped raise the boycott above other, shorter boycotts, in terms of impact to eBay and helped it win coverage on many online and video media outlets.

The boycott was led by Valerie Lennert, who was flabbergasted by eBay's new bias against sellers.  She remarked, "When I heard the changes, I thought it was April Fool's Day."

Lennart, who sells doll clothes on eBay, unhappily discovered that eBay was not fooling around.  So she took her fight to YouTube and urged sellers to join her.  eBay promptly banned her account.  Throughout the course of Lennart's campaign and other protests, eBay tried to dull the impact by offering special deals on listings to boost sagging listing numbers.  Meanwhile, Lennart continued onward, making many media appearances.

Jim Griffith, dean of eBay Education, refuted news reports that eBay's listings had declined stating the boycott "has had no impact on our listings."  Griffith referenced internal metrics, which eBay refuses to release, and which run counter to the numbers run by major news outlets.

Meanwhile a member of the protest, Nancy Baughman, an eBay PowerSeller who deals in collectibles and antiques, hopes the listing drought worsens with future boycotts.  She says, "If [eBay's listings total] falls below 12 million, we've made a pretty good impact."

According to Griffith, however, eBay will stand firm till the bitter end and will not change its new policies.  Griffith says, "A lot of deliberation went into these decisions."

David Steiner, president of AuctionBytes.com, a publication for online merchants, says that this kind of attitude could be eBay's undoing.   He remarked on the boycott's impact, adding, "The protestors made a loud statement."

eBay has faced fierce competition from Amazon, which charges no listing fees.  Even before the policy changes, growth had stagnated.  The company will also see a changing of the guard as Meg Whitman steps down to make room for John Donahoe as CEO of eBay in March. 

eBay changed its policies in hopes of increasing revenue from listings and reviving sales by making the site more buyer-friendly.  With Donahoe soon to assume control, some tough decisions are in store for eBay's executives which may decide the site's fate. 

Meanwhile, until eBay changes its policy, more boycotts are surely in store, continuing to draw more attention and further punish eBay for its decisions.

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Price is one thing
By Hotdogah on 2/25/2008 1:05:05 PM , Rating: 2
The biggest problem with this change I believe being a seller since 1999, is the new feedback system which is the only thing eBay had kept still useful. With that going away it will be just as safe to sell on any random website.




RE: Price is one thing
By headbox on 2/25/2008 1:19:10 PM , Rating: 5
the massive problem was the feedback rating- sellers wait until a buyer leaves positive feedback even if they paid immediately. Sellers use feedback as a way to retaliate, even when they are in the wrong. I bought an item that was broken, and I paid $30 for shipping- the seller paid only $4 to ship it standard mail. When I complained, I got negative feedback.


RE: Price is one thing
By jskirwin on 2/25/08, Rating: 0
RE: Price is one thing
By geeg on 2/25/2008 3:10:49 PM , Rating: 2
instead of changing the feedback system, ebay should have overhauled its pricing system first. For example getting rid of those ridiculous shipping fees. Oh, by the way why are you not checking how much you will pay for the shipping dear jskirwin? So you thought you could get that item for $1 where the cheapest you could find was around $25? ebay promised many times to prevent such listings but instead they shoot their own foot.
Second, IMHO, buyers generally do not care about the feedback, as long as they can buy it cheaper.
ebay is a very inefficient system, managed badly. I see no reason to be charged around 10% for cheap items and around 5% for expensive items. What for? For a web page? The buyers in ebay already are proficient enough to have their research and get it dirt cheap. So we do not need fancy advertisements or fancy web pages.
I wonder where is the money going in terms of cost-wise? advertisements? manager salaries? A web page and a broadband access should be costing less than 1%.
After 10 years of ebay experience, I quit and started using amazon. It might be more expensive but at least I am happier for now.


RE: Price is one thing
By FITCamaro on 2/25/2008 3:22:21 PM , Rating: 3
Shipping fees are set by the seller. Not by Ebay. That's what the problem is. Sellers will lower their selling price so people think they're getting a great deal. But then they'll charge you $30 to ship it. So the $15 you saved on the item disappears in the shipping and in the end, you wind up paying more than if you'd gone to newegg.

I've emailed sellers a few times saying their shipping price is BS. I've shipping an entire steel, full tower computer from Milwaukee to Orlando for around $35. And some of these guys try to charge that much to ship you a graphics card.


RE: Price is one thing
By AnnihilatorX on 2/25/2008 3:35:05 PM , Rating: 5
I think the high shipping charge is not to confuse but to get a cheaper listing fee (commission).


RE: Price is one thing
By mcnabney on 2/25/2008 11:04:36 PM , Rating: 3
This is exactly why shipping is high. To screw eBay.

And wow, it turns out that eBay isn't stupid. The changes to listing fees is to combat that exact issue.

Also, I too have wanted to leave negative feedback about sellers who bend the truth in listings - but in order to protect my perfect rating I did not.

My solution. Not by junk off eBay anymore.


RE: Price is one thing
By geeg on 2/26/2008 10:53:08 AM , Rating: 3
I had no idea about that.. I would do the exact same thing for my auctions. Imagine this: $1 item "computer notebook core 2 250gb hd" with $400 shipping charges.


RE: Price is one thing
By guy007 on 2/26/08, Rating: -1
RE: Price is one thing
By P4blo on 2/29/2008 7:17:43 AM , Rating: 2
The other thing is eBay are surfing off the back of the tax avoidance scams sellers are pulling. In many countries (UK included) there are problems with the ebay sales being off the tax radar and so sellers can undercut the hell out of other online sellers. eBay is probably enjoying creaming much of this tax margin with their fees.


RE: Price is one thing
By PandaBear on 2/25/2008 3:46:31 PM , Rating: 4
It depends. If you offer priority shipping in half.ebay.com, then they force you to accept only $2 more when it actually cost $7 more. I got burn a couple times when I forgot to disable that.

They are making things more affordable at the seller's expense and mistakes.


RE: Price is one thing
By Oregonian2 on 2/25/2008 6:48:51 PM , Rating: 5
I think that's only a valid complaint if the shipping charges are kept secret until the auction is won. I've purchased a number of things knowing that the shipping charges were absurdly high -- but on those the winning price was also absurdly low. Likewise, the total cost (known up front) had to be low as well to make up for the risk of a problem resulting in a refund of only the purchase price. Or at least low commensurate with the seller's feedback rating.


RE: Price is one thing
By animedude on 2/25/2008 5:14:04 PM , Rating: 4
Give the seller a break. Why high shipping fee? Well, the shipping fee is not factored into the final value fee which eBay charges a whopping 13% of. So when a seller sold an item for $0.01 and shipping fee for $30, the seller only pays for the $0.01 final value fee and the listing fee $0.25 - $0.35. Unfortunately, many buyers are not factoring the shipping fee before buying or bidding.


RE: Price is one thing
By Oregonian2 on 2/25/2008 6:53:07 PM , Rating: 4
What's worse is that I feel as a buyer I'm being <expletive deleted> bye eBay as well. I've been a buyer almost since eBay started and have a fine zero-negative large (for a buyer) feedback rating. That earned great rating is now made worthless in that some slimeball can get a negative-free rating as well.

Ebay is <ED>'ing both buyers and sellers. My opinion of them, even as a long time user and a person who usually defends their methods is currently not good.

I see absolutely no winners. Not even eBay.


RE: Price is one thing
By xphile on 2/26/2008 3:49:54 AM , Rating: 2
This too is a massively important aspect utterly overlooked by the E-dickwits. I don't get to choose my buyers (blocklist and bid frequency rules accepted), but I do get to see I'm dealing with a good or potentially not so good buyer and respond to requests and other aspects of the transaction with regard to trust etc accordingly.

Now every buyer must be treated as fraudulent scum and with the utmost care, because I can no longer rely on their feedback being worth anything but the sum total of all the zeros out of the zeros and ones it is made up of.


RE: Price is one thing
By marvdmartian on 2/26/2008 10:49:30 AM , Rating: 2
I think that instead of just commenting on the shipping fee, you should address his whole comment.

Low listing prices with high shipping fees have been used by sellers to cheat ebay of their fair share of money for a few years now. It's well known, and ebay took steps with the recent change in their fee structure to combat it. Personally, I think they should have just banned the sellers that tried that slick trick.

Insofar as the negative feedback blackmailing goes, I'd have to agree with that. I've been on ebay for over 10 years now, and have built up a feedback rating of over 350 (with over 400 positive and zero negative or neutral ratings). Yet recently, I had a seller with ~30 feedback rating threaten to neg-rep me after I pointed out that his auction listing said he'd ship priority usps, he charged a sufficient amount to do so, yet he shipped the item to me parcel post, which I thought was unfair. His response initially was (basically), "Big deal! You got your item, didn't you?", to which I told him again that if he charges for priority mail, and states in his auction that he'll ship priority mail, that he actually should ship the item with priority mail, as there's plenty of buyers out there that will neg-rep him for something like that.

His response was to tell me to quit harassing him about it, or he'll leave me negative feedback. He then proceeded (after not hearing back from me......I thought it would be easier to just ignore his ignorance than to fight a neg-rep) to not leave me ANY feedback, even though I had paid immediately upon winning the auction.

Ebay's feedback system was broken, and used incorrectly by both sellers and buyers. Now they've swung too far in the opposite direction, which should be fixed as well.


RE: Price is one thing
By Hotdogah on 2/25/2008 1:38:35 PM , Rating: 3
My problem with ebay was people buying things a few years ago and then finding a better deal and breaking my item and demending a refund. I used to leave positive feedback just for paying and this would happen quite frequently for items that were packaged properly and working items. I think that a positive/negitive feedback from a buyer is a recept that that the transaction is complete and then I will leave a feedback how the buyer kept their part of the deal. The point is there is alot more to a transaction than just paying. I do not argue that some sellers have abused the system but not to the scale and cost that buyers have, some things break and need refunded. However when someone frys the processor you sent its upsetting as they just dont break. When one item is broken just to get a refund it costs all profits on many other auctions. So being able to leave feedback to the buyer who demands $50 refund just because on something or they will give you negitive feedback is important as one negitive feedback can cost you much more than that for a small seller so you must do it or fear a negitive feedback and lost profits.


RE: Price is one thing
By frobizzle on 2/25/08, Rating: -1
RE: Price is one thing
By Owls on 2/25/2008 2:14:08 PM , Rating: 3
"My problem with ebay was people buying things a few years ago and then finding a better deal and breaking my item and demending a refund."

Apparently, reading is NOT your strong suit.


RE: Price is one thing
By Duwelon on 2/25/2008 2:19:25 PM , Rating: 3
Yeah, dude needs to retake 1st grade Reading Comprehension.


RE: Price is one thing
By DigitalFreak on 2/25/2008 2:18:05 PM , Rating: 2
Uh, he was the SELLER dumb ass


RE: Price is one thing
By Spivonious on 2/25/2008 1:44:45 PM , Rating: 1
Don't forget about the cost of packing materials. When selling DVDs, it costs me about $1.50 for the envelope + $3+ for shipping. Are you going to complain if I charge $5 for shipping?


RE: Price is one thing
By thornburg on 2/25/2008 2:04:36 PM , Rating: 5
quote:
Don't forget about the cost of packing materials. When selling DVDs, it costs me about $1.50 for the envelope + $3+ for shipping. Are you going to complain if I charge $5 for shipping?


I just got back from the post office, where I mailed a Wii game, complete with thick manual, so it almost certainly weighs more than a DVD. It was packed in a bubble mailer, which if you buy them in bulk online are about $0.20 each, and if you buy them individually are about $0.50 each. It cost me $1.81 to ship it First Class mail (2 days delivery time in this case).

So that is a total cost to me of less than $2.50. So yes, if I was charging $5.00 for shipping, I would definitely be overcharging. Let alone the people who sell $20 items for $1 with $25 shipping.


RE: Price is one thing
By walk2k on 2/25/2008 2:25:09 PM , Rating: 1
What I don't get is all the people selling NEW stuff on ebay with like "min bid $99 or buy it now for $100".

What the hell is the point of that?

Ebay is supposed to be for people to sell their old used stuff or collectible antiques and the like.

Why would anyone buy a DVD or video game from some anonymous ebay person when they should just go to the STORE and buy it? Are you really saving that much money vs the hassle of returning it if it's broken???


RE: Price is one thing
By leexgx on 2/25/2008 9:31:31 PM , Rating: 2
thay do that so when you look for bid only stuff you allso get the buy now as well at 1p more

as it lists both if you do an bid only search or an buy now only search, thay will get the listing for both


RE: Price is one thing
By Spivonious on 2/25/2008 3:15:03 PM , Rating: 1
If I was running a business selling DVDs, then yes I'd buy in bulk, but I usually buy the 8-pack of padded envelopes at Staples, which runs about $1.00 an envelope. I send them Media Mail which is between $2 and $3. I drive to the Post Office which is about 10 miles roundtrip, so I've used $1 worth of gas.

$5 shipping. The differences get even bigger when the item has to be packed in a box. Box, bubble-wrap, peanuts - it all gets expensive very quickly for the occassional seller.

I agree with the sold for $1, $25 shipping on a $20 item though. That's just baiting the buyer.


RE: Price is one thing
By blowfish on 2/25/2008 3:47:41 PM , Rating: 1
So would you really do a 10 mile round trip to the post office JUST to mail a single CD? I don't think so. I notice you didn't factor in your time in making the trip, so it sems to me like you fit it into your regular schedule. Therefore you would be wrong to have the unfortunate buyer of the CD cough up for all the gas when you've probably been carrying out your other business. Smacks of gouging on shipping to me, and methinks you do protest too much. As a buyer, I always try to avoid sellers with excessive shipping charges. I wish other buyers would do so too.


RE: Price is one thing
By Serlant on 2/25/2008 7:38:39 PM , Rating: 2
I wouldn't even bother argueing with him, seems hes just trolling as he earlier stated the envelope cost him $1.50, he then states after that that he gets a pack of 8 envelopes from staples and an envelope costs him $1, so which one is it??


RE: Price is one thing
By Oregonian2 on 2/25/2008 7:02:29 PM , Rating: 2
You charge $5 for media mail shipment of a DVD? I'd be a very unhappy buyer of yours. Post office has small size flat-rate priority mail (free I think) boxes that's cheaper than that. At least use those if you're going to charge $5. Stuff it with some newspaper in the box and it'll be safer than the bubble envelope as well. Actually they've an international version where I can send a brick anywhere in the world for under $10 I think it was. And not go at media mail's snail pace.

P.S. - I'll often use a contracting USPO station. Same price and usually is somewhere we may be going to shop anyway (tends to be in supermarkets). Less driving that way.


RE: Price is one thing
By samadhifc on 2/26/2008 2:24:10 PM , Rating: 2
If you're going to lie, at least keep your story straight. First the envelope cost you $1.50 and now it only costs $1? Then lo and behold... http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/S...

Pull the other one.


RE: Price is one thing
By Spivonious on 2/27/2008 3:16:25 PM , Rating: 2
DVDs don't fit in those.


RE: Price is one thing
By tastyratz on 2/25/2008 3:17:35 PM , Rating: 2
Who cares it doesn't matter you pay the same amount anyways in the end if you look at shipped cost (notice ebay's price+shipping arrangement now).

Its shipping and handling, not just shipping. That includes what their time is worth as well and if they think packaging materials and time to ship is worth 50 bux then that's what its worth to them. If you don't like it don't buy it - that simple.
Many times shipping charges are inflated over flat cost anyways - do people think labor is free?
If you send someone $30 bux for shipping you have no right to complain if you overpaid this was no surprise to you.
If it was a surprise shame on you for being an ignorant consumer.


RE: Price is one thing
By Oregonian2 on 2/26/2008 3:10:28 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
Many times shipping charges are inflated over flat cost anyways - do people think labor is free?


I don't think it matters so long as the prices/charges are known up front and can be factored into the buyer's decision making. At that point it's up to the seller to affect the buyer's thinking as (s)he sees fit and for the potential buyer to decide if they want to pay it or not -- before committing to do so.


RE: Price is one thing
By masher2 (blog) on 2/25/2008 1:54:49 PM , Rating: 5
A seller once sold me a defective $350 item, and refused to replace or return it. When I filed a Paypal dispute, they filed feedback accusing me of fraud anda few other things. Ebay refused to remove the feedback, or even get involved at all.

The system is broken, that much I know.


RE: Price is one thing
By Belard on 2/25/2008 2:20:25 PM , Rating: 2
Its reasons like that, I don't buy or sell on ebay. A buddy of mine a few years back, who sold about 50K worth of items over a period of 4 years. He had top ratings from buyers and he himself was a buyer. Then one jerk lied, posted a negative rating and filed something to ebay and they closed his account. He tried calling ebay to show them HIS history, etc. Nothing, noboby to talk to (what, is ebay run by 25 people or so?) - so that was that.

Or one time, he bought a $1500 item, but the seller sent him something else that was "close enough" that was actually valued about $300. He returned the item, the seller refused refund - what a mess.

This is why B&M business will be around.


RE: Price is one thing
By Proteusza on 2/25/2008 2:45:37 PM , Rating: 2
I agree - eBay customer service is non existent. I remember having a problem with their site, and exchanging emails with them about it (and PayPal, since it involved them). None of them would help, both would blame the other, and no one would even read my email - I would get a standard response everytime.

The only things I buy from ebay are books.


RE: Price is one thing
By FITCamaro on 2/25/2008 3:28:54 PM , Rating: 2
On the flip side though, I bought an original PS2 off Ebay because I needed one to play FFXI online since the slim doesn't support the hard drive. He advertised it coming with a wireless controller and some games. Well the wireless controller wasn't there. Now I wanted to play from the couch or my bed, so it was one thing that enticed me to buy his auction. I filed a dispute and just asked for $15 back to buy a new controller. I got it.

But yes, with something like Ebay, people are often on the honor system. I mean I could have actually gotten the wireless controller and claimed it didn't come. Who does Ebay believe? The seller or the buyer? And unfortunately there are a ton of people who are willing to be dishonest to save a buck.


RE: Price is one thing
By fic2 on 2/25/2008 5:20:33 PM , Rating: 2
Last thing I ever bought on ePray was a DVD. The guy sent a counterfeit DVD. I contacted ePray and payb*tch. Both of them said they would "investigate". Apparently, to them "investigate" means send me an email. I never heard anything else back. I put a negative feedback on the seller saying that he ships counterfeit DVDs and ebay took it down.

For me ebay is a lifetime boycott.


RE: Price is one thing
By ineedaname on 2/25/2008 11:32:02 PM , Rating: 2
This is the problem I'm having right now. I bought 2 items from separate sellers which I paid for immediately. One buyer sent me the wrong item and refuses to talk to me yet I'll probably get a bad rating if i give him one or complain. The other seller sent me the right item but lied to me a lot. They told me the item was shipped when it wasn't for 2 weeks. I know because the shipping company had the tracking date. They also grossly lied to me about the battery life to get me to buy more from them. Yet if I give them a bad or neutral rating they'll probably give me a bad rating just for saying the truth. I agree that this new system might not be the best way to fix things but it wasn't really that good before either.

They could maybe come up with a better system eventually but for now people really need to be aware of the changes and what they mean when they read the new ratings.


RE: Price is one thing
By inperfectdarkness on 2/26/2008 9:34:27 AM , Rating: 1
another sticking point for me:

a seller pulls down an auction that you've been watching for a week--but haven't put any bids on (you're waiting for the last 3 hours or so). they give the reason "merchandise no longer available".

the next day, the put the exact same item up again, only this time--with a higher initial bid. when confronted about it, i got the reply "the item should have never listed for that price." well shit, how is that my fault? be an honest person...do the right thing...and let the auction time-out.

wtf is the justice in this?


RE: Price is one thing
By jrb531 on 2/26/2008 11:57:46 AM , Rating: 3
Same for me!

If I leave negative feedback I get a retalatory negative feedack. One seller even sent me an email threatening to neg me unless I removed the feedback I posted.

The last time this happened is a perfect example:

I ordered a video game for $7.50 and paid $5 for shipping. I paid minutes after closing but I never got a confirmation that the item shipped. A few weeks later I send an email and was told it shipped the next day and that he send it vie US mail (cost about 50 cents for US mail as this was a small PSP game with no box) and his attitude was basically...

Oh well I sent it talk to the post office.

Well naturally I was not happy with this. For $5 shipping he could have insured it and I did not buy the fact that he even shipped it as he could not provide any proof that the item ever existed.

So what are my options? Well I post a negative feedback listing what happened and file a dispute with Ebay.

A month goes by and multiple emails are ignored by this seller. At the end of the month with no reply to me or Ebay for weeks Ebay sends him a final "answer us or else" email. Suddenly I get an email saying... I will refund your money if you remove the negative feedback.

Can you beleive this? He was 100% in the wrong and I am going to be held hostage because I do not want a retaitory feedback from a bad seller?

Yes I know their is abuse on both sides but IMHO predatory sellers are the problem and not the buyers.

Yes I know shipping is a part of the game but shipping should be within the realm of reason. Clearly I thought $5 to ship a 2" by 2" game was too high but I figure shipping, insurance and overhead was fair. "Supposedly" dropping this in an envelope with a couple of stamps and charging me $5 is right?

How many other sellers are doing crap like this?

What good is the entire feedback system if leaving a negative feedback "automatically" gets you a negative feedback even if you were in the right?

So bad sellers were getting a pass because people were afraid to post honest feedback for fear of retaliation.

It got so bad that I even stopped using Ebay. The small savings on some items was just not worth risk now that you could no long trust that negative feedback would be left for bad sellers.

I'm not pro-Ebay but clearly the feedback system was being abused by many sellers. Perhaps Ebay should have dealt with the bad sellers on a case by case basis instead of lumping everyone together.

-JB


RE: Price is one thing
By sgtdisturbed47 on 2/25/2008 3:09:17 PM , Rating: 3
Since they acquired PayPal, things went downhill for sellers. If something goes wrong, the seller gets the shaft, not the buyer. That's because more money is to be gained from teh seller in the event of something going wrong, to assure that fees are paid.

I has a camcorder for sale, listed as No Returns/Refunds, As-Is. I also had stated that in the event of the item being damaged on-route, it is up to the BUYER to have shipping insurance.

Well, the camcorder was damaged on-route, and the buyer had NO shipping insurance. So, the buyer filed a complaint to PayPal (owned and run by eBay), and requested a refund because of the damaged. BEFORE I COULD EVEN REPLY TO THE COMPLAINT, PayPal awarded the buyer the complete refund amount.

I had already spent the money, so it put my account into negative numbers. This applied negative account fees (among 20 other hidden fees), and that number kept going farther negative. I told PayPal that I was given no opportunity to dispute the claim, and they never replied.

My PayPal account eventually went to negative $2,000, over a $100 camcorder. I started to get collection agency calls, and I told them what happened and that I am refusing to pay. They said "they can take you to court" and I was like "Really, they are going to take me to court over something that was their fault? They never gave me a chance to speak my side, and I have evidence of such. I HOPE they take me to court so I can sue them for damages." I didn't receive a call for about a year after that, then the calls started again. I told them the same thing, that I was refusing to pay and that they might as well stop calling.

My PayPal account was in no way connected to credit, so it won't go into negative standing on my credit report. In fact, 2 years later, I checked my credit rating and history and it is still not there, so my credit is not being affected in any way.

I seriously hope that eBay start losing money, but the fact remains that people are finding the convenience of eBay to outweigh the downsides, so people will still be selling and buying. I admit that I have bought some things from eBay over the years, but I will never use MY account to sell ever again.


RE: Price is one thing
By FITCamaro on 2/25/2008 3:33:30 PM , Rating: 2
I talked to one guy who had his main bank account attached to his paypal account. When a dispute was filed, his account was frozen. He couldn't withdraw money. Bills bounced. He nearly lost his house due to not being able to pay bills and such.

I canceled my paypal account a long time ago.


RE: Price is one thing
By Zoomer on 2/25/2008 8:03:06 PM , Rating: 2
I have paypal accounts that are attached to bank accounts I have closed a while back.

Oops.


RE: Price is one thing
By jrb531 on 2/26/2008 12:07:56 PM , Rating: 2
Really?

You feel that as a seller that it's ok to list "As is" to cover damage during shipment?

When I order from Sears or Amazon and it's damaged during shipment they take care of it. Insurance does not cost that much. Just add it to the shipping charge. How do we know you did not ship something already broken?

It's just as wrong to "assume" that buyers are being dishonest as it is to "assume" that sellers are sending broken crap.

Solution? Just add the extra 5% to the shipping charge to cover basic insurance. Charge $6 instead of $5 and insure it!

I'm just shocked that you have the nerve to say that it's up to the buyers to "ask" for insurance! It does not cost that much to insure something.

What is more likely (and I'm not accusing you fo doing this) is that some sellers want an easy out to blame damage in shipment for items that might not work correctly.

I order constantly over the internet and have for years. I can count on the fingers of one hand how many times something was broken in shipment over the past 15+ years on items that was properly packaged and shipped.

So why do you feel that you need to slap and "as-is" on your sales? Do you feel that this gets you out of properly packaging, insuring and shipping your products?

Speaking only for myself but I NEVER buy anything from someone such as yourself who lists everything as "As-is" because it's a huge red flag that you can expect no support from the seller.

-JB


RE: Price is one thing
By kamel5547 on 2/25/2008 3:26:49 PM , Rating: 3
The feedback system should be changed, as others have pointed out many sellers leave feedback based on the feedback they recieve, not the actual trnasaction.

I think a double blind system would do nicely. Buyer leaves feedback, seller recieves notification and must leave feedback to see what their feedback was feedback. If they fail to leave feedback after x days (7?) then they can no longer leave feedback and the buyers rating becomes visible.

Should get rid of this whole problem once and for all.


RE: Price is one thing
By AnnihilatorX on 2/25/2008 3:38:06 PM , Rating: 2
Although this is a good idea, this doesn't give incentive for people, seller or buyers to leave good feedbacks.


RE: Price is one thing
By PandaBear on 2/25/2008 3:53:07 PM , Rating: 2
That is the problem, you don't want feedback system to be a "i scratch your back you scratch mine" corruption. You want it to be honest without retaliation.


RE: Price is one thing
By kinnoch on 2/25/2008 5:33:01 PM , Rating: 2
eBay did do a double blind system in eBay Mercado (I believe its ebay brazil), but it had some issues as well.

The issue is that scammers and regular bad sellers know they will get negative feedback, so they anticipate this and leave negative feedback for the buyer. Then they both mutually agree to get rid of their feedback.

This system hurt the honest sellers who slipped up every now and then with a bad transaction, but aren't savvy enough to give the buyer bad feedback before hand.


How can E-Bay ban somebody for free speech?
By gigahertz20 on 2/25/2008 1:07:36 PM , Rating: 1
How was E-Bay able to get away with banning Lennart only because she took her fight to YouTube and urged sellers to join her? Isn't that a violation of her free speech?




RE: How can E-Bay ban somebody for free speech?
By mmntech on 2/25/2008 1:16:21 PM , Rating: 2
Nope. Free speech laws don't apply to private organizations. They should though.


By FITCamaro on 2/25/2008 3:40:03 PM , Rating: 4
So if say I own a bar, and a group of guys come in wearing Nazi outfits and start loudly speaking hate speech against Jews and non-whites, I shouldn't be allowed to throw their ass out and ban them from coming back under penalty of being arrested?

Or someone should be able to come onto my lawn and start blasting scientology beliefs on an audio tape from a boom box and I shouldn't be able to throw them off?

Because thats exactly what you're saying.


By Cygni on 2/25/2008 1:16:37 PM , Rating: 2
Uh, eBay is a company and not a federal agency, maybe? Ever heard the term 'Reserve the right to refuse service'?


RE: How can E-Bay ban somebody for free speech?
By WTurner on 2/25/2008 1:21:48 PM , Rating: 4
No. She has a right to speak out against a policy she doesn't like and eBay has a right to not do business with her.


RE: How can E-Bay ban somebody for free speech?
By Duwelon on 2/25/2008 2:22:45 PM , Rating: 2
I was a little outraged at reading they banned her account. At this point, I have to say i'm a lot less likely to buy anything off ebay after that line.


By paydirt on 2/25/2008 3:31:45 PM , Rating: 2
I work as a financial advisor, if one of my clients was particularly nasty to me, I have the right to end that client relationship. I choose my customers and so does any business.

If you flipped burgers at McDonalds and someone was in the main area shouting "don't eat here! It's beef from Venezuela! etc." They can toss the person out of MCD. eBay did the same thing, though it was a "jerk" move.


By eye smite on 2/25/2008 2:13:03 PM , Rating: 4
Every business in America reserves the right to refuse service, you've had to have seen that sign in a restaraunt or gas station somewhere, come on. Bottom line, you piss off your customers you lose them and that's what they're doing.


Only one thing to say:
By Runiteshark on 2/25/2008 2:48:44 PM , Rating: 3
A++++++++++++++++++++++ SELLER WOULD BUY FROM AGAIN

I hope the people that do that die.




RE: Only one thing to say:
By danzig on 2/25/2008 2:56:23 PM , Rating: 2
That burns me as well. I simply leave 'Awesome' if it works out fine or 'Sucked' if it doesn't.


RE: Only one thing to say:
By geeg on 2/25/2008 3:17:37 PM , Rating: 3
you are bipolar.


RE: Only one thing to say:
By Pythias on 2/25/2008 5:18:02 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
you are bipolar.


Everyone is.


Darn
By FITCamaro on 2/25/2008 1:02:42 PM , Rating: 2
I won't be crying if Ebay goes under. Their PayPal "service" is horrible and has nearly ruined a couple people I've talked to when it froze their bank accounts for BS disputes.

I've bought and sold just a couple things on there but try to stay off the site as much as possible. Most of the time the "deals" aren't even that great. 500GB hard drive for $80. $30 shipping.




RE: Darn
By murphyslabrat on 2/25/2008 1:12:52 PM , Rating: 2
I know what you mean, the amount of people trying to make money off of e-Bay far obscures the people Garage-sale-ing. After all, those people selling old/used goods is what made e-Bay great.


RE: Darn
By frobizzle on 2/25/2008 1:41:19 PM , Rating: 3
If or when Google finally decides to enter into the online auction realm, eBay might as well decide who will be the last person there to turn out the lights and lock the door!


Oh these big corporations...
By dflynchimp on 2/25/2008 1:09:35 PM , Rating: 2
...have become so bloated with corporate intrigues that they have effectively blinded themselves to the obvious. To have buyers you must have sellers. The two are like the yin and yang of money making. You can't only pay attention to one side of the coin.

Trying to make the site more buyer friendly? Here's an idea. Weed out all the scam sellers instead of upping the costs for the everyman sellers. Alot of these sellers that you're losing are also potential buyers, so you're only draining your customer pool with these fees.




RE: Oh these big corporations...
By Proteusza on 2/25/2008 2:48:46 PM , Rating: 3
The CEO only saw this:

1. Raise prices.
2. Get more buyers.
3. ??????
4. Profit.

eBay is just a facilitator - they now think that they are very important, but, as has been proved, they are only as important as they are useful to both buyers and sellers.


RE: Oh these big corporations...
By geeg on 2/25/2008 3:16:42 PM , Rating: 2
exactly my thoughts: there will be blood.


Amazon is great.
By noxipoo on 2/25/2008 1:03:05 PM , Rating: 2
I have Amazon prime and its great for buying little items. You can split it with 3 other people and its only $20 at that point. Plus DRM free MP3s and able to return items, its my first stop for online shopping most of the time.




RE: Amazon is great.
By pauldovi on 2/25/2008 1:49:37 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah I agree, I have found Amazon to be great for books, music, and a lot of electronics.


RE: Amazon is great.
By walk2k on 2/25/2008 3:13:27 PM , Rating: 2
Agreed Amazon is great. No-hassles return, free shipping most of the time, great prices, and of course full factory warranty on stuff like electronics. Have no idea why anyone would take a gamble to buy expensive items like computer parts or stereo/tv electronics from some random ebay person with no warranty . I mean I've bought lots of used and rare stuff like old Atari/Nintendo video games and such from ebay and never had a problem, but why bother with new stuff you can get in a store with full refund and factory warranty? That's for suckers.


Free speech
By montgom on 2/25/2008 1:19:55 PM , Rating: 2
"Isn't that a violation of her free speech? "

No, it is not. She can continue to speak on any issue she wants to. What many folks think is that "free speech" means the bill of rights guarantees nothing "bad" will happen to you. That is not what it means. Free speech means you can say what you want (short of defamation). Ebay is within it’s right to cancel her account, if their contract with her allows them to do it.




RE: Free speech
By LuckySmurf on 2/25/2008 1:22:32 PM , Rating: 2
Exactly. Why is it whenever there are consequences for someone saying something people whine over free speech violations? It's "free speech" not freedom from responsibility or consequences.

Now I agree with her. Ebay's changes are anti-seller but, I also agree with Ebay's right to cancel her account. Sucks but that's the way it goes.


RE: Free speech
By blaster5k on 2/25/2008 5:10:12 PM , Rating: 2
I just wanted to add that there's consequences for Ebay too. News that they banned her account for that says something about them as a company. Bad publicity could damage their revenue, so while they have the right to do it, they might have shot themselves in the foot too.


By smilingcrow on 2/25/2008 1:21:12 PM , Rating: 4
Starting Bid – 99c
Restrictions – Must have 100% buyer Feedback (i.e. anybody)
Payment accepted – Paypal, Nazi Gold, Amazon Shares (Preferred)
Postage Costs – Buyer collects
Location – Living in the Past




Craigslists is better for almost everything
By PandaBear on 2/25/2008 1:21:29 PM , Rating: 2
I only use half.com because amazon doesn't have as many choices on used book and craigslists for common items I want to buy or sell. Only use ebay if necessary because of the fees are ridiculous and the feedback system is almost useless.




RE: Craigslists is better for almost everything
By Spivonious on 2/25/08, Rating: 0
By PandaBear on 2/25/2008 4:03:13 PM , Rating: 2
I know that, and that's what I was complaining about: half.com is the only saving grace of ebay and it still sucks.


as a seller...
By x11nt4 on 2/27/2008 3:34:33 PM , Rating: 2
As a seller of computer stuff on ebay, I have been more upset with the continued hikes that ebay does to their listing and final value fees. Let us not forget about the fees taken by their paypal also. I use paypal, but you end up loosing $25-$45 on a computer system just because of the combined fees. I can understand the people that have higher shipping fees to try and offset the total cost of the item. I do not do this personally, and even I get screwed by ebay for raising their fees. I mean seriously, how much more money do they need to opperate? Ebay and paypal have always been sided more against sellers for everything and that is stupid. It is the sellers that make them their money.

Paypal also sides agaist you as a seller when there is a dispute. Ebay's so called "return policy" the seller can specify is BS. They WILL force a refund through paypal for anyone that files a dispute and smartasses know this.




RE: as a seller...
By brian26 on 2/28/2008 3:53:06 PM , Rating: 2
I dont get why the feedback system is such a big deal. To be honest it needed to be fixed. If a seller screwed you over then you should have a right to post bad feedback without him having to retaliate toward you just because you left him negative feed back.


Up theirs
By Motoman on 2/25/2008 1:36:12 PM , Rating: 3
I, for one, have a rating of 440 on eBay with like 99.8% approval...and I hope I never have to resort to using eBay again, at least not as a seller.

For one thing, essentially everything I sell on eBay sells at a loss - take that for granted, that selling an item on eBay is going to lose you money. Then tack on the PayPal fees, listing fees, and now the ludicrous final value fees, and what started out as being merely "losing money" has become "how badly do you want to go bankrupt?"

I am glad that eBay got a thwack from the protesters this time. Consider me a full-time protester...I won't be back unless eBay, at a minimum, rolls back 100% of their recent changes.




By Anonymous Freak on 2/25/2008 1:41:52 PM , Rating: 2
The IRS has made a point of mentioning that eBay auction sales could constitute business income, and that people who make over a certain amount of money (or maybe a certain percentage of their income; or both,) need to report that income on their tax return.

I know there are plenty of fairly big eBay sellers for whom the money is purely 'under the table'. They don't have an official establish business somewhere that is reporting the income, and they aren't reporting it on their personal income taxes. (I know one in person, who didn't even realize that she should be reporting it until I pointed out the IRS press release a couple years ago.)

Imagine the revolt when eBay starts sending reports to the IRS on the top sellers.... (In fact, here is a story dated exactly one year ago today! http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070225-8919... )




Couple issues
By Rovemelt on 2/25/2008 2:24:51 PM , Rating: 1
I wonder how much of the decline in activity on EBAY is from the general economic malaise we're going through in the US and how much is actually from the boycott. I suspect the boycott is responsible for the majority of their declines.

Selling costs aside, I haven't had any problems on e-bay. For one, I am *very* careful with regards to whom I do business with. There are some sellers who seem to be creating their own feedback by purchasing a lot of extremely inexpensive items. They then sell a bogus item for a lot of money and never send it and you never hear from them again. Also, some sellers will put a very low price on an item and try to compensate by charging way too much for shipping. As with the first scam, avoid doing business with these sellers. Or ask up front what the shipping will be if it's not posted. I even check up on the feedback that other people left (to make sure the people who left feedback are legitimate) for a seller before I go and place a bid.

I don't sell very expensive items on ebay. I found that the listing fees were just too much to risk if I wasn't able to sell the item. For the expensive items or items which may cost too much to ship, I go to craigslist. I like making local purchases on craigslist because I can physically find the person if something goes wrong in the transaction.




RE: Couple issues
By michal1980 on 2/25/2008 2:43:28 PM , Rating: 1
actually if theres a down turn in the economy, I would expect to see MORE things on ebay, as people try to get their hands on cash.


A Better Alternative?
By Entropy42 on 2/25/2008 2:43:59 PM , Rating: 2
I occasionally sell things on Ebay, but mostly buy, so I haven't paid much attention to the new fees, but boycotts aren't going to be that effective unless there is a better alternative.

When I want to sell random things, I'm still going to use Ebay, even with higher fees, because that way people will actually see the auctions. I use Craigslist and whatever other means I can, but ultimately I think I'll make more on Ebay (even with higher fees) cause I'm reaching a larger audience.




......the harder they fall.
By jleemc44 on 2/25/2008 3:53:39 PM , Rating: 2
Problems buying and selling on eBay have long since been numerous.

Fraud issues have pledged me every time I’ve placed a high ticket items on eBay. Problems like people way over bidding the auction then offering fake PayPal confirms.

When asking for eBay’s help I just get blown off. Or they conveniently deem my legit auction as “fraud” and auto ban it even when I’ve completed the steps asked by eBay for verification repeatedly. All while charging me just the same. They don’t seem to care since people stupidly hand them money left and right. There’s no remorse over poor customer service, buggy systems and questionable business ethics.

Share holders need to wake up, fire arrogant, self-adsorbed snobs like Jim Griffith and get back to pleasing the money makers known as eBay Members.




I refuse to deal with them...
By debipier on 2/25/2008 5:11:49 PM , Rating: 2
I personally, as both a buyer and seller, have opted out of ebay and joined the BOYCOTT that continues...

They lied by mis-representing by posting a listing decrease which was actually an increase for sellers...

They are implementing a star system that is deceiptful to say the least, which sets the seller up for failure and is mis-leading as to what the stars actually mean...

Even if the seller could live up to the star system as they plan, they still wouldn't save money, but would still feel the increase in fees...

Removing the right to leave negative feedback from seller to buyer, opens a pandora's box for the con-artist...

Taking the sellers funds and holding them for 21 days, yet expecting the seller to ship the item, not knowing if the funds will ever be released is a huge issue... Doesn't seem to be a legal thing to do either.

They pad their listings to make it appear that they have more business than they actually do... Do a search of test auctions... You'll see...

They allow schill bidding and when notified of a culprit, they choose to ignore because they make too much money off of them.

Even the bogus buyer on the 3 million dollar deal backed out and left the seller with selling fees... Ebay did not jump up and take notice of this. They took the listing fee, made a big public display of a sale which was not verified, and laughed all the way to the bank...

I will BOYCOTT EBAY forever...

As the changes go into effect and more sellers are left with no profits, you will see Ebay continue to fall...




By markitect on 2/25/2008 5:42:19 PM , Rating: 2
Ebay and Paypal are both horrible about handling disputes, or any other customer contact. If they just handled disputes then it would solve the feedback as vengeance cycle.
On a side note I recently closed my paypal account because of their customer service(haven't used ebay in years). They locked my account for suspicious activity, and they wouldn't respond to my emails about the ip address of the activity. I hope they both crash and burn.




ebay
By kingcarcas on 2/25/2008 10:41:02 PM , Rating: 2
Dammit! How come i wasn't told about this, i just put up 2 movies and a game. I sell small things here and there if i can't get someone to buy it on a forum. It sucks because you pretty much have to go with ebay/paypal and i've heard a lot of horror stories about both. I don't even want to bother with craigslist. I love Amazon and now i'm going to check out their sellers account. Now if they accept google checkout the world will be a better place :)




Ebay + Half.com + Paypal = ripoff
By jeff834 on 2/26/2008 12:45:01 AM , Rating: 2
I spent a couple years buying video game systems and games in lots and then reselling them on half.com individually to turn a little profit. First off fees are pretty terrible, I have to pay ebay or half.com (owned by ebay) their cut of course, and then paypal (also owned by ebay) a percentage. Since when is being ridiculously profitable not good enough? Why do companies have to have like 20% growth every year to be happy?

I never personally gouged prices on shipping. I sold many a PS2, Xbox, etc game on half.com and they charge flat rates for shipping. Here's a little known fact for buyers: what half.com charges the buyer for shipping and what they give the seller are completely different. Basically if you purchase a game on half.com you pay I think 3.99 for media mail and the seller receives 2.69 for the shipping and handling. So basically half.com takes 15% of the selling price of the item in commission PLUS an extra dollar or so from the shipping price FOR WHICH THEY DO NOTHING TO EARN. For the record when people pay for media shipping from me I always ship 1st class (and I still only pay about $1.70 per item and about .50 for the envelope).

I've had both problems as a seller and a buyer on occasion. I've had to file a couple times with paypal, but always successfully. As for my problems as a seller well I have excellent feedback and usually reserve feedback on the buyer until I have positive feedback from them or documented proof (email or whatever) the item was received and in good condition (if youre worried use the insurance from USPS or UPS or whatever). However, any time I had a problem with ebay or half.com directly its impossible to deal with them. They suspended my account for a brief time for nothing as far as I know (they didn't tell me why and refused to talk about it when I contacted them) until I faxed them a signed sheet with my ID to get it reopened. To this day half.com still has problems with scammers buying items and then waiting a little while and doing a chargeback on their credit card. They haven't done one thing about it and always take the buyers side unless the seller has delivery confirmation which isn't included in the amount you receive from them for shipping.

Fact is we need a new system plain and simple. Amazon isn't too bad, but ebay has to step up soon or lose.




By PasiM on 2/26/2008 5:43:41 AM , Rating: 2
Hi,

just an idea I got (and I don't even have an eBay account) - nothing deeply analyzed, so please feel to rip this apart and sorry if this is just not consistent due to my missing knowledge on how eBay works.

What about if the eBays fees would be linked to (blind) positive feedback from both sides?

For every transaction that both sides get/give positive feedback, both buyer & seller would get their "positive-positive" feedback ratio ("PPF ratio")improved and the fees they pay would get lower when the feedback ratio is good enough. There could be several steps of course, the better the ratio, the bigger discount on fees.

Volumes should be somehow included in the calculus, as with small volumes the PPF ratio would be quite volatile. Perhaps discounts could be deeper for higher volume traders, as their PPF ratio is statistically more trustworthy.

This would mean volume traders would benefit most of the fee discounts, but they are the onces that generate most of the business for eBay so better discounts are justified.

This might be beneficial even for eBay, more transactions would get passed without disputes, as everyone would like to get&give positive feedback to lower their costs, and only give negative feedback when really needed, not just because of being afraid that they might get negative feedback.

Further, latest feedback could have bigger effect than older ones, to reflect more accurately the current behaviour of the trader.

Less hassle & less manual work to eBay, more happy customers. Right?

Would this make people give blind positive feedback?




ebay sucks
By qball101 on 2/26/2008 6:04:14 AM , Rating: 2
Ebay is like a washed up, aging rock-star who believes his own hype. They are just the middle man and there's hundreds of other companies which are desperate to take their business.

P.S. I don't use ebay anymore. It got silly well before this latest madness




Changes at eBay
By Zepper on 2/26/2008 11:17:51 AM , Rating: 2
eBay has a rule against retaliatory Feedback, though when it happens, they do nothing about it. I just bought a product on eBay where the seller failed to disclose a serious drawback even though s/he was aware of it as the instructions that came with the product highlighted this drawback.
. Plus they charged double their actual shipping cost (most of the packaging was free from the USPS) which breaks another eBay rule against shifting money from the product to shipping (which shorts eBay on their fees - but they pick it up if the product is paid thru PayPal which charges fees on every dollar - I don't mind a dollar or two shipping pad for "handling".
. What would happen if I pointed these problems out to eBay - nothing except some eMail! And if I were to give the seller a richly deserved negative, I'd leave myself open to another retaliatory negative and if I reported that too nothing would be done either.
. eBay has been becoming increasingly sucky for some time. I suggest to start making use of Google Base (no fees at all unless you use Google Checkout for CC/DC payments) and other alternatives to eBay such as Amazon. Right now eBay has a virtual monopoly on person-to person commerce online and they act like it. Until they really start getting squeezed, nothing will change. .bh.




Urgent News!
By Alazar on 2/26/2008 12:03:36 PM , Rating: 2
Tom Cruise declares victory over E-bay.
E-Bay says Xenu to blame.




The Feedback Changes I Agree With
By wempa on 2/26/2008 12:58:34 PM , Rating: 2
I don't know much about the commission hikes, but I agree with the feedback changes. If I buy something and pay for it immediately, why should a seller be able to give me bad feedback ? I had a perfect 100% feedback until recently when a seller sent me an item that was different than the listing. After the refund he promised never materialized and my efforts to contact him fell through, I left him negative feedback. He promptly did the same to me with some BS about how I should contact him first and "leaving negative feedback is not a solution". That's a load of crap.




eBay is so over for me
By superkdogg on 2/26/2008 4:02:06 PM , Rating: 2
Seller fees be damned, I've continued to use eBay since it's easy and I'm selling old stuff with little or no value to me anymore.

That being said, I'm through with eBay after a recent sale.

I'm selling an old, heavy dot-matrix printer that prints through multiple carbons. My buyer has previously bought many components of the printer, but never the whole unit. My listing says no returns, working system pull (because I knew it would cost almost the full value of the item to ship it and the buyer could easily break it and get a slightly damaged, fully functional printer).

I'll be damned if about 10 days after the auction closed (proabably 5 days or so after receipt of the item) the buyer starts emailing claiming it was damaged. I said it was damaged in shipping (figuring it was about 50% likely this was a scam) and that I'd get a refund through UPS for them. They won't settle it with me, won't wait, demand immediate refund. Within 24 hours of me saying I won't immediately refund due to stating there would not be returns, but I'd be happy to pursue it with UPS, I get negative seller feedback claiming I packed it poorly by having too few packing peanuts (yeah, right-if anything there were too many).

Long story short-buyer filed a PayPal complaint under 'item not as described'. Like I shipped them a broken item. PAYPAL BACKED THEM UP! DESPITE THE AUCTION CLEARLY STATING THAT DUE TO SHIPPING COSTS I WOULD NOT ACCEPT RETURNS!

I even listed the item with free shipping just to give the buyer a better situation and look where it got me.

<scrooo> eBay!




By phxfreddy on 2/26/2008 11:23:39 PM , Rating: 2
Ebay recently changed their feedback policies so that sellers can not place negative feedback on buyers. I assume thus you only get a choice of positive and neutral. This will cripple the ebay feedback system and really limit is effectivity. In the long term I am absolutely certain its a step that will be reversed. I want to suggest we quicken this reversal with a method that hurts them the most and sellers the least.

In response alot of sellers have been trying to stir up a boycott of ebay. The problem with this is that the sellers need ebay too much. Thus a frontal attack of this sort will not work.

If ebay sellers want to effect a boycott without hurting themselves there is a method. Boycott placing positive feedback on buyers. This will stop their flow of new users. If a new user has (0) next to his name I will often decline to sell or ship to them. This is especially true if its a buyer outside of the USA.

With this method you will not only be able to make your sales but it will hit ebay where it hurts. In the user growth numbers.




crap
By tastyratz on 2/25/08, Rating: 0