miamijim

Don't like it? Sell your stuff locally on Criagslist, better yet, place an ad in the classified section of your local newspaper. Oh wait, I have a better solution, get some bricks and mortar and build a store.

I don't understand why everyone thinks they're entitled to use EBay and Paypals services for free.

Drillium Dude

I don't know where you're getting that from the complaint(s) raised here. I think what's being said is that Ebay continues to go overboard, adding more and more charges to sellers while supporting them less and less.

Again, a viable business model? Only if - as is presently the case - a service has no competition. Once it does, however, Ebay will be in the toilet, mark my words.

I prefer now to deal with people on BF. Much nicer transactions across the board; so I don't get top-dollar asking price - so what? I'd rather "lose" some money and deal with an appreciative buyer than roll the dice with Ebay and pay through the nose for the "privilege".

Just my .02 for what it's worth.

DD

iab

Amazon as their competitor has been going on for quite some time.

And what is their return policy? No questions asked returns. You may not like that policy, but dammit, Americans love it. They prefer not to be accountable for their purchasing decisions. ebay understands that fact and forces that policy on sellers. The buyer is always right, even when they are wrong. If ebay can't compete with Amazon, they go out of business. I'm surprised Amazon hasn't started an auction site.

robtown

You can sell through Amazon, at least I've seen it for books. I like their return policy - and only use it for legitimate issues (e.g. wrong item). I find Ebay works best for smaller items like bike parts - I get exposure to worldwide buyers which brings a decent price.
I also like BF sales and trades. I use Craigslist for bikes but CListers have gotten very flaky this year.

southpawboston

You're missing the point entirely. We DO pay for the services (to the tune of 10-15% of final sales), and in return we're being subject to policies increasingly skewed towards eBay's own pockets. We're not asking for something for free.

AZORCH

And in exchange for these fees we've paid, I'd like to see just a little advocacy from eBay for the seller. There is none. After years buying and selling, with absolutely no negative feedback (and always working out any issues), I — like so many others on here — got the hammer dropped on me by a flake buyer who was supported entirely by eBay. The experience was horrible and somehow got dragged out for months and wound up costing me real money. The only way to get the message across to eBay is to vote with your feet, and I have done so. End of story. (Sorry for the rant.)

iab

It still confuses me why this is so hard to understand. To ebay, the buyer is always right. End of story. nuff said.

So when you list your item, start it at the minimum you will take knowing full well you may have to take it back. The myth of starting your auction at .99 has been over for years. Listings are "free". Do it wisely. It ain't rocket science.

zukahn1

It was in recent update they sent out to sellers as follows

They are listed on the site within the rambling ebay Buyer Protection section.

SteveSGP

I think you missed my point entirely, I don't understand why they think they need access to my money beyond the hold time they already have on it.

Guess what, they don't need access to it and they aren't going to get it.

I don't expect anything for free, what I expect is a playing field that's just a wee bit closer to level.

If E-bay wants to hold my funds for a transaction for 14 days (like they already do) then let them but once it goes past that or if the buyer has already submitted positive feedback then there is absolutely, positively NO reason that they should have free access to ANYONES credit card or bank account.

I rarely sold on E-bay anyways, I think I have something like 24 transactions and I guess the only transactions I 'll have through E-bay in the future are as a buyer.

-Steve

zazenzach

FALSE.

the economy being what it is today, most things are a buyers' market (especially in the area of supply and demand for mass produced products like bicycles).

ebay's strategy offers buyers a lot of protection, which attracts a lot of shoppers.

ebay doesn't care about sellers because they don't need to. if you won't sell something there, someone else will. but more than likely, as i said with the economy the way it is, many sellers are just gonna take it cause they need/want to unload their product/good.

if a competitor came in like you suggested (to be more equitable to sellers), it really wouldn't make any difference. it wont have the buyer protection of ebay and thus wont attract as many shoppers. which also means you probably wont sell your product/good for as much as you'd like.

iab

You are expecting too much from ebay's computers.

There is always a delay from one action to the reaction by ebay. For example, if someone relists an item, that item is up for up to 24 hours before they send me an automated notice saying the item has been relisted. So once feedback is given, it would take them a day to figure it out.

Also, just because positive feedback has been given does not mean a buyer can't ask for their money back. If something breaks the second time i use it and I gave feedback after the first time, I'd still want my money back. ebay policy is 60 days. That has been a fact for years. Get over it.

As wanting access to your account, well duh, they want you to refund the money, not them. It's called a business.

Simplyhere

Same here. 12 years, 100% feedback, have bought and sold multi-thousand dollar items. I'm out of the eBay world.

gioscinelli 

I had a dispute a few months ago, where as the buyer claimed that the part was not as described with plenty of pictures and statement to the effect that there were insertion marks with scratches. Paypal put a hold on my account for the amount disputed until I received the part, which by the way was never shipped (electronically is not shipping.) and there was no "Acceptance" by a Postal Clerk. After several calls, going up the latter I finally had the held fund released to my account. Within a month the buyer put the part on Ebay for auction(by the way he got a refund from Ebay under Buyers Protection), where by I contacted Ebay filed fraud on the part of the buyer. His account was suspended. Now I find out that Ebay and Paypal have what is known as insurance underwriter protection, in other word's the money stays in their pockets and the seller pay's for the insurance every time we sell a item.

Mos6502

I don't think it's false at all. I know a lot of collectors who no longer sell on ebay, and I've noticed that in certain fields it's getting harder to find items on ebay now than it was two or three years ago.

So far as I can tell a lot of sellers are already fed up with ebay's BS, and soon a whole lot more of them will be. Buyers don't really care about ebay's protections. Most of them don't even know what it is or how it works. Ebay's shooting themselves in the foot going down this road.

I collect in many different fields, and I can tell you that in each of their respective forums people have been complaining about ebay going down the crapper.

Drillium Dude

Talk about stating the obvious

This is precisely the problem. It wasn't always this way, either. I've been an Ebay member since 2004 and while I still search for the odd hard-to-find item, I am through with selling. Once the playing field was somewhat even; now it's skewed 100% toward the buyer.

Where would Ebay be without sellers? The reason guys like the OP, myself and many others take issue is that Ebay seems to turn a blind eye to the glaring fact that if it weren't for one or the other, they wouldn't exist as a company.

That's not rocket-science, either. And if Ebay would pull its head from its posterior regarding policy equality for both sides, perhaps they'd do even better than they're doing now, and not have to be concerned about a competitor down the line.

I'm just happy these days I've found a way to continue selling - namely, on this forum. As for the drillium, well, commissions will have to do

DD

Mos6502

The problem is, that ebay like many websites doesn't really care about continued patronage by repeat customers. They seem to believe that there will always be enough new suckers that they can completely ignore the needs of long time users.

But even suckers only go so stupid. So ebay may be putting themselves up a certain creek. Ebay didn't get to where it is by being the website it is now. They are at this point moving along on the momentum of past glory.

zukahn1

Well despite ebays silly policies I still sell and buy through them becuase. I often get better prices selling and buying than I would any place else.

randyjawa 

It already is in place, doing just fine and constitutes serious competition to Ebay. And that entity, in my opinion, is Craigslist. Think about it.

Most of the people, in this forum, use and get satisfaction from Craigslist today. Craigslist is not perfect, by any stretch of the imagination, but it is certainly better than the being subjected to the incredibly offensive rules that Ebay keeps adding to the mix.

Offensive rules that have impacted me negatively? Buyers can't get negative feedback, but sellers are all but held hostage by it. Ebay can hold my money, anytime they wish. And now that corporate giant wants to be able to withdraw money from my personal accounts!

Not a chance. But who cares, anyway?

In the past year, my efforts to sell on Ebay have gone, pretty much, unrewarded. And why is that?

In my opinion, it is a direct result of Craigslist and the presence it presents in each market place. No more shipping. No more kissing the middle man's butt, just before he/she takes their exorbitant cut. Just call the CL Lister, get there quickly with cash in hand, and make the deal. No shipping costs! No arrived in the mail nasty surprises! No, gee, it doesn't fit issues! No fear that tomorrow, the money you put in your pocket today, will be in some corporate giant's pocket without your permission.

Yes, folks, the alternative to Ebay has arrived, in my opinion. Sadly, Craigslist is a non-entity for bicycles where I live so I am forced to deal globally. And having a six or seven hundred page website does help, with selling this or that, now and again.

Mos6502

Craiglist is part owned by ebay, and I would guess they put their fingers in that pie to limit its effectiveness. If craigslist was searchable nationally it'd be much bigger competition for ebay (they have gone after and shut down most effective sites that allow national searches of craigslist). It does have its place though, and in some respects is better than ebay.

But there are other sites out there too that have been gaining traction in the last few years.

randyjawa 

Good point and I have been using this search everywhere opportunity for quite a while now. I don't actually buy this way very often, but doing the research search, is one way, I help keep myself in touch with what things are selling for around the world. Anyway, thy this link, which will offer you the Search All Of Craigslist option.

This suggests to me that a smart person would try to set up a facilitation business in their area. Perhaps that is what has already been offered in the Bike Forums Facilitators Thread.

iab

ebay isn't for collectors. ebay wants to be Amazon.

We can debate whether that is good or bad for ebay, but the point is moot. They made their bed. And the fact there is not an alternative (no, Craigslist ain't it, find me one set of steel Cinelli bars on Craigslist), ebay still reigns king for the collectors.

randyjawa 

I just tried and was presented with dozens of responses,from all over the place, in .19 seconds.

iab

Really? Show me a link.

I listed a 2009 aluminum Centaur group on Chicago Craigslist for $300 for two weeks. I got 1 legitimate inquiry asking if I would sell just the shifters. On ebay the opening bid was $350. i got that in a day. Sold for $380.

Craigslist sucks.

randyjawa 

I did present the list in post #45 but just in case, here it is again. You have to click on the link offered, then input the item you wish to look for, then identify the search area as "all of craigslist" and hit "Search".

Anyway, I hope that is a help. Sometimes, even though I rarely buy anything, I like to just cruise to see what is out there, inputting such searches as Torpado, Chiorda, Vitus and the like. Lots of wish list research opportunities out there and, for me, easy to find.

photogravity

Google this: "cinelli handlebar site:craigslist.org/bik"