eBay touting Buyer Protection

[Justin Thyme]

As a seller I am sick and tired of how eBay keeps promoting their "buyer protection" from those unscrupulous sellers. Meanwhile there are more and more 'bad' buyers because the system is deeply slanted in their direction.

Every message I get now from eBay touts how they (eBay) protects the buyers so a buyer need have no concern about anything at all. But there is virtually no protection for sellers though. As if all the site is, about is buying.

[sunflower-n-ks]

Um, ya gotta have the buyers for the sellers to sell anything.... But even as a buyer, the ads stating "buyer protection" are overdone and get old. It also comes back to bite the buyer at the least expected times.

Buyers being able to get their money back from an "alleged" bad deal IS encouraging "theft by claiming a bad deal" against sellers. I encountered it when I tried to buy an item from a well known company in a nearby larger town. They had the item I needed and would have shipped it. I said I would pay by debit card, he said "no" company policy. Huh? He located the item on their website, and I bought it with the debit card that way. People buy, have the product, claim fault, get their money back, the store is out the product and their money. So now honest people are going to have a harder time buying. And, of course the price is going up to cover those loses.

[Justin Thyme]

Many sellers are much like me, very marginal. Barely making expenses on most sales with the occasional bidding war to get the occasional price up. Selling used, collectible and niche items. For us one rip-off buyer and all our income for the past several sales is gone. eBay provides no protection for us from unscrupulous buyers.

Currently eBay is trying to change what it sees as its "image." The image of being the internet version of a flea market. To us, that's a good thing. To the yuppies running eBay it is not. They want their eBay to cater to big retailers (like Toys 'r Us, , big electronics dealers, Chinese drop shippers, et al) and effectively marginalize and eliminate the small sellers and niche items you think of when you think "eBay".

Consequently they have done things like raise fees, roll shipping (S&H) into the total price of the item rather than enforce their longstanding rule against excessive S&H charges, create their DSR ratings and provide even worse customer service than they are infamous for.
The rolling of the S&H charge into the price of the item for fee purposes is meant to encourage free shipping. Supposedly a boon to buyers. But it also harms the buyer in that it eliminates the incentive to offer combined shipping. Something that hurts both the buyer and seller.
All the rules (and what is clearly a selective enforcement) actually favor eBay and allow it to "discipline" sellers through such things as lowered 'search visibility' (which means your items aren't seen as highly ranked when someone is looking for them), limiting the number of items one can put up for sale or even simply eliminating the sellers ability to sell at all. Although allowing that individual to buy, of course.
There are just too many of these specifics to even remeber at one time, much less post.
I'm just ticked.

[Forlane]

My wife and I had an ebay business for about 3 years. We were doing about 10k in sales a month until we found a new product source, which brought us up to about 10k a week.

Long story short a lady purchased a purse for $2500 or so, now with high end merchandise bad buyers will purchase, use it for an event then ask for a return, for this very common reason we had no return policy.

A couple of weeks later after the money from her purchase had been cycled back into the business the lady emails us demanding a refund because her husband was ----ed that she spent so much on a purse. We told her sorry but we had a no return policy.

Upset that she couldn't return the purse she threatened to tell ebay that it was fake. We told her we had no problem proving authenticity with ebay and that she can do as she wishes.

Little did we know, eBay doesn't care if you can prove it or not in such cases and demanded we refund the buyer. After refunding her they sent an email to every one of our customers saying we sold fake designer items.

Overnight our business was ruined because we were unable to liquidate and refund everyone for the past 2 months of sales. Not only that but Paypal deducted $2200+ from my bank account multiple times, until I filed a complaint with the bank and ordered them to stop all action from Paypal.

Sellers beware. eBay and Paypal only care about themselves, as with any corporation profit motive and all that.

-Chris

[Bandit]

Not to say I told You so , but I have been warning members here about the Direction that Fee Bay and Not Your Pal have been Heading . Go to the Free Bay Community , Discussion Forums , Especially the Trust and Safety and Seller Central Forums .
They are filled with the type of stories as Forlane's , and Good Sellers are Leaving Every Day because of it.
Also there NEW Computer program that is linking a current member to a suspended members and if it finds one You Are Suspended for Life with NO APPEAL .
( If You ever logged in on the Wi Fi at the Atlanta Airport ? You are Toast Also " But they are Looking Into It ") (But those post are Disappearing as fast as they are posted " )
Members of 10 + and over 4000 positive feed backs , are being suspended for life over ONE $ 3.99 sale with All 1's given in there DSR .
Bob
Ps
Awaiting comments from those here who have defended Fee Bay , and told Me that That Fee Bay doesn't Do Things Like That and I don't even Sell There . ( Thats because I have seen friends and spoken with Auction Friends who have lost a LOT of money with there New Policies of SNAD and " The Buyer is All ways Right "

[Justin Thyme]

Originally Posted by Bandit

Also there NEW Computer program that is linking a current member to a suspended members and if it finds one You Are Suspended for Life with NO APPEAL .
( If You ever logged in on the Wi Fi at the Atlanta Airport ? You are Toast Also )

Tell me more about this "linkage" to suspended members. I had not heard about that. Several of my "bad" buyers are long gone (no longer registered) and may have been suspended. What is that all about?

[Justin Thyme]

Originally Posted by Forlane

My wife and I had an ebay business for about 3 years. We were doing about 10k in sales a month until we found a new product source, which brought us up to about 10k a week.

Upset that she couldn't return the purse she threatened to tell ebay that it was fake. We told her we had no problem proving authenticity with ebay and that she can do as she wishes.

Little did we know, eBay doesn't care if you can prove it or not in such cases and demanded we refund the buyer. After refunding her they sent an email to every one of our customers saying we sold fake designer items.

Overnight our business was ruined because we were unable to liquidate and refund everyone for the past 2 months of sales. Not only that but Paypal deducted $2200+ from my bank account multiple times, until I filed a complaint with the bank.

Sellers beware. eBay and Paypal only care about themselves, as with any corporation profit motive and all that.

-Chris

While bad buyers are protected and I can understand eBay's awful behavior sending emails to ALL your customers and ruining your business seems a bit over the top (sarcasm)> Have you contacted your State Attorney General or a local attorney who would just love to file a suit (class action?) against eBay for ruining your entire business.
I have filed a com plaint against eBay in regard to their freezing Paypal payments based on DSR ratings.

[Bandit]

This post is at the Top of the Trust and Safety Forum Now
Over 10,000 Feedback and Suspended for Life over a .99 Sale . http://forums.ebay.com/db2/topic/Tru...ely/5200006158
Bob

[Justin Thyme]

Originally Posted by Bandit

This post is at the Top of the Trust and Safety Forum Now
Over 10,000 Feedback and Suspended for Life over a .99 Sale . http://forums.ebay.com/db2/topic/Tru...ely/5200006158
Bob

Thanks!

[Bandit]

I know that the post about suspending over using the Atlanta Airport was in the Seller-Central Forum the other night , but I can't seem to find it now , along with a couple that I Know I posted in ??? , must be that Fee Bay Ghost again .
Bob
I tried to search for it , and it goes to a " Not Responding Link "

[Bandit]

Here is another post showing that the Fee Bay Bot's Are Running the Show and Trust and Safety can do Nothing about it. ( Or Over Rule Them )
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/topic/Sel...ock/5200002633

[Justin Thyme]

eBay T&S are not what you seem to think. Not actual people who have some ability to right wrongs and correct abuses. They are a phone bank that answers the continually ringing phones at eBay central, reading from an "answer tree" the bottom line of which is- "there is nothing I can do."
T&S is just a euphemism for Take-it & Shove-It. eBay works off of arcane, secret protocol software that cannot be overridden, overwritten or changed for any individual situation or case. The buyer is always right.
There are two classes of seller. The ones eBay wants and the ones it doesn't want. If you are a big Chinese or other corporation they eBay wants you and the rules simply don't apply. If you are everybody else eBay doesn't and the "rules" do.

[Bandit]

Hi Justin
I see You have Your eyes wide open , You should post on there forums , let me know when , so I can set my stopwatch ,
Ps
Sometimes callers get the " India " call center , they are totally clueless about american words and sentences .
Pps
You forget to mention USA sellers like Geoffrey the Giraffe , I actually watched his negs disappear .
The cleaned up by E Bay version
http://toolhaus.org/cgi-bin/negs?Use...ed+by&ref=home
Bob

[Justin Thyme]

Yo bandit- I actually just did post there just now (my cousin) but it is really depressing. What can one really say? "You've been screwed pepito, et al...." There is nothing that can be said but a litany of griping.

eBay is determined to dump its old guard. The folks who made the site what it was, yesterday and could be again. But they, the administration over there, just don't want it. They want big sellers of new products and that is what they will end up with. It is their site and they can do as they please.

I personally don't like that they plan on holding money paid to ME for merchandise I am expected to then ship from out of my own pocket under the hope that the buyer won't renege and eBay will release my money.
I filed a complaint with my state attorney general. We'll see what happens.

Meranwhile I have a list of other auction sites. The emails of everyone who has bought from me for the past 6+ years and my own website where I can tell people where I have gone after being kicked off eBay.

[Bandit]

Justin
It does look like You have all the bases covered with Your e-mail list and Your own web site , You just have to start selling on more sites and let Your name get out there .
I don't know if You follow Seller Central , but they talk all the time about how to get Neg's Removed if Your Buyer was Tossed .
The post I am following right now in T & S is called " Offensive Store " can't wait to order some T-Shirts from there web site . ( easy to find it , You can do the same)
Bob

[Bandit]

Justin
This is what JD the head Yuppie at the Bay wants , NOT YOU .
Here is a list of there " Prized Anchor Stores "
http://stores.shop.ebay.com/_sl.html?_an=1
Plus don't forget that they bought GSI Commerce at the beginning of the month for $ 2.4 Billion .

[Justin Thyme]

I see that Susan Sontag gives her imprimatur to the bookstore. That's certainly a big selling point to me.
Too much money, not enough brains and an excess of greed and myopia.

[Justin Thyme]

Originally Posted by Bandit

Justin
Recession
Is when Your neighbor loses His job
Depression
Is when You lose Your job
Recovery
Is when Obozo loses His

I seem to have heard a variation on this before. About thirty years ago?

[Bandit]

LOL
Who ever thought We would see a President that made Jimmy Carter look good ?

[Justin Thyme]

Whoever thought we'd have a prezidunce who doesn't know who Jimmy Carter is?
Or makes John Donohoe look like a good administrator?