eBay - Improvements Needed - My Thoughts

Unless your brain-dead, eBay is a household word largely due to cleaver marketing which is good for everyone who sells and buys here no matter what the purpose or want may be. eBay should be applauded for ease of use despite burying questions as to selling amd buying., marketing exposure as to storefronts, and being pretty good at watching you back when someone is pulling a scam. However, there's things which have really preturbed me from a business standpoint.

Gimmicks -

Every company has them no matter what their selling, however this so, called it sold for 14% more when two years ago Gallery Items sold for 17% more is something not to buy into. Simply, it's a law of averages as to how many items were bought. The Border Gimmick - I never use it. Why? So, what my title has a box around it. Yes, it draws attention, but why pay $3 when I can just be creative with words. As 2008, the gallery is free and realy no need to supersize a picture.

I do understand why eBay does it from a business standpoint, but be logical when it comes to selling. Do some research and you'll find several ways of getting around these nickle and dime fees. One is getting a picture host account vs. relying on eBay.

Sell, Sell, and Allienate Customer base

I have an ebay store and just keep it because of the sales manager and sales reports. It costs $20 a month with a discount and I'm indifferent to it. The good news is the sales reports help me with doing taxes, getting a glimpse as to what sold well. However, numbers can lie and it also depends upon what you have to sell and who wants it when auctions are posted. The bad thing is you can't promote yourself without buying into a higher level tier package as to stores. Despite a discount, eBay offers Pro Stores. Yep, more money. Yes, your monthly fees are spent to market your company, but I wish one could see a report to see where the dollars are being spent?

Higher selling fees, means people are making it up with insane shipping fees or one is forced to list things at very high prices.  I do have had to increase the store items to $1.25 to $4.

Research tool - Now I have to Pay?

It used to be I could get results 30 days out as to what sold here and how much it went for. Now, if I want to get a monthly record, I have to pay. Seven days of data is not too reliable when seeing what an item consistently sells for. Plus, there's variables as to why a similar item from the same company sold for more.

Return Policy in Listing Form - It's Poor and Not wise to speculate

How come eBay just leaves the issue as a refund policy open to interpretation? Sure, sellers specify a refund policy or state AS IS in the description. sad news, is a lot of sellers just assume you know the item is as is. This is bad since you may be getting junk and have not much recourse.  rather than go on about this, eBay should make it a priority for the seller to say AS IS and thus have it RIGHT THERE ON THE LISTING. Excuse me for shouting, but it's a major issue to me.

Holding sellers accountable for overinflated/unrealistic shipping.

This issue is hard to police, but there's people overcharging here as to shipping and using tons of excuses. All I can say is comparison shop and don't get caught up in the moment. Do be reasonable, but don't fall for we only use quality packing materials, packed professionally, etc. Ebay is partly to blame due to getting people to buy printer labels for shipping. For me, it's a business write off, but still cuts into my profits and that annoys me.

Another problem is reluctancy to use cheaper shipping methods. I do understand things cost less, but take more time. I can live with that. eBay can't do anything about this.

Finally, watch a very low opening price. Not saying everyone, but a lot of people are making it up on excessive shipping and handling charges. Lastly, it's illegal to overcharge people on shipping according to US Postal Regulations.

Poor eBay Client Relations lead to Unwelcomed Suprises

Before 2008, I was allowed to charge a surcharge as to accepting Paypal payments under a buck. I would never have charged the fee if eBay/Paypal didn't keep raising fees as to the e-Bay stores.  This resulted in all my listings being deleted. No warnings at all.

This Month, eBay/Paypal said I had to accept all payments as to Paypal.  I have a simple sentence at checkout saying all funds should be in US Dollars. This was meant for people who still will send cash thru the mail. Think ebay read it wrong and thus, again suspends my listings without any warnings.

You can't mention anything about Google. Good news is they at least warn you.

So, when I could of been selling, I took any mention of US Currency only and Google Checkout of my listings.

Lastly, my opinion is online auction business has no regulation as to business practices to me are anti-competitive. Stampwants for example doesn't delist  my items if I say I sell on eBay, yet saying I also sell on my website results in a violation. I do understand you want a safe marketplace, but look at my feedback and let the powersellers with at least a few thousand feedbacks promote your site.  I have no problem mentioning eBay in return.

Conclusion

So far eBay has not removed this guide, but I think the new seller and veterans should know the full story from a veteran seller. 

eBay is doing nothing new as to business practices - heck that's why it's still making a profit. 

What I just wish is to make people aware and not buy into all the tactics. eBay University is another one. Sure, there's practical advice, but why pay big dollars when a lot of books can be borrowed from the library or you can take a course if a community college offers one. Anyone can eBay, but doing it successfully is another issue. Likley, a lot of these proclaimed experts had a large amount of money to start with.