[fleamistress]

maybe I'll live again as an eBay seller.

Flickering. Flickering. Flickering out...



Can an eBay burn-out make a comeback? Have you ever burned out?

[knuttybar]

Not yet, but I'm getting there! Too many horror stories, too much crap from eBay corporate and too much competition (I sell mostly Coach bags). I'm definately looking for another avenue to channel my inner shopping addict!

[nickkyvintage]

I agree with knutty - there are far too many horror stories popping up recently. Im slowing stopping selling. I will only do it for small things now - theres no point selling high end stuff on there, it seems you will just get scammed. x

[shoulderache]

I agree--I'm slowly stopping selling on eBay. It just costs too much for the level of service I get. Lots of problems. The restrictions on my account really did it for me and when I called about it "customer service" hung up on me. I'm sorta done giving them money.

[fleamistress]

Awwww man, I just spent ten minutes on my story and lost it all! (Grrrrrrrr.)

What is this restriction business?

I'll get back to my story later...

[fleamistress]

Again, what is restriction?

In all honesty I have been avoiding this topic because it has become a painful one. I remember years ago when eBay was a party. People were friendly. Heck, sometimes people would throw in a couple of extra bucks when paying me. My regulars I would sometimes throw in a little extra something. I even shipped out boxes before I got paid and I was never stiffed! And I was making money!

Now I'm afraid to go there. Here's one reason:

The Shopping Experience

In my experience it is impossible to shop there. Say you do a search on anything--um, a Ruby Studded Lolita Bolita Gold Square Lipstick Case. (Made that up.)

OMG Manhattan tornado warning. Be back later!

[fleamistress]

Oh, and I was so hoping to go to OZ!

The Shopping Experience. Now what concerns me about The Shopping Experience is if that is THE eBay shopper's experience then I can imagine people, like me, hesitate to ever bother which isn't good for us sellers...

In my experience it is just too difficult there. Say you do a search on anything--um, an Authentic Ruby Studded Lolita Bolita Gold Square Lipstick Case. (Made that up.)

I get 300 listings.

250 of them are: real estate; kid toys; brass incense burners; theatre tickets; perfume; Maybelline lipstick; DVD's; celebrity autographs; Coach handbags, and you get my drift.

Another 46 either don't bother with a description, or give a vague description. Half of those charge 10.00 parcel post shipping for a half ounce item. Then those with more verbose description slip in a word like copy or repro or faux after word 1,000. Etc. and so forth.

One never gets to the real ones because one's face is in the keyboard due to being passed out from exhaustion, or say F it, or the internet crashes because you've been on for 3 hours now.

ANybody else got that tee shirt yet?

[noshoepolish]

I am burned out but have to get on the stick.

[kemilia]

I've been an eBay member since 1999 and have been mostly a buyer, and almost always a happy buyer.

I have no negs and go to eBay first when looking for something. And I have only sold a couple (literally) items and those were good transactions (I made over $100 on something even). So I sound like an ad for ebay--happy happy happy.

But ... something I read here recently stuck with me--it was the story of a seller that sold a great purse, got paid quickly, got positive feedback, and then BAM--the seller files a dispute with Paypal like 2 months later saying the bag was filthy, not as represented, etc. And Paypal gives her back her money!!

Now that is scary and that is what is preventing me from listing a bunch of great bags I don't need anymore. I can't afford, mentally or fiscally, to have that kind of thing happen.

It's nuts and it will kill eBay, no matter what they may think.

[fleamistress]

One can list AS IS. Describe it well, show pics of every piece of it, and say no returns and explain why. Put a minimum or a reserve.

On higher ticket items it doesn't hurt to photograph the item as you are packing. Time stamp it. I'm even thinking of going for those UV markers. (I did look those up on eBay BTW but got turned off by the inflated shipping charges! And buyers are supposed to police this stuff!?)

[Just_looking]

Originally Posted by kemilia

I've been an eBay member since 1999 and have been mostly a buyer, and almost always a happy buyer.

I have no negs and go to eBay first when looking for something. And I have only sold a couple (literally) items and those were good transactions (I made over $100 on something even). So I sound like an ad for ebay--happy happy happy.

But ... something I read here recently stuck with me--it was the story of a seller that sold a great purse, got paid quickly, got positive feedback, and then BAM--the seller files a dispute with Paypal like 2 months later saying the bag was filthy, not as represented, etc. And Paypal gives her back her money!!

Now that is scary and that is what is preventing me from listing a bunch of great bags I don't need anymore. I can't afford, mentally or fiscally, to have that kind of thing happen.

It's nuts and it will kill eBay, no matter what they may think.

Yup, this happened to me as a seller. I would avoid selling expensive items on eBay. There is a very high possibility of people using Ebay, Paypal and their credit card "Chargeback" "buyer protection" to get their money back and keep the item. So you lose out big time, because you paid Ebay fees, Paypal fees and chargeback dispute fees. Sell your items to friends and co-workers and let them know it's a way of recylcing and spreading the joys of owning wonderful designer items. Kind of like buying a formerly leased Mercedes Benz, 2 years old, but the girl sitting next to you at the stop light doesn't know that you didn't buy it brand new!

[fleamistress]

Then there's always craigslist.

[Barmakianbags]

Im slowly but surely getting there!

[LVMOMMY]

eBay has made it nearly impossible for honest sellers to sell anymore. With all the listing restrictions, VERO pulling listings, and nonexistent customer service! Ebay stinks! I have bags that I would like to sell but can't get a straight answer as to why I can't relist them. They claim that it's not for me to know since it may help sell fake handbags WTH? They sure aren't stopping all the obvious fakes out there from new sellers! VERO is targeting many reputable sellers since they are getting pressure from LV to clean up Ebay. Soon there will be no more reputable sellers left to make them money on fees!

[fleamistress]

They don't need reputable sellers, do they? They don't lose money on them, do they? This is a sincere, albeit cynical question.

I'm working up to some recent experiences...

(Meanwhile could somebody say something nice about my Rodo clutch which is in the last post in my collection?)