Ebay Wants Its Sellers Back

T4P - this is a very interesting article. IMO, though, this represents 'too little, too late'. There are real issues for sellers on *bay right now, and the powers that be don't seem ready to address them. I think it's change in the right direction, but there is a long way to go before sellers are going to be happy with *bay. (Again, just mo.)
 
That's only a very tiny step, imo, and definitely not enough for sellers to be happy with ebay! I'm getting so frustrated that I've started to list on other sites. Unfortunately other sites don't get enough traffic as bay, but it's still a lot better than dealing with bay's policies!! Their response system is so impersonal and you can't even reply back!! WTH!! Meanwhile you can tell that's their automated reply...what about high feedback sellers who have sold and bought responsibly and royally?!!
 
Definitely not enough...and after my recent experience, too little too late. I just joined Bonanzle and will give that a shot. ebay MUST know how the membership numbers are climbing there by leaps and bounds as folks jump ship.
 
ITA with many of the comments so far posted.


  • Too late. I believe irreparable damage has been done, and many sellers won't be persuaded to go back. But, perhaps, fBay will be able to attract enough new ones.
  • What fBay proposes to do with the feedback, IMO, will not work. Imagine the number of requests for feedback removal the company will get, and given how ill equipped it is--in terms of the accessibility, number and skills of its employees, as well as it convoluted procedures--I don't see how it could efficiently implement this new policy.
  • I think payment methods will likely remain a problem for many buyers and sellers as long as fBay continues to be more exclusive than inclusive in that area.
  • PayMate, which won't be available in the U.S. until Feb., has yet to disclose its fee structure for this market. We'll see...
  • All the policy changes in the world won't make a difference if fBay does not shed some of that ego and starts treating customers with respect. Sending computer generated replies to buyers/sellers who need help, and training live-help or call-center agents to give those same meaningless, useless, scripted, computer generated responses--essentially providing no help--doesn't cut it, IMO.
 
The change they've made to feedback is small--it's for the situation when someone leaves negative feedback due to customs fees or delays. The feedback would actually have to reference customs fees or delays to get reversed.
 
ebays new selling policy based on the ratings you receive is crap. I sold a bag which the buyer wanted me to ship to a unconformed PO Box. I stated I would not ship, opened a claim with ebay. Buyer would not agree to my request to cancel the transaction, so ebay charged me the final fees, even though I did not ship and buyers money was returned instantly. Buyer then went and left me negative feed back as well as horrible ratings on the 5 star thing. Now I can't sell anything until my rating reaches a their limit to sell. How am I to achieve that rating when I can't sell anything now. My feedback was 100% until this transaction. I tried to file out a claim to remove this feedback but ebay said no. I will never sell again, even if I were given the opportunityto sell on ebay.
 
ebays new selling policy based on the ratings you receive is crap. I sold a bag which the buyer wanted me to ship to a unconformed PO Box. I stated I would not ship, opened a claim with ebay. Buyer would not agree to my request to cancel the transaction, so ebay charged me the final fees, even though I did not ship and buyers money was returned instantly. Buyer then went and left me negative feed back as well as horrible ratings on the 5 star thing. Now I can't sell anything until my rating reaches a their limit to sell. How am I to achieve that rating when I can't sell anything now. My feedback was 100% until this transaction. I tried to file out a claim to remove this feedback but ebay said no. I will never sell again, even if I were given the opportunityto sell on ebay.

I'm so sorry this happened to you! This story perfectly sums up all that is wrong with ebay...
 
In one of the comments left on that article, I read this:

Stanford business professors Thomas Heller and David Victor ARE in fact finishing up a case study about ebay's changes and present predicament, due out Q1 2009. It ought to be a doozy.

This should be a good read.