Ebay Boycott???

[SidDarth]

I couldn't find any posts about the boycott here but there are many joining in from Feb. 18th - 25th. I'm sure many of you are concerned about ebay's new fees and the changes with the feedback system.

Here's a few youtube links for those interested:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1RKmlpQd7Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23TomS5--nQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4MtVPuU9-Q

Interview with ebay CEO John Donahoe:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGH2rvodt3E

CNNMoney.com article:

http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/06/smbusiness/ebay_alternatives.fsb/index.htm

Page 57 of the ebay Seller Central discussion forum:

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000636290&start=2240

There are tons of videos on YouTube and articles across the internet. If you're a member here and sell on ebay you should be concerned. You will have all the reponsibility, the buyers will wield all the power and you won't even be able to leave negative feedback. There are a lot of great buyers out there but the floodgates will be opened for deadbeats.

BTW, if I missed a previous thread about this, I do apologize.

[flash70]

This is why ebay has lost my business.

I am never going to sell on their site again.

[VIPER 48]

I have thought about selling on ebay, but right now i am neither buying or selling there. It is probably safe to say, i never will...

[carnage717]

I have thought about selling on ebay, but right now i am neither buying or selling there. It is probably safe to say, i never will...

I have an ebay store right now but that will change at the end of the month. I've put up with the fee increases over the last couple years but the latest fee hike coupled with the feedback changes were enough to convince me its time to close my ebay store and focus solely on my own online store.

[Gung.Heaux]

im too lazy to look this up....

in a nutshell...what happened to create such an uprising?

[Bryanm5150]

All my ebay competion is gone. I wil have all the customers!

[carnage717]

im too lazy to look this up....

in a nutshell...what happened to create such an uprising?

the basically lowered listing fees for items but jacked up the Final Value fees 3% which is eats up the listing fee decrease as well adds more money. So in the end you are paying more if your item sells. Also Sellers will no longer be able to leave negative or neutral feedback, which leaves sellers open negative feedback fraud or buyers trying to get money back by threatening to give negative feedback if you dont give them what you want. This also makes it so you cant tell who the bad buyers are anymore becaue no one will be able to leave the appropriate feedback. I could deal witht he price increases but the feedback thing is enough for me to call it quits. Its just no worth the hassle and aggrevation anymore. And before anyone says buyers wont threaten negative feedback to get money back, its already happened to two different sellers I know.

[flash70]

the basically lowered listing fees for items but jacked up the Final Value fees 3% which is eats up the listing fee decrease as well adds more money. So in the end you are paying more if your item sells. Also Sellers will no longer be able to leave negative or neutral feedback, which leaves sellers open negative feedback fraud or buyers trying to get money back by threatening to give negative feedback if you dont give them what you want. This also makes it so you cant tell who the bad buyers are anymore becaue no one will be able to leave the appropriate feedback. I could deal witht he price increases but the feedback thing is enough for me to call it quits. Its just no worth the hassle and aggrevation anymore. And before anyone says buyers wont threaten negative feedback to get money back, its already happened to two different sellers I know.

I know what you mean...this company hss become a bastard. I am done with evil bay.

Carnage I bought stuff from you before...do you have everything listed on your store site...and extra stuff...can I send you list???

[CG76]

I have an ebay store right now but that will change at the end of the month. I've put up with the fee increases over the last couple years but the latest fee hike coupled with the feedback changes were enough to convince me its time to close my ebay store and focus solely on my own online store.

Nice looking online store. How would prospective buyers feel safe when buying from your store? Are there some safeguards against hacking or information theft? What are the payment options? I think with Paypal, buyers are guaranteed at some level. Just asking in case I find something interesting in the future.

[bluebikerboy1]

i forgot to neg a couple buyers last night. dang it. when do the thing go in effect? was it today or the 20th?

[bluebikerboy1]

btw this is why i built a store 2 yrs ago after the first increase. it works well.

[carnage717]

the 20th

[carnage717]

Nice looking online store. How would prospective buyers feel safe when buying from your store? Are there some safeguards against hacking or information theft? What are the payment options? I think with Paypal, buyers are guaranteed at some level. Just asking in case I find something interesting in the future.


The only thing I keep is the shipping info and the email addressess, because thats all I need for orders. I have paypal set up in the checkout and it is the same secure paypal that you would use had you bought something off of ebay and I also have it set up for people who want to send check or money orders. As bluebiker said, I actually set it up after the last price increase on ebay and have been using both at the same time. I think it costs me like $7 for the hosting but I have my Websitt, Store, Custom Gallery and photo hosting pages that are attached to that. Where as i have to pay ebay $15 straight up everymonth reqardless if I sell anything or not, and that doesnt even incude the listing and final value fees. Right my average monthly bill for Ebay is around $75 a month. So you can the savings right there. I may not reach as many people as if I was on ebay but I only sell Joe stuff and post weekly or monthly threads promoting my store on most of the sites that I go to. To be honest I wasnt planning on leaving ebay until sometime next year because I still have alot of stuff that needs to be listed, but when I saw their price increase that was the last straw for me. Although I will say it kind feels like a weight has been lifted since I know I wont have to deal alot of the dirtbags that roam ebay, and believe there are alot of them. You should see some of the emails I get from them.

[bluebikerboy1]

dude you should so post some. i like ebay horror stories (we need a smiley eating popcorn).
hey if you want to take credit cards without having to deal with paypal crap pm me. i found and am using a service and it cost me only 30 bucks a month and it works better imo (as in customer service and shipping outside usa, canada, and europe) then the limitations paypal gives you.

[carnage717]

I know what you mean...this company hss become a bastard. I am done with evil bay.

Carnage I bought stuff from you before...do you have everything listed on your store site...and extra stuff...can I send you list???

I dont have everything listed on ebay store. I actually have quite a few boxs of stuff to go through still, mostly small vehicle stuff and accessories. The funny thing is right before they announced the price increase I was getting ready to list 400 more listings the following weeked, which of course I never listed. I also have tons of figure parts that I never bothered to list on ebay that i have been saving using some here and there for customs. If you have a list of stuff your looking for feel to either PM it or email it carnage717@gmail.com and Ill look through my stuff and see what I have.

[Compulsive Collector]

I will continue to sell on eBay just as I have for years, maximizing exposure of what I list to targeted traffic that's just aching to be parted with their money.

[Irid70]

If there's a boycott, maybe I'll be able to find a Tomax/Xamot comic pack a bit more easily.

[Da_Last_2_Walk]

Regarding a seller not being able to leave a buyer neutral/negative feedback...............................

I think some of you should actually read when the feedback changes occur. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this specific feedback change starting in May?

Don't get caught slippin' by bangin' somebody today or tomorrow with a negative!

[Viper_486]

I'm on strike till the 25th, and looking into my own store for my propmaking business, as well as other online options.

[Daywalker]

Ebay might really drop the ball on this one. This sucks for both buyer and seller as sellers now will up their shipping costs to compensate for the increase in fees.

[Compulsive Collector]

With inflation comes increased prices. Welcome to reality.

Ebay might really drop the ball on this one. Every time eBay does something like this, a few vocal people on the internet throw a fit, there is much wailing and gnashing of teeth, and a small, unorganized "boycott" takes place. Within a week or two, everything is back to normal, people are listing the extra stuff they didn't sell during their protest, thus dumping every cent right into the company's coffers as if nothing had ever happened, and eBay continues to get bigger and stronger. Wash, rinse, and repeat.

This sucks for both buyer and seller as sellers now will up their shipping costs to compensate for the increase in fees. The cost of everything in doing business is always passed to the end consumer.

[tile_mcgillus]

CC you should have a tagline...

Compulsive Collector, making everyone else look stupid since day one.

[SHIPWRECK"N"POLLY]

guess what your point makes no sense because inflation has nothing to do with the bull they are pulling not allowing sellers to leave negative feedback on buyers anymore

[SHIPWRECK"N"POLLY]

The real issue is ebay sales are down and they have now decided to gouge people more than they already were. I could make more money selling joe's at my local comic shop than selling them on ebay when you add up all the fees and shipping costs.

[Da_Last_2_Walk]

Ebay & AFA are both strong companies that will always evolve. There is no denying their influence on the toy market.

People need to quit bashing Ebay & AFA; and realize that they help the collecting hobby.

[Dr. Bindy]

can't say I'm following all of this, but as an ebay buyer more than seller, I think something needed to be changed on the feedback issue - but not the way they are apparently doing it.

My gripe is that I pay for every auction I win within minutes of receiving an invoice. Yet only 1 out of 25 sellers will post positive feedback for me prior to receiving their own positive feedback.

If I hold up my end of the bargain, I should get the positive. The only negative I ever got was in retaliation for posting the only negative I ever posted. I had asked about a specific piece, the seller lied about it's condition, I bought it, and it was not as advertized. I contacted seller multiple times and was told to pound sand. So I reluctantly posted a negative. The same seller who waited 3 days to respond to each email posted a retaliatory negative within minutes.

Anyway, I'd like to see a turn-based feedback system for this type of scenario. But completely eliminating negative feedback for deadbeat buyers is not helping anyone.

[mikeTime]

can't say I'm following all of this, but as an ebay buyer more than seller, I think something needed to be changed on the feedback issue - but not the way they are apparently doing it.

My gripe is that I pay for every auction I win within minutes of receiving an invoice. Yet only 1 out of 25 sellers will post positive feedback for me prior to receiving their own positive feedback.

If I hold up my end of the bargain, I should get the positive. The only negative I ever got was in retaliation for posting the only negative I ever posted. I had asked about a specific piece, the seller lied about it's condition, I bought it, and it was not as advertized. I contacted seller multiple times and was told to pound sand. So I reluctantly posted a negative. The same seller who waited 3 days to respond to each email posted a retaliatory negative within minutes.

Anyway, I'd like to see a turn-based feedback system for this type of scenario. But completely eliminating negative feedback for deadbeat buyers is not helping anyone.

I have had the same problem. I've purchased hundreds of items over the last ten years but only received 52 positive feedbacks. I've also been given retaliatory negative feedback despite sending payment in a timely manor. I can't even use my account because someone keeps hacking it and trying to sell tractors under my name. All of these price increases will be passed on to the consumer as usual. Buyers will have to pay more attention to auctions and be willing to pay even more for there items.
I got tiered a long time ago of paying for sellers gas money, handling, and time spent at the post office. I have sold a few Items over the years and I kept the shipping at actual cost. It still did not stop people from asking me stupid questions like how much is shipping? And then not telling me where they are from. I gave out my address in the auction so they could figure it out. Maybe thats the reason for all the shipping hikes. A lot of people out there do not have any common sense so they need to pay.

I hope some other auction sites pop up or other existing ones get more popular. The only way to hurt e-Bay is to change the flow of traffic and ultimately disrupt there profit i.e. the boycott

[Daywalker]

With inflation comes increased prices. Welcome to reality.

Every time eBay does something like this, a few vocal people on the internet throw a fit, there is much wailing and gnashing of teeth, and a small, unorganized "boycott" takes place. Within a week or two, everything is back to normal, people are listing the extra stuff they didn't sell during their protest, thus dumping every cent right into the company's coffers as if nothing had ever happened, and eBay continues to get bigger and stronger. Wash, rinse, and repeat.

The cost of everything in doing business is always passed to the end consumer.

Read some of those articles especially the CNN one. Other auction sites have increased members per week in HUGE amounts. I'm not saying this is going to kill Ebay, but it is going to hurt them. It's always costs more to get new customers then to retain current ones and one pissed off seller gets on another auction site, says how great it is domino effect. No product = no buyers. Notice all the Ebay commercials lately?

No the cost is not always passed on to the consumer in an auction type environment you're thinking retail where everyone pays the same. Smart buyers always look at the shipping costs. Unfortunately this effects bidding so sellers either up their shipping costs and hope people still bid as they regularly would or they keep the shipping the same and hope it bids high.

Ebay gets it's fees from sellers not buyers so why give the buyers all the power? The sellers are ebay's customers not the buyers and you don't treat your customers like shit, it's bad business.

[Hawkeye]

I can't even use my account because someone keeps hacking it and trying to sell tractors under my name.

Tractors? Really?

Does that mean I am NOT gonna get that John Deere tiller I won from you last night?

Sorry, just kidding.

I think the fee increases suck, but will always occur no matter what. Rich people like being richer. It sucks, but there it is.

The whole "no more neg. feedback for deatbeats" really has me bothered though. I sell fgures, comics and customs now and again for extra money (for more figures, comics and custom stuff) but I have had a couple deatbeats before and it drives me crazy. If I win something, I pay for it right then! (Gotta watch the auction end so you dont get sniped!)
I really dont mind if sellers leave feedback for me or not, but the fact that there now will be no way to weed out the losers really isnt helpfull to anyone!

Oh, and I gotta agree with Compulsive Collector, a week-long boycott will not effect ebay either short or long term.

[bluebikerboy1]

yeah the fees dont necessarily bother me as much. its the whole no neg bad buyers that gots me worked up. just in the last round of auctions i had 2 npb's. i waited over 2 weeks for one to be told oh i dont have the money so im not buying it. and the other i emailed, sent invoices, ect numerous times and have not recieved no comunication back or payment for 2 weeks. so i started the whole process late last week to get my final value fees back and negged them last night with notes of there actions to warn other sellers. the new system wont let me do that and is just oppening up feedback extortion.

as for the guys who are mad that they have to wait for feedback till they give it. thats to protect the sellers from extortion. im sure you guys are great buyers but lots of sellers have been burned many times by leaving feedback first then getting an email stating i want money back or shipping refunded ect or im giving you a neg. theres nothing that the seller can do. yes it sucks for the honest buyer but theres too many scammers out there.




btw im waiting for my tractor engine i bought last month man. were is it? :p

[Da_Last_2_Walk]

According to Ebay, the reason for the new feedback change was because the current system was not working either.

Under the current system; there will always be a case of a buyer being afraid to leave a negative feedback for fear of retalitory feedback from the seller and a seller being afraid to leave a positive feedback first because the buyer might retaliate.

Don't get me wrong, I totally understand the "concern" for the new feedback system. I don't think a buyer should be left totally defenseless.

It might take this new system to fail before a "correct" feedback system can be made.

Instead of boycotting, how about coming up with possible solutions to the new feedback system dilema.

What would be the "correct" feedback system?

Let's hear it?

[carnage717]

According to Ebay, the reason for the new feedback change was because the current system was not working either.

Under the current system; there will always be a case of a buyer being afraid to leave a negative feedback for fear of retalitory feedback from the seller and a seller being afraid to leave a positive feedback first because the buyer might retaliate.

Don't get me wrong, I totally understand the "concern" for the new feedback system. I don't think a buyer should be left totally defenseless.

It might take this new system to fail before a "correct" feedback system can be made.

Instead of boycotting, how about coming up with possible solutions to the new feedback system dilema.

What would be the "correct" feedback system?

Let's hear it?

Get rid of Negative Neutral and Positive Feedback Altogether. You would still be able to leave a comment based on the transaction and the Buyer can rate the seller by using the stupid star system they set up. The star system was set up so that Buyers could anonymously rate the seller on his or her performance where as Buyers have no such star system. If look at a Seller and see that his stars for Shipping and Handling price are low, then you decide whether to buy off him based on that. No one part should have complete control of the feedback system which is exactly what Ebay is doing by giving Buyers Complete control. The problem is Ebay made their bed by touting how good their feedback system is when it actually garbage. The only thing they can do to is scrap the current feedback system and go with something like I mentioned above, the problem is that it will cause an even bigger uproar amongst sellers and buyers so they basically have to make due with what they have or admit they were wrong on how their feedback system was. We all know that Ebay would never admit that now.

[BigErn]

This is all ashame, Ive had many more good dealings on Ebay than bad. But every bad deal makes me that much more leary about the next buyer/seller. I was going to open up an Ebay store to try and help offset some of the money I've been spending on the 25th line, but now I just don't know if I should bother.

[Compulsive Collector]

guess what your point makes no sense because inflation has nothing to do with the bull they are pulling not allowing sellers to leave negative feedback on buyers anymore Considering my post was in response to a comment regarding the fee increases, it made perfect sense, at least to anyone with a modicum of reading comprehension ability. And yes, I realize this excludes certain people.

The real issue is ebay sales are down and they have now decided to gouge people more than they already were. Sure it is, pal, because unlike everything else in the entire known market, eBay's prices would remain exactly the same unless they felt compelled to "gouge" their customers.

I could make more money selling joe's at my local comic shop than selling them on ebay when you add up all the fees and shipping costs. No, you couldn't, because your "local comic shop" is in the middle of nowhere.

My gripe is that I pay for every auction I win within minutes of receiving an invoice. Yet only 1 out of 25 sellers will post positive feedback for me prior to receiving their own positive feedback.

If I hold up my end of the bargain, I should get the positive. Your "end of the bargain" is not fulfilled when you make a payment, just like your "end of the bargain" is not fulfilled on any other e-commerce site when you submit your credit card number. A buyer always has the option of filing a fraudulent chargeback after receiving the product as advertised, so I don't leave feedback for customers as soon as they pay me, nor will I ever do that. I leave feedback after a sufficient amount of time has passed, anywhere from two weeks to a month, and I haven't heard a complaint. If the buyer leaves positive feedback for me first, fine. If they don't, that's okay, too. I don't wait to get feedback first, but I'm not going to get in a hurry to leave it, either. I leave positive feedback when I am satisfied that the transaction was, in fact, a positive one. It's crazy, I know, but that's how I roll.

So what are you buying? An item, or feedback? If it's the latter, I wouldn't want you as a buyer, anyway. If it's the former, then be happy you got your item as described and for what you consider to be a fair price. Do you complain about Amazon.com not giving you a pat on the back when you pay for a book? No? Right.

I got tiered a long time ago of paying for sellers gas money, handling, and time spent at the post office. Then use your own gas money and time, and buy what you need by driving around locally. You pay those expenses from any other online retailer (BBTS, HTS, NFL Shop, Target.com, whatever), but you expect eBay sellers to do it for free?

Read some of those articles especially the CNN one. Other auction sites have increased members per week in HUGE amounts. I'm not saying this is going to kill Ebay, but it is going to hurt them. It's always costs more to get new customers then to retain current ones and one pissed off seller gets on another auction site, says how great it is domino effect. No product = no buyers. Notice all the Ebay commercials lately? That "pissed off seller" is going to come crawling back, tail between his legs, in less than a month. I've read this same claim again and again, every time something like this happens, for years and years on OAI forums, and the end result is always the same. No little niche auction site is going to hurt eBay's bottom line, not now, and not any time soon.

Your "no product = no buyers" idea doesn't hold water, because there is plenty of product on eBay, and there will continue to be plenty of product on eBay, because that's where the sales are. Anyone foolish enough to defect to a smaller auction site will find (and quite quickly, mind you) that no buyers = no sales. And eBay commercials aren't anything new. In fact, that advertising (which generates traffic to my auctions, thank you very much) is part of why eBay's cost of business increases over time.

No the cost is not always passed on to the consumer in an auction type environment you're thinking retail where everyone pays the same. It doesn't matter, retail, wholesale, auction, brothel, the cost of business is always passed to the end consumer.

Smart buyers always look at the shipping costs. Unfortunately this effects bidding so sellers either up their shipping costs and hope people still bid as they regularly would or they keep the shipping the same and hope it bids high. One way or the other, the cost will be passed along to the consumer, whether it's in the handling fee or the opening bid.

Ebay gets it's fees from sellers not buyers so why give the buyers all the power? The sellers are ebay's customers not the buyers and you don't treat your customers like shit, it's bad business. Increasing prices doesn't equate to treating anyone like shit. There aren't a bunch of suits sitting around in eBay's corporate office, laughing at their paying customers, getting a kick out of being mean. The cost of doing business increases for them, too. Are their employees "treating them like shit" every time they ask for a raise? Is network television "treating them like shit" every time the cost of advertising increases?

As for the feedback issue, making buyers feel comfortable doing business is paramount to having a successful online marketplace. They're doing good sellers a favor. Besides, I personally haven't left negative feedback for a non-paying bidder since November of 2002 (I haven't even had one since I've been able to restrict my auctions to members who have a feedback rating better than -1, have a PayPal account, and haven't received multiple Unpaid Item strikes in the last 30 days, but that's another conversation). It doesn't do any good, anyway. Filing for the Final Value Fee Credit is what actually gets NPBs suspended, and sellers who scream and yell with negative feedback are just making themselves look unprofessional. Quietly file for the credit, help make the community better for sellers by ridding the site of those people, and re-list your item. It really is a simple process.

[Da_Last_2_Walk]

I know this...........................

I couldn't sell this in my local comic shop!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160207620574&ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:US:1123

[DOC]

http://cgi.ebay.com/25th-Cobra-Viper-lot-and-rare-25th-Baroness_W0QQitemZ160236130885QQihZ006QQcategoryZ2 467QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

this makes me want to boycott ebay...............I mean really

[mikeTime]

Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeTime
I got tiered a long time ago of paying for sellers gas money, handling, and time spent at the post office.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Compulsive Collector
Then use your own gas money and time, and buy what you need by driving around locally. You pay those expenses from any other online retailer (BBTS, HTS, NFL Shop, Target.com, whatever), but you expect eBay sellers to do it for free?

I haven't used Ebay in maybe eight years. The big online stores may charge for these expenses but when I check out if the shipping is too high I will not buy. I have purchased every single 25 figure from retail. I do not expect ebay sellers to do it for free but when you get a used box with used filler and the actual shipping price is one tenth the actual price you paid them for shipping you feel a little bit ripped off. Their is nothing on ebay that keeps sellers from hiking up shipping costs. You can report them for overpriced shipping but how does that help you get an item.
overcharging for shipping is like steeling from a blind man. By the time you notice how much shipping actually cost, you have it in your lap and the money is spent.

[Crimson Rage]

I don't do any selling on Ebay, so as long as I'm stuck here in Blighty it's my only source for Joes. They have my soul for the duration...

[spazzy]

I agree with about 99% of what compulsive collector said.

[toyhunter]

Waaaaaaaaaa!
I can't hold people's feedback hostage anymore!
Waaaaaaaaaaa!

Just like every scalper apologist in here spouts to the BUYERS, if you don't like how Ebay does business, don't scalp your crap through them. Personally, I'm ecstatic about it.

That's right, boycott Ebay. Good luck dumping the 20 vipers you grabbed from Target when you set up at the local flea market in the middle of nowhere.

"hey, you're making it harder for me to rip people off.... no fair!"
Puh-lease.