This Ebay seller

[route246]

I was talking to a friend today about ebay. I told him they go to the trough to get more tax and then they go to the trough again and then when they're done they go one more time and then after that they go back and get more and then that worked so well they go back again and again and again. You only have to read the seller forums to see the outrage and disbelief. It is an eye-opener to read about this.

Anyway, my friend said that ebay is just turning into a garbage disposal service where you pay a fee to get rid of your stuff. If this keeps up he says that you will end up giving the entire proceeds of sales PLUS a fee for the privilege to ebay/paypal and be done with business.

I expect to get flamed by the ebay apologists/sellers who are suffering from this but that's OK, it's a free country and everyone is entitled to an opinion.

that is just a way for eBay to screw both buyer and seller.

 

[Steen27]

Pick it up in person for a $1.

 

[knobby]

My vote is that you go to craigs list because you can flag adds there easily and you can fulfill your needs to police the internet much easier.

 

[warmpancakes]

hes been reported several times to ebay I have reported him 3-4 times he just relists ebay still gets their cash

 

[treasureseeker]

The seller has now sent me many Emails and is not someone I would buy from.

 

[jarren]

you dont have to buy

 

[premierplayer]

move on, don't buy
find something that is really important to focus your energy on

 

[MartyO]

Why do y'all call eBay fees a tax?

 

[garagebug]

you dont have to buy

You also don't have to sell...

Some of you act like you're REQUIRED to sell on e-bay. Nobody has a gun to your head making you do anything. If you don't agree with the rules, don't sell on e-bay. It's really as simple as that.

If you don't agree with the e-bay fees and policies, move on. Sell on craigslist. Sell in your paper. Sell on Amazon. There are alternatives here. Why is it that the people BREAKING the rules are complaining about the people UPHOLDING the rules?

If you value your time at $25 an hour to put a wrench in a box with some bubble wrap and drive to UPS, you don't really need to be selling on e-bay. Go become an engineer if you feel your time is so valuable. Seriously. The USPS has flat rate boxes now so the guesswork is pretty much eliminated. I just love paying $16.99 to ship an item on ebay just to receive it in a $6.99 flat rate box. You're essentially adding a 'pain and suffering' fee for the incredibly difficult task of finding a box, putting the item and some foam peanuts in it, and driving to UPS.

Cheating the system like this is why the e-bay fees are increasing for everyone. The few will ruin it for the many.

 

[MartyO]

You also don't have to sell...

Some of you act like you're REQUIRED to sell on e-bay. Nobody has a gun to your head making you do anything. If you don't agree with the rules, don't sell on e-bay. It's really as simple as that.

If you don't agree with the e-bay fees and policies, move on. Sell on craigslist. Sell in your paper. Sell on Amazon. There are alternatives here. Why is it that the people BREAKING the rules are complaining about the people UPHOLDING the rules?

If you value your time at $25 an hour to put a wrench in a box with some bubble wrap and drive to UPS, you don't really need to be selling on e-bay. Go become an engineer if you feel your time is so valuable. Seriously. The USPS has flat rate boxes now so the guesswork is pretty much eliminated. I just love paying $16.99 to ship an item on ebay just to receive it in a $6.99 flat rate box. You're essentially adding a 'pain and suffering' fee for the incredibly difficult task of finding a box, putting the item and some foam peanuts in it, and driving to UPS.

Cheating the system like this is why the e-bay fees are increasing for everyone. The few will ruin it for the many.

Thanks for saving me a lot of typing.

 

[alex71]

...
Cheating the system like this is why the e-bay fees are increasing for everyone. The few will ruin it for the many.

That is most definitely not the reason ebay fees are increasing. The reason is they can, and you (and I) will pay up... Unless the fees become so high that people leave in droves. Rest assured ebay inc knows exactly where that number is, and they will get the fees just as high as they can without reaching that critical number.

 

[2oolhound]

That is most definitely not the reason ebay fees are increasing. The reason is they can, and you (and I) will pay up... Unless the fees become so high that people leave in droves. Rest assured ebay inc knows exactly where that number is, and they will get the fees just as high as they can without reaching that critical number.

+1 AMEN

I've been trading on ebay for over 11 years.

For one thing their "Buyer Protection Plan" only gets a 50% rating from me and that's because the last time I just wouldn't give up and let them (ebay) stiff me again. If you ever need to use it here's some advice: take a screen grab of every form you respond to that has the yellow Respond button because once you hit that button you will never see that same form again. It seems it is designed to wear you down and make you give up without getting the refund at least in cases where the seller just disappears on them and THEY are left holding the bag. Sorry but ebay doesn't get a 5 star rating from me.

There clearly are still a few Robin Hoods on ebay but ebay is eliminating them as quickly as they can and with the help of the gd fearing yes men pee ons.

 

[treasureseeker]

you dont have to buy

In fun I made the mistake of sending him an email asking if he would do local pickup. His first response led me to believe he was a decent guy just trying make ends meet. The addition five unsolicited emails he sent me left me with the best I could say is I wouldn’t buy from him which is purely base on his emails not the ad the thread is about.

 

[route246]

The term is appropriate because ebay calls itself a community. Communities are supported by taxes. Taxes are mandatory fees levied upon members of a community in order to support the community. Any way you look at it, the fees are taxation on commerce.

Why do y'all call eBay fees a tax?

 

[route246]

They don't know what that number is or they would have stopped the increases long ago. People are being worn down by them and the stock price reflects this. People are not stupid; they may be slow but they eventually figure it out that ebay has their hands in every pocket extracting as much as is there with very little left for the sellers.

I've seen photographic equipment sellers who use ebay to supplement their web and retail sales and I don't know how they do it. I buy high-end filters from one ebay seller and I get a pretty good deal on them. I suspect that they are dumping these filters at cost in order to keep their volume at a level where they get a good price break on the items so they can make the bulk of their profit in their retail store. Never asked them but I suspect that they are selling on ebay at a loss or near break-even. I have a friend in the business and he doesn't know how they do it.

That is most definitely not the reason ebay fees are increasing. The reason is they can, and you (and I) will pay up... Unless the fees become so high that people leave in droves. Rest assured ebay inc knows exactly where that number is, and they will get the fees just as high as they can without reaching that critical number.

 

[mrholeshot]

I finally had to throw up my hands with ebay. between listing fees,final value fees, paypal fees and ebay allowing customers to rob the sellers I finally just shut it all down. There is no recorse against a buyer who rips you off.

 

[route246]

I've never been ripped off by a buyer. I shutdown my activity only because the fees were making it almost impossible to break even, let alone make any money, and I peddled good stuff, too. I don't buy or acquire junk. I used it to sell stuff I didn't need anymore. I really liked getting rid of things to people who really wanted to use them. The problem was the collective aggregated tax that was levied on both me and the buyers was enough to wear me down. And I wasn't even selling to make money or even supplement income. I was using it as a disposal mechanism to get some value back in return. Now, I wait for the neighbor to have a yard sale and put stuff out when that happens or I find someone worthy and give the stuff away. But, one thing is certain, I can't deal with paying such a high percentage of my proceeds to ebay and paypal.

I don't buy many first class postage stamps anymore, either. The USPS has basically lost me as a customer. I do everything by online bill-pay now. Ebay has become like the USPS. Gone to the trough one too many times.

I finally had to throw up my hands with ebay. between listing fees,final value fees, paypal fees and ebay allowing customers to rob the sellers I finally just shut it all down. There is no recorse against a buyer who rips you off.

 

[cool50]

The good thing about EBAY (and there is not many) is if you keep scrolling down you're bound to find another. Forget about what gets you mad and just pass it by, find a buyer that you like and give him your $$$. Life is to short to worry about something like a seller on EBAY.

 

[treasureseeker]

I now sell very little on EBay, Pretty much just what doesn’t get an interest on here. My preferences keep changing back to the default and making my ID open to international bidders. I contacted eBay and did all they suggested. I was only able to make my PayPal just take dollars. I have gotten many international bidders lately that are using a service located in the USA that they either pick up the item there or they have them ship it to them. The latest was in Vancouver USA. It’s has been a hassle as I don't learn it is a service until after not having a proper address or after they email me my Pal Pay will not take their payment. I have to contact the service then get their requirements such as how the item has to be addressed, what follow up emails they require, what documentation is require and more. After all of that I usually don't receive feedback. I realize how high EBay fees are but don’t feel right trying to recover that from shipping cost.

When buying when I see a seller with high shipping cost I carefully look at their feedback and star numbers. If I am on the fence and the item is something they sell regularly I just base my bid off of those feedbacks.

 

[Zrexxer]

Sounds like you must be the one selling the ratchet.

It is a known common tactic on ebay to inflate shipping and handling cost to avoid the ebay tax.

The only reason this happens is because sellers perceive the ebay tax as excessive, unrelenting and never-ending in terms in increases.

I got the whole amount back when I filed a buyer protection claim using paypal, including the shipping charge.

I really get worn down on ebay paying all of those fees up front.

In my opinion, this is just so wrong. That's like saying if someone stiffs the government then they will probably stiff me. Ebay is like the government. They charge a very high tax and don't offer much in return. On top of that, they keep raising taxes and give less in return.

It's no violation of any rule that I've ever seen on ebay.

So, I was right. It's a judgement call. $29 could be justified as reasonable.

The insertion fee is not nothing if you are listing a ton of items. It is also very significant if you have a difficult to sell item. Relisting is a pain in the rear.

Many people who are sellers on ebay view this as unfair competition.

But, ebay has always been run in a very amateurish way and this is no exception.

I told him they go to the trough to get more tax and then they go to the trough again and then when they're done they go one more time and then after that they go back and get more and then that worked so well they go back again and again and again.

The term is appropriate because ebay calls itself a community. Communities are supported by taxes. Taxes are mandatory fees levied upon members of a community in order to support the community. Any way you look at it, the fees are taxation on commerce.

They don't know what that number is or they would have stopped the increases long ago. People are being worn down by them and the stock price reflects this.

I shutdown my activity only because the fees were making it almost impossible to break even, let alone make any money, and I peddled good stuff, too.

 

[wesmamyke]

Don't know if it was mentioned in the thread, tried to read the whole thing...but anyway ebay is changing the fees again to include the shipping cost.

So sellers can still do this if they want, it does get you better search results, but it won't make you anymore money.

 

[route246]

No, wrong. I am the buyer of ratchets. But, my success rate is very low. Because, it doesn't cost anything to bid and lost out. I pretty much gave up being a seller on ebay. The tax is too high. And, it will only get higher.

Sounds like you must be the one selling the ratchet.

 

[MartyO]

No, wrong. I am the buyer of ratchets. But, my success rate is very low. Because, it doesn't cost anything to bid and lost out. I pretty much gave up being a seller on ebay. The tax is too high. And, it will only get higher.

Hell have you ever seen what eBay has to pay their overpriced IT guys?

If those IT guys would get real and work for less, I am willing to bet that eBay would lower their charges.

Think about it.

Just sayin'.

 

[route246]

Yes, I know a few here in NorCal. The problem is, the good ones left a long time ago for google and facebook and ebay is stuck with the leftovers now.

Hell have you ever seen what eBay has to pay their overpriced IT guys?

If those IT guys would get real and work for less, I am willing to bet that eBay would lower their charges.

Think about it.

Just sayin'.

 

[MartyO]

Yes, I know a few here in NorCal. The problem is, the good ones left a long time ago for google and facebook and ebay is stuck with the leftovers now.

Good or bad, all those IT guys are wayyyyyyyyy overpaid.

 

[route246]

I agree. Four of them work for me.

Good or bad, all those IT guys are wayyyyyyyyy overpaid.

 

[mbatarga]

The use of "excessive" shipping fees has already caught eBay's attention. Effective July 6th, they are including shipping in their final valuation fee for the listing. That means as of that date, this technique won't save the seller any money.

From this link:
http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/news/feeupdate2011.html

July 6—Fixed Price (Store and Standard) and Store Auction-style Final Value Fee rates reduced and applied to the total amount of the sale—including shipping.

* Starting July 6, to encourage and reward low-cost shipping, Final Value Fee rates for Fixed Price listings will be reduced and applied to the total amount of the sale—including shipping. This change applies to both eBay Standard fees and eBay Store subscription packages.

 

[route246]

If this wasn't so cynical and pathetic, it would be laughable. How do they define, "low-cost shipping" in this context? All shipping, with the exception of book rate from the USPS is "high-cost" now. Even the flat-rate boxes are very expensive. It's killing ebay sellers (and buyers). When Priority Mail was introduced in 1968 it was a bargain and continued to be a bargain until the early 2000's. Then, something mysterious happened. They started raising the rates with a floor of $5.10 now. They used to be under $4.00 and ebay's explosive growth was based on this. No more.

The winners in all of this? Of course, Amazon and other mega-online retailers who can buy in bulk and ship very cheaply and have a huge competitive advantage.

The use of "excessive" shipping fees has already caught eBay's attention. Effective July 6th, they are including shipping in their final valuation fee for the listing. That means as of that date, this technique won't save the seller any money.

From this link:
http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/news/feeupdate2011.html

July 6—Fixed Price (Store and Standard) and Store Auction-style Final Value Fee rates reduced and applied to the total amount of the sale—including shipping.

* Starting July 6, to encourage and reward low-cost shipping, Final Value Fee rates for Fixed Price listings will be reduced and applied to the total amount of the sale—including shipping. This change applies to both eBay Standard fees and eBay Store subscription packages.

 

[treasureseeker]

If this wasn't so cynical and pathetic, it would be laughable. How do they define, "low-cost shipping" in this context?.

Definition:
EBay makes more money you make less.

Result more sellers leave, causing eBay to find additional ways to keep profit margin.

 

[2oolhound]

If this wasn't so cynical and pathetic, it would be laughable. How do they define, "low-cost shipping" in this context? All shipping, with the exception of book rate from the USPS is "high-cost" now. Even the flat-rate boxes are very expensive. It's killing ebay sellers (and buyers). When Priority Mail was introduced in 1968 it was a bargain and continued to be a bargain until the early 2000's. Then, something mysterious happened. They started raising the rates with a floor of $5.10 now. They used to be under $4.00 and ebay's explosive growth was based on this. No more.

My sentiments exactly. I think UPS lobbied to get USPS rates up. They fought hard to get Canada Post to have to charge brokerage fees and so they do now but they aren't anything like UPS charges. I haven't sold much on ebay for the past year and I rarely buy anything now because the high cost of shipping unless it is worth $200.00 at least and can absorb the cost or I really need it. After you add all the costs you may as well just go and buy new stuff locally and not waste time sifting through ebay ads. I used to know the UPS, Fedex and Canada Post drivers by name and practically be close friends with them but I never see them anymore. By the sounds of it the delivery companies must have taken a hit from a lot of us tightening up.

 

[Skyline]

So, I was right. It's a judgement call. $29 could be justified as reasonable. In fact, it would be very difficult to adjudicate reasonable. Reasonable does NOT mean customary which is where the confusion comes in.

No, you are not right. $29 to ship a ratchet domestically is NOT reasonable. The fact that you are defending this practice is a joke. Anything much over the cost of a flat rate box is excessive.

This is a clear violation of eBays rules; it's called fee avoidance. Because it was too prevalent to police, eBay is changing its rules to charge final value fees on shipping as well. The fee percentage will drop a bit though.

If you choose not to follow the rules of eBays "society", then don't play. The higher the percentage of members who follow the rules, the better the experience is for everyone.

While I realize that eBay fees have gone up, it is still a great place to sell. I have sold thousands of items there, and know that the system works.

 

[tradesmanschoice]

Why do y'all call eBay fees a tax?

We call it a tax because there's no viable alternative. Any other site I've tried doesn't generate anywhere near as much revenue.

 

[Skyline]

If this wasn't so cynical and pathetic, it would be laughable. How do they define, "low-cost shipping" in this context? All shipping, with the exception of book rate from the USPS is "high-cost" now. Even the flat-rate boxes are very expensive. It's killing ebay sellers (and buyers). When Priority Mail was introduced in 1968 it was a bargain and continued to be a bargain until the early 2000's. Then, something mysterious happened. They started raising the rates with a floor of $5.10 now. They used to be under $4.00 and ebay's explosive growth was based on this. No more.

The winners in all of this? Of course, Amazon and other mega-online retailers who can buy in bulk and ship very cheaply and have a huge competitive advantage.

USPS may not be as cheap as you like anymore, but it is by FAR the best deal going for a small shipper. And the USPS is far from raking in the dough; they operate at a significant loss. What on earth makes you think this is killing eBay sellers? For example, if you search for name brand tools (new and used), the number of items available has grown year by year at a fairly good clip.

We can all whine about the fact that gas no longer costs $1.00 a gallon, but your silly rants are in about the same category. Come back down to reality.

 

[Skyline]

It's called gas in the truck to get to the shipping place. It's called time to box the item, find the box, tape to tape up the box, insurance, tracking numbers, etc.

I've put shipping at $10.00 to find out someone in FL won it and it was $20.00 to ship it there but would have been only $10.00 to Idaho.

Don't like it, move on.

No, you're wrong. This is not an issue of "handling fees"; this is fee avoidance. If you don't understand the difference, perhaps you need to read up a bit before selling on eBay again.

As far as protecting yourself from variations in actual shipping costs, eBay's shipping calculator does that for you. It works very well. You don't need to guess at actual shipping costs; the buyer will see, and be billed for the correct rate.

There are all sorts of books and DVDs that can teach you how to sell properly, (and profitably) on eBay. Reading up a bit might help you to understand the system a bit better.

 

[Stuey]

I find such inflated shipping practices to be deplorable as well, and can't see how any honest person could be in favor of them. So, I vote with my wallet. Seeking out and reporting every single violation is a waste of time. It does not punish the seller, as they'll simply relist an item. It doesn't do anything to ebay, they won't change their policies. So what's the point? Ignore it, curse at the seller under your breath, and move on to more productive activities.

 

[Skyline]

We call it a tax because there's no viable alternative. Any other site I've tried doesn't generate anywhere near as much revenue.

The IRS takes more than DOUBLE what eBay and Paypal take (combined,) of my eBay sales profits. THAT'S a tax.

eBay is a business, and it makes money for its stockholders because it works for most of its buyers and sellers.

 

[MartyO]

We call it a tax because there's no viable alternative. Any other site I've tried doesn't generate anywhere near as much revenue.

It is eBay's fault that there are no "viable alternatives"?

Isn't that called capitalism?

 

[Skyline]

I find such inflated shipping practices to be deplorable as well, and can't see how any honest person could be in favor of them. So, I vote with my wallet. Seeking out and reporting every single violation is a waste of time. It does not punish the seller, as they'll simply relist an item. It doesn't do anything to ebay, they won't change their policies. So what's the point? Ignore it, curse at the seller under your breath, and move on to more productive activities.

There's no question that eBay has a tendency to ignore complaints of improper practices, and that has soured the entire marketplace to a degree. It was built as a market that would "police itself"...but in reality that can not work. They have always been more concerned about the bottom line than their users. But they HAVE addressed this particular problem in another way...as stated numerous times here. It is likely you will see the occurence of excessive shipping charges reduce dramatically after the fee structure change. But it will NOT disappear. (I'm hoping it will get to a managable level, so that eBay has the staff to police it better).

Some unscrupulous sellers would like to lure you in with a super low price ($1 for a laptop with $900 shipping). So you will see this practice continue somewhat. Perhaps they hope you will agree to purchase an item before looking at the shipping cost; suckers are born every minute.

But as far as policing itself, if you think eBay is bad, Craig's List is 100 times worse...there's pretty much no one home at that company. They won't pull listings or track and block users even when the FBI is involved with a criminal investigation of blatently (successful) fraudulent activity.

 

[route246]

I am not defending anything and nothing you have tried to explain is clear in terms of fee avoidance. The problem I have is this is all a judgement call. You cannot be judge and jury and decide that $29 is unreasonable. It is undefined. I would say the same thing if it was $0.29 or $2900.00. I don't know why you can't understand my point. $29 is irrelevant. It is the stupid, idiotic ebay rule that is undefined and is in question here, not the amount. The mere fact that you are extremely confused about this proves how idiotic the rule is. You have no basis to say that $29 is somehow not reasonable while $2.90 is. If you can't understand that then you'll never understand. It's the rule, not the amount.

I have one question for you. What maximum amount is reasonable? Then, add a penny to it and tell me why that amount is not reasonable. If you can answer that then I will agree with you that the rule is not idiotic.

No, you are not right. $29 to ship a ratchet domestically is NOT reasonable. The fact that you are defending this practice is a joke. Anything much over the cost of a flat rate box is excessive.

This is a clear violation of eBays rules; it's called fee avoidance. Because it was too prevalent to police, eBay is changing its rules to charge final value fees on shipping as well. The fee percentage will drop a bit though.

If you choose not to follow the rules of eBays "society", then don't play. The higher the percentage of members who follow the rules, the better the experience is for everyone.

While I realize that eBay fees have gone up, it is still a great place to sell. I have sold thousands of items there, and know that the system works.

 

[route246]

You are making an assumption with your argument that buyers are so ignorant that they can't add cost of goods plus shipping. Do you know anyone who doesn't figure in "out-the-door" delivered cost when ordering something online? I don't.

Regarding ebay, I have no serious problems with what you refer to as improper practices. The only real concern I have is with trustworthiness of the parties involved. The problem with the way that they handle it is by bringing paypal into the equation which is cost-prohibitive for both parties, and don't try to say it doesn't cost the buyer anything because all costs are borne by both parties in any transaction, transparent or not.

The way that they should have handled it is through an escrow system, which is how its done in China and other countries where cash is used for most transactions. Alibaba in China uses an escrow system and transactions are seldom problematic and Alibaba eats it when there is fraud or a problem. They expend a great deal of time and effort to make sure the marketplace is trustworthy. It's the opposite way at ebay. They put that burden on the sellers and sellers can easily get screwed by buyers filing bogus claims.

There's no question that eBay has a tendency to ignore complaints of improper practices, and that has soured the entire marketplace to a degree. It was built as a market that would "police itself"...but in reality that can not work. They have always been more concerned about the bottom line than their users. But they HAVE addressed this particular problem in another way...as stated numerous times here. It is likely you will see the occurence of excessive shipping charges reduce dramatically after the fee structure change. But it will NOT disappear. (I'm hoping it will get to a managable level, so that eBay has the staff to police it better).

Some unscrupulous sellers would like to lure you in with a super low price ($1 for a laptop with $900 shipping). So you will see this practice continue somewhat. Perhaps they hope you will agree to purchase an item before looking at the shipping cost; suckers are born every minute.

But as far as policing itself, if you think eBay is bad, Craig's List is 100 times worse...there's pretty much no one home at that company. They won't pull listings or track and block users even when the FBI is involved with a criminal investigation of blatently (successful) fraudulent activity.