Major Changes to eBay Fixed Price Fees: Discussion

eBay's Lorrie Norrington today announced big changes in the fees charged for listings in the Fixed Price format. The details of this announcement can be found on many other sites which I will link to at the bottom of this post. Suffice it to say that there are numerous variables by category, increased Final Value Fees, and a convoluted mess where understanding the changes is concerned.

Rather than detailing the changes here, I would like to share with you some of the discussion being generated by these changes. What are eBay sellers and buyers saying and what are their first thoughts and reactions? I roamed the eBay message boards and found some interesting comments.

Regarding the new policy banning checks and money order payments and the switch to electronic payments (PayPal, ProPay, merchant accounts) only:

"Well as a buyer, this puts me out of the game.

I used to have a Paypal account......the first time I used it, I had unauthorized charges on my credit card.

Got that mess straightened out, & didn't use Paypal for 6 months. Made a second Paypal purchase......& had unauthorized charges again. At that point, I told them to stuff it, closed Paypal & used just M.O.

I have 100% feedback. I have never paid anything late (I've sent M.O.'s overnight mail, just so they were there in the time required to pay). I've left maybe 2 dings in my entire shopping career......both to sellers who never sent what I paid
for.

This is the thanks I get for being the type of buyer the sellers want??????????? If I treated the shoppers at Target like this, I'd be fired on the first incident.

There's a lot of people like me who just don't have a credit card,for whatever reason.......or it's just for emergencies. But we are not good enough to shop here."

The Media category will be hit especially hard with the fee changes. A 15% Final Value fee will apply and sellers will now have a cap on how much they may charge for shipping. One angry longtime seller, with 10051 feedback, states:

"I ship many books and LPs! This is ABSURD!!! They're going to put me OUT OF BUSINESS!

Example Books/Antiquarian & Collectible they say $4.00 MAX! Do they know how HEAVY those old books are??? Most are thick hardcovers with GLOSSY paper pages and cost $4.00 alone, NOT TO MENTION PACKING SUPPLIES USED, DELIVERY CONFIRMATION, SIGNATURE CONFIRMATION, YOUR TIME, OR GAS TO POST OFFICE.

LPs (record albums). I PAY $1.00 PER LP MAILING BOX, PLUS BUBBLE WRAP AND A 3mm POLY BAG that cost approx. .30 each, plus MY TIME, AND GAS! I don't ship "all" my LP's MEDIA mail but when I do, I charge $4.99 and I either break even or LOSE at that cost!

But....some records are too nice to risk sending media (in with heavy books to get broken) so I ship them PRIORITY WITH DELIVERY CONFIRMATION. That can be $5.50 PLUS MY MATERIALS!

Ebay is NUTS to tell US our max shipping.They are COMPARING US to large Web sites S & H costs but ebay is forgetting! that those huge sites (Azon, etc.) buy shipping/packing supplies in HUGE BULK QUANTITIES. I can only get 50 to 100 at a time. And they have their EMPLOYEES packing for them.

I too, sell on Azon but I only pay a flat fee per month + 15% but I don't have to spend all my precious TIME TAKING PHOTOS, hence I don't complain about only getting reimbursed $3.99 for shipping a book when I sell one on their site."

More discussions:

"Yesterday you were all complaining about zero visibility, do you think that is going to change ? Ebay Cherry picking Paypal's opposition on site could and should raise flags on the Anti-trust and monopoly front."


"Why doesn't ebay just invent a computer chip full of policies and make a policy that sellers must have this surgically inserted into their brains before being allowed to sell on eBay?

Then we would just plug our brain into the USB port and download the new policies into our brain daily.

Hey, it would save TONS of time, instead of time reading and studying and discussing new policies, basically on a daily basis!

Just THINK eBay! You could "require" a cost of $29.95 from each seller and get richer!"


Final Value Fee's Sky Rocket AGAIN


"I would suggest that all sellers that do not agree with this new policy of not acceptting checks or money orders, file a complaint with the U.S. Attonery General Office. As far as I know, through out the U.S. that Cash, Checks, or MO are considered legal tender in banking industrys. If ebay is not allowing a seller to accept legal tender, that might be considered against the law."


"I just find the wording in Norrington's statement to justify electronic payments inappropiate. Why not just say as of this date EBAY is accepting paypal propay cc only. Why blame sellers or buyers for an executive decision to bring more money into both EBAY and PAYPAL?"



The above is just a small sampling of what eBay members think about these latest changes to eBay's fee structure and the accompanying policy changes.

More information about this announcement, which will affect ALL eBay buyers and sellers in one way or another, can be found at the links below.

eBay's 8/20 Announcements Discussion Forum

AuctionBytes Blog

My Blog Utopia


So what do you have to say about eBay's newest bombshell? Is it Good, Bad, or are you Indifferent? And are you waiting for the other shoe to drop based on eBay's habit of releasing news that causes a great stir and then sneaking in other major changes, hoping nobody will notice?

Make a Suggestion to eBay - Get Suspended?

Suppose you want to make a suggestion to eBay. Did you know that eBay may threaten you with a suspension if you do?

As ridiculous as that sounds, after emailing a suggestion, at least one eBay seller got an email from a customer service rep warning him that the consequences for future suggestions could be suspension.

The following comment was made by cdaysgoneby23 on an eBay message board:

"Hell,I just got reprimanded from them for offering a way to prevent the
huge increase in Non-paying bidders.

Got told that it
is their policy not to take suggestions unless they ask for them and then if I
asked them again I would be taking a 7 day hiatus from the site.I'm like
WTH.

I think I'm going to write a book about the true
Ebay.The one that made it one of the greatest online business ventures in
history and the joke it is today surviving off the success of the past."

Here is the email response this seller got from eBay:

"Thank you for writing eBay in regard to your suggestions.

eBay welcomes comments from members of our Community, and
we appreciate your suggestions. This type of communication helps us improve our
services and meet your needs.

However, our company
policy doesn't allow us to accept suggestions unless we specifically request
them. We hope that you understand that this policy can avoid future
misunderstandings if new products, services, and features developed internally
by eBay employees seem similar or even identical to a member's idea.

Also continuation of suggestions is considered spamming and
may/could result in a suspension.

***Important***Any
comments or materials (including questions, technical or creative suggestions,
and ideas) that you send to us aren't considered confidential or proprietary.

To learn more about eBay's policy on submitting
unsolicited ideas, go to:http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/unsolicited-ideas.html"

The lesson is: do not offer any constructive suggestions to any eBay employee. They may assume that you might later try to claim that one of their new ideas for the site was, in reality, your idea. So what's the deal? Could it be that the eBay corporate mentality so reeks of unethical behavior that they ASSume everyone else is unethical as well?

C'mon! Suspension for offering a positive, helpful cure for one of eBay's many ills? As John Stossel would say, Give me a break!

PayPal Holds eBay Seller's Money for 2 Months

According to one eBay seller, PayPal has not deposited his funds into his bank account in spite of their promises to do so. For at least 2 months, PayPal has, apparently, been sitting on approximately $20,000 belonging to this powerseller with feedback numbers totaling more than 7500 and with over 12,000 transactions since joining eBay on Feb-23-99.

This South African eBay seller says, in part:

"I made arrangements with Paypal some years ago to transfer funds to my US bank account and have been doing so without problems for years. Two months ago the system disallowed this. After numerous phonecalls, emails etc on a few occasions I was told by staff that this would be allowed but they would need to transfer the funds instead of me doing it on the system. I completed and faxed the necessary forms, they acknowledged receipt and said it would be attended to - I have this in writing from them on more than one occasion."

He is desperate for answers and assistance. Following many sleepless nights, he states:

"I have now decided that my only course of action is to highlight my problem to the financial authorities in the US and Singapore as well as financial editors of major newspapers in the US."

He has now become suspicious of PayPal's reasons for holding his funds. [See post #5]

Another longtime eBay member gives him this advice:

"File embezzlement charges against PayPal, and file them now. It is apparent that they have no intention of giving you access to your money. A friend of mine from Okayama (Western Japan) had GBP 6,000 stuck for months (request to withdraw to a Japanese account was stalled, PayPal came up with new excuses on a daily basis). Embezzlement charges remedied the situation."

Is this what it takes now to withdraw your funds from a PayPal account? You must threaten to sic law enforcement on them? First the 21 Day Hold on some sellers' money, using the Safer Payments excuse... now this BS?

No wonder so many people think PayPal sucks.

100s Lose Money While eBay and PayPal Do Nothing

One of the biggest sellers on eBay Australia has not delivered possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise to his buyers. Complaints were made to eBay weeks ago yet this seller's account remained active. Why didn't eBay shut it down? What was PayPal doing while this was going on?

From The Sydney Morning Herald:

"In the past three months ebusiness-supplies sold over $1 million worth of goods. It is the seventh biggest Australian eBay user in terms of the number of items sold.

eBay was made aware of complaints about the seller weeks ago but did not disable the user account.

Over 450 eBay users who bought items from the seller - often at a price seemingly below cost - have left the company negative feedback in the last 30 days."

PayPal Australia managing director, Andrew Pipolo claims that those who paid the seller using PayPal "will be entitled to refunds through a new fund set up specifically to deal with this incident."

A new fund? Where was all the PayPal buyer protection which eBay leads buyers to believe is already in place? If it exists, why the need for a new fund? And what about those who didn't use PayPal in their transaction with this seller? Many Australians do not like or trust PayPal and may be left hanging with little or no recourse.

If this is what eBay calls "safe trading," I want no part of it. Sadly, this is not an isolated incident.

Additional Note: For a glimpse into some of the reasons why eBay members in Australia dislike PayPal, read the article from apcmag.com titled "eBay boss: 'not offering PayPal is like buying heroin.'"

UPDATE: Andrew Pipolo explains why they initiated the "new fund" referenced above, "We're actually not liable for it but it's something that, because of the circumstances of this particular seller, the impact on such a large number of buyers, we've made the decision to make a fund available to cover the expense. "

Ah Ha! It certainly sounds like he is admitting that the Buyer Protection eBay and PayPal are so fond of bragging about isn't much good, doesn't it?

Additionally, the number of buyers affected appears to number in the thousands, according to the abc.net.au transcript linked directly above.

Why I Think PayPal Sucks

To see why I think PayPal sucks, you only have to check out eBay's PayPal discussion board and PayPalSucks.com. There you will find many, many reasons why PayPal is not a company I will trust with my money or financial information.

A quick glance at the PayPal message board shows these issues:

Chargeback Issued Against Me - What To Do Next

PayPal "Buyer Protection" is a USELESS SCAM!

PayPal reverses payment to buyer, I'm left empty-handed.

Must use PayPal - WHY?????

$600 disappeared while transferring it from Paypal to my bank account?

Cannot Access Paypal Account VERSIGN ID Incorrect

These are just some of the problems that eBay members who are also PayPal users are having today alone. Unfortunately, those problems are typical of what one sees on a daily basis when checking the discussion board.

One personal reason why I no longer have a PayPal account involves $25 that suddenly and mysteriously disappeared from my account leaving behind no evidence that it had ever been there.

A commenter on this blog has her own PayPal Sucks story to tell. She also has money missing.

Read about PayPal Horror Stories, including ongoing and current ones:
PayPalSucks Forum

If you want more information or if you need help with PayPal issues, go here for links to Warnings; PayPalSucks Help Pages; Whistleblowers & PayPal Insiders; Editorial & Commentary; Popular Threads; and more:
PayPalSucks Sitemap

Why I Blog About eBay

You may wonder just what I have against eBay.

When I first started selling on eBay, I checked out the eBay discussion boards and my education concerning the real eBay began. A lot of information about what goes on can be found there. When there are glitches on the site; when changes happen; when the site appears to have been hacked (more on this below); what the latest scams are... the boardies are always the first to know these things.

Unfortunately, a lot of the information one can find on the discussion boards never seems to make it to System Announcements or General Announcements so many eBay members remain unaware. Many of us who have seen too much think that isn't right so we blog about it hoping to get the word out to more people. Others upload informational and consumer awareness videos to YouTube.

So what have I seen happen on eBay? The list is long but one of my earliest issues with eBay's methods came about because, one at a time, several buyers turned up on the New to eBay message board looking for help after being scammed in a ponzi scheme. eBay was offering them no useful assistance at all. Board regulars had to inform these people about where to go and what to do in an effort to get their money back. I was still naive enough at that time to be stunned at how little eBay did for these people.

That was only the beginning. I continued to help new members and, as I became somewhat jaded about eBay, I found myself getting reported to LiveWorld frequently for telling people the truth. I got many warnings from the moderators as did others who thought the truth was more important than spinning the eBay party line.

If someone new asked questions about selling on eBay, we were expected to tell them that all was rosy. If we tried to tell them about the fees or how slow sales were, we got reported or the trolls came out to shoot us down, malign and mock us. Board wars and battles are common on eBay.

I can't begin to tell you how many people were reported or even suspended from the boards for talking about the incident that took place on eBay's Trust and Safety board when a hacker calling himself Vladuz posted hundreds of eBay user names along with accompanying personal and financial information, including passwords and credit cards numbers. eBay tried to sweep it all under the rug and maintained, for quite some time, that those of us who had seen this were imagining things.

Right now there are probably thousands of sellers who have no idea that they are paying for product listings on eBay that are nowhere to be found in a Search. eBay hopes that they will remain ignorant. I experienced that myself when an item that I was trying to sell could not be found even though I was the only seller with that particular item at the time. A search of the exact title would not bring it up in a search. This goes on all the time and it's getting worse all the time. Buyers think they are seeing everything that is available for sale on eBay but this is not reality.


Speaking of buyers, how do they feel about the new eBay? I intended to link to a buyer complaint on the eBay stores discussion board posted yesterday. But apparently, the thread was killed by Live World. Fortunately, I have a screenshot. Click the Image below to enlarge.










These are just a few examples of things that have happened on eBay and continue to happen which should NOT be swept under the rug. I am just one of many eBay members and former members who think it's important for people to be educated about the true eBay with all its warts.

eBay auction site wins?

Is eBay winning the current war that it seems to be waging against its members?

You have to check out this YouTube video for one man's opinion!

YouTube member relaventpc, AKA torpino, has a must-see video about eBay's antics and misdeeds. According to him, eBay (or someone with an ax to grind) has gotten his previous videos shut down.

I know others who have been in the same, or similar, situation: videos removed; account suspensions; eBay discussion board suspensions; auction interference; and much more.

What is eBay's problem? Why are they putting so much effort into shutting up their detractors? Do they have something to hide?

Relaventpc has some ideas about what eBay may be up to. Check it out and leave your comments on his video and here, as well. Help to get the word out on eBay's transgressions.



Thanks to the commenter, Cappnonymous, who turned me on to the above video!

Once Again eBay Robs Its Stores Sellers

The paying customers at eBay are being ripped off again, in my opinion. The Listing Frame is gone; missing in action!

Some time ago, a feature called a Listing Frame was added as an option for eBay stores. Basically a Listing Frame is a left navigation bar in each listing which links to various categories in an eBay store. The idea is to promote other items in the lister's eBay store for multiple sales.

A few days ago, numerous store owners noticed that their Listing Frame had mysteriously vanished. To add insult to injury, in addition to the categories part of the Listing Frame going AWOL, the top navigation part of the Frame has changed. eBay has taken it upon themselves to change the few categories in this top navigation to... whatever.

On the eBay Stores discussion board, one person posts that eBay now has lower-level categories in her navigation rather than the top-level categories which she wants to promote. Sellers are unable to fix any of this because the option to revise the Frame is also now missing.

See the screenshot below for an example of a listing with no left navigation. All that wasted white space looks bad, doesn't it?



As is usual these days, there was and still is NO announcement on the eBay site about this problem. Some sellers contacted eBay and were told that this is another of the never-ending "glitches" and that they are working to fix it. If this is true, why not make an announcement for all to see? Maybe there has been no announcement because this is not, in reality, a glitch but a deliberate testing of a new listing page which will no longer include that all-important Listing Frame.

Members of the Stores board were told that the Frame would be disappearing eventually but this was not supposed to take place yet. Why does eBay have such a hard time being honest with its sellers? Why not just admit that they are arbitrarily removing Frames already, either as a test or for good? Why do they always seem to have something to hide? Where are their ethics?

At present, eBay Stores owners are paying for the Listing Frame through their store fees and they are not getting what they paid for. Maybe it's time to file a report about eBay's current practices and mistreatment of its sellers at Ripoff Report.

Was There Any Good News for eBay Sellers This Week?

I suppose the answer to that question would be a matter of opinion but, based on a check of the eBay discussion boards and comments on the AuctionBytes Blog, I would say the answer is a resounding NO.

There were a few announcements of upcoming changes but changes are the norm lately for eBay so that in itself is nothing good. In fact, most announcements for the last couple of years have been ominous for sellers.

Lorrie Norrington says that eBay has decided to change its recent feedback changes. Sounds confusing, right? That it is. She makes it sound like eBay listened to its sellers and is reversing some policy changes regarding feedback which were detrimental to most sellers. Then along comes Usher Lieberman, eBay's spokesperson, to confuse things even more with talk of these changes BUT he says, "eBay has not committed to a timeframe."

Huh? So are they reversing their previous changes or not? Is this more feint and distract on eBay's part? Some regular posters on the eBay Stores discussion board seem to think this is another con job. That is my perception, as well.

Speaking of the eBay Stores board, another little gem was discovered there today. Links policy scraped is the title of the thread. The eBay member who started the thread has this to say:

Just got my power up newsletter and at the bottom was this quote"the policy announced in May covering links in sellers' listings or other eBay pages will not be enforced. Instead, we'll be announcing a clearer and more comprehensive links policy in mid August."

Too bad I already ended 2400 listings, oh well, thanks ebay for the push towards my own site.

Off to put link back in about me page

This refers to eBay's recently announced change to their policies concerning what links are allowed in listings and on About Me pages. After the announcement was made that most links would no longer be allowed, many sellers got to work revising their listings... and work it is for those with Stores, especially, due to the large number of listings which must be revised. Now eBay seems to be saying WAIT.

Will they ever make up their mind? And what about the sellers who do not get the Power Up newsletter? How many are revising their listings right this minute, thinking they know what eBay expects? Will they be revising all over again if and when eBay finally decides just what its links policy is to be?

The above examples are just a few things which happened this week on eBay which should carry some good news for sellers, at first glance. Once you look below eBay's murky surface, a different picture is seen. Sadly, with eBay, very little, if anything, is at it seems.

What's Up with eBay's Sadistic Treatment of Its Sellers?

One would think that a seller was an eBay paying customer and should be treated as such. It seems that either (1) eBay does not agree or (2) they have shoddy, possibly unethical, ways of dealing with said paying customers.

An example of eBay's mistreatment of its sellers can be found in an AuctionBytes Blog article titled eBay Seller Suspended for Posting Neg in Positive Feedback.

eBay's new feedback policy does not allow sellers to leave anything but positive feedback for buyers. The seller highlighted in the AuctionBytes Blog left positive feedback for a buyer but included a negative statement about that buyer in the Comments section. Now he finds himself locked out of eBay. He can't sell or buy.

This seller left a comment on AuctionBytes explaining his suspension:

Here is the actual message you get when you attempt to sign in after beibg
suspended for leaving NEG to buyer in the POS comment section:

Dear (SELLERS NAME AND EMAIL)
We regret to inform you that your eBay account has been suspended due to the violation of our site policy below:

* Site Interference - Feedback Abuse

An activity that interferes with any of eBay's operations. In this case, manipulating the transaction process by entering into one or more transactions without the intention of following through with the transaction(s) and with the intent of leaving feedback as part of a campaign to harass the other member(s) involved.

Due to the suspension of this account, please be advised you are prohibited from using eBay in any way including registering a new account.

Please note that any seller fees due to eBay will immediately become due and payable. eBay will charge any amounts you have not previously disputed to the billing method currently on file.

Regards,
Investigations Department eBay AG

If I didn't know eBay's tactics and dirty tricks so well, I might be astounded. Sadly, this has become typical of the way that eBay treats its sellers. No respect. No recourse. No appeals. Just shut-out, "You are suspended." The seller in question believes that all of his listings have been expunged from the system. Should he wish to return to selling on eBay when his suspension is ended, he would have to build those listings from scratch. eBay does not save them, apparently.

Is this good customer service? Is this an acceptable way to treat a paying customer? Maybe eBay sees it that way but, as one who has been in retail and wholesale sales for much of my adult life, I find it appalling.

eBay Exec Lorrie Norrington: Bad Buyer? Bad Seller?

During eBay Live 2008, President of eBay Marketplace Operations, Lorrie Norrington, told a tale of buying and reselling a pair of shoes on eBay. Interested persons thought to check this out and made some odd discoveries.

Ms. Norrington's auction listing stated that she received the shoes as a gift. I thought she said she bought them?

eBay Employee Trading Policy states that, "When eBay company employees list an item for sale on eBay, the eBay company employees must identify themselves as eBay employees and include the link to this Web page in their listing." How odd. I don't see that link in Ms. Norrington's EBay listing nor do I see her identify herself as an eBay employee.

A search at Toolhaus.org reveals that Ms. Norrington received Negative Feedback, as a buyer, on Nov-13-06. The feedback from the seller stated, "NON PAYING BIDDER - TOTAL TIME WASTER." Oh, my.

You can view the whole sordid story in the YouTube video below and judge for yourself. Is Lorrie Norrington a Bad eBay Seller and/or Bad eBay Buyer?

Thanks to an anonymous commenter for alerting me to the fact that this topic is under discussion on eBay's own Trust and Safety message board. What are people saying about the conduct of Lorrie Norrington as a buyer and seller on Ebay?