SmallBizResource Blog -- Internet

EBay Buyers AND Sellers React to Policy Changes

Posted by Gayle Kesten Thursday, May 22, 2008, 01:15 PM ET

Which American Idol judge do you think SBR readers most sound like now that eBay's new buyer-favoring policies are reality?

Yup, Simon Cowell by a landslide, though I few Paula Abduls chimed in as well. To be sure, the changes at eBay, which I blogged about last week, struck a way-pitchy chord among many of those who frequent the online auction site. I also heard from quite a few folks back in February when the changes were first announced and sellers were planning a boycott.

What follows is a bulk of the feedback I received, including all (three) of the comments backing eBay's decision and keeping my obsession to edit to a minimum. Keep sending me your thoughts and ideas. For example, what kinds of policies would you advise eBay to put into place to safeguard both buyers and sellers from the dopes who play unfairly? Will you continue using eBay as a seller? If not, what alternative sites have you checked out and would recommend? What should people stay away from?

Let's keep the conversation going!

FOR EBAY'S CHANGES

Larry: This is a positive move by eBay, in support of buyers. I have been buying on eBay since 1999, over 1M auctions, with 4 negatives received as retaliation from the 4 sellers that I left well-deserved negatives for. Current example: I emailed a seller requesting the date he would ship a computer to me. I paid the seller with PayPal, and requested the tracking number. No reply. After 3 additional attempts to receive a reply without success, I filed a nonreceipt with PayPal. A week later I received a "sorry I have been out of pocket" email that said the computer was ordered from a third party and would be sent to me when received -- even though the auction ad said the computer was in Lubbock, Texas.

Winnie: I sold a few things, but mostly I buy and I can say that about 30% of my purchases have been with less than professional sellers, even though these are so called "super sellers." The sellers I have had problems with do not repond to messages until Ebay contacts them. Fear of negative comments from sellers forces many buyers to falsely leave a positive comment. As a buyer, I want to know which seller conducts business professionally and which I should avoid, but because buyers are fearful of that negative comment, I had no way of knowing. From the point of view of a buyer I am grateful for the change.

Mogul: I recently bought a crossword book in "Like New" condition. The seller sent a book in which the puzzles were already done. I wrote to her and said, "Let's work this out. I think that's preferable to my just posting negative feedback." On receiving this, she immediately posted negative feedback for me claiming that I was threatening her (with, of course, no details). I've written to eBay four times. Three of my e-mails were never answered. The fourth was a reply from a rep telling me to go to Square Trade. The rep should know that Square Trade no longer is willing to work with Ebay, because of Ebay's bad faith refusals to abide by Square Trade's decisions. Meanwhile, what am I supposed to do? We have a dishonest seller who is posting lies, which could be taken as allegations of actionable, and possibly criminal, conduct.

AGAINST EBAY'S CHANGES

Charles: That's disgusting. I make part of my living through eBay sales, however I only do it part time. I've had some buyers completely try and pull a fast one over me, and now this just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It hurts all of us when I can't post a cautionary opinion so that others in my shoes can keep a look out.

Jim W: I am a buyer 99% of the time. If I think I'm being shortchanged by a seller, I will not hesitate to leave less than favorable feedback. Why shouldn't the sellers have the same option? Who cares if they stop buying. We don't need buyers in the marketplace that play games with sellers or try to cheat them.

Arthur: As a matter of fact, yes, I can fault eBay for their actions. EBay only succeeds if both buyers and sellers are happy with the environment, and smaller sellers often have the most unique and interesting merchandise. By driving them away it turns eBay into little more than an online storefront for large dealers who often know little about what they're selling.

Ed: This continues along the vein eBay has walked for a while now. Small sellers are becoming fewer and fewer, and with big sellers come poorer quality products and nonexistent service. Things will not get better, though, unless a very large number of sellers and buyers move to one of the competitors.

Markus: It's the usual evolution of a business -- they start out as being a type of "grassroots" startup, new thing for the everyday-person to use. Then they get accolades by trade magazines and more join in, then big business starts investing in it and, since they now have become a "big business" through their success, they ally themselves with said big business and leave those everyday people (that supported and made them what they are) behind.

ebayer459: I am a gold power seller on eBay. There are bad buyers and sellers out there. We should be able to rate both ways to make things fair. The new system is very unfair. There are scammers and bad people on both sides of the fence.

Ron (nybuffalohunter): EBay has gone too far! We, the sellers, pay all the fees and the buyers pay nothing! We made eBay what they are today, and what do we get for this? It's getting to the point where we don't break even. And the best part is we can no longer leave feedback for deadbeat bidders and scammers. WOW, that was really thinking, eBay!

ebay id Public-Auction: I started selling on ebay in 1998, The moment I read the newsletter about the new changes, I closed my eBay store and concentrated on coinzip.

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