ebay

Asteeleleith · Oct 9, 2005

hi all
Let me tell you a story, a true one.

Some time ago i purchased an eyepiece from ebay. Under the buy it now clause.

some time later it arrived (from germany) in a small cardboard box, nicely sealed. Inside it was wrapped in two pieces of newpaper of all things, and only two pieces to protect the item, and a tatty box.
I point out here the seller i bought it from is a company, NOT domestic.
The newpaper contained pictures of nudity, obviosuly from a German page three type tabloid.

Fair enough the item arrived undamaged, but i had paid about ten pounds for postage and packaging, so to see it arrive without at least bubble wrap did tend to upset me.

I complained to the company, who said i was making a mountain out of a mole hill. An apology would have been enough. Then they threatened me to say if i left negative feedback i would get it in return.

On this i complained to Ebay who said there was nothing they could do.
So what a farce with makes of the Feedback system. Sellers blackmail buyers to leave good feedback or get bad feedback in return.
Needless to say i left neutral feedback, the item was after all in good condition. But can the people see my point?

Not only this but some of my items did not sell, and i think it is because there are too such similar items i also selling to be noticed.
Ebay now i think is becoming a victim of its own popularity. Great for the buyer, lousy for the seller.

I think ebay has dominated the online clutter into cash market for too long, does anyone here think they can better it. I certainly think there is market for another type of online shop like ebay.

just a few thoughts

Al

TWD-Tony · Oct 9, 2005

The technology is available to create another eBay, this is the easy part - I created an online auction site some time ago, it was a flop... Basically because marketing is the key to sucess!
If you do not have any sellers then you will not get any bidders, and by the same note - if you do not have any registered bidders then you will not attract any sellers, this is probably the biggest stumbling block for anyone considering creating an auction website.

If anyone is interested in creating such a venture then I would love to hear from them - in some sort of partnership deal.
I am always looking for new pie's to park my fingers in :wink:
But you would have to have a solid plan on how to get this sort of thing off the ground.

clairemackaness · Oct 9, 2005

I used to do really well on ebay but now the market is dominated by people selling bulk painted art work. Nobody notices my little pieces anymore.

I also get really annoyed with people making money out of postage. As an example I was looking for a memory stick/dongle and found hundreds on eBay. They were all selling for buy it now £4.99 but the postage was £15.00 from the UK to the UK. When I e-mailed some of the sellers saying that even special delivery their item could cost no more than £5.00 to post, I got nasty replies and rude comments.

Ebay markets itself as a community and thats what it used to be. Now there are too many people making a living from it and us genuine sellers are getting pushed out.

Ebay needs to be more picky about who it lets sell.

Asteeleleith · Oct 9, 2005

I could not agree more

i recenlty went into selling computer consumables, like ink cartridges. Though i i had the cheapest poss price till i went onto ebay.

It is a buyers market on there for sure. If you are looking for a bargain there is the place to go. But for selling, i would not recommend it.
Not only this but they cream it twice, we all know trhat the own paypal as well don't we, and that they take their commission again from sales made.
Note also theri is no provison for Nochex which is cheaper!

The trouble is the ebay now has around 9 million users in the uk alone. For a pupulation of 60 million, that number speaks for itelf really.
And this listing fee, havng to pay even if your item does not sell, what kind of joke is that.

If i knew where to start i would love to kick ebay into touch and come up with something better. As you sayit is gettng buyers and bidders on there.

From my point of view i think i will stick to my own site for selling things, and leave ebay alone from now on.

Kind Regards

Al

creative-keyrings · Oct 9, 2005

I used to love selling on eBay but i dont anymore. You state returns policy's when selling items and if people for example dont return an item within 7days then no refund should be given.

However if your a buyer you will always get a refund no matter what due to paypal's unfair complaint scheme. They supposedly assess the situation and either refund the buyer or close the case. How easy is it for them to refund the buyer?

It happened to me twice because people have read returns policy's.

Ebay has its advantages but a lot of the time your better off buying from a reputable shop!

Asteeleleith · Oct 9, 2005

Is is true, nothing beats buying from a shop, online or otherwise.

for example i have always loved using Amazon and Cd WOW you get very good bargans on there.

In some way, whatever i have bought from ebay, i have always had some kind of issue with it. and getting that retaliatory neutral feedback just about finishes off with the place now.

Al

creative-keyrings · Oct 9, 2005

Yup,

and is it me but people are becoming more stupid on ebay buying something that is more money than in the shops?

what happened to the bargins on ebay? Sellers seem to get greedy now....

William Wilson · Oct 9, 2005

I think the low price high postage is reduce the payments to ebay. I bought an item from the USA it was $7.50 and $25 p&p, cost here was £45 basically I didn't need to pay VAT as it was under £18 so it can work for you.

Asteeleleith · Oct 9, 2005

It is so true, the number of times i have lost bids on items that were so much cheaper in the shops, are people mad!

I got so cross to loose one such auction that i nearly contacted the bidder to say where they could have got the item cheaper for new.

Ebay is no longer just a online shop, store, or even car bootsale, it is a way of life now to some ppl.

I even have mates who have bought cars from there!!
Even as another said ppl make money by charging xs for postage. but then this is what puts many off when they see that.

i admit i would stil buy from there if i saw a bargain., but then i would go on there now if there was something i wanted. Like computers games i leanred it is addictive.

But then all this stop ppl using it.

Al

Asteeleleith · Oct 9, 2005

Hi all

What would ppl think to a second by even better ebay type of thing. One that allows only Trade to sell, but most ppl can register to buy?

We have established that ebay without doubt has cornered the market here, but it is still flawed and there are anumber of digruntled customers as we have seen, including me.
if a new concept along similar lines could be thought of then could possible.

i know there are already online shops etc, but what is people could use it to sell goods they want to shift quickly, it would do no harm to advertise in more than one place then?
Last minute hols even. These are just ideas, but i would invite everyones opinion
Does anyone know of anything similar on the interent already?

Al

Jayne · Oct 9, 2005

Hi,

I bought a mixer, in total cost £130 including postage, in the shops the price was £250..so there are still good deals on there if you check it out. I had no trouble with it, got my mixer in 3 days, it's perfect and was brand new in the box.

Jayne

Asteeleleith · Oct 9, 2005

Well true
I bought a telescope from there, that is far from excellent in quality, but then what can i expect when i bought it for just over £100

Plus other business i have dealt with on their like Scopes'n'skies sell mainly on ebay, and they have always delievered quality stuff on time etc.

Al

clickprofits · Oct 9, 2005

creative-keyrings said:
Yup,

and is it me but people are becoming more stupid on ebay buying something that is more money than in the shops?

what happened to the bargins on ebay? Sellers seem to get greedy now....

No it's not just you -a Lonely Planet book was on my watch list - it's cover price RRP is £12.99 (ie; this price in any bookshop) , takes 5 seconds to check on amazon which shows they have it for £9.09 and £9.99 on Play.com with free delivery - so what does it go for on ebay? - £18.95!! (£16 + postage, almost double the Play.com price!) Maybe I should start selling ten pound notes on ebay at a bargain price of £10.99!

TWD-Tony · Oct 9, 2005

eBay is now suffering from it's own success (as a lot of businesses do) - scammers at rife and bargains are hard to come by (but not impossible)

I think that Asteeleleith may have an interesting concept - I'm sure people would feel more confident entering into an auction where the sellers were traders rather than just "joe public" with a paypal account?

Asteeleleith · Oct 10, 2005

Hi all

It isn;t just this, it is also scams like selling information too, like links to sites anybody could find with google search for example. Ebay as i say is a greeat concept but as already said it a victim of its own success.

In my mind the time is now for some competition against ebay, they have dominated the market for too long now, and if they go on letting scammers win as they do then fewer people will use it and then they will be in trouble. no matter how big an organisation is it is never ot big to fall.

At the end of the day, i think ebay are becoming too complacent, when one user has an issue. it ,must be assumed another 100 do.

If a new concept of ebay ws to be used, then it could use nochex, in this way people could make credit card purchases without having a nochex account, all they would need is an email addy

it is certainly a matter i intend to ponder on

Al

ps, for those who do use ebay, you can always enter a proxy bid of up to how much u are willing to pay. This way you do not have to keep monitoring the item. Usualy for a few quid less than the retail price. if someone bids against you by a few pence then only a few pence or pounds of your proxy bid are used. Say if something is going for 50p, you are willing to go to £8. Some bids £1 then the system will put it to £1.50 rather than the full £8 you entered as the max amount, if this makes sense.
If this is exceeded, you know you can get it new and cheaper elsewhere. Lets not also forget the cost of added postage. In this way you do not have to watch the item, and you know you will be notified if you win.
not that i want to encourage anyone to use that site.

Asteeleleith · Oct 10, 2005

Hi all
The other thread has an interesting website mentioed www.qsell.co.uk

It seems a good concept, people list items on it for free there. and there are some good items on it for sale.

Al

Cornish Steve · Oct 10, 2005

I am not a fan of eBay. I used them just once, encountered a problem which cost me money, and was given no recourse. There is no telephone number to call, and most email messages are automated. When a real person did respond by email, I was astonished by his rudeness. Frankly, I will never do business with such an unprofessional company again.

Al, I wish someone would compete with eBay. The points of differentiation would need to be an increased focus on the customer and a more satisfying user experience. It's going to be tough, however, to challenge a company that is so entrenched in the new market it has created.

Asteeleleith · Oct 10, 2005

Hi goldctrsteve

it would seem some people already are, and with the great business minds we have in this forum, i am sure someone will take them on.

I have ideas for it now, others are already trying, it is try ebay is massive but it doesnot seem to protect those it cons.

I hate to use a biblical analogue but was it not david who beat goliath?
ebay must has a weaknesses that can be exploited, through these they can be beaten.

After all who would have thought that Richard branson would take on the likes of BA, and win. It nearly broke him, but he did it.

one thing i have leanred over the years, the secret to good business, is having a product and service people want, and the maketing clout to get them to use it. Get this right, you cannot loose. Unless recession strikes of course

Al

clairemackaness · Oct 10, 2005

goldctrsteve said:
There is no telephone number to call, and most email messages are automated. When a real person did respond by email, I was astonished by his rudeness. Frankly, I will never do business with such an unprofessional company again.

What do you expect when a recent TV documentary showed eBay staff being allowed to bring in their own items and use company time to sell them. They have no consideration for their customers at all. At the end of the day, if your mug enough to give them a fee for listing, a fee for selling and a fee for paypal they are laughing at us.

I am desperate to shift my stock and after listing 19 paintings last week, none of which sold, I'm giving up. It wasn't a case of the goods being crap it was down to the fact that I was up against over 20,000 others and looking at the hit counters only 8 or 9 people even looked at the goods. It used to be in excess of 200 for every auction.

I'm fed up!

Asteeleleith · Oct 10, 2005

Hi claire

and you are the exact kind of cutomer a rival ebay would try to help!

Al

clairemackaness · Oct 10, 2005

as per my post in your rival to ebay thread, I'm up for it if you have the tools to create it

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