eBay - Breading ground for con artists and scammers!!

[LaundryLockerLtd]

Is it just me or is anybody else getting fed up of eBay and its host of con artists and scammers?

I remember when eBay launched, you wanted to sell something, so you listed it, people bid untill the end, winner paid you and you sent the item. Great no problems.

But now you spend 3 days trying to list you item because of all the new restrictions, guidelines, automatic item descriptions etc, when you finally list it it cost you more to list than the items worth and then you get an eBayer form Nigeria Province who joined ebay only 10 seconds ago and wants to bid £250 more than what the items worth new? Or the best on is when you list a 'buy it now' some ukrainian doctor who had to return home to perform life saving surgery buys your collection of beatles memrobila tea cossies and wants them shipping aborad but whilst you at it can they send you a cheque for £300 extra and you send it to their south african cousin in canada??
Or perhaps every seller who wins your item is removed by ebay because they are a strange bidder are they letting inmates at holloway log on ebay and randamly slap at the keyboard until they win something?

I cannot stand ebay any longer i might aswell go the old fashion way and stick an add in the paper.

 

[gemd89]

Im just fed up of the fact you cant list more than 100 items and if you do you have to register as a business seller, you cannot leave bad feedback for buyers! The fees cost more than the item value! I actualy answered one of those surveys today and i put a list of issues i had.

After ive sold all my excess stock ill only be buying on ebay from then on!

Gemma

 

[gemd89]

And even for buyers its getting worse as sellers want more to help them pay their fees...arrrgghh!

Gemma

 

[Richie N]

Gumtree is worse for scammers....

 

[Drpepper]

What the problem with the fees, am I missing something? 8.75% of the selling price and a few pence insertion fee seems reasonable to me for the audience you are reaching :|

 

[UKSBD]

Nice story on reddit today on how someone got their own back on someone who bought something then changed their mind and wouldn't pay.
http://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/em01h/how_i_got_an_uncooperative_ebay_buyer_to_pay_for/

 

[Liybpg]

What the problem with the fees, am I missing something? 8.75% of the selling price and a few pence insertion fee seems reasonable to me for the audience you are reaching :|

Agree, retail shop would take something like 30-50%

 

[dynamic08]

Exactly get in the real world people. Ebay is cheap to use! THATS A FACT

 

[silvermusic]

Im just fed up of the fact you cant list more than 100 items and if you do you have to register as a business seller, you cannot leave bad feedback for buyers! The fees cost more than the item value! I actualy answered one of those surveys today and i put a list of issues i had.

After ive sold all my excess stock ill only be buying on ebay from then on!

Gemma

You are a business, so what's your problem with registering as such?

Personally I get fed up with businesses trading on eBay and pretending to not be in order to deny people their legal rights. If your products are of such low value that a few pence insertion fees bother you perhaps there's a basic flaw your business.

 

[LaundryLockerLtd]

My main grumble isnt about the fees its about the type of buyers and sellers on there which have made it a difficult place to trade for both businesses and private sellers.

 

[silvermusic]

My main grumble isnt about the fees its about the type of buyers and sellers on there which have made it a difficult place to trade for both businesses and private sellers.

I've been selling on eBay for the last 7 and some odd years and been a buyer for well over a decade. To some degree I would agree with what you've said, but it hasn't always been the case. Any popular site where there's money to be made will attract both good honest sellers and buyers as well as the less desirable element of society.

For several years it was my sole source of income, but times change and I certainly couldn't rely on that nowadays. Everyone wants everything at rock bottom prices with the best service possible, trying to do that is impossible and will break you. Often long time honest traders will take short cuts, make promises they can't keep and slowly get less reliable because they're trying to keep up with busy fools. This time of year it's worse as everyone want a piece of the action.

For myself I use it more wisely nowadays. It's a great place to shift ends of line stock, and can make a great showcase for your web site and getting customers after their first purchase to go to your web site. But realistically you only want to be selling good selling items with a dcent profit margin, the long tail of your stock should be kept on your web site.

 

[saxondale]

I`m fed up of people pulling auctions when the bids don`t come in - 4 times now I`m the only bidder and three times the item been pulled.

 

[gemd89]

No, Im not selling business products on ebay! Im selling kids clothes and baby products! I was having a big clear out before xmas and put on over 100 items and they wanted me to register as a business but because some of the items my kids havent used or worn i put on were new they wouldnt let me go as personal! I dont sell business on ebay!

 

[Matt1959]

I`m fed up of people pulling auctions when the bids don`t come in - 4 times now I`m the only bidder and three times the item been pulled.

people now make the mistake of leaving their bids until the last minute. All good in theory but what it does is send the message to the seller that their item is rubbish so they panic and either pull the listing or sell to someone who has emailed an offer. If I see soemthing I want badly, I'll bid early and if theres low interest, I'll get someone else that I know to bid, then I'll top that bid etc. The trend now is to make an offer outside of ebay...

 

[liquidauctions]

The reason i stopped using ebay was due to frozen funds. I was shifting high value items and was making a killing to say the least but it got to the point where they needed an explanation and frozen funds every week or so. Ebay lost out as i was paying a few hundred a month in fees.

 

[shuishui&guoguo]

maybe there should be something new that can replace ebay?

 

[steve23]

The reason i stopped using ebay was due to frozen funds. I was shifting high value items and was making a killing to say the least but it got to the point where they needed an explanation and frozen funds every week or so. Ebay lost out as i was paying a few hundred a month in fees.

Hi,

I tend to have a lot of time on my hands - so I'd be quite happy to jump through the paypal / ebay loops if I was making a killing - so with that in mind, if you've decided against this would you PM me the details of what you were selling etc so I can do it.

If the moneys really good, maybe I can offer you a commission.

All the best

Steve

 

[vvaannmmaann]

If you don't like ebay,don't use it.That's not a difficult concept is it?

 

[DancingWithPoodles]

it is breeding ground not breading ground. learn to spell first

Is it just me or is anybody else getting fed up of eBay and its host of con artists and scammers?

I remember when eBay launched, you wanted to sell something, so you listed it, people bid untill the end, winner paid you and you sent the item. Great no problems.

But now you spend 3 days trying to list you item because of all the new restrictions, guidelines, automatic item descriptions etc, when you finally list it it cost you more to list than the items worth and then you get an eBayer form Nigeria Province who joined ebay only 10 seconds ago and wants to bid £250 more than what the items worth new? Or the best on is when you list a 'buy it now' some ukrainian doctor who had to return home to perform life saving surgery buys your collection of beatles memrobila tea cossies and wants them shipping aborad but whilst you at it can they send you a cheque for £300 extra and you send it to their south african cousin in canada??
Or perhaps every seller who wins your item is removed by ebay because they are a strange bidder are they letting inmates at holloway log on ebay and randamly slap at the keyboard until they win something?

I cannot stand ebay any longer i might aswell go the old fashion way and stick an add in the paper.

 

[Beachcomber]

maybe there should be something new that can replace ebay?

Like Tazbar, CQout, eBid, Specialistauctions etc, etc, etc...............
Many have tried but it's a classic chicken and egg syndrome - sellers want to go where the most buyers are, buyers won't be there until there are lots of sellers.

For the record, I hate eBay - I was a very high volume seller for years but had to pack it in as it is unsustainable as a serious business outlet.

 

[steve23]

it is breeding ground not breading ground. learn to spell first

I spell very badly myself - terribly infact - actualy I dont know if those words are right (terribly and actualy) I always get confused with ly words - are they ly or ley ?

Spell checks are a god send - thought I cant use the one on this forum as you have to instal it first (instal - is that one l or two ?) etc.

But as long as I can understand someone, that works for me

Grammar is also something that many of us fall down on - but this is a forum to discuss business, not a school english class.

All the best

Steve

 

[DancingWithPoodles]

i was joking, i do not care about grammar and spelling this is for employees

I spell very badly myself - terribly infact - actualy I dont know if those words are right (terribly and actualy) I always get confused with ly words - are they ly or ley ?

Spell checks are a god send - thought I cant use the one on this forum as you have to instal it first (instal - is that one l or two ?) etc.

But as long as I can understand someone, that works for me

Grammar is also something that many of us fall down on - but this is a forum to discuss business, not a school english class.

All the best

Steve

 

[steve23]

Oh yes - to be fair - I did suspect that you were !

I too was joking - I am in fact a top notch, first Klass spellur

Steve

 

[Fitness Bug]

Ebay are totally disgusting!!!! This is a fact, Firstly I have a bricks and mortar shop, website and up until 4 weeks ago, a shop on ebay, which I was paying £45 a month for. I was turning over just over a thousand a week on ebay, 100% feedback etc, I am a printer, we mainly personalise/customise hoodies, t-shirts, etc, Anyway, My fees alone for a month of selling where hitting the £400 mark, thats without paypal fees etc, Anyway, I had an email from ebay telling me that my account was somehow linked to another account that was opened in 2007 and the account was in debt by £46, We paid this, even though it wasnt our debt, basically just to keep our shop open, The next thing, ebay shut the shop...the account...everything, we cannot access the account for previous orders, we cannto do anything, I have spoken to them 11 times now and get filled full of S$it everytime, no answers, no explanation, This has caused me massive problems, Not only is it costing me a grand a week in losses but my reputation is in bits because people think ive done a runner and not delivered.....THANKS EBAY!!!!!!

 

[Unreal]

what people dont realise is Ebay is on par the Google as the giants in the online game and they winge about the fees but some people pay google £1-5K to Google for PPC decent traffic while ebay is a fraction of the cost.

 

[LisaV]

Ebay isn't that expensive to list and they do have days when you can list items for free. However listing an item is now more complicated and there is a high expectation from the buyer that you will post it on the very same day and that it should be a mega bargain or they will gripe. After having an item get lost in the post and going through the Post Office forms for compensation, I'm not inclined to sell again.

I do still buy though. But now I always, always check the seller's rating and I never ever ever buy anything electrical from Hong Kong. Lessons learnt there! But to be fair to ebay they do have feedback so you can check up on the person selling/buying and they do have a fairly good procedure if things go wrong.

If you sell something in the paper it will cost you more and then if it doesn't arrive in the post or they send it back you've no safety net to fall back back on. There are scammers everything who will try to take the michael, but with a little common sense you can easily avoid them. Just like you wouldn't send your bank details to that fake solicitors in Nigeria who have traced your non-existent dead wealthy relative or believe that you have won the Euro Lotto millions every week.

You just have to take more care and report those scammers that you do see.

 

[Unreal]

I guess you have to have a reliable courier service to deliver parcels but when things go wrong with any company its important to apologise and send out another straight away and give them a voucher or free ebook.

I would like to see more people comparing Ebay/Paypal fees to TV,radio, newspaper ads brick and mortar business fees, even Google fees for PPC at least with ebay if you dont sell or sell low you dont lose money like you do with other advertising methods.

 

[Drpepper]

at least with ebay if you dont sell or sell low you dont lose money like you do with other advertising methods.

That's the point I think, I spend about £2,000 a year on advertising and promotions to support my High Street shop - does it work? you can never be 100% and if you make a wrong call it's money down the drain. At least with ebay it's no sale no fee (bar the listing charge). Additionally if you are wholly an internet trader you need to compare you ebay fee's with the £22k I have to pay in rent and rates to get my products sold, suddenly ebay looks quiet good value.

 

[Unreal]

Thank you Dr Pepper for those comments at least someone has something good to say about ebay fees. 22K are you on ebay spend a few K there and see how it goes.

Why dont people ever talk about the reduction in fees u get if you sell more, what advertising scheme reduces your rates if you sell more none ebay does.

 

[Drpepper]

Thank you Dr Pepper for those comments at least someone has something good to say about ebay fees. 22K are you on ebay spend a few K there and see how it goes.

Why dont people ever talk about the reduction in fees u get if you sell more, what advertising scheme reduces your rates if you sell more none ebay does.

Good point on the 2K, doesn't suite my business though and I tried internet sales through my website.

What value in sales would you get from a spend of £22k with ebay? Not including Paypal as a High Street shop has credit card charges.

That has to be the question that needs answering to find out if it's good value or not, and I'm genuinely interested

Sorry to the OP if this is going off thread somewhat.

 

[Deleted member 70659]

I wish eBay was a breading ground, would they have tiger bread?

 

[MH1]

Occassionaly the people who shouldn't be allowed on ebay get justice.

http://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/em01h/how_i_got_an_uncooperative_ebay_buyer_to_pay_for/

Not sure if it is 100% true, but I hope it is.

 

[ava_camen]

its always good to conduct a background check to be sure who are you really dealing with.

 

[saxondale]

well, we`ve won the auction at less than I offered the guy the time before he withdrew the last lot

and now he`s gone strangly silent

the bet in house is we will need to collect next saturday @ 1400 or the deals off and it`s bad feedback for me for not paying.

 

[Esk247]

Ebay is cheap for the POTENTIAL audience but you have to remember that of the millions that visit ebay they wont look at that many products in total.

I listed 20 items under a business listing a few months ago, buy it now, end of stock stuff that i didn't need. Selling items at well below high street price (£3) and stating that they were end of stock lines that had to be sold.

Not only did i sell nothing at all, i also only got 2/3 visits on each page. Less than what i would get on facebook or twitter for the same items.

People are on ebay for the auction bargains, maybe cars, or car parts, or antiques and such. Anything for under £100 that looks good.

I'm going to give it another go after xmas but i'm not holding out much hope.

 

[arkybarky]

People are on ebay for the auction bargains, maybe cars, or car parts, or antiques and such. Anything for under £100 that looks good.

Completely agree here! I spend a lot of time searching on ebay for things i like/need under auctions. Very rarely do i get anything from the BiN section. There was a poll/survey on this a few months back on here.

Personally I have never had a problem with these scammers. I did however have someone refuse to sell me an item i won for £7 ( the thing was probably worth about £300-£400) apparently if they do theres not much I can do about it..even though that gave me the rage

Ebay are like any other major company I guess..good to use until something goes wrong..their customer service is aweful!

Paypal are even worse, I genuinely believe it could be the worst customer service I've ever encountered!

 

[Drpepper]

Ebay is cheap for the POTENTIAL audience but you have to remember that of the millions that visit ebay they wont look at that many products in total.

I listed 20 items under a business listing a few months ago, buy it now, end of stock stuff that i didn't need. Selling items at well below high street price (£3) and stating that they were end of stock lines that had to be sold.

Not only did i sell nothing at all, i also only got 2/3 visits on each page. Less than what i would get on facebook or twitter for the same items.

People are on ebay for the auction bargains, maybe cars, or car parts, or antiques and such. Anything for under £100 that looks good.

I'm going to give it another go after xmas but i'm not holding out much hope.

Thats the point, how much did it cost you to put these items on ebay? How much would you pay to advertise them elsewhere, and would that have produced better results? Admittedly it couldn't have been worse.

And the low number of views suggest that no one is looking for the items you have to sale, that in itself is a valuable piece of market research

 

[Esk247]

Thats the point, how much did it cost you to put these items on ebay? How much would you pay to advertise them elsewhere, and would that have produced better results? Admittedly it couldn't have been worse.

And the low number of views suggest that no one is looking for the items you have to sale, that in itself is a valuable piece of market research

Probably cost me less than a fiver for all the items, probably around £2.50 so it was worth it just for the frustration at the fact nobody wants items that are stocked in many other stores :| i don't understand it, but hey ho, didn't cost me much and i've shoved that little box of items back in the cupboard until after xmas now. No point flogging a dead horse.

 

[Esk247]

makes me a little angry when i see adverts like this though:

Timberland Watch Needs Battery & Strap. Strap is broke and missing but watch fully works but battery is dead. Waterproof to 100 meters

going for £9.50 :|

i was selling variations of the same watch on ebay for £9.99 brand new, boxed.

 

[Sky Racer]

I've been trading on Ebay as a seller for about 7 years and buy quite a lot on the site too.

Over the past couple of years Ebay has made it more difficult for honest sellers to make a profit with more and more silly rules for sellers. I did shut the Ebay shop down for a month or so last year and put more items in our online shop and the time I'd normally spend on Ebay sales was spent doing some promotional stuff and updating the webshop. There was a notable drop in sales and in general enquiries.

Love it or hate it, Ebay is a good outlet for end of line stock items, clearance stock and the odd ball stuff.

We sell car parts and all of our stock is on our website with a free delivery option but people still seem to prefer going to Ebay to buy it despite having to pay for delivery if the order is placed via Ebay. The fees can be quite high but when compared with paper advertising and the rental on a high street store they are quite reasonable.

One thing that really lets Ebay down is the general lack of support for sellers, it's all about the buyers now... no negative feedback allowed for the many timewasting fools, sellers expected to send things out almost immediately and for free (or almost free) and then of course buyers encouraged to pay with Paypal as it earns Ebay even more money.

It did used to be more seller friendly with lower fees, good account managers you could simply call or email and being allowed to leave negative feedback for non payers to warn others about them.

Ebay are now after big volume sellers, the high street retailers looking for an additional outlet to clear old stock etc..

But all that said.. it's still cheap for the potential amount of customers you can reach