EBAY

[mwenman]

This may have alrady been discussed and I probably overlooked it however, a friend of mine in Canada that often sells items on Ebay informed me of a boycott from Feb 18th - 25th.

Apparently people are not to list, sell, or buy anything during this week. All of this in response to the new CEO and CFO claiming that buyers and sellers are noting more than a bunch of noise in a flea market. Well, isn't it just a fancified flea market in reality??

I don't sell anything on there, so not totally up on the changes in regards to lower insertion fees, but increased final sales fees, fees on shipping and quantity requirments etc.

Perhaps one of you regular sellers could share some info?

 

[Rifleman1776]

Can you verify those statements? If said, that is a dreadful way to speak of the people who pay you.

 

[Dario]

I heard something to that effect and heard too that a lot of people are not happy with the changes (not just the fees) but this is the first time I heard of the boycott.

eBay is not the best buying/selling venue but face it...there are times when it is the best if not the only choice some have when selling or looking for something.

I do hope a similar outfit succeed thought, eBay need a competition badly.

 

[SuperDave]

Would not surprise me.

Any more, if I find something I like, I contact the seller directly, if it didn't sell, and offer an off-site transaction, saving us both some money. I do the same thing with sellers that have an Ebay Store. More and more sellers are willing to use Ebay as a marketing tool (insertion fees only) and do sales off-site. Ebay frowns on the practice but they are driving sellers and buyers alike to do just that.

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Hmmm...

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/forum.jspa?forumID=143

More telling, read this!
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000642591&tstart=0&mod=1203276798376

Paypal to hold payment for 21 days for sellers with under 100 feedback??!!

 

[Mudder]

http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/15/smbusiness/ebay_strike_update.fsb/index.htm?postversion=2008021612

http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/31/smbusiness/ebay_fee_hike.fsb/

I don't know about the validity of the statement but I know that every time Ebay has a fee structure change people call for a boycott. last time was in 2005 I believe. I think that boycott fizzled.

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Looks like there can be a hold on PayPal payments for 21 days, upwards of 33% to 60% higher ending fees, and the removal of feedback on the sellers end. A Buyer can blast you and have no fear of recorse from your feed back..

Something to really look into there, I am not a fan of the whole boycott thing, but those changes are not good for e-bay at all. This is more than just price changes.

 

[alamocdc]

It sounds like the new CEO wants to make ebay more like Amazon. To do this, they need to drive out the average used item seller and cater to those w/ebay "stores"... mostly nothing more than import clearing houses. This is a risky move and I don't think it will do well for them. I guess we'll see.

 

[Dario]

Looks like eBay is committing a suicide...good so other outfit will have a chance to penetrate their market.

Anyone knows a good auction site?

Anyone wants to start up one and compete with eBay? I am willing to be a working partner and I think I have a dollar somewhere I can "invest" LOL

 

[LandfillLumber]

I'm trying to stop ebay all together. i will still have like maybe2 or 3 auctions up all the time to draw people into a web site if that ever happens for me. No feed back i didn't even realize this, they are making poor choices in management. I hope the new auction opening at the end of the month geared for wood working will catch on over the next year or so and I will no longer need ebay. Good luck all, Victor

 

[jwoodwright]

I was burnt and won't use e-bay...

I wish there was another choice. They believe they can do as they please, hopefully this boycott will change their minds...

 

[gerryr]

I'm not really sure how big a deal sellers not being able to leave feedback for buyers is, or the other way around for that matter. It is very easy to get an eBay ID, so if someone has a bunch of negative feedback all they need to do is get another ID, especially buyers. I got burned by a seller once and afterwards found out he was then on his 7th or 8th ID and the last time I checked was up to nearly 20. And he wasn't just changing his ID, but getting an entirely new one and starting over.

The increased fees and holding onto your money for up to 21 days while you are then supposed to ship the item is pretty peculiar. I'm glad I don't sell there.

 

[mwenman]

It will definately be interesting to see how this all unfolds. I'm definately not in favor of holding to the money thing for 21 days or longer.

My sister and I had just created a new account so we could hopefully start listing items that are from our moms estate to finally get that taken care of and done with, but with all these upcoming changes, may not be our best course of action. <sigh>

 

[Tom McMillan]

There's been a lot of negativity about the changes on EBAY. I'm sure they've been hurting with the slow economy, which may have generated some of the changes. I put a pencil to the changes in fees (the gallery is now included in the insertion fee which is lower), but the final value fee increases. Well, for most of the items I sell I'm going to actually be saving for insertion and final value fees---but, there is a break even point and a point at which I would be paying more depending on my final sales price. If my item sells for $10 I'll save money over what I pay now, and if it sells for $20 the fees will be more than I pay now.

My understanding of the hold on monies in PayPal is that it would only affect new sellers or those with no or little feedback or a lot of negative feedback. Those with a certain level of feedback and positive feedback will not have fees held is my understanding.

I'm not real well versed with the new feedback rules, and it looks like they're leaning towards the buyer and not the seller unfortunately.

I'll be looking at the Etsy auction site to try to evaluate trying some items there. Also, for those selling miniatures there's a new auction site which is miniaturesonly.com that I understand allows listing and selling for free for this month that I'll take a closer look at.

Oh, and guess what?? USPS goes up again in May 08 I understand.

 

[TellicoTurning]

Seems Like I remember that Yahoo had an auction site.. seems like they were operating much like e-Bay.. don't know what happend to them.

 

[Dario]

I see this as a knee-jerk reaction on the management side. They failed to see that the problem is not eBay but the nationwide economic slump. Trying to fix it on their end now the way they do may inflict more harm than good. Instead of courting more sellers, they are alienating most of them. It also discourages most new sellers to use paypal...not sure why they chose to do that (or is it greed?).

The change is good for buyers but really bad for sellers.

eBay have a strong hold and basically dominates online auction. In the end, most buyers/sellers may not have any choice (maybe they are banking on that). Whether this move pays off, only time can tell.

 

[billteix]

I have an auction site which i been working on for a couple of months now. It is located at http://www.bid4bits.com/. I been working on some of the cost factors and any suggestion would be very welcome.

 

[Tuba707]

Well, I have been working for a long time on something that hopefully will be a good place to go instead of eBay for the woodworking stuff. Some of you know about the project and some of you have been to the site. I have said a few vague things about it because I am trying to avoid simply using the IAP forums for advertising, but I think this is completely on-topic.

The purpose of The Wood Mall is to provide an eBay alternative for any and all things woodworking while providing useful services for woodworkers as well - and much lower fees. I actually envision most of the listings on the site being "Buy It Now" style rather than auction style, although I can support either type just as well. The site will include a gallery, RSS feeds, and resource links for starters, and some other cool things are in the works.

I am not going to do a ton of talking about it. I think that if you believe it to be a worthwhile and well-planned venture, you will check it out on your own. I am happy to answer any questions about it, of course. I know that there will be a lot of good vendors and even some very large vendors that are considering using the site after its opening. I will have to sit out of penturning for a while due to recent financial developments, but this site has been in the works for a while and I hope it can be a great resource for us here to use, as well as woodworkers from <gasp> "other forums" =) My top link on my toolbar and the Resource page is - penturners.org!

That is all I will say - anyone else can feel free to jump in with comments, suggestions, questions, etc.

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Joel... You do realize that by opening the store on the 29th you can not celebrate your "2nd year" for four years, right? [}]

PS.. Best of luck! Maybe once you are up and running, I can list those pen mills there.

 

[barrels]

Good Luck to Joel..I have been to the site and looks very promising. See you there on the 29th..as to ebay..I am done .. I have only put two pens up for sale, which one is for sale now... a comfort pen w/ cherry wood very conservative.. I started at $11.50 cheap... so today I went in to see ..of coarse no bids.. but the pen for sale one item up from me is a comfort pen engraved to your spec with a wood box(nice) also engraved ..get this it was a buy it now type sale..$14.00 ..oh my..people must be nuts.

done with e-bay

 

[Tuba707]

Just to be clear, this isn't a site for finished work to be sold, but rather for materials to be bought/sold. Thanks for checking the site out. I am getting the impression that more and more people are just really getting sick of eBay all around.

By the way, don't undersell your work - do a good job and offer a fair price, but remember that perceived value is extremely powerful. I have a friend that was in the consulting business and only charged $40/hr... very low for that industry. And he was good, too. But he would interview and it would go well, then he would never hear back from his potential client.

So he raised his rates to $170/hr, and he was hired on the spot nearly every time he had another consulting contract interview. Goes to show that a higher price (supported by the right image) conveys higher quality. The inverse is also true, so be aware of that =)

 

[mdburn_em]

I've enjoyed using EBay over the years. I would buy baseball cards and wood (when Dario wasn't over-bidding me.) I've taken a look at some of the things they are doing and it seems to me that EBay has a death wish.

Sellers not being able to leave feedback is a huge thing. They need it for a form of protections against people who try to cheat them.

Tom mentioned that the 21 day thing was for people with a lot of feedback. It doesn't actually take a lot, just a couple. Without the threat of reciprocal negative feedback, the chance of a seller getting negative feedback becomes huge.

Not only that, but get some negative feedback and EBay will no longer list your auctions in their search engine. How are you supposed to make any transactions and get more positive feedback?

EBay was clearly a buyers market before. All the burden of proof was on the seller. Now, I can't imagine how anyone will be able to afford to sell there.

Good thing I have the IAP and all the great sellers here.
(c'mon Nolan, where's my wood, I paid for it yesterday, it should be here today. If only I could leave feedback...) [}]

 

[Glass Scratcher]

Don't forget that Paypal is also part of Ebay. I have bought a few things on Ebay and I have used Paypal much more but I loathe Paypal. I don't really trust them.

 

[Russianwolf]

I have been using ebay for over 10 years and My wife has started selling MANY items. I have told her in the past in no uncertain terms to never leave a buyer negative feedback as it's too easy for them to hurt yours in return. Even if they have already left you feedback, they could buy another item and leave you negative.

The other things ebay is doing, I agree are bad business. But the feedback doesn't concern me at all. Also, I think you can leave neg feedback , but you have to report them for failure to pay first.

 

[railrider1920]

Originally posted by Firefyter-emt

Looks like there can be a hold on PayPal payments for 21 days,

Will this effect ANYONE using pay pal? Or just the people using paypal at ebay?

What about the people that got into paypal as a way to pay for things online outside of ebay? For example, the people that sell things here at IAP. If I buy a box of pen making nick nacs and use PP to pay for it, will the seller still have to wait 21 days for my payment if I just opened my PP account?

Isn't there another online payment option? Like paypal, but called something different?

 

[Tuba707]

There are a few other online payment gateways, but Paypal is certainly the most prevalent.

I don't think it will affect things outside of eBay.

 

[bitshird]

I have been on eBay for 10 years also, I've been using PayPal since it's inception, While I have never had a problem with it I know several people that have had nightmarish things happen to their bank accounts, so we just keep one account just for PayPal and keep a very low balance in that account, so if it does get frozen as I've seen happen to friends, No real damage.
Things started deteriorating when eBay decided what couldn't be sold, starting with guns, a friend was making close to a grand a week.
I used to sell very old trade beads and some jewelry we made and did great! but when Meg Wittman <sp> started her new direction for eBay it went to hell fast.
I do buy some of my wood from a seller on eBay because living in the middle of nowhere, I can drive 60 miles and pick up hardwoods at 3.00 to 6.00 a board foot average. I buy some tools as well, but I haven't sold any thing for about 3 or 4 years.
I remember several attempts to unify and boycott eBay and go to other sites (when there were a few others) but none of the other had the money to dump into advertising. Guess where they got the money from, they went public and made millions over night and advertised sites like Haggle dot com and Yahoos auction nearly out of existence.
Their philosophy at the time was, the more buyers, the more they could make from sellers
so we can raise their fees, and start their own online banking system.
This was a little right of center because eBay was supposed to be an online utopia for internet collectors, eBay has always bullied the very people that have made them what they are.
If I were Pierre Omidyar, I'd be embarrassed to spend any money from the Multi Billion Dollar empire he has created,wouldn't you?
I would like to see Tubas wood mall take off, and I'm glad that he hasn't considered selling finished pens.
All that would do is pit us against one another and get folks upset because so & so is selling his ___________ fill it in, cheaper than so & so's .
I'll be glad to boycott eBay for ever!! if I can find another site to buy tool's for work reasonably, (bad part of living 85 miles from nowhere) but I darned sure can do it for a week [)]