eBay Unfair to Sellers ~ Part 2

Some buyers are using eBay's new "Buyer Protection" Policy to scam sellers and ~ Guess What ~ eBay is doing absolutely nothing to protect its' sellers.  Yesterday, I began to blog about my frustrations with eBay, as I ponder on making a decision to close my eBay store.  I have successful websites , so the eBay store is not a necessity for me, but I have decided to not do anything rash at this moment.  I am also considering not accepting paypal as a payment method, since eBay and paypal simply take your money out of your account if any buyer that used paypal for their purchase files a claim about your product, even if the claim is untruthful or unfair and the buyer simply is experiencing buyer's remorse.  The seller NEVER, EVER wins.  At least if you are ever unfortunate enough to have a credit card chargeback, the credit card company does look fairly at all the data they receive.  I have only had two of those in my career as a businesswoman, and it was because the people both forgot they made the purchase.

This small percentage of buyers (for me, I would guess it is around 10%), are nasty bullies looking to get your stuff for free.  This has always been the case on eBay.  But, at least before the new policies basically taking away all sellers rights came into play, a seller could have some control via fair negative or neutral feedback on their half of the experience.  Now, these very same eBay bullies have discovered that all they have to do is "file a case" on eBay, and they can keep your stuff and get a refund too!  Now how is that for the United States of eBay!!  I never, ever sell any of my expensive items on eBay for this reason.  I have encountered some "bad debt" over this Holiday season as a result of those 10% of eBay bullies, but luckily it never amounts to alot of money.  I feel sorry for any unsuspecting seller who tries to sell anything expensive on eBay ~ you might as well leave the merchandise in your driveway and see if a thief walks off with it ~ your odds are about the same (depending on where you live I suppose). 

As mentioned in my previous blog, we sell Engraved, Personalized products.  Once the item is engraved for you, it is yours.  We go to GREAT lengths to describe our products to avoid any issues, and our products are top notch quality so I do not have any concerns about a customer getting anything substandard.  That never stops these people from making all sorts of untrue claims.

So, the example I will give you today is of this man from California who purchased an engraved jewelry box with an engraved glass top.  I sell lots of these on eBay and customers just love the box.  This man started sending me nasty, threatening emails through eBay initially stating if I gave him a discount he would keep the box, then when I refused, he began demanding a refund, insulting my merchandise, and telling me the top was plastic (it's glass, by the way) - he used unmentionable nasty terms in his emails.  It was quite apparent that he thought he had me hostage and that I would give him a discount to avoid negative feedback.  I reported the emails to eBay's safe zone, and got some stupid, lame email from them.  His emails continued because, of course, they did nothing about it.  Of course, paypal gave him his money back, including shipping.  Again, a return policy has absolutely NO MERIT on eBay, so I don't know why we have it.  Of course, he left me negative feedback and I just have this Blog to give mine.  I guess a smarter seller would have realized that she WAS a hostage and given him the discount - then at least I would not have lost ALL my money. ;)

So, to wrap up, I will just watch and wait at this point.  Most of eBay's buyers are great ~ but as the percentage of, what I think are, outright thieves become more savvy on eBay, I will definately reevaluate.  My advise ~ do not sell anything of value on eBay!!  You COULD be a sitting duck for losing your product and your money.....doesn't matter if you are right or wrong ~ as a seller on eBay you will never win.

eBay Treats Sellers Unfairly

In 2008, eBay instituted a policy that included prohibiting sellers from leaving buyers negatives and neutrals, among other biased policies including eBay unilaterally refunding customers without the sellers consent. The feedback policy makes buying and selling on eBay an uneven playing field. We sell in a variety of forums. EBay is the only one of our forums that we have been seriously considering closing the door to because it has become increasingly difficult to operate en eBay business. I decided, that before closing the doors to my eBay store, I would use this Blog as a forum to begin venting my frustrations and reassess my decisions after awhile.  The Blog would be a mile long if I vented all my frustrations in one post, so I will use each Blog post to address my issues. 

In this post, let's look at the impact the feedback policy change has made to me as a seller. 

I sell online Personalized Products via websites and have owned a store front, so I am lucky to have the perspective of selling in lots of different forums and can make informed comparisons.  EBay definitely has a small, yet unique set of buyers that don't seem to find their way to the websites as easily.  I can tell you that 90% of the customers I make transactions with on eBay are top notch, lovely people.  The other 10% are what can only be described as, well, less than lovely.  Those 10% find the eBay anonymity a forum to bully, harass, insult, and threaten.  They attempt to get free merchandise by threatening to leave negative feedback because they have come to learn that there is NOTHING a seller can do about it.  Now that sellers cannot leave any honest feedback about their half of the transaction, those crazy buyers can just do whatever they want.   In addition, these people have discovered that all they have to do is file a "case" with eBay stating they did not like the product.  They do not even have to return it and eBay will refund them their money, including shipping costs.  The seller has nothing to say about it, and there is not even a way to appeal it.  It is assumed by eBay that the buyer is right and you, the seller, are wrong.  Our products are personalized, and our return policy is quite clear.  But eBay does not seem to care about that.  I am unclear why eBay asks sellers to include return policies because they do not respect or follow them. 

We offer personalized products, as I mentioned.  We are always happy to take back any item we have made a mistake on.  We go to great lengths to describe our products, including dimensions, etc.  I don't think it is unreasonable for a customer to take the time to get sized for a ring before ordering online, or to measure their wrist.  Apparently some customers do not think they have any responsibility in this matter.  I will give you just a couple of examples from this Holiday Season:

1) A man purchased a personalized ring in a size 4 for his pinkie.  He emailed me through eBay multiple, multiple times with frivolous questions.  I think, honestly, he was lonely and eBay was his way to relate.  It was a little weird, but I went out of my way to help him with his questions.  I even special ordered a size 4 ring for him - the ring only came in sizes 5-9.  This cost me $$, and my profit on the sale was only $8, but I thought, what the heck, it's Christmas.  He left me neutral feedback because the ring only fit his left hand pinkie.  HELLO....This is my fault, why??  It was personalized, yet he expected me to take it back.  This same man, one month later, told me the ring was not real sterling silver so he wanted his money back.  Guess he was going to get a refund one way or another, huh?  The ring ABSOLUTELY is sterling silver, yet eBay refunded him, just because they could.   He did not have to return the ring (even though it was of no use to me, it was just the principal).  I had no say in the matter, they just TOOK the money out of my paypal account.  He got the ring and my money.....AND left one last "in your face" email on eBay basically to let me know he got me ~ Perfect, thanks eBay.

2) A lady purchased a 7" monogrammed bracelet (the most common size for women).  Her wrist was too big for the bracelet (she should have ordered an 8" ~ it was available, but it was not what she ordered).  She expected me to take the 7" bracelet that SHE ordered in return and send her an 8", for free.  I offered her a discount on an 8", but Noooo. Now what am I to do with a bracelet with her initials on it?  Her comment was "Well, you made your money".   HELLO.... She left negative feedback.

I have so many stories, but will end here for today.  Get my frustration?  EBay, you make your money from Sellers too.....did you forget that without us, no one would be buying anything?  At least be fair - not asking for anything more than that.  You get a percentage of everything we sell, a good percentage I might add.  You get fees for us having a store on eBay, you make LOTS of money from sellers, yet you treat us like second class citizens.  We cannot even give any honest feedback about our side of the transaction any longer.  Free enterprise is not free enterprise on eBay - it is not even a democracy - it is a state of communism. 

Okay, so I have some of this off my chest - and it does feel better....more to come.

Monogram Initial Ring at Monogram Central

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Monogrammed Hammered Copper Pendant on Multi Strand Black Leather Cord

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Chocolate Sterling Silver Round Monogrammed Initial Ring at Monogram Central

Our eBay store, Monogram Central, offers a collection of inexpensive, bargain basement priced, personalized jewelry.  The classic, unique style of this round chocolate sterling silver ring perfectly accents your engraved initials. Engravable round face measures Height 24-mm, Width 24-mm, Depth 4-mm and engraves in Gold-Tone. Whole sizes 5-9. Perfect gift idea.  CLICK TO VIEW OUR EBAY STORE

Sterling Silver Monogram Initial Ring at Monogram Central

Monogram Central offers a great collection of Monogrammed Jewelry in our eBay store.  Our eBay collection offers a special selection of personalized rings that we do not offer anywhere else!  Trendy and Beautiful! This perfectly monogrammed .925 Sterling Silver wide tapered back ring is one of our favorites. The rounded square face features tapered edges, measures approximately 16mm High x 18mm Wide and has a wide tapered band - sure to get you noticed!  CLICK TO VIEW OUR EBAY COLLECTION

Monogram Central offers Personalized Signet Rings

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Monogram Central is a division of The Purple Mermaid. We offer a sampling of our great products here on eBay because we know eBay is a great forum to introduce great product lines to the public. All savvy store owners acknowledge the exposure eBay affords a retail business.  eBay is a popular shopping site and many shoppers know that almost anything can be found easily and safely for purchase at a fair price. CLICK TO VIEW OUR eBay COLLECTION

Choosing Your Minimum Bid Price as an eBay Seller

Don't list an item and set the minimum bid as $10. Because of the way Ebay's fee schedule is set up, if you list it as $9.99 instead, you will save money. Nor should you list anything with a minimum bid of $25, $50, or $200; always shave a penny off these figures, and you will save each time!

Offer Combined Shipping Charges on eBay

Offer combined shipping/handling charges: Another discount that buyers love is the combined shipping charge. This means that if they purchase more than one item from you, they can get all items shipped together in one package, and therefore the shipping amount would be cheaper. Some sellers offer combined shipping at actual shipping rate, and other sellers who charge handling fees as well offer reduced handling fees if the buyer has purchased more than one item.

Shipping Charges on eBay

The importance of shipping cost as an incentive or disincentive varies widely. Some people will pay without hesitation shipping charges that are equal to the cost of the goods, or even double the cost, perhaps because the item you are selling is difficult to find or perhaps because the buyer lives in an isolated area or for one reason or another finds it difficult to get to physical stores where they could find anything comparable. Other people will drive many miles to pick the goods in person and thereby save a few dollars in shipping cost. Be flexible and understanding.

Choosing Starting and Ending Times for eBay Auctions

Most bids on any single item will take place during the last few hours of the auctions. This is because, as auctions move closer to finishing, they automatically move closer to the top of the list when people do a search. No matter how many days you choose to run your auction, it will always end at the exact same time of day that you placed it. Choose the time of day you place your auctions carefully. If your auction is going to end on a Tuesday, don't place it at 10:30 AM, because everyone will be at work, and no one will be bidding! Likewise, it is not a good idea to have auctions end on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday evenings, because many potential bidders will be out eating dinner at a restaurant, partying, seeing a movie, etc. Good times to end auctions are weekday evenings (After 10 o’clock or so, when dinner is done, the kids are in bed, and people have time to use the computer). Other good ending times are weekend afternoons, but not too close to dinnertime. Of course, time zones differ across the country, so when it’s 10 PM in New York, it’s only 7 PM in California. Keep this in mind and post your auctions accordingly.

Create an eBay "About Me" Page

Create your "ABOUT ME" page.  Once your "About Me" page is up and running, you need to start being at least an occasional message poster on the various Ebay message boards. These are found by going to ebay.com, clicking on "Community" at the top of the page, click drop-down menu to "Workshops/discussion forums" link to the message boards.


You can either add a comment to an on-going discussion or start a new discussion of your own. And any time someone reads any of your comments, an icon link to your "About Me" page will be available to them. Ebay users are curious creatures, and they will be curious about you . . . and your auctions, so they will click on your "About Me" link and be presented with all your auctions.

Tweak Your Starting Prices on eBay and Save Money

Tweak your Starting Prices on eBay and you will save money.  Be careful when you choose your starting price, as a very small difference in price can lead to a large increase in insertion fee, especially if you are selling multiple items. For example, an item with a starting price of $29.99 incurs an insertion fee of 0.75, whereas a starting price of $30 would cost $1.50.   On eBay.com a starting price of $49.99 incurs a fee of $1.20 where as a starting price of $50.00 would cost $2.40.   The lower your eBay fees, the more profit you will make.  It adds up at the end of the month.

Use My eBay to Track Sales

Your My eBay page is your own personal dashboard to track all your activity on eBay. Simply click My eBay on top of any eBay page to reveal the items you are selling, items that are sold, shipping addresses of your customers, messages from your prospective buyers and to manage your personal information and communication preferences.  You can enter your tracking information, keep track of your selling totals and much more!

Shipping on eBay Made Easy

By using the United States Postal Service, you can print your shipping labels directly from eBay. You do not need to take a trip and then have the package weighed at the post office. Just purchase a shipping scale to makes it easy to ship from your home. You can get a shipping scale from any local post office or even online at eBay. With this type of ease of service, the United States Postal Service is one of the best shipping methods on eBay in most cases.

Positive Feedback on eBay

The golden rule of eBay ~ You must get good feedback from your customers. These positive feedbacks will help you to get more buyers for your products. Buyers look for eBay seller’s feedback when they buy items on eBay. Positive feedbacks are very important for you as a seller. Try to avoid any conflict, which may get you negative feedbacks from your customers. You have to take pride in your feedback. Build the trust of customers and project a credible image throughout the eBay community by striving for outstanding feedback from others. Your feedback is one of the most essential parts of your marketing and it goes a long way in building the customer's confidence in doing future business with you. While it is not always possible to please everyone, and you cannot allow buyers to bully you, doing everything you can to please the customer without compromising your integrity will go a long way. Great communication with each customer goes a long way on eBay ~ if people have a "relationship" with you, they are more apt to tolerate small issues.

Accurate Item Descriptions are a Must

Accurate Descriptions are a must. You want every buyer to get exactly what they expect when they made that bid. Your feedback is your most important tool to get new buyers interested in your items. Writing a thorough description can really pay off in the price you receive for your item.  Include the item dimensions, what is is made of, a thorough description of any areas that cannot be visualized in your photo, if applicable.  Consider what you would like to know about the item if you were looking at your photo and considering a purchase.  The more information you provide in your description, the better.  You can avoid a buyer attempting to say your item is not as described after the sale. 

Choosing End Times for eBay Auctions

The end time of auctions is very important.For example, if you are selling children's clothing, an auction ending at 8-9 a.m. or 7-8 p.m. on a weekday will not likely be viewed by mothers of young children since those hours involve getting children ready for school and getting children ready for bed. Most auctions end between 8pm-10pm, especially on Sunday evenings, however if you are selling in a very busy category you might find selling at this time is of detriment to you as so many items will be ending. A lot of people who sell are at work and as such, lunchtime is an ideal time for them to shop on eBay. The best results for your product can be obtained by viewing the closing price of competitors items. After choosing the category, click on "completed items" in the left navigation bar in eBay and you can view successful and unsuccessful sales including the times the items ended. Many eBay sellers also find the end of the month slower and the beginning of the month the best time to list due to shoppers having access to more money at the beginning of the month. Bottom line ~ think like your customer. If you were, for example, a mother of young children, when would you be shopping online? There are those who swear by listing on Sunday evening between 7 pm and 10 pm pacific time for a 7 day auction so their item ends during that time frame. I have alot of "Buy It Now" sales in my store on Tuesdays ~ there is no logic, but it is the case!

Choosing Keywords for eBay Auction Titles

You eBay auction title is key to buyers finding your item for sale. Remember that most eBay bidders find what they are looking for by using the search function. Be sure to use carefully chosen and accurate keywords in your title and description. eBay gives you 55 characters in your headline. Be sure to use all of them. This will help you get hits. Important keywords include the brand, color, size, and model number, if applicable. For example, if you are selling a used Vera Bradley handbag, "Vera Bradley" is going to be the most important keyword you use. Then the color or fabric, such as "Java Blue" would be equally important. Then "Handbag" and "Purse" would follow - we usually use both as people search for "Vera Bradley Handbag" and "Vera Bradley Purse". If you are selling cufflinks, think like your customers. Some people will search for "cuff links", others will search for "cufflinks". Use both versions in your title for increased exposure. People searching for "monogram cufflinks" will not easily find your item if you have "monogrammed cufflinks" in your title. The search is specific. Check "completed items" in the left eBay navigation bar to see the keywords others have used to successfully sell similar items.

eBay's Second Chance Offers

eBay’s Second Chance Offer feature allows more than one item to be sold from a single listing, saving on the listing fee for each additional sale. This is a great feature if you have more than one of the item you are selling and they are identical. For example, if you are have 5 identical Barbie Dolls and several people bid on your doll in auction, you can offer losing bidders that doll at their highest losing bid. If the winning bidder won the doll for $20.00, yet there was a losing bid of $19.50 and another for $18, you can decide to offer those bidders your dolls for $19.50 and $18 respectively. This is to your advantage because the offer means you do not have to list the item again and pay listing fees to sell your remaining dolls. It does not make sense if those bids are below an acceptable price that you are willing to sell for. When using second chance offers, you should be aware that you are making a trade-off between price and sales volume, as second chance offers are inevitably lower than the item’s final price.