The General eBay Rant Thread

Dunno about video games, but Amazon has apparently change get their selling requirements for DVDs and Blu-rays where you cannot sell at all without a premium account and most have to be at least $25, which has jacked the price up on a lot of Marketplace items.
 
On Amazon, even with a premium account, if the MSRP is $25 or over, you have to be pre-approved to sell them.  That requires providing invoices from your distributors, etc, which cuts out those of us who resell on the secondary market (buying from thrifts, flea, etc).  That's why prices are going up... less competition to undercut in a race to the bottom.

I'm a pro seller, but even my DVD inventory got mostly taken down by that change.

 
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Amazon must be getting tired of competing against lower prices and this is their way to trim the competition even if it's by a hair by limiting it to more vendors and less regular joes like me who no longer want a certain game or movie or the people mentioned that resell from thifty markets. No loss to me as I've tried selling there multiple times and only was ever able to make one sale.

 
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Navex said:
Amazon must be getting tired of competing against lower prices and this is their way to trim the competition even if it's by a hair by limiting it to more vendors and less regular joes like me who no longer want a certain game or movie or the people mentioned that resell from thifty markets. No loss to me as I've tried selling there multiple times and only was ever able to make one sale.
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I used to make a living selling on Amazon. I'd easily make 70-80k a year selling. Over the past few years it's been on a major decline because everyone and their mom is doing it now and last year I didn't even break 10k.

 
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Navex said:
Amazon must be getting tired of competing against lower prices and this is their way to trim the competition even if it's by a hair by limiting it to more vendors and less regular joes like me who no longer want a certain game or movie or the people mentioned that resell from thifty markets. No loss to me as I've tried selling there multiple times and only was ever able to make one sale.
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What drives me nuts is people trying to get ridiculous prices for Xbox 360 games in random conditions. Well, the worst thing is people improperly grading items, since I almost always order "like new" and expect discs to be in perfect condition as a collector. It pisses me off so many out of print titles are being priced so high lately though. I mean there are idiots trying to get $20 for an "acceptable" condition disc. WTF? Then I've seen games like Mirror's Edge go on sale for $4 on the 360 marketplace (digital download), but people want $25+ for a disc in decent condition. GTFO!

 
[quote name="Navex" post="12674584" timestamp="1430700970"]Amazon must be getting tired of competing against lower prices and this is their way to trim the competition even if it's by a hair by limiting it to more vendors and less regular joes like me who no longer want a certain game or movie or the people mentioned that resell from thifty markets. No loss to me as I've tried selling there multiple times and only was ever able to make one sale.[/quote]

They claimed it was due to bootlegs, which is why they require invoices from distributors.
 
Narukami said:
eBay, you can go fucka goat. Like I said before, my account is below standard, so I cannot participate in the Global Shipping Program. So after trying to sell something and a buyer from Australia buying it, I see that the shipping price is $15. No way. I cancel the item and relist it and have it and all my other items as No International Shipping. Well, now I see the item sold again. And who bought it? The Australian seller again. Despite the fact that it's listed as No International Shipping. Despite the fact that I said I do not want international shipping, eBay allows international people to buy items that sellers have tried to prevent them from buying. And, of course, eBay gets it's Final Value Fees from me. I know that once I get the item successfully cancelled, the FVF will return to me, but the fact that eBay is pulling fast ones to quickly get money from sellers isn't just scummy, it should be cri
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I have almost the same situation before. I began to feel that they are really after their own profit rather than their users benefit. Anyway, I shouldnt be surprise after all.

 
From the email paypal just sent me outlining changes to their policies from the split with ebay:

"We've expanded our PayPal Buyer Protections to include intangibles like digital items and services."

 
Darby27 said:
From the email paypal just sent me outlining changes to their policies from the split with ebay:

"We've expanded our PayPal Buyer Protections to include intangibles like digital items and services."
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And what do ya know? I still don't see jack shit on seller protection.

 
Is there a thread about older video game prices shooting up?

Like Recently, I sold spirit tracks, didn't know it was $40 worth.

 
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BTW, if anyone is interested, I have a friend from healthfusion, they provide software services to hospitals and health services, I think. There are a lot of apps available for iphones and androids now if you want to sell books, etc. I will try looking for apps tomorrow and will let you know what I find. Will keep you posted! 

 
Does anybody know when we are going to get the 'Ton of Free Listings for a Day' promo again? I can't remember the last time I saw that promo. I think it was late last year.

 
Unless you sell hundreds per month, they're free.

I wasn't aware that sometime in the past few years the policy changed so that listings lose their But It Now option if they receive ANY bids. Wtf is up with that? If at a LIVE auction someone is willing to purchase an item at a set price above what others are offering, they should be able to bid over others and get the item. It's more money for the seller AND eBay!

 
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I haven't done anything ebay related in a few weeks, so I don't know when this change started, but now they don't show a seller's feedback on the item page? You have to click on it to get their feedback?

What the hell is this nonsense?

I'm guessing ebay thought it discouraged buyers from buying from sellers with low feedback, and they figure a lot of people will be too lazy to click, this driving up sales.

 
brian_fin said:
Unless you sell hundreds per month, they're free.

I wasn't aware that sometime in the past few years the policy changed so that listings lose their But It Now option if they receive ANY bids. Wtf is up with that? If at a LIVE auction someone is willing to purchase an item at a set price above what others are offering, they should be able to bid over others and get the item. It's more money for the seller AND eBay!
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It's been that way as far as I can remember, although can't the seller end an auction early if they agree to a price with someone? I always thought they could so even if the buy it now option isn't there a buyer can always make a buy it now offer.

 
uhh finally opened a paypal account last night and go on ebay today to maybe try to get a game for the first time on there.

not seeing any deal though.

Well screw ebay and paypal they suck. I'm going back to craigslist and risk getting murdered.

 
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Reds303 said:
It's been that way as far as I can remember, although can't the seller end an auction early if they agree to a price with someone? I always thought they could so even if the buy it now option isn't there a buyer can always make a buy it now offer.
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Yeah actually now I do remember getting a few of those offers, but I'm not sure how they were set up. I don't believe it's an option when setting up the auction, so it must be something buyers have to do?

 
Darby27 said:
From the email paypal just sent me outlining changes to their policies from the split with ebay:

"We've expanded our PayPal Buyer Protections to include intangibles like digital items and services."
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It's almost like they are trying to push away people that aren't vendors/stores/whatever and make it so that's the only people who asell on there. Those parties can afford more risks and paying something out if they're scammed or really at fault while the rest of us who just sell for extra cash are thinking more and more about whether to risk a transaction anymore.

 
Navex said:
It's almost like they are trying to push away people that aren't vendors/stores/whatever and make it so that's the only people who asell on there. Those parties can afford more risks and paying something out if they're scammed or really at fault while the rest of us who just sell for extra cash are thinking more and more about whether to risk a transaction anymore.
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Yeah, it's not worth it for small time sellers anymore. It's too easy to get screwed over, and even if you make a sale the fees keep getting worse and worse. Why doesn't ebay have any real competition? I can't think of anywhere else to even try to auction off random collectibles. Yeah, you could use Amazon for games/movies/etc, but that presents its own issues.

 
You're probably better off just doing them on here =/ You're potential buyers are a mere fraction of what you could be getting, but then again if it's niche video game stuff you're in the right place. You'll still pay some PayPal feels but it'll still cut down your selling expenses a bit. I'll still occasionally sell stuff on eBay now and again if I know I can get some quick cash from it, but I'd never try to make it a regular income stream. Wouldn't really want to sell anything too pricey on there anyways.

 
There are alternatives to eBay, like etsy, but they're all too niche. It would be great for them to get off the ground, but they're about as likely to be able to compete with eBay as a Communist party could compete with the Democrats and Republican party in America.

 
I ordered an extra The Witcher 3 CE, just because. I always order CEs from multiple places just in case I get an order cancelled or something.

Anyway, I listed my extra one on ebay a few weeks ago, and basically... it was purchased 4 separate times since then, and each time it was a 0 feedback buyer and the buyer did not pay. Starting to get really irritating.

I really loathe that site sometimes. Not that it's ebay themselves who are annoying in this case, but you get the point.

 
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GBAstar said:
^ Fixed Price, BIN, Immediate payment required, problem solved.
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Slipped my mind, would be a mess if it was any other way and it's a great solution too. You don't get a guaranteed sell date but if you price right you get what you need. I know the filters you can set for buyers are pretty limited aren't they?

 
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I am finding it odd so many people have all these bad experiences with ebay. I am sure I am in the minority here and I am not saying that anyone is a liar. I know bad stuff happens with eBay, I am just surprised at how common it seems to be.

I have been with eBay since 1998. With paypal since it was created. I am not a big seller on eBay, but I have sold items ranging in price from $20 to $5,000 and never once had a claim filed against me. I have also bought hundreds of items over the years and while some items fail to arrive or arrive damaged/not as described, either the seller or eBay is quick to help resolve it.

The only time I ever had an issue was when I sold a phone that I had installed CyanogenMod on. The guy said it barely held a battery charge, which I found odd, but whatever. When I had the phone I noticed it died faster than I would have prefered but when I did research on google many people reported this to be the case.

As such that was not a valid complaint from the buyer. That's like complaining that a PS2 has a wired official controller. That's just the way they're made, for better or worse. But at the time I was working for a used cell phone reseller, so I was able to get another battery for it for free. I shipped it to the buyer at my cost and he was happy and left feedback.

Once a buyer leaves positive feedback they pretty much can't file a claim.By posting positive feedback you're saying the seller met all your requirements and you're happy with the sale. You can't then turn around and file a claim. So word to those of you out there, don't leave feedback until you know you're happy with the item(s).

I get another message from him saying the phone is restarting and all this other nonsense. I ignore him and that's that. I was then looking at my feedback a few weeks ago and saw he was no longer registered on eBay and followed that to his feedback. I found out he resold the phone, and listed it as a GSM phone (it wasn't, it's CDMA just for Verizon) and got negative feedback from the buyer. I found that pretty funny.

 
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Well as you've stated, it's not always smooth sailing. This is the general rant thread anyways after all. I've really had no major issues with it either really, similar to you. If you do your research on your items, don't try to sell/buy questionable junk that can come back to bite you, there really shouldn't be much else that can cause issues.

 
Even if a buyer leaves positive feedback, they can still open a case and win since I highly doubt ebay would ever check to see what they said in the feedback that they left.
 
Don't Buy It Now listings always require immediate payments? Hm I would've thought so, but now that I think about it I do remember snagging something and it just makes you "agree to pay" x amount before the seller will send it to you. Either way, I've never had issues with getting payments from buyers, I think it's not very common.

Anyone know what these "certain PayPal accounts" are, business accounts maybe?

 
In order to get the immediate payment option for Buy it now, you need to convert your Personal Paypal account to a Premier or Business account.  It is recommended to upgrade your Personal account to Premier if you want this immediate payment with BIN listings, there is no fee to upgrade your account.

The only downside to upgrading to a Premier account is you can no longer make transfers (Paypal to Paypal) without the 2.9% + $0.30 fee, as Paypal sees that account transactions as business related and charges it accordingly.  I believe Personal accounts can still transfer between each other without additional fees, though correct me if I'm wrong.

 
Was wondering today why ebay still lets people give DSR's on shipping and handling charges, when the buyer knows before hand what the shipping and handling charges are.

How can you give someone a poor rating on what they charge for shipping if you consent to it before buying? Seems illogical, hypocritical, ans asinine. There isn't a gun to the buyer's head. If you don't like the charges, don't buy it.

It's no different than going into a store, seeing a price on the shelf, buying the item, and then writing to corporate and complaining about the price.

 
ShadowAssassin said:
Was wondering today why ebay still lets people give DSR's on shipping and handling charges, when the buyer knows before hand what the shipping and handling charges are.

How can you give someone a poor rating on what they charge for shipping if you consent to it before buying? Seems illogical, hypocritical, ans asinine. There isn't a gun to the buyer's head. If you don't like the charges, don't buy it.

It's no different than going into a store, seeing a price on the shelf, buying the item, and then writing to corporate and complaining about the price.
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If it's the only place that has the item, why not? Also, people who order a lot of the same type of things (BD/DVD/games) know damn well what shipping should cost. I still get pissed when I see this one seller on Amazon listing a game I want with like an $8 shipping charge. Everyone else ships first class USPS for the 4 bucks now. I'm actually tempted to neg anyone who still insists on using that Media Mail nonsense. I seem to remember hearing first class is actually cheaper in some cases. Either way, the cost difference between MM and first class for a DVD is peanuts.

 
NoLifeDGenerate said:
If it's the only place that has the item, why not? Also, people who order a lot of the same type of things (BD/DVD/games) know damn well what shipping should cost. I still get pissed when I see this one seller on Amazon listing a game I want with like an $8 shipping charge. Everyone else ships first class USPS for the 4 bucks now. I'm actually tempted to neg anyone who still insists on using that Media Mail nonsense. I seem to remember hearing first class is actually cheaper in some cases. Either way, the cost difference between MM and first class for a DVD is peanuts.
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If someone overcharges for shipping and you don't like the price, then don't buy it. Buying the item essentially means you agree to their pricing(and terms) and it seems totally illogical to do that, and then turn around and give someone a bad rating for it. It basically leaves the door open for petty vindictiveness.

 
DNukem170 said:
Another reason could be that the seller didn't combine shipping on multiple products sold.
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I don't either. Everyone is different some people have to pay for listing for BIN i think a fee some get free listings.

If the same buyer buys multiple listings I don't combine them I GO BY what shipping method was set when the listing was purchased.

If you're working something out with them on a mutual agreement its one thing other wise I go by what that shipping method was chosen when they bought it.

 
Huh?

If you're selling for example, 5 games (separate listings), and you notice the same person bought four of them, I'd definitely just put them all in one box and do a partial refund. What a waste of packing material and other people's time/money to send them all individually. I'd be a repeat buyer for seller's that do the same courtesy.

 
brian_fin said:
Huh?

If you're selling for example, 5 games (separate listings), and you notice the same person bought four of them, I'd definitely just put them all in one box and do a partial refund. What a waste of packing material and other people's time/money to send them all individually. I'd be a repeat buyer for seller's that do the same courtesy.
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I'd only do that if like I said it's documented in a mutual agreement for ebay to see.

Other wise how does ebay know you are giving them a partial refund back. Plus if you didn't refund you'd look like you just combined orders to pocket the extra shipping costs.

Which is why I say if you don't contact me then I'm shipping by what the shipping method chosen in the listing was set to. And I'm not bothering to contact you if you ordered multiple items. If the buyer was displeased with that so be it. I followed ebays TOS and I really can give two shits less if you're a repeat customer they can kick rocks.. I say that as someone who's was just bartending and serving on Fishermans wharf Monterey CA. I just did a long stint in the high end hospitality business.

It's ebay open to a massive audience and I followed guidelines.

 
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brian_fin said:
Huh?

If you're selling for example, 5 games (separate listings), and you notice the same person bought four of them, I'd definitely just put them all in one box and do a partial refund. What a waste of packing material and other people's time/money to send them all individually. I'd be a repeat buyer for seller's that do the same courtesy.
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I'd have to agree with needler here too. Unless combined shipping shows up as an option on eBay, they'll be individual packages. They either a) paid for two shipping costs, or b) eBay expects two tracking numbers. Doing a partial refund just opens up the potential for trouble.

And I'll admit, I have rated someone poorly because they charged me for priority mail shipping and shipped it parcel post. And I probably would do the same if I paid for two packages to be shipped and got only one without a partial refund from combined shipping.

 
elessar123 said:
And I'll admit, I have rated someone poorly because they charged me for priority mail shipping and shipped it parcel post.
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Yeah. I ordered something on half.com and paid for expedited shipping. By Half's terms, that's Priority Mail, but the cheap bastard shipped first class, so I negged him.

 
needler420 said:
I'd only do that if like I said it's documented in a mutual agreement for ebay to see.

And I'm not bothering to contact you if you ordered multiple items. If the buyer was displeased with that so be it. I followed ebays TOS and I really can give two shits less if you're a repeat customer they can kick rocks..

It's ebay open to a massive audience and I followed guidelines.
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Well yeah, eBay archives emails you send to other members, that's documentation right there. And the rest is just bad business practices really >.< (kick rocks? Never heard that one) All the power to you tho ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

elessar123 said:
Unless combined shipping shows up as an option on eBay, they'll be individual packages. They either a) paid for two shipping costs, or b) eBay expects two tracking numbers.
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I'm not sure what that means; is it flaky or something, or are you just positing a feature they could implement? I'm pretty sure you can upload custom/multiple tracking numbers for an order too.

By the way it is documented and pretty easy, right here: LINK

If a buyer doesn't ask for it, totally their loss, but it is an option.

 
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I think they should change the shipping cost rating to packaging rating. Some sellers are so lazy when it comes to packing. "Sure I'll list something as near mint and then wrap brown paper around it and ship it."
 
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