ebay told me off

VimFuego

we got a warning email from ebay one time when a regular customer of ours sent us a message saying could we contact her outside of ebay. We said no, all contact through ebay (selling is one of our sources of income, so we don't want to piss them off), she insisted and we insisted no, all contact through ebay channels. We still got a warning tho, even when we wrote to them and explained what happened, along with screen dumps.

siraxeman

UnclePsychosis said:

Bygone_Tones said:

 

If you want to use ebay, then I guess its only fair that you play by their rules. If you dont like ebay rules, then sell somewhere else, simple as that. diversify. forum classifieds, gumtree, youtube, social media. lots of options thesedays, it's not 1998 anymore.

If you genuinely hate ebay, then hit them where it hurts and stop using it.

This. I don't really understand all the grumbling about eBay enforcing their own rules, or the complaining about the fees (which are not secret and are calculable in advance).  

I'm not complaining - this month alone feebay have had just shy of 30 squids off me. Would've been another 14squids had the cab been thru feebay. No, I don't mind their rules, no complaints here...yes I think they've got far too greedy and big for their boots but other than that I reckon ebays great (as I mostly buy not sell) the slight irritation of ebay fees is soothed when you get one or 3 past 'em. :-)

SNAKEBITE

DiscoStu said:

Anyone tried Shpock? 

That sounds like Sean Connery in an episode of Star Trek.

impmann

Frankly, eBay have got a bit of a monopoly and they know it. Yes there are other options - Reverb, I'm sure is wonderful but I'm not convinced that its quite got the reach of eBay and I'm reluctant to join a USA-centric set up; Gumtree - loserville, move on; here - great, but a relatively small captive audience and folks "expect" money off because you aren't selling on eBay (even if you've listed it for a cheaper price anyway).

TBH, eBay have always been 'hot' on stuff like this - such as email addresses in mails. I've had a warning a long time ago - I pointed out that based on their standard email (not dissimilar to the above), if I chose to sell *MY PROPERTY* elsewhere to someone else without their "protection" then surely that is my choice? If all they are worried about was my protection, that's very sweet of them but I've been selling privately for nearly 30 years through newspaper adverts, Loot etc and so can take care of myself. I also made the point that as I hadn't used their PayPal service, I had no need for their protection as cash couldn't be reversed.

About 2005-ish eBay were forced to back down on this - they tried enforcing this concept of a 'contract' and that once something was for sale through them, the sale had to complete through them. They were forced to backtrack and offer the option of cancelation, as it was pointed out to them that before money changes hands, the owner of something has the right to change their mind - as the item was *their* property. Unless eBay were to start using an Escrow system (which they did briefly before that unravelled for them) they couldn't enforce such a thing and so very quietly the system was changed.

I'm not going to feel bad for them losing out on a few quid off a sale - they have made far more out of me than I've saved doing "unprotected" deals away from their systems.

Frankly as long as the buyer is happy, I've made what I want to out of the deal and the item changes hands undamaged, I don't give a hoot how it happens.

skinfreak

Do they really charge 13.5%!?!

wackojacko

skinfreak said:

Do they really charge 13.5%!?!

It depends on the final value. 

For business sellers, the insertion fee is free. You pay 9% (musical instruments category) final value fee plus the PayPal fees which vary on the value. 

Edit: PayPal fee is 20p per transaction PLUS 3.4% 

For private sellers, you pay an insertion fee, plus final value, plus PayPal.

so yes - I can see it easily going towards the 13-15% mark 

Bygone_Tones

In a nutshell it's 10% final value fee, 3.5% paypal, in most categories, and then a petty amount like 5p or 20p for the initial listing fee, which they can then waver at certain times of the year and make a big hoo haa about "free listing days" so that gullible people think they are not paying any fees, even though the 13.5% still stands and they are only actually saving 5p.

In some categories postage is capped, or has to be free (mainly to compete with amazon), so you might make a loss there too.

Whitecat

Some private sellers seem to have permanent free listings (I get 100/month) although there is still a surcharge for some listing options. I do get frequent "£1 max final value" offers and only list things above £10 when I receive these anymore.

Reverb.com is working really hard to grow outside the US and market accordingly, so I think it's time to give them more support... slowly but surely anyway...

Kylef

I sent a message to a seller asking if he'd sella guitar  privately. I got a message from eBay afterwards with a warning.

I then had a turntable on eBay a few weeks later, guy sent me his phone number, he was local, so I took it off when he came round and bought it. eBay suspended my account for a week.

usedtobe

Any truth in the rumour that these buggers pay little, if any, tax? 

Brize

usedtobe said:

Any truth in the rumour that these buggers pay little, if any, tax? 

Good point:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/oct/08/ebay-pays-11m-uk-tax-on-revenues-it-told-us-investors-were-11bn

VimFuego

Brize said:

usedtobe said:

Any truth in the rumour that these buggers pay little, if any, tax? 

Good point:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/oct/08/ebay-pays-11m-uk-tax-on-revenues-it-told-us-investors-were-11bn

I once saw a definition of a criminal as someone who does wrong but doesn't have enough capital to form a corporation.

ThePrettyDamned

Bygone_Tones said:

In a nutshell it's 10% final value fee, 3.5% paypal, in most categories, and then a petty amount like 5p or 20p for the initial listing fee, which they can then waver at certain times of the year and make a big hoo haa about "free listing days" so that gullible people think they are not paying any fees, even though the 13.5% still stands and they are only actually saving 5p.

In some categories postage is capped, or has to be free (mainly to compete with amazon), so you might make a loss there too.

This fucked me off and I've not used ebay to sell since. 

I posted a mamiya rz67 pro ii camera and 50mm ultra wide angle lens. This is a big, heavy, 6x7 camera with fragility glass, electronics and mechanical parts so I wanted the postage to be high to reflect the fact I spent a good few quid on a top notch box and a shit ton of bubble wrap. 

They capped postage to £7.50 based on "similar items". Fuck off eBay, you have no idea what you're on about. 

It cost, at the post office, more than that on weight alone. 

Moe_Zambeek

I listed an acoustic and they suggested the postage should be £2.49 by Royal Mail 2nd class....

VimFuego

Moe_Zambeek said:

I listed an acoustic and they suggested the postage should be £2.49 by Royal Mail 2nd class....

it'll fit easy in a jiffy bag.

DefaultM

I don't post guitars under any circumstances, so I just put it as a buy it now and as collection only. Then I put a disclaimer in the ad telling people to contact me to see if I'd be willing to deliver to them by car.
When they contact me I say that I don't have chance to go online a lot, so here's my number to text me. Then I write the mobile number in code like 'oh triple 7' etc.

Completely wrong of me to do that, but they're going to offer me absolutely no protection as a seller if someone tries to scam me. I only do that with guitars. I've still sold thousands of pounds worth of smaller items with them and paid all fees. 

I didn't used to do it with guitars, but after a run in with their agents after something went wrong I just thought fuck them.

Their customer service basically consists of the first person saying they can help you but they need to pass you to the right department, then they pass you to a person who pretends they can't understand 'your concern' and you go round in circles for ages. Then they promise you it will be sorted, but that there's something you need to provide. 
You get back in touch to provide whatever but the new agent has no record of your previous conversations and can't understand your concern.
This repeats until you demand to speak to a manager, but there isn't one available and there won't be all day.
You're offered a call back and you say "yes, but do not call me between so and so on so and so day because I am at my friend's funeral".
You then get home from the funeral and listen to a voicemail received during the funeral which says as you didn't answer the phone they consider your concern closed.

Moe_Zambeek

I just keep calling them. Last time they fucked me over I got a supervisor on the phone via callback and wouldn't let him off the phone for 45 minutes; I knew they wouldn't help I just felt like it was a little tiny bit of natural justice for the useless twats. Then I did the same the next day

hotpickups

It's a curly one. eBay have to make their money somehow. It isn't cheap running a business of that size. You wouldn't have sold it as easily without the use of their website and users. So yeah I would say you weren't acting with the most integrity However their charges are quite silly I feel and anyone would like to get out of paying them if they could. Maybe if eBay lowered them people wouldn't do it so much?

Saying that I have done the same in the past so I'm no saint but I did feel the guilt ..... a bit

Im sure there was a time that when messaging a buyer and you put your mobile no in it eBay would flag up a warning that it doesn't let you do that as it thinks you are possibly going to make a deal outdside of eBay. Doesn't seem to happen now

andrewaward

When ebay fees were 3% I never once did any deals off ebay ...........it wasn't really the done thing if memory serves

siraxeman

It's definitely down to their greed and them getting too big for their boots....I've no sympathy for them. If people wish to sell their own property outside of eBay that's their business.