Has Ebay Finally Shot Itself In the Foot?

[johnwash1]

...I posted a message on feebay communities earlier tonight, but it was quickly removed, perhaps I need to be more subtle when mentioning ebid. I will bury it in the middle of a paragraph next time instead of putting it at the end of the post.

Well done, Rosie, but it wouldn't be surprising if the only way to get away with it is not to spell it 'ebid'!

It's probably a big enough thorn in their side that they have computers searching for it rather than wait for humans to spot it.

[Heruur]

Yes they have searches that pick up ebid, bidville and a number of other competitors or "suspect" key words, in the boards and me pages it's automatically removed. In auctions they will cancel your listing., 3 strikes and it's a 30 day vacation.

They also remove ANY posts that expose some wrongdoing by FEE-bay members if you post either the item number or user name regardless how bad the wrong was. This is because FEE-BAY could be held liable for sponsorship of libel if the accusation turns out to be untrue.

The word LIKE or using number 4 in titles to save space also trigger a pull for keyword spamming. In certain categories the word modified can pull listings too. You are right it IS an AI computer program.

They also pull if a competitor claims whatever listing is: Dangerous, Rights infringing, Copied or otherwise anything that can even remotely suggest FEE-bay can get into legal trouble. If you are a BUYER & want a neg removed, get the lawyer to call feeebay and say the comment is slanderous, especially if the negging party called you names or said something else which couldn't *possibly* be a fact.

Unfortunately this also works on WELL DESERVED & factual negs left for a BUYER too if the lawyer threatens to sue FEE-bay. The seller on the other hand has to weigh the damage from the Neg VS CERTAIN retaliation from Fee-bay...

I have a nice customer e-mail database to let 'em know about eBid!

[DanTheMan3]

Hi.
I also have a large ebay customer email list who get emails on a regular basis letting them know about eBid.

[TheTrainLady]

Hi everyone

Another newbiddy here

I'm also fedup with ebay, mainly due to the lack of sales over the last few months, despite having less competition. I have been averaging around 140 sales a month, I am currently struggling to make 100 a month.

Not quite the large power seller ebay are wanting, but I'm am running a very small business to help make ends meet while I look after my pre school kids.

It seems like all the changes have alienated so many buyer & sellers that they are not bothering to buy or sell.

Fingers crossed I can get things moving on here soon.

You all seem like such a happy helpful bunch on these boards I'm sure I will be asking for help soon .

[kengillam]

Welcome to eBid TheTrain Lady, no Great Western stuff then

[stampsulove]

Hi Train lady and welcome to eBid. Hope you have success here.

[TheTrainLady]

Sorry, only Sodor Island trains LOL

[selanbuy]

I have been selling on feebay for years and consider my self to be a small but good seller.

I am so fed up with the way we are being treated that I have stopped selling & joined ebid.

I feel there could be a lot more joining over the next few weeks & months.

[dropdeadfred]

Another disgruntled ebay seller here with a long, ranty first post!

Sorry!

I tried to post a similar version of this on the ebay forums but it was removed. Maybe someone in high office didn't like me refering to them as 'mindless morons with the intelligence of a bogey'

I've had enough. I'm a small seller that just wanted an outlet to sell my unwanted personal items but it appears ebay no longer wants us so I've packed my bags and moved.

It's a nightmare trying to sell there any more and I gave up just after Christmas before the ridiculous hidden ID thing started. It's become increasingly difficult to get the interest and encourage people to bid. Before the main changes started, I wasn't doing too badly. I wasn't making a wonderful fortune but I was selling items close to what I originally paid for them and for me, that was good enough. Since February I've been making pennies on things that I'd normally get a good price for and once the fees are all removed, I've got very little to show for my efforts and a lot of the time, I'd be better off going out into the street and asking a passing stranger if they want some Beatles books and a couple of Elvis CD's for a tenner. I've never started selling on ebay, expecting to make an absolute fortune. It's mainly clothes, books and CD's that I'm trying to get rid of, but it's a real pain when something sells for what looks like a tidy sum, ebay comes along and takes a nice chunk of it then the bidder decides they don't want it but they'll send abusive messages and leave a negative anyway.

I've really tried to find some good in ebay because I like it, I've bought some fabulous things since I joined and had some nice suprises when items have sold for more than I expected but I just can't find the incentive to use it any more. It's scammers paradise.

As a buyer, the hidden ID thing has really put me off and made me paraniod about virtually every listing. I've seen a few things I would've liked since it was introduced but I didn't bid because I couldn't make head nor tail of all this 'bidder 1, bidder 2' rubbish and it wasn't clear if they were scams or not. It's also had a knock-on effect for items that bidders are selling. I've found lots of things I wouldn't normally think of by looking at what other bidders are selling. It all goes round in a big circle. An item is listed, people look, some bid, you look at what both the seller and bidder is selling, you bid, someone else looks at your stuff, they bid.... it just keeps going

As a seller, the feedback changes are a real concern. I was very proud of my reputation on ebay. I'd managed to maintain 100% positives for nearly 300 buy/sell items and I always did my best to provide a polite, honest, trustworthy service and I treated people the way I wanted them to treat me but I still got caught out. I've have plenty of non-payers and have always left the appropriate response to stop others having the same problems and I've relied on the remarks left by other members to spot the potential troublemakers and in some cases, block their bids. I'm not thick, I can tell the difference between a justified negative and a retalliation and so can the vast majority of people that use the site. There are some very nasty people out there that expect you to bend over backwards to give them something for nothing and they'll find or make up any excuse to give you grief but to remove our right to warn others about scammers just doesn't make sense. This new system will be abused in ways never before seen. Sellers on the forums have long been saying they receive negative marks then get bribed by the buyer to remove them and it's just going to get worse. Buyers can neg away to their heart's content, knowing that they have full protection, there's very little that can be done about them and in most cases, good sellers will be suspended because of one or two unfair negs in a certain timeframe. All the while, ebay just sits back and collects the fees from cancelled listings of suspended sellers.

As for the protection of Powersellers - I've had more problems with them than I ever had with small sellers. Bigger sellers tend to treat you like one of the rest and if you have a problem you have the attidude of 'well, we get a lot of customers. It's bound sure to happen to someone'. Smaller sellers have much better customer relations because you are both on the same page. They just want to get rid of their clutter, you want a bargain. You get a much better service and have a better chance of resolving any problems much quicker and with a much more understanding attitude.

ebay's decisions just don't make any sense. They are trying to solve the problem minority by affecting the good majority. If they'd actually listened and dealt with the bad ones in the first place, it wouldn't have got to this point where everyone is looking for alternatives because ebay is trying to fix one problem by creating a bigger one. Bigger companies than ebay have been bought to their knees by their greed, arrogance and refusal to listen to what their customers are telling them. We use the site on a regular basis, not them. We are in a much better place to tell them what is wrong and more importantly, how to fix it.

ebay is trying to sledgehammer a square peg into a round hole and it will come back and bite them on the bum. It's a sinking ship that even the rats are starting to leave.

Again, sorry for the long rant!

[kengillam]

You feel strongly then dropdeadfred to help you get started add a signature link to your posts read this thread http://helpdesk.ebid.net/showthread.php?t=100959 then fill in some info on Your About Me Page. Perhaps buy a few things to kickstart your feedback over here ( I have some nice cheap prints ) have a look at my listings to see how I dealt with the lack of feedback problem when I started. Then email all YOUR (not Greedbay's they are a venue, they keep telling us) customers, and tell them where you are, give them a link to your listings. Grab the records while you can and from paypal records as well. That should keep you out of the pub for a bit, and shout if you need a hand. Additional body parts incur a small fee