Category Archives: eBay Listings

Scammed on eBay With the help of PayPal – A Common Sellers Tale in 2009

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eBay is sold to the public on many different levels...

  • To the consumer eBay is offered as a great online place to find anything - cheap
  • Consumers are also told what a "safe" and easy place eBay is to shop.

All well and good, in most cases, except for the fact that eBay does not have to stand behind the promises they make to the consumer, eBay leaves that bit of dirty business to the individual seller and they use PayPal as the big stick of enforcement to make sure that the sellers keep the buyers happy, no matter the cost or situation.  (more on that later)

  • To the Individual Seller eBay is offered as the easy and fast way to sell the junk that accumulates in the garage or attic

eBay has been promoted as the place for anyone to start a business (selling junk from your garage) for years.  (More recently eBay went courting the corporate world, offering enticements and sweetheart deals to big sellers like Buy.com and others).  For awhile it looked as though eBay would turn its back on the small individual sellers in lieu of the huge volume possibilities offered by the Buy.coms of the world.

Some eBay Kool Aid?

Some eBay Kool Aid?

Thankfully, eBay has not completely forgotten the little guy, they are happy to take his/her money and they have taken some minor steps to entice the small seller back. To be honest, I still don't understand the "selling junk from the garage" business plan "drink the kool aid" approach, but that must just be me...

2008

2008 was a long year in eBay-land, the changes and turmoil wrought by the eBay executives decisions (right or wrong) made an impression on the rank and file. The effect of these constant changes on eBay's core audience of sellers (the little guys and gals) became more than an annoyance. For some of these smaller sellers the constant state of flux of 2008 - early 2009 ended a long term love affair.

I will admit that my own love affair with eBay ended in 2008.

It was just too frustrating at times, not only dealing with the changes in my own eBay selling business, but also fielding questions from my clients regarding unexplainable and sometimes indefensible new rules or policies and outrageous games with fee structures.  I pretty much shut down all operations on eBay myself and quietly told my good clients that they might want to take a fresh look at eBay, it was time to evaluate whether the price in terms of time, frustration and costs, had possibly become too high for some to do business on eBay.

Continue reading “Scammed on eBay With the help of PayPal – A Common Sellers Tale in 2009” »

FP30 eBay Listing Format Fixed Price 30 Days – Velocity and IT Dilemma

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Surprise

I was surprised after a presentation I gave at the Product Sellers Seminar with a question from an eBay seller who did not know anything about the new fixed price 30 day format on eBay. The persons question was not a surprise, the fact that anyone who has an eBay account and did not get a notice or a phone call about the FP30 program was my quandary. 

Here I thought everyone knew...

OK - for those of you who did not know about this change ( I know, another change at eBay - groan in unison), here is eBay's explanation of the program.

Fixed Price - 30 Days

Starting September 16, we are lowering the listing fee for all items sold via the fixed price format to only 35 cents, and a special rate of only 5 cents through the end of the year for Buy It Now™ fixed price listings in the Media categories (Books, Video Games, Music and DVDs/Movies) using pre-filled item information. (See our new Fixed Price fee structure here.)

Accordingly, we are shifting the majority of our costs for most categories to the back end (final value fees), which you only pay if you're successful in selling an item. In extremely competitive e-commerce categories such as Consumer Electronics, Cameras and Computers, we're decreasing final value fees. This means we're giving you an even bigger incentive to list these types of items on eBay.

In addition to the pricing change, we're extending the listing duration of all Buy It Now™ fixed price listings to 30 days, up from seven with an option for automatic renewal. For sellers whose items that may take longer to sell, this change will be a huge cost reduction and time saver. Taken together, these two big changes – 35 cents for up to 30 days - represent a 70 percent reduction in listing fees on fixed price items

My original take on Fixed price 30 days is that its a good thing but as with all things eBay - it depends...

Depends upon: Continue reading “FP30 eBay Listing Format Fixed Price 30 Days – Velocity and IT Dilemma” »

Major Change In eBay View Item Page Due – During Holiday Season

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From the eBay Developer blog comes a bit of news... 

We all know eBay has been testing a new look and feel for the view item page. I agree the format should be changed a bit to freshen up the entire eBay site. But take a look at the changed design and then read the rest of the story....

New View Item Page in Sandbox

Posted by Laurel Kline in Product News & Sandbox
Wednesday, Sep.10.2008, 5:43 PM PT

 

Want to see how your listing will look in the new View Item page? Head on over to http://sandbox.ebay.com!

The new View Item page is now live in the Sandbox for all listings. This lets you test your listing templates to make sure they'll look good in the new page.

The domain split for the item description is also live. We suggest that all developers and template creators list in the Sandbox so you can test how your template works. You'll be able to catch any unexpected interactions with the iFrame.

The new View Item is being displayed to a small number of users now, but is scheduled to roll to the entire site before the holiday season.

You heard it direct from eBay - this switch is going to occur site wide prior to the Holiday Season!

I know many merchants are already in holiday season mode, my clients have been getting ready for months, so what exactly do the eBay developers mean by "before the holiday season"? Continue reading “Major Change In eBay View Item Page Due – During Holiday Season” »

Auction Format Dead on eBay – Long Live The Auction

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Today a landmark change in listing fees for fixed price format "Buy it Now" items on the original auction Internet site eBay was announced. 

Starting September 17th eBay will charge 35 cents to list any number of the same types of fixed-price items each fixed price item listing will now run for 30 days just as store listings and continue to be included in core search. 

UPDATE: eBay special web page explaining changes here: eBay

Is this move an indicator of the death of auctions on eBay?

Lorrie Norrington, eBay's president of global marketplaces says no, but .... Continue reading “Auction Format Dead on eBay – Long Live The Auction” »

eBay Links Policy Revised – Stays the Same – What?

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eBay... Yes EBAY listened to sellers...

I know this is a shock,  just breathe deep - Take a moment to comprehend the full meaning of the statement above...

Everyone knows how much and how fervent our opposition was to the "new links policy" from eBay, announced last May.  Here are a few of our articles regarding the links policy changes proposed...

It seems the Trading Assistant Journal was not the only voice making vehement objections to the removal of links from our eBay listings and "me" pages.  And eBay has listened!  The announcement from John McDonald yesterday is a significant victory for eBay sellers and believers in social media marketing everywhere. 

Thank You eBay! and Thanks Mr. McDonald!

***A Message from John McDonald – Links Policy News for Sellers***July 31, 2008 | 10:40AM PST/PT

Hello everyone…Back in May, I announced a number of important policy changes for sellers. One of the policies I mentioned was an update to our Links Policy which governs the types of links that can be included in a listing. Our Links Policy is intended to increase safety and preserve the buying experience.

After my announcement, we received questions and concerns from sellers about this change. At eBay Live!, our staff made it clear we would be going back to reconsider some aspects of the policy around how third-party links would be treated.

As promised, we’ve been reviewing all the different types of situations that our sellers have brought to our attention, and we’ve been meeting with additional stakeholders to understand how our policy update would impact them. After this additional research and discussion, we’ve decided to leave our Links Policy as is. There will be no Links Policy updates at this time.
I want to thank our sellers for your support and patience around this matter.

eBay Wins in Court – Happy Day San Jose, Sorry Tiffany & Co.

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EBAY Wins a Case!

Wow, eBay Wins in court, must be a happy day in San Jose!  Today, eBay won a critical ruling in the case of Tiffany & Co. vs eBay Inc. The Court ruled eBay was not responsible for the sale of fake Tiffany on the site.

I tend to agree, eBay is thousands of sellers and each seller is responsible for the items they offer. While eBay should do more to prevent the fraudulent sale of counterfeit goods and knock offs, it can not be ultimately responsible.  The real responsibility falls upon the seller who offered the merchandise on the site should bear the legal responsibility for same.

Congrats - eBay! Continue reading “eBay Wins in Court – Happy Day San Jose, Sorry Tiffany & Co.” »

Perfume to Sell? Not on eBay

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No Perfume on eBay (Photo Courtesy LVMH Lowe)

EBay Inc. lost an appeals court bid to halt a ruling that ordered it to stop online sales of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton perfumes. This ruling prevents eBay, or anyone selling on eBay Worldwide from listing any perfume from these manufacturers unless they are an authorized dealer. 

This ruling even goes so far as to prevent consumers from selling perfume received as gifts.

A Paris appeals court upheld a 50,000-euro ($80,000) fine for each day that EBay allowed the sales to continue, LVMH said.

The order was part of a 40-million-euro verdict last week over claims that San Jose-based EBay didn't do enough to block the sale of fake goods

My opinion on this....

The ruling shows the World that eBay is not the only entity to make a few bad decisions.  Preventing knock offs and couterfit products from flooding the market is not eBay's job.  eBay does not sell anything listed on their venue. All these things have been argued in court before...

The point I am so confused about is how does a single sale from an end user/consumer effect the bottom line of any of these brands?

In my book, if a perfume or purse or anything is valuable enough for someone to sell on eBay, or to even think they should sell it on eBay if they did not want it as a gift, then this perceived value really increases the brand value.  It would be a simple matter for eBay to restrict the quantity sold for a single seller ID to X amount of units per year. 

Why in the World would French legal officials see it as piracy to sell a gift purchase of a single bottle of perfume?

Announcements at eBay Fast and Furious – Search & Links Policy Altered

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Apparently eBay is listening, or possibly they can't hear themselves think?

The din of complaints about the new, yet vague and undefined linking policy seems to have caused eBay to re-adjust the timetable on implementation and enforcement of the no links edict.

Of course I do not agree with limiting the links from the me pages on eBay. Even though I do not agree, I have removed same from my me page and listings, just to be safe.

Now eBay has decided we need more time to accomplish the task of stripping any traffic generation capabilities from our eBay investment.

And what's up with removing email addresses? Does eBay really think the eBay "my messages" system is adequate or even passable as a sales or customer service communications interface?  Are they really losing that much money to sellers selling off site to justify these restrictions? Or is eBay just blaming the stagnant growth numbers and flat stock price on this mythical problem, in an attempt to convince wall street they are doing something about these sellers stealing fees by talking to buyers outside of eBay? 

Personally, I will not buy anything on the Internet from a company I can not communicate with - oops, I pay eBay every month, better revise that statement.

For more of my thoughts on these policies read this

I wonder what the car dealers think of these new policies?  Is there really any reason to be on eBay motors if you can not develop leads from the calls dealers get on eBay listings? Continue reading “Announcements at eBay Fast and Furious – Search & Links Policy Altered” »

Live Help – Communication at eBay – Cornerstone of the Buyer Experience

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This is a very long article, the subject is important and it involves my client, my business and eBay.

The crux of the situation is communications at eBay, how eBay strives to inspire the customers of eBay, (the sellers) to provide excellent customer service and communications. And why it is difficult for the customer (sellers) of eBay to take this request seriously when eBay itself can not seem to provide even basic communications to its customers.

As many of you know I run an eBay and blog/website design and consulting company - iBusinessLogic.com... In the course of events we work with many clients on eBay related issues, our clients look to us for answers, especially in the current state of ever present flux for eBay sellers.

Cornerstone LogoYesterday one of our clients, Cornerstone Commercial Supply, called to ask me why they could not list anything on eBay?

The rest of this story will be detailing my efforts to find an answer as to why they had been blocked from listing...

To tell the truth we still do not know, so first let me give you some background.

iBusinessLogic designed an eBay Store powered by Frooition for this established brick and mortar commercial flooring and hard surface care distributor. The are very pleased with our work. The folks at Cornerstone love the design and they really like the exposure this eBay store powered by Frooition and designed here in the USA has brought them from within the commercial carpet cleaning industry.

Cornerstone's primary business is selling and servicing large truck mount carpet cleaning machines meant for commercial applications. In addition, they offer all of the cleaning agents, tools, fittings, hoses, mops and janitorial supplies needed for any independent or franchise carpet cleaning or janitorial service in Florida. Cornerstone services clients like Serv-Pro, Carpet Master and the like.

This is no mom & pop working out of a garage...

Cornerstone Commercial Supply

Cornerstone is exactly the kind of new seller eBay wants to attract. Cornerstone Supply sells branded merchandise from the finest suppliers in the industry and they have their own line of cleaning agents and supplies sold under the Cornerstone name.

The biggest drawback for them has been in trying to understand all of eBay's road blocks in relation to bringing a new business into eBay. One of the biggest pain points for Cornerstone has been the limitations placed on their account due to feedback. Not poor feedback, but as a new seller, no feedback.

Without feedback an eBay Stores owner like Cornerstone Commercial Supply is limited to only offering Stores listings or auction listings, even though they have a confirmed PayPal account, they have a verified business address and they have been doing business in the same location for over 20 years. This company has financial references and supplier accounts all over the country, the owner and founder of Cornerstone Commercial Supply, Richard Carpenter is one of the leading figures in the commercial carpet cleaning industry and has been known for his expertise in the field for over 35 years.

It is difficult for Richard and his daughter Connie Carpenter (who runs the eBay business side) to understand why theyConnie of Cornerstone Commercial Supply must be limited by feedback, when Cornerstone Supply has given all buyers on and off eBay great service. They do not understand why they have not received many feedback to reflect that service even though they always leave positive feedback upon payment.

The system as it stands is a barrier to further sales for the company and when a company has invested in branding themselves with the eBay system by custom designing an eBay Store and filling it with good products that sell. Why should they be limited by feedback when the system for feedback is so controversial and when buyers simply just are hesitant to bother with the whole feedback concept?

In any case, lets get to the heart of the reason why Connie Carpenter first called me and then came to my office yesterday....

In addition to our eBay Store design, Connie and Richard decided to use our Auction-Logic.com branded web based eBay listing management software to manage the eBay listings, re-listings and all of the online inventory for Cornerstone Commercial Supply.

Connie was attempting to list a few items and the software was returning an error code:

eBay Error: The item cannot be listed or modified. The title and/or description may contain improper words, or the listing or seller may be in violation of eBay policy. Continue reading “Live Help – Communication at eBay – Cornerstone of the Buyer Experience” »