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EBay Tightens The Screws On Collectors - 10/6/2008 5:17:27 PM
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steelkid69
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By TJ Scwartz, Tuff Stuff's Sports Collectors Monthly
The 600-lb. gorilla, eBay, has made some drastic decisions and changes recently that will affect both buyers and, especially, sellers. Some of the changes are very explainable, others are just plain head-scratchers. Let’s take a look a couple of big ones.
1. Feedback changes. Now, only buyers can leave negative feedback, not sellers. Make sense? Not to me. Let me understand this, eBay. I sell something to someone. They don’t pay me and basically tell me to take a hike. Sure, I can file a non-payer complaint with eBay, but that hardly offsets the loss. Then, after I file said claim, they leave me a negative post with some BS line that says I am a bad guy when that is not the case. Not only can I not leave a negative post in return, but I also can’t even respond to it as I could before the rule change. I’d like to hear a reasonable explanation for this, but likely won’t anytime soon. Just one more bullet a seller loses from his gun belt to fight off fraudulent eBay buyers.
2. By the end of the year, all transactions must be made via either Paypal or an online CC processor. In other words, a seller that doesn’t accept Paypal, who prefers to accept personal checks and money orders, can no longer sell on eBay. A seller that accepts credit cards through their store merchant accounts (at a rate much cheaper than Paypal, I might add), now has to set up an online account through his credit card processor. That takes some time, effort and fees.
It also means that a buyer that has been paying with money orders or personal checks now has to use a credit card. Newsflash to eBay: Everyone that buys on eBay doesn’t have a credit card. So you are basically banning that buyer from eBay. You are also punishing sellers that have regular customers who have been paying with checks and M/O’s for years by telling them those payment forms are no longer acceptable. I personally have never accepted Paypal as I own an established store with a long-standing merchant account. My customers either call the store with a CC or mail in a check or M/O. Beginning in 2009, I can no longer do any of that and I am hardly the only one affected by this drastic change.
International buyers are sort of up the creek now as well. I have written before on these pages about the many pitfalls of selling overseas. I have spoken about the fact that taking an International credit card is very dicey and leaves a merchant little recourse should a buyer dispute a charge even though they received the item.
International M/O’s carry a bank fee of $10-15 on each side. I only accept bank-to-bank wire transfers now, and starting in 2009 I will no longer sell outside of the U.S., including Canada. Who are these changes helping exactly, eBay?
What motivation could eBay possibly have? The main reason is that eBay owns Paypal. Talk about a conflict of interests. I can see the suits in the ivory tower now, talking about ways to raise the stock price. “Hmmm, we’re not getting as much Paypal action as we want because so many use checks and M/O’s. I know, let’s just end that.” I can almost hear the rousing round of applause now as they decided in the blink of an eye to change the way so many millions do business on eBay.
Why would anyone want to pay a fee on a 10-time customer who they simply ship to immediately upon receipt of a check because they know it’s good? Why would anyone want to tell any regular vendor that they can no longer buy from someone because they either don’t have, or prefer not to use, a credit card? Why would any vendor want to tell that regular customer that his/her check is no good anymore? Fees. That’s why.
I guess eBay doesn’t make quite as much as it would like, even with the recent changes to its listing fees and final value fees. eBay now gets somewhere near 10 percent of anything sold in an eBay store. Ten flippin’ percent! When you add in some more points for the Paypal and listing fees, eBay will be getting in the neighborhood of 15 percent of the gross sale in a store and only a tad less in an auction!
I’ve been fortunate to have sold some high-dollar, graded cards over the years with the highest being a $40,000, T206 Eddie Plank. One of the services my store provides for a fee is an eBay selling service. We charge a fee based on what eBay charges us and the labor needed to post, manage, sell and ship. On super expensive items, I insist on bank-to-bank transfers only to protect myself, as even bank checks can be counterfeited or cancelled after an item is shipped. Beginning next year, I can’t do that. Instead, I, like so many others, will not even offer that item on eBay and instead will offer it through one of the many major auction houses like Mastro or Sothebys. This will actually cost eBay money and deny buyers the opportunity to bid on a special item that would almost always be sold in that large auction.
The bottom line is that greed and the stock market is eBay’s reasoning and I feel it will backfire on them in a huge way. Auction house owners are throwing a party, as I guarantee you that many super expensive cards will not make it to eBay. Many sellers will reduce their listings, not increase them. Most buyers will have less to choose from and both sides will lose out, especially eBay.
Those of us who are concerned about all this need to e-mail or contact eBay with complaints. I sincerely doubt that the shareholders would approve a move designed to force long-standing buyers and sellers to do less business versus more, but hey, that’s just me.
You can always reach me at 818-884-CARD. I answer the phone myself most of the time and am happy to help you if I can. Until next month, I remain. ... On Your Side.
Let me here your thoughts about this and look for a follow-up report on this issue in the December Tuff Stuff.
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RE: EBay Tightens The Screws On Collectors - 10/9/2008 11:05:26 AM
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Steve Bloedow
Posts: 68
Joined: 8/7/2008
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Ebay continues to piss people off and lose buyers and sellers with every major "improvement" they make. Right now, they have all the eyes on the site though so it's hard to buy and sell on other venues. I really wish google would launch some type of online auction/selling market because they have the eyes already and people are very anxious to jump off eBay.
_____________________________
Steve Bloedow
Check out my blog at http://bloedowsblock.sportscollectorsdigest.com
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RE: EBay Tightens The Screws On Collectors - 10/9/2008 12:07:03 PM
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NationalRookieCards
Posts: 1
Joined: 10/9/2008
Status: offline
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We've been dabbling a little with SportsBuy.com and SportLots.com. Made a little more of a committment to SportsBuy and so far it's been pretty good, actually quite surprised. We'll never be able to give up our eBay store though, but sure wish we could
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RE: EBay Tightens The Screws On Collectors - 10/9/2008 5:43:58 PM
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TomBartsch
Posts: 315
Joined: 8/7/2008
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Is this a reason they are laying off 10 percent of their workforce (1,600 people)? We did a little math and based on the $150 million they will save in that move, salaries must have approached $100,000 each.
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RE: EBay Tightens The Screws On Collectors - 10/10/2008 9:47:48 AM
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Steve Bloedow
Posts: 68
Joined: 8/7/2008
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I've never understood how they can be struggling to make money. 10% of every item that sells on eBay seems like a pretty good gig, but they are a publicly held company and operate so much differently. If they were privately held they'd all be buried in profits. It simply seems like almost every move they've made in the past three years or so has been bad and isolates users more and more. From feedback changes to fees, etc. Everyone would love to just say "I'm done with eBay" but most can't. As a buyer, we'll always look on the site, but as a seller most of us just wish there was another comparable alternative.
_____________________________
Steve Bloedow
Check out my blog at http://bloedowsblock.sportscollectorsdigest.com
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E-Bay and Paypal are sickening to deal with. I have had to call them and wait for over 30 minutes to be lied to. Now they are making you use paypal as a payment option to increase fees. I tried Naxcom for the first time and had a good experience. I will just buy more there and only use E-Bay for what I can't find.