From a buyers point of view

[Virtueandpraise]

I'm not sure if or how it would or could be done, but wished there was something in place where a seller would have to log into the account every xxx months or weeks, if they dont then it could trigger some sort of alert and auctions would automatically be ended, (not deleted) and an email sent to seller telling them auctions have been ended, that way we would lose a lot of the dead auctions and if they are a geniune seller who is unable to get on it would also help them out with out them worrying if they had sold something.

Excellent idea!

To be generous, I would suggest sellers have to log on 1x a week (except when on holiday). That gives leeway for those in situations where they have to work 60-80 hour weeks, or only get access to a computer 1x a week.

I am also thinking it would be a good idea on every auction listing to add a brightly visible rectangle that states: "Seller Last Logged In to Ebid", and gives the day and hour. I'd put this right under the "Watch This Auction" and "Ask a Question" buttons. And I'd color code it: it turns green when the seller has logged in in the past 48 hours, yellow when it's been 4 days since the last log on, and red when it's been more than a week since the seller has logged on. The holiday setting would turn it red, too. The fine print under this rectangle would explain the meaning of each color. This would make it easy even for newbies to quickly see if the seller is active.

I recently tried to get an answer about postage for multiple items from a seller, and it took about 6 days to get the first response, and then 4 days to get the answer back from my response that day to her question about my question. That seemed dreadfully slow to me, and I think would have been off putting for a newbie.

[kazeran]

By the sound of it this is almost as big a problem as getting more buyers onto the site.
Just how often, honestley now? does this non communication when purchases are made occur?
Are there only about 30 real sellers on ebid (judging by the forum activity....lol) and everyone else opens a shop fills it with stuff and then walks away?

[bykimbo]

By the sound of it this is almost as big a problem as getting more buyers onto the site.
Just how often, honestley now? does this non communication when purchases are made occur?
Are there only about 30 real sellers on ebid (judging by the forum activity....lol) and everyone else opens a shop fills it with stuff and then walks away?

Hahaha, the proportions aren't quite that bad, but the problem is serious and affects a significant number of potential buyers who won't bother trying again.

[BAGHAG999]

The majority of my buyers are never seen by me in the forums and i tend to spend too much time here.

[kazeran]

I have to say I do like the idea where your listings are ended if you don't log in on a regular basis.
It can't be much to ask, if you want to sell on a site like ebid then, it isn't much to ask that you log in once in a while.

[bykimbo]

I have to say I do like the idea where your listings are ended if you don't log in on a regular basis.
It can't be much to ask, if you want to sell on a site like ebid then, it isn't much to ask that you log in once in a while.

This very idea has been proposed many times, and I'm afraid there's no sign of them going for it. My personal guess is that they don't want the massive drop in listing numbers that would result in dead listings being culled. I think that's a shame, as quality would help build eBid's reputation more than quantity. If very buyer who came here went away happy with a smooth and successful purchase that word would soon spread - just as the failures become well known now. It's great site, but there's always room for it to be better.

[florida33549]

I'm not sure if or how it would or could be done, but wished there was something in place where a seller would have to log into the account every xxx months or weeks, if they dont then it could trigger some sort of alert and auctions would automatically be ended, (not deleted) and an email sent to seller telling them auctions have been ended, that way we would lose a lot of the dead auctions and if they are a geniune seller who is unable to get on it would also help them out with out them worrying if they had sold something.

This has been suggested many times. Nothing has been done about it though so I assume it is not a priority to the site.

[merlin]

I will not bid or buy anything unless I know that the seller is active, I too normally pay as soon as I bid on an item, I will never understand why it takes some buyers time to pay, if you dont have the money to pay there and then, why bid, ok you may have money due but what if it dont come lol

damn thats me out of selling to ya i`m not active

oh and within 24 hours should be enough time to reply most people turn there comp on once a day ,

[bykimbo]

This has been suggested many times. Nothing has been done about it though so I assume it is not a priority to the site.

I suspect it's not just "not a priority", I think it's likely to be something they positively refuse to do - too damaging to the stats.

[shezz]

By the sound of it this is almost as big a problem as getting more buyers onto the site.
Just how often, honestley now? does this non communication when purchases are made occur?
Are there only about 30 real sellers on ebid (judging by the forum activity....lol) and everyone else opens a shop fills it with stuff and then walks away?

There are some brilliant sellers on here, they work really hard at promoting the items they have for sale, am always seeing links for items in facebook to here, and even tho some may not come into the forum's I would buy from them as I've seen them advertising, (inlcuding Merlin who is not around here much lol),

You could have 50 brilliant sellers and only half a dozen bad sellers, but you can guarantee (because it's S*** law) that a new buyer comes in and wants to make a purchase off one of the half dozen or so, tbh I am sure as I would do exactly the same and that is if anyone has had a bad experiance they will tell friends, family ect, so 1 bad seller could create the loss of many potential buyer's.

Never heard nothing from my ? left it 5 days now, so will report the seller laters. It's ok tho as I know this site well