Terrified by eBay.

[squern]

I just had a phone call from an eBay seller.

I had bid on some radiator valves, which I was unable to find on here.
He was very, very concerned that he was not able to ship in three days, as promised by eBay, due to the Post Offices being closed until Tuesday morning.

He was worried about negative feedback and low dsr scores.

We had a nice chat, and he told me he was a hospital worker who just sold the odd thing that was no longer needed.
(By him, not the hospital). He told me he was fed up with tight postage rates, and the outrageous eBay Postage Tax.

I reassured him that I was in no hurry, and told him about eBid. He had never heard of it, but said he'd give it a try.
Two things, really:
Will the occasional seller, like him, find it easy to get into the eBid system? I wonder.

And what a state to get into. To be driven to make expensive phone calls to preserve your dsr ratings. It amounts to oppression.

[westlondoncarparts]

OP, Your experience was not a unique experience there.

A lot of previous regular and casual sellers no longer sell there because of the way that the rules have been set up.

They also do not buy there unless absolutely necessary.

I worked once for the largest company in the world in its sector. The internal bureaucracy there forgot that their wages got paid for by the customers and the focus of the operational management became orientated towards satisfying the rules of the internal bureaucracy rather than delivering good value and service to customers. Customer service at the sharp end of the business was poor.The company got taken over in a hostile takeover because it was not delivering enough profit and eventually got broken up and sold on and is no more.

Recently, the largest operator in another sector in the UK announced falling profits. My experience of their customer service has not been good and I no longer buy from them unless I have to. They also have upset a lot of people and I am sure have lost a lot of customers for good because of the way that their customers have to fit in with the processes of their internal bureaucracy rather than processes being customer orientated. .

Being big does not mean guaranteed eternal survival and if you keep upsetting enough people for long enough some day of reckoning will eventually arrive no matter how big you are.

[deanosaur1972]

Had a similar thing the other week - telephone call from a bay seller. In this case he had made a big mistake and lucky for him that it was me he was dealing with rather than most others. But the fear in his voice was palpable. It also gave me the opportunity to ask about his sales, to which he replied 'good'. A quick run through the last month would say otherwise - about break even. With the new fee structure over there that will turn into a loss. I am sure he was relieved that I am a reasonable person, not sure he enjoyed being told that he was making no money and would soon be making a loss (though he had little choice but to listen).

He would be far better off selling here, not only for his pocket but also he would have the chance to learn how to list and sell properly..

[raindropsies]

And getting a 3 for anything will now be classed as a low rating (it's just 1's and 2's until Monday)

[PATRIOT73]

i bought a item on thursday before 10am
said next day delivery
good friday no post
saturday backlock post
monday bank holiday[007 day ] no post
never expected ittill tueday at earlest

[KustomDesign]

we have just came over from ebay to here the last 2 days or so... we still sell on ebay but with the defect thing coming in on august, its going to be an absolute nightmare to sell on there....well, it is just now, so it going to be a hell of a lot worse come aug.

these new rules and regs are totally bonkers..they have really lost the plot this time....but i still say there is a hidden agenda to all this..most would say its to cull the smaller sellers and make way from the bigger retail outlets, but i dont know....there is a lot more to this happening than meets the eye here.

its a very foolish person who relies solely on ebay as an only income now....hence why we have spread out with amazon, here on ebid, and our new website. - we HAD TO....all it takes over there come aug is a few nasty buyers who you just cant please or reason with, and you are toast...

couple that with all the stress selling on there and there forums are as volatile as hell, na....we shall be there till we cant stand any more....or until we are forced to use the manged returns.

funny how no one can give us an answer over there on the boards, you know, the one's that know EVERYTHING ...as sellers of personalised goods, would we still be liable for the manged returns ? under the distance seller regs ?

[SwiftTag]

distance selling regs exclude personalised items but it doesn't look like ebay are going to make a distinction with Managed Ripoff

[squern]

The big difference you will notice on eBid is the lack of stress. It is a lot more easy-going.
You may sell less, but you will save on fees, and certainly on grey hairs.

Life's too short to put up with shennanigans from eBay.