Power Sellers Unite

cohibastore.com · Joined: 14 Sep 2006 Posts: 4908

So you've been cursing ebay, the changes, the scammers, the fraud, the hassles and the headaches? Yes you have, I know it.

And you've heard that Amazon is possibly better, quite possibly even from me. How it's pretty basic but performs well. They process your payments and cover stolen and fraudulent payments. You've even heard their buyers are smarter, less prone to be stupid.

Except its all a myth. One I intend to put and end to.

For important issues, customer service is powerless, unable or unwilling to stop rogue sellers from altering catalog items, and utterly unwilling to correct them once they've been butchered.

Angry about eBay favoring big sellers? Yup, same deal at Amazon. Except if the sellers use Amazon fulfillment they are the ones that get special treatment, and not even wrist slap for wrecking the catalog because Amazon makes money on them twice.

And all those scam sellers on eBay? Yep, they've moved in too. There's so much bait and switch going on its a wonder anyone ever gets what they really ordered. My biggest competitor substitutes different products all the time and Amazon does nothing.

Their buyers don't understand the difference between product review and seller feedback. Feedback abuse is rampant and too many buyers lie to trust any of them. Amazon may have the upper hand in reputation, but they have not matured much in dealing with these compelling issues which drove buyers away from ebay.

So the next time someone asks is Amazon the next ebay, tell them yes, in all the wrong ways.

Stockmiser · Joined: 03 Jun 2006 Posts: 1169

Thanks for that great info Cohiba!

I've had nothing but stellar service when buying from Amazon directly - but I can't say the same for the 3rd party merchants.

One of my first "merchant" purchases was for a new printer - and the one they sent was not only used, but came without printer ink cartridges. 3 weeks later and they sent me a completely different (though new) printer.

I guess I've made maybe 4 other 3rd party buys, and I'd rate them lower then similar ebay experiences - slow shipping, poor packing, and damaged items. I also got the impression that some these merchants are selling refurbs as "new".

For the last year now I only buy items from amazon direct - I just ignore the merchants.

eBayEXPAT · Joined: 25 Apr 2011 Posts: 96

I've been selling on Amazon for a couple years, Used small electronics and software, even a couple vintage cameras.
Sure , Amazon is not perfect, but no way is it the TOXIC anti-seller atmosphere of eBay.

portocall · Joined: 05 Jun 2009 Posts: 157

In my opinion after selling on Amazon for about three years - it's pretty awful and getting worse.

Yes, most of the bad changes rolled out on ebay over the past few years were to bring it in line with Amazon's mess.

Amazon cataloging is a complete joke, how anyone sells anything on the site and how buyers find anything is amazing. I entered some items just yesterday and already today photos have been added or substiuted for my photos, descriptions have been changed. Whether this is other sellers or Amazon's cataloging I don't know. But, guess who's gonna have to explain to a buyer (and make a refund) when the wrong item is shipped?

Amazon's new thing - threats to sellers about monitoring shipping times and tracking numbers. For now they're just tracking it - but soon it WILL BE figured into the seller's feedback scores. This IN SPITE of the fact that Amazon's shipping sytem (stamps.com) is now screwed up (because of changes they made) and their system doesn't even allow for confirmation numbers and labels process WITHOUT bar codes for tracking. Yes I've reported it - Amazon takes a few days or weeks to admit anything and then puts on a carpy patch. Amazon = Glitch inho.
I've had to take Amazon's labels to the post office to see if they're valid (they're not) and then actually go to PAYPAL to print out a good label.

Don't get me started on Amazon!

In my humbug opinion.

Think twice about listing on Amazon.
8)

cohibastore.com · Joined: 14 Sep 2006 Posts: 4908

Stockmiser wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")For the last year now I only buy items from amazon direct - I just ignore the merchants.

Ditto. I have had such a bad experience with Amazon third party sellers I don't even look unless it's one of the big 3 or 4 that fulfill Amazon in electronics.

I also I've pulled 60% of my items from Amazon, and deleted the listings so no one else can sell them either. I'm down from 175 items to just 50.

20 good sellers and the rest are listed to keep one specific dirt bag seller honest.

CS

theplainsman · Joined: 27 Dec 2010 Posts: 150

can a seller get the subscription for 40 $ a month.. then put his items in the catalogue .. then after a couple months once they are in the catalogue op out of the subscription and just pay the eXtra 1 dollar per item sold??

if this can be done i think this would be best for small sellers whose items are not in the catelogue like crafts and stuff??

cohibastore.com · Joined: 14 Sep 2006 Posts: 4908

theplainsman wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")can a seller get the subscription for 40 $ a month.. then put his items in the catalogue .. then after a couple months once they are in the catalogue op out of the subscription and just pay the eXtra 1 dollar per item sold??

if this can be done i think this would be best for small sellers whose items are not in the catelogue like crafts and stuff??

it can probably be done, but it may not prove to be cost effective, 40 items listed cost 40 dollars, not forty different items cost a dollar each. two of an item means .99 per unit offered i believe.

cohibastore.com · Joined: 14 Sep 2006 Posts: 4908

Wow, here's some more proof Amazon is going down the drain. I just checked my Amazon feedback and I got another neg from a customer saying they did not get it, despite the tracking showing it was delivered. 4 scammers.

Really not going to miss these people.

CS

theplainsman · Joined: 27 Dec 2010 Posts: 150

has something changed with no more free listings?? I thought when listing without the 40$ subscription , one would be paying an extra .99 each time an item was sold??

do they now charge for listings?

cohibastore.com · Joined: 14 Sep 2006 Posts: 4908

Listing are still free with the $40 pro merchant.

if you don't have it's .99 per each item, not each sku/title

Gypsy · Joined: 12 Aug 2006 Posts: 37

Amazon does not charge a per listing fee, they charge a fee when the item sells. You can list 100 items and if nothing sells, you owe Amazon nothing.

If you have a Pro merchant account, the .99 fee is waived when the item sells.

Here is their fee structure:

When your item sells, Amazon collects the sales price and shipping costs from the buyer, deducts a referral fee of 6 to 25 percent of the product price, a variable closing fee, and a per-item fee of $0.99. The $0.99 per-item fee is waived for Pro Merchant Subscribers.

Here's how it works:

Sale price of the item
Shipping credit
- Referral Fee of 6-25% of the sale price
- Variable Closing Fee
- $0.99 Fixed Closing Fee (waived for Pro Merchant Subscribers)
-------------------------------------
= Total deposited to seller's account

theplainsman · Joined: 27 Dec 2010 Posts: 150

2 yrs ago i sold there and no listing fee

when something sold i did pay .99 more per item sold than ones with the subscription

i only paid that .99 extra when something sold

Gypsy · Joined: 12 Aug 2006 Posts: 37

@the plainsman

Exactly! it is the same now. You can list 1 or 1,000,000 items on Amazon and if you do not sell a single item, you owe Amazon Zero.

cohibastore.com · Joined: 14 Sep 2006 Posts: 4908

Thanks for the clarification.

antiebay superstar · Joined: 24 May 2010 Posts: 2

Truth be told.... Amazon was never a bed of roses! The average Amazon buyer could care less about leaving you any feedback to build your reputation. There were times when I received 3 feedbacks out of 50 completed sale. So lets say you have 200 completed sales and 18 feedbacks and of course you get the customer who says this is not what I expected and leave you a negative feedback ....not for the prouduct being defective.. they critiqued it and gave you a negative as a result. Amazon then places you on probation to up your feedback score or get booted off so that means trolling and begging the tons of buyers who did not leave feedback to leave feedback. you either get bo response or someone leaving a neg for you nagging them. The only thing left is to wait for Amazon to lay the smack down on your account.

As for shipping.. you must ship within two business days. your item has a 21 day arrival window. your item can arrive to the customer in timely fashion. however, they can file a claim saying it wasn't shipped within the 2day business window and win, They will refund the money to the customer and leave it up to the customer's good faith to return your items to you ( that is when communication ends from the customer). the good ole big boys get the vip treatment and it is the same on ebay: selling thousands of items a week getting hundreds of positive and negative feedback with no penalties!

Buyers (and still) allot of sellers are still loopy over Ebay and Amazon. google continues to toy around with product placement , ad words and other bs instead of growing the balls to bring a legit marketplace to the masses. Moreover,you have people scared s..tless about using Google checkout but use Google everyday. I still have hope that someone will come along with a viable 3rd player. It continues to fade. However, I still have it.