Power Sellers Unite

elgato · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 17240 Location: Texas

With the New Year well under way and Christmas already pretty much a distant memory for most people it’s getting towards the time of year for eBay to release the first seller update of 2012.

Last year’s Spring Seller Update was released in mid-March, so there’s probably a good few weeks before we find out what eBay have in store for us this year, but what would you like to see?

If you were eBay and planning changes to selling (or buying!) what are the first things you’d change and why? Would it be feedback, fees, categories and seller standards which are the main areas last year’s changes affected, or are there other things you’d like to see eBay change?

http://tamebay.com/2012/01/what-site-changes-should-ebay-make-this-year-to.html

luckyalive · Joined: 27 Apr 2008 Posts: 590

1. Stop charging a 9% comission on shipping fees.

2. Stop stealing 9% comission fees on refunds. When refunds are sent to customers via PayPal for shipping fees PayPal has no problem automatically refunding their fee, but eBay does not. eBay knew this would occur while planning their new scheme to charge comissions on shippping, are certainly aware of it now, and have had months to fix this. The fact is they want to steal millions of dollars each year from their sellers.

3. Drop all listing fees. Plenty of other sites to sell on now.

4. Drop placing sellers last in search results for not offering free shipping. Why in hell would I ever list items worth several thousand dollars and then have ebay throwme under the bus for not offering free shipping. If eBay is so concerned about free shipping then they can pay for it! I am not paying for it, just as I would not pay for the customer's gas and car insurance for driving into my store.

5. Stop brain washing buyers into thinking they need free shipping when in fact buyers don't have a clue when it comes to shipping items. eBay has brain washed them into thinking every seller is overcharging them for shipping. A lot of the buyers I encounter don't even belong on the internet based on their total igorance about sales and shipping.

Free shipping is just another fraud ebay is laying down on its customers in order to compete with Amazon, yet its still managing to get its behind kicked by Amazon. There is NO such thing as free shipping - its added into the price of the item or handling fees or you pay for it seperately on the invoice. If you as a bidder on eBay believe that free shipping exists then I got a couple of bridges to sell you, along with some swamp land.

6. Stop dsr ratings all together. A buyer agrees to shipping charges within auction, but they are then allowed to leave a dsr rating that states they do not agree with the shipping charges - that right there is breach of contract.

Strange how all my label purchases show I've shipped in the amount of time specified, which eBay can easily cross reference, yet my dsr rating have dropped to 4.9, then back up 5.0, then back down to 4.9. Actually all items have been shipped the same day, or the next day if the po is already closed - of course I've always done this for the 10+ years anyway. If customers want their packages sooner then they should pay within minutes of the close of the auction, not a week later, and pay for express shipping. Oh wait - I forgot, they expect free express shipping now, LOL.

7. Allow negative feedback for buyers.

8. Stop hiding shill bidding and fraud by covering the i.d. names of bidders. Showing bidder i.d. names sure help me uncover some fraud when I ran into a bad seller. Of course eBay did not do anything even after I pointed out that the seller was reselling the same item he just ripped me off for. They instead decided to harass me, the victim, for reporting it.

9. Stop chargebacks. I really do not buy your buyer and seller protection. I filed a claim and was simply ignored by your then current insurance agent Llyods of London.

10. Stop allowing sellers to use stock photos and throw your catalog into the trash where it belongs. Sellers too lazy to snap their own photos will not get my business, especially when I am buying used items with cosmetic wear - I want to see that wear because that determines what I will pay - not your syock photos. Once again, another failed attempt to compete with Amazon.

11. Stop allowing sellers from using photos lifted from manufacturer's web sites - its called copyright infringement. Maybe ebay should look at the computer catagories - its right there to see if you got eyes.

12. Allow paypal users to use their credit card to pay for labels. The only way to do this now is take all your money out of paypal and then to select a credit card as a optional payment for each label as yu print them. Ebay is forcing me to accept credit cards, yet I they go out of their way to prevent me from using my credit card for paying for things.

13. Get rid of billmelater. I don't want to see it as an option. The only thing it does is frankly piss me the hell off every time I have to select another option. This is what preferences are for - so I make my choice once!

14. Have customerr service stop telling lies. They are not even good lies as they can easily be disproved elsewhere - like on your own site. Totally laughable how dumb they think people are - like we are all some valley girl air heads.

15. Get rid of best match and all the b.s. search results based on how much sellers bride you, free shipping, and so forth.

16. Buy a conscience - that will help with most other things mentioned above plus dozens of other things that I am not going to waste my time on here because you've obviously demonstrated you have no moral values at all.

17. Close your site down!

18. Stop destroying the post office. You killed their money order business on ebay and are now in the process of killing off their insurance buiness. You are also killing off local post offices as now labels printed on ebay and paypal do not show up as revenue from a local post office. Yet you have the balls to complain to congress that postal reform is not needed - when you are helping to kill it off.

I think you (ebay and paypal employees) missed the boat growing up and in school when it came to learning right from wrong. I guess you are too busy counting your bonuses to worry about that - we will see how easily you can squeeze those bonuses through an eye of a needle on judgement day.

elgato · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 17240 Location: Texas

"17. Close your site down!"
ROTFLMAO! If this happened, we would not have anything to gripe about and have to close down this forum! :shock:

Anni · Joined: 12 Feb 2010 Posts: 7

Lucky, you forgot one dear......... :)

The BIG pop out for shopping cart button that covers part of the seller's info so much that you have to X the popout to get to the info.

Guess they think we are really stupid that we cannot see it or know what it is for *rolling eyes*

Major Paine · Joined: 31 May 2009 Posts: 33

Fire Doughnuthole.

luckyalive · Joined: 27 Apr 2008 Posts: 590

19. Actually provide seller protection. A quick search on google can produce numerous legal loopholes in the so called seller protection. For instance, all a buyer has to do is claim the item was not as described and it will not be covered under seller protection. All the buyer has to do is claim they got a box of rocks, or its broken, or substitute a copy of the item, and so forth. I know many of the buyers are igorant on eBay, but I think they can figure this one out.

A quick google search will also reveal countless horror stories from sellers where the buyer got to keep the item, the money, and shipping. It really does not matter if the seller had proof - they do - because PayPal/eBay don't give a crap and frankly are not going to invest the money and time to look at individual cases when they only make pennies on each dollar.

20. Google searches wil also quickly reveal that so called buyer protection is a complete falsehood due to the double-talk ebay uses.

MIKEHATESEBAY · Joined: 18 Nov 2010 Posts: 160

luckyalive wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")
1. Stop charging a 9% comission on shipping fees.

2. Stop stealing 9% comission fees on refunds. When refunds are sent to customers via PayPal for shipping fees PayPal has no problem automatically refunding their fee, but eBay does not. eBay knew this would occur while planning their new scheme to charge comissions on shippping, are certainly aware of it now, and have had months to fix this. The fact is they want to steal millions of dollars each year from their sellers.

3. Drop all listing fees. Plenty of other sites to sell on now.

4. Drop placing sellers last in search results for not offering free shipping. Why in hell would I ever list items worth several thousand dollars and then have ebay throwme under the bus for not offering free shipping. If eBay is so concerned about free shipping then they can pay for it! I am not paying for it, just as I would not pay for the customer's gas and car insurance for driving into my store.

5. Stop brain washing buyers into thinking they need free shipping when in fact buyers don't have a clue when it comes to shipping items. eBay has brain washed them into thinking every seller is overcharging them for shipping. A lot of the buyers I encounter don't even belong on the internet based on their total igorance about sales and shipping.

Free shipping is just another fraud ebay is laying down on its customers in order to compete with Amazon, yet its still managing to get its behind kicked by Amazon. There is NO such thing as free shipping - its added into the price of the item or handling fees or you pay for it seperately on the invoice. If you as a bidder on eBay believe that free shipping exists then I got a couple of bridges to sell you, along with some swamp land.

6. Stop dsr ratings all together. A buyer agrees to shipping charges within auction, but they are then allowed to leave a dsr rating that states they do not agree with the shipping charges - that right there is breach of contract.

Strange how all my label purchases show I've shipped in the amount of time specified, which eBay can easily cross reference, yet my dsr rating have dropped to 4.9, then back up 5.0, then back down to 4.9. Actually all items have been shipped the same day, or the next day if the po is already closed - of course I've always done this for the 10+ years anyway. If customers want their packages sooner then they should pay within minutes of the close of the auction, not a week later, and pay for express shipping. Oh wait - I forgot, they expect free express shipping now, LOL.

7. Allow negative feedback for buyers.

8. Stop hiding shill bidding and fraud by covering the i.d. names of bidders. Showing bidder i.d. names sure help me uncover some fraud when I ran into a bad seller. Of course eBay did not do anything even after I pointed out that the seller was reselling the same item he just ripped me off for. They instead decided to harass me, the victim, for reporting it.

9. Stop chargebacks. I really do not buy your buyer and seller protection. I filed a claim and was simply ignored by your then current insurance agent Llyods of London.

10. Stop allowing sellers to use stock photos and throw your catalog into the trash where it belongs. Sellers too lazy to snap their own photos will not get my business, especially when I am buying used items with cosmetic wear - I want to see that wear because that determines what I will pay - not your syock photos. Once again, another failed attempt to compete with Amazon.

11. Stop allowing sellers from using photos lifted from manufacturer's web sites - its called copyright infringement. Maybe ebay should look at the computer catagories - its right there to see if you got eyes.

12. Allow paypal users to use their credit card to pay for labels. The only way to do this now is take all your money out of paypal and then to select a credit card as a optional payment for each label as yu print them. Ebay is forcing me to accept credit cards, yet I they go out of their way to prevent me from using my credit card for paying for things.

13. Get rid of billmelater. I don't want to see it as an option. The only thing it does is frankly piss me the hell off every time I have to select another option. This is what preferences are for - so I make my choice once!

14. Have customerr service stop telling lies. They are not even good lies as they can easily be disproved elsewhere - like on your own site. Totally laughable how dumb they think people are - like we are all some valley girl air heads.

15. Get rid of best match and all the b.s. search results based on how much sellers bride you, free shipping, and so forth.

16. Buy a conscience - that will help with most other things mentioned above plus dozens of other things that I am not going to waste my time on here because you've obviously demonstrated you have no moral values at all.

17. Close your site down!

18. Stop destroying the post office. You killed their money order business on ebay and are now in the process of killing off their insurance buiness. You are also killing off local post offices as now labels printed on ebay and paypal do not show up as revenue from a local post office. Yet you have the balls to complain to congress that postal reform is not needed - when you are helping to kill it off.

I think you (ebay and paypal employees) missed the boat growing up and in school when it came to learning right from wrong. I guess you are too busy counting your bonuses to worry about that - we will see how easily you can squeeze those bonuses through an eye of a needle on judgement day.
AMEN

luckyalive · Joined: 27 Apr 2008 Posts: 590

21. Fix your damn user registration process. When I go to print a shipping label I do not want to see some type of alert that the verified address does not quite match the official postal address and thus I can't print the label unless I correct to the postal address or follow your idiot advice that I should contact the buyer.

Its not my job to enter the correct address. Its that damn customer's job! And it ebay's job first cross reference that address to the official postal address before anyone with a paypal or ebay account can do anything with their account.

Ever here of stopping a problem from happening by preventing it to happen in the first place ebay?

We are talking completely stupid stuff here. Like the buyer added a comma after his state abbreviation so it not official. Or the word "fort" is not abreviated right. Or the buyer includes a 7 digit zip code, but the official post office zip is 5 digits.

NOT MY JOB to do a job ebay could completely handle with its automated system beforehand. I should not have to see this at all!

luckyalive · Joined: 27 Apr 2008 Posts: 590

22. Fix the return shipping label program:

https://www.paypal.com/helpcenter/main.jsp;jsessionid=SLQwKy2f307KT7G2Y7Sqk2GvzldLD9j1L3yBnJdWBgythGqNvkJS!-1588418?t=solutionTab&ft=homeTab&ps=&solutionId=27368&locale=en_US&_dyncharset=UTF-8&countrycode=US&cmd=_help&serverInstance=9012

So after reading all that I still have to use your multiorder shipping "tool". I've paid for an item on ebay using paypal so there should be no technical problem actually having a return label link at the bottom of every item. After all why would one one want to use the multiorder tool anyway (see # 23).

23. Our town just upgraded to fiber optics from cable and the multiprder tool is still built for snails riding on the back of turtles. This alone shows that no one at ebay or paypal knows anything about shipping in the real world - they are a bunch of shipping virgin eggheads sitting behind their desks dreaming up ways to up their bonuses as opposed to actually creating anything usefull.

Seriously, just look at the address fields as one example. It requires a first and last name. You mean after all these years eBay does not understand that a item might be shipped to a business - ergo, their is no first and last name.

And to think Mr. dona-i-dont-know-how is getting bonuses for this crap!

slevin37 · Joined: 13 Mar 2012 Posts: 1

Hi everyone,

I just found this site while browsing the internet for ideas on how to simplify my shipping process. I currently sell on my website, eBay and some other marketplaces and have about 500 orders a day. I'm trying to find out how you are all shipping out your orders.

General information
The products I sell vary in different sizes and weights. The majority of them are about 3 ounces each... and some people will order 1, but most will order anywhere from 2-15 pieces. Most of the time if it is under 5 pieces, I will send it out in a bubble mailer with USPS First Class postage. Over 5 pieces, I will send it out in a Flat Rate Priority envelope. Anything over 12 pieces will go into a medium size box with Priority postage.

How I currently ship these products
1) Print orders/packing slips
2) Pick and pack (packages arent sealed yet)
3) Packages go to a shipping label center, where the person WEIGHS the package and then inputs into Endicia to print the shipping label.
4) Shipping label applied and packages sealed
5) daily drop off of packages at Post Office.

This is how I currently send out 500 packages a day... Do you guys have any idea how I can speed up this process or automate it more? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

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

hello and welcome

i ship similarly smallish items but not 500 - let me ponder my own processes and see if i can suggest anything to help you

CS

luckyalive · Joined: 27 Apr 2008 Posts: 590

You will need to break down your current system into smaller "mini jobs" and analyze each of those to see if you can save time. Heck, you can do this while you are somewhere else such as waiting for an appointment - just run through steps in your mind as little "movies" and rerun other scenarios.

For example, if one of your steps involves picking up each package, taking 3 steps, doing something with the package, then setting it back down then will rearranging your current office set up save you two steps per box? Maybe you needn't move the packages at all - you could put in one or several banquet size tables and place all the packages in rows and process them where they are at in assembly line fashion.

Do you use newspaper you crumple up with your hands to pack items - instead of doing it yourself, when you could be doing more profitable, get a couple large boxes and have your kids fill these up with crumped paper in exchange for a small treat or allowance. Now you've paper ready to go.

Really going to have become your own efficiency expert. Bring in someone else to physcially look at what you do - and not family members who will tell you whatever you want to hear. You need brutal honest input.

elgato · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 17240 Location: Texas

Update:

"Sellers: Recent and upcoming updates may affect your listings—take action now"

Now in effect:

•Top-rated sellers: Get extra savings! From now through May 31, Top-rated sellers get a bonus 5% discount off final value fees—along with their current 20% discount—for all listings with 1-day handling and a minimum 14-day return window with a money-back refund option. Add those services to your listings now for the greatest savings, and to make sure you’re ready when they are required for Top-rated seller discounts starting in June.

•Feedback left for a transaction where the buyer had an unpaid item recorded will now be automatically removed.

•Feedback from international buyers that only references customs issues now qualifies for Feedback removal.

•The new Photo Center offers top tips on taking great pictures that can help you sell your item. Start now to follow the picture guidelines coming this fall, and don’t forget—photos will be free for all sellers starting July 2!

•Now for identical items, Auction-style listings with the Buy It Now option will be considered duplicates to Fixed Price listings or to other Auction-style listings with the Buy It Now option. Also, sellers shouldn’t list duplicate Auction-style listings as eBay may remove, block, or reduce the visibility of duplicates that don’t sell nearly 100% of the time. If you’re unsure of how your items will sell, create one listing at a time. Learn more.

•Category and item specific updates have been made in Clothing, Shoes & Accessories, Coins, Computers & Networking, Consumer Electronics, eBay Motors, Home & Garden, Toys, and Jewelry & Watches (Category adjustments in Watches only). Item specific updates will be rolling out gradually between now and May. Category updates will occur May 1. Find out how your listings are affected.

•Electronics sellers:

◦See changes to the Home Theater Projectors and Home Theater Receivers categories.
◦You can now list with the latest catalog information in DVD & Blu-Ray players, Home Theater Speakers & Subwoofers, and Home Theater Systems. Listing with the catalog in these electronics categories whenever there’s a product match will be mandatory starting May 2.

Coming this month:

•Starting in April, you’ll get an automatic 5-star Detailed Seller Rating (DSR) for communication when you specify 1-day handling, upload tracking by the end of the next business day, and no communication was needed between you and the buyer. (Weekends and holidays do not count as business days). •Top-rated sellers: Starting June 1, the 20% final value fee discount and greatest average boost in exposure will be reserved for those listings from Top-rated sellers that include 1-day handling and a 14-day or longer return window with a money-back option. If you’re currently a Top-rated seller, at the end of April, you can check the new Listing Improvement section of the Selling Manager summary page to see which listings need to be updated to meet these new standards, and then easily edit those listings in bulk. You’ll also receive emails which will link to listings that need to be edited to in order to meet these new requirements. You can also track your progress in your Seller Dashboard.

Coming in May:

http://announcements.ebay.com/

luckyalive · Joined: 27 Apr 2008 Posts: 590

24. Get rid of the ads! I just saw my first ads on the u.s site. I pay ebay fees to sell my product, not to endorse 3rd party products - especially from sites that look like they are from con artists. I don't pay ebay for infocommericals on the temporay web page I paying ebay to display for an item I am selling. So what happens when a customer gets ripped off by one of these ads - are they going to take it out on my ebay reputation because thats where they saw the ad - oh wait, maybe thats your plan.

25. The search results have gotten worse. When ebay can't find what you are looking for it then changes the search words and displays those results instead. Before there was a link to display the results of your original search, but now this is gone. I want to see "no results" - not a different search and not a link back to my original search.

pie4himm · Joined: 21 Mar 2007 Posts: 407

and those ads that run AFTER they have purchased your item (some are similar items with lower purchase price) just encourage the buyer to not pay for item they just purchased from you and buy a lower priced item from seeing those ads.. the cutthroat mentality of eBay is insane..