My wife and I started selling used collector-type auto parts on Ebay over 10 years ago and it was a VERY lucrative little business that we had going. Listing fees were five cents for anything under $10.00 and commissions were reasonable. We did very well and for a time, I seriously considered leaving my career in the forset industry to do something that I really enjoyed doing.

Then along came Ebay Motors. Our rate of succesful sales for first time listings was around 90% with most relists selling the second time around. Very few auctions closed with just one bid - almost all had multiple bids. After the implimentation of Ebay Motors, our sales success rate fell to around 50% but we still had multiple bidders on most auctions. We hoped that things would pick up but I believe that Ebay Motors was too complicated and almost everyone who I spoke to never realized that if you did a general search for say - a radio for a 1972 Chevy truck, that a search of Ebay Motors would not show all of the items that showed up with a general search. The techies just have to make everything complicated - if it ain't complicated in their weak little minds, then it can't be any good and it's in need of fixin'.

We quit selling in May of this year simply because of Ebay's forced rules that were driving away buyers and other sellers like myself who were consistant but really, I guess that when compared to certain auto auction houses that were using Ebay to move a lot of the second rate low quality vehicles, my few hundred dollars per month in fees and commissions were, I guess, pretty small potatoes. In May, when we quit selling, if we sold 30% of the items that we listed in a batch of auctions, it was a banner day! SOme weeks, we wouldn't sell enough to pay the listing fees and all related Ebay charges which many times were almost half the amount of what we got for the item - and - almost ALL sold for the opening bid with only one bidder.

I for one have had about enough of giving money to a cold, uncaring corporate monster that I am ashamed to say I helped in my own miniscule way to create and feed. All they would have to do as I recently suggested to their "Suggestion Board" ( aka the Wailing Wall of the Internet where you can complain, cry, wail, rant and tear your hair out - but really, nobody gives a rat's butt or cares ) that perhaps they should consider emailing  out survey forms to ALL of their registered users asking what they are happy with and what displeases them. Or how about a referendum sort of idea when they are going to make changes such as the "new" search page or the order in which running autions appear when you do a search? Or at least set it up so that you can set a default setting on your computer . They have everyone's name and email address in a data base.. but then, that would be common sense... and in this electronic age, Mr. Common Sense has passed away.

How can one price(fee) for some be any different then Sotheby's and Christie's lawsuit some years ago.  One commission for some and another for others?  This can't be legal.

I have sold many thousands of dollars on ebay, often and I mean often loose money on shipping, I'm often told by them, my shipping appears exessive, unreal.

No recourse for the selling in any way, any comment by a buyer is fact, a poor direction in an effort to still go forward in corporate profit structure, hard to think they would act for one side and not the other as if to suck as much out of a seller as possible.

Curbing the amount of certain items you sell, only 2 a month because of fakes, they say, again, restraint of trade in favor of a large company.  Can't really be legal for them to do.  So If I have more then 2 fakes, I can sell at the rate of 2 a month, but sell them, crazy thinking!

It has alway been odd that I would pay them some tens of thousands in fees and then it is hard as heck to really contact them.  My bank makes good money off my home loan, they work and listen in earnest any time as any good company would.  Ebay help has always been a exersize in total control, again the structure towards a certain profit ladder has been their help.

No money orders, or checks in payments, really bad, again I think restraint of trade, the steer is towards their payment centers and fees.  I had a clothing store for 14 years, did over 300k in 1979 and so forth, I took check like crazy, maybe loose 500.00 a year.  Their reasons are slop.

I see a number of other things.  I think there should be a real concerted effort to confront and let the world see what this new century type of big business is really like, like the same mentalitly that has sunk the stock markets and more.

I have been a  seller on Ebay for nearly 10 years time !!  One of the dieing breed of  small time sellers  finding and listing cheap cool stuff.  I used to be fantatical about Ebay and how great it  was.

It seems  over the years  now that  Ebay has forgotten completely about those who made the company huge (and rich) in the first place. Small time sellers !! each step they take  shows their basic contempt  or  disrespect for sellers.

Changing the feedback in total favor of the buyer (buys can and now do treat sellers  like trash. never paying,  demanding refunds, etc.. knowing  sellers have  ZERO RECOURSE) ebay gives  full refund and  nothing seller says or does  will change their mind.

Giving big sellers  total favoratism over small individual sellers. Once buying  stuff from Ebay  becomes exactly like any and every other site selling the same stuff at the same prices, they will  figure out  that they are now competing with 100 other on line sellers. Buy.com, Overstock  Amazon  walmart  Best Buy  ect. What makes Ebay special (used to anyway)  was the stuff pulled from attics and garages  that you would never ever find on any of the other selling sites.

And now for the latest insult to sellers. Fixing the prices  for shipping. No matter what the actual cost might be. Ebay will now decide for sellers (and in turn for buyers)  what they will pay for shipping.  On many books and other items I sell, I stand a good chance of having to pay more to ship the item  then I will actually collect from buyers.  How dumb would I have to be to continue to do that? so, there go my low low starting bid prices I gave my buyers for years. Now  instead of buyers being able to look and decide for themselves what's fair price + shipping. They are being told by  Ebay what items will cost.

All this makes me very sad. I want to be  the huge fan of  Ebay I was 10 or  5 or even 1 year ago. But, over and over  it seems they go out of their way to punish the one group they should be grateful for. (sellers  do pay  ALL  Ebay fees !!!) Without sellers  there will be NO MORE EBAY !!  and is this rate  thats where  this is headed.

My advice to those that care. If you have Ebay stock. SELL IT. This companies best days are behind it. Some other smart nimble company will soon come along and be what Ebay was  5 years ago.

Dave Braun

ebay seller  ' ndepndant '

The new feedback for buyers has had an adverse affect on my sales. There are many unpaid items and bidders comments are glib, like "I don't want it" "I didn't read the size until I won" "I don't have any money" and there's simply nothing that I can do as a seller except spend more time filing for unpaid items' final value fees. My sales have hit rock bottom; there is simply not the bidding going on that there used to be and this new breed of buyer is very annoying. Does anyone have some good advice for me as a seller?

E-bay is a joke! They are letting people sell cell phones that have been reported lost or stolen! Make them aware of it 3-times and the auction just keeps on running! Whats even worse is that people are bidding on the darn thing. The phone will never be activated again! but e-bay will do anything for money. The feds need to take a good long look at the mighty e-bay and maybe they can set fines so high it will help the national debt! E-bay needs to be knocked off that high saddle they have been sitting in. and i want to be in the front row.

Okay, so eBay(c) is selling out their small sellers....so what! so they are making it impossible to sell for profit on their site? so what! So they want to be another Overstock.com(c)? So what! This is their site..right? so why not LET THEM HAVE IT ALL TO THEMSELVES!!!!! you read me right..stop shopping there! I mean, lets face it, eBay(c) in MY PERSONAL OPINION is the first place to sell stolen items, cheap items, broken items, cheap stuff from China, India, Asia..etc. Just look at the prices compared to the recieved items. I purchase a small table top cooker on eBay(C), then it arrives, then I see its HALF the size of the pictured item, smells like smoke, (WOW, IT'S USED) and burns my house to the ground? go to a retail shop in your town, support local business, and see what you get, prior to it leaving you smelling like FISH!!! Just my two cents worth.

I'm really surprised to see that eBay had begun to break their own rules. Or as they have been going, CHANGE their rules. They have forgotten who their real customers are.. US SELLERS.

We have been paying these fee's since the begining. Now they feel they will make more money by allowing the big guys free insertion and getting more final value fees.

If they are only interested in the big boys selling on eBay, I feel they will start to become another Overstock.com. These big boys have their own websites and retail stores. They most likely are selling their surplus, similar to what Overstock is about.

I'm sure there are going to be many people taking their business to other venues. I actually will still be selling on eBay. I will continue selling until there are more sellers than buyer.

Here is to your success.

-Carlos

Ebay doesn't care about anybody, not the seller, not the buyer, not the stockholders.  Bottom line is revenue at any cost!  Buy.com serves just one big purpose - they flood the deflated listings with their items.  Their lowly 2.3 sell thru rate and reduced listing fees does not profit Ebay but still makes them "look" successful.  Buy.com's main purpose right now is to hide the fact that so many of ebay's sellers have left for other venues, or to open their own websites or just plain quit in disgust.  Ebay long ago lost sight of the fact that sellers need to profit or selling on Ebay or anyplace else is just not worthwhile.  With every stupid new policy, with every stupid new restriction and hoop to jump thru Ebay loses more sellers AND don't be fooled into thinking that's what they want because those sellers are also BUYERS!