I guess this is old Ebay news to many, but it came as a rude shock to me today.
I have several different accounts on ebay in order to make the book keeping easier. The buying account is over 10 years old and has hundreds of perfect feedback. I decided to use it to sell off a record collection. So I put some rare records up, they sell, ebay tells me I have received funds, but the paypal account for the record sales is still zero. I call up ebay to find out the bad news. Despite the fact that the record account is over 10 years old, that it had hundreds of perfect positive feedback, and that I have thousands of perfect feedback on other accounts, the ebay management geniuses consider me a NEW seller with ZERO seller feedback.
What does that mean?
It means as a so called NEW seller, I have to ship my items BEFORE I RECEIVE PAYMENT! Ebay keeps my money for the first 25 sales and $1000 or more until 3 DAYS AFTER the item is delivered INTEREST FREE. Then Ebay graciously gives me MY MONEY for the sold items AFTER taking out their fees to question my honesty and integrity as a new seller! Long term discouraging new sellers will mean that EBay and Paypal will not keep the growth they have enjoyed in the past. That will mean lower profits and lower stock prices. I wonder how long it will take both of them to do an about face on sellers rights once Wall Street pundits realize what is causing Ebay and Paypal slow growth.
When I joined Ebay in 1996, all you had to do was sign up, prove yourself with a credit card or bank account, and start selling without restriction. All of those new sellers able to sell on the internet on the first time is what made Ebay successful. It astounds me that today's ebay management has gone so far away from its founding mentality.
Looks like I will put the record collection on my other seller accounts, and NEVER, EVER, EVER recommend Ebay to any NEW ebay hopeful ever again. That statement is coming from someone who has recommended Ebay thousands of times in the past to new sellers - that figure is not an exaggeration.
No new seller should have their honesty and integrity questioned WITHOUT cause, be forced to ship their items before they are paid for, have their funds held interest free, not be paid until 3 days after the item is delivered, and on top of have both Ebay and Paypal extort exorbitant fees to be treated like that!
I do find it interesting and troubling that Ebay does not have the same tough standard for new buyers as new sellers. If ebay had some sort of enhanced fraud protection against new buyers, in order to protect honest sellers from dishonest credit card reversal or stolen credit card crime, this nonsense for new sellers would not bother me so much.
Ebay's bias towards the buyers (new or old) vs the sellers is very unfair. I find it odd the sellers are the ones paying ebay and paypal fees (zero fees for the buyers), yet is the sellers that ebay and paypal are unfair to, the very people who are paying Ebay and Paypal salaries.
Stephen
I have several different accounts on ebay in order to make the book keeping easier. The buying account is over 10 years old and has hundreds of perfect feedback. I decided to use it to sell off a record collection. So I put some rare records up, they sell, ebay tells me I have received funds, but the paypal account for the record sales is still zero. I call up ebay to find out the bad news. Despite the fact that the record account is over 10 years old, that it had hundreds of perfect positive feedback, and that I have thousands of perfect feedback on other accounts, the ebay management geniuses consider me a NEW seller with ZERO seller feedback.
What does that mean?
It means as a so called NEW seller, I have to ship my items BEFORE I RECEIVE PAYMENT! Ebay keeps my money for the first 25 sales and $1000 or more until 3 DAYS AFTER the item is delivered INTEREST FREE. Then Ebay graciously gives me MY MONEY for the sold items AFTER taking out their fees to question my honesty and integrity as a new seller! Long term discouraging new sellers will mean that EBay and Paypal will not keep the growth they have enjoyed in the past. That will mean lower profits and lower stock prices. I wonder how long it will take both of them to do an about face on sellers rights once Wall Street pundits realize what is causing Ebay and Paypal slow growth.
When I joined Ebay in 1996, all you had to do was sign up, prove yourself with a credit card or bank account, and start selling without restriction. All of those new sellers able to sell on the internet on the first time is what made Ebay successful. It astounds me that today's ebay management has gone so far away from its founding mentality.
Looks like I will put the record collection on my other seller accounts, and NEVER, EVER, EVER recommend Ebay to any NEW ebay hopeful ever again. That statement is coming from someone who has recommended Ebay thousands of times in the past to new sellers - that figure is not an exaggeration.
No new seller should have their honesty and integrity questioned WITHOUT cause, be forced to ship their items before they are paid for, have their funds held interest free, not be paid until 3 days after the item is delivered, and on top of have both Ebay and Paypal extort exorbitant fees to be treated like that!
I do find it interesting and troubling that Ebay does not have the same tough standard for new buyers as new sellers. If ebay had some sort of enhanced fraud protection against new buyers, in order to protect honest sellers from dishonest credit card reversal or stolen credit card crime, this nonsense for new sellers would not bother me so much.
Ebay's bias towards the buyers (new or old) vs the sellers is very unfair. I find it odd the sellers are the ones paying ebay and paypal fees (zero fees for the buyers), yet is the sellers that ebay and paypal are unfair to, the very people who are paying Ebay and Paypal salaries.
Stephen
Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
What a monster eBay has become ... I do hope common sense eventually sets in and they start giving the sellers a fair ago again. I have quite a lot of gear to sell in the near future and eBay will be getiing none of that business.
Thank god for your classifieds Stephen!
Thank god for your classifieds Stephen!
segedi
RFicianado
Wow. Just wow.
I sell locally on Kijiji and take cash payment or EMT which is Canada's nifty bank to bank email. EBay seems to want to put itself out of business...unless it's cheap adapters from China, I'm not buying let alone selling.
I sell locally on Kijiji and take cash payment or EMT which is Canada's nifty bank to bank email. EBay seems to want to put itself out of business...unless it's cheap adapters from China, I'm not buying let alone selling.
Frontman
Well-known
That's the way eBay is. I have been selling on eBay for almost ten years, and have over 1000 positive feedbacks. I have also done nearly half a million dollars in sales over that time. Last year I started a new account to sell different types of things, using the same Paypal account which I have used for my old eBay account. But all the funds which came from my new eBay account were held by Paypal "until I establish a good selling history with eBay and Paypal." The fact that the same Paypal account was receiving $2000 or more a week from my old eBay account was not taken into account, I could not access the $100 or so a week that the new account was generating. What is also bad is that the funds were still being held even after the customer received the item and left positive feedback. I had to complain about one payment which was still being held by Paypal five months after after I had received positive feedback from the buyer. This is ludicrous.
I contacted eBay many times, they said they were unable to link my two accounts together, despite their official policy stating in black and white that a "new account may be linked with an established account." 10 months later, Paypal is still holding funds from my "new" eBay account, despite many sales and perfect feedback.
I contacted eBay many times, they said they were unable to link my two accounts together, despite their official policy stating in black and white that a "new account may be linked with an established account." 10 months later, Paypal is still holding funds from my "new" eBay account, despite many sales and perfect feedback.
Crazy Fedya
Well-known
Horrible!
What about shipping, Stephen? Did you have to pay it out of pocket, or did Ebay let you use the payment funds?
What about shipping, Stephen? Did you have to pay it out of pocket, or did Ebay let you use the payment funds?
ebay gives the new seller a choice -
not that it really makes any difference
Stephen
NY_Dan
Well-known
We need to network together, open our windows, I say just open them and stick your head out and yell - 'I'm as mad as hell and I'm not gonna take this anymore! See how eBay likes dem'apples!
Rob-F
Likes Leicas
Maybe they need to get Meg Whitman back. Things were better then. Or at least, they need to get rid of whomever is at the helm currently.
RBruceCR
Well-known
Can't you sue for retaining funds wrongfully?
Rob-F
Likes Leicas
Sure. You just need to give a lawyer a $7,000 retainer.
Edit: Although, I wonder if the FTC would be interested in looking into this.
tomtofa
Well-known
I'd love to know just what business model they're implementing. All these changes aren't random or not thought through; they are jamming the rudder on the ocean liner to move in a different direction. Are they trying to be an online mega store like Amazon, or doing something else? I guess time will tell. But it's clear that the time of individuals selling their excess items on Ebay is pretty much over.
Anyone tried selling on Amazon? How did that work if you did?
Anyone tried selling on Amazon? How did that work if you did?
kknox
kknox
No more EBay & PayPal for me. I was done with them 5 yrs ago. Use Google Wallet for payment.
cz23
-
I've sold quite a bit of camera gear on Amazon. It's very straightforward using the "Sell Yours" feature, assuming Amazon lists the product. If so, no photos or description are required - just a brief statement of the condition. If they don't list the product you can become a vendor and sell anything, but I've never done that.
Amazon takes 8% for camera gear. I believe eBay takes 10 and Paypal 3. My sense is that sale prices are a little higher on Amazon. I think many folks are willing to pay a little more to avoid the auction and Paypal experience. I certainly am.
I also frequequently buy used on Amazon and have had very good luck with that.
John
Pioneer
Veteran
Ebay is a huge market place. It is not about the sellers, it is about the number of buyers that Ebay is able to attract. If sellers want to sell used items, as well as new, then Ebay is a very attractive venue. Compared to maintaining your own internet sales site Ebay is relatively simple.
And Paypal provides a simple and safe (so far) method of paying for all those buyers. For the sellers it is really no different then accepting credit cards. MC and Visa all charge fees to the seller. Just like Paypal. Credit cards are also able to pull back money paid if a complaint is lodged.
As a seller you can certainly walk away from Ebay, but there are not a lot of attractive alternatives. As long as the buyer holds the upper hand then Ebay and Paypal will cater to them. It will be up to the seller to adapt.
Individual sales are no longer Ebay's bread and butter. Individuals are better off selling elsewhere, like on forum classifieds.
And Paypal provides a simple and safe (so far) method of paying for all those buyers. For the sellers it is really no different then accepting credit cards. MC and Visa all charge fees to the seller. Just like Paypal. Credit cards are also able to pull back money paid if a complaint is lodged.
As a seller you can certainly walk away from Ebay, but there are not a lot of attractive alternatives. As long as the buyer holds the upper hand then Ebay and Paypal will cater to them. It will be up to the seller to adapt.
Individual sales are no longer Ebay's bread and butter. Individuals are better off selling elsewhere, like on forum classifieds.
Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
BillBingham2
Registered User
EvilBay and PaynPal both are, well, I have nothing nice to say.
Last time I dealt with them it took me three months to straighten out half of the problem.
Fifteen years ago Ebay was a wonderful idea and it opened up markets for lots of people. The shark has eaten them, the same shark that ate many companies.
They spun off PaynPal so they could drive a better bottom line, why they purchased them in the first place I see no other reason than greed and control. The reason they take more money from sellers and buyers is because EvilBay now has more shareholders to pay and must make more money quarter after quarter after quarter.
I never understood the reason your Ebay name can not be your email address. I use BillBingham2 just about everywhere. While I have things to hide, the fact that I sell this, buy that, think this or say that isn't part of it.
Life is too short to mess with jerks like that.
On the positive side we have a KICK A55 site here that does well under the watchful eyes of Stephen and the Modddddds. Thanks guys and gals!
Last time I dealt with them it took me three months to straighten out half of the problem.
Fifteen years ago Ebay was a wonderful idea and it opened up markets for lots of people. The shark has eaten them, the same shark that ate many companies.
They spun off PaynPal so they could drive a better bottom line, why they purchased them in the first place I see no other reason than greed and control. The reason they take more money from sellers and buyers is because EvilBay now has more shareholders to pay and must make more money quarter after quarter after quarter.
I never understood the reason your Ebay name can not be your email address. I use BillBingham2 just about everywhere. While I have things to hide, the fact that I sell this, buy that, think this or say that isn't part of it.
Life is too short to mess with jerks like that.
On the positive side we have a KICK A55 site here that does well under the watchful eyes of Stephen and the Modddddds. Thanks guys and gals!
Sumanto
Newbie
I had sold several rare Leica and Zeiss equipments on Ebay some time back. Paypal held on to my funds (USD 18000) for six months after receiving positive feedback for all the items sold and shipped.
They could not give any explanation, just we are being careful and "looking into the transactions".
That was the end of my transactions......
They could not give any explanation, just we are being careful and "looking into the transactions".
That was the end of my transactions......
Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
If paypal are holding these funds for this period of time I find that rather immoral because they will be using that money to their own ends without a doubt.
I've had very little trouble over the years with eBay or paypal to be honest but the current cash grab attitude leaves me cold!
I've had very little trouble over the years with eBay or paypal to be honest but the current cash grab attitude leaves me cold!
Darshan
Well-known
Wow, I have never seen the head bartender venting and that maybe a good thing.
With the new ridiculous (180 day) paypal policy, how about Stephen open a kind of small and private "paypal" (boutique comes to mind) exclusively for established RFF members?? You can experiment with a very small group at first and then open to more members. For security, there can be an escrow hold of funds for 7-10 days. The new service will have to be by invitation only at first and buyers and sellers will have to agree to terms (favorable to BOTH the buyer and the seller). Gosh I am a physician, I don't know how a business runs, but it's time to shun the big bay and it's bank.
P.S. Few weeks ago in the "180 day paypal" thread, I mentioned they maybe doing this to generate revenue...my opinion is strengthened by the OP
With the new ridiculous (180 day) paypal policy, how about Stephen open a kind of small and private "paypal" (boutique comes to mind) exclusively for established RFF members?? You can experiment with a very small group at first and then open to more members. For security, there can be an escrow hold of funds for 7-10 days. The new service will have to be by invitation only at first and buyers and sellers will have to agree to terms (favorable to BOTH the buyer and the seller). Gosh I am a physician, I don't know how a business runs, but it's time to shun the big bay and it's bank.
P.S. Few weeks ago in the "180 day paypal" thread, I mentioned they maybe doing this to generate revenue...my opinion is strengthened by the OP
rfaspen
[insert pithy phrase here]
I stopped using EBay (buy or sell) about 5 years ago. About the time I noticed RFF classifieds. Since then, somewhere between 4-12,000USD transactions. via this wonderful site. Who needs ebay?