So here's the story. Nearly two months ago I had issues with my computer that prevented me for accessing either my email, ebay or paypal accounts and this led to several a (unacceptable) delay to several items I was selling, which in turn led to temporary suspension of my ebay account (for 1 neg and 2 unique neutral at the time). So I do my best to resolve the issues so that when my account get reviewed 30 days later I can get it reactivated. Fast forward 29 days and all the issues have been resolved, with several leaving positive feedback (during this period I receive 14 further feebacks of which 12 were positive and two were negative) and I make the outstanding payment that I owe to ebay (which wasn't overdue). Immediately my account gets suspended INDEFINITELY! What the hell! I did everything I possibly could and I still don't get reactivated!
Go elsewhere - eBay is dead now and should be left to rot. That being said, there really is no other viable alternative to eBay out there. Sure there are plenty of auction sites, but not many command the same number of eyeballs that eBay does.
Yeah , that's the problem. I'm thinking of checking out Amazon Marketplace instead, or maybe using my web knowledge to setup an online shop. What really annoys me is that ebay was also one of my main sources of buying stuff too.
Ebay is done, too many stupid newbie buyers that messed shit up. You dont want to sell there anyway or even buy as just browse the listing and you will see there is not anything really good anymore anyways!
Unless you're selling newer items that Amazon has in their retail database, I think you have to put up a good chunk of money to sell anything you want, i.e. vintage Transformers. Other auction sites that have grown since eBay's changes back in February are iOffer.com and eBid.net. I've seen several people on this board and others that have opened up their own ecommerce site (myself included). There's tons of free software packages, like osCommerce or ZenCart, as wells sites like ecrater.com which provide you with a working, customizable store hosted at their website.
ebay fucked them selves when they started the no negative feedback from sellers anymore and then started the" we will hold your money at random in paypal land if the transction is deemed suspicious by ebay" shit that they decided to inflict upon the masses....
Trouble is there was nothing I could have done in during that time to avoid those. Even after apologising for the delay and getting the items out to them (it didn't help that one of those items hasn't arrived and I've now given a refund). Anyway, I've now found a phone number for ebay, spoken to them and sent off all the stuff to (hopefully) get the account reinstated. Thanks. I'll check those out. I'm a web developer by trade, so I'm looking at possibly setting something up using oscommerce (I can do it fairly cheap as I have my own hosting too). Yep, part of the issue I had was paypal refusing to let me issue refunds because it was holding money and transfering funds into a paypal account takes 7 days!
I certainly feel your pain, but why didn't you go to another computer during the crisis with yours? Local school, library, friend...surely someone had to have a computer you could use.
I have not used eBay for a long time. Unfortunately, I still use Paypal quite a bit so eBay still gets some of my money. I'm just waiting for a new service that will have less of a monopoly.
Luckly I have not had any problems with ebay yet, but I've only been a seller for 6 months. The thing is that there are not too many other alternatives. I tried ioffer and I think the other one is called youbid. You just do not get the 'attention' for lack of a better word that you get with ebay. I say it with a lot of others, when something better comes a long that can actually compete with the buying and selling industry, I will leave ebay, their fees are WAY TOO HIGH
I agree that eBay can be bad, but I've been buying and selling on it since December of 2000 with no problems at all (still have a 100% positive feedback--I've sold/bought maybe 100-120 times total--not sure the exact number). I use PayPal a LOT more than eBay though. Sure they get a kickback from it, but it's literally worked wonders for buying through the forums here and for other online purchases. I never leave any money in my PayPal account--if I am paid for something, I withdraw it to my REAL bank account and when I pay for something, it withdraws straight from my debit card or bank.
Same here i have been buying and selling since around 98 or 99 and have never had a single problem. I do agree though that ebay has gotten out of control with there fees and such which is why i rarely sell on there anymore unless im in need of cash bad. I mainly sell on the fourms now a days, but i do buy from ebay still ..But i dont know why people go and over complicate things, I dont think you have to go so far as to set up a online store. Every online store i tried out want you to put in a shipping price or weight for each item you list so it can figure out a shipping price so you can use there instant checkout and such.. Too much damn time to do that and if you dont have a scale you are SOL and will have to guess the shiping or weight and take the chance of beating yourself out of money because you screwed something up. Thats just too much headache. A short and simple way to bring your sales to people is to make a simple free web page on Google. This is what i did and its worked out great for me. Just have to post a pic and a simple description of the condition of the figure and a price.. Then you make a link so people can email you with there zip code or country so you can figure out the shipping, same as we do here on the boards. Go to K-mart or Wally World or other and go into the kitchen supply section and get yourself a small digital scale, one that can weigh things up to 10 pounds. I actually bought my scale from ebay for 15 bucks shipped and it can weigh things up to 76 pounds .. Then when you get someone interested and need a total , weigh the item, go to the USPS web site and go to there shipping caculator and put in the infos and you will get the shipping costs to choose from. and then let the buyer choose the way they want. Also order your boxes from the USPS site for FREE you dont even pay to have them shipped to you . Cases of boxes for free, you can beat that lol.. If you want help setting up a small site just PM me and ill be happy to help you out And if you want you can check out my toy sale site by clicking the pic in my signature.. -Curt
Get yourself a ProMerchant account with Amazon. Less risk, less costs, equal exposure. Until the next eBay executive shuffle, the anti-seller ethic isn't going anywhere.
I honestly think Amazon is just as bad as Ebay when it comes to transformers with scalpers, scammers and ripoffs. I believe the same people that rip people off on ebay also have amazon stores..
