Why Ebay Is Just A Waste of Time!
I have been selling on Ebay since 2003 off and on. Most recently pretty full time. I have discovered a lot about Ebay and their unfair policies, their crappy unhelpful customer service reps (that sound like robots, really), and I never realized how many jerks there are in the world. I am just blown away!
First of all, I have been doing very well selling a particular product on Ebay for the past few months. Competition comes and goes, its all part of the game. I never let that get me down, I kept myself going with excellent customer service and rapid responses to all my customers. Here is my problem and this is why Ebay sucks!
1. FEEDBACK - If you get negative feedback you are stuck with it for 12 months unless you can convince the person who left the negative feedback to take it back. Yea right! This is almost impossible. Most people that leave the negative feedback don't care about you or your business nor do they realize how crucial good feedback is to an Ebay seller. Now, yes some do deserve the negative it is true but her is my unfair situation in 2014.
I sold something back in December 2013 and in February 2014 I find out they never received it. You want to know how I found out they never received it? NEGATIVE feedback...real nice thanks a lot.
I emailed them right away (very upset but not letting them know that) I apologized for their trouble and told them they could have told be this back in December and I would have sent another of the same right out. I also requested for them to take back the negative feedback and I would fix the situation right away. You see, I sold them something that fit in a standard sized envelope and I barely made any money on it. I did not send it with tracking because it would have cost another $3 to $4. This simply would have made the transaction not worth it. So now that the envelope is obviously lost I offered a refund or another product. They chose for another product of the same. I paid extra for first class and tracking this time to make sure they get it. To make this long story short, the buyer did not take back the negative feedback and Ebay would not help me at all.
Ebay is full of excuses of why they can not remove a negative feedback. We sellers pay A LOT of money in Ebay fees every month but Ebay gives NOTHING back in return.
I do understand that everyone has the right to their opinion and Ebay gives buyers and sellers the chance to utilize the feedback system. However, Ebay does not control the misuse and abuse on excellent sellers that are left negative feedback for ridiculous reasons by miserable people with little or no feedback that can never be satisfied. It is always someone with a feedback of less than 10 that will do this to a seller for ridiculous reasons!
2. CUSTOMER SERVICE - The customer service reps are are very robot-like and sound like brainwashed zombies. I never feel like I am speaking with a human being when I call them.
3. INCONSIDERATE BUYERS - Many buyers (especially those with feedback between 0 - 10) could care less about how the feedback system is supposed to work. For example, they will be quick to leave negative feedback with any attempts to contact the seller to work out a problem. There are so many excellent and honest sellers on Ebay who will be very quick to resolve an issue. Then, out of the blue, they get stuck dealing with one miserable person that can't be satisfied and BOOM the seller is stuck with negative feedback for 12 months because of a jerk. Ebay does NOTHING to help the sellers with this. Very unfair and ridiculous! Why are we paying all these fees? For what? You got it, NOTHING!
4. FEES - The Fees have changed over the years and now it is free to list something but Ebay takes a nice 10% chunk of the final sale. Also, Paypal gives it to you as well but I must say...I have delt with Paypal before and unlike Ebay their customer service is wonderful! They are prompt in handling any situation and customer service reps for Paypal are friendly and empathetic. Very pleased with Paypal, not here to bash them at all.
5. REFUNDS ON LOST OR DAMAGED BY POSTAL SERVICE - So, basically when a package arrives to a buyer damaged with a damaged product inside the buyer is upset. Completely understandable. I am here to say this though. If you purchase insurance on the product for lost or damage protection it is pointless and this is why. The angry buyer receives a damaged product they have been anxiously waiting for does NOT want to go to the post office to file a report and wait 4 to 6 weeks for their refund. This ends up being the sellers problem. Yes, the USPS sucks also! I have also discovered that during by Ebay adventures. The USPS really sucks! They ignore the word "FRAGILE" quite frequently and deliver damaged products to customers which I have either sent another right out or gave an instant refund. Why? Because the angry customer will leave you negative feedback quicker than a heart beat! Unfortunately, I have lost money pleasing customers when the USPS was clearly at fault many times. So, basically it is not even worth getting insurance on the package because no one really wants to be told to complain to the Post Office, they want to complain to you. In the customer's eyes there is only YOU! You have to fix it!
