posted on January 23, 2001 07:21:20 PM
I know ebay reads this board...so heres your chance to say what you gotta say, and they (ebay employee-headhoncho-bigwig-boss lurkers)wont have to scroll and read what catches their eye...it will be right here in this one thread. Heres mine (I will add more later, or do lots of "ditto's":
ABILITY TO BLOCK deadbeat bidders! You copied from Yahoo on some features...copy that one too!
Change the FB setup to have just stars, and NO WORDS. 5 Stars is best. 1 star is worst.
Give us a free feature. Either bold, or gallery, or BIN (not just as a promo). SOMETHING to offset the rate hikes.
posted on January 23, 2001 07:34:13 PM
I know there is a thread over at the eBay boards where they are taking comments about proposed feedback changes.
I absolutely do NOT agree with de-personalizing the feedback though. I do not want another Yahoo or Half.com. The ability to leave comments and responses is PARAMOUNT.
posted on January 23, 2001 07:44:57 PM
Feedback is totally useless...(for the most part)
No one reads it anyhow...(Big %age does not read...period) Don't believe that, go to the Vacation catagory and click on any 5 of the "Airfare to Anywhere $19.95"
auctions and find many with 100's or 1000's of feedback and weekly NEGS by the dozens...Their auctions still get lots of bids even with the feedback comments like, 'scam', had to send more $$$,...Rules didn't say I had to book 14 days luxury hotel at $200 per night, etc...
If it were just a "Star" (mauimoods)system or something like that...The slanderous nature of the comments would be eliminated...
posted on January 24, 2001 04:47:46 AM
Work on BIN features! This beauty has a less than 24 hour turnaround. Quicker cash flow for all. The problem is, we do not accept internationals. Yet, with BIN, we would lose all listing fees since there is no plan to recanter the problem. FVF does not grant us the listing fees credit for a non wanted bidder. Maybe an accept or deny criteria would work with just a button! This idea (swiped from Amazon), could be a financial boom to ebay and it's professional listers.
Also, give being a powerseller reason to give a hoot. As it is now, being a powerseller relates to -it's cost us sellers more to play in ebay's sandbox, and all we got for it was a skimpy logo. Whoopeeeeeeee! Give us the sliding scale payment. We sell more, give us a cheaper rate or bonus at the end of the month. Thanks! Hope Meggie forgives me..
posted on January 24, 2001 06:22:31 AM
Allow suspended members to participate on the discussion groups. I was starting to make a lot of "friends" in the movie group. eBay, in their wisdom, decided one day that my auctions may be "potentially" infringing, so they shot me down (no trial or allowing me to state my case, of course).
I don't want to sell there anymore (because of this), but I would like to keep in touch with other members who have similar interests and make some more purchases ...
posted on January 24, 2001 06:29:13 AM
I would also like to see NPB's not allowed to leave feedback, but I think there would have to be SERIOUS consequences for the seller if the buyer could prove they did pay; otherwise, the potential for abuse by some sellers is too great.
posted on January 24, 2001 06:57:22 AM
Please please add the ability to block certain bidders from bidding on your auctions. It is sick how some people can wreck another's auctions by bidding when they have no intention of paying... A blacklist is strongly needed.
posted on January 24, 2001 08:22:58 AMThe problem is, we do not accept internationals. Yet, with BIN, we would lose all listing fees since there is no plan to recanter the problem.
Empires, can't you file for a credit as "Bidder failed to comply with TOS"? I think I did once, a long time ago.
posted on January 24, 2001 08:58:49 AM
As mentioned: doing something to end retaliatory feedback. (meaning NPB's).
I also love the idea mentioned about having some type of lottery or contest for people to win free listings. Great idea! I remember once, a verrrrry long time ago I helped someone on the eBay Q&A board and got $25 free listing fees (thanks to the mysterious Skippy). I was so thrilled!
posted on January 24, 2001 09:15:15 AM
Hello MrBucks,
Because some or many don't read feedback does not mean it is mostly useless. Only that those who plunge into a transaction without taking the simple precaution of checking out the seller have less basis to whine about transactions that go south.
_____________________________________________
Hello eBay Bosses,
I am totally against reducing the information given by feedback system in some effort to sanitize it.
I think eBay should add more capability to the system. Allow the user leaving feedback more control over it once left. Give the user the ability to modify the comment or the rating or to delete the feedback altogether.
Expand the 80 character comment limitation so that intelligent feedback comments can be left. Indeed, eBay could charge a small fee for the option of leaving a longer and more detailed comment.
Distinguish between different reasons for retractions as much as possible. For starters, separate the retractions into two categories, those made before and after the auction description has been modified. At the moment, every retraction appears as though it is due to an immature or frivolous bidder. If the after description modification retractions were separated out we would at least have a slightly better idea of who is playing games as a bidder.
Also, if the bidder retraction record is going to remain public (and I think it should) then what about seller records?
As a bidder I would like to know how many times a seller has listed items that didn't make reserve; how many auctions have been cancelled (with bids or without bids); how many bids have been cancelled.
posted on January 24, 2001 01:28:36 PMback to the top
When I first became a Power Seller, I felt honored. Wow, I thought, I get to shop, sell, meet great people, and make some money. eBay was the first "employer" I've had in a long time that appreciated me! How cool is that! But, alas, what perks are involved for making my Boss money?? Although I am one of the fortunate who's sales have remained high, how can eBay "threaten" it's backbone of power sellers for non-performance? Give an incentive for keeping sales up ~ discounts, contests, whatever. Remember Management 101 : The Power of Positive Reinforcement. Negativity breeds negativity. Ask for Feedback from the people on the front lines ~ the one's who pay the staff and suffer through the outages ~ we've got some good ideas out here! Management 102: Involved employees are more committed(no pun intended).
I love eBay and the people I have transacted with in this wonderful community ~ I'm very at home here. SOWhy are you forcing my friends and neighbors to move away? We need to protect our community from the "creepy new neighbors". MAKE THEM LEAVE.
I urge you to listen to the people who post here ~ if we didn't care, we wouldn't bother
kick the soapbox out from under me I'm outta here
chepistar
posted on January 24, 2001 01:47:19 PM
Agree...please offer some status and substance to the powerseller name.
Reward those who work hard to achieve that.
As we know, 20% contribute 80%.
thanks...nice topic
posted on January 24, 2001 05:46:07 PM
These are a few possible wish-list-style suggestions, as a bidder.
1) Keep textual FB. Maybe I'm the minority, but I read (even "analyze" to a degree) FB, even to the point of following negs to see if they look retaliatory, and strongly feel the richer texture of textual FB allows me to get a reasonably accurate and deeper impression of the seller than I could hope for otherwise (I know some still find a way to scam with good FB runs followed by fraud, but that is a tiny fraction, IMO, compared to the others who simply don't deliver well or whatever). Those who don't read FB before bidding, well, that's really their loss.
2) Please do not allow access to bidders' email addresses except to the seller whose item they are bidding on, or make an easily accessible indirect contact FORM instead. While IDs make it non-trivial to retrieve bidders' addresses, they're still not really that hard to harvest. Spammers, bottom feeders, fee avoiders, and other such probably make up the vast, overwhelming majority of queries for bidders' addresses, I'd guess.
3) I know this would be a stretch at this point, but please stop letting third parties track your customers for the sake of advertising that can be seen as competitive against many of your other customers. eBay is/was a premier destination in its own right. eBay doesn't seem like a portal or a free site that can't exist at all without ad support. Does this money really help, or does it turn off people or cause them to pursue leads away from eBay instead of on eBay?
4) It is often said on boards like this that most of your recent decisions favor big-name retail sellers. I'm not a seller, so I don't have the clearest view on how true this may or may not be, but this buyer couldn't care less about the big retailers on eBay. I've spent a fair chunk of money through eBay, but only on the out-of-the-way stuff I can't get on my legs and in my car and find somewhere else in town or downstate. Maybe it is time to separate "retail" and "collectibles" into two separate entities, and treat each separately.
5) Please, please, please! I'd ask that you never change a customer's preference settings, no matter what you think went wrong. At most, gently inform them (once) them if you think data was corrupted, and leave it up for your customer to choose whether to check and change their settings!!!! Actually, I guess it was Annuncio, if I recall the correct name, who did most of this, but still....
6) Update search databases faster. I have no use for categories, so I find it bothersome that items don't make search lists for 6 to seemingly (at times) 18 hours, which often, combined with my not always checking all my search links every day (this part is my problem, I know), means I'm often discovering items with only minutes or hours to bid, in which case I rarely do (not enough time to consider how much I want the item).
----
What's being done in the name of direct marketing nowadays is crazy.
The above are all just my opinions, except where I cite facts as such.
Oh, I am not dc9a320 anywhere except AW. Any others are not me.
[ edited to fix spelling ]
[ edited by dc9a320 on Jan 24, 2001 10:47 PM ]
posted on January 24, 2001 05:48:45 PM
Well I hate the new .30 for anything under 9.99. There are many items I both buy and sell that it is impossible to make a profit with those kinds of listing fees. Cards come to mind which is something I enjoy being able to have a source to buy them but not for the prices I have to pay. You are suceeding in running off the little seller but the little seller is what made ebay in the first place. It was fun now it's all about money.
Oddish~ The Odd One
posted on January 24, 2001 06:33:34 PM
thank you maui, for this thread.
i apologize ahead of time for the length of this post, but i wanted to list all the correspondence that i have received and sent to ebay, in the hopes that there is someone here that can help me.
i am in the middle of a crisis and i need help and advice.
i have been selling decorated eggs on ebay for more than two years. in the last two days, they have closed three of my auctions... and i can not get ahold or a real person at ebay.... only canned responses and warnings that if i continue to list these items, i will be suspended. i am going to cut and past a lot here, the emails that i have sent them, the canned responses that they have sent me... and a cut and paste of a post that i put on OTWA... please bear with me, i am quite upset here:
(my email to ebay after the first closing)
Hello,
I was given your email address in the ebay question and answer room... and I am hoping that you can help me with this problem.
Last night I listed a goose egg, which had a painting of a penguin chick on it. I have sold decorated eggs on your site now for about two years.
BUT... tonight I got an email from customer support which was titled "WARNING: eBay Auction Ended by Customer Support" and stated, in part "The item you have listed does not appear to be consistent with eBay guidelines. It is against eBay policy to list stuffed migratory birds, any part of any migratory bird, or any migratory bird nest or egg."
This item is NOT a migratory stuffed bird, nor is it any part of a migratory bird, nor is it a migratory bird egg... it is a PAINTING of a penguin chick on a DOMESTIC goose egg, and this was stated in the auction description... along with a photo of the egg. I am very upset that this auction has been ended, as I already had a $25.00 bid on it. I would like to see the auction re-instated and the bidder notified that it is again listed.
A copy/paste of the original email from ebay is at the bottom of this email, a response that I sent to customer support, and their reply.
Please email me as soon as you can...
Thank You,
Marie A. Bachmeier (ebay ID = ree7) To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Subject: WARNING: eBay Auction Ended by Customer Support
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2001 18:31:37 PST
Dear Marie A. Bachmeier ([email protected]),
We regret to inform you that your eBay auction:
547439110 Penguin Chick on Goose Egg with Stand Eggeree
has been ended. All fees associated with this auction have been credited to your account.
The item you have listed does not appear to be consistent with eBay guidelines. It is against eBay policy to list stuffed migratory birds, any part of any migratory bird, or any migratory bird nest or egg.
For further information about eBay's guidelines, please refer to: http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-items.html
and http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-wildlife.html
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please be aware future incidents of this nature can lead to
the suspension of your account. We value you as a member of our community and
wish to continue this relationship, so we must ask you to refrain from any
violations of the Listing Policies or User Agreement in the future.
If you are unsure, or if you have a questionable item, rather than run the risk of having it ended by eBay, it would be best for you to email [email protected] with the item in question before listing it. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about listing procedures.
We thank you in advance for your cooperation and understanding.
Regards,
Lindy McCowin ([email protected])
eBay Inc
Dear Linda,
I was quite surprised to find that ebay had cancelled this auction. It is NOT a migratory bird, is not any part of a migratory bird... it is a PAINTING of a penguin chick on a DOMESTIC goose egg. Please email me back as soon as possible, I had a $24.00 bid on this item, and I would like to have the auction re-instated, and my bidder contacted to the fact that it is again up for auction.
Waiting to hear from you,
Thank You,
Marie A. Bachmeier
Auto-Submitted: auto-replied
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2001 19:01:28 -0800
To: Ree Bachmeier <[email protected]>
Subject: Ended (KMM22079384C0KM)
From: eBay Ended Auction Support <[email protected]>
Reply-To: eBay Ended Auction Support <[email protected]>
X-Mailer: Kana 5.0
X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by mail.enetis.net id f0O31VV10013
*****THIS IS AN AUTORESPONDER. PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE*****
Thank you for writing to eBay Customer Support. We value you as a
member of our community and understand your concern regarding your
recently ended auction(s). We do our best to explain the reason for
ending an auction in the Auction Ended Notice. We realize, however, that
sometimes there may be additional questions and we hope the information
below will help to address those questions for you.
Although it is not a common occurrence, there are times when eBay must
end an auction early. To ensure that eBay remains a safe and fun venue
that is a positive experience for our members, all auctions must meet
certain guidelines. Generally, eBay will end auctions early for the
following reasons:
1. A listing violation - the auction fails to meet the appropriate
format and guidelines for listing on eBay. To view these guidelines,
please visit: http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-list.html
2. The auction is for a prohibited/banned item - the item for auction
violates either California or federal law, or is deemed inappropriate by
eBay's standards. To view these guidelines, please visit: http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-items.html
3. The auction is for an item, which potentially infringes on another's
intellectual property rights, such as copyright and trademark issues.
This also includes bootleg music, software, video, etc., as well as
replicas and counterfeit items. Please visit the following for more
information: http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-items.html
Answers to some of the more commonly asked questions regarding ended
auctions can be found at: http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-endauction.html
If you are a bidder and received a notice about an auction you were
participating in, please keep in mind that we are unable to provide you
with contact information for the seller. Since the auction was ended
by eBay, the results are null and void. We do not recommend that you
proceed with a transaction for a listing that has been ended early.
Doing so would be at your risk and without eBay insurance coverage or
use of the feedback forum.
After reading the polices listed on our site, if you should have
additional questions, please submit a reply from the original message,
making sure that it is addressed to [email protected]. This will ensure
that the appropriate department addresses your email.
Thank you for taking the time to write to tonight's two auction closings:
eBay appreciates the fact that you chose to list your auction:
548130225 Penguin Dad and Chick Painting on Goose Egg
548128613 Bald Eagle Painting on a Domestic Goose Egg
with us. However, items involving animal parts/plants/traps are heavily
regulated in many states and countries, and the sale of this item (or
similar items) may be tightly controlled or even prohibited by law in many
places where eBay bidders reside. Stuffed migratory birds, any part of any migratory bird, or any migratory bird nest or egg may not be listed on eBay. The law forbids the sale of migratory birds, including birds that can be lawfully hunted. Migratory birds include all ducks, geese, hawks, owls, crows and ravens. However, captive-bred, properly marked mallard ducks may be sold if the seller clearly states in the item description that the mallard duck was captive-bred. No other captive-bred waterfowl species may be sold without permits obtained from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
To protect our users, and out of respect
for the importance of restrictions in this area, eBay has determined that
it cannot allow the item you listed to be auctioned on its site.
Therefore, we have ended this auction(s) and all fees have been credited to your account. Please view our guideline page for a better understanding of our auction
guidelines and how they affect the way you list your items: http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-list.html
For information on eBay's policies regarding animals and animal parts, please view: http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-wildlife.html
For information on infringing, prohibited or questionable items, please view http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-items.html
For more information on why eBay has ended an auction, please visit: http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-endauction.html
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please be aware future incidents of this nature can lead to
the suspension of your account. We value you as a member of our community and
wish to continue this relationship, so we must ask you to refrain from any
violations of the Listing Policies or User Agreement in the future.
We thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have on
our existing listing policies.
Regards,
Burt eBay ([email protected])
ebay
after writing to moreinfo, i got a canned response that i am now in their queue and will hear back in 3 days.
BUT.... tonight i got another warning from ebay, they closed my two new egg auctions.
i did a search on "goose egg" and came up with only two listings (there should be hundreds)... they have shut down everyone, not just me. this is a VERY devastating situation for my business... and i am sure other eggers' businesses.
the eggs that are used by professional eggers are from domestic birds, not wild birds... not migratory birds. my geese couldn't fly if they had rockets strapped to their butts.
i am NOT sure now, what to do, or where to turn. my business is in danger, and i am worried.
any help that you can give me, would be greatly appreciated. thank you,
ree
posted on January 24, 2001 06:54:37 PM
"after writing to moreinfo, i got a canned response that i am now in their queue and will hear back in 3 days."
_____
Ree .. I'm sorry to hear this happened to you. That is absolutely ridiculous. Another case of ending an auction without bothering to really check it out!
I would wait for that response in 3 days JUST in case it is resolved.
In the meantime, is there an eggers organization, club, etc. that might be able to give you info on these 'laws'? I would do as much research as possible and be prepared to state your case based on refuting their 'facts' .. they could care less whether they are right or not. They certainly don't care about the effect on the seller.
I think the bottom line is that they want to cover their butts but are too 'lazy/cheap' to do the footwork to really know if what they are doing is in the correct action! Therefore, however unfair it may be, seems you'll have to do the work for them!
Good luck and I hope you are able to find some concrete information and support!
Lynne
I have a memory like a steel trap .. unfortunately it's rusted shut!
posted on January 24, 2001 07:19:26 PM
Ree...Im sorry this happened to you! I know you do BEAUTIFUL work on DOMESTIC eggs. Can you call ebay? Talk to someone on the phone? Please try that way. Do you have their number? I have it around here somewhere...sheesh. I KNOW you do this for a living. Makes me feel bad for you
posted on January 24, 2001 07:34:30 PMree7, I've similarly run afoul of ebay's crazy "endangered" species rules (I listed a vintage Dictaphone that had a faux tortoise shell horn that my 2-year-old nephew could tell was synthetic.)
In my case, it was a simple matter of including a disclaimer in the description so that the nature-netcops would know what every other person viewing the listing already knew.
However, in your case (and I just quickly scanned the info in your post), it looks like ebay (or the endangered species special interest groups) erroneously considers ALL geese to be endangered. It seems that your continued success on ebay depends on your educating TPTB what most children know: that there is a difference between wild animals and those raised in captivity as livestock.
If I were in your shoes, I would:
1. Avoid the autoresponder messages and days-long lag time by calling ebay. Perhaps you can talk some sense into them. At the least, try to get an email addy for whomever was responsible for cancelling the auctions.
2. I'd get in touch with the sellers of the other closed auctions to compare notes and encourage them to join you in emailing the person(s) responsible for nuking your auctions.
posted on January 24, 2001 07:49:52 PM
I to, am sorry that this is happening. The Humanistic part that allows eBay to be successfull, is the most abused.
There are some pretty smart movers and shakers that post here. They will guide you in the proper direction.
posted on January 24, 2001 07:57:29 PM
Ree, the phone numbers i have for ebay are 1-888-749-3229 and 408-558-5926. I havent called them in a long time...so I dont know if they are still correct now, but you can try. Speak to someone. Last time I did, I was helped by a very nice gal who DID help me.
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