Latest E Bay nonsense

[F&J]

On ‎3‎/‎27‎/‎2021 at 10:28 AM, auburnseeker said:

It's like they are trying to flush the toilet on their business and grabbing the plunger to make sure they finish it off. 

Anybody that's been with ebay for 20 years as a buyer or seller should be upset on how the college educated A-hole management changes screwed up a good thing.

 

I used to be a very minor seller to help pay bills, but mostly was buying/searching for parts for my very obscure brands of cars.  10-12 years ago when ebay had refined itself to "search perfection", I'd do a saved search at morning and at night to catch new items just listed for the car.  Thank goodness I found a lot back then to finish the cars.

 

Then the jackasses set up the "Fits" thing for sellers which tripled or quadrupled the amount of listings, but it was things that had nothing to do with my car.

 

Then savvy people on the Net said you could disable the "Fits" CRAP by typing the minus sign and the word:  "- fits" at the end of your search title.  It worked for quite a while, but the corporate TURDS now seem to have set up something else to allow totally unrelated items to show back up.. So, I rarely do a generic search for my particular car.  800-900 items show and only 100 have anything to do with MY car!

 

Just think of how many people stopped searching with this mess, then you sellers don't get the crazy high bids like in the past. So many long time sellers stop buying local stashes to sell on ebay, so the food chain grinds to a halt.

 

This really hurts the hobby, as many parts from local estates will go to scrap if flippers won't want to deal with selling on ebay as time goes by.  People don't buy prewar cars that need parts if they no longer can find the parts on ebay.  Good going, you corporate experts.

 

It is the "narcissistic sector" of the educated white collar people, and that one small group get a BIG head in thinking they know everything and don't make mistakes, and they don't care what the unwashed masses say... from the sellers or buyers. 

[edinmass]

The problem is the spoiled college graduates that have never tried being an entrepreneur make decisions on policy and fees. They read the book on every subject .........rephrase.......read on line what running a business is all about. Anyone who tries to compete with them and develops a new platform will be squashed......or bought out. I quit selling there a long time ago...........give them access to my bank account? The definition of insanity. I’m surprised that Amazon hasn’t started an auction section yet. I help a friend with his eBay store......the changes are asinine, not logical, and it’s difficult to find things that at one time we’re easy. It will take them going broke to make any real improvements. 
 

A local friend asked me to go to the local Mecum auction with him. I really didn’t want to, but he asked. They made the mistake of expecting me to pay to get in. They are more in the entertainment business now with content for sale on tv and paid entrance fees. I never went in.........pay to look at all that hacked retro-mod trash. Nope, not me. Never, ever. I absolutely refuse to pay to go to any auction..........pay a bidders fee? No, won’t do that either. I can live my entire life free from auctions for cars and parts. People say you find things on eBay you can’t fine anywhere else........they are wrong. Recently I paid for a “wanted” ad on HCCA. First time in thirty years I have done this. Got three real responses, and six fake ones. Everyone who responded that wasn’t a scammer was a friend or acquaintance already. I bought the stuff from our member here Mike West, who I purchased an engine block from last year. He sent me the stuff no charge, and it arrived and was exactly what I asked for. 

Edited March 29, 2021 by edinmass (see edit history)

[SC38dls]

Pay to pay more for paying for a product is ludicrous. Pay to get in, pay for the ability to bid, pay a premium when you pay for a product you can’t really drive or completely check out is nothing more than the perfect scam. Auctions like BJ or Mecum no thanks. 
dave s 

[auburnseeker]

Wait until ebay thinks they can start charging a fee to bid, then you will see the plug pulled.  

I know recently I got a message from them that they were going to stop giving ebay bucks.  That's a 1% kickback on purchases.  Now you are kidding me right,  you are collecting 13-15% on every sale including the shipping and sales tax,  but you can't give loyal customers 1 % of the actual item cost only back,  and those bucks were only usable against a future purchase on ebay and expired in 30 days.  Makes me think twice about buying things like a pair of $2000 tracks for my excavator or an $1100 bucket or a set of $1000 tires off their site. (all of which i have done in the past)  I'll go direct and probably get a better deal anyways.  I just figured the bucks offset the purchase.  So yup save 1% only to lose 12-14%.  

This is corporate mentality of bean counters. Looks about the dimes they are losing while tripping over the dollars bills they could be making. 

[pkhammer]

  99% of what I sell on ebay is auto related, mostly parts but some gas/oil advertising and so forth. I would welcome a new auction site geared specifically toward the collector car hobby. If only something like that could get going and get a big following, that would be awesome.

[padgett]

I used to get mailers from the Sherrif's auction, occasionally have interesting cars. Bought a Fiero there once, great car.

 

[John348]

I personally don't see E Bay as a problem with having access to my bank account, is it any different then paypal? The banking information is on every check I write. Ebay will have no more information then any of the other institutions that issue myself or anyone else a direct deposit each month  I guess I am missing something, but I don't see that being the real problem. The problem to me is that they are sitting on the money that was paid to me (as the seller) for several days, using some sort of BS processing excuse, meanwhile paypal has no problems, why should E Bay? It is all about E Bay sitting the cash on all of those transactions for several days. Where paypal has a 4% fee, I can see E Bay making sure that they get an opportunity to charge another fee 

Edited March 29, 2021 by John348 (see edit history)

[60FlatTop]

When I am not having fun or things get tedious like these Ebay examples I just opt out and maybe come back to try things again. I don't have any of those firm, life driving principles that cause me to say the "I never" stuff. People whom "I never" are usually denying themself of some opportunity. I would never do that.

Bernie

[37_Roadmaster_C]

I feel sorry for the buyers that are looking for the "old junk" that I had/have. I gave up on fleebay and their idiotic way of doing things. Twenty years ago it was a very viable platform to buy OR sell on with a very large audience. Now, between them and PayPal and their combined fee gouging it is more profitable for me to simply haul it to the dump or scrapper. It is sad, but cost vs cash always goes to lower net cost and that means the dump in most cases. Very sad times.........

[pkhammer]

You'd never 60FlatTop? 😁

 

  I have not had the bad experiences with ebay that others have had. Would I have preferred for them to leave things alone? Yes, I think it was better before they tampered with it and I think most all ebay users would agree with that. 

  -Managed payments: Yes, I had to set up a new bank account and give them the info so they can direct deposit. Not a big deal really. I transfer money out of that account into another account hat they don't have access to as soon as I get my payouts. The payouts take a few days to come though which is slightly annoying but again, no big deal.

  -Fees: Ebay increased their fees from 10% up to around an average of 14%. Paypal used to take 3-4% so my share is still roughly the same, maybe 1% less than it was. I love setting up and selling at swap meets but I can tell you for sure that the expenses of selling at a swap meet (cost of spaces, travel, lodging, food, etc) are usually MUCH higher than 10-15% of what gets sold.

  -Disputes: I've been lucky here and have had very few. Can count on one hand in 10 years of selling and those were resolved by simply being reasonable, taking a return and issuing the buyer a refund.

  -1099: Yes, ebay AND Paypal are now sending the IRS a 1099 showing the money you took in. I sell enough that I have been claiming my sales now for years so they aren't learning anything new, that is for me. For those that have been selling and hiding that income from Uncle Sam, that is not possible anymore.

 

  Believe me, I dislike change, and I agree that the changes ebay had made is hurting themselves the most. So far it has been a minor annoyance to me but I fear it is driving buyers and sellers away. As long as there are buyers still buying though I'll keep on selling however.

 

   I like the idea of "AACABay" however. How about it Steve? Peter? Think of the $$ that could be made for the AACA with an antique auto/parts auction site!

 

[deaddds]

I’m in if it happens! Done with eBay.

[60FlatTop]

Our local pharmacy adopted Ebay's "other buyers also purchased" algorithm. I brought home her prescription, an LP gas camp stove, swim fins, and a clock radio.

 

I innocently spread the items out on the kitchen table and she just gave me that look.

[jdome]

I used to check ebay daily, mostly to search for early brass Buick & Cadillac parts. I used to use the * as a wild card and type:  Cadillac 191*.  That would bring up Cadillac cars & parts from 1910 thru 1919. There used to be a lot of good parts as well as a few cars that would pop up and no junk. I only had to check "NEW LISTINGS" for a few good items with no multiple listings of the same radiator fans.  You can't do a simple search like that today.  I now go weeks or months without going on Ebay.  I have bought and sold a few cars and lots of parts on Ebay since 2001, but it is just more of a nuisance now.  I occasionally find something to buy but I haven't listed anything for sale for several years. Too much trouble for the occasional seller. 

 

Its too bad that Ebay has moved so far from its original intent to be the "garage sale"  site for the individual. I think they saw the growth explosion of the Amazon model and decided to transform into another Amazon and have done their best to push out the occasional garage seller in favor of bulk sellers and full time businesses.  

[John348]

18 hours ago, jdome said:

I used to check ebay daily, mostly to search for early brass Buick & Cadillac parts. I used to use the * as a wild card and type:  Cadillac 191*.  That would bring up Cadillac cars & parts from 1910 thru 1919. There used to be a lot of good parts as well as a few cars that would pop up and no junk. I only had to check "NEW LISTINGS" for a few good items with no multiple listings of the same radiator fans.  You can't do a simple search like that today.  I now go weeks or months without going on Ebay.  I have bought and sold a few cars and lots of parts on Ebay since 2001, but it is just more of a nuisance now.  I occasionally find something to buy but I haven't listed anything for sale for several years. Too much trouble for the occasional seller. 

 

Its too bad that Ebay has moved so far from its original intent to be the "garage sale"  site for the individual. I think they saw the growth explosion of the Amazon model and decided to transform into another Amazon and have done their best to push out the occasional garage seller in favor of bulk sellers and full time businesses.  

 

You hit it on the head! 

[capngrog]

The state of mediocrity into which feebay has descended, is, sadly, not at all unusual in corporate America.  For example, look at the chaos of Boeing, whose disastrous handling of the KC-46 and B-737MAX development programs, has seriously damaged their image as once the world's premier designer, developer and manufacturer of fine aircraft.  Unfortunately, Boeing's problems extend beyond the mishandling of those two programs ... I just use them as prime examples.

 

Much of the blame for the mediocrity of corporate America I lay at the feet of many MBAs who seem to know all about the "bottom line", but little or nothing about the "product line".  They don't even seem to grasp the concept that the "bottom line" is almost entirely dependent on the "product line".  

 

Now that I've managed to insult all of the AACA MBAs out there, please note that I said "many MBAs" not "all MBAs".

 

Cheers,

Grog

[John348]

Hey Grog,

 

I feel a big part of the problem is that E Bay has no competition. The swap meet scene is a lot of work, and a lot of expense before I even leave my house.

[pkhammer]

40 minutes ago, John348 said:

Hey Grog,

 

I feel a big part of the problem is that E Bay has no competition. The swap meet scene is a lot of work, and a lot of expense before I even leave my house.

  That's one reason I don't set up at small, local swap meets anymore. By local I mean one day events within a 2 hour drive. By the time I pay for two spaces, say at $40 each, then pay for gas and food I've likely got over $150 invested in expenses not to mention the work of loading, then unloading and then doing it all over again when it's over. I'm usually set up by 7:00am and by 2:00pm the meet is dead. Many of the would-be buyers offer half of what I have things marked at which is already reasonably priced. Sound familiar? If I only sell $500 worth of stuff it's so not worth it. Many people would say "well you still made $350 bucks, that's not a bad day!". No, if I paid 50% of sale price for the stuff I sold then another $250 needs to be deducted and leaves me with a whopping $100 profit at the end of the day! That is why vendors continue to decline at the meets. It's a lot less work to sell on line. I like to do both but whatever I do it has to make sense.

[JFranklin]

If swap meet officials could intice an auctioneer to go around near the end of the day to each vendor site that wants it, and offer the dregs to the highest bidder there would be sellers that wouldn't need to reload and take home anything much.

[John348]

16 minutes ago, JFranklin said:

If swap meet officials could intice an auctioneer to go around near the end of the day to each vendor site that wants it, and offer the dregs to the highest bidder there would be sellers that wouldn't need to reload and take home anything much.

Good thought, but you might as well have the auctioneer start at 9 AM because nobody would buy anything all day if there is a chance of getting it for less after 2PM

[capngrog]

2 hours ago, John348 said:

Hey Grog,

 

I feel a big part of the problem is that E Bay has no competition. The swap meet scene is a lot of work, and a lot of expense before I even leave my house.

 

I agree.  Due to the lack of competition, feebay perceives no need to respond to customer concerns about many of the recent changes made (often by the afore-mentioned MBAs) to the website.

 

For ten years or so, I was a frequent purchaser of items listed for sale (or auction) on feebay.  I even purchased two cars (a 1947 Chevrolet Sedan Delivery and a 1950 Crosley Station Wagon) which I still own.  I can't remember the last time I had anything to do with feebay.

 

Cheers,

Grog