Ebay Secrets That People Need To Know About!

EBAY'S DIRTY SECRETS
If you are an experienced eBay seller then you may already be aware of many of eBay's dirty tricks, but if you are a buyer or a new seller you may not realize what problems you might experience on eBay.The fact is that eBay has done an amazing job at convincing buyers that eBay and Paypal have got them covered, they are like the big brother that are always looking out for your best interests. Unfortunately this is not the case, and many people who have been selling on eBay and even some buyers, may have already experienced some of the negative aspects of this vicious world of eBay and Paypal. I am going to let you in on some of the things that eBay and Paypal definitely don't want you to know. And if you read what I have written and you are not convinced, if you spend just a few moments researching the topic on google or youtube, you will see the same story over and over again.

EBAY FEEDBACK POLICY - In the beginning, buyers and sellers could leave each other feedback based on the any eBay transaction. This was an effective way for eBay users to establish a reputation.Sellers could establish a reputation for providing quality products and quality service, and buyers could establish feedback based how quickly they pay, and how they interact with the seller. So sellers that sell poor quality products and provide poor service, would receive a poor rating. Buyers that would not pay, or would behave in an unreasonable manner would also receive a poor rating. Now in May 2008, eBay changed the feedback system and now only buyers can leave negative or neutral feedback. So what does this mean, it means that buyers can now feel free to bid on items and not pay. It means that buyers can make unreasonable demands and if the seller does not agree to the buyers demands they will risk negative feedback. Feedback for buyers is now meaningless, what is it worth if you are only allowed to leave positive feedback, there is no sense in leaving feedback at all.

FEEDBACK EXTORTION - It is against eBay policy to demand anything other that what the seller has listed, and threatening a seller with negative feedback in order to get over and above what you payed for is not allowed by eBay's rules. So does that mean you can not get away with it? Certainly not, since sellers can not leave real feedback for buyers, feedback extortion has become far more common on eBay. It is almost impossible to prove, so buyers might ask you to include extras, or expedite shipping, and they will leave subtle hints of negative feedback if you do not agree to this. There is nothing that can be done to stop this in eBay's current system.

DETAILED SELLER RATINGS - Sellers are now rated in several categories such as : communication, item as described, shipping time, shipping charges. There is a 5 star system where sellers are given a rating on a 5 star scale. Now when you think of a 5 star scale, a 4 star hotel for example is probably a pretty nice place to stay and we consider 4 out of 5 stars to be pretty good. On eBay, 4 out of 5 stars will result in an immediate suspension of your account for poor customer satisfaction. The DSR system is a prime example of one of many policies that are designed to improve customer satisfaction. The problem with the DSR system is, it creates customer dissatisfaction from nothing. The customers that are overall fairly satisfied with their item, are now given another option, a new way to complain. If you give people more options to complain, you will get more complaints. Customers probably feel like they have already left positive feedback so it is no big deal if they leave a low DSR rating for shipping charges or shipping time.

In order to receive top marks in the category of shipping charges, you will have to adopt eBay's new "free shipping". This is where you offer to sell your item for a certain price, and then ship the item for free. Now my local post office does not offer to ship items for free, and I am not sure where in the world there are free shipping services? I think the concept of free shipping only exists on eBay, and sellers are paying for this. This is clearly designed to increase the amount of Final Value Fee sales commissions eBay will earn, all at the expense of sellers.

International sellers will find that their DSR for shipping time, will be compared to domestic sellers. So customers might by an item from an Asian seller, and then leave a poor rating for time of delivery because the item takes longer to arrive than other items shipped from inside USA or their home country. It seems that eBay has no protocol to take into consideration shipping times for international sellers, instead they seem to expect buyers to be rational and take this into consideration.

EBAY SLANDERS SELLERS
If eBay decides to suspend a seller for any reason, they will send out an email to any buyers that have purchased products from that seller. They will word the email in a way that makes the buyers believe that they are victims of a scam, and that this seller has been caught committing fraud or theft. Now while in some cases this may be the case, in other cases this can be caused by simple misunderstandings. The email will urge buyers to charge back their payments immediately as they have been a victim of a potential fraud. This may be a result of a copyright violation, or it could be that the seller logged into their account from a public computer, perhaps they received a negative feedback from a buyer or a low DSR rating for shipping time. Another reason for suspension of a sellers account could be that billing to their credit card failed for their eBay fees, or it could be a result of them changing their password or their address. As a buyer you will always be led to believe that the seller is fraudulent.

These emails that suggest fraud are more often than not, based on no actual fraud or theft, simply eBay enforcing it's over zealous policies. Sellers might have already shipped the goods to their customers, and because of these emails the customer charges back the payment and the seller loses the money and the buyer gets the item for free. Many people will never get their items, and they will have to fight with eBay to get their money back, and in the end they will assume that this whole problem started because of a fraudulent seller, when in fact, the problem only started when eBay blocked the sellers account and seized the funds, which will often result in the seller not being able to ship the goods. In many cases eBay and Paypal will seize funds from a seller, withhold the money pending a lengthy investigation, and not allow the seller to refund the buyer. They will always insist that they are protecting you, but when they seize money from a seller, and then withhold it from the buyer as well, who are they protecting?

EBAY SUSPENSIONS
Why do eBay accounts get suspended? That is a good question, and there is no simple answer. When eBay suspends your account, they often refuse to give you a reason for their actions. They tell you that they can not tell you what exactly the problem is, they might give it a vague term like "abusing eBay" and if you ask them what that means, they will refuse to answer. A common reason for suspensions is poor customer satisfaction, a few negative feedback's or maybe just low DSRs. Amazing as it may sound, it is possible to have your eBay account suspended for poor customer satisfaction even if you have 100% positive feedback! Yes I know, it sounds unbelievable, but if you get poor detailed seller ratings it doesn't matter if you have 100% positive feedback, your account can be limited or even suspended.


EBAY STANDARDS
It doesn't matter what business you are in, customer satisfaction is going to be an important part of any successful business. Most businesses would probably be happy to say that 90% of their customers are satisfied. On eBay, you will be held to unattainable standards, you need to have 99% customer satisfaction, and even your satisfied customers can then cause problems if they leave you low DSR ratings So what does eBay expect from their sellers, well maybe not perfection .. but very close to it! Can you imagine if all businesses were held to the same standards eBay sellers are? Imagine if the "Better Business Bureau" would come along closing down hotels and restaurants if they had 1 or 2 complaints out of 100 customers? It doesn't sound very realistic does it?