I've had it with ebay

[sweeps]

Is anyone else sick of ebay? The terrible customer service, the escalating fees, the deadbeat buyers... I'm sticking with Craigslist and yard sales from now on.

[Ima saver]

I have never used it, but I am going to sell my stuff at a garage sale. It seems like too much work to me to have to pack up and ship this stuff.

[Bruce Wayne]

I've never really used it much but I imagine there are more sellers than buyers?

[Russell]

Yes, Ebay's no longer what it was 3-5 yrs ago...I haven't sold anything on ebay in 3 yrs but still buy stuff if I come across a good deal - but even that is getting tougher to do.

[mccartygirl]

I agree completely! I just threw something up for a co-worker and it cost $3.75! If it doesn't sell I'm sure she won't give me that $3.75 back. Not to mention you pay fees to list, fees when the item sells and since the own PayPal they get the fees that are charged when you get money from a sale. They're making a fortune!

[jmjj215]

They just lowered their listing fees and several other fees. It is being swarmed with bigger businesses now, which is a cause for concern for many of the small business ebayers out there.

[sweeps]

Ebay lowered its listing fees but it raised the percentage it gets from the sale. Add in Paypal's cut, and the cost can be significant.

But the fees are just part of the problem. Ebay's customer service is the worst of any company I have ever dealt with. If you're a seller and you ever have to work with them because of buyer fraud or some other reason, you're usually screwed.

[katwoman]

I don't feel too bad for them. It's that same lack of accountability to buyers and sellers (that they've been getting heat for a loooonnnng time now) that bites them in the ass.

For instance, I need to buy a product on a regular basis. This product is not discounted enough and even with coupons and a sale I still feel like I'm getting fleeced. Having looked on ebay it never panned out there either when shipping was figured in. Well, one day, for the heck of it, I narrow my search for anyone in a 25 mile area of where I live. Lo and behold, a seller comes up with the product I need and prices that couldn't be beat! We email each other a few times (very courteous on both ends) and make an outside agreement to do business. This guy even drove to my house (I offered to go pick up the product) and helped me put the items in my basement!

Thanks, ebay!

[abowers]

I haven't done much with Ebay recently, but Half.com (owned by the same) has gotten noticeably bad within the last 8 months. My boyfriend tried to buy several books for the fall semester off half.com, and after 3 books from different sellers didn't show up -- he sent emails to the sellers, and it turns out those sellers didn't have those books in stock anymore. Apparently half.com sometimes sells a book, but doesn't change the inventory... weird. Half.com no longer requires confirmation from the seller which is a problem.

I've done a total of 311 transactions (according to my feedback) on Ebay over the past few years, and it's generally been a positive experience with the exception of a 2 buyers who left unexplained negative feedback then immediately afterwards stopped being members. There were a couple other transactions where people haven't left feedback, but I guess the feedback isn't worth all that much.

As a buyer I've never been scammed, however.

[frugalfarmwife]

I do still use ebay but we have a unique product with a great following. I've been selling off some of my hubbies Rail Road collection and getting GREAT prices. The RR collectors are a unique bunch and since the real pieces are limited in availibility ebay is the best market for them. It is a lot of work with all the special packaging needed on some of our pieces, but when I can get $1,130.00 for an old semaphore signal we'll do the work

Overall though ebay has become more of a flea market atmosphere than an auction, I wish they wouldn't do all of the buy it now pricing, etc, takes the fun out of it.
kj

[MyMoneyForest]

Haven't sold anything on eBay in a while. Last thing I sold was my $1,600 mountain bike. Next up are my recently deceased pet lizard's belongings.

I agree though, eBay is not as cool as in the past. The novelty has worn off for most people.

[midlight21]

It's very hard to find anything to sell on ebay now. I have one cd out there for sale and I don't know if it will sell or not, too hard to tell.

[cicy33]

I just recently sold a book on half.com and it didn't require me to confirm anywhere. I did get paid but it required I sent the book then get paid, not sure I liked that!

[jmjj215]

I agree though, eBay is not as cool as in the past. The novelty has worn off for most people.

A friend of mine that lives in the same apartment complex does eBay full-time. He's paid 10% of profits and works for his other friend (who's 25 years old). I've seen their numbers and they're revenue is about $200,000 per month (not a typo) with a before-tax margin of ~30% (that's after my friend gets his 10%). They have about 1300 auctions running all the time and ship about 400 packages a day out of the founder's house. DHL has a regular route with them obviously. They're growing at an extremely fast rate and have found a niche in eBay that is very profitable for them. I believe there is still money to be made on eBay.

Edit: I forgot to mention that they are four people. My friend who runs the logistics of eBay, the founder who strategizes, a shipper, and an email correspondent - the shipper and emailer both work 8-10 hours per day. They stay busy.

[midlight21]

Geez, what do they sell??? I'd love to make 200,000 a month but I'm not about to kill myself to do it.

[jmjj215]

Heh, there's no way I'd divulge. He's a friend, remember? They aren't killing themselves to do it - especially the founder. His "office" is a Barnes & Noble where he reads magazines and books to come up with new ideas for expansion. He sets his own schedule. He works, but he does it on his own terms, which makes it all the more enjoyable.

[midlight21]

Yeah but knowing me, I'd try and do it all myself instead of split it between four people. I was born into a family of workaholics. I'm glad your friend has found a niche...that's the hard thing to do on Ebay. I don't have the patience to find one.