| Had to copy this across before ebay delete it, as they seem to be doing with so many of these things these days. STOP PRESS : Ebay Members to Seek Recourse Through the Courts | |||
guitareasy1 (9084  )   View Listings | Report | |||
| STOP PRESS : Ebay Members to Seek Recourse Through the Courts Appended below is the media statement distributed widely to the media in the past hour. The group of ebay members which has guided a large number of us in recent weeks to make written submissions to the ACCC, petition and attend a conference, and write to Ministers, Senators, ASIC, the Banking Ombudsman, industry regulators and our banks, will now launch a further series of initiatives to bring ebay into line with decent trading practices. The first of these initiatives will be to seek remedies through the courts. Please read the media release - it is self explanatory. Make a copy now - in case ebay are foolish enough to delete it - and be prepared to distribute it via email, via your web site and any other means at your disposal to anyone who has an interest in these issues. On your behalf the group is taking a stand. Now, more than ever, is the time to show your support. Ebay members the world over will watch with interest whether individual mums, dads, and small businesses spread across this country of ours can join together to achieve a fair deal at the hands of ebay. The group has faith in our justice system. Come join us. Thank you. ========== Media Statement – 5.00pm 13th July, 2008 Ebay Members to Seek Recourse Through the Courts Early last week a well co-ordinated group of ebay members was instrumental in facilitating large numbers of their peers, nationally, to write to their local Ministers, Senators, The Banking Ombudsman and to ASIC and other relevant organisations to register complaints over the aggressive manner in which ebay continues to promote PayPal as its preferred payment method. The complaints are well documented and numerous, and ranged from : ebay’s misrepresentation, suppression of other payment methods, deletion of sellers’ listings without cause, refusal to allow sellers to pass on PayPal charges and the issuing of misleading statements to further the illusion that PayPal is more secure than other established and proven payment methods. Other complaints included PayPal’s freezing of member’s accounts, the inequity of the PayPal User Agreement and PayPal’s refusal to sign the EFT Code of Conduct - therein denying ebay members the same protection which banks and other financial institutions provide to their customers. Later in the week the group again led their peers to write en-masse, but on this occasion to their respective banks, to air concerns over ebay’s public statements that PayPal is the safest product in the EFT marketplace, implying that all other EFT transactions – and in particular Direct Deposit – are unsafe by comparison. On the basis that the ACCC concluded in its draft Notice : "The evidence available does not support the view that PayPal is the most secure method of payment or offers the best service for all transactions", ebay members sought reassurance from their banks that ebay’s assertions are incorrect and that Direct Deposit is a safe transaction method. This week the group will launch a further series of initiatives. Mr Tony Green, the group’s spokesman on legal matters, announced today that “… as ebay’s response to member’s legitimate concerns is woefully inadequate it is now time to commence our next offensive which will be to seek remedies through the courts”. Mr Green went on to say ”Ebay’s recalcitrant behaviour has pushed us to the point that we must now use the legal system to bring ebay into line with decent trading practices.” Mr Green said, “In a conference last night the group decided unanimously that it would use legal due process to stop ebay from destroying its own site and, in the process of this, destroying the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of loyal ebay members”. He added, “We are ebay’s customers and to date they have refused to listen to us. Ebay has left us no alternative than to appeal to the courts to right the wrongs that ebay has forced upon us.” In anticipation of this offensive the group has had a team of researchers looking at legal precedents, similar legal actions and the various legal alternatives available to it. “We discussed several options available to us in prosecuting these actions,” said Mr Green “… and the possibility of a major legal firm doing the work on a no win no fee contingency basis is being examined.” “The principles at issue here are of vital importance to the largest consumer group in Australia – 5 million people according to ebay’s own figures – only a few of these are commercially scaled businesses, most are mums and dads striving for a modest supplement to the household income, and these people do not have the financial resources to pursue fair and just treatment at the hands of ebay”, said Mr Green. “It appears that political leaders and regulators have yet to fully comprehend the significance of the issues and have not yet commenced the required corrective actions, and thus the group has stepped up its activity to rally ebay members together and to take ebay on as one. Ultimately, ebay will be made to comply with all of the laws of our country.” Contact has been made with a University Law School as the group are exploring the possibility of engaging law students – ironically, many of them also disaffected ebay members – to research this area and begin cataloguing the huge volume of accumulated evidence assembled by ebay members. Further, there are a growing number of other ebay members offering to contribute to a fighting fund to pay for the planned actions. “Ebay members are delighted to learn of Paymate Pty Ltd’s announcement on 11th July of it having lodged a formal complaint to the ACCC concerning ebay’s alleged breaches of s47 and s52 of the Trade Practices Act 1974,” said Mr Green, ” … and our group will now examine the merits of approaching Paymate with a view to the pooling of evidence and conducting a joint legal offensive against ebay.” “Our research to date is moving us on from the Trade Practices, and other Acts, competition sections to those sections dealing with unconscionable conduct, and breach of contract “, said Mr Green. “We need to do something dramatic, and quickly, to protect ebay members – mums, dads and businesses – from being destroyed by a company that can see no further than its own profit figure. If the anger of its loyal customers means nothing to ebay we intend to look to the courts to uphold Australian Law and to give us respite from the excesses of ebay”, said Mr Green. “Ebay believes that ebay members are isolated from each other, largely ignorant of ebay’s actions with regard to PayPal and are therefore ineffectual in complaining about or opposing ebay’s deplorable practices. For the average ebayer being channelled into paying by PayPal may seem to be a risk free and temporary thing rather than a calculated deception by ebay”, Mr Green said. ”Most ebayers are unsure how and where they should complain, and ebay are counting on this to push its policies through. We intend to expose this tactic to all ebay members.” “The discussion boards on ebay are a good indicator of the level of anger at ebay’s new policies. There is no flocking to the boards by people who support the new policies. To the contrary they are full of horror stories and tales of anger and frustration from people who are violently opposed to them”, said Mr Green. “Between them the co-ordinators of the group have a data base of over one hundred thousand email addresses of ebay members who have purchased from us, and through other supporting sellers access to many hundreds of thousands more. If necessary we will contact every one of them to alert them to the full consequences of the disastrous policies that ebay have introduced. We will do the job that ebay is morally obliged but too frightened to do – to keep ebay members informed,” said Mr Green. The group will conference again this evening to make decisions on its first legal offensive against ebay and to decide on a timetable. Meanwhile, activity on the ebay site from both buyers and sellers has taken a nosedive, member’s anger and frustration continues unabated, and the level of disaffection with ebay is growing. Ebay’s only response has been to temporarily discount listing fees – again – the third such promotion in the past six weeks in a desperate move by ebay to arrest the steady decline in the number of listings. ----- Statement Ends ------ Media Enquiries : Mr Robert Vandermeer Tel : XXXXXXX Email : XXXXXXX ----------------------------------------- You tell your king that eBay sellers will NOT be ruled ... and ... that they may take our money, but they'll never take ... OUR FREEDOM!!! | |||
Tuesday 15 July 2008
Ebay Members to Seek Recourse Through the Courts
Friday 11 July 2008
Added new currencies to Hot and Vintage
As we understand that most people have not got time to spend time trying to convert the price of each item or items they wish to purchase from Hot and Vintage, we have added new currencies to solve this problem.
Now you can view your favourite items in US Dollars, Canadian Dollars, Australian Dollars, Euro and still the British Pound.
Hope you like this change and we will be looking at adding other currencies in future, so if your currency is not available at the moment then please let us know and we may add it if possible.
The currencies will be updated each morning as we monitor changes in the exchange rate, so we can set an acceptable level sorted between our payment providors.
Hope you like this change and again any problems then let us know so we can try and solve it.
Now you can view your favourite items in US Dollars, Canadian Dollars, Australian Dollars, Euro and still the British Pound.
Hope you like this change and we will be looking at adding other currencies in future, so if your currency is not available at the moment then please let us know and we may add it if possible.
The currencies will be updated each morning as we monitor changes in the exchange rate, so we can set an acceptable level sorted between our payment providors.
Hope you like this change and again any problems then let us know so we can try and solve it.
Sunday 1 June 2008
An email sent to atleast two ebay users, and that is now in the hands of the FBI, this one was on the ebay boards that they kicked off, maybe they thought people should not be warned in advance, or something. Who knows with ebay.
This one may just be the start to the way things are going to become on ebay, so even though this is US based, it could travel anywhere.
Listen very carefully. I am the winner of this item. I have 4 other eBay Users in place either bidding on or have won items from you plus myself totaling 5.
We are prepared to leave you 5 Positive Feedbacks or 5 Negative Feedbacks depending on your actions. In a nutshell, we are in the business of selling Positive Feedbacks to eBay Sellers for $20 each, totaling $100 for 5 Positive Feedbacks.
If you purchase the 5 Positive Feedbacks for $100, you not only get to sell your items, you also receive 5 Positive Feedbacks. As you well know, Feedback is EVERYTHING to an eBay seller on whether they are successful or not.
I’m sure that you want to remain successful in your eBay business. Plus, along with the 5 Positive Feedbacks, we will also Guarantee Never to contact you again and we take you off of our list. You’ll even get a receipt for your purchase.
Now, here’s the important part.
If you refuse to purchase the 5 Positive Feedbacks, we will leave you 5 Negative Feedbacks for starters. We have 100’s & 100’s of eBay Users in place that we can use to leave feedbacks. In fact, we have enough to consistently leave you Negative Feedbacks for months resulting in you having to shut down your business.
The absolute worst thing that you can do at this point is to try and contact eBay at any time about this or refuse to cooperate; we Will start leaving you Negative Feedbacks and shut your business down.
Make no mistake, we’ve been doing this for years and have the power & resources to continually leave you Negative Feedbacks resulting in the closing of your business.
Think about this, if you try to report us to eBay and they try and suspend our account or something like that, it will not stop us whatsoever. Remember, I said we have 100’s if not 1,000’s of eBay Users in place that we can use to leave you Negative Feedbacks over & over again until you are forced to shut your business down that you worked so hard to build up.
Even if eBay were to keep suspending our user accounts, we have plenty more that we can use to keep leaving you Negative Feedbacks and there’s No way that eBay can keep up and stop us. They have tried & failed miserably. They also know about what we do. So the best and smartest thing that you can do is protect your business and just purchase the 5 Positive Feedbacks from us. That way, it’s done and over with and you can successfully continue to run your business without ever hearing from us again.
We will give you up to 72 hours from now, to reply. The sooner, the better of course. Just send us an email stating that you want to purchase the 5 Positive Feedbacks from us and let us know your main email that you use so we can contact you.
If we don’t hear from you by the end of the 72 hours, we will assume that you are refusing to cooperate and we will start leaving you Negative Feedbacks. So don’t do anything stupid. The smartest thing that you can do is take this seriously, we know what we’re doing. After we hear your reply to this email, we will contact you with further instructions
Really does make me want to swear, as ebay have made so much of a hash of things it has come to this?
This one may just be the start to the way things are going to become on ebay, so even though this is US based, it could travel anywhere.
Listen very carefully. I am the winner of this item. I have 4 other eBay Users in place either bidding on or have won items from you plus myself totaling 5.
We are prepared to leave you 5 Positive Feedbacks or 5 Negative Feedbacks depending on your actions. In a nutshell, we are in the business of selling Positive Feedbacks to eBay Sellers for $20 each, totaling $100 for 5 Positive Feedbacks.
If you purchase the 5 Positive Feedbacks for $100, you not only get to sell your items, you also receive 5 Positive Feedbacks. As you well know, Feedback is EVERYTHING to an eBay seller on whether they are successful or not.
I’m sure that you want to remain successful in your eBay business. Plus, along with the 5 Positive Feedbacks, we will also Guarantee Never to contact you again and we take you off of our list. You’ll even get a receipt for your purchase.
Now, here’s the important part.
If you refuse to purchase the 5 Positive Feedbacks, we will leave you 5 Negative Feedbacks for starters. We have 100’s & 100’s of eBay Users in place that we can use to leave feedbacks. In fact, we have enough to consistently leave you Negative Feedbacks for months resulting in you having to shut down your business.
The absolute worst thing that you can do at this point is to try and contact eBay at any time about this or refuse to cooperate; we Will start leaving you Negative Feedbacks and shut your business down.
Make no mistake, we’ve been doing this for years and have the power & resources to continually leave you Negative Feedbacks resulting in the closing of your business.
Think about this, if you try to report us to eBay and they try and suspend our account or something like that, it will not stop us whatsoever. Remember, I said we have 100’s if not 1,000’s of eBay Users in place that we can use to leave you Negative Feedbacks over & over again until you are forced to shut your business down that you worked so hard to build up.
Even if eBay were to keep suspending our user accounts, we have plenty more that we can use to keep leaving you Negative Feedbacks and there’s No way that eBay can keep up and stop us. They have tried & failed miserably. They also know about what we do. So the best and smartest thing that you can do is protect your business and just purchase the 5 Positive Feedbacks from us. That way, it’s done and over with and you can successfully continue to run your business without ever hearing from us again.
We will give you up to 72 hours from now, to reply. The sooner, the better of course. Just send us an email stating that you want to purchase the 5 Positive Feedbacks from us and let us know your main email that you use so we can contact you.
If we don’t hear from you by the end of the 72 hours, we will assume that you are refusing to cooperate and we will start leaving you Negative Feedbacks. So don’t do anything stupid. The smartest thing that you can do is take this seriously, we know what we’re doing. After we hear your reply to this email, we will contact you with further instructions
Really does make me want to swear, as ebay have made so much of a hash of things it has come to this?
The vasaline add on ebay
| |
Payment: Flat Rate shipping services for mailed payments only with no returns. Parcel Post & Priority Mail (UPS if applicable) shipping services are listed for PayPal or mailed payments with a 14 day return policy. All payments are expected within 10 days of online purchase. Items paid through Paypal with improper shipping charges will be refunded and handled as an unauthorized payment option through Ebay until an authoized payment option has been completed as specified in this listing. Shipping: Flat rate shipping is offered for mailed payments only with no returns. Parcel Post & Priority Mail (UPS if applicable) are offered for PayPal or mailed payments with a 14 day return policy. All items will be shipped with delivery confirmation. Items valued over $250 total including shipping will require a signature. Insurance is always an option you may wish to add. Original packaging must be retained for any shipping claims. Terms of Sale: All items listed are sold under the Ebay Trade Assistant Program. As a result I offer two shipping options to simplify the legalities of consignment sales online. It is required by FL law that I operate under the supervision of a Licensed and Bonded Broker. I also must retain posession of all items offered on consignment until the consignor is paid in full. Due to the Buyer Protection program offered by PayPal it would be illegal for me to accept PayPal as payment for the consignor since the payment could be reversed. Here is why! The reversal would actually place a hold on another consignor's funds where the new Ebay buyer's goods could not be shipped until PayPal decided the first dispute and the funds were again collected on the item disputed so the next consignor could be paid. That is a direct violation of laws governing consignment sales! Paypal should address this issue for consignment sales on Ebay and persue inforcement of the Ebay contracts on consignment item since PayPal automatically voids all Ebay contracts! Furtunately there is still a Non-Paying Bidder Policy and those individuals who have made Paypal illegal by voiding the Ebay contract through Paypal will be booted off Ebay after three strikes by other sellers who sell there own goods. Below I will describe how I offer a return policy or discounted shipping legally and can accept PayPal with the return policy option only. Flat Rate Shipping: I offer a discounted flat rate shipping to all buyers who purchase the item as-is using mailed payments. This saves the buyer money but this does not mean I cannot offer you any service. I want you to be happy with your purchase! The ebay contract however is a binding contract and it allows me to resolve any buyer issues according to law and moral responsibily as with any reputable business. Parcel Post, Priority Mail or UPS Shipping: PayPal and mailed payments are accepted. A 14 day money back guarantee is offered! Return shipping is te buyers responsibility and S&H is money spent to ship the goods and is non-refundbable. In order to make the return policy legal I pay the consignor for the item myself, ship it to you and stand behind it! Keep in mind Pawn Shops and Consignment Shops never offer any warranty so this handling charge is a valid and valuable service and you are almost always getting the item for less than you would have paid at the Pawn Shop or Consignment shop even with the shipping & handling. Note: There is no CC surcharge being applied here. You are paying a higher S&H for the option of making your purchase contract void on ebay where I will personally stand behind an item I would legally have to offer as-is only... |
Sunday 4 May 2008
So anyone know how the ebay boycott is going?
So busy sorting out my own mess at the moment, and getting into those pointless talks with the ebay stooges that you find on some of the forums out their.
I hate those people and say people, as they always work in pairs. You watch the next time you try to pick up on one of their points, a new name will come back and answer with any point but the one you were questioning in the first place.
A bit like dealing with ebay customer disapointment, avoid the subject and tell them something that is of no use to any one, so they don't dare to question us again.
So as I said anyone know how the boycott is going, as it feels a little different this time. I don't know why, just does.
Hope you are all surviving and you are not disheartened by those of us that can't afford to jump ship at the moment.
Hope those of you on the alternatives are making sales, just added some stuff to ebid and will try to add some more tomorrow night or tonight as it is 2:30am, and then start on the others. Just so bloody time consuming.
Anyway good luck to all, but this one does feel different than the last
I hate those people and say people, as they always work in pairs. You watch the next time you try to pick up on one of their points, a new name will come back and answer with any point but the one you were questioning in the first place.
A bit like dealing with ebay customer disapointment, avoid the subject and tell them something that is of no use to any one, so they don't dare to question us again.
So as I said anyone know how the boycott is going, as it feels a little different this time. I don't know why, just does.
Hope you are all surviving and you are not disheartened by those of us that can't afford to jump ship at the moment.
Hope those of you on the alternatives are making sales, just added some stuff to ebid and will try to add some more tomorrow night or tonight as it is 2:30am, and then start on the others. Just so bloody time consuming.
Anyway good luck to all, but this one does feel different than the last
Thursday 10 April 2008
GRIEVANCES AND TERMS STATEMENT sent to ebay
GRIEVANCES AND TERMS STATEMENT
GRIEVANCES
GRIEVANCES
1. Feedback Changes
A. Buyers will only be able to receive positive feedback effective May 2008.
B. Feedback older than 12 months will no longer be applied towards your
feedback percentage.
C. Neutral Feedback will now be considered as negative to determine buyer
dissatisfaction rate and seller account restrictions
2. DSR'S (Detailed Seller Ratings)
A. eBay allows buyers to think that a 4.0 (on a scale of 1-5) denotes good
business practices by the seller regarding item as described, communication,
shipping time and shipping and handling charges, while sellers are subjected to
various penalties for that same score.
B. DSR's are rated on a curve. Results of this curve may make even a rating of a 4.8
the median in a given rating category.
C. DSR'S will now be intertwined with "Best Match" search positioning.
D. eBay is unjustly red-flagging "good" sellers as well as "bad" sellers by stating
sellers with a 4.5 rating (On a scale of 1-5) now have a "low" rating, thereby
implying they are in the category of "bad sellers".
E. "Bad" Sellers will be kept because of their monetary value.
3. Minimum 21 Day PayPal Hold For Risky Sellers And Risky Categories
A. Sellers whose total feedback score is not more than 100 will have payments held
for up to 21 days.
B. Risky category sellers will be subjected to a 21 day hold, even well established
sellers.
C. Sellers with 5% or greater negatives in a 30 day period will be subject to the 21
day hold regardless of the circumstances.
4. Unreasonable Fee Increases
A. Promoted to the Ebay community as decreases, only the insertion fees were
decreased. Insertion fees decreased by $.05 with the gallery picture given free
($.35 savings) yet FVF (final value fees) raised by as much as 66%
B. Reserve fees increased from $1.00 to $2.00 and will no longer be refunded if
the item sells.
C. Store FVF's (final value fees) increased to 12% above and beyond monthly and
listing fees.
5. Miscellaneous
A. The universal anonymous bidder policy promotes additional
unsafe buyer practices and has led to buyers losing trust in the system.
B. The majority of Power Sellers will not qualify for newly stated discounts
C. The note "This item is not covered by buyer protection on eBay," which is
placed in two areas of the listings of sellers who do not offer PayPal, causes
harm to the good sellers' reputations and intimidates buyers.
D. eBay sellers are red-flagged on their listing page if their rating is 4.2 and below.
(per the beta test)
E. When sellers are red-flagged, eBay also lists other sellers' items on said sellers'
listings. (per the Beta Test for eBay Express items)
TERMS
1. Remove the DSR system or change in accordance with the above grievances.
2. Revise the feedback system through constructive means with user input and
suggestions.
3. No PayPal hold of the seller's payments associated with eBay transactions..
4. Reduction of fees
5. Anonymous bid policy should be up to the individual eBay member or be removed.
6. No seller or buyer should be required to use PayPal.
7. Equitable search
My own opinion is that Ebay will not bend but, this should do the job that everyone intended and promote the move to the alternatives.
Wednesday 9 April 2008
Added a music video to the player
Added a music video to the player from Ali Campbell's album that I think is how I feel about the future situation.
And I know it goes against the make some noise chant, but for me that is all about ebay, and although I see it is serving a purpose, it is all about ebay.
I still sell on ebay but I no longer feel we should be ebay refugees, or ebay anything, that was the past and what ebay wants us to be, so they can be sure we are all going back or staying depending on where you are at the moment.
But the record I have chosen that I think is track one on the player at the bottom of the page, covers what it will mean to stay at ebay and the hope for the future. Adding in a little of it is time to stop going on about the ebay past and start working out ways to build our online seller's future.
And I know it goes against the make some noise chant, but for me that is all about ebay, and although I see it is serving a purpose, it is all about ebay.
I still sell on ebay but I no longer feel we should be ebay refugees, or ebay anything, that was the past and what ebay wants us to be, so they can be sure we are all going back or staying depending on where you are at the moment.
But the record I have chosen that I think is track one on the player at the bottom of the page, covers what it will mean to stay at ebay and the hope for the future. Adding in a little of it is time to stop going on about the ebay past and start working out ways to build our online seller's future.
Fair Shake
You can find it here FairShake
Yet to see what it offers but may know more after the round table meeting on the 10th of April. 3am UK
I think the aim seems to be a place to link all the groups together, so we can decide on the best way to move forward.
If you have just followed a link from FairShake to here, please feel free to take a look around.
Yet to see what it offers but may know more after the round table meeting on the 10th of April. 3am UK
I think the aim seems to be a place to link all the groups together, so we can decide on the best way to move forward.
If you have just followed a link from FairShake to here, please feel free to take a look around.
Thursday 3 April 2008
Ebay driving sellers to insane measures
Found this on the PSU and first thought it was funny until I started to read the listing on ebay, that I have pasted bellow, just incase they remove it. You can just feel what the person is going through and maybe it is the fact that we all probably feel the same it just makes it worse.
springlering (3241  ) View Listings | Report | |||
| http://tinyurl.com/2vk6r9 I am waffling about closing my 11 year old eBay account, and am hoping this will prompt eBay to do it for me, and save me the trouble. I am so sick of the whole da*n thing. I don't know what prompted me to start selling again. A moment of weakness, I guess. It's like a bad drug habit. | |||
 | Ebay Member User ID For Sale 99.7% 3000+ Feedback!!! |
Up for Bid:
One Ebay Member ID, opened May, 1997.
ID boasts a healthy 3,250 positive individual feedbacks making for a feedback rating of 99.7%. (eBay does not count feedback from repeat buyers, even though those are the best kind.)
Having left well over 10,000 feedbacks, this ID is very experienced, and prides itself upon those very repeat buyers, which are the lifeblood of any good ID.
It started out life as an enthusiastic, healthy member ID, taking pride in its appearance and reputation, and experiencing joy and serendipity in it's dealings as both a buying and selling ID. None of this schizophrenic "I buy under one ID and sell under another ID and sometimes I diddle with both on the same auction" business.
It is proud of being an honorable ID, one that, as a seller, works to make it's winning bidders happy with their wins, and, as a buyer, to pay promptly when invoiced by fellow sellers.
A globe-trotting ID, with all the necessary shots, it boasts friendly and personal feedbacks from nearly fifty different countries, and considers it has done nearly as much for global relations as any host of ambassadors.
For many years, this ID was happy in its warm, comfortable, nurturing eBay environment, but then it noticed it was becoming tired and out of breath trying to create listings. "It's just old age", the Member ID thought. "I'm not as fast or efficient as I once was." "My arm is sore. I wish this Mexican bidder would stop twisting it and threatening to leave negatives if I don't give her the same postage rate as someone in the USA."
It wearied of trying to outrun accusations of dishonesty by prank bidders. "What men are these," the ID wondered, "who would steal their closest kinfolks passwords and bid nilly willy on laptops they didn't really want? What hath the world come to? Nay, is it the End of Days? Or simply a Fool's Paradise online?"
Then the ID realized, it wasn't all old age. eBay was secretly contributing to the problem, like six pound ankle weights on a treadmill walker (the Member ID was very familiar with this form of torment). It seemed every day there was a Policy Change email lurking in the inbox, waiting to pounce like a crazed nonpaying snipe bidder.
"My head hurts!" moaned the ID. "The rules are changing so fast,I get dizzy".
"Take the Pill!" cried eBay. "Trust our diagnosis! Our corporate doctor, while knowing little about the day to day operations of an actual eBay user, does know what's best for all Member IDs!! He's not an auction participant, but he did play one on TV!"
But the honest little Member ID found the side effects only made things worse. It began to question eBay's motives, worse, to doubt them.
Question upon trouble, trouble upon question began to burden the poor ID's wearisome thoughts, even intruding upon its sleep.
The Member ID even tried taking a six month cold-turkey holiday from eBay, but foolishly found itself lured back, like a hobby moth to the flame of virtual e-commerce.
So, now, sadly, this ID finds itself in poor and declining eBay health lately. The relationship has become abusive, and unhealthily co-dependent.
In short, the Member ID finds that it needs to make a clean break from it's owner, for both their sanity.
This Member ID has been diagnosed with the following malaise:
Advanced Non-Paying Bidder Syndrome: a cancer eating away at eBay
DSR Fluctuations: symptomatic of Advanced NPB Syndrome (see above), in which nonpaying bidders can leave malicious feedback and infect otherwise healthy cells, I mean, stars
Best-Match Palpitations: onset of sudden and unreasonable fear of being lost and never found in a formerly friendly environment
TurboListerrhoids: frequent cramping and bloating occuring during loads
Fee Ennui: Debilitating worry that fees are multiplying and spreading, and finding you no longer care
Bull-imia: The act of accepting absolute and utter bullcarp from eBay as Gospel, and trying to keep your feet out of it, while you wrap you mind around what sense it makes. Warning: This condition may cause confusion, disorientation, and irrational spurts of anger.
Altzliarheimers: Symptomatic of foreign wiseheimers demanding you to lie and put an alternate value on Customs forms.
Scams: Embarrassing condition involving others. Not to be confused with scabs, although equally ugly, bothersome and annoying when visible in public. Deemed necessary to hide, or at the very least, politic to ignore, by eBay.
Blockage: frequent necessity to block unwanted or unwelcome bidders, since Ebay won't operate to remove these dangers themselves. Avoid eBay Brown Bag Lunches at all cost, as these will only exascerbate symptoms.
Shillarrhea: When one's blood pressure rises upon suspicion of shilling. Often accompanied by Blurry Vision: seeing stars when one should see bidder IDs when viewing a bid history
Fleas: Irritating condition in which ID's items are considered unworthy. All small IDs have them. eBay said so.
Quarantine: a mandatory 21 day isolation period for Paypal payments, at eBay's discretion
IDgestion: the gut wrenching, sickening feeling occuring upon logging in to eBay these days
This ID has been told it has four weeks to live, and should make arrangements for last rights on or near May 1st, at which time, life support, in the form of Feedback reciprocation, will be removed, and negative bloodletting will begin.
There is no transfusion for this condition.
There is neither health insurance, nor customer service available, either, unless you count the standard eBay canned response: "Take two aspirin, clear your cookies, and don't call us in the morning."
This ID has been fully tested, and found to be devoid of any relatives, small children, or pets. It is therefore guaranteed completely free from the infectuous, highly contagious problem that many other IDs suffer from: "my brother/toddler/dog placed the bid and didn't mean to".
It comes from a smoke-free household. It does, however, cause steam to escape involuntarily from the ears on occasion.
Winning bidder will win all rights to this ID. Seller will provide winner with password, after payment of winning bid, and after removing seller's personal information, and replacing it with winner's own information. We can complete this transaction via phone, or in person. Seller retains all rights to, and will erase the current About Me page, but will happily work with winning bidder to create a replacement page.
Seller cannot, obviously, guarantee continued success, or profit of any kind, to buyer. Take at own risk. May cause irratibility and/or cramping. And gas. Do not use while operating machinery or size 4 font.
The photo below is a non-bidding, non-binding dog, and is not included with the auction. I show him only as an example of what this Member ID plans to do upon shedding itself of itself.
Anyone wants to show the way this is hurting people to the press, then show them this listing that you can find at: Link to listingSaturday 29 March 2008
10% off if you help us rip them off
Has ebay hit the self destruct button again or is this just the funny season when all the nuts come out to play?
Ebay create a system where you can get better discounts if you have higher DSR's ( those stars on ebay feedback) And then set up the a second system to make sure you can't ever reach that goal as they will give a buyer 10% off their next purchase if they hand out lower stars to a seller.
So if you are happy or not you are better off giving out lower stars, as you get ten percent off your next purchase, still to find out if these can be combined, so you can get twenty, thirty or even one hundred percent free. Nothing would surprise me with ebay.
This is only in the US at the moment but will spread as all crap ideas from ebay do, but who is coming up with this stuff?
Another great idea from those great people at ebay, is to say yes we know that if you only offer item collection that paypal is not for you, but we will still force you to take the payment through paypal, as if a buyer wants to rip you off then they should be allowed to, (as long as we get our fees at the end of the day then who cares seems to be the thinking there.)
And for those of you selling eBooks and such ebay are about to bring in a rule to stop the sale of electronic media. But the clever part about it is, that they can kick you now and even suspend your account, and the fact they have not changed the policy yet, have not publicized the fact that this is going to happen, or even changed their system to prevent you from listing them, does not matter, as all good sellers will now have mind reading skills, and they will get rid of those bad sellers that do not.
Am I missing something here, has ebay decided they do not want any sellers or buyers, have they some other use for their servers that we do not know about?
Why do ebay not just allow us to promote our other auctions and websites on our listings? If they do not want the custom, all the other auctions will be happy to take us off their hands?
Please if anyone can shed any light on this I would love to hear from you, as these people have me stumped, why would anyone want to destroy a billion dollar business?
Monday 24 March 2008
And ebay talk about disatisfaction
Ebay paypal policy changes
And ebay say we are bad traders? When has any seller tret their customers like ebay are doing now and have done in the past to their customers.
What I do not understand is how they plan on keeping the top sellers, why would they stay and take this crap for more money than they would pay if they followed the rest of us to the alternatives?
If you think of the fees we pay ebay and paypal, then how much must they pay, so by the same standard how much would they save if they made the move?
Does anyone know any of these top one hundred sellers that ebay think are so dumb they will stay with ebay when everyone else is taking the lower fees?
How dumb do you have to be to allow yourself to be included in that list no wonder they are staying quiet.
We are the top one hundred sellers on ebay and no we don't want
Lower fees
More protection
Less interference.
Better customer services.
The fact that a lot of their custmers come from the rest of us so they will loose them if they stay.
Why would they want to stay?
I mean really would you say yes I am that dumb?
I really do understand smaller sellers like my self that have to make sure they do not loose earnings but still intend moving, but the top one hundred, the amounts staying with ebay must be costing them, just does not make any sense.
If anyone knows any of the top one hundred, ask them the question and let us all know how they see this?
And ebay say we are bad traders? When has any seller tret their customers like ebay are doing now and have done in the past to their customers.
What I do not understand is how they plan on keeping the top sellers, why would they stay and take this crap for more money than they would pay if they followed the rest of us to the alternatives?
If you think of the fees we pay ebay and paypal, then how much must they pay, so by the same standard how much would they save if they made the move?
Does anyone know any of these top one hundred sellers that ebay think are so dumb they will stay with ebay when everyone else is taking the lower fees?
How dumb do you have to be to allow yourself to be included in that list no wonder they are staying quiet.
We are the top one hundred sellers on ebay and no we don't want
Lower fees
More protection
Less interference.
Better customer services.
The fact that a lot of their custmers come from the rest of us so they will loose them if they stay.
Why would they want to stay?
I mean really would you say yes I am that dumb?
I really do understand smaller sellers like my self that have to make sure they do not loose earnings but still intend moving, but the top one hundred, the amounts staying with ebay must be costing them, just does not make any sense.
If anyone knows any of the top one hundred, ask them the question and let us all know how they see this?
Wednesday 19 March 2008
Added a small section of a Auction search engine.
Live Alt Auction Search
Have added a small section of a Live Alternative Auction search site I am playing round with. And it is still a work in progress so do not expect too much.
It is just an option for the main script I have been working on so I have not done much to it in the way of style, so please do not complain about that.
Its just Javascript so nothing major but maybe you can let me know if it works for you.
Had a problem using some of the auctions I wanted to add but still trying to find a way , as some of them are sites I intend selling on.
You can select up to four sites at once, that will open up on the same page so you can use it as a comparison site.
For buyers perfect to find the sellers you lost touch with on ebay or to search out those bargains you have been looking for.
For sellers a perfect place to check out how your things look when compared to others. Especially usefull as we step into the new market place and we each have to change or methods.
The auctions on at the moment
Etsy
eBidUK
Blujay
iOffer
Tazbar
eCrater
OnlineAuctions
RubyLane
Overstock
Specialist Auctions
Amazon
There is also a google search that you can find bellow, it has all the listed auctions I can find but as it is not that good at finding what I know is there I changed the settings to web search with the selected sites priority. Still not sure how good it is but does seem to bring up some of the sites that are not on the list.
Feel free to use it or just watch as I may be adding more auctions to it when I have more time.
If you use it and have any problems could you let me know so it can be fixed?
Ebid US and a few of the others may be added again if I find that one alone is not showing right for the user.
Have added the links to the other search engines that I know of so as to offer the user as many options as possible, at least until MOAAS is up and running again.
And an update on that is on the PSU site, that I suggest you check out.
Also working on adding more sites as soon as I get time.
Thanks
Have added a small section of a Live Alternative Auction search site I am playing round with. And it is still a work in progress so do not expect too much.
It is just an option for the main script I have been working on so I have not done much to it in the way of style, so please do not complain about that.
Its just Javascript so nothing major but maybe you can let me know if it works for you.
Had a problem using some of the auctions I wanted to add but still trying to find a way , as some of them are sites I intend selling on.
You can select up to four sites at once, that will open up on the same page so you can use it as a comparison site.
For buyers perfect to find the sellers you lost touch with on ebay or to search out those bargains you have been looking for.
For sellers a perfect place to check out how your things look when compared to others. Especially usefull as we step into the new market place and we each have to change or methods.
The auctions on at the moment
Etsy
eBidUK
Blujay
iOffer
Tazbar
eCrater
OnlineAuctions
RubyLane
Overstock
Specialist Auctions
Amazon
There is also a google search that you can find bellow, it has all the listed auctions I can find but as it is not that good at finding what I know is there I changed the settings to web search with the selected sites priority. Still not sure how good it is but does seem to bring up some of the sites that are not on the list.
Feel free to use it or just watch as I may be adding more auctions to it when I have more time.
If you use it and have any problems could you let me know so it can be fixed?
Ebid US and a few of the others may be added again if I find that one alone is not showing right for the user.
Have added the links to the other search engines that I know of so as to offer the user as many options as possible, at least until MOAAS is up and running again.
And an update on that is on the PSU site, that I suggest you check out.
Also working on adding more sites as soon as I get time.
Thanks
Tuesday 18 March 2008
Javascript Countdown code for boycott day
If you want your own boycott countdown the code is at Javascriptkit website
Just search for countdown
Have tried to put this one and a few others in my Sig on the PSU but does not seem to like javascript and also has size issues.
If you are looking for a diferent style then you can type code javascript countdown into google
Just search for countdown
Have tried to put this one and a few others in my Sig on the PSU but does not seem to like javascript and also has size issues.
If you are looking for a diferent style then you can type code javascript countdown into google
Monday 17 March 2008
The making of the Holy Grail or the Auction Search Engine
The making of the holy grail or the auction search engine
I have been partaking and watching some of the discussions on the making of the new MOAAS, (A Search Engine for Auctions that showed promise but suddenly faltered with no word of why.)
But some people seem a little lost in what we are asking of the search engine. I will try answer as best I can.
A normal search engine like Google and yahoo do not really go searching the web every time someone asks them to find something. They have already found it before you asked by sending out small programmes called spiders or bots that search the web scanning every site they find and mapping out the important details, and all that info has to be stored on a massive database or should I say lots of massive databases all over the world.
The reason they are so up to date is they have a lot of spiders running twenty four seven, as spiders are what they call low impact, which means they only use up small amounts bandwidth so they do not interfere with the running of the website.
They also have things like google base that you may know as google products search. Where people submit the info for their products, or the auctions they are selling on hand in the info for them. But this is only for items that have a fixed price and some auctions will only hand in items that fit specific criteria.
So when you ask for the latest mobile phone and google search for it, they are searching the database not the websites.
This is not really great for what we want but could be used for some parts of the search, such as fixed price, as long as we had enough spiders to keep it up to date. If the item is no longer available every time a customer searches for it then, they will stop using the search engine.
There are also other methods to search sites. You may have heard of meta search, that is closer to what we want but still has problems as it can produce massive amounts of data and if you look at sites like AuctionLotWatch that use this method, they will only scan the first page due to the amount of data it creates and the fact live searches can be slow if it tries to take on too much.
There are also the JavaScript searches that you can see with Alfie search or the Ebid searches that you can find on the PSU. These work by making use of the sites own search commands as if you were on them.
Problem with those is that not all sites can be searched, as some have coded search commands, it is limited by the number of sites that can be opened at once, it is controlled by the auction sites own options, there is no real sorted comparison and finally not everyone will allow JavaScript on their computer due to the fact it is heavily used in popups and can have security risks.
So what is the answer?
For me the perfect search engine (if we can’t have the auctions extending their own search engines) will scan the auctions like javascript but show the results in the same way google or a comparison script will show from the database.
But we can’t have that, as like I said live search is too slow at the moment but we could possibly request a compromise if we can get the auctions on board and try to get them to make a standard search criteria of search options. BIN, Auction, Ending Soonest, Newly Listed and all the other things we are used to, or more importantly our customers are used to. This would give the search engine a frame work to search under and the customers the option to thin down their search
Then after the user selects their preferred criteria we have a search engine that searches the first couple of pages the same way AuctionLot watch does. But at this point the server in normal circumstances will become dormant as the user reads the data it waits for the user to start pressing buttons or links.
So what if the Search Engine used this time to start searching on the next two or three of pages building a mini cache for the user sort of a smart search.
If we also had spiders doing the work, then some of the items could be drawn from the main database if there are a lot of fixed price in the search then all the better.
Now there have been a few other questions on why the search sites that are available now are not up to the job and do not seem to be covering the bigger auctions.
Again I can only offer what I see and make an educated guess but it could be a few things.
Database issues they just do not have the space.
Cost Issues, they have tried to charge for the service and failed.
Spider Issues, the spiders can be prevented from searching a site.
This can happen if the spider is not acting in the right manner, sticking its nose where it is not supposed to be, or is drawing on resources, as the person has set the spider up wrong, or as in ebays case with one company, the site thinks the search engine is detrimental to its business.
The only other issue that I can think of but there are probably a lot more is they are not searching the sites and are only using file upload like google product search, which is no use for auctions.
What you can do now if you are a seller?
If you sell fixed price items and you do not fit the criteria of your auction (ask them first,) then you could start making use of google base and sites like bidfind that will allow you to upload a csv file with all your fixed price items. If you do not have fixed price items, then would it not be possible to add a few just to make use of this service. And draw customers into your other products.
I think I have to stop working on this now for a little while, as it has started to cost me money, while I am doing the auction search stuff I am getting behind in the listing of items and stuff. I still have not had time to list on the new auctions, which I have to get round to as you see in the countdown on the top time is running out.
I have been partaking and watching some of the discussions on the making of the new MOAAS, (A Search Engine for Auctions that showed promise but suddenly faltered with no word of why.)
But some people seem a little lost in what we are asking of the search engine. I will try answer as best I can.
A normal search engine like Google and yahoo do not really go searching the web every time someone asks them to find something. They have already found it before you asked by sending out small programmes called spiders or bots that search the web scanning every site they find and mapping out the important details, and all that info has to be stored on a massive database or should I say lots of massive databases all over the world.
The reason they are so up to date is they have a lot of spiders running twenty four seven, as spiders are what they call low impact, which means they only use up small amounts bandwidth so they do not interfere with the running of the website.
They also have things like google base that you may know as google products search. Where people submit the info for their products, or the auctions they are selling on hand in the info for them. But this is only for items that have a fixed price and some auctions will only hand in items that fit specific criteria.
So when you ask for the latest mobile phone and google search for it, they are searching the database not the websites.
This is not really great for what we want but could be used for some parts of the search, such as fixed price, as long as we had enough spiders to keep it up to date. If the item is no longer available every time a customer searches for it then, they will stop using the search engine.
There are also other methods to search sites. You may have heard of meta search, that is closer to what we want but still has problems as it can produce massive amounts of data and if you look at sites like AuctionLotWatch that use this method, they will only scan the first page due to the amount of data it creates and the fact live searches can be slow if it tries to take on too much.
There are also the JavaScript searches that you can see with Alfie search or the Ebid searches that you can find on the PSU. These work by making use of the sites own search commands as if you were on them.
Problem with those is that not all sites can be searched, as some have coded search commands, it is limited by the number of sites that can be opened at once, it is controlled by the auction sites own options, there is no real sorted comparison and finally not everyone will allow JavaScript on their computer due to the fact it is heavily used in popups and can have security risks.
So what is the answer?
For me the perfect search engine (if we can’t have the auctions extending their own search engines) will scan the auctions like javascript but show the results in the same way google or a comparison script will show from the database.
But we can’t have that, as like I said live search is too slow at the moment but we could possibly request a compromise if we can get the auctions on board and try to get them to make a standard search criteria of search options. BIN, Auction, Ending Soonest, Newly Listed and all the other things we are used to, or more importantly our customers are used to. This would give the search engine a frame work to search under and the customers the option to thin down their search
Then after the user selects their preferred criteria we have a search engine that searches the first couple of pages the same way AuctionLot watch does. But at this point the server in normal circumstances will become dormant as the user reads the data it waits for the user to start pressing buttons or links.
So what if the Search Engine used this time to start searching on the next two or three of pages building a mini cache for the user sort of a smart search.
If we also had spiders doing the work, then some of the items could be drawn from the main database if there are a lot of fixed price in the search then all the better.
Now there have been a few other questions on why the search sites that are available now are not up to the job and do not seem to be covering the bigger auctions.
Again I can only offer what I see and make an educated guess but it could be a few things.
Database issues they just do not have the space.
Cost Issues, they have tried to charge for the service and failed.
Spider Issues, the spiders can be prevented from searching a site.
This can happen if the spider is not acting in the right manner, sticking its nose where it is not supposed to be, or is drawing on resources, as the person has set the spider up wrong, or as in ebays case with one company, the site thinks the search engine is detrimental to its business.
The only other issue that I can think of but there are probably a lot more is they are not searching the sites and are only using file upload like google product search, which is no use for auctions.
What you can do now if you are a seller?
If you sell fixed price items and you do not fit the criteria of your auction (ask them first,) then you could start making use of google base and sites like bidfind that will allow you to upload a csv file with all your fixed price items. If you do not have fixed price items, then would it not be possible to add a few just to make use of this service. And draw customers into your other products.
I think I have to stop working on this now for a little while, as it has started to cost me money, while I am doing the auction search stuff I am getting behind in the listing of items and stuff. I still have not had time to list on the new auctions, which I have to get round to as you see in the countdown on the top time is running out.
Sunday 16 March 2008
Summer discount
Added the summer discount to the website, that was originally called the Boycott discount, but we decided against it. But it still runs up until the 1st of may and is set up to draw people to the website and the alternatives I have selected.
Update on the Holy Grail
A group is trying to make it.
After nothing being done with MOAAS they are trying to see if they can make a new search.
For me I am looking at a simple javascript version, although I have been looking into other things, but hopefully someone will come up with something that works.
After nothing being done with MOAAS they are trying to see if they can make a new search.
For me I am looking at a simple javascript version, although I have been looking into other things, but hopefully someone will come up with something that works.
Friday 14 March 2008
Added some links to online Game sites
Added a few links to game sites to the blog, for those of you with time on your hands and nothing to do, while waiting for the changeover.
The Javascript games have very little impact on your resources but they are basic. Still ok to while away some time though and I believe you can add them to your site.
The Javascript games have very little impact on your resources but they are basic. Still ok to while away some time though and I believe you can add them to your site.
Friday 7 March 2008
What the hell are ebay playing at?
I seem to be hearing this over and over, as people look on bemused and dismayed at change after change from ebay. (All in the name of safety.) But I think the main reason they can’t see what is happening is because they are not looking at the whole picture, and instead are just looking at these changes alone.
I have made it no secret that I was already leaving ebay before all this and this was kicking off as I was finalizing my online store. So maybe I have some idea what is going wrong with ebay, or at least I will tell you the way I see it.
When ebay first started making their changes, I like most people thought it was just greed, and I suppose to them it was working as the changes to them were making the bottom line shoot up. But they failed to look at the people it was hurting, which was us, both buyers and sellers. Before it tended to be the stupid that got ripped off, as they failed to read and assess what was clear to most, but now no matter how clever you are, you can be ripped off, shut down for fun, spite or even competitive malice.
Paypal will protect you. No they will not, buyers are being ripped off by rouge traders and sellers are being ripped off by rouge buyers. It is all such a mess and just keeps getting worse.
It was the introduction of the DSR’s that swung it for me and made me realize what it is that is wrong with ebay, and that is they have not got a single ebayer among them. They really do not have a clue what is happening inside their own community. This is because ebay is being run by statisticians and accountants, who see ebay as a brand like any other.
You can’t look at any business like that, we are all business people even the granny clearing her wardrobe, once she steps onto the auction stage, she is in business to make a profit. So we all have some idea how you have to keep your finger on the pulse and assess the situations as they arise but take away any info but your accounts and you will see what ebay is using to make decision after decision. But it is worse for them as due to the fact that none of them know the business outside of those books. They have no way of stepping back bad changes to the point that they had a working model, as they have no idea how it worked.
Ok ebay of old was never perfect and they were not making the billions they are making now but it all made sense. Anyone could sell anything, and you had to take precautions but they were never outside of what was possible, as they are now.
I have watched ebay change things for the worse over and over again and each time they try to change something else, to try and counteract the damage of the last change, it just keeps on getting worse.
The answer to this for me was to get out, hopefully leaving some of the scum behind that along with ebay had made ebay an unhappy place to be. But before coming to this decision I asked everyone I could, ebay, their forum and anyone else that I could think of: How do I run a business like this?
None of them had an answer
So what do we do now?
Get on with it is the best answer, start looking to see if you have the capital or the option to build a website of your own. Look at the alternative auctions, pick a few and try them out. See if you can get your customers to move with you and the best way to inform them.
This will all take time and will not be easy, as we are all finding out, but if we make use of the people around us and some of the great resources that are available such as the PSU, then we will all come out of this better for it and hopefully better off.
But now it is time to only mention ebay to inform and always end any mention of ebay with an alternative auction. No one cares which you chose or if you are still selling on ebay and have to wean yourself off but I would suggest you select a date and try to make it out by then.
I have selected the may 1st date, as have a lot of other people due to the fact it is when the other changes come in. Who wants to be around ebay then?
Whatever you choose good luck and I may see you either on the site or on ebid, tazbar, epier, blujay or plunderhere. Like I said end it with an alternative.
I have made it no secret that I was already leaving ebay before all this and this was kicking off as I was finalizing my online store. So maybe I have some idea what is going wrong with ebay, or at least I will tell you the way I see it.
When ebay first started making their changes, I like most people thought it was just greed, and I suppose to them it was working as the changes to them were making the bottom line shoot up. But they failed to look at the people it was hurting, which was us, both buyers and sellers. Before it tended to be the stupid that got ripped off, as they failed to read and assess what was clear to most, but now no matter how clever you are, you can be ripped off, shut down for fun, spite or even competitive malice.
Paypal will protect you. No they will not, buyers are being ripped off by rouge traders and sellers are being ripped off by rouge buyers. It is all such a mess and just keeps getting worse.
It was the introduction of the DSR’s that swung it for me and made me realize what it is that is wrong with ebay, and that is they have not got a single ebayer among them. They really do not have a clue what is happening inside their own community. This is because ebay is being run by statisticians and accountants, who see ebay as a brand like any other.
You can’t look at any business like that, we are all business people even the granny clearing her wardrobe, once she steps onto the auction stage, she is in business to make a profit. So we all have some idea how you have to keep your finger on the pulse and assess the situations as they arise but take away any info but your accounts and you will see what ebay is using to make decision after decision. But it is worse for them as due to the fact that none of them know the business outside of those books. They have no way of stepping back bad changes to the point that they had a working model, as they have no idea how it worked.
Ok ebay of old was never perfect and they were not making the billions they are making now but it all made sense. Anyone could sell anything, and you had to take precautions but they were never outside of what was possible, as they are now.
I have watched ebay change things for the worse over and over again and each time they try to change something else, to try and counteract the damage of the last change, it just keeps on getting worse.
The answer to this for me was to get out, hopefully leaving some of the scum behind that along with ebay had made ebay an unhappy place to be. But before coming to this decision I asked everyone I could, ebay, their forum and anyone else that I could think of: How do I run a business like this?
None of them had an answer
So what do we do now?
Get on with it is the best answer, start looking to see if you have the capital or the option to build a website of your own. Look at the alternative auctions, pick a few and try them out. See if you can get your customers to move with you and the best way to inform them.
This will all take time and will not be easy, as we are all finding out, but if we make use of the people around us and some of the great resources that are available such as the PSU, then we will all come out of this better for it and hopefully better off.
But now it is time to only mention ebay to inform and always end any mention of ebay with an alternative auction. No one cares which you chose or if you are still selling on ebay and have to wean yourself off but I would suggest you select a date and try to make it out by then.
I have selected the may 1st date, as have a lot of other people due to the fact it is when the other changes come in. Who wants to be around ebay then?
Whatever you choose good luck and I may see you either on the site or on ebid, tazbar, epier, blujay or plunderhere. Like I said end it with an alternative.
The perfect Auction search engine or the Holy Grail?
Maybe it is a holy Grail and does not exist, as all the ones I look at have too many limitations.
The google seacrh is too limited and will not step out of the cache, although the igoogle searches that I have seen, have been a lot better they are basically using Javascript and I could do that myself
I can knock up a javascript one that would search them all but it is limited as it will only open the searches of each auction in a seperat window or in frames.
It has no options for newly listed etc' and not everyone uses Javascript.
I found another that runs on PHP, HTML and Javascript that claims to be able to do it and is a meta search. But testing the free version it is not looking promising, as it has none of the auctions in its search field, and you think they would have atleast added ebay if it was able to do it.
Also tested out a microsoft Live search tool that looks like it is set up for single page search rather than a full site.
I have loaded up a comparison script and I'm looking to see if it can step past the cache, but at the moment it is not looking good, as it is also demanding data in the form of a CSV file, which means every auction would have to be constantly scanned and the amount of space required would be massive.
Hopefully someone will find the perfect Auction search engine soon or this will be a harder struggle than it needs to be
The google seacrh is too limited and will not step out of the cache, although the igoogle searches that I have seen, have been a lot better they are basically using Javascript and I could do that myself
I can knock up a javascript one that would search them all but it is limited as it will only open the searches of each auction in a seperat window or in frames.
It has no options for newly listed etc' and not everyone uses Javascript.
I found another that runs on PHP, HTML and Javascript that claims to be able to do it and is a meta search. But testing the free version it is not looking promising, as it has none of the auctions in its search field, and you think they would have atleast added ebay if it was able to do it.
Also tested out a microsoft Live search tool that looks like it is set up for single page search rather than a full site.
I have loaded up a comparison script and I'm looking to see if it can step past the cache, but at the moment it is not looking good, as it is also demanding data in the form of a CSV file, which means every auction would have to be constantly scanned and the amount of space required would be massive.
Hopefully someone will find the perfect Auction search engine soon or this will be a harder struggle than it needs to be
Sunday 2 March 2008
No link back to this blog from my site
Sorry but this blog does not link back from my site. So if you want to hang on to it you will have to bookmark it or just search out hotandvintage on the psu forums
Selected Auctions
I am adding to my list of selected auctions and trying to get stuff listed on them but so much to do at the moment and still trying to find the perfect search engine.
At the moment I have Ebid, Epier, Tazbar, and Blujay. Still have to list on the last three and add more to Ebid.
At the moment I have Ebid, Epier, Tazbar, and Blujay. Still have to list on the last three and add more to Ebid.
Thursday 28 February 2008
A message to those buying from the alternative auctions.
A message to those buying from the alternative auctions.
I understand that on first glance you will think the auction listings are higher than the start prices that you see on ebay.
This is not just because most of the sellers have been restricted so long on ebay with their high fees that they now feel they can rip you off, but more because the traffic on these websites has not risen to the point that you can be guaranteed a sale at this time. So sellers are starting the item at the lowest price they will accept so as to prevent them becoming a feeder for other sellers.
I know the prices do look higher but how many times have you been on ebay and seen items you must have start at £2.99 only to shoot up to forty, fifty pound or more. But the likely hood of that happening at the moment on the Auctions I have chosen is very slim and you are likely to be getting the bag for the start price you see, which is a lot less than the price you will get on ebay.
At the moment during the transition period we are still accepting paypal, but as we move away from ebay, then we will also move away from paypal to what we feel are more secure payment methods for both buyer and seller.
We must add that these bargains may only be available for a limited time and eventually the auctions will have enough turn over to allow the sellers to reduce the start prices to what we have all grown accustomed to
Now why would the seller want to move from ebay where all the buyers are, I assume is your next question?
I can only speak for myself but it is possibly true for most sellers that I am moving from the ebay system, as I feel for to long sellers have had to put up with growing fees and lower security, with false claims of security to the buyers that they do not or cannot deliver.
This eventually comes back on us, as buyers have had a bad experience or have heard of someone else that has. So buyers tend to go into our business relationship jaded and afraid.
This I am sure you agree is not a great way to start a relationship and basically forced our decision in this matter.
And now to your security at the new auctions, please take the same precautions you would anywhere else and do not assume that scammers would not have followed us. At the moment, however, it may be a little harder to spot them as a lot of sellers are moving to the new auctions with a fresh start in mind.
So check through the listings carefully. You do have the option to get a lot of good bargains here, but again read everything and if you are unsure start asking questions, just as I hope you would on ebay. You are not under as much pressure with the listings on these auctions at the moment, I must stress, at the moment, as more people are starting to come to the auctions as buyer and seller, so this opportunity may only last a short time.
We are happy to see you and hope we can continue with the success of our past transactions and hopefully we have brought you here in time to grab yourself a bargain or three.
Take an opportunity to look around the forums, as part of my criteria for selecting the auctions, was the friendly forums. So if any of my customers require help then they can either ask me or unlike with the ebay community board they will not have to fear entering the forum and asking for help.
I would just like to add that we at hotandvintage wish ebay all the luck in the world with their new direction, and even though we do not agree that the world needs another Amazon. We sort of understand your thinking in this, so hope the rewards are as good as the risk you have taking with what was a sound business. We thank you for the good times and the opportunities that you gave so many people in the past, including ourselves. Once again good luck.
And now to our customers please feel free to browse our store that is constantly being filled, almost daily, as are our new auction sites to bookmark us so you don’t get lost in the future
I understand that on first glance you will think the auction listings are higher than the start prices that you see on ebay.
This is not just because most of the sellers have been restricted so long on ebay with their high fees that they now feel they can rip you off, but more because the traffic on these websites has not risen to the point that you can be guaranteed a sale at this time. So sellers are starting the item at the lowest price they will accept so as to prevent them becoming a feeder for other sellers.
I know the prices do look higher but how many times have you been on ebay and seen items you must have start at £2.99 only to shoot up to forty, fifty pound or more. But the likely hood of that happening at the moment on the Auctions I have chosen is very slim and you are likely to be getting the bag for the start price you see, which is a lot less than the price you will get on ebay.
At the moment during the transition period we are still accepting paypal, but as we move away from ebay, then we will also move away from paypal to what we feel are more secure payment methods for both buyer and seller.
We must add that these bargains may only be available for a limited time and eventually the auctions will have enough turn over to allow the sellers to reduce the start prices to what we have all grown accustomed to
Now why would the seller want to move from ebay where all the buyers are, I assume is your next question?
I can only speak for myself but it is possibly true for most sellers that I am moving from the ebay system, as I feel for to long sellers have had to put up with growing fees and lower security, with false claims of security to the buyers that they do not or cannot deliver.
This eventually comes back on us, as buyers have had a bad experience or have heard of someone else that has. So buyers tend to go into our business relationship jaded and afraid.
This I am sure you agree is not a great way to start a relationship and basically forced our decision in this matter.
And now to your security at the new auctions, please take the same precautions you would anywhere else and do not assume that scammers would not have followed us. At the moment, however, it may be a little harder to spot them as a lot of sellers are moving to the new auctions with a fresh start in mind.
So check through the listings carefully. You do have the option to get a lot of good bargains here, but again read everything and if you are unsure start asking questions, just as I hope you would on ebay. You are not under as much pressure with the listings on these auctions at the moment, I must stress, at the moment, as more people are starting to come to the auctions as buyer and seller, so this opportunity may only last a short time.
We are happy to see you and hope we can continue with the success of our past transactions and hopefully we have brought you here in time to grab yourself a bargain or three.
Take an opportunity to look around the forums, as part of my criteria for selecting the auctions, was the friendly forums. So if any of my customers require help then they can either ask me or unlike with the ebay community board they will not have to fear entering the forum and asking for help.
I would just like to add that we at hotandvintage wish ebay all the luck in the world with their new direction, and even though we do not agree that the world needs another Amazon. We sort of understand your thinking in this, so hope the rewards are as good as the risk you have taking with what was a sound business. We thank you for the good times and the opportunities that you gave so many people in the past, including ourselves. Once again good luck.
And now to our customers please feel free to browse our store that is constantly being filled, almost daily, as are our new auction sites to bookmark us so you don’t get lost in the future
Monday 25 February 2008
For movies go to bottom of page
Added a YouTube player to the bottom of the page that shows the feeling people have about what ebay have done and thrown in a few great ones involving paypal, as I know you all love them so. HHHHAAAAAHHHHAAAAA
It is funny, as all the people I have heard talk about this on the media clips say it is about the changes they are adding now. But I think most people are sick of all the changes that came before just as much. But maybe that is just me
For me the moment ebay got hold of paypal and the greed set in, the days were numbered.
Have started adding Alternative Auction adds, some of which are worth watching.
Up to 54 on the last count and still no adds, sorry but with the subject matter you just know what adds you would be watching.
As before adding them as I see them, if you see any you think I should add then let me know.
71 of them now and still rising
For any of you that hit the wrong part and link back to the account sorry I used my sons You Tube account and we have been told all the swearing is part of the show so if you don't like it then avoid it.
It is funny, as all the people I have heard talk about this on the media clips say it is about the changes they are adding now. But I think most people are sick of all the changes that came before just as much. But maybe that is just me
For me the moment ebay got hold of paypal and the greed set in, the days were numbered.
Have started adding Alternative Auction adds, some of which are worth watching.
Up to 54 on the last count and still no adds, sorry but with the subject matter you just know what adds you would be watching.
As before adding them as I see them, if you see any you think I should add then let me know.
71 of them now and still rising
For any of you that hit the wrong part and link back to the account sorry I used my sons You Tube account and we have been told all the swearing is part of the show so if you don't like it then avoid it.
Tuesday 19 February 2008
The Auctions searched are
Not working the way I want it to work so will have to keep looking.
You can try it but on most of my tests it has not brought up what I know is there.
Check out MOAAS on the PSU site posibly the closest thing to what I was trying to do. If they can add more sites. The problem is we need it now and the search engine will take some time if they can get it out of mothballs.
I have added a search engine that searches through Auction sites, just type in what you are interested in and the search engine will draw out what is availble from the Auctions sites listed bellow.
The search engine is at the bottom of the page and it searches through the list of sites being shown on the PSU Power Seller Unite Website that include
eBay.com
iOffer
Bidville
eCrater
CQout
us.eBid.net
uk.ebid.net
blujay
OnlineAuction
SpecialistAuctions
ePier
tazbar
wagglepop
AuctionQuests
PlunderHere
HiBidder
WeBidz
McBidz
Wensy
Overstock
UBidRight
I also added Ebay.co.uk as it is not being advertised on ebay.com
Going through the list and added
sticky auctions Removed
icebid
52marketplace
Added thanks to purple_reading_giraffe of PSU
Suggest adding sites
www.YourHighBid.com
www.UBid.com
www.RubyLane.com
www.QXL.co.uk
www.PayIfSell.com
www.OvernightAuctions.com
www.NorthwestBlvd.com
www.MySafeBid.com
www.Mascoo.com (even if it is French)
www.Loudfrog.com
www.iNetBid.com
www.BuyNSellIt.com
Then there are the dedicated sites:
www.xsNitro.com
www.WineCommune.com
www.WargamesMarket.com
www.UACCauction.com
www.TradeYourStuff.co.uk
www.TIAS.com
www.StampWants.com
www.Popula.com
www.PatchAuctions.com
www.OldAndSold.com
www.MommyAuctions.com
www.ModelxChange.com
www.MilBid.com
www.MetaExchange.com
www.MagicAuction.com
www.JustBeads.com
www.JustGlass.com
www.GunBroker.com
www.GolfBidder.co.uk
www.Etsy.com
www.Delcampe.com
www.CWReenactorsAuction.com
www.Biblio.com
www.BandBids.com
www.AstroAuction.com
www.ArtByUs.com
www.AquaBid.com
www.AngelicArena.co.uk
www.AbeBooks.com
If you have any other Auction sites you would like to add then you can leave a coment on the post on the PSU.
This is in no way trying to stop people going to any of the above auction sites and searching, but has been created to try and allow sellers to choose the site of their choice without having to worry about if they will still have the the customer base that they had when they were on ebay.
If you wish to create your own version of this the link is shown on your right, it is quite easy to do but please add all the auctions so to make the Auction search better for the buyer and seller alike.
You can try it but on most of my tests it has not brought up what I know is there.
Check out MOAAS on the PSU site posibly the closest thing to what I was trying to do. If they can add more sites. The problem is we need it now and the search engine will take some time if they can get it out of mothballs.
I have added a search engine that searches through Auction sites, just type in what you are interested in and the search engine will draw out what is availble from the Auctions sites listed bellow.
The search engine is at the bottom of the page and it searches through the list of sites being shown on the PSU Power Seller Unite Website that include
eBay.com
iOffer
Bidville
eCrater
CQout
us.eBid.net
uk.ebid.net
blujay
OnlineAuction
SpecialistAuctions
ePier
tazbar
wagglepop
AuctionQuests
PlunderHere
HiBidder
WeBidz
McBidz
Wensy
Overstock
UBidRight
I also added Ebay.co.uk as it is not being advertised on ebay.com
Going through the list and added
sticky auctions Removed
icebid
52marketplace
Added thanks to purple_reading_giraffe of PSU
Suggest adding sites
www.YourHighBid.com
www.UBid.com
www.RubyLane.com
www.QXL.co.uk
www.PayIfSell.com
www.OvernightAuctions.com
www.NorthwestBlvd.com
www.MySafeBid.com
www.Mascoo.com (even if it is French)
www.Loudfrog.com
www.iNetBid.com
www.BuyNSellIt.com
Then there are the dedicated sites:
www.xsNitro.com
www.WineCommune.com
www.WargamesMarket.com
www.UACCauction.com
www.TradeYourStuff.co.uk
www.TIAS.com
www.StampWants.com
www.Popula.com
www.PatchAuctions.com
www.OldAndSold.com
www.MommyAuctions.com
www.ModelxChange.com
www.MilBid.com
www.MetaExchange.com
www.MagicAuction.com
www.JustBeads.com
www.JustGlass.com
www.GunBroker.com
www.GolfBidder.co.uk
www.Etsy.com
www.Delcampe.com
www.CWReenactorsAuction.com
www.Biblio.com
www.BandBids.com
www.AstroAuction.com
www.ArtByUs.com
www.AquaBid.com
www.AngelicArena.co.uk
www.AbeBooks.com
If you have any other Auction sites you would like to add then you can leave a coment on the post on the PSU.
This is in no way trying to stop people going to any of the above auction sites and searching, but has been created to try and allow sellers to choose the site of their choice without having to worry about if they will still have the the customer base that they had when they were on ebay.
If you wish to create your own version of this the link is shown on your right, it is quite easy to do but please add all the auctions so to make the Auction search better for the buyer and seller alike.
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