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

GRIEVANCES AND TERMS STATEMENT sent to ebay

GRIEVANCES AND TERMS STATEMENT

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.

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.

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