eBay Continues to Frustrate Sellers

[engine]

eBay Continues to Frustrate [businessweek.com] Sellers

In a nutshell, eBay wants its sellers to keep a 4.3 or above (out of 5-star) composite average on several metrics on which customers leave feedback. The most controversial is the shipping and handling feedback. A 4 in this metric means "reasonable," but if a seller starts getting mostly 4s, eventually that will pull her overall rating down below 4.3. If a buyer rates the shipping charges as "neutral" (3) or "unreasonable" (2)—even if that perception is mistaken—the seller's ratings will plummet and her account can be suspended. Sellers do have 30 days to increase their rating while they're suspended, but if they're not selling, it's obviously tough to get better feedback.

EBay did not respond to requests for comment submitted last week at its Web site and via voicemail. But it has long championed its small business owners at entrepreneurial conferences and training sessions for sellers. In 2006 former eBay CEO Meg Whitman gave a speech at the eBay Developers Conference, saying 1.3 million people made their living selling full-time on eBay. This year the company co-sponsored the 2008 National Small Business Summit held in Washington.

[HRoth]

As far as I am concerned, not enough buyers on ebay are ranking out sellers for exorbitant shipping. And ebay itself makes it difficult to complain about it, or it did last time I tried it. If you go to a screen where you can make a complaint about excessive shipping, half the time it will take you to some no-man's-land where you can't do anything. I think too many people on ebay are using shipping as their profit center. Recently I made the huge error of bidding on something that weighs about four ounces and not noticing that the seller wanted $9.95 to ship this thing PARCEL POST. This was after spending quite a bit of time looking for stuff there and finding many, many sellers making their money off the shipping. Last straw for me.

[Jack_Hughes]

You don't have a business if some other business can just yank your shop for their own reasons. Build your own shop...

[CernyM]

Amazon recently implemented a similar system for their Seller Central program.

Vendors are now rated in a number of areas and must meet a minimum standard or have their account suspended.

[Essex_boy]

I know of many vendors that make more on the shipping and handling than the sale price profit. Personally I think the sites a waste of time for selling

[pageoneresults]

eBay = Job Security for Webmasters

In the past 6 months, I've had 3 eBay Power Sellers come to me who want to get away from that platform now. When you start frustrating Power Sellers, you know the game is changing. ;)