Ebay - losing custom? (ebay.com)

Member Name: mrsgladwin

Product:	ebay.com
Date:	19/05/09 (57 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great for a bargain

Disadvantages: Sellers treated poorly

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past 10 years you'll have a pretty good idea what Ebay is all about, so I won't bore with you with a tedious description. All I will say is that Ebay is the internet's leading auction site, allowing people to sell their goods (or let's face it, junk!) to people around the world.

~What's good about it~

1) By far the biggest advantage of Ebay is the ability to pick up a bargain. Where else could you pick up designer items for just pennies? I've found it great for buying clothes, handbags, gifts... you name it, Ebay will have it.

2) Good news for sellers is the new "free listings under 99p" feature that ebay have added. This means that if you're item does sell for a minimal amount you won't have an insertion fee to take out of your profit. It also means that if you're item does not sell, you don't lose anything. This is going to make a lot more people want to list items as there's nothing to lose. This is also good news for buyers as more seller are likely to start their listings at a low price, therefore meaning more chances of picking up a bargain.

3) Great for selling unwanted things when your having a clear out. It's surprising what other people will buy. Remember, one man's rubbish is another man's treasure! Clothes no longer fit? DVD's not getting watched? Baby grown out of clothes? Chances are there will always be someone interested in your items (providing they're in good nick of course)

4) The feedback system. Although it has its disadvantages that I shall go into later, from a buyers point of view the feedback system is very good. Not only can you leave positive or negative feedback with a brief description, you can also rate the seller out of five on things like postage costs, time it took to receive the product and how accurate the item description was. This is beneficial to other users as it allows them to decided whether or not the seller is trustworthy and worthy of ther business.

5) It's secure. Before a user is able to sell anything their identity is checked in the form of a phone call to ensure they are not giving false information. Ebay's relationship with Paypal also means that payments remain secure.

~What's bad about it~

1) Telling sellers how much to charge for postage. This is a new thing that Ebay have brought in to stop people charging ridiculous amounts for postage. Whilst I understand why they brought this in, it is frustrating for us responsible sellers. Often the price given by Ebay doesn't account for cost of packaging or the weight of the parcel if a number of items are being sent. Plus if being sent recorded delivery, this also bumps up the price.

2) Not being able to leave negative feedback to buyers. Ebay claim this is to stop sellers leaving negative comments in retaliation of the buyer leaving negative, thus allowing buyers to leave honest feedback. However it also means that even if the buyer does not pay, or takes 3 weeks to pay, you can still not comment on it. There is no incentive for buyers to pay on time, or even at all

3) People taking advantage. It is it becoming increasingly more obvious that people use ebay as a way of taking advantage of sellers, and situations where demand outweighs the supply. The most noticable cases of this are when people are selling sell-out concert tickets or great seats for double what they paid, sometimes even more.

4) Fees. As a seller, if you start your item at more than 99p you will have to pay a listing fee. The amount varies on how high you start your listing. If your item sells, you will also have to pay a percentage of your profit to ebay, meaning a chunk of the money you have paid will be gone..and that's without the Paypal fees. Additional charges come in the way of additional photos and highlighting your listing, amongst others. This has to be considered before placing your listing as it may not even be worth selling your things at all.

~Conclusion~

As you can see I have listed more advantages than disadvantages; properly the reason I have stuck with Ebay. However I do believe they need to start treating their sellers better, not just the business sellers but also the sellers who are just hoping to make a few quid selling bits and bobs. They need to remember it is the sellers that provide them with the money through their many fees, so to protect them sellers, not just the buyers.

Summary: Worth it for the bargains