EBay's Bid To Go Beyond Auctions Disappoints

Carl Bialik from WSJ writes "eBay is having trouble attracting online shoppers with its new fixed-price sales site, the Wall Street Journal reports. From the article: 'Jonathan Garriss, executive director of the Professional eBay Sellers Alliance, an independent group of eBay sellers, estimates eBay Express accounts for less than 1% of sales for the group's more than 1,000 members, who together sell more than $1 billion a year in merchandise. And while eBay's main auction site attracted more consumer visits than any other online retailer in November, eBay Express was at No. 87 on the list of top shopping and classified sites, according to research firm Hitwise Pty. Ltd.'"

But they are having no trouble...

[Billosaur]

...attracting scammers, cheats, and frauds. My wife has had so many problems with eBay, and I'm so unimpressed with them anymore, that I wouldn't bother with their Express site. I can certainly get stuff cheap enough off of Amazon.

Re:What was the point?

[madhatter256]

I use ebay but not often so correct me if I'm wrong. When I signed up I couldnt use the Buy It Now option because I didn't have enough feedback. You need a certain amount before you can use it. I believe that ebay express allowed the new seller to sell items at a fixed price at zero feedback and a lower fee than the buy it now option.

USA Only

[CohibaVancouver]

I'm in Canada, and the pool of online retailers here is still fairly small, so one of the first things I do with an eBay search is look for items 'located in Canada' (no duties, no customs brokerage fees, no incorrectly filled out waybills etc.). It's a great eBay feature which allows me to find things I might not otherwise locate from a Canadian e-tailer.

However, eBay Express doesn't support transactions outside of the USA, so I visited the site once and never went back.

Re:But they are having no trouble...

[0100010001010011]

I'm selling a Dell E1505 on eBay. Lowest end model. I picked it up for $800 last spring and now I got a MacBook Pro (After starting a full time job).

The highest 6 bids are between 3 people for: 1200, 2000, 2500.

Immediately I got a SEND TO NIGERIA letter. I figured I'd have some fun so I extended second chance offers to the other bidders. I've been going back and forth with them a few days via e-mail.

Some pretty good fake PayPal e-mails have come through. I keep checking my account and sadly it's at $0.00. (I feel sorry for real people in Nigeria trying to buy stuff). They even have a good excuse for why it's at $0.00.

"This PayPal payment has been deducted from the buyer's account and has
been 'APPROVED' but will not be credited to your account until the shipment reference/tracking number is sent to us for shipment verification so as to secure both the buyer and the seller."

I can see how some newbies would be confused. But I know how PayPal works.

I think they've given up on me.

--

As per people's questions on why not use "Buy It Now" Because of listing fees. If I have 50 Dell Mice to sell for $5. I don't want to create auctions every 7 days hoping one will sell. Instead I set up a market place that is permanent. I have a quantity listed at $5.

(Although if I *really* had something to sell. I'd make my own website and use google checkout. They may not be completely 'not evil' but I haven't had $1600 of my funds locked out by them yet)

Re:What was the point?

[Thansal]

I actualy just did a quick check, you need 100 feedback and it has to be 98% good (Link [ebay.com])

Re:What was the point?

[dgatwood]

That's definitely not right. I set a buy-it-now price on an auction a few months ago, and my feedback, while 100% positive, was only about 22.

At least I think I set a buy-it-not price. If not, it never told me otherwise.

Re:What was the point?

[Thansal]

HA!

Just did a bit more searching.

To do buy it now you do not have any requirements, to use a fixed price listign there are some reqs, but they seem lower then express. (Link [ebay.com])

Re:What was the point?

[MindStalker]

ebay express worked like half.com or amazon where you actually pay ebay directly they then pay the seller. This allows you to purchase multiple buy-it now items through a "cart" like system and pay once.

Re:But they are having no trouble...

[great throwdini]

PayPal deducted the money and said they will only return the money if I provided a tracking number. Because I sent it regular mail without a tracking number I could not prove that I sent the package, and so they kept my money. [...] I was a good honest seller and still got burned. Ebay is not safe at all for the seller.

Delivery Confirmation on USPS packages amounts to a whopping $0.50 to $0.60, and tracking is free from UPS, FedEx, etc.

It escapes me how one could not apply tracking to an eBay package given the nominal fees, especially on a $100 transaction such as yours. How are you unfairly at the mercy of eBay/PayPal when you fail to take even basic precautions as a seller yourself?