10 Reasons Why eBay Sucks for Sellers

BY Ben Lang Nov. 20, 2009 552 Comments

Yes, I started my entrepreneurship career on eBay. My business was selling other peoples items and then taking a commission. I enjoyed making nice commissions and was even interview on television. I loved eBay then. Now I don’t. Here are 10 reasons why I think eBay sucks for sellers. I’m not the only one who hates eBay, so many people have eBay problems.

1. Illegitimate feedback

If a buyer gives you a negtive feedback for no reason, you can’t remove it. There goes your entire reputation and sometimes your entire business.

2. Annoying rules

For example in the last 12 hours of an auction you can’t change images. A potential buyer emailed me to notify me that I had put the wrong picture on the auction page. There was no bid but because there were only 10 hours left, I couldn’t change the picture, and what do you know, no sale.

3. Bogus buyers

No more negative feedback for bogus buyers, meaning that buyers who don’t pay for their winning bids cannot be penalized by the seller. This too destroys the entire feedback system.

4. Fees

EBay’s sale commission is a good chunk plus you have to pay for every listing detail practically. Subtitle: $.50, picture: $.25, bold title: $1, etc.

5. PayPal

If you use PayPal which is very handy for eBay selling you’re going to be ripped off. They continually take more and more commissions. Plus eBay owns PayPal so you are charged 3 times, listing, commission and PayPal!

6. Refunds

Someone can buy your item using PayPal, receive the item, and then lie and say that it was not shipped. PayPal will then refund them the entire purchase amount.

8. Shipping

Everything relies on shipping. The postal service once lost a small expensive package I sold; the buyer had not pay for insurance. So I had to wait for weeks to find out what happened, and then reimburse the item from my pocket!

9. Free alternative – Craigslist

There’s just no incentive to sell on eBay when you have Craigslist. It’s 100% free, the buying market is huge, its easy, no shipping involved, door to door. What more could you ask for?

10. Terrible customer service

If you have a problem with a sale or purchase, you have to go through bots and finally days later receive a humans actual help.

* Messy interface

Every time eBay seems to update their interface and website it gets worse. No matter how many people complain the site just becomes worse.

So even though I started a successful eBay business I have moved on. If you use eBay, let me know what you think.

Alternatives to eBay:

Feel free to share your experience with eBay below.

Entrepreneurship

eBay, top 10

Alain

let them fucking die all at fuckmebay
X at y

Fully agree with you, especially on the interface (it is a disaster) and the costs (you are charged 3 times). I do not use it. I hate it.
Randy Hawke

Actual “Buy it Now” sale April 2012. Item sales price $38.00 & $3.00 shipping (Maximum allowed shipping charge by ebay for this item). Ebay charges $1.75 insertion fee, $4.94 Final Value Fee, $.39 Final Value fee for shipping, plus, $1.41 paypal fee. Total fees $8.49, that’s 22.3% of sales price. On top of that, shipping and handling cost $4.12. That’s $1.12 more than I was allowed to charge for shipping. In total ebay cost me $9.61, to sell a $38.00 item.
Guest

Number 6 above fails to mention that Paypal refunds the Buyer’s money after stealing the funds from Seller’s account.
Docmafia

Has any one used http://www.midmobids.com? is it really free?
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_TBZEZ4WWNUBJU4QOUZ7KCDUZ4Q Bryan Jones

ebay has become one giant on-line wallmart with the exception of chinese selling fake and pirated goods. ebay breaks the law every minute selling fraudulent goods from china
Guest

When acting as a ” seller ” on ebay you recieve a shipping address to post the item to the buyer in question…….. No? .I have recently posted a costly package to a buyer on ebay, If they were to turn around and say they haddnt recieved or the item wasnt as stated OR in any way tried to fraud me i would definatley go round to the address to see WTF is going on.
Mmunns1

After 14 years on Ebay as a 100% rated autograph dealer (registered dealer UACC/IADA/PADA), I was recently suspended. Details were not given other than my inventory was “being questioned by some buyers”. I had built up over 2300 listings and was spending close to $900 per month with Ebay. In addition, the Nazi’s at Paypal have frozen my account with thousands of dollars for 180 days. In addition, Ebay has sent out emails to all of my buyers over the past three months stating I was selling “forgeries”. Many of my good customers laughed it off as “typical Ebay stupidity” but many freaked and I have now have close to 10 disputes working, most want to keep the item AND get a refund. Ebay could not have handled in a more unethical manner, particularly after 14 years as a loyal customer. Paypal & Ebay are the most unethical, uncaring, clueless group of arrogant morons I have ever dealt with. I don’t “hate” easily but if hate were people, I’d be China. The seller (who pays their bills) is always wrong, the buyer is always right. I wouldn’t recommend Ebay or Paypal to anyone.
Tomhankster

ebay now requires Seller’s to give Buyers a 14 day, no questions asked, refund to qualify for a reduced total fee of approx. 20% of your items value, vs. 25% total fee without offering refunds. It’s to the point ebay is only good for Buyers, searching for stupid sellers.
Docmafia

Has anyone heard or used
this Midmobids.com Not allot of users but they say they are free.
If anyone has used them I would like to hear comments. Little skeptical about
trying a new site.
Adamwshngtn

i had a terrible selling experience. was selling a printer that prints xray films. printer new costs 30k, sold it for 3k. i sent it out well packed. well about a month later i see a dispute, some doctor couldnt get it to work, thats ok, send it back.
well what i had found out that him and some friend were all inside it messing with it. and his son had packed it and shipped it back. ( i talked to the son on the phone) well it came back with cracks in 3 corners, missing software and they didnt insure it on the return trip. it was a very heavy item and it cost 90 to ship it. well now i have a cracked printer, missing software, and who knows what they did to the inside. well ebay refunded the money and came after me for it. i havent paid them yet.
i sent pictures of the item to ebay, and finally after going through hoops, and lying a bit on their website, i got a phone number to call… you can call their number but you need a code to type in, to talk to someone!!!!
everytime i tried to dispute their ruling it came up as an appeal on the item, when i wasnt appealing their ruling, i was saying, they sent me back my item broke! if i had received it as the same shape as i sent it off in and they received it ( they even said there were no cracks when they received it) then i would have been happy, got it working and sold it.
but without the software, i cant find it online either. and with cracks.. who would buy such an expensive item?

that is what turned me off to ebay.
http://profile.yahoo.com/WBNQTCMNLQGIWQY2JYE4QEWVM4 Ron

The difference between selling on Craig’s list and ebay, is the difference between a profit and a loss, possibly, a total loss.
Neilkissel2

ebay sucks a big wanker making sellers wait so long for there money is bullshit will never ever use the ever again
Cupcakelove1976

I agree. There is absolutly no protection for the seller. I recently listed a large number of designer items. I am a housewife, and all my items were bought for my personal use, kept in great condition and then listed on ebay to sell on. This one woman writes to me, three times, asks stupid questions, then wins the auction. 24 hours later after I had sent the item, she writes back and tells me the item is fake and that she is opening a refund case against me, and is threatening negative feedback. Does not even GIVE me the chance to offer her a refund, or send on a photo copy of the sales docket. The Item was a designer pair of shorts, that I could proove were not fake as I have the proof listed in my bank account. You have to cross all the ‘X’s’ and dot all the ‘i’s to protect your self from people that want to extort money from you, obtain free goods, free shipping, what ever they can get out of you. And unless you have the proof and the frame of mind to go through the long winded process of proving your case, it becomes one big pain in the ass!!! The general public are a bunch of cunts, if you are willing to meet half way and do things by the book, things would move along smoothly, but there are always bad apples out there trying to spoil it for everyone else. Beware of ebay, I have not enjoyed my experience as a whole!
Older and Wiser

You have touched on all the key points. My experience with eBay has been the same. BAD! Solike you, I am moving to greener (more honest) pastures.
Jewelryinvegas

I HATE EBAY also!!!! My husband has been laid off for over 3 years and so I suggested he open an Ebay account and start selling things there. I knew about the fees because I’ve been selling and buying on Ebay since 2000 and I assisted him in adjusting his prices to help pay for the extra fees.
It worked! We sold every single item we posted within one week at the prices we wanted and even higher, then the catch…OUR MONEY WAS HELD! We were told that funds were being held for 21 DAYS because of the “new policy” which allows Ebay and Paypal to get their fees and they give the seller enough money to cover shipping costs AND NO MORE FOR UP TO 21 DAYS!!!! I was so steaming mad that I called customer service and actually spoke to a human being (with a Filipino accent so they probably outsource their customer service and who knows what else) who informed me that this was a new policy that just took affect this year to PROTECT EBAY from “bad sellers.” I asked her if it would make a difference if I connected the 2 accounts, to which she responded NO, they would still hold the funds just because it’s a new account eventhough I had a long history and 100% rating with Ebay. Ebay needs to be SUED and taken out of business or make some DRASTIC changes. I HATE EBAY!