Once again, the word is out that eBay is going to provide us sellers with MULTIPLE changes this September.

Does this mean another round of killing off small sellers?

I’m just wondering…
Anybody got a clue or do we all have to wait for the “BIG SURPRISE”??

Talk back to me. I’d love to hear from you.

Using the 5-star Detailed Seller Ratings, eBay has taken it upon themselves to “test” the outcome of adding a RED WARNING  to buyers on the very page that a seller with less than perfect DSR scores are PAYING eBay for!  Click on the following link to AuctionBytes.com, where the details can be found.  http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y08/m02/i19/s01.  There you will be able to view one of eBay’s test pages.

Yes, you heard it right.  Sellers pay insertion fees for each listing that is posted in eBay.  Each page a seller pays for, you would think,  should “belong” to the seller,  however, eBay now thinks they have the right to warn buyers in nice red letters, if this particular seller has dropped below what eBay considers acceptable standards in their Detailed Seller Ratings.

While this might deter some buyers from trading with problematic sellers, it will also condemn HONEST sellers that have been the victim of fastidious or malicious buyers. 

The DSR ratings are misunderstood by many.
Some buyers are unaware, when leaving DSR’s for a seller, that the sliding scale is a bit off course.
Many buyers consider 4 stars out of a 5-star rating, a good score. EBay, on the other hand, considers it a bad score.  Therefore, the seller is being misjudged by a malfunctioning scoring board.

Aside from that, the way it is presented in eBay, the worst score is listed at the TOP of the scoring scale, and the BEST score at the bottom.   Take note of this the next time you are presented with the scoring card.
This is quite confusing, and many buyers who do not carefully read each rating, will leave UNDESERVED scores for the completely innocent seller, even though it may not have been the buyer’s intent to do so.

 Another thing to consider when leaving star ratings for the shipping and handling scores on each transaction, is how fair you feel the SELLER was , NOT the delivery company and certainly not eBay.  Obviously, if a seller only charges the buyer exactly what the delivery company charges to ship the item, the seller is NOT being unfair.   Sellers cannot help, and should not be held accountable for, the fees you must pay a delivery company to get that item to you. 

You may also find that the seller has added a handling fee to your shipping charges.
While there are some unscrupulous sellers who try to avoid eBay fees by listing at low prices, and then recoup their losses in the shipping charges, not all sellers do this, and buyers should carefully evaluate each seller honestly and fairly.
Handling charges may help cushion the costs of materials, fuels and labor needed to efficiently run the business.  As a buyer, you might think this is unfair at first, and in turn give the seller a bad score.
Before you proceed with that train of thought, keep in mind that if you were a seller, you would most probably have to also add a handling charge to your customer’s fees.  Be completely honest with yourself  about this before you throw the proverbial dart at a seller who has added a small handling fee to your order.

Please, pay close attention when leaving feedback.  Many buyers have been known to leave the wrong feedback to the wrong seller for the wrong item.  Keep in mind, these feedback scores reflect deeply on the seller’s reputation and they cannot be erased once they are left.
The old saying is to think twice and write once, or as would be the case today, think twice before you hit the “post” button.

Now, one more thing before you go…
If you were under the impression that your thoughts, opinions and suggestions count at eBay, here’s an opportunity to hear just what eBay thinks about what you have to say. 

The following link is an excerp from an interview with eBay’s well-known Griff.  You may want to rewind and re-listen a few times.  You  might find it hard to believe that eBay’s finest, rushed one of their own concerned customers out the door, back into the street and off to never-never land for having the nerve to question eBay’s suggested policy changes. 

Listen for yourself.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ8DqcxjRI8  

This is Elizabeth…..co-owner of www.princeofpleasure.com,
a subsidiary of TCC-PoPMiCo., LLC.
Thank you for stopping by!

Since eBay’s new CEO, John Donahoe, announced all the great changes that will make eBay a much “better place to shop”….adding that “what’s good for the buyer will be good for the seller”, a loud wail has been heard across the nations and with good reason.
EBay may have just stepped on, and set free, a den of poisonous snakes.  
The strikes have begun!

BUYER THREATS
Already?  But the new changes haven’t even taken effect yet!

Many eBay buyers are cruising message boards across the eBay community, on other websites and on blogs, threatening that they will make sellers “pay” when the new policy goes into effect.  The threats include such statements as, eBay “seller’s reckoning is about to begin”.
Some eBay buyers have already begun sending emails to sellers stating how they (the buyer) will be in charge of the sale and they will dictate how they will pay, when they will pay and what they will pay for a transaction with the seller.

This has been brought about by the recent announcement of upcoming changes in feedback policy.  The new policy will make it possible for a buyer to leave any type of feedback for the seller; positive, neutral or negative, while the seller will only be allowed to leave a buyer positive feedback in return.  Since the fear of retaliation as been lifted, buyers are coming out in droves, preparing to wreak havoc on sellers. 
In turn, many sellers are worried about the possibility of feedback extortion, allowing buyers to use this unfair system as leverage to get discounts or free merchandise.  Aside from that, the new feedback system’s scoring, will also dictate where ebay sellers listings will appear in ebay’s search algorithm.  The policy takes effect in May.
Is this what you call a BETTER marketplace, eBay?

SELLERS CRIED OUT, but, as usual, eBay didn’t listen.  
Against the outrage and cries over the unfair changes in feedback and DSR’s (detailed seller ratings, also known as the “star system”),  some sellers feel Mr. Donahoe has made a mockery out of eBay sellers, and brought about the biggest (understated) massacre of marketplace compatibility in our nation and around the world.  With his “radical changes to feedback” and increase in FVF’s (final value fees), Mr. Donahoe has upset the ecommerce balance that many sellers have come to know and depend on for their success in eBay.

Changes in the marketplace could and should have been made without tipping the scales of fairness.  There was no need to blatantly take sides, thereby jeopardizing eBay sellers’ reputations with feedback extortion and foul play brought on by many begrudging buyers.
A more even game would have been just to delete the feedback system altogether. 
Other sites have made it without feedback.   EBay could too, and with a more positive outcome than this one-sided fiasco will bring.
Giving buyers this unfair victory will only prove how wrong an overpaid ”coat” can be.|

THE CHATTER IS GETTING LOUDER!!!
Listen up, eBay!! Can you hear us now?
In one more day, many sellers will begin a boycott in hopes of promoting a process of rethinking on eBay’s part.
Will they listen, or will eBay continue to stomp their customers (the sellers) with the heavy heel of their greed?

Contrary to what people may think, without a seller, there is no need for a buyer, and without a buyer, there is no need for a seller.   Both participants are equally important.  Remember, most sellers are buyers as well, and some buyers are sellers, too.
If one loses, we all lose.
EBay is only the landlord of this huge online shopping center where merchants and buyers gather.   They once called themselves “only a venue”. 
Has greed changed their minds?

Now is the time for sellers and buyers to UNITE!

The eBay BOYCOTT is planned for February 18-25 and beyond!
Buyers plan to stop buying and sellers plan to stop selling, in hopes of getting eBay’s attention. 

Will you stand with your fellow eBayers, or will you sink to your knees and allow the corporate conglomerate to once again, walk over the very people who made them who they are today!?
Some say it won’t make any more difference than past boycotts have.  How do you feel?

GOOD JOB, EBAY!!
To surmise that everything will be “okay” after the “noise” settles, is to hide your head in the sand.
Stay there long enough and you’ll suffocate yourself. 

Readers, let me hear your take on this.
In the meantime, as the old saying goes…be nice to everyone.  You never know who you might encounter again in your future, and next time the ball might be in THEIR court!

This is Elizabeth, signing off….