Letters to the Editor
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March 20, 2010
Bill Me Later Pop-up Annoys Etsy Seller
By: Ina Steiner
Sat Mar 20 2010 10:22:36
To the Editor: Interestingly, I routinely paid my ETSY bill through paypal today. I was redirected to the "BILL ME LATER window even though I hadn't indicated I wanted that.... and talk about consumer TRUST!!!! It was similar to a where am I pop up that asked for my social security number and other sensitive info...
All I wanted to do is pay my etsy bill.
If ebay and paypal want consumer confidence... this is NOT the way to go... it appeared as a shady place of business. So perhaps the brass at ebay should stop dumping on sellers to be professional and take a deep look at their own operations... I was so turned off by this BILL ME LATER window that I would be cautious about paying that way again. B.
Sales Tax Collection: No Level Playing Field with B&M
By: Ina Steiner
Fri Mar 19 2010 22:12:01
To the Editor: So much has been written about new tax laws States are imposing to gain revenue from buyers who fail to voluntarily pay Use Tax. The primary argument bloggers and syndicated columists use is that "It Levels The Paying Field" between Online Retail and a Bricks and Mortar (B&M).
Lets dispel that MYTH
The term was invented by Legislators, primarily because they see a missing piece of the tax pie, brought on by the lack of enforcement of existing Use Tax law. You buy something online, the buyer is obligated to pay that States' Sales Tax (Use Tax) on the product. It's a line item on your yearly tax form that most consumers either ignore or lie about when filling out the form.
What about this "Level Playing Field" argument? Lets look at the facts and advantages/disadvantages of online retail vs. B&M:
A B&M does not share the same tax load on a community that online retail has. A B&M uses more police, fire and sanitation services than online. Should online be required to subsidize a B&M's heavier tax burden?
What law prevents a B&M from selling online?
Both online and a B&M collect Sales Tax for in-state sales.
You can't touch or feel a product online, and answers to questions can take days. Not so in a B&M store, and that sales person's pitch often is the dealmaker for you to leave the store with product in hand. ... Advantage: the B&M.
For heavy items, the shipping often offsets any cost savings online retail may offer.
For lighter items, even with Sales Tax included, online can still be cheaper, because they do not have the high overhead a B&M pays. Making / adding Sales Tax to an online purchase will not match prices Advantage: Online
What about the 5 States in the US that have no Sales tax? How are the pundits arguing that advantage/disadvantage, if there is one?
Shopping online is GREEN. Less travel, no standing in line, shop and buy @ 3AM in your PJs, and the delivery services still travel XX miles per day, whether delivering to that B&M with resellable goods, or to your front door. By buying GREEN, that alone should deserve a tax (carbon) credit, shouldn't it?
Should States collect Sales Tax? According to existing law, yes, of course! The consumer is obligated to obey the law and remit lawful tax. That is a burden of the consumer, not the online seller. If States wish to "level the playing field", they need to enforce existing law first before inventing new, bad, unconstitutional law like this affiliate tax passed in NY, RI, NC, and CO.
Unenforceable they (legislators) say? A) as an online retailer, that's not my probem. B) There is a solution. They could get the Merchant Accounts (Visa, MC, PayPal) to collect the Use Tax at the point of sale, then remit the Use Tax directly to the State DOR, but that plan is too simple for Legislators to understand. Keith
Check Invoices for eBay Stores Promotional Credits
By: Ina Steiner
Wed Mar 17 2010 21:50:33
To the Editor: Here is another story for you. This evening on the clothing discussion board on eBay a seller with a keen eye noticed that she had been overcharged on her latest invoice. When I checked mine the same had happened to me.
We, just like the poster of the thread, had upgraded to a premium store last month. There was a special if you promoted early. Not only were we charged the original store price, we were also charged an additional $24.17 for the premium store. (I don't remember the particulars of the special but I think if you upgraded early you only paid the original store price up until April 1st - please check that out before reporting as I do not remember the exact details.)
I called eBay this evening and they did credit my account, but I think there are going to be a lot of sellers who do not check their invoices and will end up being overcharged.
Here is the thread: (assuming eBay does not pull it). As always, we appreciate you looking out for us.
Note from the Editor: Here's a link to the promotion details, thanks for the reminder to sellers that they should make sure they receive the proper credit for the promotion.
To the Editor: I respond regularly to questions asked on eBay's answer center. Not a single day goes by without someone posting that they offered to ship to the US (or certain countries) and someone outside the US (or those particular countries) bought their item. What they should do?
Sometimes, newbie sellers post a high ticket item such as an iPhone, offer shipping to the US, only to find a scammer from a foreign country has won or bought the phone and is asking the seller to ship to Nigeria.
Ebay customer service incorrectly advises such sellers to cancel the transaction, which is not an easy thing to do, considering buyers have to agree to a cancellation request and often buyers decline the cancel request leaving the seller to have to pay eBay final value fees. Many times the buyer ends up leaving the seller negative feedback and the seller comes asking how they can get the negative removed. We all know it is not so easy to get eBay to remove a negative left under such conditions.
This is an eBay created problem that frustrates both the buyer and seller.
I understand a seller can block buyers from countries they do not ship to, but many sellers do not know about this block. Many sellers assume that if they offer to ship to only certain countries, bidders/buyers from other countries are automatically blocked or should be blocked.
I wrote to Griff asking that eBay change the default setting aka buyer requirements to block buyers from countries the seller does not ship to and sellers wanting to ship regardless can always reverse the block. Griff said he would pass the suggestion on. It seems like eBay has not given my suggestion much thought.
Ina, it is very frustrating for a seller to wade thru all the wrangles of reporting the buyer as unwelcome and filing a dispute to recover their final value fees. On top of it, some sellers end up with negative feedback. It is equally frustrating for us responders to console and counsel such sellers on a daily basis.
If this issue is brought up through AuctionBytes, perhaps eBay will wake up and take notice.
To the Editor: I was wondering if you could look into something for me and other eBay sellers. Over the last month I have changed my store listings at eBay to fixed price. I only have a few store inventory items left running. None of my fixed price items are coming up in Google Product Search and two of my store items are.
I have fixed price that are going to end today and they are not showing up so waiting a few days isn't the issue. I've read the forums over at eBay and in more than one place eBay says they send store and fixed price listings to Google every day. I don't think that's happening. My traffic reports also show my Google referrals down to about 3% when they used to be 20% or more of my traffic referrals.
Did I miss an announcement about a problem with the feeds? Has anyone else noticed this with their listings?
Please withhold my name/id/email address. Thank you.
To the Editor: Something is going on with eBay about their promise to incorporate their search engine with stores. I signed up for extra $50 bucks a month to be primary store. Since Sunday, I have had only one EBay sale and that to Ireland. None in U. S. But I have had sales in Atomic, Bonanzle, Specialist Auction and iOffer. EBay is at it again. This is just a note that it is a bitter pill to come for eBay sellers. See if you can find out what they are doing.
My daughter went on Google and eBay items are not coming up although others auctions that I have on are. Thanks. Tom
To the Editor: Has anyone brought this to your attention yet (see below)? Or possibly you sell on ebay and received it as I did on Monday. I am removing my user id and amount owed from what they sent below and am adding ***** in place of where that info. once was.
After I received the email below, I replied to ebay and asked what this was about, because I NEVER registered a new payment method before OR after my monthly billing was already in process.
I also checked my ebay account once I received the first email, and the amount I owed ebay was already in the process of being credited from my account. So what was the meaning of ebay sending it, or is it just another big goof that ebay has made with sending these emails (spamming me)?
Yes you can post this info. on auctionbytes, if you wish. All I ask is please do not include my name, email addy, etc. I think I have removed it all below.
Not long after I wrote ebay and asked about it, I received a second email from them and have attached that email below as well.
eBay really needs to get it together!
Dear **********, We are writing to alert you that your monthly eBay seller fees of ********* have not been paid for one of the following reasons: 1. Your automatic payment method was declined 2. You registered a new payment method after your monthly billing was already in process.
To continue to use eBay as normal and avoid collections, please complete the following steps: 1. Make a one time payment on your account by following the instructions below. This will be used to pay for this months invoice. 2. If your automatic payment method was declined, you will need to update your automatic payment method on file. We will use this to pay for future invoices.
Before replying to this email, please read the entire FAQ section below. You will most likely find the answer to your question(s).
If you still have additional questions, please use our Help system by clicking on the Help link at the top of most eBay pages. You may also click on the Contact Us link to send an email to Customer Support.
Please note - if your balance is zero or you have recently made a payment, please disregard this message. Regards, eBay
The following is eBay's follow-up email:
eBay Collections Email Notice - Important Information Dear eBay Member,
You may have received an email from eBay today in regard to a problem with your automatic payment method on file.
Please log in to your eBay account and check your current status. If your automatic payment method has been debited and your current balance due is zero, please disregard the message. If you still have a balance due, please log make a one time payment to clear the current charges.
To the Editor: I just read a letter you published about eBay's Seller OutReach and have to add my 3 cents worth. I received a call early this week from Seller OutReach, asking if I would like to set up an appointment for a free consulation over the phone. I had told the person calling that I had already done this a couple of years ago and at that time was told that there wasn't much Seller OutReach felt that they could help me with, since I was already doing just about everything they would have covered. Anyway, I said yes and made an appointment for later in the week.
I was informed that the call would last approximately one hour. Fine. The day of the call, Seller OutReach called me 32 minutes ahead of time.
Luckily that didn't interfere with anything. The call did not last an hour but just under 30 minutes. The person from Seller OutReach that conducted the call should have had some training BEFORE eBay cut him loose to call Sellers. First he advised me that he was looking at my eBay Store and had a few minor suggestions to make.
I was then asked what did I think my strengths and weakness selling on eBay were, yet in the next breath, I was told that with my sales, I should seriously consider opening a store on eBay, that it would be very worthwhile and beneficial!
Why on earth would I be advised to open an eBay Store, when Seller OutReach was not only already aware of the fact that I have had an eBay Store for many years now. I am missing something here?
Next, I was informed that because of my continuous 100% Positive FB (knock on wood, I have not had one, single Negative FB ever since I started selling on eBay), my DSR's are very good - no low numbers, I almost qualify for Top Rated Seller status. First I was asked if I was aware of TRS and even though I made it clear that I am familiar with TRS and the badge, the caller still proceeded to explain it all to me in detail.
Then I was continuously urged to give serious thoughts to becoming a Top Rated Seller and the only thing that is keeping me from qualifying is that I need to make sales of at least $3,000.00 per year. I didn't have very much to comment on here, because even without being a TRS, anyone would like to boost their sales considerably.
The other thing that was somewhat amusing to me is the fact that this person kept insisting that Buyers prefer to do business with either TRS or PowerSellers only. I didn't bother to tell this person that this is not always the case where Buyers are concerned. I also buy on eBay and have noticed that many PowerSellers and TRS do not have perfect FB, their prices are sometimes high enough for people to look for another Seller.
Oh yes, I was also informed that I should offer Free Shipping on everything. SellerOutReach did not want to hear that in order to offer Free Shipping, prices would have to be raised considerably and that would most certainly show a huge drop in sales.
The so-called consultation from Seller OutReach was 98% "you should consider doing everything possible to become a Top Rated Seller" and 2% this is what you should do to improve your eBay Store.
Ina, should you decide to publish all or any of my letter, please withhold my name and eBay ID, as I don't want the eBay Spies to turn me in for speaking the truth and speaking my mind. Thanks!
