Letters to the Editor
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November 13, 2009
eBay Search Visibility Tool Affecting Best Match?
By: Ina Steiner
Fri Nov 13 2009 23:13:52
To the Editor: I want to bring to your attention a disturbing piece of information I received from Ebay Support.
After tracking my items in the new visibility tool, I noticed that I consistently have more watchers and bids, than unique click-throughs. That did not seem right, since to place a bid or to put the item on the watch list, the user would need to do a unique click through. Unique click throughs are used to determine seller's position in search, and mine were low even on item with lots of watches and bids.
The Ebay reply (complete reply attached below) was that the tool does not display results in real time. It can take a day or two for the numbers to be updated.
This really worries me for two reasons, the first is that the tool is not very useful. The second and more significant, if the same algorithm is used for the Best Match search ranking, the sellers are being ranked with the old data that according to my tracking never catches up during the 7 day run of an auction. This could be an explanation of why most people say Best Match does not work and brings bad results.
I hope you can investigate how this works and the impact is on the sellers.
To the Editor: Last Friday, November 6th, A rep from PayPal's "RISK MANAGEMENT" office in Arizona called me with a shocking announcement. She identified herself as Ms. Stacey Stewart of Paypal risk management and informed me that Paypal was now going to withhold 15% of our gross sales for an unbelievable half a year effective immediately!
She went on to say you have an "outstanding account and track record" with Paypal and this is just our new policy for people who are selling China imports. Mind you, we have been selling cellphones on eBay for quite sometime with no problem but apparently our "outstanding track record" is of no consequence with Paypal's new policy.
Since we are high volume Top-Rated ebay seller under Ameristyles and also maintain a webstore at www.ameristyles.com we were surprised on how brash and dictatorial Ms. Stewart was, in opposite to our account managers in PayPal -Nebraska who are always friendly and professional. Even our eBay account manager, Ms. Kerry Thompson was taken back when I told her about PayPal's new 15% policy. We also posted a blog on our website on PayPal's new policy you may wish to view.
According to Ms. Stewart PayPal will be instituting this new policy with hundreds of eBay sellers due to possible chargebacks and potential risk. After "I was told" of my "new status" she terminated the conversation.
Her position was that this is "non-negotiable". My Senior account manager at PayPal, Mr. Doug Golden, was listening in, as this was a 3 way conference call and even he was shocked at her attitude and inflexibility.
We immediately discontinued accepting PayPal at our website and switched to Google checkout. We are also in the process of setting up PAYFLOW to process credit cards directly on eBay. In short, we have no choice but to phase out PayPal. It is impossible to maintain a business in the highly competitive electronics arena where our net profits are around 12% but our Paypal GROSS withholding is 15%.
This would produce a huge negative cash flow for a half year! We will still offer Paypal on eBay but in a very unique way. We will run two identical ads. Once where only a buyer can use a credit card. The other only where the buyer can use PayPal. The BUY IT NOW price on the PayPal ad will be 15% higher than the other ad. Current eBay policy forbids us from posting anything negative about PayPal, but it doesn't stop us from saying, "You can purchase this identical item for 15% lower in our other eBay ad so please check out SELLERS OTHER ITEMS," People will be emailing us demanding why they have to pay 15% more using the PayPal ad, so it should interesting.
Our obvious solution to this problem is to pass on the 15% 6 month withholding to the customer and clearly the FREE BUYER PROTECTION PayPal offers is no longer free at all since PayPal will be withholding 15-20% of thousands of their customers for a half a year in the future.
It will be interesting to see how many eBayers follow our lead in this matter. I would really like to hear your feedback on this one even if you don't post this letter to AuctionBytes. Thanks, Toni Kirchner
To the Editor: A new low. Evidently buyers can now file "deferred" PayPal Disputes against ebay sellers after the 45 day time limit has passed.
Buyer bought an item from me, Said he wanted to return it. I said OK. He didn't return it. 30 days later he said he was returning it and was delayed due to a "family emergency". (When I checked his ebay history, he was very active during the "family emergency".) He emails that he mailed back item. Item doesn't arrive. I ask for information, when sent, tracking number, etc. He doesn't respond. Buyer evidently tried to file a SNAD or INR with PayPal but filed after PayPal's 45 day deadline for filing.
BUT WAIT!
I get the stunning email below from PayPal alerting me that I have some sort of black mark for a "Deferred Dispute". ("Although this dispute is not eligible for negotiation in the Resolution Center, we have noted that the buyer was dissatisfied with this transaction.")
The "Help" link referred to in the email takes you to PayPal's full monte "Help" page which has nothing about something called "Deferred Dispute".
Advice for eBay Sellers - Shipping and Photos Are Key
By: Ina Steiner
Mon Nov 9 2009 11:54:46
Dear Ina, I don't sell on eBay much anymore, just quick sale stuff like DVDs once in awhile but I still buy quite a bit.
I've noticed that the prices seem astronomical compared to even a year ago. And the S&H prices are insane. Sellers, you aren't doing yourself any favors by charging $15 parcel post for an item that weighs 2 pounds. That's just nuts. But the thing that's really turning me away are the changes to photos. I guess eBay has a new gallery pic that offers a slideshow or more pics and some can be enlarged. Some can't. One out of maybe 20 sellers has larger photos in their listing description.
The single, most important factor in whether or not you item sells is how it looks. I buy glass items. Take a glass item that has an etch and place it on a doily and I can't see the etch. Place it against a pale background, same problem. It's like some sellers don't want to go to the trouble but they're willing to pay listing fees for something that has zero chance of selling. You're throwing your money away.
The worst sellers are the ones who take a mediocre picture of a clear item on a pale background, you can't make it out in it's small size and the seller has not uploaded a larger photo so you can enlarge the image and maybe see it better. What determines whether or not I'm even going to bother to click on your listing to see your page is the gallery image.
Yes, I acknowledge, it's time-consuming to edit photos and upload them to a site and link to them, but time is money.
There are times when I see an item that the seller hasn't even bothered trying to identify, and I like to email sellers and offer them information about their items. But if I can't make it out, nobody else can.
Take the time to frame your photos better, use dark, patternless background on clear glass items, take close-ups when possible and go to the time and trouble of editing your pictures and adding larger photos so potential buyers can see what you've got.
Since sellers in general seem to be hiking up their S&H to ridiculously high levels to offset the price of the item, or they've raised the price of their item to make up for fees and costs by ebay and paypal, you really need to make the item look appealing and very clear. If you really want to sell your stuff, keep the S&H within reason and take the time and trouble to make your photos look desirable. Nobody's going to buy something they can't see. Lisa
Will Latest eBay Changes Affect Traffic to Stores?
By: Ina Steiner
Fri Nov 6 2009 16:02:48
We received two letters today about the news that eBay will remove certain graphical elements of the search results pages in an effort to make search results appear faster. Both of the senders expressed their concerned about the effect on traffic to eBay Stores. (See this articlefor details.)
To the Editor: Re: "eBay will also remove the Matching eBay Stores module in the left navigation that displays individual eBay Stores. The "See all matching eBay Stores" will remain as a text link in the same location."
I hate to see this go as it was one more spot for my eBay store name to show up along with the number of like listings. I doubt that buyers will click on a generic text link to "see all matching eBay stores."
eBay keeps chipping away at the reasons to maintain an eBay storefront. Jim
To the Editor: I read, with much interest, your piece yesterday "eBay News for Sellers - Removing Graphics for Faster Search" and I have to say...once again the stores owners/subscribers are getting the shaft...and in what is supposed to be a busy season.
Many of the changes this last 6 months seem to be geared toward the mobile hand-held device users and this is a good thing...upgrading the system is always good. But when each change takes a little more away from the store owners, you see the priorities that stores carry with this group of ebay executives. They still take our money but cheapen the product.
In your article: "In an effort to make its search results appear faster, eBay will remove two graphic elements from the search results page that it says are not widely used by buyers, but take extra time to load. Beginning November 9, it will remove the "Get More Results" module at the bottom of the page. However, the "See additional items from eBay Stores?" will remain a text link in the same location.
eBay will also remove the Matching eBay Stores module in the left navigation that displays individual eBay Stores. The "See all matching eBay Stores" will remain as a text link in the same location." "eBay said it has tested both of the changes"...with whom did they run this test?
Also in the announcement: "eBay also said that it would hold off on making buyer email addresses anonymous in member-to-member emails. We're working now on a new system to beta test in early 2010. If all goes well, we'll launch it shortly thereafter."
We've been fighting this for years...communication is the key to sales...take that away and all you have is a sales sheet! A little more of the human aspect of commerce is taken out of the equation. Carl G.
To the Editor: E-Bay needs to return to the basics in the worst way! Did you know that e-Bay only counts unique buyers for positive feedback but counts all negatives from one person. I know this has been talked to death but I'm so frustrated with e-Bay and all their changes! One way feedback especially.
I just had the most horrible buyer that I've ever had in 5 1/2 years on e-Bay. She's every seller's nightmare. We were on vacation, store on vacation, auto response to email stated we would check email as often as we could and return Oct 24. Buyer sent email that I had done something wrong on her customs form (UK) and she had to pay extra VAT.
I asked for a copy of the customs form. Rec'd it a couple of days later. Informed buyer that I would take care of it upon my return Oct 24. On Oct 23 buyer left 3 negative feedbacks after my telling her I would take care of it Oct 24 & e-Bay counted all 3.
I responded more than once while we were away. What part of out of town do you not understand, buyer? What part of limited access to email do you not understand? And, Ina, did you know that the buyer gets the last word when you add a note to feedback left? She was able to respond to my reply that I was out of town & did not ignore her emails - she said my response was "untrue".
Don't bother to request "revised" feedback. Your request goes straight to the buyer who, of course, declined to revise. No one from e-Bay even looks at it. So don't bother requesting an appeal - you get nowhere. Basically, the buyer can say anything they want, call you "incompetent". And wonder of wonders, she has a very low feedback number... So frustrating. Mimi
To the Editor: I would like to let you know of a serious site-wide problem on eBay that's been happening since Wednesday 10/28. No one at eBay has a clue. I reported it several times to eBay but nothing as been done. This is the problem:
Ever since Wednesday, if the shipping method on a listing is Standard Flat Rate Shipping, Expedited Flat Shipping or Other and free shipping is provided, the listing does not display the words "Free Shipping" underneath the price. Yet, if one clicks on the "Shipping and Payment" tab and then click on "Get Rate", the words "Free Shipping" appears underneath the price. Nevertheless, the words "Free Shipping" are always displayed underneath the price if the shipping method is USPS or UPS.
This is a serious problem for those of us who use FedEx. Since FedEx is not one of the shipping options, we have to use either Standard Flat Rate Shipping, Expedited Flat Rate Shipping or Other. Because buyers don't see "Free Shipping", they go elsewhere. My sales have been down 30% to 40% due to this problem. Here is an actual question that a buyer asked, and there are others:
"I saw your listing last week and thought it was listed with free shipping. Did you take the free shipping off?"
As I said earlier, I have reported this to eBay several times in the last few days and nothing has been done. In one instance, an account manager told me this:
"The more detailed a specification of a shipping service (USPS UPS), the detail of free shipping will appear in the 'Shipping' section just under the starting bid or price in a description. Not specifying a specific carrier will result in general information displayed such as other see description. This is a feature by design and not any type of technical or design error."
Why should eBay discriminate again free shipping provided by carriers that is not an eBay partner (for example FedEx is not an eBay partner). If what the account manager says is true, then eBay is unfairly exerting power to favor shipping carriers that is has dealings with (and potential kickbacks from those carriers). It is bad business practice, unfair, unethical and possibly illegal.
Can you please publish this so more seller can see what eBay is up to? Thanks, eBay Power Seller
