The Evils Of EBAY
As I get to know the workings of EBAY I uncover more and more strangeness. They are way behind, they know it, and they’re fine with that.
1 One-Way Communication
You can message and request phone calls with EBAY as much and as often as you like. They never respond to obvious errors in their system and always makes you think, “did you hear what I just said?” Their technical helpers will call you back, but they can’t fix anything. Telling EBAY important changes they should make or things that are not working does no good at all. Nothing gets changed; nothing gets fixed.
2 No Internet Delivery of eBooks
eBooks began in 1971. eBooks do not have a physical entity. eBooks don’t need packaging, a label, pickup, a shipping carrier, a delivery or a tracking number. EBAY has known about eBooks for 50 years and STILL has not embraced the shipping method of:
No Shipping (Internet Delivery)
- 1. The buyer buys an eBook
- 2. the seller CAN NOT send the eBook through EBAY email because only photos can be attached to the highly-restricted EBAY email messages. eBooks CAN NOT be sent via EBAY email.
- 3. the seller must invite the buyer to send a private email. (A normal email that does NOT go through the EBAY system.)
- 4. the seller can then deliver the eBook INSTANTLY via the Internet.
According to the general understanding of EBAY, this process is FORBIDDEN—no private emails allowed. After questioning the EBAY technical support people for a long time, however, it finally came to light that private emails ARE allowed, but only after a sale.
This leaves the daunting problem of no selectable shipping method labeled
No Shipping (Internet Delivery)
I have asked and asked and asked and asked and yet there is still no Internet shipping method for eBooks!
It’s as if EBAY never heard of eBooks or Internet Delivery. At EBAY it is still 1971.
3 No Movies Allowed
I make movies. I cannot sell them properly because movie demos are not allowed in EBAY item descriptions! Links to movies on the seller’s website are not allowed. Movie demos can not be attached to EBAY email messages.
Movies are NOT ALLOWED ON EBAY.
That makes the EBAY handling of movies deeply flawed in two ways.
- 1. movies cannot be sent via the flawed EBAY email system
- 2. movies cannot be placed in the flawed item Descriptions area of a listing
4 The Lazy EBAY Search Engine
The ordinary EBAY seller might assume that the EBAY search engine works like web page search engines that index all the words in a web page. Wrong. The EBAY search engine only searches the 80 character Title (Name) of each item. All of the Description text is completely ignored.
This is madness!
Almost for certain the majority of EBAY sellers think that their Description text is searchable.
I thought so. It is not. I determined this by placing obscure text lines in my Descriptions [like “emergency cancellation Archimedes”] and then, 2 days later, searched for the obscure text. For each product I tested: no results ever.
Indexing the Description text is NOT too big a job. Internet search engines routinely index ALL web pages in sites around the world.
Who can (or would want to) put all the required keywords into the item’s 80 character title? Not me; that’s for sure.
I have requested that a new field be added for sellers named Keywords. In this field could be put critical keywords that the seller thinks a buyer might search for.
So far, this has NOT happened. From my brief experience with EBAY, this WILL NEVER HAPPEN.
EBAY never goes out of its way for sellers
EBAY only wants to get their
fees, fines, penalties and service charges.
Presumably, EBAY learned this
from watching what banks do.
In my opinion, because of the deeply flawed EBAY search engine, any time a buyer actually finds what they’re looking for on EBAY, it’s a MIRACLE.
Because of the obsolete, ineffective EBAY search engine, the system is critically defective.
From what I have seen and what I’ve been told by EBAY, it has absolutely no desire to pull themselves out of the 60’s and join the rest of us in this century.
It’s a terrible shock . . . but it’s the way things are at EBAY.
5 Selling The Last One
Get this. When you sell the last of an item, EBAY makes your product disappear. Know how you get your product to re-appear?
- 1. You search for your removed item in SOLD
- 2. You request Make Similar
- 3. By not editing, you actually put the original item back into EBAY
- 4. Save the “duplicate” item. This creates a “duplicate” that is your original item.
- 5. Your item shows up again after about 48 hours
Silly method? I sure do think so. How about a “Re-List” button? How about setting the quantity back to 1?
I originally thought that EBAY had put the sold item in “jail” to wait for a customer compliment or complaint. Nope. If you do not provide a quantity, EBAY assumes the quantity is 1.
This technique is so obtuse and obscure, I had to get help to discover how to put a sold item back on sale.
6 Conclusion
EBAY is right on time with their fees, fines, penalties and service charges. Their system works perfectly when it comes to EBAY getting their money.
When it comes to making improvements, however, EBAY is a no-show. Like our government and the rest of our corrupt society, EBAY is only in it for the money.
7 Dirty Trick #1
My Products Removed
Believe it or not, without any offense on my part, EBAY acted as police, judge and jury and removed all my products. They didn’t sideline my work (high-end marketing language) THEY DELETED IT ALL.
Unbelievable! Unacceptable.
Did they offer a warning, first? No.
Did they offer training first? No.
They just deleted my products.
Even the Navy fires a warning shot across the bow of a wayward ship. Not EBAY. They sank their target thinking they would ask questions later.
EBAY gave themselves away. They can’t be trusted.
After they destroyed my hard work, this absurd email arrived as a no.reply@ebay.com
EBAY was a no-show at the start and a no-show at the end.
Hello ohmlad,
We had to remove your listing because it didn’t follow our Electronically delivered items policy. Electronically delivered goods can only be listed by eBay approved sellers and must follow our policy.
What activity didn't follow the policy
Unauthorized digital items, including eBooks, are not allowed.
Because you may not have been aware of this policy, we're sending this notice to educate you about it and ask that you follow this policy in the future.
- Listings that didn't follow this policy have been ended.
- We have credited all associated fees except for payments processing fees and the final value fee for your listing(s).
Listings that don't follow this policy in the future will be ended.
Why we have this policy
This policy protects buyers from purchasing unauthorized digital items.
See? Did I have them pegged or what? All they care about is their fees, fines, penalties and service charges. Right and wrong and doing the right thing by their sellers never comes into it. They don’t understand or “allow” eBooks or videos. They’re stuck back in 1971 with an ancient power & control mentality souring everything they do.
Notice the absurd statement: “this policy protects buyers from [ ] unauthorized digital items?” You’d think that, even though they live in the 1970’s, they would have at least heard of
- • software companies delivering huge operating systems and huge application packages via the Internet
- • the Facebook / Cambridge Analytica disaster
- • spying by hackers using a computer’s built in microphone and web cam. They can even turn on the camera without the LED warning light going on.
- • spying of video and audio by the RING doorbell product
- • spying of audio by voice actuated radios
- • spying of video and audio by ZOOM
- • spying of video and audio by Microsoft’s SKYPE chat system
- • the malware that destroyed nearly all federal network computers as seen on 60 Minutes
- • ThinThread spying on every phone call, text, email, credit card use and bank transaction
- • advanced facial and license plate recognition on roads and street corners
- • Muscular a supercomputer that can break any company’s network passwords
- • PRISM in an AT&T closet in San Francisco, PRISM is splitting off and copying of the ENTIRE Internet signal 24 hours a day—everything!
but EBAY did NOT hear of these things. They think their “policies” are going to save us.
It appears that EBAY intends to save the world
by preventing eBook and movie creators
from delivering their products
the same way EVERY OTHER
CONTENT PROVIDER IN THE WORLD DOES—by the Internet.
Perhaps EBAY is an enthusiastic puppet of the federal government as they work hard to dumb down US citizens.
THAT is what The Sadderday Times is for. Getting people to see what The Powers That Be do not want them to see.
And just when I thought that EBAY couldn’t do anything worse than DELETING MY WORK WITHOUT WARNING, I found out that EBAY was posting LIES about why my items are no longer listed. The listing was ended because EBAY deleted all my work. Based on their horrible behavior, and since all my work had been erased, I quit EBAY. So they have given themselves away AGAIN! Even when you quit using their “services,” they still attack you and try to damage your image. In my opinion their system stinks, their service stinks, they delete their seller’s work without warning, and they lie to try to make their failure seem like the seller’s fault. Their lie: “because the item is no longer available” is really stupid because (1) I never told them that and (2) I make these DVDs myself so the item is ALWAYS available.
I’m going to watch my bank account like a hawk to see if they’re going to attack me there, too. I trust EBAY to act responsibly about as far as I can throw a piano.
So . . . bottom line . . . without even a hint of a warning ebay ERASED ALL MY WORK!
I can’t abide
such horrific treatment
and such calloused people.
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8 Dirty Trick #2
Badly Displaying My Withdrawn Items
So I was searching for one of my items and I found one on Google. The problem is that the search led to EBAY where another sour message lied about why EBAY no longer could offer the product.
Here’s the Google search result. Notice the missing link line?
And here’s the sour page that EBAY had waiting.
See the black on grey text line?
“You ended this listing by indicating this item is no longer available.”
Another pointless, mean-spirited, evil lie. I ended all my listings because EBAY erased all my hard work.
With “friends” like EBAY, who is needing an enema?
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Word On The Street
From
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Archive-Vintage/Ebay-stinks-now/td-p/1503852
we read:
I haven't taken a look for about a year and now the site looks like Bluefly-- very cheap-- the buy it now format has ruined the bidding process in fact i did a vintage search highest price down and found only one item that had bids in 12 pages of searching—a complete joke. I used to own a store and have fabulous items to sell but there is no action anymore on Ebay in the vintage section. What has happened to Ebay?
To make matters worse try telling Ebay about their shortcomings they hamper you at every turn and don't allow you to voice a protest unless you pre click a problem that is not the problem. Hey ebay how about a pull down choice of "Why we stink now?" Jeeze. I didn't think Meg Whitman leaving was such a big deal but one look at this place where auctions go to die tells me the new guy in charge should be fired.
The viewing experience is ugly. The bidding non existent and who asked for sponsored links? What a terrible waste of a good idea.
Tragic.—gramercyhouse
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I would think that you had a real shock after 1 year. ebay has indeed changed and for the worse. I have a few categories that I sell in that are still active but for the most part my websites are my prime selling venues.
I still try to buy on ebay but the selection is getting worse and the junk ads abound. Page after page of repeat listings. Over half of my buying on the internet is from private websites now. Better selection and better prices.—billphil.
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I used to start with a bidding price, like ebay suggested and if you start as low as 99 cents and only get one bid, its not worth my time to go to the bother of packing up and shipping for that price. So I then started all my items at 9.99 so if I only got one bid, it was worth it on smaller items.
Usually I still only got one or two bids, so I thought the buy it now or best offer was cool for me, but its not for everyone. I agree, auctions are more fun and exciting, but only if you have more then one interested party. Also some bidders would run an item up and still not pay for what they bought, its was all about winning for some of them.
I still list a few items with bidding, but only if I have no way of knowing what something is worth, and still start the bidding at what I think its worth to me, not 99 cents! Those are ebay ideas and they suck. They certainly have changed over the past few years.
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I'm anything but a new seller. I have over 740 positive feedbacks. I have never even had a neutral feedback or negative, EVER..!! I have sold boats, motorcycles, gold and many other items worth thousands of dollars over the years, many years. I sold a 200 dollar item the other day, and payment is on hold till delivery is confirmed (tracking number provided). All my account info is up to date, including paying and selling payments. Account properly linked.
So you tell me how this is good business, or security measures. I guess cause I haven't sold anything in the last year or so, now I am a new seller again, LOL..!! And out of the $200, ebay took $28 [14%] as their fee. That is outrageous if you ask me, fee-bay used to be a great place to do business, but as soon as I get paid, this will be the very last transaction I ever do on here, and there are many more like me. As long as people tolerate this, they will keep doing it, and get even worse. I will gladly take my unsecure account down the road.
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A True Ebay Horror Story
From
we read:
After Charges [are brought]
Against Former eBay Executives
It's Time to Rethink
[Harassment] “Investigations”
EBay is not the first company to encounter problems due to the illegal or unethical use of investigations, nor will it be the last, but companies can start thinking today about how to avoid being the next [harassment investigation victim].
June 29, 2020 at 12:51 PM
By Jarrett Wolf
The facts contained in the FBI agent’s affidavit were unusual.
When two members of eBay’s executive leadership became frustrated with the editor of an online newsletter perceived as critical of the company,
- • eBay security and intelligence executives and employees sent the editor a series of threatening messages
- • they ordered a box of cockroaches
- • a bloody pig Halloween mask
- • a book on surviving the death of a spouse
- • a sympathy wreath and
- • a fetal pig to be delivered to the editor and her husband.
- • They posted an ad on Craigslist inviting strangers to sex parties at the couple’s home.
- • They subscribed to “Hustler: Barely Legal” and had the magazine delivered to two of the couple’s neighbors, addressed to the husband but using the neighbor’s addresses.
- • They wrote the name of an anonymous Twitter account critical of eBay—the identification of which was, relatedly, a top priority to eBay’s executive leadership—on a fence outside the couple’s home.
- • And they conducted surveillance of the couple and
- • took steps toward breaking into the couple’s garage to install a GPS tracking device on their SUV.
When the security and intelligence executives and employees at eBay learned that their conduct was being investigated by law enforcement, they
- • obstructed the law enforcement investigation
- • lied to police and
- • took steps to frame a third party.
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