PayPal, graphs and the trouble with feedback

March 4, 2010

PayPal sent out a marketing email this week to UK-based eBay sellers, trying to encourage them to banish cheques and postal orders from their listings. The justification, they said, is that DSR scores left by buyers who’ve paid with PayPal are so… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Paypal, Selling Tips, Soapbox | 18 Comments 

Is this really the best eBay has to offer?

March 4, 2010

Today’s eBay UK deal of the day makes for interesting reading. The are being sold by an Irish-registered seller, but are shipping from Singapore. I’m rather surprised that eBay UK has chosen to promote this deal, as there are a number of… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Soapbox | 17 Comments 

Why I’m quitting my eBay business

February 15, 2010

Within the next few weeks I’ll be shutting one of my eBay shops for good and withdrawing from the marketplace. It’s not because I haven’t made good profits, it’s because eBay has forced me out of the marketplace. As many of you know I’ve traded… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under Featured, Soapbox | 96 Comments 

eBay Search needs to get smarter

February 7, 2010

A few weeks back I was looking for the complete boxed set of all seven seasons of The West Wing on eBay. As you would, I searched for “West Wing DVDs complete” – and turned up hundreds. The problem was that rather than being what I wanted, they were… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Featured, Soapbox | 15 Comments 

PayPal echeques’ confusing messages

February 4, 2010

It’s one of those emails sellers dread, maybe even more than the “where’s my item?” one. The one that says, your buyer paid you, but there’s no money yet: a PayPal echeque notification. And then you have to mail the buyer and explain… or decide to… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Paypal, Soapbox | 21 Comments 

Valentines canceled on eBay in Post Code lottery

February 4, 2010

One of this week’s “Weekly Deals” has brought up an annoyance that has peeved me for years on eBay – sellers that discriminate according to where in the UK you happen to live. The deal for for my dear old mum on Valentines day would have been… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under Soapbox | 12 Comments 

Let us be excellent : what I’d do with eBay, part 4

January 27, 2010

At the weekend, I mentioned my thoughts about how feedback should evolve to a couple of sellers. Both were shocked: if there were no visibility penalty attached to bad feedback, they said, why would sellers care about it? This shows just how far… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Soapbox | 22 Comments 

Let feedback be feedback : what I’d do with eBay, part 3

January 27, 2010

I said, in a recent and rather grumpy piece, that eBay has lost its way, that it doesn’t know what it is any more. I stand by that. It’s not an auction site any more (nor, with fixed price sales increasing quarter on quarter, should it be made to… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Soapbox | 31 Comments 

Just because they’re paranoid… : what I would do with eBay, part 2

January 26, 2010

I’m going to make this one brief, because I hold out a small hope that eBay might read it. It’s something that could be sorted almost immediately. It would cost nothing. And it would make the site a 100% more pleasant place to be. Ebay needs to… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Featured, Soapbox | 23 Comments 

Outlets, outlawed : what I’d do with eBay, part 1

January 15, 2010

Oops, they’ve done it again. New eBay Outlet store La Redoute has managed to rack up a less-than-impressive 5 neutrals and 10 negative feedbacks in a month of trading: at time of writing, that puts them on 97.7% overall, or 5.4% non-positive… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Featured, Soapbox | 48 Comments 

10 for ‘10 : Psychic Psue’s Predictions for 2010 on eBay

December 27, 2009

“And now, the end is near…” Ahem, sorry. Wrong karaoke. I’ve heard that if you get from Christmas to New Year without some kind of list post, they take away your blogging card. So here are ten random things that may, more or less, or may not… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Soapbox | 95 Comments 

LMVH vs. eBay : brand spanking for the small seller

December 1, 2009

photo credit: Gavin GilmourStrike another one for LVMH. As m’colleague’s posted, the Jarndyce and Jarndyce of ecommerce, eBay vs. LVMH, has seen eBay fined some more pocket money for allowing, or not stopping, the sale of products LVMH didn’t want… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Soapbox | 6 Comments 

Punished for a year for being a good seller

November 24, 2009

The third Top Rated Seller evaluation has just taken place but if you are a low volume seller there probably is no change – You are still being judged on your performance from up to a year ago. High volume sellers (over 400 items/quarter) are… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under Soapbox | 64 Comments 

How to make a profit from spam

November 22, 2009

I’ve finally figured out how to make money from spam. For those that know me you’ll know that spam is something I detest so don’t worry – I’ve not turned into a spammer, I just decided to bite back. A few days ago TameBay reader Whirly complained… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under Soapbox | 30 Comments 

eBay Messages : it’s bad to talk

November 14, 2009

I’ve been having a conversation with a chum recently via eBay Messages. We’ve sent a couple of emails each over the last fortnight or so, and last night I tried to respond to his most recent message. This is what I got back from… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Site Changes, Soapbox, eBay.co.uk | 12 Comments 

Please don’t use eBay.com’s new sharing tool

October 30, 2009

eBay have just introduced new share features for listings on .com, but the best advice I can give you is just don’t. Don’t use them. Don’t click them. Don’t get social! I know what you’re thinking – why would eBay put them there if they don’t… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under Site Changes, Soapbox, eBay.com | 9 Comments 

eBay UK push trackable delivery

October 1, 2009

I had a rather strange marketing email from eBay yesterday, extolling the virtues of trackable postage “to help protect my eBay earnings”. If you missed it, here’s the text of the message: If you sell items of significant value on eBay,… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Soapbox, eBay.co.uk | 70 Comments 

Small business owners ask government to end postal strike

September 29, 2009

photo credit: sludgegulperWe’ve heard plenty in recent months about the problems caused to small businesses by the current Royal Mail strike. One of the recurring themes has been the frustration felt by people whose businesses have no alternative… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Featured, News, Soapbox | 49 Comments 

eBay tests most complicated feedback form ever

September 22, 2009

eBay have again been testing some changes to the feedback that buyers leave for sellers. There are several variations of the form which “a small proportion” of buyers see: one of the variations has been posted on Flickr by eBay Ink. Based on the… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Site Changes, Soapbox | 40 Comments 

Does eBay have an obligation to regulate the market?

August 16, 2009

It is has often been said by eBay that feedback (and now DSRs) will regulate the market – bad sellers will be found out and will not be able to trade on the platform. Does this work though? It seems that there are many sellers who trade successfully… Read more

Written by Jimbo · Filed Under Soapbox | 24 Comments 

Former eBay seller DrSteveW’s thoughts on eBay

July 16, 2009

Steve (eBay ID DrSteveW) wrote about the reasons for his company folding, today he shares his thoughts and opinions on some of the eBay changes that have taken place over the last year. I’ll say up front, some I agree with, some I disagree with, but… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under Soapbox | 65 Comments 

eBay UK to expand ‘charity in checkout’ program

July 9, 2009

photo credit: Annie Mole that they’re to expand the eBay for Charity program which asks some buyers to donate a pound to a random charity as they checkout. This program’s been running since November 2008, and eBay have labelled it a “great… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Site Changes, Soapbox, eBay.co.uk | 6 Comments 

Got any mower Deals of the Day?

June 14, 2009

If you were hoping to snap up today’s eBay UK deal of the day, you’re out of luck: it’s been ended early. Perhaps that’s as well, as the listing contained a fairly blatant breach of eBay’s regulations: a fee-avoiding offer for an add-on lawnmower,… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Soapbox | 10 Comments 

Isn’t it about time buyers got some privacy?

May 6, 2009

eBay UK announced today that after the end of the auction as well as during it. Sellers will of course be able to see their winner, and the anonmymised bid history page giving limited details of buyer activity over the last 30 days will be visible… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Featured, Soapbox | 20 Comments