eBay sucks

Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2022 9:05 pm

eBay sucks, no more phone support at all, just automated chat AFAIK...

So the evening of December 13, 2021 here in Los Angeles, I purchased a couple of wall warts of a certain hard to find configuration from a seller in Florida.

Seller sent it on the 14th, the tracking said it was here in town on the 16th, and out for delivery. I thought this was unusual (too quick) for a first class package to get here in 2 days.
At 10:30 AM that day the item's tracking was showing a "MISSENT" entry and the parcel was not delivered. I contacted USPS and found out why. Apparently the package was sent using priority packaging, but the postage paid on it was 1st class, so it had postage due. USPS hasn't delivered postage due pieces for decades now. There was no further further tracking until 5 days later 12/21/2021, when the package turned up at LOCKA FLORIDA distribution center (and might still be there).

After trying the phone numbers I had for eBay support I realized that they no longer have any phone support at all. All you can get is automated chat.

I started reading all I could on eBay and it said to wait, so I waited until Jan 3 2022 when I finally sent a message to the seller.
Seller said they'd get right on it, and never heard from again. Here's the quote:

"I am very sorry for this inconvenience. USPS has the package AND
I will contact them to check the status. I will keep you informed. Thank you"

Then crickets, never heard another word from the seller.

3 days later I asked eBay to intervene, and they put the case on hold for another 10 days (ending today) so they could "gather documentation"! BS, they didn't gather anything except the holding of my money. It had already been over 3 weeks! No possible way to tell them anything or ask them anything at that point, as there is no option to do anything until that time has passed and they take it off of "HOLD".

More crickets, but this time accompanied by me hollering obscenities about eBay for 10 days.

So finally today after several attempts, I was able to get a response, and they refunded my money, which they had for a total of 5 weeks. 5 weeks that I couldn't just go buy the product I wanted,
in case their crap actually showed up. Not the kind of thing I wanted too many of.

So eBay has definitely dropped another few rungs on my list of where to buy stuff. No phone support when I need it? There will be little or no income from me. Bastages.

Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2022 10:29 pm

Basically the same is to be expected for many other online sites. Except Amazon. I have received excellent support from them numerous times.

Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2022 12:30 am

That's why I only pay with PayPal. Anytime I've had a problem with the seller, they promptly refunded the money. Fortunately I've only had to go this route twice in the past 10 years. The most recent was a month ago.

Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2022 2:02 am

I do use PayPal for eBay purchases. Getting my money back wasn't the first priority, getting the product was. But they never did anything to make that happen, then put the thing on hold.

I've bought lots of stuff on eBay in the last 22 years or so, some of it not just cheap stuff, an $1800 amp, $1000 speakers, and several other $500 dollar things. But I'm not sure I'd do it now without any way to actually talk to someone representing if it goes badly. And having the automated authoritarian putting this on hold after it was already 3 weeks late didn't do anything but ensure I'll be very wary before ever spending money there again.

They're stuck in the cheap lane now as far as I'm concerned. Their business model no longer meets my requirements and they've lost my confidence.

Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2022 2:40 am

I hear you. There was a time when eBay was pro-buyer, then pro-seller. Sellers stopped listing and now its just pro-nothing.

Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2022 5:42 am

I'm having a saga with fleabay at the moment. I sold a pair of shocks for $ 500.00. The funds were put on hold for almost three weeks, in the meantime the buyer wanted to return the shocks saying it was purchased by mistake. I refused the return. The hold came off and I received a message from fleabay that the funds were transferred to my bank account minus the 12.55% sellers fee. The only problem was that the transfer message stated the las four digits of the bank account but it wasn't my account numbers.
There is a way to have the company call you back, you have to search for the right tab. I received a call from a man with a Spanish accent, I asked where he was calling from, he said Cartagena Colombia. He told me I have to ask the bank to transfer the funds to my account. I protested saying that there is no way the bank would do that without authorization from his company. He told me I need to get a note from the bank saying that they can't perform the transfer. I gave up on him and will try again. I'm in no mans land and out of 466.00$.

Chico

Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2022 6:18 am

Chico, I don't understand. If the funds were transferred to your bank account -less sellers fee - then hpw could the account number be wrong? That is, if the account number is wrong, the funds would not be deposited into your account.

Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2022 6:23 am

Yikes. That sounds like a nightmare.

Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2022 6:31 am

Brian, that's the problem, the funds were sent to an account that isn't mine.

Chico

Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2022 6:35 am

Payment not done through PayPal? Just trying to figure out how this mess ocurred.

Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2022 6:39 am

Payment was done through eBay.

Chico

Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2022 12:43 pm

I haven't listed anything on eBay in over a year, but I continue to buy from them with good results. They're definitely not a seller's friend anymore. Their selling fees and PayPal fees make lower dollar transactions not worth the trouble. I've heard stories from friends that sold an item, only to have the buyer claim it was damaged, not what they expected, etc. Then the buyer was refunded and didn't return the item! Knock on wood that I haven't had a bad buying experience yet, but Gene's and Chico's stories are real bummers.

I agree with Gene in that the business model has changed, - drastically. It's all about eBay and not the buyer OR the seller. We need a new online auction company to step in with a more reasonable, less greedy venue for buying and selling.

Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2022 12:47 pm

E bay wont send funds to PayPal any more, it almost seems like they are trying to kill PP after having bought it. I recently went to sell something and E bay insisted on having a bank acct to send my proceeds to. I certainly was not happy to give them access to my primary bank acct as I fear what they might do with permission to take finds whenever they want. So I had to open a new dedicated acct. Seemed like a lot of annoying hassle to me.

Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:33 pm

PayPal has not been owned by eBay for some time. EBay owned it from 2002 to 2014.

According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PayPal :
On January 31, 2018, eBay announced that "After the existing eBay-PayPal agreement ends in 2020, PayPal will remain a payment option for shoppers on eBay, but it won't be prominently featured ahead of debit and credit card options as it is today. PayPal will cease to process card payments for eBay at that time." The company will "instead begin working with Amsterdam-based Adyen"

Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2022 5:40 pm

genesound wrote:

PayPal has not been owned by eBay for some time. EBay owned it from 2002 to 2014.

According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PayPal :
On January 31, 2018, eBay announced that "After the existing eBay-PayPal agreement ends in 2020, PayPal will remain a payment option for shoppers on eBay, but it won't be prominently featured ahead of debit and credit card options as it is today. PayPal will cease to process card payments for eBay at that time." The company will "instead begin working with Amsterdam-based Adyen"

Ah ha! I had it backwards. That explains why they are moving away from PP.

Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2022 2:18 am

When I sell something on fleabay, I am charged 12.55% plus $.30 on the total amount of the selling price, the shipping cost, and the tax the buyer has to pay. Fuck fleabay, like Tom says, I wish someone would start another online, buying/selling venue. Greedy bastards.

Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2022 3:12 am

Grumpy32 wrote:

When I sell something on fleabay, I am charged 12.55% plus $.30 on the total amount of the selling price, the shipping cost, and the tax the buyer has to pay. Fuck fleabay, like Tom says, I wish someone would start another online, buying/selling venue. Greedy bastards.

You can try LetGo, Macari, and OfferUp. I haven't used them but my step-daughter uses them all the time. Take a picture, add some comments and price and BOOM!

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2022 2:48 pm

I think over the years there have been other auction style startups, but ebay had either bought them up or pushed them out. This is hearsay from friends and acquaintances but it wouldnt surprise me if that was the case. Ebay is so large, they can really throw some weight around.

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2022 8:24 pm

I stopped selling stuff on eBay years ago - fees are just way to expensive - which significantly limits the buyers. Craigslist, even with it's limited buyers, typically still leaves more money in my pocket than had I sold on eBay.

I still buy stuff occasionally but when they integrated shipping into eBay the shipping costs went through the roof. What appear to be great deals can still be found but when the inflated shipping is added in, they're not deals anymore. In addition, almost everything is 'buy it now' with costs are typically higher than can be found elsewhere. I sure do miss the old eBay.

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 1:31 pm

Many sellers on ebay have been forced to sign up to ebay "Managed Payments". ebay controls the payment flow, either through credit cards or other methods. Point is, as a buyer, you still have options on how to pay, but ebay collects the transaction fees and also, beginning in 2022, sends a 1099 income tax form to the IRS for each seller that sells more than $600.- In 2021 that threshold was still 20k. ebay is no longer a place where hobbyists can sell their stuff. It has morphed into a place for semi-professional sellers and businesses.

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 3:15 pm

The issue I had with eBay has been resolved. The bank I use, Chase, returned the funds to eBay which then deposited them to MY account.
It seems that Chase recognized that the name and account number didn't match. Thank you Chase.

Chico

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 9:34 pm

I'm sure you're relieved!

Still speaks poorly for eBay though.

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 9:41 pm

Most definitely Gene.

Chico