Email a copy of 'eBay Announces Changes in Today's Fall Seller Update' to a friend
Loading ...
Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.
Just like everyone has been saying the past few days. Its nothing but double speak. Even Greedbay doesn’t know what they mean.
We all knew there would be a catch, as eBay would never give up hundreds of millions of dollars in service metrics fees.
The little caveat is hidden in smaller font:
“We will not protect sellers who: Are rated ‘Very high’ in their Service metrics dashboard”
So if you go into October 1st top rated, and you were unlucky enough to get hit with more fraud INAD’s than your peers, these protections will not apply to you.
Essentially, only a fraction of top rated sellers will actually be protected.
And if you get pushed into “very high” good luck ever getting out, cause your peers will be able to remove their fake INAD’s while you will not.
I never read their updates lol. I’m old fashioned I do everything myself 1 at a time. When I run into a problem. I cross that bridge when I get to it. EBay stopped having a simple site decades ago. Now it’s time to move on to a simpler site with all these changes coming.
The part that still bothers me about these service metrics is that a Seller has no way to verify that Ebay isn’t including them in the very high category because they need more growth to satisfy Wall Street. Until Ebay allows Sellers to see who they are actually being compared to in their peer group this is nothing more than Ebay stealing money from their sellers. I have never in my life paid for something that the company wanting the money could not or in this case just WILL NOT show any me that I owed.
Sellers can look at their detailed invoices and see every charge that Ebay is making to them and can verify that they actually owe that money, except this 5% FVF penalty for supposedly being in the Very High SNAD return category. This is nothing more than Theft by Ebay and until they are prepared to show me the details of why I owe that money they best never hit me with that charge because I will immediately force them to deal with either a lawsuit or arbitration and there is no arbitrator in his right mind that would require a person to pay for something that the company cannot supply the detailed proof that they are entitled to the money.
Any Seller that has been hit with this FVF 5% penalty should be consulting with a law firm that specializes in class action suits because Ebay is charging them for something that Ebay refuses to prove they owe. Ebay has stepped way over the line with this one and their refusal to show the Seller who they are being compared to, as knowing Ebay they are probably comparing Apples to Pomegranates, just makes things that more obvious that Ebay is doing nothing but Stealing money from their Customers. I did not say Oranges because that is probably close enough to support what Ebay is doing where I don’t believe they are even close to being able to support what they are doing. I have never in my life seen a company charge their customers for something that they are unwilling to prove in black and white that the customer owes.
This is nothing but blatant Theft on the part of Ebay and its Desperate CEO.
“inventory Optimization”
eBay neither manufactures, buys/owns or ships any inventory of their own! What inventory are they speaking of? It’s because they think they own you and all your items. They also love to tell Wall Street and shareholders how much “inventory” they have on the site. When will an analyst point out that eBay has ZERO inventory and NEVER HAS?
Everything is the same rehashed nonsense and smokescreens as always. eBay telling you how they’re helping you and making changes for your benefit, while at the same time they’re stealing money out of your pocket and stabbing you in the back. There is NOTHING, and I mean ABSOLUTELY NOTHING eBay does that helps anyone but themselves. It’s all propaganda trying to fool everyone into believing what they say. Those are the facts folks.
I don’t get it.
How is all this leading to a MORE Civilized market place ?
Good point ‘thievesBay’ – the phone company might as well brag about ‘their inventory’ for all of the companies listed in the yellow pages.