eBay Suggests Workaround for Store Category Problem

by: flybuy
Web Site

I have read so many complaints about Ebay stores it appears the subscription is not worth it.  Is there anyone who is happy with his or her store and thinks the changes are beneficial?

by: BargainzBabylon

I am very happy with my store and feel that a basic store is a very good value. I've had no problems with my store and have had one since 2002, but I'm not in NexGen which seems to be where this problem lies. I'm less happy about the ''many listing promotions'' being alluded to than the lack of more free listings for my premium store tier, as I honestly don't think the search can handle people dumping thousands upon thousands of items on the site all at once, particularly churning them through short listing periods. Views and sales go down, not up during these periods. Some items don't even index. But that's not the store's fault.  

by: sasikat9

We have three Anchor stores. Each store has over 10000 items in it. Very happy as its nice to just stash inventory on GTC and forget about it. We don't try to do all the bells and whistles on listings. Just plain and simple.

Our biggest complaint is that some of the items fail to relist and get lost in the Ebay black fog.

We just list, forget and ship if and when sold. We have never gotten excited about free listings.

We aren't carrot jumpers, have 5 day shipping and use very little tracking as most items can go first class.

by: Rexford

Having a store only means that you have an organized black hole--a place that you list items, and if those items don't sell in a timely means, they fall into a black hole never to be seen.

Secondly, the only think that I have seen free listings do is kill sales. I guess they are great for non-store owners, but all free listings do is flood a market that is already saturated.

I've had more sales this week on etsy and ecrater than I have had on eBay this week. Until eBay fix their broken search I expect this to become the norm, which is why I continue to ramp up on other sites and scale down on eBay.  

by: Eric Saeger

Jaw-dropping stuff here. What the hell gang of shiny mongoloids is managing eBay's code vault? These guys are the McHale's Navy of programming, like their "Include File" directory needs to take out a restraining order. It's goddam endless.

by: The End

Ebay needs to explain why I can't checkout using just my credit card without having to link to an old dusty UNwanted PayPal account.
Every way I tried, I am still forced to resurrect my unwanted PayPal account to complete the transaction.
PayPal sucks, and now it's a cancer.  

by: Rexford

"Revert to old store (button on the top right corner of your Stores homepage), Set up listing frame, check if it works and then revert to NextGen/New stores again. Let us know if this works otherwise I will have product team look into this more specifically."

Or eBay could just fix the problem, if they are capable.  Too busy working on that seller hub I guess.

by: RKTOYS

The new store is a joke devoid of any meaningful customizability.  If I weren't dumping the subscription altogether in 3 months, I'd flip back to the old type.

by: mcposty

The store is pointless, the subscription is only to save money on insertion fees

by: Randy

I do not understand how some people can complain about whether or not they received something that is FREE!  Must be a bunch of Dumbocrats!

by: toolguy

@ mcposty

"The store is pointless, the subscription is only to save money on insertion fees"

You also get a discounted FVF fee and better exposure in search results.

A basic store is well worth the $15 a month. . .

by: toyman

BIGGER PROBLEM.
Being forced to put in a UPC or MPN on certain products and then eBay not realizing that OTHER products have the same MPN and sticking said product into the category of the wrong product, despite what category was actually selected.

I sell diecast cars and (truth be told) those manufacturers are not very creative, when it comes to Product Numbers (something like 543 is typical). I have to check EVERY week to make sure that my items are actually IN the category I chose and EVERY week I find my cars in WATCHES, DIGITAL CAMERAS or REFRIGERATORS, for goodness sake. Most people with saved searches DON'T save ''Diecast Cars in Digital Cameras'' as one of their options, so I miss out on sales that I would normally get.

I've complained about it, but it apparently does not register very high with the Powers that Be.

by: gizmo

Ebay says were listening.NO WAY !!
I use the "tell us what you think button" , I tell them you have no traffic. They come back with , try our basic store , we think its for you. BULLPUCKEY. I only sell 20 or so items a month , on a good one. WHY , why would I waste my time & money on something I do not need?  
  They dont listen , they are straight up liars. Automated response at best. Im no longer falling for any of their deceptions. This is also in response to ripping me off for shipping fees. I stand firm in my belief , RUN SELLERS RUN !!  

by: Bloggo

"something that is FREE!" Store subscriptions are not FREE. Talk about DUMB.

by: Ming the Merciless

Perhaps those with stores should be demanding to know WHY ebafia has ignored this problem since February.

My answer is that that they're completely incompetent slackers.

by: Printers devil

Randy. If you live LONG enough, you will realise NOTHING absolutely NOTHING is free. When you do, you will have matured and stopped being taken in by anybody and have a much better life. And when i say everybody I do mean everyone who has a message JUST for you that will enrich your life. That includes Billy Graham, Gandhi and ALL politicians and the exec's of E-bay and affiliated companies. It 'ain't free. That is the language for chumps.

by: The End

WOW ! Ebay charges 3X what Etsy charges to sell.
That's HORRIBLE.
And uncompetitive.

by: Volvo351

On 2nd reflection, doesn't that "revert to the old store" BS remind you a lot of the usual "clear your cookies" nonsense? IOW, just a twist on one of their scripted, one-size-doesn't-fit-all responses?

by: Volvo351

@Randy

feeBay users rightly complain about not getting something "free" b/c it was OFFERED and PROMISED, not demanded, by those who are PAYING for an "eBay store."

feeBay's FAILURE to honor that promise is yet another demonstration of bad faith.

by: Volvo351

@Rexford

I'd agree that PAYING for a "store" on top of the profit-crippling fees we already pay, makes little sense. Right now sell-thru is dismal; I do sell an occasional item but that's b/c I keep my prices LOWER than the competition to MOVE stuff here.

BTW, right now my FB score may be hurting me but that's due to a number of factors: eBay's one-year window, two whiners/scammers - one left me a Red Donut after LOSING a bogus SNAD! - and the simple fact that buyers are ingrates who don't bother leaving +FB anymore.

For the past several years I've noticed that you get the Green Light from less than HALF of buyers. They're too freakin' lazy to do a couple of clicks to help out a good seller...they just take it for granted. Now, that's their right, but since we're PUNISHED for bad FB/DSR's, we have a right to complain about it.