Dear Ina, 

I agree eBay sellers should have full control of the content including all 24 photos and videos placed online, to support our items for sale and our businesses. They are now trying to take that away, along with other take-aways that make me and many other sellers question why should we continue to sell on eBay. 

As eBay knows, they aren't the only online platform for us to sell, and ... Read More

Dear Ina,

Re: Have You Been Approached by an eBay Growth Advisor

I have been contacted by eBay growth advisor, more than once. Each time, I feel like it has been a rally to increase the promoted listings, more money in eBay's pockets and less in ours.

It's a big problem with eBay right now. It's either promote these days or don't get sales.

Dan

Dear Ina,

I buy on eBay, but lately everything I bought came from Amazon. When I go to Amazon and look for the item, it is listed at less than what I paid for on eBay.

Sometimes it could come from Walmart and it is sold on Walmart for less than what I paid for on eBay.

I am beginning to think I should just skip eBay and go straight to Walmart or Amazon.

Does eBay care? Is eBay doing anything about it?

One seller said 99% of eBay listings belonged to retail arbitragers, which I don't think it is true.

I would like to hear your comments,

Ohcalcutta

Dear Ina, 

Re: 'eBay Called Me Yesterday' - Are Shipping Costs Too High? (AuctionBytes Blog)

At the end of the day, no matter whether it's free shipping or what have you, the consumer will always end up paying for it in the end. Sellers can't do it any other way. 

USPS, FedEx, UPS rates going up this year. It all goes back into the final cost of the product. 

You've heard from us before but we are a relatively small seller with less than $3 million of revenue annually, and we don't have the resources like big companies to absorb shipping cost like that.

B.

Dear Ina,

Etsy permanently altered the search algorithm in the fall for certain countries, Canada, Australia, EU and UK, such that proximity of a listing to a buyer's stated location is the #1 priority in terms of visibility in search. 

If you check the Etsy Forum, you will see this issue is severely hurting sellers and the test was run "under the radar" starting off and on about 1.5 years ago. It is now official - localization is the key search parameter. 

This seems unnecessary, although related to Etsy's Carbon Footprint Reduction mission, as a buyer is able to set the search to local if they choose.

D.