Had eBay accounts, one for buying and the other selling for about ten years, but finally quit selling in late 2008. During nearly a decade, I’ve seen the auction eBay site change from being mostly enjoyable to a general money losing annoyance. For a time back around year 2000, I was pulling in over $1,000 a week in profit from eBay auctions selling odd smaller items such as vintage photo images, old LIFE magazines, antique books and small collectible pieces. It was actually fun and in selling, many online friendships developed. There were lots of eager auction buyers then with all payments in check or money order. With over 6,000 sales transactions there were just a couple problems involving small amount checks.

Selling and buying back then was quite simple too without myriad complex, confusing and useless added enhanced features. Within the past five or so years, eBay has been transformed through gross mismanagement into a politically correct, money losing, authoritative monstrosity.

All of my auctions were cancelled by eBay twice for “inappropriate content” in year 2004. These occurrences both involved old photographic prints. One picture showing the zeppelin Hindenburg in 1936 had use of the term “nazi airship” within the descriptive text. That and 40 other auctions were all wiped out by eBay with my account being at once suspended for 14-days as punishment.

The other episode was a few weeks later involving a photographic print taken in 1942 showing a wartime scrap metal drive with a sign within the picture displaying “All this Scrap to Lick the Jap”. Not only were all other ongoing auctions wiped out, but there was a small barrage of assorted “nasty gram” robot Emails from eBay that followed. I was threatened with being banned from eBay forever for “racist” content in my auction sales. I was ordered that before being “allowed” to again become a “ full member of the eBay community” that I complete and online instructional with quiz on “Social Tolerance”. Only after carrying out that task would I be “considered” for reinstatement, blah, blah, blah.

A little sidebar is that I’ve found eBay messages are usually signed by some anonymous goofball with a probable contrived name such as Crystal, Lance, Tiffany or Moonbeam. Anyway, in response to the demand by some idiot named “Todd” that I summit to an eBay indoctrination in “racial tolerance”, a reply was sent. My response to eBay was simple and brief . . . “I’m married to an Asian you a–holes” “Go and f–k yourselves!” “Enough is enough!” Within less than a week, my eBay account mysteriously was reinstated as if nothing had happened at all. So much for the eBay diversity doctrine.

By October 2008 with increased listing fees and assorted negative ingredients, such as eBay’s PayPal only accepted payment rules, as a small seller, I just dropped out. eBay is in financial deep trouble due to bad business practices and an overall lousy attitude towards its customers. Seems too that eBay like many other “sales” outfits today have gone totally off track. Corporate attitude is now more like that of a government social service agency rather private business for profit. Since alienating and pissing-off the customer base, eBay is headed for the rocks.

The hard dollar cash economy with millions of small time sellers built eBay. Many tons of Beanie Babies moved back and forth through eBay in the early days. In recent times eBay’s policies are set to drive out modest sellers and pull in big retail dealers. As we know, that model is now in collapse. The whole situation is going bust. As it turns out, due to corporate greed and basic incompetence, eBay has killed it’s own golden goose and driven itself out into the cold. The salad days of eBay are over. Time to move on to something new and better.

“Ebay Stockholders and Sellers Calling For Immediate Termination of John Donohoe CEO Petition”

To read ebay’s own employees’ experiences working under such extremely poor management at ebay, go to glassdoordotcom.

FIRE DONAHOE!!!

The site is needlessly complex to use for both sellers and buyers.
The fees have become wildly disproportionate to sales.
Constant changes and inconsistent enforcement to listing policies creates an uneven playing field for sellers.
Changes to feedback policy made feedback numbers meaningless.

Consequences: Sellers are limited with needless complexity and high cash selling costs. These limitations severely limit new and interesting products from being added to the site. After a while the its the same old products from the same old sellers, nothing new to find. Buyers cannot find the products as there are too many nonsensical additions to the site. Frustrated buyers leave to go anywhere else.

Results: The conseqences forces two questions. “Why go on eBay to browse as a buyer when its the same old stuff?” and “Why try selling anything when there is little or no profit to be gained?”

For years sellers had the upper hand. EBay tried to even
things out with feedback changes. Without any recourse, worth speaking of,for sellers, buyers have the upper hand now.

I expect eBay to alter the feedback system somewhat in 09.

Then eBay went to far with fee changes and has had to eat crow and lower listing fees.

EBay has gone through, over the last few years, a change in the basic format of being a club of sorts, to a full fledged
retail shopping experience.

At some point, they had to change some things in their policies to account for this.

They have made several blunders and have gotten a little greedy.
I look for a few more changes to compensate for this over the next year. Particularly in the 2nd quarter or 09, after what I predict to be a dismal 1st.

EBay is still the best place online and in then world for home base and small businesses to profit, providing they are able to get competitive prices on in demand products.