The Best eBay Alternatives in 2026: Where Smart Sellers Are Going Next

I sent this to eBay
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Subject: Please release the eBay API under a free license such as the GPLv3

I am unhappy that eBay denies its users their freedom! I have sent eBay feedback about their JavaScript and noting has changed yet, please free eBay's JavaScript, Mobile Apps, and API from such restrictions!

"Quote https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html"
The four essential freedoms

A program is free software if the program's users have the four essential freedoms:

The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose (freedom 0).
The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).
The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others (freedom 3). By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

Thank You, for eBay's co-operation. I hope that everyone who cares about freedom can stop using eBay until they fix this problem, they can use something such as OpenBazaar which uses Bitcoin for payment and are both free/libre software.

I normally sell items on Amazon or Levexa.com if I know there's a real market for it. Otherwise, I stick to the local classifieds to target local customers.

You missed Tazbar, another eBay-wannabee. Also Froogle changed its name to Google Product Search four months ago: http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/19/goodbye-froogle/

Thanks Sue, we'll update that :)

I have used alot of these and find them a good alternative to Ebay which in my opinion has lost some of its luster. I have also been exploring reverse auctions, a totally different concept.

Another site that has lots of looky lou's is e pier.

I agree that ebay has slowly been going downhill for me. They offer a good service, but their fees keep increasing. I feel like they are trying to trickle every single cent they can from their fees. I am trying to turn to other solutions but it is hard when the majority of users are still dependant on their website.

The largest seller on eBay, Bargainland, recently moved to Bidtopia.com. Others seem to be following. I hope they become an good ebay alternative. They seem to be off to a good start.

A highly recommended site is elfingo.com for online auctions. They are the new eBay. Many smaller sites like this offer buyers far better deals than eBay ever could. Buyers also save a ton because this site charges little or nothing depending on the day. One more reason I like elfingo.com is because they don't take a part of the sale at all. No commissions or final value fees. A+++

I am a gold power seller on eBay, their fees are killing me and I really limit items I sell on their site BC of it. I only sell higher end items there now instead of everything. eBay no longer has all my business. I have the MOST success with Craig's list as an alternative. CL is FREE with NO CLOSING fees. I have a lot of success with selling vehicles and collectibles on CL and can afford to list anything there with out fear of loss, I highly recommend it for selling. Set up a special email and account just for CL and check your mail 2x a day. Provide a phone number where you CAN be reached for the best success. I never had a problem with CL and get great returns for my efforts. I believe CL is eBay's biggest competitor in the USA, above all others....and STILL FREE. I hope it worries eBay and keeps competition real!

Another one is Ziing.com . Love the name! easy to remember and fun to say....LOL...They also have no listing fees, free member stores and and eveything else the others offer. Made a few sales there and I am going to list on ALL of the free sites I can, I figure my items will get more exposure that way.

I have been a seller on eBay for many years; I have found it nearly impossible to make profit on my items in recent months & have decided to look elsewhere. I have managed to find a new site that is really taking off. ozbid.com.au They have no listing fees, you can relist your item as many times as you like free and they only charge commission on sold items. It was a bit slow in the start but in the last 2 weeks I have sold 9 items. Easy to list, plenty of customer service & I can't fault them. Try it out. Ozbid Online Auctions.

I am a former powerseller ebayer and I am mainly into buying/selling vintage baseball cards but I do have a small collection of GI Joes that I sell. I signed up for this new website which will be offering storefronts (secure buy/sell via BIN/Best Offer). Its basically a myspace meets craigslist and ebay. Unlike other networking websites this one is really easy to use. I've been able to easily upload pics, videos etc. The best part is the buy/sell feature that will be up in 2 weeks. It is totally free. So far so good! the site is http://www.mybizarea.com

I am really starting to believe Ebay is a joke, I know Paypal is. As a seller you get a piece taken out of you from every which way. The fees are just unlimited, which really cuts into profits. Then Paypal fees nail you, even on the shipping money. Then even if you ship thru paypal, and they have the tracking number, buyers can still complain and get the money back, its nonsense. I am also a listed Power Seller, but not for long, I don't think I really care to sell with Ebay any more.

I am an powerseller on ebay... or shall I say I WAS? Just in the week since eBay enforced its "sellers cannot leave bad feedback" rule, I have had TWO buyers demand thier money bak or they woulc leave bad feedback... clincher is they did not want to ship the item back. So they kept it and got their money back too. Well, twice was enough. I closed the ebay store and have began listing more things on Craig's List and on ebid and a few other places. Before I will be be a victim of armed robbery in cyber space over ebay's fool hardy new rule I will go elsewhere. I might still list some stuff from time to time, but you can bet your boots it will be nowhere near as much as they were making off me in fees.

For Power Sellers looking for an alternative to eBay... a realistic auction site that is on the level is www.razorbid.com.au

There's an online marketplace like Amazon's where listings are created at product pages called SellStuff!, hosted by the Google App Engine, at http://www.sellstuff.cc/

I have spent some time on the Internet looking for ebay alternatives and feel that we need to create some competition against ebay. SavyAuctions.com is one place where we need to go and list our auctions and classifieds and lets work to rival ebay. Let's start a community of sellers and friends who enjoy selling. No fees ever for standard listings no fees even if they sell. It even gives money to start out for the promotional features. SavyAuctions.com a place to buy and sell.

i am on my last leg with ebay and paypal. we all need to go to one and only one auction site. we could make it as big as we made ebay. ebay was a great ride for a long time. we now have no control of our money or listings. it's ebay or no way. time to move on.

I really appreciate the comments/suggestion here. I too am sick of ebay and paypal, like Littleuglyeddie above I too have had 2 buyers get refunds and not return merchandise since ebay changed the no bad feedback for buyers rule. Paypal is owned by ebay and is no help. I have spent a lot of time lately looking for alternatives to ebay & paypal. It will come together for us and Greedbay will crash eventually. Thanks for all the leads for new sites.

We are so sick and tired of FeeBay and PayMorePay that any auction site with a fair amount of volume would be a welcome sight. As of now we have not found that utopia, but still looking.... Donald Engen Needles CA

Hi, Nice article and alternative selling list. I am looking into some of the advice given here. Thanks again! Currently I am a PowerSeller on eBay. Still have a 100% feedback but I am waiting for the hammer to drop from some deadbeat buyer. I am like most other sellers on eBay, just sick and tired of the high fees and eBay rules. It is really getting out of hand. I recently devoted my primary website Topsax USA website to a number of articles about the eBay problem. I would appreciate it if some of you would drop by and let me know what you think. My latest article talks about some good alternatives too. I am really impressed with OnlineAuction.com. I just enrolled as a founding member. They have over 14 million listings and a very busy site. A new member is signing up every minute.. You need to check it out. I think they really have a chance at putting a dagger in eBay's heart. Best Wishes, Bob Campbell eBay ID: topsax

I have been selling consistantly over 2k a week for 4 months on e-bay with around 200 listings per week. Last week e-bay shut down 300 listing and put a restriction on my store - no selling for 30 days - My FEEDBACK rating is 94.6%. The 5 point seller rating I have 4.4, 4.6, 3.4, 4.6, 4.4 - somehow this falls below the accetable AVERAGE. I would like to know how a 95% is an average for a selling platform as large as e-bay. I am thouroughly disapointed in e-bay's business practices. I was given NO warning - simply woke up to my store (and livelyhood) shut down for 30 days with very little explaination and NO support. I had plans to triple my sales on e-bay - NOW I need a New Real working platform to REPLACE the need for e-bay. Thank you all for sharing e-bay alternatives - you know, I do need to feed the family. Good Luck!

We were suspended indefinitely from ebay for what they say is nonseller performance. This is bull because our ratings are 4.7 4.5 4.3 4.1 with almost 1,000 positive feedbacks and 96.3% 36 positives in july alone with not 1 negative. These gangsters at ebay/paypal are as ruthless as it gets. They will fail! Its very clear they do not want us small sellers around because they are doing everything to get rid of us. I dont even think its legal what they are doing. its definitely not of good morals. we have to stop selling on ebay and stop using paypal. they are greedy and will fall very soon. Their tricks will backfire on them. I got an account on ioffer.com but no sales yet. Looking for new places to go because ebay/paypal are scum of the earth.

Hi, I recently closed my Ebay account due to the fees and the new feedback system. I have tried selling on Craigslist, ecrater.com, Overstock.com, Ioffer.com & ebid.net. I have had great success on Craigslist locally, but allready had that going as a second venue for kid's large toy items. I have not sold one item on any of the other auctions sites and have lost so much money, but am hopeful I will find my new auction home to sell my authentic designer bags and children's boutique clothing. It is slow on all the other auction sites, but I am not giving up. I have also heard of wagglepop.com. Thanks!

eBay has GOT TO GO! I have been a seller on FEE-bay for over 7 years. I have made ALOT of money for them. Now they have gotten some BUG up their butts and decided to suspend my account for 7 days and ask me to jump thru hoops because some buyer was "not happy". Get this, I have well over 350 POSITIVE feedbacks and the silly NEWBIE buyer that complained had a WHOPPING 1 WHOLE FEEDBACK. Not only did they leave me a negative (before contacting me to resolve it) they filed a paypal claim also. OF COURSE paypal froze the funds immediately as they always do. If someone truly works and depends on ebay for a living, your taking a huge gamble with your financial health. Ebay and paypal can just snatch the rug from under you with NO REASON and your left there with NOTHING. I don't know about you guys but I am DONE bowing to ebay, I am moving over to ONLINEAUCTION.COM and iOFFER.COM. EBAY & PAYPAL ARE GREEDY, SCAMMING, UNFAIR IDIOTS & they will no longer control MY BUSINESS!!

I Sell music related items,been on ebay 10years ,but about a year ago was turned on to audigon.com. I picked up 2700 feedback rating and at one point over the winter was outselling ebay 20-1 for lp records and such. The auction fees are expensive 6.00 each ,but the classifieds are 1.00each,run 30days,modify anytime,never any com fees. free adds too each month. Customers know me by name and keep coming back to buy more,its like having a regular store. I was hooked on audiogon when I had tried selling a 13 record jimi hendrix box set from west germany on ebay 3 times no luck for under 100.00 ,I paid the 6.00 fee on audiogon and recieved a winning bid of 197.50 on 1st try. I list about 200plus items a month on audiogon .

I am simply shocked by EBAY's behavior!!!!!!!! They cancel and block my listings for no reason at all. I sell only great authentic items. Whereas, EBAY treats me as if I am a faker seller. Shame on EBAY and its poor policies. Hopefully, they will go bankrupt in the nearest future :)

Ebay suspended my account indefinitely after 1200+ Don't they realize that I am a buyer too and that they are costing themselves money? Once you are in trouble with ebay it is impossible to get support because their Trust and Safety (Twisted and Screwy) dept. is just a bunch of robotic types enforing broken policies with canned e-mails. Once you are suspended the robots go away. I have set up a simple page at eCrater.com and am gradually driving all my former eBay customers to this site. (You can get their e-addresses from your Paypal history) I do miss the greedy swell of the auction atmosphere that made for higher profits but I am adjusting my expectations and am willing to sell for less because of the freedom and lack of fear. It is nice to not be looking over my shoulder or listening for the other eBay shoe to drop. It already has. They'll get their corporate Karma.

You forgot two other sites http://www.usauctionslive.com and http://www.gooleauctions.com Both of these site are FREE no more fees!

Its no use us all posting on here, this site is better no this one is better, we as ebay sellers should all move to just ONE site and stay there, imagine e mailing all the buyers who have bought from you (personally over 3000) and letting them know you and your stock have moved and of course the reasons why, IF WE ALL DID THIS AND ALL STUCK TO THE ONE SITE, e bay would have to do something. Like i said 1st off we would all have to agree to go to just one site?

I have been selling on Ebay for over 9 years and have been fed up with them for a while... but I figured as long as it brings in money it's fine. Well over the past 9 years I have seen my fees increase dramatically, at one point my fees were up to around $1,500.00 a month but I didn't complaint... I was still happy, but now it has just gotten out of hand. Not only are fees high but the rules are just getting ridiculous. I have decided to just stay away from Ebay, right now I'm selling on Offertime - Ebay Alternative and my local flea market.

Yes I am sick of ebay too. I live in India and they changed their Digital download policy and forced everyone to ship CD/DVD only. It basically ruined my business model. I have a rating of over 1100 with 98% + ve feedback. They also banned me once because some buyer reported me and I was forced to scan my passport and documents and email them and sign a legal statement that I will be a good seller in future :( I am now listing on webidz.com and plan to list on many other sites . Not had much success with other sites yet but I am so sick of Ebay that I will do anything to get completely away from Ebay. Also I think most of hte other sites should have the feature of allowing sellers from ebay to import their ratings. That would ensure we don't start from scratch. -- Vikram

Guys/Gals, Don't even bother with Ubid, What a Fat Joke! Trying to set up a seller account online with them is like handing out your private info to some bumb on the street. Ebay has never asked for a SSN, and not only that, some of the stuff being sold on there is junk to begin with. At least with Craigslist, they don't require all this either. I like how this website is giving ideas for an alternative to Ebay, yet if you look at the very bottom of the page, they are an Ebay Member. Go figure.

I stumbled upon this blog (This is a blog isn't it? I'm "old school" internet.) after I typed in "eBay alternative" in my google search box. Why did I do the search you ask? I got an email from eBay yesterday informing me of ANOTHER FEE INCREASE prompting me to sit at my computer and start searching for an eBay alternative. I'm a Silver Powerseller and have a feedback rating of 1351 and 100%. I also maintain 4.8's or higher on those happy little DSR's (Last month I had 5, 5, 5, & 4.9). I can't believe these prices are going up again. As of October 1, 2008, they are "lowering fees" on the front-end to 35 cents for insertion fees for everything and will offer up to 30 day listings. HOWEVER, the FVF's are jumping to 12% on the 1st $50 of the auction and 9% on the balance (currently they are are 8.75% on the 1st $25 and 3.5% on the balance -- and these fees are fairly new, within the last year). I've never done an "eBay complaining" letter/blog/response before today. However, I'm a fairly small seller, selling new t-shirts, polos, sweats, and more (thus, my eBay name) and I'm paying almost $1000 a month in eBay fees, not to mention Paypal fees -- now fees are going up AGAIN so needless to say, I'm a littled pissed! In the past I've tried ibid.com (or is it ubid? I can't remember because it wasn't great). I have my items ship right from the factory so I don't do the craigslist.com gig for my new items (although I love it for my used, kid items that I have here at the house). After reading all of these posts on here (Posts? Do I have the lingo right?), I saw that Bargainland supposedly left eBay. I had to check this out for myself and sure enough, they are gone (zero items listed). eBay lost a big seller -- Bargainland had almost 500,000 feedback entries -- so you can imagine the fees eBay lost when they lost Bargainland. After reading this entire blog, I saw several auction sites I'm going to investigate. Good luck to all of you sellers in finding an eBay alternative! Kim

Hi, I am a former seller on E-Bay and was fed up with the way they treated their sellers. Its like many of you have said already. You can sell something on ebay, and then the buyer will file a complaint with PayPal 48 hours later for non-reciept and get their money back and you are left with a bad reputation. I mean come on...doent it take longer than 2 days to get something by mail? PayPal and Ebay do not support their sellers. They are only out for money! But I found a site quite a few years ago, and I like it. Try www.swapace.com. Its free to list, no seller fees or listing fees. You can auction or list something and have people make you offers. And you decide if you want to accept or not! Its easy to use and they have alot of bargains! Hope this helps you all. I know I wont be back on Ebay EVER!!

Well, I'm following in everyone's footsteps. I've had an eBay store for several years. Not a lot of business, but for a side business it has paid for Christmas for the family and helped me get out of some financial jams here and there. I mainly sell used OOP CDs that I find when traveling with the day job. Not sure if you guys know the latest, but eBay has decided they know what we should charge for S&H and have set a maximum. For CD's it's $3.00. That barely covers the postage, envelope, bubble wrap, label and tape and leaves nothing for time and eBay/Paypal fees - not to mention gas. I've been charging $4 S&H and not covering my cost, but no more. Time to move on so I've read thru these posts and I'm going to try some of these out. I'll try to update here but I hope you guys will do the same because I have too much inventory not to find some place to sell soon.

I had six auctions going on ebay, all antique automotive parts/memorabilia, and with just two days left, I had one bid on one item. 1-2 years ago, they would have all had bids and I would have made well over 1K on the group, but things have changed there for the worse. The new rules have not only driven off the sellers of old stuff, but the buyers as well. Several months ago, their new goofball management enacted a bunch of now-infamous new rules that put sellers at a disadvantage, causing a storm of discontent from one end of the Internet to the other, but I kept trying to sell. Not so bad, I thought, as long as I make money. But then I stopped making any kind of real money. A couple of days ago, I got an email from them that said that at the end of October, they will no longer allow paper payments on items, only merchant accounts taking credit cards, or Paypal and the like. It's another money grab, and that will not do. They want to edge it toward paypal, which they own, and where buyers can fraudulently do a charge back to get free stuff from sellers - so they freeze your paypal account for weeks until the "issue is resolved" if it ever is. I did something I have never done before, I took all of my auctions down. I've had enough of these greedy bastards. It's no longer a fun place to sell, it's a buyers' market but as some of you may have noticed, there is much less old items of interest available when you do a search. That's because the small sellers, like me, have gotten the message that ebay only wants the big sellers, with 10,000 feedbacks, and they want to ace us out of the game. I'll never understand why that is, they were making money from everyone, but thousands have left, and ebay is fast approaching their apparent goal of being a site where you can go to buy new, cheap common stuff that you can get at Wal-Mart or elsewhere, and not a place to go to look for unique old items. I'm a Powerseller there, been there for ten years, and have 100% positive feedback. I've sold tens of thousands of dollars worth of items, some big ticket, they have made tons of money off of me... and it means nothing. They don't want me, and I don't need them. On this forum, I have seen at least 20 different auction sites, but nothing with nearly as much traffic as ebay. We really do need to all go to one site, and I hope that one claws its' way to the top of the heap, making the choice clear. I have heard a rumor that Google has an ebay-killer ready and waiting, and that all they need to do is throw the switch to fire it up, and I hope that's true. Make it what ebay was 5-6 years ago, and it will do well. Hopefully they are waiting for ebay to collapse so they can drive the knife in through their heart, (A fellow can dream, right?) and lastly, I have faith in our free enterprise system, that the market determines who wins, and that ebay is dumb enough to keep enacting harebrained new rules to drive ever more sellers away, so that a new site can come in and take over. -MJS

I've sold on Ebay since 1999, just collectible/vintage stuff I find. It was fun, and profitable. I too have been priced-out of Ebay since the outrageous and stupid rules and fees have just spiraled out of control! All they want to be is another Overstock.com. BORING! I have heard mention of a site called "River" or "The River"...people are refering to it on Seller Central, but I can't seem to find it. Anyone heard of that? Hopefully we can all find a home, so what made Ebay so unigue (the smaller sellers)will live on!

-MJS- I am with you all the way on what you said. Do you have any suggestion as to which site we should all try for? I have alot of things I need to get rid of, not counting the money I need badly. I just have not found any yet that I REALLY like!! Any help is appreciated! Jenn

I am also a gold powerseller on eBay and now I am restricted from selling for 30 days. I have one dsr that is 4.1 the rest are 4.5-4.9 and my feedback is 99.8% yet I guess that one dsr proved that I am in violation of the non performance policy. I have opened a store on mystore.com (free) and my own website which is set to launch in 2 weekis. I have so many items from Anthropologie, Nordstroms and fashion shows and don't know where to go! I was just going to close my account I have now and make up a new one. I really want an auction site with traffic. My website, www.discountfashionboutique.com, is just like an ebay store, very casual and with all buy it nows. Get the emails from all of your customers and email them a photo book of your items with buy it now options! Heck with eBay-make up your own site and start promoting! We didn't get all these positives for nothing fellow ebayers-we are good at what we do so let's get another auction site going and put ebay out of business.

I've totally left ebay and now sell on Bonanzle. It's a much friendlier place, nicer setup, no listing fees and minimal final value fees (which haven't even gone into effect yet.) Check out http://www.bonanzle.com/ I think you'll like it too. eb

I just finished this entire page & have gotten some good info. I now have much research to do. I've only been with eBay for a year but this week, they removed 3 of my listings because a deadbeat who bid on, & won, 2 of my auction items, & then never paid for them (I reported her for non-payment), decided to report me to eBay (revenge) so they decided to remove my 3 listings for trademark violations. There are more than 7,000 other listings that are the same - same wording, product, box & tags, but none of them have been removed. You can't get anything but a canned response from them & there is no one to call (heaven forbid) so what does one do -besides get extremely angry? It didn't take long to realize what eBay is like. I went to work for myself so I didn't have to answer to anyone but myself, but they make up the rules as they go - enforce them for some & not for others. Where is the sense or fairness in this? If people decide to move to one site, please post it; let me know; I am in! My products are good, some very unique, but enough is enough... I do need to make money & keep my sanity :)

I have sold online for the past 4 years and i have made a comfortable living. The recent increase in charges has forced me to find alternative places to sell. However, i have never seen a site like the one I found two weeks ago, www.thesocexchange.com $1 a month, flat rate. It's clean, clear and fresh. The set-up is super-easy, my website was up in about 15 minutes. I am very impressed with the functionality and individuality of my website. The cost is amazing, $1 a month, flat rate. There are no other fees or commissions. That's it, $1 a month or $10 a year. I can't afford to not be selling at the soc exchange. Take a look,it's great!

I'm one of those who left ebay because of their skyrocketing fees and i have found my success on e-payauction.com It’s a much friendlier place, nicer setup, no listing fees and minimal final value fees. Check out http://www.e-payauction.com/ I think you’ll like it too.

Well, this is going to sound like a broken record. I too am or may not be a silver power seller on ebay with over 2500 positive feedbacks. My business supports my little one and myself. i sell vintage men's and women's clothing, antique books and really unique and fun collectible stuff. Last week I woke up and started to list a item and after i had downloaded the pictures and wrote the description i went to the last page and pressed list item and i get this message that i have been put on a 30 day restriction because of buyer dissastifaction my dsr rating. one star was a 4.2 in shipping. We had terrible flooding here in the last two months, my dad died, my mom had two strokes and i have been trying to do cleanup from all the flooding and it won't quit raining. When this happened I was devasted and contacted all my great customers and they were all great. They new I could do nothing to prevent all this disaster that was happening all at once in my life. anyway i called ebay immediately and they told me that i needed to provide proof of all this. i was crying so hard because this is it for me. living in rural missouri when my dad got sick i moved here from colorado. it is my only income for us. anyway i contacted some of my customers and you would not believe the letters that came pouring in and ebay told me to send information to rswebhelp@ebay.com so all these letters from these people were forwarded on and they could not believe it , the girl said she had never seen anything like it. i cried and cried that my customers cared enough about me and my little one to take time out of their lives to write ebay and call ebay about me and the injustice that they were doing to me. esp. on things i had no control on. these people in the trust and safety dept. are like robots i thought, until the following monday i received two phone calls from two girls from utah that worked in the dept. that could not get me off their minds and what had happened to me. saffron the one girl said that the system had been acting up and that she was going to investigate in my behalf because nothing was changing on my stars with over 50 more positive feedbacks in less than a week something was wrong. they want me to fax or send them copies of insurance claims, newspaper articles about the torrent weather we have been having and hospital bills if i incurred any. heck i wanted to ask if they wanted a copy of my dad's death certificate and my mom's hospital visits becausee of the strokes. i just am appalled that this would be required of me. so, i have decided that after the holiday i am sending them a package with damaged flooded goods, newspaper articles, my dad's death certificate and repair documents and any and all other things i can find and provide for them and then i am going to see what happens. i know for a fact that they received over 100 letters in my behalf because my son had to forward them on to ebay at the rswebhelp@ebay.com site with headers on them. the lady said i had to forwarded them with headers or they would not open them because of sercurity reasons and i told her , the only headers i knew about was on a pickup truck. so, my son had to forward all these messages so i know they were inandated with all these emails. it really regained my faith in the human race with these people that took their time out. it was great. so, i too am hunting for a site that i can sell my stuff on and there is people that will see it. i have checked on some of these sites and there just isn't that many vintage clothing people on them and i sell alot of clothes. so i hope we all can come to some kind of a aggreement on who to give our business to and we rock ebay off the planet and into bankruptcy. the way the economy is you would think they would want all the commerce they could get and keep. thanks for your time and i wanted to share my ebay horror story with all of you. brenda

It's worse than we imagined, folks. Here is something that I uncovered on another website, it purports to be from an ebay management employee, and it sounds very authentic - I have no reason to discredit it. -MJS -------------------------------------------------- I found this on another site posted by Anonymous. It was posted on the seller central discussion board 5/4/08 by someone who claims to be inside eBay management… this post was pulled by eBay moments later. Note: When you see them saying "I" that's not the admin of this site, it's the author of the post. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I posted this at the feedback forum at eBay but it was killed by staff less than a minute later. I should have known. My ID will be toast soon anyway. This was the only other place I thought where my statement might have an impact. Do with it what you will. After Chicago, my only desire is to be heard. There will be those who will not believe me and I sympathize. I wish the facts were fiction but to deny what I know would be to live in a fairyland of make-believe. I understand that the bulk of this “manifesto” reveals a plot so against the spirit of eBay that it will be dismissed as lie. So be it. I cannot force the world to accept it. All I can do is state the truth as I know it and leave it to you and to your common sense and experience to judge. The deck is stacked against me. Aside from the natural resistance to believe I know that the boards are stocked with eBay’s tools. Their goal will be to discredit me. I will be accused of being a “disgruntled”, “paranoid”, and “emotional” seller. Their words will be specially chosen for effect. That is part of the function of the tools and I am not fazed by it. However, to protect my own identity within the corporation, I cannot be too specific lest the details single me out to the powers that be. What I intend to reveal is common knowledge to many in the management division behind the scenes. By the way, the tools are not only the mouthpieces that promote the policies. The psychological tactics employed by the powers that be are far deeper and grander than that. The subtlety of the method is remarkable. The tools come in a wide range of flavors with their own, individual “characteristic” rhetoric. From those who are “for” the policy - and spread various degrees of hostility toward the sellers - to those who are “against” the change - and spread panic and further the divide with the buyers. Both serve the same exact purpose: a manipulation designed to remove the more involved and savvy small to large sellers who will not fit into eBay’s future business plan. First, let me correct the record regarding the concept of sellers extorting positive feedback. While the violation was known to happen, the activity amounted to less than a tenth of a percent of the yearly transactions. Further, it involved sellers whose feedback percentages were below 80%. The absolute majority of sellers did not engage in such practices. Nevertheless, the powers that be could not resist the fact that promoting this notion of feedback extortion as a wide-spread phenomenon would be the perfect cover with which to hide the true intentions of the policy. The powers that be want to transform eBay into an overstock warehouse venue. A kind of outlet store for the internet much like a cheaper and streamlined version of Amazon. From a strictly business point of view, given the size of eBay and the growing costs of doing business, it makes a certain kind of sense to shift gears. Think about it: when eBay started, sellers were about rare and unique items but here and now the majority of items are common, used counterparts of what can be found new online at retail sites. Truly rare and unique items are sold at real auctions; the “stuff in your attic” isn’t glamorous enough and won’t keep eBay afloat any longer. The trend away from the rare and unique to the big box retailer is not new. Several years ago the powers that be noticed that the big “powersellers” were simply listing items that existed in their retail stores or inventories. Thus the concept of “buy it now”, “best offer”, and “eBay stores” were created. It was the nascent stage of the plan yet to be. Little by little, without the population noticing, the mechanisms required to replicate the average retail storefront were already in place - and with its rise came the slow, steady downfall of the auction format. Yet outright pursuit of a retail venue would have led to a major problem that at the time could not have been surmounted. The vast majority of people, on and off line, know eBay as precisely the place for auctions of rare and unique items. The sellers and buyers held onto that perception too but in truth their opinion even involvement in new and improved version of eBay is irrelevant by a certain Machiavellian calculation made by the powers that be. As part of the plan, eBay calculated thus: even if they lost the sellers as part of the change, the buyers will be coming back to buy regardless of who or what operated within the retail-outlet venue. No, it was the stock holders who the powers that be feared. Only the stockholders had the power to change the direction set forth by the CEO and the board. So it became imperative to change the equation. Part of the plan is to devalue the stock gradually so that investors merely dumped the stock as opposed to wanting managerial change ala Yahoo. Then to buy back the stock at lower cost and to such a volume that no rebellion against the powers that be were possible. By the end of July that phase of the plan will be successful and there est of the plan will be revealed without fear of backlash from those who otherwise would have had the power to pull eBay back from the brink. Indeed, if you believe the current changes are obvious signals that small sellers are not wanted - be prepared - you have seen nothing yet. So far what have they done? All they have managed to do is silence a seller’s ability to warn others about buyers (half of the purpose behind the original idea of feedback), burden you with higher and higher fees, dangle “treats” like discounts while setting the bar of eligibility so high that the rewards cannot be reached. and, by the way PayPal deals with “complaints” leave you vulnerable to fraud. What if worse was yet to come? They know if you do not feel safe that you will not use eBay. The changes that have been enacted only eliminates the small sellers. Meanwhile they want to eradicate the mid-sized seller too. And they want to ensure that both do not return. For the mid-sized seller the DSR became the tool of choice. The powers that be raised the level of what is a good seller artificially high. No manipulation is required; they know exactly the effect of the policy. This is why buyers are told that 4 is a good score and sellers are told that 4.9 yields discounts and higher listing placements. As long as that fractured point of view exists, eBay does not need to interfere with the DSR as has been suggested, the buyers will be killing the sellers naturally. By August there will be no pretense and the intentions of the new and improved eBay will be clear. The following is only a partial list of the rules that will be imposed. It comes from a memo that circulated within my corner of the managerial department the week before Chicago. I cannot be too specific about certain items and I cannot reveal details of the latest additions without endangering my anonymity. 1. Neutrals will be converted to negatives complete with red icons and reduced feedback scores. Afterward neutrals will not be offered as a choice of feedback. 2. The entire process of feedback will be automated. Buyers and sellers will chose standard feedback from a list. For sellers this operation will be performed automatically upon the buyer winning. For buyers there will be an extra free line with which to add a few comments about the seller without restriction to content. Replies will not be allowed. 3. The implementation of a stricter rules regarding shipping. From the boxes, packing, labels and tapes to where you can buy postage. Orders have been placed for prototypes of “eBay” boxes. UPS and FedEx will be instructed not to accept “eBay” merchandise if it’s not inside “eBay” boxing. They will know, of course, because when sellers buy the “eBay” postage from the “eBay” source, a detailed list of contents with item numbers will be available to the shippers upon scanning a bar code. As for those who continue to use USPS, another level of quality control will be implemented - buyers will be asked, upon confirmation of delivery, if the seller used “eBay” standard shipping items. Naturally, no verification of the buyer’s truthfulness will be attempted, and continued ‘infractions’ will result in suspension. eBay will have other ways to check if a seller is not using the “eBay” equipment - as they will be required to buy at cost the supplies immediately after items are listed. (This is such a large scale operation behind the scenes that I feel comfortable sharing as much of it as I know.) 4. Sales taxes will be included automatically; shipping cost and sales taxes will be used to determined FVF. 5. Item descriptions will be “standardized” with templates which include the posting of a new, universal return policy. Only yearly subscribers to the retail-outlet venue can opt out of these universal return policies but even they cannot alter the template structures being devised. 6. Strikes against buyers will be eliminated as the whole concept of a buyer and bidding will be altered. FVF will be calculated when payment is submitted. 7. Time to Close will be eliminated entirely. Best Match will be the non-alterable default. Best Match is a system that caters to the needs of shoppers not bidders. 8. Placement within Best Match will be determined by several factors, the most important of which will be the extra display features added onto the listing. 9. DSRs can be removed by retailers and powersellers who pay a certain yearly fee. 10. The end play itself which consists of four phases: a) the main focus shifts to retail sellers whose fees are on a per listing basis b) stores will be replaced by a classified section, fees will be based on yearly subscriptions and FVFs c) occasional auctions will be conducted for unique items (celebrity auctions, items that have been featured on the news, etc.) d) total elimination of auctions for regular sellers. >From the point of view of eBay’s agenda to change gears these alteration make sense. The powers that be want to turn eBay into a retail venue format. Therefore the “buyer” must be changed - bidding and commitments to buy are part of the past. In a retail venue, the item is either in your cart or not and you only commit to buy when you pay at checkout. The seller is also redefined in the way they will be required to do business. They will be forced to copy the methods of retail stores. The goal is to become Amazon Lite. Unlike Amazon the merchandise will be stocked by the retailers in their warehouses, eBay will be just an electronic centralized venue for outlet sale - a “trusted” name with a wide customer base and popular name recognition. That is the future and as I write this I know that it cannot be stopped. There are no investors with enough clout and will to challenge the CEO. Stock holders will simply walk away. eBay will not sink, however, it will be exactly in the position its rulers intend it to be at. Sellers, my advice is simple. You are not wanted. Leave. If you stay, you will be crushed. Leave. Go away. You cannot win. I am sorry because for too long I have been a complicit tool behind the scenes. I was part of those teams and think tanks that spearheaded many of the “innovations” you know very well and which will be used to destroy you. I know I will not be believed. I will be mocked and ridiculed by the tools and even those who are real, actual people will be hesitant to accept what I have to say. What has been done to this community, the plots and schemes hatched in meetings and across memos, is far, far worse to endure within my soul than any treatment I will receive at the hands of the tools by posting this. You do not know how much they hate you. It is my conscience that I want to clear going forward. Again I apologize. There should have been a better way for the powers that be to effect the change they wanted for eBay - instead they succumbed to cloak and dagger deception. RIP eBay

Jenn, I am looking around, including all sites that have been mentioned in this blog and comment area. If I find something promising, I'll come back here and share my findings, I know how important this is to us all. Take good care, -MJS ---------------------------- <>

It seems that I arrived at eBay too late. I've recently listed items on 3 other sites with no bids yet, so if anyone has any great suggestions, I am all ears... Thanks in advance. I need to make a living & would like your feedback.

I've read all the comments with great interest. I've been a seller off and on since Ebay began, and had great success up until now. With the recent "no negative feedback by sellers" policy change, I've had a major increase in non-paying bidders, or bidders who won't even communicate with me until I file an NPB report on them. THEN they pay...usually. Bidders no longer care if you file NPB on them or not, because even if you get an unpaid item strike filed against them - or several strikes - their account will remain open, and they will be allowed to bid. Sellers are powerless against unscrupulous buyers. I am researching alternate sites and will begin moving my listings to a few of them this weekend to see what happens. I'm hoping for some success to make up for the huge fees I've been paying Ebay this year. There's something dreadfully wrong when your monthly sales don't add up to enough to cover your fees.