Thursday, May 18, 2006

Why do I think eBay needs to be held accountable?

This blog is to get us on the same page and focus on the corporate giant which is eBay who has forgotten their number one client - THE SELLER.

I've been a seller on eBay for about a year and a half now and made a great living. So much so, I quit my job and it's my fullp-time career. However, in the last three months I've noticed that what I thought was a safe place to trade is rampant with fraud. Not only that the fraud is being facilitated by ebay itself.

Ebay is part of the problem and if eBay fixes it, they stand to lose literally millions of dollars. Here's why:

First of all, eBay is dependant on the seller's for their income. If a buyer doesn't pay for the auction and the seller has to file an Unpaid Item Strike which negates the Final Value Fee, eBay doesn't care!

They don't care because eBay already got the listing fee! OH YES MY LITTLE KITTENS - THEY WON'T REFUND THAT PART OF YOUR MONEY!

So let's do the math. Ebay says they've got over 1 million sellers. Ok times that by the lowest fee possible which would be $.25 and then times that by the amount of new listings going on every minute and BOOM! You just made a chunk of change!

And as a company - why exactly should eBay care about the auction beyond that point - well - the truth is - they don't. They like getting the final value fees but if they bidder doesn't pay - it makes no difference.

Here's why - eBay knows they are the only place online in the world that people will turn to trying to make money. They have advertised so heavily with great PR people don't see the actual holes. People get a warm fuzzy thinking about eBay and when it turns out to be an umbrella for fraud - nobody wants to hear that!

As a certified instructor for eBay University I'm telling you it has to stop. I refuse to teach eBay classes on a system that is so corrupt.

I've had over $1,030,000 in outstanding accounts which eBay will not help me collect although they state on their website and right before a person places a bid they are entering into a legally binding contract. What does that mean to eBay? NADA!

What it means to the fraudulent bidder is - you can bid on an item. not pay, make the seller pay the listing fee and then get off scott free!

Why do they do it? Well - take a look at AuctionBytes.com! These guys actually have an article on their site about vigilante bidders who bid into the millions on ridiculous items, win the bid and don't pay. They are trying to expose fraudulent sellers.

My question as I was reading this stuff was exactly how do they know who is real and who isn't? And why would they attack someone they don't know if their feedback is really good?

Another question that pops into my mind is - if you don't pay - how do you know the item is bogus? And isn't this against the law?

Turns out it is against the law according to the FCC. Not only is it a breach of contract, it's also a fraudulent bid because the bidder has no intention of paying.

What is eBay doing about this - nothing much! Everyonce in a while they will suspend someone with a bogus account. But it doesn't matter because the bogus bidder has mulitple accounts. They just get a new one! And again, eBay doesn't care as long as the credit card or bank account are good. I know because I asked them and that's what hey replied. I've got the email to prove it.

So is eBay acting illegally? Yes - but having full knowledge of the offenses and not turning these people in and kicking them off the site and refunding the seller's fees.

This is a potential extremely high loss for eBay if they should be discovered. GUESS WHAT BOYS - I KNOW THE SCAM AND YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH IT - IF NOT FOR ME - SOMEONE ELSE WILL GET THE WORK DONE.

It is essential to sellers we stick together!

If you have had this problem and are or were an eBay seller - please contact me as I am getting all the sellers together to FIGHT BACK AGAINST THE FRAUD ON EBAY!

Let's get this thing fixed so we can use it!

1 Comments:

Blogger jenn said...

Hi, i currently have a fundraising auction up to raise money for a mission trip i'll be going to this june. $5 donation, and totally tax deductible! to view & read more, click [url http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=190209222980&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT]here[/url]. thanks!

8:49 PM  

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