The times on emails are the times they are SENT by the sender, not when they are received by the RECEIVER. I don't care when Ebay sends them ... I don't RECEIVE them sometimes for a couple of DAYS! One from Monday is STILL missing.
Also, on the Checkout board are posts by people who chose not to use Checkout and then get emails from buyers requesting that they want to pay with Billpoint. However, seller doesn't take Billpoint, so that means even more emails back and forth.
Right now I can't even give this booger a fair evaluation because I can't even list any auctions unless I want to list and then revise every one of them. Right now if I post an auction, all Checkout fields are defaulted to N and N/A and I have NO OPTION to change them!
If it works for you fine, use it. But I believe that people who don't want to use it should not be forced to use it.
What happens if I enter $4.00 shipping/handling on one of my auctions which is for US buyers and then some International buyer bids and wins? I don't sell outside the US, but they bid and win anyway. Because that $4.00 is part of the Checkout box, if the buyer does not want to accept a change, the seller will be forced to ship for $4.00 to a foreign country.
All of the current confusion could have been avoided by Ebay if they had just done some heavy-duty beta testing before rolling this out.
posted on October 25, 2001 08:30:28 AM
I have handled the "check Out" delima this way: http://cgi.ebay.aol.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1654858109
And, If their lack of customer service persists I will use my good time elsewhere.
posted on October 25, 2001 08:34:57 AM
Paintpower...those times DID NOT come off the email, they came off the time recieved by my computer. And I know the last three were accurate because I was staying up waiting for those three to end as I wanted to see if they got sniped. I clicked on the emails as soon as my computer "dinged" to tell me they arrived (which was shortly after the auctions ended).
Also, on the Checkout board are posts by people who chose not to use Checkout and then get emails from buyers requesting that they want to pay with Billpoint. However, seller doesn't take Billpoint, so that means even more emails back and forth.
And pre-checkout people who don't accept paypal got emails asking if they will take it, or those who don't take checks got emails asking if they will take a check...so, more emails back and forth. This is something that already happens so of course it will happen sometimes with checkout and billpoint.
What happens if I enter $4.00 shipping/handling on one of my auctions which is for US buyers and then some International buyer bids and wins? I don't sell outside the US, but they bid and win anyway. Because that $4.00 is part of the Checkout box, if the buyer does not want to accept a change, the seller will be forced to ship for $4.00 to a foreign country.
Look again at the checkout details...the shipping says USshipping and handling. Plus, the responses from the customer service personal on the ebay boards said if the customers address is outside the US the customer will not be given the total but will have their shipping address sent to the seller first so the seller can do a shipping quote.
There have been a number of posts here at AW and on the ebay boards, pre-checkout about buyers who did not inform the seller they were international and sent payment by paypal or snail mail with the US shipping amount even though the seller said that international rates would be higher...I know it has happened to me several times...so, again, this is a problem we already have and why should it not also crop up in some of the checkout transactions?
As I said, a lot of these "concerns" are really strawman arguments. These problems already exist in the normal course of doing business on ebay. Buyers get confused, instructions are not followed, some transactions result in extra emails flying back and forth, etc...they are not exclusive to checkout.
posted on October 25, 2001 11:16:21 AM
Paintpower
I wasn't trying to "win", just trying to point out that many of these arguments against checkout we are hearing are chicken little-the sky is falling statements.
We want ebay to treat us like the adults we are, yet we hear arguments about how "confused" the bidders are going to be...as if the bidders are little more than brain dead or very young children who have to be led by the hand.
We keep hearing the argument that it will make the transaction impersonal yet there is nothing in the way that checkout is set up that stops the personal notes between buyer and seller even if they only use the ebay message forms of checkout.
The only reasonable argument I have heard to date is the fact that we cannot completely opt out of it. Everything else seems like rationalizations for a knee-jerk negative reaction.
posted on October 25, 2001 11:57:37 AM
Amy, you don't win!
Ebay has once again disregarded their number one partner, the
seller. It smacks of anti-trust, anti competition etc.
We sellers should have equal exposure for access to the payment methods we offer
our customers. If we choose to only do business with Paypal.com or c2it.com Then
we should
have the tools which facilitate that process.
Instead, our customers are "herded" in the direction ebay wants them to go.
I am very happy with the WBN system I use and pay for at AW. It is rare that I get
complaints that my winning bidder did not get a notice. I can work around the
occasional
glitch.
The consummation of the sale is not ebay's business unless one party or the other
does not complete their end. How we complete it is our business.
Amy, you lose if you use the sheep herder mentality.
posted on October 25, 2001 12:04:45 PM
Ebay's checkout is as slow as their ask seller a question. Most of the time I receive the question after the auction has closed! Yesterday I had an auction close with BIN. The customer received the usual WBN, Paid with paypal, I shipped the item, and about 3 hours later I received the checkout email from Ebay. A little late the item was already on it's way. If anyone ever figures out how to disable it,I hope they share it immediatly. It really is something we don't need to deal with!
"We want ebay to treat us like the adults we are, yet we hear arguments about how "confused" the bidders are going to be...as if the bidders are little more than brain dead or very young children who have to be led by the hand."
Amy, it has nothing to do with buyers being "brain dead" or "very young children who have to be led by the hand."
MANY buyers on eBay are not only NEW to eBay, but are also NEW to computers. MANY of these buyers don't even know what a hyperlink is, let alone some of the crap eBay throws their way on a daily basis. These are the buyers I'm concerned about, and from what I've been reading on the various boards today I have very good reason to be concerned.
posted on October 25, 2001 12:26:32 PM
HOW IRONIC !!
While I was busy writing the "Amy you lose"
post, I received two emails:
1. From ebay's Check out mail server explaining that the buyer had completed check out ; however, had not made payment because they will send a money order in the mail.
2. From the buyer responding to my Auction Watch WBN indicating they will put a money order in the mail tomorrow.
Well, folks! This buyer, (my loyal customer)
went through the process of filling out ebay's information request AND THEN repeating it by responding to the WBN.
posted on October 25, 2001 01:17:34 PM
As an aside to those planning to 'attend' the on-line Live Chat on Checkout, PBA that previous Live Chats that I have attended have been strictly moderated, rah rah sessions, NOT cutting edge give and take. No 'good' questions make it through to be answered.
ie, do not plan your dinner tonight around the Live Chat.
posted on October 25, 2001 01:29:08 PM
I, for one, will NOT be attending the Chat tonight to listen to Ebay rehash stuff they've posted 1,000 times.
And miss SURVIVOR, CSI, ETC.
Ebay's Chat comes in WAY LAST!
By the way, I did finally get an auction posted today and had no choice but to opt OUT of Checkout. I was given no other alternative! Now I have nice little boxes at the bottom of my auction with nothing in them!
posted on October 25, 2001 01:53:51 PMI want to put something in the Refund Policy box, but is the only way to do it manually at EACH of my auctions? Is there a way to just enter my wording in one time? I use ChannelAdvisor and they aren't compatible yet.
Hopefully your auction software will be up to speed quickly, but in the meantime why don't you type up your wording for the box into a Word document, or whatever other software you use. Then you could simply open up the document and copy and paste it into your auction descriptions. Or you could add it to whatever auction template ChannelAdvisor provides you with. After all, bidders are supposed to read the entire auction text before bidding, aren't they?
As long as the info. is someplace in your auction ad, no one can say you didn't state your intentions.
