posted on September 1, 2001 11:29:46 AM
WHY can't sellers victimized by Ebay's carelessness have listing fees refunded along with final value fees?
It seems to me, that due to the carelessness of Ebay in letting sooooo many users return with new ID's (because Ebay will not demand verification of AOL, etc.) it is costing sellers A LOT of money!!
They do refund FVF's when a seller is stiffed---but how about the listing fees! Those listing fees that are paid to relist after being stiffed on an item really add up!
I know the first relist is free IF you sell the 2nd time around, but that is a minor solution because it doesn't always work out that way. Often times the dynamics of the market change and you don't get the same bidders.
Ebay should either;
A) Refund LISTING fees along with FVF's, or
B) Require verification by users of AOL, and any similar service where obtaining a new ID or e-mail address is so simple.
posted on September 10, 2001 03:30:24 PM
I agree. That's another of my beefs with ebay. When a bidder doesn't pay, ebay should also refund the listing fee; especially in cases where the winning non-paying bidder is the only bidder. Afterall, how do we know it is not an ebay staffer doing it to make nmore money for ebay? Could happen...
posted on September 10, 2001 06:00:32 PM
Listing Fees are the liability one has on eBay. It's largely up to the seller to CYA. I would consider each paying auction to have a minimum surcharge of at least .30 to cover for deadbeat administration. Waiting on eBay to give up their payments on their Porsches will never happen. The paying customers get stuck with the overhead from deadbeats.
posted on September 10, 2001 10:46:37 PM
I strongly disagree. The SELLER is the one who gets stuck!
A buyer has a set amount they are willing to pay for something, so if you tack on an additional ANYTHING, they will just figure that into the amount they are bidding.
If a bidder bids $10.00 on your item, it won't matter if you say you have a 30 cent or a $3 surcharge---because the bidder has a MAX, surcharge or not.
posted on September 10, 2001 11:52:14 PM
Have you tried to get a free AOL acount lately? Not like before. You must have a vaild credit card or checking account to sign up. Many other ISPs now give multiple email accounts on signup. It is VERY hard to sign up for even a bidders account on eBay these days without a valid ISP.
posted on September 11, 2001 05:33:59 AM
I just got a CD-ROM in the mail from AOL that said 1,000 free hours and no credit card required. What is to keep someone from signing up, using those 1,000 hours to bid on a bunch of Ebay auctions and then just cancel their AOL account and disappear? Nothing!
posted on September 11, 2001 06:22:02 AM
I wish they would also, but look at it this way. If you place an ad in the paper to sell something, and someone calls you, comes and looks at it, tells you they'll be back to buy it, then never shows back up, it's not the paper's fault.
However, I TOTALLY agree about aol verification. As far as I'm concerned, aol is as anonymous as hotmail, yahoo, etc. EBay is showing a total disregard for sellers by treating aol accounts as if they have any degree of accountability.
To responsible aol users, my sincere apologies, but with unlimited account names and no cc's needed to register w/eBay, "@aol.com" remains my largest group of deadbeats.
