posted on October 21, 2001 01:06:25 PM
I finally got items that are moving good!
But every time I turn around, eBay keeps yanking me.
First the items were too closely related to the attack. While I disagreed, I accepted what they said and changed what needed to be changed.
Just a few minutes ago, I received a letter from Safe Harbor stating it's not acceptable to have "choices"
I have over 50 designs and I want the winning bidder to choose what design they want.
The way they are stating it, I'll have to post 50 different auctions, paying the listing fee on each of those 50, instead of allowing the winner to choose.
I'm not trying to circumvent listing fees, but it sure sounds like eBay is trying to break me for fees.
I don't want to lose my status as a seller, and I'm trying hard to make a living and follow the guidelines, but it's getting impossible to make an honest buck!
As soon as it looks like it's going to be popular, Ebay seems to find a reason why it's against their rules.
Does anyone have any ideas on how I can sell an item, give the winner a choice of what they want, and STILL be within the rules?
I've had this choice on my auctions since Oct 14th with 13 successful winners, so today's notice was quite a shock since it was just today they said I can't do it.
I had no idea that this was not acceptable
I'm at my wits end trying to figure out how NOT to get picked on, be legal, AND be succesfull
Any tips would be MOST appreciated!
posted on October 21, 2001 03:05:32 PM
When you send your successful bidder notice offer them the choice at that time. Ebay shouldn't have a problem with that. Then again who knoaws as their rules change constantly.
* http://www.romahawk.com
posted on October 21, 2001 03:15:43 PM
A good lower cost alternative to offer a choice like this is to have your auctions to bring in the traffic for the item. Then offer an Ebay store item for every size/design combination that you want to offer.
Point them to your store from the auction page if they need a different size/design.
And, as Romahawk said, offer them the choice in your EOA email as well. Offer the link to your Ebay Store to view all available designs, colors, sizes etc.
posted on October 21, 2001 04:12:47 PM
gamecock's suggestion is great. I would go with that... State boldly in your auction that "This auction is for such-and-such a pattern and style, but there are 50 more to choose from in my eBay store." Or something to that effect, and supply another link or two to your store, making it easy for the customer to get there while they're reading and browsing your auction. It would only cost .05 cents to list each style for 30 days.
Also, take microbes suggestion and read all of eBay's rules over carefully so you don't get caught in this situation again. Sounds like someone, (maybe competition) is keeping tabs on you and reporting anything you do against the rules.
posted on October 21, 2001 04:45:16 PM
I can hardly imagine what it must be like to be a newbie on eBay. When I first got going, it was fairly new, and there were hardly and rules at all.
I got to see it evolve over a period of time to a set of terms and conditions only slightly less intimidating than an IRS tax form.
Hang in there. Personally I am waiting for the day when eBay takes a cue from Novell and Microsoft and begins to offer licensing credentials (of course, for a fee, but they throw in the photo ID). ECLS - eBay Certified Licensed Seller. MECLS, ECLSPhD, etc.
posted on October 22, 2001 10:39:42 AM
Thanks for all the great tips!
I got an answer back from safe harbor and they said
We do allow customization of an item as long as the options
are not listed on the view item page and all customization is done after
the auction.
I do have an auctionwatch store linked on my auctions, so they should be able to see all the different selections there.
I thought I had read all the rules, but every time I go back, I read something that I swear wasn't there before.... must be the old age setting in!
They state that this is to avoid confusion.
The way I had it was going smoothly, now when a bidder sees the auction as "customized" and I don't have any choices listed, I think this is going to confuse them more, but I'll work through it tweeking each auction until it comes out right.
