posted on July 16, 2002 09:52:07 PM new
Does it make any dif.to me?
NO!!
There are only 3 things I look for in an auction
1- An Item I want
2- Fixed, stated S&H Fee.
3- They must take Paypal.
If their feedback is under 50 I'll look to see their track record.
Other than that I care nothing about the person I purchase from.
posted on July 16, 2002 10:15:40 PM new
No, except it makes me check their feedback for any slow shipping or poor communication comments. My experience with Powersellers has been about 50% good and 50% bad.
I think the little icon near the seller ID is fine, but I hate the ones that have the huge logo in the description. A good seller shouldn't have to shove a PS logo in my face.
posted on July 16, 2002 10:38:23 PM new
richierich, it doesn't make any difference to me. I look at feedback comments and volume of listings, not the icon next to the id. For example, there is a Power Seller of antiques who gives more space on the auction page to a special method of foam packaging than to photos and description of the product. All of the seller's auctions start at under $10 with no reserve. If you click into the seller's feedback and read the positive comments, buyers say "great item but seller charges high fees for elaborate packaging system," meaning you can win an auction and end up being surprised with a huge handling fee to pay for the fancy foam packaging.
dadofstickboy, if what you are bidding on cannot be shipped Media Mail, how is it possible for a seller to give a fixed S&H cost in the auction?
I am asking because I prefer the cost being stated right on the auction page also. I recently won an auction for a French 19th century teapot (seller didn't know what she had) and my winning price was around $13. The seller takes my zip code information, and it turns out we are quite a few postal zones apart and my teapot costs $15.00 to ship Priority Mail. The total cost is still cheap for me, but if the seller had estimated a cost based on a zone closer to her she would have lost quite a bit of money.
I will resume listing auctions soon, after taking a few months off, and I can't figure out how to give a fixed price in my auction unless it is Media Mail. If you have a solution that works for you, please tell me so I can see if it might work for me.
posted on July 16, 2002 10:58:15 PM new
From what I read here sellers are going to a fixed S/H and using the farthest zone from their zip code. Since I sell small items I use either 1st class or the $3.85 Priority Mail which is the same for all zones.
I think it will take awhile before we can get the postage where it is right for both seller and buyer but until then someone is going to lose and I hope it isn't me.
As JACKSWEBB wants and I agree a zip code on the feed back page where it says what country you are from.(the box in the upper right corner). I have put my zip code in my location on my auction page, but that doesn't help unless I buy something.
posted on July 16, 2002 11:22:46 PM new
In some ways I'm pleased to have a Power Seller as the seller and some ways I'm not pleased to have a Power Seller as the seller.
A Power Seller must meet certain requirements to qualify and that's a plus. But Power Sellers tend to give slow and unpersonal service while many of the early eBay sellers prided themselves on their fast and communicative service. The Power Sellers are often like the big farm conglomerates that crush the little farmers with their buying power.
posted on July 16, 2002 11:57:12 PM new
No, PowerSellers must also maintain a 98% positive feedback ratio.
It always surprises me that bidders don't think twice about lowballing a seller. In fact, that's the whole idea, isn't it? But these same bidders also expect fast personal service. To me, it just doesn't add up.
On the Sunday after July 4th I got a kind of snippy email from a winner. It closed with, "if I don't hear from you in two days, I'll contact eBay." I replied that since the auction closed, only one business day had passed. I got an earful back from that buyer about my slow communication. (BTW, it's been two weeks and her payment still hasn't arrived.)
PowerSeller status isn't the only thing I consider, but it's definitely a plus.
posted on July 17, 2002 12:37:38 AM newYOU SELL LOTS, THAT % STAYS AHEAD OF ANY IDIOTS THAT NEG YOU.
I'm afraid it doesn't work that way. A percentage is a percentage. It has nothing to do with the number of auctions you run.
Also, whether or not "somebody else wanted it" is not to the point. The point is, bidders want to pay thrift store prices but expect Neimann-Marcus service.
Speaking for myself, confidence is important and I feel more confident dealing with established eBay sellers, including PowerSellers. I don't need my hand held. If the shipping is slow, that is no big deal. Your mileage may vary.
posted on July 17, 2002 04:54:01 AM new
hotcupoftea:
I list all my items with a fixed rate.
I just put them on a scale, go to the postal rate chart, and charge to the fartherest point.
I only ship Priority no matter what it is.
I have a 3 peice tea set up right now that will ship for $12.50
So if you liked $15.00 for yours, mine at $12.50 is a real deal.
If you read my feedback you would find that 99% is a comment on great shipping!
I've purchased before without knowing the price in advance and almost fell over when they told me what they wanted.
No more!
posted on July 17, 2002 02:42:50 PM new
Being a new Power Seller myself, I have to say, I am not one of those shoddy service Power Sellers. Most of my feedback indicates that my packaging is excellent and they received their product fast.
I do agree, however, that buyers do expect Neiman Marcus service - Sometimes they forgot what it was like to shop by catalog, where the average ship is 6-8 weeks.
The fact that I get it out within the week of payment is important to me. While I realize that credit card buyers want it NOW, I do try to get those out a little quicker, usually the first day or so. However, I think it is ridiculous for some buyers to expect that package to ship hours after their paypal notice has arrived. Frankly, I sometimes wonder about eliminating credit cards completely, as I don't like the stress of feeling as though I didn't ship it fast enough. LOL
Back to the original question, I do not care whether the Seller is a Power Seller or not. I do check everyone's feedback though. My 11 year old son has learned that too. He always wants to buy something and will come running to me and tell me how many feedback the seller has and whether any of them are negative - he will even read the negs to see how they handled it. I have him trained so well - LOL.
If I were buying electronics, i.e., computers, I will not buy from a new seller. Just not that trusting yet. A Power Seller logo might influence me more in this respect - but that is primarily the only category where I would do that.
I thought about adding the Power Seller logo to my auctions when I was asked to join and wondered if it added anything to it. Because of all the bad press some eBay transactions have had, I think it makes some of the newer buyers feel a little better.
posted on July 17, 2002 02:55:13 PM new
I don't go looking for powersellers, but when I see one selling an item I want, I take interest. As a seller, I want to see what they sell, how they sell it, what their ads say, how their feedback is, this way I can learn what they are doing right...
posted on July 17, 2002 09:52:08 PM new
I don't go looking for powersellers in items that I purchase, but if an item I want is being sold by a powerseller, I check their feedback more closely than with other sellers. I want to know what kind of feedback is being left and how the negs are responded to. If I read, E-mailed many times with no response, I do not bid. Item came wrong, still waiting for response, I do not bid. Seller did not send e-mail stating payment has arrived or item is on the way, I do not bid.
More often than not, I end up not bidding on the powersellers items as they in most cases do not follow up on problems. You can say 999 positives to 1 neg and say that is a very good percentage, which in those terms it is, but in most cases transactions do go without a hitch allowing for positive feedback. It is when something does go wrong that powersellers tend to fall short. It has become an additude of "I am too busy with everything else to deal with your problem at this time." If I were to bid on a powersellers item, would I receive the item in reasonable fashion. Probably. But if not, the chances in getting it resolved in a quick manner are much lower than a non-powerseller.
posted on July 17, 2002 10:27:43 PM new
Well, I just got finished replying to my testy bidder ^^^. She denies being rude (she threatened to complain to eBay after one business day had passed).
She now says that because of my poor feedback rating, and our dispute, that she thinks I will not send her item. So she refuses to pay. My feedback is about 98%. Hers is a perfect 39. When I finish negging her, her feedback will be "worse" than mine.
I'm beginning to think I should limit my auctions to those bidders who can prove they completed sixth grade math.
posted on July 19, 2002 10:45:34 AM new
Just posting a follow-up.
I gave the bidder one more chance and she refused to pony up for the auction. She said she had to do "what her gut told her to do."
I checked her bid history and saw she placed a bid on a similar item (for much less) a full nine days ago, before there was any hint of trouble. She won that item today, a used one, but for about 25% of what she bid on my item.
If there's one thing worse than a deadbeat, it's a lying deadbeat. I think I've been eBaying too long. This kind of crap doesn't even surprise me any more.
posted on July 19, 2002 12:07:38 PM new
Priority being what it is, I am glad the items I sell can be shipped in a padded envelope by 1st class. Mine only went up $.04. Of course, I upped my S&H a full $1... I may cut rates and just make it $2 plus $1 for each additional item. I have one person who usually buys all of my cheapo's (I start many of my auctions at $.01, and some sell for $1 to $5. This one woman buys most of those for resale... this change in pricing would hurt her big time).
posted on July 19, 2002 10:03:27 PM new
[i]However, I think it is ridiculous for some
buyers to expect that package to ship hours after their paypal notice has arrived. Frankly, I sometimes wonder
about eliminating credit cards completely, as I don't like the stress of feeling as though I didn't ship it fast enough.[/i]
This is precisely what we did, and for precisely that reason. Some people would hyper us to death if we let them.
We do get the occasional snide, whiny or snotty comment about how we would have many more buyers if we did laPyaP or accepted credit cards, but with over 95% sellthrough, I don't take these comments very seriously. The truth is that no one yet has given me a compelling reason to pay laPyaP fees or deal with the possibilities of chargebacks and account restriction.
