Confusing listing, dishonest buyers, rip-off fees ebay is taking the mickey out of us.
eBay – think of FEEbay – used to be a great place to buy and sell, it’s changed and is no longer good for either buying or selling.
Why I avoid buying on eBay
The listings are not open and honest. You search eBay and find the item you want, there is a price, but when you open the listing there are options and the item you want is at a much higher price. In north America they call it ‘bait and switch’ the bait is the low price, but when you try to buy it the price has gone up.
Foreign sellers on eBay
Many of the sellers are not based in the UK, so you have no idea how long it’s going to take for something to arrive.
Why I avoid selling on eBay
eBay fees are too high, even with special offers they are high. In January 2021 I sold a small item as a private seller, it sold for £4.29 plus £1.29 postage, total £5.58. It was listed with a special offer from eBay, maximum £1 selling fees. The selling cost was £1.00, I have to pay the £1.29 postage so I paid £1.00 on a £4.29 sale, that’s over 23% commission.
Is that really worth the time and trouble of listing the item with photographs, making up a package and taking it to the post?
Dishonest buyers on eBay
Sadly there are dishonest people who take advantage of eBay sellers. eBay supports buyers even when it looks like they are wrong. Sellers do not have rights, they just have to comply. Another recent example. I sold a Network Attached Storage unit (NAS) in perfect working condition. The seller complained that it did not work and asked to return it via eBay’s system. As the seller I had no rights and had to pay for the return carriage of the item via eBay. When the NAS arrived back I tested it and found it worked perfectly, first time.
On this transaction I lost out a lot because I had to pay the carriage to send the item to the buyer, then I had to pay the carriage for the item to be returned to me. Plus, all my time wasted and the frustration caused by a dishonest buyer. The NAS now sits on my desk, I am not willing to be taken advantage of by dishonest eBay buyers. The unit is worth about £30 but I’m not willing to list it again.
Where else to buy small items
Since abandoning eBay I have found many more reliable sources that generally work out costing me less, I think that’s because of the high selling costs on eBay.