Jan O.

It would be difficult to recommend EBay to anyone. In the past year the site has become even more anti-seller than before (and I think they often don't support the good buyers who are not scammers but honestly trying to resolve issues). If a site is anti seller it is also anti buyer. EBay customer service is a joke... they're in some -istan nation and often do not speak English as a first or even second language. EBay employs all these people... overseas, for pennies. At the same time, EBay has become very inhospitable to small sellers by limiting views of their items so that even though sellers pay to list things, EBay's most recent user agreement states they "may not" show in searches! That has to be fraud! Not to mention Paypal, owned by EBay, which freezes people's funds not only in Paypal accounts but in bank accounts linked to Paypal, for 21 days and longer. That has to be against the law! In a stunning purge of small sellers last year, EBay with no notice at all closed the accounts of over 15,000 small sellers. This is outrageous. This is during a recession, when so many depend on the business they do on EBay to pay for groceries. Apparently this was the result of a computer program designed to clean house but as is often the case, many who had done nothing to deserve this were swept up in the mess. EBay remains completely unaccountable and people had no appeal or recourse. They could not complete sales which were made, they couldn't tie up loose ends... they went from heroes to bad people in one fell swoop. EBay has made it clear that it has an agenda to support big box sellers and Chinese manufacturers (who do not compete fairly because of cheaper postage rates and other trade agreement benefits). EBay no longer wants small sellers. They have treated them with disdain. EBay is no longer a good place to do business. Sales are down for most small sellers because EBay limits the search views to favoured (big box) sellers. EBay also in a cheap move stopped paying Google for as much access, cutting their sellers off at the knees (while charging them more). Because of the flawed Detailed Seller Rating system, sellers are often victimised by unscrupulous buyers who have become savvy in the ways of EBunk... they know that EBay will side with them against sellers every time. Sellers who want to maintain their high feedback (without which they too will be purged) must often knuckle under to sellers who demand "partial refunds" (i. E., discounts) and who rant against an item (often before it has been delivered) and then when offered "return for refund" do not take it (all they wanted was a bribe). To be fair, most buyers on EBay are good... it's just that the scammers have been enabled by EBay and now are rife there. EBay was once a wonderful place but since it was taken over by John Donahoe (formerly of Bain Capital) it has been turned into something different... and is no longer friendly and hospitable terrain. I'm saddened to have to be less than optimistic but the changes especially in the past year leave EBay watchers dismayed and do not hold out much hope for a good future there. Look for it to be another place to buy whatever they sell at Walmart and not much else. Don't get used to caring, nice small sellers... their days are numbered.