chris d.

I have been selling on ebay for over 5years. At first all was well... we use it to fundraise for animal rescue centres. However, over the past 18mths it has deteriorated substantially. Firstly 'stealing' 10% on postage costs (still arguing that one with trading standards), then, no longer is 100% feedback enough... they moved the goalposts so that despatch times, communications with sellers etc., were all included in the childish 'seller dashboard'... now they have moved the goalposts yet again... to penalise any sellers who cannot fulfill an order. Recently we had 3 items which sold... but we could not locate them. I issued immediate refunds, explained the situation and all 3 buyers said they still wanted to purchase if we located the item. Within a week I found 2 items, relisted... messaged the original buyers... who both purchased. We still have 1 item we cannot find. However, all three items are now counted down in 'seller dashboard' and as a result we are deemed 'below standard'... thus not being able to take advantage of free listings... which are crucial for fundraising. As I write this, I am speaking to ebay tomorrow, but will close our account and our paypal account if ebay do not see sense. I appreciate that ebay is not a charity... but they are now bordering on 'ultra greedy'... plus, many of the sellers, although supposedly selling from the UK are actually selling and despatching their goods from China. We will not sell, nor purchase from China as their human and animal welfare issues are abysmal. Selling on ebay is becoming more and more tedious and takes me back to my 'homework' days... but, sadly, I am too long in the tooth to be dictated to by 'tutors' who have absolutely no idea what they are doing. We will lose a lot of funding if we do not sell on ebay... but we will all have more time to maybe do the things that can be more important... like enjoying spare time instead of being at the beck and call of ebay, buyers, answering questions, keeping buyers happy... whilst 'toeing the line' with the growing ebay dictatorship!