eBay Business Policies

[RogerS]

No...not about eBay's questionable business practices but about their new 'idea' called Business Policies.

I met these yesterday when I listed some items. All went OK until I got down to Postage where the screen layout had changed and there was a meaningless pull-down list of 30+ items called "Policy 2884636, Policy 3995662, Policy 4746367" ...WTF? No bloody idea WTF Policy 2884636 means". No clues.

Ditto Delivery.

Ditto Returns AFAIR because by this time I'd given up and gone to eBay Chat.

The story is that eBay implemented this as an Opt-In. Oh no, they didn't...some people they (like me) the Opted In regardless. There is the option to Opt Out....for now.....because eBay say that this is going to become compulsory for all sellers. Oh no, wait a minute, eBay are now saying that it might not be. Hang on, stop press, it will be.

Rarely have I seen such a crock idea.

Are there any better sites than eBay for selling ?

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

do you mean for tools etc Roger or other stuff?

 

[RogerS]

Anything

 

[marcros]

i think that the alternatives are limited.

The obvious couple:

* Your own website, but you need to get traffic to it, which takes time and often money. Potentially a lot of both.

* Amazon- may work for certain items, but wont be a cheap option. I wouldnt automatically look for items on there because I tend to find that it isnt as easy as a buyer to search and compare items.

Annoying as the policies are, the fees are etc etc eBay has the traffic, and is a market place for pretty much anything. As a buyer eBay is great. I wish that there was an alternative as a seller. This is the problem- they know the value of their service and they know there is nothing much else out there.

 

[blackrodd]

do you mean for tools etc Roger or other stuff?

Gumtree any good?
I have had some good stuff from the site. Rodders

 

[marcros]

Trouble is that gumtree is like an online car boot sale. Does anybody buy new stuff on there?

 

[Mr_P]

I like them you just need to edit them and then next time it's a lot easier.

eg postage policy 34589 has now been renamed by me to read £3 second class recorded.

How you want to be paid and your returns policy once sorted won't need changing again.

To misquote a former Oldham MP " It has been said that Ebay is the worst way to sell things online except all the others that have been tried ".

 

[RogerS]

I like them you just need to edit them and then next time it's a lot easier.

....

Buit it works well for many now so why go through all the hassle of fiddling about (a) guessing what Policy 3784859859 might be and then (b) renaming it? Plain daft!

 

[Mr_P]

No guessing required if it says postage policy 1234 then I know I haven't used it before. I either pick one that's right or edit one I haven't used before.

 

[RogerS]

No guessing required if it says postage policy 1234 then I know I haven't used it before. I either pick one that's right or edit one I haven't used before.

The guessing is in what Policy 1234 means. When I was first faced with this system last night and went to Postage...all i got was a list of Policy 1235363, Policy 28383484, Policy 585859. To figure out what each one meant I had to go and select it then read it ...nope not that one...lets click on another....nope.not that one..and another...life is too short.

 

[Mr_P]

Sorry I didn't do that, first time I used it I just clicked on gibberish policy 1234 then edited the prices and name to fit. Been using it since January and I only have 7 policies with names that make sense. The more you use it the easier it gets.

 

[doctor Bob]

If you don't like it, don't use it. That'll teach em...........

or you could find the time to have a little moan on a forum even though life's to short to read things..........

 

[RogerS]

If you don't like it, don't use it. That'll teach em...........

or you could find the time to have a little moan on a forum even though life's to short to read things..........

Oooh....I have always wanted my very own personal troll. How are you, Robert?

 

[AndyT]

I sympathise - it sounds an oddly implemented idea from your description - but that's how it is online. There is a natural dominance by one player in each sector, since all potential customers can use it without effort, thus getting the advantages of using the biggest.

So after a short settling in period when there is competition, we get
the most used search engine - Google
the biggest retailer - Amazon
the biggest social network - Facebook
the biggest auction market - eBay.

Oh, and had you noticed that eBay own Gumtree?

 

[Ed209]

A word of warning to anyone using eBay as a basis for a business they can pull the plug and do without any explanation. I no of two people this has happened to