itsasimplelife:
It is true that ebay did not build its business with these ethics... but it also did not build its business with the CEO that they have in place, which I'm assuming is the source for most of our woes... I'm with you guys, the first place that comes along and wants me, I'm there. I've already opened an Auctiva Commerce store with success. We sell there roughly the same amount that we sell on ebay, but the fees are usually somewhere around $50 a month, versus the $500-600 that we pay ebay... That hurts... REALLY hurts. I dread doing taxes, and adding up our ebay/paypal fees for the year... sitting there staring at the total number thinking of how much money we are giving ebay and how crappy they treat us.
Recent example: A customer (from Canada) purchases something from us, requests us to send it USPS First Class International. We ship the same day he purchased, via the method he requested and three days later he emails me asking where his package is. I explain to him that his package was shipped the same day he purchased, and that it should arrive in a couple weeks or so (from US to Canada is roughly 2-4 weeks). One week and two days after the purchase date he opens a dispute saying that its been 3 weeks and he hasn't received anything. Now, I'm not an idiot I can look at a calendar and see it hasn't been 3 weeks. I explain the delivery times again, with no response from the customer. Yesterday he finally responds to the message claiming its been over 4 weeks and he wants his money back. Check your calendar dummy, its only been 2 weeks to the day! But he wants his money back, and he'll get it. Down the drain goes $150 for us, simply because paypal will side with any customer regardless of delivery times. How fair is this to sellers? It isn't... And through the mess I have to be as nice as I possibly can, because looking at his feedback is like looking at a christmas tree... SOOO many reds, all showing his general ignorance of how the buying/selling process works. So, the flawless feedback we've worked so hard to keep for so long will most likely be ruined by this "bad egg" so to speak.
I hope someone, somewhere along the grape vine starts reading these posts and has the common sense to come up with a better alternative.... Because, when this does happen I will happily take them up on their offer and end this madness.