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Apple Dumpling DesignsWell, we all know my ebay love/hate relationship...more hate as of late. 
(I've been following along in the shadows)
But, Brenda...you got them bunnies stuff yet? 
Newcastle, OntarioHi there,
I found this on the weekend. I've been sick and didn't feel like working so I just browsed - guarateed to make you all feel ill. I didn't know that these Ebay bigwigs could buy "low" and the sell "high". These transactions have been reported, but I don't remember hearing anything about it. A slap on the wrist, maybe?
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/it?s=ebay
hugs,
Brenda
Newcastle, OntarioHiiiiiiiiiiiii Shaaaaaaantell :crackup:
Yes, they are stuffed, with ears on and eyes in - just need to paint them and add whiskers, hopefully today 
I do have an excuse - I have a bladder/possible kidney infection. That's why I've been feeling sooooo tired and crappy. I spent 2 1/2 hours in our local Urgent Care yesterday morning, waiting for a prescription for antibiotics. I should have known as I'm prone to them. The good news is, I sewed the entire time I was there and the bunnies are looking great
hugs,
Brenda
ToadBriarI built my etsy shop and will be populating it with bears and pals this week. I've had a very good reception of my art prints over there! It's also a good place to get interesting supplies and bits of vintage fabric and buttons etc. I really like the community a lot!
I closed my ebay store entirely - everything I hear from ebay is worse than the last and I don't want to do business like that.
Brenda make sure you take ALL yer antibiotics!!
Newcastle, OntarioKim,
I just found your Etsy shop and have hearted it as a favourite. For those who would like to take a peek it's www.toadbriar.etsy.com !
I also have a shop there too, www.duffyantiques.etsy.com. It's empty at the moment but I am going to be posting more of my things there. Yes, I will take all my pills, even though they have given me a miserable headache.
hugs,
Brenda
Newcastle, OntarioNow Ebay is threatening sellers about shipping costs. I know some sellers gouge, but this was just posted on another board, from Ebay.
"Anyone received this alert yet? Attention Seller!
We noticed your shipping cost looks high compared to other listings in your category with similar shipping services. .
We've found that buyers are sensitive to shipping costs. Items with high shipping costs may be less likely to sell and may get less visibility in search results. Listings that violate the eBay Excessive Shipping Charges policy may be removed from the site.
Please review your shipping costs and make changes if necessary. For help, click the Research rates link in the shipping section.
I just got this alert for an item that I am charging $5.50 for First Class Mail! Good Grief! The item I am selling is a piece of fabric that will probably top out at 13 oz the maximum for this class of mail and I've only charged actual postage plus the cost of packing materials!
I found a very cool website you guys might enjoy.. it calculates ebay and paypal fees.
http://www.ebcalc.com/
Hugs!
Melanie
Newcastle, OntarioHi Mel,
That's cool - haven't see it before and I've bookmarked it now. Thank you.
hugs,
Brenda
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)Ditto on that site, Melanie & Brenda...
I do have to list late this week. I promised a customer (actually 2, but one is purchasing direct and the other will be an eBay auction) and she's waiting...
Newcastle, OntarioBobbie,
Don't worry about listing - do what you have to do. I'm lucky that I am okay for a little while longer, until I decide what I'm going to do.
hugs,
Brenda
Ciderantiques and Old Soul BearsUpdate ~ Auction Listings on ebay ~ February 25, 2008 ~ 9:30pm EST
That's one very confused looking graph 
Ciderantiques and Old Soul BearsWow . . . over 2,000 hits on this thread :hug:
Back Road BearsBrenda - hope you are feeling better soon. On price gouging: I've seen some serious gougers... like how does something that weighs less than a pound, is selling for $5 and is being shipped first class cost $23.95 in shipping??? I'm glad they are targeting these listings. But you were unnecessarily targeted I'd say! Still, I'm glad they are doing something... they just need to adjust their search parameters when filtering through listings for potential gougers. I'm guessing it's all done electronically.
Etsy users - way to go!!! 
Can't wait to see that become THE place for buying bears!!! (Shantell - try Etsy!!!)
Karen - is there any way to see what one of those graphs looked like for a different month... January even. I'm wondering, with the exception of that spike because of their promotion, if the graph looks like it would most months. Just curious.
Newcastle, OntarioDaphne,
This is January's graph:
hugs,
Brenda
Feather Heart CreationsI'm just now reading this. I had made up my mind the other day after E-bay froze my account for $11 due on E-bays fees that I would stop selling on E-bay & stick with Etsy & Bid4Bears I didn't know about the boycott but after these items end I think I'm done with E-bay & I've had an account sense 1998 E-bay's help sucks, the fees keep going up & I can't think of a reason to keep selling there. I'll be listing everything from now on at my Etsy store www.featherheart.etsy.com Thanks for posting this 
Apple Dumpling DesignsBrenda so sorry you've been feeling poor. You get better, you hear me. Glad the bunnies are ready to hop there way Aleta's direction for purely selfish reasons...I get to see them...well that is if I get my butt up there early enough. HA!
Daphne Way ahead of you girl...already been thinking about it Etsy for awhile...just gotta get a couple little bears finished up and ready to go. I'm a slacker. Oh, and I'm making a quilt for Taylor's birthday (his request). First REAL quilt I've actually made in 3 years.
As far as Ebay, I've been annoyed with them for a long time. They haven't done anything to ME personally. It just seems they are getting more and more greedy with less and less customer service and they don't protect either buyer or seller. Paypal is almost as annoying. I can't even get them to change my last name from when I was married...now divorced. I've sent my divorce decree THREE TIMES...still not changed. I've called...written...argued...nearly lost my temper (shock)...and hung up on one guy (idiot). GRRRRRRRRRRR
Have a happy day everyone...I need to take walk now! :crackup:
Terries Bearsebay's new policies are ridiculous! Hopefully they will listen to the complaints and make some changes. Thanks for all of the links to other selling venues and Mel, I have bookmarked the fee calculating site as well, that is very cool. My next bears will be listed on Bid4Bears.
Jane Perala Designs Ltd.Wow, I had no idea this was going on - thanks for all the great information everyone!
Newcastle, OntarioHi Jane,
Thanks for your post. This thread has been getting a fair bit of attention and that's great, because the more people that know what is happening with Ebay, the better.
I think it's been posted before, but the general concensus is now that Ebay is making these changes deliberately, to drive the small seller away. They just can't kick all of them off.
It seems like they are trying to get more Corporate clients ie GM is going to be selling some cars on Ebay, we've heard. It's also rumoured that in the next couple of years, it will be turning into a site like Amazon, that will be "set price" and they will ditch the auction premise completely and they will raise fees so they are taking a full 15% total, (ebay and paypal combined).
So, it may be that nothing we do will make a difference, but the more their reputation is sullied, the better. I have learned so much about them in a week and I don't like what I've learned.
The auction has been extended at least for another week, but only for those that can do it without harm to themselves. We have to use common sense in understanding that not everyone can continue. But the aim now is to get as much negative media press as possible and keep it going as long as possible. Apparently, the bad press IS making Ebay nervous ie stockholders.
I think they have underestimated the sellers - there ar boycott groups springing up all over the intenet and they are gradually joining together to make larger groups. Groups on Myspace, Facebook, Utube, PowersellersUnite, etc are growing fast as the word is gradually spreading. If everyone that finds out tells two more people, it WILL reach a lot more people.
hugs,
Brenda
What really sucks is that I love ebay.. but when I can't even leave a feedback if I get a scam customer, that is what annoys me the most... and it doesn't help that if I want to feature an average bear.. it looks to cost me almost $40.. that is horrible. I don't want to have to price my bears higher.. but I can't give my work away. I don't list many bears on ebay as it is.. but I really like to.. it is exciting and gets more people interested.
The Feedback thing is just not good. My B/F sells alot on ebay and just as an example of what can go bad.. B/F does not ship out of North America (has international bidders blocked) .. He got an order from France (person is registered in Canada) the other day.. Person pays with Paypal without contacting him about shipping.. won't respond to emails... My B/f will ship the item to the person even though he has international bidders blocked, he is not unreasonable.. but he needs more money for postage.. the person will not respond to his emails. What is a person to do ... under the new ebay policy this person can leave him negative feedback.. yet he has not done anything wrong.. he stated clearly in the auction where he ships and blocked people from other countries. He wants to refund his money... but would of course rather ship the item. But the buyer is not responding.. so I guess now he can refund his money with paypal.. but who pays the ebay fees? and can the buyer still leave a negative because he paid for the item?
Hugs,
Melanie
Newcastle, OntarioHi Mel,
First of all, the new feedback policy doesn't go into effect until May, so your B/F can still leave a negative for the time being, although we all know that's not what we want to do. I 'm not sure about the Paypal fees. I got a refund the other day for the full amount of a payment I made, for something that was no longer available, but I'm not sure if Paypal reverses the fees or if the seller had to cough up the extra bit. I've never had to refund money with Paypal, so I'm not sure.
If this buyer doesn't contact your B/F in the 3 day period, maybe he can report it to Ebay with a "not full payment" complaint with no responses to emails, and that they bid knowing he didn't ship internationally. It's a tough one.
I agree that auctions are exciting - it's really a shame what's happening. Today, we had a online chat meeting, and there will be another boycott in May, leaving sellers more time to organize, get information about the strike out to more people and many sellers are leaving Ebay completely. They are even discussing picketing Ebay offices in San Jose. We'll have to see where it all leads, once the word gets out about May.
hugs,
Brenda
I have been following his thread and I am scratching my head. I just don't know. On one hand I have had great experiences with eBay to be fair..apart from a miserable seller who tried to diddle me I have never had the bad side of it pushed into my face...that's not to say I don't accept it's out there. I therefore feel that I want to carry on using eBay.
The reasons I want to use it are that it gives me a good price for my bears, I get great exposure, and it's been relatively trouble free up to now. The reason I am bothered about it is that from now on selling will be a more iffy experience because we could be targetted. Not wanting to put ideas into someones head it could be open season to those competitors who wish to besmirch other sellers reputations in surreptitious and scurrilous ways. I am bothered about the feedback thing..initially I thought it would work..but reading some of the cop-outs like the fact that someone only has to reply to a payment reminder can still leave negative feedback, even if they still don't pay. That's not cricket and opens up a whole raft of potential buyer scams..and as a seller we have no redress.
I'm bothered by this new auction format in which ebay posts in red a notice stating the sellers status in terms of shipping etc. That concerns me because as someone who normally sells on .com despite living in the UK I am seriously going to fall foul of this. The only way we can list on .com is by offering flat rate shipping, otherwise we just can't list on .com. If you don't specify a shipping cost we practically disappear off the listings in terms of visiblity because they want you to say up front what the shipping is , but obviously we end up putting a higher shipping charge of about $30 + because that's what it costs us to ship first class from the UK...so we are going to end up ,by default, with low shipper ratings....even though I usually end up subsidising the costs myself.
Still scratching...I am very confused now. I am not sure about other auction sites..they don't ever seem as effective....I do think there is some ulterior motive on the part of ebay for why they are doing this..it not something in anyones interests other than theirs...something we'll never get to the bottom of.
Hi Brenda
Thanks for doing all this research you've certainly made it easier for people.
I personally take responsibility for the whole 'ebay' problem .......................I've only just started selling my rabbits on ebay and had 1 success, I've obviously 'jinxed' the whole system :crackup: 
On a more serious note to pick up on what Jenny just said , I think the chance of people targeting other sellers with negative feedback could happen, especially with more mainstream items.
I hadn't realised the shipping thing would be so bad for UK sellers , it took me long enough to work the shipping out anyway and now it looks like it will be more difficult for us .
If 'ebay' is giving up on the smaller seller, then sellers will move elsewhere. We'll just have to wait and see where that's going to be !!.
Yes because it's a way of seriously damaging a reputation without come-back on the buyer ..and competitors can easily set up fake accounts to do it too. I am not so sure it's a good thing. I am not too worried about the shipping thing because you can always up your reserve to allow for free shipping anywhere ...but the feedback thing only needs to happen once. Can you vet potential buyers? I don't know ....hmmmmm!
Newcastle, OntarioJenny,
I understand exactly what you're saying about Ebay - I don't love the way they are making these changes, BUT I have loved the experience of selling there. Auctions are exciting, and I've only come close to one bad experience and that was when I was selling something for my son-in-law, not one of my bears. I've met fabulous people and was able to earn much needed income, when our son was injured in a bad accident. That's why I started there and loved it so much, I've continued.
However, since the writing seems to be on the wall, they boycott groups have picked three sites they want to support, as one site doesn't suit everyone, so they can grow and if one seems attract more customers, then they will all support the main one. Basically, the boycotting sellers are trying to make a place for everyone to go, when and if Ebay makes the changes we feel are coming.
They have decided to use Ebay as little as possible, and organize for a larger and more publicised ban in May, when the feedback changes take place. There is even talk about boycotting the head office in San Jose. There was a 10 hour online chat meeting last night. There are quite a few Powersellers in our group and eveyone has had enough. The changes are detrimental to the sellers, and I don't know of any other situation where a "boss" can basically shout to worldwide customers "this person is a bad risk, buy from someone else"! It's unbelievable.
hugs,
Brenda
