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as some of you might have seen, I posted my first ebay listing this past sunday. it's doing ok, but a number of friends and clients have told me they couldn't find my listing. one sweetheart of a fellow artist (thanks, Cathy) sent me a very nice post suggesting that next time I pay the fee for a 'featured artist' listing. I figured, why wait, so I went back to upgrade my listing, it went through and I was charged almost $50 (listed in 2 categories... never again) but my listing never changed or moved.
I contacted live support this morning to find out why, and was told I couldn't have a featured listing until I have a positive feedback of TEN. how totally stupid. I've got another ebay account with a positive feedback of over 1300, but felt it would be more professional to trade under my business name. they are connected to the same paypal account which is also an ebay owned company. I'm so pissed.
I'm going to have to buy 10 things before I can list again. sheesh. 
Seems like they make the rules up as they go along Kelly! I've been having similar problems and as I'm far from being an Ebay expert (only use if once in a blue moon) I always find it a frustrating process. I need an idiot's guide to making a successful listing!
FenBeary FolkYep, me too and to top it off, unless you have a feedback of 100 you run the risk of having funds withheld for 21 days or until the buyer leaves feedback.....................................bummer, we are a very high risk group 
The new DSR rating means you can't get a higher place listing as you need to sell 10 item a month to get a D (direct) S (seller) R (rating) score which means when they do away with the choice of how you see your listing and only offer Best Match...............you have no chance of being at the top 
Er, wot????? :doh:
I have a feedback of something over two (or it might be three ... can't recall) hundred positives and no negs, but many aren't recent ... will that cause me problems with receiving payment (if I ever manage to list successfully enough to sell anything that is!!! )
Apple Dumpling DesignsYou can't have a featured listing but they still charged you $50...ummmm...I'd be demanding a refund!!! That is a scam if I've ever seen one. Ebay is becoming such a dirty little place to do business anymore...not necessarily the sellers (although some are) but the company itself. I have feedback of over 200 and it use to be so easy and comfortable. Not anymore.
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!
geez, the more I read, both here and on ebay, the more frustrated I get. I've bought and sold tons on ebay, but didn't think I needed to let the whole world know about my predilection for converse tennies or other dainties by checking my feedback profile. who would have thought opening a new account would be such a hassle. now I hear they can keep my money for 21 days? I'll ask the winning bidder to send a check. what freaks.
and yes, they've billed my account the $50, with no change in the listing. what do you want to bet I'm going to have to fight tooth and nail to get it back???
this listing was THE most frustrating computer/web project I've ever done, curbed by ebays rules on every front - I set the whole thing up a week ahead of time & it still took me over an hour just to get the listing to post. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Kenosha WisconsinHi Kelly,I did a little researching for you and I'm sorry to say you made the same mistake I did a couple of weeks ago.Your listing is appearing,but under gallery featured.To find it,go to the main listing page where all the bears are in auction.Above the lists you will find"view"choose"gallery"and there it is!I was so mad when I made this mistake I could have kicked myself in the behind!I thought who in the heck would even know to choose that view!The bad part is ebay will not refund a penny,and like I told myself what an expensive lesson to learn...never again ~gallery~ with featured plus 
Your ducklings are beautiful and best of luck with the remainder of their auctionxxxxxSharie
Newcastle, Ontario,I've made the same mistake, when I sold on Ebay! I think they make it similar to confuse sellers!!!!!!!!! And no they aren't going to refund your money Kelly - you might as well save your breath!
Sharie, I read your blog with the post from Ebay - that certainly says it, doesn't it! No wonder they don't care - they want all the sellers to leave, so they can change things exactly as they want, and accomodate corporations!
hugs,
Brenda
gawd, don't I feel stupid :bday: (that's a dunce cap) what mean, nasty thing to do. they'll let me pay $25 to post in no-mans land, making me think it was the 'featured plus' option, but not $19.99 for the 'lesser' option of featured plus. I hate them.
sharie, thanks for pointing out that there actually was some sort of upgrade, no matter how stupidly placed.
brenda, thanks for making me feel like I'm not the only blonde in the room ;-)
Swan Valley BearsI haven't sold on ebay but I do buy there.
I don't know what everyone else does, but when I search for something on ebay, I choose my category or put in my search criteria, then I choose "ending soonest" or "newly listed", scroll down past the featured listings to where the item that really is ending soonest or most newly listed begins. . . because I can't stand to look at the same item twice. A featured item comes up first in the featured listings and then again in the real order of ending soonest or newly listed.
And Best Match? I don't appreciate ebay telling me what they think is my best match. I'll decide that.
So there, my two cents.
desertmountainbearDear Kelly, I made the same mistake when I listed my 1st bear after I left my husbands joint account. Let me tell you I have learned after much ebay business, that most people do not search under categories, they search under key words. The 1st line of your listing is for the search engine. So if someone wants to find fancy sweet niblets, your listing will come up. It is a mistake I often see made. Put your details in on the first line and your incidentals on the second. OOAK artist soft sculpture ducklings by kellydean. If it was mohair I would also post that on the top line. That way it comes up when one searches OOAK and it comes up under Artist and under Kellydean & co. and soft sculpture. etc. unfortunately once you post on ebay you cannot change the title. Glad to see it is doing well, next time it will go through the roof
Joanne
ps, there are two options, one is featured plus and one is gallery featured. the one you want did not even appear when you posted because you did not have the feedback rating for it to show up. Gallery Featured is what you want.
DoodlebearsI'm sorry to read about the mishaps and over charging that you have encountered Kelly, but I must say your auction is one of the most entertaining, visually beautiful and so full of your talent that it left me with a real warm feeling. Good luck with the total price, you really do deserve a good price for all the time and skills that you have put into making this wonderful piece. Lucky person who gets to own those adorable ducklings and their oh so wonderful home. Kelly you are a fantastic artist and although this post was to tell us how unhappy an experience eBay has been this time, I am sure now you have had help from others who fell by eBay's stupid rules, you will get it right next time. Thanks for making me smile bug time with you duckies.
Hugs, Jane. 
Yep,
THey're doing it! I have a 100% rating at 86 and I've sold over a hundred cats on ebay (before the change). The person who won the cat has bought at least 30 of my cats on ebay. They are holding the money for 21 days! So this is what ebay thinks of us 
Karen
Well, I've been doing ebay auctions for the past 3 years but before I posted my first auction I read some books and articles on doing ebays auctions....that preparation comes from being a homeschooling mom....but it definitely helped in getting my auction posted correctly the first time (I was so worried about making a mistake). And I also had to get 10 feedbacks before my first auction (I was an ebay virgin) so I could post in the Feature Plus area. I just bought 10 cheap buy-it-now items real quick.
But now...yikes!...ebay is making too many changes! I'm frustrated too! I just read (in an ebay newsletter) that Ebay will no longer allow payments by check or money order and we can are not suppose to even mention that option in our listing. I don't like that since I have several long time collectors that prefer to pay by check. I would prefer not to auction on ebay...but I've got bills to pay...for me ebay is a necessary evil because it reaches such a large audience. Between my ebay fees, my final value fees, and my Pay Pal fees....Ouch!
Well, even with the problems posting your first auction, your listing looks fabulous and your professionalism in your sculptures and also in your auction listing is clear. You are getting good bids so far and I have no doubt that your first auction, despite a few problems, will have an exciting final bid.
:hug:
Kathy
LuxembearsUgh. That would tick me off too. Did you know you can change your seller id without loosing your feedback? That is what I did. I used to sell under the name tbearpicnic than recently changed it to luxembears.
Also for another of my two cents...I have never noticed a difference when using the "featured" option for 24.99 or whatever the heck it is now. I think people just search keywords. That's how I shop on ebay for everything.
hey folks! thanks for all the tricks, tips and advice.
Judi, I knew you could change your ID & keep your feedback, but in my case, I wanted to dis-associate myself from my regular eBay feedback. I have a near-perfect feedback of 1300+ even after the 'new' ebay removed 500 for me -(ironically the one bad feedback I have was a retaliatory feedback from a seller who never delivered, precisely the type of feedback that is now impossible)
but I'd rather not share my personal shopping habits and I do a lot of personal shopping on ebay.
kathy, I've been selling on ebay for years (personal stuff - my alligator shoes, my hermes ties, anything, everything to pay the rent, but not my work) and I knew a bit about keywords and stuff, I just lost it completely in my design concept. I've watched artist bears on ebay for years now, even posted a trio of storks once (one of my shop-wholesale-clients had such a fit that I was trying ebay that I ended the listing after 12 hours).
joanne, I didn't THAT about keywords and the search engines, I thought they search through all the listings. not that there was many pertitnent key words in the listing. . .another mistake I made was I'm such a control freak that I turned most of text ino pictures, to ensure the typeface was the one I wanted. duh.
what I didn't realize was how many different ways there are to view listings, etc.. I will be super careful the next time, you can be sure.
Jane, you just plain make me blush {{{blushing}}}
karen, that 21-day thing REALLY sucks. I'm hoping since my account is linked to my long-standing paypal account, I'll sneak past it somehow. ha, fat chance :crackup:
Canna Bear PaintI've been on eBay since practically the dawn of eBay... but haven't been using it much lately, and with changes they've made recently, I too feel like a stranger! My mother made me promise to list some bears on eBay this year, and I've been dragging my heels (my current excuse it that our bears need to stay with us for 5 shows in 6 weeks in October/November). However, I realize that I will inevitably be putting some bears up this winter, so needed to get a feel for the new (and improved? *snort*) eBay. So I cheated and listed some bear FABRIC instead of bears for now. Hey, I'm getting closer.
Kelly, you are so "known" in the bear artist world, I think people would find your listings and bid well even if you were TRYING to hide them!
Cheers,
Kelly
Whoa, boy!
I've just sent an email really reaming ebay about their new 21 day policy. My sale average has been $465. My rating is 100% and an 86 for this year. THe customer who's payment they are holding has bought 30 of my cats. I let them know that, as an artist, I don't sell large volumes but I thought my auction prices more than make up for the lower volume. I asked if they preferred I sell 100 cheap items, that would seem to satisfy their requirement? I also asked if they would prefer that, as as artist, I leave ebay and take my collectors? I just feel this policy is so unfair to us. I was also embrassed because I asked my collector if she could leave a positive feedback before she received her cat so that I could receive the payment before 21 days We shouldn't have to do this.
Karen
Karen, please let us know when you receive a reply from ebay.
After replying to this thread earlier I really had to stop and think about doing more auctions on ebay...so I've decided to list my next panda on Bid 4 Bears. If enough artists and collectors supported B4B I think that it could be an excellent alternative to ebay. I really like that B4B is so personal...if we have a problem then we just need to call Nancy! I agree with Kelly, after years of listing on ebay, their changes confuse me and make me feel like a "stranger" too. Nancy has been my friend for a long time I am definitely going to support North Country Teddy Bears by becoming a member again and I will be listing more auctions on B4B.
I am also looking forward to the first online show for Who's Who in Bearmaking. We do have good alternatives to ebay but we as artists...especially those of us who are well established artists with loyal collectors....have to support these alternatives that are available to us.
Kathy
Kathy,
Here's their answer. Pretty much what we all have heard, but at least they looked up my records. What I heard is "these are the rules, just get your score up to 100". As an artist I find it difficult to create enough to reach and keep my 100 and still attend shows and do special orders for collectors and galleries. This would, more or less, have me working for ebay if I don't want the 21 day wait. : (Ebay refers me to Paypal for this rule)
Dear Karen Lyons,
Thank you for contacting PayPal.
Hello my name is Ric, I am sorry to hear about the situation regarding
eBay payment on hold, and understand your frustration and concern over
this issue. I am happy to assist you with your questions.
Your payments will not be held if you meet all the following
requirements:
· Your eBay tenure is more than 6 months. (You've been eBay member
since 2004)
· Your eBay feedback rating more than 100. (Your score is 87, 14
more to satisfy the feedback rating more than 100)
· Your buyer dissatisfaction is less than 5%.
These requirements are per individual eBay account. If you don't meet
this criteria yet, we recommend that you implement best practices to
reduce buyer disputes, claims and chargebacks.
I would like to let you know that you are valuable to us, and it is
important for me to help you resolve your concern. If in case you feel
that these information / instructions are inadequate, please don't
hesitate to contact our Community Support Agents at 1-888-221-1161 and
we would be delighted to further assist you regarding your immediate
concern.
We appreciate your patience and understanding regarding this matter, and
wish you continued success on PayPal. Rest assured that we are
committed to making your experiences at PayPal pleasant and rewarding.
Sincerely,
Ric
PayPal Consumer Support
PayPal, an eBay Company
Plum Cottage BearsKaren's posting contains a toll free number worth noting for Paypal:
Community Support Agents at 1-888-221-1161
sooooo. . . let me get this straight. . . until I have a feedback of 100, eBay is going to keep my money for 21 days -
on every transaction?
always for 21 days, or is it 21 days or until the customer leaves good feedback?
is it just good feeedback as a seller, or does buyer feedback count, too?
this is important, as I'm getting ready to list another piece tonight. pricks. maybe I'll just post it under my old user id and fergit the privacy issues. . .
ggggggggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
Kelly, you are so "known" in the bear artist world, I think people would find your listings and bid well even if you were TRYING to hide them!
Cheers,
Kelly
awwwww. . .shucks. . . . :redface: :redface: :redface: how sweet of you - and how good for my ego - seeing as just last year a rather well-known artist bear re-seller told me that I 'just didn't have the name anymore' to be selling anything priced over $300.
but I must say for all the frustration it's given me , and the frustration yet to come. . . I'm pleased with my first auction, so far :dance: :dance: :dance:
Kelly, OT
WOW! :clap: You certainly haven't lost it! What amazing work, and definitely state-of-the-art new ideas. Sorry I was so late viewing your auction. I got so wound up in the whole 21 day stuff
Karen
Donna's Duin BruinsKelly,
I don't sell very often of ebay so I might be out of date on this, but you used to be able to transfer your feedback from an old Ebay ID to a new one. With all the changes I don't know if they are still doing this or not but it might be worth checking if they are going to make you wait the 21 days for payment.
And I agree, your name is well enough known that it wouldn't matter where they put you, the collectors would still find you.
Donna
