eBay's business model is simple - favour buyers and do anything for them and pass all pains to the sellers.
I have summarised below in point as to how sellers are tormented by eBay's draconian and selfish policies -
1. eBay thinks that it is only Buyer who is important to them, since they are the one who pay for the products. eBay forgets that the Sellers are also equally important customers to eBay.
2. This is clearly evident by their policies which only cater to the Buyer.
3. The actual asset of eBay are Sellers and not the buyers. Since it is the sellers who provide best quality products on dirt cheap rates. Being a seller we know how thin the margins are. If you have good product and price buyers will anyway be there.
4. The Buyer protection programme is offered by eBay and not by the seller, then why should the seller bear the burden of the same. eBay earns final value + paisapay fee on every transaction, moreover the protection programme is funded by ripping off the seller. Consider this, you sell a product and the consignment returns back due to wrong/incomplete or short address. Now buyer files a refund. eBay promptly refunds (NO THEY WILL NEVER HEAR TO A SELLER, SINCE YOU MEAN NOTHING TO THEM), who bears the shipping cost to a wrong address?? Of course the SELLERS!! WHY THIS INJUSTICE??
5. You sell a product and ship the same, buyer claims receiving an empty box and files a refund. Who bears the loss?? The SELLER of course!! This is how eBay works, by taking blood and sweat of the SELLERS... LITERALLY!!
6. If eBay is providing a buyer protection policy, why can't they provide a seller's protection policy? A buyer is so well equipped against the sellers that they can literally force the seller down on knees - they can give wrong address and still refund the whole amount, they can claim receiving an empty or bogus box, they can claim the item is damaged after 10 days maybe when they themselves broke the same (yes that happened with us, check for the earliest negative feedback on our profile), they can threaten you to virtually anything using a negative punter hunter, they can simply claim a refund in case the shipping takes more time and still get the product and refuse to pay. How can a seller defend against all this? NOWAY!! Till the time we are selling with eBay it is plain impossible. So why should we keep on selling at eBay? All pains are passed to us and eBay makes money - from listings, final value, paisapay comission and virtually everything. Even if your product does not sells, eBay still makes listing charges. This is not the case in other eCommerce sites like Rediff Shopping, Times Shopping which are more just and fair than eBay and earn only when you earn.
7. If eBay provides the Buyer protection plan why dont they provide the shipping service? Because eBay does not want pains, they only want to take the profits and cow down sellers to pay for all mistakes of dishonest and unjust buyers.
8. eBay does not realises that Sellers are the real asset, who provide dirt cheap rates, precisely this is what made them so popular in India. Still they have left their brilliant sellers in cold who work their blood and sweat to provide goodwill and value to eBay.
9. The worst tool that eBay has handed to the buyers is negative feedback which is used by the buyers as a whip to cow down the seller to anything. We have cases where eBay enabled buyers to leave a negative feedback even though the transaction was not completed and paisapay have themselves informed us not to ship the item due to problem with transaction and on top of it eBay needs 'PROOF' to remove the negative... HOW SICK!!
10. People give negative feedback just like that, even if they get a complete refund. Why can't eBay give an option of contacting the buyer and waiting for 5 days to let the seller respond before leaving a negative feedback?
11. What is the meaning of feedback to buyers when you have only positive as an option? We are not a three years old!! eBay ARE YOU LISTENING?? Why can't we have at least an option of neutral feedback to the buyers? How do we deal with the dishonest and unreasonable buyer?
12. Why eBay discriminates between the Indian and international sellers? Check this listing http://orders.ebay.in/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ImportHubViewItem&itemid=400197567903
In this listing the guy has clearly mentioned the terms and conditions and there he clearly mentions "You shall bear the cost of shipment of goods to the designated address to the seller". Why such power is not given to the Indian seller? Only because he does not resides in US? Why such sheer hipocracy!!
Let's stand against this exploitation by eBay and its buyers and say NO to injustice. There are plenty of eCommerce avenues which treat the sellers in more fairer ways, if eBay does not change its bad policies we should seriously think of moving on.
Let it be known to eBay that we are here for business, but we shall not accept any injustice and exploitation.
Regards
