The Future Of Stamp Selling On Ebay

They should dump the totally lame and useless existing feedback system; just get rid of it. It's current reputation is trashed and cannot be recovered. Unless they can figure out how to properly vet user accounts a valid system will never be possible. To replace it, ebay could be greatly improved with a few, simple metrics.

Return Rate (Total number of sold items divided by total number of returns)
Ship Performance (Listing sold date/time minus actual date/time that that the shipper gets the parcel)
Shipping Company Performance (actual date/time that that the shipper gets the parcel minus the date/time that the parcel is received and signed for)
Listing Performance (Total number of listings divided by total number of relists)

ebay could also develop a real 'Top Seller' program but not one like they have now where any criminal can achieve the rating. A 'Top Seller' where the seller supplies much more vetting information, much like the credit applications of years past. Real physical addresses, real references, etc. Something that is far more indicative of a person's true identity than just having a bank account.

On the flip side, they should address a buyer's metrics too.

Buyer returns (total number of sold items divided by total number of returns)
Buyer payment performance (time of listing closed minus time payment received)

Ideally they would also have a way to limit the number of accounts and also show the other owned accounts for either buyers or sellers.
Don

I have suggested before that buyers should be limited to how many dispute cases / not as described they can open. And if they if do to many their account should be restricted. I recently dealt with a scammer on a silver Roman coin which I also sell, He claimed the coin was not silver and that he had cleaned it. Worse is he immediately listed it as silver in his shop. ebay just didn't get it. They sided with the scammer and he got a refund without returning the coin. Its the same with stamps and postal history. There are people who are going to scam sellers and we are told just to accept it as part of doing business. What is bad is untrained CS reps just refund the scammer as soon as he claims not as described. Its to easy for scammers to steal things online. The other thing is like many stamp sellers I hand write buyers address on mail outs. I go to the trouble of scanning each mail out to buyer. There are a few who still claim not received. Sending tracked seems to make no difference. I had one sale valued around $100 so sent it tracked. It got scanned at post office then went no further with the tracking. 6 weeks in buyer complained, tracking stills said post office has got it with no further movement. Having the tracking number made no difference at eBays end I was still forced to refund the buyer. The thing is here 2 months in buyer contacts me saying they received their stamps. And at least they repaid me. I don't trust tracked I only send airmail. The point being if someone is going to scam you they will weather on ebay or another site.

Or maybe, just maybe, it's not because sellers don't want to ship to Canada, but rather it's because USPS has been ratcheting up prices to non-U.S. locations at an ever-increasing rate over the last decade, *especially* the cost of small light parcels.

I had a prospective buyer just last week rant at me how my shipping to their country was too high, and that I should charge no more than it costs them to ship to the U.S. Now this might be obvious to most people, but that's not the way it works. Just because you can ship from Outter Punjabistan to the U.S. for $4 doesn't mean I can do the reverse. See the insanely stupid USPS-subsidized rates that Chinese sellers get to ship here... usually 10-20 times cheaper than what it would cost to ship the same item to China.

I think the cranky ebay haters need their own club, complete with secret handshake.

[


Don,

Attacking Internet auction sites will not improve the sorry state of the stamp marketplace. Advocating for specific reforms could make a difference. About ten years ago, when a bad seller targeted by multiple on-line posts was forced to leave ebay, the individual moved to StampWants and continued to sell at stamp shows in the Southeast. It could be helpful to advocate for ebay selling limits on US based dealers who are not APS Dealer Members, ASDA or NSDA members. Some of the most notorious ebay sellers are not members of any organization that subscribes to a code of ethics and are not likely to be admitted. Sellers who are members can be curbed through their membership organization. ebay should also limit offshore sellers without membership in equivalent dealer organizations in their home country. New sellers should not be allowed to exceed a maximum fixed price or start price. Fringe sellers, frequently seen on ebay, rarely sell at shows because of show fees or promoter restrictions.

Focused criticisms of ebay could have some positive impact. Generalized or unfocused remarks will have little impact and could erode site credibility.

Clark

Worse is USA GSP postage rates for mail to Australia. They select the most expensive courier option there is and that price is seen as shipping cost by potential buyers. Like one $5 stamp with a $41 GSP shipping charge. Who in Australia in their right mind would buy from USA seller when we see shipping charges like that? And now on ebay that add import tax on top as well. I still believe in the old way of airmail. But dunderheads at the post office seem to get that wrong to, they constantly try to mail me my own international outgoing mail. Despite huge airmail stickers on the envelope. Was at the post office the other day asked for stamps, clerk said what do you need them for?

Clark, you say "dealers", but in the world of ebay that means "all sellers" without distinction as to who is a full-time dealer, part-time dealer, or simply a collector selling off their duplicates. Why should an otherwise high-performing ebay seller be penalized for lack of membership in old-school formal philatelic dealer organizations, especially when the cost of membership in those organizations for a non-fulltime dealer would be prohibitively expensive?

Also, I'll remind you that historically some of the most egregious selling transgressions have been by some of the highest-profile dealers out there, including ASDA members. ASDA, APS, or [insert organization membership here] is no guarantee of ethical behavior whatsoever, as evidenced by recent discussions on this very board.

No, membership in self-serving so-called "dealer organizations" should not be required to participate on ebay to one's fullest, ESPECIALLY if there is an established history of selling with no history of unethical transactions. I would vehemently oppose any such method.

Clark,
I agree with most of what you wrote.




In this community everyone is allowed to have opinions, even if that opinion is not reasonable or correct. Even though part of my volunteer Moderator job includes having to read every single post, everyone else has luxury of using their 'Back' button and not do have to read every thread or post.

When incorrect or non-factual opinions are posted, we rely upon the community to post rebuttals or 'the other side of the coin' as a means of vetting; we only remove or delete posts that break the rules. I know for sure that censoring posts and opinions would 'erode site credibility' and trust that our community will always point out differing perspectives when needed.
Don

As someone relatively new to stamp collecting so far I've have positive experiences on ebay. With one exception where the stamps came heavily hinged when not described as such. I do limit my purchases to relatively inexpensive ones, I can't imagine ever buying an truly expensive stamp without seeing it up close.

Would be interested in opinions on other sites - Delcampe, Hipstamp, eBid - I would think the issues with misrepesentation and shipping costs would exist on those too. In people's opinions, is that the case? Is ebay qualitatively different, or just the elephant in the room?

Rev - The cranky ebay haters need their own club? Earlier in the thread I am told that my underwear is too tight. Why is it that when I criticize ebay I end up getting personally attacked? It is getting to be a bit much. I will continue to criticize ebay as deserved. Nobody directly rebuts my points. They just resort to name calling. Enough alteady.

@Rog

Apologies, I should have used a smilie. It was meant in jest.

You made me cry Rev!

I did a little reading today on the ebay discussion boards and I was particularly interested in the details of the Beta Testing for the Payment system that will be offered to some Sellers in September. MY main concerns are;


1 Once you opt in you can't opt out!

2 Paypal will not be allowed at all

3 3rd Party listing software like Sixbits will not be allowed.


If offered I will definately not participate. Here is a link to more information;


https://esellercafe.com/new-ebay-pa...estrictions/

Another article:

https://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/bl...2982742.html

Yes I heard this morning that sellers who opt in won't be able to use PayPal for buyers in their listings at all. This is the opposite to what ebay announced when this launched. If I am going to buy from other philatelic sellers and see PayPal is not an option to buy something then it's adios amigo. No sale. They will loose a lot of revenue from me as I usually buy a lot of stamps category stuff to resell using PayPal. I'm not going to use my bank card every purchase. That sadly looks to be the future of ebay selling. Also early bird seller lower fee for payments process is 2.7%. I bet its going to go up on a yearly basis. Not good for small hobby sellers like me. Besides I had my first two sales on eBid after only being a member there for two weeks. The FVF was 2%. And PayPal used.

I do not have an issue using a credit card for ebay sales. I would just get a dedicated card.