[meteorite-list] AD... Time to get back to work

[Bob King]

Hi Eric,
If eBay let you contact watchers, they'd lose cash on all the "under
the table" dealings. I personally use the watch function to remind me
of items I might like to bid on. When I see one of my watched items go
too high for my wallet, I just delete it from the list. If it's still
in my range closer to auction close, I make a bid.
Bob

On Sun, Sep 27, 2009 at 3:51 PM, Meteorites USA <eric at meteoritesusa.com> wrote:

> Hi List,

>

> Regarding watchers. They're worthless...

>

> Not the person mind you, but the fact that they are nothing more than a

> number in the "My Ebay" section, they mean nothing to the seller and provide

> no benefit at all other than to let the seller know they aren't buying.

>

> The only time a watcher becomes worth anything to the seller is when they

> buy. Did you know that a seller cannot contact a watcher? This is ok I

> guess, but it seems silly to me that Ebay does not allow sellers to contact

> watchers. There have been countless times I've had 10-20 watchers on an item

> and would have loved to have the chance to contact any one of those members

> to offer them a deal or ask "WHY" they are not buying at that moment.

>

> It's rather frustrating in my opinion and I liken it to a looky-loo walking

> into my brick and mortar store. Ebay basically says that people can come in,

> and look around and even place an item in their watch list, but you can't

> talk to them. Being able to talk to a potential customer is crucial and

> could add ultimately to Ebay's bottom line through final value fees through

> increased sales for sellers.

>

> Ebay is supposed to be smart right? So why the hell don't they allow you to

> contact watchers? It's not about security... If Ebay allowed it, sellers

> "could" contact watchers anonymously without Ebay ever having to release a

> buyers contact information if they do it through Ebay's contact buyer form

> within the My Ebay section. No personal information is given out, and the

> buyer is given another opportunity to buy. Ebay gets the final value fee,

> sellers get the sale and buyers get a deal! Win, Win, Win all round!

>

> I've been selling on Ebay for over 10 years. I've sold thousands upon

> thousands of items as have many sellers, and over the years I've noticed as

> other sellers can attest that Ebay has become more and more biased against

> sellers and give obvious favor to the buyer. So much so that Ebay is truly

> "Hell for sellers & a haven for buyers." Don't believe me? Try selling

> 25-100 items on Ebay and you'll see the fees are outrageous and the rules

> are ever tightening. The new rules that forbid sellers from being able to

> leave negative feedback for buyers, constantly increasing fees, and worse,

> the blatant conflict of interest of Ebay owning it's own payment gateway

> Paypal is unfair and idiotic and should be illegal. Not to mention forcing

> sellers who don't have their own merchant account to use Paypal for their

> ONLY payment method... Did you know that sellers are not allowed to accept

> Money Orders or Personal checks any more, period? Ebay claims this is for

> security and fraud prevention, but when you realize that they own Paypal,

> and by forcing all payments through Paypal they make 10's of millions of

> dollars per year because of this. Not to mention the increased payment

> processing fees to sellers! Sellers have no power over this other than to

> get their own merchant account (which we do have) but we're still not

> allowed to accept money orders or personal checks.

>

> Anyway, that's enough of my Ebay rant, there's way more things that most

> buyers NEVER realize or know about from a sellers point of view but not

> really the subject of this forum.

>

> Ebay is screwing themselves over, and eventually their will be a competitor

> that will start snagging their market share.

>

> They are ripe for it...

>

> Regards,

> Eric