More E-Bay red tape | FerrariChat

More E-Bay red tape

Discussion in 'Ferrari Discussion (not model specific)' started by Horsefly, Dec 23, 2003.

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  1. Horsefly

    Horsefly F1 Veteran

    May 14, 2002
    6,929
    Like everybody else here on F-chat, I browse E-Bay for Ferraris and other items of interest. Today I decided to do an advanced search of completed items AND,......ANOTHER STUPID E-BAY POLICY CHANGE!!!
    Apparently NOW you have to be a registered E-Bay user in order to search completed items. I have never been a registered E-Bay user but have always been able to search for any completed items in order to do research and gather price info. Not any more. It seems that every time one goes to E-Bay, they have changed something else for the 147th time in an attempt to extract even more cash, fees, credit card numbers, etc, from anybody who uses their site or would even think about using it. I know of several people who will not sell items on E-bay anymore because they now require new sellers to post a credit card number while registering. Why don't they just go ahead and block the whole site from everybody except registered users so that their precious cash flow won't drop a few cents per hour.

    From what I've seen, E-Bay is having a long term detrimental effect on the "real world" of collectible pricing just like collectible "price guide" books have done for years. Just because somebody sells a mint condition Widget to some buffoon on E-Bay with more money than brains, the next guy who wants to sell a $5 Widget thinks it's worth $5000.

    So don't bother trying to search completed Ferrari (or any other) completed E-Bay auction if you're not a registered user. What next? Hey E-Bay!!! Why don't you copyright your name "E-Bay" and require anybody who even TYPES or THINKS about E-Bay to pay you a few cents royalty fee???

    I would send them a few cents for the above statements, but one of their recent policy changes requires all fees to be paid by credit card. Fat chance E-Bay! You just lost a few pennies. Cry me a river!!!
     
  2. Darolls

    Darolls F1 Veteran
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    Jul 2, 2003
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    Sparky
    Whoa......did you buy Ebay stock near the peak of the bubble, and then sell out after the bubble burst?!?! :(

    Fortunately, I bought it on the low side, held it through the crash, and today its price hit an all time high plus, I have the advantage of a few splits. :)

    So, what's the problem?

    It doesn't cost anything to register; so why not register?
     
  3. racedecknc

    racedecknc Karting

    Nov 24, 2003
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    Ed
    Yep, Ebay is a business, out to make money. They obviously don't want to give anything away for free, especially if you have no plans to use the service.

    Ed
     
  4. KKSBA

    KKSBA F1 World Champ
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    Oct 31, 2003
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    I first registered on eBay in 1998 and back then all they wanted was your name and an email address.

    Just recently I wanted to add another username and went through the procedure, now they want all the usual info plus a credit card number so I entered it all. On the next page they wanted a bank account # and routing #. At that point, I gave up.

    I'm not going to give eBay access to a bank account. Not unless I set one up that is just for the purpose. I think eBay is getting a little excessive beyond just a credit card.
     
  5. PBRacer

    PBRacer Karting

    Nov 3, 2003
    154
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    Stan
    since you don't have to spend any money to register, that argument doesn't seem to hold.

    The change is more likely due to the common practice of fake sellers emailing the buyers before the actual seller does. The fake seller tells the buyer where to send the payment and gets a free payment just for contacting the seller after they gleaned the buyers name by looking through the "solds".


    This has become an increasingly common practice lately. I have been contacted a couple times myself from fake buyers.

    Stan
     
  6. Horsefly

    Horsefly F1 Veteran

    May 14, 2002
    6,929
    "Yep, Ebay is a business, out to make money. They obviously don't want to give anything away for free, especially if you have no plans to use the service."

    So you're saying that E-Bay did NOT want the money that several friends of mine paid to them as a fee whenever I had them buy some items on their site for me? (They were also registered users who had set up their accounts long before E-Bay got so nosey with their new "policies".) Would anybody hazard to guess how much money E-Bay makes off of transactions that are completed when a non-user has a registered friend with a computer make a successful bid for them?

    That's kind of like saying a car dealership is in the business to make money so they won't even let you in the door without a credit card number or bank account number before they will even let you look through the sales brochures.

    Total bunk than smells of excessive greediness.

    KKSBA said: "I'm not going to give eBay access to a bank account. Not unless I set one up that is just for the purpose. I think eBay is getting a little excessive beyond just a credit card."

    Looks like I'm not the only one who thinks E-Bay is getting excessively nosey. But that's just another sign of the times. Nobody thinks the customer is right anymore. Every business seems to think that they are doing YOU a favor by letting you jump through the hoop obeying their idiotic instructions so that you can help put money in THEIR pocket.
    As long as there are foolish sheep who will follow the goat then there will be plenty of sheep to be fleeced.
     
  7. t88power

    t88power Formula 3

    Feb 19, 2001
    2,396
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    Ernesto
    eBay does not charge one cent for buying on their site. Only Sellers get charged a percentage of their selling price. Its that simple. Your friends are not telling you the whole truth if they are saying they had to pay a fee to buy something on eBay.

    Now, requiring better identification such as credit cards and bank accounts is a good idea given the number of people who create fake accounts simply to bid up their own products.

    The bottom line is that if you dont like their rules, simply dont use them. Its that simple.

    Ernesto
     
  8. Jay GT4

    Jay GT4 F1 Rookie

    Oct 16, 2001
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    Ernesto, I agree 100%. There are alot of sellers that use fake bids. Case in point, there is a certain seller (I won't mention his name because he might be on FC), he always has the same bidder driving up the price of his Ferrari parts. When it gets high enough the bidder stops bidding and lets some poor fool buy it for an inflated price.
     
  9. Horsefly

    Horsefly F1 Veteran

    May 14, 2002
    6,929
    "eBay does not charge one cent for buying on their site."

    Newsflash Ernesto: Even though you are technically correct about E-Bay not charging the buyer, for every item that somebody BUYS, there is a SELLER that pays a fee and therefore E-Bay DOES make money whenever any non-registered user has a registered user buy an item for them.
    It's that simple. As I said before, if they are so worried about security, close down the whole site to anybody except registered users and turn the whole thing into a private internet club. Members only.

    So are we suppose to bring along our bank account numbers when we visit a car dealership before being allowed entry into their showroom. How long would that practice last?
     
  10. Jay GT4

    Jay GT4 F1 Rookie

    Oct 16, 2001
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    I only provided a Credit card # when I joined, no bank account# I've sold over 250 items on ebay and I've got no problem with the minimal fee they charge, I even sold a $10K car on ebay. However, I will not sign up for Paypal, they want credit card #'s and bank account #'s I believe they are now owned by Ebay.
     
  11. t88power

    t88power Formula 3

    Feb 19, 2001
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    Ernesto
    I dont understand what you are trying to say, eBay makes money whether you buy the product yourself with your own account or you have a friend buy it with his own account. Whenever somebody sells something on eBay, eBay is of course making money from selling fees. It's not free. That's the whole concept. But the buyer never pays any fees. If you dont want to pay eBay any money, then the best thing is to not have your registered friend buy anything for you on eBay.
    But the bottom line is that the price you get the item for on auction, is your price (usually plus shipping) - there are no additional fees to pay. When you said "So you're saying that E-Bay did NOT want the money that several friends of mine paid to them as a fee whenever I had them buy some items on their site for me?" is not true. Your friends did not have to pay any fees when they purchased items for you on eBay.

    I have also sold (including cars) and bought many things on eBay with no problems whatsoever. I had to give my credit card number to register, and I had no problems with that. I dont think I'd give my bank account info though, I wouldn't feel comfortable with that so I agree on that point.

    Ernesto
     
  12. GaryReed

    GaryReed F1 Rookie

    Feb 9, 2002
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    I think the main reason eBay has been making policy changes has to do with security/fraud/stolen goods, etc....

    Security SHOULD be as tight as possible to keep out the riff raff and if that means registered users have to have a credit card on file, all the better.

    It is a BUSINESS....not a FREE database for people who don't want to even be registered.

    I've got nothing but good things to say about eBay.... I've been a registered user and stock holder in eBay since 1998.
     
  13. Horsefly

    Horsefly F1 Veteran

    May 14, 2002
    6,929
    Ernesto et all, you're slicing and dicing individual words and missing the whole point of my original posting. E-Bay should have no logical reason for preventing somebody from browsing their COMPLETED ITEMS file any more than they did one month ago or two years ago. They are just becoming another "horse's rear end" like alot of big companies who decide to make people jump through the hoop. Would you shop or browse at Wal-Mart or Target or Wherever if they made you register at the door and cough up a credit card number BEFORE you did any business with them? Of course not. So why would E-Bay prevent somebody from browsing their COMPLETED ITEMS file without being a registered user? BROWSING doesn't make them any money whether you are a REGISTERED browser or an UNREGISTERED browser. So why not leave the site more OPEN and USER FRIENDLY so that people might be inclined to utilize the information to eventually make a more informed decision when it does come time to buy and therefore put one more dollar into E-Bay's bank account?
    This sounds just like what a United Parcel Service employee told me about his own company when I was filing a damaged parcel claim. They refused to pay because the package wasn't sufficiently packaged "in their opinion". The UPS employee told me that UPS was becoming "too big for their own britches" and that I should continue filing my claim to a higher office. I did and they paid up. The employee warned me that UPS use to be a more helpful company but that since they got so big, their attitude has changed to one of "take a hike if you don't like it". Sounds like E-Bay is continuing that tradition.
     
  14. Jay GT4

    Jay GT4 F1 Rookie

    Oct 16, 2001
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    Costco or Sam's club doesn't let you browse without a membership...
     
  15. Horsefly

    Horsefly F1 Veteran

    May 14, 2002
    6,929
    Yeah, and it's about as exclusive as a Kroger Plus card. A REAL security deterant. If you don't have a card, just walk in with somebody who does. WOW!!! Now that's security!!!
     
  16. Jay GT4

    Jay GT4 F1 Rookie

    Oct 16, 2001
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  17. Darolls

    Darolls F1 Veteran
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    Jul 2, 2003
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    Horsefly-

    You need to get a LIFE. I repeat......GET A LIFE!!

    Maybe we can find a girl for you, but I doubt it, what with your insipid behaviour.

    There are more important things in life to be concerned about!
     
  18. SRT Mike

    SRT Mike Two Time F1 World Champ

    Oct 31, 2003
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    Arlie,

    You are cynical and bitter, so you jump to the conclusion that eBay did it to harm the little guy. But it's pretty clear that eBay does have a reason for only showing completed items to registered users. The thing is, you're not willing to think about what those reasons might be, and have rather jumped to a conclusion that may or may not be accurate - but you will present it as fact just the same.

    I would say that its possible that allowing non-registered users to browse eBay completed items maybe opened up a path for "bots" (perhaps competing sites) to scour the non-sold items and solicit users to go to a competing site instead? Just one possiblity.

    Maybe its an attempt to lower scams by preventing unregistered (and hence untraceable) users from stealing pics from past auctions and re-auctioning stuff as their own?

    Maybe it's just that eBay feels the "search completed auctions" feature has significant value, and can "sell" users on registering to receive the benefit of that value. You say you can walk into Walmart for free... but actually Walmart still pays the heating and lighting bill whether you buy somethign or not. And what about mail order catalogs, you don't get the benefit of those without giving up some info. Nor do you get rebates without giving up info.

    It gets old hearing the whining of the little guy, Arlie. At least do some investigating before you cry witch and call for a burning. Did you even take the time to email eBay about this before you judged and passed sentence on them? Or were their fate preordained, being the conglomeration of fat-cats that they so clearly must be?
     
  19. GaryReed

    GaryReed F1 Rookie

    Feb 9, 2002
    3,109
    Seattle
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