Query ~ Your alternative to eBay for Sellers?

[Lumpus]

Sorry if this the wrong place for this, but it seems pertinent...

I've been selling on eBay for just over twenty years now (not tech stuff) and it seems that nearly every year eBay does something to make the buyer/seller relationship worse - and increasingly dysfunctional. Small sellers always seem to take it up the rear the most. Currently, eBay is now trying to shove 30-day Free Returns (for any reason) or else pay extra fees. Also, I've noticed that when I check my eBay Store I often see ads and products from other sellers "eBay recommends"- in my own store!

Now I only rarely sell anything tech, or high dollar value, so my fraud level was nearly zero... about one fraudulent return a year, perhaps. But as soon as I listed a dozen or so used computer parts, it seemed that half of the buyers were scammers. I was burned twice in a row for "Item not received" and Paypal refunded both of them, immediately, despite my proofs of delivery and an email from one of the scammers bragging to me about how he'd screwed me! Neither eBay or Paypal cared... the buyer is always right, even when they're obviously wrong.

This suggests more than strongly to me that it's now open season on Sellers on eBay and we're totally screwed and without any sort of protection anymore

How are you poor tech sellers dealing with all of this? At least I've only lost a few relatively lower value items, but this sort of thing must really hurt for higher value sale items. What's a decent selling alternative now - Amazon, Bonanza?

 

[Kuurus]

I have used the app offerup successfully for a few sales in recent months. A few others exist as well! But I like the local and shipping aspect of Offerup. Mercari is another one I like. When you sale items the system will immediately notify the buyer that the shipment shows that it has arrived and that they have 3 days to leave a review or report any issues! If they don't do anything within three days the money is automatically released to the seller. If they did want to make a complaint Mercari would give them a prepared return label but I'm still not clear on whether or not they could screw you! It would be simple for the buyer to return empty boxes or broken parts and Mercari might just reimburse them on your dime!

 

[Lumpus]

It would be simple for the buyer to return empty boxes or broken parts and Mercari might just reimburse them on your dime!

Heh... eBay is already doing that. The sellers board is full of stories right now about seller paid return items getting 10 pound bricks back in the mail. lol

 

[Kuurus]

Heh... eBay is already doing that. The sellers board is full of stories right now about seller paid return items getting 10 pound bricks back in the mail. lol

I hadn't used ebay for selling in years but I went ahead and tossed a few things up a couple months ago. Mostly small items but one item was an older Z87-DELUXE that I hadn't used. Bought two for basically the price of 1 back when they were clearing them out but I noticed they were selling for nearly $200 new on ebay. All the small items sold without issue but a month after the motherboard showed that it had arrived! the freaking buyer decides to message me that he never got it! Waited a freaking month! Guy initially won! Ebay pulled the funds and I disputed the decision. Ebay later gave me the funds back and said it was a mistake on their part! Guy never wrote me about it. A month and you never contact the seller and say "Hey, bud. It shows that it arrived but I have yet to receive it! HELP". Only opened the claim and tried to beat me out of the money!

 

[Deleted member 89018]

Amazon is a no-go as far as ebay alternatives go for me. They used to be really friendly to small sellers (i.e., individuals trying to clean out their stuff), but now it's nearly impossible to list there unless you're a business. Most of the tech related categories and brands are "restricted" for listing unless you can show proof of your status as an actual reseller - like, if you want to list an Intel processor you need to prove to Amazon that you're allowed to do so with a bill of sale for a large quantity of the processor, or authorized reseller letter from Intel, regardless of new or used condition.

Incidentally this is the reason you see "HP" Xeon processors and the like on Amazon now; sellers are trying whatever brand they can use to list a part without having to jump through Amazon's hoops.

Offerup is probably a good alternative but I haven't used it myself. /shrug

There's the Heatware marketplace, though it's been slow gaining traction.