Watch out for eBay. One of their most important elements is trust and safety. Recently they have implemented a new feedback evaluation system and it hurts sellers. Feedback is how a buyer can tell the trustworthiness of a seller. The new system is heavily weighted to the buyer leaving many sellers to find alternatives to their business. In my opinion as a long time seller this will eventually erode the bottom line. You don't mess with what was working.

In my humble opinion, ebay (egg heads) have totally destroyed a great company.

Why ever did they make so many stupid changes that were unnecessary. They need to go back about four years and start over.

They've recently switched their affiliate program in house, and have completely screwed it up.  Lots of pissed off people packing up and leaving.  All that glitters is not gold

I am a big time ebay BUYER for business needs and personal collections.  I have been scammed several times by PowerSellers who when I left negative feedback they retaliated and left negative untrue comments about me as a buyer.  In the past two months I have filed PayPal claims against a seller with 53000 transactions and one with 3,000 transactions.  Both mislead me with their ads and one sent no product at all for 30 days with no explanation or reply to my phone calls and emails.  ebay and PayPal refunded my money based on the facts of the claim and I thank them for looking out for their customers.  If customers don't have confidence then there will be nothing for sellers to sell and they will have to go back to selling mail-order and flea markets.  I think ebay and PayPal bothe try to be fair to both buyers and sellers.  In fact I purchased two things today: one for my business and one for a personal gift to someone special.

I have been a 100% feedback seller on Ebay for seven years. Now since they have implemented their new feedback policy where the seller cannot leave honest feedback for the buyer, I have had three negative feedbacks left because the buyer didn't like what I charged for shipping (even though the buyer knew before they bid what they would be paying). This new policy sucks and will definately hurts Ebay's business. I know I have dropped my listing by 50% and taken my business elsewhere until this policy is corrected.

An Internal EBAY Analysis Comparing the old feedback process to a missile launching showdown between a seller and a buyer was one of the most "out-of-touch" analogies I have ever seen. My wife and I have been in business for ten years....on our own with a retail store, and six years on EBAY. CARING for your Customer is simply what business is all about. And without doing so, no one stays in business very long. What we have with the feedback changes is a fundamental lack-of-knowledge about how business should, can and does operate. Yes, the scammers are out there....but the a lot of Good Business people are being punished for the "actions' of the few. Fact is, EBAY made a BIG mistake and they KNOW it; this is why they are now appealing to Buyers to exercise Restraint.......instead of "doing-what-they-should-be-doing" and asking their Sellers for Forgiveness......and revisiting this new policy. And to make it worse, they did the worst possible thing they could do to their "Seller Customers"......they questioned their Character,  Integrity, Honesty, and our Values. And trust me, EBAY is feeling THE PAIN from this mistake. And, BOTH Sellers AND Buyers are experiencing an erosion of confidence in EBAY as the full ramifications of this change kick-in. I can't tell you the number of my Buyers that have written to me asking for an explanation as to what has taken place and, more significantly than that, they are asking ME......not EBAY. This week alone, I have received off-ebay Emails from Large, Volume EBAY sellers who are jumping ship and using other alternatives for selling.

Point-of-Fact is that the Feedback System in total is both childish and unnecessary. The only thing that is needed are the KPI's (Five Star System)......no one needs to leave comments about anyone, either the seller or the buyer.......both should simply be rated as to their performance level in the KPI's (Five Star System): and then everyone can make informed decisions without any hostility. When I buy a shirt from Neiman Marcus, they charge me $11.00 to ship it.........I think this is too much, but if I want the shirt and am willing to pay the $11.00 for shipping, there is no need for me to beat-up Neiman Marcus, as the choice was all mine. Same would hold true for Nordstrom or any other online seller. If I understand their pricing, their shipping and their Return Policy then "it is just what it is".....a choice that I am making.

Every EBAY Seller should undergo a Pre-Qualification process before they ever post their first listing: Are they a legitimate business? Do they have Federal Tax ID Number? Do they have a physical location or a business license? If they are simply a "Garage Sale" seller, then perhaps there should be limits on the number of listings they can post at any given time. ALL sellers should be required to have a Reasonable Return policy, and Buyers should be Required to comply with it if they wish to make a Return. SIMPLE. These are the basic tenets of business that we have exchanged for some sort of "Nanny-Cyber-Selling-Entity". We are all adults here, and most of us are business people and we need to start acting like it. I recently saw a Seller who had received a Negative comment from a Buyer who complained because the Postal Service would not leave the package at the persons home, and required them to come to the Post Office to pick it up: doubtlessly the seller was in-compliance with the PayPal Seller Protection Policy by requiring a Signature delivery because the item was valued at over $250; So the Seller gets the Negative for being in compliance with EBAY/PAYPAL policy and then gets his rating lowered by EBAY: Question is this. Who should really be getting the Negative here? I think the answer is obvious. And EBAY is certainly damaged from this poor decision making, if not already doomed.