[von949]

I was one of those sellers that got pushed out. I made it to about 550 feedback at 99%. I just couldn't compete with the competition(power sellers). Mostly name brand shoes and clothes, and vintage gear. I took it in stride and moved on. It was never my primary income, more of a hobby, but I made some pretty good side income.

I stopped selling about 3 years ago and never looked back. I figured the better seller(company) won. That is how capitalism works right? Now I get regular automated emails from eBay asking me to come back to sell. I guess they are trying to look out for the little guys(stores) now.


Sent from rotary phone...

[aardogfsu]

Yup, they pushing all the big fish out, excuse is, "We don't like your business model"...it's hilarious when you get them to elaborate, "really? in looking at my account, how has it worked so far, would you say?" They want me to add tracking on high volume (even though it's against their user agreement) because it will bring up prices and lower sales dramatically allowing more ebay sellers to compete with me but I can no longer compete with outside websites who sell similar items who don't have fees to contend with. Good luck getting them to admit that.

[ScoopLV]

eBay -- if it ain't broke, keep fixing it until it is

Can't be any worse than selling on Amazon, though. Amazon's return policy encourages outright theft. If Amazon was a retail store, there would be a sign out front "Shoplifters WELCOME!" Buyers can claim any reason, keep the item and the money is zapped out of the seller's account.

[Raiderman]

Oh, eBay's policies encourage theft as well.. EVERYTHING is geared toward the buyer.. they're just now starting to work their way back toward balance. But fraud is rampant. We sell 2000+ items per year, but fortunately we sell low-fraud items. No electronics (well, none from after the 1960s or so), pretty much nothing new. We like old stuff and while it started off as a hobby, it's grown into a pretty good living. It can be done, but, like anything, it's getting hard and harder.

[aardogfsu]

Called up Cox...business line is $70 and that's just a single line, I then have to add another line for around $25...better to get an entirely new slower service from another provider

[SportyandMisty]

I suggest using an alternate DSL provider such as Megapath. See http://www.megapathdsl.com/megapath/...tSheet_DSL.pdf

Of course, with DSL, it depends just how far you are from the telephone company's servicing central office. Megapath provides you with 8 static IP addresses.

[LV2ndHome]

Originally Posted by aardogfsu

Called up Cox...business line is $70 and that's just a single line, I then have to add another line for around $25...better to get an entirely new slower service from another provider

Why are you not interested in simply going with some form of proxy as a least a couple of others have already suggested? That would be a very cheap or even free solution, and very easy/convenient.

There seems to be a zillion offerings out there. The one I happen to use is HotSpot Shield by AnchorFree. They have a free version that is ad supported that I use (I use a workaround to block the ads) which provides an IP address indicating you are in San Jose, CA. The ad-free premium version is only $2.50/month if you pay annually ($30/yr), or I think $5/month if you want to pay monthly, and it appears there is a 7 day free trial of the premium service. The premium version is ad free, supposedly a little faster (but I have no speed complaints with the free version), and provides you with the option to switch between a USA, UK, or Australian IP address. One caveat is the install will try to slip in a toolbar installation typical of many product installs, but you can opt out. Just pay attention as there is a check box that is pre-checked by default in an attempt to slip it by you, and you simply need to uncheck that box before proceeding with the install.

You can quickly toggle HotSpot Shield on/off with a couple of clicks on the go if you want to use one browser. Or you could set one browser, say Chrome for example, to always connect through the proxy and be your "CA computer", while maybe Firefox is set to connect directly as you do now and be your "NV computer".

One thing I would point out as you shop for proxy service is the need to make sure it is a completely anonymous proxy. Some proxies hide your IP address, but do not hide the fact that you are using a proxy. In other words, with some proxies eBay wouldn't be able to see your true IP address, but they would still know you are hiding it behind a proxy which could raise suspicions. Once you have a proxy installed, go to whatismyip.com, or any one of numerous similar sites, and make sure that it not only displays a different IP address, but also that it indicates "No proxy detected".

Also keep in mind that eBay owns Paypal, so you probably need a new Paypal account linked to a different bank account, all under a different entity name/tax ID #.

[LV2ndHome]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

eBay -- if it ain't broke, keep fixing it until it is

Can't be any worse than selling on Amazon, though. Amazon's return policy encourages outright theft. If Amazon was a retail store, there would be a sign out front "Shoplifters WELCOME!" Buyers can claim any reason, keep the item and the money is zapped out of the seller's account.

Their fees/commission are very high as well even if you didn't have to worry about the theft... the last I checked it worked out to a minimum total of about 17%.

The other bad thing about their TOS is that they don't allow you to sell a product any cheaper through any other venue than your price on Amazon. This means you can't simply pass on the extra 17% in Amazon fees to your Amazon customers without also increasing the prices equally on your own website and any other venues you want to sell. This often prices you out of the market for careful shoppers that you otherwise might have captured, say on your own website for example, by using a lower price that would have provided just as much profit to you as your higher price on Amazon.

[CornersLow]

Two sides to every story. I have nothing much to offer other than the caution of posting your intentions to abuse and defraud in a public format. Cheers.

[aardogfsu]

Originally Posted by LV2ndHome

Why are you not interested in simply going with some form of proxy as a least a couple of others have already suggested? That would be a very cheap or even free solution, and very easy/convenient.

After scouring the ebay forums, ebay doesn't like invisibility and will flag anything trying to hide their ip...it's all legit product and I have too much of it to take any chances, for an extra $30 a month it's not worth having her details banned on there...

I swear there is a conspiracy on ebay to bring down all the big sellers who sell with a cost advantage (no tracking etc... .46 cost to ship vs. $2.97).

I have to take 1500 different items and sell 500 on 3 accounts...