Featured When to Say No to Ebay?

I would say if your item is being sold for over $250 do NOT sell it on Etsy. There is no seller protection there with that amount now for USA sellers.

I also will add that Etsy is telling sellers to ship their items and then at some point later on, they refund the buyer and the buyer keeps the item. Also a buyer can file a NAD case and the seller has really no recourse as etsy is on the buyers side. They get to keep that item and the money is taken out of the sellers account or charged to their credit card.

Plus Etsy is holding sellers money in reserve without telling them why. These are not new sellers. The place is slowing burning itself down with the CEO lighting the fire.

 

I've made over 400 sales on Etsy I have never experienced any of the problems you're describing - several sales over 1000 euros in there too (groups of items tho). It might happen in the future of course but overall it's a cost of doing business.

'No seller protection' just means Etsy doesn't automatically insure items you send against loss or damage if it's over 250USD, not that they will never take your side in a dispute.

Things can seem little skewed if you read some horror stories in the Etsy forums, but really this sort of happening is a relatively rarity given the vibe of ses that are made through the site. When issues arise, there often seem to be problems with the automatic case handling bots refunding clients; then it usually turns out that gets reversed after the seller appeals to Etsy with evidence.

However, while this has been my experience with ceramics and tableware, it might be different with jewelry because people can move such an item on much more easily than my wares, so fraudsters will target jewelry more than the sort of thing I'm selling.

It's horses for courses but I wouldn't discount Etsy because of thier 'seller protection' ending at 250USD.

 

I sell on Ebay. I don’t make much of a profit, but I break even and get to keep some of the cool stuff I buy at sales. Selling has been tough lately and I assume it is because I do not promote my items. Jewelry has been especially tough. Signed costume has been easier to sell than my signed sterling.

 

I respect your opinion, but can not agree with most of what you said.
I have been selling there for about 11 years there and had my share of a few very bad buyers who were liars plain and simple.

As far as seller protection, this is not about insurance. This is about being told that if a buyer says they did not get it or it is NAD, etsy sides with them now. In the states here, if you show that the item was delivered and even signed for by the buyer, etsy still sides with the buyer and lets them keep the item and gets a refund. That is not seller protection. And you can not file a claim with the post office that it is missing, if it shows delivered.

I personally know some sellers there who have had reserves on their money with absolutely no reason given and no explanation. Yes the bots interfere too much. However, how many sellers have to suffer because the bots are wrong and they can't get their sales money for months on end... if ever?

There are many documented cases of sellers shipping items out only to have etsy cancel the sale, refund the buyers their money so the seller loses both their money and their item.

I don't think it is a rarity on Etsy as you mentioned. There are even ways on FB that tell people how to buy stuff on etsy and get it for free due to etsy's lack of real monitoring.

I am glad you are not having the many issues that are now on Etsy and I hope that continues.

 

I don't doubt it. There are many fraudsters out there - I've heard of people 'returning' a fake item for a genuine, or photographing damage on an item they already had to make a NAD claim - among others. You wonder how people sleep at night. For online sellers, these are our shoplifters.

But the seller protection issue for sales over 250 usd is just about insurance - the bias you describe towards buyers would not be limited to the sales over 250, but all sales no matter the value. If you have more than one claim of thd same type in a 12 month period (damaged in transit, NAD, etc) Etsy won't cover it again that year. I always get my own insurance for higher value sales and make sure I document everything about the items I'm putting in the parcel.

So here's where the 250 limit on seller protection kicks in - because Etsy will still pay the seller AND refund the buyer as well in NAD claims, not delivered, etc. But only one per the same type of claim in a 12 month period.

II should clarify that I don't disbelieve anything you're saying, but this kind of problem/ fraud is still a relative rarity compared with the volume of sales Etsy processes. Otherwise no one would use it.

Sadly, we have to factor in some losses from customer dishonesty (retail 'shrinkage') in our profit margins. Sad, annoying, and unfair; but just the reality of the world today.

And it cuts both ways- online buyers also have to factor this in from unscrupulous sellers (who hasn't ever had a disappointing online purchase??) So I understand why Etsy errs on the customer side as well.

Sending all the hope for you to have fewer problems in the future!

 

I always get insurance on my higher priced item as well, but that does not matter to etsy. I don't know if the rules are different where you are, but here, the usps will not refund for a delivered pkg. And even some 3rd party insurance co will no longer refund because there have been so many claims due to buyers rigging the system. A tracking number means nothing anymore to etsy that reflects a delivery. And they could care less about documentation.

Yes, there are plenty of bad sellers as well. But how is it that an item that is prohibited from being sold like a Nestle chocolate bar does not get taken down as against policies yet vintage Fenton gets taken down because it sounds like Fentynal.

My point is that etsy has become a site that is very toxic to many sellers and believe me, if these sellers had a better place to sell, they would. Many have switched back to ebay and that place is no walk in the park. I started out on ebay. decades ago.

 

Here is a link to some info for etsy sellers regarding money holds

https://www.cindylouwho2.com/blog/2...ount-reserves-what-every-seller-needs-to-know

 

Thieves alas are everywhere; in the USA some stores have taken to locking up their SOAP, not because it's dangerous but because it's stolen so often. Soap. eBay and Etsy aid and abet some thievery, as do credit card companies sometimes. A lot of USA sellers who can't stomach or can't afford the losses have gotten out. I stopped using eBay because eBay themselves were the problem; they blackmail sellers (i.e. Promoted listings) and allowed too much thievery. These days the MS isn't happy with heat/sun exposure, rendering stocking more difficult so it's just as well.

 

I dont think the problem lies with jewellery alone. My listings dont get anywhere as near as many views as they used to. A friend of mine complained that when he has searched for his own items using the search facility, they just aren't showing.

 

It's started. Soon we'll need to use an outside search engine to find anything at all. Anything that a seller isn't paying blood money to promote anyway, and eventually those too.

 

I’ve been putting basically more than full time hours into selling on eBay for a few years. I’d like to sell more and pay lower fees but overall I think it’s a great platform with as few issues overall as one could expect. There’s never a way to do anything worthwhile that’s free of risk and expense when it comes to business. It’s been pretty good to me.

 

Let's hope things change soon! I respectfully made it clear to Ebay and the buyer that I would contest any attempted return if the breaker was no longer in as-sold condition.

 

Not that it would have mattered. The payment method, i.e. credit card or Paypal, sides with the buyer 95% of the time.

 

I have been selling on EBay since 1998 and have done thousands of transactions. The only time I was ever really ripped off was by a person buying a piece of jewelry, they claimed they never got it. I was out the item and EBay pulled the money back. Because of that I quit doing international sales. That was about 15 years ago, I understand the international shipping process is different now.
I also have been using EBTH for about 5 years now and have been very happy with them. They have a ship in program, but I typically drive to Cincinnati with a carload of stuff and drop it off at the main site.

 

My most expensive item doesn’t show up in eBay searches. I wish I knew why. That’s the only one of my items that I’ve ever searched for, so I don’t know if it is happening to more of them. It’s been listed for years so I do wonder if they just bury the old stuff. I’ve heard that’s possible. It shows up in google searches but you can’t find it directly on the ebay side or app directly. Real kick in the ***** that one. If anyone has real info on that occurrence please share!

Also I wanted to preface my above comment by saying I’ve been selling on eBay almost since it’s inception. I was there by 99’ or 00’ I think on my first account. Selling burned cd’s in high school. I couldn’t even drive to the post office, my mother had to do the shipping for me lol. So I do understand that a lot has changed. It has only been a few years since I’ve been going at it on a full time level but I am still a fan of the company. Fan may not be the right word but I rely on them for sure. Without eBay I don’t think I’d be able to follow this passion profitably.

 

I guess it's a victim of it's own success. When organisations grow they become more risk averse and apply more policies. Also they try to maximise their income and their customers get squeezed. The problem is I think they seem to forget that their sellers are also customers and can seem to get treated second best a lot of the time. Without sellers there would be no income. I had a buyer threaten to come and shoot me once because I wouldn't sell them a coat for next to nothing. They didnt get banned.

 

I think that story takes the cake. What a world we live in.

 

Goodness thank you so much for all your responses! I'll take some time to read this all thoroughly so I'll be back when I have! Didn't want to ghost you all.

 

Ooops. Sorry. Did we digress a little?

 

No indeed!