Why Does Ebay Just Suck So Hard Now?

[ZuZu]

I went to Ebay today to peruse- I typed in "A-2 Jacket 46" and let the engine do its work. It came up with 6,000 results. It's too much- you just can't wade through all this crap. I went to "Advanced" by the Search icon and clicked on "exact words, any order" and came up with a more reasonable 200 or so results. Still- even these are interspersed with crap I don't want to see- different sizes, differnet jackets. I don't get it.

I am baffled as to why such a formerly great thing has just gone so far south. There's the fascistic and vague "Tax" they charge- where does that go? The ads, the unruly search engine, everything is bad. I really miss 2010 or so before the internet was completely ruined. It was so great at first- Ebay, Google, Facebook; but then They decided that it needed control...

 

[MaydayWei]

Who are "They"?

 

[warguy]

I personally love it when folks say they are tired of ebay. I still find great stuff and don't need the competition.

 

[Juanito]

Shit dude, the boat sailed way before 2010. I have been a member since 1998 and from then until 2004, that was my job. When they changed the feedback and turned 180 to emulate Amazon with the buyer centric model in 2004 or so, that was the end of it. The no fee listing model just promotes crap and the number of drop shippers far outweighs the standard sellers.

It used to be a seller's platform--no more.

Payment methods changed, they bought PayPal and then spun it off, fees have become astronomical, and to charge on shipping cost is ludicrous. I stopped selling years ago.

Sales tax is federally mandated and eBay is doing us a favor by collecting it from the buyer. Not having to collect sales tax for something like 47 states and send it in is a godsend. That's the only improvement.

 

[MikeyB-17]

I don’t mind buying on it, but I haven’t sold anything there for years. It’s so biased towards buyers and against sellers (who they would basically be buggered without), that they can just get stuffed as far as I’m concerned.

 

[Southoftheborder]

It's still just about worth selling there IMO mainly because I won't use social media or a so called smart phone, and that's where their competition is coming from now. As was posted above it isn't the same as it was when it was members selling to one another and it turned into an Amazon wannabe; and the fees are stupid and driven I think by a wrong headed need for vastly increased revenue with a failing business model.

But look at sites like this one or TFL and see how stuff for sale lingers with so few eyes to see it, and then compare that with the much greater exposure on eBay. But I won't sell at full fees and always wait until a reduced fees weekend to sell anything - and they come around every two weeks now where I live so it's plain as day that the existing concept is failing.

 

[Micawber]

I just checked and found I have had my current eBay membership since 1997. However I was tipped off by a friend in the States and started using it before 97 with another account just as the site was just picking up. Back then it was the domain of private sellers and buyers and solely in the States. With most sellers being unused to or hesitant to ship abroad I would get items shipped to and collated to a friend before mailing over to the UK and I would do the same from this end. They were the good days but the shine wore off as the years progressed and countless ebay policies changed.

 

[JonnyCrow]

I just checked and found I have had my current eBay membership since 1997. However I was tipped off by a friend in the States and started using it before 97 with another account just as the site was just picking up. Back then it was the domain of private sellers and buyers and solely in the States. With most sellers being unused to or hesitant to ship abroad I would get items shipped to and collated to a friend before mailing over to the UK and I would do the same from this end. They were the good days but the shine wore off as the years progressed and countless ebay policies changed.

Years ago it was brilliant Steve, I was sending militaria all over the world, back then it was still worth doing Europe trips, France, Netherlands and Germany hunting for gear, helmets especially

 

[John Lever]

Bought some great bargains 20 years ago. Today it is full of part time traders who buy at boot sales and charity shops then sell on for a few quid, or serious traders with big wallets. The selling rules and fees a big issue so I never sell there.

 

[ZuZu]

Who are "They"?

They- the Guardians of us...the Face Behind the Mask...the Man Behind the Curtain

 

[John Lever]

They are the ones making all the money

 

[JonnyCrow]

They are the ones making all the money

Just the same as Zuckerberg with farcebook Instagram and tik tok

 

[ZuZu]

I don’t mind buying on it, but I haven’t sold anything there for years. It’s so biased towards buyers and against sellers (who they would basically be buggered without), that they can just get stuffed as far as I’m concerned.

I agree. I don't remember the change coming in 2004 as Juanito says but I guess it's been a slow nibbling away process. And here we are. Old guy complaining about how thing used to be better.

 

[John Lever]

I haven't tried the 'is this the item number ?' trick yet but it might save some fees.

 

[Silver Surfer]

What’s that, John?