Why You Feel eBay Is UNETHICAL

[Anita]

Post FACTS here as to why you know eBay is underhanded and unethical.  Stick to the facts and keep the emotional feelings in tact.

[xppman]

I've read thier polices?  ;D

[Anita]

Post FACTS here as to why you know eBay is underhanded and unethical.  Stick to the facts and keep the emotional feelings in tact.

XPP,
Copy and paste a policy example.

[campinglady]

I was just charged $5 on my buying i.d. for selling nothing.

[cranky_hippie]

Fact: You can pay to list an item but it is invisible anywhere but in My Ebay. In my case, it happened numerous times. It was not a glitch because, in at least one instance, the item was not to be found in any type of search for 6 days.

It is completely unethical to charge for services not rendered, especially when it happens over and over.

[Anita]

[quote author=cranky_hippie link=topic=5531.msg28344#msg28344 date=1161358205]
Fact: You can pay to list an item but it is invisible anywhere but in My Ebay. In my case, it happened numerous times. It was not a glitch because, in at least one instance, the item was not to be found in any type of search for 6 days.

It is completely unethical to charge for services not rendered, especially when it happens over and over.
[/quote]

Yeah, THAT is sad that sellers think their items will show... since that is what they are paying for, but they don't. 

eBay started this "Missing Item" so-called glitch in September 2003.  A glitch doesn't go on and on for years.  Sooooo, that means eBay hires morons to run their site or they are doing it on purpose. 

edited to add:  The Missing Item Glitch may have started in 2002.  I'll have to go check...

[stardust]

The accounting practice of not refunding monies owed to you -- issuing a *credit only*. 

And if you want a check mailed, they charge you to get it.

[thentavius]

Here are just a few things:

--The missing item glitch - very high on my unethical list. Especially if it's an "on-purpose" thing. Especially when items can't be found in searches.

--The bait-and-switch tactics they've used with various site servies, like stores, Store Manager / Selling Manager, listing upgrades, eBay Express, search presence.

--The shake-the-tree tactics they use to dump a percentage of sellers ever year, to make the site leaner (even though they've advertised for new sellers all year).

--Censorship of honest questions and people branded as dissidents on the forums.

--ROLLING OUT SEARCH CHANGES BEFORE CHRISTMAS *EVERY* YEAR. Rolling out "enhancements" to search and item display during holiday sales.

--Their recent shake-the-tree crusade with the rise of store FVFs and store item invisibility--instead of just asking sellers to leave, or closing stores altogether. They squeeze people out so people feel like they had to leave, rather than find a way to make the whole thing work. And for chrissake's STOP trying to draw new sellers if you don't want anymore!

--These ridiculous mail order catalogs that probably cost a fortune to print--telling people they can buy MY products for a FRACTION of their value. The $1.00 campaign.

[thentavius]

Forgot to add:

--Banning Google Checkout

--Telling us we can't directly contact our customers with off-eBay material. Slowly moving all customer communication AWAY from the seller/ business owner to eBay's secret mail system, so they can control the mail. If you send an email with certain keywords in it, the other person never receives it--active censorship and control of our customer base communication.

--The phony buyer security claims on E and PP. Fradulent and not worth anything.

--The number of scammers they continue to allow on the site--and the number of SHIPPING GOUGERS they choose to ignore. Yet, they can write scripts that search for specific items and specific conditions to "patrol" the site.

[FiberGuy]

-Special treatment for "favored" sellers

I'm not talking about price breaks... I wouldn't give a darn if ebay chose to give high-volume sellers a break, such as a tiered pricing structure... hell, every B2B company has tiered pricing (for the most part).

What I'm talking about is ignoring site rules and looking the other way when an ebay corporate partner (or other favored seller) is blatantly breaking rules that the rest of us can not.

Was anybody involved in the big "sharper image" discussion on the T&S boards a few years ago?  Ebay was going hog-wild yanking auctions with off-ebay links... even static links or the mere mention of another site.  One regular had their entire Christmas inventory yanked the first week of December.  Meanwhile, ebay's favored seller, the_sharper_image had links right to their web site on every auction.  Numerous reports followed by numerous ebay members.  Nothing was done for almost two months, until the auctions were finally brought into compliance.

Now tell me, they yank other user's auctions with no warning, yet the_sharper_image was given oodles of time to get their auctions in order. 

Made me wanna  .

Level playing field... yep.

Cheers