It's not great for sellers either. I was banned during the time period before the Paypal divestment for having the galls to subpoena a nonpaying buyer's records. They take a cut from both sides. Sotheby's takes 10.5% (I think). eBay takes twice that for something comparable in value.
replyWhat would make it better? My only complaint as a seller is fees. I have no complaints as a buyer.
replyThe best part is eBay works exactly the same as 10 years ago, as far as I can tell.
I try not to use it and then something will come up and I use it. Could be my market, or who knows what but there seems to be more scams.
replyIt’s the only place someone can give you a fake tracking number (somehow people get these from UPS) get caught and other than a refund after weeks and a negative reputation ding, they get to keep on doing it. The fake tracking number scam has been going on for years too, it’s still happening. Permanently ban for people caught doing this, preferred shippers with eBay as a managed tracker or something like that.
I have never had this happen, but I don't buy from first-time eBay sellers. There are definitely scams on there, but they seem to be "too good to be true" prices with 0 reviews on the seller.
replySurely you're not getting scammed by sellers with lots of reputational history?
I actually am more nervous as a seller, as their buyer protection almost always sides with buyers, at least in the US (and the fee is astronomical.)
I use it more frequently than Amazon for used books and DVDs. It's cheaper and the sellers are often exactly the same.
replyIt’s still way better than Facebook marketplace. At least eBay mostly solved the scam issue. Zuckerberg seems to desire fraud on his platforms.
replyAnd yet, it's still the place to go to buy anything secondhand or used. I'd go so far as to say eBay could be nationalized under the Defense Production Act due to the critical role it plays in manufacturing by keeping obsolete manufacturing machines running.
reply