Top 10 Frustrations for eBay Sellers

At the beginning of the year, eBay announced some changes it was bringing in with its new CEO John Donahoe. The changes spoke of things like "Detailed Seller Ratings (DSR)" and "discounts for sellers." To some, the changes didn't sound like anything to be concerned about, but
BusinessWeek covered such frustrations in the past as well (that also includes boycott of the site petition that has been created, calling for Donahoe's termination.

2. Feedback Policy

This is really the one that is getting most eBay sellers fired up. Buyers can leave feedback on sellers, but sellers can't leave feedback on buyers. Out of the sellers that I personally contacted (that got back to me), all but one of them agreed that eBay's feedback policy, which
Another respondent said: "The most frustrating thing about selling on ebay is the complete disregard of SELLER's RIGHTS." He then directed me to deal with Buy.com, which some people indicate is prioritizing merchandise from that site over their own. Combine that with the charges that small businesses must incur for selling through eBay, and profitability slides. There seems to be a common theme resonating among sellers, saying that eBay has basically sold out. They've gone too corporate and are no longer appealing to the little guys.

4. Lack of Communication

Another common gripe is that the company will not communicate with sellers to their liking. If sellers have problems, they get the runaround. They get impersonal automated responses via email, or low-level employees if they make a phone call. They can't get through to management. They can't appeal their suspensions (which are often considered unjustified).

Another communication flaw some have cited is that once their account is suspended, they can't even communicate with customers who may have already placed orders. This is not good for the buyer or the seller.

no longer allow sellers to accept checks or money orders as payment. Well, sellers were not happy about this either. Most felt like that decision should be up to each individual seller. Many have chalked this up to the company simply wanting people to use eBay-owned PayPal.

Taking away options for payment can alienate some customers, and sellers know that and found the new policy unfair. eBay said they would accept PayPal, credit or debit card payments to the seller, ProPay, or "payment upon pickup" as possible payment methods. They claimed to update this policy to provide users with a more "secure checkout experience."

6. Fees/Lack of Profitability

As I said, there is a lot of overlap in these and this ties into the small businesses getting shut out problem. But many users are having a hard time justifying paying the fees they must pay to use eBay as their selling platform. Fees cut into the profits they could otherwise be making by selling directly from their own store, or from another platform that doesn't charge as much.

7. Unwarranted Account Suspensions

Apart from those who are seeing their accounts suspended based on their DSR, I have seen many claims that their accounts are deemed "security concerns" and suspended as a result, without any justification for this assessment. One person claimed their account was suspended for this reason when they had not even bought or sold anything through the site yet. They went to try to sell something, but their account was already suspended.

8. The Buyers Themselves
There seems to have been an increase in tension between buyers and sellers on eBay since their policy changes took effect. Buyers have been accused of lying to get away with cheating sellers by not paying for items while eBay does little to combat the problem. Others just don't think they can reach the right audience with eBay. They consider eBay buyers to be the type that are looking for bargains, and for those looking to sell quality products at prices that aren't necessarily discounted, will have a harder time selling those products.

9. Glitches

Some complain about technical glitches at eBay. A BusinessWeek reader
Shopify, SeeAuctions,
I'm fairly certain that this person isn't alone in her opinion of eBay either. Even though many people are upset with eBay's practices, some still find it a useful place to do business and will likely carry that mentality with them into the holiday season as consumers look for good deals on gifts for their loved ones.

However, it is quite clear that the company has alienated a broad range of users. I can't imagine that all of eBay's management finds this acceptable. Will there be changes made? What will eBay do to win back customers? Or will they just continue to target new ones? What does the future hold for eBay?