Being a mad keen toy collector I naturally joined eBay when it first appeared in Blighty in 2000, five Years after it's US birth.
I've been enjoying buying and selling for 25 years. In that time there's been a few changes as eBay kept up with things: dropping Western Union, having PayPal, not having PayPal, Seller dashboard etc etc.
But recently eBay has gone full on with change. So much change it's making my head spin and I'm getting annoyed, as it's all clearly an attempt to pander to the younger vote and their dire need for simplicity.
It began with a new rule of only getting paid on delivery.
Not only that, there's a grace period of a couple of days added on, so you only get paid, including postage, once you've posted your items. You're out of pocket from the off.
Then there's delivery. How do you confirm delivery in order to get paid?
Tracking. Yes, but tracking costs the buyer more. Still, it's the only way for eBay to see there's been a delivery.
Unless, the tracking fails! More on that later!
So, with staggered payments in arrears, you never actually have all the money you're owed, as every delivery is inevitably on different days. This makes using your hard-earned eBay moolah difficult, as you have to save up in effect to get that dear item you so want for yourself, in which time it may well have gone!
And so back to tracking, when it fails. This happened to me last week, a Torchy the Battery Boy annual that should have been tracked was left untracked by Royal Mail. As such it could never be confirmed as delivered. The Nightmare scenario! Just think of it had been a hugely expensive item!
Even more galling was the fact that the buyer told me the annual had arrived and she was enjoying reading about her old TV favourite!
I contacted eBay via chat and after a lengthy but amicable conversation it turns out that eBay pay up after 14 days from the sale anyway, regardless of delivery or not! Doh!
Now we come to the biggest change of all. Shipping/ postage.
eBay have created a new Simple Post process that involves Evri amongst other couriers.
It means the buyer can choose to have Evri pre-paid labels, which, in my case, have to be printed at the post office on the Evri machine. I don't get to see the address until that point and I don't really know how much they've paid.
It's all a royal pain in the backside and clearly trying to win back the pre-paid one- click young punters who are flocking to Vinted in droves.
But what about us long-standing and loyal ebayers who still possess some semblance of patience and don't need one-click solutions to all and everything?
What. About. Us?
Anyways, rant over. I need to wrap my latest sales and go to see the Evri machine in town!
The eBay dinosaur.
PS. What's your current eBay experience?
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