Looks like eBay has driven in the final nail...

[rossmosis]

I'm still up a lot of money from what I paid for it so I'm happy with the whole transaction, it just sucks that an unnecessarily large amount of money went towards a service that certainly didn't cost them that much. I love buying items from ebay, but after this I'll only use it as a last resort to sell anything.

[ajkula66]

rossmosis wrote:

I love buying items from ebay, but after this I'll only use it as a last resort to sell anything.

And many other sellers will feel the exact same way that you do, turning the feebay into a pretty boring place...and an unusual Ponzi scheme in a way...

I used to buy a lot of stuff on fleabay, and a variety at that. Car parts (NIB) used to be bargain basement 4-5 years ago. No more. I actually found better deals on everything that I needed to rebuild my Explorer (spent close to $1500) elsewhere...times they are-a-changin'...

[rossmosis]

Don't even get me started on some of the prices on those laptops on there, haha

[ajkula66]

Take a load of this...PayPal policy updates:

Card Not Present. The following subsection has been added to Section 4 (Receiving Money): “All payments processed via PayPal are processed as card not present transactions. Card not present transactions are subject to different Chargeback rights than card present transactions under the card association rules. This means that Sellers accepting PayPal payments at a physical point of sale may be subject to Chargeback claims that they otherwise would not be subject to for a card present transaction.”

That one might not be a big deal for eBay sellers, but can be pretty bad for people who process credit cards through PayPal and not another gateway...

Actions by PayPal - Holds. We have updated our disclosures in Section 10 relating to your liability and the actions we may take. A User’s rights, responsibilities and liability under this section have not changed except for the addition of your acknowledgment that our decision to take certain actions such as holds and reserves is based on confidential criteria, and your agreement that we have no obligation to disclose the details of our risk management or security procedures.

Emphasis is mine, but if any seller really felt that their money was safe while handled by PayPal, I'd strongly suggest that they re-consider...

"It's getting better all the time" as The Beatles would say...

[goofyGAguy]

Wow, I think it's time to ask PayPal to cut me a check...

[RealBlackStuff]

And another dirty trick of the money-grabbing eBay/PayPal scumbags:
Now they want you to use FREE shipping for eBay items, so sellers just include the shipping cost in the selling price.
So far so good.
Now eBay and PayPal stick out their grubby mitts and each take their commission on the WHOLE selling price (item+shipping).
So far NOT so good.
And now for the venom in the tail:
you print out your shipping label and pay for it with PayPal. And PayPal takes its commission AGAIN!
Double whammy on the shipping charges!

[AMATX]

For buyers, on most transactions, I don't think this will hurt much. -Most- items have a low enough shipping cost that adding on a bit more for ebay won't matter. Yes, sellers will have to raise the cost, but another $1-2 ain't a biggie. Will actually be quicker in the long run, as now we won't have to figure price+shipping on the really weird valued items.

I actually like ebay as a buyer. I've been around long enough to know how to scope out the crap & fraud, and it's very easy and quick for me to do a fair amount of shopping. Yes, there are -some- items best avoided on ebay, but for a wide variety of stuff, ebay's very handy.

I even picked up a W700 laptop recently; just what I wanted, decent price, and via good communication -before- auction end with the seller, everything went great on both sides.

While I no longer sell much on ebay(got rid of most of what I wanted to peddle), I found that the few times I had issues with buyers, my documentation swung things to my side. Never hurts to have detailed pics, proof of delivery, etc. And, with a good, long track record, I never had a problem with the ebay folks themselves.

[hunterman223]

I just sold a laptop on eBay and incurred the wraith of about 30Gbp, the equivalent to $50. And the laptop didn't sell for much...

[Nigellus]

Check out these listings:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad-X20 ... 1105wt_932

http://cgi.ebay.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad-X20 ... 1105wt_932

User basinskiy's shipping (and handling) costs are in excess of $600.

Now, maybe it's more dangerous to get to the post office in California, so most of that's a hazard fee? I don't know, but it seems excessive.

If I'm paying $600 shipping, it had better be wrapped in a Halliburton brief case.

Or check this one out (from user rongnui):
http://cgi.ebay.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad-T41 ... 4745wt_932

Charges $299 for shipping, but won't ship to my PO Box.

Son, for $299 shipping, you're going to ship it to a supply closet at McMurdo if I ask you to.

Here're a few others:

http://cgi.ebay.com/X201-Thinkpad-Intel ... _500wt_949
Almost $800 shipping

http://cgi.ebay.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad-X20 ... 1547wt_698
About $110 shipping

[goofyGAguy]

Don't even get me started on those jerkwads.

[rkawakami]

When it's that obvious, I hope you use the "Report item" link that's located just below the "Other item info" box in the eBay listing. The reporting system seems to have changed recently but select "Listing practices", "Other listing practices" and then "Shipping-related charges" and that should alert them. Whether or not they actually do anything to the seller is problematic but at least when I do this, I get a tiny bit of satisfaction.

[Nigellus]

When it's that obvious, I hope you use the "Report item" link that's located just below the "Other item info" box in the eBay listing. The reporting system seems to have changed recently but select "Listing practices", "Other listing practices" and then "Shipping-related charges" and that should alert them. Whether or not they actually do anything to the seller is problematic but at least when I do this, I get a tiny bit of satisfaction.

I reported the guy with nearly $800 for shipping. That really ticks me off.

We'll review your report carefully and take appropriate action. You don't need to contact us about your report again.

Your report is just one factor we review. To determine the action we take, we'll consider the type of violation you're reporting and how it may impact other eBay members. If the listing doesn't follow our guidelines, it may be removed. However, in some cases, the listing may stay on eBay, and we may contact the member to provide training. We also may place limits on the member's ability to buy or sell on eBay. To protect the privacy of all of our members, we're unable to share the action we take.

[ozzymud]

I reported the guy with nearly $800 for shipping. That really ticks me off.

I did the same... I haven't sold anything on eBay (eternal packrat), but if I ever do, their fees are their fees... it's just plain theft to try and bypass them.

[goofyGAguy]

their fees are their fees... it's just plain theft to try and bypass them.

The thing is, as of this past April 19th, there is no more bypassing fees. FVF are charged on the entire amount, thanks to jerkwads like the ones Nigellus linked to.