eBay.com - suspended from selling for using the following line "Paypal: email me first"

# 7 for June 19, 2003

Complaints.com received the following on June 18, 2003:

From: dorothy ostermann [Email User]

RE: eBay.com - suspended from selling for using the following line "Paypal: email me first"

Mr. Pierre M. Omidyar This is to notify you of a pending law suit. I am claiming $250,000 USD for damages suffered as a result of my Ebay experiences, explained below. A lawyer from the state of California will be in touch in the near future. The mental stress and anguish, the time and effort of having designed 80 and then 70 more auctions and having them all cancelled, being falsely accused ( of profanity - you employee later apologised- I have the email) and of breaking your rules (the same ones you break all the time) are enough to justify this law suit. If you lift this undeserved suspension and re-instate me within 48 hours of receiving this, I will not proceed with the law suit. If you do not reinstate me I will make the claim mentioned above based on lost sales and emotional trauma. Do the right thing. Put williamo1 back in business on ebay. Here is my sad story: I have been selling on ebay for over four years and that makes me an old timer. I have had over a thousand successful auctions with 700+ positive feedback. I have been scammed a few times by people on ebay who they do not seem to able to catch and suspend. So now I am suspended. First Time: My offence was really terrible. A most awful thing I did. I put in my some of my auctions the following line “Paypal: email me first” Why? A buyer will have to spend a few bucks paying for an item. They will have to buy a MO, stamp, envelope and make a costly trip to the Post Office. Or they can use Bidpay for a flat rate of $5.00. Or send a certified check. All this costs money and any buyer knows this. So if a buyer wants to save a few bucks and use the cheaper and faster Paypal why should the seller be penalized. Why should I have to pay the Paypal fees for the buyers convenience. In my experience, almost 100% of the buyers were happy to pay the cheaper Paypal fees and not have to use the other methods mentioned. And as a seller I can simply say (AS MANY ARE NOW DOING) NO Paypal accepted. Ebay’s NAZI like SS sniff around for anyone who dares to pass on these fees. I did not even say in my add that I did. I just said email me first. So I was suspended for 30 days. I used my son’s account to continue selling and they gave me another 30 days in their sellers JAIL. That is how they treat one of their successful and HONEST sellers. Now let me add, that they are plain stupid as well. Why? What does it matter to them WHO pays the fees as long as EBAY (they own PAYPAL- which is why they have this crack down) gets the money. Ebay, like all monopolies, gets dumb as time goes on. Every time a seller like me says NO MORE PAYPAL , period, they lose the fees as the buyer is forced to go to other means. So what is their logic. They explained to me, via form emails, that their policy is based on the fact that they do not want the buyer surprised by more fees than the total mentioned in the auction. HOW UTTERLY IDIOTIC. 1. They will not let me notify the buyers that they must pay the Paypal fees- which would eliminate their complaint- and they force me to say NO PAYPAL. And then the buyer must pay MORE via other means. Of course, buyers are not as stupid as Ebay thinks. When they read NO PAYPAL they will know they will have to buy a MO or use Bidpay. 2. Ebay ignores the simple fact that every auction that says NO PAYPAL means the buyer will have to pay more than is mentioned in the add. Craziness. The real problem is the sheer size of Ebay and their AWFUL monopoly. Good News: Ebay is working hard on becoming the second class or third or fourth auction sight. How? By suspending thousands of honest good sellers for inane reasons while letting crooks go free. That drives sellers to try other sights like Yahoo and builds them up at Ebay’s expense. Guess Ebay is even more stupid than we thought. Advice: 1. If you are selling on Ebay join the protest and immediately refuse all PAYPAL payments until Ebay allows the fees to be paid by either buyer or seller. Is this such a crime? 2. Put as much as possible on another auction site. like www.epier.com Ebay charges a 5.25% handling fee to the SELLER on the final bid price of any completed auction.. But if you are a seller and would like to charge a 2% handling fee (which is clearly stated in your auction listing) on the Final bid price they will cancel your auctions...... Ebay's Credo ( DO AS I SAY NOT AS I DO )......... Wm. Oosterman, formerly a great ebay seller, now in Ebay jail, being tortured by their SS goons indefinitely.

Comment On This

Due to high Paypal fees, I used to post on my Ebay listings "No credit/debit card payments through Paypal" Ebay closed my auction! That is absolutely ridiculous. Well that's fine, because I put up a new line on the auctions "NO PAYPAL accepted....SOrry!" I had grown weary of all the BS on Ebay and all the fraud allowed, so I moved my items for sell elsewhere. I sell on UBid.com, Craigslist.com, and Yahoo auctions.

Ebay/Paypal is NOT safe. Paypal/Ebay will not help a buyer who has been a victim of fraud. The only thing Paypal will do is attempt to take funds from the seller's account. Usually, the seller has already transferred the money out, so his Paypal acct is at $0. Paypal simply tells the victim they were unable to get funds from the seller. Basically, you're screwed!

I have been scammed several times. Paypal did nothing for me. My credit card company reimbursed me for my loss! But, credit card companies are going to get tired of having to cover up for Paypal's mess!

Comment On This

I agree, as a seller on ebay the fees are crazy! I have to sell items $5 higher than I would just to cover all the fees!

Comment On This

If you use your credit card in the store who do you think pays the fee? The store does. If you're the seller you should pay the fees. All businesses that accept credit cards has to pay the fee, and as you said it is a business for you.