Rise in unscrupulous sellers

[steve648536]

Having been a member of eBay for 24yrs in a few weeks, I am shocked at the dramatic rise in unscrupulous sellers on the platform, never have I had to return so many times than over the last year.

Items that don't match the description, items damaged, missing parts or not getting your order delivered at all the list goes on. I have spent tens of thousands of pounds over the last 24yrs buying on eBay, I must say that my time is coming to an end.

Plus eBay uses Royal Mail Parcelforce for free returns they are awful at home pick-ups, twice last week alone they never turned up for a return, this is not the first time they haven't turned up, I used to think Evri were poor but they are at least 80% better than Parcelforce in my humble opinion.

There are some fantastic sellers that I follow and have stuck with for years, don't get me wrong not every seller is a bad one, but it's a minefield trying to find any new ones, I constantly read feedback and who they ship with before I purchase anything any sign of a seller arguing with a buyer I avoid them same goes for any poor feedback or a general feedback score below 97%, but that still not a guarantee you have found a good seller.

Is it just me or have any other long-term members of eBay like myself come to the same conclusion as I have recently with terrible and unscrupulous sellers? 

Don't even get me started on how biased PayPal has become over the years, refused claims that a few years ago they would have granted, I have even had to start doing charge backs with my bank because PayPal has gotten worse, then again I am UK based maybe that's why? 

[ed_58611]

Yes! Yes! YES!!!

I had an unparalleled run of bad / lazy / inept / deceitful sellers a few months ago, the problems being, but not limited to, the wrong item (brand and type of sausage), the wrong size (ice cream scoop and knife sheath), wrong material (PU leather not "Cowhide"), incredibly decrepit books (some of which stank so badly of damp they were immediately relegated to the loft after repackaging), a seller who omitted to mention that her Denby items were in fact seconds, another seller of Denby ware who described her bowls as "New" but were merely unused and had accumulated a fine collection of scratches during careless storage, and 3 sellers who used ridiculously insufficient packaging - the ubiquitous jiffy - resulting in damage during transit in each case. 

And guess who eBay contacted about the high number of returns, obviously having neither the gumption, nor due diligence, nor yet the simple courtesy, to actually look at the particulars and reasons behind the return cases, instead making a decision based purely on percentages?!?

As I have previously mentioned, the overall downturn in the quality of service is the main reason for my spending largely elsewhere of late.