I used to have what could only be called an eBay addiction. On any given day, I could have been bidding on anywhere between one and ten auctions. It's averaging one or two a week now. The most obvious thing to me, is how eBay, having made things difficult-to-impossible for sellers, having thus created a climate of apathy and dissatisfaction in the seller community, has changed seller behaviour. The most frustrating part of which, is the abject lack of interest in answering pre-sale queries, about things like clarifying the courier (many of us have couriers we'd rather avoid), or providing a crucial garment measurement (e.g. underarm-to-underarm on a ladies top, because, we're not all the same up-top!), that they failed to include in the listing. This disinterest in providing accurate, pertinent information is most telling, with the now enormously frustrating, endemic use of AI for the item description - it's most off-putting, not least because, all it informs me, is, the algorithm's intelligence, is indeed artificial. To nowadays have a seller reply to a query, promptly, respectfully, in full, is becoming as rare as rocking-horse doings. I can't believe the amount of people that, when/ if they do reply, don't answer the question(s), are rude, and treat you like you just killed their dog. Many have said only "it's in the listing", like I'm some sort of intellectually-disabled individual, when it is NOT in the listing - why would I message to ask for information, if it was already there?! I scour every inch of any listing, scrutinising every bit of text, every image - the adage 'caveat emptor' is a way of life for me. I'm the savviest shopper I know!
I had one guy, not respond to a courier query about a vinyl record, but then, a couple of days later, he made me an offer (this is happening more & more - ignoring queries, then making offers and ignoring subsequent messages) - I messaged again, reiterating I need to know what courier, he ignored me. When he finally did reply to me, he said "just buy it" and called me a smeghead! I should have reported him, but, I just wanted the record, so, I let it slide; he said he'd send via Evri (my most reliable, trusted courier), but, as I should have expected, really, he sent it via Royal Mail, eliciting many days of anxiety as I waited for it to arrive (in my area, the guy that delivers parcels for Royal Mail, is a rampant kleptomaniac, that likes to pretend transit damage happens all the time; he tears packaging, takes what he wants & delivers the remains, usually just the torn, empty packaging, in an RM 'apology' bag). This, however, is not my worst recent experience.
Last week, I won and immediately paid for, a Santoro Gorjuss figurine - I've wanted it forever, it looked virtually pristine and the start bid was ridiculously low. There was very little competition, I won it for a song, a fraction of the original price when new. What I received instead, was a different figurine - it is tatty, in poor condition, not what I won, paid for, wanted or expected to receive. I messaged the seller immediately, informing them of the issue, expressing my disappointment (I told them, I could cry), requesting they post to me a postage-paid returns label (I don't have a printer), so I could return it for a full refund. My message was ignored (I waited four days for them to respond), so, I have had to raise a case with eBay - I did not receive my item/ I want the item. At first, I thought, they have sent mine to the person that was supposed to get this one. I now believe, they have struggled to sell this tatty thing & just want rid of it, at the same time, they wanted considerably more for my figurine - they were miffed, there was so little competition, and they regret the low start bid, so, they have retained my one to try to sell for more later, sending me the one nobody wants, expecting I'd be fine with that. Their ignoring my message, has only made the situation worse for them. They will now have to refund me, and it's likely eBay will say I don't have to send the tatty one back. It's highly unlikely, they will get more for mine, unless they do it as a 'Buy It Now' for an amount they're satisfied with, or raise the start bid. I will be haunting their profile (I screenshotted their listing images), to see if they relist it, and checking listings, to see if they attempt to sell the identical item on another profile.
I've had more poor experiences in the last two years, than I had in the previous ten years. The ruination of the platform; removing/ changing functionality & layout; turning the listings pool into a quagmire of cheap, nasty trash, multiple listings for the same thing from the same seller to sort through (the filters are NO help); daft policies, designed to maximise their profit, by retaining seller funds for as long as possible - it's earning interest in their accounts, instead of paying a seller's utility bill, or whatever you need your revenue for - it is callous, and has made sellers feel cheated and not valued by eBay. Good private sellers, the ones with integrity, every day, they see other private sellers, rogue sellers, that are obviously trading as a business, getting away with gaming the system. This, and plenty more besides has, in turn, changed seller's attitudes towards buyers. I know there are plenty of rogue buyers out there, too, playing their rotten cheating games - this is just from my perspective as a buyer - I have never sold, and now will never sell, on eBay.
The statistics speak loudly, for themselves - eBay has lost, in 11 years, from 2014 to 2025, 6.7 million sellers - between 2021 and 2024, 1.4 million sellers lost. They seem to be perfectly happy about it all, so, let us not feel one iota of guilt, about taking our business, our custom, elsewhere. We all deserve a lot better. It was not broke, but they went ahead and 'fixed' it, anyway. Their competitors are dancing reels in the aisles, at their hubris and incompetence. Prime Day next week - hooray! :0)
