Why I No Longer List Items For Sale On eBay.....

.....Or, "Selling on eBay is for suckers".

I joined eBay as a user on April 19th, 1997, and have a feedback score of 2179, giving me a Red Star. In the beginning, it was easy to use, and eBay acted more like a garage sale than anything else. Things have changed.

Not all that long ago, I sold a used media streamer (not a ROKU, which is what I prefer).  The thing worked fine, but frankly, wasn't worth much to me because it didn't have the capability to receive feeds from my MLB.COM account.

I got a fair price on eBay and sent it off to parts unknown.  I subsequently got a request for a refund due to it not working.  I refused and was then forced by eBay policy to issue a refund because of the allegation that  the device did not work as intended.  I complied, and paid for the return shipping, and paid eBay their fees.  When I got the device back in the mail, I tested it and yes, it worked fine.  I don't think I got scammed by the buyer, I just thing that the buyer wasn't tech savvy enough to connect it to his home WiFi (if he had a home WiFi system at all).  I'm pretty sure that he was capable of using a toaster.

Content that I had been completely boned by eBay's Buyer Protection Policy, (which, seems to necessarily include their Seller is a Sucker Policy), I gave up.

When trust disappears from the transaction process and contracts can't be enforced, commerce becomes difficult.  At least my experience wasn't as bad as this one.....

http://matthewsag.com/?p=1642

I still buy stuff on occasion on eBay.  It's a huge market place.  But I'm no longer a seller.  I now sell my items on the local Craigslist (which is also fraught with trouble of other sorts), but at least you meet the other party face to face.  Anything that doesn't sell on Craigslist get donated or tossed.

Sad.  The shine has come off of eBay.





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