I have been a member of Ebay for twenty years and have accumulated hundreds of positive feedback reports. I think I only have one report where the buyer was actual incorrect. But regardless, I have over 300 positive feedback reports.

In the last few years I've been selling some high profile, high dollar rare pieces of audio gear. Recently I sold a compressor for $2700US. After the unit sold Ebay notified me that I needed to update my seller info. Apparently they don't use Paypal anymore, I think. So I went in and updated my banking info. Fair enough. I waited for 3 or 4 hours and went and checked my bank account. The money had still not been deposited. So I called into Ebay and the agent transferred me to a payments/billing agent who then told me that because I had not sold an item since last year...I was considered a 'high risk/infrequent seller' and they wanted me to SHIP THE ITEM WITHOUT BEING PAID, provide a tracking number and ship it with a signature option. I couldn't believe it. I was incredibly upset. Not only did they not tell me any of this BEFORE THE ITEM SOLD, but they had decided to treat a long standing customer with lots of positive feedback, with sudden skepticism.

So I went to the post office to ship the item. I had listed the item with a shipping cost to US for $75 US. The item sold. When I went to post office and requested the signature option, they quoted me $150 shipping. I couldn't afford this as the shipping cost that had been specified before the item sold, was only $75...and I couldn't increase it now, because the auction was over?

So I shipped the item for the original amount and got a tracking number. It was $89 CAD.

The ridiculous thing is, OF COURSE I'M AN INFREQUENT SELLER. High profile/high dollar value audio gear DOESN'T SELL THAT OFTEN. IT'S TOTALLY NORMAL FOR THERE TO BE A LAPSE IN SELLING FREQUENCY WITH HIGH PROFILE AUDIO EQUIPMENT.

They massively screwed up when they did this to me, and I very well may consider taking my business elsewhere because of this singular incident. Let this post be a warning to any long standing sellers with great feedback.

So I heard back from an executive member of Ebay today and things didn't go very well. He basically spent 40 minutes rattling off generic group policy crap that didn't apply to me. He stated that payment holds are sometimes required to help sellers build a strong selling history (which connotes I take it) that once again they are insinuating that I DON'T have a strong selling history, which was also confirmed by the first payment agent that said my payment had been put on hold because I hadn't sold anything in a year, and I was essentially a high risk infrequent seller (and it was a high dollar item). Regardless of the fact that I've been an Ebay member for twenty years and have over 300 accounts of positive feedback....not to mention that I WILL NEVER HAVE A STRONG SELLING HISTORY because my items sell infrequently. ??? Hello, is there anyone home? The guy was nice enough but just kept reading scripted jargon that didn't at all apply to my individual case.

That isn't even the worst part. I sold this item because I need money for bills. The first payment agent told me my payment hold would be up to a week and a half. This executive member is now telling me it is 30 days. Uhhh...

Unbelievable. Why doesn't Ebay simply require buyers to check a quality assurance confirmation after they receive the item, so that the seller can then get paid in a reasonable amount of time?

Group policy DOES NOT WORK individually, which is how MEMBERS are supposed to be treated. What's the point in staying with a company for 20 years and building positive feedback if it doesn't mean anything?

It's not looking good for my future of selling high ticket, desirable pro audio items on Ebay any longer. I don't know how much money in fee's I've paid them, but there is absolutely no incentive ANY LONGER to do business with them. I will continue to buy, just not sell.

eBay is far less concerned with sellers than buyers. Its business model is to be a forum where shoppers feel safe spending money. When something goes wrong, it’s usually resolved in favor of the buyer.

Nowadays, eBay prefers to work with frequent sellers. (For obvious reasons.) People like you or me who occasionally sell something can still do so. But eBay won’t go out of its way to keep us happy. If you or I have a bad experience and stop selling on eBay, its response is a corporate shrug. Considering that eBay raked in $9.795 billion last year, one can see why small fry like us are barely on its radar.

It never used to be like that. Ebay used to be a through and through auction house, where desirable items were auctioned at reasonable prices. That's when it was really fun.

With their modern stance it appears to be nothing more than another Amazon.

So, I'd like to follow up with what has happened. The buyer received the item. It was a tube compressor. He had a few small issues getting everything going but was successful at getting it up and running. It was tested before it left, but tubes can fall out etc during shipping. First of all I'd like to say that 1. This should have never happened to me in the first place as I am not a infrequent risky seller. I am a seller that has high value rare items that sell slowly. There's a big difference. As well, I have lots of positive feedback. There was no need for Ebay to single me out and make things confusing and difficult in terms of my payment. The executive member of Ebay that I spoke to told me that I wouldn't be receiving my payment until Nov 20th, yet the buyer received the item on roughly October 28th. Why should I have to wait three bloody weeks to get paid? Turned out after the buyer mentioned that he got everything working good, the next day my payment arrived. So I was pleased about this. It made sense. Once again, If a payment hold is placed on a seller for reasonable grounds, the buyer should have to fill out a quick mandatory form or something that states he is happy with the item. Then the seller can get paid immediately after that...which they should. Turns out this is what happened and again, I needed the money for upcoming bills, soon.

Anyway, Ebay's selling fees are still very steep at roughly ten percent but they need to have reasonable grounds to place a payment hold in the first place. I did not fit this description. They need to treat members individually, not in large non specific groups. If I have tons of positive feedback and my items are considered 'rare sellers' why should I have to pay for other seller's bad deals, rip off's, etc.

I did remove the other items that I was selling on Ebay. I'm not sure if I will continue to sell on Ebay or not. I'm still thinking about everything that I had to go through. I've never sent a multi-thousand dollar item to a different country without being paid first. One thing the executive member mentioned to me that I agreed with, was that in any event a signature option is recommended for high dollar items, to prevent the item from being stolen off of the buyers front porch or something.

I suspect the vast majority of ebayers are infrequent sellers - they are torching their own business! Probably tryng to become Amazon.

I share your pain.

I have not been having a good time on eBay in the last year or so.

I took the time and trouble to point out some serious flaws that had arisen.

Joined 20 years ago too.

500+ stars feedback.

They couldn't give a s**t.

What I really could not grasp is the problems I was telling them were costing them money, but the did not care.

On Sunday I tried to buy something (not expensive) I bid at the last minute, am the highest bidder, auction ends, final price is lower and my bid is not recognised despite the email telling me I am the highest etc.

A complete joke and as I say costing eBay money and here's the kicker, the seller should have got more money for their item. I have lost all confidence in eBay which is a shame as it used to be somewhat "fun".

To me this shows the level of fraud on eBay must be massive and they are just skimmimg off low activity users to make fraud management more - er, manageable. There' no other reasonable explanation for this odd behaviour from their bots. It's all very sad.