I,ve been trawling ebay, the forums and news articles to find out more about these issues.
I for one will be supporting the listing embargo from the 18th to 25th of February, but, funnily enough, my main issue is not the price increases, but the proposed changes in the feedback system.
I know the present system is not perfect, but the proposal to allow only the buyer to leave negative feedback is, in my opinion, ludicrous. Consider the implications for sellers, they have no way of telling other ebay users how bad or unreliable a buyer is, even if the buyer will not answer emails or simply refuses to pay, buyers will be able to make bids on a whim and then change their minds without other users being aware of this, under the present system you have the option to cancel bids from buyers if you think they may not complete, if, for example, they have a high number of negative feedback comments. Under the new system, all buyers will have 100% positive feedback, whilst many sellers, even those who have 100% at present, will soon find themselves below the feedback mark,( around 95% I think) where ebay will not feature them in specific item searches and they will demote their listings to the bottom of the listing pages. Sellers who think that this will not happen to them, should consider how easy it will be for someone, perhaps a competitor, to manipulate their feedback, by simply purchasing a few items and then leaving negative feedback.
I personally will not be badly affected financially, as ebay is not too great a percentage of my total turnover, however, in protest I intend to close my ebay shop and actively search for alternatives for the rest of my ebay business.
I intend letting ebay know my reason for closing the shop, but I have a feeling this will not worry them too much, however, judging by the forum discussions, quite a few have already decided to jump ship and other auction and selling venues are reporting record sign ups.
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