I thought the point of eBay was to get rid of that middleman. Wouldn’t that be something eBay would have done at some point if they wanted to own a pawnshop? Not saying that cannot work but that doesn’t sound like a genius idea
If you list an item, it strongly "suggests" a price. Sounds innocuous, right? However, when every seller knows they would be stupid to list a product for less than the suggested price, that means that eBay is enacting a collusion process on their sellers to regulate prices for products sold on their platform.
I don't think this is illegal in any way, but it is bad for the buyers as it decreases the chance that they will get lucky with a purchase and ensures that all purchasers on the platform spend as much as they can afford to spend.
Next, as a seller, eBay presents you with an option to "promote" your product, for a fairly significant percentage of eBay's suggested sell price. (Last time I tried to sell something, they wanted $9.99 to promote an item expected to sell for ~$150, for instance). If you do not "promote" your item, then it is thrown to the bottom of the listing and may be filtered out when purchasers sort by "price low to high" as they often do.
I chose not to promote my item as I was just getting rid of it, (brand new OEM toner for a printer that normally sells for $200) and it got almost no views and ended up selling for $40, of which ebay took $7.50 for their cut.
I checked the other solds for the same product and mine was the lowest sold by almost $100 all seemingly because I didn't pay the racketeer price upfront.
I didn't care about the money, I was just getting rid of it, and ebay punished me for not playing ball their way while also losing out on their profits just to make a point with me.
If you don't eBay the ebay way you will suffer for it.
Speaking of which, eBay has started changing the number of results based on your search filtering, preventing purchasers from finding the specific thing they are looking for in exchange for something that is often more expensive and not quite right.
Try it yourself. Search for something very specific and then change your filters and see the number of available items increases and decreases based on how you search. I honestly would not be surprised if they were hiding the unpromoted less expensive more accurate item you are searching for from you in the expectation of inducing you to buy the more expensive item in the process.
Why would eBay do this? They make more money. It's pure enshittification. They charge the sellers to promote. They set the prices. They charge an insane percentage, something like 15-20% of the final sell price to the sellers, and they have made the platform hostile to its original purpose of being a bazaar for ordinary people to sell their old stuff to people that might want them.
Of course, they are still seller hostile, they protect fraudsters who buy expensive items and claim they are fakes or broken and return bricks, and they have strongarmed their customers into arbitration agreements in an attempt to prevent anyone from suing them to stop their anti-consumer practices.
eBay let someone scam me out of $700.
I sold a Mavic 2 Pro drone with 5 batteries. The whole process was a mess. Scammer initially complained that it didn't come with a CrystalSky tablet that was in one picture (that was only added AFTER after he had bid already and asked to see Flight Logs, and was explicitly disclaimed as not being a part of the package, nor was it in the receipts I sent the buyer). After pointing out those details, silence.
Then, three weeks later:
"The batteries don't work. I want a refund."
"Batteries? Any of them? All of them?"
"All of them, none work. I want a refund."
Note that two of the batteries were less than 4 months old, still in warranty.
He then stated he wanted a refund of $800. For five brand-new batteries, that would only be $670.
No evidence was shown, despite multiple requests (like a video of a battery on a charger, or on the drone, failing to power up). I stated I'd like to get the original batteries back, as at least I'd be able to get them replaced under warranty or possibly repaired and recoup some of my money (I was skeptical there was -any- issue, but still, good faith). He "happily" agreed. I asked him to send me a message on eBay (so it was tracked and not avoiding their system) acknowledging that offering a partial refund was contingent on his sending me the batteries back and that he accepts me disputing the refund if not.
He sends a message indicating all of the above.
Refund is sent (for about $700, to include his return shipping costs).
Thirty-five minutes later, I get a message, "USPS says they don't ship damaged batteries, so I will not be returning them". (35 minutes? So what, you were just sitting around waiting for the refund, and then the very moment I sent the money, you jumped in your car, got to the post office, had this discussion, got home, and were able to send me this message? When your home address shows you about 15 minutes from the nearest post office?)
I then suggest we meet in person to exchange them (I live a few hours away, not convenient, but still, $700...). He umms and ahhs, "How will I be able to prove that I gave them to you in person?". I suggest we do it in a police station and point out that his local PD even welcomes people to use their lobby for CL, etc. on their website. More umms and ahhs. "I need to contact eBay support to see if they allow this." I point him to eBay's specific FAQ page describing exactly this and how they recommend doing in person sales, and refunds, documentation thereof, and how they support it. But he ignores that and says, "I never heard back from eBay support, so I'm not sure what to do". I point this page out again, and he goes silent.
I opened a dispute. No evidence was provided for damage or faulty goods, referenced the multiple requests for video, or of anything.) Multiple instances of the buyer trying to show something was problematic with the listing, not abiding by the agreement and refusing/avoiding any method of returning damaged items.
Overnight, no further inquiries.
"We have closed your dispute. Based on our review, the buyer is entitled to keep the partial refund for damage. He is also not required to return the damaged items".
So he ended up with a Mavic 2 Pro, with less than 20 hours flight time, 5 batteries, for in the order of $950, all told.
Maybe not every sale needs a middleman, but in a lot of cases, seems like there would be a benefit to it.
Then, after you win that, you can drag eBay into arbitration for the suffering. I bet you'd walk away with $5k or so after expenses if you have a decent lawyer.
A simple, easy lawsuit will cost you in the same range as a house. Even if you win, thanks to the American rule of "each side pays their own attorneys' fees."
No, $700 is not worth a lawsuit.
Also, if you decide to use a lawyer and either you or the person who defrauded you lives in certain states, you can also tack on attorney fees:
https://www.trysmallclaims.com/blog/small-claims-court-attor...
It's no different than how permitting departments hate homeowners trying to DIY because they make them work whereas the professionals submit stuff they can just rubber stamp.
They seemed to be doing really well esp with all the pokemon and MTG card crazes going on.
The only thing I can think of is Gamestop positioning to become a clearing house for fan swag or gaming items the way Woot is for Amazon overstock.
Umm, that’s been around since 1938, which is a few years before the era you’re talking about…
They will even deliver boxes to your front door, for free, by simply submitting a form online.
It's so easy, I'm not at all surprised that it's occasionally abused.
They wrap up the free priority mail flat rate boxes to obscure markings to send them with a cheaper service. So they know should they’re naughty but might not realize it’s reached the level of a crime, perhaps. Definitely didn’t realize they’d have customers who don’t like stealing from themselves (taxpayers)
FedEx and UPS will report priority Mail boxes to USPS as well.
It didn't add enough value back then, but IMHO it does now. Selling on eBay is a massive hassle these days for a variety of reasons, and much less profitable for onesy-twosy transactions than it used to be.
If I could just drop off a bunch of stuff at my local GameStop and forget about it until the checks arrive in the mail... yeah, there's definitely a business model there.
When I sell something, I usually want the item gone ASAP in exchange for a modest amount of money.
One of the reasons to refund an order is “already sold in-person”.
There's also the synergy that GameStop now has access to more used gaming inventory, a category that I'm led to believe is high margin for the stores.
Gamestop closed 2,400 stores from 2020 to present, and operates just 2,200 stores currently. They'll continue to close stores as their revenue continues to shrink (down 60% in the last decade).
>used gaming inventory
physical used game inventory is a fraction of what it was a decade ago, and continues to shrink as a category, digital sales continue to climb and exclude Gamestop