Author Topic: eevBLAB #22 - Ebay is BROKEN!  (Read 22663 times)

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Offline uncle_bob

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Re: eevBLAB #22 - Ebay is BROKEN!
« Reply #25 on: May 22, 2016, 03:32:50 pm »
Hi

Boy I really do miss the good old days when they were much more technically on top of it all. That was back when the whole site crashed about once a day and individual auctions regularly locked everybody out in the last couple of minutes ....

====

Indeed they are not as good as they should be given their resources and scale. They are nowhere near as bad as they once were.

Bob
 

Offline Carl_Smith

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Re: eevBLAB #22 - Ebay is BROKEN!
« Reply #26 on: May 22, 2016, 06:06:13 pm »
I've been selling on eBay for almost a year now, and it's unbelievable how many stupid problems they have that they can't seem to fix.

I have also had the problem where the auto-login doesn't work.   I use KeyPass and KeyFox plugin in Firefox, but there is something about the eBay login page that prevents KeyFox from entering the login info.  A small issue, but it gets annoying when you have to log in so often.

Another problem is that every once in a while it just forgets the second line of my return address on the packages I ship.  This line has my apartment number.  It just disappears.  I go to my "ship from" address in my account setup and find there are like 100 duplicate addresses in there all without the second line and one with it.  I spend ages deleting each one and waiting for the page to refresh between each time I click a "delete this address" link, and finally get it back down to the one correct address.  It will be fine for a few days to a month or so, then it happens again.

Sending messages to eBay support is equivalent to sending to /dev/null.   I've never EVER received a response from their customer service.

I do get a response if I tweet to @AskEbay.   They respond quite quickly but often seem to be unable to address the issues, like the address issue.   When I complain on twitter to @AskEbay about customer service not responding to messages they tell me to call the customer support phone number.  Really?  I don't want to talk to a person, I just want to send a message, where I can write what I need to say without some phone person insisting on following some script that doesn't pertain to why I'm calling.

Then there are all their new policies to make things difficult for the seller.  I had one buyer who wanted to return an item.  From his message it was clear he had no idea what he bought or how to use it.  I had the listing set as "No Returns."  That doesn't matter to eBay.  If the buyer says the item was defective or not as advertised they will let the buyer return it anyway and charge the seller for shipping, which is what the buyer did.   I ranted to eBay about that and they said they are trying to create the best experience for buyers.  I complained that I shouldn't have to pay return shipping since the item worked fine, and now I have an open item returned that I can't sell as new.  They refunded the return shipping cost.

So then I started listing my stuff with 14 day returns.  At least that way I can specify that the buyer pays return shipping.  After nearly a year and 170 packages shipped with only one return and one late shipping (post office's fault)  they "awarded" me "Top Rated Seller" status.  Except that the top rated seller logo won't appear on any of my listings unless I offer 30 day returns.   Guess that doesn't matter since I've never had a buyer return an item except for that one guy who didn't know what he bought.  So I changed all my stuff to 30 day returns.

Oh, I offer all my stuff with free shipping.  Nobody seems to want to buy cell phone batteries and commodity stuff like that if you don't.   But I noticed on lots of my listings the "Free Shipping" logo was not appearing.  It turns out that if I just click the "offer free shipping" check box, most of the time that orange "free shipping" symbol they overlay on the corner of the pictures doesn't show.  But I found if I checked that I wanted to specify my own shipping and enter the size and weight of the package, wait for it to tell me an estimated cost, then check the box that lets me specify a cost, enter zero, then click back to the first tab and check the box that says "free shipping" then the logo will show on the images.

And don't even get me started on their eBay VeRO program crap where anyone who lays claim to a trademark can kill any listing on eBay they don't like with no recourse for the seller.  If I rant about that it will be another 4 paragraphs to tell that story.




Offline KJDS

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Re: eevBLAB #22 - Ebay is BROKEN!
« Reply #27 on: May 22, 2016, 07:23:03 pm »
I'm glad that I've gone back to designing stuff.

Offline switch998

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Re: eevBLAB #22 - Ebay is BROKEN!
« Reply #28 on: May 23, 2016, 03:26:40 am »
Oh man, this bug doesn't even scratch the surface. eBay has been broken for so incredibly long.

My "favorite" bug is when you try to list something that's $1000+. Putting a comma in the the price (as one normally would) will cause the form validation javascript to freeze, requiring a refresh of the page, erasing your entire listing. It's always fun to do a listing twice.
 

Offline bitseeker

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Re: eevBLAB #22 - Ebay is BROKEN!
« Reply #29 on: May 23, 2016, 04:37:44 am »
Next year will be my 20th year on eBug. It's a wonder I still have hair. :-DD
TEA is the way. | TEA Time channel
 

Offline tszaboo

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Re: eevBLAB #22 - Ebay is BROKEN!
« Reply #30 on: May 23, 2016, 11:20:06 am »
ebay.be for some time, I was not able to scroll down the search results on 2 or 3 different browsers (yes, because thanks to standardization, you need those) for some months.
How impotent stupid do you have to be as a site runner, not to find that problem and fix it. Did they even go to their website at all?
And the listings are shit. And no english website. Like that is something that you dont do in 21 century, in a country, where 15% of population is born somewhere else (and was stupid enough to come here)
 

Offline Brumby

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Re: eevBLAB #22 - Ebay is BROKEN!
« Reply #31 on: May 23, 2016, 11:22:35 am »
They sold out. I could only list 10 for the month being a new store.
Got my account limit upgraded, and can only list another 7 this month!

Is it permissible to place a link on the Ebay listing back to the main EEVblog site/store either permanently or just for the interim period ?, there is already a link to the PDF manual but some may find the meter via Ebay then start to wander off if no other options are available should you max out again, it is possible that some potential purchasers will not even know about EEVblog/forum/videos/etc such as plumbers, auto electricians and so on.

EBay don't allow links on listings.  They are paranoid that a seller might draw buyers away from their bottom line... but THEY will drop crap all over the place - even offering adverts to competing merchant websites.  But that's ok - because they're getting paid.

But don't you venture there!
 

Offline EEVblogTopic starter

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Re: eevBLAB #22 - Ebay is BROKEN!
« Reply #32 on: May 26, 2016, 05:37:49 am »
So it turns out a Systems Manager at @eBay is a fan, saw my video about the category FAIL, SHTF inside ebay, & it's now fixed.
You're welcome world  ;D
 

Offline Towger

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Re: eevBLAB #22 - Ebay is BROKEN!
« Reply #33 on: May 26, 2016, 06:40:56 am »
Any chance of getting the app searches fixed?   I tried finding a direct contact for them, but could only find developers profiles on LinkedIn.  If I was responsible for that app I would not be boasting in public about it.  They obviously didn't use it to find obscure items if interest.
 

Offline bitseeker

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Re: eevBLAB #22 - Ebay is BROKEN!
« Reply #34 on: May 26, 2016, 05:49:57 pm »
I guess the rest of eBay makes so much money, our broken little corner of it didn't even make a noticeable dent.
TEA is the way. | TEA Time channel
 

Offline uncle_bob

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Re: eevBLAB #22 - Ebay is BROKEN!
« Reply #35 on: May 27, 2016, 11:50:07 am »
So it turns out a Systems Manager at @eBay is a fan, saw my video about the category FAIL, SHTF inside ebay, & it's now fixed.
You're welcome world  ;D

Hi

So obviously the answer to all this is to have "some really big important guy" complain about it.  :)

Bob
 

Offline bitseeker

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Re: eevBLAB #22 - Ebay is BROKEN!
« Reply #36 on: May 27, 2016, 09:43:22 pm »
As well as have that big guy make a video about it and put it on YouTube. :-+
TEA is the way. | TEA Time channel
 

Offline Brumby

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Re: eevBLAB #22 - Ebay is BROKEN!
« Reply #37 on: May 29, 2016, 06:04:31 am »
So it turns out a Systems Manager at @eBay is a fan, saw my video about the category FAIL, SHTF inside ebay, & it's now fixed.
You're welcome world  ;D

You found a Dilbert inside eBay?!!!!!!!!!

Keep them on side!
 


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