Sellers warned him. Don't open Pandora's Box! But did eBay's (EBAY) John Donahoe listen? No, he ignored the combined voices of thousands of sellers. Now one of his disruptive innovations has come full circle and sellers are fighting back – in the courtroom.
Yes it's true. Another buyer reported being sued by a seller over feedback this week.
You won't believe this, but I just got sued for $1,500 + court costs for leaving a negative . . . I called eBay, but they said it's his [the seller's] right and they're not willing to do anything about this.
But what the buyer didn't say is that he received exactly what he purchased, the item arrived in a timely manner, and shipping costs were stated and not unreasonable.
This buyer is representative of many buyers being sued by sellers for leaving negative feedback (often due to shipping) because John left sellers no other option when he removed the check & balance system that made eBay work – two way feedback.
I wonder if buyers expect Scotty to beam up their purchases for them. I think they must but even Scotty has beaming costs and so do sellers. Shipping rates have skyrocketed in the last 2 years and many buyers have no idea how much it costs to ship an item.
But I'm not convinced that buyers are entirely to blame. eBay has nothing conspicuously posted to let buyers know that 1) they can be sued over negative feedback 2) their payment may be held by Paypal for 21 to 180 days for no reason and 3) sellers will not ship until Paypal releases their funds.
It's too bad John removed two way feedback. That's why so many sellers' are suing - it's easier to get a court order to remove negative feedback (and DSRs) then deal with eBay's feedback removal system because judges look at facts – not buyer satisfaction.
The following text messages began appearing in sellers' listings directly underneath the item cost a few weeks ago. This is sure to create more negative feedback.
"Deal alert: Less than $10 per item, including shipping."
"Deal alert: Less than $20 per item, including shipping."
"Shopping hint: Make an offer and get it for less."
Do two of these messages indicate free shipping? eBay says "no" but a buyer of mine thought they did and told me that she was calling the BBB because she thinks the deal alerts are deceptive. I agree.
What do I want for Xmas? An EASY button so I can delete disruptive innovations.
Happy Holidays
Disclosure: Dinah Balk is a long time eBay seller. No stock position.
