are these lights any good?

Re: are these lights any good?

Reply #15 – February 24, 2005, 01:41:42 PM

Quote from: Bird351

Well, at least you didn't tell him he was wrong based on something from about.com..

Zing!

Re: are these lights any good?

Reply #16 – February 24, 2005, 04:59:22 PM

Jim...

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE eBay, both for selling and for buying. I've actually surpassed the point that 50% of my income comes from eBay, so perish forbid that i bite the hand that feeds me, so to speak. I have also found some hard-to-find parts, and items that I never would have even considered but had ideas put into my head when I stumbled on the auction (such as the Explorer overhead console with temp/compass that's gonna go into the T-Bird). Of course being Canadian it's considerably more difficult with the asshats that won't sell to Canadians out of ignorance (if any of you are reading this and you have auctions that say "will ship to USA only", you're an asshat - there, I've said it. Especially if you're selling something I want.)

Yep. I love Ebay, but there is no denying that it is going to hell. Just read the ebay message boards to see the growing discontent among sellers and customers alike.

Sellers are pissed off because:

There are more sellers than buyers. Really. I read it in the ebay forums - ebay has more selling accounts than buying accounts
Too many buyers do not take ebay seriously. NPB's cost all sellers money - ebay will refund the FVF, but not the listing fee. I lose $4 every time I get one of these asshats.
Ebay has been steadily increasing their prices and lowering their level of customer support. There was such a backlash the last price hike that the prez of eBay apologised, refunded a bunch of money, and suckholed in an attempt to turn the stock slide around
Ebay can be very persnickety about some rules while ignoring others. They cancel auctions for no good reason and with no warning (and when they cancel an auction they completely cancel it - if you look at your "my ebay" page it's as if it never existed. Very, VERY rarely can you ever talk sense into them. I won a dispute with them once over an item I was selling - the title listed the part for Camaro Z28/Firebird Trans Am and ebay cancelled it because they said I listed four different cars in the auction title and was therefore "keyword spamming". When I asked what they meant, they said you can only list three different cars in an auction title and I listed Camaro, Z28, Firebird and Trans Am. I pointed out that Camaro Z28 and Firebird Trans Am are only two cars. They apologized and reinstated the auctions. The only victory I've ever heard of while arguing with them. Meanwile countless people ignore the fee avoidance that is the very topic of my arguments in this threadl, and ebay gleefully turns a blind eye.
Fraud - ebay and paypal actually encourage fraudulent chargebacks with their "no questions asked" apporoach. Even though they have a "seller protection policy", if you follow it to the letter and prove that you sent (and they received) the item, PayPal will still do the chargeback. Lots of people are dumping PayPal and they are in civil court over this practice.

Meanwhile buyers are disenfranchised due to:

Fraud - especially in the computer and cell phone areas. A little bit of fraud can do a lot of damage to people's trust in a method of doing business. Fraud's a problem on both sides. Fraudulent chargebacks, fraudulent sellers.
Dishonest or sneaky sellers like the guy selling these headlights (sellers are upset at these guys too, as it makes it hard to have honest auctions yourself)

The problem is that when somebody comes up with a convenient way of doing business everybody jumps in (too many sellers), then the crooks jump in to take advantage of the new method (fraud), which in turn discourages people from using the service or method. This is happening with ebay - they've peaked and are sliding now. They'll never go away, but they'll never be like they were in their heyday, either.

Re: are these lights any good?

Reply #17 – February 24, 2005, 05:07:21 PM

You, sir, are a debating fool ain't ya? LOL

Okay I digress. Ebay's heyday is over and they are going to the dogs.