Monday 5 August 2013

Ebay is Too Hard For Me

If you read my previous post you'll know that I am trying to raise some cash and de-clutter at the same time by selling stuff.

Now some things (those I made myself) I've listed on ETSY and others I thought I'd give a go on eBay.  Easy Peasy.  Or so you might think...


Well, ETSY was certainly easy, but eBay?  Dreadful!


I spent 2 days trying to list a collectable bear (Muffy Vanderbear) for sale and it was IMPOSSIBLE.


Mostly, I got this message...




... and I spent 30 minutes on the phone to who-knows-where trying to resolve this.  In the end I put the phone down during one of the inevitable 'please hold for a couple of minutes while I check' moments.  The call centre guy obviously had no idea how to resolve the problem and we were just going round in circles with him telling me I had to have had 10 sales feedbacks and 90 days must have elapsed since my first sale - which I could read for myself on the message!

How can I get 10 sales feedbacks if I can't sell anything!!!!!

I wondered if the problem was that my eBay account is registered in England, but I am posting from a French Internet provider.  So I changed to my French address throughout.  Still the same message, but in French...

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

So. goodbye eBay. I won't miss you...

I don't know where else on the Internet I might sell my stuff - eBay has such a hold on auctions.  Anyone got any ideas?

So many Muffys needing new homes...



3 comments:

Knitnstitch Sue said...

Hi Penny
Check out this post -
http://weansfrugalworld.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/an-alternative-to-ebay.html
Don't know if there are the same restrictions but it might be worth a look.

If you have a British address, have you tried Folksy.com for selling your handmades? I had some success with that site.

Sue x

Sharon said...

What a blooming nuisance Penny! I haven't had this problem and like you my ebay account is registered in the UK but I ship from Spain, so the only difference is that I have sold quite a few things in the last ten years without any problems and you've not been selling, I assume? And yet I never had any problems back in the beginning when I started to sell either. I have either listed on ebay UK or Ebay US...so this is all very weird. The only thing I can suggest is trying again with their help desk in the hope that you get someone who knows what they are talking about.
I have however had problems in the past with Paypal, in that twice they 'froze' my account and all but accused me of money laundering!!! I had to produce copies of my passport, proof of address and bank account, and several other things, TWICE, all because I sold a few of my dolls and had a healthy paypal balance. I was really fortunate last time to get a good English speaking operator who talked me through getting my account back from frozen! But it took more than 3 weeks to do so on each occasion.
So I really do wish you well and hope you can resolve this and quickly. Ebay (and paypal) can be a real pain in the neck when they go wrong but sadly we do really rely on them and they have such a big customer base that they can't be beaten when it comes to reaching a big audience of potential buyers.
Big hugs Sharon xx

Elizabethd said...

I sold one thing on Ebay and had no problem. But it could have been the French/English thing, I suppose, that caused you a blip. What a nuisance. There is something called Folksy but I know nothing about it.