Smart  

g026r wrote:
Doesn't seem to be, since mine's r***g -- which is last character, three asterisks, then first character.

I wonder if the masked user IDs are randomly shuffled around?  If so, what is the point of bothering to represent the ID?  Why not Bidder1, Bidder2, Bidder3 . . .

In any event, my new-new eBay account shows up as *****

The full eBay account name is ************!************

Oh, God, how am I to remember that one . . .  

Yes, I am that bored; yes, I am that crazy . . .

Just had an item where I left negative feedback (seems I wasn't the only one who didn't receive items either), and noticed something (that I believe to be) new:

When it came time to leave a DSR for shipping, clicking 3 or fewer stars popped up a list of options to choose to explain why I was leaving a low rating -- similar to if you leave 3 or fewer stars for item description.  I don't think I've left 3 or lower stars on shipping before, so I may just have never noticed it before; on the other hand, I think I've clicked the various star values on all of them to see what options pop up, so I think it's new.

Well, just to add my two cents, I'm closing my eBay store as well. I'm sure I'll get stuck with a chunk of inventory that will sit in my Store for ages, but hopefully nearly everything will sell fairly soon.

I really just can't help but shake my head at the onslaught of changes. I've hated PayPal's stance on protecting the buyer at all costs, and it looks like more and more of that is moving to eBay itself. Seriously, no negatives for buyers? Wtf eBay, just.. wtf.  

well. i don't sell much stuff. but as a buyer i kind of like the new changes. the feedback score is as good as a shill indicator as anything else. sure there are lots of valid users with less than five feedback, just like shill bidders probably just make new userids for each auction. the patterns are still there for people to pick up on.

and really who cares. you pick a price and you either get the item at that price or you don't.

now paypal is a little worse. i love how they entice you with the ability to use a credit card and then do everything under the sun to make it as difficult as possible to use that credit card so they don't have to pay fees or subject themselves to chargebacks.

still. ebay is a buyer's market. if you don't sell - then you don't have much to worry about. (imho).

what country is he in?

G@ddam!%%!!!!! Got my eBay invoice - £3! No transactions at all so how come a £3 charge? Well, when I shut my shop I forgot to cancel Sales Reports Plus, which was free with the store. There was no mention of cancelling associated subscriptions when I cancelled the store. So I've just paid £3 for a report containg zero items! Stung at the last minute - nice touch eBay. My fault I know but I wonder how many people have been caught like this? Be advised, when shutting the shop check those subscriptions!

Xaxaxe wrote:That's good advice. I forgot to cancel two subscriptions during the recent boycott period, which sort of made me mad. I mean, why boycott if you're going to keep paying for all those extras, right?

Anyway, I'm all cancelled now and couldn't be happier. You know, between people closing stores and canceling subscriptions, I have to believe that eBay's bottom line will begin to be affected. Like many others, I believe it will take months for eBay's horrible recent decisions to catch up with them ... but they will catch up.

This month, my ebay fees are going to come in about $100 less than normal....yet I'm making the same amount of money.  The difference?  #1 I haven't run a single auctiohn since the Ebay boycott...and it hasn't made one iota of difference (except of course I saved $100 on fees).  #2 I was able to make a couple of nice sales on rpgmarketplace that saved me on ebay fees.

Interestingly in the past week I've had two buyers on ebay offer to pay me by personal check "since they know paypal costs me".  I've never had buyers offer to do this, and in return I offered them reduced shipping. I like the new spirit of working together I've seen in RPG collectors the past month....hopefully things will begin moving AWAY from the Ebay/Paypal stranglehold model and into the old-fashioned way of doing business, collector to collector.  I think the new spotlight on Greedbay's way of doing business has caused both buyers and sellers alike to rethink their practices.  I know personally I've been weaning myself off the Ebay tit, drumming up business outside the venue, and so far it's been working.

Mike B.

I get an e-mail from Paypal saying they're providing an "Expanded Seller Protection" if you sign up(it's for Power Sellers).  So, I read the terms and signed up(there's no cost involved).  I  figure it can't hurt, but I still don't feel any better or safer.  It seems like the same as before, just with the "New, Bigger, Better" label.

My take is that eBay/Paypal is scrambling to recover from the strike.  I think they lost market share but can't admit they messed up because it would scare stock holders.  The stock price has become more important that the product.  The proverbial cart is before the horse.   If eBay would just sell a better item, people would flock to it.  Duh!