Ebay is run by Republicans...

[The Night Owl]

...and it shows.

[InvisibleTouch]

1. Yes - greedy greedy greedy.

They take every opportunity to squeeze more fees out of the seller, including PayPal fees, even if they occasionally do something that gives us a break. The other shenanigans more than make up the difference.

I do my best to keep my DSR's up in order to get final value fee discounts, but if just one disgruntled customer leaves a low rating, I'm screwed. Doesn't matter whether it's reasonable or not.

[The Night Owl]

2. Yes, Ebay does take every opportunity to squeeze money out of sellers and...

...it does so with the knowledge that this policy hurts small sellers much more than it hurts big ones.

[InvisibleTouch]

3. Which ultimately hurts the buyer too, if you think about it.

Less price competition, less variety of stuff to buy, and less personalized service.

[Vinca]

4. On the "up" side, my husband creamed the garage light fixtures

while plowing snow and I bought some on ebay that were excellent quality and dirt cheap. They came from a megaseller - the people I usually don't deal with - and it was a surprisingly smooth transaction.

[democraticinsurgent]

5. i think that's the point, in a way

most sellers on eBay are honest and deliver as promised. I am constantly buying records from other sellers and my experience has been nearly 100% positive.

Yet, eBay insists on setting traps for sellers to fall into (DSR's are just one of these traps) and considers them guilty until proven innocent.

I have a friend who had a listing on a used manufactured item removed for copyright infringement. Apparently the manufacturer uses the VERO thing to eliminate used listings of his items because he considers them competition. He claims they are "pirated" even though my friend bought it from this manufacturer's website.

In typical fashion, eBay sided with the manufacturer and my friend has no recourse except to ask for the manufacturer's permission and they won't give it.

Unbelievable.