FAIR SHAKE

Thanks for the info Sunray. I recently joined Pheebay via a post in powersellersunite.com so word gets around!

It does tend to be difficult to keep up with all the worthy sites!

CabinFever wrote:Thanks for the info Sunray. I recently joined Pheebay via a post in powersellersunite.com so word gets around!

It does tend to be difficult to keep up with all the worthy sites!

I know what you mean LOL

I can't put into words how happy I was to have found a link to Fair Shake in a reply email about a one dollar bill!!!! I, also, was able to enjoy a youtube song/video from clicking on another link (in same reply). I laughed so hard that my eyes teared up. Laughter is great and I appreciated the opportunity to laugh. I try not to feed greed but I MUST pay my monthly bills, have auto insurance, an up to date inspection sticker and tag, etc. etc. etc.... I sell NOTHING on Ebay, but, was about to "try Ebay once more". I am glad I did not get that far. I sold there a long time ago but Ebay was a very different and much fairer place then. I've been calling it Egreed for years!
I truly hope that another auction site is born out of the efforts of everyone! Ebay was a great place...LONG AGO! I wondered what had happened when I was there browsing last week in "totally bizarre" and BIZARRE ITEMS appered as I paged thru. Yesterday I had to page thru, at least (in total) 3 or 4 pages of earbud ads, the same ads and images over and over and over. I was really mad and was telling a friend that I was going to ask Ebay in what way, shape, or form are 200 plus earbud ads even remotely related to strange, really weird, and totally bizarre!!!!!! IOW's..... I verbally ranted about it as a blantant and unfair use of a category. I wondered why I saw so many NOT PAYPAL VERIFIED OR LOGOED people that were going from describing the item to full blown and GIANT fonts informing people not to bid if they did not intend to pay. I did not understand until I read my email today. I applaud everyones efforts. Thank you for creating this site!!!!

Welcome redcat! Your futile attempt at finding weird and bizarre items and getting earbuds instead is a combination of 2 things: eBay's new default search, ironically called 'Best Match", and the quality of ahem, unique merchandise now prevelant on the site, ie; earbuds, ipods, toner cartridges and lots of mass-produced Asian factory junk. It's The New Way To Ebay!

I'm making light of what is really a very sad situation. No more bargain hunting, no more funky, unique or old treasures. Their goal is to use our money to transition to an online Walmart and then squeeze us out as soon as possible.

Many can't afford to leave eBay (yet!) but many ARE using their auctions & stores to redirect buyers to new, alternative sights that still care about retaining their customers. Best of luck to you!

Hello redkat -

I posted a reply to your other message here at Fair Shake. I guess I should have come to your "introduction" first! I can't even imagine what a shock you must have had to stumble onto the "new face" of eBay without knowing the background. It was hard enough to deal with having been along for this horrible ride from the start of these changes (which were announced in January of this year). With the new CEO, John Donahue, on board, the eBay we all knew so well and loved so much is GONE.

As Gladhand mentioned above, what you saw in just the one category was the new "Best Match" default search. Basically what it boils down to is those earbuds, sold by the masses on eBay (and just about any strip mall in the USA and around the world) have earned eBay more in commissions than the smaller sellers' goods. They are being "rewarded" with top billing in the searches, while the small sellers are pushed to the end of the search results. Many of these small sellers are like yourself: just trying to supplement a meager income and doing it from home because they are unable to get out and work in the usual sense. One of the most unfair things about the "New eBay" is the fact that for years and years they encouraged so many people to become "business owners" and earn their living on the site. Many thousands of people did just that, only to be left standing with nothing to show for it in the past few months. eBay feels no remose at all for having done this -- it's just business, after all. At one time they cared what happened to the "little guy" -- the human beings who were part of their membership -- but sadly that is no longer the case.

This has been a true grieving process for so many people who have put years of hard work into their business on eBay, earning customer loyalty while trying to keep some income coming in the door. It's painful to realize how all that effort means so little to a big corporation that they can just close the door in our faces. So Fair Shake was formed not only to provide helpful information to move on and find other ways, but also to bolster each other when needed. We welcome you and will appreciate any contributions you can make!

Debbie

Yep...what Debbie said!!! Horrible ride they have given us and lots of grieving. I am now job hunting and interviewing because of what happened with all their changes. I am interviewing back in corporate America where I said I would never go again. That makes me want to cry all over again.

The alternatives are out there, but they are not yet up to the mark of giving me a living through sales, so we do what we have to do. Thanks ebay.

Hi CabinFever - Long time, no chat! (I'm Justacrazymom, from OLA, Delphi, etc.). We have talked "quilting" in the past, if you recall ...

I'm sorry to hear you are being forced out in the the world again, since it's not by choice. This is one of the most tragic consequences of eBay's sweeping changes, as we've discussed earlier in this thread; people who have been able to actually creates real businesses and earn their living on eBay (and with the strong encouragement of eBay) are now no longer needed or wanted. It's a sad and maddening time. We all feel so betrayed. I have heard so many stories like yours, people who have had to give up these self-owned business they have beeen so successful at and try to find work in the mainstream job market, which at this time isn't all that great.

While it's true that the other auction sites aren't able - YET - to provide the kind of sales eBay has, I feel it's important to continue to support them by listing whenever and as much as possible. It's the only way they will grow to be a true competitor, AND one that we can once again enjoy being a part of. I've followed a some of your auctions on OLA - oh, your fabrics do tempt me! But I have a sewing room stuffed to the rafters with fabric, not that it's ever stopped me before!, but I have a hard time justifying any more purchases. Who knows, though - I might just have a weak moment and not be able to resist!

If you do find other work, do you plan to continue listing on other venues? As I recall, you mentioned before that you also sold on behalf of friends, is that correct or am I thinking of someone else? I know it's very time consuming to keep listing, and working outside the home, especially when you aren't accustomed to it any longer, is utterly exhausting. But as I said, if we can support these other sites by continuing to give them as much (or as little) business as we are able, they will grow and become competition for the ugly giant. Personally, I do believe that OLA is well on its way toward that goal. We have a member here named Onlineauction.com who has been kind enough to keep us updated on the various happenings over there. You might search for their posts and read up on the latest. There are big changes in the works which, last we heard, were slated to take effect at the end of June. These changes will go a long way toward improving the site for everybody, buyers and sellers alike.

Keep us updated on how it goes for you. And by all means, if you happen to run into any useful information that you'd like to share with others, please post it here!

Debbie

Hey, good to hear from you!

Actually, I have not listed many of my quilt items on OLA because I have not seen the quilters there. However, they are not buying over on ebid either and my prices are set about $1.00-$2.00/yd less than what is found in the quilt stores and other items are sometimes set at 50% less. My assumption is that the majority of buyers do not know what true quilt store quality fabrics are and are comparing prices to JoAnn Fabrics etc. I have some fantastic fabrics and have the MODAs listed on ebid. Those have been sure sellers on the "other" place. I have also put a nice sampling out on eCrater and still get nothing.

So I have not fully loaded any location (1000+ items) because of the time it takes and my indecision over which one just might decide to take off. I do plan to continue supporting other sites in hopes that they will grow, but if I am working, I will not have time for much. Besides....I have thousands of yards of material to offload at some point!!! I had just purchased the stock from a quilt store closeout when all this started.

TurboLister and then Blackthorne had me completely spoiled and that has been my struggle. I don't like "slow" and "painstaking" processes. It is a quirk of mine. Fast and efficient is what I want, otherwise it is just "work" and I can make a much better living working a job. Hopefully, it will get fun again before I have to donate my stock!

This really rearranged a lot of people's lives, that is for sure. I have heard many stories much worse than mine.

"This really rearranged a lot of people's lives, that is for sure." You said a mouthful. It's pretty sad.

Have you tried listing your fabrics, etc., on Etsy? You can, you know. But it's a set-price only place. Seems to sell well there, though. I think those who use that site DO recognize quality, and are willing to pay for it. If you haven't you should try it. EXTREMELY reasonable listing/FVF prices. Only downside is at this time they only offer PP as an online payment method and I would really rather use Google Checkout. But I figure baby steps away from eBay is okay too ... I've emailed them about Google Checkout, but they don't have any plans at this point to offer anything but PP.

I haven't been on eCrater so don't know how things are going there (guess I should have a look-see) but I have used eBid and I really like that site! I think people are just looking for a bargain when they shop the auction type sites, in ADDITION to the "Joanne's" mentality (which you are correct about). But you can't give things away; as you say, the time spent in just getting stuff listed has to be added in ...

Another thing, I don't know if you are aware of, you can create listings on Auctiva (with multiple ENLARGED photos). Then instead of uploading onto eBay, they have a little "HTML" button (very small) that you can click and it copies the entire HTML, including photos, of your listing and you can copy/paste onto any site that accepts HTML. All they ask is that you give them credit in your listing (i.e., created by ...). I used them almost all the time on my eBay listings because you could get 10 photos for the price of the one you got on eBay. (Another idea -- shhhh -- is generate your listing in TurboLister, then copy/paste ...).

There ARE ways around what eBay has done to everybody. Yes, we've all gotten spoiled by the "extras" they provided, but we certainly PAID for those extras. And it doesn't mean we have to do completely without the little helpers we had before. It's just a matter of getting used to doing it another way ... and in some cases we have to spend more time, if it's worth it. But I figure anything that ISN'T eBay is worth it! :)

Good to talk with you again! Hope you'll return and fill us in on what's happening on the various sites you're listing on.

Deb

Good morning from the snowy city of Aurora Colorado- I am bunnspec of the butt fugly fame on Seller Central-don't worry, I don't have a face that only a mother would love..
I was referred here by pens and I just wanted to stop in and say howdy to all the other puzzled peeps from le bay. It will take a bit of getting used to the format here. I feel I will be in here a lot..

Hello bunnspec! I am the person who started this site, and like most of the others, have tried to "get on with my life after ebay". I just popped in here now to see if anyone had visited or commented recently. Ebay was an integral part of most of our lives, and we are trying to adapt without them. Admittedly, it is NOT easy. I am leaving this forum here for people to find each other and hopefully offer support. It is largely unmonitored, but all are welcome to post and interact. Welcome to Fair Shake! It echoes in here often, but hopefully the welcoming spirit is intact!

Laurel

Hello, bunnspec!

Just as FirmGrip/Laurel said, we pop in from time to time ... I haven't popped in for a long time, but I'm glad to see people are continuing to visit. As stated, we aren't actively updating the site any longer, but feel free to use it as a place to post information and direct others to, or whatever. There still remains a good deal of useful information here, and SO much effort went into what is here that we love to see it being useful still.

Good luck to you in your future on-line life ... maybe we can still get some use from this promising forum!

Deb