AN APPEAL TO EBAY POLICY

I have been a seller on eBay since 1999, using their service to sell original artwork and prints. Over the last couple years, when John Donahoe became the new CEO, they have added new policies and regulations in their effort to transform a great service into an Amazon.com-esque format, rewarding few Power Sellers who sell in bulk and penalizing small business, with no discernable middle ground. Like many other small sellers, I have recently been hit by their policies, and their actions have shown that they are intent on destroying small business - and I believe it is an unspoken factor in the economic problems currently facing this country.

Sticking to facts, in October of 2011, I had a lapse in my shipping performance that caused delays for roughly 30 transactions out of 2,600. The delays came as a part of an overall problem of finding affordable shipping. One of their new policies was the punish sellers who did not offer free shipping on their items. As many sellers have found out, there's no such thing as free shipping when you go to a shipping provider, like UPS or USPS. When I tried to put actual shipping costs on the items, their system would harass me when threats claiming I was charging too much, when in fact I was still undercharging. On top of eating shipping costs, eBay starting a 10% penalty fee on shipping costs. When I tried to explain to them the cause for the delays, they turned a deaf ear and called it 'policy'.

Then they added another penalty - freezing of funds from payments until after proof of delivery. This new penalty came automated based on the seller's DSR ratings - the 5 star rating system seen in the feedback profile. The DSRs were something buyer's could look at to determine if they want to do business with a seller, but Donahoe decided that anything less than perfect should be punished, which is terrible and unrealistic business, and so if any seller received only 3 low ratings in any single category, the seller's auction payments would be frozen for up to 21 days, and it would be like this for an entire year. From October to March, I busted my butt to make sure packages went out immediately, using my own funds to cover the cost of shipping and supplies so as to prevent any delays and within three days, the funds would be released. For example, if a package was delivered on the 12th, the funds automatically released on the 14th.

In April of 2012, their system broke. Every transaction during that month would not release as it should and I have had to call roughly every other day to get them manually released. That includes the time it takes to sign in, get their contact number with a special required PIN number, then waiting for a customer support rep, and then having to hear the exact same questions - "If you upload tracking information, it should be released in three days" when they can plainly see tracking info is uploaded the same day as the auction payment notification. Each time I'd get a different rep, who then would have their own interpretation of the policy, ranging from 3 days to 5 days, but even after 6 days the funds wouldn't automatically be released. They have harassed me to no end for their seller fees and for my 'below standard' performance, which will only be re-evaluated in October of 2012, yet if I get just one more low rating in shipping time, it would extend the freeze to October of 2013.

They have lied on numerous occasions, claiming the lack of release was a 'glitch' and that it should be working. But it isn't, and it's been over a month now. I have been unable to reach any supervisors or technicians, and only offered an array of differing excuses, which leads to me to believe they are expecting me to give up. One rep even said it is broken, but for 'half a percent of sellers', which isn't technically possible. I have searched online and found that many small sellers are being hit by these policies, which leads me to firmly believe that eBay is deliberately trying to eliminate all small sellers and just have a small base of Power Sellers. I find it ironic that they are punishing me for my shipping time by making it impossible for me to ship in a timely manner.

I am through helping Donahoe get paid $15M a year salary, and paying fees if they won't fix their system as it was pre-April. This is why I firmly believe eBay is a principle proponent in our economic problems, since many households who were using eBay to make a couple hundred a month to get by are now prohibited from doing so. I also have to wonder how their fund-freezing system is even legal, but for now the only thing I can do is direct my business to my website and away from the corrupt, broken eBay system. Perhaps one day either Donahoe will get sacked and eBay can be restored, or a new auction website can make it in this world.