Earlier in the fall I experienced a rash of unpaid bidders. It gets really frustrating when an auction-style listing closes at a higher final bid price than I expected but the high-bidder does not come through. While I can send a second chance offer to the next highest bidder, completing the the unpaid bidder process takes a long time. By the time it is resolved, the runner-up bidder has either made a purchase from somebody else or lost interest in my product. All you can do is relist and hope for another bidding war.
However, I recently discovered that you can edit your account preferences to insulate yourself from habitual unpaid bidders. Here’s how: Read more
Health Care Reform Bill Included Tax Reporting Requirement For Online Sellers
Filed Under Industry News & Analysis | 1 Comment
Buried in the 2,409 page health care reform bill was a new mandate for Half.com and other online systems that process credit cards to report the earnings of merchants who conduct more than 200 transactions and sell more than $20,000 of product per year.
According to an email I just received from Half.com:
We’re writing to let you know that starting with transactions occurring on or after January 1, 2011, new Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations require Half.com (and other businesses that process payments) to file a Form 1099-K for all sellers with more than 200 transactions and $20,000 USD in sales per year.
Question is, will PayPal be implementing a similar policy? If so, how will they differentiate personal transactions from business transactions?
eBay Subject of Antitrust Monopoly Lawsuit From Small Sellers
Filed Under Feedback, Industry News & Analysis | 8 Comments
An antitrust lawsuit has been filed in San Jose claiming that eBay is abusing its status as the internet’s online auction monopoly against small sellers. According to a report posted at Courthouse News Service, the suit claims that “eBay is abusing its monopoly power by implementing an unfair and discriminatory policy that is ‘destroying the business and livelihood of many well established, small eBay auction sellers.’”
This new policy is the requirement to maintain a 1 or 2 star Detailed Seller Rating (DSR) of no more than 3 percent of all Item as Described feedback ratings, and no more than 4.0 of the Communication, Shipping Time, and Shipping and Handling Charges. These were implemented on October 1st, 2010.
The class action lawsuit claims that these particular policies “undermine the ability of small auction sellers to compete with larger sellers.” The complaint alleges that “large sellers are often exempt from DSR penalties that small sellers are subject [to] and/or have a much better chance of rehabilitating their DSR ratings due to the volume of transactions which they conduct.”
What do you think? Is eBay’s DSR policy discriminatory against the small seller? If so, so you think it was intentional?
eBay 5-Star Feedback Cartoon
Filed Under Feedback | 2 Comments
Here’s a great cartoon that really sum’s up the frustration I often feel regarding eBay’s detailed seller ratings and the impact of the ignorance that eBay allows to perpetuate among buyers
Click the image to enlarge.
