While many honest and long term sellers shake their head at every change eBay makes to try and improve their bottom line, they are still somehow managing to bluff the media that the changes are in the interest of “safety”. Some folks have started a small business believing by all the hype that it was a safe, friendly,secure venue where all participants would receive a fair go. This is not the case as larger corporations move in with ebays blessing with multitudes of the same stock totally drowning out visibility of their items. Favourable terms not received by or even imagined by small traders make it biased against these folks, the very calibre of individuals who built up this empire.
There are however alternatives starting to make inroads and treating their customers as humans and not as cash cows to be bled dry !
Attempting to circumvent a countries established trading laws seem to be an art form as was the recent case in Australia where the ACCC ( Australian Consumer watch dog ) would have ruled against their Paypal only payment attempt, however at the last minute eBay withdrew their submission to try and exempt themselves from some Australian trading laws.
One may question how safe is the Paypal system (about as safe as a server in India ? ) Many traders have their funds frozen and appears to be a way for some big money to be made through interest, none of which goes to the owner of the account (and fund ).
Many draconian changes to and fiddling with the rating system system has seen some sellers being barred from listing/operating for the flimsiest of reasons. It just does not make any sense to bite the hands that feeds you, which is what eBay has done for a couple of years in a rather feral way . This attitude has caused a real need for ebay alternatives. Fees, does anymore need to be said about the plethora of exorbitant fees that bite into any hope of a small profit for many traders.
How long will they get away with the hostility to their users? Probably until the stock price reaches a single digit , by which time it may be too late.
Other venues are poised to take advantage of the void being created , there are many and some no doubt will grow stronger daily as tens if not hundreds of thousands of disenchanted sellers and buyers vote with their feet (and dollars) to greener pastures and some dynamic new sites
Ebay alternatives