How can it be?

Well, the US Federal Government has started a crackdown on such “2nd hand” sales.  If you are selling any kind of item that the manufacturer has ever recalled, then you could be in trouble.  This particularly applies to selling toys or other items for children.  The government is calling this crackdown “Resale Roundup.”

This crackdown is not only being targeted at eBay sellers, but also to 2nd hand stores like Goodwill, Salvation Army and such, and also Garage Sales and other such 2nd hand sales.  Websites like eBay and Craigslist are also not immune.

I am all for safety, but this might be very hard for any seller who is selling 2nd hand items.  You see, if anything has been recalled for even up to a decade ago, it cannot be sold 2nd hand!  Also, the Consumer Products Safety Commission issues recall orders every day, and there are thousands of products recalled regularly.  Keeping up with this could be considered quite onerous for the average small seller who is having a garage sale – real or virtual.

So, if you are planning to sell used items, be sure to do your homework!  If you don’t, it could lead to trouble.

Well, now, thanks to eBay, you can enjoy eternal pleasure by positioning yourself atop Marilyn Monroe!  That’s right, the burial crypt directly above Monroe is currently for sale on eBay!  It’s not cheap, though.  But, you could be the only man who could say that you will rest in eternal pleasure, atop Marilyn Monroe!

According to the eBay listing, selling the crypt:

The lucky bidder will be deeded a piece of real estate that he or she will make their last address. And below you will be Marilyn Monroe.  In fact the person occupying the address right now is looking face down on her.

I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of anybody being buried face down, but I certainly understand why!  My only question is why is the current resident being moved?  I suppose that the family wants or needs the money, and the dead guy certainly can’t complain, although I’m sure he would if he could.

I’ve always said that you can sell anything on eBay.  I suppose this gives me a bit of confirmation!

As I write this, the current high bid is $2.5 Million!  Are you willing to bid more?  How much is an eternal resting place atop Marilyn Monroe worth?

A piece of land in a cemetary: $20,000
The headstone:  $10,000
Eternity atop Marilyn Monroe:  Priceless

Ha ha ha….

Any bidders?

UPDATE: I just checked the auction (Saturday August 22, 9:30am, Philippine time) and the bidding is more than $4.6 Million now!

Going, going, gone?  Yep, eBay Live is now gone.

eBay has announced that eBay Live is no more, it has died.  What is, or was, eBay Live?  Well, it was a huge “convention” or gathering of eBay users each year.  Every year a different location was chosen to host the big eBay Live Conference.

I personally never made it to an eBay Live Conference, although it is something that I always wished that I had a chance to attend.  Now, I suppose I will never have the chance.

The past couple of eBay Live events were slowing down, with smaller attendances, and a less “fanatic” crowd, according to reports.  So, I suppose that it is natural that eBay has decided to end future eBay Live Events.

Instead of eBay Live, apparently eBay intends to hold smaller regional conferences.  Perhaps this will enable more people to attend, since they will be “closer to home” than the big Live events of the past.

eBay Live

Bye, bye, eBay Live!

That’s right, there will be no option for cash payment, a check in the mail or any other online payment system, the buyer MUST use Paypal.

Did you know that Paypal is owned by eBay?  So, it would seem that eBay is using this method to increase their take on the items that you sell!  I mean, they get a percentage from virtually every payment that goes through Paypal, so this is a money making decision for them.

eBay Australia is doing what?

I don’t begrudge anybody making money, after all that is what this blog is all about.  But, in this day and age, the goal for any company should be to give their customers choices.  The more choices the better.  This move, though, is limiting choices.

eBay has been making a lot of moves lately that are wrong, in my opinion.  Are they hurting for cash?  It would not seem so, but the moves they have been making seem to indicate that they are.  Why?

The second major change that eBay made is that Sellers can no longer leave negative feedback for buyers!  This, in my opinion is a change that will really hurt a lot of sellers, and in the end it will hurt eBay itself.

Do you know how feedback works?  Basically, when a transaction is done on eBay, the seller of the item, and the buyer of that item get to leave feedback about how the experience went.  This feedback is accumulated, positive feedback is added up, negative feedback is subtracted, and neutral feedback doesn’t change the score.  When all of these calculations are completed, a number is assigned to the eBay user.  For example, if a person has been involved in 10 transactions and all have been assigned feedback, the total number of feedback scores would be 10 feedbacks.  If all 10 of those scores are positive, the person would have a feedback score of 10.  If 9 were positive and one was negative, the feedback score would be 8 (9+ – 1- =8).  In addition, that feedback rating would be rated 90% positive.  While 90% positive sounds good, it is not…. for the most part, a feedback score of 98% or better would be considered good.

Now, though, with negative feedback being banned from being left by sellers, is the system really fair?  I don’t think it is any longer.  There are bad buyers on eBay, and they can do bad things, fraudulent, etc, and the seller can do nothing.  The buyer can leave a negative feedback comment about the seller, but the seller has no way to counter that.  It simply is not fair.  Fair and accurate feedback should be available to both sides.

Because of these two changes, Sellers last week staged a protest boycott of eBay.  What did eBay think about that?  Well, they shrugged it off and said that it only had an effect of listings on the site being down by 13% .  Basically, eBay is saying that the boycott did not hurt them, and the controversial policies will be staying in place.

So, if sellers don’t like the new policies, what can they do?  Well, they can stop using eBay.  They can move to Amazon selling, and doing things using Google’s Checkout.  Also, other auction venues could start to pop up.  Craigs List is already getting more items being sold from these former eBay sellers.  I have been saying for years that eBay needs competition, and it is looking like my feelings are starting to be right.

What do you think?  Will you sell on eBay in the future?  Do you think eBay’s new policies are right?