Some explanation is needed...

[hotandvintage]

All the problems here seem to stem from the wording of eBid's message. They use (according to others - I have never seen it) the term 'BAN'. According to their own help file (and my understanding) a strikethrough does not mean a ban - it means the account is on hold (or suspended - if your prefer). In most cases all that is needed it the correction of some registration detail(s). That can likely be done in short order (if the buyer is honest) so why should eBid kill your sale? You say yourself you would rather complete if possible. There is nothing to stop you doing so even with the strikethrough in place; I have done so in the past - with the warning from admin that the risk is mine.

How?

I have no info on them, as it was an auction sale and they got the strike through before the end.

But that is the biggest problem from a sellers point of view, as we do not know if it is someone to avoid or just someone being verified.

[astral276]

How?

Well, in the instances it has happened to me I received 'Sold' emails with the user's email address.

Of course, if they have the strike for a bogus email address then that will not help.

[FBNeNotes]

The bid was not removed, so I assume none of them are.



Florida ebid is a different thing, I think if you check it out.

It is something to do with selling off the old equipment or something, as far as I know.

There is also another ebid that keeps donating billions to water projects in the third world and I think it is a popular asian name,

Nope.... that is THIS ebid.net
I checked it all out... re-read my post and what it reads.

[FBNeNotes]

Nope.... that is THIS ebid.net
I checked it all out... re-read my post and what it reads.

Go to ebids home page.... www.ebid.net
The lower right.... Click, UpFront
that is part of what I posted.
I find it hard to believe... that what I said was doubted.. I do not post on a whim.

[HelenAndGraham]

I'm fairly sure most people have agreed now that the strike throughs of new buyers shouldn't happen and a friendly redirection page prompting them to complete their email verification before they can do anything would go a long way toward solving the problem that started this thread.

On the broader discussion about the amount of fixed price sales potentially being lost because eBid insists that new BUYERS must register and verify themselves first has yet to reach a reasoned out conclusion IMO. In fact there seems to be some very strange beliefs about the protection being offered by registering and verifying people on eBid, especially given the vast majority of eBid sellers will happily accept Paypal payments for the items they list.

So far I've been told about a "scam" that involves buyers using Paypal being entitled to complain that something didn't arrive from a seller or wasn't as described. That's supposed to be justification to deter sales? Can a registered and verified buyer using Paypal make the same complaint? Yes of course they can. So where is there any added protection from eBid's registration and verification?

Then the whole practice of phishing for passwords - a common scam that targets users of virtually every banking organisation around the world - would appear to be a reason to trash Paypal individually and deter buyers from using eBid too. Does registering and verifying on eBid stop me being targeted by scam phishing sites and emails? No, not in the slightest. But the fear of sharing too much personal and/or financial info with anyone other than blue chip websites certainly puts me and other cautious buyers off and that trend is growing fast as people start to understand the issues of sharing their personal data too widely.

Better still, some technical criticism of the terms and conditions within Paypal's protection policies for buyers and sellers are also cited as reasons to deter people from freely buying on eBid using Paypal. Does registering and verifying on eBid magically change the terms of Paypal's seller and buyer protection schemes? No, not at all, so the same terms apply to Paypal payments being sent by registered and verified buyers here on eBid.

If purchases funded by Paypal are such a massive security problem to people, rather than just being a business they simply want to hate because eBay own it, why are most sellers on eBid accepting Paypal payments at all? Could it be sellers want to take payments from buyers that are choosing to use the biggest and most successful online payment system that ebnables people to buy things safely online by keeping their financial data secret from sellers?

With all due respect to Gazza and Mark, I have faith in Paypal's own registration and verification process and really don't want anyone putting less effective or unnecessary barriers in the way of sales. Obviously I fully accept the need to check sellers and auction bidders far more tightly and wouldn't suggest this is eased in any way.

So I'm still waiting to see a sound and properly reasoned example of how eBid imposing registration and verification requirements on people who buy now with Paypal adds to anyones safety? I can assure you it doesn't. I can also assure you that every time consuming and unnecessary barrier put in front of buyers will significantly reduce successful sales.

I'm convinced more sellers would opt for lifetime seller+ membership if that included the privilege to allow unregistered buyers to buy items instantly via Paypal. I've also no problem if the paranoid sellers who don't believe it are given the choice to opt out.

I'm really not interested in the desire to waste time and space by spouting hate toward eBay or Paypal and I fully understand that Gazza and Mark will need to think this suggestion through to see how it would impact on their own business model and site systems. Even if they accept my argument I also know things wont happen overnight. So I'm simply putting this suggestion forward because I want to see eBid keep up with the competition and progress to become a better marketplace over time with rapidly increasing sales for the sellers here. We're all on the same side so I'd like to see us pull on the rope in the same direction with positivity, new ideas and any suggestions that can make these forums a valuable "blue sky resource" for Gazza and Mark to draw upon.

[emporiumdays]

aaaaa

......................... I can also assure you that every time consuming and unnecessary barrier put in front of buyers will significantly reduce successful sales.......................


......................... I fully understand that Gazza and Mark will need to think this suggestion through to see how it would impact on their own business model and site systems...................................


......................... We're all on the same side so I'd like to see us pull on the rope in the same direction with positivity, new ideas and any suggestions that can make these forums a valuable "blue sky resource" for Gazza and Mark to draw upon.

Now that all makes a lot of sense to me.

[poppa501]

Go to ebids home page.... www.ebid.net
The lower right.... Click, UpFront
that is part of what I posted.
I find it hard to believe... that what I said was doubted.. I do not post on a whim.

Also on the FAQ=Fees & subscriptions page. (color mine)
5) What payments do you accept?

We accept PayPal, Visa, Maestro, Delta, Mastercard, American Express, Diners Club and Eurocard. Upgrade your account by adding your card now.
We do not accept cheques/checks, money orders or any form of postal payments. If you require alternative payment methods please contact us as below.
For further assistance please contact our support team using the 'Contact us' tab, or
Accounts Department
eBid Holdings USA Inc
382 NE 191st St #42012
Miami, FL 33179-3899

[JanetB]

This is nothing compared to the airport scanners that can now see what knickers I'm wearing right through to what I last ate for breakfast.

[DZAMBO]

Are we there yet...?.........

[0ctavias0fferings]

Also on the FAQ=Fees & subscriptions page. (color mine)
5) What payments do you accept?

We accept PayPal, Visa, Maestro, Delta, Mastercard, American Express, Diners Club and Eurocard. Upgrade your account by adding your card now.
We do not accept cheques/checks, money orders or any form of postal payments. If you require alternative payment methods please contact us as below.
For further assistance please contact our support team using the 'Contact us' tab, or
Accounts Department
eBid Holdings USA Inc
382 NE 191st St #42012
Miami, FL 33179-3899

Surely that applies to sellers not buyers.

Helen and graham makes some very fair points in their looooong post on this page. Paypal is a secure system to use, no-matter how brainwashed some folks are about it. If you don't check that it really is a Paypal page you are on and you input your details then, more fool you.

The Paypal phishing scams are not as common as they once were, scammers seem to be concentrating much more on the phishing of bank details these days so, frankly, it's merely another distraction fro the real issue and I can see absolutely no reason to refuse to accept paymant through Paypal at any time.

Of course, I always send items by signed for mail so I have the proof that the item arrived at the address it was sent to and I can even access the signature that was given when the item was signed for. Sure, I suppose all of that could be false.

If an item arrives and the buyer is not happy with it then they must send it back to me and I give them a refund. Paypal will ask the buyer for proof they have returned the item but, actually, this doesn't happen because on the very very rare occasion when it happens (and I think it only has been once) the item was returned and the money refunded to the buyer BY ME with no need to resort to a Paypal chargeback. If an item arrives broken (again a very rare occurrence) all the buyer has to do to satisfy me is send a photo of the breakage and I will refund their payment in full (they also get to keep the item).

I know I'm not the only seller who operates that system because, just occasionally, something I have bought arrives broken and in every case I have had no problem with the seller refunding me.

Point being, I am very happy indeed in my dealings with online sellers and buyers using Paypal (also in the Real World where I've used Paypal to purchase from a store I was actually standing in).

To bring Paypal into a discussion about whether it's clever to strike through newbie BUYERS is totally irrelevant. If you don't like Paypal then don't use it and don't accept sales through it, simple.

It doesn't actually have anything to do with the issue being discussed.

But what I will restate here is something that Helen and Graham said pages back, how about eBid allowing sellers to put a buy now Paypal button on their listings?

With a buy now Paypal button I could put a little bit of text stating that if you're not a member of eBid you can still buy this item by simply clicking the Paypal buy now button I provide.

I would be happy with this, the buyer doesn't register so can't receive a strike through their username and I still get the sale.

If a seller doesn't want to deal that way with 'strangers' then they don't have to as the button would be something I would add to listings, you choose for yourself whether you want to use it. Of course, you have to sort the details for the button yourself but, as I understand it, it isn't rocket science and it would neatly get around the whole problem here, optional and easy to add.

I would point out though, everyone we deal with online is a stranger. You may think you know them but you don't, it could be a seven foot green monster sitting behind the keyboard, you can't tell. To take some of the paranoia I've seen in this thread to it's logical conclusion, I can't understand why half of the paranoid individuals are selling anything at all ... scams happen, they are very rare.

Accidents happen, does that stop you going out for a walk or a drive?

Buildings sometimes collapse or go on fire, does that stop you going into any building?

Storekeepers in the RW get robbed, sometimes shot and killed, just as well they don't all give up selling their commodities to the public.

If eBid can't fix the problem of strike throughs sending my precious buyers away in disgust, then the least they can do is allow me to place a button on my auction pages to enable the strangers I am happy to deal with to buy my items.

When I (and the friend I talked into joining) paid my lifetime seller+ membership, the fee was 99.99 and, frankly, right now I feel robbed.