Ebay: Friend or Foe?

I have recently closed off my CELLestial BeadWorks jewelry from my eBay store (Kater's Acres).  I have taken the risk of losing some of my better customers and "fans" of eBay.  But there are several reasons as to why I did this.  I want to remind everyone that these are my opinions only!  You are free to feel differently and still support eBay as you have in the past.

1) eBay is charging exorbitant feeds to its users.  It used to be that eBay was a "sellers" marketplace...but after Meg Whitman left as CEO, the face and friendliness to sellers on eBay changed completely.  No more is eBay a sellers marketplace, but rather a buyers marketplace.  New policies benefit BUYERS while creating hours of additional work for sellers.

2) With small and private store such as mine, eBay was costing me more in fees than I was bringing in.  If your item is under $10 and you're not a "powerseller" or a "top rated seller" then eBay will take up to 12% of the cost of your item (including all fees)!  It's ridiculous!

3) eBay offers NO back-up to its sellers anymore.  If someone hasn't paid you, you go through the channels to get the fees back from your sale...BUT it takes time and a loss of your money to do so.

4) TOO MANY RULES! eBay has put so many rules & regulations out to its sellers that it takes MORE work to list something than ever.  I currently have just over 100 items listed on eBay and to manage them and keep up with the constantly changing policies cost me over 15 hours of work a week...not to mention the time that I put into writing ads, making the items, etc.

5) Only 1 way to pay!  eBay has lost thousands of buyers and sellers over the past 2 years due to a significant change in their payment policies.  The ONLY way to buy an item on eBay is with a PayPal account (which ironically eBay owns).  While this is great, PayPal ALSO charges you fees when someone makes a payment to you.  A $10 item will cost the seller another $0.68 in fees.

MY GENERAL OPINION IN A NUTSHELL: eBay has become a source of greed in today's already suffering economy.  They are after one thing only...your money.  No longer do they care about the seller, what the seller offers, or their buyers.  eBay was once a vast enterprise and #1 selling marketplace online.  This is no longer the case and I predict that in less than 5 years you will see the demise of eBay completely.

All this being said, my unique and exquisite jewelry line has been taken off of eBay.  eBay is NOT user friendly to crafters, hobbyists, and those who work hard to sell their handmade goods.  Because of this we took a chance and closed our jewelry line CELLestial BeadWorks on eBay.  For all of our old customers still seeking our unique items, we have kept our username (established 9 years ago) from eBay and moved our jewelry line to its new site on Etsy (click here to go there now).

For all those who have been inconvenienced by our move, we apologize.  To our new buyers, friends, and past customers we'd like to welcome you back.  We have freshly designed logos, new branding, but the same stellar customer service, communication, and care that you have been accustomed to.  Thank you for your loyalty!