Ebays Changes...important information for you to know

I have been holding back on this post...

this is a blog for photos...and other related stuff....

but i am an ebay seller and i NEED to let you guys know what is happening....

i probably wouldn't have even posted now, except that i was up til 4am last night going over how to "fix" the new improvements...but i am getting ahead of myself......so here is where i will begin

EBAY was begun many years ago by a guy that wanted to create an online auction site...and obviously he was more successful than he could have dreamed..so it GREW and with it came all sorts of changes..because no one had ever done this before.

through the years, as the changes have continued, ebay tried to stay ahead of the market...there have also been many different teams of leaders..but there were consistent heads of ebay (Meg Whitman the past few years)...well last year, Meg, the head of ebay left and a new man was put in her place. (JD we call him on ebay)

he really didnt have experience in this field but he had lots of new ideas.

so he asked us sellers to be patient with him..while he was trying out all his new ideas.

ok

I went to Ebay live...the convention for the sellers..and said..ok..i will wait and see...

SO it began with DSRs detailed sellers ratings..

which are innocent enough.

allow customers to rate sellers on how well they do..

but what ebay doesnt tell you is that if you should choose a 4 or a 3 instead of a 5, this punishes an ebay seller..

ok..maybe some sellers need to be punished..but this is quite hazy to the buyers..

for instance a 1 star means that the listing was very innacurate, a 2 means innacurate, a 3 means neither innacurate or accurate, a 4 means accurate..and a 5 is very accurate.

so if you buy something and you think, yeah this is just fine..you might put a 4, not because the seller isnt good, but maybe it is not that great of an item..right?

(oh and all over that page is DONT BE AFRAID TO LEAVE AN HONEST COMMENT)

well..what they are not telling you is this....

IF the seller if gets more than 3 people who give them a 4 or under

they are now NOT ABLE TO SELL for awhile

selling rights are terminated for awhile..this has already happened to someone i bought items from..he was off for a few weeks.

then

if sellers get lower than a 4.9 on their DSRs they are punished by paying more ebay fees..

(there is a discount for all 5s) now you would never know this...

BUT what actually happened is that ebay RAISED the fees for sellers ..NOW, if you are a good seller.....then you will have to pay the 20% increase and only if you are an EXCELLENT SELLER THAT GETS GREAT DSRs you might not have to pay it and then you will pay what you used to pay just a few months ago...this is where you get the discount..

however it is up to the buyers..

so that was the begining.

then they took away the sellers right to leave negatives or neutrals.

i never really left them UNLESS someone didnt pay at all...and i give loads of time..so in all my time of selling (over 8 years) I probably left 5 if that many.

since this has happened i have had 3 people not pay me at all in the past month alone...!

then..

BUYERS can give neutrals or negatives

and a neutral is counted the same as a negative... for a seller???what???

then

they changed the listing pages so that it says best match..so you cant see the newest listings, or the items ending soonest, unless you know how to navigate the page.. but it doesnt pop up automatically

then

they have decided to change the auction page.

that is the sellers page that they sell the item on...

(this is when i was up til 4am)

*right now it is in testing stages and some of you might be in the test and be very confused..i was...

randomly "invited" to be in the test...and without the ability to "opt out" of the test after a few days.

this is the entire new format. that is supposed to make sense of all of this.

well.

the listing page has changed completely.

the beautiful templates have been cut down so that they are difficult to see.

ebay is opening the door to put ads on the bottom of all of our listings..(oh no not more SPAM!)

only they control the ads....we have NO say so in this

then the most crazy thing of all...next to our listing ON OUR AUCTION PAGE will be other peoples listings of the same items..

so

for the average person, you would think that this is part of the sellers stuff..but NO it is another sellers stuff...and the indivuality of the listing pages are almost completely removed!!!

meaning that you will be inundated with more stuff you may not even want to look at ...and have so much clutter on the page...you will want to get off of it!

i woke up yesterday and all my listings were changed..however...after many hours, i was able to change them back...but ebay wants to make this change to come into effect in December.

ALSO

i didnt mention that EBAY has given added incentives if we just list a "buy it now" item verses an auction item, and that currently they are testing the ability pull listings if the shipping charges arent right.

things have begun to change and slowly ebay is turning from less of an auction house and more like amazon..

and as a seller i am more than sad.

so, i am letting you out there know...that although i love ebay...really do..especially the ebay of old...this new managment team seems bent on trying to change that...and has begun to allienate many sellers...so things will be changing... but it does not seem like it is for the better.

NOW THERE IS NO WAY TO CONTACT EBAY TO TELL THEM YOUR OPINION

really they are very hard to get ahold of...

however..i found ONE WAY

THIS IS THE EMAIL ADDRESS FOR THIS ( I GOT IT FROM BEING IN THE BETA TESTING GROUP)

IF YOU ARE OPPOSED TO THE CHANGES, or at least want to make a comment.....PLEASE TAKE A FEW MINUTES AND ZIP THEM A NOTE..

myebaybeta@ebay.com

i am hoping that we can somehow help this new team of management realize what we the consumers, and the sellers want... or else i am afrraid that the ebay that we have loved will be a thing of the past.

sadly...

cathi

Confessions of a photoholic....

So I have 4 children, but in the last year, me and the hubby are currently empty nesters...the youngest just left for college, the others have begun lives of their own...and we have a large home.
so I took over one of my daughters rooms....and made it MY PHOTO ROOM. I used to have a photo corner, then i had a photo "half a room", and now I have a full blown photo room...and it is quite large..and it has closets..and...well ...you get the idea...i have SO many photos...

now I am QUITE picky on what I list..I try to only auction top quality OR unique images..
so I can spend hours in my photo room deciding what to sell... so although there is order..I love to go in and hunt through all my things..and yes, sometimes things are left out as i am going thru them...

so it is summer..and ...this is the time that i buy for the year ahead..always have..this is the time of year when there are all sorts of auctions, estate sales and so on...and this is the time..for the room to get FULL ...
(and boy is it FULL!!)

so i went to iowa for 2 days and we HAD to stop at a sale along the way...and what do you think they had....PHOTOS..loads of them...so we (we..? ok maybe I) had to get them ....then while we were in Iowa we were cleaning out a home for a family member and what do you think i found...PHOTOS...loads of them...and then on the way back to Chicago..I found another estate and what do you think I got???....you guessed it ...PHOTOS... loads of them... so i had to ask the hubby to carry all the boxes upstairs and he said...CATHI...you have SOO MANY PHOTOS...

where do i even put these boxes??

(but look at these how can you RESIST these???)

How can I turn any of these beauties away?.....they are all so wonderful for so many reasons.....NOW DONT GET ME WRONG, I DO NOT LIKE the faded ones, the dirty ones, or the torn ones.. (and yes, I weed them out and even throw them out and get rid of those that arent top quality or very unique) .....but lately i have found some of the most beautiful images EVER and such quality found in out of the way places......Like this beautiful cabinet photo..or an incredible 1914 image of women in a car (like what is at the top of this post) oh... how can you not bring that back home with you.........and look at it..and even dream about the stories these photos must have had....

and so it is with a photoholic...

when is enough enough....? in my case...i have never had enough of photos..not now...not in the past 40+ years ...so at least i have a room....

it is a large room...with 2 closets.......and those closets arent quite full.....yet..............

cathi

Ad photos really can be fun!..who knew?

ok...so months ago..i. ran into some old advertising photos.. a place i never thought would have some old images..but why not?? these are from the 1950s..and arent they fun?

they are professional..but still one of a kind photos..and wow..soo classic!
like is this really a metal razor...havent seen those for a long time!!
a happy construction worker???

anyhow...fun photos from the 50s....just wanted to share them....

tomorrow i head out of town for 2 days to see family...so yes, i listed like crazy...and now i have a full store..and can happily run out of town for a few days......

but HAD to share these!! to me ...they are SOO funny!!

Cathi

Listing..Shipping...and color snapshots! my rant..

Today is a day I NEED to list...But I must confess, summer is the HARDEST TIME TO LIST!
The minute you get to where you know just what you want to put up on auction...the sun just shines a little too bright...and you want to run outside and take advantage of the warm beautiful weather...

then....
this week, it seemed everyone paid..all on the same day...so I had over 100 items to ship..all at once...so i sat (yes during the warm beautiful August days..) inside and worked on shipping... hours and hours...(it really takes a long time..i mean really takes time..so i dont mess up)

NOT THAT I AM COMPLAINING...

Ebay is a wonderful outlet for us frustrated retailers...
and doing it all on computer is a wonderful way to meet people from all over the world and make wonderful friends and customers....

BUT...
we are in chicago...and it is august..and warm..and pretty out..and the sun shines in on my computer.....and i just want to stop listing.....and enjoy the day

so, i admit it...my photo room is so full and i have so many photos..that it could take me months to get through...now normally in a typical week...i can list loads and loads up on line...but today..the sun is shining on my computer......

but the youngest daughter just had her college bill due this week....
so...i am listing...slowly...and really trying...

so i found some fun color vintage snapshots...
they are so much different than anything i usually have in my store
but to tell you the truth...they just caught my eye...that i just HAD To put them on auction.....

cute color snapshots..love the one at the top of this post....all that fruit ...oh so vintage...
hmmmm

reminds me of summer fruit.....

hmmm summer...
oh my it is hard to list!!........

cathi

Back from the Michigan vacation!...(roadshow details)

THE ANTIQUES ROADSHOW ~Grand Rapids Michigan....well, this weekend, the hubby and I drove from Chicago to Grand Rapids..and had soo much fun...
It is a wonderful city...people are very nice and the weather this weekend was wonderful!

The ANTIQUE ROADSHOW was held at the Devos Center on Saturday the 9th. The way they do it is, you are assigned a time on your ticket that you are supposed to be at the auditorium. There are over 6000 people that show up for the day so they stagger the times. We had the 8:00 time slot. So we were early..and we got right in to a BIG auditorium.

Now, you line up with your items..those of you that want to go..you MUST bring something to carry your items in..they dont provide anything and it is tiring carrying your treasures for hours.
(If I ever go again..I WILL bring a gurnee to carry things!) Then, there are SOO many people and there are CAMERAS and TV crews everywhere..I must admit I was so excited that I got up SUPER early and I did my hair and makeup perfectly..and so did every other woman there!! ALL Of us looked sooo pretty so early in the morning! Then you talk with everyone in line..that is the best part! SO FUN when everyone shows all their treasures!!!

Everyone there is sooo excited and in really good moods ..and everyone wants to get picked to be on TV and so everyone leaves a bit disappointed when they are not picked.. (this is what I learned!)

Now, I had what I considered WONDERFUL treasures.
The doll that I showed in the last post was my 160 year old Sugar doll, that has been passed through generations in the family and still in the original box. I was sure there was nothing else like it and it would be worth lots of $'s! (you are allowed 2 items each) The other thing I brought was a folk art painting of Chatham Ho, my great great grandfather. It is a wonderful oil painting and sometime I will try to post a photo of it..but it is heavy and hard to carry. So I was glad we were in early. The hubby brought his favorite possessions, a signed photo of Jimmy Stewart in "THE" scene in "Its a wonderful life"..where he is kissing Donna Reed on the phone ("I dont want ground floors, and I never want to get married ever....oh mary, mary"..THAT scene) and it is a set photo where you see the camera and the director Frank Capra.. GREAT photo..and very unique..and it is autographed.
The other thing he brought was a letter from Jim Henson of the Muppets and instructions on how to make a puppet..it is signed and framed and really cool.

Ok...so we were in line for an hour in this LARGE waiting area..then we were sent to the set area..which is what you see on TV, and this is surprisingly small. Well, it is soo cool to see all the appraisers..you would recognize ALL of them...you want to say..oh I know YOU! but of course you dont because you would feel silly.

Then I went to get my most valuable possession "THE SUGAR DOLL" appraised..Secretly I was SURE they would want to do an entire episode of how wonderful this doll is.....
and then the appraiser says"..hmm...very unique..yes, I have never seen anything like this..and you have the original box..hmmm...it is probably marzipan...hmmm probably 1840 0r 1850...amazing it has survived that long...well ...it is worth..hmmm...about $200. Thank you"

and that was all...
talk about bummed out...$200? are you kidding me?
and then I learned ....that just cuz it is old and rare and to you the most wonderful thing...well that doesnt mean anyone else wants it...so..that was my sad story of the sugar doll. :(
then i went to get my Chatham Ho appraised..now that one was worth LOTS more and really valuable actually..and the man really liked it and he was so very nice..that i also showed him my sugar doll...and he also liked that...but no TV for me...so I must admit I was a bit disappointed (especially for the $200 appraisal!)

My hubby got his treasures appraised and the Jim Henson one came out on top...but no TV for him either...ah well...
so we got out of there at 9am. What was I going to do the rest of the day???
so I did what I always do....HUNTED FOR PHOTOS...that made me happy..and there were lots of out of the way places that I found them...and I have put here some of the beautiful photos I got from Grand Rapids...and then we even wen to the Museum and learned all about the area..and that was really neat too...

then we went back to the Roadshow (I just had to go back) and talked with all sorts of disappointed people that also didnt get on tv..and at the end of the day.. we didnt feel that bad and realized that our treasures were really worth alot (except for the sugar doll) and we had a great time..and not getting on tv was ok afterall...

and came back to Chicago on Sunday..a bit wiser in roadshow expectations..and full of lovely photos!!

Grand Rapids photos

So my advice is: GO TO THE ROADSHOW if you have a chance...bring a gurnee to carry things... and put your makeup on just in case you make in on tv...

cathi

1920s Awesome photo album& Antiques Roadshow

I just got through listing a GREAT photo album done by the family of the photos that I listed a few weeks ago (the ones of the surreal gal named Pauline Carrier and her on a bicycle) This was a photo album that Helen Carrier did for her dad...and he was the brother of Pauline.
This album is from 1926- 1930s and is SOOO FUN...the images I show here are hardly anything compared to all the neat things inside.

Helen makes notations on ALL the photos which in turn tells the family story....at the end she even gets engaged and you meet the man...sooo cool! but in the meantime..you meet her brother Bud..well Bud has a thing for goat carts..and he has plenty of them as well as his favorite goat Nanny...sooo fun ..

there are loads of photos of Bud and Helen dressed for parties as well as a neat image of a Valentines party....
Here is Nanny pulling yet another cart in the snow!

anyhow..this is the COOLEST ALBUM..and although I WANTED TO KEEP THIS...ah well..kids in college..what can i say???

This is my BELOVED SUGAR DOLL BECAUSE GUESS WHAT??? GUESS WHERE I AM GOING ON SATURDAY???? I am going to the Antiques Roadshow in Grand Rapids Michigan on Saturday with the hubby..

This doll is made completely of sugar and is from early 1800s...cool huh?I will tell the story after I go to Antiques Roadshow (I will update on Sunday)

sooo cant wait..what fun....

so for neat 1920s photo albums and antiques roadshow...Lovely summertime!

Cathi

Sometimes..you just have to create....

Do you ever feel like there are days that you just wake up and it seems that everything kind of goes wrong? Today, was one of those days for me. I have been taking care of my 91 year old mom and she has been falling lately. Her skin is real fragile and I have learned to be a nurse these days. Well, last night late, we were called to the retirement center she is in to tell us that she fell. We ran right over and the paramedics were there..but she did not want to go to the hospital so we bandaged her up..and made sure she was fine.

This morning..I was just out of sorts...maybe it was the fall the night before..or some frustrating phone calls...but nothing seemed to help. and i was just not my normal self....
So I began to list photos..and listed some of my favorite color tinted ones..I love color tinted photos, I think they are so underated and always really affordable..and they make GREAT art projects..

Then it hit me...I hadnt taken any time out for myself...and done anything creative..today it had been all take care of my family (hubby and kids) ..take care of my mom...take care of the guests that stopped by...you know how it goes... it was one of those days...where life was full..and i didnt have the "thing" you need to get through some of the difficulties...

so i opened up photoshop and created this:



Not sure what I will do with this yet..but it was fun....
and I remembered...
sometimes you just have to create...
that and have a good night sleep...
things will look brighter in the morning....

Cathi