I got a jolt some time back from EBay. At a time when I was almost inactive on EBay, I got an email from them that my EBay seller experience has been poor and so I was being suspended.
I was obviously surprised and pointed out that I am no more active on EBay and that my feedback score is in tact. I really could not understand what they were talking about. I got a reply from EBay that my account will not now be suspended but will remain under observation. After about a month I got another email from EBay like the earlier one.
I again responded and again received the same reply. This time I was not only not selling anything on EBay, I was not even logging on to my account. Then it happened one more time.
Each time I tried to reason out with EBay customer service, I was surprised to receive the same reply. I got fed up and stopped thinking of EBay altogether. I don’t even log into my account now, not to mention of doing any transactions.
I believe that they have stereotyped replies and hardly bother to address real issues.
What are the lessons? Don’t rely too much on EBay. They may shut down your account at any time without any reason. I know now that this has happened with many others and they also left EBay. EBay will not only not listen but make one more frustrated by raking in irrelevant issues.
If one is serious about online business, one should always have options and not to depend heavily on EBay. This should be used as an aid rather than as the main platform for doing business.
The best place to do business is from one’s own web site. It is dirt cheap now to set up a web site and to display one’s products. The only thing one has to do is to drive traffic to the same. This may not be that difficult if one follows right strategies.
Another important measure to consider is to also try other online sites. There are so many now like Amazon, Yahoo Auction, OnlineAuction, overstock, Ubid, BySellTrade, Eepier etc.
Online business is now expanding. One should never put all eggs in one basket. My best advice will be to use EBay as one of the promotional tools rather than the main platform for doing business, lest one is frustrated at some point of time because of the weird EBay customer service.
