The mega-beast that is Ebay

 It came as something of a shock initially but then on reflection, nothing should surprise me after so many years riding the mega-beast that is Ebay. My first assumption was that the listings must have somehow got caught up in their adult filtering and been arbitrarily zapped. Then I read the Ebay infringement email and discovered that the listing was supposedly an attempt to circumvent their listing fees.

Options within listings are apparently a no-no! It has doubtless been an Ebay policy for aeons but is probably not a prime considerations for many sellers when composing listings. I have seen plenty that offer various options within them. Some, including mine, offer a large number of permutations and it just never occurred to me that I was about to fall foul of Ebay policies to the extent of having all my listings dumped.

I created one generic listing which I placed in a number of categories where I thought it would do some trade. The listing was for Nude, Topless Sandals or Sticky Sandals as I call them because they stick to your feet. They are like flip flops but with no straps. I have six designs in four sizes. The listing asked buyers to provide details of the design and size they wanted when ordering, either by a note in their Paypal payment or by seperate email, for which a link was provided.

The Ebay email pulling the listings stated that options within them are not permitted. This means that to put my Sticky Sandals back on Ebay, I would need to create 24 separate listings! That would put my return on investment firmly in negative territory and is a definite non-starter for me. It could be perceived by some that the motivation behind such a policy is simple monetisation but that might appear defamatory and goes a little beyond my simple personal views expressed here!

Subsequent random checks of similar listings on Ebay have revealed numerous ones with options within them similar to mine, so I ask myself, “Why pick on mine?“ My own view is that Ebay adopts a scattergun approach to all listing infringements whereby they arbitrarily pick on one or two in each circumstance of supposed infringement, zap them and pass blindly by all other similar ones. By pulling a few in every such circumstance, Ebay may then feel able to trumpet their social responsibilities and how seriously they take such matters.

Coupled with the ever-increasing tendency for sellers to offer products at what I consider to be well below realistic market value, the end result for me is that I do not now consider Ebay to be the reliable sales tool it once was.

I will not be relisting my Sticky Sandals on Ebay but instead I will be reverting to other options such as upgrading my website at www.stickysandals.net where I have total control, with as many options as I like - and no listing or selling fees!