How Much Money Ebay Stole From Me in the Last Week!!!
How Much Money EBay Stole From Me In The Last Week!!!
This past 7 days I did an experiment. I had not listed on eBay in over two months so I really never had any idea what I was truly spending per item in listing and final valuation fees… until now… My account was paid up and I was beginning from ground zero.
Well I put on 182 items of good to very good antique and vintage costume jewelry with most under $10.00, a number of them under $20.00 and a few under $40.00. None of my auction listings had any extra “bells and whistles” so that most listed for $.35 – $.90. I sold 55 auctions for $1,105.00… not bad for a week’s work? Can’t beat it huh!!! Well the week has ended and let me give you the total breakdown of my costs.
With the cost of 182 auctions’ listing fees, 30 items relisting fees and final valuation fees I owe eBay $305.55. So that means I now made $799.45… still not bad for a week’s work… right? Oh I forgot ebay buyers can now only pay with paypal and this is any estimated $133.99 in Paypal charges (remember this is still going into eBay’s pocket). Well that now brings me down to $665.46… okay not as good as I had hoped… but, oh I forgot the cost of my merchandise which at the low end is about $455.00 and which I also bought through eBay so they made more money from me when I made my bids to win it … now I made $210.46 … well now we are down below minimum wage for my 40 hours of work. And it gets worse, I offered FREE SHIPPING as eBay really like to get buyers and this will be about another $100.00… which leaves me with a grand total for the week of $110.46 divided by a 40 hour week makes my hourly rate $2.76 an hour.
So as you see between eBay and Paypal my original $1,105.00 income was reduced by 40% for their fees. This is higher than the highest tax bracket… this is higher than what an auctioneer would have charged and they would have actually worked for the money and probably sold everything.
Throughout the annals of time, I am sure that Ebay along with its subsidiary Paypal are the greediest two companies to have ever graced the face of the earth. One more point about eBay… when listing an auction, eBay would like to see you contribute a percentage of your sales to a charity from 10% to a whopping 100%. I really hope no eBay seller is under the delusion that eBay is sending a check to your favorite charity with your name on it… wrong …eBay is taking your hard earned charitable contribution and writing it off against their corporate taxes thus lowering eBay’s tax liability. EBay sellers fill eBay’s pockets with tons of cash and then eBay turns around and expects eBay sellers to pay their taxes!!! This is unfathomable greed and eBay continues to get away with it!!!
Now along with all of this, as a seller I have to worry that someone will leave me negative feedback and I have no recourse, or God forbid someone reverses their payment to me on Paypal and I am out those additional funds, or that my Power Seller (what good is it anyways) will be dropped or the ultimate I will wake up one morning and across my screen in big yellow words “YOU ARE SUSPENDED FROM EBAY” for something inane and trivial.
I honestly have to ask why do people put up with this greed and craziness. Why do eBay sellers struggle to keep eBay’s pockets over brimming and their stockholders fat!!! Ebay is not the place it used to be or is it really even an option as a place to make money. Actually most could work at McDonalds and make twice as much and get a free burger in the bargain.
The problem is that people who love auctions and buying and selling vintage and antique things can’t get it out of their blood. Well there is a true alternative to eBay and it is especially for the small boutique and specialty store buyer and seller of vintage and antique things. I along with three others have started VintageBoutiquesMall and it is the umbrella company for a series of new and exciting auction boutiques for antique and vintage merchandise to be opened over the next 14 months. The premise of our business is three fold. First is to have auction boutique venues for specialty antique and vintage merchandise. Second is to be the least costly venue on the internet. And third is to provide the best customer service available anywhere.
The first auction boutique, opened in October 2008, is Vintage Gems Emporium at www.vintagegemsemporium.com. This is an exclusive auction venue for antique, vintage and new costume and fine jewelry. For example if I had listed the above 182 auctions on Virtual Gems Emporium with the many free upgrades VGE offers, my total cost to list and relist would have been $74.20 and this is because THERE ARE NO FINAL VALUATION FEES!!! Yes that is right $74.20 as compared to $305.55 at eBay. Also since Virtual Gems Emporium does not require the buyer to pay by Paypal (this obviously is still an option along with many other payment options at VGE) I could save the additional $133.99. My sales of $1,105.00 would have only been diminished to $1,030.00 and that is if everyone would have paid by check or money order. Now if all had chosen to use paypal or comparable online payment, my total proceeds would have been reduced to around $896.81 at VGE as compared to the above $655.46. This is a huge savings of $241.35. The point here is that buyers and sellers now have options.
LIST FOR FREE THROUGHOUT DECEMBER AND JANUARY
Just to show you how generous we are at VGE you can list as much as you want for FREE throughout the month of December and January. Hopefully you will get that extra cash needed for Christmas and the holidays. We want as many jewelry lovers to come to get to know us and test drive our site… and we want to see you make money for the Holidays. So get going and enjoy a wonderful and exciting month of making some extra money without worrying about listing fees and NO Final Valuation Fees!!! The free listing feature is for all types of auctions, fixed, buy out, or reserve auction and will include:
1. FREE SUBCATEGORY
2. FREE PHOTO UPLOADS (up to 7 photos)
3. FREE SUPERSIZE THUMBNAIL GALLERY PHOTOS
4. FREE BUY IT NOW
5. FREE RESERVE
6. FREE DELAYED AUCTION START
7. FREE LISTING (no matter what the starting price is AND no matter how many)
8. FREE BOLD
The only things not included in this free offer will be HIGHLIGHTING, HOME PAGE FEATURE, CATEGORY FEATURE and MEDIA (movie) UPLOAD which are all still available but at the price indicated in our site fee section to be found at the bottom of the home page.
REGISTRATION IS FREE !!! NO FINANCIAL INFORMATION IS REQUIRED!!!
IMPORTANT KEYS TO YOUR SUCCESS ON THE SITE and GETTING YOUR VGE BUSINESS OFF THE GROUND!!!
This is a new site since only being up just a little over a month and I just want to remind you that this site is YOUR site. As with starting any new business endeavor you will need to work to contact friends, family and other auction buddies you may have in your email address book and let them know where you are. This is good for everybody. In my first month on VGE, many of my previous buyers from eBay signed up and my income barely skipped a beat and actually probably did better since I paid no Final Valuation Fees!!! If you want more than you will be expected to work to make VGE better than eBay and with the opportunity to make tons of money with more of it going in your pocket.
I have read many blogs and forums over the past year and a half and the complaints about eBay continue to mount. But the overriding comment has always been “why doesn’t someone else start an auction site for the small boutique seller”. Well that is what gave birth to the idea of Virtual Gems Emporium and IT IS FOR YOUR USE TO MAKE TONS OF MONEY!!!.
Once you have registered I will be sending you an email for you to send to your friends, family and auction buddies. This letter should be emailed as a blind copy (BCC) to everyone in your email address book. Just as with any new business venture you need to get your leads for sales and this will help to bring those who love you and your things to the site. Think about business associates, church members or anyone else who you might know and make them aware of where you are and that they might find some really great Christmas or Holiday Gifts for those on their lists.
The great news gets even greater. Before the end of 2008 two more new sites will be opened and each will again be vintage and antique boutique auctions like Virtual Gems Emporium. And guess what, if you are signed up on Vintage Gems Emporium you will have a “VINTAGE BOUTIQUES PASSPORT” to shop and sell in any and all boutiques that are opened.
The next auction boutique to be opened will be ViNTAGE Collectibles Shop and will be for all of the vintage and antique things that collectors love. You will find stamps, coins, toys, comic books, dolls, sports memorabilia, snowglobes, Disney, paper ephemera and so much more.
The third auction boutique will be Arts and Antique GallerIA and will be all about fine vintage and antique pieces for the dealer and collector. You will find paintings, limited edition art pieces, sculpture, vintage and antique porcelain, glassware, art glass, pottery, art pottery, Asian Antiques, antiquities, furniture, and so much more.
In 2009, other fabulous boutique auction sites will be opened and will include Veranda and Patio, European, African, Far East, Gourmet, Kitchen, Bed and Bath, Pet and more!!! So hold onto your hats because this is where the future is going and just think you are all in on the ground floor of this very exciting endeavor.
Unlike EBay, VGE has many buyer to seller payment options and include personal check, cashier’s check, money orders, Western Union, Paypal, Google Check Out, Authorize.net and even more so you now the FREEDOM and OPPORTUNITY to conduct your business the way you want to.
To summarize, build your business on VGE as quickly as you can so you can make a ton of money especially with the holidays coming.
We want you to be successful and we want our site to be the best ALTERNATIVE out there.
Thank you and welcome to your future!!!!
Registration to sell or buy at Vintage Gems Emporium is free and easy. To sign up today visit http://www.vintagegemsemporium.com.
Candace Daugherty
ex-fiancee wants to take me to court because I “owe him money”..?
I was engaged, and we broke it off around the middle of October of this year.. I had bought a couple things on ebay (which we both used) and we both had seperate paypal accounts.. It took the money out of his account instead of mine, so he’s accusing me of stealing from him. I said I’d pay him the money, but he said he already has a police report. Also, he has fixed my car a couple of times when we were together, and now says that i have to pay him for it since we’re not together anymore.. He bought me new tires last winter AS A PRESENT.. I did not make him.. and he says I now have to pay him for those too.. I work around 35-40 hours a week, but dont make very much money.. I have a car loan, and bills to pay.. He’s coming up with an amount of money that I "owe him" and I don’ t even make that much a MONTH.. Can he really take me to court and Make me pay for these things?? When we were together, they obviously weren’t a problem, and I’ve offered to give him money for the ebay stuff… what do i do??!!!
The ebay amount is $105.55. I have copies of the receipts, and told him as soon as he accused me of "stealing" that I would pay it RIGHT NOW to him because it was a simple mistake on my part…
Yes we were living together, in his parents basement (we were working on getting a house, THANK GOD things stopped where they did and I don’t have that to figure out too.
When I pay the ebay money back (which I immediately agreed to do) will the Police Report go on my record and show up on background checks??!!
Well he can certainly take you to court, but there is no guarantee that a judge will agree with his interpretation once the judge has heard your side of the story. If I were you, I’d reiterate in writing that the eBay thing was a simple mistake but you are willing to pay for those items. That way, if you have to go to court, you can show the judge that you’re working with him and the whole lawsuit was unnecessary (this will potentially save you from paying court costs and fees).
If you’re talking about an amount of money that is so big it will be in district court, then I would suggest you get a lawyer.
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Yes, he can take you to court, but he won’t win for anything except the ebay money.
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He can’t legally recover any of the gifts, such as the car tires or repair work on your car.
The pay-pal issue is somewhat thornier. First of all, how much are we talking about? If it is $10, no one is going to care and he can cry all he wants about it. If it is $10,000, you may or may not have a problem.
Were you given permission to take the money? Can you pay it back? If you can pay it back, write him a check and mail it to him. When he cashes the check, you will have proof that you paid him back. What you did could be construed as illegal, but as a practical matter, no one will care if it was a small amount and you paid it back. Especially if he used the items too, and he did nothing about it until you broke up.
Domestic Relations Court judges hate whiners who try to extract revenge through the court system. Just pay the paypal money back and be done with this loser.
But keep the tires.
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I agree with the others. The gifts are just that gifts and do not need to be paid back. Pay off the paypal account and make sure you get receipts. You will need those as proof.
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If he says you owe him money and you do not, ignore him.
If he filed a police report, the police will contact you to hear your side of it. If you did indeed take money out of his account, do yourself a favor and return the money. He did however give you access to the account. You must have had the logon information (password, etc) and I think that will be an issue if you are accused of stealing.
He could I suppose go to Small Claims court and claimed that he loaned you the money for the tires as well as other purchases. This happens all the time: a couple is engaged, dating or living together, then break up, and suddenly it seems that everything that happened during the relationship was in fact a "business arrangement."
The fact that you work 35 hours a week, "don’t make very much money" and "have bills to pay" has nothing to do with this. Don’t go for any kind of sympathy vote, especially if this does go to Small Claims.
The fact is that the tires were a gift as were the auto repairs. I would imagine the judge, given the circumstances, will see it for what it was.
Your ex sounds like a bully who is out to intimidate you. If I were you, I would cut off all contact, change your email and cell phone numbers, etc. and refuse to communicate with him in any way.
Write down the details of any and all interaction to this point. When he was, what was said, threats, etc. Write down as much as you can remember about the purchase of the tires, the car repairs (when and how much?) It will be extremely helpful if you have no clue how much any of that stuff was, too. Generally when we do a favor for someone, we don’t fill them in on the details of the cost . . . This goes to the point that he did these things for you as a favor.
I wouldn’t make him any offers of any kind for anything. If the police contact you, tell them that he authorized the transfer of monies and gave you his password to do it. Offer to pay him back if that would make him happy.
But definitely stop letting this jerk upset you, which is the whole point of his game. You are well rid of him.
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You owe him the eBay money. Pay it to get that cleared up. Send a check so there’s a record. Fixing car; no. There is no imputation that this was a fee-for-service arrangement. Tires: If there was no agreement for you to pay for them before or after purchase, you’re probably in the clear. he needs evidence that this was not a gift. Either something in writing or a reliable witness. If you have anything to indicate it was a gift, including witness, that is to your good. The nature of your relationship at the time (engaged) is in your favor: fiancees don’t normally bill each other for tires. So: he can take you to court for the eBay money, but you can make this "moot" (overcome by events) by sending him payment right now. He won’t collect on fixing your car unless he has repair bills billed to him and some sort of evidence that this was not just the sort of thing couples do for each other. If he did the work himself, that’s ammunition for your side. Tires: maybe a tossup. Courts see this all the time, where couples break up and then one of them decides to renegotiate the original deal in their own mind. Courts are not usually too sympathetic to the claimant unless they can show that they were "taken" by the other party. Since your breakup occurred months later, I doubt the Court will favor him. But that ebay thing is hurting your case. Give him the money for it and tell him to pound sand for the rest.
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Anyone can sue anyone, although winning a case is another matter.
Gifts: If you were living together as a couple, this could make a difference; could be considered "shared advantages".
He sounds like the type of person who would love notoriety and attention. Why not see if the case will be taken by Judge Judy?
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I can’t give you a completely straight answer because there is a lot of unanswered questions such as, do you live in a community property state and if you were living together could you have been considered married.
Both of you could be in for some surprises if either of the above are found to be true in court.
Assuming that you weren’t living together if you took money out his account without his knowledge and consent and you told him about it weeks or months ago and he was OK with it, it’s not criminal, it’s civil. If you have the items you have probably two choices, give it back or give him the money. If you used his account without his knowledge and consent to make a purchase and he has never said it was ok, or just found out about it, that could be criminal. If you were both using the items purchased it would be hard for him to prove a criminal case, it has to be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt as opposed to civil law where a mere preponderance is sufficient. In most states presents are presents and they don’t have to be given back or reimbursed but the whole thing revolves around what you can prove in court. You may be right about something but if you don’t prove it in court, you’ll lose it.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say this is purely civil if your telling me everything, if it is don’t just go into court, I’m assuming it’s 5 thousand or less and will go to small claims court, assuming you can say this and that and the judge will buy it, get prepared before, get receipts, monthly statements, witnesses, whatever you can get. Speech in court means very little without tangible evidence to back it up.
I have two suggestions for you, one don’t take anything off this site as sound legal advice because who knows where you are and what statutes apply and two, see if he will agree to mediation as opposed to court, in court one wins, one loses, in mediation you stand a chance that both of you can walk out happy and it’s legally binding.
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