eBay playing hide and seek with sellers’ money

eBay has upset a lot of longtime sellers by suddenly not turning over money when a transaction takes place. What’s going on?

According to The New York Times, the online auction and shopping website is using a new software program that has kicked a quarter million veteran sellers onto a non-trusted list — in spite of their ratings and history.

So out of the blue, eBay stops sending you dough and makes you wait for your money for a three full weeks. This is an unacceptable way to do business.

It just goes to show how much any industry suffers when you have a virtual monopoly. eBay has no meaningful competition and they can call all the shots. As a result, they have really been despicable in handling this. One reporter even likened what they’re doing to putting sellers into purgatory.

Cynics will say the reason why all this was happening is because eBay was taking the money that sellers were due and earning interest on it. They would then release it after 21 days — while pocketing the interest. That is so wrong, it’s beyond belief.

eBay now says they won’t do that anymore. But that’s the wrong answer; what should really have happened is that eBay should have ponied up the interest too.

For eBay sellers who are asking what to do about this latest wrinkle, there is no simplified process to appeal and get yourself removed from their suspicious seller system. Again, no way to run a business!

I never like to talk about something on the show without a solution, but we don’t have one here. So if this happens to you, just know why your cash flow is being killed.