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apple, ipod, touch (1)We Are All Victims Of The Consumer Shakedown.
07/07/09 22:20
In the last century we got really good at making things. In this century we are focused on marketing things, so much so that the products themselves have become secondary. These days it’s ok if a product is far less than perfect as long as a low enough percentage of consumers don’t demand their money back. This is especially true of E-Products. E-Products exist only in the digital domain, and can be downloaded. This eliminates shipping/handling/packaging costs and provides content for rock bottom low prices. Most of the time these products, are not returnable and so there are no refunds.
This scenario means that if you are so inclined you can come up with a brilliant marketing plan for a completely shoddy product knowing full well that your mostly disappointed clients will have no real recourse. Let me tell you something right now, this is by far the fastest growing legal scam on the internet. I know cause I have fallen victim to it more than once already. Check out some of my other blog posts cause if I haven’t already shouted about it, I am more than likely going to shortly.
This is the sort of deliberate methodically planned scam that’s been around forever. It’s a kin to the classic pigeon drop and when it happens to me I have shrug and say “well you got me”. What I am more concerned with is the current trend towards lackluster customer service and insufficient product testing. How can they be testing these software packages that have obvious features missing, poor functionality and flat out don’t do what they are supposedly designed to do.
The other weird trend is this whole idea of allowing anyone who can string together a few lines of code, make a product that works with yours. It’s great if those third party programmers know what they’re doing but many times these add ons are buggy, horribly designed nightmares waiting to happen. So you buy a cool program because there are all these great addons for it, only to find that the addons are more trouble than they are worth.
Bottom line, don’t buy any of these programs or addons unless there is an ironclad money back guarantee. And give them hell if the product doesn’t deliver. I am going to do my bit by posting here about any of these disappointing products I find.
This scenario means that if you are so inclined you can come up with a brilliant marketing plan for a completely shoddy product knowing full well that your mostly disappointed clients will have no real recourse. Let me tell you something right now, this is by far the fastest growing legal scam on the internet. I know cause I have fallen victim to it more than once already. Check out some of my other blog posts cause if I haven’t already shouted about it, I am more than likely going to shortly.
This is the sort of deliberate methodically planned scam that’s been around forever. It’s a kin to the classic pigeon drop and when it happens to me I have shrug and say “well you got me”. What I am more concerned with is the current trend towards lackluster customer service and insufficient product testing. How can they be testing these software packages that have obvious features missing, poor functionality and flat out don’t do what they are supposedly designed to do.
The other weird trend is this whole idea of allowing anyone who can string together a few lines of code, make a product that works with yours. It’s great if those third party programmers know what they’re doing but many times these add ons are buggy, horribly designed nightmares waiting to happen. So you buy a cool program because there are all these great addons for it, only to find that the addons are more trouble than they are worth.
Bottom line, don’t buy any of these programs or addons unless there is an ironclad money back guarantee. And give them hell if the product doesn’t deliver. I am going to do my bit by posting here about any of these disappointing products I find.
EBAY - Let The Seller Beware
12/05/09 03:13
I remember what Ebay Used to be.
Yesterday's Ebay used to be a great place to sell those items that you no longer use. The fees were manageable and it was quite a hassle free experience all round. Buyers and seller alike were held accountable for their actions in a free and open marketplace where almost anything could be had and usually the price was more than fair.
Today's Ebay is like some sort of horrible joke. If you're a seller, the joke's on YOU!
Let me tell you about the fees!
Does the phrase "Highway Robbery" ring a bell?
The Ebay fee structure has always been setup so that they take a cut of whatever you sell your merchandise for. This cut has steadily increased since the inception of Ebay. The last item I sold on Ebay sold for about $800usd. By the time it was all said and done between Ebay and Paypal i was out nearly a hundred bucks. That is selling this item on Ebay cost me a hundred bucks. This despite the fact that they did no more work for me than they did for the guy who sold a DVD on Ebay for 10 Bucks! It's out of line and it's the reason why savvy sellers have already abandoned Ebay.
Feedback is now a one way street
Buyers can ruin your good name with absoute impunity.
In the good old days both buyer and seller had equal rights in terms of the feedback system. If a buyer took a long time to pay or didn't pay at all, as a seller it was your right to leave them negative feedback. Not anymore! Now sellers cannot leave negative feedback for buyers. This means that you could be a model seller, provide great pre and post sale service and the buyer can turn around and leave negative feedback against you and there's not a damn thing you can do about it!
Ebay protects the buyers, not the sellers. This is an error in business practices because it's the seller that pays all the fees.
Ebay's great service will bend you over!
So you can take chargebacks where the sun don't shine.
The other wonderful thing about todays new Ebay is the lack of flexibility in receiving payment. Unless you have a merchant Visa/Mastercard you MUST use paypal. Paypal service is not free. Ebay owns Paypal for those of you that weren't aware. They even try to rook you into paying money for a shipping label with the customer's address on it. I mean it's a digital picture of a shipping label that you have to print out yourself! As if I can't write that on a piece of paper with a wide tipped magic marker! If you don't use their shipping label service they may even use it as an excuse to delay the customer's payment to you. In many cases they hold your money until you provide a tracking number for the shipment. Sending the item via trackable shipping is also an added expense for seller whose customers want to save money by choosing cheaper shipping options that don't normally include tracking service.
The real problem here is that anytime someone buys from you using a credit card they can simply wait until the item arrives and then deny they ever got it. Once phone call takes the money out of your paypal account and puts it back in their credit card! I have heard many stories about sellers who shipped product and ended up with no money and no product! Even after they contacted the shipping company and obtained proof that the item arrived and was signed for, neither Paypal or the credit card companies did anything to help.
This is why many sellers demanded to be paid with money orders. This was the only way to protect your self from scammers. Ebay has basically made this impossible now with their new policies.
Yesterday's Ebay used to be a great place to sell those items that you no longer use. The fees were manageable and it was quite a hassle free experience all round. Buyers and seller alike were held accountable for their actions in a free and open marketplace where almost anything could be had and usually the price was more than fair.
Today's Ebay is like some sort of horrible joke. If you're a seller, the joke's on YOU!
Let me tell you about the fees!
Does the phrase "Highway Robbery" ring a bell?
The Ebay fee structure has always been setup so that they take a cut of whatever you sell your merchandise for. This cut has steadily increased since the inception of Ebay. The last item I sold on Ebay sold for about $800usd. By the time it was all said and done between Ebay and Paypal i was out nearly a hundred bucks. That is selling this item on Ebay cost me a hundred bucks. This despite the fact that they did no more work for me than they did for the guy who sold a DVD on Ebay for 10 Bucks! It's out of line and it's the reason why savvy sellers have already abandoned Ebay.
Feedback is now a one way street
Buyers can ruin your good name with absoute impunity.
In the good old days both buyer and seller had equal rights in terms of the feedback system. If a buyer took a long time to pay or didn't pay at all, as a seller it was your right to leave them negative feedback. Not anymore! Now sellers cannot leave negative feedback for buyers. This means that you could be a model seller, provide great pre and post sale service and the buyer can turn around and leave negative feedback against you and there's not a damn thing you can do about it!
Ebay protects the buyers, not the sellers. This is an error in business practices because it's the seller that pays all the fees.
Ebay's great service will bend you over!
So you can take chargebacks where the sun don't shine.
The other wonderful thing about todays new Ebay is the lack of flexibility in receiving payment. Unless you have a merchant Visa/Mastercard you MUST use paypal. Paypal service is not free. Ebay owns Paypal for those of you that weren't aware. They even try to rook you into paying money for a shipping label with the customer's address on it. I mean it's a digital picture of a shipping label that you have to print out yourself! As if I can't write that on a piece of paper with a wide tipped magic marker! If you don't use their shipping label service they may even use it as an excuse to delay the customer's payment to you. In many cases they hold your money until you provide a tracking number for the shipment. Sending the item via trackable shipping is also an added expense for seller whose customers want to save money by choosing cheaper shipping options that don't normally include tracking service.
The real problem here is that anytime someone buys from you using a credit card they can simply wait until the item arrives and then deny they ever got it. Once phone call takes the money out of your paypal account and puts it back in their credit card! I have heard many stories about sellers who shipped product and ended up with no money and no product! Even after they contacted the shipping company and obtained proof that the item arrived and was signed for, neither Paypal or the credit card companies did anything to help.
This is why many sellers demanded to be paid with money orders. This was the only way to protect your self from scammers. Ebay has basically made this impossible now with their new policies.