Seems like Ebay are trying to make life as difficult as they can for private sellers . Just started re-listing some sketch cards and you now have to specify a franchise .

This is a bit difficult when most of the small companies like Perna , Braiiinz , Iconic . etc specifically tell artists to avoid any connection with franchises because of copyright concerns .

I have ended up just selecting franchises at random in order to get the listings accepted . You can tell the company is USA based as they also want to know what grade the card is . I can't think of many ( any really ! ) long time non sport collectors who would want a graded sketch card . At least there is a " not graded " option so just adds to the time it takes to list each card .

I used to sell 95% of my duplicates/unwanted cards on Ebay but that's down to 50% now and likely to fall further as I switch to Facebook groups and trading forums . I might not get as good a price but it's a lot less hassle .

For UK based readers the situation reminds me a lot of those awful Phillip Schofield car selling ads , less money but more time to do other things .

Rant over .

I've also gotten a notice that they will charge different percentages for different items, replacing the overall 10% fee. And they won't accept many of my relistings until I click on the CONDITION box, and, etc., etc. And I have to unclick MAKE OFFER on most of my automatic relistings, which I still haven't figured out how to get out of.

Still, it's the only avenue I have at present to sell my old junk, er, I mean my valuable collectibles, so I'll stick with it for the time being.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Triple-Frog:
Seems like Ebay are trying to make life as difficult as they can for private sellers . Just started re-listing some sketch cards and you now have to specify a franchise .

This is a bit difficult when most of the small companies like Perna , Braiiinz , Iconic . etc specifically tell artists to avoid any connection with franchises because of copyright concerns .

I have ended up just selecting franchises at random in order to get the listings accepted . You can tell the company is USA based as they also want to know what grade the card is . I can't think of many ( any really ! ) long time non sport collectors who would want a graded sketch card . At least there is a " not graded " option so just adds to the time it takes to list each card ./QUOTE]

That's interesting, but I'm confused as to what they mean by using the word franchise, as opposed to product?

For example, a sketch of a Zombie, could be from a Walking Dead set. That could be legitimately called a franchise or a product. A Zombie from a Perna Halloween set certainly has a product, but no franchise really. And a plain old ACEO Zombie has neither a product or a franchise. So if its just to distinguish a sketch released in a product package, as opposed to an unlicensed sketch individually hand drawn without benefit of a package, why not just say that?

Yeah I don't think I've ever seen a graded sketch, but there are other issues involved there that even grading services, who would slab anything for a fee, probably can't get into. With blank sketch cards available, even a sketch on official card stock might never have been in the actual product or approved by the license holder. And who besides the artist could know immediately that a certain sketch was really done by him or her. And there is no way to judge and grade things like centering or color or clarity or surface with a hand drawn sketch that is hand made art. Grading sketches could only be limited to authentication and grading services might not even want to be bothered with that.

My own opinion is that eBay is making it easier for buyers to return cards for misrepresentation by asking for hazy details from sellers, who may not know which boxes to check off when cards don't fall into neat catagories.

Yeah, you would think someone at Ebay would know the trading card world. What would be considered the franchise is often already in the title or is already understood by anyone clicking on the item. Something like Mystery Science Theater 3000 has had a movie and at least two different TV show runs so you could call it a franchise for the various products but it would already have "Mystery Science Theater 3000" in the title. It's a weird thing to require with so many similar topics and all the one-and-done card sets.

I can see the possibility that Ebay might want to make it easier for buyers to return cards since it has a history of siding with buyers down the line but was there a rising clamor for that? I haven't heard of anyone complaining that sellers weren't listing a franchise - certainly haven't seen it here before. But yeah, maybe it is a way to dissuade sellers from offering unlicensed/custom items that are linked to established franchises. Is it possible that Ebay is going back to policing itself more? It used to hire people to look for sellers offering adult-oriented items outside the adult section or outright banned items but they were all laid-off years ago.

Jess

I have encountered this same problem with regard to franchises and grading for Trading Cards. Surprisngly, there is a solution for both. As Triple-Frog has said, you can choose not-graded but I found I had to go in and edit the full entry/listing rather than just adding it in using the 'quick option' provided when you try to update using the prompt in the regular sales listings...if that makes sense.

With regard to the Franchise problem, you are allowed to add your own 'new' franchise. So for Perna cards I have been adding 'Spellcasters', 'Classic Fairy Tales', etc. as the franchise which has worked....so far.

One other little pain in the neck that eBay have introduced is additional charges that took some working out. eBay add in local taxes which they charge to overseas buyers and then charge the seller a percentage of this on top of the regular cut they take for the Final Value Fee and Shipping Fees. This is another little hidden addition since they changed the charging rules recently.

BTW, anyone other sellers finding the new seller account Hub/Screens to be a complete nightmare ?

quote:

Originally posted by Kevin F:
I have encountered this same problem with regard to franchises and grading for Trading Cards. Surprisngly, there is a solution for both. As Triple-Frog has said, you can choose not-graded but I found I had to go in and edit the full entry/listing rather than just adding it in using the 'quick option' provided when you try to update using the prompt in the regular sales listings...if that makes sense.

With regard to the Franchise problem, you are allowed to add your own 'new' franchise. So for Perna cards I have been adding 'Spellcasters', 'Classic Fairy Tales', etc. as the franchise which has worked....so far.

One other little pain in the neck that eBay have introduced is additional charges that took some working out. eBay add in local taxes which they charge to overseas buyers and then charge the seller a percentage of this on top of the regular cut they take for the Final Value Fee and Shipping Fees. This is another little hidden addition since they changed the charging rules recently.

BTW, anyone other sellers finding the new seller account Hub/Screens to be a complete nightmare ?

I did try to add my own franchise but it would not let me . Probably something I am doing wrong .

I also came across the extra under the table charges recently when I listed some cards under a £3 max charge promotion . One card sold for £50 but I was only credited £45.81 . When I checked the itemised charges for the item I found £1.19 for " international fee " .

And yes , the new seller hub is a nightmare , I can only think they are using it to make all the extra charges harder to find .

E-Bay keeps encouraging me to use the new seller hub.
The first time I merely GLANCED at it, I had nightmares for a week and never went back.

quote:

Originally posted by cardaddict:
E-Bay keeps encouraging me to use the new seller hub.
The first time I merely GLANCED at it, I had nightmares for a week and never went back.

Well you'd better start getting use to it. eBay is like all the rest of these authoritative platforms that have become the fabric of our lives. They encourage you to do something, whether its better for you or not, and the next thing is that its a mandate. They know they can get away with it because you need them more than they need you.

Seems like people should start looking for alternate venues.

In addition to these gripes, I hear lots of people dislike eBay managed payments.

I heard that they just removed the entire adult section, including what was a fairly large adult trading card section. I haven't verified that myself.

Also next year the changes to tax reporting mean that everyone who sells over $600 on eBay will automatically be reported to the IRS -- I am not an accountant, but from what I have heard, depending on how the income is reported expenses may not be able to be removed -- meaning if you buy a card for $1000, and sell it for $1100 you may owe taxes on all $1100.

Ebay have far too many sub sections for selling now. On one card recently I ended up repeating the franchise name three times and the character and actor twice each, because there was no other way to describe it.


The whole selling experience is definitely less smooth on ebay now. It's probably a bit cheaper to have ebay payments rather than Paypal, but I noticed they rarely have the £1 final value fee weekends now. I got a £3 FVF deal a couple of weeks ago which was nice when selling a collectable item for over £500. Or they have some garbage deal of 80% off fees or 2.6% total fees. I still wait for those weekends though, so ebay get as little as possible from me.

Yes, it would great to find another platform to buy/sell trading cards, and I did once dabble with ebid, but they just don't have the traffic looking at items. Buyers like the nearly full-proof guarantees they get through buying on ebay. So for now I'll grit my teeth and continue, but taking little victories with the cheaper selling weekends when I can. Thankfully I'm only an occasional seller.