I'm afraid the Safe Payments session I went to was a big yawn. There were only about 20 people in a big room--this in contrast to the feedback session this morning, which was in a much smaller room, where people had to be turned away. It was surprising because some potentially controversial topics were being discussed, such as new safer payment option requirements for sellers, and the fact that eBay, as John McDonald told the audience, will "hold payment for a certain amount of time if we see a risky transaction taking place." He didn't say what "a certain amount of time" meant though I have heard this is as long as 21 days. He acknowledged that "Sometimes these requirements will cause more friction for you as a seller," but it will be good for the eBay user community as a whole.
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As soon as Matthew Schuchman found out I was a writer--a writer for any publication, it didn't seem to matter which one--he started giving me a piece of his mind. " Schochman operates three stores that have PowerSeller status. "I don't know any PowerSeller who isn't really unhappy with the new system," he said. Many PowerSellers are opening stores on Amazon.com, he said, because it's getting harder to sell on eBay. "Amazon actually answers the phone when you call. When they say they're going to get back to you, they really do." All of that is in contrast to eBay, which doesn't contact sellers and which seems to pay less and less attention to them.
Greg Holden, who lives in Chicago, is an online business consultant and the author of eight books about eBay, including "How to Do Everything with Your eBay Business," second edition, and "Secrets of the eBay Millionaires," both published by Osborne-McGraw Hill. Find out more on Greg's Web site and blog, http://www.gregholden.com.
