wow, I went to ebay to think about listing an item -- first one in a couple of years.

[Grasswire2]

Gee!

it's complicated now. The seller has to register payments through eBay itself, not deal directly with the buyer.

That's a pain in the you-know-what.

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. Sounds like a cut of the deal is where the real money is.

It's all about generating revenue.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. eBay's money is in big ticket sellers and etailers

little people are only useful to them when they buy something. It's changed since 2015

[Marthe48]

4. We listed our last thing in 2016

It was getting complicated. We were going to list a piece of Native American jewelry, and so many hoops, we decided to sell it another way, or maybe we didn't sell it. eBay wanted to to list provenance, tribe, artist if signed, and even more than that. We put a Cuban cigar box up that was dated from the early 1900's. In eBay's own rules, it said that items from prior to the Castro era was allowed, but they booted it and didn't allow it back on even when we protested and quoted their rules to them.
I rarely buy on eBay now. It isn't the same.
Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

[bucolic_frolic]

5. There are cheaters and scammers

About once a year I get fleeced. Latest was a guy who claimed damage but tossed the packaging, then disassembled the item. I have doubt it was the same item. But I couldn't prove it. eBay lost to Amazon, and to Etsy and Poshmark. The company is bloated I think with personnel all trying to maintain their place. Nothing is ever simplified.

Yup. Fun while it lasted.

[Marthe48]

6. We'd look at the ratings and comments

We avoided sellers with only a few comments, or if they were all posted the same day or so. Tried to buy from sellers with over 90% ratings. When we started using eBay, in 2002 (?) A lot of people didn't even post pictures of the item. lol

We got scammed a few times, but not enough to give it up. That last year, we were using Facebook Marketplace and other local buy/sell opportunities. If we'd stayed with it, we probably would've shifted that way entirely. I got a booth in a vintage market now. They've been open for a little over a year, and have added live online sales, shipping, delivery and layaway in the last few months. Lots of options for buyers and sellers

[Grasswire2]

3. the change might have happened when IRS was hounding little sellers..

...if they made over a certain dollar level on even garage sale type stuff. Forcing eBay, Paypal, etc., to report $$ taken in by a seller.

[Grasswire2]

7. what about Etsy?

Anyone here selling on that site?