Just what is the purpose of Auctiva and are there any rules for using it w/o you knowing it?

We can't take funds out of any buyers accounts, and neither can a seller.

File a support case with PayPal.

eBay Checkout Discussion Boards 7-8-2007

OK, this was an interesting thread.

I too am a buyer, but I have my own business that does not involve eBay so I can sympathize with the sellers as well. I have two problems with third-party checkout:

1 - You can't EASILY tell BEFORE you bid if you will be forced (yes, forced) to use a non-eBay checkout, and which one is going to be inflicted on you. The buyer should be able to make an informed decision as to whether it's worth bidding on the item. For me a bad checkout is NEVER worth the purchase price.

2 - My experience has been that most non-eBay checkouts ask you to fill in a form with information that eBay and PayPal already have linked to your ID, so I am spending more time than necessary to complete my purchase, thus losing the benefits of using eBay and PayPal.

I can't directly link spam I've received with any third party checkouts, but I have had to really look carefully for the little box to un-check to avoid mailing lists. So I think the claim may be valid for some buyers.

Likewise, the "perceived" problem with third-party versus eBay checkout is that the seller now has a pretty little mailing list that essentially the buyer contributed to by typing in his shipping address. When we give the info to eBay and PayPal, we are consenting to them having it. When we have to give it to some unknoown "other guy," we don't get that warm fuzzy.

I have already corresponded with eBay and they have basically taken the stance that the buyers are transient, their real customers are the sellers who pay fees to eBay. (That's OK; I've worked in Virginia over 20 years, and state law favors the employer over the worker so I'm used to being necessary but unloved.)

So, sellers listen up!

If you don't want neutral or negative feedback from me and other inconvenienced buyers, work with your third-party checkout providers to ensure they fix my issues:

1 - In great big letters, at the TOP of every auction, identify the third-party checkout that the seller MUST use. Look, if it's an easy checkout process for the buyer we'll eventually welcome that notice as a good way to do business. Only the bad experiences with a checkout process will turn buyers away. "We proudly use (name of service) for a smooth checkout on your winning bid."

2 - Make the process as easy for the buyer as eBay checkout. Make sure he can pay for ALL winning auctions through ONE checkout. Require the vendor to write the checkout software so that it calls the buyer's shipping information from eBay, and does NOT make the buyer retype it in a custom form. Give the buyer a page that says, "Here's what I got from eBay, is that what you want to use? Yes, great - let's continue. No, click here and you can make changes." A lot of checkouts already have this confirmation screen; all they would have to do is write the call, and then send the buyer here before plopping a fill-in form under their nose.

Same thing with PayPal; I was just asked today to type my PayPal e-mail address twice, and on the very next screen I got the PayPal login, but the third-party checkout software hadn't even filled in the login screen so I had to type my e-mail again, three times in about 10 seconds. If your software is going to ask me for information it could be getting from eBay, at least let it have the courtesy to USE the data, i.e. fill out the PayPal login since it now does have my e-mail address.

In the interim, provide buyers with your PayPal address so they can skip your not-quite-fixed software and go straight to their PayPal account to pay. Most of us don't need a fancy-schmancy invoice from your checkout software; we get the eBay notice that we won and the PayPal notice that we paid. I never pay off a seller's invoice; I use the Pay Now button in the eBay message. True, it makes my business files look nice and neat that every client has invoices from my Peachtree software, but if they want to pay me on a scrap of paper torn off a legal pad, I can file that just as easily then make an after-the-fact invoice to cover the collection. Not hard, guys. But enough of those manual overrides will give you the incentive to kick your checkout vendors in the tail, won't they?

Buyers, you're not off the hook either. Remember "Caveat emptor" - let the BUYER beware. Check that listing, and if there is no mention of a third-party checkout, or if the mention is buried in teeny-tiny legalese, designed to be overlooked, do two things:

1 - Complain to the seller that you are unhappy with the auction's inadequate notification of its use of third-party checkout software. Specify that your experience was bad, or you would never have noticed. I use the Notes section of the checkout and/or PayPal screens. If the seller gets the message twice, then maybe he'll believe I mean it.

2 - Leave appropriate feedback. What I do is generally, if I am unhappy with the checkout process I will take the time to get the name of the third party provider, go back and check the auction listing to see how it was represented to buyers before they commit to buy, and wait for my purchase to arrive. If I am otherwise pleased with the transaction, the seller still gets a NEUTRAL feedback, with a "CAUTION - (name of) checkout software" comment in the feedback remarks. This becomes a sort of banner headline for future buyers, if they take the time to read seller feedback before they commit to bid. I also give the lowest rating for seller communication, on the theory that if you don't warn me how much trouble it is to do business with you, your communications are bad.

So you see, it's capitalism at its best. Sellers provide what we want. But we have to close the feedback loop and let them know in no uncertain terms when they've blown it. I have a list of vendors, some of them with 99% positive feedback, that I will not buy from (again). Sometimes it's only my one neutral response that spoils their perfect 100%, and hopefully more buyers will do the same so those sellers' effectiveness will slide enough for them to take notice and do something to fix the third-party checkout problems.

Loretta M. Yeo, Director
Kaiidth Consulting Services
893 Riverbend Road
Virginia Beach, VA 23452-4921

1 - I wrote, "Require the vendor to write the checkout software so that it calls the buyer's shipping information from eBay,"

homedecorstudios replied, "Marketworks already does this."

I don't think Marketworks is one of the checkouts I've had problems with, so far.
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2 - homedecorstudios wrote, "Sorry you being unhappy about typing your address will not stop me from having inventory control, payment management, listing software & email management."

No, I am not saying you can't use a third party business solution. I am saying that buyers have a right to let you know when that business solution is inconvenient for them. And as an apparently good businessman you would take that customer response back to your vendor and work together to find a solution.

And please remember that although your buyers don't have the volume of transactions that you do, we may still be trying to complete several auctions at once, and if each one requires us to type all of the information that eBay already has, that greatly extends the checkout process when compared to eBay's checkout. You're still competing against the eBay checkout system for customer satisfaction.
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3 - homedecorstudios wrote, "I;m a business I take credit cards, not the non-bank unsecured paypal."

When you say in your auction that you don't use PayPal, then I can make a choice. I personally am not likely to buy anything from you because unless you are the only vendor of a particular item, I would bypass you in favor of a PayPal seller. But that's just me.
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4 - homedecorstudios wrote, "Why don't you complain to ebay that they are not providing sellers with secure checkout or managment software for a business."

I'm not an eBay seller; you are. You have the right to go to them as a seller who wants added seller features and give them that feedback. I guess it was easier to leave it broken and go to Marketworks instead. That is your choice, but I as a buyer really don't have an obligation to complain to eBay that their software doesn't make sellers happy, if you're not willing to do the same on your own behalf. If eBay checkout ever creates an inconvenience for me the way other checkout systems have, I will indeed give them feedback as a buyer.

You're lucky that you have other alternatives. All I want as a buyer is the same choice: let me know before I commit to a bid whether or not I will have to deal with a third party checkout that has already proven itself as not being user-friendly to buyers. You can tell buyers in your auction that you don't like PayPal and therefore won't use it. You've made the business decision to forego PayPal sales. I can read your auction and decide whether I want the hassle of other payment methods just to get what you're selling. But right now there is no way to keep from being blindsided by a software product sellers use that creates havoc for buyers. I can't avoid it if I don't know about it.

No community can work if we don't talk to each other, which is why I came to this discussion board. I wanted a way to tell sellers, in detail, what concerns I have about third-party checkout software. Because I'm willing to interact, eBay Customer Support knows me pretty well by now. I've already given them 5 feedback messages on their new Bid Assistant for example. I want Bid Assistant to work, so I tell them what's not working and offer suggestions for improvement. As a buyer my only recourse to get your software to be more buyer-friendly is to tell you, the seller. I've already asked eBay and they won't require the changes I suggested.

If sellers don't get a lot of complaints they really don't have any incentive to change anything, that's just human nature. If buyers want sellers to use checkout programs with better customer interface, they need to tell sellers often enough to make an impression that it is a real problem, not just being a "pain in the ass."

5 - homedecorstudios wrote, "First as a buyer I would instantly ignore your feedback. As a seller I would just neg you for being a Pita. Oh look you already get those."

Yeah, skymaster28's checkout software is horrendous from a buyer's perspective. He deserved the NEUTRAL I gave him, "CAUTION!! Infopia Checkout - you have to re-enter shipping info eBay has already." If other buyers, who bother to look at seller feedback, choose to go forward with their purchase that has no effect on me. They may even LIKE Infopia.

The negative skymaster28 replied with was a heck of a lot faster than his checkout, and essentially incorrect. It's not all "LARGE SELLERS USING AUTOMATED CHECKOUT," just the sellers that use Infopia. And I didn't have to scream at him. Look at the rest of my feedback history; not that it matters, but skymaster28 is all by himself.

I'm sorry that you are so sensitive to this issue you chose to be caustic with your response to me. But I do thank you for your feedback and I wish you well in your business.

L. M. Yeo
Kaiidth Consulting Services

And as an apparently good businessman you would take that customer response back to your vendor and work together to find a solution.

I need a secure checkout in 10 years ebay has not provided this. Our only choice is 3rd party software.

Look at the rest of my feedback history; not that it matters, but skymaster28 is all by himself.

I did you have a history about whining about checkouts.

My suggestion is to shop locally.

Our checkout is the same # of steps as eBay's and we prefill your address information from eBay so it's no extra work.

Link

Not sure why we're missing. eBay did a pretty poor job overall with their "Solutions Directory." It was created more to placate 3rd parties than to really help.

We have far more reviews than anyone else and we've got 5 stars: Link

Our privacy policy is listed at the bottom of our home page. You should also review eBay's policies on how sellers may use buyers information including their email addresses. There are also rules relating to 3rd parties eBay API access which you can review on eBay as well.

It would not be smart of any 3rd party to harvest and email buyers. That would be an express ticket to getting kicked off the eBay API. I don't know of any company ever having done that.

home? You gotta be kidding! You won't let us see what your real feedback history is? LOL! All credibility out the window, dude.

getoutahere2, posting IDs are perfectly valid.

There are people who will get upset at something said on a board and bid on all a seller's auctions just to leave negative feedback. It has been done, many times.

It is not at all dishonest. Think about others instead of yourself here.