Blackthorne Software Discussion Forum: Seller's Assistant Release: My Experiences complaining to eBay

By Jim Roberts (downmeltd) on Saturday, February 10, 2001 - 03:50 pm:

I posted an email to eBay regarding this issue. All copies of the emails to and from are posted:

Dear Meg and Pierre,
I am another one of the many angry customers who feel that they have been defrauded by the latest announcement from Blackthorne Software regarding Auction Assistant and Auction Assistant Pro. I understand that Ebay has purchased the company, thus I am addressing this email to you.
I understand this is your product, and you may market it any way you want. That is fine, as it applies to those who have never PURCHASED either program. We paid money to OWN a program that helps us run many more auctions than we otherwise would be able to, thus putting more money in to our pocket, and more money in to yours. Now, on what seems to be a whim, we suddenly find out that the PURCHASE means nothing, we OWN nothing, and we will be treated the same as those who had never given Blackthorne a penny, with the "privilege" of being able to rent, on a monthly basis, a program we have
already "BOUGHT". Does this make any sense at all?
I see the argument being made that this is just an upgrade, and, like any software company, you have the right to charge for upgrades. There is a significant difference, in my opinion, between what you are doing here, and what your competitors have done. If I want to run Windows 3.1, despite the fact that program has been upgraded many times, I can still make it work. Bill Gates has me giving him more money on a voluntary basis - he has come up with a product so much better than Windows 3.1 that I am willing to fork over my hard earned cash for something better. Older versions of AA and AA Pro, on the
other hand, do not work at all without constant upgrades. The reason for all those upgrades is, of course, the constant changes being made by the company that owns the maker of the program. Therefore you can make every existing copy of AA and AA Pro completely non-functional any time you want. If you want me to subscribe to your program, make it so much better that I will happily fork over whatever you feel is fair - one time, per month, per transaction - that doesn't matter - just make it so the value is there. But don't coerce me into accepting your program by making my older version useless - let me choose!
As things stand now, by forcing us to subscribe to a monthly service to make this program work, I believe I have been the victim of a fraudulent transaction. I am forwarding a copy of this letter, along with a full explanation of why I feel I have been defrauded, the Department of Justice in my home state of Florida. I will be
suggesting three possible remedies:
1) Refund the purchase price of AA and AA Pro to everyone who sends in a disk, and go ahead with your subscription plan.
2) Require Ebay to keep open the CURRENT "sell your item page" and ALL of the other links that let the current version of AA and AA Pro still function.
3) Cancel this entire subscription based program, and realize shooting yourself in the foot is not good business.


From a business point of view, I don't see why you would want to go ahead with a program that is causing this much animosity. Perhaps you think we will all just shrug our shoulders and pony up yet another fee. Perhaps you are right in the assumption, I don't know, but I do know I will not be one of those who keeps this program even one day after you start charging for it by the month. My Ebay fees are currently in the $800 - 1200 a month range - without a program
such as AA Pro, I suspect I would only be able to run half as many auctions on Ebay. Let's see, that would cut your income from me to $400 - $600 a month, wouldn't it? I think it will take a lot of $14.99 fees per month to make up for that loss. There are lots of ways to sell stuff, I use Ebay because it is exciting, convenient, and I can make money doing it. Keep tacking on so many charges that we can't make a profit (as with this harebrained idea), and you will find many of us taking our business elsewhere.
Sincerely,

James Roberts
Power Seller
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Hello James,

I appreciate your comments about this situation, and understand your viewpoint on it. However, we believe that with the additional resources we are putting behind the Seller's Assistant programs, and the added support, you will greatly benefit as a seller on eBay.

At eBay, we want to provide tools to eBay sellers that will meet their individual needs, and allow them to post their products more efficiently. With the future release of Seller's Assistant Basic and Seller's Assistant Pro, we will have three valuable tools to do just that. There will be Mister Lister, Seller's Assistant Basic, and
Seller's Assistant Pro, all with different levels of features to meet the needs of sellers with different listing needs.

Mister Lister will remain a "free" program for sellers to use to help list their items on the site. It may not have the added features of
Seller's Assistant Basic or Pro, but many sellers appreciate the ability to create their items offline and uploading and listing them to the eBay
site in batches. If you would like to check out Mister Lister, then go to the following eBay page:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sellerguide/mr-lister-faq.html

Lastly, once we fully release the Seller's Assistant products, I invite you to give them a try. As a past Auction Assistant Pro user myself, I am amazed by the improvements that have been made, and the quickness of the Seller's Assistant products when communicating with the eBay site.

Regards,

Charles B.
eBay Mister Lister/Seller's Assistant Support
______________________________
eBay
Your Personal Trading Community (tm)
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Charles,

I'm afraid that your response did not address ANY of my concerns that I sent to you. Do you think you could address those issues please?

James Roberts
Power Seller
downme
----------------------------------------------

Hello James,

Thank you for writing back to eBay regarding the new Seller Assistant software program we are about to release. We understand that the decision of eBay to take this direction with Seller's Assistant is upsetting to some of the members who have previously purchased the Blackthorne Auction Assistant Software.

Seller's Assistant does include major upgrades as described in the announcement. Having said that, the existing Blackthorne upgrade policy states minor and intermediate upgrades would not incur a charge, however, major upgrades may incur charges. The Seller's Assistant Product constitutes a major upgrade. We have been fortunate that we have not had to charge for an upgrade in the past, but that does not imply it
is a permanent situation.

We do wish you the best in selling your items, and we hope you'll decide that eBay does offer the best opportunity to sell those items despite
your current concerns with the Seller's Assistant Product.

Also, I have reviewed your three suggestions and while I empathize with you, we also think that the decision to introduce Seller's Assistant is
the best decision in the long-term for all parties.

James, I wish you the best in your eBay transactions.

Good Luck and Happy Trading!

Regards,

Brett L. W.
eBay PowerSeller Support
______________________________
eBay
Your Personal Trading Community (tm)
------------------------------------------------

Brett,

You asre only feeding me the same lines, word for word, that have already been posted ad nauseum on the Blackthorne discussion boards. We know what
the eBay Party line is saying. Tell us something new. Answer this for me -

What I don't understand is this:

This program makes eBay money. People use this program to list a LOT of auctions. We list over 500 each week. We could not do this without AAPro. We couldn't run the business as efficiently without AAPro. Figure in the listing fees eBay makes from us listing so many auctions. The FVF's. Any extras we pay for, all because we use this program. They should be THANKING us for using it! They should be on their knees thanking God we found this program! Not trying to gouge us!!!

We already paid over $200 for this piece of software, and God alone knows how much eBay has made off of us since then, with the amount we've been able to list since my son sat down the first week and deciphered exactly how to use it. We jumped from 150 auctions a week to over 500!!! And eBay is complaining? How many other people have similar stories?

When all is said and done, this software has made eBay a ton of money. And charging monthly for its use now is reprehensible. AAPro is an invaluable
tool, but it definitely isn't one that should be used to take more money from sellers, the people who eBay relies on to stay in business in the first place. It should remain a single purchase item, whose use will rake in eBay a lot more money in the long run through the fees they like to slap on us regularly on their own. Upgrades, major upgrades, should be made available for a nominal fee, and updates to keep up with changes to eBay's site should always be free. A model like this will keep sellers happy. A model like what has been announced is a slap in the face.

Do the math, Brett! 150 auctions @ .25 listing fee each= $37.50 for that week, in LISTING FEES ALONE!!!
Now, with AAPro, we're listing 500 auctions each week @ .25 listing fee each= $125 each week IN LISTING FEES ALONE!!!

Figure in the .05 increase in listing fees, gives you a total of $150 EACH WEEK, in listing fees alone!!!

Why on earth do you need an additional $16 a month just to LIST them?

Answer these question, PLEASE!

James Roberts
Power Seller
downme
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Now, looking Brett's response, tell me John is spouting off EXACTLY what eBay tells him to...

By Michelle Orlando (michelleor) (64.21.123.116 - 64.21.123.116) on Saturday, February 10, 2001 - 08:48 pm:

DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME COMPLAINING TO EBAY, SEE BELOW.

Contact information for Tom Martino at http://troubleshooter.com A nationwide consumer advocate radio show. Or you can call 1 866
966 9696.
Check the site they have other toll free numbers available also. If they get complaints in large numbers they will have to act. If
nothing else they will
give Ebay and Blackthorne the negative advertising they need. Please those of you who are unhappy with this turn of events, either
take a minute to
call or go to the site and send an email to them. Also there are hundreds and hundreds of posts here under different threads, please
copy and paste
this information and ad it to this board in the different threads so all will come across it before it is pulled. REMEMBER THERE IS
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS. Ebay has got to be brought down to size. Please pass this info on to any other groups that are interested.
moa@nac.net

By Jane S. Coloma (anteeka) (12.29.22.146 - 12.29.22.146) on Sunday, February 11, 2001 - 08:42 am:

List basic, no-frills or extras auctions. Keep listing fees as low as possible. If you would like more information visit http://vanillaclub.no-frills.net/