I'm both an OZtion and an (ex) eBay trader. I noticed the following comment to the HelpStation question How good is OZtion?

"Believe me, the [OZtion] list is an endless diatribe of total rubbish. For God's sake it's supposed to be an auction site not a community message board. It does nothing to attract serious buyers and sellers."

These are my thoughts on the matter.

Unlike eBay's - "\Round Table - Chin Wag" etc OZtion have forums for SPECIFIC discussions. There's forums for computers / IT - Ones for Pets - Ones for Cameras - OBVIOUSLY if you intend to visit the same types of forums you will get the "silly Teenager Types" as you are visiting THEIR domain. If you wish intelligent discussion then find a forum that suits you. Regarding "that's all I have to do" WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FOR NOTHING???? It's is ZERO to list.

Always - I have found the biggest whingers are the ones who sit back and "wait" for buyers to come to them - OZtion is NOT eBay and you have to WORK on OZtion to get the sales but it does happen IF you WORK !

You cannot expect the site to give you the same sales as eBay - When eBay employs numerous staff JUST to monitor the forums (as they have no real forum "type" so no one knows where to go and everyone hides behind a false ID being nasty.) If a member on OZtion does the work their items sell - I sat back for a month when I started and said to myself I won't survive if I do this - I had discovered that on eBay - after fees, after PayPal - after every other little thing like item costs - I made exactly $50 for the entire MONTH.

IMO - You need to sit down - work out how much you really make on eBay - after ALL fees (including item costs and postage) do not include petrol or anything like that - just the basic fees of eBay - PayPal - items costs - Aust Post and then find out what you made for the month.

If you work 1 day or 7 days a week and every week of the month - work out what your hourly rate is (I didn't bother @ $50 a month) I REFUSE to be a dropshipper and Most OZtion members won't buy from them as the one who got caught last time (Buyers paid her - she paid the supplier - who took the money and disappeared after successfully selling for months with them and she filed bankruptcy).

Some Buyers had the "Buyers Protection" available but refused to use it (extra costs involved - registered mail is a must and must be via PayPal or Paymate). Her account was p;laced on HOLD with the first 2 complaints - so no more members could get stung - I believe this is what the member quoted is stating - as I recognise his words from a forum post - he bought a small item from her ($50 I think)
As far as I am concerned - dropshippers shouldn't be allowed to sell online (but they are) and on OZtion they are suppose to state it in the postage description (that items are coming via a 3rd party) Again - unlike eBay anyone can sell any item if they have it or not.

PLUS

Contact their so called "support" over there and you get a "standard" email reply giving you links to the help section - but NEVER an answer to the actual question you DID ask - I sent them one not long ago pointing out the spam / phish email I got was very good and maybe they should look into this one as it has eBay dot com in the actual address and I got a reply telling me "how to tell if email if from eBay - standard email - I ALREADY KNEW it was NOT from them and was trying to stop Aussies getting ripped off (did they care or even care to read it? No!) Day 3 of having a shop there the spam mail started (which I had NEVER had before) it still happens to this day - non stop emails with "Enlarge this - whiten teeth - the govt has your money" and other emails - approx 30 a day I get and ALL have an "unsubscribe" link - Yeah - right, I will do that from a library computer (when I have time one day). Spam emails as a direct result from OZtion = ZERO (I have different email addresses so I DO know).

IMO - If you are a dropshipper or you expect and want something for nothing then stay at eBay. If you have your own items and are willing to work and willing to be patient (and work out how much money you are SAVING not being on eBay) then come to OZtion. There's very few - if any - "Bidding wars" so items are listed at the price the member wants for that item . There's so many different ways that OZtion and eBay are different but members come over from eBay EXPECTING and DEMANDING it to be the same - while NOT paying a CENT for the service.

One member (and I'm sure he is one of the ones complaining - I noted the wording he uses) was non stop complaints - he'd been there 1 week and paid exactly 50 cents in fees and wanted to know when they have this system and when that system and why aren't they doing this like eBay and why aren't they doing that (as eBay does it).

IMO - If eBay does it then it's a good reason NOT to do it!

While I was a member at eBay, they put the fees up one THOUSAND Percent - 1,000%.
All these greedy members wanting this system and wanting that system - NOTHING was enough and everytime they introduced a new system ( it costs money) and the fees would go up.

The final time I listed on a full time basis was in 200? and I have been at OZtion ever since.
I do not make a "living" off it - I never did on eBay either and in the end on eBay I was losing money. But everything I list is mine - everything I list I know the item's condition (not some photo and description given to me) and everything I have I stand by with a "refund" policy.

As far as I am concerned - to me - eBay is dead. They do NOT want an auction site they want an "Amazon" type site and will get it.
They list items like cars for a crazy low price yet charge a seller of 2nd hand books fees they cannot possibly sustain. They make no attempt to have VIN or Chassis numbers or anything to 100% be sure the car is real!

They don't care about anything BUT money - They allow non stop power sellers to sell $1 items with $95 postage and escape fees
I was fed up to the back teeth with emailing them about over priced postage and rip offs that they didn't care about and did nothing.
OZtion is an AUSSIE site - owned by Aussies and is run by some good decent people - You KNOW their names when you are a member and you get the SAME person replying to the emails each time.

That has never happened to me on eBay and I wont ever go back to that place. They can keep their non stop fees and their little systems that only 1% of the members use but every member PAYS for and the fact they keep getting sued for stolen or fake cars and lost money and their insurance tripled - but the MEMBERS pay for that (and NOT the car sellers either). If you want another photo - extra - gallery - extra - subtitle - extra. Everything's extra.

At OZtion it's ALL free but you must WORK for the buyers to come to you and if you intend to list and sit back - it won't happen.

OZtion welcomes all Aussie sellers and NZ Sellers and buyers from all over the world.

Cheers :-)

Marcia (Trading as Hobals), , Australia

Thanks very much for sharing your thoughts Marcia.

For any readers who aren't familiar with the term "drop shipping", that's when a seller takes the order and sends it to another supplier (usually a wholesaler) for shipment. The big problem is that the extra step in the chain makes it harder when you have any dispute or claim.

I'll go back and take another look at OZtion, but my problem has always been an extreme lack of things that I'm interested in. Perhaps that's just me? Perhaps OZtion suits certain types of goods.

And of all the things you mentioned against eBay, one that annoys me most is that "inflated postage" trick that eBay allows sellers to get away with. And in my experience you're dead right about eBay responses to anything you have to say - you get those infuriating form letter replies. ARGHHHH!

Another thing that infuriates me is a seller listing a product as coming from somewhere in Australia, yet it's going to ship from overseas.

It's a shame that it's true, but for all the posturing eBay makes about buyer safety and protection, anyone buying via eBay has to be very careful as eBay is in the business of making money, not satisfying buyers. eBay will allow sellers to get away with all sorts of tricks as long as it continues to make money.

So there you have my quandary - if I'm looking for something I'll go to eBay first, yet I know there's a chance that I'll end up getting annoyed by the tricks some sellers are getting away with,. And if I look at OZtion I know I probably won;'t find anything at all. So what do I do?

Here's a radical idea. What would happen if eBay offered a "premium membership" level, for buyers at least. You pay a fee (say $20 a year) and in return you have a real person assigned to be your contact within eBay. If you have any questions or problems, that person (or their team) will personally reply to you.

What do you say eBay?

I wonder if anyone outside eBay offers such a service?

Paul Zucker