Ebay and Tarot readings

Hi all, delurking for a moment to ask a quick question re selling readings on Ebay. (Sorry if this is the wrong forum and please point me to the right one)

I used to sell short readings on Ebay. It was more to keep my hand in and because I love helping people rather than for profit - when I earned £10 or so over a month or two I spent the money on a crystal, so we are not talking big business. I always offered 100% refund if someone didn't connect with their reading (and never had to give one). I had a small but satisfied group of repeat clients.

Now Ebay has changed the rules and no longer allows "downloadable media" to be sold. This is to try to stop people selling dodgy software, but they have also taken it to mean emailed tarot readings. They've not applied it to all readers either, which has annoyed me. But anyway . . . I relisted my service, this time saying I would post a paper reading instead, not sure how I'd do against the email competition, but still repeat clients who know and like me would probably be fine. However, Ebay have removed this listing too, saying it still counts as "downloadable media" (huh?) and they cannot tell me why because "We cannot specify exactly how we came to this
conclusion as to do so could assist members in avoiding detection in
future listings. "

What on earth am I to do? I am happy to comply with Ebay rules, but how do I follow secret ones? I enjoyed my little readings and my clients liked it too. Anyone else fallen foul of this change in Ebay rules yet? It will probably affect all Tarot readers on there soon - it seems a very large hammer to crack a nut.

Millie

EBAY has gotten too big for itself from the sound of it.
If you have repeat clientell, maybe set up readings through e-mail & tell them to send you thier payments via paypal?

I would write them back again, as it doesn't seem that emailed information is "downloadable media". Ask them if they are also disallowing those who sell e-books, recipes, and any other information that is transmitted via email.

If that is the case, then Ebay seems to be cutting off its nose to spite its face and forgetting those who made them what they are today--the small businessman. But then again, I've been hearing that complaint about Ebay a lot lately.

Hmmm I checked just no won ebay and the first listing for a tarot reading I saw indicated that the reading would be emailed to the highest bidder. Looks like some people are flying in under their radar. I wouldn't use the words email or even mail until deep into the text description of what you are offering.

It might work to just tell bidders they will receive their reading from you with in-depth descriptions of the layout without using the words email at all. Just have interested bidders email you questions about how you go about that.

The people who are complying with the new no digital downloads rule are burning their whatever to CD and mailing it.

Which has opened another can of worms because one seller who scans copyright patterns, now is charging 5.99 to mail one CD. Yes, they now have the expense of CD's and mailers but ke-ripes. But as long as there are suckers willing to pay, hey, it isn't my money.

Sorry, OP..
List a handling/mailing fee of $3.00 first class and snail mail their readings. You could really create a personal clientèle much better that way anyway. Use nice computer stationary, Have some business cards printed at Vista Print, and offer 10% off on direct contact requests. Address the envelopes professionally, be faster than the speed of light getting them out. Order return address labels that match your business card. People will take their readings a lot more seriously, when you show you are serious about them and their questions.

There are still people doing the 1 cent listings too, and those are no longer legal, in the US anyway, everything has to start at $1.00 or above.
Ebay loves to make new rules, hasn't the time to bother with even handed enforcement.

I think that eBay sometimes single people out, and once you have been 'marked' you will keep getting these nonsensical issues where it's like dealing with a stuck record, not a human being. My advice is to do away with the bay if you possibly can, they are SO unfair, otherwise try opening a new account and telling your clients your new ID on there, or just give your clients your email address and they can contact you direct if they need readings, that way you'll be cutting out their fees as well.

Believe me you have all my sympathy on this one, I've had so many problems with them over the years, they make the rules up as they go along and don't care how upsetting this can be for their paying customers. They don't value their customers in any way and are arrogant enough to think that their customers will keep coming back as they are the only serious auction site. This may be true up to a point at the moment, but the way eBay are treating people, there will be a mass exodus when something better comes along and it's only a matter of time.

Zoe xx

I was also thinking you might want to start fresh but then you'd lose all the feedback you've earned. It's really sad as your listing clearly states you offer a money back guarantee, so it's not as if you're out to fleece people.

When you get a client who wants a reading, why don't you get their email address, the one they send post to and then just send the reading to their mail box(hotmail etc).

I agree, you have a small but loyal client base. Maybe it's time to do away with ebay. If you have an email account and a paypal account you could set yourself up a one page website. You could still offer your clients the same service, money back etc. but it would be all yours. Plus, no fees to ebay.

I'm not sure exactly how easy it is to do a web page. Years ago I did a little programming at one job and was amazed at that point how easy it was to do something simple. I'm not sure how easy it is to put a Paypal link in etc. but just an idea!

I agree with AJ on the stationary.....make it look professional and it will go far. Do that through a link on ebay, which points to your web site.

Start you own website, easy to do I believe....there are some very easy to set up sites around. I used to be with tesco . net and I could have set up a site from there....it gave easy to follow instructions. The main thing I think is to design your site before you start so you know exactly how you want to set it out. ....have one main picture, something eye catching, and easy click on links, leading straight to the reading area. Look round a few other sites and get some ideas....see what you think works and what doesn't. Research it first. But keep it simple, easy on the eye, and easy to navigate.

Get your website going through your contacts on the bay, and see how much it will cost to have it on Google .....then when it is up and running you can bin the bay.

In the mean time, I would complain to ebay everytime I saw their rules being broken. It is one rule for everyone not just the few.

Ang x