Ebay Apologizes for Weekend Glitch

eBay has apologized for a glitch that occurred over the weekend with the search function on their website. Buyers were reportedly unable to search for their desired items, thus resulting in frustration and a loss of profits. Sellers were also affected by this glitch since their items did not sell, but eBay has promised to refund their sellers fees accordingly. With holiday shopping in full gear, it is inevitable that many consumers simply chose to purchase their items elsewhere during the glitch. According to eBay however, the popularity of their site is exactly what caused the glitch and it is now under control.

This glitch affected me personally since I had about ten listings that ended on Saturday night, with five of them receiving no bids. The bids that I did receive were either from people who bid on the item before Saturday or from those who were watching my item(s). While I appreciate eBay's offer to refund my sellers fees, I am still extremely frustrated. Like a lot of people, I need to get rid of some of my merchandise fast in order to have money for the holidays. Since I now have to relist these items it is costing me precious time and money since I have to make an extra trip to the post office.

Do you think that eBay does enough to keep its' customers and sellers happy? Over the years, seller fees have skyrocketed and fraudulent listings are abundant. At any given time, there are hundreds of eBay sellers trying to sell fraudulent coupons that have been photo shopped to unknowing consumers, why doesn't eBay monitor these listings? As time goes by, it seems like our favorite auction site is becoming more money hungry and less consumer oriented. In fact, back in 2002, the site had a glitch that caused all sellers to be charged double their auction fees. In addition, a year prior to that the site overcharged sellers for re-listing their items on the site.

Are all of these glitches normal? Some say yes due the amount of traffic that the website receives at any given time, but it is needless to say that sellers are becoming unhappier as time goes on. eBay needs to understand that when they overcharge someone and overdraft their account that an apology and a refund a week later is not good enough. Many eBay sellers rely on the website for their main source of income and perhaps eBay officials should start viewing them as theirs.