eBay, the people's market, or...

According to the signs, and here I'm referring to our purveyors of the weather forecasts, we in the north can expect more than our fair share of snow this coming Friday. Crap!! I have to admit that snow is fine to look at on xmas cards and the like, nice in photographs, but when one is forced to trudge around in it, especially when the local council can't be bothered to clear the pavements, making it easier for us to walk on safely, it can be a right royal pain in the backside.

Since we're still in the depths of winter with February only just around the corner, I guess that we should expect just about anything weather wise to be thrown at us. Well, the current spell of quite mild and sunny days has meant that the bulbs, and I planted lots of them last autumn, are now beginning to thrust their leafy spears up and out of the soil. At least the snow won't have much effect on their eventual bright and colourful appearance.

As you may well know, my little friend, Froggy, who is still enjoying his period of hibernation, has long had a rather soft spot for us humans. With this in mind, and if he was with us now, I'm sure that he would have said something about the internet marketplace service provider, eBay. As everyone who either buys, sells or just browses through this jungle of a market place will know, eBay in its greedy wisdom, has once again decided to raise its range of fees to place goods in their auctions, and all despite that it's not going to be popular with sellers, especially those power sellers and shop owners.

No matter how long eBay has provided its service around the world, it has never ceased to figure out new and effective ways of getting more money out of its sellers. I have personally kept my eye on the things that eBay auctions and the things that people bid on, for the best part of seven years. Heck, I've even bid on and sold many things myself in this time. Anyway, during this period, the quality of goods offered in their auctions has for the most part been quite high. However, ever since eBay made it first major change to their fees in 2003, which includes the time they began to charge vat on all sales, a dirty trick that the French refused to accept and so didn't pay, the quality of goods has begun to fall by the wayside.

One of the most recent changes, which has to be seen as a precursor to what they are to introduce in February, was to put up the final value fees for all books, magazines, Comics, DVDs, Videos and music cds auctioned on their site. For those of you who don't know about it, the final value fee recently increased from 5.25% up to 9% regardless of the final value of the sale. This is a big increase in eBay's profits and a huge loss where sellers are concerned. It would be cheaper and more effective for those who sell even a modest number of titles, and here I talk about those who mainly sell books, to open a website where the profit is all yours, rather than to feed this insatiable greed of eBay's.

To move onto eBay's latest money grabbing antics, and it mainly happens to we Britons, not those who live in the US or France, I thought I'd tell you my opinion on their new range of fees.

While they intend to raise their final value fees across the board, they are trying to show us that they are going to do something for the seller too. I'd blow a raspberry here, but my mouth is too dry! From February 20th final value fees will rise from 5.25% up to 7.5% on sales valued at up to £29.99. From £30.00 up to 599.99 it will rise from 3.25% to 4.5%. I won't mention the sales valued at more than this, simply because the average type of eBay sales are covered by those I've shown here. As a rather weak gesture, eBay has reduced the insertion fees by up to 33% across the board for the general seller, and up to 40% for power sellers. Now while this may seem generous, it is far from it when you care to work it out, but then eBay rarely does anything that benefits the seller.

Oh, and by the way, don't knock sellers, because without them and what they have to put up with, most of you simply wouldn't be able to stumble upon and bid on those bargains you hope to find on eBay.

I don't know about you, but a 33% discounted from 10p can hardly be seen as a means to tempt sellers to place more items on eBay, especially when at the end of the day, it will be gobbled up within these new final value fees of 7.5%. In truth, eBay hasn't given the seller anything. Of course, if the item placed doesn't actually sell at all, it is of very little consolation to the seller to have paid slightly less in their insertion fees.

Come on eBay, if you want to be truly generous and caring about those who use your service, drop the insertion fee charges if the sellers goods do not gain any bids. You know, at the end of the day, and since eBay is trying its best to drop the ordinary, or casual seller in favour of power sellers and shops, the value of this auction service to bidders will drop through the floor like a heavy stone. Prospective bidders will have difficulty in finding those absolute bargains and long forgotten family heirlooms, because the source of these wonderful items will simply no longer be available to people like us from the individual seller. eBay is gradually pricing itself out of, and off the market, and when it does, it will be too late as sellers will have gone to one of many other internet auction sites, taking their goods and money with them.

eBay, the people's market place, or a means to rip us off?


I'll see you all again next week. Bye all....

Bob (Standing in for our friend, Froggy)

Going to the dogs

I can't say that I won't be pleased to see Froggy back on his keyboard again. I have lots of work to do in the garden, so, the last thing I need is to get overly involved with politics, something that Froggy enjoys with great relish. Don't get me wrong, because I firmly believe that we should all take a close interest in what's happening in and to our country. It's rather that so much that is wrong about it, is carried out in the belief that it's done for our benefit, it's enough to make me want to throw up. Besides, the work I do in the garden helps me to relax, unwind and forget, it's work and yet the end result gives me a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction. No amount of politics can ever give me this kind of reward.

Talking of politics reminds me of something I heard earlier on this week, the subject of pay awards. As usual, politicians have been spouting their usual nonsense about whether the public sector deserve an increase in their pay, along with the fact that it must be a settlement covering three years. I don't know about you lot out there, but who can honestly say that their bills today will be precisely the same in three years time? And yet, for some strange and quite unfathomable reason, our politicians believe that nothing changes and that we do not actually see rises in our household bills. I guess that if you are an MP with an income of over one-hundred thousand a year, like most of them have, a rise in one's bills won't amount to very much at all, since they can afford to pay for them no matter how high they are. It is we, the humble tax payers that settle their bills for them, because it's we that damned well pay their overly inflated wages, that's why.

Well, these self same politicians also suggested the idea that a police officer's pay should be linked to their performance. No wonder the country is in as bad a state as it is. Mind you, what's good for the goose... How about linking an MP's pay and bonuses to their performance? Good grief, as tax payers we'd save this country a sizeable fortune, especially as most MP's do absolutely bugger all for their pay.

You know, some things in life can be quite funny at times, take our railways for instance. The chairman of Network Rail has been saying that our railways haven't been as successful as they are right now. Then perhaps he can tell us why it is that the railways still need to be so heavily subsidized by the tax payer? I still don't understand how it is that our government finds the need to squander billions on what is, after all, a bunch of private companies? With fares increasing at a rate that is far higher than the rate of inflation, why do we need to subsidize a transport system that we, the public, are fast being unable to afford to travel on?

This country is surely going to the dogs, especially when we place crooks and villains in charge of our security systems. This is utter madness, to say the very least. In view of all the sensitive data that continues to be stolen, or conveniently goes missing, one can only wonder what will happen next with our current government in power? These are the very people who, if they are to get their way, want us to carry ID cards. No doubt that when all of this sensitive information data is gathered and stored by them, they will leave it laying around somewhere waiting for it to be stolen, just like they do at present. I personally don't see them as being people worthy of taking charge of anything that can put all of us at risk to ID theft, do you?

Finally, I have a few words to say about the British class system. Yes, I know that Froggy has spoken about this before, but I want to give you my views on the subject, okay? Right, let's get one thing straight, Britain has a three tier class system and absolutely nothing else.

The Poor. Nobody gives a shite about the poor, that's why we have so many of them in this country. It's far easier to ignore them than to physically do something for them. This costs nothing.

The Working class. This includes everyone who has to go out to work for a living, including those with any kind of business to call their own. Running a business is working. It doesn't matter if you plod the day through on a PC, you work. The working class are in the majority in Britain today. These are the tax payers.

The Upper class. None of us really gives a shite about them either. They live off the money earned by their ancestors, you know the type of people I mean, those who used your ancestors as slaves in order to make themselves rich for many generations to come. They look down at the classes below them like they were something they stepped on while walking around their vast estates, or crappy houses in London. They are the bane of our society.

Ah! I can almost hear a lot of you saying: hang on a minute, I'm middle class, why haven't you said anything about us? Okay, if you insist, then I will.

The Middle class. These don't really exist. Sorry, but it's true, only you don't care to acknowledge it. You see, those of you who think of yourselves as middle class, well I can only say this, you're a sad lot. To be absolutely honest, and you have to be, you are... wait for it! Working class. It's just that you don't want to admit this to yourselves. You see this so-called middle class as being better than those you look upon as working class, but you're damned well not. Get a life, the lot of you and admit that you belong to the working class...

Well, I'm going back into the garden to work in my shed. I expect that Froggy told you about my inventions, they're things I like to tinker about with when not actually gardening. I'm trying to put the final touches to my perpetual motor, but it keeps on giving me problems.

I'll see you all again next week. Bye all....

Bob (Standing in for our friend, Froggy)

Trust

There doesn't seem to be a single day in which we don't wake up to be confronted by one sticky revelation or another. Is it my imagination, or is the news always full of the annoying antics of these so-called responsible people, people who have highly ranked positions within the public eye? No matter how we all look at it, it appears that the country's always getting screwed by one of them.

Trust, this is something that appears to count for absolutely nothing at all these days. One minute we hear that a member of the Labour government has failed to disclose vast sums in donations, now, we discover that the Tories are at it too. It's odd, but if shall we say, a woman with several children who for some quirk of fate are all hungry and have no money, goes to her local supermarket and steals a tin of beans, a loaf of bread and perhaps some fruit, and then gets caught on her way out for not paying for those goods, she will be fined perhaps one hundred pounds or more for stealing goods to the value of around say, one pound fifty. Now, I'm not saying that what she did was right, and in fact it isn't, but the end result gives us all an insight into the way the law works in this country.

The unfortunate woman is fined a great deal more than she can ever possibly afford to pay out, considering she was forced to steal in the first place. Oh, and before you start to get self-righteous, there are thousands out there that find it extremely difficult to make ends meet. On the other hand, these government officials, all of which are in the public eye and are supposed to be both trustworthy and law-abiding citizens, can virtually get away with breaking the law, the offence often involving tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of pounds. These people may, or may not lose their jobs, but even so, they often get a job elsewhere in government, so they still come up smelling of roses. Now, which do you think has been punished the most for their crime?

According to the news concerning Northern Rock, the British taxpayer is going to be expected to bail out its shareholders. Hey! Did any of us ask them to put their money into Northern Rock? As everyone who has got any sense knows, shares go down as well as up. Why is it that we ordinary people have to give our money to prop up their damned losses?

You simply cannot trust anyone these days, least of all anyone who works in the government. MPs have never worked for the benefit of the voter, and if you think they do, then you're a pretty sad kind of person. MPs are only concerned about themselves and what they can get out of being an MP, nothing more, that's politics for you. I over-heard two elderly ladies speaking rather loudly a few days ago, where they were saying that they'd never vote again. It seems that they were sick and tired of being constantly let down by this government. I personally think that many people in this country are fast beginning to feel the same way these days. Trust, politicians don't know the meaning of the word...

Well, I'll catch you all again next week, where I doubt that much will have changed, except that we'll all be asked to pay for someone else's folly. Bye all....

There's no fool like an old fool...

Trying to keep up with topical events like froggy did, before he went into hibernation that is, is not really easy for me. Fortunately, this week has proven to be different, because since we are in the grip of winter once again, those greedy energy suppliers are once again beginning to take us for a ride.

Not only are they trying to bump up their profits by raising their prices, charging more according to your postcode, there's nothing new here I suppose, but they also want us to pay for all of this new pipe replacement they've been doing around the country. It's odd, but in most businesses I know of, the cost of investment is usually born from a company's profits. Not so with the energy suppliers. They don't want their investors to lose out on what needs to be done, not only from a safety factor, but to modernize the system as well. It's a bit like our railways, they take big subsidies from our taxes, then put up fares by more than the cost of inflation, just so that their investors are not seen to be out of pocket.

Anyhow, I was talking about these greedy energy suppliers. One thing at a time, please! According to a sector of the media, the wholesale price of gas was 30p per therm about a year ago. Of course, not long after this, the gas providers had a glut and virtually couldn't give the stuff away for free. Anyway, I digress. The price per therm today now stands at 50p, which means that it has increased by 60% right? Well, don't forget that when the original round of increases were implemented just over a year ago, pre-glut era, consumer prices for gas went up by on average, 90% as wholesale prices went to a high of 75p per therm. For some time, these greedy gas suppliers not only enjoyed profiteering on these increases, but when the bottom almost fell out of the gas supplies (the glut), our energy suppliers gave most of us a generous (read: tight-fisted) discount of about 20% and still made huge profits from us.

Now, it doesn't take a mathematical genius to work out that for the past year or so, energy suppliers have been raking in their profits at our expense. Just because the wholesale price has risen to 50p per therm, it still remains far cheaper and therefore profitable to the supplier, at this price than at 75p. So, why is it that the energy suppliers need to put prices up by another 15%, when in fact wholesale prices are still quite cheap?

I'll tell you why... It's because it's bloody cold and we need their gas. They take us for fools! Not only this, but where is our champion, OFGEM, when you need it? Yes, it's true that they are going to be having talks with our government and these suppliers, but who wants to bet that the outcome won't be to our benefit? They'll do their usual bout of scheming, trying to work out how they can rip us off by as much as they dare, enough so that the energy suppliers can once again get away with cheating on us.

On to another distasteful subject now, Direct Debit. You've probably all had it thrust upon you at some time or other, and I expect that few of you actually like paying your bills in this manner. What I don't like about Direct Debit, it's the way that companies threaten us with penalties should we decide not to settle our bills by DD. You know, not everyone has money laying idle in their bank accounts, if indeed you even have one, at any given time, just so a bill can be paid precisely when these companies demand it. Lots of you get paid monthly, but can you honestly say that a bill arrives after you are paid? I doubt that it does. They always have the knack of turning up before you get paid and the money isn't there. Of course, this will incur the wrath of your bank, who will then quite cheerfully charge you for not having enough funds to settle the DD when it was supposed to. Like it or not, Direct Debit is fast becoming an ugly canker upon our society.

In years past, most people settled their bills regularly, even if it was a bit of a struggle and not paid precisely on time, but they none-the-less did get paid. If you've ever been in business, or are in one at present, you'll know that it's frequently these larger companies who take the longest amount of time to settle up with you. 30, 60 or even 90 days is the norm taken by these companies to settle their bills. Let me tell you, you cannot go to them and demand that they pay their bills by DD, like they expect you to. Let's face it, do they honestly give you any real discount for paying this way? Oh, come on! Surely you don't really think that they do? In our society, what is given with one hand, is greedily taken away with the other. And this is an absolute fact...

Time for me to get back to my gardening, so, mind how you go now...


Bob (Standing in for Froggy)

Bob's Blog ;)

Apart from pottering around in my garden this past week, I thought I'd just let you know that for once, which is rare for me, that I didn't stuff myself to the gills over the Christmas period with tons of food. Oh yes, I enjoyed the usual turkey, (Hush now, not so loud.) I'm sorry, but froggy wouldn't like me saying anything about eating other creatures, even if they aren't various shades of green and just a little blotchy too.

Now, where was I, ah yes, food. I didn't eat as much as I usually do over Christmas, but this was from choice, nothing more. Have you ever noticed that just because the shelves in the shops are full of Quality Street, Celebration, Cadbury's Roses and loads more, one's relatives think that this is a wonderful excuse to fob these tins off on you as gifts? It's not that I don't appreciate the odd tin of choccys, slurp! slurp! but I'm really not looking to stock up my own sweet shop. :(

Another thing about the Christmas period, isn't it supposed to be a time of peace and goodwill to all? Thank goodness I live in Britain, because for all of its troubles, the opposition supporters don't go around blowing people up simply to reduce the oppositions chances of being voted into power and having a democratic government. Of course, it wasn't exactly like this centuries ago, when it was likely that the person with the mightiest sword decided who was placed in charge of we serfs. We've hopefully become just a little more civilized since then, thank goodness. Nudge, nudge.

I see that the shops are up to all their old tricks again, selling their wares to us at these so-called muchly reduced prices in their sales. Did it ever occur to you that the sale price is about all it's worth anyway? We British are mugs for a bargain, or at least what we assume is a bargain, and I'm no exception. The trouble is, if you take a look at consumer prices on the global market, Britain's always pay much more for their goods than anywhere else in the world. Honest froggy! I'm only adding this because I know that he'd agree with what I've just told you.

Now, if you don't believe me, just take a look at the prices of products by companies like Sony, Microsoft and their ilk, then tell me that they're not more expensive here than anywhere else outside Britain. Then there's another concern. Why is it that a company as big as Microsoft can sell its products, even when they don't work properly, in Britain at highly inflated prices and actually get away with it? Take their famous, or rather imfamous X-Box 360 games console. Even though this product has an inherant problem, or problems, picked up on and written about in several games magazines, our government's own watchdog, the OFT has never thought of preventing these machines from being imported into the country. Why not?

Crikey, Chinese manufacturers have only got to send something in the wrong colour, or with faulty packaging, and they're jumped on from a great height with the end result that their products are being sent back to China. I'm not saying that this is wrong, but merely proving a point. But Hey! It's damned well okay for Microsoft to rip off the British with their shoddy products and ask a premium price for doing so. They continue selling the X-Box knowing that it has a fault or faults. Someone I know is already into their second X-Box 360 in less than nine months, despite my advice not to waste his money. His first one packed up well before the guarantee ran out, but because he lost his till receipt, he couldn't get it seen to by the shop where he bought it. Now, you may just be thinking, he wouldn't be able to prove when he bought it? True! But there is one thing about his X-Box that could prove that it was still under guarantee no matter where he bought it. Surely the batch and model numbers will prove where it was sold? All X-Boxes are date stamped at the time of manufacture. His gave up working in less than nine months from the manufacturing date. Now, he's more than three hundred pounds out of pocket. Nice one Bill! This is just one of those products that are sold more expensively here in this country than anywhere else. Froggy was right, we humans in Britain have indeed got more money to spend than we should have.

Just to prove another point about Microsoft products. Can any of you say, hand on heart, that Microsoft's Operating Systems actually work perfectly,and without the need to almost constantly patch them up once you bought and installed them on your PC? Anything that is sold openly on the market that is proven to be faulty, should be withdrawn from sale. My case rests...

I guess that once you are as wealthy as Bill Gates, well, you'll likely feel that you have the absolute right to walk over everyone and get away with it.

Happy New Year Everyone.......................

Mind how you go now...


Bob