We are operating this Ebay Store as a primary retail storefront for items from our Iperformance,
Isuzuperformance, and Tracmax product lines.
These items are being offered for retail purchase.
The Ebay website provides a safe and secure selling venue.
Ebay additionally provides the convenience and security of payment via credit card, through Paypal.
Some of these items we offer on Ebay have been manufactured or obtained specifically for sale on the
Ebay website.
Other items are extra pieces or sets from production runs made for our racing program, which we
have made available for purchase.
Our use of the Ebay website as a sales venue and our offering of these items in fixed price or auction
format listings should not be construed or mistaken as closeout, liquidation, closeout sale, yard sale,
garage sale, or any unloading of product to get rid of it. We are operating this storefront as
a retail sales platform for ongoing business which allows us to sell retail items at retail prices.
Ebay requires that the seller have physical custody of the item being sold, and it is expected that
the item is ready to ship immediately upon receipt of payment.
For this reason, we do not offer custom made items, such as custom pistons, custom connecting rods,
etc., for sale via Ebay.
And for this reason, we do not offer items which are services or modifications of the customer
supplied core, such as throttlebody porting, camshaft regrinding, etc., for sale via Ebay.
Unlike the highly profitable and high mark up retail world, we do not set our prices based on market segments
or price points. We calculate out how much it costs to make the item, then add to that cost an acceptable level
of incentive for us to exchange the product for money, and finally add in any additional costs or fees which may
apply, such as Ebay listing and final value fees, Paypal fees, and "free" shipping costs. There is no room
for negotiation, and effectively everyone is buying at wholesale, or "racer net".
Our products are not made in China and not made in huge quantities that would fill a 20 or 40 foot shipping
container. We manufacture in the USA and pay our subcontractors a living wage. And, yes, it is that expensive,
and difficult, to make automobile parts. If it was easy and cheap, everyone would be doing it.
Isuzu built 1,894,763 Bellels, Belletts, Florians, Askas, Geminis, Piazzas, I-Marks, Impulses, Styluses, and
Geo Storms. We have no shortage of customers. We are not desperate to get rid of anything we make. We have
no motivation to sell anything for less than what it cost to make it. And we are not having a liquidation sale.
Ebay is a great place to do business providing a high level of security and good visibility.
However, Ebay is one of the most expensive places to sell something. Ebay charges a fee at
every point in the process of doing business on their website.
The seller, who intends to do more than a few transactions, must pay a monthly fee for a storefront.
Ebay charges a fee for placing the listing for an item.
Ebay charges a fee against the total for the item purchase and the shipping charges. This is
called the Final Value Fee and is just under 10%.
Ebay's payment subsidiary, Paypal, charges a transaction fee of 3% of the total (item and shipping)
for processing the payment.
For low cost items, these fees can add up to almost 20% of the purchase price of the item. For higher
price items, those fees bottom out at 11%. Spend $10, and $1.60 goes to Ebay. Spend $100, and $11.40
goes to Ebay. Spend $500 and $55.00 goes to Ebay. Spend $1000, and $109.50 goes to Ebay.
Ebay has prohibited sellers from offering optional insurance. Prior to this change, buyers could
save money by choosing not to have their item insured. This made a lot of sense for low cost items
that cost less than the insurance to replace them in case they were lost in transit.
Ebay's change requires that the seller guarantee delivery, and insure every single item that is
sold. This change increased costs. Some sellers add this into the item cost, others add this into
the handling fee added to the shipping cost.
Ebay also began requiring that the seller provide tracking numbers for all items shipped. The most
economical shipping methods do not provide tracking numbers, and this change increased the costs by
eliminating the most affordable shipping methods.
The least expensive and most economical shipping methods do not provide or offer insurance, or tracking
of packages. These changes by Ebay have forced sellers to use only more expensive shipping methods,
which has increased the costs to the customers.
In addition to this, the rise in fuel costs and operating expenses (USPS cost to pay retirement benefits
to their retired employees) have driven up the costs of shipping. Every time they raised the cost of
a stamp, they raised the price-per-pound to ship a package. Shipping costs have gone through the roof.
USPS limits First Class Domestic to 13 ounces. Everything shipped Domestically that weighs more than 13
ounces must be shipped by Priority.
USPS limits First Class International to 4 pounds. Everything shipped Internationally that weighs more
than 4 pounds must be shipped by Priority.
USPS has eliminated all surface delivery of overseas (International) shipping. Everything delivered
outside the US is transported by plane at higher prices than the old surface methods.
Shipping into the US from other countries remains significantly more affordable than shipping from the
US to the rest of the world.
Ebay has "encouraged" (strong armed) sellers into offering many items with "free shipping". This is a
vane attempt by Ebay to compete with Amazon. As Ebay cranked up the fees on sellers and required
more expensive shipping methods with required insurance and tracking, sellers were forced to raise
prices and reconsider even selling low priced items. This has pushed the price scale of items being
sold in Ebay, up into the range of Amazon. Amazon has negotiated multi-billion dollar shipping contracts
with the US Postal Service, United Parcel Service, and FedEx, and operated distribution warehouses and
hubs across the country. It is no surprise that the price increases to the mail rates paid by us
common people have accelerated upward as Amazon continues to force negotiation of sweet, low rates for
delivery of their products.
Meanwhile, Ebay's stock holders and management see their value and profits declining and seek to
emulate Amazon, by "encouraging" sellers to offer "free shipping". That encouragement is in the form
of allowing the buyer to rate the seller on shipping cost. These same buyers are accustomed to being
offered free shipping on Amazon, and expect that they should pay nothing for shipping for all their
purchases. To avoid low ratings, sellers must present their item as being delivered for "free",
while still paying USPS for premium shipping methods that provide insurance and tracking, and then
add the cost of the shipping into the price of the item.
This has severely limited and eliminated the viability of selling low value items on Ebay. If
the item is not worth more than the cost of shipping, it is not realistic to expect to sell it
on Ebay. If the cost of the item and shipping for the item adds up to more than what the item can
be purchased for at the corner store, it is not realistic to expect to sell it on Ebay.
"Free shipping" is not free. When the seller goes into the post office and places the item on the
counter, there is not a category to deliver the item for free, because it was sold on Ebay with
"free shipping". The Post Office charges the same to sellers that it does to the population in
general, and none of us are getting the sweet deals Amazon has negotiated with the shipping companies.
Ebay prohibits payment by check or money order, and in almost every category outside vehicle sales,
real estate, and industrial equipment, prohibits cash as well. Ebay expects all transactions to be
paid via Paypal, the internet payment company that is/was owned by Ebay. Paypal charges the vendor
a transaction fee of 3% on the total of the transaction. That is 3% of both the cost of the item,
and the shipping charges to deliver the item.
This change has added to the costs, because sellers had to raise their prices to cover this additional
fee.
We make every effort to accurately describe our products in the highest level of detail possible.
This is partially because many of these items are manufactured by us. The customer probably is not
familiar with the item. The customer may have never seen the item in person. The customer can not
go into their local retailer and look over the item.
Beyond this, we want to make sure that the customer knows both the positive and negative aspects of
the items we sell. Many automotive performance items involve compromise of comfort for the benefit of
improved vehicle performance. We want to make sure that our customer knows exactly what is involved,
the good and the bad, so that they can weight their options and make an informed decision. We do not
want any surprises and do our best to dispell any misconceptions or unrealistic expectations.
We know that our customer will be giving feedback and ratings after the transaction, and that
those comments will include not only the comments relating to the transaction and our sale and
delivery of the item, but also a critique of the item itself. Providing the customer with as many
details as possible leads to the most affirmative comments about the product itself.
And most importantly, a happy customer becomes a return customer, and refers others with their
positive comments about the products we sell. Word of mouth is of highest importance.
Ebay provides the opportunity for the buyer to leave feedback about the transaction.
We reciprocate all positive feedback (which is accompanied by positive DSR Ratings), after
the beginning of each month. The Seller Dashboard interface updates at the end of the month, and
we are able to run rating reports to determine the sources of ratings and match them to transactions
and feedback.
Like most sellers, we are highly protective of our feedback. And like most sellers, we block buyers
who leave negative or neutral feedback. This is for the benefit of the buyer as much as ourselves,
because if the buying experience was bad, we do not want to allow the buyer to experience that situation
again.
One Additional Note: Please do not use your cell phone to leave feedback and ratings. The screen is
too small and the keyboard is too difficult to use accurately. Several people who found themselves on
our blocked bidder list have commented that they meant to leave a five rating, but were using their
cell phone to leave feedback, and the difficulty of filling out feedback and ratings on their cell
phone is responsible for the mistake. Unfortunately, that mistake can't be taken back or corrected.
Please sit down in front of a PC with a full sized screen, full keyboard, and mouse, to fill out
feedback and ratings, because it is important enough to make sure mistakes and accidents do not happen.
Ebay provides the opportunity for buyers to leave ratings for item description, communication, shipping
time, and shipping cost. These are called Dealer Seller Ratings, or DSRs.
The rating system is deceptive, as it is presented as a scale of 1 to 5. Ebay suggests to Buyers that
this scale ranges from very bad to overly exceptional with acceptable being in the middle. HOWEVER,
Ebay dictates to Sellers that they must maintain a rating average of 5, and that anything less than a
5 will result in increased fees for selling and lower placement in the search results.
Buyers must be aware that any rating below a 5 is an indication of something being wrong, and that
something must be significant enough to justify the immediate and irrevocable negative impact to the
Seller, which Ebay will levy against the Seller.
As mentioned in the previous section, we go to great lengths to describe the items we sell in minute
detail.
We contact our buyers with tracking information, and if there is not time to take their item directly to
the post office for shipping (after closing time of the Post Office or on the Weekend) we send the buyer
an acknowledgement that we have received their order and will ship it on the next business day.
As mentioned directly above, we make every attempt to ship items immediately.
We do not make money on the shipping charges. We use insurable and trackable shipping methods as per
Ebay's requirements, and set our listings to charge as close to the actual cost of shipping the item as
possible. However, many buyers see this particular rating as a referendum on their dissatisfaction with
the cost of transporting packages as charged by the shipping companies. This is unfortunate, because
this action punishes the seller, and does nothing to reduce the charges levied by USPS, UPS, and FedEx.
Like most sellers, we are highly protective of our ratings. And like most sellers, we block buyers
who leave lower than 5 ratings. This is for the benefit of the buyer as much as ourselves,
because if the buying experience was bad, we do not want to allow the buyer to experience that situation
again.
Again, One Additional Note: Please do not use your cell phone to leave feedback and ratings. The screen is
too small and the keyboard is too difficult to use accurately. Several people who found themselves on
our blocked bidder list have commented that they meant to leave a five rating, but were using their
cell phone to leave feedback, and the difficulty of filling out feedback and ratings on their cell
phone is responsible for the mistake. Unfortunately, that mistake can't be taken back or corrected.
Please sit down in front of a PC with a full sized screen, full keyboard, and mouse, to fill out
feedback and ratings, because it is important enough to make sure mistakes and accidents do not happen.
Ebay provides a Blocked Bidder List. This tool was created to curb harassment and continues to be widely
used by Sellers to protect their Feedback and Ratings.
Once a Seller adds an Ebay member's name and/or email address to their Blocked Bidder list, that person
is blocked from making any purchases from that Seller.
We are highly protective of our Feedback and Ratings, and make use of our Blocked Bidder list.
There are several reasons someone might find themselves on our Blocked Bidder List:
If a Buyer leaves us a Negative or Neutral Feedback, we add them to our Blocked Bidder List.
If a Buyer leaves us a low Rating (below 5), we add them to our Blocked Bidder List.
If a person threatens to engage in harassment such as clicking to buy an item, not paying for the
purchase, and leave Negative Feedback and/or DSRs for the sole purpose of damaging our reputation, we
add them to our Blocked Bidder List.
If someone asks us to relist an item, and then they do not purchase that item, we add them to our
Blocked Bidder List. It costs money to list items and continual relist them. We do not get paid unless
the item is purchased and are not maintaining inventory of Ebay for the purpose of entertaining
window shoppers.
If a person emails asking absurd, trick questions which appear to be an attempt to mock or make
fun of us or the products we sell, we add them to our blocked bidder list. These often show up late
on weekend nights stating ownership of 500+ HP SOHC four cylinder engined car, and asking
how much horsepower a non-moving engine part makes. We do not have time for games, and can not
trust those who play them.
If a person threatens us in any way, we add them to our Blocked Bidder List. This threat may
be anything as serious as threatening bodily injury or murder, or as mild as threatening to buy a
product from a competitor or begin manufacturing a product themselves and go into direct competition
with us. We have no tolerance for bullies or their actions.
