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[T489]The Great Depression Bank

by Drew020, Dre

This type of recognition can be likened to a ladder of success that you are encouraged to climb. For example, teachers commonly award colored stars to children who perform well. These stars are even stuck on a display board for other students to see.

The eBay PowerSeller program falls into the same category.

You are probably already familiar with the term ?PowerSeller' but in case you are not, the term was started by eBay as a way of recognizing their top sellers, in a tiered system, according to total monthly gross sales.

At the eBay Live events (the annual eBay conference), sellers can be seen proudly wearing an extra tag on their badge that identifies them as a particular level of PowerSeller. It's a big deal to most sellers. Strangely enough though, when they are back in their hotel no one else has a clue about what a PowerSeller is, much less care that the person has an extra label on their badge..

Be very careful about your perception of the ?PowerSeller' label. It is simply eBay's way of encouraging achievement among members. In a way, it's crafted as a kind of club, which everyone is encouraged to be part of. To the untrained eye it appears to be a valid goal to aspire to. And as you might expect, eBay promotes this view - they want all sellers to become PowerSellers because it makes the company look more successful, and hence more valuable to investors.

What Does Being a PowerSeller Really Mean? In financial terms, being a PowerSeller simply means that within a period of three months, a seller sold at least $1000 worth of goods or services per month. However, it does not make any guarantee that the seller made any profits from those sales. For example, a seller may have sold $10,000 worth of watches, winning them the title of PowerSeller after 3 months of such sales, but if they had paid $15,000 each month for those watches, they actually lost $5,000 per month.

Having the PowerSeller title applied to a seller also does not guarantee that their business is run ethically. eBay stipulates that a PowerSeller's feedback percentage must remain at 98% or higher, but this does not seem to be strictly enforced. If a seller falls below that mark they are commonly given time to improve. Although 98% may sound high, in real terms that could mean 10 deeply unhappy buyers out of 500 transactions. In my view, that is unacceptable. A 99% or higher rating should be easily achievable by any reputable seller.

You only need to browse eBay briefly to discover countless PowerSellers with many negative feedbacks. Beware!

As we've already established, it's human nature to seek recognition in what we do, and eBay makes the most of this natural in-built desire by offering and actively promoting the PowerSeller program. Sellers are continually encouraged to work their way up the ?success ladder' to reach the ?goals' of each level of the PowerSeller program.

Although there are some small benefits as a result of achieving certain levels of sales, there is a very significant practical downside to being a PowerSeller that most eBay users are ignorant of.

So why should you avoid becoming a PowerSeller generally? Actually there are several reasons to steer clear of the program. One of the reasons you do NOT want to be a PowerSeller is that having that label brings attention from both eBay (the company) and other sellers.

You may or may not know that eBay actively seeks out PowerSellers because they know that they are serious about selling on eBay, and by extension they probably produce the majority of eBay's profits. eBay staff contact PowerSellers by phone and email regularly, to encourage them to expand their business. Here's the downside: in offering practical help, eBay needs to look at your listings!

On the surface, that seems like a good thing, right? Well, for traditional sellers it is, but we're not traditional sellers are we?

The main problem lies in the ambiguity of many of eBay's policies. Throw into the mix a wide variety in the quality of training of staff members, and the net result is that some staff are more diligent than others in asking sellers to correct what they perceive to be policy violations. The same problem exists in any organization the size of eBay. It's impossible to be completely consistent and enforce policies that are open to interpretation and that don't apply to every seller in every situation.

Being a PowerSeller also attracts the attention of other eBay sellers. eBay encourages this by giving PowerSellers a special logo that appears at the top of each listing page by default.

While I genuinely believe that most sellers are good and honest people, it's also true that a few get some kind of sadistic pleasure from reporting minor infringements of other sellers to eBay. PowerSellers definitely bear the brunt of these attacks - it seems that some people resent the apparent success of others.

The bottom line is, considering all the factors, it's better to stay away from the PowerSeller program other than perhaps using it for one eBay account for the times when you need to establish credibility or be listened to by eBay customer service.

Introduction

This article discusses the emotive topic of overdraft bank charges in the Britain. It discusses current legislation and the work that the regulators, like the Financial Ombudsman and Office of Fair Trading (OFT), are doing to create a level and fair charging platform in the UK. The article is probably also useful for consumers looking at making a claim for unfair overdraft charges.

The Background to Overdraft Charges

Bank customers who complain about unfair charges are getting near perfect levels of compensation and the Financial Ombudsman Service has so far upheld all cases of consumer complaints against the high street banks. To avoid costly court cases and potential embarrassment, there is a growing sign that banks are willing to settle claims.

During the summer of 2006 there has been a surge in complaints about fees related to overdrafts. In the six months from March-September 2006 the Ombudsman had received well over 1000 criticisms about fees and charges. Most letters sent by annoyed customers concern bank charges for bouncing a cheque or going overdrawn.
The Ombudsman says that it prefers to deal with claims in an informal manner. Although it has helped to negotiate settlements it has found satisfactory conclusions for both sides without having to escalate matters or make an official ruling. The Financial Ombudsman has indicated that Customers? new level of awareness stems from the publicity the Finance Sector Regulators generated recently when they questioned whether these sort and levels of penalty were appropriate. Nearly every day of the week the UK newspapers are covering stories about "unfair" bank charges

While the leading trade group for the banking industry defends these charges as "fair", it also says the industry is facing pressure to settle complaints as a means to avoid court cases.

In September 2006 the OFT said it would investigate the penalty banks charge customers who go over drawn. The regulator has asked banks to justify the penalty charges on overdrafts and mortgages and will spend up until the end of 2006 on a fact finding exercise with the British Bankers Association (BBA) and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) before deciding whether to open a more detailed enquiry. The move follows its investigation earlier this year into credit card penalties, which it concluded were "unfair" to consumers. This resulted in most of the largest Credit Card issuers cutting penalty charges to an average of ?12 from an average of over ?22. In April 2006 the OFT said that the same principles should apply to overdrafts, which has started alarm bells to ring with the banks. There is an obvious consensus that their profits could be greatly dented and it is estimated that the banks make around ?4.65 billion from overdraft fees and associated charges.

Some banks have signalled that regulation of overdraft charges and their subsequent drop could bring an end to free banking. This also comes on top of imminent regulation to come out of the FSA, OFT and Competition Commission's investigation into Payment Protection Insurance (PPI), which is also forecast to cost the banks a similar sum in lost profits. Retribution by the Financial Ombudsman is decided after customers banking histories are examined and negotiations take place with banks. In many cases banks have agreed to repay from 50 to 100 per cent of the disputed charges. Recently many banks raised their penalty charges with some charging up to ?30 a day for unauthorised withdrawals and payments. It is felt in some quarters that this has been a way for the Banks to recoup the repayments they have been more or less forced to repay.

The Financial Ombudsman in some cases has looked into the history of people's bank accounts prior to making a decision. So in cases where someone has drawn on three separate payments over the top of their overdraft limit the Ombudsman sometimes suggests that consumers take responsibility for their actions.

As of October 2007, complaints by consumers are continuing to rise and the Banking Code Standards Board, which operates a voluntary code of practice for the industry, indicated it had received well over two thousand complaints and queries in the year ending March 31 2006, this is compared to only eighteen hundred in the previous year.

Conclusion

With the Financial Ombudsman having a near 100% track record of siding in favour of the complainant it is more or less a "given" that the authorities will deem the charges to be "unfair". The OFT pressurised by work in other areas is likely to either make a recommendation that Banks reduce their charges or may even refer the Banks to the Competition Commission. However, any reduction in the banks profits is likely to see them clawing back the profits in other areas. A more visible cost like bank charges will probably not happen, but we are more likely to see a stealth rise in the underlying interest rates on secured loans, mortgages, credit cards and unsecured loans. If your Bank has recently charged you, with the authorities on your side it is now the perfect time to claim back those charges.

Article Source : Pg. 9

About Author

Both Drew020 & Giles Goodwin are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Drew020 has sinced written about articles on various topics from How to Sell on Ebay, Computers and The Internet and How to Sell on Ebay. . Drew020's top article generates over 301000 views. to your Favourites.

Giles Goodwin has sinced written about articles on various topics from Personal Finance. Giles, a keen fisherman in his spare time, has many years of experience in Finance and has a background in the City. He has worked for some well known finance companies and considers his areas of expertise to be Mortgages, Insurance and Secured Loans. Aro. Giles Goodwin's top article generates over 1900 views. to your Favourites.