I recently decided to open an commerce store as revenue source for my wife and daughter. I am 60 years old and just found out I have a terminal heart condition that gives me less than a year to get my life and finances in order. With no Insurance, or back up funds to care for my family I needed to do something. WWW.shopbargains4u.com seemed to be the answer, I researched wholesalers, drop-shippers and web designers for months till I made my decision. After opening up my web store www.shopbargains4u.com, my next task was to start selling on Ebay. I remembered Ebay from the old days, when you could get merchandise for a good price, shipping wasn't a revenue source of it's own and everyone was happy and made money.( remember when people would say I can get it cheaper on Ebay?).What a surprise I was in for when I started looking at Ebay today. What happened? Ebay got a swelled head, they started charging outrageous insertion and listing fees, and final value fees that sometimes go as High as 12% of the sale,plus the listing fees,plus, the pay pal fees on and on, till the prices for items are almost as much if not more, than what you would buy it for in a retail store like Walmart,or Target,BestBuy, ect. Now the sellers answer to all these fees was to, make the prices look reasonable,Then, hike up the shipping & handling fees to make up for the low listing prices. Doing it this way still gave them a chance to make a few dollars. Electronics, Tools,kitchen items used to be purchased at almost 30 to 50 % less than the MSRP now your lucky if you can find a Nintendo Wii, xbox 360, Ipod,camera ect. for under the MSRP then add the shipping and handling and well you got the picture. Sellers are complaining, buyers are fed up, and e-bay is still raising the fees for everything.( Remember Pay Pal is owned by Ebay ) so they get it all. I am surprised they haven't opened up their own shipping service yet ! So back to my story, I now get my e-bay store open, My e-commerce store is open and I am sitting here at the computer waiting for the money to roll in, Yea right, the only money that's doing any rolling is the money rolling out of my pocket and into e-bay's & payPal's for listing and handling fees, Then the money to the hosting company for the e-store, and money to the manufacturer to cover the monthly fee to have the right to sell their products???? yup you NOW have to pay for the right to purchase products???? So I made my 1ST sale a few days ago, $39.69,-$25.50 to the manufacturer, $2.50 listing fees, .$0.80 paypal fee, shipping $7.95 total cost of sale $35.95 ( the MSRP was $42.00 ) so selling for more wasn't an option. So I made about 3 bucks. Right now, if your selling tools,toys,cameras, clothing,home&garden, men & womans clothing,makeup,Or any type of electronics Ebay is the only game in town. Collectables are still available but not much in the way of the good old stuff, most everything is new, or re-furbished. cloned, counterfeit, or a scam. Ebay policies are like reading an encyclopedia Britannia, 4 volumes full, just to make sure you don't screw up, and have them suspend your account and put a hold on your money. You'll need to give your credit card and bank account information to e-bay, and Pay Pal in order to buy or sell( they really just want to know how to get their money of you owe them .) and they keep it all on file so they can get to it if necessary. PayPal puts a hold on your sale money for up to 21 days for newbies( they put a hold on the funds as soon as they get them) they will not put a hold on funds if you can prove you shipped the item( how you can prove you shipped an item 20 minutes after the person won the item, and sent the money is beyond me) but thats the policy, or is it thats the way to hold on to your money so they can gain interest on it in their bank for 21 days.??? I have spoken to many many people, lots of ebay power sellers who are ready to throw in the towel.( I am not asking any questions this just comes up in casual conversations when ebay is mentioned All are in agreement, A New Auction site is needed,one that is designed like the old days where people can shop for a bargain, get a deal, make a deal, negotiate. Find Collectibles. By Electronics without being Electrocuted. As for me, I have talked to several people who want to invest in an auction site, but money is an issue. The site can't and won't be a sophisticated as Ebay. But is doesn't have to. We all agree, no listing fee, no padding the shipping, just honest deals.Ubid, Ebid, Liquidators.com , are all trying but are doing the same thing. getting greedy and doing it the ebay way. Hey, if you agree with what I wrote here send your comments. If I see enough buyers and sellers who agree and are willing to give a new auction site a try( as long as there no listing fees) just a % of the sale if item sells. a small %. Maybe we will give it a try. e-mail me at [email protected] give me your opinion, tell me about your experiences with Ebay. As for me I am going to take that 3 bucks I made off Ebay and go buy me a new car or a hamburger. BY the way we would be selling just like the old days, 30 t0 50% off MSRP, on electronics,tools,toys,games, etc. and real collectibles and old stuff from around the house. Lets make ebay go away