On The Inside: The Purse Forum

Do you consign your luxury brand products with sites like Yoogi’s, Fashionphile and Therealreal?  Have you ever questioned the reasons behind low ball offers or declines?   Do you have an account with The Purse Forum?

Here’s a little insider tip, The Purse Blog is authored by employee’s of Yoogi’s, ThredUp, Fashionphile, TheRealReal,  authors of “influential blogs” scattered throughout the internet and people just like you and me who also sell their purses on eBay.  If you think for one minute that the free advice you’re getting from The Purse Forum isn’t coming at a cost to you, then I have a quilted Guccitton Caviar with 24k straps, signed by Hermes  I’d like to sell.

For years we’ve been told that reputable (re)sellers of all things luxury should stop by The Purse Forum with Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Chanel and all things luxury to show the authors of ThePurseBlog via the Purse Forum for the purpose of authentication and price point.   “Let our professional authenticators……”

First of all, there’s no such thing as a “professional authenticator”.   There are people who recognize the differences between a counterfeit and authentic handbag but that’s not a profession, that’s part of the job of a sales girl, the same girl who empties the garbage can you tossed your tissue gloves in after examining the Hermes bag you considered purchasing.

Here’s the rest of the sentence:   “Let our professional authenticators…… tell you that your $8000.00 bag is only worth $200 resale so we can get you to ship it to Yoogi’s at which point, Yoogi gets cut out of the deal and the receiver sells it to Fashionphile or The RealReal for $1000.00”.

A Louis Vuitton / Hermes / Chanel sales girl in any mall or stand alone store works on a 1 or 2% commission, 5% tops.  How many luxury handbags do you think a girl needs to sell every month to pay her bills?  If she’s selling Hermes at $10,000.00 per bag, she’s only making $100.00 for herself once or twice a month.  It’s not enough to survive.

This is who is operating the gears behind the curtain of the The Purse Forum.  If you believe there are luxury brand insiders who live their lives on stand by, volunteering out of the goodness of their hearts,  their time and skills away for free, then this is a good time to ask yourself “when has anything associated with luxury brands ever been free?”

I’ve been involved with luxury resale as an internet entrepreneur since 2003. I do consider myself somewhat experienced but readily admit there’s always someone who knows more than I do. I can talk until I’m blue in the face about St. John Knits and Gucci but when it comes to Louis Vuitton, I’m not attracted to the monogram print so I’m not invested in it which is why I always seek the opinions of those who have an eye for Louis Vuitton before becoming involved with it.  What I don’t do is bring it to a site of anonymous “professionals” because I know there’s little to no liability and an outstanding possibility of a scam in progress.

This is a quote I grabbed from Site Jabber: (link contains the entirety)

“My mom was almost scammed through PurseForum after I posted pictures of a Hermes bag that the usual gaggle of “paid influencers” including Mistikat, all chimed in and confirmed that the bag was authentic. We sought a 2nd opinion that said otherwise and later the seller was banned from eBay because others reported the counterfeit bag.

fast forward to my feedback to PurseForum..Mistikat the fraudulent and clueless authenticator deleted all my posts and reference to their mistake misauthenticating the bag. Buyers and Forum members beware that when you ask for opinion on that board, Mistikat only allows comments that pretty much promotes Hermes. The tyrant only wants comments praising and idolizing a brand even clearly when the bag in question is fake or a buyer has been deceived or ripped off.”

Like most of us I got my start on eBay. The mentioning of eBay is important because 15 years after the fact I’m realizing just how much I’m still dealing with other people who also got their start on eBay.  Some eBayers paved their way to a blossoming career, the majority rode the wave and got out when they saw their market shrink, and many crashed and burned.

This article,  Inside Track: The Purse Forum, is about the people who identified you as their competitor (and still do) and will always be snaking about about behind the scenes.  The shady types who seem to have their tentacles wrapped around every aspect of eBay’s grey areas, the in’s and out’s of the luxury consignment sites, and The Purse Forum.

Back in the young days of eBay they could recite for you every obscure rule and policy in eBay’s existence, would bend them for personal gain and would self police eBay with their own special interpretation and brand of what those rules and policies should mean.  We knew them back then as “The Wolf Pack” “The CSA Boardies” and their own name, “All My Pretty Friends”, vigilante trouble makers who if ever you made a mistake would publish that mistake on every blog,  the eBay forums and in many cases to sites that had the potential to permanently destroy your reputation.  They were the vendors of the same products you sold and they were trying to eliminate you.  They looked for your weak points, and they struck hard when they found them.

Remember this name: Nancy R. Burke of Waltham, Massachusetts aka Been Burned of The Purse Forum.

This is a woman who once called my business line to ask where I was getting my inventory and expected me to provide her with a list of my suppliers.  She eventually did get that list.  She slicked around long enough to learn that I had a stalker, befriended my stalker and he cheerfully handed over my entire business model to her.  She neglected to tell me that #1 I had a stalker and #2 that he wanted me dead.  Fittingly, she never did get her business off the ground, she’s still a lowly sales girl and she was banned from eBay in her first year as a luxury resale vendor for unscrupulous business practices such as deliberately sabotaging her competitors’ actions,  placing proxy bids 200 times higher than the actual market value.  She prevented many sales.  She wasn’t alone.  She had like minded company.  Can you guess who that company is?

People like Stacy Shure, also banned from eBay for unscrupulous business practices, now employed by a well known luxury brand consignment in Southern California.

I created an account on The Purse Forum because I had a vintage Louis Vuitton.  Immediately the level of rude to my question was overwhelming.  I remained polite even when I was shocked by the low valuation that was placed on my product but that didn’t deter them from bringing it from rude to personal in a matter of three posts.  Of course after I was intentionally deflated, the suggestion was that I bring my low value item to a specific luxury brand consignor is Southern California.

Approximately three days later I started getting private messages through The Purse Forum and the e-commerce sites I have my items listed with when this landed in my e-mail box:

“And just ignore BB ( she thinks she is queen bee of the forum) & is quite arrogant in many of her posts”

She was referring to a poster with the ID of “BeenBurned”.  After responding to the anonymous poster, expressing dismay at my treatment, this message arrived:

“The time of the year may be the difference between selling & getting the price that you would like.  Be patient. I have found that potential buyers take their time & eventually make the purchase.  I’ve been on the forum a little longer than you & this BB is quite the character. If you have a moment  just google her. It is quite insightful into her character. She is tolerated due to her so called knowledge which most of the time is found from googling. Snarky is what seems to be prevalent on the forum all too
frequently these days. We all are moving on.”

I did what my anonymous contact suggested and Googled, “BeenBurned” of The Purse Forum and that’s when I realized.  Yes, I do remember Nancy R. Burke of Waltham, Massachusetts.  She has an extensive history of being a sleazy bottom dweller who resides in the sewers of the luxury resale market.

As it turns out, she remembers me too.  My consignments were all declined after I declined the low ball offers.  Yoogi’s straight up declined my submission… well.. Yoogi’s didn’t, the bitch behind the computer screen did.  For no other reason than my name, a known competitor.

After my anonymous messenger contacted me my account was banned from The Purse Forum.  I assume the anonymous messenger was as well.  I’m not really sure why other than we know their secret.

I’d like to thank my stalker David Forsyth for doing his part and providing people like Nancy R. Burke my personal information, 10 years after the fact.  You’re a fucking gem.

Whoa is me #whiteprivilege

Manipulative racists started the phrase “White Privilege” in an attempt to redirect anger for very real problems that do exist in black culture, but they did it to serve an agenda.  That agenda is to misinform the black culture from where the actual problem originates.

Indulge me and lets take a look back in history, not that far back, I’m talking about the 1990’s.  There were two major movements that defined the 1990s.  There was 1.  an acknowledgement from youth of all colors that a problem exists.  We learned about it as we listened to a very informative gangsta rap movement which opened our eyes to issues most white culture did not know existed.    The music and lyrics saturated the radio airways.  We heard anger which was rightfully directed towards a corrupt system created by corrupt politicians, a corporate system that is designed to suppress those they feel are too lazy to overcome the obstacles they deliberately created to prevent upward movement, and law enforcement  who routinely abuse their badges.  We heard you.  We understood you.  We agreed with you.  Then there was 2.  A peaceful integration lead by the 1990s youth.

In the 1990’s I remember smiling as I watched all races intermixing.  There was a lot of love.  There was a lot of peace.  There was a lot of acceptance.  Blacks and whites were best friends, lovers and family.  I remember thinking, “Finally!  They’re doing it!  This generation is getting it right!”.  When a horrific situation of racism was displayed to the white population we were thankful that, “It’s almost over.  That old generation is dying off and we are now a united majority”.  We held our breaths together.

Then something happened.  I don’t know who, why or where but like wildfire it spread.  Black men entertaining themselves by using the threat of brawn to intimidate.  Suddenly there was a rising of angry black men who would not hesitate to look at an older white woman and wind back as if to throw a punch.  It happened to my grandmother.  It happened to my mother.  It happened to me.  When it happened to me I did not flinch.  The young black man who intended to intimidate me asked me why I didn’t flinch and why I wasn’t scared.  I told him, “because I am capable of killing you with one punch”, which I am.  I have always lived alone so I learned advance self defense skills.  I’ve never actually tested those moves and I hope I never have to but this doesn’t define the feelings of safety of other women who don’t have my abilities and have experienced repeated aggressive behavior by black men.  He smiled at me in appreciation because I wasn’t afraid of him.  To him it meant I was his ally.  To me, it made him my enemy.

The movement of black men using intimidation and the threat of violence didn’t stop until P. Diddy/Puff Daddy/Sean Combs made an appearance on Oprah.  I’m pretty sure it was probably two separate shows but I can’t remember, either way, both topics were centered around race issues. The thing I remember most about the two segments, and I do believe this is the way it was intended to be remembered by Oprah,  was that Oprah said to her audience, “I want you to look around the room and find a person you would most like to sit next to, and do it”.   After everyone was in place in their new seat, Oprah turned her attention to a young black man who chose to sit next to an elder white woman who appeared to be dressed in luxury brand clothing.  Oprah asked the young man why he chose this woman.  He said,  “because usually when women similar to this see me coming, they clutch their purse, refuse to make eye contact, and rush past me”.  Oprah then asked the elder white woman how she felt about the young black man choosing her.  She smiled.  She said something to the effect that she was happy that he chose her and she welcomed him because it showed his intentions were positive.  At the end of the segment I quote  P. Diddy/Puff Daddy/Sean Combs who looked straight into the camera and said, “Oh hey guys,  quit scaring the little old white ladies”.  He sneered, chuckled and shook his head in a no motion.  That seemed to end it but the damage had already been done.  The “Induce Fear” movement had already successfully convinced white America (especially women) that black men are to be feared because they are dangerous and capable of violence.

Guess what?  We get it.  We understand.  Most of us forgive.. but with caution.   Hollywood, since it’s beginning,  is guilty of demonizing black and brown skin.  I grew up believing that anyone from the middle east is evil and black men are criminals.  Add the “Fear Movement” to a world who has already been taught wrongly, and we’ve wiped away all of the love, peace and integration our 1990s youth were so wonderfully bringing the world.

#whiteprivelege

I was once part of the middle class culture and well on my way to upper middle class.  Between the corporate greed culture  and political corruption (and other dark forces I will not cloud this article with), I am now a member of the poverty class.  I am white.  I have no privilege outside of food stamps which were promptly taken away at the hands of one black female social worker who deliberately did not send me necessary paperwork, and deliberately omitted telling me necessary information that was needed to do to obtain my hand up.  She admitted to doing it and she was promptly fired.  She blamed me for her job loss and called me a snotty white bitch.  It was actually another black social worker who caught the mistake while speaking with me on the phone to try and figure out why I am living on less than $11k/year but am being denied a hand up while I do the hustle every day for 7 days a week to pull myself out of my situation.

I do not have the privilege of any kind of assistance.  I ended up living in my car for 4 months and when my friend found out, I moved into his spare bathroom.  All of the belongings I was able to save were stored next to the toilet and I slept on a couch.  For 20+ years I paid federal and state taxes but for those two years, when I needed it the most,  I was not entitled to my state or federal held funds, which I paid for in the form of taxes,  for the assistance I needed, which is part of what taxation is  supposed to be used for.  To this day I am still tax exempt because I was never able to claim what should have been rightfully mine to help pull myself out from under.  I fail to see where I am privileged.

As a result of my utter despair, I turned to alcohol.  I got in the car and I drove.  I got caught.  My only privilege at that moment was that I had the right to remain silent, which is what I did but I got my ass beat anyway.  Sound familiar?

A black female deputy greeted me at the jail.  Still exercising my privilege to remain silent, she looked at me and yelled, “Are you lost little girl?  Lets get this out the way right now.  This ain’t the Marriott and I ain’t yo bellhop”.  She walked over to me and stood facing me from the side.  She grabbed me by the back of the neck and threw me towards the inside of the jail where I, with my hands in cuffs behind my back, went flying chest first onto the linoleum floor, slid across the floor and crashed into a wall face first.  I was then thrown into a cell and strip searched for the fact that I had a ring on my finger that over time I was not able to remove.  I had been wearing it since I was a young adult and I was now a fully matured adult.  It stayed on my finger as my hands grew.  I ended up with permanent nerve damage at  c-1/ c-2 spine.  To this day my left hand and my right foot do not function properly.  Broward County Jail, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.   I fail to see where my white privilege served me here.

While I was being beat up, completely naked, spinning around the floor and being punched and kicked by several officers, one arm up in the air as they threatened to cut off my finger, I continued to remain silent because I knew if anything came out of my mouth it would only get worse.  How did I know?  Because I could hear the cries and screams of a full grown black man in the holding cell next to me.  The difference between my beating and his beating was that his was worse because he continued to call them names, to spit and taunt them, he tried to fight back and brought on a whole new beast to the already pumped up cops who were beating him.  I think it’s safe to say that in that moment, our privileges were the same.  After being bailed out of jail I obtained the arrest report.  I had an additional charge on top of my DUI.  “Assault on a Law Enforcement officer”.  Now, considering that my hands were behind my back and I was silent, common sense tells us that because I was injured someone had to protect them self by falsifying documents.  Does this sound familiar?

I believe law enforcement have come to expect our differences in the way we handled our beatings and allow it to define who we are.  Remember, police operate on the system that, “If you’re not one of us, you’re one of them”.  There are only two responses and two outcomes when dealing with police when you aren’t one of them.  One is to keep your mouth shut and forfeit your rights or you can instigate trouble, fall back on the, “Fear Movement” and fight for your rights.  The later as we all know will get you killed.  It’s your privilege to make that choice and to understand that because I am white, I am not to blame for our two very different beatings. While there may be such a thing as  #privilegetooperateabovethelaw, there’s also the very real fact that you have created a reputation to precede you, and while I admire the momentum of your #whiteprivilege hashtag, the fact is, I am not, nor is an entire race of people like me, your oppressor(s).  I am a survivor right next to you.  WE are victims of corrupt politicians who allow corporate culture and a banking system to manipulate, steal and pat each others backs as they congratulate themselves with each million earned as the 10s of thousands of people like you and me are powerless to go after it and get it back.  WE are victims of corrupt law enforcement fraternities who have the ability to falsify the truth to cover their abuses.  If I or you did what the real oppressors are doing, we’d be in jail.  We are being oppressed by the same demons.  They are using your anger to justify their ability to have the #privilegetooperateabovethelaw.

Fact:  WE are all victims of a corrupt legal system who reviews the above cases and conveniently decide that the officers involved had acted appropriately and within the law.  #privilegetooperateabovethelaw

We also share the same privilege of word manipulation by the media.  YOU believe the “Free-trade” agreement represents the American qualities of freedom to give ourselves a hand up but I know that this agreement was created for only those it benefits and have the #privilegetooperateabovethelaw.  It is the reason we are short on jobs, short on cash, short on paying the cost of living, and why our anger grows TOGETHER as our hunger pangs increase and we don’t seem to be making headway no matter how hard we hustle to overcome.

We need change.  This is evident but let’s do it the right way!  Change #whiteprivilege  to #privilegetooperateabovethelaw, otherwise, we’re only going to continue to escalate your racial tensions, especially in our youth.  Stop poisoning our youth with such toxic words.

No one should not have to defend them self based on the color of their skin any more than you should.  The white race is WITH you and we support you but you make it difficult for us to hang in there with you when you demonize us.

There will always be prejudice.  There will always be people who work against you, against me, against anyone with brown, black, red, white, orange, purple skin.  It comes from each and every one of us.  Don’t turn your supporters into your enemies.  It’s not a white race or white privilege that is against you. What is against you is being apathetic to fight a culture that has the #privilegetooperateabovethelaw.

Election 2016 for Dummies: Free Trade

When politicians throw around the phrase, “free-trade”, do you understand what it means?  Most Americans mistake the phrase “free-trade” for phrases we commonly associate with positive American values. Does, “Free-Trade” mean equal opportunity for Americans and an open market?  The answer is yes and no.

Yes, if your name is Xi Jinping, and you are the ruler of China.  No, if you are an American who is unemployed, underemployed, self employed and (or) involved with selling, buying, or trading which is pretty much every resident of the United States.  When you buy a pound of fish at the market, you are making your purchase under the Free Trade Agreement.  When you buy toilet paper, you are making your purchase under The Free Trade Agreement.  When you sell your jacket on Ebay, you are in the thick of the impact of The Free Trade Agreement.  How come no one bought your jacket?  It’s a perfectly good jacket, it’s in style, free from stains and you priced it to sell.  Here’s why…

First off, lets make it clear that there are three phrases which are used interchangeably.  They are all names for the same policy.

1) The Trans-Pacific Partnership
2) US-CHINA trade
3) FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

Why should  this affect you or your vote in election 2016?  Donald Trump is against free trade.  Hillary Clinton helped to enact it.  It affects you personally, regardless if you pay taxes or are exempt from paying taxes.  It is a major topic that affects every single American from age 1 month to 100 years.

You work hard for your money 40 hours a week.  At the end of each week and average of 33% of your hard earned money is take out of your paycheck in the form of taxes.  The purpose of tax collection is to provide our government with the financial means to do things like repair and maintain the roads, bridges, lighting fixtures and guardrails you encounter to and from work.

Another portion of your money is supposed to be placed in trust and given back to you in the form of health insurance, dental care, and retirement income aka social security.  When you pay taxes that money you worked so hard for is NOT set aside for you, your retirement or any other purpose it was intended to be collected i.e safe bridges, safe roads, to pay the labor union workers who repair the bridges, roads and maintain the lawn between the median.

Unfortunately, this is not how your hard earned money is being spent.

Over $85 Trillion of YOUR personal money is being sent directly to Xi Jinping, the ruler of China. On top of YOUR personal money being sent to Xi Jinping, the ruler of China, he has negotiated special interest deals:

1) “Free shipping from China”. American shoppers don’t seem to understand that shipping is NOT free. How much money in gas does it take to fill an airplane? A Tanker? A big rig? A car? How much is the annual salary of a postal employee? A customs agent?
The American government is paying Xi Jinping, the ruler of China $85 trillion which came out of yours, mine and our paychecks to provide free services and services that are so discounted that it’s priced below what it actually costs to provide.
a) American business based in China and Chinese manufacturers are able to ship a product to my next door neighbor for $2.80 while it will cost you, me and us $12.95 to ship the same product to our family located one town away from us. This is why on shopping sites like eBay, American family based businesses are not being shown to you in search results. Many of those families are now on food stamps and welfare along with the Walmart employee our general public loves to degrade for not fitting the media defined definition of success. Most of those families are headed by college educated who are permanently unemployed because their position was eliminated as a result of The Trans-Pacific Partnership AKA US-CHINA trade.
b) It is no secret to American politicians and special interests groups that Xi Jinping is using the billions of free United States Dollars that’s being handed to him on the backs of the once middle-class, now poverty-class, to spend $32 billion on new infrastructure and infrastructure improvements in China. Here in America, since our government no longer has that $32 billion, we drive over an unmaintained bridges in and throw money in a toll booth that is in place for the purpose of employing Americans to work the toll booths, fix the gaping potholes that punch your stomach when you drove over it, to fix the bridges that have not been maintained in 15+ years and have a 50-50 chance at failing and collapsing while you and your family are on your way to grandma’s house.
c) Xi Jinping, the ruler of China, is using the money The United States, Inc. is giving him for “free-trade” to employ hackers to hack things like VA hospital data banks to steal my fingerprints, social security number, financial information, and employment history from the United States office of Personnel Management, to employ hackers to steal proprietary information and technology like that of Devens’, Massachusetts-based AMSC turbine software or Jobs’ Apple operating systems, and to gain access to OUR POWER GRIDS, and to manipulate our economy by devaluing the true value of the Yuan along with the countless documented criminal behavior as seen in news reports over the last 10+ years.

In the United States we do not have employment opportunities in the manufacturing industry.  Everything in the world in made in China including most “American made” products.  In a balanced free trade agreement, there would be equal opportunity for Americans to work in the manufacturing industry, unfortunately, due to our current “free trade agreement” this will never happen.  The US government has paid China billions of dollars for free business set ups, free manufacturing plants, free manufacturing equipment, and free warehousing.  The warehouses given to China are located in both countries. China also moves their products for free to America via cargo ship and cargo plane on the back of your weekly paycheck.   I know of no American business who has been given this same opportunity.  Had the opportunity been given to us, we would have jobs, safe products that are not filled with toxins, and a true free trade with financial opportunities flourishing around us.

There is also the manipulation of the Yuan, which is the Chinese currency.  China is the worlds leading exporter (a pound of fish) of goods and products.  China does not buy a pound of fish from America because America does not produce a pound of fish.  When a country is selling more stuff to the world than it is buying (a trade surplus) the price of its currency is supposed to go up.  The Chinese currency is actually stronger than the American dollar.  American law makers are fully aware of this but because so many American politicians and CEO’s have business interests (example: Apple computers are built in Chinese manufacturing plants at a cheaper SHORT TERM cost than it would be in America.)  located in China.    Therefore, factories in other countries close, people in other countries lose their jobs and the wealth of nations shifts to the currency-manipulating country.

Currently China is claiming that 1 Dollar is equal to 15 cents.   The truth is 1 dollar is more like $2.05.  This means that YOUR paycheck is $400.  A Chinese equivalent to your paycheck would actually be $820.00 – this is why politicians, corporations and special interest groups are pushing “free trade”, because they are doubling and tripling their dollars while main street America is less than 1 days pay away from homelessness.  The American public is being scammed.  Hillary Clinton(D) is one of the responsible parties.  Donald Trump(R)  and Bernie Sanders(D) are attempting to get rid of this agreement so that Americans may live in financial prosperity once again.

 

 

Devin Wenig Admits eBay is Stealing from it’s Sellers

Two very important facts the reader of this article needs to know before you press play and hear Devin Wenig’s admission during an interview with CNBC’s Jon Fortt.

As of 2016, although it’s been widely known by main street America since the bottom of the financial market crash in 2009 that the American governments statistics on unemployment and poverty rates are highly inaccurate (Inaccuracies in the Census), it’s finally quietly been revealed that less than 50% of the American population actually participates with American Census surveys. Basically the American government is quietly admitting that their numbers are severely inaccurate, with the highest inaccuracies occurring between the years of 2010 and 2016.  Why am I writing about skewed unemployment and poverty rates in an article about eBay?

eBay doesn’t provide information on the number of full-time American sellers they have on their site but in 2006 ACNielsen, on behalf of eBay, found that approximately 1.3 million sellers around the world use eBay as their primary or secondary source of income. In 2015 there is an estimated 6.7 to 9.7 million families around the world who use eBay as their primary or secondary source of income..

 The Admission:  Wenig admits that eBay sellers do not get what they pay for:  “listings aren’t getting seen on eBay because of the sheer number of listings and its lack of structured data”.

It’s a bold statement and one that the FTC needs to look into.   It is a known fact that Americans are suffering.  American families are being devastated financially while eBay CEO’s boast billion dollar salaries and Chinese based manufacturers who skip the middle men and undersell out from under, directly to the public are being given top priority.   eBay, with the help of Cassini Search Placement, and now Artificial Intelligence (AI),  will only always produce Chinese products  to the eyes of consumers while admitting to suppressing American based products and small American businesses.

In 2016 the average monthly rent or mortgage cost for the average American is just less than $1500/month and the cost of basic survival is $3500/month.   Many American based sellers have experienced a drop in monthly salary from an average range of $10,000.00 -$2000.00 to a range of $1000.00 if you are lucky, to as low as $100.00 monthly.  Utter devastation.

eBays small American business owners have joined Walmart employee’s in line for welfare, food stamps and low-income housing.  China on the other hand, is spending 33 million on new infrastructure and has experienced a record-setting boom in sales of luxury goods and vacation packages.

Myself as an eBay business owner, I once grossed an average of $6000 to $10,000 per month and was able to provide a full-time job to one employee, as well as ensured continued employment for my suppliers, most of which were local, and all were located in my state of residence.  Unfortunately in 2016 my average gross eBay income is $600.00/month.  I am permanently unemployed, on food stamps, and at 50 years of age, supplement my income with a $8/hr part time job.   The money I am currently earning is entirely spent on the cost of living.  No clothes, no entertainment, no ice cream treats.  Rent, utilities and $25 a week for food.   Try and eat healthy with a budget of $25.  As opposed to preparing for my golden years and retirement I will be living hand to mouth and working for the rest of my life, through my elderly years and until my death.

My once full-time helper is also permanently unemployed and has moved back home with her parents where she is now a burden to her elderly parents, living on a fixed income.  My suppliers can no longer depend on my income to pay their employees, and have eliminated most of their full time positions thus confirming that when one small business makes or loses progress, an entire community makes or loses progress

Seeing that eBay culture has always been a mirror of what’s happening in mainstream American culture, multiply my personal experience and my local communities experience by 9.7 million and here Mr. Devin Wenig, is all the data you need.

In light of Mr. Devin Wenig’s admission, I have filed a sent the admission along with my complaint to the Federal Trade Commission:

Devin Wenig admits in an interview that items are not being seen because the search engine is not able to show all of the items it has listed on the site. He says he is building the worlds largest catalog (with products that don’t belong to him) but offers no solution in the interim. The current search program called “Cassini” filters products out of search results based on a number of of criteria, one of which being a vendors sell through rate. Since our products are not being seen, it places a fair amount of vendors at a devastating disadvantage.

What’s even more striking is that a vendor with a 100% feedback rating and “Top Rated Seller” status is supposedly being given higher placement above vendors with lower ratings, yet we continue to see Chinese based manufacturers with subpar feedback ratings and NO “Top Rated Seller” status at the top of best match search results which is the default setting.

To further complicate things for certain vendors, eBay has contractual agreements with Chinese manufacturers that assistance with and often free warehousing space within the United States. This same agreement is not being made available to American vendors or any other vendor who is not based in China. It is especially a disadvantage for American vendors because if a shopper intends to filter out Chinese based manufacturers via searching by geographic location, and they choose the option of shopping only in America, the real American vendors’ products are again being suppressed and the Chinese products being stored state side are the only products being shown to shoppers.   The precedent of, “most popular” has already been set by the featured Chinese items because they had already been favored prior to being shipped to America.

The Sherman Act states it is against the law to prevent free and unfettered competition but this is exactly what eBay is doing. The rules of trade outlaws every contract eBay has offered to Chinese manufacturers but haven’t offered Americans (or any other country)  in a definite conspiracy in restraint of trade.

The catalog;  Mr. Wenig states he is building the worlds largest Catalog.  This requires vendors to provide a manufacturers MPN and UPC codes, however, the majority of American vendors do not have access to such codes because our products are vintage, used, and (or) rare and do not have such codes. Those of us who sell such products are being advised by eBay to write “does not apply” in the space the MPC & UPC codes are to be entered on the “Sell Your Item Now” form, thus ensuring our products will be excluded from the catalog and search results.  

Mr. Wenig states, “listings aren’t getting seen on eBay because of the sheer number of listings and its lack of structured data”  yet his attempts at designing a more “functional” search filter continues to exclude the very vendors who made eBay popular which are the vendors who sell collectables, rare, vintage and used products.

A vast majority of American based eBay sellers are a part of the permanently unemployed population, are temporarily unemployed, under employed or have started an at home based business when eBay made it a viable option back in the late 1990s’.  Most have depended on their incomes generated by the sales from their eBay products for their very survival.  That source of survival is being illegally pilfered out from under us in a bid for Chinese dollars.

There is no question that eBay is a for profit business, however, when compared to the profit potential eBay has by allowing vendors who aren’t based in China to have their products seen because by standard of practice, those products sell for a higher dollar amount and generate more final value fee’s..

J. David Forsyth – West Palm Beach, Florida

Here’s what I don’t understand about Autism Spectrum Disorder, formerly known as Asperger’s Syndrome, as criminal behavior relates to the law.  If a perfectly functioning adult whose only flaw is he doesn’t quite “get” common body language and facial expressions or perhaps takes left of hand phrases literally, why should he not to be legally held accountable for criminal behavior?  Why is the plead of “Autism” a justifiable excuse?

Here is an adult male in his 40’s who has a history of criminal behavior ranging from physically abusing the women in his life aka will not hesitate to punch her when things don’t go his way to stalking, harassment, and even theft.   These behaviors have been excused as an autistic “meltdown” but science has proven that an actual autistic meltdown is an internal event that by 40 years of age is easily controlled by modified behavior teachings and coping skills?

Joseph David Forsyth Aft, Forsyth and Company, Inc. 400 Royal Palm Way SUITE 410 West Palm Beach, FL 33480 Phone: 561-296-6680 Fax: 561-296-6684

Arrested

Joseph David Forsyth: J. David Forsyth

Malicious Stalking – Guilty
Harassment – Guilty
Libel – Guilty
Slander – Guilty
Grand Larceny – Guilty
Solicitation of Prostitution – Guilty
Assault: Guilty

Joseph David Forsyth claims he has a diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome which may explain why he is talented with numbers, however, along with the talent comes a battery of reckless, and very dangerous behaviors. Hide your wife, hide your daughters, your nieces, and your female friends and head for the hills. If he fixates on her, he will turn her into his, “special project” and the outcome will be devastating.

Joseph David Forsyth, previously of 4400 Portofino Way, West Palm Beach is rationally able to explain that his autism is responsible for his bad behavior but has great difficulty claiming responsibility for the consequences of his actions. We all know that autism is not a behavior. Behavior is controlled by the individual.

The following behaviors are NOT meltdowns:

Witnesses have stated that Joseph David Forsyth has engaged in the divulging of private trade information and insider secrets of businesses to known business competitors: Where anchor products are obtained, the contact information of the product providers, marketing and trade secrets. His victim: A small business owner who is an attractive young female neighbor; engaged to be married, unsuspecting, unknowing.

Stalking:  Obtaining nude/topless photos of his victim and distributing them over the internet.

Harassment:  Creating eBay auctions featuring several gruesome photos of a Barbie doll with a noose around her neck with attached story featuring death by hanging in what he termed, “forced suicide by the power of suggestion”.

Harrassment:  Making multiple purchases from his victims’ eBay store for the purpose of “feedback bombing”, and to destroy his victims business reputation.

Theft:  A total of 18 items were stolen from his victim via multiple purchases using loopholes in the ebay return policy which will not be detailed here for the purpose of not disclosing to the public on how to perpetrate this crime.

Grand Larceny: $4,000.00 worth of product as well as the cash monies was stolen by J. David Forsyth for a total of $8000.00 on top of what had already been stolen. David Forsyth readily confesses his crime to anyone who questions him. He considers his crime to be something his victim deserves as a part of his own personal justice system.

Is this autism? Are these behaviors meltdowns and symptoms of a social dysfunction?

Making contact with and execution of disruptive behavior via internet social media sites and messaging systems with anonymous I.D.’s is extremely destructive.  These are behaviors that leave it’s victim with long term scars and diagnoses of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and depression on top of the financial and criminal long term fall outs.

Security offices at ebay and “customer service reps of ripoffreport.com” have provided documentation to Mr. Forsyths victim that shows an IP address belonging to individual or business Comcast subscriber located in the 400 block of East Okeechobee Boulevard, Palm Beach, Florida, which is where J. David Forsyth and partner Larry Aft have an established financial based business.

David Forsyth stated, I did it because  “she deserved it” and “she should have been nicer to me” even though he also admits that they were never formally introduced, did not have an acquaintanceship, friendship or any other relationship.  His victim never knew him.

Mr. Forsyth admits to all of the above and offers no apology or remorse. While admitting what he’d done is wrong and it should not have happened, he also states, “I’ve got one more thing up my sleeve”.   Mr.  Forsyth in a crazed state of mind has offered his victim, who is now struggling severely due to his actions,  a place in his home where he can, “take care of her so she won’t have to worry about having a place to live”.    The offer was immediately declined which segwayed the topic into a new and even more manic discussion…

Mr. J. David Forsyth takes pleasure in boasting of his less than wholesome activities, spending more money “than I probably should have” on prostitutes, and the use of illegal drugs because he is lonely.   He states his house is quiet at night so rather than to pay prostitutes for companionship, he thinks, with a very deluded state of thinking, his victim should move in to fill that role.  Mr. Forsyth is quick to turn the conversation away from his criminal behaviors to inappropriately discuss his private sexual needs i.e.  having his diabetic pump removed so that he can have sex with  “a gold digging slut who he knows wont accept him for who he is”… avoidance of the true issues at it’s finest.

This is not Autism. This is not a series of Autistic meltdowns. This is a series of criminal and diabolical behaviors. I’m astonished that friends, family and the law would accept a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder with a secondary diagnosis of Manic Paranoid Schizophrenia as a reasonable or responsible pardon from prosecution.

As a former autism counselor I can say with 100% clarity that this is an injustice to not only the victims but also to the perpetrator who, regardless of his level of function or dysfunction, is repeatedly failed to be taught to take responsibility for his negative actions.

At what point does a person become dangerous enough and when does an established history of criminal behaviors start to be considered criminal when perpetrated by a person with ASD? Did the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings by Adam Lanza teach us nothing about the dangers of certain ASD patients?

At what point does a criminal with Asperger’s Syndrome be held accountable and be forced to make restitution, take responsibility and pay the price of his destructive behavior be it by jail time or civilly?

 

* all information provided on this post is public information and is protected by the first amendment.

The Mental Disease of Late-Stage Capitalism

Written by Joe Brewer

I’ve been talking with a lot of my friends recently — in private where they felt comfortable letting their guard down — about the dirty little secret no one is supposed to talk about.

The shame people feel when they can’t find a job…

…or pay their bills.

…or go to the dentist.

…or that they have to move back in with their parents.

…or they can’t afford to have children.

We are supposed to pretend, in this stupendously individualist culture, that it is our fault. The buck stops here. I am responsible for my failings in life.

Of course this is demonstrably not true. We are merely living through late-stage capitalism and our parents lacked the foresight to warn us about it. When a population explodes — as the human one did throughout the last century — eventually all manner of social institutions become over-crowded. From there, it’s simply a numbers game.

Want that awesome job? Stack your resume next to the hundreds of other people applying for it. Hoping to get into college? You’ll have to pay out the nose in student loans (if, that is, you were fortunate enough to get through admissions). Thinking of buying a house? You’re too busy paying rent in a skyrocketing market of housing prices.

But yeah, be sure to blame yourself. It’s obviously your fault.

Seriously though, we should have seen this coming. Build an economic system based on wealth hoarding and presumed scarcity and you’ll get what was intended. The system is performing exactly as it was designed to. That is why wages have stagnated in the West for 30 years. It is why 62 people are able to have the same amount of wealth as 3.7 billion. It is why politicians are bought by the highest bidders and legislation systematically serves the already-rich at the expense of society.

A great irony of this deeply corrupt system of wealth hoarding is that the “weapon of choice” is how we feel about ourselves as we interact with our friends. The elites don’t have to silence us. We do that ourselves by refusing to talk about what is happening to us. Fake it until you make it. That’s the advice we are given by the already successful who have pigeon-holed themselves into the tiny number of real opportunities society had to offer. Hold yourself accountable for the crushing political system that was designed to divide us against ourselves.
The mental disease of late-stage capitalism is shame, the devastating feeling that we failed ourselves in the Land of Opportunity.

This great lie that we whisper to ourselves is how they control us. Our fear that other impoverished people (which is most of us now) will look down on us for being impoverished too. This is how we give them the power to keep humiliating us.

I say no more of this emotional racket. If I am going to be responsible for my fate in life, let it be because I chose to stand up and fight — that I helped dismantle the global architecture of wealth extraction that created this systemic corruption of our economic and political systems.

Now more than ever, we need spiritual healing. As this capitalist system destroys itself, we can step aside and find healing by living honestly and without fear. They don’t get to tell us how to live. We can share our pain with family and friends. We can post it on social media. Shout it from the rooftops if we feel like it. The pain we feel is capitalism dying. It hurts us because we are still in it.

But those billionaires who rigged the game don’t get to tell me what I should or shouldn’t say to my friends. If I am struggling financially it is because the financial system is morally corrupt. This truth is a mantric elixir — repeat it to yourself every time the habits of your mind whisper that it is your fault.

You are not to blame for the wealth hoarding of others. That is one burden you don’t have to carry any longer. Be healed. Find your strength. Speak your truth. And let the cascades of change unfurl across society.

We cannot begin the work of building new economic systems until we take off the mental shackles of the old ones. So let your shame fall away. Remember your pride in learning and growing as a person, loving life and other people, being with friends, and pursuing your dreams. Then hold tight to these feelings as you set clear intentions about how the future must be different from the past.

We can do better. We must do better. It might be true that capitalism as we know it is going the way of history. I say good riddance. Whatever good it might have done is in the past now. Moving forward will be a grieving process — and each of us needs to pay close attention to the feelings inside of ourselves. We are the capitalist system right now. But not for long.

The pain we feel is like that tugging of skin for the serpent as it sheds an outer layer. Deep inside ourselves we are human beings, which is about so much more than the money we have in the bank or the things we buy at the store. As we shed ourselves of the immoral economic ideology of insatiable greed (that has made the elites around the world very sick indeed!), let us remember our true nature and begin to heal.

Onward, fellow humans.
View at Medium.com

Activism & Social Media/ Election 2016

As someone who is preparing to expatriate, I can no longer tolerate the atrocities politicians have committed against not just it’s own citizens but people all over the world. All but a small handful are suffering at the hands of one single fraternity called THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT, Inc., and it’s obsolete, “ask not what your country can do for you..” mental conditioning that plagues our citizens 50 years beyond it’s relevance.

When the fuck will the majority get off their lazy asses and rise above this and bring it all down?  I mean, seriously, what the hell is wrong with our youth in that they actually believe social media is going to help create change?  I’m sorry but a meme is not powerful.

To those who believe a meme is powerful, ask yourself, what inconvenience does a meme cause to our political offenders?  What noise does a meme make to our political offenders ears?  What senses does a meme touch in the eyes, ears, nose and skin of our corrupt politicians?

Ask yourself, what’s more powerful? A picture? or standing in front of the White House in bright colors, holding a sign or a banner, screaming your pain across the white house lawn and beating on a drum, one angry fist pound per every wrong this country has committed against every single citizen in the world?

I’m not against social media “activism” I’m against it’s laziness, it’s lack of voice, it’s lack of masses and it’s lack of inconvenience to our oppressors.  It’s powerless.

THIS is power….  stand before your corrupt government and make some real noise!

Don’t call yourself an activist until you actually become active!

Stop being afraid to admit you are poor as if you should be shrouded in negativity and insults for being a human being trying to survive in a world that’s been manipulated by this fraternity called THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT, Inc.   More than 90% of the world is poor.  More than 50% of Americans are poor and our unemployment rates are much higher than what the government wants the world to believe.  I live in the beach area in South Florida.  Some may think that because we live in a prettier part of town, we must be living in luxury but the truth is, over 45% of my neighborhood is unemployed and using sites and aps like ebay, letgo, craiglist and are having garage sales to float by month to month.  Being poor, under employed or unemployed should not be used as an insult.  It’s not our faults.  Its a fact of life in 2016 due to greedy politicians and their financial hoarding policies.

Don’t be afraid to apply for food stamps, welfare or medicare/medicaid or to admit it.  Our government pays the Chinese government over $85 billion per year to help Chinese citizens find employment, create employment and ship their cheap goods to the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Inc, all the while, the job markets in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Inc are pretty close to nonexistent.  If UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Inc spent $85 billion per year on it’s own citizens, we would have jobs, food, stable financial status and less mental health issues.  Being poor, under employed or unemployed should not be used as an insult.  Its a fact of life in 2016.  Need help, receiving a hand up or a hand out should not be used as an insult.  It’s a way of life for the majority in 2016.

The longer we continue to use social media as a means of protest and fail to make politicians uncomfortable, the longer and worse our suffering will be.

Election 2016:  Trump will not save you.  He preaches hate.  Clinton will not save you.  She’s part of the administration that put you in the poor house to begin with!  Your vote doesn’t count anyway, the electoral college is bought and paid for, popular vote means nothing.  Ask Al Gore.  Then start asking what your country can do for you and not what you can do for it.  Those days are OVER!

A meme is only a powerful statement in the world of art.  Not politics.

Balmain F/W 2016

My daughter, a teenager, is in the habit of changing outfits in the mirror several times before she leaves for the day. Nothing makes it back into the closet, it’s in piles strewn all over her unmade bed.

I’m not sure how many women wake up in the morning and decide they’d like to dress like their daughters mussy bed, but it appears Balmain believes there must be at least one mussy Mom out there!

Balmain apparently also believes the average woman wants to look like tacky furniture and tacky furniture dressings.

I am not a fan of curtain fringe, tacky lampshades and pre-teen decor but where there is a tacky woman, she has a tacky designer.
 

…but out from the tacky darkness floats in, like angels descending from the heavens, this pastel pink flowing hourglass jacket to bring redemption to Balmain’s frightening fall – winter runway show. As a middle age woman, who is quite possibly the only woman who can afford Balmain’s prices,  I could see myself wearing this lovely jacket. If it were a gift :)

Stacey Shure: Orange Cape Hides Me

Have you been harassed by an anonymous internet bully by the name of Facebook: Oran Cape Hideme, eBay ID: orange_cape_hides_me?  As you read, be sure to click the links along the way.  There’s a lot of information here.

For the purpose of breaking the veil and offering her victims a name behind the madness, the information below this line is all public information.  I have yet to verify a photograph I have of her. I want to be as factual as possible so until I can verify with 100% certainty it’s her, I will be parking it in a safe place.

Stacey Shure – Age: 53
213-658-6525
6532 W 6Th St
Los Angeles, 90048, California

Known aliases:
Stacey M Shure
Stacey M Shure
Stacy M Shure
Stacy K Shure
Stacy M Silverman

Known addresses:
Los Angeles, CA
Palm Desert, CA
Santa Monica, CA
Van Nuys, CA
West Hollywood, CA

It is my understanding that Stacey Shure is known for such antics as participating in text communications that are designed to be extremely hurtful towards certain individuals.  She may been seen posting personally identifying information such as credit card numbers, driver license numbers and photo’s of other ebayers on the community message boards.  I personally have not witnessed the posting of private information but I have witnessed the passive-aggressive participation in hurting many people, including my own self.   It is important however, that you are aware,  much of the information she may have posted is actually public record, such as names, addresses, and phone numbers.  There is no possible way to verify that any driver license number or credit card information that has been posted is actually legitimate in my opinion, only because I was not present to witness the actual events.

Many may view her as a vigilante due to her proactive stance on the sale of counterfeit and fake merchandise, however, for all of the good she has done, the bad cancels it out in many of her victims opinions.  She has made many mistakes and has hurt a lot of innocent people in the process.  Frequently she is known to straight up bully innocent people for reasons only she can provide:  eBay’s Dirty little Secret

What else do we know about Stacey Shure?  We know that she loves to know the rules.  She can recite for you every obscure rule, loophole and little known fact from the Terms of Use policies of most e-commerce websites across the internet that most people have never been aware of, which is why she is so effective in her cut throat activities.

If you are listing your items for sale on eBay, here are a few examples you need to know to protect yourself from unscrupulous take downs of your listings:

1)  Did you know other than eBay’s own watermark, you are not allowed to add arrows, circles, lines or text to emphasize a flaw in your garment on your eBay photo’s?  Many people do it and many people have their auctions pulled for it.

2)  Always check your final listings if you use a bulk listing app.  If you have an error in your template from using a bulk lister or from one of any of a number of known eBay glitches, this leaves you open to take down for keyword spam, misrepresentation or any other miscellaneous reason.

3)  Auctions have even been pulled for having the words “sweater” and “dress” in the same title on a product that is correctly defined as a sweater dress.  I believe eBay has gotten better with this over the years and it does not occur as frequently as it once did.

4)  If you upload a vintage, outdated or current runway photo or advertisement to your auction for the purpose of describing what you are offering for sale, the item can be reported by a malicious competitor or trouble maker for copyrights violation.

It’s been said that Stacey Shure has an inside connection to a person or people at ebay.  To my knowledge no one has ever verified this to be true.  It’s not that she has pull or knows anyone within eBay, it’s that she knows how to locate information from the TOS that the average user is unaware of, or has not taken the time to locate, or how to use the information.    She’s also well versed in ways of contacting the correct department, not because she has  an inside contact but because anyone with an internet connection can.  This can be easily done by any average Joe via social media,  usually Facebook or Twitter.  Having knowledge gives the appearance of having insider contacts, however,  Stacey Shure does NOT, under any uncertain terms, have pull or access to eBay privileges above and beyond any other average eBay user.

There have been rumors that Stacey Shure claims she is an attorney.  I have not witnessed any such comments personally, however, for clarification, she is definitely not an attorney.  She’s actually unlicensed, unemployed and has a lot of time on her hands.   It may have something to do with having her right to practice business in the state of California suspended.  That’s right, she’s Suspended from doing business in the state of California.  Not inactive or expired but suspended.   There’s a difference.  The inactive/expired is by choice, being suspended is not by choice.  I do believe being found guilty of breaking California law may have something to do with it.

It has been suggested to me that she has found a loophole and is using a false address in the state of Washington to conduct business on eBay and around the internet.  I can not verify this and am willing to review any information anymore may have.

“The business entity’s powers, rights and privileges, which include the right to use the entity’s name in California, were suspended or forfeited in California as described below:

•  FTB Suspended or FTB Forfeited:  The business entity was suspended or forfeited by the Franchise Tax Board for failure to meet tax requirements (e.g., failure to file a return, pay taxes, penalties, interest).
• SOS/FTB Suspended or SOS/FTB Forfeited:  The business entity was suspended or forfeited by both the Secretary of State and the Franchise Tax Board as stated above”.

To review the collections and catalogs of his breeches  Click here.

The one that stands out for me most is this one:  Stacey Shure was sued for breach of guarantees among a list of other charges.   After reading through different proceedings it is evident that she was able to negotiate her way around many legitimate claims by taking advantage of court room technicalities, the use of plea bargains and restitution agreements.   The question is, is it safe to assume she is not able to meet the obligations?

How is she so competent with research you ask? One such reason may be that she is the “wife” of Stanley Shure, who is an attorney.  It may be a result of learning to do some of his research work.

Husband/wife: Stanley Shure Hoffman  (Age 61)

Bar Number:	116230
Address:	Law Offices of Stanley H Shure 2355 Westwood Blvd #374 Los Angeles, CA 90064 Map it	Phone Number:	(310) 984-6945
		Fax Number:	(310) 984-6945
		e-mail:	sshure@shurelaw.com
County:	Los Angeles	Undergraduate School:	Occidental Coll; Los Angeles CA
District:	District 2
Sections:	None	Law School:	Loyola Law School; Los Angeles CA

Here’s some menial information.  Nothing very telling here unless you are after something specific:  Stacey Shure

Linked in Profile

In the event that she decides to delete it, I’ve taken the liberty of copy and pasting it for you:

Q: What kind of HOMEGROWN are you?
A: Dirt Under My Fingernails City Slicker

Q: Fill in the blank :
A: cross between earth mama and city slicker – have grown veggies all my life.

Q: A bit about me:
A: I write. Not enough. lol
I don’t have more than a few hours a week to devote to my garden.
Cooking is my passion.

Q: Latest greatest meal cooked at home:
A: roasted pork shoulder stuffed ancho chiles with oxachan cheese and a chipotle cream sauce.

Q: Currently reading:
A: Macarons by Hermes.

Q: Currently listening to:
A: nothing

Q: My latest DIY project:
A: building raised beds, pea trellises and trellises/supports for my blackberries; learning to can jams and fruit.

————

To her many victims, I offer my sincerest wishes of strength and positive energies from this day forward.  I know you may be feeling devastated by some of the things she’s done to you and it may be difficult to move forward as she obsesses over you and plans her next moves but please be strong and know you are not alone.  This post is here for you.

She likes to throw the word, “karma” around.    Well, here’s to karma.  Yes Stacey, here IS to Karma, you scum sucking, bottom dwelling, TROLL.

It is my understanding Facebook is now enforcing a “Real ID” policy.  If the Oran Cape Hideme troll account is still effect as of today, rest assured, it won’t be tomorrow.

P.S.  I’ve noticed she’s become very quiet since the publishing of this page.  That is the goal, however, we all also know she has several I.D.’s, is known to post to herself with them and post about herself (how smart she is of course) with others.

What is ebays relationship to China?

If someone could please explain to me eBays love affair with china, I would appreciate it.  I need to know why I won’t be able to eat this week and can’t afford to buy the things most people take for granted like Shampoo.

Today I searched for the keyword, “dress” in the SOLD (not to be confused with completed) auctions section. After browsing 14 pages of 194 results per page, I did not see any sold dresses from sellers whose origin is China. Ebay customer service has explained to me on several occasions that the best match algorithm is designed to feature highly sought after items and since Chinese manufacturers offer the lowest prices and free shipping on the back of the USPS and American tax payers, their items appear as top priority.

This leaves me to wonder, with my limited knowledge of current events, is the United States government paying Chinese debt on the backs of unemployed, under employed, the needingly self employed Americans which are also the same home based micro eBay businesses we are involved with?

I have a hard time accepting this. Of the many reasons, one of my biggest reason is my loss of dental care. When I was in high school a dentist gave me a silver filling. Under the new filling, 20 some odd years after, it was discovered that the dentist did not remove the entire cavity before covering it with the silver filling. It was discovered when one morning I awoke to a jaw I wanted to rip off my face because the pain was so intense that I was ready to maul myself to end it.   It was impossible for me to know anything was present before my need to rip my jaw off my face because I had always taken great care of myself, had dental insurance and even though I had annual visits to the dentist, the decay was covered by a filling and went undetected for years.   What I suffered from is called, “trench mouth”. You can’t ever get rid of it.  Ever.  You have to continue antibiotic therapy and dental care on a monthly basis, which I did for years and successfully evaded any further issue, that is until I lost my health and dental insurance in the bottom of May 2009and I have not received dental care since.   I now have 4+ and 5+ gum recede as well as full on dental caries.   I am in my 40s and am losing all of my teeth because I can not afford dental care.

I am an ebay seller in the ranges of 111 and 121 and stand very little chance at earning enough to eat let alone visit a dentist. Chinese manufacturers who have full time visibility 24/7 at a range of 300 are grossing 89.9 billion dollars per year, and here I am, an American born citizen…..  le sigh

I believe that money is going to the Chinese government and not any Chinese home based micro seller who depends on every possible resource to get by like the American sellers who are not just fighting a case of just dental blues but we’re fighting for our lives and our very survival.

Many of us are college educated with 1, 2 and even 3 degree’s but because of reasons we did not deserve and was out of our control, we were out of  work too long.  We became a part of the permanently unemployed population and instead of going on welfare we decided to FIGHT.

Being a part of the permanently unemployed population makes one realize their true place in this world. It makes you realize how low priority and nonessential your life really is, just like our auctions.

I wish I had family (I am a sole survivor) to fall back on in times like this. It’s rather unfortunate.

Why is this seller [screen shot below] and the thousands of sellers from China just like this one [screen shot below] owning so much more priority over Americans?  Why does eBay, Google, Amazon and Yahoo think they are so much more important than we are?  It’s not even sell through and money talking right here. $2 dresses x 555 sales = $1110.00 for the month.

I sold 20 items this month for a total of $900.00 – not enough to get the bills paid but enough of a carrot to dangle before my hopes are dashed completely.  Good luck getting the bills paid. I would think that if I didn’t spend every waking moment of my day, pinning my auctions to Pinterest and Facebook and anywhere else I can find, I would be lucky to have any at all. Had eBay featured it’s small American sellers at the top; $45 average cost x 555 sales = $24,975.00 and a healthy mouth.

On the other side of that search are the live listings. I looked at the sell through of the “top priority” dresses, all of which are based in china. The information I am writing about is visible on auctions that show “more than 10 available/4 sold”…. 4 sold in 2 months doesn’t seem very highly sought after. I mean, the blue/gold vs black/white dress that caused all of the stir a few months back wasn’t even listed on eBay and it sold out in less than 2 hours of the viral post. These Chinese dresses are given the same amount of traffic and viral views but barely any of it sells.

OK so maybe my auctions aren’t the best (link below) but I equally as hard if not harder than eBays golden high priority  Chinese sellers .  I do not have access to cheap materials and supplies but I do my homework and try to list clothing items I know people will like.  They aren’t fake, they don’t rip at the seams before laundering and they stand the test of time which is not something the Chinese manufacturers can say.  It’s unfortunate that no one see’s anything I have listed, like the Chanel, Gucci, Ferragamo, Escada, Ralph Lauren, Iisli, St John and Valentino fashions I can’t give away for a loss at $29.99…  It’s not even that I can’t give them away, it’s that eBay won’t allow anyone to know they are there because am not worthy aka low priority.

 

The above feedback profile is that of a low priority ebay seller who is fighting lost teeth and nail for a chance to succeed.

Just one of the many dresses I couldn’t GIVE away for $9.99 on ebay…