Buyer A: When I mail something to you with signature confirmation, and the post office provides me with a copy of your signature on the slip, please do not call me five times and tell me you never got it, then tell ebay you never got it and file a negative feedback on me. And when I tell ebay you did too get it and I have your signature as proof, don’t then go file a Square Trade case against me for fraud. And when I prove to Square Trade that I do indeed have signature confirmation, I would like it very much if you didn’t say I was harrassing you and that you don’t want to hear anymore about it. Because, dipwad, YOU filed the damn case.
Buyer B: When you read my listing and you see the words “will ship to the United States only” please do not write to me and ask me if I will ship to Holland. Holland is not in the United States. And when I tell you I will not ship to Holland, please don’t then go bid on my items, win them, and then bitch because the shipping costs are so high. I COULD cancel your damned not-in-the-U.S. bid, you know. And while I am at it, Buyer C: I said I ship priority mail. I said that because I SHIP PRIORITY MAIL. Which means that I will not hide your blouse in a padded envelope and try to convince the postal clerk that it’s a book and so therefore should be posted as Media Mail.
Buyer D: When I said there is no box for this train car, please don’t ask me to refund your money because you thought there would be a box. And thanks for offering to leave me positive feedback if I would just send you the box, but I have no boxes up my ass and so cannot pull one out for you. But thanks for asking.
And sellers A, B, C and D: Vintage means old. Antique means really old. Please do not write in your listings that you are selling an antique Transformers toy from 1980, or a vintage quilt from WalMart, c. 1996. Also, medieval does not mean Renaissance, near-mint does not mean broken, just because an item is black does not make it “gothic”, and if your listing says “see item description for shipping costs and payment options” PUT THE SHIPPING COSTS AND PAYMENT OPTIONS IN THE ITEM DESCRIPTION.
My husband inherited a bunch of Dinky Toys cars and I’ve been auctioning them off. They’re pretty valuable to some collectors. The guy in question had some bad feedback that specifically said he claimed not to receive items, or had received items and requested refunds anyway. So, I definitely wanted him to sign for his package. This is a guy who won two other auctions from me previously, and I had shipped both his wins in one box - he left me a positive feedback for one saying “Item promptly shipped and well-packed” and feedback for the other item that said “Item was badly packed and arrived with broken box”… now, I KNOW one box was broken, I said so in my listing and even took a photo of the broken box, but I know collectors like boxes, so I included it. He claimed I shipped the toys in two separate boxes and one was badly packed. This is also how he decided I never shipped his third win – he signed for two packages, one of which had TWO toys in it, and claimed I only sent him two toys. I pointed out to him that if he only received two packages, how come he left feedback for me for the first two toys packed in one box three days before the postmark on the second package. But as I said, he’s a dipwad.
I will say that 99% of the buyers (and sellers) I’ve done business with were peachy keen and I make a good buck off my auctions, but it only takes a coupla nutballs to ruin a good thing, ya know?
Ah… I haven’t had anyone claim anything like that w/ me. I usually use delivery confirmation, but I also cancel bids from people with recent negetative feedback in their histories. (Not that I’ve had to do so more than a couple of times.)
I haaaate eBay. Only went on once, and have never since been back. I found that if I found an item I liked, invariably I would bid, say, $50. Then someone would wait till five seconds before the auction closed and bid $51.
When I go shopping, I either want to buy something or I don’t. I don’t expect to go to Lord & Taylor’s and find a skirt I like and say, “I’ll take it,” only to have the saleswoman say, “the woman next to you wants it, too—you’ll have to arm-wrestle her for it.”
Every US ebay buyer needs a damn good e-friend in Europe, and vice versa. I have e-friends in London and Germany, so I can bid on “only USA” when they want it, and they do it for me in Europe. We got the three main bases of musical theatre covered.
Nowhere in my listings does it say “ignore the ‘will only ship to the US’ part, it’s just there as a default.” Just because someone else may use it as a default and not really mean it doesn’t mean that is the case with me, and it’s moronic for a bidder to assume I’m just kidding. I do not quote international shipping costs in my listings because I’m not shipping internationally! I’m not a retailer who needs every sale - this is a profitable hobby for me, and I do not wish to stop selling because of an occasional idiot. Now… in this particular case, it’s actually less hasle to ship the damn thing to Holland than it is to argue with the guy, and I have every intention of blocking him from future auctions.
Wry,
I had a person win an auction that specifically said “Ship to US only”- it was an old Pet Shop Boys CD, and aparently he just could not get it in his country (Japan). He won the auction, then sent me an e-mail basically saying “I’m sorry- I know it says not out of the US, but will you please do it just this once? Please, please?”
I relented only because he went on and on about how bad he wanted this cd, blah, blah and he sounded really desparate. It was a pain in the nuts and I cordially invited him to never bid on my auctions again, which he agreed to. If he’d just e-mailed me to ask, it would have been much easier to deal with.
I once put a high bid on a bead lot (higher than I wanted to, but if it came up, I would have paid it) but someone outbid me. She then had the nerve to send me an email saying that her bid was only $1 more than mine and I could have it if I wanted it. I politely told her no thanks and waited for the seller to put up another lot of these beads and got it for $50 less than I would have if I accepted the high bidder’s offer.
Lesson: If you’re going to overbid on an item, be prepared to have to make good on it.
Also, I always pay in a timely manner but got a negative feedback because the seller put it in for the wrong bidder. NIT! Pay attention when you’re doing feedback. “Oops, I’m sorry,” doesn’t really clear it up!
I have had that happen too, but if you’re willing to pay $51, then put in $51. That person might have actually entered $75 as their maximum, but eBay only bumps it up to the next highest amount to outbid the current high bidder.
If I REALLY want something, I either Buy It Now, or try to be around when the auction is ending. But usually I just put the maximum I’m willing to pay. Part of the fun, sometimes, is the auction itself.
I usually only bid on auctions that are about to end, anyway, and usually auctions that have no current bidders. I shop for bargains and cool stuff that got overlooked, not collectables or anything “hot.”
I love Ebay, and I never, NEVER bid more than a minute before the auction ends. If you think about the nature of the bidding process you will see that there is no need to do so, all you end up doing is needlessly raising the price. Everyone and a while you will see a great item for sale and watch as some complete n00b twit rebids every time someone outbids him, effectively increasing the price by several multiples. It does not matter who the high bidder is at any other time except the end.
However, when I sell something you are more then welcome to bid as much as you want!
PS, there is one exception, I will occasionally be the first bidder, or bid early on some obscure thing that I am sure no one else will care about.
I specifically say in my Ebay ads that I am NOT accepting Pay Pal for the item, then the first thing the winning bidder does is try to pay me using Pay Pal. When I e-mail them reminding them I am not accepting Pay Pal, they get pissy and want to cancel the entire sale.
Then there’s the motorheads selling vintage radar detectors.
“Fuzzbuster” is the name of an actual model made by the Electrolert Co., it’s not a generic term for a radar detector, moron! If the detector your selling is made by Fox or Whistler, say so.
Also, quit advertising that it picks up “Y” band radar. There is no “Y” band radar, there never has been! And the actual Fuzzbuster unit you have was made in 1975, not the 1950’s like you’re advertising.:rolleyes:
Then there’s the retractions I get from people claiming their 8 year old kid bid on something not knowing what they were doing. Yeah, right.:mad:
Why do people keep asking what color by Gameboy Advance is? I can’t imagine anyone really caring what color it is just so long as it is in good condition. Is there some sort of GBA fashion I’m unaware of?
A question for the more experienced ebay user- I recently was high bidder on a cd, then when the seller emails me to confirm the win he tells me that the cd is a homemade CD-R. The listing did not state that it was a bootleg, I mean homemade cd. I complained to ebay about the sell and that I did not want the disc. Ebay sent me a form letter saying they would investigate but that matters between ebay and the seller were private. I can understand some privacy but I am part of the episode that is taking place.
I use ebay occasionally to find rare items. Can the seller give me a bad mark for bidding and then not buying? Can I get ebay to confirm my complaint against the seller and strike my winning bid? Any suggestions?
Bootleg CD (CD-R)…Don’t pay if it didn’t say in the auction what it was! Sounds like the seller wanted to put something illegal up (As bootleg cds are, I’m pretty sure) and not get his auction pulled. Give him a big old negative and in the comments section say WHY you negged him. Hopefully then no other poor bidders will make the same mistake and bid on this loser’s auctions. Lots of people are afraid of leaving negative feedback because chances are, you’ll get a retalitory neg out of it. But eBay works because of feedback - people need to know what kind of sellers they’re dealing with. Don’t let people who pull that kind of stuff get away with it.
THe seller can give you a bad mark if you are the high bidder and don’t pay. If you don’t win the auction, no feedback can be left. If you are the high bidder you have an obligation to follow through - unless it is as in the case above - the seller emailing you after the auction and disclosing an important fact about the item that should have been said in the auction listing.
I buy and sell fairly often on eBay. I collect first edition books and like to buy Chinese movies. Most of these are VHS bootlegs off of DVDs. I don’t really care as long as I know. The couple of times I’ve gotten poor quality dubs, I’ve returned them for refunds.
I’ve learned to ask the important questions before bidding. Too many sellers don’t know how to assess whether a certain book is a true first edition. Some even sell book club editions as firsts!
As for my bidding strategy, I determine what my max bid for a certain item is…and then I make it. I don’t try to wait until the last few minutes. If someone snipes me, so be it. They were willing to pay more than I was for a certain item. Another copy will come up for sale soon enough. The (usually) fallacy of believing that ONE auction represents the only chance you’ll ever have to get an item can be a costly lesson.
I have had a couple of rip-off sellers. One just took the money and ran. Good feedback until I guess he tried to finance a summer vacation or something. Ripped off a bunch of people in a 2-3 week period.
Another was selling a set of 14 Jet Li movies. I prefer the overseas tapes rather than the U.S. releases (as these are usually butchered in the editing). Anyway, they were described as “subtitled” and were from a U.S. seller. Turned out they were subtitled in Korean! Hmmmm, failed to mention that little bit of information. Oh well. My wife is Korean. I’m sure someone in her circle of friends will appreciate these movies.
But all in all, eBay has been a boon to my collecting. It’s the closest thing I have to a hobby right now, and I couldn’t have amassed the collection I have (for the price) without eBay.
Here’s my favorite eBay-ism: This one genius put an item up for auction, and said something to the effect of “I don’t know anything about this item, so I can’t describe the condition. Please refer to the pictures before bidding.” But the pictures were the grainiest, out-of-focus garbage you have ever seen in your life. You could tell absolutely NOTHING from them. Needless to say, I did not bid on this person’s auction.
I especially love it when the “Rare” items are, for instance, recently released stadium give-away bobblehead dolls and there are thirty different auctions for the exact same item. Yeah. That’s rare.
