eBay is Serious Business

[Dreamstalker]

I used to pack hardcover gaming books in the free PM boxes you can get at the Post Office (key word is free). Inexplicably, I was soon told to stop using boxes and stuff them into PM envelopes with very little padding (said books wrapped in foam would not fit in the envelopes--cluebat to the office please!). Both the boxes and envelopes were to be had gratis, difference being we had about 569800 of the envelopes in the office, which by the way were completely useless for shipping what was being sold online.

So we were sending out 4-pound books in envelopes with zero padding; miraculously most arrived unscathed, but there were a few that had obviously been dropped off a dolly/belt that had bashed-in corners. I replaced the books as I was told to (refunds/discounts were also offered, but buyers wanted their books perfect), then got complained at when the damaged book had to be discounted in-store (scuse me, but that's not my fault, I was just doing what you said I must).

I generally only use envelopes for items that I'm positive won't be damaged if it gets dropped (those PM envelopes are unsuitable for heavy items as I was told on the packaging discussion board).

[RedRoseSpiral]

That was an interesting job... I got to see some really cool vintage items, like a classic 1970's Start Wars AT-AT in good condition.

I am so jealous. I wish I could afford one.

OT:
Packaging costs never really bothered me, but then again I save both boxes and bubble foam that comes with my purchases. Not the best idea for a business on eBay, but for your average seller/buyer it's a fine idea.

[SongsOfDragons]

I've never sold on Ebay and my score as a buyer is like 6. The only trouble I've ever run into was when I bought a labmade paraiba tourmaline off a bloke, and heard nothing for a month...because they guy was in a car crash and had been bedridden for a fortnight. He sent so many group emails, begging people to give him time to get out of hospital - I finally did recieve my shiny and left him applicable + feedback, but nobody else listened to his emails and I think he was chucked after so many negatives.

People can be arseholes. Sometimes I think I'm one of the few who get the warm-fuzzies for doing good deeds still...

[Andara Bledin]

Yes, It is the sellers responsibility to package intelligently.

Yeah, that's totally not what I said.

I mentioned "what if" the shipper crushed a package?

I've received items that have forklift tracks on them from some shippers! How in all the 9 hells can that be the fault of the seller who handed the item off to the shipping company?

If the packaging is sub-standard, that's one thing. But if the packaging was sufficient for all reasonable possibilities and the shipper goes above and beyond in their destruction, that is something that they buyer needs to discuss with the seller prior to considering Feedback.

If anyone cares, Roadway (at least in the 1994) was lousy about this sort of thing. I worked for a company that handled State-side distribution for companies such as Acclaim for things such as Gameboy cartridges. A Gameboy cartridge is a pretty sturdy thing, and we'd regularly get demolished boxes in from Roadway where they had managed to physically crush several cartridges and partially damaged quite a few more.

^-.-^

[gunsage]

I had something sorta OT kinda like this that I'd like to share. I needed...well...wanted another PS2 controller. Now, I could've done the smart thing and gotten one in the stores, but who else in here likes to save a few bucks? That's right. I went on Amazon and ordered one from an "esteemed" seller. Sure, I was due to save a few bucks. That's fine and all...except the controller was CRAP. I mean, yes, it was used...but you could hear something rattling around inside and...yeah...it just didn't work right.

I immediately contacted him. For starters, he took his time responding to me. Second, he claimed he'd send the money back AFTER I sent the item back to him. I don't know if that's protocol or not, but no money plus no product...well...it made me a little uncomfortable. I was considering keeping it just to see if maybe I was a moron and did something wrong, but then I kept getting an annoying "leave feedback" thingy...so I left negative feedback. This dude did a complete 180. I honestly considered keeping the feedback on there, but he made every effort to let me know he wasn't trying to swindle me (immediately refunded my money, apologized, etc.), so I removed it.

Fun stuff, that. That's why I ALWAYS try my products before I ship them...just in case.

[Andara Bledin]

Second, he claimed he'd send the money back AFTER I sent the item back to him. I don't know if that's protocol or not, but no money plus no product...well...it made me a little uncomfortable.

I understand how that can have you twitchy, but it is actually fairly standard, and actually recommended that in cases of returns, you get the product back.

There is a very common scam where a buyer will get something, claim it's broken, and then demand a refund without returning said broken item.

A stellar seller will refund shipping both ways, a decent seller will at least refund shipping one-way, and a merely adequate and not-so-great seller will refund the item price only.

^-.-^

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Hey...check this out!

Ebay pays buyers to leave negative feedbacks for sellers!

Looks like I picked the wrong time to start selling again (trying to raise money for vacation this spring)

Yes, I know this is a link. I think it is at tangentially relevant to the discussion about ebay here.

[CancelMyService]

The hilarity continues.


After a few days of silence, I get an email saying that the crazy lady paid for mediation to "settle the dispute between us". I followed the link and chose the option to turn mediation down (and had to click about a thousand "BUT YOU REALLY SHOULD DO THIS, DO YOU REALLY NOT WANT TO?" prompts from eBay first) stating there's nothing to mediate and she's just some nutter with an ax to grind.


Now she's filed an unpaid item claim against me, which is the ultimate in petty bullshit. An unpaid item strike on your eBay account means any time you try to buy something, the seller is going to give you the cat butt face and assume you're going to stiff them. Again I had to reply to her bullshit and state that not only did I pay for the item, she refunded my money and is now on a vendetta because I dared to file negative feedback.

My previous attempts at communication with eBay resulted in a wishy-washy, mealy-mouthed "well if you both withdraw your feedback it will go away" response. F that. I'm not caving in to someone who flat out lies and then goes batshit psycho when called on it.

[Andara Bledin]

An unpaid item strike on your eBay account means any time you try to buy something, the seller is going to give you the cat butt face and assume you're going to stiff them.

Actually, this is not true.

The only people who know that you have an unpaid item strike against you are you and eBay. And the only time it actually means anything to anyone is when eBay decides you have enough of them to give you the boot. (it's not a set number)

^-.-^

[CancelMyService]

Really? I thought it was made public somehow. Still, I worry that she might actually succeed in her quest because she's a Power Seller and eBay will bend over backwards and forwards to please them.

I mean, come on. Who files an unpaid item request on something you issued a refund on? It's starting to scare me a little how legit crazy this woman appears to be. First she is adamant that she was in constant communication with both me and PayPal, and now she's insisting I never paid on an item she ended up having to give a refund on. This delusional behavior is worrisome since the first thing she did when this mess started was to obtain my contact info which included my address.

Fun Bonus Fact: Her feedback history has 39 negatives and 61 neutrals, and almost all of the neutrals are from negative feedback that she was able to bully people into removing. (She has about 4400 positives if you're wondering why I did business with her to begin with).

[Pezzle]

Actually most of my more expensive auctions prohibit people with 2+ Unpaid Item Strikes in the last 6 months or so from bidding. It's not public, but some sellers do have regulations for NO unpaid item strikes either.

[meghann]

I mean, come on. Who files an unpaid item request on something you issued a refund on? It's starting to scare me a little how legit crazy this woman appears to be. First she is adamant that she was in constant communication with both me and PayPal, and now she's insisting I never paid on an item she ended up having to give a refund on. This delusional behavior is worrisome since the first thing she did when this mess started was to obtain my contact info which included my address.

She was just trying to get her final value fee back - in order to do that the seller has to file a UPI. Since you paid, and you have proof because you paid through PP & she refunded, you're fine.

She'll close the dispute & issue you a strike, but you can appeal it & provide your PP transaction number and eBay will reverse the strike.

She sounds like a real winner. I've been following this thread since you first posted because I wanted to see how over the edge she truly was. As expected, she did not disappoint.

[LordGek]

Cool to know as I'd mentioned before I'm pretty sure I've dealt with this idiot before myself and never knew the LENGTHS she'd go through to bully folk down.

My simple question here, how many FRAUDULENT CHARGES can one seller make before they're pulled from EBay? How can they not see this is NOT an isolated incident?

[Andara Bledin]

First she is adamant that she was in constant communication with both me and PayPal, and now she's insisting I never paid on an item she ended up having to give a refund on.

My simple question here, how many FRAUDULENT CHARGES can one seller make before they're pulled from EBay? How can they not see this is NOT an isolated incident?

Ok, how many charges a seller makes are meaningless as regards their reputation with eBay.

What needs to be done is for the buyers so treated to do their own reports to eBay about a seller's unwillingness and/or inability to do business.

In this particular case, since the seller refuses (or cannot) complete the sale, and is being a complete prick, you should go ahead and file a non-performance complaint against them. If enough buyers did their homework and filed those complaints, the seller will get suspended, eventually for good.

Negative Feedback is obviously mostly meaningless. After all, even with all of those Negatives and mutually withdrawn comments, you still attempted to do business with them.

HERE is the page on Seller non-performance. And, the first line of the description of what constitutes such is this:

If a seller has refused to complete a sale and payment has not been sent or payment has been refunded, report the seller. When making your report, include a copy of the email documenting the seller's refusal to complete the sale with the full message text and complete email headers.

To protect themselves from sucky sellers and get them booted, more victimized buyers need to go through eBay's reporting system. Until and unless that happens, the seller would need an egregiously large amount of Negative Feedback and low "report card" numbers before anything would be done. When reports are made, it takes comparatively few reports for action to be taken.

As an aside, you might also consider contacting the more recent buyers to have left bad Feedback with a link to eBay's non-seller reporting page. While you are not allowed to contact others during a transaction, I'm of the opinion that anytime Feedback has been left, the transaction is over.

^-.-^

[CancelMyService]

The thing is (and I feel this is by design), eBay's reporting system is nothing but a series of form letter replies and suggestions to drop all complaints so both parties emerge with clean records and the nutters are free to go back to bullying people.

Is there any way to contact eBay by phone? Dealing with them via email is one of the most frustrating and fruitless experiences ever.