Dear eBay Queen:

I’ve sold off and on for a few years.  This year, because I needed a bit more money, I sold through the Christmas Holiday Season.  My goodness – it’s like the crazy people have come out of the wood work!

Do you think people are more difficult in January than they are the rest of the year?  I sold products this year from March to December.  Do you know how many questions I received in that time period? I had four, and one return. I have -0- items listed in January and I wake up every morning with a problem or two!

The two issues I have that are making me nuts right now are:

• Buyer says that they did not receive their package. When I check the tracking they HAVE received it.  What should I do?
• The buyer lives in Canada and says the item that they received is not “pink enough”. What does that mean?  I have it listed that I do not accept returns on international orders.  Am I going to have to accept the return?  They opened the return request stating that the item was not described and then in the spot where you can leave message it says “You say this item is pink, but it is not pink enough.”

I also have two people that want to return the item because it doesn’t fit. I want to yell “I DON’T ACCEPT RETURNS!”  Do you think that people are figuring out that they overspent for Christmas? And now they need their money back?

Monica

Dear Monica:

I know I have more issues in January than I do any other time of year.  They actually have a term for this called “Blue January”.  Every third Monday in January is now considered Blue Monday.  It’s the day most people start getting their credit card bills from all that overspending they did in December.  I like to think of it as Regretful January instead of Blue January.

I completely understand saying you do not accept returns.  The issue with that is that eBay doesn’t care.  They will force you to accept them, so you might as well accept them on your terms with a smile on your face.  Here’s how I would handle those issues you have mentioned above:

• I am assuming the buyer opened an item not received case. Make sure you go to the case and put your tracking information into the case.  Then at the top of the page, click on “help and contact” follow the instructions and you’ll be given a phone number to contact eBay.  The eBay Customer Service Rep should close the case because it shows the item arrived.
• While you have eBay on the phone, I would ask them to look at this case also. While you will have to accept the return, the buyer opened the case stating it was described correctly, when they didn’t like the color.  By asking eBay to step in with this, the buyer will have to pay for the return shipping

If you are going to sell on eBay I think it would be a good idea for you to re-think your return policy.

Dear eBay Queen:

I sold a bracelet, and shipped it out within 24 hours.  The buyer gave me a negative feedback for slow shipping time.  The item was purchased on the 2^nd, I shipped it on the 3^rd and they received it on the 5^th.  Is that really show shipping time?

Is there anything I can do about the negative?

Katie

Dear Katie:

I would call customer support and ask if this qualifies for removal.  I have seen them remove feedback like this before, and since you followed the rules and the shipping provider backed you up, it should be removed.

Good Luck!

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