Archive for April 22nd, 2010

Dear eBay Queen;

I’ve been selling for a couple of months now, and the stuff that I pick to sell seems to be a real hit or miss.  I don’t know how to guarantee sales on the items that I buy.  Do you have any suggestions for me?

Good Enough Stuff

Dear Good;

In today’s economy it’s hard to gauge what will make a good sell and what will be a dud.  Here are a couple of ideas that could help you out when you are on the hunt for eBay items.

1. Pick a category or sub category each week to go through.  Search by “completed” and by “highest price first”.  This will show you what is selling and for what price.  This way when you are at that estate sale or auction you’ll know if you should buy that item.
2. Purchase or use your Internet ready phone.  While you are out and about you can check to see what an item sells for, and if it is worth purchasing.

Dear eBay Queen;

After all my years of buying on eBay, it seems I finally need to open a dispute.  eBay’s been promoting their Buyer Protection when I’ve been on the site. Have you ever used this PayPal process? What about the eBay dispute process? Or are they the same?

I purchased a mint Monopoly collector’s edition game.  I’ve emailed the seller several times, and she has ignored my emails.  I’ve read through all of the feedback left for this seller, and when she handles a problem she appears to be emotional and defensive, so I’m not holding my breath.  I’ve decided that if she’d pay for my return shipping, I’d be willing to leave her a neutral, but right now she’s looking at a fat, red negative.

The game was shipped missing some of the parts, which she apologized for and offered to ship. If that’d been the only issue, no problem, but she never offered a resolution about a “mint” game with the dents and dings in the box that didn’t close properly.  My son wanted this since it’s a “collector’s” edition, it’s not so collectible if it’s not “mint”. I’d like to handle this in a way that will minimize the headache I’m about to endure with this transaction.

Do you have any suggestions on going through eBay or PayPal to get my money back?

Angie; Kansas City, MO

Dear Angie;

I have used both of them. PayPal and eBay work together to solve disputes.  If you open a dispute in PayPal it will show in eBay and visa versa.  The process sometimes takes a long time, up to 42 days in some cases.  Something to think about before opening a dispute; if you want your seller to pay for return shipping, neither PayPal or eBay require the seller to pay for the shipping back to you.  If what you want is the return shipping paid, it would be best if you worked it out with your seller, before involving eBay.

In this situation, I would email the seller (again) and let them know you would like to send this back for a return.  Make sure to keep your email upbeat and positive.  Try not to get into a war of the words.  That never seems to work out, and will most likely not end the way you want it to.  Give the seller two days to respond.  If she doesn’t, then go through PayPal and file your dispute.

It is important to not threaten the seller with negative or neutral feedback, as this is against eBay policy.  If I were your seller and read the note you sent to me, I would think “the best I could do is a neutral?”  What’s the point?  Your seller already knows you are contemplating a negative.  When a buyer is unhappy all sellers know that a negative could happen.  I think a better wording to them would be; “I would like to return this and have my return shipping covered.  I hope we can resolve this amicably, I really want this transaction to end on a positive note.”

I hope you and your seller can work this out.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item 350330036486 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page): Have you ever wondered how to get your hands on a Emmy? Here’s a 1996 Emmy from TV’s General Hospital for Costume Design. SOLD $5,500.00 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350330036486

Suzie Eads is a nationally known eBay marketer and eBay trained Education Specialist. She lives in Rantoul. Do you have a question for the eBay Queen? E-mail: questions@asktheebayqueen.com.