Archive for August, 2011

Dear eBay Queen:

I was wondering if you’ve ever had this experience.  Yesterday, I found a pretty common book (at a good price) I wanted on eBay, and clicked on “buy it now”.  It took me to the next page, where there was a message that said something like “this transaction is blocked”.  I didn’t write down the exact words, I was pretty taken aback by it.  It also said something about possible reasons, like the item is no longer for sale.  I just assumed someone had beat me to the buy by a few seconds and went looking for the book elsewhere, found it, and bought and paid for it.  Well, this morning I found an invoice for the book from the person I attempted to buy it from!  I sent them  a message explaining what happened yesterday and am hoping the person understands and agrees to cancel the transaction.  Have you ever heard of anything like this? Do you have any idea what happened to allow the purchase to go through after all?

I heard back from the seller this morning and his response made me wonder if he actually understood my message.  He said he didn’t understand why I had a problem with paying (I had explained about the message I saw, and that I had assumed someone else had “beat me to the buy”, etc.) but that from my feedback remarks this was not typical for me.  He said “in order to get his fees back I’d probably end up with an unpaid item strike”.  I’m going to wait a little while and contact eBay and see what they have to say.  I don’t want an unpaid item strike on my record, but I sure don’t need two copies of the same book now that I’ve purchased a copy from someone else.  I still don’t understand why the page said the transaction was blocked/cancelled, yet I ended up getting an invoice for it.  

Greg P

Dear Greg:

I haven’t heard of anything like this happening. It does remind me of what happens when a seller has blocked a buyer.  Other than your thoughts of someone else winning at the same time, I don’t have much of an explanation.

Since your seller doesn’t seem willing to release you from sale, your best bet would be to contact eBay.   I would be interested in knowing how this turns out, send me an email to let me know how this is resolved.

Dear eBay Queen:

I need your help! I sold a MAC lipstick tube about a week ago, and have sold quite a few things since then. I have a verified eBay account that I’ve had for quite some time.  Yesterday, I went to list another lipstick tube just like the one I sold, and it says that I need to review my PayPal, and verify my identity”. I’ve done this already, so I don’t understand why they want me to do this again.  The instructions also said I needed to Link my eBay to my PayPal, I did again about 6 hours ago and it still doesn’t work!!

I don’t understand why it’s just come up with that, as I have sold LOADS since I verified it.  It’s not as if I’m selling something different, I just re-listed them (not because they didn’t sell).  I emailed eBay and PayPal, and their responses were less than helpful

Are there any tips or anything you can think on how to help?

Rebecca

Dear Rebecca:

I checked the eBay and PayPal boards.  It seems there is an issue with the “tokens”. 

According to the eBay boards the problem you were having has been resolved.  If it hasn’t by press time, I would suggest calling PayPal 888-215-5506 and discussing it with them.  From the research I have done, this is a PayPal issue.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 380361102235 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page Have you ever wondered how much a box of 44 year old Pop Tarts would sell for?  Check out these 1967 Kelloggs Strawberry Pop Tarts Box SOLD $101.00 Check it out HERE 

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? Email: questions@asktheebayqueen.com

Dear eBay Queen:

I was selling a Coach designer purse that I purchased 6 months or so ago in Branson at the outlet store. I listed this in the auction and said I would include the purse, box, dust bag and original receipt when I shipped the item. I did not know it, and no one pointed it out to me, but I accidentally had a typo in the title of the auction.  Apparently some of the other sellers were not happy about this and complained to eBay.

I don’t know why eBay, or the people that were angry just didn’t just send me an email letting me know there was a problem.  I return all emails quickly, and I would have corrected the mistake if I knew. The purse was pulled by eBay saying it was a counterfeit item without even a question or comment to me!

Did they even care about my 100% Positive remarks? I have found that they don’t bother to check or ask questions. They just take the word of sellers (probably their top sellers who are upset that I had the nerve to sell something that they sell).  I went on the eBay discussion boards and asked people there what happened, and I was not treated very well there either.

I am done with eBay, I can sell my items at a garage sale without all the hassle. I tried to call and found it very difficult to talk with anyone. I notice they don’t have an email option for sellers to ask questions. Why not be proactive, answer questions and be customer friendly? After all, who is paying their fees? I do believe it is the sellers. Well, I don’t need to pay them anymore. My husband told me to give it another try, he suggested I write you and ask for your advice in this matter.  So, eBay Queen, what would you do?

Angry, Lee’s Summit, Mo

Dear Angry:

I know where you are coming from, and I completely understand your frustration.  Fashion/Designer items are one of the hardest categories to sell in on eBay.  It is one of the categories where a seller could sell fraudulent or fake goods.

You mentioned you still have the receipt for the item. Did you include this in the photograph?  If I were you, I would contact eBay letting them know you have the original receipt, and would be happy to fax it in to them to prove it is not a fake Coach bag. Once you do that, they will remove the note they have on your account. 

I get that you don’t want to sell on eBay because of how you were treated. I urge you to give them a second chance.  This particular category can be pretty hard to sell in.  There are plenty of “purse snob” out there wanting to knock your listing down any chance they get.  If you do decide to give it another try with this purse, make sure you take a photo of the receipt and include it in the listing.  This is a one-time occurrence, and would not have happened in any other category.

Dear eBay Queen:

I won an auction for PlayStation 3 with games on the 18th of July.  I paid the seller with PayPal within 2 days, and since then I have had nothing but troubles with the seller. He originally said he sent it with UPS, then he claimed he recovered it and was going send the item with FedEx.

I have contacted the Police Department in his town, and I filled out an online Fraud Form.  I just recently learned from reading one of your old posts online that I could use the eBay or PayPal Dispute system.  I have filed a dispute, but I don’t know if that will do anything.  I have called the guy but he always hangs up as soon as he hears my voice.  I just want to know what is happening.

Will I ever get to see the PS3,or at least my money again?

David; Palm Springs, FL

Dear David;

You did the right thing by filing a dispute.  Has he responded to the dispute?  He will need to prove you received the item by entering a delivery confirmation in the dispute console.  If he does not do this, you will receive 100% of your money back.  If he seller has not responded to the dispute after 14 days, you can close it in your favor.  Here is more information regarding the dispute process.

http://reviews.ebay.com/How-to-win-a-Paypal-dispute-for-Buyers-and-Sellers_W 0QQugidZ10000000001676577

 My best advice is to stay on top of this, respond to the seller if and when he comments.  If you don’t receive resolution in 14 days, close the dispute and the money will be put back in your account.  I am so sorry this happened to you.  I hope you’ll give eBay another chance after this horrific transaction.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 130557149948 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page) Do you like Justin Bieber? Do you want to smell like him?  Here’s your chance!  SOLD $189.00  Check it out HERE

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? Email:  questions@asktheebayqueen.com

Dear eBay Queen:

What is the deal with people these days?  In the last three weeks I have had offers on my items that were simply unnecessary! One of those customers offers a super low offer, and I am like, ok I’ll take that, accept offer.  I send them an invoice, and I get the following message.

I love this item, but your shipping is ridiculously high.  I don’t understand why you can’t throw it in a bag and just send it for a couple of bucks. Why do sellers like you need to make money on the item and the shipping?

Why do buyers thing this way?  What can I do to make this situation better? This is an item with shape that would be ruined if crushed if I sent it this way. I thought maybe I should send them a copy of the USPS shipping rate chart, or maybe I could just cancel the sale.   What do you think I should do?

Yesterday I went to the post office and saw something unusual.  I paid for four First Class Parcels at the post office. I didn’t add Delivery Confirmation to any of them (I know, I should have, but I didn’t have time to make the labels). The system generated a small, bar-code sticker that says “tracking” on it. The clerk didn’t know exactly what these new stickers were for — some sort of “internal tracking system,” he thought. I reached for one of the packages still lying on the counter, saying I would write down the number and see if it was trackable. The clerk — a sweet guy who’s been there for years — actually swept it up out of my reach and said customers were not allowed to do that.  I emailed my customers asking them  to make a note of the numbers and email them to me so I can see if they are trackable in the usual way. Do you know anything about this?

Courtney

Dear Courtney:

I have also fell victim to the buyer that refuses to pay shipping.  One way to get around this is to offer free shipping.  I started doing offering free shipping 3 years ago, and have found buyers complain less about the cost of shipping.  In this particular situation I would email them back, and let them know what exact shipping is on the item.  Let them know you cannot ship this in a bag because you are pretty sure it will arrive broken.  I’m sorry you have to deal with this.

I have never heard of the post office doing that. I will do a little checking, with my post office friends and see if they can shed some light on this issue.

Dear eBay Queen:

I met you a few weeks ago and asked you a bunch of eBay questions. I forgot one.  This one has to do with shipping charges.  So, now that eBay is charging fees for shipping, are the fees based on the shipping stated in listing or the actually amount the buyer pays? I ask this because I just sent a combine shipping invoice to a buyer and I would like to know if I’m being charged for the shipping discount.

I’ve taken your advice and I am going to start listing all my items with free shipping starting August 12^th. I figure after that date I won’t need to worry about combine shipping discounts.

Thanks for looking into this for me, and for chatting with me a few weeks ago.

Ann C.

Dear Ann:

The fee is based on the shipping price you have listed and NOT the actual shipping. One of my GTC listings rolled over after 30 days and now there are two separate charges when the item sells. One line shows the FVF for the price of the item. The next line states shipping for that item and it’s FVF. For me, it’s 11%.

eBay has this really cool thing called a fee calculator.  You can enter all the information in for a sale and it will list the fees out for you.  You can check out the fee calculator here: http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/news/Feecalculator.html   Let me know how your new venture in free shipping goes.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 110719930386 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page):  This week I’m on a Mission Trip in Joplin Missouri with 30 junior high and high school kids. Check out this Janis “Joplin” Black and White Photo SOLD $760.00 Check it out HERE

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? Email: questions@asktheebayqueen.com