Archive for the ‘Detailed Seller Ratings’ Category

Dear eBay Queen:

I’ve been an avid baseball card collector my whole life. While checking eBay for Jeff Samardzija cards that are M.I.A. from my collection yesterday, I found a 1/1 printing plate of Jeff that I wanted. The seller had a BIN for $44.95 or best offer. I decided I better act fast before it sells, so I went ahead and made him a best offer of $25.55. The last Samardzija plate sold for $20.00 and one before that sold for $27.00. The seller then sends me a counteroffer of $44.55, its original starting price. Then he raises the BIN price to $54.95, ten dollars more than the initial by it now! He tried to make it seem like I’m getting some kind of deal because the cards value magically went up $10 because the seller received some interest in the card. After this, I’m thinking this seller is one of those crazy book value losers who are trying to cover the cost they paid for the box with this one card. I decided to send him a counteroffer of $37.55, completely not worth it, but again, I wanted the card. He rejected my offer and sent me this message:

“What’s your problem man? It’s a 1/1 press plate…and a 2007 TRUE ROOKIE….its priced to sell……….with 2.95 shipping….that makes $45 delivered for this……..otherwise when the season starts I hope to get $100.″

In your dreams, buddy! Even his best autographed rookies don’t sell for $100, so keep dreaming and let me know when you come back down to earth and are ready to except a reasonable offer. Unless he gets some drunken moron to buy it, he will never sell that card for what he’s asking for it. By the way, 2007 Just Minors isn’t a “true rookie” of Samardzija, but whatever helps you sleep at night. If you didn’t want to entertain a best offer, why waste both my time and yours and put it on the listing?

I find it really hard sometimes to make sense of people’s stupidity…  Why do you think sellers do this kind of thing with Best Offers?

Collector, Denver CO

Dear Collector:

The logic behind “Best Offer” has vexed me for awhile now.   I think you were more than fair with your offer based on your reason was behind it.  Did you let the seller know why you offered that price? I’m not sure it would help with this seller, but it is worth a try if you really want it. In this instance I would probably move on and try to find another card.  This seller believes their item is worth more than you are willing to pay for it.

Dear eBay Queen:

I won an auction for an Xbox with games on 13th of December.  I paid the seller on the same day with PayPal, and since that time I’ve had nothing with problems with this seller.  He says that he shipped it with USPS, and gave me a tracking number.  I checked the number, and it just shows “it’s left the sorting facility” nothing else!  I don’t think they have even sent it!

I contacted my city’s police department, and filled out the Online Fraud Form.  I have contacted PayPal and eBay, and the customer support person told me to “wait just a bit longer for the item.” I’ve read over the dispute process, but eBay tells me I need to wait at least 7 days before I open a dispute.  The guy’s phone number is in his listing, and I did call him.  He just hung up on me as soon as he heard my voice.

What should I do?  Do you think I will get this Xbox? At the time of the sale he had 405+ feedback, but I just feel like the post office should actually know where the item is, don’t you?

Xbox Buyer

Dear Xbox:

I think I can help ease your frustration with this transaction.  I would say that since you purchased this item less than a week ago, even if it wasn’t the busiest shipping time of the year you need to wait a little bit longer.  I’ve been having problems with my own tracking numbers showing up, and seeming to be hung up in the system when I check on them.  My advice is to wait until at least the 21^st.  If it hasn’t arrived by then, I would contact your post master, and if it hasn’t arrived by the 24^th, I would open a claim with PayPal.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 160918944255. I’d like to have a few of these lying around the house!  Pink Panther Bendable Poseable Christmas Ornament SOLD $899.99. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pink-Panther-Bendable-Poseable-Christmas-XMAS-Tree-Ornament-Dangler-/160918944255

Suzie Eads is a nationally known eBay marketer and eBay trained Education Specialist. She lives in Rantoul, Kansas

Dear eBay Queen:

I’ve been selling on eBay for 6 months. I have a couple of problems.

1.  I sold a vintage oil lamp. I used half of a roll of bubble wrap and around 30-40 sheets of packing paper to ship it. The buyer told me it was broken when they received it. I have in my listings that I do not cover items damaged during shipping, buyers should buy insurance. She did not buy insurance. I told her that I would go ahead and refund her the purchase price of the lamp. She agreed, I refunded her, and now she wrote and wants the shipping costs too! She did not return the lamp to me; do I have to refund the shipping even though she agreed originally to the refund of just the lamp?
2. I sold a scuba BCD. I said in the description that I did not have the means or the knowledge to test it so it was being sold as-is. The buyer is now complaining there is something wrong with it and wants a partial refund. When I looked up similar items on eBay, they were going for $600-$900 for that brand. This one sold for less than $150. The buyer has eluded (never said outright) about feedback. What choices do I have in this case?
3. I mailed a package 14 days ago through USPS parcel post. The buyer has not received it. When I track it, it states that it was last scanned at a sorting facility on October 23rd. What do I do in this case? Do I have to refund for this item since it appears to be lost?

I am just at my wit’s end this week.

Alex

Dear Alex:

I completely understand your frustration.  Here’s what I would do in each case.

1. According to eBay, it is your responsibility to purchase insurance for your packages.  On eBay, insurance is for your protection. In this case, I would refund the total amount including shipping.  If the buyer has given you a reason to think they are not being honest, I would ask them if they could email you a photo of the item.

A good way to look at this: how would you want a seller to treat you if you were the buyer in this case?

1. It can create lots of problems selling things that you don’t know if they work or not.  The best way to do this is to make sure you put ‘As Is’ in the title and several times in the description.  In this situation I would offer a refund once the item has been sent back.
2. I would call USPS 800 number or if you have a good relationship with your post office, I would call and check on the status of the package.  Email the buyer and let them know what you are doing, and ask if they will give you a couple of days to wait for the post office to respond.   Reassure your buyer that you will refund her money if the item is not found.

Dear eBay Queen:

I called eBay to talk to them about a few glitches in my sales.  In this 30 minute conversation I learned more from this one person than I have in the 8 years I’ve been selling!  She explained that Top Rated Seller status doesn’t do much for you.  If people want to search that way it will, but most people just use ‘Best Match’ or ‘Time Ending Soonest’.

This made me do a little thinking. I went to my category and did a little research. It seems that brand new sellers, one had -0- feedback the other 29, and did not have TRS were given high visibility in search! What’s the point of being a TRS if it gives you no advantage over the other seller?

While searching my category, I noticed that there was a lot of nice stuff by good sellers.  I also noticed this crazy phenomenon where people only put 2 pictures and a short sentence for the description.  I probably went through 500 or so auction listings in my category that were ending and saw that many TRS sellers did not even have an opening bid, while some of the new sellers have bids!  Do you think eBay could be influencing the visibility to new sellers?
I lost my TRS in September and my sales have been through the roof!   Could this be an eBay glitch? I am not sure – I think the search is absolutely skewed to display the brand new sellers.

Lindsey

Dear Lindsey:

I wish I had the answer for this.  Unfortunately I don’t know what’s really going on with eBay’s search/visibility results.  I have heard from a lot of sellers who believe the same thing you said about losing TRS status and their sales.

Good luck this holiday season!

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 360503553746. Remember the old Mobil Oil Pegasus Emblem?  Do you have any laying around? They are selling! Check out this 1940’s Mobile Pegasus Advertising Sign. SOLD $1700. http://www.ebay.com/itm/1940s-Mobil-PEGASUS-Die-Cut-Cookie-Cutter-Embossed-Porcelain-Advertising-Sign-/360503553746

Suzie Eads is a nationally known eBay marketer and eBay trained Education Specialist. She lives in Rantoul, Kansas.

Dear eBay Queen:

I have read your article for years. I have taken a class you have given and even spoke to you at Wal-Mart for about selling stuff on eBay.  I know you have said that you don’t let buyers pick up stuff from your house.  I did not follow your directions, so my story will start out this way: I let this buyer picked up the item she purchased on eBay from my house.  She bought a large vintage glass punch bowl, stand and ladle. Get this, she even came to my house and inspected it before she bid!

She ended up being the high bidder, paid with PayPal, came over and got the item, and took it home. About 2 hours after she came to my house, she emailed me thru the eBay message system stating that she broke the base while cleaning it and “please don’t take offense,” but she was going to open a case that the item was significantly not as described, if I didn’t issue her a refund or at least a discount.  I really thought she was joking.  I sent her a very nice email and explained that I was not able to accept a return or give her a refund since she stated she BROKE the item.

Afterwards, I did my homework and contacted both PayPal and eBay. Both parties advised me that I did nothing wrong and to recommend that the buyer file a dispute. I asked how the dispute process works with both PayPal AND eBay. BOTH parties stated that if the case was decided in MY favor, she would be refused a refund and get to keep the item. If the case was decided in HER favor, she would have to return the item to me. After I received the item, I would have to issue her a full refund.
She filed a dispute with eBay this morning. I responded that I was not able to issue a refund for an item that she broke once she got it to her home. Now what do I do?  Do you think eBay will issue her a full refund, allow her to keep the item, AND she will still be able to leave me negative feedback?  How is that fair to a seller that did absolutely nothing wrong?? I will be so ticked if she wins this claim.  The message that is being sent to the buyer is that they can buy whatever they want, file a claim, get a full refund, get to keep the perfectly good item, and get to leave negative feedback

Here’s the funny thing, we discussed you before she left my house!  So maybe she’s reading this article!  Do you have any advice for us?

Sad Seller; Wellsville, KS

Dear Seller:

Holy Smokes!  This is a horrible thing for this buyer to do!  I can’t believe she broke the item and thinks she can blackmail you to get you to refund her money!  I would immediately contact eBay’s customer support, and have them review the email she sent where she said she broke the base and was going to file a claim. If they don’t give you advice on what to do with the claim, I would escalate it.  Make sure before you escalate the claim you refer to the eBay message where she made the threat.  I’m sure her claim will be denied.  When it comes to feedback, I’m not sure what they will do about that.  I would ask the eBay rep what they can do to help you if she leaves negative feedback.

My advice for your buyer is this:  eBay is not Nordstrom’s, Wal-Mart or Macy’s.  No matter how hard eBay tries to make it that way, behind each sale is a REAL person: A real person that is trying to support a family, or raise extra money to pay for braces, or school supplies.  You are not returning something to a huge corporation; you are returning it to an individual that is paying for your mistake.  While we are on the subject of your mistake: you broke this base, the seller did not.  Do the right thing, the honest thing. Admit you are at fault for breaking the base and cancel the dispute.  I hope you realize that I would not condone this if you were returning this to a big name department store.  Either way it is dishonest.  You broke the item and want the seller to pay for your mistake. Once you cancel the dispute, call some of the local antique shops and see if you can find a matching base for your new punch bowl.

I hope this works out for both of you.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 170865128191 Do you love the Olympics as much as I do?  Would you like to own a piece of Olympic history?  Check out this 1948 Olympic Games Original Torch SOLD 10,308.25 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&hash=item27c85af2ff&item=170865128191

Suzie Eads is a nationally known eBay marketer and eBay trained Education Specialist. She lives in Rantoul, Kansas.