Archive for the ‘feedback’ Category

Dear eBay Queen:

I accidently send out a bed in the bag set and it was the wrong color. The buyer (whose address was in NY, opened a dispute for $114. I sent him a free return shipping label,  and I would send him a for a replacement. I then get an email saying he cannot return the item because he lives outside of the US.  He said it would cost $30 to send it back to the NY address and then another $30 to send the correct one to him. I had no idea he was sending this somewhere else. I can’t just refund him $114 without getting the item back! I sure hope PayPal doesn’t go and refund this money without the item being sent back.  Do you think they will?

Also, I am a dumpster diver.  I found a really cool Star Wars R2D2 interactive droid with a table mounted on it, (and it came with batteries!) out behind a grocery store dumpster.  It’s about 17″ tall and moves on command. It’s made by Hasbro and came out in 2002.  I hope to be putting that on eBay soon.  Do you have any ideas how to ship it?

Deb

Dear Deb:

PayPal will require the buyer to send the item back before they refund the money.  I would make sure that you put your return shipping label tracking number so that PayPal can see that it has not been shipped back to you.  Normally, claims close within 45 days.  If your buyer doesn’t do anything in that time, your money should be back in your account in no time.

Congratulations on the great find!  If this were mine, I would box it up, making sure to put lots of padding around the toy.  Since this could end up being a  pretty large, shipping box I would consider using UPS to ship it.

Dear eBay Queen:

I wrote to a seller concerning some jewelry charms that I was interested in. The picture had a group of these charms lying on a table and it was a bit difficult to distinguish the exact detail. I wrote and asked if he/she had a picture of an individual charm. The seller’s response was “Unfortunately we do not.”I thought that was odd, so I asked if it would be possible to take a picture of just one. The response was: “Unfortunately we only sell similar items not exact ones.”I was a bit surprised! I wrote back and asked if I wanted to purchase this exact charm, would you have them. The response was simply “no.”  Now I am really perplexed! How does a seller list/sell a pictured item they don’t have on hand?? I asked the seller if this ever cause a problem with his customers and the response was:

“Our description states clearly that we sell similar items, not exact. All of our customers know this and accept that fact. Most sellers today cannot post exact items due to the manpower required in taking pictures of every single item. That would probably run us out of business. That is just how it is done on eBay and all the large sellers do it this way. ”

Wow. Okay, I re-read the description and it does say “we sell similar items not exact”. But is this truly the way all large sellers work? When I do sell on eBay, I don’t list a lot of items, just a few here and there.  I’m not sure how large sellers operate but this just sounds a little “off” to me.

Ginger

Dear Ginger:

I would bet it is the same item, but not the exact item.  I also do this, when I have multiples of the same item.  It is weird that they would not take an up-close photo for you. Are there other sellers that have the same item up for sale?  If so, I would move on to their items and leave this sellers’ stuff for someone else to purchase. I would be interested in looking at their wording. If you still have it, let me know the eBay item number.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 320761066590 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page.  Were you a stewardess in the 1970’s?  Get out your old gear!  It’s time to sell it.  Braniff Airlines Emilio Pucci Space Bubble Helmet Rain Dome Uniform Hat. SOLD $1650.77 http://www.ebay.com/itm/320761066590?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

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 had over 7,000 feedback with a 100% rating until today. Someone with a feedback rating of 8 just gave me a negative feedback.  The feedback stated “Have not received book as of this date. Paid on 9/12/11 have not received by 19^th.”

He bought the book on the 11th, and it was shipped on the 12th with a delivery confirmation. This was shipped Media Mail (as per my listing), and eBay clearly states on the listing page that Media usually takes 4-10 days! I also sent him an email with this information and the tracking number on it.

He never contacted me, and shipping was within the estimated time. I contacted eBay and they said that feedback was a public forum. If they removed it we would be infringing on the buyers rights! There was nothing they could do about it – even though I did everything right! There has to be a better way!  The eBay customer support person I spoke to said that I should send them a retraction notice after the book arrived and maybe offer them an explanation.

I wrote him a nice email with an explanation, and I am hoping that he will be receptive to revising it. Thank you for letting me vent to you. I know that I am not the only one concerned with this annoyingly unfair system!!  Do you think there is anything else I could do?

Christian, Gardner, KS

Dear Christian:

I have been where you are, and completely understand your frustration.  I don’t know if this would be much consolation, but I’ve received five times the number of questions I normally receive in the last 30 days, and 90% of it was related to feedback.  It seems that many people are receiving or giving negatives lately. Maybe it’s something about late summer that makes people impatient and quick to give negatives.

I think you’ve done everything you can do, except for responding to the feedback the buyer left.  I would respond to his feedback with something like this: “Book sent Media Mail as promised New Buyer did not realize the shipping time.”  I hope your buyer is receptive to removing the feedback.

 Dear eBay Queen:

I read what you told “JP” last week, because I had a problem similar to theirs. I recently listed an item on auction and it sold to someone in Turkey that uses a shipping address in New York. (I normally don’t sell outside the USA, and didn’t offer it to international buyers this time.) I sent the winning bidder an invoice and waited for a response. After several days and numerous messages and invoices, I never receive payment.  No response was received from the buyer. I filed a non-payment claim and waited the four days required before eBay closed the case and allowed me to relist the item. The item sold again to a different buyer. Weeks later, the non-paying buyer was allowed by eBay to leave me negative feedback for a transaction that he did not complete. I was dumbfounded. I called eBay to ask why this happened.  They said I would need to send a request to the NON-PAYING BUYER and ask him to modify his feedback.  Are you kidding me? This fool didn’t pay for the item, didn’t respond to any of the messages I sent, didn’t complete the transaction, had a non-payment claim filed against him that was later closed in my favor, and was then allowed to give me negative feedback that stated: “NO SENT”. Who is running this company anyway? This is the last straw for me! Unless you can tell me that the person I talked to was wrong, I’ll be going elsewhere to list my items! Adios eBay!!

Angry Woman

Dear Angry:

I’m not sure how that happened.  Perhaps you were connected to a brand new customer service representative on their first day?  It is even in the eBay user agreement: http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/feedback-removal.html

Negative feedback is removed if: A buyer fails to respond to a reminder about an unpaid item and the unpaid item is recorded on their account.

Your best bet is to call eBay back, and tell them what happened.  I’m sure you will get it removed

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 330588694086 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page). Everyone needs a hero and a laugh!  Check out this All Star Comic #8 with the first appearance of Wonder Woman! SOLD $55,0000  http://www.ebay.com/itm/ALL-STAR-COMICS-8-CGC-7-5-1st-APP-WONDER-WOMEN-1941-/310340787170

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 have a customer that wanted to buy four different items out of my eBay store.  My eBay listings say I do not combine shipping, because all my items are pre-packaged.  The buyer called me and we talked on the phone about shipping the items together. He asked me to combine the four items in a large box, which I did.  The next day he bought something else out of my store too, but I shipped that separately.

He emailed me to tell me the smaller box got to him last Friday. The large box has not been delivered and it shows on the USPS website that it never left my Post Office. The buyer is now wanting to wait another week to see if it comes or not.  If it doesn’t arrive by next week, he wants me to refund him and me file for the insurance.  He says it takes 3 months for insurance to be paid, and he is not going to wait on the refund for it.  Should I refund him and file or do I make him file? How should I handle this?  It is my first time I’ve ever had an insurance claim.

Theresa

Dear Theresa;

I have always wondered how well your way of shipping works.  In the last 13 years I have contemplated wrapping the items before I send them, but have never taken that step to do it.

The first thing I would do is contact your postmaster.  Give them the information on your package, and see if they can find it.  While you are on the phone with them, discuss the best way to start an insurance claim.  It’s been awhile since I have had a claim with USPS, but I do know it has to be missing for 30 days.  I’m not sure where your buyer got the 3 months.  I would also ask your postmaster if you need your buyer’s signature that it did not arrive.  If you do, I would send the paperwork to them, and let them sign and send it back before I refunded their money.   I hope your package is found and this works out for you and your buyer!

Dear eBay Queen:

I am going to have to file a non paying claim tomorrow. Can this person, (buyer,) in turn give me a negative feedback for pure spite?  I have been lucky and never received a negative in my 6 years of selling.  This time I think the buyer is a little nuts.  They’ve sent me ALL kinds of weird emails about the transaction.  I have found with most buyers, they won’t even take the time to leave a negative, but this buyer makes me wonder.  I strongly believe that if I have to file a non-paying buyer claim, they should lose the privilege of leaving negative feedback.  Is there such a thing? Can they leave feedback for me?

JP; Gardner, KS

Dear JP:

The answer is yes and no.   Let’s say you file a claim tomorrow, and the buyer leaves you a negative an hour later.  That negative will stay there for seven days until you close the claim.  Once the claim is closed, the negative is eligible for removal.  For more information, http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/unpaid-items.html

I’ve had this happen to me before, and it seemed like the longest seven days I’ve ever waited. I even called eBay it annoyed me so bad.  Their advice was to respond, with something like: “Buyer has not paid”.  Don’t mention anything about filing a claim, as your feedback response will be removed, but not the comment the buyer left, unless it also makes reference to a claim.

I hope this buyer is like most, and pays without problems.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 330588694086 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page) Do you like ice cream? I’ve never given much thought to what I use to scoop ice cream out with.  Have you?  Check out this Pistol Grip Round Tube “Old” Ice Cream Scoop SOLD $292.92  http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pistol-Grip-Round-Tube-OLD-Ice-Cream-Scoop-/110736943334

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