Archive for the ‘Product Help’ Category

Dear eBay Queen:

I am so mad and frustrated right now that I could spit nails.  I sell new makeup that I either purchase on sale, or buy from a wholesaler. I’ve done pretty well with selling makeup until recently.  I’ve had a slew of buyers that think my makeup is for them to just “try out” and then send back!  My current problem is a buyer that after buying foundation from me, sent an email 20 days later saying she did not like it and it was broken.  I emailed her immediately after that email and said the following:

Thank you so much for letting me know there was a problem.  I am so sorry your foundation does not match your skin tone. When you say it was broken, do you mean the bottle is broken or maybe the brush applicator? As per my listing I do have a 14 day return policy, but I would like for you to be happy, so if you would like to send it back, I will be happy to refund your money, and not apply my return policy to this listing.

Here’s the letter I received in response to that, I left all the spelling errors in there for your reading pleasure.

Dear idioit;

Congradulation in successfully making me angry. What the hell has happened to customer service these days?  I have thrown away your make up as it was BROKEN.  Don’t you understand that? Some sellers will do anything to take advantage of a buyer! If it was B R O K E N why would I send it back to you? Can’t you just make an insurance claim or SOM THING? What is wrong with you? You need to refund my money immedatly or I will be leaving the feedback and it won’t be positive!

I contacted eBay and asked them what to do.  eBay’s customer service told me that since it was makeup and she used it, I did not have to refund her money.  I contacted the buyer back, and told her what eBay told me.  She then gave me a negative feedback.

Her feedback complaint read: “MakeUp tOo LiGhT Seller sTooPiD I tHrew AwAy Not a ReFunD GiVen” (yes, it looks just like this)

I called eBay back, and they told me it was not eligible for removal.  I don’t understand, how I followed what eBay told me to do, and they will not remove the negative! Why am I being punished?

Harriet, Gardner

Dear Harriet:

If your email wasn’t so true it would be funny. The buyer didn’t spell “idiot” or “stupid” right, which seems like irony to me, plus her statement “Congradulation in successfully making me angry.” Sounds like something The Hulk would say, “You don’t want to make the Hulk angry.”

Based upon her statement; “You need to refund my money immedatly or I will be leaving the feedback and it won’t be positive!” I believe that would be considered feedback extortion.  I would contact eBay again by phone, and point that out in her email to you.  They should remove the negative right away.

I am sorry that not only were you abused by your buyer, but in a way you were mislead by eBay’s Seller Support.  The CS representative should have told you that even by following their instructions you could still receive negative feedback, but you would not be in violation of any of eBay’s policies. This is one of the ridiculous things about eBay.  You can be COMPLETELY in the right and still receive a negative feedback.  I’m pretty sure your negative will be removed, but if for some reason it’s not, rest in the knowledge that this negative feedback only makes you look good, and the buyer look ridiculous.

Dear eBay Queen:

I am hoping to bid on a trailer today but I have become concerned because the seller has not responded to multiple emails I have sent him over the past few days. He has a zero rating, so maybe is new to eBay- but also maybe something’s wrong? What should I do?

Antonia

Dear Antonia:

If the seller isn’t responding to you, I would not purchase from them, especially on something as expensive as a trailer.  There is always the possibility that there was an emergency in the sellers family etc, but when it comes to large purchases if I can’t get a hold of the seller, I will not make the purchase.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 300690552662 Summer is coming and those herbs aren’t going to dry themselves! Check out this Antique 18^th Century Iron Utensil or Herb Rack great Curled Heart Design. SOLD $710.00 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&hash=item46028db756&item=300690552662

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

Dear eBay Queen:

I love eBay!  After reading your blog, I guess you do too, huh?  I’m having a hard time with Turbo-lister and the logistics of getting all my stuff organized, but I’m making lots of money and I get to shop without guilt, which is cool.  I’m really into vintage and unique stuff.  Could you give me a few tips to keep me on track and organized?

I’m thinking I want to do this full time.  It’s such a rush!  Last week, I sold a wicker doll carriage for $100.99 plus shipping that I bought at a garage sale for $5.00.  How cool is that?  A few months back, I sold a silver baby cup with someone’s name already engraved on it for $70.00!  I bought it for .50 cents.  I think I am the garage sale queen!  I also had great luck the one and only storage unit I bought for $140.00.  It wasn’t that great, honestly but it had 6 industrial European hinges that sold for more than I paid for the whole unit!  I’m still selling that stuff.

BTW, It also contained a 1947 WORKING Singer Sewing Machine that’s sitting in my garage.

Since I’m into the vintage stuff, research takes up a lot of time but I’m good at it.  Please give me a tip or two………

Marcella dreamrich on EBAY

Dear Marcella:

Congratulations! eBay is a great way to make extra money, or to earn full time money. Your sales have been phenomenal! You’ve got a great eye. My downfall to selling on eBay is the research. I enjoy researching things, but it takes up so much time for me to do it that I’m just researching and not writing stuff up.

Here are some tips to help you stay organized.

•  Use Turbo-Lister’s Item numbers as your inventory numbers.
• Have a separate place for wrapping packages and photographing your items.
• Have specific times you wrap packages, write up eBay items, research, etc.
• If you are going to do this full time, make sure you allocate the proper space and time for your eBay business.  Both of those things can get out of hand quickly.

Turbo-lister is a great program to keep you organized, plus it’s FREE.  The one drawback to Turbo-lister is that it doesn’t schedule listings for free.

Dear eBay Queen;

Someone who owns a donation thrift store wants me to sell items for them. They are in Colorado, and I am in Western Kansas. I was thinking of having them set up their own eBay ID, and I would use my listing program to list the items for them. They would send me pictures for the listing, I would list the items and then they would ship and take care of everything else. I feel uncomfortable selling out of state like this and with not being able to handle the items and take pictures like I normally do. That is why I think they should use their own eBay ID. I just wonder if you have done anything like this before.

If I decide to use my ID, should I specify in the listing that the item is coming from another state, or do I change the location box. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I don’t think the person selling the items has had any experience with eBay, so that is another concern. The store is about 100 miles away.

Lisa, KS

Dear Lisa:

This could be quite a tricky situation. You would be covering yourself by having the seller use their own eBay account, but they still could quite possibly not ship items out as fast as they should, and their photos could be a complete mess. Would there be any way for you to make a trip out there once or twice a month? That way you could have the stuff in hand, and make sure it was packaged correctly and shipped on time.

If this isn’t feasible, I would consider referring them to a Trading Assistant in their area.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 270838009628 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page.) What was your favorite Saturday Morning Cartoon?  Mine was Scooby Doo.  Check out The Mystery Machine, Scooby’s Van.  SOLD $9,900.00 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd=ViewItem&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649&item=270838009628

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 am a seller but also a buyer.  I bought and paid for 4 different pairs of jeans from a seller and asked for combine shipping.  The seller gave me an invoice for all 4 pairs of jeans, but the invoice did not have a discounted shipping rate. I emailed the seller and asked once again for a combined invoice, and a discounted shipping rate.  She sent me an email back and told me that it is not stated in the listing that she gives a discount.  I wrote her an email back and explained to her that I hope these jeans are shipped individually since she would not give me a discount on the shipping.

The seller shipped the jeans out, and they were of course shipped together in a Tyvek type envelope. I looked the jeans over, and I noticed that one pair had a tiny hole in them. I went and checked out the listing and noticed that it did not say ANY WHERE in it there was a hole in the jeans.  I emailed her to let her know, and she emailed me back saying she did not take returns!

I do not think I should have to pay individually priced shipping rates when a seller ships the items all together.  The seller charged me 34.95 for shipping each of these jeans individually and really paid 14.50 to ship them all together!

This seller has 100% feedback rating, but if I have anything to say about it, she won’t for long.  Do you think I should leave negative feedback for this seller?

Rebecca; Dallas, Texas

Dear Rebecca:

From everything you’ve said, I would be pretty miffed at this seller as well! Negative feedback is probably warranted in this situation, but I believe in giving someone every chance to do the right thing.  Before leaving negative feedback on the jeans I would send her an email similar to this:

I purchased four pairs of jeans from you.  Three pair are as described, but one pair had a small hole in them.  I see from your listing that you do not accept returns, I am hoping in this case you will make an exception as I they were not as you had listed them.  I am also unhappy that you charged me for shipping each one individually, when in fact you shipped them all together.  I requested that you ship them individually to me since your shipping charges reflected that.  I am not as happy with this transaction as I should be, and hope that you will rectify this.  The other 3 pairs of jeans are perfect, and I really like those. 

I hope your seller will do the right thing.  If she does not, you can always open a “not as described case” though eBay.

Dear eBay Queen:

I’m pretty new to selling. My sales have been steady and consistent for the last couple of months, but here lately my sales are in a slump. What can I do about this? Wait it out? Revise my auctions? I know it’s been only a short time, I just need some reassurance, and to see if maybe you have experienced the same thing.

Currently I’m running just auctions.  I don’t have a store yet (sitting on the fence until I learn more).  I try to have at least 20 items listed at any given time.   I’m listing several times a week.  My current inventory is dolls, books, rubber stamps and scrapbooking supplies.  Recently, I added some Christmas ornaments.  I think my listings are pretty diverse, to say the least.  Do you have any advice for me?

Lilly; Ottawa, KS

Dear Lilly:

I’m impressed with your 20 listings each week!  Selling slumps happen no matter what you sell.  It maybe the wrong time of the year, the price may not be right, the photos may not show a good representation of the item, or there may be no discernable reason as to why it hasn’t sold.

An eBay Store is a great way to go if you have the product to put in there. To have a basic store, I would say you need at least 100 items. This is a nice amount of inventory, and will make for a more successful store.  Do you think you have that many items to list?  A basic store is 15.95 a month, plus the listing fee.

If you send me a link to one of your auctions, I would be happy to check out your listings to see if there is something you could do spruce them up.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 220870022893 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page.)  Do you have any Dinosaur fossil in your backyard?  Check out this Hell Creek Dinosaur Fossil Large Ugly Tyrannosaurus Rex Tooth SOLD $660.00

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HELL-CREEK-DINOSAUR-FOSSIL-LARGE-UGLY-TYRANNOSAURUS-T-REX-PREMAXILLARY-TOOTH-/220875219456  

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