Posts Tagged ‘eBay Problem’

Dear eBay Queen:     

I’ve purchased several items from the same bead seller. Every order before this one was perfect. I bought some stone beads on eBay, amethyst and cherry quartz. The auctions for both indicated the beads were 16″ strands. I received the items, but they were not described. Instead of receiving a strand of beads, I received one single bead, that I think resembles cherry quartz, but is browner than what was shown in the photo.

I wrote the seller and told him that the amethyst arrived fine, but the strand of Cherry Quartz was missing. I explained I received a single bead, and if I had thought I was paying $14 for one bead, I would not have purchased it.  I stated I would like either a refund of the $14, or for them to send out the strand of quartz that I paid for.

He wrote back saying that he “double checked” his records, and that they have TWO people that check their stuff, and in fact they DID send the order that included BOTH the strand, AND a single bead.

The box arrived sealed, and the strand was not there.  So what do I do now?  He’s a Top Rated Seller and a PowerSeller, so I’m sure there is no recourse for me.

I’ve read some of your previous articles and you suggested going through PayPal, but why would I do this?  They are owned by eBay!  Do you have any other suggestions for me?  If not, I guess it cost me $14, but it will cost him word of mouth and any new sales from me.  Maybe the loss of my sales won’t hurt him because he’s a power seller.

Fran Campbell

Dear Fran:

eBay does own PayPal, but I don’t believe that is a bad thing.  Their partnership will only help your cause.  In a situation like this, I would contact your seller one more time.  Let your seller know that you are a repeat buyer, and that you would be happy to send them a photo of what you received.  Give them a day or so to respond.  If the seller doesn’t respond, I would file a complaint with PayPal.

eBay and PayPal care about your buying experience.  I would imagine that your seller cares too.

Dear eBay Queen:

I had a men’s suit up for sale that was clearly olive green and marked as olive green in the listing. For some reason, the product finder mistakenly had the color as black. This was my fault for missing that.  Before the buyer paid for the item, he tried to back out of the sale by saying he wasn’t sure it fit.  Today I received this email.

Here is the email that the buyer sent me:

“I received the suit yesterday and I have to say I am dissapointed. Quite surprisingly it fits just fine. I will need to extend the waist by an inch or so but the jacket fits beautiiful which was my main concern.

The problem is the color. Your description says black ….the pictures show beigee and the actual color is green!!

I have purchased 11 suits in 4 weeks from ebay and have perfect record of paying and feedback and have been very reasonable with the sellers..

In this case I am lost as I have 3 green suits. If you have something else I would consider it, else I would request full refund incl shipping as the item is grossly misrepresented. You have fantastic feedback and
mistakes do occur. I hope you will rect”

***Yes, he did send the email mid sentence.

Now, I disagree with him on all counts, except that I accidentally put black in the product finder, but the description and pictures are clearly not black. Also, I have no issues issuing a refund, but I want to insist upon my return terms and I most definitely do not want to pay for return shipping.  What’s your opinion on this?

Jaime

Dear Jamie:

There isn’t really anything to do except offer to accept the return.  I would email the buyer immediately and ask them to return the item.  Since there was an error in the listing, I would bend over backwards to make sure the buyer is happy.

They already mentioned your “fantastic feedback.”  While eBay won’t consider this a threat, to me the buyer is saying “hey I’ve seen your feedback and I just might leave something if you don’t do what I want.”  Keep in mind they could be being complimentary, but they are waiting, and believe that you are going to do the right thing.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 390366911972 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page. President’s day was this week!  Check out this Abraham Lincoln Autograph Signed Note.  I would have thought it would have sold for more.   Check it out HERE   SOLD $7500.00

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

Dear eBay Queen:

I had a buyer purchase some earrings on January 30.  She complained my shipping costs were too high.  In the name of customer service I decided to lower the charges by $1.00.  The buyer finally paid on February 6th. I shipped on February 7th and made a label through PayPal.

This week the buyer e-mails me and says "I never received the earrings! What the heck is going on?”  I looked at tracking and saw that it was delivered on Feb.11th. I emailed the buyer to let them know, and they emailed back with their address, and asking me to confirm the address I sent it too.  I realize after looking at the PayPal page, that I shipped to the WRONG address and to the WRONG STATE.

In my defense, it said confirmed address and verified buyer too. I tried to figure out what to do on PayPal, but it looks like now it is up to the buyer to file a claim. Please give me your advice what to do. I don't want to receive negative feedback, and I don’t really think I should refund her money. It is only $15, so I will if I have to, but I don’t want too!

Blue’s Gifts –n- More

Dear Blue:

The first thing I would do is go to the eBay item and check her address out there.  Does it match the one listed in PayPal?  If the PayPal address and the eBay address to do not match the address your buyer gave you, I would call the buyer and let them know.  If you do not feel comfortable calling them, you can email them, but it usually saves some time talking to them on the phone.

I’m guessing your buyer has moved, and did not update their contact information.  You are right that this is not your fault, but the buyer could still leave you negative feedback.  In this particular situation I would work with your buyer to get the item back.  I would call the post office in the town your item was delivered and speak to the carrier about the item.  I have had an item returned to the carrier and returned to me once by doing this.

If your buyer does file a claim, you can always point out that you sent the item to the confirmed address.  I don’t know if this will help you win the case, but it should.

If for some reason it ends up that this was not the buyers address and the mistake is yours you will need to refund the buyer.

Dear eBay Queen:

I had a brand new grandbaby born two weeks ago.  I went shopping on eBay for some cute clothes for her.  Anything that was in her size that I liked, and was listed at .99 I would bid $2.01. I bid $2.01 because I figured people would bid $1.99.  I won some and I lost some.

I did win the cutest handmade outfit.  I won the bid for .99 and $3.95 shipping.  I paid for the item via PayPal and waited for the item to get to me. A few hours later I received an email from the seller telling me I owed her another $2.50 and she even sent me an invoice for it on PayPal. She told me the fees and shipping was more than I paid.  She added a little blurb about how she was selling items to make a profit not a loss and she was not giving this away for free.  I wrote her back refusing to pay the extra I told her I
paid everything the listing told me too and if the shipping was more she should have figured that out before listing the item. I also suggested she should not list items for .99 if she is not willing to sell them for that price. I told her I was sorry and that I am also a seller so I feel her pain but I have taken a loss on items along the way too. She sent me the outfit and it is much nicer than I thought. Now I feel bad.

Should I send her the extra money?

Grandma Jenny

Dear Grandma:

Congratulations on your new granddaughter! You are right, it is the sellers responsibility to make sure the shipping is correct and to make sure their profit margin is what it is supposed to be. They also have to realize that if they list an item for 99 cents and it is not bid up at least a few dollars they are not going to make any profit.  On the same note: if they don't price the shipping correctly they could easily lose money. I would not feel bad about the purchase, you did everything a buyer is supposed to do (bid on the item, won and paid promptly).

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 220730555241 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page): Did you ever save any Matchbooks? Check out this 9500+ Rare Vintage Matchbook Collection SOLD $3560.00 Chek 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? E-mail: questions@asktheebayqueen.com

Dear eBay Queen:

I have a small eBay problem.  I’ve been selling on the internet for 4 years, and it has always been my policy to not accept refunds. I recently sold a card from a card game called Yugi-Oh!.  The buyer paid me $5.00 for the card (including shipping).  He emailed me after he received it and claimed it was fake. 

He was very nice, and asked if he could exchange it or get a refund.  His email was very nice.  He told me “he understands that I didn’t do this on purpose”.  I didn’t know it was fake.  I don’t know what to do; I no longer have the $5.00 in my PayPal because I spent it.  I’m not sure how to give his money back without any money in there.  What should I do? I said no refunds, but I had no idea the card was fake!  I never even said whether it was real or fake anyway, I just listed the picture and the name of the card.  It was only $5.00, and I doubt he will take any legal action, I do want to solve this but I’m  stumped here, what should I do?

Tom P, Gardner, KS

Dear Tom:

I have never heard of a fake Yugi-Oh! card.  I did a little research and found out they are quite prevalent.  Here are couple of websites to help with identifying faux trading cards. http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Counterfeit  and http://www.yugiohcardmaker.net/ .

In a situation like this, I would ask the buyer to return the item for a refund.  I understand your PayPal account does not have the $5.00 in it; you could refund your buyer with an e-check, or add money to your PayPal account now so the money will be there when it is time to refund him.

One of the things you should keep in mind, even if you have a “no refund” policy, is the fact your buyer could still file a claim against you, and PayPal will take the money out of your account without your approval.

Dear eBay Queen:

I sell and collect My Little Ponies. I recently received a negative because a scammer wanted a refund and to keep the item. I was pretty miffed and I blocked the buyer.  Due to eBay's current policy for seller protection and their "Buyer is always right, even when scamming for free stuff" policy, I have started to screen my buyers more carefully.  I am considering canceling bids from buyers that have a habit of leaving a lot of negatives for sellers, or leaving them for unjust reasons. 

Recently I had a buyer that slipped through my usual net and is starting to worry me with negotiations for lower shipping for the ponies after the auction had ended. Luckily, we were able to resolve it, but that kind of thing, (people not getting their way) ends in a negative feedback more often than not.

What are your thoughts on preemptively preventing proven problem buyers from bidding on your items? It makes me feel a little like a jerk and like I am limiting my auctions.  A couple of weeks ago, another buyer slipped through. She bid on 2 of my ponies.  She lost the bid on one and won the other one that she really didn’t want. She sent me 4 or 5 emails complaining about how she lost the bid.  She ended up leaving me a negative for the pony she did get stating that she did not know the pony had orange in her hair.  (The auction had four photos of the pony with the orange hair and even listed out the colors of the pony in the auction).

PonyGRRL

Dear PonyGRRL:

I completely understand your apprehension with buyers who are quick to leave negative feedback.   I believe it is certainly within your right to block buyers that you believe are quick to leave negative feedback.   I would say if you have the time and means to check out each buyer and their feedback they have left, then go for it. 

I really believe eBay needs to do something about buyers who try to re-negotiate the sale after the fact.  It is this very thing that I think is driving some sellers away. 

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item 350407805064 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page): Remember when cars had hood ornaments?  Check out this LV A Ronson Uncle Sam Hood Ornament Radiator Cap SOLD $1,550.00  http://cgi.ebay.com/LV-ARonson-UNCLE-SAM-Hood-Ornament-Radiator-Cap-RAREST-/350407805064    

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