Posts Tagged ‘eBay Queen’

Dear eBay Queen:

I tried to purchase a DVD set on eBay. The seller was in the United States and had countless items up for sale at the same time, with a 99.8 % feedback score.

I purchase the item through PayPal, and the weeks pass with no confirmation email about payment or postage. I started to worry and e-mailed the seller a couple times. A few more weeks pass, and the seller still has tons of items up for sale, including copies of the same DVD box set I purchased and had not received. I went through eBay and received a contact number for him, which turned out to be disconnected. I checked his feedback a few days later to notice someone who purchased the same DVD box set one week after me, had received it before me and left him feedback!

At this point, I’m quite ticked and I have sent him a bunch of emails in a less than polite tone than before. I told him I would be leaving him negative feedback. I continued to watch his feedback and noticed more people received their copy of the DVD set before me, weeks after I had paid for mine! I finally gave up and contacted PayPal and eBay to file an item not received claim and leave him negative feedback. About four weeks later, (after the investigation,) PayPal refunded my payment and I thought that was the end of it.
Another few weeks have gone by, and the seller finally contacted me stating that he just realized I had been trying to contact him, and with no excuse of his lack of contact, implies I HAVE to remove my negative feedback.  Here’s his email:

Hey, dude I really need you to remove the negative feedback.  It looks really bad on my feedback and brings my score down. I know you got a refund for the DVDs, and I’d be happy to email you that box set + the next season if you’d just remove the feedback.

So what do you think I should do? I wouldn’t mind having both of those seasons of my favorite show, but then again the guy is a real idiot and runs his business like he doesn’t care.

Joe, OKC, OK

Dear Joe:

Do you want the two seasons of your favorite show more than you want that sellers negative to stick?  I’m not sure where I would fall on this one.  He wants that negative removed bad!  He’s offering two seasons for the removal.  If you do decide to take his offer, I would make sure you have the DVD’s in your hand before you start the process of removal.

Dear eBay Queen:

I accosted you a few weeks ago at a store, and you were kind enough to give me advice.  We spoke briefly about selling a variety of different items, one of them being ugly Christmas sweaters. It’s funny, because just the other day I heard that some guy is selling them as a business on his own website!  I’m just wondering if it’s really worth it to stock pile these all year, and then sell them around the holidays? What do you think would be the time window where sales are best for this goofy, but oh-so-adored tradition? I was thinking about trying this next year, but want an expert’s opinion about what I’m getting myself into

I have a pretty good eBay business now, and I sell high end designer clothing, perfumes, and shoes on my ID. That ID is not exactly where you would typically see the novelty type item of Ugly Christmas Sweaters sold. Is it better to open up a new seller ID for something like this?

By the way, I just saw advertised that Jimmy Fallon has the 12 Days of Ugly Christmas Sweaters!

Sweater Lady

Dear Sweater:

I did a little checking on eBay. There are currently 37,000 items with “Ugly Christmas Sweater” in the title.  They range in price from 400.00 to 9.99. http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&_nkw=ugly+christmas+sweater&_sop=16  When you look at completed listings, there are more that haven’t sold then have sold.  If you have a successful business selling other things, it wouldn’t hurt to collect and sell a few choice Christmas sweaters.  I would do my research first, and figure out why some sell high and others don’t.  I probably wouldn’t create a new ID just for the sweaters.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 110975785594. Ugly Christmas sweaters have become sort of a trend. The flashier the better. Do you have any old sweaters designed to spread Christmas cheer? Check this one out! Womens Michael Simon Awesome Ugly Christmas Candy Holiday Sweater Size S  SOLD $455.00. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Womens-Michael-Simon-Awesome-Ugly-Christmas-Candy-Holiday-Sweater-size-S-/110975785594

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

Dear eBay Queen:

I must be completely missing something. I just received a negative feedback. The buyer never contacted me about an issue, just wrote in the feedback that the item was damaged, so it wasn’t as pictured.  Well of course it’s not as pictured, it broke during shipping! I don’t know how to avoid getting these surprise negatives from people that don’t even give me a chance to fix problems. I shipped the item Fed-Ex so it was insured.  Have you been experiencing this unfair negative feedback lately? I have had 2 in the last month!

I am also having issues with duplicate listings.  I wish eBay would find a way to help us eliminate duplicate listings before they occur. For example, once an item is sold, it still remains in the unsold list and can get relisted accidentally in a bulk relist. I actually sold an item twice last week that way. But eBay could provide a check on the relist pages to weed out duplicates, right? Once an item is sold delete it from unsold items automatically, or reduce the quantity by one? At the very least, they could provide a warning if an item is being relisted that has already or recently sold. What are your thoughts on this?

Deanna

Dear Deanna:

I’m a little superstitious talking about not receiving negative feedback. I’ve always thought that negatives were a lot like famous people dying, they seem to come in threes.  In the old days a negative was the end of the world.  Now on the new eBay you and your buyer can mutually agree to remove it.

In this situation I would email your buyer and contact Fed-Ex.  I’ve not used Fed-Ex’s insurance, so I am not sure how it works.  I would first contact them and see what the process is; then contact your buyer and apologize all over yourself and tell her what Fed-Ex is doing for her claim.  Once she’s received the refund, ask if she will agree to remove the negative.  Hopefully she will.

I wish I had an answer to the duplicate listing issue.  I have a listing program, and still have issues with it.

Dear eBay Queen:

This is my worst eBay selling experience so far… I have 270+ (100%) feedback.  I sold a brand new PSP. The lady sent it to her brother as a birthday gift. The brother complained that the item has dead or stuck pixels and he wants an exchange or a refund.

I sent some emails telling the lady that a few stuck pixels are normal and I sent some links that describe the issue and how they can sometimes be fixed.

The lady opened a PayPal claim and said this:

I paid for a PSP in NEW condition for my brother for Christmas and I expect it to work. Instead, it has broken pixels and this is not acceptable. My brother has attempted all of the alleged “fixes” that you sent and none of them has resolved the problem. I wish I had never done business with you in the first place. Either refund my money or exchange the PSP for one that works.
I emailed her a link for the product’s user manual which clearly states that a few stuck or dead pixels is not considered a defect and is normal. I also told her that if her complaint is different what is described as being normal, we can try to work something out.

Here’s the response that I get: I have sent a request to my brother to take a picture of the screen so that we can see how bad it is. The bottom line is that the only “buyer’s remorse” that I have is buying from you on eBay. If I would have bought the PSP locally in a store I could have returned it and exchanged it no questions asked. Instead, I get this hassle. This has ruined my Christmas experience with my brother. If you would have disclosed the fact that this is pixel problem is common in PSP’s I never would have bought this. I will have to check in to eBay’s seller integrity standards before I feel safe shopping online again.
Apparently, I ruined her brother’s Christmas. What should I do now?

Erin

Dear Erin:

I would make sure that you have a link to what Sony says about their product when it is new, on the PayPal dispute.  It probably would not hurt to contact PayPal via phone to discuss the case with them.  Since she opened a SNAD (significantly not described case), I would push the fact that the item was as described by the manufacturers own guidelines.  Make sure you point out links to where Sony’s guidelines are for this PSP.  I would emphasize the item was properly described since stuck pixels are considered normal according to the owner’s manual.  Keep in mind, I don’t run PayPal.  In this case I would probably ask the buyer to return the item in its original packaging, and then give them a refund.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 170900333954. It’s that time of year again! Time to put up Christmas decorations! Did you know vintage Christmas items sell? Check out this:  Vintage Poloron Christmas Reindeer Blow Mold Deer Fawn Complete Original Box.  SOLD: $1000.00.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Poloron-Christmas-Reindeer-Blow-Mold-Deer-Fawn-Complete-Original-Box-/170900333954

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.