Posts Tagged ‘understanding eBay’

Dear eBay Queen;

I guess I don’t fully understand the feedback system — somewhere along the line it seems that anything other than glowing praise, and raving about how great a seller is, can somehow be interpreted as negative. I purchased a coffee maker on eBay.  It was advertised as “new in opened box”

I received it promptly.  When I took out of the box and turned it upright to put on my counter, the base, and all of the internal parts connected to it fell out. Upon closer examination, it appeared that someone else had problems with it, as someone had unsuccessfully attempted to repair it with what appeared to be hot glue.  It may have been the seller that attempted the repairs, or it may have taken place before the seller acquired the item.  The seller may not have even taken it out of the box.  I have no way of knowing.  I sent a note to the seller; he offered to refund my money.

I am not out any money, but I also do not have a coffee maker.  I am out the time involved in repackaging and returning the item.  To me, positive would be if I bought a coffee maker, received it, it worked, the deal is done between me and the seller.  Negative would mean I bought it, it was defective, the seller said “Who cares” and I am stuck with a coffee maker that does not work. Neutral would be somewhere between the two — bought it, paid for it, didn’t work, returned it, and got a refund.

Why is the seller so bent out of shape that I gave him a neutral rating — and I had to wait a week before I could even leave it?

Joe Blake

Dear Joe;

You aren’t wrong for thinking this way.  In the real world, a neutral of this kind wouldn’t mean too much to the seller or the buyer.  We are taught since elementary school mistakes happen.  In the world of eBay, it means something different. When people see a neutral or a negative on someone’s feedback page, they are taught to assume that they are an untrustworthy seller, not that a mistake was made.

Dear eBay Queen;

On the 23th of February, I won a laptop computer on eBay. I paid for it on the same night. After receiving no responses to my requests for a shipping update for three days, I was refunded by the guy.  He said that the PayPal account I had sent it to was a joint account he was trying to close, and to please send it to another address. He sent another bill and charged double the shipping, (this might have been a mistake, but I wouldn’t know.) I requested another invoice, received one through eBay, and paid it, (with appropriate shipping costs this time). This payment went to the same account that the guy was “trying to close”. This occurred on February 26th.

I’ve messaged him five or more times since then requesting an update on shipping and received nothing. Further, I tried messaging him on AOL Instant Messenger (his “new” PayPal email was an AOL address), and the phone number that he listed in the eBay listing is a bad.  To date, I’ve received no laptop, no messages, no refund, and can’t get a hold of him. About the only thing I know for sure about this guy is his mailing address, which was listed in the listing (he lives about 3 hours from where I live.)

Where do I go from here? If I file a PayPal complaint, will that get me a refund, or do I need to contact my bank? Is there anything else I can do?
Justin; Lawrence Ks

Dear Justin;

I can imagine the frustration you are feeling.  If this were my transaction, I would contact them through eBay’s email system and have their contact information emailed to me.  You can do both of these by following the instructions here: http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/contact-member.html.

If your seller does not respond or if the phone number is bad, I would start the claim process through PayPal.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item 140384097750 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page): Do you remember the 80’s? Did you like Nintendo? Check out this game Factory Sealed NES Nintendo Stadium Events SOLD $41,300.00 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140384097750

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.