Dear eBay Queen:
I do not know what to do. I have been selling on eBay 10 years. I have a 100% positive feedback rating and a Top Rated Seller. I also work part time at a day care near my home. I had a buyer purchase a lot of Vintage Barbie clothes from me in October 2019. The total bill was 79.88 with shipping. I insured the package and had tracking on it.
In early November the buyer contacted me and told me they did not receive the package. I gave them the tracking number to let them know that it had shipped and was delivered and the day it was delivered. The buyer opened a Item Not Received request. I uploaded the tracking and 5 or so days later the buyer called eBay and eBay closed the request in MY FAVOR, but refunded the buyer anyway with eBay funds. The buyer promptly left me negative feedback (which was removed by eBay). I blocked the buyer from purchasing from me, because who wants a buyer that does that?
Fast forward to December 31st. I listed about 80 new doll and Barbie listings. I guess my buyer figured out she was blocked because she then messaged me and was ticked she was blocked. I didn’t know what to do, or how to respond. I called eBay Customer support and they told me I did not have to do anything, so I did not respond. She kept messaging me, so I finally told her this:
I am sorry you are unhappy, I don’t know what to say. I spoke to eBay and they told me that
‘I can block whoever I want to.’ I don’t think it is fair that your item shows delivered, eBay gave you a refund and you left me a negative. Please do not message me again. I will not respond and I will report you to eBay.
I have a Linked In, Instagram and Facebook. She stalked me ON EVERY ONE of those social media accounts. I figured this out because Linked In sent me an message saying I had new profile views. When I went to see who, she was one of the people. She liked and un-liked the same photo on Instagram and Facebook. I received a notification that she did both of those things. The worst thing she did, is write an email to the day care I work for. I was just called into my boss’ office and while they thought it was funny, and did not care, it was really embarrassing. My boss offered to send a reply and I asked them not too. Is there anything I can do?
Casey; Amarillo
Dear Casey:
Holy Smokes. It makes you wonder what kind of time these people have? Have you blocked her on each of your social media accounts? Did you report her behavior to eBay? While you may never know what actions eBay takes, they will do something. The last thing I know to do is pay an attorney to send her a cease and desist letter. This might cost anywhere from $50. and $300. for the letter
The only thing I know personally about people who stalk on the internet is, if you don’t give them anything to look for, they usually stop looking. Sometimes responding can just make it worse. It sounds like your employer gave it the exact amount of energy you should. I would let it go for now, but if she continues I would seriously consider asking a lawyer to step in.
Remember people stalk on the internet because it is safe for them. You can say whatever you want because 99 percent of the time nobody is going to do anything about it. It is a exciting for the stalker to get people’s attention, especially people the stalker thinks is more powerful than themselves. Being mean is sometimes a byproduct of being bored. Always remember bored people can be very dangerous. They put their energy toward being mean instead of selling on eBay. 😉
I’ve had my fair share of internet stalkers, some that admired me and some that disliked me. I only had to get a restraining order one time.
I found a couple of articles about stalking.
HERE The Difference between Internet creeping and stalking and HERE Prevent and Defend Internet stalking
Always remember if you feel unsafe to call 911. I am really sorry this is happening to you.
Crazy eBay item of the week: HUGE Vintage Barbie Collection Mod TNT BARBIE & Clothing, Accessories & Case Lot SOLD $1376.00 You can check it out here