Tag Archives: eBay problems

Sometimes an eBay Buyer Steals Your Pictures and It Turns Into a Return Request

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  ** A little background info.  I have a bazillion of this particular item. I fully expect that a buyer who buys this item in the multiple lot I'm selling them is most likely going to re-sell them or modify them and resell them. I do not expect that they are going to steal my photo in the process….

stolenpicremove2  Last Thursday I had an eBayer message me saying that someone has stolen my pictures to a unique item I am selling.

stolenpicremoveI go check, and sure enough they DID steal my photo.

AND because I know how to use "The Google" on the Internet machine… I found their website where they are also are using my photo.

 

removednametg1

Please note the tiny print.. It will be important later in this tale of woe… "condition: New, no signs of wear, No defects, stains, holes or tears, no missing or loose sequins or beads"

I contacted eBay, and the buyer.  The buyer was pretty belligerent and not so apologetic, eBay removed the item.

I also figured out that the buyer had tweeted about their fabulous new item.. that they were using stolen photos to display…

stolenpicremove3

So I retweeted them.  Which ticked them off, and they opened a return request.

In the return request they say they don't need the item any more… and "there were missing sequins".. but on eBay and their website the item was just perfect. eBay wants me to accept the return, because I have a return policy… The buyer/seller of the item sent me a message asking me to remove the tweet, and gave me a sob story of how their business was not doing so well.  I removed the tweet.. because well.. I felt bad for them, and maybe they didn't know they shouldn't steal photos.

What I don't understand.. is they have listed the item on eBay and their own website with STOLEN photos… when they get called out on it, they open a return request, and I am suppose to accept the return because they've opened it. **I've blurred out this person's information to protect their reputation… although I don't really feel someone that is this dishonest deserves it.

How would you handle this?

 

Dear eBay Queen: My American Girl Doll Buyer Is Not Very Nice What Should I Do?

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Dear eBay Queen:

I had sent you an email one time and you really sold me on using Best Offer on my craft patterns.  I had an American Girl Doll set that I did not sell over the holidays, and I put it on Best Offer.  I had 350.00 on the set, and the buyer offered me $320.00.  When the offer came in, I was not home, so I checked her feedback on my phone before accepting it.  The buyer had 100% positive feedback, I always check feedback before I accept a best offer.  When I got to my house, I looked over the transaction only to see that I forgot to look at her “feedback left”, I only looked at the feedback received.  I am slightly freaked out to see that the buyer has left 12 negatives and 1 neutral out of the last 25 feedbacks she’s left!  A week has gone by, and she has not paid for the doll set.  I thought about opening a non paying bidder on her, but perhaps I should just cancel?  That’s what I would really like to do.   The buyer has not responded to the cancellation.  Do you think she’s going to object?  What do I do if she pays?

 I went through all seven pages of feedback she’s left other people, and I cannot believe that she continues to be allowed to buy on eBay!  She has left a TON of bad feedback for a variety of reasons; most were that the item was not received.  Most of the sellers responded with the delivery confirmation number, and when checked the item shows delivered.  eBay should be aware of this, & ban her, since she obviously is a scammer.

I know this is kind of stalkerish of me, but I looked this person up on Facebook, and Googled her address.  She lives in a FANTASTIC house, and based upon my deductions of her Facebook and her home, she doesn’t need to be stealing from eBay seller.  What can I do?

Pat

Dear Pat:

I think the best thing you can do is wait for your time for the cancellation to be up.  If she doesn’t respond in seven days, then go in and cancel.  If she pays, I would do several things to protect yourself:

  • Add signature confirmation  and insurance to the shipping
  • If you are worried about her saying something is not as described, I would video or photograph the stuff as you wrap it. 

I would also use the “report this member link” to let eBay to know about the way she handles herself on the site.  I hope that you come out of this with positive feedback and a happy customer.

Dear eBay Queen:

I’ve been enrolled in hassle free returns for about 2 months.  In early December, a buyer contacted me via email, then started the hassle free return process saying that the item did not fit quite right. It’s been almost 5 weeks, and the buyer has never shipped the item.  I figure the buyer decided to keep it. I messaged them at the beginning of January to see if they had sent it, and I did not get a message back. 

I received an email from eBay that asks if I received the shirt back.  I thought I could cancel the return, but the only resolution I saw was to give a refund, OR have eBay step in.  I clicked on “have eBay step in” and sent a message that pretty much says what I told you.

About 24 hours later, eBay sends me a message that states "We're issuing the buyer a refund for this case. You don't need to do anything else. This case won't be included when we evaluate seller performance. Note: It may take up to 24 hours to update in your Seller Dashboard.
Final decision:  You were not found at fault. Transaction summary: Any remaining funds from this transaction are available"

Have you ever had this happen?  Why would eBay just give the buyer their money back?  It doesn’t seem like the right thing to do.

SD

Dear SD:

I am not sure why eBay give a buyer’s money back to them when they do not follow the rules.  I have had similar things happen to me, and it seems about fifty percent of the time eBay will refund the buyer without them returning the item. Slowly, eBay is teaching me that there is not much reasoning to their madness.

tervisglitter

Strange eBay item of the Week: Item #271640980795. I love drinking out of Tervis tumblers. Some of them are quite collectible. Check these out: Tervis Insulated Glitter Confettie Tumblers Lot of 6 SOLD: 99.00.

 

Sometimes on eBay you get a Crazy Buyer Part II

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In March of 2013 I wrote a blog about this buyer that bought some silverware from me.. HERE  Sunday evening (as in yesterday) the same buyer messaged this to me:

faye5

"You have me blocked from bidding?? No issues with you that I know about? … I buy 4 re-sale& a steady buyer"

I responded immediately and told her I wasn't sure what happened, but I would look it up. I do a search of my Outlook… because I save all my eBay messages in folders by month and year, and there it is from March 2013.  I message her giving her a short run down of what happened:

"Hi. I figured out what happened.  You purchased an item from me in January of 2013.  You received your item and then sent it off (without inspecting it) to Replacements.com.  38 days later, you messaged me through eBay and wanted to return the item because Replacements said that the item (which was marked Yamazaki/Hafina) is Yamazaki/Hafina Patrick flatware.  You wanted me to pay for the 15.00 Replacements fee and your return.  I told you  I would be happy to accept the return even though it was out of my return policy, and even though you left positive feedback saying it was "as described"  I refused to pay return shipping or your fee through replacements.  Over a year has gone by, and you never sent the product back.  Because of the way you handled the transaction and thinking I was responsible FOR YOUR sale to ANOTHER BUYER, I blocked you."

She messages this back to me:

faye6

"Here is another message. I am really upset as a frequent eBay buyer that I was unable to bid on your listing for lot of stainless flatware. Seems I was blocked?? I do remember buying from you in the distant past with no issues.  If you have more of this pattern in any quantity, please contact me regarding a sale.  In fact I'd appreciated a reply in either case. Looks like you have a steady supply of flatware inventory.  Appreciated."

 

I don't respond, and she then sends me this..

faye7

"I hope you will have the courtesy to reply with a better explanation.  Looks like Replacements likely rejected the flatware as misidentified?  Please give me the item# and I will look into it myself.  If the mistake was not mine you should understand my reluctance to pay a $15.00 return fee from Replacements  Please reply.  I really want to resolve this.  If I do not hear from you I will ask eBay to contact you on my behalf."

 

She's now threatening to have eBay call me if I don't respond…You can't make this stuff up.

 

What’s Defective With eBay Defects System

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On Friday I received message from eBay letting me know there was a "not as described" case opened against me.  I went to the case to see what the buyer was upset about, and here is what the buyer wrote:

"Hi! I thought I ordered this item in L (or even XL if you have it). I received it in a size M, but that won't fit me. How can I get a size L or XL? It needs to be 18", nude, size L or XL. Thank you for helping me. "

I know what you are thinking… "why did she send that poor woman a MEDIUM, when she wanted a large or extra large?"  After I read her complaint, I thought the same thing too.. until I read the description and item specifics, where it states the item is a Medium.  There is even a PHOTO of the tag, where it says MEDIUM.

If you are not familiar with eBay's new "defect" system, ANY open case, for whatever reasons, counts as a DEFECT. If you are a moderate volume seller  that sells in a clothing category, you just might get a few cases opened against you for "not as described" when in all actuality the item doesn't fit the buyer. (True story it is happening to me.) 

**Also if you read my blog, you'd see this post about how buyers are basically encouraged or pointed in the direction to open a case INSTEAD of message the seller first.

If you're not a seller, you may be wondering what all this means…. If you have more than a 2% defect rate, you lose your "Top Rated Seller" status, which means to me, that I will not receive a 20% discount in my fees each month and I will not place at the top of "best match" searches.  If you have more than a 5% defect rate, you could lose your selling privileges.  

Did you know there are sellers with 100% positive feedback that are at or close to the 5% defect rate?  That seems crazy right? 

This is what a defect means to eBay:

Opened case = unhappy buyer  Unhappy buyer= bad seller   Bad seller= Needs to be coached into a better seller OR  removed from the site.

This is what a defect means to a good seller:

Open case= Defect  Defects= less site visibility which = less sales.  OR  you could be removed from the site all together.

Currently the way eBay has things set up ALL CASES OPENED for ANY REASON count as a defect.  This just blows me away. How and why do they think this is a good idea?  It is OBVIOUS that I've done nothing wrong with this case, and that the buyer did not read the description, look at the photos or pay attention to the item specifics… yet some how *I* am responsible for this.

 

If you are wondering how I responded to this case, my response is below:

slipbuyer

As of today, the buyer has not responded back to me. :/