Tag Archives: eBay Queen

Dear eBay Queen: Is There A Way To Remove Negative Feedback?

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Dear eBay Queen:

I’ve been selling on eBay for about 2 years. I’ve read your column for longer.  I saw awhile back you recommend someone have eBay remove a negative feedback. How does that happen?   Here’s my story, do you think I can get mine removed?

I unexpectedly had to have my appendix taken out, and ended up being in the hospital for 4 days.  I was still in serious pain for a week afterwards. I did not know that I was going to be in the hospital, and because of that I had listings end that needed to be shipped.  My husband did the best he could, shipping the items off within 48 hours.  My husband had messaged each buyer and told them I was in the hospital and that he was sending them their packages.  No buyers complained or messaged me.

Two weeks later I had a negative from a buyer that reads; “Took a long time to get her.”  I think she meant to write HERE instead of her.  It was my first negative, and it’s really freaked me out!  I checked the delivery confirmation; it was delivered within 4 days of it being sent, so I sent a message to the buyer.

“Thank you for your purchase.  I noticed that you left a negative feedback for me, and I was wondering if there is anything I can do?  I had an emergency appendectomy, and I had my husband send your package out.  I see you paid on 15th and your item was delivered the 23rd.  Would you be willing to revise the feedback?  If not, what can I do?”

 This is what she sent me back.

“Yes, I gave you a negative. I thought it took too long to get here.  Feedback IS my opinion right? Don’t you think it could have taken less time?  I also was kind of upset that you did not send it priority mail. Perhaps you can give me my shipping cost back?  I’ll revise the feedback if you do.”

 I refunded her the first class shipping, because that’s what she paid.  I sent her a feedback revision, and I have not received a response from her.   This is killing me!  I had 100% positive feedback, and now it’s 99.8%.   I have never had a complaint before for this, and this feels so unfair considering the circumstances.  What should I do?  Can I get this feedback removed?  Thanks for your help.

Lara T.


Dear Lara:

Negatives never seem to lose their sting, it doesn’t matter if it’s your first or tenth!  I don’t know what to do about your buyer, but I believe that eBay would remove this negative based upon the fact that she requested money back in order to remove the negative.  I believe this is seen as extortion on the part of the buyer.  I would contact eBay ASAP and ask them if they can remove it based upon that information.  The other point that it could be removed on, is that their feedback is based upon shipping time, and your tracking will show that it was sent and received in a timely fashion.

I don’t think there is any need to contact your buyer about this any longer.  Please let me know if you got this removed.

jatigames

Strange eBay Item: Item #201204918157. A friend of mine was trying to decide whether  or not to sell his collection of 3M bookshelf board games. We did a little research, and found a few of his were valuable…. But none as valuable as this! Extremely Rare Jati 3M Bookshelf Board Game Factory Sealed Original Shrink Wrap SOLD: $725.00.

 

eBay Queen: What are your eBay Resolutions?

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Dear eBay Queen,

What are your eBay New Year’s Resolutions?

Baby New Year

Dear Baby:
My eBay resolutions are pretty simple this year as I approach my 17th year selling full time on eBay.

  • Get my online store running smoother.
  •  eBay inventory done (because it never seems to be accurate.
  • Clean out my piles of stuff that I thought I would eventually write up.
  • Find a new product that will go with my existing product line
  • Stop stressing about defects.

Dear eBay Queen:
 

I have a question about a return I received. I sold a pair of Ralph Lauren equestrian style pants to a customer, who claimed that the zipper didn't zip up smoothly, and she wanted to return them. I modeled these pants in the photos, and I never noticed and issue with the zipper, or I would have said something. I truly believe that I do a good job when I am checking for defects like that, but once in awhile, I do miss something.  I took the buyer at her at her word, and sent her a return shipping label that I paid for. I received the pants back, and, as I’m sure you guessed, there was absolutely nothing wrong with them. I'm would imagine that they didn't fit and she didn't want to have to pay for the shipping involved in purchasing and returning them.
 

I don’t feel like I should have received a defect for this return, and I am pretty angry that I was bamboozled by this customer. I contacted eBay and asked them to rule on this through the returns process. In my messaging to eBay, I explained the situation, and even pointed them to the YouTube video where I demonstrate how the zipper works eBay sided with the customer, and automatically refunded her the entire amount. What could I do differently? How can I get eBay to be on my side?
 

I have a return policy, and I don’t have an issue accepting a return. I DO have an issue with getting a defect for a buyer that is not truthful. I don't think it should be at my expense unless the item is defective. Is there anything I can do about this? Is this a common occurrence on eBay? eBay customer Service says that it is the cost of doing business. What do you do to prevent this from happening to you?

TGA
 

Dear TGA:
 

This issue has been plaguing me for most of 2014. I rarely have a buyer that has a true “not as described” case, but I seem to have quite a few buyers that have what they call not as described, a fit issue. Instead of saying it doesn’t fit me, they say it’s “defective and doesn’t fit me”.
 

I’ve spent most of 2014 fighting this ridiculous defect system. This means HOURS on the phone waiting to talk to an eBay customer service rep, only to be told, “It’s just part of doing business on eBay.” I have given this a lot of thought over the last few months, and because the time I spent on the phone was starting to bother my children, I have not made a single call to eBay in over 30 days. It was not worth the aggravation. One of my last phone calls to eBay, I really tried to prove my point that a return should not result in a defect. The only sense of hope I received from that conversation is the person (a manager) assured me that the defect system is evolving, and that this type of defect was going to be discussed and looked into.
 

I have thought about different ways I can prevent a buyer from opening a return request, and I have only had one idea, but I am not even sure if it will work. I have decided to start the New Year with business cards with return information on the front, and a “Thank You” on the back. I was thinking my return portion will include my phone number and my email address so the buyer can message me directly. Once they message me it is my plan to offer them a shipping label, (at my cost,) and ask for the item to be sent back.
 

When it comes to your buyer, I believe that they did have buyers remorse. You would probably be able to prove that, you would just need to get the right eBay customer service person.

rlwatch

Strange eBay Item of the Week:161475802699. This beautiful, rare watch by Ralph Lauren retailed for $25,100. It sold on eBay for $8999.00. Ralph Lauren 18k RG Stirrup Men's Watch with Piaget Movement Stunning. SOLD: $8999.00.

 

Dear eBay Queen, My sales stink! Help Me!

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Dear eBay Queen:

I’ve sold on eBay for 4 years now.  I do this full time to help support our family of 6.  November and December have been the worst months for me!  I have only sold about half of what I normally sell in November, and in December, I only sold about a quarter of what I normally do this time of year. I have looked back on my sales, and I have only sold 2 things in the last week!

What am I doing wrong?  Maybe I should just wait for this year to be over?  Every time I think I find something good to sell, I look at what it is selling for on eBay, and it seems like the value is diluted! I really want to make eBay work for me and my family.  I would love to impress my husband so that he doesn’t have to work as hard. I have included a link to my listings; could you tell me what I am doing wrong? Thanks in advance for your help.

Tessa

Dear Tessa:

I believe the keys to good sales, are:

  1. Great photos
  2. Accurately described products
  3. Fair or free shipping
  4. Good, descriptive titles

When I look at your items, I see that you sell mostly vintage and new designer jewelry.  This is a pretty saturated category, with over 3,200,000 items listed in the jewelry category.  Your listings look pretty good.  I would say you need to just tweak a few things to make your listings better.  I would add more photos. The Napier necklaces that you are selling only had one photo each, and those included your measuring tape.  I would suggest that you take 3 photos of each listing. Take one close up, one the whole item in the photo, and one with the colorful measuring tape showing the size of the item.  The only other issue is some of your titles are not using all of the characters that you are allotted.  I would definitely see if you can come up with a few more keywords to describe your items.

My December has not been that great either.  I don’t know if my issues were from problems with eBay search, or if it was my items themselves.  Here’s to hoping 2015 is better.

 

Dear eBay Queen:

I won a Burberry, new with tags raincoat on an auction on the 14th of December.  I paid 135.00 with $8.75 for shipping.  I paid for the coat within 3 hours of the end of the listing.  This is a present for my daughter, and I’ve been waiting for it to get here.  I’ve checked every day, and the seller had not posted this item yet.

I messaged them for the last 2 days and have not received a response.  I finally called the guy yesterday, and left a message.  Today I received a message on my cell phone, they TEXT ME!

“didnt make it to the PO. So sick Do U still want it?”

I text them back and tell them I do want the item, and I need it before Christmas.  They respond:

“dude it wont get there by xmas you might want to get something els”

 I then messaged them through eBay and told them I expected my item to be sent express or overnight.  I included copies of the texts they had sent me.  Do you think that was too harsh?  Maybe they didn’t want to sell it as cheap as I bought it for?  What should I do?

JAG

Dear JAG:

There could be 2 different things going on with this seller. 

  1. They are really sick.  If this is the case, I would not fault them for not getting your item out – they don’t deserve anyone’s wrath.
  2. If they have not sent the item because they were hoping for more money, they deserve every bit of ire you have to throw at them.

In this situation I would message them again and ask them to send the item out immediately.  If they do not mail the item within the next 24 hours I would file an INR or item not received claim against them.  Once the claim is opened they will have a certain amount of time to get the item to you or a refund.  Make sure you put in the claim that you still want the item.  If they do not send it out, I would most likely give a neutral or negative feedback because they kept the item because they were not happy with the price.

I hope you receive your daughters Christmas gift soon!

 

Strange eBay Item of the Week: 261425795099 Looking for a unique purse for New Year’s Eve? Look no further: eBay’s got you covered. Mary Frances On Ice Wine Bottle Bucket Champagne Bag New’s Handbag Purse SOLD: $298.00.

 

Dear eBay Queen: What should I do with a Non-Selling Seller?

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Dear eBay Queen:

I’m not sure what to do in this situation I found myself in.  I was looking for some Disney items for my kids for Christmas.  One was a Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and the other was a Doc McStuffins item.  I found one seller that had EVERYTHING I wanted.  Some of her stuff was at auction and some on a buy it now.  I bought the items I wanted on a buy it now, and then bid on the items that were at auction.  I messaged the seller and let her know.  The auctions all started at .99 cents or 1.99.  I won 2 items at .99 cents, 2 at 1.99 and 1 at 10.50.  I paid for my fixed price and auction items, and thanked the seller for waiting for my payment.

I woke up this morning with my payment refunded.  I sent the seller a message, and she told me that she had already sold the items off eBay.  She then told me if I wanted the items, I would have to pay her a total of 165.00, instead of the 82.00 I paid her. Her messages to me were pretty rude, and she was not very professional with her grammar.

What should I do?  Should I leave this seller nine negatives?  I feel like I should not give her a second chance to do this to someone else.  The only thing that is holding me back is that she is a new seller with only 10 feedback.  She’s just been selling for a few months.

Negative Nellie

 

Dear Nellie:

This would make me mad too. I have mixed feeling about leaving negative feedback on this. You didn’t say, but it sounds like you might be an experienced buyer and seller, and since you did say that this is a new seller, I don’t think they know all the rules of selling.  Before leaving negative feedback I would do the following:

Report the seller, follow these instructions.

  • Help & Contact (at the top of the eBay page)
  • Click on “Report a Member”
  • Click on “Seller doesn’t want to sell”
  • You will then select the item that you purchased from the seller. (Do this individually with each item.)
  • Report the seller on each item they refused to sell you.

After you reported each individual item they refused to sell you, I would then send your seller a message. Something like this:

I see you have not been selling very long. I am a fellow seller and I wanted to give you a heads up on a few things.  As you are aware, I purchased 9 items from you, and you just refunded my money on those items, stating that you “sold them off of eBay”.  This kind of thing goes against eBay’s selling policies.  Since you are new, I thought maybe you might not realize this.  I purchased these for my son and daughter for Christmas.  Did you really sell them to some else, or were you hoping for a better price?  I know eBay pushes for .99 auctions, but I have found that if I start the item as the lowest price I am willing to accept, it ends up much better for me.  I hope that you will reconsider selling these items to me at the price I paid for them.  To read up on more information on eBay’s “non-selling seller” policy you can go here.

I hope that you will accept this message in the spirit it was given.  I am not trying to be a problem; I am hoping that I can save you some headaches in the long run.

If your seller does not respond to the message, or responds in a negative way to you, I would probably leave negative feedback on the buy it now items, and neutral feedback on the auctions.  If your seller responds and offers to sell the product to you at the price you paid, I would leave positives for her.  Make sure you do not threaten this seller with negatives or neutrals.  Be positive and hope for her to receive it that way.

By turning this seller to eBay she should receive information from customer support that backs up the message you send her.  Hopefully she will honor the bids/buy it nows and send you the product. 

bluemoonsanta

Strange eBay item of the week: 281507546995. I love to needlepoint, and each canvas is like a work of art to me. I found this Christmas canvas while perusing eBay. Once in a Blue Moon By Sandra Gilmore Heirloom Santa Needlepoint Canvas SOLD: $760.79.