Tag Archives: help with eBay problem

Dear eBay Queen: How to Avoid the eBay Buyer Drama

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Dear eBay Queen:

I’m not sure what to do. I sold a super cute Lily Pulitzer dress that I wore one time to a wedding. It sold for 148.00 with free shipping. The dress was in perfect condition. The buyer left me positive feedback that was a little bit negative.

“Pretty dress the pink isn’t as pink as it should be”

I messaged the buyer and asked them if they were happy, and this is what she said:

“The dress is lovely, but I just didn’t think it was the right shade of “lily” pink. I live in Miami Beach you know, and Lily is all the rage here. I did wear it to Mass and brunch on Sunday, and it got rave reviews. I took it into the Lily Pulitzer store, and they told me it was authentic. That is why you didn’t get the feedback I thought the dress deserved for not being as pink as I needed it to be.”

I responded with:

“I’m sorry the dress wasn’t as pink as you thought it should be. I would offer a refund, but since you’ve worn the dress and received compliments, I cannot offer that refund, once you’ve sent it back. Thank you again for letting me know there was a problem”.

She responds with:

“Is there a way to revise my feedback? I should have given you a negative for your smartness!”

Do you think I should just leave this alone? Should I offer her a partial refund? Is there a way for them to change this positive into a negative? Should I respond to the positive feedback?

Gigi S

Dear Gigi:

I would not respond to her feedback or to any of her other messages. I would block this buyer and try to forget about her. If you were to respond, then she could also put a response in, and who needs that kind of drama?

 

Dear eBay Queen:

This is quite possibly the strangest thing I’ve ever had happen to me on eBay. I sell vintage plush and toys. I have an extensive cataloging system that keeps track of my items with photographs, sizes, price I paid and sold the item for. I also do this with my vintage toys, but haven’t been doing it for as long with the toys.

I sold a large Animal Fair Henry the Dog 2 weeks ago. The buyer messages me and tells me it is not the correct size, and does not match up with my listing. I know that Animal Fair Henry only came in a couple of sizes, so I ask her what size is this Henry? She doesn’t respond.   A couple of days go by, and I am looking through my catalog and I see that I sold four years ago (yes it was really four years ago.) the same size Animal Fair Henry to this same buyer. I called eBay Seller support, and was on hold for 1 hour and 43 minutes without them ever answering. I went back into the return request, and asked the buyer if she could give me the measurements of the item that I sent. She responds to the case and says:

“It doesn’t matter, I want to return it!”

I respond to her this: “I see you are a seller also, and it does matter when someone says that you did not measure something correctly.   Animal Fair Henry only comes in a few sizes, and those are NOT close to being the same size as each other. If you want to return this simply because you do not want it, that is fine, but to say I did not measure it correctly will give me a defect. I did do some checking in my records and see that you purchased the same Animal Fair Henry plush from me 4 years ago. Did you make a mistake and not realize you purchased the same size plush? I don’t want you to be upset with me, but I know that I measured this correctly. Could you please measure this?”

She responds with: “You are an idiot. I don’t want it. Accept this return and take your defect like a man.”
I have not responded after this. Can you let me know what I should do with this problem? Should I just go ahead and accept the return and take the hit?

Henry

 

Dear Henry:

I would call eBay either early in the morning, or late afternoon. If the system tells you it’s a 10 minute wait, and you are on hold past 30minutes I would hang up and try again until you get through. This buyer is not being truthful I believe she wants to return it without paying for the shipping. I hope that eBay sees it the same way. I would make sure you tell eBay that they purchased the exact same item from you several years ago. If you have the date and the item number, I would make sure you can give it to them.

 lilydress

Strange eBay Item of the Week: Item #:262017888774. Lily Pulitzer items are incredibly popular right now. I found this dress that sold relatively high: Lily Pulitzer Dark and Stormy Shift Dress SOLD: $455.00.

 

Dear eBay Queen: Should I Buy My Way Out of a Negative Feedback?

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Dear eBay Queen:

I’ve talked to my husband about this and my neighbor. They both said I should ask your opinion. My neighbor said it’s just a newbie mistake, my husband says I’m giving stuff away and being passive with people I should not be passive with. I’m not sure if it’s a newbie mistake when I’ve been selling for 4 years!

My brother purchased a house and 100 acres in Nebraska 5 years ago. The house and 2 barns were FULL. Once a month he brings me stuff from his barns/house and to sell on eBay. We split the profit and he pays the listing fees. Some of this product he brings me is old store stock from a general store that the previous owner of the property had.

I had listed a Bakelite necklace, earring and bracelet set. I tested it to make sure it was Bakelite before I sent it, and packaged it in bubble wrap and double packaged it when I sent it. The buyer contacted me with this message:

Hello, thank you for sending the jewelry set so quickly. I don’t think this is new, and I’m not really happy with it. This looks like something my grandmother wore in the 1950’s, not the cute necklace set I thought I was buying from this century!

I paid $145.00 for the set, and I think I should receive half of it back. Perhaps if you used Buy It Now I would not have to negotiate with you for the price of the item afterwads. You know if you give me good customer service I will buy more from you.

I messaged the buyer back, and told her to send them back and I’d refund her money. She responded, and told me “it was not worth it” and if I didn’t refund in full and allow her to keep them, she’d give negative feedback. I was going to refund the buyer’s money, because I don’t want a negative, and just let my brother know what happened. I talked to my brother and he told me to NOT refund the money. So I am coming to you for help.

The buyer sent me another message today.

“Well, 5 hours have gone by, and I have not heard from you. What are you going to do? My negative feedback is not going to be nice. You will never be able to sell that crap you call inventory if you don’t give me what I want. I better receive a refund before tomorrow, or your 100% positive feedback rating will no longer be 100%.

So should I just give them their money back and save my account the negative?

 

  1. Jenkins

 

Dear M. Jenkins:

I’ve been in similar situations, and I think I would message your buyer and tell her that based upon eBay’s new rules for sellers, you can’t give a refund without her opening a request. Give her these instructions:

  • To start a return, find the item in the Purchase history section of My eBay. …
  • Select the reason for the return. …

Let her know that once that is done, you can proceed.

Once you message her, contact eBay. I’m pretty sure that eBay will side with you and this is why:

  • The item was never described as new, but as vintage in excellent, used condition.
  • By her own admission, it looks like something from the era it is from.
  • The buyer refuses to return the item.
  • The buyer wants to KEEP the item and receive half of the money back.
  • The buyer threatened negative feedback if you do not give her what she wants.

Make sure that you do not say in your message you will give her the item or a refund. Just wait for the case to be opened by the buyer.

I hope that you get a fantastic understanding eBay CS representative that handles this swiftly. I don’t think it would hurt to report this buyer either.

 ebaybakelite

Strange eBay Item of the Week: Item #121684686777. Bakelite jewelry is highly collectible. If you are ever lucky enough to come across a bakelite “gumdrop” bangle, you might be able to sell it for quite a bit on eBay! Rare Red and Cream Vintage Bakelite Bow-Tie Gumdrop Bangle Bracelet Late 1950’s SOLD: $3000.00.

 

Dear eBay Queen: Should I Hire Someone to Help Me eBay?

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Dear eBay Queen:

I have been selling consignment items on eBay for the last 5 years.  I live in an area that the population is 67,000 and median income is $43,000.  I do not require minimum values for the items that I sell because I believe that some commission is better than none, but that could change if the business expands.

It is time for me to expand my business and have “helpers”. Right now, I do all of the listings, photos, etc and my husband does the shipping at nights after he works his full time job.  I am not getting things listed as fast as I can just due to the number of items that I have to list.  I have one customer who brings me between 100 and 150 antique items every week.

Anyway, my question is about adding helpers.  I live in a college town and have read that students are good prospects for what I am looking for.  I don’t really want to have employees, just don’t want to deal with that right now.  So how do I go about and do this?

Pay on commission or flat rate per item?
Do helpers do everything (list, photo, ship)?
Do I approve everything before it gets listed?
Anything else, I have forgotten?

A couple things you should know:  I’m a control freak!  I have over 14,000 in feedback and am a top rated seller with 100% rating.  Because I am a consignment shop, I list with Auctiva, to keep track of all of the different consignors that I have.  Did I say I was a control freak? – I am concerned about losing my ratings if I give someone permission to list under my eBay id.

Anyway, if you could help me with some of the questions I have – or suggest anyone that you know of that could maybe help me, I would really appreciate it.

Deb Peterson

 

Dear Deb:

Congratulations on your fantastic feedback numbers and ratings! I know firsthand that is hard to maintain those numbers. I also know how hard it is to sell for others; I’m impressed with your success!

I wonder if you put an ad up at your local college and said you were looking for a paid intern you can train, or if they already were familiar with selling on eBay, a contractor. If they help you with listing, I would probably pay them per item, and check each of their listings until you feel confident in their work. If they are taking pictures or shipping, I might just pay them by the hour.

I would be uncomfortable giving out any of my login information. I think it might be a safer idea if you supplied the computer in your work space for them to work. Is there some aspect of eBaying that you don’t like to do? I’m not crazy about shipping or photographing things. I have people help me with that, but if you really need help listing, then I think working side by side with them on listing items might be the best answer.

 

Dear eBay Queen;

I sold a really cute Express top that was new with tags. I received a return request saying the item didn’t fit. I approved the request, and the item was sent back. The only problem is that it does not have the correct tag attached. It’s a totally different tag. What should I do?

Cinder

Dear Cinder:

I would contact eBay immediately. I think I would mention in the return request that the item came back, but the tag that is attached, is not for the item you sent. Could she have possibly bought 2 and mixed up the item? I would also go look at her buying history at www.watchcount.com. If she has purchased the same shirt from another seller, I would make sure that eBay knows this.

I hope your buyer is honest and tells you what happened with your tags/or item. I hope it’s a small mix up and can be easily remedied.

 ebaystrawberry

Strange eBay item of the Week: Item #:291521358831. Felting offers a unique way to “sculpt” wool fibers into a strongly woven fabric. I love this adorable purse! Handmade Felted Purse Shoulder large Bag Merino Wool Strawberry Red Green White SOLD: $93.27.

Dear eBay Queen: I’ve been Suspended for 7 Days! What Can I Do?

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Dear eBay Queen:

I am completely flipping out. I woke up this weekend to a message from eBay about three different listings I have for 7 for Mankind brand jeans. I’ve been selling different brands of jeans for YEARS. I buy jeans new on clearance from stores and pre owned from garage and estate sales. This is how I support my family. I am a single mother of 3, and my ex-husband skipped out on us and after losing my corporate job of 8 years I started selling on eBay. I’ve been selling for 3 years and have 8239 positive feedback, and one negative from the first year I was selling. My DSR scores are all 5 or 4.9. I am (or was) a Top rated Seller.

The eBay email said that my selling privileges would be temporarily restricted for 7 days. They also removed the 3 pairs of jeans. They said that I was in violation of the VERO program. I’m not even sure what that means!

I read the email, and I called eBay customer care, spoke to a customer service person, and asked them to explain this violation to me. They were very kind, and told me that my jeans were deemed “counterfeit” or maybe the rights holder didn’t want me selling those jeans. I cried on the phone, and I just didn’t know what to do. The eBay CS was nice, but I didn’t think they could do anything to help me, so I asked for a manager. I spoke to the manager, who explained to me over and over that it was just 7 days. I let him know that eBay is my only source of income for my family, and what should I do? He didn’t have an answer for that.

This has been an eye opening experience for me. The jeans I have up ARE authentic. I have the receipts from Macy’s where I purchased them. They are REAL!!! What do you think I should do? Take them back to Macy’s? I work so hard on my eBay business. I can’t believe they are taking it away from me! I’ve never had another violation – and they’ve just kicked me to the curb!

I don’t know what to do. Have you had this happen? I’m afraid to do anything. I don’t know if I stop selling on eBay, how I’m going to make any money! I’ve worked so hard, and just like that it has been taken away.

Ellie

Dear Ellie:

I am sorry that happened to you. The Vero system is not kind to anyone. Most likely what has happened is your listings were reported by an individual, the company itself, OR eBay automatically pegged the listings as trademark infringement. They will normally send two notices before they suspend your account.  The good news is that you purchased these jeans at a reputable department store. I would call eBay back immediately, and let them know that you have the receipt from Macy’s for the jeans in question. Ask them how to fax that to them so that they can re-instate your account. I would also ask why they suspended you for 7 days when this was your first violation.

I have had something similar happen to me 10 year ago, for the SAME violation except it was for 3 different items where the rights holder had complained. One was a software violation, another was a motorcycle helmet, and the 3rd was a purse. I fought the violation, and won, but it took me the whole 7 days to do it – (not much of a consolation.) During my 7 day suspension I wrote up more stuff on my listing program, and started my own website.

It’s scary for me to read these kinds of stories, because we are all just a violation away from losing our job.   I have tried to diversify over the years by selling on my own website, Amazon and Etsy.

 xmaspuzzle

Strange eBay item of the week: Item #:281666570050. Christmas in July! I found this puzzle on eBay, and it sold for quite a bit! Vintage 1889 McLoughlin Bros NY Santa Claus The Night Before Christmas Puzzle SOLD: $1400.00.