The more I sell on Ebay, the more disappointed I get with human nature. So far, I've had:
1. Someone try to blackmail me by threatening to return the item or give me bad feedback if I didn't send him something ELSE he wanted in addition to the item sold.
2. Someone who purchased a brand-new item, then returned a nasty, used version of the item so that he could both keep the item AND the money (I lost over $100 on that one).
3. Someone pretending to represent a major company and threaten to sue me or have my listing yanked because I was (accurately) describing the item and named the maker. When I finally realized this guy was just a scammer, and ignored him, he stopped writing. However, it took a lot of time, energy, and stress to deal with the troll.
4. Someone who left me poor (neutral - which isn't as bad as negative) feedback because an item I sold didn't come with extras.
5. Buyers who insist on having the item shipped out next day, despite my warning in the listing that it can't be (I DO have a real job, people!)
6. People who write to me, telling me what they'll give me for an item I've put on auction. Uh, hello? If I was open to suggestions, I'd add that to my listing. And no, you can't have it at a lower price: I don't care why you're specially deserving.
7. The buyers that ask questions, don't check their email, and then write increasingly hostile letters asking you why you haven't responded!
8. The sellers who sell fraudulent products and make the rest of US look suspect (most of these sellers are from asian countries, primarily China).
Needless to say, Ebay isn't what it used to be. I certainly wish there was a better auction service out there: One that would police everything, instead of allowing chaos to reign.
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9 comments:
What does Ebay care about chaos? They are making money off each listing.
Policing costs money. Thus lowering the profit margin. Not good for shareholders.
Have you shared your concerns with ebay? If more people complain then more likely ebay can/will do something about it.
My sister and niece have had problems, too. The latest I heard is that they will NEVER sell to anyone outside of the USA.
Kathleen, selling outside of the country is risky cuz you can't track anything. HOWEVER, Americans are much uglier customers than any foreigner I've encountered. :P
Green, yeah, they don't care. I wrote them an elaborate letter on the amber scam (most amber sold on ebay is obviously fake and plastic) and they told me that they can't PROVE it's fake so it's not their biz. Yeah, I know: Hard to believe, huh?
Lazy, zactly.
I haven't done any selling on ebay yet, but plan to ... hope I don't come across any of the problems you have found. Doesn't sound like much fun !!
Hope things get better for you.
Take care, Meow
Saur, I guess I have been lucky over the years. We mostly buy from Ebay, but we have only been scammed three times out of 270 purchases. I make sure I read their instructions clearly and follow up with all emails. I pay for most everything with money orders and get them out right away.
I have been thinking about selling on Ebay lately, but maybe I should reconsider.
Be clear in your listings and stick to your guns. Don't let anyone bully you.
yeah, that is pretty amazing. You'd think ebay would value customer service and defend their sellers.
Truthfully, I haven't bought or sold anything on ebay for a while. The seller fees plus paypal fees are too cost prohibitive for the small amount of crap I want to sell...
I had one nasty experience from a seller that had less than perfect feedback. Since then, I always check for 100% positive, and I refuse to buy from big sellers who have their feedback in the 1,000s. I have never left bad feedback, because I'm afraid someone will retaliate and give me bad feedback too.
As a stockholder in ebay, your comments alarm me a bit. I confess that I have had no problems with buying or selling on ebay, though I am a little paranoid about the possibility. I am more paranoid about the value of my stock falling because things are going wrong.
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