My first ebay trouble

I pay for my coin collecting habit with sales on ebay, so this is hurting my collecting abilities.............................

Well I had my first real trouble with a ebay buyer, which really sucks. I sold a fishing reel to a buyer, the reel had some problems which were listed in the auction page, the buyer payed and got the reel, had it over a week then starts sending me messages that say he wants a partial refund because the gears on a used reel were worn out and would cost him 70 dollars to fix, the problem with that is I replaced the brass gears about two years ago and it hasn't been used since and they cost about 12 bucks direct from penn. I message him back and told him why he was full of you know what. next thing I know he has opened a not as described case and wants full refund including shipping. Grrrrrr! the listing was done with no refunds or returns, he took the item apart and either stole some parts or swapped some parts or broke something and now wants to return it and get his money back, I am really po'd about this, I suppose I will get screwed on this, anybody in MI want to put a beat down on someone,lol. J/K !!!! Really burns as this was a fairly high dollar item. So wwhat do you ebayer think am I gonna get the hose on this????????????

 

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Sorry to hear about that. You will probably get the hose on it. Sounds like he probably just used it to get some parts. I'd explain to him and Ebay/Paypal that you replaced the gears with brand new ones and that you fully expect them to still be in the reel when it is returned. Did you photograph any of the gears?

 

know matter how unreasonable a buyer is - you have to kill them with kindness. when you replied telling him he was full of it.... Your goose was cooked. lots of luck trying to fight it... whats the item number?

 

offhand I don't remember the item # and I get pizzed off just logging in there now, get it later for you. yeah no pictures of gears, who would think about that when putting them in years before selling, I am pretty sure I'm gonna get screwed on this, was just wondering what you all thought, thanks!

here ya go Item # 130422091517 most of the sales I make stay in the less than 20 dollar range and never had any problems, lately moved several higher dollar items in the 30 to 100 dollar range and have had nothing but problems, people winning then not paying, people winning then closing their accounts, people just contacting me minutes after the auction to say they made a mistake and don't want the item, now this. going back to little stuff where people pay and are happy with their bargains, if I don't tell ebay where to go after this deal is over. Really sucks to as I describe any flaws I see and or trouble points and have never been out to hose anyone on anything. Have always strived to keep my buyers happy.

 

Just a piece of advice. On a reel like that, or any item that is "high end" for a specific purpose, I would tone down the hype. I read the ad quickly, I think you mentioned several times that reel worked perfectly. I am fairly certain that those who were bidding on the reel are familiar with what and how it works. I am not saying that you were "asking for it" because that would be wrong however, for those buyers who ..... I dunno man. the way it is written , you look like a mark?

I would have stayed with the facts on the reel with out all the embellishment. It is a nice reel though worthy of some hype I just think you over did it. Sorry for kickin you while you are down. just my 2 cents worth.

Hey! if it makes you feel any better. I tournament fished for half a dozen years, (I am into coin collecting now) here on the shores of the Delmarva Peninsula. This is my "boat" and my 2 crazy kids. You can see a couple of surf rods in the pick. I fish Van Staal and custom built rods from All Star blanks. I'll have to dig up some tourney results!

 

I would pull all my money out of Pay-Pal ASAP, cant take back whats not there.

 

All you can do is make a counter offer. Did you have a return policy? When I list to sell the buyer has 3 days that's it!

 

Unfortunately many sellers are still under the mistaken impression that if they sell on Ebay they can choose to not accept returns and that is just not the case. in every instance of me buying a coin that was not as described I got a refund even when they state no returns accepted. Get that notion out of your head and just accpet that if you deal on Ebay you are going to get screwed from time to time. Each week I sell about 30 to 40 nicely toned certified coins. I get positive feedback and really nice comments from 99% of my buyers but every week there is one buyer who tells me the coins look nothing like the images and the coins aren't worth crap...yadda yadda yadda. You just can not make everyone happy so to protect my feedback rating I just kill them with kindness like another poster mentioned. They say some pretty mean things in their notes through ebay and they lie etc but in the end ebay has placed all of the power in the hands of the bidders and we either play the game or we leave the field. Good Luck

 

yeah - that's another thing when selling. Never say no returns accepted. It makes the item immediately suspect.

A related story. I was shopping cameras, Canon 40d. there are a lot of them all the time used both BIN and Auction. I found a body with a lens, battery and charger absolutely nothing else. Seller had BIN at $650 auction starting at $500 no bids, auction ending in a few hours. 1 pic of body. 1 pic of lens. one sentence description. eBay auto filled all the tech stuff. Shipping$10 - No returns!

I message the seller asking "why no returns - what is the matter with the camera?" , he said he didn't want the hassle - nothing wrong with camera. I asked him the story behind the camera and the number of shutter clicks. Turns out only 1000 clicks! Auction closed with no bids while we were messaging. A couple days later I asked if he would sell at $550, he said no $600. I was like what? "If i had bid 500 I would have won it.." etc etc he said, with all the interest he was going to stay at 600.. I asked him, what interest? Turns out he had relisted it while we were going back and forth and was now accepting returns.

I ended up winning the camera, for 575 against 8 other bidders. The camera is practically brand new! The point is. what is the point lol

 

Had a similar problem with a buyer that claimed, not as describe. I fought it with eBay, showing that my ad did not state what the buyer claimed it stated. After about a year and about a hundred requests from eBay for me to pay them for their almost automatic reimbursement to the buyer, and sending it off to a collection company, even though I had an email from eBay stating they found in my favor and I did not have to pay them, I eventually won. Apparently, eBay's resolution and collection departments don't communicate with one another. Guess you have to decide if it's worth it. It was for me because I knew the buyer switched the coin, but, I don't know if I'd do it again. eBay makes you wish you had just refunded the money.

 

A Common EBay Experience.

Sorry to hear about your less than positive experience, but unless you sold "as is", having signature confirmation for delivery, if you are selling on eBay you will find this to occasionally be "par for the course". I don't even discuss the matter any more, just offer and issue a full refund of funds paid, and place their name on my "blocked list". EBay buyers are generally the "Sams Club" type who use anothers' card, some of the cheapest, most unscrupled buyers to be found, and when I hear about the buyer "always being right", and deserving of free shipping, etc.. I just hope that those individuals meet some of my buyers in their travels through life. Some individuals who've posted in this venue either think eBay sellers are complete imbeciles, awfully naive, stupid, or a combination thereof. EBay sellers need to be extreme optimists, as eBay auctions are the perfect mechanism for dishonest/frugal individuals.

Two weeks ago, I sold several small ~$1.35 value Silver dimes for $.99 each, with 99 cent shipping (which eBay mandates @ ~$1.58 First Class Parcel + $2.35 retail signature confirmation), where buyers purchase multiples, and request their S/H discount. One buyer didn't pay for his "99 cent special". After viewing a lengthy thread on this site about eBay sellers willing to pay a premium for "free shipping" items, I thought I would again prove that which I've previously established as the general truth for eBay buyers, and previously cited in this post. I offered (in "prime time") a seven day listing of two different less common date PCGS MS69 1 Oz. Gold Eagles, with a starting bid lower than current raw coin cost, with free shipping. I received one bid, selling the coins at less than buyers were paying for raw newer coins with a significant S/H fee. The touted B.S. about realizing a premium when offering a "Top Tier" TPG valuable certified coin with free shipping is again established as a fallacy.

This past week I tried a similar offering of coins, except that I offered 2 different dates "Top Tier" TPG certified MS70 1 Oz. Gold Eagles, with a starting bid lower than current raw coin cost, with free shipping. I received one bid initially from a bidder having 1 feedback, which was "snipe" outbid at closing by a one interval higher bid. The winning bidder later sent me a request to cancel the bid, as he had made a mistake. I will request eBay to cancel the bid, and place this bidder, along with another who seemingly will not pay for his "99 cent special", on my long list of "blocked buyers".

I suggest that if you are to continue selling on eBay, you should probably temper your optimism by remembering the reality credo "CAVEAT VENDITOR".
:thumb:

 

I always sell as-is, and still get complaints. My daughter sold two lots of Pokemon figures, a total of seven characters to a lady for a grand total of two cents with free shipping. She gave me a positive feedback, but emailed me, complaining that the toys had to be washed off before she let her kid play with them, and if she ever bought more from me, they had better be cleaner or she would leave me a negative feedback. For one thing, I'd wash off any used toy before I let my daughter play with them. And another thing, two cents for at least 40 bucks worth of Pokemon toys. Give me a break.

Ebay cares more about the buyer than the seller. They don't mind taking our ebay and paypal fees, but they punish you for the seller's attitude.

 

That is how ebay works now. Partial refunds are crap. It is a ways to get your item cheaper after the sale. I would tell him to send it back for a full refund or upgrade it as he pleases at his expense. From what I have read partial refunds on ebay are epidemic. Don't fall for it!

 

Sorry you got your axx in a sling but the above is true, you may have been able to get out of it but now I'd say it's gonna cost you. Offer the dude a full refund if he sends you back the reel. Hell I'd be happy for that deal, well maybe not happy but something something that ebay would agree to. Life's too short dude, if you let it get settled by ebay it will only get worse!! good luck

 

thanks for all the advise everyone, thinking of offering a return to this fraud. just to get it over with, but it'll suck eating all the shipping cost. Anyway all I see nowadays all over ebay is buyer protection this buyer protection that, where is the seller protection? isn't it the sellers that they get their paychecks from? think I'll close this case and maybe not ebay anymore, it seems to have gotten worse with the economy going the direction it is. thanks again!

 

Sorry to hear about this. What was HIS Feedback? I only buy from 100% Feedback Sellers.
Best of Luck,
Steve

 

That seems to be the case with ebay. It is more buyer friendly and more unfriendly towards the sellers. It is the sellers that pay the paypal and ebay fees to keep them making money. If ebay continues to nickel and dime the ebay sellers, then more ebay sellers will just quit and go elsewhere to sell their goods. If enough ebay sellers leave, then ebay will feel it in the pocketbook. Just my 2 cents.

 

The question is, where can you go to sell your items and still have the exposure that eBay gives you for your items? Seriously, I would like to find a difference site other than eBay but have not yet.

 

I read your post.. this is off topic. The part about free shipping.... Free shipping is to build a client base, free shipping... ahhh forget it .... cause you don't get it... free shipping is about winning the game/series not trying to score a hit.

I don't know what constitutes a pro buyer or an expert. however in the coin category alone , I have over 1500 purchases in the last 10 months. everyone has an opinion, no doubt, but I can assure you of this. Sellers who consistently offer free shipping, and have been doing so, are the sellers you can trust for a good experience.

 

That is a good point. I am not completely sure to be honest with you but I thought that Heritage Auctions is an alternative to ebay. If I am wrong on this, then feel free to correct me on this.