|
|
Post by trailboss on Oct 21, 2017 12:47:54 GMT -5
My wife flips a lot of purses on Ebay, we have over 300 transactions and a 98.7% positive rating.
Lately, we have had a smattering of buyers that had buyers remorse after bidding, and typically they do not have much of a history with Ebay transactions...I realize that from the time you click the bid button to the time you have to pay for it, or receive the item a financial strain can ensue and you wish you hadn't bought it..it isn't unhheard of for ust to agree to cancel the sale at their request.
But everything we ship has detailed descriptions, plenty of pictures, and if there is any sign of wear or blemish it is pointed out. Lately, we have had buyers complain that:
'it smells like smoke"...(the wife doesn't smoke, and when I do in the house it is at the back door ith the air forced out the door), and my wife is diligent in not buying any that would be smokey.)
"It s damaged"....(when it was shipped, it was noted that the purse showed signs of use, with pics pointing it out, one buyer showed where the thread on the botom was intact, not fraying, but signs of.....use.)
"Damaged" (one had a razor cut put in it by the buyer, another put a cut in the webbing of the cloth material between the zipper teeth..it had a high quality YKK zipper that my wife closely inspects for function and under a magnifier before posting)
There are a few other examples...in every instance of these people with low transactions or no transactions, Ebay has always sided with them and forced a refund, even though we present "before" pictures showing no damage that is in the claim.
I think it is because:
A. We have skin in the game, having done so many transactions Ebay figures that they are the 800 pound gorilla on auctions of singular Ittems so we won't go anywhere.
B. They don't want to alienate careless bidders, or people of no character with a low post count...they don't want to lose these new customers.
Ebay has been pretty good for us, the wife has gotten Coach, Fossil, and Michael Kors purses (and other high end brands) for less than five dollars, and sold them for over fifty...that is a pretty good return...but then again, there are some that we cannot figure out why, even though they are the right pedigree, they don't generate a bunch of bids and they go pretty cheap. It just seems like there is never any down side for Ebay when they make bad decisions, and I have less tolerance for maintaining any type of relationship with that type of nonsense. My wife just pulled all her auctions just the other day...
Thinking about doing Etsy and just putting fixed prices on everything.
has anyone else had the same experience, and/or used Etsy in place of Ebay?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
Location:
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2017 12:59:42 GMT -5
I'm up to 1883 feedback, 4000 total, but dupes don't count. I've never had a negative or neutral. If someone complains I just refund or ask what they think is fair. Probably 70% of my feedback are purchases, though.
You can do eBay fixed prices. I have looked at etsy and have no clue how it works, nor do I want to learn.
You can put controls on your sale, as having a person have so many feedback. You can block people. One, that never gave me feedback, complained for a week to me in not nice terms that she wanted what she claimed was lost. I gave her a refund within five minutes of her request. After I was sure she quit writing I blocked her from bidding on my items again.
Some idiot tried to talk me down after the winning bid. I did give him a discount; then he wanted more. I complained to eBay. He paid and never left a feedback. I blocked him, which he probably didn't like, as I had many more items like what he bid on.
All of that said, I am sitting with major collections here without the health to sell them or even organize them. I quit selling. I won't buy pipes from eBay anymore, save the Ukrainians, which are new.
To me, eBay is still the only real game in town, though I am told Heritage Auctions realizes a pretty good penny on items like comics.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
Location:
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2017 13:32:00 GMT -5
Member since 2000, 589 feedback, 100% positive.
It ain't what it used to be. JMHO but they screwed the pooch when they stopped allowing sellers giving buyers negative feedback. I completely understand the rationale from their business perspective but it still sucks.
I've had to do some things as a seller I didn't think I should to maintain 100% positive feedback but it is what is.
Best advice I can give on the selling end is cancel an auction when a bidder asks questions AFTER placing a bid. You're probably dealing with a basket case on the other end who's either trying to highjack the auction or one you'll never be able to satisfy.
Feedback extortion is also illegal but it's a pain in the butt to deal with. Example, I sell Charlie a pipe for $200. Charlie contacts me, tells me the pipe was not as advertised but he won't leave negative feedback if I cut him a $50 refund - Report this to EBay immediately. (No offense Charlie)
Selling fees are becoming ridiculous. Best case scenario, if you find an awesome flee market or yard sale pipe, do a good refurbish job on it and sell for a C-note, you're looking at approximately 12.5% fee between EBay and Pay Pal, which are a single corporate entity.
WTF?
Some good people on Etsy and the app if pretty cool too.
|
|
|
|
Post by PhantomWolf on Oct 21, 2017 13:45:06 GMT -5
Charlie, I think a lot of people that find themselves on ebay are just there because they are addicted to shopping and the end product isn't really as important. I am like that to an extent, if I'm being honest. haha I think people do things like that as a hobby and they like refunds because they get to bid and spend all over again. Maybe try stating in the description that the item is 'as-is' and you will not accept returns. It sounds like you are already being fair and thorough in your item descriptions and you shouldn't be responsible for their returning something just because they are uncertain about whether they actually wanted the item. This is ebay; They can go to Kohl's if they wanna try stuff out and return it. haha
Furthermore, buyers on ebay need a lesson in being decisive. I feel like many people are just satisfying curiosity by seeing how far they can bid an item up without having to 'pay the piper' as it were. haha Makes it unnecessarily hard on the dedicated buyers that want the item.
Your wife could always list the items on Etsy as well as ebay, so long as she is attentive and takes down the second listing whence the item is sold. I do the same thing with guitars only I use a site called Reverb.com.
|
|
|
|
Post by crapgame on Oct 21, 2017 16:03:24 GMT -5
My brother used to sell tires on ebay for a rather large tire company, he used to get claims that the "Two " tires ordered never arrived and try to get them replaced thus getting 4 tires for the price of two. One such person was quite local and my brother went to his house and took pictures of the guys car with the tires that never arrived on his car with the stickers still on the tires. My brother went as far as going to the magistrate and making a complaint of fraud for this..
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
Location:
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2017 17:58:33 GMT -5
I've got 1500 + transactions on eBay with 100% feedback and yes there are some real nimrods out there that I've had to deal with.
I've always sold antiques and collectibles, Estate pipes to mention one and have always done well no matter the occasional idiot.
There's things to sell on eBay and things not to. As far as Etsy, there no better, I've had my experiences with them too.
|
|
jitterbugdude
Junior Member
Posts: 229 
First Name: Randy
Location:
|
Post by jitterbugdude on Oct 21, 2017 18:03:27 GMT -5
Yup, Ebay brings out a lot of scum. I sold about 10 different lots of silver. When I sent each one I paid insurance and had a tracking number. I would send the buyer a note saying their item shipped (but I didn't supply a tracking number). Well, 3 out of 10 claimed they never got their stuff so I told them the tracking numbers shows they signed for it and all of the sudden they remembered that yeah they got it but just forgot about it. Another jerk that I sold a police scanner to said he never received the item and DEMANDED a full refund. I called his bluff somewhat and said I talked to the Post Office and they will open up a Federal Theft Case but they need his permission. All of the sudden he says "his neighbor signed for it" and forgot to tell him.
On the other hand I've had to open about maybe half a dozen claims against sellers and ebay found in my favor all of the time.
|
|
|
|
Post by trailboss on Oct 21, 2017 18:14:20 GMT -5
It sounds like we have a knack for getting the turdballs at Ebay to review our claims.
And we use paypal shipping since it has ease of use...
I am thinking that it is just time to say that it has been a good run with Ebay and move on, the offer up app has yielded some pretty good results, and the buyers are willing to meet in Starbucks at Albertson's a block away.
Here in the Southwest, yard sales are ridiculous....no matter how incredibly low you price something people are on my property getting snotty if I don't practically give it to them....and they are typically the people that come from the other side of the tracks and drive like bats out of hell in the neighborhood.
|
|
|
|
Post by peteguy on Oct 22, 2017 10:24:43 GMT -5
In the pipe world I think ebay is a "necessary evil". I haven't gotten into my purse buying phase yet so I will keep you posted.
I get just as frustrated with sellers. I must have opened a dozen claims this year alone and gotten my money back for pipes that were not what they claimed. Cracked shanks, cracked bowls, holes in stems, burnouts, etc. and not a one of the issues shown in pictures or mentioned in descriptions. The usual response is, sorry I don't know anything about pipes. Hmmm, really? I can see you do know something about selling because your feedback is xxx. Dishonesty sucks no matter where it comes from.
When selling, I take lots of photos showing everything possible and give a detailed description. At least I can then feel good about my listing and sleep at night. I still get the same BS you and your wife get. When that happens I just follow the rules and then block them like David does. I also set the restrictions on bidders to as strict as possible.
|
|
|
|
Post by Nevadablue on Oct 22, 2017 15:56:14 GMT -5
I know this doesn't help, but I won't sell on ebay any more. Years ago I did, but that was before the scum layer thickened. No more. I do the buying, I am protected from the scum sellers. So far, so good. Only one thing I bought and paid for was 'cancelled'. Selling something more than once is no good and I won't even look at pipes from that guy now. Excuse was 'no longer available'.
|
|
