Totally Irritated With Ebay ahh!!!

[X4biddenxLustX]

Hey everyone! I know it's been a ridiculously long time since I've been on here but life has gotten the best of me with school and everything else going on these past 6 months or so. But I am back though!!! I really missed the forums on here and the specktraettes!

So lately I've been listing quite a few items on ebay for sale as I'm tight on cash. I've heard horror stories before about both buyers AND sellers getting ripped off by awful scam artists on there and losing both their merchandise and money in the process. It all makes me so nervous and hesitant to list items especially higher priced ones on ebay. I really don't have many options as to where I could list these items and get them sold within a fast time period. Craigslist has been a total spamming nightmare the last time I listed items on there so that has gotten me absolutely no where.

On the 9th I had someone choose the buy it now option on a BNIB Sony Bloggie. My listing SPECIFICALLY states that I need the buyer to have at least 5 positive feedbacks before I can sell the item to them. It also states that I ship within 3 business days as I'm a college student right now taking 13 credits this semester and don't have much time to run around. However, the buyer has only 1 positive feedback cause obviously they neglected to take the time out to read the fine print on my listing (I make the font a pretty good size too!). They message me with concerns that they won't be able to purchase the item since they just realized that. Being desperate to get some cash and get this off my hands I agreed to sell it to them. They send me payment that night which I received and the next day on the 10th I go and ship their item with USPS Priority mail w/ delivery confirmation and insurance. I go online that night and give the tracking number for it on ebay.

I go to check my messages today and I see that the buyer tried to file a claim against me stating that they did not receive their item?!!! Luckily the message from ebay said that not enough time has passed yet for them to file a claim against me. I seriously don't understand how someone can try to file a claim against me TWO days after purchasing the item with the item being shipped the very next day along with me providing them with a tracking number online!!!! I immediately contact the buyer and tell them that the item was shipped out yesterday and that if they go on ebay and check it'll show the tracking number and they can track the item. No one in their right mind would seriously pull something like this which makes me think that I very well may of just got scammed =[ I can just cringe at the thought of this person possibly filing some type of claim or some type of scam on me....

Then I also have another buyer who has yet to of paid me and its been 3 days after she chose the buy it now option on that item. I sent her an invoice yesterday and still no payment. I just sent her a message telling her that my policy states that I allow 2 days for payments to be received and giving her until the end of tomorrow before I have to file a nonpayment claim against her and relisting the item. I also have a bad feeling about this one...

Ugh, is there any way to avoid having to deal with annoying buyers/scam artists like this on ebay? I just get so afraid everytime I list something on there and it sells....

 

[LMD84]

sadly i think that is the risk with ebay. you are doing everything right but sadly if the people bidding and buying don't listen there isnt much you can do. i used to sell quite a few things on ebay but i have stopped now. generally i use amazon. the fees are a little higher i think but i have never had an issue with amazon. and it is all very quick and easy to do too.

 

[MACATTAK]

For your 1st problem, if the person has only 1 feedback, they are probably very new and don't know how Ebay works to begin with. The good thing is that you shipped with a tracking number, and insurance so there should be no issue with this. You covered yourself pretty good here! I think it's always a good thing, as a seller, to let people know when they can expect you to ship out so there is no worry on their part either (not sure if you did that or not, so I'm just mentioning that).

For your 2nd problem, you can set your Ebay listings with "Immediate payment only," which means that a person can't buy your item without sending you a payment "immediately."

When you list your items, you can set up your "buyer requirements," so you can filter out people with negative feedback, or places where you don't ship etc. That means that people who don't meet your requirements won't be able to bid/buy your auctions. Yes, Ebay has it's duds, but the majority of people aren't like this. I have over 2,000 positive experiences both buying and selling, so it's not completely a lost cause. My best advice is to always use tracking, change your buyer requirements, accept Paypal, and always keep open communication with your buyers.

 

[LMD84]

For your 1st problem, if the person has only 1 feedback, they are probably very new and don't know how Ebay works to begin with. The good thing is that you shipped with a tracking number, and insurance so there should be no issue with this. You covered yourself pretty good here! I think it's always a good thing, as a seller, to let people know when they can expect you to ship out so there is no worry on their part either (not sure if you did that or not, so I'm just mentioning that).

For your 2nd problem, you can set your Ebay listings with "Immediate payment only," which means that a person can't buy your item without sending you a payment "immediately."

When you list your items, you can set up your "buyer requirements," so you can filter out people with negative feedback, or places where you don't ship etc. That means that people who don't meet your requirements won't be able to bid/buy your auctions. Yes, Ebay has it's duds, but the majority of people aren't like this. I have over 2,000 positive experiences both buying and selling, so it's not completely a lost cause. My best advice is to always use tracking, change your buyer requirements, accept Paypal, and always keep open communication with your buyers.

oh i never knew that you could filter through who can buy your product! that would be very handy to stop people with negative feedback from buying. great advice!

 

[rockin]

Since negative feedback cannot be left for buyers, that particular filtering isn't very useful. It will only tell you if they have negative feedback as sellers.

 

[LMD84]

Since negative feedback cannot be left for buyers, that particular filtering isn't very useful. It will only tell you if they have negative feedback as sellers.

what?! have i totally missed something? why on earth can't buyers be left negative feedback anymore? see this is why i use amazon!!

 

[rockin]

It's been like that for ages now, as sellers would sometimes leave negative feedback in retaliation for a buyer leaving them negative feedback. I've had negative feedback from a seller myself, where an item didn't arrive and I claimed through PayPal. The seller got quite nasty about it, claiming that since mine was the only parcel not to arrive out of all she had sent that day, I must be lying!! She left me feedback calling me a fraud and a liar. Funnily enough, she's had numerous 'non-receipt' feedbacks left by others since then and she ended up losing her account. The negative remains on my account even though it's totally unjustified

 

[LMD84]

It's been like that for ages now, as sellers would sometimes leave negative feedback in retaliation for a buyer leaving them negative feedback. I've had negative feedback from a seller myself, where an item didn't arrive and I claimed through PayPal. The seller got quite nasty about it, claiming that since mine was the only parcel not to arrive out of all she had sent that day, I must be lying!! She left me feedback calling me a fraud and a liar. Funnily enough, she's had numerous 'non-receipt' feedbacks left by others since then and she ended up losing her account. The negative remains on my account even though it's totally unjustified

ah i see, yes that is very bad if that is what people were doing! it's not like you did anything wrong! i can see why they have done it now. and seeing as she lost her account you;d think they'd void the negative that she left you!

 

[MACATTAK]

Since negative feedback cannot be left for buyers, that particular filtering isn't very useful. It will only tell you if they have negative feedback as sellers.

Good point about the feedback. That rule is ridiculous. However, you can still change your requirements for people with a feedback score of less than (whatever the seller deems appropriate), or have had X number of unpaid cases against them, so at least it's something.

 

[Aneed]

After a couple of bad experiences through selling on ebay I now only offer 'registered post'. It's more expensive than regular post and may turn off potential buyers but it will at least cover you if a claim is taken out on you for an item 'not arriving'.

It's so sad how people can be so shifty.

 

[evilpoptart]

Yea I sell textbooks through half.com, an ebay branch, and had a few good sales....but then someone with 0 feedback bought from me. I sent their item with a tracking number because they did not purchase insurance....I check it a week later and it has been delivered. A month later the buyer contacts me telling me they never received the item and since the tracking info was one number off on the zip code (still same city) that I must have put the wrong shipping info and they never got it. I know the stuff was accurate bc I have the printout of where I sent it, and there is no way the usps would deliver to a completely wrong address. If the zip was wrong they would have returned to sender. However, the atlanta post office is completely unhelpful so I had no choice but to believe the buyer and refund them. So frustrating.

 

[LMD84]

Yea I sell textbooks through half.com, an ebay branch, and had a few good sales....but then someone with 0 feedback bought from me. I sent their item with a tracking number because they did not purchase insurance....I check it a week later and it has been delivered. A month later the buyer contacts me telling me they never received the item and since the tracking info was one number off on the zip code (still same city) that I must have put the wrong shipping info and they never got it. I know the stuff was accurate bc I have the printout of where I sent it, and there is no way the usps would deliver to a completely wrong address. If the zip was wrong they would have returned to sender. However, the atlanta post office is completely unhelpful so I had no choice but to believe the buyer and refund them. So frustrating.

urgh! some people make me so mad! why be so dishonest like that?