Advice Request: unfair eBay seller fees, collections, and more

Syndicate

Golden Member
Oct 12, 2000
1,798
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76
Folks,

I know this is very off topic. I've been around here for a while and I know there's lots of Anandtechers out there who have experience in lots of areas, so I'm hoping someone can lend some advice. I am seeking advice so try to be open minded here...

Here's the scoop:
Over the course of a year, I started a small eBay side business selling some local wares and what not. It blossomed well. I ended up having regular monthly seller fees of $500-$800. Several weeks back my seller account was suspended due to some internal issues (nothing negative/offensive I assure you - all OK in the end). Anyway, once eBay suspended the account all auction fees were immediately due. The problem is, several auctions had been won by scammers (most of my auctions are .99c no reserve auctions) where several final bids were $5000+ for $200-$400 items - clearly false bids but they occurred in the last moments of the auctions. The problem is, the Final Value Fee for a $5000 item these days is over $150. I had several of these items end with outrageous bids. It wasn't a big deal, as this has occurred occasionally in the past and I simply filed FVF refund requests with eBay 7 days later. Unfortunately, as soon as eBay suspended the account all of the items I was waiting to file refund requests for were "deleted" and I was unable to request any of further fee refunds. That meant all those items that were never paid for had huge fees tacked on. This account was billed for $1900+ from eBay. While trying to work things out with eBay (virtually impossible, horrendous customer service), the account ended up in collections with IC Systems. As it stands, they are attempting to collect some $1900+ in fees for items that were never paid for. eBay insists I must pay the balance in full and "maybe" I can work something out after I pay off the debt. That seems pretty ludicrous to me. I have 30 days to respond to the debt collection letter before the debt is assumed valid.

Options I see (I'm putting them all out here, even the crazy ones):
1) Ignore the debt collector and eBay
2) Pay the debt collector and hope to work something out with eBay
3) Pay eBay and hope for some sort of refund even though I can't even access the items
4) Send a dispute letter to the debt collector
5) Send a dispute letter to eBay (?) seeing as all other non-official communications have been virtually ignored so far

While I'm fairly certain that the proper step is to send a dispute note to the debt collector - I'm wondering if I should send a copy to eBay or communicate with them in anyway. Additionally, I wanted to find out if there's any other steps I should take.

Again, if you have any experience or advice in dealing with this situation please let me know. My credit rating is untarnished and I'd like to keep it that way. I pulled a report today and so no negatives [yet].

Thanks

 

Agentbolt

Diamond Member
Jul 9, 2004
3,340
1
0
Yes, communicate with E-Bay. They're not suing you, you should communicate with both them and the collection company as much as possible.

This is why I stopped selling on E-Bay. They're by far the most unfair company I've ever dealt with. Why another company has been completely incapable of toppling them is beyond me.
 

Syndicate

Golden Member
Oct 12, 2000
1,798
0
76
Originally posted by: Agentbolt
Yes, communicate with E-Bay. They're not suing you, you should communicate with both them and the collection company as much as possible.

This is why I stopped selling on E-Bay. They're by far the most unfair company I've ever dealt with. Why another company has been completely incapable of toppling them is beyond me.

My communication with eBay thus far has not gone well. Nothing but circles via phone and email. Should I simply copy them in on a dispute letter to the collection agency?
 

holden j caufield

Diamond Member
Dec 30, 1999
6,324
10
81
Originally posted by: Agentbolt
They're by far the most unfair company I've ever dealt with. Why another company has been completely incapable of toppling them is beyond me.


Paypal/Ebay has the worst CS. I've noticed every company without a visible toll free CS number has been terrible in my experience. I remember looking for paypal and ebay's phone number and never saw it. If someone finds their number let me know
 

Greenman

Lifer
Oct 15, 1999
20,281
5,053
136
File a dispute with the collection agency, at that point egay has to prove you owe them the money.
 

Agentbolt

Diamond Member
Jul 9, 2004
3,340
1
0
Paypal's phone #

(888) 221-1161

Brought to you Paypalsucks.com, a growing community of people who want Paypal and Ebay's employees to die of ball cancer and rot in hell for eternity.
 

Agentbolt

Diamond Member
Jul 9, 2004
3,340
1
0
My communication with eBay thus far has not gone well. Nothing but circles via phone and email. Should I simply copy them in on a dispute letter to the collection agency?

Precisely. It's just CYA for if it ends up in court somehow. They'll almost certainly ignore it, but you cover your bases.