YA@#@~##!! sigh...EBAY thread

[Gillbot]

Next time just donate the thing to Goodwill and get a receipt for tax purposes. Saves a lot of head ache. I would recommend craigslist... but instead of distant flakes you have to deal with local ones.

Until they ask to ship to their cousin/brother/son in Nigeria. :awe:

 

[Aikouka]

The headaches and hassles of ebay weren't worth it to me anymore. I'll donate to goodwill or throw it in the trash now.

I've sold a few things on eBay over the past few years, and I've had relatively decent luck. Although, I didn't even try after trying to sell an old receiver on here. I just gave it away to a friend. Less hassle and you can make someone's day! :awe:

 

[Analog]

you lose.

 

[ViviTheMage]

If the item is DOA, ebay buyer protection will go in favor of the buyer.

I recently sold a 2006 MBP to someone, I got it from a friend who used it for 4-5 years without a hitch. New guy gets it, and it started to blue screen on him (running OSX , LOL)....I gave him 50% of the cost to repair it, he was happy with that. I claimed insurance from USPS and all was good.

 

[Jeraden]

I have tons of stuff I want to sell on ebay, but all these ripoff stories always stop me. If a buyer claims that they didn't get the product ordered... like say I sold an mp3 player, and the buyer says it was only the charger (like another post in this thread mentions). Is the seller basically completely screwed? Even insuring it isn't going to help with that, is it?
Does the seller have ANY way to protect themselves from lying buyers?

 

[Gillbot]

I have tons of stuff I want to sell on ebay, but all these ripoff stories always stop me. If a buyer claims that they didn't get the product ordered... like say I sold an mp3 player, and the buyer says it was only the charger (like another post in this thread mentions). Is the seller basically completely screwed? Even insuring it isn't going to help with that, is it?
Does the seller have ANY way to protect themselves from lying buyers?

From my experiences, yes the seller is screwed.

I've had friends who have taken items to a 3rd party such as the UPS Store, had them package and ship it providing a receipt of the items contained in the package, only to get hit with a buyer claim and lose.

 

[dbk]

i sold my iphone 4 on there.. some guy with 0 feedback won.. but the money was good. Shipped it with USPS with insurance signature required.. no problems so far...

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Ebay is slanted towards the buyer. Generally in any dispute the buyer will win.


Now paypal is whole other beast. It only provides protection for the buyer. As the seller, if he denies the charge on his CC or via paypal they will immediately remove it from your linked banking account and then disable your paypal account.



You're screwed.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

From my experiences, yes the seller is screwed.

I've had friends who have taken items to a 3rd party such as the UPS Store, had them package and ship it providing a receipt of the items contained in the package, only to get hit with a buyer claim and lose.

When I was a kid I sold a laptop on ebay, to an older woman who clearly had no idea how to use a computer.

Long long story short, after she sent it back and I removed her viruses I firmly but politely made it very clear this is something she's doing to the laptop, it works fine, yadda yadda yadda.

She ended up filing a claim with paypal, who sided with the buyer. The funds were immediately removed from my checking account, and paypal locked everything for 30 days before they told me I would have to pursue the buyer via small claims. End result was the woman tried to keep the laptop AND the money, and paypal/ebay wouldn't do a thing.




Taking a personal check gives you better protection than paypal, at least you have state laws on your side.

 

[airdata]

I've sold stuff on there clearly marked as non-working and the buyers filed a claim for goods not working and won.

That's what happened with me when they clearly didn't review the case. I had to call them and the guy on the phone immediately refunded the money they'd taken from my paypal because he could see that nobody reviewed the case before siding w\ the buyer and refunding them.

I did however get the item back and partit out for another $200 after the fact.

 

[Gillbot]

That's what happened with me when they clearly didn't review the case. I had to call them and the guy on the phone immediately refunded the money they'd taken from my paypal because he could see that nobody reviewed the case before siding w\ the buyer and refunding them.

I did however get the item back and partit out for another $200 after the fact.

I tried calling, emailing, nothing was ever resolved. Paypal is an unfortunate necessary evil since it's so wide spread. I was hoping Serve would take off but alas, I think it's just too late for a decent competitor to penetrate the market.

 

[slayer202]

on the phone now...on hold after a transfer

 

[j&j]

Ebay is slanted towards the buyer. Generally in any dispute the buyer will win.


Now paypal is whole other beast. It only provides protection for the buyer. As the seller, if he denies the charge on his CC or via paypal they will immediately remove it from your linked banking account and then disable your paypal account.



You're screwed.

While I use Ebay/Paypal extensively and I don't really like them. This is sooooo far off from the truth.

Why the fuck would they disable your Paypal account because someone filed a chargeback? They won't, I've had multiple chargebacks from ass hole fucks trying to screw me, my Paypal account is fine. Google Paypal Seller Protection.


I've sold 300,000 in revenue via Paypal transactions in the last 2 years or so, and in these rare cases you do lose most of the time, I'll agree. The issue is a buyer can claim anything they fucking want to and how do you prove otherwise?? You really can't, it's more of a he said/she said bullshit argument and Ebay looks at buyers more favorably than sellers strictly due to their customer service aspect of the business.


Right now for instance, i have some dipshit who bought/used a Precision M6600 laptop for a month, then decided he didn't want it, claimed a sticking key and he wanted a DVDRW instead of DVDROM.

 

[slightlyhuman]

When I was a kid I sold a laptop on ebay, to an older woman who clearly had no idea how to use a computer.

Long long story short, after she sent it back and I removed her viruses I firmly but politely made it very clear this is something she's doing to the laptop, it works fine, yadda yadda yadda.

She ended up filing a claim with paypal, who sided with the buyer. The funds were immediately removed from my checking account, and paypal locked everything for 30 days before they told me I would have to pursue the buyer via small claims. End result was the woman tried to keep the laptop AND the money, and paypal/ebay wouldn't do a thing.


Taking a personal check gives you better protection than paypal, at least you have state laws on your side.

holy crap that's horrifying. i had a similar case that lucked out in my favor. sold HD2 phone. buyer filed a PP claim, and immediately my funds were locked. buyer claimed it didn't work which was bull shit. i'm sure he tried flashing it and messed it up. said he was sending it back. all he had to do was provide a tracking number(with a fucking brick in it) and paypal was going to refund him. he had so many days to reply/respond but ended up not doing it. after over a month+ paypal sided with me since they didn't hear from him. fuck that guy.

 

[slayer202]

Ok just got off the phone. The girl I talked to was very nice, and she seemed to agree with my on the issue. She said it's not possible to change the decision, otherwise she probably would.

She said that once the buyer sends it back(they have 10 days), I have 3 days to inspect it and issue a refund, assuming it's in the same condition as I sent it. Obviously this is now a grey area, since I sent a new sealed item, and it's now used and possibly broken. It seemed like my only option is to wait and put in a claim that the item isn't in the condition I sent it in. That's kind of annoying considering I don't think the buyer even deserves to send it back to me, and it sounded like the Ebay Rep agreed, but I guess there's no reasonable fix to that...

I guess I'm somewhat hopeful, but who knows...

 

[RavenSEAL]

ATFS > eBay

 

[MotF Bane]

I would recommend craigslist... but instead of distant flakes you have to deal with local ones.

Never had a problem with that. If you're concerned, neutral location meets, deal in cash only, and never see the person again.

 

[Gillbot]

Never had a problem with that. If you're concerned, neutral location meets, deal in cash only, and never see the person again.

And use a google voice phone number so they can't constantly call your real phone.

 

[The_Dude8]

Link to the item you sold op?

 

[slayer202]

Link to the item you sold op?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/200701699950

I sold another about 3 weeks before without any issue.

 

[Joseph F]

ATFS > eBay

No, ATFS >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> eBay.

 

[dud]

Ebay's claims system is skewed toward buyers... I've even had a case where they admittedly did not review the case before deciding in the buyers favor and giving him money from my paypal account.

You might be able to call ebay and see what they say. Tell them you sold a new in box item and don't want a broken item. Maybe they'll credit you.

This. Years ago ebay skewed their system towards buyers. They stopped allowing sellers to post negative feedback against bad buyers and the general cost of doing business there has just risen too much. They even charge you a final evaluation fee on shipping!

I normally buy perhaps 5-10 things off of ebay per year but have not sold in almost 10 years. Last month my wife wanted to try and sell something there. Iw arned her against it ... but she did it anyway. The item sold for about half what it was worth ... she was shocked. Additionally, when she saw all the fees that ebay piled on it was like salt in open wound. I predict that ebay has now lost two (2) future sellers ...



As for Craigslist I have had reasonably good luck as a buyer but horrible experiences as a seller. CL is an adventure ...

 

[Gillbot]

This. Years ago ebay skewed their system towards buyers. They stopped allowing sellers to post negative feedback against bad buyers and the general cost of doing business there has just risen too much. They even charge you a final evaluation fee on shipping!

I normally buy perhaps 5-10 things off of ebay per year but have not sold in almost 10 years. Last month my wife wanted to try and sell something there. Iw arned her against it ... but she did it anyway. The item sold for about half what it was worth ... she was shocked. Additionally, when she saw all the fees that ebay piled on it was like salt in open wound. I predict that ebay has now lost two (2) future sellers ...



As for Craigslist I have had reasonably good luck as a buyer but horrible experiences as a seller. CL is an adventure ...

blame that shipping fee on all those charging $1 for the item and $100 shipping.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

No, ATFS >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> eBay.

This. Although I will say a couple of instances I couldn't get what I wanted for a i7 920 and another time a PS3 combo on the fs/ft forum. I put both items on eBay and within a couple days both sold for a good bit more even after getting fleeced by eBay.

 

[rh71]

after you get it back, let us know if it was really partially not working.