Shithead in what way?

JasonZavoda wrote in Number of Ebay shithead sellers on the increase:

MrBlonde wrote in Number of Ebay shithead sellers on the increase:Shithead in what way?

The usual ways for an ebay seller, but just more frequent. Overcharging on shipping, quoting one shipping method and sending it in an unprotected manila envelope instead, sending damaged items, moldy items, animal chewed items, water rippled items, late shipping, non-shipping, not responding to attempts to contact them, rude and snotty behavior, missing components, lying about condition, lying about completeness of items, etc...

It's pretty much back to the bad old days.  A few years ago their "plan" was to terrorize, beat down, and bascially kick off any sellers that didn't buy into their goon behavior of making "the buyer the king who is always right no matter what even if they aren't because we want to project the image of a "safe" marketplace".  So they upped fees, restricted behavior for sellers, instituted draconian measures that only punished sellers while basically allowing buyers to claim dissatisfaction for whatever reason and get a full refund, plus keep the product, plus ding the seller.  Many good sellers left and the place soon became full of high volume, low personal service sellers who managed to obey the letter of the law and didn't have to worry about negs or bad dsrs due to extremely high volume of sales.

However, massive loss of sellers and low profit the last couple of years has caused a complete 180. Now I am getting all sorts of stuff in my seller inbasket (probably because I have an ebay store) about how they will remove negative feedback and dsrs for many, many reasons, including when it looks like a rating is "punative" (as has been demonstrated on other threads in this forum).  Hell, when is a negative rating to a seller NOT punative?  Ive had low DSRs and ratings removed myself, not through complaining, but through ebay themselves using some sort of algorithm to take it off my feedback (sometimes before I even notice it).  High shipping charges are back (or at least aren't being policed, since ebay now charges fees on shipping as well as final value they have no incentive to punish high shipping), catering to large volume sellers who could care less what you think as a buyer means shitty service and follow-up, terrible guidelines for selling items (their condition categories are so mixed up, contradictory, and silly that they really tell you little about the items being sold), etc etc.

I don't understand why everything ebay does is a knee-jerk psychotic reaction, but there it is. They simply cannot understand a balanced approach to the seller/customer dynamic and thus end up making no one happy.

Mike B

JasonZavoda wrote in Number of Ebay shithead sellers on the increase:

MrBlonde wrote in Number of Ebay shithead sellers on the increase:Shithead in what way?

The usual ways for an ebay seller, but just more frequent. Overcharging on shipping, quoting one shipping method and sending it in an unprotected manila envelope instead, sending damaged items, moldy items, animal chewed items, water rippled items, late shipping, non-shipping, not responding to attempts to contact them, rude and snotty behavior, missing components, lying about condition, lying about completeness of items, etc...

Yeah that'll do it.

I think I have a problem of attracting the worst sellers!!

I bought a starter box set and paid $20 for expedited shipping, it showed up wrapped in brown paper shipped via media.   The box had damage due to the lack of protection.  The seller's response was the post office let them ship it media mail.  Never mind that they profited $14 from the shipping.  

Ebay's answer was for me to return it.  Thanks for the help!!!  I agree with Jason, this is happening much more often!!

Do they ever use poor packaging to cover imperfections that they didn't list?
I'm just wondering if it could be more purposeful than not wanting to spend the extra money.

Judging by the responses I get from most of these sellers, I seriously doubt thier ability to pull off a deception like that.

Most of them have no clue what they are doing and think of Ebay as a better garage sale for their junk.   It doesn't seem like it should be too hard to describe the item accuartely, price the postage accordingly and ship with some type of protection.  

Obviously it is, because very few are geting it right.  I am worried that Ebay is going to come down on me for filing so many item is not as described cases.  

Also, forget about the shipping overcharges, Ebay will not help you recoup, you are on your own!!

For the most part I think this thread is a bit of an overreaction to the obvious negatives surrounding eBay... yep I've been there on each and everyone of the issues you all illustrated... but the bottom line is eBay is a MACHINE... both buying and selling... I find enough good deals on the buy side and have enough positive sell side transactions to not only make it "worth it" from but to make it lucrative.

In my opinion the biggest issue is packing... but I find that before you pay ask and get confirmation of the packing methods being employed usually works 95% of the time... I especially do this when buying Minty items.

Disco

benjoshua wrote in Number of Ebay shithead sellers on the increase:

DiscoDadda wrote in Number of Ebay shithead sellers on the increase:For the most part I think this thread is a bit of an overreaction to the obvious negatives surrounding eBay... yep I've been there on each and everyone of the issues you all illustrated... but the bottom line is eBay is a MACHINE... both buying and selling... I find enough good deals on the buy side and have enough positive sell side transactions to not only make it "worth it" from but to make it lucrative.

In my opinion the biggest issue is packing... but I find that before you pay ask and get confirmation of the packing methods being employed usually works 95% of the time... I especially do this when buying Minty items.

Disco

I am in agreement here.  I've been selling on eBay for over ten years now, and there are some improvements.  However, I have gone from selling and buying to mostly selling, so maybe I am a little out of touch with the buying experience.  Plus, I don't consider myself a big time collector seeking expensive and/or minty items, so packing issues haven't been a huge obstacle.  I am not saying I haven't run into the occasional crap here, but that's business for ya.

I like the machine analogy.  For the most part, if you know where all the buttons are, and know what usually happens when you push or don't push certain buttons, and understand certain buttons don't exist, then the output is fairly predictable.  It is true that the machine is quirky and delivers quirky results, so if your expectations take that into account, then disappointments are few.  

Maybe I spoke too soon... someone just shipped me a TRS Air Power manual... in a manilla envelope... Luckily it was kinda VG to begin with so a few more bends and creases won't matter much... but really...  once money changes hands it is no longer the sellers item... show at least a modicum of respect for the collectible itself and the new owner.  

Disco

I need the forum's assistance in this matter. I know that this was "wrong" for the seller to do, but I would like to know your professional opinions what to do according to eBay "standards".

I was watching a listing for Midnight: Fury of Shadow (box set) that had a starting bid of $39.95, but suddenly ended prior to the auction ending (see below) because the item was no longer available.


** expired/removed eBay auction **


I searched and found that the seller had re-listed it as a BIN with the opening price of $39.95, so I happily clicked BIN and Confirmed (see below)


** expired/removed eBay auction **


Prior to paying, I received a frantic message from the seller asking me not to pay. His reason was that he was not happy that no one had bid in 10 days, so he wanted to re-list, but couldn't change the price, when I clicked on BIN. He has since re:re-listed the item with a BIN of $149.95  


** expired/removed eBay auction **


Obviously, if no one "bid" more than $39.95 over a 10 day period WTF does he think people are going to do for a $149.95 price. I want the item, but this is asinine  

How do I go about things the "right way" with eBay to win a case and get the box set? I have bought from this guy before, but this is ridiculous.

Thanks in Advance - Paul