eBay rant

[marcr1230]

START RANT

So I just wasted a week of my life. I auctioned off an expensive item,
A museum quality balsa wood model kit

Because of the nature of the item , I set the auction for 1 week duration- to allow for people who were interested to stumble upon it

At the end I had 24 watchers and 5-6 bidders

The guy who won the auction didn't pay, wanted to verify that the item was complete and was a "wood model",said he could get it cheaper elsewhere and would I give hiM the retail price, and that he bid thinking he wasn't going to win it.

I responded like this

It's an auction, you pay the price you bid if you win. You don't negotiate afterwards.
All the details and photos of the item are in the listing and are accurate. There were 5 other people whose time and energy were directed towards this auction, why did you bid if you didn't want it?
If you made a mistake and don't want it - just man up and tell me, I will relist it.

I'm just stunned that there are such arrogant people out there that consider themselves above rules and conventions even when they basically step all over everyone else who was playing by these rules

And of course , there's little recourse against a buyer like that,eBay won't really help you or sue them for breach of contract.

And now of course if the guy eventually pays the bid price, what confidence do I have that he's not going to claim some defect?

With the bay - when people pay immediately my experience is they want the item and are a decent buyer. When they play games and delay - they are bad news

END RANT

 

[ornate_wrasse]

It's because of experiences like yours that I don't use EvilBay anymore. There's no telling what can happen when you sell an item and unfortunately many times what happens is bad.

My two cents.

Ellen

 

[marcr1230]

so now, I let the first guy get out of his winning bid, except he's too stupid or inconsiderate to click "yes" on the "cancel this transaction" that eBay sends him, and while he still hasn't paid, I have to open an unpaid item case against him, and then eBay continues to act as if I've sold the item and will charge me the commission until this is resolved.

Meanwhile, ever the optimist, I've re-listed the item, got a bid for $500 from a guy, who 24 hours later says he wants to take back his bid. I'm like an eBay magnet for wackos and morons apparently

 

[David Hughes]

Now and then this has happened to me but with cheaper things.

And now and then I give the item away and feel much better.

Trouble is, it's an expensive way of getting revenge but it does feel good.

Regards, David

PS Not much hope for me is there? ;-)

 

[Frontman]

Welcome to the world of retail. As buyers, people think that every buyer is more or less the same, they buy something, pay for it, and that's it. But if you are a seller anywhere, from eBay to McDonald's, to Walmart, to a movie theater, you deal with problem customers regularly. It's simply part of doing business. eBay is no worse than any other medium for sellers, and is better than most because of the exposure your items can get.

 

[marcr1230]

Latest - the re-listing went well, after 5 days, the item sold for $10 more than the last time

now it's 48 hours and I haven't heard from the buyer

my luck continues


eBay should have some kind of guaranteed payment method - if you win an auction, the seller should be able to receive payment and not have to chase after the buyer.
or like a house, perhaps a 10% escrow payment to guarantee performance...

 

[goamules]

Welcome to the world of retail. As buyers, people think that every buyer is more or less the same, they buy something, pay for it, and that's it. But if you are a seller anywhere, from eBay to McDonald's, to Walmart, to a movie theater, you deal with problem customers regularly. It's simply part of doing business. eBay is no worse than any other medium for sellers, and is better than most because of the exposure your items can get.

One major problem with your analogy. Just because you sell something once in a while, doesn't make you a business. And you certainly cannot compare an occasional/rare ebay seller with Walmart, one of the biggest businesses in the world, with supply chains, risk and loss workarounds, etc.

An ebay sale is like a garage sale. And woe be it onto some buyer that drives up to a garage sale, buys a used, old item, then decides 2 weeks later he doesn't like it. Or bids at a live auction, then tries to skip out without paying. Ebay has allowed a world of clueless, childish behaviour that never happened before the Virtual world....and it's anonymity.

Trying to apply "business" models like "satisfaction guaranteed" "no question return policy" and all to a Flea Market is insane. And there are a LOT of insane buyers out there who listen to this fallacy.

 

[David Hughes]

I couldn't agree more, they ought to be made to pay but are they...

Next on my hate list are those sellers who ignore questions.

Regards, David

 

[mfunnell]

Welcome to the world of retail. As buyers, people think that every buyer is more or less the same, they buy something, pay for it, and that's it. But if you are a seller anywhere, from eBay to McDonald's, to Walmart, to a movie theater, you deal with problem customers regularly. It's simply part of doing business. eBay is no worse than any other medium for sellers, and is better than most because of the exposure your items can get.

You are probably right (as you have the experience and I most certainly don't) and I'm one of those bozos who does the "buy something, pay for it, and that's it" thing. I've actually wondered why eBay sellers give me such nice feedback (and I mean overly-nice-seeming feedback, not just the usual OTT eBay thing) for simply doing what the rules say - if I bid then I'm committed to buy and if I buy then I pay. Immediately. Always.

As I understand it, an eBay bid is a binding contract - both legally and morally. Am I too old? I'm certainly old enough that I feel bound by, well, binding contracts. Which is why I pay - and if I didn't want to pay then I shouldn't have bid. And just because I might be able to weasel my way out of things (through the difficulty of enforcing contracts for relatively small value) if I decide not to pay then that would still make me a weasel, wouldn't it?

I don't want to be a weasel.

Does that make me too old-fashioned for the modern world? Perhaps so. Please tell me if it's true. (While understanding I'm old enough that I won't change, even if it is true.)

...Mike