Welcome to Ebay...

[Keith]

I got a revenge negative feedback from a seller who I had given a positive over a camera and lens because I dared to tell him I thought the lens was faulty (seized aperture ring) when it had had been advertised as perfect. He tried to tell me that it had obviously seized in the post between here and the US and been affected by the dry air in OZ!😱

The bottom line was I managed to nail his miserable hide to the wall and with a bit of work managed to force him into a corner where he had the option of taking the gear back or doing a mutual feedback withdrawal. Up until his stupidity I'd had a 100% feedback rating and wasn't about to have it spoiled by this idiot. Hugh's Camera Sales ... beware! 🙄

In one of his many abusive emails to me he made mention about Aussies having sex with sheep ... amongst a lot of other insults! He was a strange dude! 😀

 

[raid]

You have to be tough on ebay if you want to get your rights. When feeling I was not fairly treated, I refuse to pay and I forward all email to ebay plus I make it clear to the seller that I will not tolerate BS. It's tough out there!

 

[splitimageview]

Well said, M. Valdemar.

I haven't been truly burned on ebay in the 9 years I've been buying and selling. The worst situations were buyers that attempted to extort a lower price by threatening negative feedback. It took me a while to figure out that it was best to just offer a full refund for any dissatisifed buyer, for whatever reason. Once faced with having to send the item back for full refund, and not being successful on their extortion, I never heard from them again.

Yes, a few deals could have been handled in a more perfect manner but overall, ebay has been an overwhelmingly huge positive for me.

 

[M. Valdemar]

I guess nobody ever feels that THEY are in the wrong when they get involved in an eBay deal they don't like.

Everybody in jail is innocent too.

PS: As a seller I have problems with parts swappers, people wanting "partial refunds", and no pays.

I too think it's better to offer full refunds when someone complains. A lot of buyers ask for "money back" to fix imaginary flaws. If you refuse and offer a full refund, you never hear from them again.

Parts swapping is a big problem sometimes. Someone is actually now selling a manual on "how to get everything on eBay free" by exploiting PayPal loopholes. I think many are now reading that book.

 

[ChadHahn]

You're dealing with individuals, so you can't blame eBay as a whole. OK, so you get nickel and dimed once in a while or even burned.

On the other hand, eBay had allowed you to buy from a vast world market at lower prices than dealers, given you access to countless things you might never see otherwise, and brought countless treasures into the marketplace.

Not to mention allowing you to make money on your collectibles, cut out the dealers and middlemen, and connected you to everyone on earth. It's redefined the whole word of collecting, and given you a huge amount of freedom.

It's a marvel, and before you condemn the whole system because you had a few bad experiences, think of how it was before.

No I condem eBay because they ignored problems while increasing fees over and over. Now eBay is rampant with hijacked accounts, bogus second chance offers and more and more counterfeit items.

If eBay would have kept on top of the operations of their site instead of trying to maximise profits with out giving anyone other than the shareholders anything more in return we wouldn't be having this discussion.

 

[splitimageview]

It would be nice if ebay could come up with a login method that would prevent account hijacking.

Phishing of course only works when people take the bait, and it's pretty difficult to educate all the unwashed masses about determining bogus URLs, etc. Heck, few people even know what a URL is.

However it doesn't take much brain power to spot a bogus M8 auction that is 'buy it now' for $1500.

 

[FallisPhoto]

I don't have a problem giving negative feedback, when it is deserved. I think the last one I gave was because I recieved an electronic p&s camera with a ribbon connector that was torn. It wouldn't even turn on. The guy said he'd checked the camera before sending it and that "it must have happened in the mail." Well, I told him that I was pretty sure I could throw that camera against a wall for an hour and smash it to bits and still not tear a flexible plastic ribbon connector. Only way that can happen is if you open the camera up and tear it or if you simply bend it back and forth so many times that it cracks and splits (in which case, it is not going to check out right). Anyway, I think I've only been burned about half a dozen times in ten years, and I usually get something every week.

 

[Krosya]

I have to side with the seller.

He said clearly he only ships to USA, you bid anyway.

If you had any questions pertaining to the shipping fees, this is something that should be asked by you before bidding.

While he may seem rude to you, he upheld his end of the bargain.

Things which should be resolved before you bid should not be debated after the fact.

PS: In your seller prefs, you can block bidders from countries to which you do not ship. This is the best way to prevent unwanted bidders from ignoring your terms.

My thoughts exactly!

 

[FallisPhoto]

I don't have a problem giving negative feedback, when it is deserved. I think the last one I gave was because I recieved an electronic p&s camera with a ribbon connector that was torn. It wouldn't even turn on. The guy said he'd checked the camera before sending it and that "it must have happened in the mail." Well, I told him that I was pretty sure I could throw that camera against a wall for an hour and smash it to bits and still not tear a flexible plastic ribbon connector. Only way that can happen is if you open the camera up and tear it or if you simply bend it back and forth so many times that it cracks and splits (in which case, it is not going to check out right). Anyway, I think I've only been burned about half a dozen times in ten years, and I usually get something every week.

That said, I should probably mention that I do vintage camera repair and restoration, so I'm not as easily burned as most, and I kind of go into any ebay transaction with low expectations. I expect to have to work on any camera I get there, at least to the extent of having to CLA it and replace the light seals.

 

[sooner]

I tend to agree with the seller here, too. He specified US only, and you should have checked with him ahead of time about shipping costs overseas. I've heard a lot of people on this forum say only buy from sellers with perfect feedback, yet we all admit that blackmailing goes on and there are crazies out there. Maybe the answer is we should all toughen up and grow some balls, leave negative feedback when warranted, and not be so afraid to take a few knocks. Then, as buyers, we should read the positives AND negatives and make a decision as to what happened. I'm not sure what Ebay could do without seriously restricting what is a terrific, huge market for stuff. The simple fact is there is no good alternative, and my experiences have been overwhelmingly though not entirely positive. Without Ebay, my chances of buying rangefinder cameras would be pretty darn nil.

 

[nikon_sam]

As far as Feedback goes on Ebay...I only leave feedback once the seller has...I don't care if my number goes up and so far I haven't sold anything there...
I will pay for my items with Paypal as soon as I can...so that should result in Positive Feedback...I have done my part...

 

[ChadHahn]

As far as Feedback goes on Ebay...I only leave feedback once the seller has...I don't care if my number goes up and so far I haven't sold anything there...
I will pay for my items with Paypal as soon as I can...so that should result in Positive Feedback...I have done my part...

I disagree, I think it is the buyer who should first leave feedback. Then the transaction is completed. If the seller leaves feedback after he receives the money he is signing off before the deal is done.

Also, it prevents people from getting something they don't like and automatically leaving negative feedback.

As a seller, I wait until the buyer gives me feedback and then gladly give them positive feedback (most times).

 

[mike goldberg]

Hi all... fascinating thread 🙄
I guess I'm one of the lucky ones, but not totally so. For me it's 60 transactions in 3 years as a Buyer. I have 100% Feedback; I usually pay up within minutes of my winning an item. I've bought a few cameras, several lenses, 2 Palm Pilots and a lot of accessories and computer peripherals.

It's around 80% satisfaction all around. Early in my eBay "career," a Seller called ssears, screwed me to the tune of over $100- on a camera having a faulty shutter. And yet, I found an OM-1n that a student had used in a college course, for $32-. When an FSU Seller says "Rare," I click on, "Return to list of items." In eBay, a lot depends on analysis of the data, Feedback... and a healthy dose of intuition and luck.

The Palm zire 71 & the T3 are both excellent, and I am still using them.

In general, I don't buy photographic stuff on the Bay anymore. The item descriptions and honesty of our own RFF members are such, that I can claim 90+% satisfaction right here. Like Edward R. Murrow said...
Good night and good luck.

 

[rxmd]

I've got all my prefs set like that. I don't like it that they don't let you block zero feedback bidders.

Probably because if a lot of sellers did that, it would make it difficult for new users to bid on any item and get their feedback off the ground. They don't want to spoil the experience for new users.

I will not take PayPal from anyone overseas for anything over $100 unless they pay via bank wire transfer. [...] With the dollar in the toilet, I don't mind foreign bidders at all unless they refuse to read the description and try to insist on PayPal. PayPal is poison for foreign sales.

Just as a matter of interest, could you elaborate why? Wire transfer is usually quite expensive to the US and giving the seller my credit card data is not a good idea on a distrust- and revenge-feedback-ridden market like eBay. I will buy items from the US only if there is PayPal as a payment option, otherwise the costs for transferring the money are too significant, so as far as I am concerned PayPal is what enables foreign sales in the first place.

Philipp

 

[Mr_Flibble]

Shipping cost and "second offers" are my major pains with Ebay-seller.

This week someone dared to charge me $38 for international shipping of a plastic 135mm Hektor Lens container. The item was $14. $38 was the cheapest option....
Imagine how fast shipping should have been if I had chosen the $250 option.
He'll get a positive feedback (if it arrives within the timespan and if the item is in good shape), but he'll also get a "Shipping price : Not reasonable at all".

The week before I bid on another item, there were no other bidders until the last hour when there was a series of small bids, until it got above mine with 1 dollar.
So I lost, next thing I know I get a 'second chance offer' for the item for my maximum bid (which was $25 more then the price was at an hour before the end of the auction).

I guess some sellers try everything they can think of to squeeze an extra buck out of their buyers.
Luckily there are still plenty of sellers out there who are honest. I usually make sure they list their shipping cost on the add or ask before bidding (the mail-the-seller options are there for a reason).

 

[rxmd]

The week before I bid on another item, there were no other bidders until the last hour when there was a series of small bids, until it got above mine with 1 dollar.
So I lost, next thing I know I get a 'second chance offer' for the item for my maximum bid (which was $25 more then the price was at an hour before the end of the auction).

Maybe I'm dense, but what's the problem with that? When you place a bid at any auction house for $X, you state that you are ready to pay $X, no matter what the price is ten seconds, an hour or a week before that. If the item isn't worth $X to you, bid less.

The only way in which I could see this as offensive is if you're assuming that all last-hour bids were made indirectly by the seller in order to find out how much you're willing to bid. That's not nice, but it's not related to second chance offers; sellers could just as well try this and send you an e-mail afterwards offering to sell outside of eBay. Given that when bidding on something, I sometimes used to test the high bids of other buyers in exactly the same way you describe, you shouldn't assume that the raising was done by the seller; maybe just another buyer bidder out of the deal for reasons of his own.

Philipp

 

[MichaelHarris]

HuubL thanks for the info, I'll never buy from a guy like that. If he doesn't like the drive and doing the paperwork then he shouldn't be selling. When I sell stuff I send it everywhere, I have a handfull of the customs forms at my house and just fill them out before I leave. Saves a ton of time at the Post Office. That seller is just too stupid to think of that.

 

[varjag]

I am afraid of leaving bad feedback cause I have seen others do it and get bad feedback back. I ordered a Bruce Gilden book 40 days ago. No show. Sent the seller to emails. No answer. I now have a case open in Paypal. He had 3000 feedbacks. I understand that some ebay sellers has alot to do, but there seems to be a lot of bad ones out there.

Erik, if you sourced PayPal transaction through a credit card, ask the CC company for chargeback (since service was not rendered). From that point it' should be PayPal's problem.

I also check seller's negatives/neutrals via toolhaus.org. With high volume sellers, reading the comments really help. While all big sellers tend to acquire at least some negative comments, if there's something wrong with the person you will be able to see the trend. For instance, if a seller has 18000 feedbacks and 400 negatives, out of which about 300 state "item not received" it is a good idea to steer clear of seller. Because for every negative left, there tend to be two negatives mutually withdrawn, and five ratings never left at all.

 

[photobizzz]

I havent ever really been burned on ebay before, although there were two times that I had to ask paypal to get my money back for items that never arrived (they did both times) I am usually very selective of whom I buy from, and always pay with paypal unless I really want that particular item for some reason. Usually if you are willing to wait and watch for a week or so you will see another of even that "rare" item. I dont normally like to buy from the FSU due to high shipping costs but I have bought from alexphoto several times with no complaints. I guess ebay has its place but I much prefer to buy from someone on this forum if possible.

 

[btgc]

This days I've opened first eBay complain against seller who claims "sent camera" but don't reveal details - when sent, number of package. If seller just doesn't want to part with camera for minimal price (I were only bidder), I'll fight; if package were actually sent and proof will seem reasonable, I'll count I've bought good experience choosing only signed/insured shipping overseas.