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Philipp,

It was the same bidder every time. I'm pretty sure the seller was just trying to find out my maximum bid. If it had been an honest bidder I would assume he would've gone for the other simular item (a modern Czech army Sam Browne Belt) on offer from the same seller. Only, that auction would end 2 days later. Why try to outbid me when there is another available at the same low price?

Anyway, I'm buying a better quality reproduction of this item from an online company now.


Varjag said:
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.
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Very good advice! I've heard of several cases where buyers raised a complaint over at PayPal, and had to wait 30 days before paypal reviewed their problem. But as soon as the buyers CC company got involved PayPal took care of the problem right away.
 
I too have received the occasional item which just wasn't as advertised. Most sellers are responsive to sensible dialogue, but I am aware that, even if my part of the deal has been upheld perfectly, any well earned negative from me may result in retaliatory negative feedback.
 
M. Valdemar said:
I have to side with the seller.

He said clearly he only ships to USA, you bid anyway.
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He did not. As I said, I asked him if he would ship abroad before I bid. He said he would.
M Valdemar said:
If you had any questions pertaining to the shipping fees, this is something that should be asked by you before bidding.
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True, next time I'll specifically ask what hourly rate the seller is going to charge for filling out forms and waiting in lines, especially when the items are cheap and sold for the minimum.
M. Valdemar said:
While he may seem rude to you, he upheld his end of the bargain.
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As did I. I paid without making any problems about the price. It was just the simple envelope stamped $8.80, that made me ask him why he charged excessively.
And he did not SEEM rude to me, he WAS. At least, I've dealt with many sellers, including Americans and they were always professional (and didn't shout all the time :)).

rich815 said:
His negs were a little harsh but you giving the neutral when you had indeed agreed to everything was not a very good idea either.
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I have no idea why I called two negs upon me by giving one neutral. Neutral means nothing more than "not positive, not negative". It's not that I so deeply insulted him. As I said, he had nothing to complain about my handling the deal. He got all the money he wanted within a day. And IMHO the fact that he returned the double neg shows he's lame.
 
HuubL said:
I asked him before bidding if he would ship to the Netherlands. He said yes. Although he repeats in most of his mails that I knew beforehand what the shipping cost would be he did not give explicit details of the extra handling fees he would then charge.
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Ahh. That puts things in a different light...but I always ask specifically what it will cost to ship.

rxmd said:
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.
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In any case, there is NO obligation to accept the second chance offer - at worst, it's just spam...
 
I have done some 550 transactions on Ebay now with 1 negative to my name. As a seller I ensure that all my shipping charges are stated up front to all destinations that I will ship to. This takes longer at the listing stage but I never get "how much does it cost to ship to" type questions. I always provide good pictures to back up (I hope) an honest description of the item.
If you use Ebay a lot you do get a feel for the system which allows you to discriminate between the genuine but ill informed and the outright con merchant.
Evasive phrasing and answers to emails are clear signals and the general rule I adopt as a buyer is "ask and if still in doubt, don't". Always ensure you read all of the description and terms carefully too and you will save yourself a lot of grief. If a seller does not state international shipping cost up front either don't bother with them or ask well before the end of the auction.
As a seller I have found that I get significantly higher bids by clearly stating international shipping costs. It would be good if Ebay could force this information to be clearly stated by any seller who declares that they will ship internationally.
I also heartily agree with the post that felt feedback should only become visible when both buyer and seller have completed.
I disagree that the buyer should post first feedback though. Once the seller has received payment the buyer has completed their end of the bargain. It is an act of good faith on the part of the seller to post feedback at this point.
My overall experience with Ebay has by and large been good and most people are genuine and want the system to work well for them. Maybe it's just that classic camera gear isn't an area really targeted by scammers. It is also an area where a little specialist knowledge can go a long way in avoiding the pitfalls.
 
ChadHahn said:
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.
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Some time ago I was trying to buy a Hasselblad. Snipers would take the price up very quickly in the last second (not a problem, that's just how ebay is). The problem was all the bogus 2nd chance offers from people who weren't even selling the item.

I finally just bought from a store. I'm pretty much "done" with ebay.
 
MichaelHarris said:
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.
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The good thing about shipping to overseas customers is you often get more bidders, and more bidders usually means higher sale prices. I sold a 35mm Summi v4 a couple of weeks ago to a gentleman in China for $1625. (There is no way I would have gotten that much selling on RFF.) And it was still a bargain for him because of the weak dollar.

Filling out the customs forms is easy, especially online. However, the waybills are problematic online because they won't sell more than $500 insurance; have to buy that at the post office in person. And yes, going to the post office, at least for many of us, is a pain in the ass.

The problem with shipping overseas, is that the postal service is the best priced option.

It's the waiting in line at our wonderful monopoly called the USPS, with one person behind the counter and 30 waiting in line, and that one person doing the job as slowly as possible. I once asked to talk to the manager of a particular post office to complain about the fact that so few cashiers were actually working. He blamed it on the unions, saying he couldn't do anything about it. Some people apparently didn't show up that day. (That's what we get when the government tries to do business, but that's another discussion.)

Thank God we have alternatives for overnight and package shipments where I can literally walk into Fedex, drop off the shipment, and walk out in less than 10 seconds...that to me is worth the extra price in many cases.

The other factor in overseas shipments is that Paypal will not offer seller protection unless the address is confirmed via Paypal. This is only generally offered to US, Canada, and UK addresses. So overseas buyers must pay via other means. This means payments take longer to clear, etc. But at least there are no Paypal fees.

I can't tell you how many times I've had to walk people thru the address confirmation process...talk about a pain in the ass. Paypal does not make it very obvious. All my auctions clearly state I will only ship to confirmed addresses. Yet, I'll get payments immediately after auction closing that list unconfirmed addresses. The only way to fix it, is to refund the payment, and have the customer confirm the address and resend the payment. It's rather difficult to do this without inadvertently pissing off your customer. Paypal will not update an address from 'unconfirmed' to 'confirmed' after a payment has already been sent. Arrgh!
 
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Huubl,

Adding postal fees is quite common. In that case, I would have paid the $10 more, shut up and waited until he has left the feedback and then reported it to ebay.

Distance selling and buying used goods is full of risks for both buyers and sellers. Think fleamarket without personal contact. The buyers have at least the choice if they want to bid or not. But as seller you run even more risks. You can not choose the bidders.

I've just sold a few dozen items on ebay and I can tell it's not easy for sellers, too. I describe my stuff as detailed as I can, list the shipping fees for every country, warn the people that their country might cash customs and vat fees, and much more. Most buyers do not read that, but are keeping unsatisfiable expectations.

The italian post for instance takes weeks and weeks to deliver and my italian buyers are getting nuts, threatening me to leave a negative feedback (for something they should blame their own @#*§£&! postal services or customs).

Others complain about flaws that were clearly and honestly described and photographed. Or complain about customs taxes and VAT they had to pay though they've been warned. Others just don't answer or don't pay at all. Or after 3 weeks only (an amount of CHF 16.00!) Another wants to pick the stuff up but never comes. Many just don't leave feedback, though I remind them politely. Personally I do not leave negative feedbacks as this could frighten potential buyers, even if some would have deserved it in the past. I leave positive or none, only. It's a wonder my feedback profile is still 100% positive.

Didier
 
Didier said:
Huubl,
Personally I do not leave negative feedbacks as this could frighten potential buyers, even if some would have deserved it in the past. I leave positive or none, only. It's a wonder my feedback profile is still 100% positive.
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Hi Didier,
But that fully defies the feedback system.
 
I think I mentioned this earlier, but I use two ebay accounts: one to sell, and one to buy.

On my selling account I never leave anything but positive as it's not worth risking getting retaliatory bad feedback. Having 100% feedback and making it clear I'll take returns is what has allowed me to sell stuff for higher prices, so I can't jeopardize the rating. (I often buy something on ebay and turn around and resell it, making a tidy profit. This wouldn't happen without 100% feedback and excellent sales history of high end items.)

On my buyer account I don't care about my rating so I'll leave negatives when warranted.
 
There are many people who take a malicious pride in ruining 100% good feedback. Some people specifically seek out such sellers to do so.

Even the term "broke the virginity" of a seller reveals an interesting psychology.

cameraman said:
HuubL: I have to agree, you made a mistake not checking the postage before you bid. One can find some good deals there, but the shipping charges are way over the top (for most of the time). I'm fine with that, I understand that the price I pay is for shipping AND handling.


About negative feedback: Forget about it. Think about it as the first scratch on a Leica. Now go out there and fight. I remember the time that I broke the virginity of a power seller. He was at 100% and way over 1000 feedbacks received. I left a negative after he sent me a broken item, 50 days after he first said it was shipped. He went ballistic and started talking about lawyers and stuff. Then he left a negative for me (which I really don't care about - I just comment it).

Now, when buying, I never leave feedback before the seller has done so. When selling, I leave feedback when the buyer has paid. That is the way it should be.

Whenever I see someone selling something on a forum and advertising their 100% eBay feedback, I get suspicious.

This seller gave you a gift, he broke your eBay feedback virginity. Now, go out and wear it like a badge!
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This is exactly why I will not take PayPal from overseas bidders and I insist on wire transfer for expensive items.


digitalintrigue said:
The good thing about shipping to overseas customers is you often get more bidders, and more bidders usually means higher sale prices. I sold a 35mm Summi v4 a couple of weeks ago to a gentleman in China for $1625. (There is no way I would have gotten that much selling on RFF.) And it was still a bargain for him because of the weak dollar.

Filling out the customs forms is easy, especially online. However, the waybills are problematic online because they won't sell more than $500 insurance; have to buy that at the post office in person. And yes, going to the post office, at least for many of us, is a pain in the ass.

The problem with shipping overseas, is that the postal service is the best priced option.

It's the waiting in line at our wonderful monopoly called the USPS, with one person behind the counter and 30 waiting in line, and that one person doing the job as slowly as possible. I once asked to talk to the manager of a particular post office to complain about the fact that so few cashiers were actually working. He blamed it on the unions, saying he couldn't do anything about it. Some people apparently didn't show up that day. (That's what we get when the government tries to do business, but that's another discussion.)

Thank God we have alternatives for overnight and package shipments where I can literally walk into Fedex, drop off the shipment, and walk out in less than 10 seconds...that to me is worth the extra price in many cases.

The other factor in overseas shipments is that Paypal will not offer seller protection unless the address is confirmed via Paypal. This is only generally offered to US, Canada, and UK addresses. So overseas buyers must pay via other means. This means payments take longer to clear, etc. But at least there are no Paypal fees.

I can't tell you how many times I've had to walk people thru the address confirmation process...talk about a pain in the ass. Paypal does not make it very obvious. All my auctions clearly state I will only ship to confirmed addresses. Yet, I'll get payments immediately after auction closing that list unconfirmed addresses. The only way to fix it, is to refund the payment, and have the customer confirm the address and resend the payment. It's rather difficult to do this without inadvertently pissing off your customer. Paypal will not update an address from 'unconfirmed' to 'confirmed' after a payment has already been sent. Arrgh!
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digitalintrigue said:
I sold a 35mm Summi v4 a couple of weeks ago to a gentleman in China for $1625.
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Just curious....how did he pay you?
 
Well,
*******s are everywhere. In real life and on Ebay.
We have to life with that how hard it is. It's even harder because we can't do anything. Not even punch them on the nose.
I must have been lucky. With over 200 transactions I never encountered this behaviour. Once a parcel seemed not to arrive. The seller offered to refund me all the money. It did arrive however in the end.
I once bought an adapter that wouldn't fit. I got another one for free.
You just met the wrong type.

Best regards,

Michiel Fokkema
 
HuubL said:
Hi Didier,
But that fully defies the feedback system.
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Yes and no. The system is anyway not fully reliable. Many sellers do it like me. If you leave a negative feedback as first, you're quite shure to get a negative retaliation feedback even if you've been correct. I prefer to keep mine clear, as a 100% positive profile (with actually 295+) is good for me as well as seller than as buyer. So I care less if someone who should have gotten a negative has gotten none (or a positive). My profile is more important for me. Checkout Luigi's ebay profile (umana) - he's got 2500 all 100% positive...

What I sometimes also do is giving positive feedback with negative text (like "Paid after 3 weeks only"). Nevertheless the system works all in all. I'm talking of a few % problematic cases, with all others the system worked.

As buyer, I have also learned to interprete the descriptions to find out how careful and trustable a seller is. The more ballyhoo he shouts out the less probable is my bid. The same with orthography. Sounds stupid but works. The more mistakes one makes in his text the more imprecise he'll deal your transaction. This does not exclude exceptions.

Didier
 
I agree - I always stress out more as a seller than as a buyer. I take great care to accurately photo and describe the item, but you never really know who's at the other end. Will they agree? Will they change their mind? Are they rational? ;) And, I've repeatedly hosed myself on shipping costs as a seller. I usually use the estimate functions on the relevant shipper's website and ask for that amount - but it always works out to cost more when you have the package on the counter. Recently I've used the estimate and bumped it up a bit, but I'm only trying not to lose money on the shipping.
 
I tried to set my preferences to not ship to certain countries, but the eBay instructions are &%^^$ trash. I've had a lousy transaction selling to a guy in Spain, and am a bit concerned about future bids coming from there. I'd really prefer to limit sales to US and Canada. That's especially true with the postage rate increases to foreign countries.
I usually charge actual postage costs... and still get complaints! And I also stand in line, and someimes walk 2 miles to get there, in the (insert: snow, rain)..:bang:

Harry
 
There's no magic to it.

Go to My eBay > My Account/Preference > Selling Preferences, and just edit your prefs the way you want them.

Also, when you list the item, you are offered the same options in the "Shipping to" box.

It's easy to proclaim that the eBay instructions are "trash", but if you spend 5 minutes looking through your account you can't miss them.

Some things are deliberately hidden on the eBay website, in my opinion, but seller prefs are not one of them.

PS: You had one unsatisfactory experience with "Spain". Why do you assume that every other transaction with "Spain" is going to be bad as well?

harry01562 said:
I tried to set my preferences to not ship to certain countries, but the eBay instructions are &%^^$ trash. I've had a lousy transaction selling to a guy in Spain, and am a bit concerned about future bids coming from there. I'd really prefer to limit sales to US and Canada. That's especially true with the postage rate increases to foreign countries.
I usually charge actual postage costs... and still get complaints! And I also stand in line, and someimes walk 2 miles to get there, in the (insert: snow, rain)..:bang:

Harry
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Hah, just found another interesting Seller, this time of modern pocket watches in Hong Kong. His prices start at $0.01, and he notes that Int. shippping is $9.99. And he accepts PayPal.

Great I think, so I place a bid.

Last minute of the auction a number of 1$ bids and the item is won by a bidder with 0 feedback and who has been a member of ebay since May 2007.

They tempt you with a low starting price, but won't actually sell it to you unless you actually bid over their unknown reserve.

How's that for cheeky?
 
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