I'm having some EBAY problems/help needed (jerk customers and sellers)

[manofpeace20]

I don't know what has been happening to me, but since mid-April, I have been having some pretty bad transactions on half.com/ebay.

When I was a buyer:

I had 2 seperate cases of sellers sending me poor merchandise and declining refunds. Not to mention 4 seperate cases of sellers never sending the merchandise (1 did refund me, half.com and my bank refunded the other two). With the latter, I had to pursue them for months, and I am still pursuing one crooked seller. This has been happening with online stores too. Aside from these incidents, my wallet was stolen with 44 dollars inside and my CC was charged at a gas station. And some of you may know of my dillema on this very website with the two James's, which was eventually resolved.

When I was a seller:

I cancelled an order on an XBOX and I got a hate e-mail about having no honor and what a terrible person I was. Yes it was wrong to cancel, but did I deserve to be chewed out when the order was cancelled the same day it was ordered? Recently, I sold a package of 75 DVD's wholesale to some lady. Now I am getting all sorts of e-mails threatening poor feedback because the lady is claiming I lied in the auction (and wants a refund), which is far from the truth. It has more to do with the fact she won't even try to sell them and wants to strongarm me into a refund or a discount. I have the e-mails if anyone wants to see this.

The reason for this rant is because I am getting a series of poor feedback from these sellers and buyers for things that aren't even my fault. I am so fed up with buying crap that I vowed never to buy off ebay again, and stick with proven stores, even if it means paying extra. As a seller, I am a college student trying to make ends meet, and I sell good stuff. Those of you that traded with me should know that. It pisses me off when these rat bastards try to strongarm me into refunds and further discounts by threatening poor feedback when I am doing everything right. I want to continue selling because I can always use the money, but its so aggarvating when this crap keeps happening and my feedback goes to hell. Does anyone else have these problems? What is some general advice in dealing with these bastards?

[YoshiFan1]

On the DVD's you sold, did the buyer pay with Paypal? Did you use a tracking method because if the buyer is not satisfied, all they have to do is tell Paypal they never got the item and they will get their money back. Worse, if they paid with a credit card other than AMEX, they can do a chargeback through their CC company and Paypal will take the funds out of your account. If you refuse a refund (not that you should have to give them a refund), they might try either of those things.

Thee-mails about the threatening poor feedback could be considered feedback extortion which is against Ebay's rules so if they leave you a negative, Ebay might remove it if you show them you were threatedned with the feedback.

[eldad9]

You've had a bad streak.

Stop buying/selling on ebay for a couple of months. When you return, let your intuition guide you, and you'll come across one or two dishonest people a year, tops.

[icruise]

Recently, I sold a package of 75 DVD's wholesale to some lady. Now I am getting all sorts of e-mails threatening poor feedback because the lady is claiming I lied in the auction (and wants a refund), which is far from the truth. It has more to do with the fact she won't even try to sell them and wants to strongarm me into a refund or a discount. I have the e-mails if anyone wants to see this.


So what did she say you lied about?

I had one guy who never responded to multiple emails about an item he won from me and then out of the blue left me negative feedback saying that I had stolen his money and never sent the item. I was pretty shocked. I responded to the feedback and gave him a negative of my own, but it seems like there's little you can do in these cases, even if they are total bullshit. I talked to ebay about it, but they never did anything.

[deathcabforcutie]

the dvds sounds screwed up, but i can understand the seller getting pissed about the xbox... im a seller on there and have lost plenty of time and money on items that resulted in NPB, its just a bunch of pain for sellers and its becoming so common we all over react when it happenes to us..

[thatstoobad]

i think you have just run into a bad string of people.

as far as buying, you just have to be careful about who you buy from. and yes, even then it doesn't mean that things couldn't go wrong. i've bought probably about 15 things off of ebay and every time it was easy and good experience.

as far as selling, that's way harder to control. you can't help it if some idiot buys your stuff. i've sold about 50 things on ebay, and i've only had to really deal with about 5 or so people who gave me a hard time. recently a mom bought her son a game, and when the game didn't work she blamed me, even though it was brand new and sealed. she even lied and said the disc was scratched. later, her story changed when she realized that her son's ps2 had bit the dust and they needed a new one. also recently, someone in italy bought something from me and complained because he hadn't received it in 10 days. i had to explain to him that when you only charge $8 or so on shipping to italy, you can't get tracking, and 2 weeks isn't that out of the ordinary on international mailings, so he should wait a little longer. sure enough, 2 days later he mails me saying he received his item. both of those people left me positive feedback, though, so i was ok with it.

my biggest gripe with ebay is that a good amount of buyers don't leave positive feedback after they receive their item.

[manofpeace20]

Here is a link to the auction to the crazy DVD lady:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=6308919436&ssPage Name=STRK:MESO:IT

She did pay with paypal, and she may try to extort that money. I am going to post up our e-mail exhanges in my next reply.

[manofpeace20]

SHE ASKED:

> >Are these new release DVD's or old titles?
> >Thank you

I REPLIED:

>These aren't new releases, but they all aren't ancient either. But you can
>easily make a profit selling the titles you do not like.

SHE RECEIVES THE DVD'S:

>I received my shipment of Dvd's today and I have to say I am rather
>disappointed. From your descriptions both in this email and the auction
>page, I believed these were sellable items but I used some of the titles of
>the movies on an ebay search, and none are selling for over $1.00 and most
>for $0.01. You said they can easily be sold for a profit but I don't see
>that they can. They all seem like old titles and not very popular. I don't
>know how we can resolve this but the last thing I want to do is leave
>negative or even neutral feedback for you. So if you have any suggestions,
>please, please let me know.

I REPLY:

I am sorry you are having problems selling the titles. All I can suggest is
to give it some time and see what happens.

SHE REPLIES:

The problem I'm having is not in selling the titles( because I just received
them), the problem IS the titles. When I emailed you before I bid on this
auction YOUR response encouraged me to put in a bid on this item. Now that I
have received the DVD's they are absolutely nothing like you described.
There is no way I can "EASILY MAKE A PROFIT" on these based on my subsequent
research of the titles on Ebay. I paid about $0.98 for each DVD and they are
NOT selling for more than $1.00. Now if I have to pay to list them how on
earth can I "EASILY MAKE A PROFIT." (your words) I feel that you totally
misrepresented yourself and your product and I would like either a refund
and return your items to you or a discount based on that misrepresentation.

The box they came in was also falling apart and looked like it was opened up
at the post office, also some of the DVD's are shaking in the case, so I
don't know if they're broken or what, but if I didn't make myself clear in
the beginning, here it is, I do not want these DVD's and would prefer a
refund.

I really hope we can resolve this, I haven't had a bad experience on Ebay
yet or at least one that has not been resolved satisfactorily. I don't ever
want to have to leave negative feedback for anyone but if we can't come to
an agreement I will have to explain how in my opinion you over exaggerated
the quality of your product, but I am confident it wouldn't come to that.

I REPLY:

Well I am sorry you feel this way. If you would actually try to sell the titles instead of worrying about the titles, you really could make a profit. My description was very accurate, and I don't believe I misrepresented anything. You can look anywhere you would like on the internet, and I promise you won't find anything cheaper. I can even give you links that back up my claim. I suggest you try selling the DVD's in a bundle through the wholesale option on ebay. You could list it as 25 DVD's for 35 dollars or something to that effect (Which is a common wholesale package). If you would do that you could "easily make a profit", which is EXACTLY what my auction stated. In a nutshell, it is not my problem you won't even try to sell the merchandise.


I did some research on her, and she never even bothered to list the items.

[manofpeace20]

the dvds sounds screwed up, but i can understand the seller getting pissed about the xbox... im a seller on there and have lost plenty of time and money on items that resulted in NPB, its just a bunch of pain for sellers and its becoming so common we all over react when it happenes to us..

I'll admit I never should have listed it and later cancelled, but I had to block his e-mail because of the e-mails he sent me.

[YoshiFan1]

It seems like she is at fault. If she wasn't sure about if she could sell them for a profit she should have asked for a complete list of the DVD's and then made a decision to buy them or not.

As for this
"The box they came in was also falling apart and looked like it was opened up
at the post office"

How is it your fault if the post office opened it up?! :roll:


Also, add her to your blocked bidders list incase she tries to sabatoge any of your future auctions.

[LoganDX]

It sounds as if she is also trying to blame you for the box being "opened up at the post office."

It also sounds like she is trying to force you give her a discount. She mentions one in the email but then says she wants a refund. Common type scam. It's not good enough that she got these dvd's for less then a dollar apiece but now she wants a discount? Bitch.

I see why you feel strong armed. One thing though. In your auction you said these titles will easily make a profit if sold indivdually but you told her in your email to sell them as a lot. While I don't feel this is misrepresentation per se, that could be her whole focus point for an arguement.

Keep all emails and wait it out. If it becomes a problem, contact ebay. Her emails seem to fall under the feedback extortion mentioned earlier...

[danny-o]

The loose dvds in the cases part sounds bad. were any of them like that before shipping? Some of those cases suck and the disc can get loose pretty easily and since you need to keepem sealed theres not really anything you can do about it.

[ZeroSupporT]

I'd tell her to go to blockbuster and trade them in if they are still doing that deal.

[thatstoobad]

if she didn't care what the titles were before she bought them then it's her fault.

tell her to take them to a used dvd store and sell them. all she needs to do is get a couple dollars a piece to make a profit.

[MeGaWC27]

never really did trusted ebay for transactions

but it does seem like she's trying to scam you into getting less money from her.

[LV-426RS]

It's her own fault for not doing her research on something she wanted to make a profit with.

[doraemonkerpal]

maybe you can refund her money MINUS shipping costs, ebay/paypal fees, and have her ship the dvd's back to you?

don't get me wrong, i think she is at fault for not asking what dvd's were included in the package :lol:

[Squirms]

I'd tell her to suck my balls

[coolsteel]

The blame lies on both of you with the dvds, she should have tried to get more info on what the dvds were and you should have listed the titles, the way the auction is set up it looks like you had something to hide, blurry picture and no title listings. Not shocked at all that she got a bunch of lemons.

[LV-426RS]

The blame lies on both of you with the dvds, she should have tried to get more info on what the dvds were and you should have listed the titles, the way the auction is set up it looks like you had something to hide, blurry picture and no title listings. Not shocked at all that she got a bunch of lemons.

Hey now... I did see Velocity in there.

[drone8888]

Tell me if I'm within my bounds??

I bought 2 old sports titles last month. The auction claimed that the games were in EXCELLENT CONDITION. Everything included.
My payment was immediate, and the games just arrived on Tuesday.

The seller left me positive feedback, the day I paid.

So, I open the games, and they are both in Blockbuster cases. One of the games' manuals is covered in dry coffee, with the pages all stuck together.

Well, I emailed the seller, and asked her to send me 2 new, original cases, and I'd send her the BB cases back.
I told her I would overlook the ruined manual as well.

She tells me that I have no claim. I should have emailed her.
So,...I told her to expect 2 negative feedbacks, if she didn't send me the cases, or compensate me, $3 so I could order them from Nintendo. As they are GC games.

She says I'm blackmailing her, and has contacted eBay already.

NOW,....am I wrong??

Should I accept this crap??

LMK
Thanks.

PS~ sorry to hear about your crappy luck manofpeace20.

[Dead of Knight]

I think it was lame of you not to list the titles. I think it was lame of her to bid on that in the first place without knowing what she was getting.

drone.... in your case you are not at fault at all. Fuck her up as best you can.

[LV-426RS]

Tell me if I'm within my bounds??

I bought 2 old sports titles last month. The auction claimed that the games were in EXCELLENT CONDITION. Everything included.
My payment was immediate, and the games just arrived on Tuesday.

The seller left me positive feedback, the day I paid.

So, I open the games, and they are both in Blockbuster cases. One of the games' manuals is covered in dry coffee, with the pages all stuck together.

Well, I emailed the seller, and asked her to send me 2 new, original cases, and I'd send her the BB cases back.
I told her I would overlook the ruined manual as well.

She tells me that I have no claim. I should have emailed her.
So,...I told her to expect 2 negative feedbacks, if she didn't send me the cases, or compensate me, $3 so I could order them from Nintendo. As they are GC games.

She says I'm blackmailing her, and has contacted eBay already.

NOW,....am I wrong??

Should I accept this crap??

LMK
Thanks.

PS~ sorry to hear about your crappy luck manofpeace20.

You are not wrong. Next time do not threaten to leave bad feedback, as it can be seen as a form of blackmail. Just make a few e-mail request and if they go unfullfilled send the neg. feedback.

[coolsteel]

Tell me if I'm within my bounds??

I bought 2 old sports titles last month. The auction claimed that the games were in EXCELLENT CONDITION. Everything included.
My payment was immediate, and the games just arrived on Tuesday.

The seller left me positive feedback, the day I paid.

So, I open the games, and they are both in Blockbuster cases. One of the games' manuals is covered in dry coffee, with the pages all stuck together.

Well, I emailed the seller, and asked her to send me 2 new, original cases, and I'd send her the BB cases back.
I told her I would overlook the ruined manual as well.

She tells me that I have no claim. I should have emailed her.
So,...I told her to expect 2 negative feedbacks, if she didn't send me the cases, or compensate me, $3 so I could order them from Nintendo. As they are GC games.

She says I'm blackmailing her, and has contacted eBay already.

NOW,....am I wrong??

Should I accept this crap??

LMK
Thanks.

PS~ sorry to hear about your crappy luck manofpeace20.

Leave her a negative, you are totally in the right and you gave her an alternative that would have cost all of 2 bucks to her and she passed.

[int80h]

I am a college student trying to make ends meet...

My advice to you is to get a real job to pay your way through college, and to drink heavily.

[bignick]

maybe ebay isnt the place for you.........

[coolsteel]

The blame lies on both of you with the dvds, she should have tried to get more info on what the dvds were and you should have listed the titles, the way the auction is set up it looks like you had something to hide, blurry picture and no title listings. Not shocked at all that she got a bunch of lemons.

Hey now... I did see Velocity in there.

Looking that up on ebay, she is right, thing is selling for a whopping 50 cents. I'm sure that isn't the worst of it.

[schultzed]

This is just bad news all around . . . mostly, she's at fault and ebay is a "buyer beware" zone -- a few times my wife has gotten crappy stuff . . . we just had had to eat it. You would have protected yourself by listing the titles.

The way that money can be made on selling these movies is by milking the shipping . . . as long as the shipping is stated in the auction, I see nothing wrong with it. Still, it will be an uphill battle to come out ahead and the time at the post office would be awful :D

[XxFuRy2Xx]

What I really hate is that I've done my job as a buyer and payed for the product yet the asshole seller doesn't leave me feedback until I leave them feedback. This really pisses me off because it almost forces me to leave them positive feedback in fear that they would retaliate with negative feedback, which is completely unfair since I did my part of the deal.

[flybrione]

I sell on ebay frequently. I just had some auctions end on July 4th of this month. I emailed a buyer frequently with no responses what so ever. I gave him over three weeks to pay for the item with no money order or paypal funds seen.

I then filed a unpaid bidder claim through ebay last week and waited for a response and the seven day period to complete the claim.

I got a response about saying that payment was sent out.
I still haven't received a payment so I finished my claim to receive a final value credit.

Today I get a threatening email back saying thanks for trying to suspend my email account. Now if he would have paid for the item I wouldn't have done this in the first place. I gave the buyer plenty of time to pay for the auction.

This can be happen to anyone. So don't feel bad. I had it happen to me a few times. There are many good buyers and sellers on ebay, but there are also the bad ones you'll come across. I'd give it some time and then continue to use ebay. A few bad transactions won't hurt you and you can file claims against people who leave negative feedback to try to get it removed from your account.

[manofpeace20]

How is it lame of me not to list the titles? What I sold was a "wholesale package" at a ridiculous price. Look up any wholesale DVD site, and you will see that they don't tell you the titles either.

As for the DVD's, they were not like that when I first shipped them out.

And to the person commenting about getting a job because I am a poor college student: I have 2 jobs. I work for the school district and for a restaurant.

[Dead of Knight]

It was lame because it was easy for you to lie about the resale value of the items (not saying that you did) and it was easy for the seller to say that the resale value of the items was too low after recieving the items.

[manofpeace20]

That is bullshit.

[Dead of Knight]

No, it isn't. If you had listed the titles, you probably wouldn't have had a problem like this.

[manofpeace20]

Yes it is. No wholesaler lists their titles. Find me one wholesaler that does that and I will believe you.

[davidmt]

Well, whether or not you listed the movie titles isn't really the point. She bid on your auction not knowing what she was getting. She should have asked for a list before buying them from you. I know I would.

[Dead of Knight]

Well, whether or not you listed the movie titles isn't really the point. She bid on your auction not knowing what she was getting. She should have asked for a list before buying them from you. I know I would.

Yeah, not saying it's all your fault, manofpeace.

[davidmt]

And I'm also saying you had no obligation to list the titles either. That was your choice and you have a right to do that. You put them up for sale and anyone has the option to bid, not bid, or ask for more information.

However, as a buyer, I wouldn't bid on them if I didn't know specifically what was in there.

[Sheik Rattle Enroll]

It is kind of messed up to say EASILY MAKE A PROFIT and then unload junk on someone. You're basically making a claim that she could easily make a profit and if she can't you're in the wrong. It's also kind of messed up if they were packaged badly.

Avoid making claims in the future, just describe the item and the condition.

[friedram]

Wow, another good reason why you have to be careful on what you buy on ebay.
Unless an auction specifically details out the contents, you should not buy.

It is a "buyer beware dude" environment that makes people shy away from small time dealers. That's why the big guys always get the business because they are willing to take a loss to keep customers.

That being said- when you deal with anyone on Ebay - as a buyer or a seller, you have to figure that you will, at best, get something which is a little worse or equual to what you are buying. The lady should have known better- the "you can sell this for money" this is a marketing ploy- just like "Rare" or whatever else. So, you should not refund any money because it is buyer beware.

[manofpeace20]

She really could make a profit though. I just didn't have time to mess with it. If she sells a package of 25 for 35 dollars, she makes out pretty nicely.

[Pulsar]

I got a good one for you. I bought a CD from a guy and he charged me $4 shipping. No big deal. But he sent it in a little cardboard wrap, and it cost him 60 cents. You figure the cardboard and tape were free, plus shipping and listing charges, and he still over-charged me like $3. So i left a nuetral. No harm, no foul, right? Well, the guy leaves me a negative saying "YOU AGREE TO PAY FOR SHIPPING AND HANDLING" yes, it was all capslock, and something like that. What an ass. The more I have to deal with PEOPLE on ebay, the more I hate ebay....but love it at the same time.

[jbroush99]

Ask her if she would like to buy a "Make Money on eBay" ebook.

[manofpeace20]

Actually, I was toying with the idea of mentioning that to her. Do you think the people that sell that book get crap from customers when they can't make money? This is the exact same thing, and its not my problem. I haven't heard back from her yet since that last message I sent her.

On a side note, I finally got a negative feedback from a guy that sold me a faulty paintball gun and refused a refund---it just took him a month to leave it after I left him poor feedback for the hassle he gave me.

[thatstoobad]

What I really hate is that I've done my job as a buyer and payed for the product yet the asshole seller doesn't leave me feedback until I leave them feedback. This really pisses me off because it almost forces me to leave them positive feedback in fear that they would retaliate with negative feedback, which is completely unfair since I did my part of the deal.

it doesn't force you to leave positive feedback if you have a bad experience, but it does assist in making you contact the seller to resolve a problem before leaving negative feedback, which is a good thing.

i will never leave feedback before my buyer leaves feedback for that reason, i don't want someone leaving me a neutral or negative for no good reason. i also believe that the buyer should leave positive feedback to confirm that they got their item and everything is good, but apparently many buyers don't think that way.