The General eBay Rant Thread

kodave said:
Quick question regarding PayPal's IRS reporting policies.

Does PayPal send information on your account to the IRS if you have $20,000 USD in gross payment volume from sales of goods or services in a single year AND 200 payments for goods or services in the same year, or is it just a matter of if you hit EITHER of those thresholds?

So will PayPal send your info to the IRS if you have 201 eBay sales, but the gross payment volume of those sales is only $500?
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The rule states that you need to meet both criteria. The idea is that you're an online business if you sell a large volume amount of goods and earn enough money to be considered as an income producing entity. For years, a lot of folks got away with having an eBay store while never reporting their net income.

If I hold an online garage sale and clean out all my crap, I shouldn't be considered an online business if I sold 201 items worth $500. Conversely, I shouldn't be considered an online business if I just sold my used Mercedes and BMW for $21,000 total.

Anybody that does both is pretty obviously a massive reseller and would therefore need to file a 1099-K with the IRS thereby paying taxes on all of your profits.

 
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Donut2922 said:
The rule states that you need to meet both criteria. The idea is that you're an online business if you sell a large volume amount of goods and earn enough money to be considered as an income producing entity. For years, a lot of folks got away with having an eBay store while never reporting their net income.

If I hold an online garage sale and clean out all my crap, I shouldn't be considered an online business if I sold 201 items worth $500. Conversely, I shouldn't be considered an online business if I just sold my used Mercedes and BMW for $21,000 total.

Anybody that does both is pretty obviously a massive reseller and would therefore need to file a 1099-K with the IRS thereby paying taxes on all of your profits.
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Oh yeah I fully agree with all of that. I was just curious if the IRS was making PayPal report the little guys who aren't sizeable or very profitable operations.

 
I sent a playstation tv to south africa. There was a postal strike in South Africa that just ended around thanksgiving so the item was delayed. Buyer opens and escalates an item not received case on Dec 1st because he is impatient. I call ebay to ask to put the case on hold because of the postal strike and they agree to put a 10 day hold on it. They tell me as long as the item is moving within those 10 days they will keep the case on hold. The item left customs on Dec 10th and moved Dec 12th and is very close to being delivered. tracking: "https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction?qtc_tLabels1=EC208175839US"

Ebay closed the case today in the buyer's favor, (Dec 12th) because the item was not delivered yet. I called ebay to complain that they told me they would keep the case on hold as long as the item was moving. They told me I was lied to and that if it wasn't delivered after the 10 days hold I lose the case. They are very sorry that I was lied to though. They told me the only option is to send the buyer an invoice once the item is delivered and hope he pays. They said I will lose any appeal to the case I make, even if I wait until the item is delivered. Now the buyer gets to keep the item and the money. They told me, just put yourself in the buyer's shoes, wouldn't you be upset the item is late? The item is delayed because of a postal strike so it's fair to let the buyer keep the item and refund his payment? Typical ebay.

 
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So I called ebay about a case that was opened against me. The buyer had an old address in his paypal and never updated it. It was closed in my favor. The whole thing only took like 5 minutes. Who knew it would be so easy

 
kodave said:
Oh yeah I fully agree with all of that. I was just curious if the IRS was making PayPal report the little guys who aren't sizeable or very profitable operations.
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I'm 99% certain that they don't. I can say with near certainty because I used to be an auditor myself.

There's a cost/benefit for the IRS. They only have so many resources/audits to go after tax evasion. They are more concerned with the big fish tax fraudsters. I'm talking guys that claim tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars in deductions. Us small time folks are of little concern to them. Audits are only selected on only 5% of returns anyways.

 
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So this was 1st time for me: just had a negative feedback removed under my account.

I sold an Xbox LIVE pass to some buyer in Mexico and he opened a claim for refund and neg'd me. Code still worked so I was upset this dumbshit didn't read the message where I sent him the code. So I ended up refunding him and complained about how bad of a buyer he is to never read the listings as if he'll ever understand English.

I didn't see any notice from eBay about any feedback removal on his or even eBay's part. What's interesting is the transaction is missing under the "Sold" list. I can still find it if I look it up through the Resolution Center. The listing wasn't removed as I can still search for the transaction with the ID # too. Really weird. With that said, I'm happy because that neg would have put me above the 5% defect threshold.

I wonder what happens to you if you hit that threshold. eBay is deliberately vague on the punishment so it makes me think it's going to be a case by case basis. I think it's stupid and unfair to apply the defect period over the last 12 months when this new program was not adopted until the last few months. At most, they should apply the defect criteria over the period they started communicating the change. I shouldn't be penalized for a cancellation I did 11 months ago for something that didn't start being tracked until the past summer.
 
They'd probably just permanently ban you.  Or maybe for a year.  Or maybe just your seller account.  Or maybe just your paypal account.  fuck, who knows.  They just do whatever they want, without notice, and without EVER pointing to an actual policy.

 
Ok, so someone opened a defective item case for a new DVD I sold last month (which I rarely sell those anyways), said it "skipped" and wanted a refund.  I asked a simple question on if there was any scratching / damage to the disc surface (in case it popped out during shipping and scratched on the spindle).  

It's been a week with no reply or no item being received in the mail yet (which I guess as soon as they open a case they get a pre-paid label for the return? I think that is what I read online).  Is it better for my case to keep messaging them weekly to ask for an update, or should I just leave the ball in their court and see what happens?

Obviously with it being new and sealed I couldn't test it myself before hand, though I'm sure the failure rate for DVDs new is probably 0.1% or some ridiculously low number.  Thanks to those that answer!

 
Damn adobe took down my auction for copyright violation. I was trying to sell Lightroom 5 that says not for resale on it since there are hundreds of other copies on there.
 
I feel like this thread has made me even more paranoid when it comes to eBay. I recently sold a rare CD for $200 BIN, shortly after, another seller lists theirs as an auction, which ended for like $130. The guy that won that one is the same guy that bought mine. It hasn't even been delivered yet (sold it through GSP), but I'm already bracing myself for an email from eBay with some bogus reason for wanting to return it. I hope I'm wrong.

 
Selling a few out-of-print Lego sets to help pay my rent and student loans, one sells for a cool $530, and the buyer won't pay or answer messages. It's been a week since the auction ended and I opened an unpaid item claim on Friday. Best part, aside from not having that money or being able to relist until the claim closes, is that they've gotten 3 new feedback since then all to the tune of "fast payment!!!!!"

 
If they have less than 10 feedback they most likely won't be paying. I have never had a person pay for an item once an unpaid item case is open(I sell 200+ items a month).
 
Would you guys refund this? 

Sold an Amped Wireless Wifi USB adapter (ACA1) to someone and they said its broke. "i recieved ur amped wireless usb today and the port to plug the usb wire into is broken. I would like to mail it back to you and recieve a rfund". I told him that it was perfectly fine 5 mins before I boxed it up and asked if he installed the newest drivers, restarted his computer, then plugged it in. Assumed he meant the computer wasnt recognizing it. Says the actual port is pushed up into the device. 

Now I know it was fine before I mailed it and it was in a bubble envelope which was in a box which I taped up pretty good, that thing wasnt moving around when I shook the box! I ask this because the one time I sell a bunch of stuff the only person who had a problem was the guy with 3 feedback. How do I know he didnt break it plugging it in and now hes looking for a quick refund? I do mention "NO RETURNS" in my listings because I clean and test everything before mailing them out. Of course Ebay and Paypal dont really care about that....

 
Pirate331 said:
Selling a few out-of-print Lego sets to help pay my rent and student loans, one sells for a cool $530, and the buyer won't pay or answer messages. It's been a week since the auction ended and I opened an unpaid item claim on Friday. Best part, aside from not having that money or being able to relist until the claim closes, is that they've gotten 3 new feedback since then all to the tune of "fast payment!!!!!"
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If somebody hasn't paid you in a week and hasn't asked you specifically for an extension, then you will not be getting paid at all. Just relist the item for a slightly higher price the second time around. If the original buyer ends up sending payment, just refund him and cancel the transaction explaining to him that since he took over a week, that you gave up waiting on him. That way, you win out and hopefully sell your item for even more than you originally anticipated. I've been selling on eBay for years and most people pay within 24 hours.
 
Not sure why people do this, but this has happened to me with ebay and Amazon recently.

You see an item you are very interested in and you send the seller a message asking to confirm they will pack the item securely before you buy it. Response takes several hours. Finally you get a response saying "We will pack the item great for you, just let us know if the item arrives damaged and we will accommodate. We look forward to your purchase!" and I go to buy the item and I notice they increased the price by like double.

Hey, it's their right, but wow. Added to my list of sellers I will never buy from for any reason.

It's like going to a car dealership, agreeing with the salesman on a price, telling him to hold on and you are gonna call your wife to tell her you found your car. Then when you go back to the salesman he says "You know... on second thought. Forget $21,000... I want $40,000 for the car."

 
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ShadowAssassin said:
Not sure why people do this, but this has happened to me with ebay and Amazon recently.

You see an item you are very interested in and you send the seller a message asking to confirm they will pack the item securely before you buy it. Response takes several hours. Finally you get a response saying "We will pack the item great for you, just let us know if the item arrives damaged and we will accommodate. We look forward to your purchase!" and I go to buy the item and I notice they increased the price by like double.

Hey, it's their right, but wow. Added to my list of sellers I will never buy from for any reason.

It's like going to a car dealership, agreeing with the salesman on a price, telling him to hold on and you are gonna call your wife to tell her you found your car. Then when you go back to the salesman he says "You know... on second thought. Forget $21,000... I want $40,000 for the car."
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I don't bother with the message before hand. I include a note on my eBay payment reminding the seller to package the item securely so it won't get damaged. If it comes damaged, then they're on the hook for sure and I know eBay will side with me. On Amazon Marketplace I rarely order from 3rd parties that aren't fulfilled by Amazon so I can't comment there other than when I've had a problem in the past, Amazon sided with me, let me keep the item and refunded me.

 
kodave said:
I don't bother with the message before hand. I include a note on my eBay payment reminding the seller to package the item securely so it won't get damaged. If it comes damaged, then they're on the hook for sure and I know eBay will side with me. On Amazon Marketplace I rarely order from 3rd parties that aren't fulfilled by Amazon so I can't comment there other than when I've had a problem in the past, Amazon sided with me, let me keep the item and refunded me.
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Sent the seller a question on why they would double the price of their item when they knew I was just about to buy it and they responded with "I'm sorry we were unable to assist you with your inquiry. Thanks for contacting us!" response.

I sent another response politely saying "I'm sorry, but that didn't really answer my question. Could you please explain why you doubled the price when you knew I was about to buy your item? Thanks."

He sent a cut and pasted copy of the response above over again.

So helpful around the holidays.

 
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elessar123 said:
You can get dinged for canceling if you sold it to someone else when they haven't paid though.
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Yes, it counts as a defect under the new eBay seller requirements.

However, as the person sending the cancellation request, all you have to do is choose the other option (i.e. buyer changed mind). It's worked for me in the past, and no buyer has responded to me complaining about sending the wrong cancellation reason. At that point, they just want their money back and move on.
 
I'd love to know what else they're buying... great move by eBay to take the item info out of feedback...

Anyway, they've got 79 (100%) feedback right now, and have been a user since 2012 or something like that, so it's not like some obvious burner account. I'm not worried about finding someone else to buy the set, it just burns me that they can buy other shit like a reasonable person and then just blow me off with no repercussions.

 
I ended up telling the guy to send the item back and Ill give him a refund. Not worth dealing with a Complaint and having Ebay side with him anyways. He'll get his money back and ill end up with a broken item... but I won the thing in a contest so its not a big lose. And maybe I can even fix it if just the usb port got pushed up into the shell.

Bad luck this month, 2 things I mailed (and def packed really well!) arrived broken and Ive had to refund. Ive only had 2 other things break during shipping in the 10 years Ive been on Ebay. 

 
First time I've ever had someone return something. They bought Halo MCC for 45 + shipping and now they are returning it and losing the shipping on both ways. I don't understand why they bother. They said they got it at a cheaper price, but I'm guessing whatever cheaper price is killed by the 7 or 8 dollars to ship it back.

 
Dokstarr said:
First time I've ever had someone return something. They bought Halo MCC for 45 + shipping and now they are returning it and losing the shipping on both ways. I don't understand why they bother. They said they got it at a cheaper price, but I'm guessing whatever cheaper price is killed by the 7 or 8 dollars to ship it back.
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Is that even a legitimate reason to return something on eBay, or do you have a "no questions asked" return policy?

 
It's part of eBay's policy, even if you say no returns.

You can specify for the buyer to pay return shipping, but you'll have to eat the cost of shipping out to them if you offer free shipping.

 
So USPS has been working like crazy around the clock. For the past couple of weeks, my local mailman has had to come to my complex twice everyday: during lunch and dinner. I asked him and he said their office is overflowing with packages. It's great for business but it's a crazy, crazy time for them.

I just had a buyer contact me last night about a Xmas gift that he bought from me over a week ago. I shipped it out on the 15th and while it had to travel only halfway across the country, it didn't arrive to his home until just this morning. Mind you, this was using first class mail service. So not sure if anybody is having a similar experience but I wonder just how many recently shipped packages are going to be late if they didn't use Priority Mail.
 
lmz00 said:
Is that even a legitimate reason to return something on eBay, or do you have a "no questions asked" return policy?
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I sold a Vita TV on ebay and I had to issue a refund because the buyer didn't do any research on the device and one of his games was incompatible .

 
ShadowAssassin said:
Sent the seller a question on why they would double the price of their item when they knew I was just about to buy it and they responded with "I'm sorry we were unable to assist you with your inquiry. Thanks for contacting us!" response.

I sent another response politely saying "I'm sorry, but that didn't really answer my question. Could you please explain why you doubled the price when you knew I was about to buy your item? Thanks."

He sent a cut and pasted copy of the response above over again.

So helpful around the holidays.
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I'm literally not sure what you want or expect though. If it's not a computer script doing it, then clearly the human in charge is maybe adjusting the price if the market changed and it's was too low (and perhaps that's what sparked your interest) or maybe they're just being opportunistic and/or greedy.

Either way, who cares? What do you expect from their response? "Yeah we jacked up the price because if you're interested, someone else probably is too and we're banking they'll pay more." or "Yeah we were hoping you were stupid and would pay a higher price because you're clearly interested in our item." And then what? You tell them to lower the price back? Or tell them to fuck off? It's just a very odd game you want to play here.

If it's a good price, just buy the item and follow up about packaging concerns after if you feel its necessary. eBay/PayPal and Amazon are all extremely pro-buyer so if the seller isn't going to take care, you're going to be made whole and probably then some. It's practically a no-risk transaction aside from potential headache of having to contact the seller then go through the eBay/Amazon CS reps if the seller won't make things right on his or her own.

 
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elessar123 said:
It's part of eBay's policy, even if you say no returns.

You can specify for the buyer to pay return shipping, but you'll have to eat the cost of shipping out to them if you offer free shipping.
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So you're saying if someone returns something and the shipping was free the seller has to pay them whatever they paid to ship it back along with their return money? Is that an official rule or just something people do as that's bs since they got the thing shipped to them free originally and whether they are doing a valid return or not they're the one wanting the return.

 
Donut2922 said:
So USPS has been working like crazy around the clock. For the past couple of weeks, my local mailman has had to come to my complex twice everyday: during lunch and dinner. I asked him and he said their office is overflowing with packages. It's great for business but it's a crazy, crazy time for them.

I just had a buyer contact me last night about a Xmas gift that he bought from me over a week ago. I shipped it out on the 15th and while it had to travel only halfway across the country, it didn't arrive to his home until just this morning. Mind you, this was using first class mail service. So not sure if anybody is having a similar experience but I wonder just how many recently shipped packages are going to be late if they didn't use Priority Mail.
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This is happening too me at the moment. Thankfully I already put that this may not be delivered in time for Christmas in the description and have messages were I restated this to the buyer. Its still funny how some packages are having this delay happen.

 
Navex said:
So you're saying if someone returns something and the shipping was free the seller has to pay them whatever they paid to ship it back along with their return money? Is that an official rule or just something people do as that's bs since they got the thing shipped to them free originally and whether they are doing a valid return or not they're the one wanting the return.
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No. The rule is the buyer pays return shipping all the time, even if it's broken during shipping. Of course, you might get a negative if you don't reimburse, but that's up to you which is worth more. I meant if you put free shipping, you have to eat the cost of shipping it to them, if they change their mind and return it.

strawyleader997 said:
If you offer returns and a person decides to return something because they just don't like it, do you have to refund them the shipping cost that you originally charged?
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No, unless you offered free shipping. See above.

 
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ShadowAssassin said:
Sent the seller a question on why they would double the price of their item when they knew I was just about to buy it and they responded with "I'm sorry we were unable to assist you with your inquiry. Thanks for contacting us!" response.

I sent another response politely saying "I'm sorry, but that didn't really answer my question. Could you please explain why you doubled the price when you knew I was about to buy your item? Thanks."

He sent a cut and pasted copy of the response above over again.

So helpful around the holidays.
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Wow, those guys sound like real worthless bastards. Just don't buy it. Those guys sound like a store and I always avoid buying from sellers with stores on eBay. Too much trouble. Never take care of their stuff, don't bother giving good descriptions of the conditions of their items, etc. Just ignore them.

 
elessar123 said:
It's part of eBay's policy, even if you say no returns.

You can specify for the buyer to pay return shipping, but you'll have to eat the cost of shipping out to them if you offer free shipping.
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That's not true. You aren't forced to accept returns on items (other than "not as described" or otherwise). eBay wold much rather you did accept returns, and they will cripple the search return on your items and all the other bullshit that they do when you don't play the game exactly as they like, but they don't force it on you (yet...).

 
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wiggyx said:
That's not true. You aren't forced to accept returns on items (other than "not as described" or otherwise). eBay wold much rather you did accept returns, and they will cripple the search return on your items and all the other bullshit that they do when you don't play the game exactly as they like, but they don't force it on you (yet...).
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It is, actually. The buyer protection makes returns basically mandatory. Just google search for no returns on ebay, and hear all the stories that eBay forced it still.

 
I bought a bundle of five Gamecube controllers off of eBay (4 official 1 3rd party). They were described as clean and working. Some were pretty filthy (in places not seen in auction photos). That wasn't much of a problem for me, as I wiped them all with disinfectant wipes. However, one controller's thumbstick occasionally gets stuck in the "down" position. Another controller's thumbstick "up" and "down" do not work. Its "Z" button does not work either. The third party controller will sporadically move left, and cease communication with the console. I could start a return, but I am extremely cheap, and don't want to pay return shipping. I wouldn't mind buying a triwing screwdriver in hopes that it is just a matter of opening them, cleaning some contacts, and removing foreign particles. Acck. :cry:

 
Bought a Nintendo screw driver set years ago, one of my favorite purchases. I open any cartridge, controller, or system and clean them just because I have the tools to do so. So many items that appeared DOA ended up working/looking perfect after a good cleaning. 

 
I have 900 feedback 100% been on there since 99. I sell a mint copy of GTA V for PS3 for $30 truly complete with maps and unused blimp code and the guy gets it and even gives me positive feedback saying "Very nice.thank you" . Well yesterday one day after christmas he sends me an email "the game you sold me on 12/17 don't work game keeps blinking off and on."

I tell him "the game cannot cause your PS3 to blink on and off especially one in perfect condition it must be your system"  he says "Sir this game coming back.this kid hads a new console."  these are his words exactly cut/pasted.

He's kinda new to Ebay if he is smart enough to go through Paypal they'll make me refund him, but I tried to tell him I'm not refunding him and not to send it back. I listed in my auction no refunds I gave him the exact game I described and he even left me positive feedback, but I know how Ebay operates they will always give the buyer a refund if they send it back and file a claim. He probably got a PS4 for christmas and wants the money back. In this case I really don't have anything to lose by trying to get him not to send it back because he's already given me good feedback. What sucks is he could even destroy the game then send it back to me and still get the money. Now with the 60 day return policy it's just absurd that's longer than your typical store offers. So now nationwide chains are less accountable than us individual sellers. 

I can see why people would just say to sell it again (assuming he doesn't mess with it) it's just very annoying not to mention theoretically it could happen again. Other people in this thread have had similar problems. I just need to stop selling on there but when I try craigslist I never can sell anything. 

 
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You guys that sell video games and electronics are pretty brave. I'll sell an older slighty hard to find game from time to time if I can find a good flip, and I take multiple pictures for the listing and all that jazz and so far I've never had any problems. I can't imagine selling something more recent like GTA V with a flood of copies out there that the lowest common denominator person is going to try and buy for as cheap as possible then try and screw you anyway.

eBay just isn't for the little guys anymore in most categories. It's for people with full time stores with business models equipped to handle the financial slamming of scammers and idiots.

 
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kodave said:
You guys that sell video games and electronics are pretty brave. I'll sell an older slighty hard to find game from time to time if I can find a good flip, and I take multiple pictures for the listing and all that jazz and so far I've never had any problems. I can't imagine selling something more recent like GTA V with a flood of copies out there that the lowest common denominator person is going to try and buy for as cheap as possible then try and screw you anyway.

eBay just isn't for the little guys anymore in most categories. It's for people with full time stores with business models equipped to handle the financial slamming of scammers and idiots.
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I only did it to upgrade to the PS4 version because I found it for $38, so since I sold the PS3 version for $30 I was only out about 8 bucks plus a few dollars in Ebay fees to get the newer version. I tried craigslist and couldn't sell it for $20 but I listed it on Ebay for $30 and sold it within 1 hour. Looked like it was going to work out great until after christmas and I get these emails. Oh well, if he sends it back and does a paypal claim i'll just have to refund him and try to sell it again. Definitely agree the individual seller gets screwed big time on Ebay, I just don't know where else to sell.

But really though what makes it better than you sell slightly harder to find older games? They can still do you the same way.

 
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