The General eBay Rant Thread

That's what I do. Anytime someone asks me a stupid question (like asking if a game has the manual when its right there in the description) or messages me with a lowball offer (I don't use best offer) or complains to me my price for the item is too high they get ignored and blocked. Maybe I lose out on some of them buying an item from me but I'd rather not deal with someone who I think has the potential to cause problems
 
[quote name='edson13']Think I may have my first opened case, since I started selling again about a year ago. Dude just emailed me today.. with a "havent received it yet". On a vita that says it was delivered over two weeks ago. Buyer has only 4 feedback and nothing in over a year.
I feel like just being like, "it shows delivered, out of my control". Can I just do that? Am I right in wondering why would any legit buyer wait 2 weeks after it shows delivered to contact me?

Anyways this reminds me why its not worth selling high value items on ebay, that and the new fees will make it strictly craiglists for anything over 100.[/QUOTE]

How much did you sell the vita for? If you sold it for less then a total price of $250 (including any shipping fees the buyer paid) then you only need delivery confirmation showing DELIVERED to the zip code of the paypal invoice.

If the total cost for the buyer was $250 or more then you need signature confirmation (it also must show delivered to the zip code on the invoice).

As long as you fall into one of those categories you're fine.

If the buyer asked you to ship it to different address AND you did or USPS screwed up and it shows delivered to a different city/zip code then you'll be out of luck.

But again if you did everything correctly and the tracking shows delivered you can sit tight as you'll eventually win the case when it is escalated. The buyer will have the ability to still leave feedback / DSR scores but it is muy understanding that starting in April any feedback left on a dispute that you WIN will get removed. Not sure if that happens automatically or if you have to call.
 
From my email.
"But if you didn't create the material or you aren't a licensed distributor, you can't list the item on eBay. Selling or giving away unauthorized copies of digital content is considered copyright infringement, which is illegal and against eBay policy. Here's more information on our policy:"

This may be the worst application of a copyright policy I have seen. The codes are an authorized copy of the material. It should be no different than selling the game which is nothing more than digital information on a disk. Once the code has been redeemed the information cannot be redistributed/copied so there is no danger of breaking copyright. Ebay really needs to create a space for these types of transactions in today's digital environment.
 
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[quote name='cancerman1120']From my email.
"But if you didn't create the material or you aren't a licensed distributor, you can't list the item on eBay. Selling or giving away unauthorized copies of digital content is considered copyright infringement, which is illegal and against eBay policy. Here's more information on our policy:"

This may be the worst application of a copyright policy I have seen. The codes are an authorized copy of the material. It should be no different than selling the game which is nothing more than digital information on a disk. Once the code has been redeemed the information cannot be reproduced/copied so there is no danger of breaking copyright. Ebay really needs to create a space for these types of transactions in today's digital environment.[/QUOTE]

Why?

I agree with you 100% but if you look at it from eBay's business standpoint I am sure they get an exponentially higher instance of disputes (SNAD / INR) being open for digital content then they do physical content and since it is that much harder to prove delivery or that the code was good all it is doing it taking up customer support resources.

The only way I could see them doing this was if it was in a classifieds type section or an "sell at your own risk" section.
 
[quote name='GBAstar']Why?

I agree with you 100% but if you look at it from eBay's business standpoint I am sure they get an exponentially higher instance of disputes (SNAD / INR) being open for digital content then they do physical content and since it is that much harder to prove delivery or that the code was good all it is doing it taking up customer support resources.

The only way I could see them doing this was if it was in a classifieds type section or an "sell at your own risk" section.[/QUOTE]

Yeah I see the risk for sure. I do wonder if it is possible to create a marketplace that is able to check the codes and then after purchase the code is transmitted by the marketplace and not the seller. It would not 100% stop complaints or scamming but it might provide more protection.
 
[quote name='htz']Books, DVDs & Movies, Music and Video Games
^Sell anything above $95 (fixed price) in this section and the new rates will be going up for you. Anything below $95 the new rates will be a discount for you compared to current rates.

Consumer Electronics, Cameras & Photo, and more
Computers/Tablets & Networking, Video Game Consoles
^Sell anything above $16 (fixed price) in this section and the new rates will be going up for you. Anything below $16 the new rates will be a discount for you compared to current rates.

If you sell just video game software below $95 rejoice but if you sell anything else this is a rate increase for most people.[/QUOTE]

Where are you getting this info from?
 
[quote name='htz']Books, DVDs & Movies, Music and Video Games
^Sell anything above $95 (fixed price) in this section and the new rates will be going up for you. Anything below $95 the new rates will be a discount for you compared to current rates.

Consumer Electronics, Cameras & Photo, and more
Computers/Tablets & Networking, Video Game Consoles
^Sell anything above $16 (fixed price) in this section and the new rates will be going up for you. Anything below $16 the new rates will be a discount for you compared to current rates.

If you sell just video game software below $95 rejoice but if you sell anything else this is a rate increase for most people.[/QUOTE]

Do you have a link to the new terms? It seems like every time I search for this information I get a million links that are old and outdated.
 
I don't understand why sellers can't list their items under the proper condition. Bought a used but "like new" game and it turns out to be complete but has several scratches all over the bottom of the disc. Feel like giving them a neutral so they stop misleading buyers with the wrong condition but the have 100% so I would feel bad :( Screw me for caring :lol:
 
I agree, and it hurts sellers like me who try to be accurate when listing an item. I was selling some my GBA games I no longer play anymore and the ones that were cart only were listed as acceptable. Other sellers list the same cart only games as like new, very good and good and it took longer to sell my games because people probably only look at acceptable condition last unless then price is a lot less than the other conditions.

Even worse is something like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=261194653016
"Brand New" and disc only
 
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Can we leave neutral feedback for nonpaying buyers? It is absolutely stupid that we cant leave negative feedback how are sellers protected then?
 
So I just listed some games on ebay and they were 50 cents each to list for buy it now. WTF!?! Ten times more expensive to list than the 5 cents it has been the last few years? I might have to go back to the free auction listings which I dont like as much as BIN.
 
[quote name='addicted2games']So I just listed some games on ebay and they were 50 cents each to list for buy it now. WTF!?! Ten times more expensive to list than the 5 cents it has been the last few years? I might have to go back to the free auction listings which I dont like as much as BIN.[/QUOTE]
You can just make the auction with a buy it now as well for free. I just make the auction price $1 cheaper than the BIN
 
[quote name='vantheman']You can just make the auction with a buy it now as well for free. I just make the auction price $1 cheaper than the BIN[/QUOTE]

yeah, thats an idea. They just dont last as long as BIN (I put them up for 30 days at a time with auto renewal)
 
[quote name='vantheman']You can just make the auction with a buy it now as well for free. I just make the auction price $1 cheaper than the BIN[/QUOTE]

The BIN price must be 10% greater than the start price...unless that's changed recently.
 
[quote name='addicted2games']So I just listed some games on ebay and they were 50 cents each to list for buy it now. WTF!?! Ten times more expensive to list than the 5 cents it has been the last few years? I might have to go back to the free auction listings which I dont like as much as BIN.[/QUOTE]

eBay did something really stupid.

For several years they had a promotional rate for media (books, CD's, movies, games) where Buy It Now (BIN) listings were just $.05 for insertion fees and subtitles were free.


Every six months that promotional rate was set to expire but at the last minute they renewed it.

It was set to expire again on 03/31 and instead of renew it they said it would start again on April 16th (non-store owners) or May 1st (store owners).

To make it worse they also did not renew the free subtitle feature. No subtitles are essentially worthless (or at least don't add much value) but free is free so I personally use them.

However I did not receive any notification stating that we were going to be charged full value for subtitles after April 1st so I've had a few listings end and auto renew (good till closed (GTC) feature) in the past few days and instead of being charged the typical $.05 insertion fee + $0.00 for subtitles on those listings I was charged:

$.20 insertion fee + $1.50 subtitle fee = $1.70.

So in effect I was charged $1.70 for each insertion on listings where for the past several years they were only charged a nickel ($.05).

Pretty deceptive if you ask me. I understand eBay sends out policy changes in e-mails from time to time but I get bombarded by e-mails from them related to buying shit or stupid "Bill Me Later" promotions so I'm guessing I missed the one explaining this fee increase.

I just wished that at the time my listings were about to auto renew I received a notification that they were renewing at a rate that was 3,400% higher.
 
[quote name='addicted2games']So I just listed some games on ebay and they were 50 cents each to list for buy it now. WTF!?! Ten times more expensive to list than the 5 cents it has been the last few years? I might have to go back to the free auction listings which I dont like as much as BIN.[/QUOTE]
It has always been 50 cents for me, I just started selling on ebay this year though. Occasionally I get charged 5 cents though.
 
[quote name='GBAstar']

It was set to expire again on 03/31 and instead of renew it they said it would start again on April 16th (non-store owners) or May 1st (store owners).

[/QUOTE]

So the $0.05 is coming back then? I figured it was gone for good with this new 50 free listings per month. I guess I'll wait until April 16th to relist some stuff that didn't sell
 
[quote name='htz']Books, DVDs & Movies, Music and Video Games
^Sell anything above $95 (fixed price) in this section and the new rates will be going up for you. Anything below $95 the new rates will be a discount for you compared to current rates.

If you sell just video game software below $95 rejoice but if you sell anything else this is a rate increase for most people.[/QUOTE]
Are you 100% sure of this? I have some stuff in the video game category for around the $95 price range so I'm just curious.
 
Hoping someone can help me out. I sold a ps1 memory card a couple weeks ago which worked fine. This dude messages me today saying it doesn't work...SURE!! and says if I refund him he will give me positive feedback. I test everything I sell. Either way , I asked him to return it at his cost, and ill refund. He replied " you expect me to pay to return it?" (it was 8.95 w/ free shipping). I have a feeling he's gonna give me negative feedback. If he does, would what he said initially be feedback extortion? Because basically he's saying if I do something for him, he'll leave me a positive. I'm hoping if he does leave a neg. I can get it removed. Thanks for the help.
 
[quote name='lude21']Hoping someone can help me out. I sold a ps1 memory card a couple weeks ago which worked fine. This dude messages me today saying it doesn't work...SURE!! and says if I refund him he will give me positive feedback. I test everything I sell. Either way , I asked him to return it at his cost, and ill refund. He replied " you expect me to pay to return it?" (it was 8.95 w/ free shipping). I have a feeling he's gonna give me negative feedback. If he does, would what he said initially be feedback extortion? Because basically he's saying if I do something for him, he'll leave me a positive. I'm hoping if he does leave a neg. I can get it removed. Thanks for the help.[/QUOTE]

Honestly I'd just pay to have it returned to you. You could just have him return it in an envelope (however many cents) or pay for it to be shipped as cheap as possible with tracking (~$2). That way at least he doesn't get anything out of it even if you lose out a couple of bucks. The problem is that he might have a broken memory card that he'll return to you so he gets to get a working one for free...
 
[quote name='SmokeMaxX']Honestly I'd just pay to have it returned to you. You could just have him return it in an envelope (however many cents) or pay for it to be shipped as cheap as possible with tracking (~$2). That way at least he doesn't get anything out of it even if you lose out a couple of bucks. The problem is that he might have a broken memory card that he'll return to you so he gets to get a working one for free...[/QUOTE]


Agreed, just bite the bullet. Every seller deals with this type of stuff. Just pay to have it shipped back on your dime and move on.
 
[quote name='SmokeMaxX']Are you 100% sure of this? I have some stuff in the video game category for around the $95 price range so I'm just curious.[/QUOTE]
Actually I made a mistake in my statement earlier about $95 being the break even point. It is actually $90, so if you sell anything above $90 the new eBay fees will be a rate hike for you in the video game software category for fixed price listings.

Current fee policy:
Insertion fee: $0.50
Final value fee: $8.50
Total: $9.00

New 10% flat fee policy:
Insertion fee: $0.00
Final value fee: $9.00
Total: $9.00
 
This may not be the greatest place to ask for advice, but I'd appreciate the help:
So I'm thinking of selling my extra copy of Xenoblade Chronicles on ebay, but all the horror stories I've read here as well as the fees that come with selling have sort of scared me away. I've got absolutely no seller feedback, but quite a bit of buyer feedback. Should I bite the bullet and put it up on ebay, or perhaps try my luck elsewhere, like the trading forums here?
 
[quote name='NoRainNoRainbow']This may not be the greatest place to ask for advice, but I'd appreciate the help:
So I'm thinking of selling my extra copy of Xenoblade Chronicles on ebay, but all the horror stories I've read here as well as the fees that come with selling have sort of scared me away. I've got absolutely no seller feedback, but quite a bit of buyer feedback. Should I bite the bullet and put it up on ebay, or perhaps try my luck elsewhere, like the trading forums here?[/QUOTE]

There's going to be risk to selling it anywhere. Craigslist, ebay, amazon, even here. Not everyone here is trustworthy, unless you go with a well established trader.

On ebay you have fees, but a larger audience, and people will pay a higher premium there compared to CAG. Here, you definitely won't get $90-$100+ for it (since it is CAG, after all) but no ebay fees.

Honestly, ebay is where you should sell it if you want to get the most out of it (though at a potentially higher risk of scamming, obviously.) It's your choice on whether the extra risk is worth the reward.
 
Look, people are going to make a big deal about the one time that something went wrong, but not about the 50 sales that went without a problem.
 
It does suck dealing with thefts, but that the price of being a seller, you have it far more worst if you actually ran a retail operation and see the shit that goes on with theft.

The problem is not just refunding the buyer and losing the sale, BUT when you refund anyone PAYPAL KEEPS/TAKES .30 cents from you. You are basically being robbed by both buyer and paypal.
 
So I put it up on ebay and it almost immediately sold. However, the buyer's account has just been launched and her/his paypal is unverified.
What steps can I take before shipping it out to protect myself from fraud in case this sours?
 
[quote name='NoRainNoRainbow']So I put it up on ebay and it almost immediately sold. However, the buyer's account has just been launched and her/his paypal is unverified.
What steps can I take before shipping it out to protect myself from fraud in case this sours?[/QUOTE]

For one thing, print out a label through eBay or PayPal.
 
[quote name='NoRainNoRainbow']So I put it up on ebay and it almost immediately sold. However, the buyer's account has just been launched and her/his paypal is unverified.
What steps can I take before shipping it out to protect myself from fraud in case this sours?[/QUOTE]

Yeah i don't sell to those types.
 
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when it comes to seller protection i believe the unverified buyer address is irrelevant. you just need to ship to the address linked to the payment at the time it was sent.
 
^ Remember everyone has to create an eBay/PayPal account at some time and the site is still growing. You're just as likely to have problems with established buyers as you are new buyers. The only time new accounts become problematic for me is when they are tied to unauthorized use (i.e. stolen credit card) scams but you're protected as long as you mail it to the address on the paypal invoice.
 
[quote name='NoRainNoRainbow']This may not be the greatest place to ask for advice, but I'd appreciate the help:
So I'm thinking of selling my extra copy of Xenoblade Chronicles on ebay, but all the horror stories I've read here as well as the fees that come with selling have sort of scared me away. I've got absolutely no seller feedback, but quite a bit of buyer feedback. Should I bite the bullet and put it up on ebay, or perhaps try my luck elsewhere, like the trading forums here?[/QUOTE]

There are definitely scammers out there, but they are honestly rare. I've sold thousands of things on eBay and I've only had one item "not show up". I don't know if that was true or the person scammed me out of a 15 dollar game.

Even with feedback. I have 1700 feedback and I've received either 1 or 2 negatives in all this time (for stupid stuff of course).
 
Does anyone know how to get a single eBay/PayPal shipping label to a .PDF? Whenever I do 2+ labels, it exports them to a .PDF file to print, but when it is just one it blows up the label and makes it blurry. It also thins out the writing so I can barely see who I am sending it to.
 
Ok, got a question for my fellow eBayers, first time I have ever needed to return something.

Bought some work shoes, turns out they're way too snug on the toes so I decided to see if I could return them. I look at the seller's policies:

Return policy / 14 Days / Buyer pays shipping
Thank you for purchase. We appreciate your business. Please note, in regards to Returns & Refunds: We will accept returns as long as buyer alerts seller via eBay message within 3 days of published delivery date.

Ok, so does that mean they actually only give you 3 days since they say you must alert the seller within 3 days of getting it? Confused since it also lists 14 days but that might just be eBay since I think they give you a default list of options for the days and there's nothing lower than 14 so they picked that but specified...I don't know as I never accept returns.

Anyway, confused on this since it had been about 4 days, I messaged asking if I could return them since it's requested you message about returns anyway. I tell them my case and ask if I can and this is the reply I get:

We are sorry to hear that the item didn't work out for you. Thank you for the information.
Please follow the link and instructions to file for your return.
http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/buy/return-item.html
We look forward to processing your return and refund for you...
Thank you :), Management


Umm this is just the Returns FAQ category section on the UK Ebay, the hell? Are they just screwing with me or is there something I'm missing? They tell you to contact them about returns and then when you do they tell you to follow that link which leads you to a Returns FAQ for eBay. They do not allow automatic returns so I can't just click return an item and go from there so I have no idea what I'm supposed to do here. Sorry this text is messed up they used something different and im too irritated to format this ufgh.
 
[quote name='Navex']Ok, got a question for my fellow eBayers, first time I have ever needed to return something.

Bought some work shoes, turns out they're way too snug on the toes so I decided to see if I could return them. I look at the seller's policies:

Return policy / 14 Days / Buyer pays shipping
Thank you for purchase. We appreciate your business. Please note, in regards to Returns & Refunds: We will accept returns as long as buyer alerts seller via eBay message within 3 days of published delivery date.

Ok, so does that mean they actually only give you 3 days since they say you must alert the seller within 3 days of getting it? Confused since it also lists 14 days but that might just be eBay since I think they give you a default list of options for the days and there's nothing lower than 14 so they picked that but specified...I don't know as I never accept returns.

Anyway, confused on this since it had been about 4 days, I messaged asking if I could return them since it's requested you message about returns anyway. I tell them my case and ask if I can and this is the reply I get:

We are sorry to hear that the item didn't work out for you. Thank you for the information.
Please follow the link and instructions to file for your return.
http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/buy/return-item.html
We look forward to processing your return and refund for you...
Thank you :), Management


Umm this is just the Returns FAQ category section on the UK Ebay, the hell? Are they just screwing with me or is there something I'm missing? They tell you to contact them about returns and then when you do they tell you to follow that link which leads you to a Returns FAQ for eBay. They do not allow automatic returns so I can't just click return an item and go from there so I have no idea what I'm supposed to do here. Sorry this text is messed up they used something different and im too irritated to format this ufgh.
[/QUOTE]

So.. read the FAQ if you have no idea what you are doing. It will answer your frequently... asked... question.

"To start a return, open a return case in our Resolution Centre. This will automatically send out an email to the seller to inform them that your case will be tracked."

"To request a return:

  1. Sign in to My eBay and go to the Won section.
  2. Next to your listing, select Return this item from the drop-down menu.
  3. Select I want to return an item and click Continue.
  4. Review the Return an item form and click Request return to send your request to the seller.
  5. After the seller has accepted your request, you can prepare postage right away and click Continue.
  6. Post the item to the seller."

If you are still having issues, contact eBay for help.
 
Yeah, there's no option for that. I read all that. The seller has options when it comes to returns and they must have a customized way to do it as I do not have the option to do a return that way. I can try but it just tells me to contact the seller for the return. That's why I have no idea what to do as I messaged them about the return and they just link me to that generic info page that doesn't help me. I cannot return it via that method you posted as it just refers me to to contacting the seller about it since they have a different way to set up returns and not having eBay set it up manually.
 
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