Burned on Ebay, ranting yet looking for advice

[dougjwray]

On Sunday night, I sold a bass on Ebay. I sent an invoice... no response. The following afternoon, I sent a message, and the buyer replied that he was a "foreign buyer" (I had even specified in the listing that I was shipping only to the continental U.S.), and he said something like "Sorry, I don't accept the bass. Thanks." Nice. I should mention that he has Ebay transactions in the double digits and a 0% feedback rating.
Now I'm not getting $800 that I thought I was.
I tried to make my way through Ebay's customer service and help screens, and once stumbled upon a chat option; couldn't find it again. I Googled "Ebay telephone number" and found a couple of numbers... when I called, there was a message advising me to click on the "live help" link in the upper right-hand corner of their home page. Nope. No such link there. No actual human beings in sight. So, I went back to the torturous help pages, and concluded that after 4 days are up (tomorrow night), I can "close the case" and then relist.

How have any of you handled this situation? It was my 12th Ebay experience, and the first unpleasant one. I have a 100% feedback rating, and I obviously don't want to do anything to jeopardize that.

[David1234]

As an international buyer, I tried to buy a bass. The guy took the money and then discovered it'd cost more to ship than he thought. He cancelled - nothing I can do. At least I got my money back, to the cent (I was worried I'd lose an extra $50 since the exchange rate had moved in the 8 days it took between Paypal taking my money and finally returning it).

At least I'm not out of pocket for the whole value of a bass.

[pica]

Sorry to hear about your problem. I had a problem similar to yours and other problems over the years. That's why I don't use Ebay anymore. You never know who's on the other end. I'm sure a majority of the people are honest but there's always those who are not.

[Staccato]

Nope, but I work any transaction like a business with lightening fast shipping, and follow-up emails. When purchasing, I attempt to pay within 12 hours, and contact the seller to thank them for listing the item. 12 years later, and I'm over 330 feedback, and never a negative/neutral.

Try to get ebay 'live' this week, and attempt to get this guy banned. Tell them that no seller should have to deal with the perp.

[Templar]

Did you set up your auction to screen out foreign bidders?

Or is this guy local, but just making up excuses?

You can get your ebay fees refunded, but no way to force the buyer to complete the deal.

[throughthefire]

Originally Posted by dougjwray

he said something like "Sorry, I don't accept the bass. Thanks." Nice. I should mention that he has Ebay transactions in the double digits and a 0% feedback rating

You said in your listing that you could only ship to the CONUS. He broke those terms by bidding.

Neg him, report him, relist the bass, and contact customer support to get your fees back. If he gives a retaliatory neg, report that as abuse.

Next time, state that 0 feedback bidders will have their bids cancelled.

It's been a while since I did ebay. Sounds like there are no fewer crooks on there. I used to sell golf balls and model tractors, and there were still people out there trying to scam me.

Pete.

[gtaus]

My brother-in-law used to sell computers and computer stuff on eBay, but this summer he got burned too many times and it was no longer worth his effort with eBay. He sold one computer 3 times, to 3 separate buyers, and each buyer backed out of the deal and/or did not pay for the computer. So, he had to relist the item over, and over again. Finally, he just gave up. He said he spent more wasted time and effort on that one unit then in any profit he could have made. And that story is not just of one item. It also happened to him on a number of other items. Too bad, in the past he had good luck buying and selling on eBay, but maybe there are too many deadbeats on the site now.

Oh yeah, he reported all three of those deadbeats who wasted his time, but that just cost him more in terms of his valuable time and effort. So he was caught in wasting more and more time on deadbeats than he was spending on selling his items. Sorry you had a bad experience with eBay, but you are in no means without company in that respect.

[BigOldHarry]

This isn't getting "Burned" - it's just some tool wasting your time.

Let ebay know to cancel your fees and re-list it. Been there, done that - you ARE dealing with the internet, you know...

[Templar]

Originally Posted by throughthefire

You said in your listing that you could only ship to the CONUS. He broke those terms by bidding.

Neg him, report him, relist the bass, and contact customer support to get your fees back. If he gives a retaliatory neg, report that as abuse.

Next time, state that 0 feedback bidders will have their bids cancelled.

It's been a while since I did ebay. Sounds like there are no fewer crooks on there. I used to sell golf balls and model tractors, and there were still people out there trying to scam me.

Pete.

Just "stating" in the auction description, that you only sell within the US, isn't enough. To mean it, you must select the countries you won't accept bids from during the listing process. This way, unwanted bids are screened automatically.

Things have changed on ebay. Sellers cannot "neg" buyers for any reason, period.

[dougjwray]

Originally Posted by Templar

Just "stating" in the auction description, that you only sell within the US, isn't enough. To mean it, you must select the countries you won't accept bids from during the listing process. This way, unwanted bids are screened automatically.

Things have changed on ebay. Sellers cannot "neg" buyers for any reason, period.

I did do that. My guess is that the person was in the U.S. when he bid.
Harry, you're right-- I didn't get "burned", just derailed. But I lost valuable time at a point when I need cash NOW (closing on a house in several weeks).
So what, exactly, is the routine method to talk to an Ebay employee, either by chat or (gasp) on the telephone? If someone knows the secret, *please* fill me in.

[baileyboy]

I've done lots of ebaying (buying and selling) and occasionally have had to talk to a real person to deal with an issue... never had a problem doing so. Ebay has been most cooperative in returning shipping fees, listing fees, etc. There are lots of scammers on ebay, but generally speaking, if they don't pay I don't ship. You can expect to be inconvenienced by idiots like this guy from time to time.

[dougjwray]

Originally Posted by baileyboy

I've done lots of ebaying (buying and selling) and occasionally have had to talk to a real person to deal with an issue... never had a problem doing so. Ebay has been most cooperative in returning shipping fees, listing fees, etc. There are lots of scammers on ebay, but generally speaking, if they don't pay I don't ship. You can expect to be inconvenienced by idiots like this guy from time to time.

So, how exactly do you get in touch with a real person? That's what I want to do.

[baileyboy]

dougjwray, Just click on "Resolution Center" and follow the prompts for speaking with a representative. I can't get on ebay at work so I'm relying on memory here, but if there isn't a phone number available, ebay will email you a temporary working phone number that will work for something like the next 15 minutes after they send it to you. Good luck and let us know if you are able to speak with someone.

[dougjwray]

Originally Posted by baileyboy

dougjwray, Just click on "Resolution Center" and follow the prompts for speaking with a representative. I can't get on ebay at work so I'm relying on memory here, but if there isn't a phone number available, ebay will email you a temporary working phone number that will work for something like the next 15 minutes after they send it to you. Good luck and let us know if you are able to speak with someone.

Okay, thanks a lot. I thought I did that, but maybe not. I'll try tonight and report back.

[Tampabass]

I've discovered recently, by way of a terrible experience with a buyer who left negative feedback that was a lie (long story), that on eBay there is no longer such a thing as seller protection.

Buyers can essentially do practically anything they want, and then can abuse eBay's feedback system at will. Whether they are telling the truth doesn't matter. I have tried all sorts of ways to resolve my situation with eBay, including multiple online chats and emails to various departments there. The final message is that it's all about the buyer.

[dalkowski]

Originally Posted by BigOldHarry

This isn't getting "Burned" - it's just some tool wasting your time.

Let ebay know to cancel your fees and re-list it. Been there, done that - you ARE dealing with the internet, you know...

This. You could have been REALLY screwed over and you weren't at all.

[brendanbassist]

When you list an item, you can specify that certain people CAN'T bid on it- such as people with no positive feedback, etc. I don't remember exactly where that option is, but I believe its towards the end of the listing proccess.

[Ric5]

Originally Posted by dougjwray

On Sunday night, I sold a bass on Ebay. I sent an invoice... no response. The following afternoon, I sent a message, and the buyer replied that he was a "foreign buyer" (I had even specified in the listing that I was shipping only to the continental U.S.), and he said something like "Sorry, I don't accept the bass. Thanks." Nice. I should mention that he has Ebay transactions in the double digits and a 0% feedback rating.
Now I'm not getting $800 that I thought I was.
I tried to make my way through Ebay's customer service and help screens, and once stumbled upon a chat option; couldn't find it again. I Googled "Ebay telephone number" and found a couple of numbers... when I called, there was a message advising me to click on the "live help" link in the upper right-hand corner of their home page. Nope. No such link there. No actual human beings in sight. So, I went back to the torturous help pages, and concluded that after 4 days are up (tomorrow night), I can "close the case" and then relist.

How have any of you handled this situation? It was my 12th Ebay experience, and the first unpleasant one. I have a 100% feedback rating, and I obviously don't want to do anything to jeopardize that.

If you want to sell to USA only buyers and an international buyer bids then cancel his bid. Do it before the auction ends.

[dougjwray]

Originally Posted by dalkowski

This. You could have been REALLY screwed over and you weren't at all.

I already admitted that. See post #10.

[dougjwray]

Originally Posted by Ric5

If you want to sell to USA only buyers and an international buyer bids then cancel his bid. Do it before the auction ends.

The auction ended on Sunday night. He won the auction, then refused to pay.