People complain about ebay's policy towards sellers...

smcd · #1 10-21-2009, 04:11 PM

Until you run into a situation like this -

I recently bought a bass on ebay. The photos weren't that good, but the seller described the bass as being in "great condition". When I got the bass, I found it to be much more banged up than I expected. Not only that, but the monkey who owned it previously broke the pickup adjustment, and bent several knobs.

I contacted the seller with a polite email, thinking we could work this out nicely. No response. Then I send him a not-so-nice email, telling him to refund my money or I'll file a claim with Paypal and leave him negative feedback. And this is what I got for a response -

i don't feel that i owe you a refund. i did not misrepresent the guitar in any way. if you make this difficult for me i also will leave you neg feedback.

This is exactly the kind of rat fink that made ebay a dicey place to buy in the past. Some a-hole like this sells you a dodgy guitar, and you're stuck with it unless you want to deal with retaliatory negative feedback.

As one who sells on ebay, I was fairly unhappy with these new rules, but at this point I'm thankful that the new rules are there to protect buyers from creeps like this.

electracoyote · #2 10-21-2009, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smcd

Until you run into a situation like this -

I recently bought a bass on ebay. The photos weren't that good, but the seller described the bass as being in "great condition". When I got the bass, I found it to be much more banged up than I expected. Not only that, but the monkey who owned it previously broke the pickup adjustment, and bent several knobs.

I contacted the seller with a polite email, thinking we could work this out nicely. No response. Then I send him a not-so-nice email, telling him to refund my money or I'll file a claim with Paypal and leave him negative feedback. And this is what I got for a response -

i don't feel that i owe you a refund. i did not misrepresent the guitar in any way. if you make this difficult for me i also will leave you neg feedback.

This is exactly the kind of rat fink that made ebay a dicey place to buy in the past. Some a-hole like this sells you a dodgy guitar, and you're stuck with it unless you want to deal with retaliatory negative feedback.

As one who sells on ebay, I was fairly unhappy with these new rules, but at this point I'm thankful that the new rules are there to protect buyers from creeps like this.

Sellers can no longer leave negative feedback. This seller is a noob all around.

This is the kind of seller that makes you glad for the tough policies that give the buyer the upper hand. Unfortunately, those same policies also give unscrupulous buyers too much power.

There was another thread here recently where an eBay buyer tried to claim he received an empty case. If the seller (one of our TB brethren) had not been determined to rebutt this particular buyer, he would have lost the claim, and the bass, and been forced to "refund" the buyer.

smcd · #3 10-21-2009, 04:31 PM

I saw that thread. Made me feel very uneasy about selling on ebay.

The interesting think about this particular seller is that he has a TON of feedback (over 600), so I was very surprised by his counter-threat of neg. feedback. I was equally surprised by his unpleasant attitude about this. Didn't want to talk about the problems, nor discuss a resolution. He's a real creep.

michael_atw · #4 10-21-2009, 04:41 PM

Who is he?

DuffMac87 · #5 10-21-2009, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by electracoyote

Sellers can no longer leave negative feedback. This seller is a noob all around.
This is the kind of seller that makes you glad for the tough policies that give the buyer the upper hand. Unfortunately, those same policies also give unscrupulous buyers too much power.

There was another thread here recently where an eBay buyer tried to claim he received an empty case. If the seller (one of our TB brethren) had not been determined to rebutt this particular buyer, he would have lost the claim, and the bass, and been forced to "refund" the buyer.

Bolded for importance, the guy wouldnt know a rope from a snake.

he cant leave bad feedback file a claim and get what you deserve back. Numerous times i went to check out basses on craigslist being described as Mint/excellnent/great/good shape and they were beat up, a bass with even one chip to the wood is none of those, i will tell the seller straight up its not as described and if your not dropping the price later.People see damage differently, but they know when its junk when knobs are bent.

gregwatts2008 · #6 10-21-2009, 05:02 PM

Use Paypal! I recently bought a misrepresented Ken Smith. Fortunately the seller was not a dick, but Paypal was really helpful with the dispute process.

purfektstranger · #7 10-21-2009, 05:09 PM

Can you post a link to the completed auction? I would like to see the pics and description....

smcd · #8 10-21-2009, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by purfektstranger

Can you post a link to the completed auction? I would like to see the pics and description....

Definitely, once I get my refund. Paypal decided in my favor almost immediately.

Kenny Allyn · #9 10-21-2009, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by electracoyote

This is the kind of seller that makes you glad for the tough policies that give the buyer the upper hand. Unfortunately, those same policies also give unscrupulous buyers too much power.

Yeah try this one for size ...

I sold a "buyer" a used Squier Strat, he gets it claims "it's not as represented" and that the pickups did not work! BUT if I would send him $40.00 back of the 99.00 he paid for it he would forget the problem. Never contacted me went right to a PayPal dispute. I told PayPal I'll send him a FULL refund no questions asked (the pickups worked fine BTW) he said that was OK he would keep it (he knew the pickups worked too) matter over, well maybe not! He sent me another email saying because I was being a harda$$ about it he would take action ... what! I offered a full refund and as a matter of good faith had PayPal send him the refund ... what did this guy do, kept the money never sent back the guitar and gave me a negative feedback ... the seller is helpless in a case like this!

Ebay never lifted a finger to help or remove the bogus negative ... they said "We can't break policy even if the buyer is in the wrong" ... Yeah Ebay is a real great company to do business with, thanks for letting the guy totally rip me off!

Some of the service reps I talked to over the two month ordeal actually told me they had lost many sellers over this, but the powers that be on Ebay feel the policy change was a great thing, well maybe for those left selling but they lost one more with me!

...

smcd · #10 10-21-2009, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kenny Allyn

[b]what did this guy do, kept the money never sent back the guitar and gave me a negative feedback ... the seller is helpless in a case like this!

Why did you send him the money before you got the guitar back? The seller seemed to expose himself as untrustworthy.

purfektstranger · #11 10-21-2009, 05:54 PM

It only takes one bad apple to spoil the sauce. I have over one hundred successful transactions on Ebay. Only had one which caused a hassle but with a ratio of 99% good transactions, I can't complain.

Medford Bassman · #12 10-21-2009, 05:56 PM

here's my two cents. I have sold a bass and a car on ebay and I was fortunate to deal with honest people.

However, let's face it, you're dealing with people all over the country or world. Not everyone is going to be honest.

In essence, you're still relying on an incredible amount of trust as a buyer or seller. It's hard enough to get honest buyers and sellers in person. Anyone going into a music store can tell you that.

Initially, I think ebay was a great IDEA. But all the problems everyone is now facing certainly wasn't thought out by ebay when they started.

You're going to have to remember, buying or selling on ebay is a gamble. plain and simple.

Meatrus · #13 10-21-2009, 05:57 PM

I dont get it, whats the problem? He cant leave negative feedback, and Paypal will refund you. As much as I hate Ebays greedy ways I think you will find they are in your favour.

Jjango · #14 10-21-2009, 06:06 PM

Unfortunately, there is no shortage of scam artist buyers, either. I have a friend who is an eBay "power seller", and he's told me some nightmarish tales over the years.

For example, he'll sell a brand new, perfect-condition iPod (or camera, or whatever) on eBay. The buyer will claim that the item is broken when he gets it, and demands a full refund, including return shipping.

When my friend gets the item back, it is a totally different unit, with a different serial number. The buyer has swapped his old, broken unit for a brand-new one.

So the scam artist buyer gets a brand-new item, and the buyer is left with a piece of junk. And Paypal almost always sides with the buyer in these cases. A lot of sellers are abandoning eBay because of scams like this.

smcd · #15 10-21-2009, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meatrus

I dont get it, whats the problem? He cant leave negative feedback, and Paypal will refund you. As much as I hate Ebays greedy ways I think you will find they are in your favour.

I don't have a complaint with ebay or Paypal. Most ebay threads I've read here seem to point out problems sellers have had with buyers. I posted this episode as an example of why ebay has the policies it has towards sellers.

kenjikun · #16 10-21-2009, 06:22 PM

One reason I don't do eBay, there were times I wanted to sell MIJ basses on ebay but was turned off by these unfortunate incidents. I'm happy with Yahoo Japan auction. When I won my JV Squier, the seller sent it to me right away even before a I pay for the item. He just told me to pay after I receive it, if I have complain, just send it back, no questions asked. That's how the sellers and buyers trust each others.
I guess, eBay should be strict with its buyers and seller. Here , members should give their complete name and address and specially bank account numbers upon registration so they can be easily located.

Jjango · #17 10-21-2009, 06:24 PM

On the other hand, these rules really do help you out if you're a buyer.

I don't sell on eBay, but I have tons of feedback as a buyer since 1997, and I have a 100% positive rating.

A few years back, an eBay seller was selling off a lot of vintage leather jackets. I bid on and won three of his auctions, all of which ended within hours of each other.

The guy never sent a thing. He never responded to emails, and his phone number was disconnected.

Weeks passed, and finally I opened a dispute with Paypal. The jerk made up a bunch of lame excuses, and promised to send the items.

A few days later, I came home to find a big box on my porch. It was from the jerk eBay seller. When I opened the box, I discovered that it was an empty box filled with a bunch of newspapers! No jackets!

I checked the dispute online, and discovered that the con artist had posted that he had delivery confirmation from the post office showing that the items had been delivered. Since he had "proof" that he had "delivered" the "jackets", he demanded his money from Paypal.

What kind of jerk goes to the trouble of sending you an empty box, just to pull a scam?

I called Paypal on the telephone, explained what happened, and got to keep my money. The jerk seller shut down his eBay account the next day, but started a NEW eBay account a few days later (different eBay nick, but with the exact same street address, and the exact same auction graphics).

I told eBay and Paypal about this, but they did nothing. As far as I know, he's still selling on eBay.

Since then, I only bid on items from established sellers with excellent feedback. Thankfully, I haven't had a problem since.

SLaPiNFuNK · #18 10-21-2009, 09:55 PM

you need to not talk to the seller and file a "Item significantly not as described dispute".

this will tie up the money and pull it out of his account until you come to a reasonable resolution with paypal being the middle man.

you educate paypal about the item and why it is not as described and upload pictures of the item to paypal... etc..

**bassybill** · #19 10-21-2009, 10:20 PM

I have bought stuff on ebay in the past, but I trust people on there less and less as problems like these get more common. I'd hesitate to use the place at all now, either as a buyer or a seller.

Low Tone · #20 10-21-2009, 11:06 PM

I have had good and bad experiences with eBay and PayPal bot buying and selling. The majority have been good and thankfully I retain my 100% feedback.

My last one (and best) I sold a computer on eBay. This was a 6 month old Dell that was top of the food chain for computers. The buyer got it for less than half of what I paid for it. He actually came to my house to pick it up to save on the shipping. Now for the best part. When he arrived, he had his wife, kids and a van loaded full of clothes and vacation stuff. He shows up and straps the computer down on a two wheeled trailer behind his van with a bunch of other stuff and drove for 5 hours up to Iowa to visit his parents. Then drives home after the weekend. (Computer still on the trailer I assume) After 10+ hours of bouncing around on that trailer, he calls me and wants to know why his new computer isn't working properly after he set it up...... That was a 3 month long fight as well.