eBay sellers woes

[D Bopp]

The guy is a tool. Anyone that would file a claim with Paypal before trying to work it out with you first just enjoys the power trip. I dealt with a guy like that a few months ago. Just have him return it for the refund. It's not worth you discounting the guitar that much. You can sell it again for your asking price to a more reasonable buyer.

 

[CTbass&birdsong]

He probably just wants money off. Tell him to send it back for a refund (minus shipping is ebay's policy) and you BOTH lose your shipping cost. See if he wants to do that. If he doesn't he is just pulling your chain and just wants a discount.

of course if you really needed the money it might backfire, but if it was just extra money then go this route...

Ditt0 !!!

 

[dcr]

The guy is a tool. Anyone that would file a claim with Paypal before trying to work it out with you first just enjoys the power trip. I dealt with a guy like that a few months ago. Just have him return it for the refund. It's not worth you discounting the guitar that much. You can sell it again for your asking price to a more reasonable buyer.

Same here! What a yahoo! Have him ship it back insured on his nickel, give him his money back, and be done with him.

Just my $0.02.



dcr

 

[allexcosta]

And what exactly all of this has to do with basses?

 

[GeneralElectric]

And what exactly all of this has to do with basses?

If you read the thread, he said he had thought that he had put this into OT. It was a mistake he owned up to post #5.

Tell the guy that you'll give him a refund if he returns it on his dime. If he doesn't want to, tell him to pound sand.

 

[BassicJohn]

It sounds like the two of you just had different ideas about what "really good condition" meant. It seems that you were doing your best to be honest about the condition. Trying to put myself in the buyer's shoes, I sort of see what might be going on. To me, your pictures match what I would consider "really good condition", while your description of the bass seems more like just "good condition". The buyer might have spent the week wondering if he misunderstood you or if the bass just wasn't as described. After a week of pondering, the buyer just may have concluded that condition just what he thought it should be and then contacted you. Without seeing the actual marks on the bass it is hard to know what would be fair in terms of an adjustment to the price. But, no one could fault you if accept a return of the bass and refund the price to the buyer.

 

[sleepy_monkey]

I have thought about setting up a totally different bank account for paypal....b/c if a buyer disputes an item, then paypal can literally freeze your entire account.

And don't get me wrong, I have 100% feedback on eBay (160) and 100% feedback on TB (46) but some buyers out there are nuts....and with eBay's new policies, it makes it tough for sellers...especially if the buyer just decides 'he doesn't want it'.....so if you have another account...you can transfer your money out and if they freeze it, they freeze none of your $$....might not be the right thing to do, but I consider myself an honest seller, and if my description is incorrect, I will stand by and make things right....but if things are just being made up, that is another story.

I have refunded $75 on a $225 bass before, b/c I didn't accurately explain the action....and had no problem doing it b/c I knew I hadn't done a good enough job in the description.

But if you honestly feel you did the best you could and explained EVERYTHING, I would tell him to ship the bass back and sell it again. Also, make sure the rogue buyer didn't add any 'scratches' conveniently to your guitar.

 

[Vakmere]

"It has been barely used and in really good condition. It has never been gigged and has always kept in smoke free environment. This guitar looks great and plays really well."

Then how did it wind up with all those marks and scratches? That description was a bit misleading and I see lots of descriptions like this. I'm sure it plays well and sounds very good however those photos make it look flawless. I can see the buyers point.

 

[flipper_gv]

"It has been barely used and in really good condition. It has never been gigged and has always kept in smoke free environment. This guitar looks great and plays really well."

Then how did it wind up with all those marks and scratches? That description was a bit misleading and I see lots of descriptions like this. I'm sure it plays well and sounds very good however those photos make it look flawless. I can see the buyers point.

+1

But anyway, 900$ for a Gibson SG standard is a deal. That would have been the price I'd pay for it in this condition anyway.

 

[Kevopunk]

I only sell my gear on Craigslist locally or by word of mouth. It sometimes takes longer but usually no headaches - and it is in CASH!!! I say full refund and return on his dime plus insurance.

Good luck

Kev

 

[troy mcclure]

I always allow people to return anything within 7 days on their dime, they also loss the shipping from my end.. I clearly state shipping not refundable.. makes you think twice about losing $60 a bas purchase , truong to nickle and dime you to death on problems with an item.

 

[GeneralElectric]

I only sell my gear on Craigslist locally or by word of mouth. It sometimes takes longer but usually no headaches - and it is in CASH!!! I say full refund and return on his dime plus insurance.

Good luck

Kev

+1. Even with a supporting membership, selling gear on here is sometimes a hassle. I've always had much better luck with Craigslist and I'm saved the trouble of finding shipping boxes and the trip to Fedex.

The only time I tend to put things up here, is when they're not moving locally.

 

[Vakmere]

Ebay ads that make you go Hmmmm

On this planet everything is for sale. Keeping it real goes by the wayside sometimes while honesty goes hand in hand with stretching the truth. Most of us here have had some experience with buying gear off Ebay and I’m sure you’ve seen some item descriptions that you know just ain’t right. Here are my top 10 ads that I found amusing and make me go Hmmmm. I’m sure you have a few also……

10. A full page of copy and pasted item description from the instrument web page followed by a one line ambiguous disclaimer by the seller of the bass.

9. Missing 1 knob, a ding on the horn, some buckle rash, other than that it’s like new.

8. Killer sound, best sounding bass I’ve ever heard. Pots are a little scratchy but you can’t hear it while playing.

7. Hazy photos of a big money bass taken with a poor quality camera phone.

6. Close up of that killer sounding bass headstock with 2 purple, 1 red, and 2 unwrapped strings wound around the peg 6+ times.

5. Shipping $100 for a $200 item. (To go from NYC to Philly?). Somebody’s burying the Ebay and PayPal fees in there somewhere.

4. My wife says I have too many basses, must sell.
(Try unloading 2 pairs of her shoes and see what happens)

3. No case or gig bag but it will be wrapped to avoid damage.

2. I’ve owned this bass for 10 years.
Q. What strings are on it?
A. I don’t know.

1. And my winning pick-----

I paid $6000 for this bass brand new 5 years ago, never played or gigged with and has sat in my closet ever since. Never used it once. Only has a couple light scratches and a small ding around the jack area.

Hmmmmmmm………..LOL

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[the_thriller]

Get him to ship it back and give him the refund, then re-sell it for more. I wouldn't give him any more money then you have to.

 

[bass'n it]

Wow nice guitar an da nice price as well!.......looks to me like you described the guitar perfectly!.....(of course its hard to tell about the dings scratches etc.) but this dude got himself one fine guitar and as long as all works on it?....tell him to fly a kite!

 

[Mark Wilson]

I'm gonna punt this over to Misc.
Catch!

 

[Thunderitter]

"It has been barely used and in really good condition. It has never been gigged and has always kept in smoke free environment. This guitar looks great and plays really well."

Then how did it wind up with all those marks and scratches? That description was a bit misleading and I see lots of descriptions like this. I'm sure it plays well and sounds very good however those photos make it look flawless. I can see the buyers point.

That's the issue! It isn't covered in marks and scratches. The SG in heritage cherry is a transparent nitro finish - pretty much look at it an it will mark. What P's me off here is we talked on the phone before he bought the guitar and I told him about what he calls worming on the back. I honestly couldn't photograph it and I tried - same for the other two marks. If you've seen my photo's elsewhere here on TB you'll see that I'm not a newb when it comes to photography either.

I think this come down to the fact that the guy isn't going to be happy no matter what. I had the guitar appraised at $1000 by a friend in the business, so having already given him $50 off, free shipping and the offer of an additional $50 - (nett: an $825 guitar) he's still looking for an additional $100!

I think I've been very fair and reasonable for the get-go, the fact that this guy hasn't moved one inch makes me think that he's at it or at the very least has a severe case of buyers remorse - we've all had that.

I've asked him to call me and he's yet to do that, so I think I'm getting very close to telling him to return the guitar. As someone says it's worth more than $825 even if it were in good to moderate condition.

The idea of setting up a seperate eBay account is a good one and one for the future for sure!

 

[Thunderitter]

I'm gonna punt this over to Misc.
Catch!

Thanks Mark!!

I've often wondered how folks can mis-post, but this has happened to me today. I was in off topic and when I went to post I got a message that my post was too short - what it then displayed was a blank message box. I couldn't find the post in off topic and sure enough there it was in Bass. A wee glitch in the machinery me thinks.

Dave

 

[Relic]

This happened to me with a P bass I sold one time. It player great, sounded great but was beat up. The buyer was a complete pain in the arse. My description even stated that "it was a beater with numerous marks, dents and scratches", it was being sold "as is", "no returns" "ask questions before you bid" etc etc
I STILL had this guy complain after he bought it about the scratches and such. I ended up refunding $100 to get him to shut up even though I truly believe that he had this planned all along. Had I not desperately needed the money, I would have had him return it on his dime. Butthole.
I'm sure that in most cases the buyer is sincere but I really do believe that there are a few who go into this planning on complaining and getting a kick-back. It's as though they seek out instruments that they can pull this stuff with...who knows

 

[Thunderitter]

Well I gave the guy the final choice of return of $75 off and of course he took the guitar.

Well after 52 transactions on eBay you're still learning!

I'm currently feeling like I've been played and slightly violated, but I'll get over it! I also think that I've convinced my wife it is a bad idea to trim down my guitar collection, just 'cause I've added a bass or two. That at least should last for a couple more additions!

Again, I appreciate the opinions and counsel today: thanks to all!