Ebay selling problem

[DCGuy]

Hi all,
Wondering if anyone else has run into this problem, and if there's a way around it.
I'm trying to sell something on Ebay (non-auction). Someone makes a full-price offer and I accept. They then send me a text asking me to text them to discuss it. I decline, knowing that this is likely a scam that involves using my phone number. They never pay up and I file for nonpayment 48 hours later. In the meantime, my item is off the market for 48 hours, and I think I have to pay a fee (but it gets turned into a credit that I have to use later.) This has happened a couple of times in a row and I'm thinking of not trying to sell anything on EBay any more. Just seems totally unworkable if I have to go through this over and over. Anyone have a workaround? Thanks!

 

[Gorn]

Something like that has happened with at least half the things I’ve sold on eBay. There’s no workaround as far as I know. They’re pulling some shenanigans with the communication after sale thing, and your item being off the market for a few days is an unavoidable extra inconvenience. You can try explaining this to the call center employee who will tell you he understands and apologizes and nothing will happen.

 

[ahbass2500]

I had similar happen. Bidder from Mexico won a ships to US only item. Never responded to me, never paid. Instead of going through eBay adjudication process, I just cancelled his order... which resulted in me not being able to leave negative feedback (which this bidder clearly deserved for 0 communication and buying an item that they were not eligible to receive).

For me... lesson learned, do not sell on eBay. They side with the buyer far too often. I rarely sold on eBay before I quit using them to sell items. I had multiple buyer issues where eBay sided with the buyer. The most annoying was an EUB bought by a self described "Pirate Bassist" (as in he played in a "Pirate Band" and legitimately thought he was a Pirate from what I saw online) who demanded a return on my no returns accepted item, because he could not immediately play EUB when he had never played an upright before. eBay sided with him. I was out shipping costs. I sold the EUB locally to a buyer who could not have been happier with it (because it didn't have any issues; the original buyer was just clueless).

 

[Killing Floor]

I had similar happen. Bidder from Mexico won a ships to US only item. Never responded to me, never paid. Instead of going through eBay adjudication process, I just cancelled his order... which resulted in me not being able to leave negative feedback (which this bidder clearly deserved for 0 communication and buying an item that they were not eligible to receive).

For me... lesson learned, do not sell on eBay. They side with the buyer far too often. I rarely sold on eBay before I quit using them to sell items. I had multiple buyer issues where eBay sided with the buyer. The most annoying was an EUB bought by a self described "Pirate Bassist" (as in he played in a "Pirate Band" and legitimately thought he was a Pirate from what I saw online) who demanded a return on my no returns accepted item, because he could not immediately play EUB when he had never played an upright before. eBay sided with him. I was out shipping costs. I sold the EUB locally to a buyer who could not have been happier with it (because it didn't have any issues; the original buyer was just clueless).

I want to be a pirate bassist. Guess what my favorite accessories would be?
Patch cables!

 

[DCGuy]

Yeah, I think I'm done with ebay until this gets fixed. Too irritating and time consuming. Thanks for sharing.

 

[ahbass2500]

For what it is worth, I have started selling both bass and non-bass items here. Not everything sells, but I have been surprised by how many of my non-bass items have sold. Noting that I typically offer them at a lower price than what eBay would bring. Not using eBay does save some fees and a ton of hassle though, so it has been worth it to me so far.

 

[DCGuy]

That’s a great idea, thanks.

 

[Alkali Ike]

eBay member since 1998. That be 23 years. Well over 1000 transactions, about half are sales. Never had anything remotely like that happen.

I sure like living in my alternate universe where ebay works fine and I like Discovery. Season 3 anyway.

Edit: You may be doing it wrong. If you’re a US seller and won’t ship internationally and want to block international bidders, you can. Instead of assuming “that’s just how it works”, try a little googling.

Link Removed

You can't just "state" that you don't ship internationally. You have to configure your account so international buyers aren't able to bid. In addition to the steps below, also follow the steps that disneyshopper posted.

To block buyers in states, territories, or countries you don't want to ship to:

1. Go to My eBay > Account > Site Preferences.
2. In the Selling Preferences section, scroll to Shipping preferences, and then click Show.
3. Next to Exclude shipping locations from your listings, click Edit.
4. Select the states, territories, or regions you don't want to ship to. You can exclude entire continents or select Show all countries,and then select the specific countries you don't want to ship to.
5. All excluded countries you select will appear in the lower section of the page.
6. Select Apply to all current live listings to apply these exclusions to all your current listings.
7. Click Apply to save your requirements.

The requirements you select will be applied to your current and future listings and can be disabled at any time.

 

[Alkali Ike]

Hi all,
Wondering if anyone else has run into this problem, and if there's a way around it.
I'm trying to sell something on Ebay (non-auction). Someone makes a full-price offer and I accept. They then send me a text asking me to text them to discuss it. I decline, knowing that this is likely a scam that involves using my phone number. They never pay up and I file for nonpayment 48 hours later. In the meantime, my item is off the market for 48 hours, and I think I have to pay a fee (but it gets turned into a credit that I have to use later.) This has happened a couple of times in a row and I'm thinking of not trying to sell anything on EBay any more. Just seems totally unworkable if I have to go through this over and over. Anyone have a workaround? Thanks!

Why not just cancel the sale and relist the item? Also block that buyer from bidding. I have done that a couple times. And never ever respond to a text from a buyer or seller. Keep all communication inside the eBay system.

 

[fhm555]

eBay member since 1998. That be 23 years. Well over 1000 transactions, about half are sales. Never had anything remotely like that happen.

I sure like living in my alternate universe where ebay works fine and I like Discovery. Season 3 anyway.

Edit: You may be doing it wrong. If you’re a US seller and won’t ship internationally and want to block international bidders, you can. Instead of assuming “that’s just how it works”, try a little googling.

Link Removed

You can't just "state" that you don't ship internationally. You have to configure your account so international buyers aren't able to bid. In addition to the steps below, also follow the steps that disneyshopper posted.

To block buyers in states, territories, or countries you don't want to ship to:

1. Go to My eBay > Account > Site Preferences.
2. In the Selling Preferences section, scroll to Shipping preferences, and then click Show.
3. Next to Exclude shipping locations from your listings, click Edit.
4. Select the states, territories, or regions you don't want to ship to. You can exclude entire continents or select Show all countries,and then select the specific countries you don't want to ship to.
5. All excluded countries you select will appear in the lower section of the page.
6. Select Apply to all current live listings to apply these exclusions to all your current listings.
7. Click Apply to save your requirements.

The requirements you select will be applied to your current and future listings and can be disabled at any time.

While I don't have near the transaction volume, I signed up on ebay within a couple months of its debut. In all those years I've had one bad experience when a seller obviously defrauded me by showing and describing a new item then shipping a worn out DOA POS instead. I tried to get some relief but it was obvious the seller was a scammer and I decided i'd just paid a forty dollar stupid tax and hoped it was the exception rather than the new rule. I later had a guy from Saudi buy on an item I could not export to his country so I learned about blocking international bidders and had no more issues with communication problems due to language or ignorance of customs laws.
That said, I'm thinking my run with eBay is approaching its end. I recently got notice about their change in pay policy where they will now be handling all transactions and disbursements in house. I quit paypal when they became a lending institution and required the same credentials as my bank in order to keep an account with their service. I can still use a credit card to pay with paypal they just can't keep money for me if i sell something. If the same works for ebay I'm good but I've decided I'm going to limit my banking info to no more than three institutions which I'm already set up with so if I can't work out some deal with ebay like I have with paypal, I'm done with both. I really hate to let it go but I don't use it enough anymore to even justify the cost of my store, it's just already in place and it's easy and convenient to use so I've hung on to it mostly because it makes cleaning out my workbench/closet, etc., so easy.

 

[sleddogn]

I too am user since 98', and have close to 1k positive feedbacks. I used to buy and sell MG cars and parts on ebay. The good ole days, buying a 65 mg midget for 400 dollars, drive 3 hrs. Then sell over 5k worth of parts from car, and keep 3k worth for myself. Did lots of that, then switched to basses and guitars a few years back. Long story short, i've never had a single out of ebay communication either, and do block international buyers