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I think I'm done with selling basses on Ebay!

madbassplaya

madbassplaya

Supporting Member
Dec 28, 2007
8,397
142
#1
About three weeks ago I listed one of my basses on Ebay, it sold, but the buyer never paid. I contacted the buyer several times before they contacted me back. They explained they were having trouble with paypal, but would complete payment by the end of the week.

...I waited two weeks, messaged them and they did not message me back.

Long story short, I relisted the bass and yesterday during the last 7 hours of the auction, the original buyer paid for the bass. So now, I have a bass being auctioned thats already sold. I wasn't sure what to do...I tried to cancel the auction but couldn't because you have to do so before the last 12 hours. Well, I got up this morning and after the auction was over I contacted the new bidder explaining the situation.

He was upset about it and said he was paying for the bass anyway. I asked him not too, due to the bass having already been paid for. I thought it would be simpler that way rather than to refund the money, and then accept his payment. Well, he didn't see it that way and he called me a scammer. I called Ebay customer service, who recommended returning to old buyers money and completing this transaction. I contacted the buyer telling him what Ebay CS told me. He was upset and was being rude about things. He called me a scammer and was going to report me to Ebay. I messaged him back apologizing, saying that I had screwed up but had done everything in my power to complete the transaction. Also, I told him if I was a scammer, I would have taken his money and jsut sold the bass twice. But instead of doing that I was honest. I have a 100% feedback rating too.

I ended up sending him a cancelled listing and he accepted. Selling basses on Talkbass is so much better. The people are friendlier...etc...

Again, I agree that maybe I didn't do what was best at first, but in the end I tried to make things right.

What a sucky transaction.
 
#2
You say you were not sure what to do.

I think that you should have reported a non paying bidder. I then think that your first transaction would have been canceled. And then I think that you would have been allowed to relist that item for no additional fees. Then when you sold to the second person the first person would have not had any claim.
 
#4
I've heard enough eBay horror stories not only here but also from people I know that it just makes me nervous to use it, even though I've seen quite a few basses I've been tempted to bid on. To be fair, my friends have also had loads of trouble free transactions, but every one of them has had at least one problem transaction and that caused them some pain and that gives me enough reason to keep away.

I've had very good luck buying and selling here and am sticking with Talkbass's For Sale forums.
 
#6
After hundreds of transactions I have had a few problems, but not enough to keep me away. If I am just buying something new I go to amazon or to another site that has a good return policy. But you can buy things on ebay that I just can not get...used...locally, and sometimes for great prices.
 
#7
As you found out, you can't leave one transaction open and sell the item again w/o causing problems.

I suggest you do more research before you sell any other items. Also, contact eBay if you don't know something, don't just make something up and act on it, thinking you've done the right thing. Even if you are honest, it may not appear that you are based on your sales techniques.
 
#8
eBay has become an incredibly hostile place for small sellers over the past year

PayPal holds
Anyone with less than 100 feedback, anyone who hasn't sold recently (regardless of your feedback #s), anyone who has any disputes pending no matter what the reason; can now expect PayPal to hold the funds that the buyer paid in for at least 21 days and as many as 180 days

Despite the fact that the seller is denied access to the funds the buyer paid for the item, they are still Required to ship within 7 days of the End Of Auction, otherwise they will run afoul of the Seller Non-performance Policy- which can get their account restricted or deleted

PayPal only in the listings
You can still accept checks and Money Orders, but you can't say so in the listing. Any mention of a payment method other than PayPal in a listing will result in the immediate deletion of that listing, and your listing fees will not be refunded

Sellers can only give Positive feedback to buyers
In essence, all buyers can only get Positive feedback now, regardless of whether or not they earned it

Seller restrictions based on feedback
If you are a small seller, one Neg from a buyer (no matter how unreasonable) is enough to get your listing priveleges severely restricted. Two or more is enough to get your account terminated

SNAD scams are on the rise
Significantly Not As Described claims have become the favorite weapon for scammers recently. If it is simply buyer's remorse, a SNAD claim will get that buyer off the hook without any penalty. A more ominous trend has been an increasing number of scammers that get the item, claim SNAD for a refund, and then ship the seller an empty box with Delivery Confirmation (which "proves" to PayPal that the item has been returned)

The perfect scam: Scammer gets to keep the item plus their money is refunded, and there ain't a damned thing the seller can do about it......

This is only the tip of the iceberg. There have been other changes as well, but I don't want to turn this post into a 1000 page Novel. For more info, I would strongly suggest spending some time reading the following eBay Discussion Boards - Seller Central, Trust & Safety, PayPal. Posts on those boards are by eBay users with real-world experience in how the System works, not employees of eBay being paid to intentionally mislead users of the Site
 
#10
Sorry to hear about the hassle, but I would not have waited more than 5 business days to close that deal, leave neg feedback, reported him and blocked them from your acct. I would honor the second "winner", and hold the first guys funds for a couple weeks just to make sure you don't get ripped off, then return his $$ minus fees.... if possible.

I stopped selling on ebay a long time ago, too many fees and zero feedback bidders not following through.

And don't you just hate it when somebody starts making trade offers for your bass when it's listed on ebay?! :hiding:;)
 
#11
onemorebass said:
Sorry to hear about the hassle, but I would not have waited more than 5 business days to close that deal, leave neg feedback, reported him and blocked them from your acct.
Click to expand...

Sellers can't leave Negs anymore, or Neutral either for that matter. The only feedback a Seller can leave for a Buyer is Positive

Negs and Neutrals are now reserved for the use of Buyers only

As for the rest of this comment, Sellers have to wait a minimum of 8 days to file Non Paying Bidder with eBay, then wait another 7 days to close out the claim. Thus, it is a minimum of 15 days before you can safely send a Second Chance Offer to the next lowest bidder. Be aware that if you don't follow this procedure to the letter, the first bidder can still Neg you and report you to eBay as a Non Performing Seller - which has serious consequences.....

It's a Very different ballgame these days :(
 
#13
You screwed up.

Once the original buyer didn't pay, you repeatedly asked him to pay, then sent him a message ending the transaction. He was GONE - DEAD - no further role. You should also have reported him to Ebay as a non-payer.

My auctions have a 7-day limit to receive payment. After that, I go by the book and terminate as soon as possible. And since I have over 700 feedbacks all 100% positive, I don't care if I get a negative one some day.

The new buyer should get the bass, the old one can pound sand.

THIS is one reason that it absolutely stinks that sellers can't give negative feedback to buyers.
 
#14
onemorebass said:
Yeah, your right... I haven't sold anything for quite a while, thanks for the update.
Click to expand...

I hadn't sold anything for a year or so, then sold two things for around $300 a piece. Imagine my surprise when Paypal held onto my money for two weeks instead of just dumping it into my balance.

eBay is trying to make itself an online walmart, catering only to huge sellers. It's too bad there's nothing between Craigslist and eBay - I'd like a site that catered entirely to small sellers but it'd be scammer heaven. :(
 
#17
Man that sucks. I haven't had any issues since I started using eBay but I see so many stories from around the net that make me scared to sell there lol. I only use it as a last resort for my musical gear now.

I really do wonder what is going through the eBay staffs collective brain because their seller hostility is incredible. They give buyers too much power when there should at least be some sort of balance going on. And as much as so many people dislike it the alternatives don't give sellers the same huge buyer base that eBay has garnered.
 

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