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Slight Ebay Rant

M

Minger

Mar 15, 2004
2,642
3
37
Rochester, NY
missionrevolution.org
#1
Ok, so one person buys my brother's IPod Nano for $104 shipped the other day on ebay. A few days later, upon recieving it, they complain about the shipping cost ($20) which was clearly posted on the listing.

Fast forward to a few days...I get a message saying it stopped working. Awkward, because it was working perfectly fine prior to sending it...then today, my mom tells me that the person filed a dispute in Paypal and wanted 50% back (Its her Paypal/Ebay accounts); and I look back at the ebay messages...looks like the person said they tried installing two batteries...and were also asking about the Apple Warranty.

So I basically sent a message back today saying that I doubt I could really do anything about it because they had opened it up to change the battery, pointed out the fact that the batteries had to be soldered on, and basically said there was no chance in the warranty because of this.

Eh, I guess I'm just a little annoyed at the moment...thanks for reading if you guys bothered to :)

On the other hand, my 40 gig Sony VGF-AP1l sold on Ebay for only $135 shipped yesterday...I was disappointed about that too...
 
#2
Minger said:
Ok, so one person buys my brother's IPod Nano for $104 shipped the other day on ebay. A few days later, upon recieving it, they complain about the shipping cost ($20) which was clearly posted on the listing.

Fast forward to a few days...I get a message saying it stopped working. Awkward, because it was working perfectly fine prior to sending it...then today, my mom tells me that the person filed a dispute in Paypal and wanted 50% back (Its her Paypal/Ebay accounts); and I look back at the ebay messages...looks like the person said they tried installing two batteries...and were also asking about the Apple Warranty.

So I basically sent a message back today saying that I doubt I could really do anything about it because they had opened it up to change the battery, pointed out the fact that the batteries had to be soldered on, and basically said there was no chance in the warranty because of this.

Eh, I guess I'm just a little annoyed at the moment...thanks for reading if you guys bothered to :)

On the other hand, my 40 gig Sony VGF-AP1l sold on Ebay for only $135 shipped yesterday...I was disappointed about that too...
Click to expand...
You really want that car, don't you? All that money that you saved to buy those things could've gone to your vehicle in the first place.
 
#5
Eh, I'm not gettin a car, since I basically get my parents '04 civic. The Sony player cost me $200, the IPod my brother got from a friend when trading a 1 Gig Iriver player+$20, and I've got a couple more IPods to list...just because they were part of free promos from banks and stuff.

Shipping Didn't really cost $20, but I usually use it as a means to pay for shipping and cover paypal fees and ebay fees...and a lot of auctions are up in that price range.
 
#7
Diggler said:
Get any balances out of paypal, YESTERDAY. Or they will seize it.
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They can freeze money in your bank account too.

Dont worry, i doubt he'll win the dispute, paypal are useless for the buyer, i bought something that was in "perfect condition bar a few scratches", when it arrived, it was in bits, i emailed the guy, no response, filed a paypal dispute, got a response from him, he admitted it was broken, and paypal still sided with him!
 
#10
Diggler said:
It's not shafting unless you don't state it clearly in the auction. You need to look at every auction as what you would pay for the item in total, not just the winning price. If it's worth the price plus S/H, it's worth it... if not, move on.
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I'm not saying that it is outside his rights to charge that much. But if I paid 20 bucks for shipping an item that small and light, I'd expect it to arrive the next business day.

It is fleecing, pure and simple. If he wants to cover paypal fees then he should put that the buyer pays all paypal fees in the auction, not charge 4x the actual shipping amount to cover it. Caveat Emptor, I guess.
 
#12
Minger said:
Anyways, I always figured it was more or less a given that its what happened...
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Wait, wait. I know about this; its called diffusion of responsibility. Milgram expiriments in response to Nazi death camps I think. hehe...



Also, if ebay doesn't allow you to charge extra for paypal fees why would you then hide it somewhere else?
 
#13
I'm astounded by the shipping charges being quoted by sellers on ebay. A USPS Priority Mail package(Ipod Nano for example weighing about 1lb.) should cost no more than $10 cross country. If you want to ship it Priority Mail, the post office will provide the boxes, labels and tape at no cost but it MUST be shipped Priority Mail and not with another carrier company.

You say that's all well and good, but it costs money in gas to drive to the post office. I say let them worry about the gas because the USPS offers a service called Carrier Pickup http://www.usps.com/pickup/welcome.htm?from=home&page=schedulepickup
The post office will pick up the parcel from your residence or place of business and it won't cost you extra do use this service.

I'm not saying that it is outside his rights to charge that much. But if I paid 20 bucks for shipping an item that small and light, I'd expect it to arrive the next business day.
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You've got a good point there. With USPS Express Mail, it's guaranteed* to arrive next day or you get a refund and for the above mentioned Ipod, it would cost around $20.

*It may take longer for deliveries to remote areas and it depends on the time of collection.
 
#14
Jeez you people have your panties in a wad over shipping fees.

If there's a TV set on ebay worth $125, and it had a Buy-It-Now price of $1, and $99 shipping fee, IT'S STILL A BARGAIN. And it's a better deal than winning an identical auction for $85 and paying for actual shipping of $20. The bottom line is the bottom line. And you'll get whatever shipping method was specified in the auction.
 
#15
Diggler said:
Jeez you people have your panties in a wad over shipping fees.

If there's a TV set on ebay worth $125, and it had a Buy-It-Now price of $1, and $99 shipping fee, IT'S STILL A BARGAIN. And it's a better deal than winning an identical auction for $85 and paying for actual shipping of $20. The bottom line is the bottom line. And you'll get whatever shipping method was specified in the auction.
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Mine aren't in a wad because I wouldn't fall for that type of grift. The problem is that even though they're selling a product for a bit cheaper than you can get retail, they're being dishonest about shipping. It's no different that people who sell a brand new camcorder and try to sell you the battery seperately. It's dishonest nonetheless.

Btw, I've got a MM Stingray I'll sell you for $1 but shipping is going to be $1300.
 
#16
The reason I brought it up is because I feel that it's a dishonest practice. It's also illegal. If you sell a TV worth $100 for $1 with a $99 shipping fee, you're scamming Ebay and Paypal out of their fees.

The $20 you're charging for shipping isn't that big of a deal though. I've seen much worse cases, in which the auctions were taken down.
 
#17
that whole shiping priceing drives me crazy...I can't believe people will pay such high shiping prices. I don't bid on iteams like that.

I put a guitar up and offered $15 shipping. I think that was a good price for a guitar.
 
#18
Toneonbass said:
that whole shiping priceing drives me crazy...I can't believe people will pay such high shiping prices. I don't bid on iteams like that.

I put a guitar up and offered $15 shipping. I think that was a good price for a guitar.
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I don't agree with people charging any more really, but what difference does it make? If you're buying something you look at the total price. People aren't going to bid the same amounts for something with £100 shipping as they would for the same product with a £20 fee. The winning bid will likely be very similar taking all the costs into account. I don't see how it makes a difference...
 
#19
Shipping prices aren't the reason for Minger's rant, the fact that the new owner isn't happy about what he was dumb enough to pay because he either didn't read, nor figured he could do this and then dispute it for a partial refund.

My ruling is: no partial refunds. Send the thing back and I will refund you the whole thing IF it's in the same condition. If it's modified in anyway, I will subtract the value of returning it to it's original condition. This, generally gets the lazy buyer to shut up and realize he was too stupid to read.
 

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