eBay

lichtpriester · ‎02-03-2018

Okay, first let me say that I know that there are problem buyers out there. I am not one of them. I leave good feedback 99% of the time. If something on occasion arrives damaged and I can fix it, I send the seller photos and suggest a partial refund. If I cant fix it, I want to make a return. Who wouldn't? I don't have a history of this however, most of my purchase experiences have been great.

I recently bought a small replica clock. Before bidding, I asked the seller if she'd consider adding a Buy-It-Now option, which is not against eBay policy to ask. No reply, which was fine, she didn't have to reply. I told her I'd be bidding anyways - and got no reply. I won the auction and asked her if she'd ship using bubble wrap and a small box versus a padded mailer, which some sellers might use. I didn't doubt her packing abilities but asked this based on past eBay experiences with bad packing. She didnt reply. Today I messaged her again to ask if she could shed light on a tracking number that she sent which only says that she created a label days after paying.

Her reply was to say, "I'm sure youll be returning the clock. To make a return, you have to...." I have no intention of returning it! All of my messages to her were friendly, not demanding. I am not a "problem cutomer", but she made me out to be just that. Why would anyone who NEEDS buyers act like this? I place importance on seller-buyer interaction. I sign messsages with my name, some sellers do not, and even if something arrives damaged, which is NOT my usual experience with eBay, I'm civil. I don't get it.

Can sellers see buyer's history, in terms of opening cases? I rarely do this, but hate the thought that a seller would judge me based on this or legitimate and friendly email requests re: packing or shipping status. The seller almost seems to anticipate bad buyers when they arent there. If the clock arrives in good condition, I'll leave her good feedback, but if not - I'll ask to make a return - and somehow end up fulfilling her assumptions or preordained "prophecy"?

castlemagicmemories · ‎02-06-2018

wrote:
I agree. I am noticing that a ton of sellers are suspicious of sellers and vice versa. However, the seller suffers more in this case because you cannot operate a successful business if you find everything off-putting.
How are you running a business, but get upset if someone asks you questions? I have never heard anything more nonsensical. People are spending their money; you are not supplying the product for free. Another thing I noticed here on Ebay is that a lot of sellers (not all) who respond in this community board are biased when given feedback. They take a lot personal and instead of being objective they are ready to rip posters (buyers) who have legitimate issues to shreds or try to. LOL.
This past weekend I also posted and people were ready to fight (it is much easier hiding behind a screen) and I thought I had entered a bizarre alternate universe. This post, however, shed a ton of light on the real issue. Some sellers want people to purchase items without question or request. I cannot name a reputable business owner, online or otherwise who has been successful with this attitude. It is fascinating really.

OP, I really hope things end satisfactorily for you both.

Sellers are here to sell, and actually some sell without enabling communications from buyers at all! The message you would get is that the seller does not respond to questions; please check the listing again to see if the info you require is there. Some who do this are very large, very successful sellers. Their choice. Their manpower may not extend to answering a lot of questions. And some messages, as shown in this thread, are not at all necessary, or require a response.

Issues are in the eye of the beholder. While you are entitled to your opinion, the seller has the right to decide whether or not they chose to answer questions; hence Ebay gives them the option to do just that.

You would be amazed at how many unnecessary questions can come through, as I understand from reading posts. Info that is clearly in the listing. Such as what size is the item that is listed as a SIZE SMALL in the title and description, along with measurements, as just one example. Sellers may block in these instances because if you missed that in the listing, what else might you miss~thus you are a high risk of a return.

*madison · ‎02-06-2018

wrote:
There is Nothing wrong with asking a seller to list as bin.

And sellers ask buyers too.

Many times I have placed a bid, and then been contacted by the sellers asking if I want to make them an offer, and they will cancel my bid and list the item on a BIN if we agree a price.

castlemagicmemories · ‎02-06-2018

wrote:
wrote:
There is Nothing wrong with asking a seller to list as bin.
And sellers ask buyers too.

Many times I have placed a bid, and then been contacted by the sellers asking if I want to make them an offer, and they will cancel my bid and list the item on a BIN if we agree a price.

That's interesting, madison, I have never had that experience.

*madison · ‎02-06-2018

You might have that experience one day..

castlemagicmemories · ‎02-06-2018

wrote:
You might have that experience one day..

I doubt it, madison, I snipe at the end so not much chance of that. But even years ago, when I did not do that, I never got an offer to BIN. I might have asked for one, and sometimes the seller would do that, but sometimes they would not.

They just like you better!

castlemagicmemories · ‎02-06-2018

And when a seller gets a string of unnecessary messages, that question everything, they may decide that they do not want to do business with that buyer, as they are a high risk, high maintenance situation waiting to happen.

laylajames9 · ‎02-06-2018

@*madison wrote:
wrote:
There is Nothing wrong with asking a seller to list as bin.
And sellers ask buyers too.

Many times I have placed a bid, and then been contacted by the sellers asking if I want to make them an offer, and they will cancel my bid and list the item on a BIN if we agree a price.

Sometimes clothing sellers use auctions only because they come with their store subscription even though they are listing at BIN prices. On several occasions I've seen those sellers end the listings early and sell to the highest bidder after the first bid comes in.

7606dennis · ‎02-06-2018

wrote:
wrote:
wrote:
There is Nothing wrong with asking a seller to list as bin. I dont understand why someone would get paranoid because it happened. And No its not appropriate on Ebay or in life for seller to respond like that but unfortunately it takes all kinds......
Ebays crackdown on off eBay sales is why sellers are so paranoid. Sellers have good reason to be paranoid and it’s NOT ok to contact every seller here and ask for a BIN. It’s only OK if the seller is OK with it.
But how does a buyer know if the seller is OK with it or not ( up front ) before the buyer asks if the seller will do a BIN ? Some sellers do state on the listing not to ask for a BIN, but many of them don't.

I have been tempted to ask sellers if they will do a BIN when I have seen items I want on auction, but only because I didn't want to wait until the auction ended, and not because I was hoping for a cheaper price. So far I haven't actually asked a seller if they will do a BIN, but one day I might just do that..

When I list auction items, I get tons of messages asking for a BIN, it doesn't bother me though, and I never block a potential bidder for asking, providing the message was polite of course.

Frankly, I would assume that if the seller was selling an item at auction that if they wished to include a BIN, they would have.

"It is an intelligent man that is aware of his own ignorance."

7606dennis · ‎02-06-2018

wrote:
wrote:
There is Nothing wrong with asking a seller to list as bin.
And sellers ask buyers too.

Many times I have placed a bid, and then been contacted by the sellers asking if I want to make them an offer, and they will cancel my bid and list the item on a BIN if we agree a price.

I would find this a very risky practice. It certainly could easily be mistaken for an attempt to arrange an off-eBay transaction.

"It is an intelligent man that is aware of his own ignorance."

true-blue1 · ‎03-16-2018

I totally agree with you. I answer all questions as a seller and when I buy items on ebay I have run into it myself when I ask questions some will not answer questions. But I try to keep in mind they may do ebay part time like I do. The packing material is super expensive and we always try to really wrap our items well but "yes" it is most the time at sellers expense. Let's face it most buyers want "free shipping" but some buyers have to understand that it is not feasible to ship everything for free and offer a good price. We sold a vintage child toy sewing machine ones and we total wrapped it, we even took pictures while wrapping. When the buyer received it they started right away even that they stated it was packed very well. They were wondering if the clamp what held the sewing machine down came apart from when we clued it (was describe in listing) while shipping. I am not kidding this buyer wrote us every day a message about something after two weeks she wanted to send it back. After she changed out the needle.Scratched up the whole wood case from clamping it down to sew. Then she wanted to offer us to just keep the Bentwood case by it self of course for a reasonable price and just send back the toy sewing machine. Buyer stated the toy sewing machine gathered the string and the material. We stated in the listing this was a gift to our daughter and we never used it to sew. Ebay made us take the toy sewing machine back.So we were out the packing material and the insurance money to send the item there plus ebay send the buyer a label which came out of our paypal. We just accepted the return because I was so tired of getting mail from the buyer even that she was polite in her messages it was really eating at my last nerve !

monster-deals · ‎03-16-2018

@comfycozieswrote:
Wellllll, it doesnt bother me getting messages from potential buyers with offers or questions interested in my things on this marketplace.

If only that happened more often than not.

buyselljack2016 · ‎03-16-2018

@laylajames9 wrote:
@*madison wrote:
wrote:
There is Nothing wrong with asking a seller to list as bin.
And sellers ask buyers too.

Many times I have placed a bid, and then been contacted by the sellers asking if I want to make them an offer, and they will cancel my bid and list the item on a BIN if we agree a price.
Sometimes clothing sellers use auctions only because they come with their store subscription even though they are listing at BIN prices. On several occasions I've seen those sellers end the listings early and sell to the highest bidder after the first bid comes in.

I seldom do auctions. Maybe if there is a promotion that is free "auction", but not fixed I will list/relist.

In the past, a few times, because I had listed as an "auction" at the price I was willing to accept I tried that "end early selling to the highest bidder route", only to end up with a non-paying bidder on too many occasions to bother doing it again.

Not sure why non-pay. Maybe they thought it was a scam ending early like that. Maybe they were just bidding for fun, and did not think they would win.

ericcanti_0 · ‎03-19-2018

@southernfriedbellewrote:
wrote:
all questions should be to the minimal short and to the point and before bidding and if they don't answer in a reasonable amount of time that would be my que to look elsewhere . As a seller on a different venue I kind of would feel insulted to be contacted and told you wanted wrapped in a certain way...kind of implies I dont know what im doing.
I hear ya, but I have to confess I've been guilty of that bfore, especially if it were a newer seller or one that didn't usually sell breakable items.

I'm sorry, but how would you know if a seller is new to this or unfamiliar with shipping breakable items? (And may I point out that shipping breakable items isn't exactly rocket surgery.) I've sold stuff online as a full-time job since 2006. I've sold everything from wedding dresses to fine art to oversized crystal vintage punch bowls. But none of that is info you can glean from my profile.

rainbowpearls2314 · ‎03-20-2018

@lichtpriesterwrote:
Okay, first let me say that I know that there are problem buyers out there. I am not one of them. I leave good feedback 99% of the time. If something on occasion arrives damaged and I can fix it, I send the seller photos and suggest a partial refund. If I cant fix it, I want to make a return. Who wouldn't? I don't have a history of this however, most of my purchase experiences have been great.

I recently bought a small replica clock. Before bidding, I asked the seller if she'd consider adding a Buy-It-Now option, which is not against eBay policy to ask. No reply, which was fine, she didn't have to reply. I told her I'd be bidding anyways - and got no reply. I won the auction and asked her if she'd ship using bubble wrap and a small box versus a padded mailer, which some sellers might use. I didn't doubt her packing abilities but asked this based on past eBay experiences with bad packing. She didnt reply. Today I messaged her again to ask if she could shed light on a tracking number that she sent which only says that she created a label days after paying.

Her reply was to say, "I'm sure youll be returning the clock. To make a return, you have to...." I have no intention of returning it! All of my messages to her were friendly, not demanding. I am not a "problem cutomer", but she made me out to be just that. Why would anyone who NEEDS buyers act like this? I place importance on seller-buyer interaction. I sign messsages with my name, some sellers do not, and even if something arrives damaged, which is NOT my usual experience with eBay, I'm civil. I don't get it.

Can sellers see buyer's history, in terms of opening cases? I rarely do this, but hate the thought that a seller would judge me based on this or legitimate and friendly email requests re: packing or shipping status. The seller almost seems to anticipate bad buyers when they arent there. If the clock arrives in good condition, I'll leave her good feedback, but if not - I'll ask to make a return - and somehow end up fulfilling her assumptions or preordained "prophecy"?

In my experience, a lot of sellers on this board have been burned by bad customers so they are very defensive.

IMO- you can return an item for any reason (within a practical amount of time) and shouldn’t get much hassle.

Your seller was rude. Don’t leave neg feedback, don’t cause a scene. Just take your money elsewhere.