eBay

super_sunny_sales · ‎05-18-2023

In March I had a buyer buy some items from me. They received them with no issues. Beginning of April they buy some more items from me. I get a message from the buyer after they received the items saying that they were very upset and disappointed because 2 of the items were not what they were expecting. I sell DVDs CD, Books and 2 of the DVDs they ordered were "DISC & CASE ONLY". This is very clearly marked on the listings and it is mentioned a few times in the listing that there is no artwork. I even list these items in Acceptable condition. They were upset because they didn't know they were disc only. I decided to just refund the buyer without trying to argue with them. And after seeing the tone of their message and checking the feedback they left for others I decided to block them from buying from us again. BIG MISTAKE!

A few weeks later I guess they had tried to buy from us again because they left feedback on the first order they placed in March , (not sure why they picked that order). They had bought 10 items so they left negatives on all of them. They said I was a toxic seller, buy from someone else and said I banned them because they contacted me etc..

I contacted Ebay to see if they would remove the feedback. They only removed 4 saying the other 6 didn't violate the guidelines. All the Feedbacks said a variation of the same thing. I have contacted Ebay customer service 2 times about this but they said they can't do anything and repeated that the feedback doesn't violate guidelines.

I am pretty sure this affected our sales because they have basically ground to a halt.. I have contacted the buyer and asked if they can revise the feedback but I have got no response.

I just think it sucks that the one thing Ebay sellers can do to protect ourselves, blocking people, can backfire on us.

fashunu4eeuh · ‎05-30-2023

If you show a stock photo that includes the artwork, then the buyer can be confused as to what they will receive. If you are using stock photos for pre-owned items, then you are in violation of the Picture policy. Used must only show the actual item.

I am not saying what this buyer did was right, only that they may have been justified in their disappointment to not receive what the photos depicted. Some buyers do not read the description, especially if they are buying on their smartphones. In addition, all information across the listing fields must match exactly. Any discrepancies can cause a Not As Described claim.

32 feedback revisions is a lot, even for the volume you are selling.

super_sunny_sales · ‎05-30-2023

you are allowed to use stock photos with media items..

"Stock photos cannot be used for pre-owned items. Catalog images are acceptable, but not as the primary photo for pre-owned items except those in the Books, Movies, Music, or Video Game categories."

https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/listings/photo-tips

32 feedback revisions from when we started selling in 2015.. That is an average of 4 a year... Feedback is meant to be left based on how a seller handled a situation. A lot of buyers will leave negative or neutral feedback before even contacting the seller.

onefootflipper · ‎05-30-2023

Those negatives have already scrolled off your first feedback page, I doubt they have anything to do with what you are experiencing now.

Without even deep diving your store some things are pretty obvious. You are a media specialist and your items have a 3 year sell through rate and are mostly being sold on razor thin margins.

Physical media and books is a category in long term decline and every week more and more titles drop to that price point where the charity sellers have them cheaper shipped than a normal seller can even send them out for. I have no idea what percentage of your existing inventory is now unsellable because of this, but I would wager it is much higher than you might think. Your newest listing is "Live from the Womb" used at $8.74, your competition is at $5.50 shipped for new sealed and not a single copy of this has sold in 3 months. The next new listing I see down the list is "David Spade take the hit", you are at 5.98, competition is at $4.08 and this DVD only sells once every couple months and there are 66 available.

Might be time to rethink the specialty. I don't understand the intricacies of trying to get people to do the buy 2 get 3 free special you have, but the few I examined that just had straight prices were unsellable.

Everyone is down in sales right now across all platforms and I think movies and books would be hit hardest at a time when the weather is nice and people are trying not to spend money.

super_sunny_sales · ‎05-30-2023

We do price our items up slightly to encourage people to take advantage of our deal. We get our items cheap so we make more money when people take advantage of the deal because we save a lot on shipping.

Our sales do slow down a lot for summer but never this drastically and this suddenly. It does seem to have started shortly after we received the negatives. Yes, you can't see them on the main page but they still show in the feedback box..

reallynicestamps · ‎05-30-2023

The phone reps have a terrible reputation for getting you off the phone as soon as possible even if that mean giving you the advice you want to hear instead of the advice you need to have.

 https://www.facebook.com/eBayForBusiness/ — Message button in upper right on landing page.
 https://twitter.com/askebay?lang=en

 https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/How-do-I-contact-Customer-Support/m-p/32016431#M1783851 -> Automated Assistant, type AGENT -> enter. You will then get more options.  
The social media Chat accounts are covered by trained eBay employees with some authority.
And you get a transcript so you can compare what you heard with what you were told.

super_sunny_sales · ‎05-30-2023

thanks. I have tried Facebook and Twitter Ebay and they both said the same thing. The feedback doesn't violate the guidelines. I explain that the 4 that were deleted said the same things and they say they can't speak for the rep who did that , they just know the feedback that is there doesn't violate guidelines..

I just noticed that Ebay for Business is a separate Facebook group.