eBay

jonathankirkland · ‎09-24-2017

Things started off fine, but have quickly become much more complicated for me here.

To quickly summarize, I have learned a lot of things about ebay having been a buyer for a long time and now starting to become a seller:

Electronics is one of the highest scam risk categories there is on ebay. Is it even possible to avoid being scammed on here and be successul selling electronics?

I also learned the hard way that just cancelling because you don't like who you are selling to is NOT an option as a seller as you will quickly be banned from selling (I received 2 defects for doing this before learning about this).

You know what sucks even worse? The two sales I cancelled because I was suspicous of the buyers (see this thread http://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/International-buyers-using-freight-forwarding-companies/m-p/275... for more complete details), now have feedback from sellers stating they are SCAMMERS and utilized all kinds of nasty tricks to cheat or try to cheat the sellers. Yes, I know those remarks could be removed if the scammer bothered reporting them to ebay, but I highly doubt 5 separate sellers all lied and called this guy a scammer without it being true. Same goes for another one of these international buyers using a freight forwarder.

Now, just today, I received a cancellation notice on an auction I sold to someone who was behaving strangely and they haven't even received the item yet! (See this other thread for details on THAT nonsense http://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Item-hasn-t-even-arrived-yet-buyer-already-wants-to-return-it/m...) !!! From the get go, this buyer gave me a weird vibe with some strange requests and remarks, but everything seemed legit and the payment cleared so I shipped the item and this is the thanks I get for again not trusting my gut, or rather, being FEARFUL that if I cancel I will receive another "defect" and be out the door and banned from selling on ebay.

I am just quickly losing faith in my ability to be able to get anything started here. I have been disabled for a long time and cannot work so I thought this hobby would be good for me as I have always been very good at, shall we say, "buying something over here and reselling it over there for a decent profit".

I figured ebay could be my venue for doing this and perhaps it could become a career for me. But I feel like I am quickly being snuffed out by all these scam attempts.

The probelm is that now all of the "profit" I have made over the last few months is just sitting here in my house piled up in boxes and I am terrified to even continue, I actually feel paralyzed like I am either forced to risk selling to scammers and losing my items, or lose my account because my gut tells me the person buying from me is a scammer.

This truly is a dark hour for me and I do not know how to proceed. I am hoping to receive any kind of feedback or suggestions one what I can do differently to make this work, but I have a feeling the comments that pour in will say "ebay is clearly not for you buddy"

victorjunkman55 · ‎09-25-2017

Unless you're a buyer here, eBay is not your buddy, partner, or saviour, Buyers rule on eBay. The Items you sell are scam magnets here, just that simple. You'll need to learn how to protect yourself and your Item. I don't run many auctions because of non payers, I Perfer Buy it now ( BIN ) with Immediate payment required. This stops most scammers. Check out your bidders, I have canceled bids on buyers / bidders who leave a lot of bad feedback, or red donuts to their sellers. Citing this reason when cancelling, without a word from eBay on doing so. I may have lost a sale, but have never had bad feedback. Buyers don't cancel sales, sellers do. There are ways to protect yourself here. Good Luck to you.

fashunu4eeuh · ‎09-25-2017

Hi. You can do this. Your account looks good, you are making sales, i see no glaring deficits in your approach to selling.

That said, the bottom line is that selling on ebay is not easy. When advising friends who want to dip their toe in the churning ocean of ebay, I tell them to start small. To learn the ropes and save high dollar items for later, when they have more experience and more knowledge on how to best protect their interests. It's not going to happen overnight. It will take time, patience, ability to evaluate, tenacity and a whole lotta reading.

So study the policies, read the boards and ask questions like you've been doing. There is no reason to think you won't be successful here. Give it some time and good luck as you move forward.

femmefan1946 · ‎09-25-2017

I really am sympathetic. So now I'm going to be grumpy.

and be successul selling electronics?

But you are not selling 'electronics'. Your current listings are games and accessories.

You are selling in the worst category*.

Gamers tend to be young men. Young men also tend to be -- well- have you heard about Gamergate?**

Not an easy demographic.

You can cancel any bid on an auction with no repercussions.

But if you get a buyer on Fixed Price, you have to deal with it.

I notice you have blocked all non-US sellers. (Even us Canadians? But we're adorable!) which is probably sensible for a new seller.

You can get more flexible later.

You can block countries, but you can't block buyers with US addresses. Even if those addresses are freight forwarders.

Good news- your responsibility for delivery ends at the forwarder's doorstep.

Good news- you can Block Paypal payments that are from non-US accounts.

Good news- Global Shipping Program, look it up when you have 10 DSRs and know what DSRs are.

I have always been very good at, shall we say, "buying something over here and reselling it over there for a decent profit".

The term is 'arbitrage'. Yes, I am the vocabulary police.

PayPal only. ...No international buyers, sorry.

Not necessary. Your Shipping tab covers all this.

It's not a good idea for your Description to have any negative terms. Your customer is going to be happy!

Your feedback is 100%.

Given your demographic and those (possibly undeserved) Defects, that's one small blessing.

It's a tough category you are selling in.

And even tougher for a newbie.

Selling more than one item a day is very good.

Now.

This is not personal, it is business.

You will have returns. Some will be specious.

So what.

As long as you are making money overall , don't sweat it.

Keep monthly and annual records. Next year compare low and high spots.

And let me share the Good News about Cookie Jar Insurance.

CJI is just self-insurance.

WalMart reports a 1% shoptheft loss rate. Are you doing better or worse?

In my categories (and because I ship from Canada) I don't even track most of my shipments. I even use Free Shipping.

But.

To each asking price I include a tiny amount for Cookie Jar Insurance.

A few pennies, rarely more than a dime, goes into a virtual Cookie Jar.

If there is a problem, I can deal with refunds from the Cookie Jar.

Bonus. This not only covers loss or damage in transit, but also Not As Described problems.

Now, mama ain't no fool.

I'm still looking for proof of damage. Photos or return for full refund.

But.

Cookie Jar Insurance allows me to deal with problems BEFORE they come to eBay's attention.

So.

Learn your rights as a seller.

No refunds without return. (Even if it means you send a Return Shipping Label)

Be polite.

Most people are honest.

Most disputes are not scams but disagreements.

Well, maybe I'm not a fancy gentleman like you, with your... very fine hat. But I do business. We're here for business.-- Captain Malcolm Reynolds.

*Well,maybe dolls. Those 'reborn babies' ladies are.... not ladies.

** I'm an SF/F fan. Some of my best friends... and yet get them playing and they turn into Fox from Axis of Evil.

tunicaslot · ‎09-25-2017

I'll be quite honest - I have old game systems sitting in my basement and when I finally do sell them - I'll do so locally with clist or offerup. It is easy for someon to get scammed here but is more prevalent in certain areas - like the one you sell in. The profits can be great when the sale goes well but it can also be costly.

I give you credit for being ambitious and trying to make a go of it. Your pictures look good - your descriptions also - but these scammers look at your feedback - how long you've been established here but also how often you sell and how much of the feedback is as a buyer. You only have 41 feedback as a seller and that makes you ripe for the picking.

I would not be concerned with selling to buyers with freight forwarders as our games and systems are collected around the world and when the buyer uses a freight forwarder - they are not eligible for MBG any longer.

Try selling some littler items and see if you can't raise your seller feedback store. Many sell electronics, game systems ect on Ebay successfully - but they also can afford to deal with the scammers if they get taken.

Good luck!

rolenboy01 · ‎09-25-2017

I honestly feel you are going to have to focus on low scam items until you build your account enough to absorb selling the problems that come with high scam items, I do not feel electronics themselves are the problem but heavy electronics, I do not experience many problems in that catergory but that may be because I am a larger seller I am unsure exactly.

luckythewinner · ‎09-25-2017

@jonathankirkland wrote:
1) Electronics is one of the highest scam risk categories there is on ebay.
2) Is it even possible to avoid being scammed on here and be successul selling electronics?
3) I am just quickly losing faith in my ability to be able to get anything started here.
4) I have always been very good at, shall we say, "buying something over here and reselling it over there for a decent profit".

Yes electronics and video games are a high-scam category. No, there is no way to protect yourself completely from scams.

When you say get "anything" started, do you really mean "anything" - or do you simply mean "anything involving the same category I am currently having trouble with"? Because if (4) is true, the first thing I would do if I were you was to move away from electronics and video games.

retrose1 · ‎09-25-2017

OP, you say that you are good at buying 'there'. Why not sell 'there' too.

There are several posters that buy on ebay and then turn around and resell their items on ebay very soon after they get them. Just flip that and sell your stuff there using a better listing and pics than you bought from.

ebay is not the only game in town. And with 2 cancel defects on your account, you are teetering on the brink and should look into spreading your avenues of income around. But if you want to stay on ebay, I advise to sell smaller less scammable items until they roll off.

Most new sellers will list their high dollar, high demand items first and never stop and think that those items are high scam for the same reasons they are selling them. It usually doesn't end well for them.

(*Bleep*)

slati_2013 · ‎09-25-2017

Buddy, you are overthinking this. List the item. If it sells, wait for payment. Once you get payment, ship. You are not going to have any problems with 95% plus of what you sell. You seem to be seeing scammers everywhere. You are not going to last long here doing that. In spite of the horror stories you hear, the overwhelming majority of buyers are honest people who you will never hear from again. Just jump in the water and swim. You will be fine.

thatsallfolks · ‎09-25-2017

@femmefan1946 wrote:

I have always been very good at, shall we say, "buying something over here and reselling it over there for a decent profit".
The term is 'arbitrage'. Yes, I am the vocabulary police.

I also have a vocabulary PD badge. "Arbitrage" involves the simultaneous (or nearly simultaneous) purchase and sale of something to take advantage of a known difference in price. What the OP and other eBay sellers do is not arbitrage, since they do not know when, or even if, the item will sell, or at what price.

zzydny · ‎09-25-2017

You've gotten some great advice from others--I particularly liked what @femmefan1946 had to say. (And, thanks for that: love the CJI idea; it's just what I need to do.)

What I'm going to add here is simple and pollyannaish: hope for the best, believe that you will receive it, never give up.

The only sure way to fail on eBay is to stop trying. I understand that it can be tough and disheartening sometimes: I've had some bad deals, too, and I'm currently in a Death Valley Drought in sales but I think that's just part of the curve; I'm gonna keep peddling along as best I can. I hope that you will, too.

mismarymarpl0 · ‎09-25-2017

Unfortunately a lot of your issues were caused by failure to understand the rules. Thats partly on you, but just as much on ebay because there are so darned many pages of rules to read.

Scammers hit ALL websites, believe me, Im dealing with a guy that I know swapped my items with their busted junk on Etsy right now.

What you need to do is get some items that arent as likely to attract scammers and sell those until you get more familiar with the system. Get variety of things, local thrift stores are a good source as well as here and Amazon. DO NOT buy and sell on the same account here, thats just asking for trouble

As others have pointed out, gamers tend to be a pain the the rear end to deal with. Even older gamers tend to have that same mind set (I Know I was married to one, 45 years old and he was still a spoiled 16 year old LOL).

thatsallfolks · ‎09-25-2017

@mismarymarpl0 wrote:
Unfortunately a lot of your issues were caused by failure to understand the rules. Thats partly on you, but just as much on ebay because there are so darned many pages of rules to read.

It's really not on eBay when a seller has read enough to make them suspicious of freight forwarders, but not enough to realize how damaging it is to cancel transactions.

castlemagicmemories · ‎09-25-2017

Electronics is a high scam category, and if you don't have much feedback, scammers may prey on you because they count on a new sellers not knowing policies or procedures, hoping you will make a mistake that will let them score.

The feedback you saw left by other sellers saying scammer is a violation and the sellers who posted that could have received violations for it.

I don't know if calling CS and pointing out that the transactions you cancelled did, in fact, turn out to be scams, thus validating your judgement to cancel, would help and get your defects removed.

jonathankirkland · ‎09-25-2017

@retrose1 wrote:
OP, you say that you are good at buying 'there'. Why not sell 'there' too.

Just to clarify what I meant, I was speaking more metaphorically. What I meant was I am good at buying something HERE, and walking 5 feet next store over THERE to resell it for a quick/fast profit.

I have done this in many different venues through the years, many of them games, that had their own currency system. I built my wealth in those games (some of them ended up yielding real money results in the end) by doing this and being very dilligent.

This is why I always thought I could be successful with ebay. But I am quickly learning that ebay ain't no game haha.

Another thing I find frustrating is, I've expressed concerned with as well as other new sellers how frustrating it is to only receive feedback on 30-40% of all transactions. Seasoned sellers have said, that's GOOD! No feedback is good feedback! Feedback doesn't really matter anymore, feedback isn't important etc etc. Yet here, people are saying "well you don't have much feedback so you're a big scam target." LOL It's just funny to me how ironic that is.

I do appreciate all the advice and with all my problems and suspcions that is precisely WHY I have slowed down on buying & selling of the higher dollar volume electronic lots.

I think after this return I will just relist that lot once agian (it seems to be cursed, this is the same lot that was involved with the international forwarding problems as with this person susiouclsy wanting to return it hahah).

But based on all these respones I do feel encouraged to not just simply give up, but to be more diligent and perhaps more conservative with my listings to ensure things go smoothly and things don't go off the rails all at once.