So many horror stories on Ebay. Afraid to sell.

[howdypoodle]

I have relatives and friends that use Ebay and in the late 90's Ebay they say was great!

Now all I hear of is horror stories and more stories that make me afraid to sell.

1. Buyers scamming sellers.

2. The Post Office breaking items including Metal items.

3. Buyer not paying for insurance and then blaming the seller for wrapping poorly.

Can one even win selling here? I've been told the buyer always wins when it isn't even

the sellers fault.

[rixstuff]

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@rolenboy01 wrote:

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@mistwomandancing wrote:

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@retrose1 wrote:

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Well around here if some says that they sell on ebay, someone within earshot will tell you a story about how they got scammed on ebay.

That's interesting.  Around here, if someone says that they sell on ebay, someone within earshot will tell you they do too, or their family member or neighbor does, etc.  My mail carrier picks up packages from several right along my block and the next one over, who apparently has posters going out daily according to the carrier. 

I did have a friend whose friend ordered something from a seller here and instead of receiving the item they'd ordered, received a pair of sunglasses, which they didn't order.  Obviously a case of mixup instead of a seller scamming the buyer, I expect. 

I know most of the phone sales go fine here, but do feel sorry for the seller like you mention who gets scammed just trying to sell their old phone online.

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I don't like to talk about it because prices mysteriously start going up if I do and if I go to a sale and the person running the sale says they sell on eBay I usually run for the hills.

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Keep it in perspective.  We are on the boards where people usually come with issues.  It would be like a psychiatrist who sees only crazy people all day could conclude that EVERYBODY is crazy.  There are 33 MILLION transactions on Ebay EVERY DAY.  99.999% go off without a hitch.  In the 20 years my family has been on Ebay, we have left less than a dozen negs and I would guess less than 2 disputes per year (remember Mom, Aunts, me, cousins have made THOUSANDS of purchases of everything from cars to fruitcake, furniture clothes text books, electronics, etc).

It may not be perfect but it works far far far more than it doesnt.**

**I admit to being less impressed with everyone's darling Amazon and Etsy is just plain insane lately so not likely to shop or buy there.

[yellow-snapdragon]

Someone may have touched on this already. I didn't read the entire thread. But do NOT list high value items when you are first selling. This will make you a magnet for scammers. Start with items that aren't super valuable, lower priced items. 

Most buyers are honest but you will definitely get some just looking for a "free item". So it's better not to lose on an item of high value. You always take a chance when you list anything on eBay so be prepared and list only items you could stand to lose the money on. 

[retrose1]

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@z50com wrote:

It's more dangerous to walk out your front door then selling on eBay

Why be scared?

I've sold over 35,000 items and I can count on 1 hand how many problems I've had. . .

eBay Works & Works Well

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I have never walked out my door and had a mugger steal my purse and then get to rub my nose in it by calling me a thief while the cops are taking statements and deciding that I am the one going to jail

[retrose1]

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@howdypoodle wrote:

Thanks for all the great replies folks!

Right now I have a great pair of vintage Levi's worth some bucks. Now say I sell this pair of Levis on Ebay and I send these vintage Levis to the winning buyer and the buyer is not honest? And the unscrupulous buyer claims I didn't send the pair of Levis that I placed on Ebay for sale? I have read horror stories about this and this not only applies to Ebay. Say I am sent back an ordinary pair of regular Levis instead of my valuable vintage Levis?

I lose my valuable pair of Levis and my money! I have read of sellers having their original item not sent back and they sometimes receive a box full of cardboard or in one case a piece of wood!

It's not Ebay that worries me as much as dishonest buyers!

If just hope that Ebay revives it past policy of RATING BUYERS! 

Without this rating option in place in my opinion this leave honest sellers in an extremely vulnerable position! I hope Ebay brings back BUYER RATINGS. I'm too afraid of losing!

Thanks.

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OP, I sell vintage clothes and moved them all onto another site because the risk is too great here.  Between the scamming and the buyers who are mall shoppers and expect to get exactly the same thing they are buying at the mall (spandex infested) and a seller can not win anymore no matter how hard they fight.  So i list disposable merchandise that I can afford to lose on ebay and everything else gets the good stuff.

Last weekend i bought a yummy collectable that on ebay gets between 20 and 40 bids for over $300 when the few available are listed as auctions.  I will not list it here.  I do not trust that I will be able to keep that money if I sell it here.  But on the other site, I had a buyer ask to cancel and repay for a $40 item because their address is their old one on the payment - I just shipped to their new address.  I would never do that with an ebay transaction.

So what you do with those Levis is up to you.  I'm curious, what are they - red line 501s?  If so, they were reissued in the late 90s and have lost a lot of value due to the decline of the rockabilly genre.

[luckythewinner]

Now say I sell this pair of Levis on Ebay and I send these vintage Levis to the winning buyer and the buyer is not honest?

If you are too afraid of losing the item, the solution is simple - do not sell it here. 

Without this rating option in place in my opinion this leave honest sellers in an extremely vulnerable position!

Your belief in the power of a rating system is hopelessly naive and outdated. As soon as a buyer got a negative, he could create a new account in minutes and wipe the slate clean. And in some cases, a buyer does not even need an ebay account to make a purchase here. A feedback system for buyers would not accomplish anything. 

[satindoll91]

Hi,

Ebay was a lot more fun and  a friendly place to sell. There are good things and bad from the early days on Ebay. It was not business related much at that time because most people were selling things from the  basement at that time BUT.... there has always been scammers on Ebay. It is actually better now than it was then because new steps were taken. Having people pay as soon as they purchase was a great idea because it stopped the dead beat buyers. Believe it or not, I have been a seller for 19 years and although there have not been a whole lot of  issues with my buyers, when there was, I only had one time where  Ebay sided with the buyer. Give it a chance, you can always stop selling  if you are not happy with it. Good Luck!  (satindoll91)