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Does anyone else get bouts of intense unhappiness or depression selling on eBay?

Very honest question:  Does anyone else feel intense negative feelings to the point that it affects their general existence using eBay?  

When I wake up and open up my account, it's almost a daily cringe of, "What do I have do deal with today?"  After 10 years, I find I can't accept it as a side-effect much longer.  It has a large effect on my quality of life.  

Today, I woke up to find someone who bought two items worth $500 open two returns claiming they, "Found a better price" and they, "Feel [I] overpaid for [this] item".   Mind you, I sell vintage guitar parts that are almost always unique.  The two parts this guy bought are one-of-a-kind for various reasons.  Ergo, it's not like buying an iPhone. In 10 years, I've never had someone with the gall to pull this stunt.  And eBay won't let me do anything other than message or accept the returns - without the restocking fee that I apply to my listings for buyer's remorse.   Meaning, since he's Canadian, I'll lose about $70-$75 in shipping over this.  This has become such a regular occurrence (three dispute abuses, four if you count two from this guy, in two weeks) that the costs of dealing with it are becoming significant.  What seems to me is this guy is trying to get partial refunds.  

I have shrunk my business down nearly 40% since February because I am out of energy to deal with it anymore - yet the issues come in even more draining ways.   I have seen and recognized the response is to get myself out - but I'm trying to do it in a way that is beneficial to me financially and turns one chapter of life out into another efficiently.  Seems even my course of action isn't good enough - as once again, I am feeling the blues. 
  

Message 1 of 90
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Does anyone else get bouts of intense unhappiness or depression selling on eBay?

 

Yes,

There have been a few threads comparable to yours over the last few years.

 

Sometimes you have to vent.. regroup..

 

Sometimes you just may feel better.. talking to the guy serving you fries at McD's

when you find he has a bachelor's degree in programming.. and this was all he could find.

 

Entrepreneurship can be hard

but it has great rewards too.

 

Keep the faith,

Lynn


Lynn

You love me for everything you hate me for


.
Message 2 of 90
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Does anyone else get bouts of intense unhappiness or depression selling on eBay?

Time to get on the phone with ebay and find out how this person has filed a snad when they clearly state buyer's remorse. 

It's a total pain in the rear that you have to do this, but ebay has enabled and condoned this misbehavior by buyers. They should be ashamed but they are not. 

Message 3 of 90
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Does anyone else get bouts of intense unhappiness or depression selling on eBay?

The good news is, I have multiple reasons to call so I can lump them together. 

I also, two days ago, had a return request open for "doesn't fit" and eBay automatically accepted the return.  That one did include the buyer's remorse restocking fee but otherwise, is there some new policy where eBay auto-accepts returns?  Or is it an error on their part?  I don't allow auto-accept, btw.  

Message 4 of 90
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Does anyone else get bouts of intense unhappiness or depression selling on eBay?

Thanks for the kind words.  As someone who buys almost as much as I sell (or at least, before this year did), I never conceive that I would ever wring a seller like some of these folks do.  I'm glad this doesn't happen more often but at the same time, I've had a huge rash of issues regarding bad-smelling tactics by buyers. 

Not to mention, in the last couple weeks, four different people who "accidentally bought" an item.  That used to happen once a month.  Not sure if it's an app issue or just people lying.  

Message 5 of 90
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Does anyone else get bouts of intense unhappiness or depression selling on eBay?

Yes, Yes, Yes......but my first order of the day after I open up eBay and find nothing has changed, no new views, watchers or sales...I go to the nice little option of "tell us what you think" I don't hold back, because I feel like no one reads them anyway. Than after a nice cup of coffee or tea, I call "junker" friends and let them know I have excess stuff that they can use in their antique mall booth, I always give them great deals, great pricing and usually the research is already done. Sooo...having that little bit of extra money in my pocket erases all the negativity that swooped down in the morning. eBay is not my only option of extra income, so I can take it or leave it...I am a very small seller anyway so my livelihood does not depend on this venue.
Message 6 of 90
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Does anyone else get bouts of intense unhappiness or depression selling on eBay?


@michael_atw wrote:

The good news is, I have multiple reasons to call so I can lump them together. 

I also, two days ago, had a return request open for "doesn't fit" and eBay automatically accepted the return.  That one did include the buyer's remorse restocking fee but otherwise, is there some new policy where eBay auto-accepts returns?  Or is it an error on their part?  I don't allow auto-accept, btw.  


Yes, some auto accept on returns just started, but I can't recall the blues thread. Keeping things straight around here isn't easy. Maybe somebody else has a link. We will have to start putting links to these threads and/or copying/screenshots. 

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Does anyone else get bouts of intense unhappiness or depression selling on eBay?

KEEP IN MIND...PEOPLE ARE LOUSY.  EBAY AND PAYPAL ARE JUST FRONTS FOR PEOPLE..WHO ARE IN GENERAL...LOUSY.  USING PAYPAL AND PARTICIPATING ON EBAY IS A REAL GAMBLE.  KEEP IN MIND THE PHONY RULES AND REGULATIONS THEY BOTH HAVE ARE LIKE LOCKING YOUR CAR DOORS ... YOU ONLY LOCK THEM TO MAKE YOU FEEL SAFE...IT PROTECTS YOU FROM NON CRIMINALS...A REAL CRIMINAL CAN AND WILL GET INTO YOUR CAR IF THEY WANT TO.  SAME WITH PAYPAL AND EBAY....IF A CRIMINAL WANTS TO RIP YOU OFF THROUGH EBAY OR PAYPAL ....THEY WILL.  AND KEEP IN MIND INTERNET FRAUD - FORGERY OR SCAMS ARE NON PROSECUTEABLE THROUGH YOUR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.  THERE SIMPLY IS NOTHING TO BE DONE TO PROTECT YOURSELF.  AND I MEAN THAT IN ALL SINCERITY....THERE IS NOTHING EBAY - PAYPAL - OR THE LOCAL POLICE DEPARTMENT CAN OR WILL DO ABOUT IT.  

 

I KNOW THIS AS A FACT.

 

IM LISTING A BUNCH OF STUFF RIGHT NOW - I WANT IT ALL GONE AT ONCE.  ONCE ITS GONE AND A BUYER WANTS TO GET FUNKY....I WILL JUST SHUT IT ALL DOWN...EBAY AND PAYPAL...AND LET THEM TRY AND FIGURE THAT ONE OUT.

Message 8 of 90
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Does anyone else get bouts of intense unhappiness or depression selling on eBay?

Unhappiness or depression? No.

 

Aggravation, irritation and occasional anger? Yes.

The easier you are to offend the easier you are to control.


We seem to be getting closer and closer to a situation where nobody is responsible for what they did but we are all responsible for what somebody else did. - Thomas Sowell
Message 9 of 90
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Does anyone else get bouts of intense unhappiness or depression selling on eBay?

WEll since you can't shut your account down for 6 months - any returns that may come through will be refunded thru whatever credit card or bank is your back up on Paypal - so you're out of luck thinking just because you're done using them - nothing will happen.

 

To the OP - did you not calculate shipping properly to Canada that you will be out this postage?  I definitely understand where you're coming from as I hate signing on to see little or no sales and return requests. It does seem they've ramped up - but I just had a buyer claim SNAD on a purchase and I called and got the SNAD closed in my favor as her claim was bogus and her feedback left indicates she's a problem buyer who is dishappy with almost all her purchases.

 

Best of luck to you.

Message 10 of 90
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Does anyone else get bouts of intense unhappiness or depression selling on eBay?

We feel your pain brother!!!

After years of a retail business, we thought this would be a "fun", sort of easy way to dispose of a massive amount of things, inherited, collected, left from the store.

And a stream of much needed $$.

It has been anything but fun or easy. And the $$ has been disappointing.

Yes, we enjoyed going out looking for things. Our whole lives we enjoyed auctions and antiques. Selling antiques and vintage things was always one of our backup plans.

We have for the most part, quit buying.

We look forward to depleting our stock. Big pile of things to charity next week. Just not worth the effort here. It really feels good to see all of that work gone.(not thinking about the $$, just the agony)

Things do not move fast enough among other problems . Who can sit on huge amounts of inventory?

However, many things have lost their value. In demand items are much harder to source.

The profit on small dollar items is eaten up by fees selling here.

And the selling landscape has changed. We are in a very real sense working for ebay.

This is not at all like selling in ones own store with rules that are yours. 

We had an absolute no refunds policy at the brick and mortar store. Clearly stated. (Of course we took care of our good customers) if we had anyone create trouble over our policies, we called the police. If a customer felt they were treated unfairly, we told them to take us to small claims court. No one ever did.

We were respected as a long term business. We enjoyed our customers. We knew them. We had fun. We made $$. 

And then there is selling on eBay.......

We don't attempt to sell large ticket items. A few auctions have brought over $100 but rather than being happy over the sale, we sweat the possible rip off.

we recently sold a sport memorabalia item from an event we attended, knew the principle well. It was claimed to be fake. We contacted other memorabilia sellers, this seems to be a new scam.  At least the item was returned. How could you fake a program?

I have a degree/ background in psychology. Venting does not help. That is an outdated idea. I choose to believe you are searching for a solution. Us too.

i suffer from the pain of isolation selling on ebay. Sourcing was fun, but that had to stop. 

My partner in ebay has gotten a very low paying job. He absolutely loves it.

Add that to the pressure of getting items out on time, with a scan. That alone probably puts our efforts under minimum wage.

it doesn't feel good sending packages out. It's nervewracking.

And, just like you, opening ebay every morning......cringe!

Wishing you the best.

Please let us know how things are going.

PS we have some blues CDs for sale, LOL that's a joke. Trying to end on a positive!!

Message 11 of 90
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Does anyone else get bouts of intense unhappiness or depression selling on eBay?

ebay...a pixelated Venus Fly Trap
Message 12 of 90
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Does anyone else get bouts of intense unhappiness or depression selling on eBay?

I feel the same as you, only I cannot bring myself to list anything here.  I should be listing every day, but I just can't and I refuse to due to eBay's policy.  I'm broke, with very little income of my own, but I still refuse.  I know things must change/nothing stays the same, but the onesided venue here, there is no way for me to attempt to sell here.  My last listed items ended in February of this year so I am off the hook for the dreaded PP 180 days nonsense and everything went smoothly on the sold items, but I just can't bring myself to deal with eBay/PP.

 

Maybe if you step away for a bit, it may get better for you, but for me, no way.  I tried stepping away a few years back but really stopped listing in '08.  I am now a buyer only, to buy from the Sellers of my choice both domestic and international, and end of worrying/stressing for me 😉

 

 

Message 13 of 90
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Does anyone else get bouts of intense unhappiness or depression selling on eBay?

Any debilitating stress you feel from your ebay experiences is self-imposed...it's still a choice.
"Doc...it hurts when I do this."
"Don't do that."
ebay is a stacked deck for sellers...old-timers know it, newbies are learning.
Selling on ebay is a test of endurance...it's not a free drinks Caribbean cruise.
I'm phasing out after 19 years...Harvey gave me a 2-week forced hiatus, during which time I stumbled onto these boards. What I learned was...I dunno...disturbing.
In short, ebay wants it's cake and eat it, too...IN ADDITION to your cake.
Homey don't play that.
Message 14 of 90
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Does anyone else get bouts of intense unhappiness or depression selling on eBay?


@michael_atw wrote:

Very honest question:  Does anyone else feel intense negative feelings to the point that it affects their general existence using eBay?  

When I wake up and open up my account, it's almost a daily cringe of, "What do I have do deal with today?"  After 10 years, I find I can't accept it as a side-effect much longer.  It has a large effect on my quality of life.  

  


When this happens, Just go and play guitar for a while, or write a new song, rip out some crazy lead work.  This is what I do when I can not deal with eBay for a while.

 

Good Luck Selling!

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