eBay

dashe326 · ‎11-22-2021

I am a small time seller who sells a phone here or there as we refresh them at my company. I've opened up to selling these internationally, and I've had multiple instances of the item being severely delayed due to the global shipping issues. Some buyers even state that they received a refurbished phone instead of a used phone (seriously, that's the issue????) and eBay is forcing me to create a return label or lose the item and money, but the return shipping will cost me over $200, and is worth more than the entire order price.

Ebay has told me several times that they will not charge me when the buyer opens up an INR request, but almost every time, they will end up refunding the buyer, taking the money out of my account ,and leaving me with nothing but hollow anger. I've had enough of this and am tempted to just deny every transaction they attempt to take out of my account, since they will not stand behind the word of their customer service agents. Has any one had any luck with this before, if you've tried it? Has eBay gone after you to recover the money, if it was under $500? Has anyone had any successful strategies they would recommend? I'm completely done selling on eBay, this is just cleaning up the aftermath.

m60driver · ‎11-22-2021

I am loathe to sell anything international. And I would be even more hesitant to sell a highly scammed item like an iPhone overseas. You have made the correct decision to stop selling these phones on Ebay.

As for somehow denying a transaction, well good luck with that. I believe that when you sign up to sell on Ebay you give Ebay the right to to either debit your bank account and/or debit your credit card that is on file. If you only have a bank account on file then you might be able to drain and then close that account before Ebay goes after the funds but then it just goes into collections and the end result may cost you more than the money involved, especially if you are young and will still be in need of credit for housing or car purchases.

farmalljr · ‎11-22-2021

Some banks will allow you to use the charge back feature. So yes, you could talk to your bank about a chargeback.

However, even if you "owe" eBay one dollar, they will lock your account, any accounts "associated" with yours, and turn whatever that balance is, over to collections.

femmefan1946 · ‎11-22-2021

Phones are not a good international product.

However, you should be using the Global Shipping Program to deal with many of your issues.

This is a Seller Protection program.

It's not perfect, but your buyer will have paid import fees to cover his nation's duty and sales taxes before you even ship.

You are only shipping to Erlanger KY, the GSP plant, where your responsibility for delivery ends. No more complaints about slow delivery or non-delivery or the "held up in customs" scam.

With that in place, you also cut out most of the scammers. It's psychological warfare.

And eBay (in the person of tyler@ebay) has said that sellers using the GSP only have to provide returns shipping from the address the purchase was shipped to by the seller.

That is, the unhappy buyer has to get the product back to Erlanger and the GSP, and persuade the GSP to reship it back to you with your label.

But generally, don't ship phones internationally.

wrong66 · ‎11-22-2021

In what country could return shipping for just a phone possibly be $200 ?

pjcdn2005 · ‎11-22-2021

I have always sold internationally although during Covid I haven't been doing that as much. But if I was in the US, I probably would not use ebay international standard as it does tend to be slow. You can put in a claim for the up to $100 insurance if the item doesn't arrive but you are responsible to refund the buyer if they don't receive their item.

I'm not sure that I would sell phones outside of North America at all because there does seem to be a higher return rate than for some products. If you use the global shipping program (which is different than the ebay international standard that you use) the gsp will refund if the item is lost but you are still responsible to pay returns if the buyer says that the item is not as described.

kensgiftshop · ‎11-22-2021

@dashe326 wrote:
I've had enough of their B,S, and am tempted to just deny every transaction they attempt to take out of my account,

Looks like it would easier to stop selling/shipping International.

Have A Great Day.

kensgiftshop · ‎11-22-2021

@femmefan1946 wrote:

And eBay (in the person of) has said that sellers using the GSP only have to provide returns shipping from the address the purchase was shipped to by the seller.

No, when it's a GSP shipment, seller pays return shipping from the buyers location.

If they use a Freight Forwarder, then the seller only pays return shipping from the Freight Forwarder and the buyer has to ship it back to them.

Have A Great Day.

eleanor*rigby · ‎11-22-2021

@femmefan1946 wrote:
You are only shipping to Erlanger KY, the GSP plant, where your responsibility for delivery ends. No more complaints about slow delivery or non-delivery or the "held up in customs" scam.

And eBay (in the person of tyler@ebay) has said that sellers using the GSP only have to provide returns shipping from the address the purchase was shipped to by the seller.
That is, the unhappy buyer has to get the product back to Erlanger and the GSP, and persuade the GSP to reship it back to you with your label.

That information is incorrect.

lamber9347 · ‎11-22-2021

Not a good fight to start, eBay will come after you for any charges not paid. You will lose that fight. Mobile phones are typical items for issues from buyers, add in an International sale and you are set up for failure. Probably best to stop selling mobile phones online. Best of luck to you....

1786davycrockett · ‎11-22-2021

Since you have already provided eBay with much of your personal information (home address, phone number, bank account number, etc), you probably should be aware that eBay will definitely use that information, when it turns over your unpaid bills to a collections agency.

And, if you owe on MULTIPLE eBay transactions, ALL transactions are added TOGETHER when they are sent to a collections agency (that includes taxes, all unpaid fees, plus penalties).

The collections agency will have access to your Credit Bureau Report, which includes private & personal information which will assist them in collecting the unpaid bills from you, either voluntarily or involuntarily.

Potentially, this could become quite ruinous for you financially, in case you plan to borrow money in the future for a house, or car, or other large purchases on credit. It may also effect your future employment, as well as any future rental agreements, or credit card applications and loan requests.

Not worth the potential future hassle. Pay the piper, and move on.

wastingtime101 · ‎11-22-2021

@femmefan1946 wrote:
You are only shipping to Erlanger KY, the GSP plant, where your responsibility for delivery ends. No more complaints about slow delivery or non-delivery or the "held up in customs" scam.

With that in place, you also cut out most of the scammers. It's psychological warfare.
And eBay (in the person of tyler@ebay) has said that sellers using the GSP only have to provide returns shipping from the address the purchase was shipped to by the seller.
That is, the unhappy buyer has to get the product back to Erlanger and the GSP, and persuade the GSP to reship it back to you with your label.

Sorry, but that's all wrong @femmefan1946. I wish I had a nicer way to say it.

The post you're referencing (link) is about a 3rd party freight forwarder. It does not apply to the eBay GSP.

When an item is lost or damaged between the GSP facility and the buyer, the GSP covers it.

When a buyer claims SNAD not related to GSP shipping damage, the seller is responsible for the return from the buyer's location.

The slow delivery complaints still roll in with the GSP. We see posts about it all the time.

GLORIOUS!

Seller Guide: Nonstandard Packaging

postingid7659 · ‎11-22-2021

You just dispute the claim on the credit report and have a lawyer threaten lawsuit if the collection agency doesn't remove the claims.

1786davycrockett · ‎11-22-2021

"You just dispute the claim on the credit report and have a lawyer threaten lawsuit if the collection agency doesn't remove the claims."

Sorry, but that's not how the Fair Debt Practices Collection Act works.

Judges do not approve of unpaid bills lawfully due to a contracted company, and all of us agreed to those stipulations when we signed up as sellers on eBay.

And eBay's pack of lawyers unfortunately can out-game any of us individually.

Pay the piper, and dance the dance.

dashe326 · ‎11-23-2021

I've been using their international delivery program (for some reason, even though I have GSP enabled, that specific delivery option does not appear) and it does go to their Erlanger site, but eBay is still making me pay to set up return shipping from their country, which the cheapest option I found with a trackable option is over $200.... eBay has pulled out every stop they could to make me pay for the shipping or to burn me on both my money and my item.