eBay

numisnorway · ‎08-22-2019

Recently i bought a small batch of sealed big box pc games that i intended to sell here on ebay.

The story starts with me selling a sealed copy of a video game produced some 20 years ago which is quite rare. The seller whom i bought it from had 2 copies of said game.. i bought both.

One of them sold, then i listed the other one. This raised some suspicion from the buyer who then inquired in a facebook group about the authenticity of the item since it seemed strange that i would list 2 of such a rare item.

I can't blame him for getting a second opinion and guarding himself in this regard, he is without fault the way i see it.

This however is where the story takes a turn for the worse. Some of the users in said group then started to say that it was obviously "resealed games" i was selling without a single source of evidence provided. One user even went as far as to say that he remembered how these games were supposed to look back in the day and claimed that they never even came sealed.. however if he had searched completed listings on ebay he would have seen that he was mistaken in making such a claim. The same user even boasted about how he doesn't see value in sealed games.. That might be his opinion, however the market states otherwise. What is bringing top dollars are the sealed products.. some of which are very rare.

Then suddenly out of the blue i get a message from a user asking me "what was in the box before i resealed it". Somewhat baffled about such a rude message i then told him that such a statement is the same as asking if i still beat my wife.. condemnation from the get go with no way to defend myself from the allegations.

He then linked to the "discussion" where i could see the allegations being made. He also said something like it was "obvious" and that they were all reporting me etc.

Now fast forward a couple of days and a clearly fake no feedback user "buys" one of my items.. his address was samsung oakley something something Saudi Arabia. This item had 8 watchers and quite a few views..

I then relisted this item waiting for the unpaid item assistant to kick in and then one guy lowballs the **bleep** out of my item to such an extent that i have to wonder if he has pain in his rear end or something.. i think it might be connected to the fake user who bought my item though.

I've never ever had anything like this happen to me before i listed a couple of video games.

kataggr-44 · ‎08-22-2019

What I would do is remove the listing. The basement dwellers will soon move on to annoy someone else, then you can relist it again.

ifyouloveit · ‎08-22-2019

I don't use Facebook marketplace but other sellers have told me this is par for the course over on FB. No screening of buyers (who probably aren't even buyers just trolls) and a lot of abuse and nasties.

Sounds like some idiots are amusing themselves at your expense or someone is selling the same thing and trying to get you out of the way. People become a mob at times and just jump in to attack, pretty telling of society these days.

Who knows for sure. If you know the games are legit, perhaps ignore the trolls and wait for the right buyer to come along, or sell them somewhere else? Plenty of places to sell now online 🙂

numisnorway · ‎08-22-2019

I've actually considered it. I don't mind keeping them for myself either as i remember these games fondly from my early days of PC gaming which is part of the reason why i bought them. I try to only sell stuff i personally like.. a strategy that has worked for me.

Getting them graded would probably not be a bad idea, but it is quite costly, but at least i wouldn't have to deal with the basement dwellers then.

I know that one gets different feedback from the different type of demographics for the particular segment one is selling in, but this was quite shocking. I'm sure there are other fields were sellers experience this regularly.

reallynicestamps · ‎08-22-2019

i get a message from a user asking me "what was in the box before i resealed it".

Through eBay Messages? Reply politely and /or Block the member.

and that they were all reporting me etc.

EBay tends to note and ignore single Reports but may be more active if there are multiple reports from multiple members.

They ignore single reports because:

they could be from "vigilantes"
they could be from competitors
they could be wrong.

his address was samsung oakley something something Saudi Arabia.

Do you sell to Saudi Arabia***?

You can Block single countries or even entire continents.

Do you use the Global Shipping Program* for international sales?

Do you have a Block with Paypal on non-US **PP accounts?

The GSP and the PP block will in different ways block or discourage overseas customers.

I agree you may want to let your second copy take a vacation in your Unsold List for 60-90 days until the neckbeards find somewhere else to play out their Red Bull and Doritos fuelled fantasies.

Politely. -- Captain Malcolm Reynolds.

*spit spit spit. We Canadians detest the GSP because our duty free allowance is a piddly ~$15 USD. The GSP means the customer pays their nation's duty and sales taxes plus a ~$5USD service fee before you are even told to ship. Making GSP items expensive.

** Americans pay 4.4% on non-US PP payments.

*** I don't, because I disagree with the murderous regime. However, to be fair, many Westerners work there because they don't mind taking blood money.