Negative Feed back, help please

[mjsfineart]

I just recieved my first negative feedback.  I only have 30 feedback so far and the buyer was rude.  Told me to get new glasses.  I do art reproduction and he didn't like the colors on it and said it looked muddled in the middle.  I thought the painting came out good but still think it's not a good painting to begin with.  Buyer left Nagative feed back before opening a case to return.  I refunded his money on the spot.  I've been upset over this all day.  I tried contacting him to resolve the issue and asked if he could remove the feed back.  He said his feed back was a review and if I change my listing to reflect it as having a review he'd review the item instead and remove the feed back.  I have no option to do this.  The Buyer also insisted after he noticed he got a full refund that he wanted a return label anyways and that he didn't want my item.  Can I even do these things.  Is this normal?  I feel like the 1 negative feed back on my very small 30 positve feed backs is going to over shadow my account and make it impossible to start a ebay business.  Very discouraging that I can be talked to like this and have demands made that are out of my control.   I just hit the numbers last night for top rated seller status and am scared I will now loose it before I had a chance to get it.  I just don't know what to do.

[theleyline]

Sorry you've had such a bad experience with that person. You've refunded him while letting him keep the item, which was a nicer thing for you to do than he deserved really, so the fact that he's wanting you to pay for him to ship it back too for whatever reason is really weird. Tell him to throw it away if he's so disturbed by it, and then block him. 

[mjsfineart]

I just noticed this person has a good habbit of leaving negative reviews.  He's left 20 out of 144 purchases!  How can people like this be allowed to treat sellers like a piece of garbage for so long?  

[*help_no_brakes* · Accepted solution]

" Buyer left Nagative feed back before opening a case to return.  I refunded his money on the spot."

This is how buyers like this operate.

You refunded immediately so now they will kick you while you are down.

I feel it best to respond  "Sorry to hear you are unhappy with your item. Please return for a full refund."

Add the buyer's ID to your Blocked Bidder List.

The rest of your feedback is great...you will be ok.

Best regards.

[*eponymous*]

Do you have permissions to make reproductions of copyrighted art, such as Frida Kahlo?  I know her name is copyrighted, as well as all of her productions.

Feedback is the buyer's opinion, and it isn't removable.  Giving a refund on what you, yourself, think is a subpar item, does not cure the buyer's dissatisfaction with the transaction.

eBay is populated with you, me, and everyone else.  Why would you imagine that you are insulated from contact with "rude" people here on eBay or anywhere else?  Surely, this isn't the first unpleasant person you have run into...just ignore the buyer and move on...and check those copyrights.

[mjsfineart]

I am working under a larger company in which the owner is getting ready to retire and who does not want that to be disclosed and has been in art reproduction for a very long time.  

[dhbookds]

For the future:

Your listing states 100% satisfaction.....that should have been your only answer......I'm sorry you weren't satisfied, here is your refund.  No matter WHAT he says.... Don't argue/defend, it will get you nowhere.

NEVER answer or handle this kind of thing when you are emotional.....you will make mistakes, such as your response, which does not make you look good or make any real sense.  "We stand behind our products, complete refund issued" would do YOU some good when/if other buyers read it......

On this situation.......

Frankly, your response here makes me wonder if the picture is of the original or of the copy.....if I were you I would closely consider a copy to see if there is any justification of what he says....and if there is, I would never attempt to sell a copy of that one again. 

I doubt there is much you can do now about the neg.....except learn from it.  We've all had to learn hard lessons here......don't feel alone in that....... I concur to tell him to junk or donate it somewhere rather than returning.....I think he's trying to show he's NOT trying to con you out of it and the refund. 

jmo

[7606dennis]

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@*eponymous* wrote:

Do you have permissions to make reproductions of copyrighted art, such as Frida Kahlo?  I know her name is copyrighted, as well as all of her productions.

Feedback is the buyer's opinion, and it isn't removable.  Giving a refund on what you, yourself, think is a subpar item, does not cure the buyer's dissatisfaction with the transaction.

eBay is populated with you, me, and everyone else.  Why would you imagine that you are insulated from contact with "rude" people here on eBay or anywhere else?  Surely, this isn't the first unpleasant person you have run into...just ignore the buyer and move on...and check those copyrights.

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Actually, any copyright on the original work would have expired long ago.  It has long been a practice of students to copy the works of the Old Masters and other famous artists.  There should be no problem provided the OP isn't trying to pass off the reproduction as an original. 

Unfortunately, for the OP, this particular buyer appears to be fond of giving voice to his negative opinions in feedback left for others.  There really isn't anything you can do to get it removed, OP.  About all you can do is move on. I hope you didn't refund before you got the return back.

[mjsfineart]

Thanks for all the replies.  I have cooled off from the whole thing.  I guess I was just frusterated over the fact that nothing was said to me and when I tried to be very nice to the person they threw it in my face like i was a pile of nothing and even enjoying themselves for how they were treating me.  My daily business has grown tremendously since and a lot of repeat buyers seemed to order more from me to help counter the bad feed back left.  I was quite surprised as I was sure it was going to be the end for me on ebay since it happened so soon and that I try so hard to please everyone that buys from me.  This was the first return in over 100 orders and the 2nd person to mention an issue that they had.  There was nothing I could do to please the guy nor was I given the chance.  All I can do is suck it up and move on and continue to do the best I can for my customers.  Not because Ebay says I must, but because that's the type of business I like to run.  

[castlemagicmemories]

If you haven't already, you might want to add this buyer to your BBL (Blocked BIdder List).

Don't let it get you down!!

[multimedea_media]

Not necessarily. Under US copyright law, a work dated between 1923 and 1977 would have 95 or 120 years of protection. After 1978, it's the life of the artist plus 70 years.  For an artist such as Kahlo (d. 1954?) even her early works from the 20's are probably still under copyright.

No one really cares what a student copies as a learning exercise for themself, but when they try sell that reproduction commercially, they're still subject to copyright law.

[18704d]

" For an artist such as Kahlo (d. 1954?) even her early works from the 20's are probably still under copyright."

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Frida Kahlo Corporation, owns the rights to the brand name Frida Kahlo worldwide.
http://www.fridakahlocorporation.com/

fwiw,

Lynn

[thatsallfolks]

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@18704d wrote:

" For an artist such as Kahlo (d. 1954?) even her early works from the 20's are probably still under copyright."

-------------

Frida Kahlo Corporation, owns the rights to the brand name Frida Kahlo worldwide.
http://www.fridakahlocorporation.com/

fwiw,

Lynn

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That's not relevant to whether the painting is under copyright.

[mjsfineart]

I can only list certain Frida Kahlo's.  I have various artists listed that I'm under strict guiadance from the company that is helping me do this on what I can and cannot list.  If people presume I went out and bought an expensive printer and just threw art up for sale are seriously mistaken.  Especially a printer that is specifically made for art reproduction and a round of ink is more than most peoples morgages.  There are definately some restrictions in place.  In fact the Kahlo's I have are museum quality because of this.  Copyright is a bit more complicated than what is being listed here as peoples verdicts or prosecutions.  I'd love to sell my whole library of Kahlo but I can't.  Sometimes you have to get permission from the owner of the painting.  

Sometimes people are forced to retire early for health reasons and not age.  I will not get anymore personal on the subject.  If anybody has any inquires they can message me personally.  I will not respond to an ebay lynch mob.  Thank you.

[7rattlesbushcraft]

This is exactly what eBay's policies breed! Call them, they own the operating system. They can remove anything and do whatever they want. It's documented in these discussions if you spend hours on the phone and go thru multiple reps you will get multiple answers but some have come out with them removed after being told no way they can do that! Remember it's their operating system only they have the password to it....