eBay

nawlinsron2 · ‎10-25-2017

If these boards are representative of the ebay experience, sellers are FAR more likely than buyers to get scammed.

Yet, the vast majority of scam settlements go to BUYERS.

I'm not a math major, but statistically, that's impossible.

ebay...get fair, or get out.

takikawa4 · ‎10-25-2017

@nawlinsron2 wrote:
Actually, my initial response was to takikawa4...not you.
HE has 6 purchases...

Perhaps, then, you should be more careful to whom you're replying.

Nope. I have 12. No idea where the 6 came from. And that's because when I started posting here you had to have at least 10 purchases in order to post as many times as you like.

luckythewinner · ‎10-25-2017

@nawlinsron2 wrote:
ebay...get fair, or get out.

This has been going on for almost a decade, and sellers have made it overwhelmingly clear that they will stay here despite the fact that buyers almost always win disputes.

Given this reality, what exactly would be eBay's incentive to change?

helpingrescuedogs · ‎10-25-2017

I'm mostly in pet supplies so don't see many buyers cleary out to scam. I feel bad for some of the seller posts I see here where the buyer is so clearly abusing them. I do get some buyers that try and abuse me and/or the system, but I always call ebay on these. So far ebay has sided with me every time so I don't agree that ebay is biased towards favoring buyers. I do think as a seller that you need to proactively CALL ebay when you have a problem buyer. Reporting buyer or messaging doesn't get any help.

If I understand correctly a buyer cannot leave negative feedback when ebay sides with the seller.

reallynicestamps · ‎10-25-2017

It's worth keeping in mind that WalMart loses about 1% of their income annually to shrinkage and shoptheft.

http://fortune.com/2015/06/05/walmart-theft/

The question a professional seller has to ask is if their losses are greater or less than WalMart's.

I suspect that, because our customers are literate and relatively prosperous (they have to read and they probably own the device they buy with) the losses of eBay sellers are less than that in the aggregate.

BTW, even allowing for English as a Second Language*, sellers themselves are in my opinion more literate -- and possibly smarter-- than most buyers. I base this on the quasi-coherent screeds posted in the Buyers Board by cheated buyers. Sellers tend to rant, but usually can give a fairly decent timeline with a little prompting.

*ESL because online selling is a good fit with what we call in my country New Canadians. The immigrants who in an earlier time opened a confectionary/bodega/ depanneur/ groceteria and worked all the hours they could to make a decent living.

With eBay we don't even need to rent and fit out the store before going into business.

Sometimes it shows.

jonathankirkland · ‎10-25-2017

@18704d wrote:

"Newbie sellers who get scammed can't compare with B&M and their fund for losses..."
-------

Newbie sellers most definately can offset fraud losses with the proper knowledge on
how eBay works...
.. and a clear understanding of buyer and seller protections.

Lynn

While I agree that new sellers can do a better job to protect themselves, and that common sense would dictate anyone selling an item (especially an expensive one like a phone or laptop) would do their due diligence to find out all the necessary facts, this sadly isn't the case? And why is that? Well let me tell you.

Ebay is excellent at seducing new sellers to come in and buy with their model "Come on in and sell your old laptop or cellphone and get big bucks! It's as easy 1, 2, 3! One, take a few pics with your cellphone! Two, create a title and brief description. Three, list it and watch the money roll in!"

Well yeah that is all fine and good and technically it is true in most cases, however ebay does a very poor job explaining to people that they need to pay attention to the "fine print" and details, such as making sure you log in to Paypal and actually receive payment before shipping your item out.

Also I'm pretty sure if most new sellers had a crystal clear understanding of the "Buyers" protection compared to the "sellers" protection, they would run away screaming.

jonathankirkland · ‎10-25-2017

@18704d wrote:

"This is not the first thread today that I get down the road and I cannot even figure out what the point is."
-------

Apparently
eBay is supposed to coddle all new sellers, no matter how blindly they list here
and absorb their financial losses

instead of expecting them to understand how the 'business' here works
and the best ways to protect themselves from fraud.

Lynn

Well, yes. I think they should too. I wouldn't say they should make it harder for people to join ebay and start selling, but they should definitely try to make it safer.

One suggestion I have been touting all over these forums is that ebay could easily implement a program to help new sellers protect themselves by giving them a small "new sellers" guide to read, with a little quiz at the end or even a series of short little tests (10 multiple choice questions each or so), where at the end of each such test they would earn 10 free listings for their efforts, instead of just being handed free listings.

It's just a simple little thing that could be done that would make some very important points stick in mind for new sellers (just as a glaring example, making sure they actually LOG IN to their Paypal account to make sure the payment has cleared and it is 'OK' to ship the item).

jonathankirkland · ‎10-25-2017

@reallynicestamps wrote:
I'd argue that far more buyers than sellers get scammed on eBay (and online) because they don't know how to be made whole.
They don't understand the Resolution Centre.
They don't see how Paypal is a second level of protection.
They panic about giving their credit card information to Paypal.
If they do manage to find Help and Contact they think the person on the other end has the power to do something. (Annoying as they are, we should sympathize with those call centre clerks.)
If they open a Dispute, they are told to Contact the Seller.
Then the seller strings them along until the Dispute closes automatically.
Or promises a 'replacement' for something that was never sent.
Or tells them that a refund can't be made until the Dispute is ended.

The newer the buyer, and eBay works hard if ineffectively to attract new buyers, the more likely they are to misunderstand what they are buying.
And how to correct their own errors.

In a B&M shop, a confused customer can ask a shopworker for help and advice. Returns are usually fairly easy to understand (but do read NotAlwaysRight .com) if the customer can remain calm.

Online- nothing is clear.

I'm sorry but I have to strongly disagree.

I think the reputation ebay has, which is getting worse every day, is that the buyer has absolutely no worries whatsoever, and can in fact be careless in their buying practices because they have been trained to know all they have to do is file a phony SNAD simply because they don't like something, and can have it returned for free and there are out absolutely 0.

I would argue that buyers very much know about the resolution center and often times can throw it around carelessly and needlessly.

Also I'm not sure what you're talking about that the seller can string them along until the dispute closes automatically. This would earn them a defect, allow the buyer to keep the item and allow the buyer to get a full refund on top of it all.

While I can agree that the brick & mortar buying experience is much different than online, and perhaps much more customer oriented and friendly, I think the benefits of being able to order something in your robe and slippers while sipping coffee and then just wait a few days for it to be delivered to your front door is much more convenient for people these days.

ripcityresell · ‎10-25-2017

@nawlinsron2 wrote:
If these boards are representative of the ebay experience, sellers are FAR more likely than buyers to get scammed.

Operative word is "IF". These boards are NOT representative of the eBay experience, not even close. Most buyers are not going to go to the board of the company they feel scammed them. They will go to social media and complain there.

dcintennessee · ‎10-25-2017

Amen! Plus, if you deleted all the scammy, whiney posts by people who have 0 feedback, and those in other countries who mistakenly landed here, scam reports would be rather scarce. I've been closely following posts here for about 8 months (yep, compared to others, still a total newbie), and I've seen fewer than a dozen actual scam cases shared by experienced sellers. Probably more like only 5 or 6. However - multiple times a day, experienced sellers report a bad outcome from forced, unfair returns. Anyone who wants to wave the WAKE UP EBAY flag should take up that cause. Probably to no avail, but IMHO that's a much more legit concern than scams.

rolenboy01 · ‎10-25-2017

@jonathankirkland wrote:
@18704d wrote:

"Newbie sellers who get scammed can't compare with B&M and their fund for losses..."
-------

Newbie sellers most definately can offset fraud losses with the proper knowledge on
how eBay works...
.. and a clear understanding of buyer and seller protections.

Lynn
While I agree that new sellers can do a better job to protect themselves, and that common sense would dictate anyone selling an item (especially an expensive one like a phone or laptop) would do their due diligence to find out all the necessary facts, this sadly isn't the case? And why is that? Well let me tell you.

Ebay is excellent at seducing new sellers to come in and buy with their model "Come on in and sell your old laptop or cellphone and get big bucks! It's as easy 1, 2, 3! One, take a few pics with your cellphone! Two, create a title and brief description. Three, list it and watch the money roll in!"

eBay refuses to admit or even caution these new sellers they are seducing into using eBay that the very catergories they are leading them into selling in are HIGH SCAM catergories so perhaps eBay is doing this on purpose to reward their loyal scammers out there.

coolections · ‎10-25-2017

@nawlinsron2 wrote:
If these boards are representative of the ebay experience, sellers are FAR more likely than buyers to get scammed.

True about sellers are more likely to get scammed. Before buyer protection the boards would say buyers are more likely to get scammed. Luckily these boards are NOT representative of the Ebay experience. Very few get scammed out of the millions of transaction a day.

coolections · ‎10-25-2017

@nawlinsron2 wrote:
Maybe you missed my point...which, statistically speaking, over 80% do...
Look at this from the opposite point of view...how many BUYERS complain on here that they were scammed and got no satisfaction?

80%. Go to the buyers board.