eBay

longtimealaskan · ‎04-26-2018

Top rated seller status is over-rated. IMO it isn't worth striving for. Ebay gives the seller a miniscule discount but strives to take the TRS status away for asinine reasons. If there are any ebay staff monitoring these forums you are welcome to take my top rated status away from me as well, and I wish you would. It is a farce. I gained a Power Seller status but pulled all of my listings and let it expire. There are too many strings attached to these labels an ebay is a pain in the a-- regarding their asinine policies.

Why do I feel this way you may ask? The TRS seller works his tail off making sure everything is done right. Then something goes wrong. In my case the USPS lost a package. Not my fault. Wrong! According to ebay it is my fault because I chose the shipper. My response to ebay was Fine! You tell me which shipper has never lost or damaged a package and I will promptly switch to that shipper. I got no response from ebay. I wonder why. So ebay in their infinite wisdom gave me a defect because, in their opinion, I chose the wrong shipper. They said the defect didn't really affect me. Then why give it? I didn't lose the package. The cost of the item was refunded to the buyer. The item was insured so I got paid by USPS. But ebay still gave me a defect. In my opinion ebay itself operates with a huge number of defects.

Ebay has dinged me for returns. I have never, ever had a return wherein I had an item returned to me. On two occasions a buyer bought an item from me and while packaging the item for shipping I noticed a minor flaw. I immediately contacted the buyer in both cases, explained about the flaw, and asked if they still wanted the item or a refund. In both cases the buyer took the refund. In neither case was the item ever shipped. So where in Hell is the return ebay dinged me for? I'm assuming ebay in their infinite wisdom views a refund as a return, even though the items were never shipped.

My question for ebay: What in Hell did you want me to do? I found the flaw before the item was shipped. The buyer was given a refund. Did I do something wrong? Was I supposed to ship a flawed item and hope the buyer would miss the flaw? Why do I get dinged for returns for an item that was never shipped? Ebay does so many stupid things it is unbelievable. They promote top rated sellers but do everything they can, using asinine reasons, to take the staus away from a seller once the seller has top rated seller status. So please just take my top rated status. I won't miss it a bit.

Here's another little goodie. If I look on my dashboard it shows 1 return between May 2017 and April 30, 2018. When I click on the button "see details" it shows no returns over the period of 18 months. I'm getting dinged for a return this past year but according to ebay I have had no returns for the past 18 months. So which is it ebay? Creating fictitious returns, as Trump would say "Fake News"! is another example of ebay striving to take the TRS status away. Take it. Please, just take it. It isn't worth any extra effort on my part going forward. Ebay 's over zealous rules and "Fake News" is more than I want to deal with.

slippinjimmy · ‎04-26-2018

My question for ebay: What in Hell did you want me to do? I found the flaw before the item was shipped. The buyer was given a refund. Did I do something wrong? Was I supposed to ship a flawed item and hope the buyer would miss the flaw? Why do I get dinged for returns for an item that was never shipped?

They would like you to find the flaws BEFORE you list an item not after it's sold!

You got dinged BECAUSE you didn't ship, a buyer looked, found, bought, paid and then was disappointed when you canceled. If you don't think that's "doing something wrong" you need to think about how a buyer in that situation would feel.

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep

bubbleman2010 · ‎04-26-2018

The return you're looking for is hidden on the top bar clear over to the right it has a CK or something wierd like that. If you get involved with ebays secret illuminutti you can get a 20% discount and don't have to do all the circus dog jumping they require. To gain access to the illuminutti you'll need to know the secret hand signal and their theme song....

longtimealaskan · ‎04-26-2018

So I'm not perfect. They should take away my TRS status. I don't deserve it based on their criteria and yours. Nor do I want it. I sell things and I try to do the right thing for the buyer. Apparently I'm just not good enough. Whatever!

But you missed a couple of points in my post. You didn't comment on the lost package and ebay giving me a defect for that. It was shipped in a timely manner and it was insured. And then it was lost and then I got a defect. Please comment on that. Like ebay, you dinged me for doing a lusy job. But you didn't comment on ebay saying I had a return during this past year but the details show no returns over the past 18 months. Am I at fault for that too?

bubbleman2010 · ‎04-26-2018

Silly me its titled closed returns and replacements ebays just got it hidden so they can burn unsuspecting sellers with their new policy...

slippinjimmy · ‎04-26-2018

They didn't take away your TRS status because of one defect, that's not how it works. You would probably need at least 4 defects.

The only way to get a defect for a lost package is if a buyer opens an INR and you ignore or refuse to refund in spite of having no proof of delivery. If you had proof of delivery or if you refunded the buyer there would be no defect no matter how many times it happened.

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep

longtimealaskan · ‎04-26-2018

By the way, the flaw was a teeny tiny hairline crack about .25 inches long. I had to look at it with a magnifying glass before I could tell it was actually a flaw. It is doubtful the buyer would have noticed it. I saw it when I was packing it and under the right kind of light I saw something that caught my attention. As I said I couldn't tell it was a flaw until I used a magnifying glass. I've never had a buyer tell me I missed something. Would you have caught such a miniscule flaw?

slippinjimmy · ‎04-26-2018

@longtimealaskan wrote:
By the way, the flaw was a teeny tiny hairline crack about .25 inches long. I had to look at it with a magnifying glass before I could tell it was actually a flaw. It is doubtful the buyer would have noticed it. I saw it when I was packing it and under the right kind of light I saw something that caught my attention. As I said I couldn't tell it was a flaw until I used a magnifying glass. I've never had a buyer tell me I missed something. Would you have caught such a miniscule flaw?

I might not have noticed, I might have informed the buyer and let them decide if they still wanted it or not. If not then I would have canceled, accepted the defect that I earned and not tried to blame it on eBay.

I have to wonder why you would examine something with a magnifying glass AFTER you dols it but not before you listed it. If the flaw was so small how did you manage to notice it at all?

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep

vintagecraze50 · ‎04-26-2018

I really understand your frustration with this. But, you have to look at the big picture when it comes to these defects. As slipping noted, there was a bad buyer experience attached to the cancelled item issue, and I know you did the right thing for the buyer, no question by telling them about the problem. The buyer still was unable to purchase that item and it was not a good customer experience. The lost package was absolutely not your fault even though it too created a not so good buyer experience.

I just think of this top rated stuff as a way to keep me on my toes. Perhaps is creates more sales for me putting me higher in the search, or because a buyer is attracted to it, even if there is a price discrepency between me and a competitor. It also does give me some discount so it's worth having for that. Nobody is perfect, that's for sure, just keep striving for your best, that's all any of us can do.

longtimealaskan · ‎04-26-2018

I didn't say they took away my TRS status. I'm asking them to take it way. I'm tired of their games. Jump through this hoop. Oops you touched it. Defect. Now try it again. Ebay's piddling little discount isn't worth the effort. I do what I do because I am trying to be honest and fair to the buyer. And I'm good at what I do. Ebay steps in with their TRS **bleep** and it changes the dynamics and it cheapens the whole arrangement. I don't need ebay's little rewards and I don't need ebay giving me a defect for something like a lost package. So ebay can take back their TRS status because I don't want it.

You argue the buyers are disappointed when I contact them about a tiny hairline crack and refund the money. Perhaps that would be the case if the item was unique or hard to find. That wasn't the case. The item in question is abundant on ebay. There isn't any problem picking out another one just like it and the price would either be the same price or within a few cents of what the buyer paid for my item. The buyer was pleased that I had found the flaw and was honest enough to tell him about it.

If I get dinged for a return there should actually have been a return.

bubbleman2010 · ‎04-26-2018

Most folks post here and never figure out they are being punked by a ebay posting ID. No matter what the problem is the punkers will go the exact opposite just to get a reaction day in a day out they are always constant...

vintagecraze50 · ‎04-26-2018

The finding of a flaw of an item after you have listed it and someone purchased it is not an uncommon issue. It happen to me a few times and I too contacted the buyer and let them know. That IS the right thing to do in a situation like that. Like I said , no one is perfect and there may be issues like this from time to time. As long as these issues do not become frequent, some of these issues will not put a huge dent in your performance. I applaud your honesty to your buyer, defect or not.

longtimealaskan · ‎04-26-2018

I already told you how I found it. You aren't reading things very carefully. In the right light something caught my eye. I couldn't tell it was a hairline crack until I looked at with a magnifying glass. And no I don't look at everything with a magnifying glass, but I frequently post photos of my items edited to include arrows pointing to miniscule flaws that can't be seen except under the right light conditions. That's to tell the buyer there are flaws there that can't be seen in the photograph. It's also to protect me so the buyer can't say I didn't tell them about that teeny tiny little chip. If I can see the flaw I tell the buyer about it. I am very careful about telling my buyers about every little flaw I can find. Considering the size of the flaws I telling them about it isn't surprising I might miss one now and then. As I said the flaw I found while packing the item would likely NOT have been noticed by the buyer, particularly on an item that cost $4.99.