eBay

pinkangel92 · ‎03-22-2021

I have been selling on eBay since 2003. I'm a stay home mom so I have been selling few things here & there periodically for extra treats like nails/hair for myself & kids so I don't feel guilty. For 18 years, I have been above standard rating & can't recall having any issues with buyers until Covid. Since Covid happened, I had no choice but to sell almost everything I can. So since then, I had few issues but most not in my control.

1. Sold my daughter's perfectly working Macbook Air, & the person opened NAD saying the computer is dead when she got it but sent a claim right before 30 days is up. Even though I knew she was lying & taking advantage of the return loophole, I gave her $ back right away & when I got it back, it's working perfectly.

2. Sold bag full of my girl's clothes, shipping would have been cheaper but the lady wanted to drive 3hrs to pick up $20 item. I told her I am not comfortable due to covid, then she messaged me saying she's going to use her Magnum 45 and shoot herself if I don't let her. So I cancelled because I got scared. (eBay saw the message & didn't go on as a defect on my account on this one) So someone threatening with a gun is the only thing that eBay will not count against you.

3. Sold a piano, the person didn't pay for a few days and sent me a cancel request. Because I'm not a pro, instead of accepting his, I opened cancel saying he wanted to cancel and this went on as a defect.

4. Sold my daughters Winnie the poo, she freaked out when she saw me packing it so I had to cancel.

The buyer was super nice and understood but still went on as a defect.

5. 2 items of tops I sold, I had it listed for so long, the elastic rubber gave out so I had to cancel since I am being honest and not want to sell the defective item.

6. Sold men's cologne, he lived a couple of blocks from me so he picked up and I got a defect for not loading tracking #? How can I do that when it's a pick-up?

Now, all this was happening since March 2020 but eBay chooses to put me below standard recently, right after I sold the most expensive item since 2003. I sold a painting worth thousands for only $800. It's devasting that they took 15%. I got an email after I sold the painting, saying my selling fee MAY go up. Not, it WILL go up.

If I had known, I would have held my painting until my fees went back to normal.

The timing seems shady to me.

I can take a hit with everything else as a lesson learned.

I learned that I can't claim anything that is over 90 days old. And when I did claim a legit defect that was less than 90days old, they denied it. So everything goes against your account even it's not your fault. Except when a person threatens with a gun. (Really?)

And to top it off, I can't believe a pro seller would open NAD instead of messaging me. Sold, 21 good DVDs for only $10, claimed few were not working or had scratches. Whatever, not going to waste energy on $10. Even though it's not fair, I gave a partial refund plus shipping and that went against me too. So why does it go against me when I did what eBay told me to do?

I know some of you will say take returns but when you don't have sells that often and small $ items, it's just not worth the time and energy.

I just don't understand why eBay doesn't care about sellers at all. The time and the feedback should count for something. It just saddens me that there are so many people taking advantage of the system.

Sorry I went on and on but how long does the defect stay on your account?

banana*shoe*boutique · ‎03-22-2021

I'm not sure I understand why you got a defect for Mac return. Did you accept the return and pay shipping and refund when you got it? If yes, then there shouldn't be a defect. Plus, consider yourself lucky the actual Mac was returned and working.

Why did you get a defect on the piano? If the buyer initiated the cancel and you agreed, there should be no defect.

Was the cologne sold with "local pickup" as the shipping method? If so, then once you hand over the merchandise, you both mark as shipped/received and it's done.

Canceling for the stuffed animal and clothes was the right thing to do but those do end in defect. So those are the only ones that should be a defect.

As for how long, that depends on your number of sales. Typically it's a year but it's a percentage based on sales. Start ramping up inexpensive sales and that will help.

I seriously can't believe someone mentioned a gun!

Your feedback all looks good at least!

releasethekraken_1 · ‎03-22-2021

There shouldn't have been a defect for the Mac; buyer was refunded.

There shouldn't have been a defect for the piano; buyer's decision.

There was a defect for the stuffed animal: out of stock.

There was a defect for the clothing: out of stock.

"Out of stock" defects are about the worst thing you can get on eBay. I don't see how you can argue that your rating is either unfair or faulty.

pinkangel92 · ‎03-22-2021

I don't understand the Mac either. Gave her a full refund and paid shipping labels.

Yes, the buyer sent me the return request, and as I mentioned, unknowingly, instead of accepting his return request, I opened cancel & marked buyer requested a cancel. And still went on as a defect.

For cologne, I did not mark shipped because it wasn't shipped, I thought I would get in trouble for saying something that wasn't. I just marked paid.

Thank you for your reply and your advice. Greatly appreciate your time and caring.

pinkangel92 · ‎03-22-2021

The out of stock I will take the hit. I get how eBay sees this as a no-no. Lesson learned.

For the Mac, CD's, Piano and the Cologne should not be a defect on my part. Because of these, it put me in a below standard rating. That's why I felt it was unfair and faulty.

But thank you for letting me know that out of stock is the worst thing you can get on eBay.

pburn · ‎03-22-2021

@pinkangel92 wrote:
For cologne, I did not mark shipped because it wasn't shipped, I thought I would get in trouble for saying something that wasn't. I just marked paid.

In case you encounter a "local pickup" transaction in the future, this page will provide you with the information on how to confirm proof of pickup:

Offering local pickup

It appears several of the issues you've run into could have been avoided had you done some research concerning selling on eBay. There are a lot of resources on eBay like help pages and the knowledge/discussion boards here in the Community, as well as a number of websites available through a basic Google search. It would be to your benefit to spend some time reading up on selling on this platform.

Good luck!

luckythewinner · ‎03-22-2021

You are going to need to give us more information.

Your transaction detail report will tell you exactly which transactions are counted as having defects, and exactly what type of defects they are. There are two types of transaction defects: "case closed without seller resolution" and "canceled for out of stock".

Let's look at your six transactions:

1) MacBook Air

What type of defect were you given for this? If you did not cancel and resolved the dispute without eBay being asked to step in, you should not have gotten a defect. If this transaction is in your transaction defect report, please tell us what type of defect were you given.

2) bag full of clothes

You panicked and chose to cancel. This was not "unfair" or "faulty". If the buyer refuses to pay, you need to file an unpaid item dispute.

3) Sold a piano

You chose not accept his cancel request and instead tried to cancel it yourself. This was not "unfair" or "faulty". Blaming it on "not being a pro" is just deflecting responsibility.

4) Winnie The Pooh

You failed to complete a transaction and chose to cancel. This is not "unfair" or "undeserved".

5. defective tops

You failed to complete a transaction and chose to cancel. This is not "unfair" or "faulty". IMHO this defect arose from faulty inventory management.

6. men's cologne,

What type of defect were you given for this?

Not uploading a tracking number should not be a defect. It should simply counts against your "tracking uploaded and validated percentage". If this transaction is in your transaction defect report, please tell us what type of defect were you given.

releasethekraken_1 · ‎03-22-2021

@pinkangel92 wrote:
But thank you for letting me know that out of stock is the worst thing you can get on eBay.

Not sure if that's sarcasm, but I was stating a fact.

pinkangel92 · ‎03-22-2021

Not sarcasm, I really didn't know eBay looked at that as worst. And I was genuinely thanking you for the info. Now I am aware.

pinkangel92 · ‎03-22-2021

Wow, ok. Someone mentions she has a gun and says she's going to blow her brains out and she wants to come to my house to pick it up. I am not supposed to be alarmed?

It's fine. I feel like I just got slapped in the face for not going into every single detail and write a book here.

If this is the response, I don't need to be more upset than I am already. Another lesson learned.

What is done is done. I've learned some valuable lessons from some people already.

If someone learned something from my experience, I guess it was worth it.

Have a good day.

pinkangel92 · ‎03-23-2021

I couldn't understand why the luckythewinner was so harsh and I felt like I was being kicked while I was down. Then I looked up how much selling experience he/she had. This person is only a buyer. So now I understand.

Just want to post this for sellers who might shy away from posting here to get some knowledge and support from other sellers by looking at my post and how much I got yelled at.

First, look at who's commenting. If they are sellers or buyers. How much transaction he/she has.

If I did this yesterday, I wouldn't have felt worse than before I post it, wouldn't have lost some sleep, and wouldn't have taken it to heart if someone seems to judge you without knowing all the facts.

Another lesson learned.

I'm not crying a river here about covid, but when you go through some life-changing situations, a person can get a little more sensitive than usual. But from my experience in life, there are more compassionate people than rude people so don't shy away from getting support here.

eBay should have seperate forums for buyers and sellers. That way, it would be more for support and a productive learning experience for sellers and buyers. That way people are not getting reprimanded by a buyer who doesn't have any selling experience and vise versa.

(And yes I know, read, all the time on rules and regulations, constant changing updates, and check your status often)

luvs_shera · ‎10-17-2023

I know this is an older post, but I feel your pain as a small time home seller. We are the ones who built ebay and now they are crapping on us with algorithms that don't have brains to look into circumstances! Now ebay is taken over by foreign high volume sellers who break ebay rules all the time on listing practices and sell knockoffs using copied pictures. But they have rooms full of cheap labor to create hundreds of listings of the same thing under false descriptive words ie new horse tack from india being sold with used in the title as just one example. I don't have time to read through the volumes of listing rules to figure out how to cheat the algorithms back into good ratings. I have a busy life and this was a part time way to make extra money like you. I too have been a long time ebay seller that maintained above standard ratings for decades until this summer I couldn't keep up with stuff selling locally and on ebay simultaneously ugh. Sits there forever then suddleny, sells multiple places. crazy. One sale I canceled because buyer had numerous bad reviews about fruadulant practices buying dolls, canibilizing them and returning them. But I get penalized. I think ebay is basically telling us small time folks to leave. But like I told operator, I won't buy on ebay if it's just mass cheap foreign sellers. I want quality items, not cheap knock offs.

ebooksdiva · ‎10-17-2023

This thread is over 2 yrs old.

kh-vince · ‎10-17-2023

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.