Ebay Double Standards

[mikescustomlumber]

   I remember the days of C.O.D.s (Cash On Deliveries) either mail orders or speacial orders. There are times I really miss the Western Auto days. With all the advent of the internet, Ebay, Amazon, Pay Pals  and simulare companies alot has changed not all for the good. Here is a pet peve:

  When we buy a product today we pay before it is even sent to us.  Lets face it  Ebay  over charges for thier service and Pay Pal overcharges for thiers. Sellers complain becuase they have to jack up their prices to cover the fees but the bottom line is the Buyers generally pick up the tab long before they recieve their items. Not saying this is bad within itself, but a buyer never really knows what he is getting, It is common place for a seller not to be familure with the products they sell (dop shippers for example. There are alot of deceptive listing practises on Ebay Iv'e seen intentional and unintentional. But for me there realy is no difference the results are the same. Buyers have to box them back up and ship them back, No matter how much reserch you do, and only 1 in 3 sellers will answer questions. I get it they are busythis is good but also sad. Sad becuase this limets a Buyer resources & options. Lets not forget the convienance and all the time this saves the buyer. The short of it is there are no answers there are diceptive listings the truth is Ebay has become a **bleep** shoot You never know what you are going to get. And you pay for upfront, you have wasted you time reseaching, the product and Sellers before even choosing your product. 

  Now just so you know how this adds up I'd say 1 in 6-10 products are broken in shipping, or not as described. And I'd say 1 in 5 (depending on how much time I have to reseach sellers) have transparencey issues that add other unseen charges that need to be addressed. Thank goodness Ebay & Pay Pal has changed the delivery platform to include maditory Taxes that took alot of time to sort out which tax went with which purchase. 

 Remember this is supposed to save time and money as well as be convienant. Unfortunatly it is all but this, There are great sellers out there who work hard, I know it's hard and when you go the extra mile it saves me time and money which also save you money and time. You guys and gals get it very warm cudos to you. 

  Here is one thing that really gets under my skin though. I pay upfront and I'm asked to trust the seller to deliver and my money is in limbo till the package arrives.

I had big purchases that tied up significant funds. I needed the parts to keep my business running. After I paid the seller marked the parts as shipped so I thought nothing of for about a week and I contacted the seller who said the parts were shipped after another week I contacted the shipper who told me the label was created but no request was made to pick up the parts. I immediatly filed a claim and reordered the Parts I needed from a second seller. The seller just flat out lied my parts were never shipped, my business was at a stand still for 2 weeks up to then and it took another week and a half to reorder the part and get them before icould state work again. The extra two week delay cost me thousdands of $$. To this verey day this is the only negative feed back I've ever given a seller and Ebay deleted my feedback because the seller complained, No it wasnt a good feed back but it honest not nasty. This seller lied and that lie cost me thousands of dollars. Sellers like this don't belong on ebay.  I can understand hardships and **bleep** happens but purposly lying??? I should be able to trust a seller who says they shipped their products. This made matters worse than they allready were. And the community needed to know the risk before doing business with this seller, It was wrong for ebay to retract my Feedback because the seller didn't like If they didn't like they shouldn't have lied thats why the got it, if you cant or haven't sent it just tell me so I can get the parts comming. 

  Its just not right that I pay upfront wait for the product to arrive, and for whatever reason I have to send it back I have to wait till it arrives back to the seller before I get a refund. This sucks no matter how you slice it. I suppose there are buyers who intentionally rip sellers off (send empty boxes back etc..), just like there are sellers who take your money and never send the product. 

  If I have taken the time to repackage a product print a labeland ship it back , I should get a refund when the pachage tracking show that it is recieved by the Carrier. This is a double standard and is wrong it sends the message that a buyer can't be trusted. I work hard as a buyer to make Ebay a better place. I don't rip people off, I just want what I pay for.

Before I stop this I want to tell about one case In which I lost after shipping an item back.

 Its been 3 or 4 years, But this item was purchased from china. But when it arrived a glass tube that housed a senser was broken. It gave false reading. this was not a cheap unit but considerably cheaper than buying in the U.S. 

  I contacted Ebay and was told to send it back with a tracking # and once I had a tracking # Ebay would cover the return shipping and the seller once it arrived would give me a refund (at this time a seller had to send a return label or the buyer had to pay for it, since it arrived broken I did not I should have to pay the return shipping, Ebay Rep Agreed). I did exactly as they told me to do and sent it directly from the local post office. However No one told me I had to get international tracking to track the package overseas. so the return package was only trackable with in the U.S. Boarders. International tacking would have cost an extra $40.00. Now my package was trackable from my Post Office to the overseas Shipping Carrier, but fro there it couldnt be tracked. It was obviouse that I had shipped the package it was recieved and it left6 U.S. soil. where it went from there was questionable. None the less I was was place at the sellers mercy, when they recieved it they could refund my money and Ebay would reinbuse me for shipping. Never the less the seller claimed that they never recieved the package, My guess is shipping department got it but because there was no drop off signature it got lost in the Shipping Dept and the Sales Dept never knew it, I would like to believe this was the case. So heres the deal I lost the item, the money it cost me for the item and the return shipping cost. Ebay position was they had no proof of delivery even though they had proof that it left the U.S. by the time it was said and over I had lost close to $200.00. This much I do know Ebay now has return Printing Labels bit I highly doubt they would pay $40.00 for international shipping. I have shared the above stories becuase they are true, They are the worst of my transactions but not the only ones, and should never have happened. But  they taint my experiences on Ebay 

  I write this because I have a new case open where I have to wait again for my money to be returned for an item that was listed incorrectly. The seller has updated their listing but C.S. was not aware of the changes in the listing. and they are being coopertive. I have all ready ordered another simulare product, but the idea the Double Standard is just not right. 

[aquajoe07011]

Only a fool would pay for something and not know what they are going to get  There are photos and descriptions of items on eBay.

[mikescustomlumber]

    "Only a fool would pay for something and not know what they are going to get  There are photos and descriptions of items on eBay."

  You should read before you make assumptions. I buy nothing with out research. 

   You were a bit off topic, but while we are here not all sellers are as great as you 🙂 Some make claims about their products that aren't true and you should know that even pics are stock photos and can be misleading. And many Drop Shippers never see what they sell, so they post stock photos and discriptions. listings are not clear or lack techinical data, thats is one of my complaints, because I am careful about small print and details. It is just as much a waste of my time as it is yours if you sent me a product that doesn't do what your listing says it will. 

I don't like wasting my time!

  My rant was not against sellers it's against Ebay Policy and double standards.

[ed8108]

You stated " I don't like wasting my Time! "

Yes, Time when wasted, can't be recovered, it's wise to place a dollar value on time.

[lja440]

Your post was quite the ramble, but here are some points.

#1 COD's are a PITA. As a mail carrier I take maybe 30 seconds to scan and deliver a package, 2 minutes tops if I need a signature. A COD, I need to now, explain what I have and then wait while they ask hubby, wife for money, check the couch cushions, ect. Or I have to make change meaning I have to dig out my purse and hope I have the change. It can take a LONG FREAKING TIME.

#2 I have no idea what Western Auto is or was.

#3 Avoid drop shippers then you will have no problem with them.

#4 If you are buying cheep knock off parts from China then I do not want you working on my, whatever you are fixing. 

#5  I don't have to box things up to ship back because I do my homework before hand. If they wont answer questions I do not buy from them.

#6  As to the overcharges for services. I buy and sell here on eBay, I also buy and sell on Facebook Marketplace, and I buy and sell at my B&M. FM has no fees, but has the most headaches by far with cash and meet ups, and no shows. The B&M has much higher fees, for my space I pay $400 a month and the shop takes 10% of sales. The fact is when you choose to buy or sell you are going to have to deal with something, it's part of life.

[carmart_710076]

If you need items by a certain due date, DONT BUY ONLINE.

[mikescustomlumber]

"Only a fool would pay for something and not know what they are going to get  There are photos and descriptions of items on eBay".

 Can't believe you even went there! Only a fool would post such a reply.

Not to mention you're off topic.

With all the misleading listings, you say this? I do allot of research Really! (sometime hours before buying) . 

 Everyone buys somethings that don't work or is broken when they recieve it, or has someother issue. Are you saying you have never returned an item. even a Walmart, or local store purchase? Really I believe you just called not only yourself a fool but every one else here on Ebay as well.

  A sad shallow and unthinking comment.    

[coco9619]

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@mikescustomlumber wrote:

I remember the days of C.O.D.s (Cash On Deliveries) either mail orders or speacial orders. There are times I really miss the Western Auto days.

---

Chuckle. The first 2 sentences already seem that you mis-remember. It's Collect On Delivery. And the third sentence belies that you don't mean Western Auto.

[mikescustomlumber]

Ija440

I know it’s been a while since I posted this and I thought I would ignore your comments but your assumptions are a bit distasteful and judgmental. I really didn’t want to play your game, Now I’m not a great poker player but I can see you’re  not holding Aces and you don’t have a straight flush, so I’m calling  your bluff.

I know you are young and are from the entitlement Generation, because of your speech and not knowing about Western Auto Days (which by the way was all about buying American), so I’ll try to be patient with you.

#1 I didn’t say COD was better I only pointed out we paid when we got the item not before my so called rant was against the double standard. If a seller gets paid before shipping, then if a buyer shows proof of shipping he should at least get paid. I admit my situation where the seller did not sign for the return and because the tracking stopped at the US border the return couldn’t be verified, In this case the seller either intentionally lied or the shipping department didn’t communicate the return. This was a unique situation.

#2 No need to comment on Western Auto.

#3 You can’t avoid drop shippers, They don’t tell you they are drop shippers for one, and I have nothing against drop shipping. More products are available because of DS. But Item spacifics are limited as the DS only has info that the manufacture gives them and most won’t waste time to answer questions although some will. That’s the nature of the beast! Sometimes they will actually tell you to contact the manufacturer for info which is funny (stupid) because they don’t provide contact info. As I said sometimes I need item specifics such as electronics there’s much more to electronics that you really don’t understand, judging from your comment #4.

#4 You really have no clue as to what you are saying or implying here, You have no clue about the quality of work I do the amount of research I do to get the best components for my projects. (1) I don’t buy cheap knock off parts I buy the ones that do what I need them to do (price really has nothing to do with it for me it’s availability and unfortunately the majority of electronic components are made outside America. Some may be available in the U.S. but they are the same product and if I’m in no hurry I will buy Foreign Products, this allows me to put more food on my children’s table). Which are American so I do support America. (2) If you own any appliances or electronics computers, phones, stereos, ect.. you are subject to these so called knock off parts (open any of these up and I’ll guarantee the parts come from overseas regardless if the say made in America or not). These days made in America at the most means assembled in America, and or US supported or parts available in the U.S. It does not always mean Made In America. And I don’t fix, I build, fabricate, make and create. And I don’t care what you think of what I am doing, but to judge without knowing is probably goes against everything you defend except when it comes to you personally. For example freedom of worship to you probably evolves taking away someone else’s rights (this means you would rather force someone to conform to what you want rather than allowing them the same freedom you demand for yourself). I should be forced to eat strawberry ice cream even if I don’t like just because you like it. Most people call this hypocrisy. I call it Communism.

#5 Implies I don’t do my research! And everything you ever buy is perfect! Really either you are exaggerating or you never buy anything or you would rather throw something away rather than returning it. The simple truth is no matter how careful or how much research you do there are simply too many variables, for this kind of perfection. Items get broken in shipping (see my reference, I did repurchase the same meter from a different seller (china) and it still works great oops there goes your knock off theory). Often a seller misrepresents the item, and sometimes I  don’t do enough investigation or I miscalculate It happens I’m human, I don’t send these items back if it’s a result of my error unless it has been arranged with the seller beforehand if questions couldn’t be answered typically But I don’t make a habit of returning items or complaining unless the item doesn’t perform as claimed in the listing. Your assumptions are not fact based.

#6  You are absolutely spot on with this comment, Ebay is not my only options to buy As I said I do my research, I don’t play guessing games, and I want to know what I buy. Amazon, Marketplace, CL, Let Go, even online Walmart, Home Depot and many others, There are too many options to list, Ebay is not the only platform to shop and sell from and to be honest I think they are over charging sellers to list items. Ebay needs to change and adapt they are not the only game in town and neither is Amazon. Like Kmart, Sears, Payless, who failed to adapt or were too slow in doing so they will ago down.

 Ebay doesn’t get half the business from me that they have in the past I have moved on not saying I don’t pop in to take a look once in awhile, We must keep the competition honest.    

[mikescustomlumber]

 COCO

   I think you are cooco for Coca Puffs! 

   Although you just might be right, It has been a long time since the C.O.D.s  I'm getting old and outdated and unfortunatly so are my memories! 🙂 But I do remember having to round up money while someone was waiting at the door. Yes we have a better system now.   

  And I indeed do mean Western Auto (70s 80s) I was a young man then. It may not have been a nation wide store. but they had everything from household items to guns (bought my first one there) metal, auto parts, pluming, electrical.

it was like shoping at Walmart, Home Depot, and North 40 in one stop, not so mauch for food but at that time I really didn't care much for food anyways. Western Auto was a fabricators delight if they didn't have it they could get it.  

  My goal isn't to create strife or discontent by my posting, If I see something that could be improved, I say so. Not sure if there is a better way to handle returns. but being old school honor and integrity means something to me. It just feels lopsided.  I did everything Ebay told me to do. I can gareentee the China Seller didn't have to pay an extra $40 for International Tracking.  I had a bad experience it's clear that I got scrwed by Ebays direction and policy and somehow It's my fault. I don't get it. Some how its become the normal standard to lie, rob, and kill and somehow the victem is stupid and is responcible for expecting honor and integrity. My word is the only thing I can stand behind if my word means nothing then I stand for nothing. I have lived long enough to see a nation that would die before dishonor. I don't say that all people do these things but it is sad to see a whole generation that think they are entittled to what some one else has just because they want it. They have no dignaty and are willing to lie, cheat and steal as opposed to work to get ahead. if this is the new norm I am fearful of what it will be like in 20 years. There will be no law every man to his self. I'd have never believed it had I not seen it .

[mikescustomlumber]

  Carmart

Carmart
Unreasonable. Look for most stuff this holds true. if you need a mop, dish pan etc.... But you can't find a PC controler, fan, voltage controler, temp controler etc... at your local Walmart. Really why do you assume that I am looking for a cheap mop online?? 🙂
I am not an unreasonable guy. If I didn't buy online I couldn't get the parts I need. It's not about Due Dates it's about reasonable ETAs I don't complain about small stuff (a day or two) I complain about unreasonable delays and common problems. Like ordering things paying for them and they never arrive, not often but there sre times I have to file a complaint just to get a seller to respond all this time they have my money tied up, I still have reorder but I shouldn't have to, why is this my problem I've paid money for the hassel???? Really??? Is this ok just because you are a seller?? I'm the buyer you want to sell to, If you are honest, I don't make waves I don't leave negative feed back. But I am also a buyer that will not tolorate disrespect, I want what I pay for even if it is a mop! Are you saying because it is available in a local store that I cant buy it online? Really? if you tell me it will be here in 10 days and it doesn't get here for 20 that it's my fault because I am shopping online? Double Standard! You have your money wheres my mop??? I am glad for Buyer protection from sellers with that metality, if they don't understand why that would be upsetting then they shouldn't be selling on ebay. Sellers don't have the right to misrepresent items and they don't have the right to delay shipping and then act like it's my fault, What planet are you from? Not one Seller has ever had to hit me up for money, never a reminder because I pay immediatly. "If you need items by a certain due date, DONT BUY ONLINE" is a cop out. and an excuse for a seller not to do their best to make sure a buyer gets their item on time. All I ask is for a seller to be as honest and resonable, I'm not a jerk, but if the item doesnt arrive on time and tracking info is not available I will send a message after all I do eventually want my item! I get it Selling is not easy, I know your challenges (at least somewhat) that why I refuse to sell out here, I know buyers are often unreasonable but don't mistake me for one of them, I do respect you sellers, Look at my Feed back for sellers. If I don't like a transaction and I don't have anything good to say I simply won't say anything, I refuse to be a part of the problem, and I don't want to hurt someones ability to make a living. I prefure to send a private message about my complaints. Its not perfect and Sellers complain about buyers, I'm not going to lie to you I've had my share of disputes I would rather not have had the hassel but just like there are dedbeat buyers there are deadbeat sellers. It is what it is but we do the best we can.

[lja440]

LOL Young and entitled.

I am 60 years old and have worked for everything I have. I have basically cared for myself since I was 7 when my Mom passed.  My father, a good guy had some demons and a heart condition. He served in WW2 on the Indianapolis, he was removed from the ship with his first heart attack right before the ships last trip. He lost a lot of friends, he turned to drinking. Between his heart, the drinking and the inability to find reliable child care I was sent at 10 years old to a boarding school run by the Moose. I pretty much got 3 hots and a cot and a passable education. On graduation I got enough cash to get me back to Ohio. 

Tossed back to my family, my Dad and my widowed Aunt were managing a couple apartment buildings so I learned the joys of getting woke up by a 2 am phone call to unclog a toilet and doing repairs between tennets. 

I live comfortably now but still remember the days when there would be only around $50 for a months grocery's for our family of 4. 

As for your post that you can't help but buy from China. That is not what I said I said buy JUNK from China. I don't buy anything of any importance without research. I check reveiws both for the item and the seller. (FYI there is a lot of American made JUNK too). And yesI avoid drop shippers when I can, and yes this can be hard.

[johnrj1226]

@mikescustomlumber 

A '44 model here. For your  info I recall buying  products from Western Auto that were made in Japan.  The largest item I purchased when I was 14 was a  Japanese (Mitsubishi) made motor scooter called a Silver Pigeon, paid $250 + tax.  The same scooter was sold by Montgomery Wards under the Riverside label. - a friend of mine had one.

[mikescustomlumber]

  John I am sure that Western Auto items from Japan. I am glad you remember I was beginning to think I was the only one who knew about Western Auto. Things were alot simpler those days. 

[mikescustomlumber]

    Ija

 No roads are easy traveling, I've been on some pretty rough ones myself. And my travels aren't over yet. Right behind you in age, I don't consider that to be bragging rights. LOL