ksdaddy Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 A week a go I sold a guitar on ebay. Not very expensive, $155. It was something that came in on trade and I did a cursory tweak of the truss rod, saddle tweaks, a damp cloth, and out the door it went. It arrived and the buyer emailed me, pointing out a small pin hole in the fingerboard. He had no clue what might have caused it and I hadn't even seen it. He was just pointing it out, not really complaining. I said I had no clue what he was talking about but send it back, it's not a big deal. I'll fix it and relist it, no sweat! He thought about it and decided to send it back, and we agreed he would pay the return shipping. So he boxed it back up and went through ebay and "requested a return", which I was then notified of, and was given several action choices by ebay. Choice #1: Accept the return. You'll pay for return shipping and can send our return label or send your own. Wait to get the item back before you refund the buyer. Choice #2: Refund the buyer. The buyer will keep the item, and you can fully refund the buyer to close this request. Choice #3: Offer a partial refund. The buyer will keep the item, and you have one chance to offer an amount. Choice #4: Send a message. You can reply to the buyer. The closest "choice" is #1 but it still forces me to cover return shipping, which is not a typical scenario (not unheard of, just not typical). We both agreed that he would pay for the return shipping and I would refund his INITIAL shipping, which is not typical. I feel I've gone over and above what would be expected of me as a "good" seller by both readily accepting the return (try that on craigslist or a yard sale) and also refunding his shipping. He's happy with the deal. So what I proposed is that once it's returned, I'll choose Choice #2. It's a tiny bit of a lie but the end result is that the buyer and I will be able to do what WE agreed upon and ebay keeps their noses out of it, other than refunding my seller fees. I'm sure there have been many shady deals on ebay over the years but I pride myself in not being one of those guys. Trouble is, ebay trusts NO ONE and they seem to want to instill that sense of mistrust in potential bidders by basically telling them, "You can return this item for any reason and we've got your back". And not only THAT, the time window is some crazy number like 45 or 60 days. I get emails from ebay at least twice a week claiming how they protect their sellers. I haven't seen any evidence of it yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I just went through a bunch of BS with Ebay over a transaction too. I bought a zoom lens for my Nikon with "Buy it Now" and paid for it. The seller told me his account was locked and he had no intention of sending the lens because he couldn't access the money I sent him. When I went to file this with Ebay the only option that I could pick was "Item not received". When I tried to choose this I was not allowed because I had not given the item enough time to arrive in shipping. Eventually I called the help line and my money was fully refunded but it took over two weeks. The new streamlined and automated system is too simple and does not allow for all the issues that pop up between seller and buyer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 And it doesn't help that the customer support is ESL (English as a Second Language) and most of the time they have no authority to make any changes, just to read off computer screen trees and hope they "resolve the issue". At least this guy took the direct approach and we worked together, they way it SHOULD be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flight959 Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Ebay is RUBBISH. I HATE Paypal... I use Amazon for most of my online purchases. 😃 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Every time I try to use EBAY, both selling and buying, just never been a great experience. I think selling is the worse, you can't make some people happy. no matter how hard you try, they just try to suck the life out of you. One of my friends is on it all the time, has some bad deals but mostly, it works out ok for him. Then again, he's bottom feeding most of the time horse trading gear for never more than 250 bucks. for me, it's just not worth the aggravation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I've been buying and selling on Ebay for 15 years. I've only really had two issues that took any real effort to resolve. One as a buyer and one as a seller. I just bought enough parts to totally rebuild a 1995 Jazzy electric wheelchair. Can;t buy those on Amazon. Don't know what I'd do without ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 The guy decided to keep the guitar and fix it himself. That's cool too. I gave him some tips on wood dust, super glue, and a flat file. It's a 10 minute fix, really. Still, I'd rather deal directly with a customer than get evilBay involved. They suck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I've been noticing for a while now that eBay like to give me a list of options, none of which are quite right. Companies all over ask me to choose from a list of options which aren't quite right, whatever happened to "and for anything else press x"? They've all done away with it. And what's with limiting characters all over the place, I'm trying to fill in a support form, giving all the info I can, but they don't want it all? It's the information age and companies all round the world are trying to force us to conform to what they think all situations should fit within. It enfuriates me. It's part of a wider phenomenon where influencing behavior is being taken too far. A case in point, just before we moved our favourite supermarket fitted all the trolleys with those silly £ coin things. They were pushing me to return my trolley to the trolley park. This was an inconvenience. You always have to make sure you've got a £ coin which often means stopping en route to get cash from the bank and then get change, and when you realise you havent got a £ coin when you get there it's a nightmare, but it saved them a few quid in collecting trolleys. I decided to employ my own behavioral influence technique to push back. Instead of neatly pushing my trolley into line so it would tessellate with the one in front to reach the chain and retrieve my £ coin, I would line my trolley up the wrong way so that it's handle was up against the handle of the next one, then reach all the way over it and grab the front. With my foot on the back I'd yank the front and pop the handle up to it was on top of the next trolley's handle and push the chain into the coin receptacle, chaining the trolleys together with one off the ground. Of course, the coin is returned as normal. Now the entire line of trollies is out of service until someone lies the whole row on the ground and undoes my handiwork which will take at least 2 or 3 people. I should imagine this had quite a cost impact on them. They hadn't changed things when we moved but I bet getting rid of the chains had come up in meetings as a result of what I was doing. Another case in point. Marks and Spencer's starting charging for bags at a local petrol station. I started returning them under the statutory warranty when they failed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I've been buying and selling on Ebay for 15 years. I've only really had two issues that took any real effort to resolve. One as a buyer and one as a seller. I just bought enough parts to totally rebuild a 1995 Jazzy electric wheelchair. Can;t buy those on Amazon. Don't know what I'd do without ebay. I think Clint, for me, I just don't do enough on EBAY to have any appreciation of it. and it would figure that the few times I did try to sell on there, I wound up dealing with a couple of loons. one was a camera lens that cost me close to 400 20+ years ago, and I got sort of bad feedback cuz the buyer -- who paid me a whopping 75 dollars for it -- said he noticed gassing in the elements, and I didn't tell him about it.. wtf? I didn't know.. hadn't used it in over 7 years, and wouldn't know what to look for in the first place,, and it was advertised with AS IS. The one time I bought on there, the guys pay pal account wasn't working right and he pinged my for paying slow,, I sent the paypal the day I bought it. So I decided I'd Color The Kid Done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaiser Bill Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Just another reason NOT to deal with them. JMHO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4Hayden Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Trouble is, ebay trusts NO ONE and they seem to want to instill that sense of mistrust in potential bidders by basically telling them. I used to sell on Ebay and I would get Emails saying you can list up to X number of items "FREE" So through said Email I listed some guitars,I sold two and got charged for the listing of all of them , plus "FEES" charge for selling. I don't do Ebay any more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I sold our camera on eBay recently, the guy interested asked me if the battery compartment door was broken, I said no because the door worked perfectly for me and I opened and closed the camera battery door several times during the process of posting it and packing it to remove batteries, memory card accessible through the same door, I tested the camera, everything was fine. Then I received a return request, the guy indicated the camera battery door was faulty, he never gave any details, I asked him what specifically was wrong with the door, he did not say but he was super-pissed accusing me of trying to scam him, he poited out I did not post any pictures of the battery door, I told him I did not have to, I am not sure a picture would show damage that did not exist. He was super-pissed, told me he would send me pictures of the damage that he had not described still, "faulty battery door" was it, he said it was common issue with these camera model. Next day no pictures yet, I was more curious than anything to see the damage (it did not happen in shipping) I refunded the full amount including shipping, never received the pictures of the damage, then I received that eBay e-mail saying that they protected my seller account...I got scammed that's what happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the dog Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I sold some machinery for a good sum on e-bay...it took thirty days before the money would clear....the buyer raved how good of a deal 2 days later and would buy from me again....it didn't matter to PayPal that the buyer was very happy.....their policy 30 days hold on funds...I was so mucking mad...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 Sometimes you need to call their bluff though. A couple years ago I sold an accordion to a guy in Korea. It was some crazy dollar amount to ship, like $100 or $150 on a $150 accordion. He wrote, claiming there was (unspecified) damage and that he would need to get an estimate from a repair shop. The repair "estimate" was for $300 (according to HIM; I never saw it). I said, "send it back". No response. The time limit was 45 days I think. On about Day 41 he put in a claim that it had been damaged in shipping and that he wanted a full refund. I replied (through eBay's system) "send it back for a full refund". I then got an email saying he'd settle for $100. No, I replied. Send it back. I then got another offer to settle for $50. No, I replied. Send it back. End of saga. Never heard from him again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 In my case this guy was so pissed that I did not want to deal with it, I called his bluff by asking him for pictures and well, I really wanted to see what the issue was. I told him I am a tinkerer at heart you better believe that if I had a camera with a broken door I would figure out a way to fix it to begin with. Why in hell would I sell a camera that has a broken part? I still think I got taken for a ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejay Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 I have had my issues with eBay over the years due to people buying and selling dishonestly I got fed up with them. I use reverb a lot now and the forums ebay also takes a good 10% to sell a guitar, its crazy... forget them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 I have had my issues with eBay over the years due to people buying and selling dishonestly I got fed up with them. I use reverb a lot now and the forums ebay also takes a good 10% to sell a guitar, its crazy... forget them Yea Ebay take 10% but the guys on Reverb and Craigslist always seem to want full retail price for their gear. I never pay retail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryUK Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 I'm having a problem now on eBay. I've won a guitar and want to pay cash on collection. I've emailed the seller numerous times for the address and they ignore me. So as a test I asked if they wanted me to pay by Paypal. They instantly replied 'yes'. So I asked straight away for a collection address and I've not heard off them since. I tried to mail eBay, but there wasn't any way of doing it. So I called them. The person was helpful and said just give them negative feedback and forget it. But before I've had a chance, the seller has opened an unpaid item case against me. Luckily I could reply to that and they see my point. What a load of hassle because (I believe) the seller wanted more for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 The thing is, on ebay, the transaction is between you and the other guy, not between you and ebay. They make you and the other guy work it out. What's ebay gonna do? If some creep in Nigeria with 80% feedback steals you blind, there's nothing you can do except realize that's the cost of doing business and go on from there. When you sell something on ebay, you're vulnerable. I've done like $35,000 of business on ebay and I've only been "screwed" once for about $100.00. I was peeved but I got over it. Whaddya gonna do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimi Mac Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 While I've had exceptionally good luck on eBay, I see the potential for meltdown scenarios that totally screw the seller and even the buyer alike that get you totally trapped in the red-tape of "likely" scenarios they've addressed yet don't address real life dynamic situations that happen every day too... My biggest item; "Blue" (the 2004 Gibson Les Paul Standard Limited Edition in Manhattan Midnight Blue w/Ebony fretboard) actually sold on Reverb.com and not eBay. It turns out it went to a guy that is a member here, although not particularly active in here, he has posted on occasion. His girlfriend actually purchased it as a gift for him on his birthday. The transaction was flawless! I actually love PayPal and have had the very best of luck with it! Reverb.com works with PayPal and they aren't anywhere near as totalitarian as eBay. They also offer a middle-man option of accepting credit card payments for you and transferring into an account if you don't want to utilize PayPal. eBay now actually got on the government's draconian and fascist wood material regulation bandwagon acid-trip and it is affecting guitars that you list "Ebony" and "Mahogany" in the description! Be forewarned they (eBay) are another tendril of the long arm of the fascist make-up-the-laws-as-you-go Jack-Boots that allowed Fedzilla to pull an automatic weapons armed raid on Gibson factory workers simply while doing their jobs on a work-weekday... I fear it is eventually going to lead to confiscation of Gibson guitars (especially) in transaction claiming some sort of phony required tarrif payment receipt or some other nonsensical BS scam alluding to some fraudulent claims on reasons that we cannot provide proof that the wood the guitars we're selling/buying weren't manufactured following the false claims of regulations that don't really exist upon some element of pre-finishing performed by the country of origin of the wood used in the manufacture of that guitar... Clearly this cannot ever be proved as there is no such documentation ever with any guitar that will ever satisfy such a claim. But I fear such may be coming down the road. My listing on eBay for "Blue" got some late-in-the-listing flag of shipping prohibition and the commerce of eBay would not allow for an international sale or shipping of my item to go outside of The USA... That made my blood run cold as no such thing popped-up when my listing was first accepted onto eBay, but came up later in the process when I updated some photos showing a better close-up of a couple of the dings on that guitar which I was completely up-front about in the description and I was also addressing questions on the weight of the guitar and adding that information to the description... All of a sudden international sales were prohibited on my guitar... Reverb.com had zero such Draconian/Fascist regulatory claims on the free-trade of my private sale... I've refrained from listing the Line-6 rig I'm now selling on eBay so far as I just don't trust their duplicitous collusion with this corrupt over-reaching government administration which is completely out-of-control! Both the current administration and eBay are operating outside of the bounds of their real legal or constitutional authority, it's gettin' more than a little scary! I'm only listing that Line-6 rig on Reverb.com now... (it can be found in the Trading Post forum here too) Having said all that. I still cruise eBay, maintain my membership and account, and I suspect I'll still use it, but I'm also very wary and anything that is critical that I could lose-out on and find myself in a bad way over I'll not be processing in the eBay realm... If I'm not mistaken the same folks behind eBay now own PayPal too, so it's probably comin' there next... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveFord Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Are you saying eBay changed your listing from Ships Worldwide to Ships to the United States only? I just did an eBay search for Gibson with Ebony Fretboard and there's a whole bunch of them that say Ships Worldwide. Exactly what did eBay do to your listing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimi Mac Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Are you saying eBay changed your listing from Ships Worldwide to Ships to the United States only? I just did an eBay search for Gibson with Ebony Fretboard and there's a whole bunch of them that say Ships Worldwide. Exactly what did eBay do to your listing? In the middle of the editing process I found a prohibition on shipping outside of The US on my guitar. It made some specific claims of "controlled" wood product or species... I am not a power-seller, not an ebay preferred member, and I'm not signed onto any kind of business account that I pay eBay a fee (bribe) to do business more freely and without their harassment on their site. They only take the basic bottom-line percentage of the sale for themselves, I am not subscribed to any other of their fee-for-account classifications... I suspect if you agree to other more complete control on the part of eBay over your account in higher forms of commerce and "agree-to" their terms you don't get hit with such prohibitions. I'm also a guy that speaks my mind openly against such fascism and the unAmerican exploits of this administration. My login w/eBay is also a gmail Id that is connected thru Google which as we all know have proprietary censoring and post/conversation/communications tracking and analysis that goes on constantly. This is not paranoid speculation, this is fact and public/open information, and they weren't even slapped on the hand when it was revealed that they have records of all communications in private emails and even their interests in cell companies and cell phone communications too. I have no doubt for some of my outspoken comments around the world wide web that my Id may well have been flagged to the controlling entities because I simply click on "I agree to terms" without ever reading them because if I, like so many millions of people, want to use the service, I have no choice but to agree or I'm blocked from access to these commonplace everyday services that have become nearly vital in every day life... I suspect other higher classification accounts don't see such prohibitions or if I made a new account with a different email address not associated to an Id that has been open in my opposition to the wrong-headed ideology of this administration and its unAmerican exploits and not part of eBay, Google, Verizon, or any of the other major players that are working hand-in-hand with The US Government to regulate and control the freedoms of these communications technologies that we frequent daily, that prohibition probably would not have happened on my listing. Either in combination with my level of (not paying more for bigger and better services) account may also have something directly to do with the appearance of that prohibition... I'm sure I've done it to myself by simply speaking my mind with my God-given American liberty and not bowing and beholdin' to Da-man... (read; politidal party/ideology) And using the same accounts identification or simply my account isn't classified high enough by not paying more to them for more selling/buying options probably has just as much to do with it... It could also be a combination of the two... Something flagged my listing for the same things I see on untold numbers of other listings the appears to go unflagged and unprohibited on those listings for some reason that I cannot explain... Am I being paranoid??? I really don't think so, but I'm also not losing any sleep over it. I don't find it particularly surprising, or at least not unexpected knowing what's been reported about eBay, PayPal, Google, Verizon, The US DOJ, The US IRS, Et Al... It all boils down to $, if they ain't gettin' their cut or you oppose their machinations for employing new and/or compounding taxes/feels/levies on every piece of commerce for anything in every facet of every transaction... If you don't see it comin' then you simply ain't payin' attention... Clearly, as those have witnessed even here in a guitar board, I've been openly political in my communications. Prior to this current era and place I've been openly political in openly political arenas and forums and I've always stood behind my words with my name. It's the character I believe in exercising and the way I was brought up. I ain't gonna say somethin' unless I'm man enough to attach my name to it... Even my forum handle is not much anonymity to my name... Jimi Mac = Jim McCullough... Not really hidin' anythin' there... (just puttin' a guitar spin on it for Jimi Hendrix & Peter Green's original Fleetwood Mac) It is what it is... I found it telling, annoying and offensive to the sensitivities of my American liberties, and a little unnerving, but not unexpected... I cannot explain the prohibition on my listing in any documented conclusive way. I can only speculate to the best of my ability based upon what I know from information I've gathered whether clearly evidential or not... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveFord Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 That's not good at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturn Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Go on eBay's Discussion Boards for Sellers. It's page after page of unhappy eBay Sellers who have been using the site for years but who hate their policies more and more with every "update". Still for now there is no real viable competitor or alternate option so they stay. But IMO one will eventually present itself and there will be a huge migration away from eBay. I honestly don't think they care though. The most blatant finger in the eye of sellers IMO has been the adoption of including Shipping Fees as part of the percentage of Final Value Fee. I know this was a reaction to some scammy Sellers who would sell a $100 item for .99 cents but charge $99 Shipping to avoid paying eBay fees. But they try to frame it as a service to encourage more Free Shipping. If you do use Free Shipping you just have to build the cost into your listing or lose money. The only way it can ever work a little in your favor is if a Buyer makes several purchases from you and you can combine Shipping, but that is rare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimt Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Ebay does not care about sellers, or Buyers.. just what they bring in money wize.. those options of? are really Not good options.. but sometimes they do work when dealings get tough.. they have there greedy hands out for everything including that crappy GSP .. theres another thing that chaps me.. they will refuse guitars for shipping. even though you set that program up.. so worried about certain woods that have no bearing on being illegal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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