Monday, July 30, 2012

Yossi's Guest Post


Hello to all the readers of this blog. So apparently I said I would write a guest post about the joys of selling on eBay, so here is. I haven’t had much experience in blog writing although when I was at college studying Media Production I kept a running blog of the goings on at college. This can be found here although it hasn’t been updated in over a year.

Since this post is all about eBay I would like to extend a special 10% discount offer to the readers of this blog. Click here and here to access my eBay stores and once you find the item you like, put the code ‘TRS10” in the notes section when checking out and I will refund 10% back to your PayPal account.

Anyway, here goes my rant about eBay, or more precisely, the stupid buyers on eBay. I am going to present of list of actual buyer messages followed by the response I would love to give, but having to keep a professional manner can’t.


Q: Hi there,
I haven’t received my item yet. Please can you let me know where my item is?
Looking forward to hearing from you.

A: Are you serious? You purchased your item 2 days ago and as your item is being shipped from the USA did you really expect the item to arrive in the UK in 2 days??? Really?? Use some brains.
___________________

Q: Hello, I see your item is for sale at $35 plus shipping. I can buy the item direct from the store for $20. Can you come down on your price?

A: If that is the case why don’t you go to the store and buy it from there. No I am not coming down on the price. No one is telling you to buy it from me.
___________________

Q: I have left you negative feedback because the item doesn’t match the skirt as I thought it would.

A: Really? So because it doesn’t match correctly, you are leaving negative feedback? Moron, next time check the color first.
___________________

Anyway, that is it for the time being. My next post will be about how eBay is one-sided and favoring the buyers way too much…

25 comments:

e said...

i once left someone negative feedback, because the item got damaged in the mail. sniff. i feel contrite.

Just like a guy said...

And do you resolve never to do it again?

bonne said...

I decided I didnt trust buying things online so I bought a dresser from Target in person. Halfway through building it I realized the wood was warped. Now I trust no one and nothing.

bonne said...

subscribing

Just like a guy said...

It must be easy being you.

Altie said...

My company is a seller on Amazon. (We may have gotten kicked off ebay...) I share your pain. Most customers are idiots and lots of them are nasty about it. Real email:

"I purchased this item on 7/25/12 for $25.21, then on 7/26/12 the price was $14.99. Will you please refund me the difference of $10.22?"

We don't even sell it for $14.99 that was a different seller's price. Either way, just because our price goes down we should refund you?

And yes I agree, everyone is self-entitled, they feel they deserve everything regardless if it was our fault or not. I think it is because Amazon gives them that power, with things like the A-Z claims. The customer is always right....

Altie said...

And E- why didn't you contact them and have them send you a new item? At least work with the seller before you leave back feedback. Give them a chance to fix their mistake.

Yossi said...

Altie- I agree. We put regular sales on and sometimes someone will buy the item when not on sale and a day later see the item is on sale and demand (not request) a refund in price.

I'n in middle of writing my second post about eBay and Scammer.

Stay tuned...

Altie said...

In addition, prices fluctuate every day depending on the popularity of the item as well as the prices of our competitors. And yes, in some major stores they do have rules about returning an item that you bought at full price if it goes on sale within a few days of when you bought it, but honestly that's ridiculous.

I have tons of stories too about Amazon. My co-worker and I make fun of customers all the time. It's quite fun.

Yossi said...

I don't sell on Amazon but from what I hear they are much stricter on the sellers than eBay.

Altie said...

Well apparently we were kicked off eBay, before my times. No idea why. And yes, Amazon is strictly on the side of the customers and we have to meet many requirements to be up to par, but for the most part they are reasonable and they work with us.

Yossi said...

Oh. I find eBay very one sided towards the buyer although all this is set to change in February. So till then we continue to get scammed.

Altie said...

How so? Do they debit your account for any claim the buyer brings, whether or not it was your fault? I think Amazon used to do that. If a customer said they never received their item even if the tracking number showed delivered Amazon would refund the customer from our account. But lately they changed it and Amazon funds it, they are the 'neutral' party trying to please everyone.

Yes, it sucks, especially customers who set out to abuse you. My co-worker is very cynical and thinks everyone and all returns are scams and everyone is out to get us. A sentiment I don't always agree with.

But there really is not much we can do about it. Ultimately the customer is the one to please, if you want continued business.

Yossi said...

If the tracking shows delivered the won't debit your account but we ship about 75% of our items abroad and when shipping abroad if you want tracking (Priority Mail) you are looking at paying more than $30-40 to send. First class only gives you a customs number which stops tracking when the item leaves the country. So according to eBay this shows it hasn't been delivered.

In the US we dont have this problem because all mail comes with tracking.

Altie said...

Ah. We used to ship to Canada but we stopped even that. Now we only ship in the US.

So technically a corrupt person could claim they never received their item and have a new one sent to them, or be refunded for it and keep the item...

Yossi said...

Exactly. And I'm not saying this is every case of 'I haven't received my item' but quite a few. Things to look out for are to see when the eBay account was opened and how many feedback they have received. Also, take a loko at the feedback they have left for others. This normally gives an indication whether the buyer is a whiny git, scammer, or normal buyer.

Altie said...

Or maybe the cat walked off with it. Who knows.

Amazon works differently, I don't think we can see much, if any information about the buyers. It is like the sellers are on display, they can see everything about us, our feedback, etc. But we don't really know who we are selling to.

Yossi said...

Oh. we have had cases of where the tracking showed the item had been delivered and the guy claimed it hadn't. Who you kidding?!!

Altie said...

:) I had one where it had a signature! And the lady say, no I don't sign my name that way. Haha.

Yossi said...

LOL! seriously people, if you are going to scam don't make it too obvious!

Altie said...

:) Someone claimed she didn't get her item, I opened up a claim with the USPS then she told me "Turns out, one of my neighbors has a daughter with a brain injury who thought the package was hers." Now that may very well be the case but that is just insensitive.

Also, the quicker I open us a case the sooner the package 'shows up'. And yes sometimes the Post office steals packages or whatever, but I guess some people just lie for the heck of it.

Yossi said...

Yup. on eBay the seller can't open a case against the USPS. The seller can only open a case agains an unpaid item.

Altie said...

USPS sucks. Their standard answer is, if you didn't pay for insurance on the item, 'too effin bad, we can't help you'. They pay people to call me up and tell me the exact same information I already know. One time I said to the guy, "So you basically have no information for me". He hung up. Incompetent.

Amazon takes care of all the transactions and money. We have virtually no control over that.

Yossi said...

I know the feeling. When I call USPS I get the same response. eBay also takes care of the money and there is nothing you can do about it.

Altie said...

:) Ah well. If you worked in a restaurant you could sneeze in their food. Too bad we can't leave bad feedback about the customers.... Oh what I have to say...