ebay rant

[Bosco]

Wondering if anyone had a similar experience as I'm debating whether I want to use ebay again.

Listed some photography equipment up with the explicit statement of "I only ship to the continental USA via UPS".

There was a bid war between someone in France and someone in Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rican won and immediately paid via paypal.

I cancelled the transaction, refunded the money, and apologized to the buyer that it clearly stated in my auction Continental US only then relisted the item.

The buyer threw a fit. Said I should have set my preferences in the software to refuse bids from foreigners. Left negative feedback and opened a complaint with ebay. Now all the funds are frozen in Paypal while the "investigation" takes place.

I can't find a phone number that actually works to contact ebay. There's no email I can find for them. And reporting the buyer repeatedly does nothing.

Is this typical? Seems like an awful way to run a business but they're so big they probably don't care.

 

[JCcypress]

Ebay is all about buyer protection, not seller protection. Everyone that I know that has used ebay extensively to sell items (including me) has been screwed by them at some point.

 

[323MAR]

It is too bad that you did not notice it before the auction close. You could have cancelled both bids. If you are able to get this cleaned up, then be sure to state that you will cancel any bids from outside the continental US.

 

[RedStickChick]

Ebay is all about buyer protection, not seller protection. Everyone that I know that has used ebay extensively to sell items (including me) has been screwed by them at some point.

All of this.

 

[Treadwisely]

There is a function that allows you to prevent bids from outside USA or North America. I've had to revise listings because i forgot it. It should resolve in your favor but it may take time.

 

[gbundersea]

It MAY be that the items qualified for the Global Shipping program. From what I understand, that applies to pretty much everything now. It's actually a great program: You ship the item to Kentucky, as if the buyer were there. Ebay handles the additional international charges, customs, etc. The foreign buyer pays them directly for the international shipping.

This allows the seller to reach a global buyer base without having to deal with the associated BS and cost of international shipping. I've used it, and it works well. Prior to that, I too would not ship outside the US. Now, I don't care.

 

[1911arkain]

I've used ebay since it started way back. Hell they just made me change my 4 letter password to something much stronger. I've bought and sold.
That being said, they have become more about buyer protection than seller protection. People will actually try and hold you hostage threatening to leave negative feedback if you don't do what they want. Low ranked sellers can have a hard time getting their ranks up due to this blackmail. It's hard to prove because it's word against word and most people who see negative feedback believe it. I know I do most of the time.

But the buyer is correct in this case as well. You do have the option to only accept bids from your home country or select countries.

Sorry you've had this complication, it should be cleared up in your favor. And if you don't want to deal with them again, try CraigsList.

 

[JadeRaven]

My biggest gripes with ebay is that a) any ******* can sign up for ebay, bid on your product and not pay, and b) the way it's setup incentivizes bidding at the last possible second.

One thing that helps is selecting "block any bidder without a paypal account" but you can't block people with zero feedback, unfortunately.

Despite the BS, the ebay fees, and paypal fees, ebay is still one of the cheaper and easier ways to sell a product you're looking to get rid of, so I still use it from time to time.

 

[Scylas]

Paypal is even worse than ebay, I think there's even a couple of websites like paypalsucks.com where all the people that hate it go to rant about it. They just LOVE to lock people's funds up for obnoxious amounts of time while they "investigate". I hear they got bought out or something recently though, hopefully the new owners are better.

 

[kingfhb]

eBay Inc. owns Paypal... if that tells you anything.

I buy/sell a lot on eBay... the trick is the feedback system. You can state in your listing that the bidder must have a positive or a certain level of feedback to bid. I personally would have made sure I specified United States buyers only... also, you should have noticed the bidding war was happening and emailed the bidder that was out of the country. Just because they didn't read the listing doesn't mean they're 100% at fault.

Now, from a sellers standpoint, you need to exhaust every option out there that will tailor your ad to what you want from it. Don't allow instances of anyone to cause problems for you. You're your only and best weapon and line of defense when it comes to eBay.

I would not buy from anyone with a less than 100% feedback unless they have MILLIONS of feedback points and no negative responses in the last year or so. In turn, I would not sell to anyone who has a less than 100% feedback rating. There's a reason for that system.

Unfortunately, you waited until the listing had ended and a buyer was named before you noticed the issue and cancelled the auction. If you handle it before, the seller can't say or do anything about it. You can even decide you listed it too cheap... or decided not to list it afterall... with only 1 minute left... then cancel all the bids and remove it if you want. You have ALL the power prior to the listing ending... you have hardly no power after a buyer is named.

 

[JadeRaven]

I don't even know if there's a way to leave negative feedback for a buyer anymore.

 

[kingfhb]

I don't even know if there's a way to leave negative feedback for a buyer anymore.

There is. Following some steps effectively asking you "Are you sure you want to do this?", it's possible.

 

[madwabbit]

my philosophy regarding ebay: only buy. never sell.

 

[TEB]

When was that brought back? They removed the option to leave negatives for buyers quite a while ago, and I never noticed its reappearance.

As a former powerseller, I can attest to what a load of garbage eBay has become for sellers. I've been screwed over on several occasions, and would gladly abandon eBay altogether if there were a viable alternative.

 

[kingfhb]

When was that brought back? They removed the option to leave negatives for buyers quite a while ago, and I never noticed its reappearance.

Sorry... I am thinking of leaving feedback on a seller... not a buyer. My mistake. In turn, no one can leave feedback if the transaction never takes place. So my point being, if you monitor your listings and catch idiots (and they will try) prior to the end of the auction, then you should be okay.

The trick is the "snipers" that get in at the last second. For those, you just have to make sure you are very thorough in your listing description and options for the listing.

 

[JHenley17]

I sold a few things, the last was a guitar I sold as "lightly used." Because I didn't specify that "lightly used" meant that there were apparently tiny scratches that couldn't be picked up with his camera, I had to offer a partial refund. I've given up on selling anywhere but forums.