Author Topic: Fuck Ebay!  (Read 2390 times)

cooking

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Fuck Ebay!
« on: December 21, 2020, 04:38:27 PM »
I used to amuse myself occasionally by "window shopping" on ebay, dreaming of things I might buy in the future when I was more flush.  And buying things I needed once in a while.  But then this happened:  I was browsing through used sofas for a transitional situation in our household.  I'm pretty fussy, but finally found one I liked within a reasonable distance.  The seller had only the barest description, lacking even measurements.  So I used the "contact the seller" option to ask for the sofa width, which is crucial for me.  No answer.  Three times.  So I was already pretty disgusted at that point.  I mean, does the seller really want to sell or not?

Meantime, ebay keeps spamming my inbox several times a day, telling me I should make an offer on the sofa, and unhelpfully sending suggestions of other sofas I might like. Finally, I decided out of frustration that maybe if I activated the "make an offer" button and offered $5, I could at least get the seller's attention to ask about the width.  (The "buy it now" price was $150).  When I activated the "make an offer" button, however, it wouldn't allow me to continue.  I  later happened to think this might be b/c I don't have a Paypal account, and I realized that I had always purchased in the past through my kids' Paypal accts.  My son told me to email him the link, saying he'd make the lowball offer through his acct. the next day.

Next day I look at my email and there are three messages from ebay.  One tells me I left an item in my cart.  The other 2 tell me that they are suspending my account. And not to try to reply. And something about it being a violation.  (Attempting to enter an offer is a violation??? Huh??? Isn't that what the site is for? But of course I wasn't even able to submit the offer anyway, so WTF?)  And telling me it's a permanent decision.  And there's no appeal.

All in all, it was not only baffling and frustrating, I felt it was downright rude and insulting.  I still have no idea what I did that they deemed wrong or some kind of violation of their rules. However, all of that becomes less and less important, since I have lost any good feelings I once had about ebay.

And mostly I wonder how this is all working as a business model for ebay.  Sellers who don't write the minimally necessary facts into their descriptions, then continually fail to answer potential customers?  Ebay spamming their customers at the same time those customers can't get basic information about purchases they want to make?  Then when the customer finally responds to ebay entreaties and tries to make an offer, ebay insults that same customer and permanently bans them for attempting to do so?  And BTW, they continue to spam me about sofas they think I might like (I'd rather pick out my own, thanks).  How do you stay in business by banning your own customers?

All in all, I guess what I'm asking is, what the hell has happened to ebay in the time I haven't been using them much?

chuckster

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Re: Fuck Ebay!
« Reply #1 on: December 22, 2020, 03:36:38 PM »
Ugh, they're terrible!

For example, I purchased a group of items from a seller. Like 5 or 6 things... a few small items and one large item that was actually what I wanted the most. I get the box, open it, and there's only 2 items inside, and not the big item I was targeting.

I ask the seller what's up, he says he was only selling the 2 items.

I pull up the listing... and he's changed it after the sale! Now instead of selling all the items in bulk, he'd changed the listing to one of those "X available" and selling them one-by-one.


I started an ebay dispute... I had a screenshot of the previous listing, a screenshot of my conversation with the seller in which he says he isn't going to send me what I paid for, an explanation of the change, etc.

The seller countered with the tracking number for the shipment with less than half of what I bought, and the statement (direct quote): "If he want more he should pay more!!"


Ebay's dispute was resolved in less than 90 seconds because it's an automated system: the tracking number showed a box had been delivered, therefore, my complaint was denied and the seller got to keep all the money.

No further appeal or dispute would be heard. The end.


It's really the worst. Although it does motivate me to start selling gold bars, shipping empty boxes, and then relying on their dispute system to recognize the delivered package as a completed sale so I can pocket the difference.

Cadman

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Re: Fuck Ebay!
« Reply #2 on: December 22, 2020, 06:03:57 PM »
Chuckster, that's really out of the ordinary for eBay. 99.9% of the time they'll side with the buyer, especially if you have a screenshot. Just a matter of picking up the phone and speaking to one of their reps, then emailing the image. But of course you also have the option of returning the partial order on the seller's dime and getting a full refund. As a seller, this gets abused A LOT, but the buyer always gets their money.

To the OP, you never really know the state of mind of a seller. They could have been out of town, had a dead phone, had a change of heart on selling.  It can be as bad as FB marketplace. I can't imagine NOT responding to an incoming message, but for a lot of people these days, that's too much to ask.

On the 'make offer' button, the seller sets parameters on what is immediately rejected, what's accepted, and what they'll consider. If you entered $5, odds are good they were never even notified. On account suspension, I'd pick up the phone and call eBay; I can't imagine what the correlation would be between the couch interaction and something that drastic.

marty998

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Re: Fuck Ebay!
« Reply #3 on: December 29, 2020, 03:09:43 AM »
Ugh, they're terrible!

For example, I purchased a group of items from a seller. Like 5 or 6 things... a few small items and one large item that was actually what I wanted the most. I get the box, open it, and there's only 2 items inside, and not the big item I was targeting.

I ask the seller what's up, he says he was only selling the 2 items.

I pull up the listing... and he's changed it after the sale! Now instead of selling all the items in bulk, he'd changed the listing to one of those "X available" and selling them one-by-one.


I started an ebay dispute... I had a screenshot of the previous listing, a screenshot of my conversation with the seller in which he says he isn't going to send me what I paid for, an explanation of the change, etc.

The seller countered with the tracking number for the shipment with less than half of what I bought, and the statement (direct quote): "If he want more he should pay more!!"


Ebay's dispute was resolved in less than 90 seconds because it's an automated system: the tracking number showed a box had been delivered, therefore, my complaint was denied and the seller got to keep all the money.

No further appeal or dispute would be heard. The end.


It's really the worst. Although it does motivate me to start selling gold bars, shipping empty boxes, and then relying on their dispute system to recognize the delivered package as a completed sale so I can pocket the difference.

Would love to see Judge Judy take this one apart :)

ctuser1

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Re: Fuck Ebay!
« Reply #4 on: December 29, 2020, 07:41:11 PM »
Ugh, they're terrible!

For example, I purchased a group of items from a seller. Like 5 or 6 things... a few small items and one large item that was actually what I wanted the most. I get the box, open it, and there's only 2 items inside, and not the big item I was targeting.

I ask the seller what's up, he says he was only selling the 2 items.

I pull up the listing... and he's changed it after the sale! Now instead of selling all the items in bulk, he'd changed the listing to one of those "X available" and selling them one-by-one.


I started an ebay dispute... I had a screenshot of the previous listing, a screenshot of my conversation with the seller in which he says he isn't going to send me what I paid for, an explanation of the change, etc.

The seller countered with the tracking number for the shipment with less than half of what I bought, and the statement (direct quote): "If he want more he should pay more!!"


Ebay's dispute was resolved in less than 90 seconds because it's an automated system: the tracking number showed a box had been delivered, therefore, my complaint was denied and the seller got to keep all the money.

No further appeal or dispute would be heard. The end.


It's really the worst. Although it does motivate me to start selling gold bars, shipping empty boxes, and then relying on their dispute system to recognize the delivered package as a completed sale so I can pocket the difference.

There is a way to get on the phone with their dispute department. I'd suggest doing that. I suspect the issue may also have been wrong kind of dispute - e.g. if you open "item not received" instead of "item not as described". The dispute resolution customer support should be able to help there.

Disclaimer: I've been on ebay since 2004. I mostly just use it to sell occasional unwanted stuff around the house.


Zamboni

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Re: Fuck Ebay!
« Reply #5 on: December 29, 2020, 08:00:24 PM »
I've been burned on ebay, too, but most of my transactions there have been perfect. It's nice for unusual or collectible items.

One the flip side, I feel a little guilty knowing that some percentage of what I have purchased on ebay is stolen goods. Especially I worry about this with quite a bit of the "new with tags" stuff that is from sellers that seem to have an awful lot of latest model NWT merchandise at very, very steep discounts. The one time I was totally burned on ebay was long ago a guy sold me a stolen phone (which as cheap, like $50 back in flip phone days) and then refusing to refund the money when Verizon literally not only refused to activate it but also seized it because it was flagged as stolen. I never got the $50 back but it was one transaction out of a couple hundred. I'm not going to worry about it. Anyway, just like any used transaction, ebay is a buyer beware situation.

You've gotten some other good advice.

WhiteTrashCash

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Re: Fuck Ebay!
« Reply #6 on: December 29, 2020, 09:49:22 PM »
I’ve never had a problem with eBay, but I only buy from sellers who have thousands of positive ratings. Last year, I bought a Norwegian sweater for $30. It retailed new for about $200. Fantastic deal.