Ebay annoyances

[Colin_McLeod]

Looks like PayPal trust a brand new seller more than an established one who has not sold for a while.

 

It is a couple of years since I sold on eBay and I am about to sell some higher value items to fund the completion of my model railway shed

 

Perhaps I should list and dispatch  some cheap tat to get "established" again.

 

Edited March 14, 2019 by Colin_McLeod
B/@##% autocorrect.

[Bucoops]

I have seen similar, but normally it's made very clear to you that they have done an enforced escrow type of thing.

[hayfield]

21 hours ago, Colin_McLeod said:

Looks like PayPal trust a brand new seller more than an established one who has not sold for a while.

 

It is a couple of years since I sold on eBay and I am about to sell some higher value items to fund the completion of my model railway shed

 

Perhaps I should list and dispatch  some cheap tat to get "established" again.

 

 

 

Colin

 

If you have a record of buying or selling using a Paypal account you should have no issues, for first time users they put a temporary hold on the funds which gives them time to check out the authenticity of the transaction. Also some transactions to Paypal (from the buyer) may need to wait for the funds to clear, this is quite rare though

 

In the past I have found Paypal a useful asset when both buying and selling

[petethemole]

I started selling last summer after years as just a buyer. Some of my first payments were temporarily held in this way, but it was clear (to me) that the buyer had paid and the item should be posted.

[luckymucklebackit]

OK - finally got to the bottom of what was going on.  At some point since my last sale on Ebay, someone has hacked into my account and inserted another email address to be used to link to a Paypal account, thankfully as I have had a long spell where I didn't make any sales this email address had since gone dormant, so the money did not transfer to any Paypal account, had it not gone dormant I would probably have lost the money, although it was a rather clumsy hack, as it would likely have been traceable to the person who used it.  I had to get each of the sellers (thankfully only three) to cancel their payment and send their email address and I then sent them a money request which they all did, I extend my thanks to these buyers as they cooperated fully and I got my cash!

[47137]

I use eBay to buy stuff and as an "occasional seller" to sell my surplus odds and ends. When I buy something, the payment goes out through my PayPal account straight away, automatically. When I sell things, nine time out of ten I get paid straight away too. So far so good.

 

But from time to time, a buyer doesn't pay and the eBay system gives me a button to send an invoice. I am asked to give the buyer detailed instructions on how to pay. Please can someone tell me, why might buyers choose to do this? What is the benefit in not paying straight way? And above all, what instructions for payment might they expect to see on the invoice?

 

Please excuse me asking this but it seems extraordinarily bad manners for a buyer to win an auction and then apparently do nothing.

 

- Richard.

[MartinWales]

Agree with you 100% there!

 

Several times recently I have had buyers purchase Buy It Now and then take 48 hours to pay.

 

One even took 8 days, and I had to raise a non-paying bidder case, to which the answer I got was ' I thought I had paid for those items' !! 

[47137]

Well, this buyer has paid this afternoon without any chasing on my part. But it means extra time to get out the packing materials, parcel it up, put them away again and a fresh trip to the post office. 

 

It is an "annoyance" not a "problem" but it turns what might have been a five-minute task merged into the other packing tasks into nearer an hour. I think eBay should require buyers to connect their PayPal account to their eBay account.

 

Have a good weekend.

 

- Richard.

[Colin_McLeod]

There is an option when listing BIN to require immediate payment. This overcomes your problem since if the buyer does not pay immediately the item is still listed and available for others to buy.

[009 micro modeller]

18 minutes ago, Colin_McLeod said:

There is an option when listing BIN to require immediate payment. This overcomes your problem since if the buyer does not pay immediately the item is still listed and available for others to buy.

 

Yes, I would have thought this would be fairly sensible as by definition people will be logged onto eBay on their computer/device when a buy it now purchase is made, which isn’t necessarily the case with auctions.

[Ross34]

On 24/07/2020 at 08:45, 47137 said:

I use eBay to buy stuff and as an "occasional seller" to sell my surplus odds and ends. When I buy something, the payment goes out through my PayPal account straight away, automatically. When I sell things, nine time out of ten I get paid straight away too. So far so good.

 

But from time to time, a buyer doesn't pay and the eBay system gives me a button to send an invoice. I am asked to give the buyer detailed instructions on how to pay. Please can someone tell me, why might buyers choose to do this? What is the benefit in not paying straight way? And above all, what instructions for payment might they expect to see on the invoice?

 

Please excuse me asking this but it seems extraordinarily bad manners for a buyer to win an auction and then apparently do nothing.

 

- Richard.

 As a seller of model railway bits n pieces & occasional locos / stock, I reckon on one in ten who "make trouble". 

Sometimes its my fault - I'm not perfect and sometimes I end up making a loss - thats the way it goes.

 

This just an observation but I have to say a surprising number of buyers who either don't pay, are riduculous pedants, don't read the description properly, or are a just plain ignorant are well known figures in the model or full size railway business. Two, I can recall who were/are very well known took weeks of emails & finally Ebay action before they payed. Of course being a "face in the biz" doesn't preclude them from being a pain in the rear end but it does still surprise me now & then....still blocked 'em. 

 

Edited July 29, 2020 by Ross34
Spelling!

['CHARD]

16 minutes ago, Ross34 said:

 

This just an observation but I have to say a surprising number of buyers who either don't pay, are riduculous pednants, don't read the decription properly

 

 

Guilty as charged; I am a riduculous pednant (who fails to read the decription).

[hayfield]

1 hour ago, Ross34 said:

 As a seller of model railway bits n pieces & occasional locos / stock, I reckon on one in ten who "make trouble". 

Sometimes its my fault - I'm not perfect and sometimes I end up making a loss - thats the way it goes.

 

This just an observation but I have to say a surprising number of buyers who either don't pay, are riduculous pednants, don't read the decription properly, or are a just plain ignorant are well known figures in the model or full size railway business. Two, I can recall who were/are very well known took weeks of emails & finally Ebay action before they payed. Of course being a "face in the biz" doesn't preclude them from being a pain in the rear end but it does still surprise me now & then....still blocked 'em. 

 

 

Richard

 

In a few of the lots I am interested in I would love to read a proper description of what is on offer, trouble is my best buys have poor if any description coupled with a poor quality photo(s), however if this is the case I would end up with far fewer bargains.

 

As far as complaining, its not very often if at all I claim about a description, bad packing yes. I rely on my own judgment

[Ross34]

8 hours ago, 'CHARD said:

 

Guilty as charged; I am a riduculous pednant (who fails to read the decription).

Ah, but are you famous in model railway circles...

[MartinWales]

23 hours ago, Ross34 said:

Ah, but are you famous in model railway circles...

Wot, train set ones......

[GWR-fan]

All through the early months of the pandemic I have sold quite a few items and everybody paid up immediately, without a single default.  Now I find that many "newbies" or people who have not used eBay for several years are buying stuff and while I have not set immediate payment as a specific demand,  I do allow a couple of days for payment but am finding that people are stretching the friendship to the point I am wondering if they are going to default on payment.  I used to set four days as the limit but have reduced the number of days I expect an item to be paid for.  If a person has difficulty in making a payment on time then a simple courtesy would be to message me advising me of a delay,  but apart from the purchase there is nothing from the buyer at all. 

 

Also it seems that apart from a few regular purchasers,  the posting of feedback seems a thing of the past.  I view receiving feedback as an acknowledgement of receipt of the item and confirmation that the item was received in the condition it was sent.  After over fifteen years of immediately posting feedback after returning from the post office,  I have decided that I will await receipt of feedback before I will reciprocate.  I am seeing more and more buyers with a high feedback count who have never posted feedback on a purchase.  When I encounter a new buyer having purchased one of my items or has messaged me,  I find now that I visit their feedback page and check the "feedback left for others" section.   I view this part of their feedback history as a character guide as to what I may expect from them.    Apart from many who simply do not post feedback I am seeing those who I would call serial feedback abusers.  Some have pages of posting repeat negative feedback on sellers,   while others abuse neutral feedback by posting neutral feedback while giving a highly positive comment.  You cannot post neutral feedback by accident,  it is a deliberate act. 

[GWR-fan]

When a buyer defaults on payment then the buyer seems to care little that he has not fulfilled his part of the transaction.  For the seller,  well,  this is a basic example of the procedure to get your fees repaid.  Ideally,  eBay would not take fees until the buyer pays,  but of cause as soon as the sale takes place the fees are deducted.

 

OK, buyer defaults.  Seller invoices him or personal message requesting payment or buyer's intentions.  EBay requires a minimum four full days to elapse before an unpaid dispute may be initiated.  Dispute raised and now eBay requires a minimum four full days awaiting a payment before the case may be finalised.  OK,  eight days has now elapsed and hopefully the case is resolved with the buyer failing to pay and the seller awaiting his fees to be returned.  No wait,  eBay now want another seven to ten days minimum before fees are refunded.  That is a minimum fifteen days until fees are returned and the item is able to be relisted for sale.  What of the buyer,  well, he gets to go on and defraud other sellers.  EBay will only censure or deregister him after he has defaulted on many, many purchases.  For the seller though,  if he fails to complete a sale by say cancelling an item,  he most likely loses his fees,  has a black mark against his name and is penalised with possible higher selling fees on his future items.  

[Colin_McLeod]

E bay only take money from me once a month, not immediately upon the sale.  Yes, they charge to my a/c right away but dont take funds.   Of course the end of the month might come in tbe middle of the dispute but you get the money back in due course if refund is due.

 

There is nothing stopping you putting up a new listing meanwhile if you are in a hurry to sell.

[2750Papyrus]

I'm afraid that I have stopped giving feedback for two reasons.  Firstly, everybody selling goods by mail order now follows up with an email requesting feedback and it has become too time demanding to respond.  Secondly, I heard somewhere that Ebay counted a 4 star award as a failure by a seller, and viewed any constructive criticism in the same light.   

[009 micro modeller]

1 hour ago, 2750Papyrus said:

I'm afraid that I have stopped giving feedback for two reasons.  Firstly, everybody selling goods by mail order now follows up with an email requesting feedback and it has become too time demanding to respond.  Secondly, I heard somewhere that Ebay counted a 4 star award as a failure by a seller, and viewed any constructive criticism in the same light.   

 

The eBay guidance seems to suggest that a buyer should give feedback only after receiving the item, and as a buyer I wouldn’t give feedback on something I hadn’t seen yet. Some sellers give feedback immediately after receiving payment, which isn’t necessarily a great idea as there could be subsequent issues with the item caused by the buyer.

[hayfield]

What annoys me most are the eBay sellers who take their time sending items, especially when they hassle for payment.

 

Even when I worked, whenever possible I posted the items I sold the next day first class, I never stipulate payment must be made within a specific time and on the odd occasion I am happy to wait for payment.

 

Last Saturday night I won an item, I was watching the TV and as it could not be posted till Monday I decided to pay on Sunday. As you would expect I received a payment request for the item. The next morning 8.5 hours after winning the item the seller sent a reminder that my item was ready to post and payment was required. Well I thought he wants to post it so I paid (within 12 hours of winning it)  Well it turned up today, so much for the item being ready to post!!!

 

Don't get me wrong, when sellers for whatever reason cannot send things immediately that's fine with me, but when you expect payment immediately as a buyer I expect the seller to reciprocate in posting the item

 

I have a great item, postage was very competitive, but why start hassling someone who has not paid in 8 hours overnight on a Saturday when the item could not be posted till the following day ?

 

Simple treat your buyers how you would like to be treated

 

I am going to consider what and how I leave feedback   

[Bill Radford]

2 hours ago, 2750Papyrus said:

I'm afraid that I have stopped giving feedback for two reasons.  Firstly, everybody selling goods by mail order now follows up with an email requesting feedback and it has become too time demanding to respond.  Secondly, I heard somewhere that Ebay counted a 4 star award as a failure by a seller, and viewed any constructive criticism in the same light.   

It's not limited to mail order - I paid a bill in the bank last week and got a text by the time I got home wanting feedback for my "appointment".

[hayfield]

13 minutes ago, Bill Radford said:

It's not limited to mail order - I paid a bill in the bank last week and got a text by the time I got home wanting feedback for my "appointment".

 

This works two ways, if your experience was not as good as you expected you can let them know.

[hayfield]

I have just been done by an eBay bookseller, I won a book I fancied for just over £4 inc postage (the cheapest on Amazon is £25). Guess what the seller is ill and returned my money. Strange thing is they still have over 3450 items still on sale. If the chap was genuinely ill that's fine. But why still have your shop still trading. If he is still ill I am happy to wait

 

Anyway I have had a refund, but no reply to my message. Therefore I have not confirmed receipt of the money, the seller has not had his sale cancelled.

 

I seem to remember that when I joined eBay I agreed to remember that winning a bid or if a seller selling an item I have entered into a contract to either buy the item I won or sell the item I put on the auction

 

I will contact eBay over the next few days and complain about the sellers activities and remind them I have a contract with the seller and am happy to wait till he gets better

[rab]

My eBay annoyance is of a slightly different type.

 

Del Prado: Why did it have to be N gauge?

 

The number of times I do a search for N gauge

and amongst it are Del Prado items.

This week there were about a dozen listed.

OK I suppose for collectors, but totally irrelevant

for anyone looking for working models.