Ebay annoyances

[Michael Hodgson]

27 minutes ago, John M Upton said:

I went onto the ridiculous Managed Payment system on Monday

That's not ridiculous.  It's making a lot of money for ebay.

Their terms & conditions - and if you don't like you're not obliged to use their services.

They are an unregulated monopoly and can muck you about as much as like and charge whatever they think the market will bear.

Write to your MP about it.  Not that he'll do owt helpful either

[cessna152towser]

1 hour ago, Michael Hodgson said:

That's not ridiculous.  It's making a lot of money for ebay.

Their terms & conditions - and if you don't like you're not obliged to use their services.

They are an unregulated monopoly and can muck you about as much as like and charge whatever they think the market will bear.

Write to your MP about it.  Not that he'll do owt helpful either

Agreed.   If enough of us refuse to go along with "managed payments", eBay will soon realise that it is not something which the market will bear.

[RFS]

Current Ebay final value charge is 10% and PayPal then charge nearly 3%. (A sale I recently made for £129 incurred £4.04 PayPal fee). The new Ebay Managed Payment system charges 12.8%. Doesn't seem a great deal different to me ...

[njee20]

There's a separate thread on managed payments, but yes, it's cheaper for sellers and gives more assurance to buyers. But it's change, and people don't like change. It's also made people realise they were signed up to a load of things via PayPal, like fees for chargebacks, they didn't know about.

 

£1 fee offers with managed payments are great - without the cost of Paypal, and the 30p transaction fee only being applied once, sellers do far better.

 

I sold something for £400, and received £399 in my account. I sold £240 of items, comprising 3 items, and got £237.60. In PayPal days I'd have given away more than £20.

[Dieselbob]

All I ever hear people do is moan about Ebay making money.

Ebay is the best thing that has happened for the railway modeler and most other hobbies, before they apeared you had to sell your unwanted items in the local paper or get ripped off at a smelly swapmeet, those traders wern't there for nothing. Do people really think that Ebay shouldn't make as much as they can. Dropping PayPal for sellers is actually is an advantage for the seller without doubt, specially when it's a special offer week like this weekend. They are giving 80% discount on selling fees which is better than £1 max as they have been doing no matter how large or small the sale because there is no PayPal charges.

Try selling on Gumtree and listen to the bartering idiots who want something for nothing people offering rediculous money for good gear.

I have nothing against PayPal, in Fact I would rather Buy with Paypal because I haven't got to keep filling in my name and address every time I make a purchase.

Bob

[hayfield]

8 hours ago, Dieselbob said:

All I ever hear people do is moan about Ebay making money.

Ebay is the best thing that has happened for the railway modeler and most other hobbies, before they apeared you had to sell your unwanted items in the local paper or get ripped off at a smelly swapmeet, those traders wern't there for nothing. Do people really think that Ebay shouldn't make as much as they can. Dropping PayPal for sellers is actually is an advantage for the seller without doubt, specially when it's a special offer week like this weekend. They are giving 80% discount on selling fees which is better than £1 max as they have been doing no matter how large or small the sale because there is no PayPal charges.

Try selling on Gumtree and listen to the bartering idiots who want something for nothing people offering rediculous money for good gear.

I have nothing against PayPal, in Fact I would rather Buy with Paypal because I haven't got to keep filling in my name and address every time I make a purchase.

Bob

 

Bob

 

Well said, there are two points which many overlook/chose to ignore about eBay presumably as they hate big business

 

If you sell via a traditional auction site, the fees they charge are about 20% to the seller and 20% to the buyer, with a fraction of the audience

Selling to a trader you will get a fraction of the selling price between 1/3rd and a half of its value, plus what they have a market for is quite limited having no outlet for kit builders supplies (parts & tools)

 

With the advent of eBay there is a very healthy market in both kits and kit building parts and accessories, whilst the market is limited in numbers it is very active. At this moment loco kits are changing hands at a premium, parts are selling for good prices. The other thing is, those buying and selling these bits and pieces generally a great bunch of people resulting with a lot less trouble in the sales process.

 

As said its has and is a boomtime for selling model railway items on line, as sending them is easy and relatively cheap owing to size and weight. Quite often I will buy a lot and only require part of it, the unwanted parts in the past would have been thrown away or remained in a box, now they are eagerly sought by other modellers. Many are like me happy to find a home for the bits, or gratefull we have obtained a hard to find item

 

In short as a buyer I can find items not available anywhere else, as a seller I get top prices at very competitive commission rates 

[96701]

The other thing to bear in mind is that traditional auctioneers will also split collections into lots and then charge the vendor by lot. At least with ebay, one can decide how much stuff to sell at once.

[sandwich station]

On 01/05/2021 at 09:48, Dieselbob said:

Try selling on Gumtree and listen to the bartering idiots who want something for nothing people offering rediculous money for good gear.

 

I think Ebay owns Gumtree.

[hayfield]

5 hours ago, 96701 said:

The other thing to bear in mind is that traditional auctioneers will also split collections into lots and then charge the vendor by lot. At least with ebay, one can decide how much stuff to sell at once.

 

With eBay as you say you are in control, but you have to do all the work. For some like myself its something I enjoy and am quite happy investing my time in doing.

 

Done badly they the returns may be quite low, recently I bought a Westward No 18 railcar along with a donor chassis for £21 + postage. Its been well built and painted just needs finishing off. In this case selling to a dealer or at a traditional "specialised" auction may have proved better. 

 

I guess if you are either time poor and or have little knowledge eBay may not be the best place. Its like anything in life the more you put into something the more you get out

[Bonafide]

3 hours ago, sandwich station said:

 

I think Ebay owns Gumtree.

. . . until July 2020 when eBay sold Gumtree to Adevinta.

[Dieselbob]

On 01/05/2021 at 00:48, Dieselbob said:

Dropping PayPal for sellers is actually is an advantage for the seller without doubt, specially when it's a special offer week like this weekend. They are giving 80% discount on selling fees which is better than £1 max as they have been doing no matter how large or small the sale because there is no PayPal charges.

 

The Quote was my own and I was not completely correct as I found out this weekend and have since worked it out properly.

When giving 80% discount it is always better than the previous £1 Max with PayPal

But under normal charges 12.8% + 30p only better when the total price including postage if any is above £13, below that and it is worse but not by much about 7p on a sale of £2 but getting less as the price gets higher.

Bob

 

 

 

[ruggedpeak]

On 02/05/2021 at 05:34, sandwich station said:

 

I think Ebay owns Gumtree.

Horses for courses.

 

I sell model trains on Ebay and sell bulky stuff that will have local appeal on Gumtree. Not sure I'd ever want to sell trains on Gumtree, but sold (yes sold) a load of old fence panels, a large pile of rocks and some seriously heavy paving slabs out of my garden this summer. All to happy buyers. And all stuff that would have otherwise been a nightmare to dispose of. Made £250 out of rubbish.

 

Just sold a loco on Ebay using £1 seller fee using the new payment system at the weekend, just been notified payment is in my account. Was confused initially as it was nearly the full amount but no fees deducted compared to when the proceeds appear in Paypal.

[big jim]

after 19 years and 4100+ transactions i recieved my first negative feedback today, last week sold the best part of £1000 of model railway stuff that i was worried about having issues with in the post or sellers not being happy and all that lot arrived fine then i sell one of my lads £7 nerf guns and get a negative!

 

had a message to say 2 of 4 items sold were damaged in the post, i agreed to a full refund and opened the return, money heading back through paypal, even told him to keep the guns to save him the hassle of returning them then i go in the feedback and he’s left me negative, not very impressed, ive sent a feedback revision request so i’m hoping they will retract it as ive resolved it to their satisfaction and they get to keep the item too which for all i know may be repairable as ive not seen any pics 

 

i know its a minor annoyance but after so long with 100% positive its flipping annoying to suddenly drop to 99.3%

 

 

[Michael Hodgson]

I don't pay any attention to 1 negative feedback in 4000 transactions.  

Ebay could use a feedback system for reporting what one thinks of their feedback system.

[hayfield]

1 hour ago, big jim said:

after 19 years and 4100+ transactions i recieved my first negative feedback today, last week sold the best part of £1000 of model railway stuff that i was worried about having issues with in the post or sellers not being happy and all that lot arrived fine then i sell one of my lads £7 nerf guns and get a negative!

 

had a message to say 2 of 4 items sold were damaged in the post, i agreed to a full refund and opened the return, money heading back through paypal, even told him to keep the guns to save him the hassle of returning them then i go in the feedback and he’s left me negative, not very impressed, ive sent a feedback revision request so i’m hoping they will retract it as ive resolved it to their satisfaction and they get to keep the item too which for all i know may be repairable as ive not seen any pics 

 

i know its a minor annoyance but after so long with 100% positive its flipping annoying to suddenly drop to 99.3%

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Michael Hodgson said:

I don't pay any attention to 1 negative feedback in 4000 transactions.  

Ebay could use a feedback system for reporting what one thinks of their feedback system.

 

As you say, I look at the items I want to buy, I find the manner in which the item has been presented far more informative that a persons feedback score.  If I do want to check up a person, how long they have been a member is more important, also how many items they have sold is also a criteria.  I would much rather buy from someone with a 99% record after selling a few hundred items than someone who has been a member for a few months and sold a few items

 

At worst I read the comments, all the negative and a selection of positives. There are dodgy buyers as well as sellers out there 

[TheSignalEngineer]

2 hours ago, big jim said:

after 19 years and 4100+ transactions i recieved my first negative feedback today, last week sold the best part of £1000 of model railway stuff that i was worried about having issues with in the post or sellers not being happy and all that lot arrived fine then i sell one of my lads £7 nerf guns and get a negative!

I had a similar experience with some cycling parts. Seller gave negative without waiting for me to reply when something had a fault I had missed. After an exchange of emails I gave him a refund and told him to keep the good item as it wasn't worth paying him to send back. He revised the feedback so all ended happily.

 

As for buying, how the item is presented is a good guide to what the buyer is like. For new items I always check out business details as you often find that items located in London or Manchester track back to an address in Hong Kong or Shanghai. Some just give a GB VAT number, which is always a steer clear. There are often multiple user names quoting the same number.

 

Edited May 6, 2021 by TheSignalEngineer

[big jim]

Follow up to my negative feedback issue, I requested the buyer revise the feedback as he has had a full refund and kept the items and I got this message back 

 

“You knowingly sent me two broken guns so no I won't remove my feedback as it's completely accurate. They were clearly not broken during transport which was your excuse. You have the cheek to say your dissapointed when you attempted to rip me off!!”

 

So I’ve requested to eBay that they remove the feedback as going by the above message the buyer thinks I sent him 2 broken items in an attempt to extort £7.50 out of him which he has had back with no questions asked and has also kept the items, he’s not been very forthcoming with info about the supposed damage to the nerf guns so who’s the one looking like they are being ripped off now!

 

ive requested it be taken off as the feedback is based PURELY on the buyers assumption that I was trying to ‘rip him off’ I’ve not disputed the wording in so much as fact “the items were broken” as per his feedback but it’s the assumption that I sent them broken is the angle I’m going for, quite simply his feedback is based on an a whim  

 

I’ve also reported him for what I consider to be quite an abusive tone to the message, let’s see if anything happens, be nice if it does but I won’t hold my breath! 

[big jim]

There we go, 2 mins after submitting 

 

We’ve looked carefully at this feedback and see that it doesn’t qualify for removal.

 

so basically you can base feedback on a lie, get your money back and keep the items 

[woodenhead]

9 minutes ago, big jim said:

There we go, 2 mins after submitting 

 

We’ve looked carefully at this feedback and see that it doesn’t qualify for removal.

 

so basically you can base feedback on a lie, get your money back and keep the items 

And why every sale I made on Ebay I was anxious something like this would happen, in the event the only bad feedback I ever got was that I didn't package a 4-VEP as well as they buyer would have liked - it was the same as all the other models I sold, just a difference in preferences.  Glad no-one ever claimed I'd sold them a pup, and my last sale of trains went to Rails instead as it was instant and we were face to face going through the stock.

[big jim]

ive just looked at his feedback left for others and he seems to be a serial complainer moaning about ‘cheap tat’ 

 

ive left a reply to the feedback, kept it civil and truthful “buyer refunded, leaves negative, refuses to change feedback then claims i sent broken items to “rip him off” 

 

i dont feel so annoyed now that ive seen his other feedback left for others, hopefully others might spot it and remove his bids 

[John M Upton]

A classic case of the Blocked Bidder List being your friend....

[big jim]

10 minutes ago, John M Upton said:

A classic case of the Blocked Bidder List being your friend....

 

he’s on it now!

[Graham108]

54 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

 and my last sale of trains went to Rails instead 

I've found Hattons give a much more generous deal on trade-in railway goods

[woodenhead]

8 minutes ago, Graham108 said:

I've found Hattons give a much more generous deal on trade-in railway goods

I wanted some specific items in N gauge from Farish plus Rails decoders - I got more for part exchange.

[njee20]

I fully expected my first negative a few weeks ago. I sold something, where the item 'condition' field was marked as new (it was an item last produced 10 years ago), although the description was honest and didn't say anything about that, rather that it was in the wrong box, but was in good condition etc. I genuinely don't know how it happened. I think I must have been lazy and done "sell one like this" on someone else's listing, as I never list items as new.

 

The buyer messaged me and asked for the proof of purchase "for the warranty" - I told him it was out of date (I still had no idea it'd been marked as new in the listing), but if he ever had a problem I'd happily try and sort it. He told me that if he'd known it was second hand he would never have bought it. I apologised profusefly, and offered him a full refund immediately, but was told that the problem was that it was a present and the recipient was very happy with it. He told me he was going to "get eBay to investigate", I'm not sure what they'd have investigated, I assume he was angling to keep it and get a refund. Wasn't sure what else I could really offer. He'd not have known it wasn't new if I hadn't told him. He's not yet left feedback, so I guess there's still time!