Ebay annoyances

[Bucoops]

That sounds like one that ebay should be able to amend for you.

[hayfield]

1 hour ago, Tofufi said:

I've just had a buyer complain to me (with neutral feedback - thanks...) that they didn't feel the item they bought was worth what they paid.

 

It was on an auction, with clear photos and described as playworn with scuffs (but no physical damage), and corrosion to couplings - so hardly described as being brand new.

 

They didn't argue the description, just seemed unhappy at how much they had chosen to bid.

 

I can't control what he chose to bid... 🙄 and got a neutral feedback despite offering a full refund. Wonderful.

 

Who takes notice of feedback when buying an item  ?  The only time is when something goes wrong

 

If you are unhappy with the feedback add a reply saying that they never contacted you and they decided to bid that much

[Tofufi]

59 minutes ago, hayfield said:

 

If you are unhappy with the feedback add a reply saying that they never contacted you and they decided to bid that much

 

Already done!

Just wanted to vent a bit! 🙃 99% of eBayers I deal with (as buyer and occasional seller of model railway items) are great, but there's always one...

[MrWolf]

23 hours ago, Tofufi said:

I've just had a buyer complain to me (with neutral feedback - thanks...) that they didn't feel the item they bought was worth what they paid.

 

It was on an auction, with clear photos and described as playworn with scuffs (but no physical damage), and corrosion to couplings - so hardly described as being brand new.

 

They didn't argue the description, just seemed unhappy at how much they had chosen to bid.

 

I can't control what he chose to bid... 🙄 and got a neutral feedback despite offering a full refund. Wonderful.

 

Don't beat yourself up about it. Anyone who reads that neutral feedback will doubtless come to the same conclusion as the rest of us. 

 

That bit of feedback is a reflection of the buyer's character rather than yours.

 

The unfortunate thing is that everybody uses eBay, so you are going at some point, to come across someone who you find irritating at best.

 

Don't let them wear you down.

 

 

Edited May 6, 2023 by MrWolf

[Tofufi]

21 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

Don't beat yourself up about it. Anyone who reads that neutral feedback will doubtless come to the same conclusion as the rest of us. 

 

That bit of feedback is a reflection of the buyer's character rather than yours.

 

 

 

Indeed - thank you.

The best bit is the buyer is now selling them on Facebook as being in 'fair' condition...  🙄

[Michael Hodgson]

On 05/05/2023 at 13:43, Tofufi said:

I've just had a buyer complain to me (with neutral feedback - thanks...) that they didn't feel the item they bought was worth what they paid.

 

It was on an auction, with clear photos and described as playworn with scuffs (but no physical damage), and corrosion to couplings - so hardly described as being brand new.

 

They didn't argue the description, just seemed unhappy at how much they had chosen to bid.

 

I can't control what he chose to bid... 🙄 and got a neutral feedback despite offering a full refund. Wonderful.

Seems to me that if that was what he really felt, that is the correct feedback for him to have given. 

The options given by ebay are positive, negative or neutral, but these words are not interpreted the same way by everybody.

 

Positive if he's happy (which clearly isn't the case), Negative if he's unhappy, but that doesn't seem right either as he isn't saying you misdescribed it or anything.  Neutral means neither one nor the other, which is the case here.  He regrets the purchase but he knew the price, he doesn't think you misled him but with hindsight, he doesn't think it was value for money, so it's very clearly his mistake.  But the trouble is that most people (clearly including you) interpret neutral as negative, so it does marginally affect your rating adversely.  The fault lies with the restricted descriptions allowed by ebay, it's their cr*ppy scoring system that I blame.

 

But I wouldn't worry about the odd neutral on your total feedback - a lot of buyers never look at the feedback percentage (even obvious con men seem to have scores above 95%) and fewer still look at the actual text submitted.  I look at the percentage and only read the text if the percentage seems low, and even then I make allowances for idiots buying something they shouldn't have.

 

 

[Tofufi]

3 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

 

Positive if he's happy (which clearly isn't the case), Negative if he's unhappy, but that doesn't seem right either as he isn't saying you misdescribed it or anything.  Neutral means neither one nor the other, which is the case here.  He regrets the purchase but he knew the price, he doesn't think you misled him but with hindsight, he doesn't think it was value for money, so it's very clearly his mistake.  But the trouble is that most people (clearly including you) interpret neutral as negative, so it does marginally affect your rating adversely.  The fault lies with the restricted descriptions allowed by ebay, it's their cr*ppy scoring system that I blame.

 

 

I can't fault most of your logic.

However, if the items are as described, and the seller has performed well (i.e. item listing is accurate, item posted quickly, combining postage when requested, friendly comms etc) then positive feedback is deserved.

If someone is stupid enough to bid more than something is worth, and then regret it later, that isn't really within the control of the seller...

If I agreed to pay £1000 for something worth £10, and the seller sent it quickly and it arrived well wrapped, I don't think I could complain. The seller didn't force me to pay over the odds for it.

 

Of course, if the item isn't in the condition described, that's different and further discussions should be had. 

 

My belief is that 'neutral' feedbacks are more for situations where items are dispatched slowly, or the listing not accurate. 

In my situation I'm not sure what more could have been done to earn a positive feedback after the auction ended...

Edited May 7, 2023 by Tofufi

[Michael Hodgson]

21 minutes ago, Tofufi said:

If I agreed to pay £1000 for something worth £10, and the seller sent it quickly and it arrived well wrapped, I don't think I could complain. They didn't force me to pay over the odds for it.

My belief is that 'neutral' feedbacks are more for situations where items are dispatched slowly, or the listing not accurate.

As I said, the seller's not at fault, it's the buyer's problem.  But I don't necessarily see neutral feedback as appropriate for slow despatch (within reason), it's still positive if the goods are what I want.  There's a difference between private individuals selling things (modellers selling second hand) and traders purporting to provide a more professional service.  I tend to leave neutral where goods are of indifferent (but not shoddy) quality.  Negative if it seems deliberately obstructive, or the listing is inaccurate/ intentionally misleading.

 

The problem arises because people don't all construe neutral the same way.  It's the American way of doing business - y'all have a nice day - everything's got to be wonderful, unless it's so bad you're going to scream abuse.  There is no neutral!  Some of us still take a more nuanced view of things.

 

And does the feedback relate to the seller or to the product?

Edited May 7, 2023 by Michael Hodgson

[andyman7]

On 03/05/2023 at 12:00, MrWolf said:

I may be making a wild assumption here, but I have the feeling that the schill bidder is still alive and well on eBay.

A couple of weeks ago I bid up to £18 for an item that I wanted which doesn't come up very often, what I bid was about the going rate.

I lost out to a bid of £19 (or more, you don't if course get to find out) so that was that.

The item appeared again two days later, so the assumption is that the buyer didn't pay.

 

I put in a bid of £20 this time and won the item for.... (Cue drum roll.) £18.

 

The item arrived today and I thought to check out the bids on the previous listing.

 

The non paying winner on that occasion has a feedback rating of 1.

 

That looks suspicious to me. Maybe someone was expecting a stampede for a reasonably rare item, maybe it's just a coincidence?

 

Not that it matters, I got what I was after for the price I was prepared to pay, even so, I wondered if anyone else has been schilled?

 

On 03/05/2023 at 12:45, Michael Hodgson said:

I suspect it is far more widespread that ebay would have us believe.

 

Ebay are better placed than you to detect the practice if they wish to investigate but It isn't in their interest to stop people getting away with this as they get more in fees if something sells for more than it should.  However it is of course difficult to prove, especially  if a schill bidder takes some simple steps to hide his connection with the seller.  To be fair to ebay, it's the sellers rather than ebay who are responsible for this dishonest bidding practice.

 

Sniping software is perhaps the best option open to you if you think a seller indulges in schill bidding, since he doesn't get time to react if you leave it to the last minute to submit your bid

EBay are really hot on picking up on any sort of organised shill bidding. There profites are generated by business sales and Buy-It-Now - the auctions are one of the things they know draws buyers in and they gain no benefit from bidders who feel cheated.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/selling-policies/selling-practices-policy/shill-bidding-policy?id=4353

 

I do find it bizarre that someone would even consider indulging in the practice over an item that might sell for £18-£20. When ebay was a 'pure' auction site there was obviously a temptation to try and inflate bids but since the buy-it-now model is so well established it seems daft for a seller to risk having their account shut down over the odd £1 when they could just advertise the item at the price they want!

[MrWolf]

I'm pretty certain that mine was a case of someone who got auction fever and then withdrew their bid, but I'm always cautious because I knew of someone who sold vehicles on eBay and got his friends to bid, cancelling the sale if they won.

An odd one I had was putting a rare vintage motorcycle frame on eBay for a starting bid of £595. A bid was received almost immediately and the bidder asked me how much to end the auction? I said OIRO £800, (Still a fair price I kid you not.) he replied that he was thinking £600. 

A measly fiver more? I think not. It would probably be back on eBay the next week with a starting bid of £700.

Another bidder joined in and took the price up to £770. Lo and behold, bidder 1 took it up to £780 before suddenly withdrawing all bids. 

Bidder 2 was very happy with it for £770 and so was I.

When I checked what the bidding had been, I found that bidder 1 had put in a maximum bid of £820 anyway before withdrawal.

If he hadn't taken the p*** with his first offer, I'd have happily let him have it for £750. But as I said, I think that he was hoping to get it for beans and relist it, not reckoning on the other bidder, or just trying to scare him off.

 

[hayfield]

I have said this before A few years back I worked with someone who had been banned several times by eBay for dodgy dealings, he was young and it was motorcar related

 

From what I have read on these pages I think there are some doing similar things with high end RTR.

 

My own experience is the exact opposite, I find both buyers and sellers in the areas I am interested in both honest and very accommodating. I am usually only interested in auction lots and in the loco kit building and spare parts area. Usually I am selling items from lots I have bought or kits where I have bought a better example. Likewise as a buyer I am on the lookout for improving my locos, either with better kits or parts I require. 

 

On the down side, there are several areas on eBay I keep away from, or sellers who over value their items 

[John M Upton]

A trick some bidders do is to put in a ridiculously high bid on an item them declare 'oops, I made a mistake, honest Guv' and withdraw it but done deliberately with the sole intention of finding our what a rival bidders top bid actually is.

 

Caught someone doing that on an item of mine a few years back, they were duly added to the Banned Bidders list...

[Mark Saunders]

On 06/05/2023 at 13:28, MrWolf said:

 

Don't beat yourself up about it. Anyone who reads that neutral feedback will doubtless come to the same conclusion as the rest of us. 

 

That bit of feedback is a reflection of the buyer's character rather than yours.

 

The unfortunate thing is that everybody uses eBay, so you are going at some point, to come across someone who you find irritating at best.

 

Don't let them wear you down.

 

 

Neutral is a term I would use for almost every transaction I make , I just can’t get excited about buying things! Positive seems excessive to me rather like many supermarket online surveys of which you can’t answer half the questions because you only bought what you needed!

[Nick C]

A slightly different eBay annoyance today.

 

Bought an item last week, it arrived on Tuesday. All was fine, so when I logged in today I went to give feedback - and there's no option to do so! It seems the eBay tracking system thinks it's still in transit, and so won't allow me to leave feedback... 

 

Oddly, another item, which hasn't arrived yet, does have the 'leave feedback' button...

Edited May 18, 2023 by Nick C

[hayfield]

4 hours ago, Nick C said:

A slightly different eBay annoyance today.

 

Bought an item last week, it arrived on Tuesday. All was fine, so when I logged in today I went to give feedback - and there's no option to do so! It seems the eBay tracking system thinks it's still in transit, and so won't allow me to leave feedback... 

 

Oddly, another item, which hasn't arrived yet, does have the 'leave feedback' button...

 

eBay seemed to have a few issues over the weekend, one customer had issues in paying as at his end he was getting a paid message, another paid on Sunday but only got an item has been paid for on Tuesday. I had issues in printing invoices, I guess the gremlins were very busy over the weekend

[pete_mcfarlane]

Was the ill relative called Bunbury by any chance?

[hayfield]

19 hours ago, Weeny Works said:

New one today. 

 

Bought a cheap wagon in April with signed delivery. Seller did nothing until the 2nd week of May. I enquired twice a few days apart. Only on the 2nd enquiry did the seller respond with "a relative is very ill & I will send by 09 May". Seller then failed to send by 09 May & only sent it out on 15 May. When the item arrived it was in a worse condition. 

 

Left some neutral feedback stating "item took an age to arrive as seller did not send until 3 weeks after sale date & only after 2 separate enquiries". 

 

Cue today the seller is disputing the neutral feedback playing the illness card. If you're that ill, leave (or get another person to) leave a note on your professional ebay shop to say there will be shipping delays or temporarily suspend your shop. 

 

 

Ask for a full refund if the item was not as stated

[NHY 581]

19 hours ago, Weeny Works said:

New one today. 

 

Bought a cheap wagon in April with signed delivery. Seller did nothing until the 2nd week of May. I enquired twice a few days apart. Only on the 2nd enquiry did the seller respond with "a relative is very ill & I will send by 09 May". Seller then failed to send by 09 May & only sent it out on 15 May. When the item arrived it was in a worse condition. 

 

Left some neutral feedback stating "item took an age to arrive as seller did not send until 3 weeks after sale date & only after 2 separate enquiries". 

 

Cue today the seller is disputing the neutral feedback playing the illness card. If you're that ill, leave (or get another person to) leave a note on your professional ebay shop to say there will be shipping delays or temporarily suspend your shop. 

 

 

Why leave neutral feed back ? 

 

Your experience is not positive, it's the polar opposite......negative. 

 

There's nothing controversial or unfair in your feedback. It's factually correct. 

 

Despite the mitigation offered by the seller, this is poor. Setting aside rubbish delivery and lack of communication, the item is not as described and such it should be returned for a refund if you're unhappy with the item. 

 

Rob. 

[Bucoops]

I bought some cheapo wire clips recently - kind of like the ones that come with some multi-meters. Was advertised as located in London and the picture clearly showed 4mm "banana" plug leads.

 

Turned up late and obviously sent from China, and no leads or even the ability to connect 4mm bananas. However I decided I could use them by soldering wires directly to them so usable otherwise I would have returned. Left negative feedback as not as described and location misrepresented.

 

Cue a barrage of messages offering a refund if I changed the feedback. Er, nope. Reported seller to ebay (probably pointless) and blocked them.

[mezzoman253]

They're at it again. Now they've messed up the Purchase history page, with a new format, which worked perfectly well previously.

Edited June 7, 2023 by mezzoman253

[Rowsley17D]

20 minutes ago, mezzoman253 said:

They're at it again. Now they've messed up the Purchase history page, with a new format, which worked perfectly well previously.

 

It doesn't seem to have much history about it. About a month at best for me.

[hayfield]

2 hours ago, mezzoman253 said:

They're at it again. Now they've messed up the Purchase history page, with a new format, which worked perfectly well previously.

 

 

I have just checked my account and up to and including a 9th of March the full listing is available, however an edited format goes back to 2001. This is much better than it used to be, but the period they keep the full listing for reduced some months back.

 

There is the odd occasion I do go back to check things, but I rarely need the full listing and I doubt if I check more than a couple of percent of my buys and the facility to go back to 2021 is far better than it ever used to be

[Steamport Southport]

One that seems recent to me as I've never had them before, yet have had about four or five in the last couple of weeks.

 

Emails telling me to leave Feedback when I haven't actually received the item yet and it's still well within the estimated delivery time!

 

Hi Jason,

 

Leaving Feedback is an important part of buying and selling on eBay.

If you are a buyer, leaving a review for your purchase is a great way to rate your experience with a seller on eBay and help other buyers make informed decisions. If you’re a seller, leaving feedback for your buyer is a great way to say thank you. This mutual Feedback process enhances the eBay shopping experience for everyone and also helps eBay be the best possible platform for you.

 

Items awaiting Feedback:

THE JOY OF JINTIES: PART TWO - THE 3F 0-6-0Ts OF THE LMS AND BR 1924-1967 - 4734
AK's Products - Metal Model Kit - OO Gauge LMS/MR 3F TANK BODY
BR Parcels and Passenger-Rated Stock: Self-Propelled Parcels Vans, TPOs and Car-
Wagons of the Early British Rail Era: A Pictorial Study of the 1969-1982 Period,

 

 

 

The MR 3F says "Est. delivery Wed 7 Jun - Mon 12 Jun", I only bought it on Saturday! I would expect it to have been posted on Monday which was the 5th.

 

I ALWAYS leave feedback, unlike most sellers, but how can I do so without receiving the item?

 

Give us a chance!

 

 

[MrWolf]

I've had the same message asking for feedback on some motorcycle parts that I won in auction Sunday night, even if they were posted at 9am on Monday, they're coming second class.

As for my feedback as a seller, I leave feedback once I receive it from the buyer and not before, just in case!

[John M Upton]

I had a classic the other week, buyer purchases an item late on Saturday afternoon, next postal collection because of the Bank Holiday Monday is Tuesday lunchtime, claim for non delivery of item and refund is launched by the buyer at nine o'clock on the Tuesday morning when said item was still in the post box just down the road awaiting collection!!

 

As it was only a couple of pounds and they were quite arsey in their communication, I refunded and promptly banned them.