Ebay annoyances

[big jim]

25 minutes ago, Andy_C said:

As a seller I wait for feedback. If I don’t get any feedback, then I don’t leave any. Hence I was agreeing with the point raised, quoting accordingly. 
 

that’s exactly what I do, once I receive an item I’m happy with will leave feedback pretty much straight away too hoping to get some back (if the seller hasn’t already left it) 

[cessna152towser]

3 hours ago, big jim said:

you are bidding on a Planet Industrials Kerr Stuart Victory steam loco 

DCC fitted (next 18 decoder)

Finished in IW&D grey livery and numbered 12 

Only been test run on my rolling road before and after chipping, it probably needs a few cvs adjusting depending on your own preferences as I haven’t changed anything from default other than the address (12) 

Boxed in the correct box with all paperwork and inserts etc

Only selling as I managed to pick up a sound chipped victory and can’t justify having two of them!

A lovely loco, runs beautifully, slow speed running is fantastic

I am assuming this is your wording.  It tells a potential buyer a lot more information about the actual item, rather than the load of generalistic waffle provided by Artificial Inadequacy.

[MrWolf]

How about a good one for a change? Yesterday, whilst hunting around for some new engine valves for my BSA (Which is currently being rebuilt from its fiery demise and resultant crash) I spotted a pair, listed as one inlet, one exhaust. 

I contacted the seller, explaining diplomatically that they weren't in fact a pair, one was from the standard A7 twin and the other was from the rather more fire breathing Star Twin sports model and that I would be interested if he was prepared to split the lot and sell me the latter.

 

This morning I got a very nice surprise when the seller emailed me back to say thank you for the proper identification and if I was to give him a postal address he would send me the valve free of charge.

 

[Sjcm]

Think I've fallen victim to the "find out what  the other buyers maximum bid is" scam. Have an item finishing today which was bid upto 16 pounds a week ago. Last night the top bidder retracted his bid just before the item went into the last 24 hours claiming wrong amount. Funny it took him 7 days to realise it. He's a dealer so banned him but the whole bidding pattern is fishy imo.  I've had 8 bids on it, 7 from the original (now winning) bidder(who changes their maximum bid 7 times in 2 minutes?), and one from the banned dealer. Half a mind to cancel it

[hayfield]

1 hour ago, Sjcm said:

Think I've fallen victim to the "find out what  the other buyers maximum bid is" scam. Have an item finishing today which was bid upto 16 pounds a week ago. Last night the top bidder retracted his bid just before the item went into the last 24 hours claiming wrong amount. Funny it took him 7 days to realise it. He's a dealer so banned him but the whole bidding pattern is fishy imo.  I've had 8 bids on it, 7 from the original (now winning) bidder(who changes their maximum bid 7 times in 2 minutes?), and one from the banned dealer. Half a mind to cancel it

 

I am tempting fate now but I think I have had one bid retraction this year in over 50 sales, and I think it was simply the buyer changing their mind in the circumstances you describe, in this world of internet shopping customers get used to being able to change their minds and return items, plus of course you have both the chancers and odd balls to cope with. I set a starting price I am happy with, if it fails to sell there is always another week. I don't start things at very low prices expecting a much higher price, that is too risky for me

[Sjcm]

13 minutes ago, hayfield said:

 

I am tempting fate now but I think I have had one bid retraction this year in over 50 sales, and I think it was simply the buyer changing their mind in the circumstances you describe, in this world of internet shopping customers get used to being able to change their minds and return items, plus of course you have both the chancers and odd balls to cope with. I set a starting price I am happy with, if it fails to sell there is always another week. I don't start things at very low prices expecting a much higher price, that is too risky for me

To be honest I don't really get bid retractions until now. This just smells fishy with it being a dealer and the week long delay retracting his bid till the last possible moment he could do it. Still think it will get to near the same price he bid for it, but I do find it annoying that he bid so far over the top 7 days ago because straight away you lose watchers

[hayfield]

5 minutes ago, Sjcm said:

To be honest I don't really get bid retractions until now. This just smells fishy with it being a dealer and the week long delay retracting his bid till the last possible moment he could do it. Still think it will get to near the same price he bid for it, but I do find it annoying that he bid so far over the top 7 days ago because straight away you lose watchers

 

 

I think what I sell interests very few dealers, especially when it comes to spare parts, neither do I sell items of high value.

 

What I look to buy are what I perceive are good value items, sometimes meaning I buy small lots the the Item I require, or buying from people who know little about what they are selling. I then sell what I don't require at what I consider is at reasonable prices. So in a lot of cases I have a single buyer, though sometimes I find an item a few want

 

But I have often said I move in kit building circles with buyers seemingly grateful to buy the items and they are a great bunch of people

[Sjcm]

4 minutes ago, hayfield said:

 

 

I think what I sell interests very few dealers, especially when it comes to spare parts, neither do I sell items of high value.

 

What I look to buy are what I perceive are good value items, sometimes meaning I buy small lots the the Item I require, or buying from people who know little about what they are selling. I then sell what I don't require at what I consider is at reasonable prices. So in a lot of cases I have a single buyer, though sometimes I find an item a few want

 

But I have often said I move in kit building circles with buyers seemingly grateful to buy the items and they are a great bunch of people

Well this item is reasonably common. A good day, probably 20+ pounds, bad day 13 pounds (ignoring the sellers selling at stupid money) so not high value. I stick things on for 10 days because I'm in no hurry and it ensures maximum exposure. Lots of people may pop on ebay once a week and 10 days ensures they can see it. The plus side is it now looks a bargain, the downside is  I'd probably have 10 extra watchers if he hadn't bid it up to 16 pounds in the first 24 hours and those watchers who unwatched may not be back on today which may have been his thinking. We'll see, but if it's won by someone living in the general area of the dealer I will assume I'm not just being paranoid😊

 

 

I do much the same as you just not kits. Actually saw a job lot of kits today that I thought you probably had your eye on😉

[hayfield]

As I said I price items at the minimum price I want for the item, usually I have two or more bidders and most items sell for a bit more. If an item does not sell I just relist it, probably means its priced a bit over market rates but quite often once someone bids this encourages others. You just need to find a like minded buyer

 

A couple of times I have had offers that if it does not sell they would offer me a fiver less, both times I have relisted them at £5 more and they sold both times, I should have thanked the scrooge who offered me less. But whilst I like my items to sell, I am not fussed if the odd one takes a week or two

 

As I said, every item I list I have a minimum price which I am happy with, plus I explain I always send the item via Royal Mail first class, next day after payment, and its for both post and packing. So my postage is not the cheapest, but fast. 

 

I had a case where a Wills kit built loco (common one) was not selling at £29.95 + postage, I said in the listing as it had a set of Romford's and a 5 pole motor I would rather sell the items separately if id did not sell. After 3 listings of not selling I made 4 listings (loco, wheels, motor and gears) and got £45. And had 4 happy customers.

 

I look at eBay as being a bit of fun and enjoy both the hunt for bargains and selling 

 

 I always look to improve my locos, I have just brought a Wills Finecast SR King Arthur class unbuilt loco for £14.95 inc postage (the box is worth £6) I have an unboxed built one with an etched chassis, wheels and motor. But the paintwork is a bit tired, I cant have paid much more that the cost of a set of wheels for the loco. I plan to keep the chassis and sell off the painted body and tender, if I get £15 for it I doubt if what I am keeping cost me more than £50 ( the price of a set of Markit drivers ).  

 

Sometimes we tend to over think things, its not all that of an issue. Much better to remember the good buys and or those great sales.

[Hal Nail]

I tend to list buy it now and can very quickly gauge from the number of watchers whether I've got it hopelessly wrong. Obviously there are some things you just want to shift and others only if the price is right and that determines if i adjust or leave it alone. I've very occasionally put things up when I had masses of watchers within an hour and decided I'd probably been too pessimistic!

 

At the end of the day it is not a precise science so there is an element of guesswork at play.

 

When i get an offer from someone with a rating over, say, 1000, I tend to decline on the basis that is almost certainly less than they thought it was actually worth and someone else will be along later!

[MrWolf]

I put a classic car part on eBay auction on Sunday, almost immediately I was asked if I had a buy it now price. When I looked at the listing there was already sixteen watchers, so I figured that either the starting bid is a bit cheap, or there's going to be a scrap for it at the weekend.

[Sjcm]

20 hours ago, hayfield said:

As I said I price items at the minimum price I want for the item, usually I have two or more bidders and most items sell for a bit more. If an item does not sell I just relist it, probably means its priced a bit over market rates but quite often once someone bids this encourages others. You just need to find a like minded buyer

 

A couple of times I have had offers that if it does not sell they would offer me a fiver less, both times I have relisted them at £5 more and they sold both times, I should have thanked the scrooge who offered me less. But whilst I like my items to sell, I am not fussed if the odd one takes a week or two

 

As I said, every item I list I have a minimum price which I am happy with, plus I explain I always send the item via Royal Mail first class, next day after payment, and its for both post and packing. So my postage is not the cheapest, but fast. 

 

I had a case where a Wills kit built loco (common one) was not selling at £29.95 + postage, I said in the listing as it had a set of Romford's and a 5 pole motor I would rather sell the items separately if id did not sell. After 3 listings of not selling I made 4 listings (loco, wheels, motor and gears) and got £45. And had 4 happy customers.

 

I look at eBay as being a bit of fun and enjoy both the hunt for bargains and selling 

 

 I always look to improve my locos, I have just brought a Wills Finecast SR King Arthur class unbuilt loco for £14.95 inc postage (the box is worth £6) I have an unboxed built one with an etched chassis, wheels and motor. But the paintwork is a bit tired, I cant have paid much more that the cost of a set of wheels for the loco. I plan to keep the chassis and sell off the painted body and tender, if I get £15 for it I doubt if what I am keeping cost me more than £50 ( the price of a set of Markit drivers ).  

 

Sometimes we tend to over think things, its not all that of an issue. Much better to remember the good buys and or those great sales.

Hah I have Wills j39 I just picked up and trust me it wouldn't take much to improve it😂

 

I always value items at the very lowest possible estimate when I buy to possibly sell on. The loco I had up for sale was 1 of 3 I got for roughly 11 pounds each so as long as they sold for that I was reasonably happy. In the end I decided to keep one of them, so with the sale of the other two I got the one loco for 2-3 pounds👍

 

As for the item with the strange bidding patterns, a buyer with less than 10 feedback did come in and made 6 incremental bids of 1 pound up to the original cancelled bid. Could be just coincidence, but as he didn't win, we'll never know.😎

Edited September 21, 2023 by Sjcm

[hayfield]

2 minutes ago, Sjcm said:

Hah I have Wills j39 I just picked up and trust me it wouldn't take much to improve it😂

 

I always value items at the very lowest possible estimate when I buy to possibly sell on. The loco I had up for sale was 1 of 3 I got for roughly 11 pounds each so as long as they sold for that I was reasonably happy. In the end I decided to keep one of them, so with the sale of the other two I got the one loco for 2-3 pounds👍

 

As for item with the strange bidding patterns, a buyer with less than 10 feedback did come in and made 6 incremental bids of 1 pound up to the original cancelled bid. Could be just coincidence, but as he didn't win, we'll never know.😎

 

 

As a buyer if I saw someone increasing bids with small increments I think is it a mate of the buyer doing this

 

On the other hand I get a bit fed up with buyers trying to frighten others off by making multiple bids soon after an item has been listed. If its something I am interested in I try and see how much the person wants it, by making small incremental bids taking out the early bids (making sure I keep to my own valuation)

 

As for buying lots of 3 locos to buy one of them, I also do this now and then, providing my bid is covered by the value of what I want and a very low valuation of the two I don't want. Or I buy a complete kit with wheels motor and gears, to keep the latter and resell the kit, quite often other bidders either miss the extra parts or place no value on them.

 

As for the J39, is a bit like a Collet Goods, the only value is if it has an etched chassis, wheels, motor and gears. The body kit having little or no value. 

[Sjcm]

2 hours ago, hayfield said:

 

 

As a buyer if I saw someone increasing bids with small increments I think is it a mate of the buyer doing this

 

On the other hand I get a bit fed up with buyers trying to frighten others off by making multiple bids soon after an item has been listed. If its something I am interested in I try and see how much the person wants it, by making small incremental bids taking out the early bids (making sure I keep to my own valuation)

 

As for buying lots of 3 locos to buy one of them, I also do this now and then, providing my bid is covered by the value of what I want and a very low valuation of the two I don't want. Or I buy a complete kit with wheels motor and gears, to keep the latter and resell the kit, quite often other bidders either miss the extra parts or place no value on them.

 

As for the J39, is a bit like a Collet Goods, the only value is if it has an etched chassis, wheels, motor and gears. The body kit having little or no value. 

Think you've overvalued it a bit😉 it's on a Triang chassis with Romford wheels. The build is okay but the original builder had an interesting interaction with 1970's glue and the body fixing is 5 different screws. All I've done is got it running ( I call them ressurections) after tracking down the numerous shorts. But yes, it's unlikely to interest a proper kitbuilder, but perhaps someone wanting a cheap dabble with a kit as the tender is nice, or someone just looking for something different. It actually does run well on modern track now.

[hayfield]

1 hour ago, Sjcm said:

Think you've overvalued it a bit😉 it's on a Triang chassis with Romford wheels. The build is okay but the original builder had an interesting interaction with 1970's glue and the body fixing is 5 different screws. All I've done is got it running ( I call them ressurections) after tracking down the numerous shorts. But yes, it's unlikely to interest a proper kitbuilder, but perhaps someone wanting a cheap dabble with a kit as the tender is nice, or someone just looking for something different. It actually does run well on modern track now.

 

I have not put a value on your loco, unless it has a 5 pole motor then the only value is possibly the Romford, new Markits would set you back £45 and if they are 18mm rather than 20mm they would be a bit more desirable, on the other hand a great project for a kit building novice. A long soak in Dettol (not the chassis) should dissolve the paint and glue. Or a very good starter project for  a conversion to EM gauge.  

[GWR-fan]

I had an incident several years ago when one was able to look at other bidder's bid history.  I bid on some Hornby wagons in as new,  unused condition.  For days absolutely no interest at all from any other bidders,  until the last few minutes.  Until the hammer fall the wagons were a good price (about 1/5 of the final price), basically start listing price and with little to no interest I placed a final bid which was around 3/4 MSRP.   With barely two minutes left the only other bidder on these wagons entered the fray and placed multiple bids pushing up my final bid.  With just seconds remaining and having increased my bid up to my maximum,  he opted out of the listing and switched to another item the seller had on his site which was not "OO" scale but "N" scale,  a listing that he also did not win.  I checked the bidder's bid history and saw what seemed to be a pattern of shill bidding for the seller.  The seller was well known on Australian eBay as a buyer of collections and estate sales. 

 

I always wondered how he seemed to get a higher final bid price for all his listings.  I messaged the seller asking him to explain the multiple coincidences in the bidder's previous bidding pattern and how it was that the bidder placed dozens of bids a month and yet surprisingly never won anything and why all his bids were with this one seller,  over multiple scales.  The seller reported me to eBay accusing me of falsely stating that he was a shill seller.  Supposedly eBay "cleared" him of any wrong doing but then I only had his word for that.   I have not bid on any items for years,  preferring "Buy it Now" listings as at least I have some assurance that the seller has no accomplices to boost his earnings.  EBay's privacy policy simply masks fraudulent bidding practices.

[hayfield]

2 hours ago, GWR-fan said:

I had an incident several years ago when one was able to look at other bidder's bid history.  I bid on some Hornby wagons in as new,  unused condition.  For days absolutely no interest at all from any other bidders,  until the last few minutes.  Until the hammer fall the wagons were a good price (about 1/5 of the final price), basically start listing price and with little to no interest I placed a final bid which was around 3/4 MSRP.   With barely two minutes left the only other bidder on these wagons entered the fray and placed multiple bids pushing up my final bid.  With just seconds remaining and having increased my bid up to my maximum,  he opted out of the listing and switched to another item the seller had on his site which was not "OO" scale but "N" scale,  a listing that he also did not win.  I checked the bidder's bid history and saw what seemed to be a pattern of shill bidding for the seller.  The seller was well known on Australian eBay as a buyer of collections and estate sales. 

 

I always wondered how he seemed to get a higher final bid price for all his listings.  I messaged the seller asking him to explain the multiple coincidences in the bidder's previous bidding pattern and how it was that the bidder placed dozens of bids a month and yet surprisingly never won anything and why all his bids were with this one seller,  over multiple scales.  The seller reported me to eBay accusing me of falsely stating that he was a shill seller.  Supposedly eBay "cleared" him of any wrong doing but then I only had his word for that.   I have not bid on any items for years,  preferring "Buy it Now" listings as at least I have some assurance that the seller has no accomplices to boost his earnings.  EBay's privacy policy simply masks fraudulent bidding practices.

 

I prefer to bid with under 10 seconds left to bid, in my mind it has two advantages. 

 

1 Most importantly it stops me chasing bids

 

2 With seconds left stops someone bidding me up

 

What you can do is use a snipe bidding program. This still gives you full control and would stop what you describe

[cessna152towser]

3 hours ago, hayfield said:

I prefer to bid with under 10 seconds left to bid, in my mind it has two advantages. 

 

1 Most importantly it stops me chasing bids

 

2 With seconds left stops someone bidding me up

That usually works nowadays when most of us have high speed internet.

I remember my early days on eBay almost 20 years ago when I was still on a dial-up modem.   I would bid on something two or three minutes before the end of the auction and then wait patiently to see if I won.    Occasionally the response which eventually came back from eBay would be "item no longer available" and I would find that it sold to someone else for less than I had bid.

[John M Upton]

Okay, which imbecile at Ebay's Department of Stupid Ideas came up with the idea of offering A.I. generated descriptions?  Do we really need another tool that makes people even more lazy?  There is nothing intelligent about artificial intelligence, all it seems to come up with is 1990's Estate Agent style hyped up pretentious prose that is basically inaccurate gibberish!!!

[MrWolf]

7 hours ago, John M Upton said:

Okay, which imbecile at Ebay's Department of Stupid Ideas came up with the idea of offering A.I. generated descriptions?  Do we really need another tool that makes people even more lazy?  There is nothing intelligent about artificial intelligence, all it seems to come up with is 1990's Estate Agent style hyped up pretentious prose that is basically inaccurate gibberish!!!

 

"A must have for any serious collector...."

 

Billhooks!!!

[ianmacc]

Somebody bought something a couple of weeks ago. Their address looked a little poorly formatted so I searched it and corrected it. The item didn’t arrive so I explained that I would refund but they may wish to correct it. 
 

if anybody wants the username of this delightful gentleman I can provide it so you can block them. 

[hayfield]

Report them to eBay and ask for your refund to be returned, as to me I would not trust them if this is how they respond

[ianmacc]

4 minutes ago, hayfield said:

Report them to eBay and ask for your refund to be returned, as to me I would not trust them if this is how they respond

I reported them for abuse. I have blocked them. The refund hasn’t gone through yet. I suspect eBay will still side with them in all aspects from sad experience…

[John M Upton]

Ebay's Department of Stupid Ideas at it again...

 

Now if you want to make an offer on an item to a seller, you have to have a payment method registered which means when you make an offer and it is accepted, the sale goes through automatically without you even realising it!

 

Only found out  this morning I won and paid for something I put a slightly cheeky offer on Friday afternoon!

 

Could have unfortunate consequences for those who put in offers on the carp over in the Ebay Madness thread...

[Rich_F]

52 minutes ago, John M Upton said:

Ebay's Department of Stupid Ideas at it again...

 

Now if you want to make an offer on an item to a seller, you have to have a payment method registered which means when you make an offer and it is accepted, the sale goes through automatically without you even realising it!

 

Only found out  this morning I won and paid for something I put a slightly cheeky offer on Friday afternoon!

 

Could have unfortunate consequences for those who put in offers on the carp over in the Ebay Madness thread...

 

It's stuff like this that's quickly turning me away from eBay.

 

What with sellers now charging £5 for shipping on some decals etc it's becoming a bit like AliExpress