Dodgy Seller?

[Crosland]

I asked a question about an item (small power tool for modelling use) to be told it was personally owned, and had been sat in the sellers shed with little use. A few items were missing, but easily replaced. I placed a bid but then became suspicious.

 

Checking feedback, I see the same seller has sold 5 such items in the past year, at least two described as being "bought for a special job and used only once". One seems identical to the current offer. Seems a strange pattern of behaviour.

 

All of the feedback on these items is good but, the seller has 8 negs (out of 450) in the last 12 months for other items.

 

Something doesn't seem right. What do others think?
 

[PhilH]

Surely this must be a personal choice. Buying from Ebay is not mandatory, if you are in any way suspicious simply walk away.

[Oldddudders]

If you are risking serious wonga, walk away. If you can afford to swallow the costs of buying a lemon, then give it a punt.

[jonny777]

Ebay used to be 99% legit, but now it is more akin to a million dodgy blokes trying to sell knockoff stuff in pubs.

[Guest]

Be aware that an awful lot of catalogue returns end up in the hands of those that have bought them for next to nothing and then try and sell them on using ebay. This most certainly applies to power tools. There was one notorious brand (Ferm) sold by Screwfix that had a habit of breaking after first use. "Used once" and "bits missing" rings a few bells. I'd hazard a guess and suggest that as he has sold multiple similar items, these items have not been used by the seller but rather by the original purchaser before being returned as unfit for purpose. I may be wrong, but my honest advice would be walk away.

[Crosland]

It's actually a Proxxon item, which I thought were reasonable quality, if a little pricey.

 

I'm outbid anyway now

[Mike Bellamy]

A local auction house here has the contract to dispose of 'Machine Mart' returns which they sell by the box full. I have been to a few of the auctions and it is obvious that the same people are bidding on several lots and they are well known to the auctioneer. However I was the successful bidder for some workshop lights on a tripod for my son to use for car maintenance. Finished up with five sets with faults such as blown fuse or blown bulb or broken fixing. Managed to repair all of them and get them working!

Several sets of tools had parts missing - some appeared to be the result of shoplifting in the store where the clear plastic packaging has been damaged and one screwdriver or spanner taken but the rest of the set is still perfect. When doing a search on Ebay a few days after these auctions to sort by nearest seller first it was surprising how much stuff I recognised. Some were honest and explained where it had come from but others were obviously trying it on by claiming it was their own items no longer required - but then why did they have so many - which takes us back to the original question in #1

I agree with Pete above - buyer beware but there are some great bargains out there if you are careful and know exactly what you are getting.

 

 

.

[Guest]

Dodgy seller...

 

I just bought a loco from some using buy it now, make offer yesterday morning.

 

Offer was duly accepted.. A few hours later, seller cancels the sale.

I email him and ask why, no response.

This morning same item, same seller is back online again.

Still no response.

 

How dodgy is that... The offender... A well known model shop in the South East.

Wondering whether to name and shame.

 

So you made an offer which was accepted and then seller cancels sale? Not unheard of but odd - do they want to sell the item or not? An explanation would at least be nice.

[MartinWales]

Maybe they thought they could sell it for more, but still very strange, and at least an explanation would be nice!

 

OR why not phone them yourself and asked the question thereby putting someone on the spot and some red faces maybe?

[chris p bacon]

The guy did indeed sell it for more, but only about £10 more.

I emailed him 3 times, the 3rd time he just gave a load of waffle about his right to sell to who he wants.

Ebay is like the Wild West sometimes, buyers and sellers.

Ok it's slightly off topic but you read this above and then go to the Buy & Sell thread where some think that Ebay is the new religion.....

 

I've just sold something yesterday on Ebay for £65 (BIN) the Ebay fees and Paypal charges stack up to £8.91 (13.7%) which is now more than my local auction house (yes I realise it's a bigger market etc) to me Ebay & Paypal are the most Dodgy of all.

[rockershovel]

eBay has its uses, I've just had a clearout of accumulated motorcycle parts, some of which had been cluttering up my shed for twenty years. It is also a great source of odd items which just appear unexpectedly, once your preferences are established.

 

If it was ever 100% legit, I must have blinked and missed it,

 

Auctions have always needed to be approached with caution. I didn't know about disposing of catalogue returns, but it doesn't surprise me very much. Auctions are a great way of trading in items which don't really bear scrutiny, or can't be put on the showroom floor for some reason,

 

My son used to work for the local Honda dealer, who routinely used it to dispose of trade-in machines which weren't worth showroom space but were too good to send to auction.

 

There has always been a good deal of rubbish on eBay and I'm sure there always will be. There are shills - bidders who collude to ramp up prices but stop short of winning them. There are traders who use shills then cancel, leaving the item to sell to one if the genuine bidders. There are people who use it to attract interest or gauge the market then cancel, selling it privately.mhere are traders who flatly refuse to honour sales, although this us rare. There is box-shifting and dumping of unsold stock on an enormous scale. There is a fair amount of stuff which really isn't a bargain at all, like the Poundland "special sizes" . You most certainly need to be aware of the charges incurred.

 

I just put what I think an item is worth to me, and let it take its course.

[jonny777]

A very sound policy.

 

However, it is a strange psychology that seems to take over on Ebay. If I bid on something, it is almost as if my brain decides it has become mine there and then. If, subsequently, someone out bids me it is like they are trying to steal the item from under my nose and it is difficult to resist the temptation to think 'no, this is mine - I have to have it'.

 

Many years ago I sold my old railway VHS tape collection, and quite a few went for prices above their brand new retail price - as many were still available. Everyone paid up and I had no hassle, but I always wonder why folk would pay £22 for a second hand video in unknown condition from an anonymous seller, when they could buy the mint version for £17.95 from any railway video shop?

[davefrk]

Ebay used to be 99% legit, but now it is more akin to a million dodgy blokes trying to sell knockoff stuff in pubs.

 

Yeah and 'Amazon Market Place' is not much better!!!!

We've had a fight with a 'character' over a supposed new guitar, It arrived several days after we had to phone looking for it and it was in a 'tired' box but as it was a Chrismas pressie we were glad it had finally arrived. It only became obvious there was a manufacturing fault after the 30 days that Amazon cover you for so they said take it up with the seller, we did and all he did was accuse us of 'bending the fretboard somehow' (his words) and after various exchanges where he accused us of 'talking down to him', then threatening us with his legal team' and ' do you know who I am - I run an international shop fitting company you know....' I told him I wasn't interested in his other businesses  but we did google him,- the company was struck off the companies register several years ago.... That's why he's selling dodgy guitars on Amazon Market Place.... We complained to Amazon several times about this seller's accusations and nasty emails and they didn't want to know saying 'do not contact us again'. So now it is in the hands of the credit card company. And, he is now saying to the card company that we are trying to return a faulty guitar that he didn't sell us, WHAT?

Trading Standards say we have the right to a repair or replacement of the faulty goods for 6 Months from the date of sale. The seller doesn't agree....

Amazon... Just another reason to dislike you.

 

Dave Franks

[rockershovel]

Auctioneers make their living by bidding up prices, and they do this because people are amenable to this sort of suggestion.

 

The key question in ANY auction is - is this item of any real value, can I buy it elsewhere and if so, at what price?

 

Then figure in postage and eBay charges and bid. There is no point at all doing anything else.

[Titan]

I asked a question about an item (small power tool for modelling use) to be told it was personally owned, and had been sat in the sellers shed with little use. A few items were missing, but easily replaced. I placed a bid but then became suspicious.

 

Checking feedback, I see the same seller has sold 5 such items in the past year, at least two described as being "bought for a special job and used only once". One seems identical to the current offer. Seems a strange pattern of behaviour.

 

All of the feedback on these items is good but, the seller has 8 negs (out of 450) in the last 12 months for other items.

 

Something doesn't seem right. What do others think?

 

 

 

Another good reason to have a sniping program.  If you decide to change your mind and retract your bid for whatever reason, then you will have to go through the bid retraction process with ebay and it will go on your record. With a snipe, all you have to do is go and cancel the snipe, and since you have yet to actually bid there is no hassle, worry or repercussion whatsoever.

[Crosland]

I've just sold something yesterday on Ebay for £65 (BIN) the Ebay fees and Paypal charges stack up to £8.91 (13.7%) which is now more than my local auction house (yes I realise it's a bigger market etc) to me Ebay & Paypal are the most Dodgy of all.

 

Would your local auction house have given the item the same exposure and resulted in a sale?

[Crosland]

Trading Standards say we have the right to a repair or replacement of the faulty goods for 6 Months from the date of sale. The seller doesn't agree....

Amazon... Just another reason to dislike you.

 

Dave Franks

 

Might be worth going to https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcomeor at least threatening to.

[Crosland]

Auctioneers make their living by bidding up prices, and they do this because people are amenable to this sort of suggestion.

 

 

Not on Ebay, there's no auctioneer. It's buyers who get carried away making multiple incremental bids that end up paying too much.

 

Bid once, fire and forget.

[chris p bacon]

Would your local auction house have given the item the same exposure and resulted in a sale?

Eeeerrrrr, Thats why I put 

 

yes I realise it's a bigger market etc

Also most auction houses now have specialist sales

 

 

I looked back at some bits I sold a couple of years ago and the fees for something around the £60-70 mark were in the order of 5%, I am of the opinion that 13%+ is a bit much, When these listings finish they will go on Buy & Sell anyway.

[jonny777]

Yeah and 'Amazon Market Place' is not much better!!!!

 

In my two (so far) experiences of Amazon Marketplace, I have found them to be worse than Ebay.

 

One item never arrived and the courier service described it as 'lost' even though their tracking said they had picked it up from the collection point. That is still ongoing.

 

The second did arrive but had a spec well below the banner description on the 'purchase' page. When I questioned this I received the reply that if I had bothered to scroll right down to the bottom of the page, there was a line in a tiny font saying this item was not as described at the top. When I started a dispute procedure the seller became really shirty and starting calling me all manner of abusive names, and that I was just a scammer (rather ironic really) until I reminded him that once a dispute is open all communications are sent via Amazon. Then he quietened down and demanded I send the item back to him because I must have altered it.

 

I refused, saying that he had already received my payment and to get the item back as well would be a double success on his part. This resulted in another barrage of insults during which he accidentally admitted he had put an inferior product into that category because he couldn't find the correct one.

 

After that, Amazon resolved the issue in my favour; gave me a refund and told me to post the item back to the seller, which I did.

 

I can do without that kind of hassle, and so there will be no further purchases by me from Amazon Marketplace - period.

[davefrk]

Hi Jonny777, that sounds so like the guy I'm having a problem with even down to the same emails and name calling, especially the 'scammer' bit. Would it have been a certain Mr Salt?....

 

Dave F.

[jonny777]

I can't remember the name, but he lived in Croydon.

 

Strangely, since that dispute I have had two separate emails from Amazon about 6 weeks apart asking me to change my password because my account may have been compromised.

 

Of course, there may be no connection, but I always get suspicious when these things happen.

 

I haven't logged on to the site since.

[Philip Jackson]

I can't believe I bought a knockoff of a cheap chinese camera. I use an SJ4000 http://www.sjcam.com/home/27-sjcam-sj4000-wifi-1080p-full-hd-action-camera-sport-dvr.html video camera when cycling but it also works as an in car dash cam, So I bought another one off ebay to use in my car, and what arrived looks like and SJ4000 but most definitly isn't. Batteries don't fit, firmware update isn't recognised and the output is poor. I'll never buy this type of device on ebay again

 

so be warned there are fakes out there of gopro nock offs

[hayfield]

It's actually a Proxxon item, which I thought were reasonable quality, if a little pricey.

 

I'm outbid anyway now

 

If the item is not what it was described both Ebay and Paypal will look into it and refund your money, they both have guarantees (which both buyers and sellers pay for) so use it

 

A local auction house here has the contract to dispose of 'Machine Mart' returns which they sell by the box full. I have been to a few of the auctions and it is obvious that the same people are bidding on several lots and they are well known to the auctioneer. However I was the successful bidder for some workshop lights on a tripod for my son to use for car maintenance. Finished up with five sets with faults such as blown fuse or blown bulb or broken fixing. Managed to repair all of them and get them working!

 

Several sets of tools had parts missing - some appeared to be the result of shoplifting in the store where the clear plastic packaging has been damaged and one screwdriver or spanner taken but the rest of the set is still perfect. When doing a search on Ebay a few days after these auctions to sort by nearest seller first it was surprising how much stuff I recognised. Some were honest and explained where it had come from but others were obviously trying it on by claiming it was their own items no longer required - but then why did they have so many - which takes us back to the original question in #1

 

I agree with Pete above - buyer beware but there are some great bargains out there if you are careful and know exactly what you are getting.

 

 

.

 

I bought some Scalextric returns a while ago, nothing wrong with them at all. I could if I tried have sold the contents as seperate lots and made money. I use it at the local village fair to raise funds for the Parish Church. Thankfully the donations have topped the cost of the items and had quite some fun with it

Dodgy seller...

 

I just bought a loco from some using buy it now, make offer yesterday morning.

 

Offer was duly accepted.. A few hours later, seller cancels the sale.

I email him and ask why, no response.

This morning same item, same seller is back online again.

Still no response.

 

How dodgy is that... The offender... A well known model shop in the South East.

Wondering whether to name and shame.

 

Complain to Ebay, at worst you will feel better and may end up with a gift voucher

Be aware that an awful lot of catalogue returns end up in the hands of those that have bought them for next to nothing and then try and sell them on using ebay. This most certainly applies to power tools. There was one notorious brand (Ferm) sold by Screwfix that had a habit of breaking after first use. "Used once" and "bits missing" rings a few bells. I'd hazard a guess and suggest that as he has sold multiple similar items, these items have not been used by the seller but rather by the original purchaser before being returned as unfit for purpose. I may be wrong, but my honest advice would be walk away.

 

As I said above these can be excellent buys

[Lady_Ava_Hay]

I asked a question about an item (small power tool for modelling use) to be told it was personally owned, and had been sat in the sellers shed with little use. A few items were missing, but easily replaced. I placed a bid but then became suspicious.

 

Checking feedback, I see the same seller has sold 5 such items in the past year, at least two described as being "bought for a special job and used only once". One seems identical to the current offer. Seems a strange pattern of behaviour.

 

All of the feedback on these items is good but, the seller has 8 negs (out of 450) in the last 12 months for other items.

 

Something doesn't seem right. What do others think?

 

I think you have correctly looked at this seller. 8 negatives in 450 sales is rather more than either a buyer or EBay would like. I too would like to examine his other positive feedback ( you would be surprised what people put in there because thay know that EBay will remove feedback under pressure and many sellers don't look at positive feedback ) to see if other comments along the same lines are visible.

 

By the same token I must have sold over 100 items in the past 12 months and I don't have any negative feedback. Remember that if a buyer enters a dispute and you refund without demur and relist with a correction or additional facts, very often the original buyer enters no feedback at all as he is satisfied. If the seller KNOWS that he is selling something dodgy and has bought it in especially, he cannot afford to refund and relist and take a lower price with the erosion of margin caused by E Bay prices.

 

There is also a seller inertia among amateurs that almost takes a complaint from a buyer as a personal insult. I suffer quite badly from this and in several instances have felt that the buyer was being demonstrably unfair or even stupid. EBay say they will not countenance 'buyers remorse' but they don't really check and I have learned to just swallow the pill and refund the money and either relist the item with description amendments or use second chance offer for a few days. This always happens on the dearer items in my case over £100.

 

Many have said on here that they don't worry about losing bids on EBay as there will be another item along shortly. The same applies to buyers but how you handle them dictates your reputation.

 

This seller needs to look at his items returned against his profits and assess what to do next.

 

Avoid this sort of seller.