Ebay is once again ripping off their sellers w/ enforcing tracked shipping & not backing the sellers

[mylifelongtreasures]

Why is Ebay allowed to have a money back guarantee for buyers and then take that money from the sellers?

If we charge regular shipping and buyer says the item does not arrive, Ebay takes our money.

If we charge tracked shipping (which is too high), even if the buyer purchases the item knowing the shipping and then leaves poor feedback - Ebay takes your money by refusing to remove the feedback which then effects your discount rating. If you have poor ratings you don't get good sellers discounts. PLUS you are paying more money to Ebay for the 10% fee on the shipping charges.

How is that fair to the honest sellers that are selling life long treasures at a fraction of what they are worth and then getting ripped off by Ebay by having to pay 10% on the item, 10% on the shipping and then they even take away the sellers discounts that they so PROUDLY advertise!

 IT is just a SCAM to get everyone's money!! 

Seriously I am so sick of this company, someone really needs to SUE them for theft!

I wonder how fast they will remove this comment from there site? I can guarantee that it will fall under their "policies guidelines" to have it removed.

[pierrelebel]

"IT is just a SCAM to get everyone's money!!   Seriously I am so sick of this company,"

Do you have a better solution?

If you sell on any other site or your own website, the buyer pays by credit card and does not receive the item, the credit card processor will take back the money from you and give it back to the buyer.  That concept is universally accepted.

Anyone wanting to sell online needs to understand the risks.

[mylifelongtreasures]

Do you have a better solution?

If you sell on any other site or your own website, the buyer pays by credit card and does not receive the item, the credit card processor will take back the money from you and give it back to the buyer.  That concept is universally accepted.

Anyone wanting to sell online needs to understand the risks.

Understand the risks? 

I understand how selling and buying online works.  

I understand that when you mail out a parcel regular mail and your receipt has the weight, size and postal/VIP code on it and it shows that you actually sent the item that you should not be penalized.

I also understand that when you send a tracked parcel to someone and the mail receipt shows that it cost you $35 that you should not be penalized for high shipping costs.

Ebay should honor these mail receipts.  As a seller I have no control over the thousands of parcels that the postal system looses every month. It is not my responsibility to cover the cost of the postal system. If I have a receipt and can prove that I mailed an item then Ebay should honor that and they DO NOT! And yes, Paypal and a few other companies do have the same policies because they are ALL owned by the same company!  As of September 2014, eBay has acquired over 40 companies, the most expensive of which was the purchase of SKYPE for 2.6 billion US. The majority of companies acquired by eBay are based in the United States. Most of the acquired companies are related to online auctions. Kijijji and PayPal are also among these companies. 

It maybe acceptable for you if someone purchases something from you and then says that they did not receive the item in order to get their money back? Or, If you send a parceled tracked shipping, and then get negative feedback because the shipping was too high! But it is not acceptable to me.  Maybe one transaction would not bother you but what if 50 people did this in the next month. How would it affect you then?  How would you feel if did not receive a discount on your selling fees because of this untrue feedback. 

Allowing this to happens set a prescience that it is okay for the dishonest people in the world to buy on Ebay, rip people off and Ebay's got their back! Ebay wants it to be a safe buying experience and I understand their reasons behind what they are trying to do, but when an honest seller if blatantly getting ripped off and they do nothing about it, it clearly shows that they are only concerned about making a buck. The less they have to give back to the sellers in their so called "discounts" the more money they can make!

I personally have only had 2 poor ratings as a seller and both were regarding International Shipping. Both were out of my control and both Ebay did nothing about. 

There is a solution, sellers need to band together to STOP Ebay from ripping us off. But it is sellers like yourself that have not had an issue that think it is not a problem. I am an honest seller and buyer and I use Ebay frequently but my experiences with them have shown that they are not helpful or honest. They are able to change their so called "policies" only when they are losing money.

[mylifelongtreasures]

Guess we all can't sell stamps with free shipping. No wonder you don't have issues with Ebay's money back policies 🙂

[mater721]

"It maybe acceptable for you if someone purchases something from you and then says that they did not receive the item in order to get their money back?"

Should the buyer pay for something they do not get?
How many times has this happened to you vs how many good sales have you had?

"Or, If you send a parceled tracked shipping, and then get negative feedback because the shipping was too high!"

I agree with you here - if you charged buyer exactly what was shown in the listing, buyer should not be complaining about shipping cost.

[pierrelebel]

"Guess we all can't sell stamps with free shipping. No wonder you don't have issues with Ebay's money back policies"

???

What I sell has nothing to do with understanding online payment policies.  As stated earlier they are not exclusive to eBay.  You could sell the same item to the same buyer through Amazon or your own website and the buyer will received the same buyer protection.

At the end of the day it is that simple: online buyers need to be protected.  Without that protection there would be no e-commerce.

[femmefan1946]

Yup. Cause an item like this requires to special packaging, insurance or tracking.

371395212101

[mylifelongtreasures]

Should a buyer pay for something they did not get?

How many times has this happened to you vs how many good sales you have had?

Actually it has happened to me.... and if the seller can provide me a copy of the receipt that the item was mailed to my postal code I have not requested my money back. It is not fair to the buyer and is certainly not fair to the seller. The buyer maybe be out the money they paid but the the seller if required to refund for the item is ALSO out their item as well. A previous Ebayer noted that is the chance you take when selling on online, it is also the chance you take when buying on online.  

Since when does honesty not matter?

As for the tracked shipping, yes, the selling was charged exactly what was listed. They knew what the shipping costs were prior to purchasing the items. Did not send an email asking why the shipping was so high. Then when they received the item left poor feedback and Ebay does not care. Ebay got their money and they are good. 

[mylifelongtreasures]

I agree.

What happens if I purchase it. It is sent tracked, and insured and I get it and say ...what the heck... why did it cost $20 to send me a few little stamps... that's outrageous.

Then turn around and leave poor feedback.

The seller then contacts Ebay to say it is unfair. Items need to be packaged properly to avoid damage (because if they are damaged you will need to refund them) and tracked in case they get lost and Ebay tells you, " Sorry we can't help you."  Should the seller just shut up and deal with it or speak out and say it is not fair.

It's funny how the people that always have comments are ones that have never had the experience. For those of you that have had issue with the shipping, you know exactly what I mean. For those of you that haven't ...your day will come... it is getting worse and worse and the cons are finding more ways to rip people off. 

Good luck.

[pierrelebel]

"It's funny how the people that always have comments are ones that have never had the experience."

???

I have over 106,000 transactions on eBay in sixteen years.  I know "femme" also has tens of thousands under her several selling IDs. 

We have seen all types of claims over the years: goods damaged or not received.  Either way the buyer always gets refunded in full, including shipping. No ifs and buts about it.  It is a seller's responsibility to get the goods to the buyer, whether the buyer asked/paid for insurance/tracking or not.  Mail order has been around for hundreds of years and that principle has never changed.

As a buyer if you are willing to accept a loss of your money on the basis the seller can demonstrate he has shipped the goods, that is your right.  Nobody will ever blame you for being a "nice guy".  However, I have yet to find such buyer myself.  When they do not get the goods, they always want a refund or replacement and they get it. 

It has nothing to do with eBay.  Both "femme" and myself and thousands of other eBay sellers have other mail order businesses in addition to eBay.

[mylifelongtreasures]

Actually, what you sell does have a lot to do with it. 

If you are selling stamps worth $595 as your friend so kindly posted, then someone buying these would not mind paying $20 + dollars for shipping. 

But when you are selling old Christmas decorations that are extremely fragile and need to be wrapped with great care so they can be dropped off a conver belt from 5 feet...items that weigh more than a stamp... and you are required to send them "tracked" packet to cover your butt (due to EBAY and affiliated companies policies). The item can cost $35 to ship something that you are only paying $5-$10 for.

Makes a big difference!

As for selling through Amazon or other companies and buyer receiving the same protection it is only when the companies are somehow affiliated with Ebay. Anytime someone pays for something with Paypal they have the same protection because it is all coming from the same pot so to speak. 

At the end of the day if the sellers quite selling online the buyers would not have anything to buy!

But because of "some" people that would never happen, would it. So the ones that are willing to speak out and say it is unfair need to do so.  Ebay needs to review their policies, they keep sending out the questionnaires but don't listen to the feedback they are receiving. I know a lot of people that have sold on Ebay and now have opened their own sites or gone with other companies and they may not sell as much but they do not lose as much either.

[mylifelongtreasures]

I guess it is the sellers like you that keep Ebay in business.

If you wish to sell your items and refund for them even when you have proof that you sent them that is your choice. 

I'm tired of getting ripped off!

[mylifelongtreasures]

Funny, I also checked "femme" 's site. I would be intersted to see if your other ID's have things other than stamps, books etc. that are easily shipped and cost little to do so. Also, why would you need "several selling ID's? In case you do get poor feedback you always have another site up and running? If you have an Ebay store you can list thousands of items, what is the need for several Ebay ID's?

[mylifelongtreasures]

I do not normally use the "Disussion Board" so I have been reviewing some of the posts and comments made. \
I find it amazingly interesting how both yourself and "femme" seem to have a lot of time to post on most of the questions. I do not run a business and I am only trying to clear out life long family treasures, but I do know that the few items that I list at any given time consume A LOT of my time from taking the pictures to posting the listing.

It strikes me as odd that someone like yourself with "multiple ID's (as you have indicated) and other business would have the time to continually post comments on Ebay' s "Buyer Central".

I guess you could have several people working for you, doing your listings and such allowing all this time to post.

Or perhaps Ebay actually has their own staff in place posting items and selling through them making money on the side for items as well as from the sellers? Will one day we hear that Ebay has some huge warehouse is some foreign country that it is selling out of? Just a crazy notion I know, and sounds truly ridiculous but I can't imagine how anyone that sells online is okay with having to take a loss because that is what is expected when you sell online.

[pierrelebel]

"seem to have a lot of time to post on most of the questions."

We are both retired, she and her husband now living on the West Coast while I live with my wife Mary in Napanee, Ontario.  We are both well experienced in mail order outside eBay. And we enjoy helping our fellow members with their questions ans inquiries.

[mater721]

"A previous Ebayer noted that is the chance you take when selling on online, it is also the chance you take when buying on online."

Can't disagree more with the bolded.

If I, as a buyer started taking loses, I'd find somewhere else to buy.

And so would many others.

The you would have no customers.

[mater721]

"But when you are selling old Christmas decorations that are extremely fragile and need to be wrapped with great care so they can be dropped off a conver belt from 5 feet...items that weigh more than a stamp... and you are required to send them "tracked" packet to cover your butt (due to EBAY and affiliated companies policies). The item can cost $35 to ship something that you are only paying $5-$10 for."

Some items are just not as suited as others for mail-order selling - low-cost fragile items for example.

[pjcdn2005]

If an ebay staff does post there is a blue outline around their post.

It's not reasonable to expect a buyer to pay for an item that they haven't received and I'm not aware of any site that would

tell the buyer that they could not get a refund in that situation.  I know that it is frustrating when a package gets lost but the seller is always responsible for that item until it is delivered to the buyer.

Although I agree that when a buyer knows upfront what the shipping cost will be, they shouldn't complain about it although it does seem like overkill to charge $35 so that you have have delivery confirmation for a $3 item.  Was that buyer international? I checked a few of your ended listings and they don't seem to have any international shipping costs listed. It's better to list them in the shipping area so that there are no surprises for the buyer.

Seller is NOT responsible for any damage sustained during shipping. All items will be wrapped extremely well!!!!

As mentioned, sellers are responsible for an item until the buyer receives it so you would be held responsible if the package got damaged. Why would you make a buyer be responsible for that?

[mylifelongtreasures]

I take extreme pride in the items I sell, how I handle my business and how I ship my items. I take the time and effort to ensure that the shipping costs are as accurate as they possibly can be. I ensure that I package each item with great care to ensure that they arrive safely. I have shipped fragile items and also very large items Internationally and they arrive safe and sound. I have sent many items Internationally without tracking and have had no issues. 

As I previously stated I am not a business as many of the sellers on Ebay.  I do not get 25% off my Ebay fees are some of you may and my feedback score is extremely important to me. The items I sell may not be worth selling on Ebay to some of you folks but to me and many others they are worth both selling and buying. I have purchased decorations that I loved and paid up to $60 for shipping.

If a buyer is not sure of the shipping costs they have the right to go to the postal services website and put in the information themselves to see if the shipping is correct. I have myself done this for items that I have listed on Ebay that I thought seemed really high. If you go to Canada Post you can put in the measurements of the item and the weight to see how much the shipping is. I have done this also for items that I purchased from the US, I just go to USPS site and input the information. If there is a discrepancy I will contact the seller and we are able to work it out.

As for broken items, I would refund a buyer for an item that I sold if I believed that they legitimately received it broken. But are you suggesting that I should be responsible to refund someone for an item if I packaged it extremely well and it arrived at their home in tact and they dropped it opening the package. There are so many factors that can weight into what happens to an item from the time it leaves my hands to the time a customer receives it and leaves feed back. ESPECIALLY for fragile items. I can guarantee that any item that is purchased from me and handled properly would arrive safe and sound. The only way it would arrive broken is if it was miss handled by the postal company or by the buyer. Maybe Ebay needs to take that up with the postal companies. I have only had one incident in which a customer received a item that was broken and I indeed did  refund her for the item. I believed that she did receive it that way. It was a type of item that could break easily so I made an exception.

I am not questioning anything here other than the fact the Ebay keeps saying to it's sellers over and over again that they need to have tracked shipping in order to be covered. Yet when we abide by Ebay's policies and charge these out rageous prices to cover our butts they still refuse to back us in our sales, feedback.

The buyer in question was an International buyer from OHIO and I live in Canada.  They plainly could see the cost of the shipping (which Ebay's shipping calculator calculated for them), they did not inquire about the shipping and purchased the items. I include shipping costs to the US on all my items. If items are sent Internationally I request that buyers contact me prior to bidding. This is not an unreasonable request. I respond to the request within 24 hours. If the item ends and I have not contacted the buyer with the information, and they bid on it, I have cancelled the listing for them if the shipping is too high for them.

If this particular buyer did indeed think the shipping was too high, they could have contacted me and made arrangements to have the ornaments taken out of the original packaging and mailed to them in a smaller box. Their shipping costs would have been much, much less. Instead they chose to purchase the items, knowing full well what the shipping costs were and then leave poor feedback. Ebay will not remove the feedback as it does not fit within their "policies guidelines". They have unfair practices and I have the right as a seller and consumer to say so. 

[mylifelongtreasures]

Some people like these old fragile items. If you are worried about them arriving safely maybe you should not buy them. Just a thought.