eBay

bmwnut635 · ‎12-10-2013

Well, I never expected to see the day but it's here. These last few months I've had four issues with ebay sellers. The first was a overseas seller that substituted a lesser version of the item I ordered and paid for. I informed them of the mistake and got the usual email where they blamed their supplier, how they wanted to fix the issue by sending me ANOTHER package with the correct items and lots of fake apologies. I declined the offer to have the second package shipped and asked for a refund for the difference of cost between the two items. The seller then tried to get me to return the lesser item, at my cost of course, for a full refund. It wasn't until I opened a Paypal dispute before the seller came clean and refunded me the difference like I asked. No loss but I still paid for a item I didn't order or want. I fell for this stall tactic earlier this year over a small value item. After lots of apologies and promises he second package never arrives and the 45 day window is long gone which leaves me powerless to do anything.

The second and third issue is a similar overseas sellers where the item never arrives. Been close to 2 months waiting. My emails to them go unanswered so I've opened Paypal disputes with both of those before the 45 day window closed. One is about to time out without a peep back from the seller. I'm hoping Paypal will do the right thing here otherwise I will need to go through a CC chargeback to get my refunds.

The fourth is a seller in Europe who listed a lot of items as BIN with accepting offers. I offered an amount, he countered and I accepted. Two weeks later I get a package with only about 20% of the lot. I write back to the seller asking if he shipped in two packages??? He apologized for the mistake blaming "his friend" who shipped it for him and promised to ship the remainder the following Monday following up with a tracking number. I wait a week after the promised Monday... nothing. I send emails asking what's going on.... nothing.. I open a Paypal claim for a refund offering to pay for the amount I got + shipping minus the missing lot......still heard nothing.

Seems ebay and Paypal is going down the tubes. More and more of these scammers are appearing and little is done about them. I still see them selling their wares. I see them collecting both positive and negative feedback so it would appear they have no consequences for the people they scam. The 45day dispute policy is a joke when it comes to dealing with overseas sellers. The sellers know this and purposely stall to go past the 45 days. It should be increased to 90 days Also, there is nothing stopping a seller from registering under a different name once their DSRs and feedback rating take a dump.

You would think ebay would be deeply concerned hearing about the negative experiences I've just encountered and try their best to make corrections as quickly in order to protect it's business model.

I've been totally discouraged as a seller on ebay with it's outrageous fees these last few years. And now I'm turned off as a buyer as well by these scammers.

Some words of advice to buyers...

Paypal forces you to link it's account to your bank account. NEVER pay for a item using funds from your bank account, Always use a credit card to pay. This will allow you to do a chargeback when Paypal fails to protect your online shopping experience (yes, it's happened to me).

Always pay attention to the 45 day window for filing a Paypal dispute or claim. If you wait 46 days, they will not help you... period.

Rethink that purchase from Asia with free shipping may not be such a great deal afterall.

afantiques · ‎12-11-2013

One is about to time out without a peep back from the seller.

Do not forget that you have to escalate your case to a claim.

jeskascott · ‎12-11-2013

I completely agree with you, ebay has lost its trusted nature. I had the same thing happen to me just recently.. bought an item waited two months (shipping around here can take that long, so I waited and waited) only for nothing to show, I am past my 45 day window (that I wasn't even aware of considering this is the first time the issue wasn't resolved through the seller) I am fed up with these arrogant scumbag people taking our money out from under us, and to think this was going to be a Christmas present for my only child. Ebay needs to step up and do something about these incidents (figure out a more secured way to approve sellers or payments held until item checked received or something...) or else they have just lost a completely valuable and faithful customer. This is the only website I buy from and I buy A LOT....

STAY AWAY FROM THIS SELLER AT ALL COSTS.

maybe if we all post our forbidden sellers, these people will become distinct either that or ebay might handle the situation accordingly.

bmwnut635 · ‎12-13-2013

I don't think posting bad sellers names is acceptable on these forums. They seem to be pretty heavily modded and I've seen situations where some bad sellers were protected by ebay. Not to mention it could be abused by some disgruntled buyers for revenge purposes. I would have no problem warning a buyer of scammers if they were to contact me via private mail. I've also seen web sites completely outside of ebay that openly post scammer and bad sellers IDs.

femmefan1946 · ‎12-14-2013

One is about to time out without a peep back from the seller. I'm hoping Paypal will do the right thing here otherwise I will need to go through a CC chargeback to get my refunds.

Escalate now. PP will refund you and go after the seller.

I open a Paypal claim for a refund offering to pay for the amount I got + shipping minus the missing lot......still heard nothing.

Escalate now. PP will refund you and go after the seller.

The sellers know this and purposely stall to go past the 45 days. It should be increased to 90 days

No. It should stay at 45 days. If the seller cannot get the item to the buyer within that time period, then he should offer a faster shipping service( and buyers should be willing to pay for it).

Why should the buyer's money be tied up for three months by a seller's poor performance?

NEVER pay for a item using funds from your bank account, Always use a credit card to pay.

Absolutely

Rethink that purchase from Asia with free shipping may not be such a great deal afterall.

Absolutely.

BTW. White space is your friend.

femmefan1946 · ‎12-14-2013

maybe if we all post our forbidden sellers, these people will become distinct either that or ebay might handle the situation accordingly.

Not to mention it could be abused by some disgruntled buyers for revenge purposes.

The way to handle this is through the Dispute process, including the credit card chargeback process,if necessary.

And while feedback can be cathartic, more useful are the Detailed Seller Ratings.

EBay and Paypal monitor Disputes. Any company detests giving back money, and if a seller (who is their customer) is costing them too much to carry, he will become Not A Registered User.

If PP has to return money and go after the seller for it, they are all the more ticked.

If the buyer has to go to his credit card for a chargeback, PP will be out that money too, because the cc gets its money from PP, not the guilty seller. (That is PP's responsibility.)

And DSRs. If a seller's DSRs drop below 4.3 his ability to list and to sell is severely restricted. He may go back on the 21 Day Hold on his earnings that new sellers have to put up with. He may be kicked off. He may have the number and/or value of his listings restricted.

More to the point, consider that there are well over 200 million listings on eBay every day, and some 50 million sales. I have no idea how many active buyers. But the number of people who ever find these boards, never mind the off-eBay websites mentioned is miniscule.

The Dispute process works. You may not always agree with it, I've lost a couple of cases myself, not surprising with over 20,000 sales counting all my IDs, but it works.

catera60 · ‎12-16-2013

After many years of EBay purchases and having sustained a 100% buyer rating from day one with thousands of dollars in yearly transactions, I have stopped using EBay via it's PayPal partner. Suddenly demand my personal bank account number? ..Have a nice life.

pierrelebel · ‎12-16-2013

"having sustained a 100% buyer rating'

???

All buyers have a 100% feedback rating as sellers cannot leave anything but positive feedback for buyers.

PayPal does require "verification" (linking a bank account) once you have reached your sending limit. It has nothing to do with credit rating or credit limits. It has been PayPal policy for years.

For more information:

https://www.paypal.com/ca/webapps/mpp/security/verification-faq

Is Verification a requirement?

No, but PayPal recommends that you get Verified as it will enhance your reputation as a seller.

If you have reached your PayPal account send limit you will need to become Verified in order to continue making transactions.

bmwnut635 · ‎12-18-2013

Oh yeah, another thing that's broken and needs fixing on ebay! Buyers that can only receive positive feedback.

The buyers need to be just as responsible and accountable as the sellers. I don't understand how changing the policy on this has helped these last few years to make ebay a better place to trade. Yet another stupid policy change that's done damage.

bb_cool_stuff · ‎12-18-2013

Unfortunately some buyers & sellers used Feedback as nothing short of revenge in regards to dishonest practises.

Bought a item years ago that was definitely Not As Described.

Upon viewing his feedback this seemed to be a pattern in his selling practises.

If someone left a appropriate Neg he always left a Neg in return.

One of the many reasons why Feedback had to be adjusted.

femmefan1946 · ‎12-18-2013

You can of course stop using Paypal.

Sellers are required to offer it -- or an equivalent electronically visible method of payment.

But all the buyer has to do is offer BEFORE BIDDING to pay by cash, personal cheque or money order.

The seller can accept or reject the offer. If the seller rejects it, move on.

Buyers should be aware however, that cash, cheques and money orders offer no Buyer Protection. If the seller says the payment was not received the buyer .... what's that old saying about lacking paddles?