Slightly OT: Why I hate selling on ebay - YouLookFab Forum

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Slightly OT: Why I hate selling on ebay

ironkurtin

Veteran

I used to love selling on ebay! It was like a giant bargain swap meet and you could get some *great* items. And it was a great place to sell, too! Lately, though, it seems like buyers are getting ruder and more entitled. It's a trend I've noticed mostly in the past two years; it certainly wasn't there when I started selling more than ten years ago!

I sell only luxury items, for a fair price, and I describe them in honest terms. I give all measurements and give more if asked. I state up front, and in the auctions, that these are final sale unless I describe the item wrong. In fact, that information is in the auction at least twice. Lately, though, I'm getting a lot of emails from buyers that verge on rude.

- Will I halve the price and throw in free shipping? To Europe? No, I won't. I might knock off five to ten buck if the item doesn't sell at this price, but don't *insult* me! Dang, it's already 80% off retail in most cases!

- Buyers who get the item, don't like it, and then send me nasty emails when I reiterate that - like the auction says at least twice - items are final sale. I wish people would read the auctions. I also wish everyone who bought on ebay also sold on it, because yes, getting a returned item is a total pain in the butt. You have to ship it to me, I have to get it, I have to inspect it (and I have had buyers wreck something so they could return it), I have to refund, I have to file with ebay, I have to relist it, and it starts all over again. It takes time and effort! Yes, I'm sorry you don't like it. No, you can't return it. I said so up front. At least twice.

It's getting to the point where I'm thinking of not selling there anymore at all. I try to be a good buyer myself, and trust me, I have gotten some things that weren't what I was expecting but matched the listing, and I accept this as ebay fate. Butnow I feel like ebay expects me to be a professional retailer, when seriously, I'm just a person with some nice stuff I don't wear that I'm hoping to get a few bucks back on.

Thanks for listening to my rant. I'm just tired of nasty buyers.

General

24 replies

Latest reply was from Fruitful

kimlee

Veteran

I have encountered many of the same issues that you outliine here, which is why I have not sold on Ebay in quite some time. For me, it is just easier to take my items to a conisgnment store in my town. I know that I am not making as much profit, but the headaches are less - so it is a worthy tradeoff in my mind.

rae

(website)

Veteran

Ugh, sorry to hear about the nasty buyers... I definitely have had my share of them, too. The guy who thought I owed it to him to do a local pickup and became belligerent, even though the listing did not offer that service. The woman who demanded a refund but would not describe what was wrong with the item beyond calling it "trash." It's to the point where I ask every single person who doesn't like the item or who "doesn't receive" the item to open a case with Ebay if they want a refund, just so Ebay has records of the people demanding refunds.

Lately, it seems like I've had a hard time with sellers, too. They won't measure the item, and instead tell me I should be able to tell from the picture. They claim that they don't own a ruler. Sheesh, just tell me you're too busy! Who can tell measurements from looking at a picture...? And of course then there's one seller who sent me a damaged item as NWOT, wouldn't give me a refund but only store credit, then shipped a new item when all I asked was to have the measurements, AND the new item turned out to be something totally wrong... o_0

ironkurtin

Veteran

Just got *another* nasty email, this one accusing me of deliberately misleading the buyer about the item because of how it was listed. Wha-? Screaming kittens, lady, you just got a $300+ sweater for less than $60. There was no sweater conspiracy there. That is what is called a deal; it just happened to be a deal that didn't fit the way you wanted! Caveat emptor!

Plus, many of these buyers insist that they deserve special treatment because they have bought from me before and are a "repeat customer." I'm not a store, and frankly if they are going to behave like this, I don't NEED them as "repeat customers."

Man, so much negativity! Ugh!

ironkurtin

Veteran

And ANOTHER nasty email. Apparently I am mean and a liar. Good lord. It's a sweater.

Amy

(website)

Veteran

Wow, that's awful. I'm sorry all the nasties are coming out of the woodwork.

Sveta

(website)

Veteran

That's why I don't even think of doing that - too much trouble. If I had anything nice and expensive to sell I would also go the consignment store route...
I am sorry for your rotten experience, IK!

JennyAnne

(website)

Veteran

Wow, that really stinks. I've stopped buying on ebay because I was so often disappointed and didn't have return options. I've never even tried selling for fear of what you describe.

rae

(website)

Veteran

Wow, I thankfully have not experienced anything back to back like that. Yeesh!

My husband sells way more than me and has suggested that, if anyone asks a seriously insulting or dumb question, I should block them right away, before they have an opportunity to buy from me and open the door for negative feedback. Oh, you want me to ship to a sketchy address different than the one on your accout? Blocked! Your English skills are so bad that I can't understand your question? Blocked! You sound angry and all you've done so far is read the listing? Blocked!

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I've had a couple of bad experiences trying to sell on eBay -- a couple of old iPhones and electronics -- and they were winning bidders who never paid. I went through all the proper channels to contact the buyers, collect payment, etc., but had to pull back and relist the items. A big PITA. But the worst part is that I tried to give the buyers negative feedback, and the site won't let me! So they'll do this to other sellers too.

rachylou

Veteran

You know, just the other day I was wondering how you get to the ordinary individuals, selling a couple of things from the basement. That yard sale quality is gone, and it feels like you have to battle through a wasteland of people selling things that "fell off a truck." It doesn't feel trustworthy.

catgirl

Veteran

I don't buy from e-bay any more. I never sold there, so can't speak to that end. But really, I don't need the drama. I still like etsy and find it much more personal, without all the trouble.

nancylee

Veteran

Wow. Sorry to hear of all the negative experiences. I've never had any problems on Ebay, either buying or selling...ever. And I once bought a suzani wall hanging from Kazakhstan (shipping took about a month!). There have been the occasional minor disappointments, such as the fabric of an item isn't quite as expected. But I feel that you take on a certain amount of risk when you buy anything online, so I just chalk those episodes up to experience.

I currently have four clothing items for sale on Ebay, and the two questions I've received so far have been very reasonable. "Would I consider a best offer?" and "Is the item as light colored as it appears online?"

I'm not a big-time seller or buyer (I average 5-10 transactions per year), so maybe if I was a big volume seller I might have a higher incidence of bad experiences.

@Una, I love Etsy, too, but I had a terrible experience there last year. I sent tee-shirts to a woman in Oklahoma to make a tee-shirt quilt as a graduation present for my son. She took the money, left Etsy, and never made the quilt. I am still heartbroken about it.

qfbrenda

Veteran

I'm sorry you are having so much trouble. I haven't had similar experiences, but I don't sell on there very much. I'm sure if I sold more often, I would eventually find people who are a pain to deal with.

rae

(website)

Veteran

I wanted to say that, as much as the bad apples are irritating, I don't want to scare anyone away from buying or selling on Ebay. MOST people are polite and responsible, so it would be sad to let a few people ruin it for everyone.

mamaKate

Veteran

IK, I'm so sorry to hear about your troubles. I am lucky to have consignment near my house. Rae, I laughed so hard reading your litany of "Blocked!"

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I have only sold a handful of stuff but have bought TONS off ebay. Most of the successful sales were NWT items. When you get into the preowned things I think buyers feel let down. I know I've gotten a few so called NWOT that were obviously preworn. That sucks and I feel mislead. I tend to not buy the preowned now and avoid troubles that way. I noticed my preowned doesn't sell as fast as NWT either so I must not be alone.

ironkurtin

Veteran

Rae, how do you block a buyer during an auction?

rae

(website)

Veteran

Hm, I can find the link for you when I get home. I think it is also in the site map somewhere, but I don't remember the exact path.

rae

(website)

Veteran

Sorry I was so slow! Here is the link to the blocked buyer/bidder list on Ebay.

http://pages.ebay.com/services.....ement.html

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

Yikes!

I don't think I would ever email someone and ask them to lower their price by half! I've never asked anyone to lower their price at all!

*hug*

RandomThoughts (Andrea)

Veteran

I only rarely sell on eBay ad have had weird experiences too. Also, after doing some reading, I determined that if you accept PayPal you pretty much HAVE to accept returns, even if the buyer is being unscrupulous. There are also a lot of ways for savvy buyers to scam sellers.

Buyers can file SNAD reports - significantly not as described - and PayPal mostly sides with them. Easier to just accept returns. Makes eBay a total PITA when people just work the system.

Fruitful

Veteran

Hmm, having seen items sell for significantly under the BIN I don't think it is outrageous for someone to simply ask for that; if you don't want to, that's okay too. And typical bargaining advice is to start offering at half price then work to a midpoint of agreement. I haven't actually done this but I don't think it is rude.

I have never sold on Ebay yet. I am quite scared to because of people making false refund claims. I'm sorry you experienced such low treatment IK.

As a buyer I have often been let down by things I felt should have been part of the description (a pair of tan shoes where one was much lighter than the other; a totally dried out Vincent Longo foundation, etc etc). As I fear retaliatory feedback I simply leave no feedback and avoid them in future.

I didn't know I would appear sketchy by asking to ship to a different address? I have on occasion had gifts shipped to the recipient's address.

I often message sellers asking if they would be willing to ship to Australia. It's worth it because often people don't want to encourage unscreened international bidding so don't advertise it, but are happy to ship to me (this is also why I don't leave negs; I don't want to scare sellers off).

A couple of times I've gotten a nasty all-caps reply about I DO NOT SHIP OVERSEAS. Sheesh.

Ebay is hard enough without worrying about triggering question rage.

rae

(website)

Veteran

Fruitful, Paypal will not accept the item as delivered if you ship it to an address that is not the "ship-to" address on the payment. So some buyers will tell you to ship it to a different address and then claim that they never received it - even if you have a delivery confirmation, it's useless because it confirms delivery to the wrong place. :T

If someone had ever asked to ship elsewhere because it was a gift, I would have refunded the payment and resent the invoice, asking them to input the gift address in the ship-to line of the payment. But no one's ever asked that so far...

Fruitful

Veteran

Thanks for clarifying that Rae. I see now I've had some very accommodating sellers who not only shipped from US to Australia, received my payment via Paypal, but also shipped to my sister's address or my Dad's work. I pretty much pay immediately so my address would have been the one Paypal recorded. Good to know for future reference.

Yeah, that one about buyers saying they never received the item scares me off selling too