eBay is starting to get really crappy

[Rulz]

at least for me. I don't know who has talked about this lately, but I'm just about all done with eBay. Maybe some are like "starting!!?? It's sucked for awhile!". All I can tell you is that my experiences over the last couple years have been worse and worse.

People simply won't pay (after a week or more mind you, no contact whatsoever) after winning an item and there's not much you can do about it except waste your time trying to get eBay to recognize that, no, I didn't sell those items so don't charge me a fee based on that total. Some people just sit around and have nothing to do, and in between making stupid ass memes and sipping Starbucks, they bid on shit and then run around their tiny little one bedroom apartment scrubbing their face with used cat litter and giggling like a village idiot without paying. And of course you can relist the item. Woopty dooo!!! Rinse, repeat.

Even if things do go through, then there's the "feedback standoff", where no one will leave feedback until you do (I always leave feedback, I think it's good to recognize those that are decent). In the last 3 years, doesn't matter if I'm the buyer or seller... I can wait 1 minute after the sale and received payment or when the item arrives and I have checked it, but I'm always the first one to leave feedback. Which isn't a big deal really, just exemplifies how petty people have become.

eBay protects the buyers more often than not, trying not to discourage people from using their service. Like all things, it was good in the beginning when people were new on the internets and everyone trusted each other and just wanted to get along...now it's a paranoia fueled game of poker, bait and switch, and screw your butthole (pretty sure that's not a game, but it feels like it exists).

There's more to bitch about, but oh wellski. I'm sure some folks have nothing but rosy stories about buying and selling while others haven't been so lucky. Im just a casual seller, maybe once every couple months I will list something. Partial anonymity gives many people so much more courage to show their true colors and shitty mannerisms.

Anyway, piss on eBay. Gonna start having garage sales again.

 

[NeekReevers]

You're dead on. I've got an Omega watch I'm trying to sell right now and I've already had multiple shady offers. The first ten years I used eBay I never had a bad experience but now it's rare, especially as a seller, that anything goes smoothly. It's too bad too because it was awesome early on.

 

[OSUIvan]

I think that is the reason craigs list and facebook market are so popular. You deal with people face to face generally, and don't has as much issues (there will always be issues)

 

[hollywood]

I found a mid 1950's Rockwell 1/2 sheet finishing sander at an auction for $6. I cleaned it, polished it and replaced the cord as the old cord was a bit frayed and I wanted to make certain it was "safe" with no possibility of shorting out before I sold it. Plugged it in, tested it under load for about 15 minutes without nary a problem.

It is considered the best all-time finishing sander in that class and is prized to this day by those who finish floors and wood projects.

Put it on a 5 day listing with eBay with a starting price of $89. I got a bid within the first hour. It slowly creeps up over the next 5 days. Then in the last 15 minutes two guys get in a bidding war and I end up with a final offer of $199.00. I get payment and ship to the winner. He opens a "case" with eBay demanding a refund because in his words, it was shorting out and tripping his circuit breakers in his garage. I knew he was lying, so when I got the product back, I had my son video the opening of the box, plugging it in and starting it up and running it for 2 minutes with no problems. (recorded the video with no breaks.)

I contact eBay with my demand that they make him pay (and pay extra to cover my shipping costs) and include the video proving the guy was lying. They never even processed my response, simply pulled the money straight out of my PayPal account. So much for them actually giving both sides equal say in their "dispute resolution" process.

I knew exactly what happened, winner had spent way more on the thing that it was probably worth because he got caught up in the minute, then needed a way to back out of the deal. So he comes up with this phony baloney excuse. Shame of it was, if the guy who came in second wouldn't have been outbid, he was willing to go $190. I relisted and ended up selling it for about $99.

 

[OSUIvan]

I wish ebay let you pick the 2nd person in a case like this.

 

[NeekReevers]

I found a mid 1950's Rockwell 1/2 sheet finishing sander at an auction for $6. I cleaned it, polished it and replaced the cord as the old cord was a bit frayed and I wanted to make certain it was "safe" with no possibility of shorting out before I sold it. Plugged it in, tested it under load for about 15 minutes without nary a problem.

It is considered the best all-time finishing sander in that class and is prized to this day by those who finish floors and wood projects.

Put it on a 5 day listing with eBay with a starting price of $89. I got a bid within the first hour. It slowly creeps up over the next 5 days. Then in the last 15 minutes two guys get in a bidding war and I end up with a final offer of $199.00. I get payment and ship to the winner. He opens a "case" with eBay demanding a refund because in his words, it was shorting out and tripping his circuit breakers in his garage. I knew he was lying, so when I got the product back, I had my son video the opening of the box, plugging it in and starting it up and running it for 2 minutes with no problems. (recorded the video with no breaks.)

I contact eBay with my demand that they make him pay (and pay extra to cover my shipping costs) and include the video proving the guy was lying. They never even processed my response, simply pulled the money straight out of my PayPal account. So much for them actually giving both sides equal say in their "dispute resolution" process.

I knew exactly what happened, winner had spent way more on the thing that it was probably worth because he got caught up in the minute, then needed a way to back out of the deal. So he comes up with this phony baloney excuse. Shame of it was, if the guy who came in second wouldn't have been outbid, he was willing to go $190. I relisted and ended up selling it for about $99.

Not near as complicated or as bad as that situation but I've had problems with having a bidder with a solid feedback profile leading an auction almost the entire time and then some numb nuts with no feedbacks swooping in at the last minute, stealing the auction, and then refusing to pay. I agree with Ivan it'd be great that if as a seller, you could select what you thought was the best bid based on the entire profile, not just the price because at this point that's a big deal to me.

 

[Rulz]

Not near as complicated or as bad as that situation but I've had problems with having a bidder with a solid feedback profile leading an auction almost the entire time and then some numb nuts with no feedbacks swooping in at the last minute, stealing the auction, and then refusing to pay. I agree with Ivan it'd be great that if as a seller, you could select what you thought was the best bid based on the entire profile, not just the price because at this point that's a big deal to me.

.

I can see that, but then it would be abused at some point as well and those without "experience" would have few opportunities to climb the ladder (I'm being facetious to a degree)

I would like to have the opportunity to sell to the second in line bidder. I could have sworn that was allowed early on in eBay's existence when the winner turned out to be a loser, but maybe that was just wishful thinking for me at some point.

And I probably wouldn't mind more face to face encounters like with Facebook market and CL. I'm sure there's going to be weirdos, but then again, having a garage sale just brings weirdos to your doorstep.

Bottom line, if we didn't have so many jackasses trying to put the f*^}k to everyone, these things would be fine and dandy.

The feedback thing is fascinating to me on eBay. Again, I simply click and leave feedback. I don't even think about it. And I'm a little OCD, I like to cross my T's and dot the I's. It was only after I noticed how little feedback I had received after a slew of transactions that I started taking notice of the trends. It shows I have around 600 transactions since 2004...but I would guess I have somewhere closer to 750-800 really.

Anyway, need to go cancel yet another auction and start selling some shite on Facebook.

 

[OSUIvan]

I agree you shouldn't choose right away, but if they don't pay in, I don't know... 5 -7 days or if they return the item like above, you should have the option of contacting the person that came in 2nd.

 

[hollywood]

.

I can see that, but then it would be abused at some point as well and those without "experience" would have few opportunities to climb the ladder (I'm being facetious to a degree)

I would like to have the opportunity to sell to the second in line bidder. I could have sworn that was allowed early on in eBay's existence when the winner turned out to be a loser, but maybe that was just wishful thinking for me at some point.

And I probably wouldn't mind more face to face encounters like with Facebook market and CL. I'm sure there's going to be weirdos, but then again, having a garage sale just brings weirdos to your doorstep.

Bottom line, if we didn't have so many jackasses trying to put the f*^}k to everyone, these things would be fine and dandy.

The feedback thing is fascinating to me on eBay. Again, I simply click and leave feedback. I don't even think about it. And I'm a little OCD, I like to cross my T's and dot the I's. It was only after I noticed how little feedback I had received after a slew of transactions that I started taking notice of the trends. It shows I have around 600 transactions since 2004...but I would guess I have somewhere closer to 750-800 really.

Anyway, need to go cancel yet another auction and start selling some shite on Facebook.

Yep, they used to do a "second chance" offer process you could use. If for some reason the seller didn't pay or balked (complained and demanded a return) there was an internal process available to the seller to reach out to the runner-up and offer them the item at the last price they had bid. I guess that made too much sense.

 

[cactusjackosu]

Facebook marketplace is where it's at. Though you still have dipshits who can't meet you when they say. Still, they r a few miles down the road.

 

[Rulz]

CL is good at times, I have sold some stuff on there. The biggest thing I hate about it is the same thing I deal with when I sell on Armslist..."is this still for sale?"..."Yup"....then I don't hear a damn thing more from the moron.

I stopped answering those questions, I simply take the ad down when the item sells with a disclaimer that states "if the ad is up, the item is still available"....but of course, most folks these days hate reading things that have them thar words and stuff.

 

[hollywood]

I have had as many flakes buyers as those who actually showed up and bought the item I've sold on Craigslist. (Same for flaky sellers)

About a year ago, I saw an item (vintage 1940's woodworking machine) on Craigslist that I thought was a real bargain. I called the guy selling it and told him I wanted it and was willing to put a 1/2 down deposit on the item right then (paypal) to make certain it would be there when I came to pick it up. He took my name and info and assured me he wouldn't sell it in the interim, no need for a deposit - "just drive on up here, I'll have it waiting for you."

So I drive all the way out to some location northwest of Edmond, almost to Cashion (about 40 miles and hours worth of driving time.) Get there and the guy tells me had already sold it!!!! It took all I had inside me not to get back into the van I had borrowed to pick the thing up and drive over the remaining items he had set up for sale in his yard.