I Hate Ebay!!! Ebay Sucks...

spyderman · March 2004

Lets hear your nightmares, ripoffs...etc.

PolkWannabie · March 2004

eBay been berry berry good, to me ... however, caveat emptor are the watch words to follow.

VR3 · March 2004

Originally posted by PolkWannabie
eBay been berry berry good, to me

Ditto

Pauly · March 2004

did we just do this in "Off Topic"?

danger boy · March 2004

is it REALLY ebay you're upset about? Or is it the seller themselves.. and has little or nothing to do with ebay?

most people that say.. "ebay sucks!" usually are mad because of a deal gone South.. or being sniped. :rolleyes:

spyderman · March 2004

eBay does nothing to control non-paying bidders. 3 strikes and you're out... Should only allow 2 and each must be approved by the seller, not eBay.

I had a non-paying bidder screws up one of my auctions. The guy violates eBay policy and then has the nerve to leave me negative feedback. eBay refuses to remove it.

tigerfever1 · March 2004

I have had many non paying bidders,non performing sellers and just about everything in between, I can sell without strangers in my home and get a better price for items. I can find things that I would never see in the local paper and list things for a heck of lot less than the newspaper rates. I've sold cars ,trucks, motorcycles, vintage hifi gear, modern audio video components,Firearms accessories and parts,Computer parts,Many vintage stereo speakers,Antiques,and I can go on.
Sure there are fustrating times but as you gain more experience in preventing the "bad times" and "auction mishaps" you will find it still a place where most people are honest and willing to help each other out. You can preapprove your listings, email bidders that appear fishy before the auction ends,then if they don't respond simply cancel the bid so the backup bidder can win and PAY you. I only use Paypal instant payment required now. Remember that you can be right but if you fall into hate,that will transfer into reciprocations and gain negative feedback problems you can't remove. Sure I have had my share of losers to deal with but I move on, don't threaten them and if they don't pay then I request a final value fee and relist and only leave them negative feedback upon the final day with a few hours left for the auction to be available to view, remember that the auction will only be available for 90 days so if someone really deserves it I post it right on the last day (90th) and chances are they are not going to see it in time to reciprocate the comments.
I hope you have better luck in your future auctions.
Here's my feedback: http://cgi1.ebay.com/aw-cgi/ebayISAPI.dll?MyeBayFeedback&userid=tigerfever1&pass=default&first=Nsellingsort=0soldsort=0unsoldsort=0pendingsort=0&dayssince=2&all=1
Regards,
Paul

dorokusai · March 2004

Am I missing something here?

danger boy · March 2004

I guess i've been lucky. I've only has two non paying bidders. out of nearly 100 sales. There really isn't any way to avoid non paying bidders..

Even if they do get kicked off ebay.. all they have to do is sign up again under an different user name and pull the same thing over and over again.

Dennis Gardner · March 2004

Lets put the transaction into real world perspective.

Near blind internet trade has few recourses compared to B&M. that is why it is a bargain.

Fake or non paying bidders is no harm no foul, compared to fake or non delivering sellers. At least you still have the item to resell.
Yes, I know the cost of time, effort and overhead, but shouldn't that be built into the sale price or reserve. If you don't build that in, your aren't a good businessman.

The risk of the seller has never been as high as that of the buyer.

I have never had anybody walk into my auction and steal it off the shelf, or drop it on the floor, or raise my insurance rates and legal fees by having to sue them when they wrecked during a test drive.

The buyer is truly the person experiencing the most risk in the transaction.

I have bought and sold hundreds of items through ebay with about 99% satisfaction. I would rate it as high or better than face to face retail transactions that I have had.

I also have to add that until this came along, tell me another way that you could shop all over the world in one night simply by sitting in your bedroom in your underwear. I know, TMI.

Tour2ma · March 2004

You know, this Dennis guy has made some fairly insightful posts...

Not sure about the underwear image tho...

.. and "TMI"???

Dennis Gardner · March 2004

TMI=Too Much Info, about my state of dress.

On personal level, ebay hasn't really helped my marriage since I buy and sell too much, but she says it still beats the other option I gave her- The Strip Club!:D

Tour2ma · March 2004

LOL... kinda ditto here with ebay vs. Internet ****...

KarlJShields · March 2004

Originally posted by Dennis Gardner
Fake or non paying bidders is no harm no foul, compared to fake or non delivering sellers. At least you still have the item to resell.
...
The risk of the seller has never been as high as that of the buyer.
...
The buyer is truly the person experiencing the most risk in the transaction.

I think Dennis has made a very important, and often overlooked, point, namely: on eBay, the buyer is the party taking the bulk of the risk as opposed to relatively-protected sellers.

This asymmtrical arrangement is not merely part of the auction experiece, it is ingrained in eBay policy: Just look at how often we eBayers are reminded that "a bid is a contract," yet sellers are rarely held to the same standards.

How many times have you bid on a no-reserve item, only to have the auction ended within minutes of the original enging time due to "The item is no longer availble for sale."

I remember one incident where the seller ended the auction with only 25 seconds remaining. I emailed the seller to ask what happened, and he admitted that he was not going to sell his item for "that little money." I filed a complaint with eBay, included the seller's admission, and eBay "Safe" Harbor replied that there was not enough evidence to hold the seller to the contract...

In addition, a recently-added feature in the Feedback Forum lists how many times a bidder has retracted a bid. That seems fair--sellers might not want to accept a bid from a habitual retractor. However, by the same token, I would really like to know how many times a seller has ended auctions early. All things being equal, I would rather deal with someone who follows through on his comittments.

Dennis Gardner · March 2004

I have recently experienced alot of auctions that the seller has been known to sell offline to someone outside the auction due to a deal struck during the auction. This has happened a couple of times recently here on some SDAs that I have been watching.

Although I would like to see ebay increase the levels of control that buyers have over their auctions such as:

Seller being able to autoblock bids from people that have never completed an auction near the value of your reserve. Earn your way up the buying ladder. Feedback should include $ amount spent on each transaction not just recent auction history.

Same option for little or no feedback.

Bidders and Sellers should be required to have accounts that contain some type of Guarantee escrow.

Pick up only auctions could be limited to regional bidders, unless bidder escrows.

Just my .02, I know ebay isn't perfect but I really like doing business there since I live in the sticks and have to drive 4-6 hours to get to any metro area.

DG

Tour2ma · March 2004

Agree with Karl, After a couple years I just had the first auction ended while I was in "sniping mode". Frustrating as hell...

... but sellers generate ebay's income, so they definitely tip the scales in their favor. Moreso the more sales a seller has made.

Auctions ended only a day or two into the five or seven day listing don't bother me as much. Especially since I've gotten a couple nice items that way. No SDA" though, Dennis...

The most blatant thing is the sale of CDR's that goes on.

spyderman · March 2004

There's no doubt eBay is a sellers market. It's just another reason to hate it.

I bought my car on eBay a few years ago. Typical auction, it went up $1000 in the last half hour. Who knows, but I suspect the guy was having his GF bid it up cause I won it for only $50 above the highest bid. She was there when I came to pick it up. I'm sure there many scams like that goin' on today...

Once I found two dumb a$$es in Texas biddin up each others auctions and got them suspended. Where was eBay? How come they couldn't figure it out until I told them???

I've had enough non-paying bidders that I had to bookmark the "non-paying bidder alert" and "final value credit" pages. The negative feedback from the non-paying bidder finally pushed me over the edge! Perhaps Tigerfever's tips will help reduce this.

I STILL HATE EBAY!:mad:

I Hate Ebay!!! Ebay Sucks...

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