... a warning, not a solisitation for advice Every so often I sell a few things on ebay.. most of the time its stuff that I have removed from my own cars or picked up somewhere the exclusive idea of reselling it. MOST often the stuff I sell is in very nice condition, or if not I indicate the condition of the stuff in the auction listing.. At any rate, a few weeks ago I sold these small pieces of stainless trim from a car I was workin on like 4 years ago.. (they were in very nice condition needing only a light polish job to bring to a factory like glow). I knew they would fetch 20 -30 bucks and more importantly if they were out of my garage the chance of me ruining them or damaging them would be eliminated.. anyhow I sold them, seller paid right away.. and a couple weeks later the dude emails me saying what I sent him was JUNK.. ok fine I say, and I give the seller the option to return the parts to me.. (hoping to keep my ebay status very good) these parts show up last week.. in the same box I shipped them in.. (the box is in great condition showing no signs of wear or tear.. (and it made 2 trips across the states now, thats gotta be some kinda record!) heres what I think the bidder may have done... I think the dude had these 2 damaged pieces in his shack.. ( i am assuming that he lives in a shack cause theives should live in shacks, if that aint the case please dont tell me otherwise,) he saw my trim pieces, bid on them and happily paid for them, when he recieved the parts he threw his shitty ratty pieces them into a box and shot me an email sayin I was the crook.. and I said send them back to me.... Now I know the parts were good.. and of course the problem with stainless trim is that it all looks the same. except when its damaged.. so i cant prove either way that what he sent me was in fact the same stuff I sent to him. so just a heads up, as I know many of you sell your excess stuff on ebay from time to time.. a bit of a seller beware... Luckily I am only out 23.00 later sawzall
A tip for all: I like to take pictures of stuff before I mail it out, AND take a picture of the actual box I am shipping them (with the shipping address clearly marked on it) BEFORE it gets sent out, if I think the seller is going to be an ass. Just covering my own...that way, I remember what I sent him, and have photographic proof of what it looked like when it left. Call me anal, but I don't need some a-hole telling me the parts I sent were crap and ruining my 100% positive feedback. Always put a disclaimer in your description that says if the buyer has any questions about looks, performance, or otherwise, he needs to contact the seller BEFORE auctions' end...otherwise you open yourself up to a bunch of cry babies who envisioned some perfect part that they didn't get...I'd use the disclaimer for back up in situations like that. just my .02
the internet has bred a new breed of garbage.in the old days people had to meet you face to face.now they hide behind usernames.
Next time put a tiny mark on the inside of the peices wher it cant easily be buffed.....and also put AS-IS/NO RETURNS on all your auctions....I do that-after I point out my [200 out of 200 positive] feedback rating and THEN I sell all MY parts AS -IS.
Sawzall, did you have pics of the trim? If so I would take pics of what the buyer sent back and contact E-bay about it. $23 is $23, especially in these hard times. Sorry to hear that happened. Good luck if you try to get it straightened out. later plmczy Damn am I slow . mercman and I are talkin the same thing.
And you're giving him his money back? Personally I'd tell the guy that he was a lying piece of shit regardless of whatever negative feedback it might cause. Obviously this little technique is working for him, and the more it works the more he'll use it to screw other people. It's the principal. I'd rather be banned from e-bay than roll over for some scumbag who's obviously on perpetrating a scam.
what he did was a crime. mail he \back and explain that you will call the local police and file a report. it wont do much but it may make him see god. it cant hurt
i say, list the buyers name. let anybody else who sells on ebay to know to look out for him. mabye somebody on here knows him and can get this straightened out. i used to sell on there, but it just aint worth dealing with the buyers. some were cool, but man, some of these guys i dealt with were unreal. hope ya get it resolved.
Right on, plmczy... A digital camera is cheap insurance now-a-days since people can hide behind usernames...(thanks leadsled1953)...can't hide from a camera. But then, it's hard to prove your case anyways...photographic proof or not, people (buyers) seem to be able to say what they want- photos can be manipulated...parts look better in the pictures...etc. There was one guy I dealt with. Thought he would be one of those "I was the only bidder, got it cheap...oh, geeze, not what I expected" a-holes...from his e-mails anyway, so I took pics of what I sent AND the shipping box with my digital camera (Fuji-$125.00 at Target), and prepared for battle. He left me positive feedback AND commented on my good, secure packaging abilites. Just goes to show that you never know...
What is his address? i bet there's a Hamber close by....it would be nice to just flatten out those bits of trim on his car....just the trim no other damage....he will get the message & wishing he still had his old shitty trim.
Dude!! Never ever allow returns on your auctions.. supply good pics and state that the item is sold as is!! You have to cover your ass at all times...Sorry to hear about that...
sorry to hear that man, I hate people like that. I once sold some hotwheels on ebay and had about the same thing happen. I knew I didnt send the shit he had pics of, but since it was only a $4 auction I said he could have his $4 back if he shipped the car back to me at his expense, he kept the car and I kept the $4...shipping was about that much for him. I know I was just lucky it was over $4, but I hope you fix this, I always hate people like that.
I had this happen to me. So now all my auctions get the "Sold as is, No refunds" line. I'd return the trim to him and tell him those aren't the parts you shipped him and he's not getting a refund.
I have had one guy on ebay try the same thing with me, but I had on file the original high definition digital picture of the item I sold on ebay, and that I reduced in size in quality to post on the auction. When I got the item back I sent the bidder the high definition picture of the item I had sent him and also sent a picture of the scratched up item he had sent me, and all of a sudden he was no longer all pissed off at me for selling "junk". He apologised and said he must have gotten my item "mixed up" with another one he had. I told him if he wanted to send me the return postage I would ship his item back to him, but I never got the postage or heard from him again. I reported the whole deal to ebay. There are people who pull this type of scam on ebay. You should go to the ebay main page, and go to the help section and look for how to report fraud, as there may be other complaints against the bidder. Some sellers I know, who deal in high end antique china and porcelain, mark their items in an obscure spot with an invisible marking pen that shows up under UV lights, so as to combat scammers like these. There are other scammers who have, say, a broken collectible porcelain statue. They will buy a matching one on ebay and make sure it is shipped to them insured, they then tell the bidder it arrived broken, and they then partially crush the box and ship their broken item back, keeping the good item. The seller then files with the Post Office (or UPS/FedEx) for a refund and then refunds the bidders payment. The scammer bidder gets his money back and a choice collectible. Of course if the bidder got caught doing this scam where Postal shipping was used, there are Major criminal fines.
Dude that sucks, I would not give him the money back, post a note in his feedback he is a crook. if he does yours and before you tell him, contact ebay first so they know you were the first to contact them. Talking about ebay, what is up with folks charging a shit load for handling and shipping. I have had several lately that think they can make a profit on this also. I had a guy who wanted to charge me $8.55 to shit a TRJ mag priorty insured to me. I questioned him and he said that is what it cost. I got the package in it got him $3.34.. so I sent him an email telling him I was disappointed that he cahrged me the 8 plus dollars and I did not appreciate his method of making extra profits.. he did send me back $5.00 with a lame excuse he was busy with several auctions and work and what ever else and just got it wrong.. most of the time the sellers just say live with it.
I had the same postage rip-off happen...NOW- before I bid, I check their postage options. If I think it'll be a lot, I request a total BEFORE the auction ends. I have seen some stuff I thought was a great buy...but then you look at their flat-rate shipping costs, it winds up being (with the cost of the auction) about what I would pay if I just got off my ass and went out to a store or swapmeet. I was looking to buy a steering column. Starting bid, $19.99...check the guys's shipping- $40 bucks flat rate to anywhere! So now, even if I got it at the start price, it's really $60.00 for the column! I got so pissed at one guy, I won a $.99 (that's 99 CENTS) auction of a 1988 Lincoln repair manual (big demand there). I noticed in his terms that "all items ship priority mail, USPS". When I inquired as to a total for auction plus shipping, I made it VERY CLEAR that I was in no hurry to receive the item, and that "priority" mail wasn't neccesary. Then the guy sends me an e-mail, telling me that I need to send him $10 bucks for auction plus "priority" post mail. I sent him another e-mail, that once again explained that I had no need for priority mail, and that I thought his shipping charge was out of line. Media mail would be fine. Slow, but cheap. He then sent me an e-mail saying that he was sorry, he had been trying to streamline his auctions and mailing practices, and had received a "few e-mails" that had told him they didn't want to pay his ridiculous shipping fees. In the end, I got my .99 cent item...plus $4 bucks to ship it to me. The bottom line is, a lot of people think they can take advantage of you for not paying attention to the details, or not complaining about them for fear of hurting your feedback. To hell with them. 6 bucks is 6 bucks!
Shipping fees are the new scam it seems. Well, probably not new, but popular. I used to buy big scale model cars on ebay, but not anymore, it's too expensive in shipping. Most people are taking on $20-25 in shipping for something I know is $15 TOPS. I once bought a video card that had $14 shipping... once I recieved it, I noticed that the shipping was actually $7.30. Even though, I still cut a good deal... I can see it as a way to get above other sellers offering the same thing. Anyhow, it's just nickle and diming... I think they took a hint from CA tax laws...
I wanted to go for that "clean" grill look on my 65 stang so I got rid of the pony and corral. I figured id put it on egay and make back the 10 bucks to cover the chrome filler piece you use to cover the hole in the grill that the pony leaves when its removed. Well some guy in spokane buys it and says its for his den, he calls me like two days after I sent it out and complains it isnt there. Not sure how he got my number, all he says is ebay gave it to him. I tell him to wait a day or so and itll be there. Well next thing I know egay has taken the 42 bucks the grill sold for outta my account. I tell them he recieved it and they dont do shit and they say is try and prove he got it. I called him and his kid answered and I ask him if it arrived and he says yes. Later I call again and ask his father why hes pulling this bullshit on me and all he says is it never arrived and to f**k off. Thats the last time im buying or selling on egay.
I noticed the Shipping & Handling scam also. Was looking at a 1940's Auto parts store stand up advertisement, just a piece of cardboard about 12"x10". Guy was selling it for a buy it now for 2.00 but the shipping charges were 20.00. Almost sounds like a scam to lower his " income"
That sucks Jeff. THanks for the heads up. I bought an intake from a guy who was saying the same thing happened to him. He marks all his parts now. I'm dealing with a guy that got to the checkout before I could send him and invoice and made the shipping $1 on the impala horn ring he won. Then he sent me a money order for $9 + $1 shipping. Meanwhile, he doesn't return my emails. Now how in the hell can anyone ship anything for $1? I'm not sure how I'm going to resolve this one. If he doesn't send more money, I guess I'll send back his money order and tell him forget it. Then report him.
Screw paypal,etc,just another way for Ebay to make more money.Insist on money orders.Yeah,they take a few days longer,but at least,nobody can take it away from you.Once the auction is over,keep Ebay out of the money.
I'm going to address some of the bitches you guys have noted about ebay auctions. Some sellers overcharge. True. Some sellers ONLY ship USPS priority mail and refuse to ship using other methods. WHY? Because if you use priority mail you can get all your boxes, lables, and tape for free. All you have to supply is the packing paper or bublewrap - both of which can be secondhand (think newspaper) or cheap to purchase. I'm proud to say that my shipping charge is based on a estimated weight of the packaged item without added fees for packaging materials or handling charges. If you're on top of things, when you post an auction and know ahead of time what it weighs you can input that weight and a shipping method and the auction will calculate the shippng charge for anyone. When sellers guess at the weight you end up paying too much. And yes, some guys do just rip you off on shipping. But, accidents happen. In my last batch of auctions I missed changing the weight between posting auctions and a 4 pound item went on the block with shipping listed as 11 pounds - which was the weight of the item that I posted before it. The bidder complained that the shipping was high, I went back to the auction page and used the calculator to find out the shipping cost and WHOA DADDY! I had to email him an apology and the correct shippng cost. OOPS! As far as the scams on returning damaged goods as if they were yours - that's been going on since '97. The advice given is good. If you accept returns - which you should - then mark the item with either a UV pen, or with a china marker. Let the buyer know that you don't accept returns if your mark is missiing. These days I usually just mark items with a white china marker. Ebay is full of folks trying to get one up on each other, and full of other straight shooters making the best of a good concept. Cover your ass is the rule of the day, but you don't have to screw the other guy to do it.
well, i had a guy bitch 'cuz i wanted paid in a certain amount of time (said that right in the auction), also said he sent a M.O.(still haven't seen it), never contacted me in the 5 days i gave for payment until on the 7th day i gave him some negative feedback. THAT got his attention!all of a sudden he had time to file a complaint with Squaretrade and we're still going round with them.... oh well, i did the 2 chance thing and the guy paid within a day.... as far as shipping, using ebays calculator or ups's calculations, when it comes down to actual shipping cost's, neither are correct but if that's all you have to use, what the hell are ya supposed to do? make 1000 trips to ups? although, if you can mail stuff, the bubble pack type envelopes make one hell of a lot of difference in $$$$ priority mail cost a whole 10 cents more on the stuff i sent out yesterday...
I collect American Flyer, and Marx toy trains. When I was preparing to sell some on ebay another collector warned me about scams. Seems some guys will buy your item, get it, and look it over. If its better than the one they have they will keep it and send their old one back to you and demand a refund. They call it "ebay up grading". On my auctions "Ask all questions before you bid, know what you are buying, because all sales are final. If that is not satisfactory don't bid." It may cost a little traffic on the auction, but its cheaper than hiring hit men.
Reading about the various "scams" on eBay makes me a bit nervous as well as reluctant. Especially when selling (or buying) SMALL items. Shipping and Handling (include packaging) from here in Canada can OFTEN exceed the value of the item. Canada Post has several methods (one day, two day, or longer) of mailing parts, but the costs have increased so much the past while, it's not worth the expense. I sent a headlite switch to Calif. a couple of weeks ago; value of the switch; $5.00, the postage was, $6.35. And that didn't include the time for boxing it up, (or the cost of the "small item container") the time for making the shipping label, and the gas taking it to the post office. FedEx or UPS rates START at around $10.00. So they aren't the best way either.
The Jalopy Journal
