Buying and Selling on eBay: Tips, Tricks, Problems & Questions

HansderHund · Dec 19, 2013

ATLnoob said:
Had a message pop up today when I had to log back into eBay - updated terms & conditions - I just clicked "accept" and moved on...then noticed that nearly all of my listings now offered the Global Shipping Program. Turns out I was automatically opted in - I did not request it. So I had to opt out of the program, but that takes 24 hours to take effect for some reason. Found a get-around to remove it from all listings (instead of having to do them individually), but didn't make note of where/how etc. Anyway, just a heads-up if you get the new terms & conditions pop-up page: check your listings and make sure you were not opted into GSP automatically (if you don't want to be opted in, that is).

Good to know. Not for myself as a seller, but for those that want to opt out of it. I won't personally buy anything with the GSP as the prices are INSANE. Maybe it's easier for sellers, but as an example, I bought something recently that cost $91. The shipping would have been $28 and another $30 or so in customs fees.

Here's an example:

labravajazz · Dec 19, 2013

HansderHund said:
Really sorry to hear about that. Like in all sales, there is a small minority that won't play fair. It sounds like you have one on your hands, assuming that the shoes are as you describe. I recently had a similar experience with an international buyer. They claimed that a sweater I sold them was stretched. It wasn't. My photos were accurate, my measurements were accurate. They're a seller, so I'm fairly certain it was a case of not knowing they were buying a women's sweater rather than a men's. What did I do? I didn't argue, just returned their purchase price and shipping costs at my expense (once I received the return).

The way I look at it, if I get hit with that every 100 sales or so, I'm still fine. If you don't want to mess with the entire process of trying to fight it, I advise you to simply roll over on it. Keep in mind, I have no idea how much they paid in customs fees, etc. If there is a significant amount tied up in it, I'd try to negotiate a deal with them (i.e. I would return their shipping + item cost, but not customs fees). I'd especially try this if you don't sell often, and remind them of this fact (I'm just a normal guy selling my things...). However, they CAN leave feedback for you regardless of whether you accept the return. The only instances where they can't leave feedback are those where you win a case.

Mmm well this buyer doesn't want to return the shoes, just angling for a $50 discount. Shipping fees are more than this, each way, and I'm tempted to say send them back even though full refund of shipping will cost me over $100.... Truth is he got a great deal.... :/

HansderHund · Dec 19, 2013

labravajazz said:
Mmm well this buyer doesn't want to return the shoes, just angling for a $50 discount. Shipping fees are more than this, each way, and I'm tempted to say send them back even though full refund of shipping will cost me over $100.... Truth is he got a great deal.... :/

In that case, make it very clear: you don't offer partial refunds. If they are unhappy, then they can return them. If they're satisfied, then they keep them. If someone is simply unhappy with colors, fit, etc., I won't give in to a partial refund. It's either satisfied or not. If you receive negative feedback after they refuse to return them, I *think* you can get it removed under the basis of feedback extortion. They threatened you with negative feedback unless you offered a discount. This is the basis for the ebay policy.

TheWGP · Dec 19, 2013

capnwes said:
That's BS. I had mine remove instantly. He told me it might take a little white to got through, but by the time I walked from the living room (I'm a phone pacer) to the laptop in the office, it was already gone.

Yeah, I dunno what happened.

However, I just got this email (approximately 8-10 hours after I called)

We decided not to issue the buyer a refund. You don't need to do anything else for this case. The hold on this PayPal transaction has been removed. This case is closed.

Decision:
This case has been decided in your favor. The hold on this PayPal transaction has been removed.

Comments:
This case was found in your favor because this item isn't eligible for eBay Buyer Protection. Any feedback left, including detailed seller ratings, will be removed and won't affect your seller performance standing. Note: It could take up to 24 hours for your Seller Dashboard to reflect this decision.

THANKS SPOO for the tips!

What's the whole "isn't eligible for Buyer Protection" thing? Is that just what they say when it's buyers remorse?

k4lnamja · Dec 20, 2013

2 important questions

1. How do you ship boots? I've a pair of Lucchese's (@capnwes and some rain boots I'd like to ship. I don't want to fold the boots b/c wouldn't that ruin them if compressed in a large flat rate?

2. I recently sold some boots to a buyer who is in New Zealand but has a US address that supposedly forwards to his home country. Anyway, when I filled out his shipping label, I deleted all of the NZ related info and just wrote down his US stuff. Ex: 1101 Main Street versus NZ8393 1101 Main Street.

I shipped this with insurance and with sig confirmation. It was signed by somebody. This was 11 days ago and the buyer said he has not received a confirmation of where the boots are at and he hasn't received them.

What would you recommend I do?

Any help is appreciated.

I'm going to figure out (by the address) what company I sent these boots to. Then call them and contacting the person who signed for the item. Hopefully it's still there.

Thanks

masaccio · Dec 20, 2013

k4lnamja said:
2. I recently sold some boots to a buyer who is in New Zealand but has a US address that supposedly forwards to his home country. Anyway, when I filled out his shipping label, I deleted all of the NZ related info and just wrote down his US stuff. Ex: 1101 Main Street versus NZ8393 1101 Main Street.

I shipped this with insurance and with sig confirmation. It was signed by somebody. This was 11 days ago and the buyer said he has not received a confirmation of where the boots are at and he hasn't received them.

What would you recommend I do?

Any help is appreciated.

I'm going to figure out (by the address) what company I sent these boots to. Then call them and contacting the person who signed for the item. Hopefully it's still there.

Thanks

I have a similar set up. I'm an expat working overseas and my company pays for a mail forwarding service. I could have EBay purchases sent to that address and (for a fee) they will forward the package and handle customs.

I'm not a big seller, so I'm not certain, but I believe that your work is done and that if a case were opened, you would win.

You paid for shipping to the forwarding address and you have signature confirmation as proof. What happens after that is between the buyer and his forwarder. You shouldn't be responsible for making sure his forwarder is doing the job he is paying them to do, he should.

k4lnamja · Dec 20, 2013

masaccio said:
I have a similar set up. I'm an expat working overseas and my company pays for a mail forwarding service. I could have EBay purchases sent to that address and (for a fee) they will forward the package and handle customs.

I'm not a big seller, so I'm not certain, but I believe that your work is done and that if a case were opened, you would win.

You paid for shipping to the forwarding address and you have signature confirmation as proof. What happens after that is between the buyer and his forwarder. You shouldn't be responsible for making sure his forwarder is doing the job he is paying them to do, he should.

Thanks for the insightful info. I greatly appreciate it.

I know I can wipe my hands clean but at the end of the day, I want everyone to be happy, which is for him to get his product. Plus, I don't want any possible neutral/negative feedback either and that is why I'm going to lengths so I can somehow remedy this.

My only concern is I did not write the full forwarding address on the USPS label. I wrote the address to the US shipping address so I don't want to be held on a technicality. Quite honestly, I never knew there were companies that accepted mail and fwd to other countries before until now.

Cheers

VLSI · Dec 20, 2013

masaccio said:
You paid for shipping to the forwarding address and you have signature confirmation as proof. What happens after that is between the buyer and his forwarder. You shouldn't be responsible for making sure his forwarder is doing the job he is paying them to do, he should.

Except he omitted part of the address, pretty sure it was the part that allows the forwarding company to know where to send the boots. While he is of course under no obligation to ensure safe delivery from the forwarder to NZ, I believe this one is on him since he decided to start snipping away at the buyer's posted paypal address. It's like shipping to a hotel, but deciding that you don't need to put down the room number...

Sorry k4, but i really think this one is your fault and it's not simply a "technicality."

capnwes · Dec 20, 2013

k4lnamja said:
Thanks for the insightful info. I greatly appreciate it.

I know I can wipe my hands clean but at the end of the day, I want everyone to be happy, which is for him to get his product. Plus, I don't want any possible neutral/negative feedback either and that is why I'm going to lengths so I can somehow remedy this.

My only concern is I did not write the full forwarding address on the USPS label. I wrote the address to the US shipping address so I don't want to be held on a technicality. Quite honestly, I never knew there were companies that accepted mail and fwd to other countries before until now.

Cheers

I guess I'm confused on this one a little. If he has a US company lined up to forward his international mail, you would think they would already have his address.

Question:
Was the US address you shipped to, the same address on the ebay/paypal shipping page, or did you edit it?

There are dozens of these companied on eBay. The ones I deal with the most are named "flight2(enter country abbreviation here). Most I've dealt with are located in California

masaccio · Dec 20, 2013

k4lnamja said:
Thanks for the insightful info. I greatly appreciate it.

I know I can wipe my hands clean but at the end of the day, I want everyone to be happy, which is for him to get his product. Plus, I don't want any possible neutral/negative feedback either and that is why I'm going to lengths so I can somehow remedy this.

My only concern is I did not write the full forwarding address on the USPS label. I wrote the address to the US shipping address so I don't want to be held on a technicality. Quite honestly, I never knew there were companies that accepted mail and fwd to other countries before until now.

Cheers

Ah, I missed that. Yeah, that's important because that's the info that the forwarder uses to determine where to send the package, because many clients share the same address.

E.g., all of the expats in my company share a single PO Box. The account number is then used by the forwarder to tie the package to a new address to which it should be sent.

It would probably take a trivial amount of effort for the forwarder to work out where to send it, but reaching out to them is a good idea. And it will be easier for you to do so because of the time differences between the forwarder and NZ.

VLSI said:
Except he omitted part of the address, pretty sure it was the part that allows the forwarding company to know where to send the boots. While he is of course under no obligation to ensure safe delivery from the forwarder to NZ, I believe this one is on him since he decided to start snipping away at the buyer's posted paypal address. It's like shipping to a hotel, but deciding that you don't need to put down the room number...

Sorry k4, but i really think this one is your fault and it's not simply a "technicality."

This was the part I missed/misunderstood from the OP. In which case, I agree with VLSI that follow up is in order.

capnwes said:
I guess I'm confused on this one a little. If he has a US company lined up to forward his international mail, you would think they would already have his address.

Question:
Was the US address you shipped to, the same address on the ebay/paypal shipping page, or did you edit it?

There are dozens of these companied on eBay. The ones I deal with the most are named "flight2(enter country abbreviation here). Most I've dealt with are located in California

See above. If the OP removed the part of the address that ties to the real forwarding address. I've definitely received stuff that only had the PO Box info and not my account number, it does require some effort on the part of the forwarder.

TheBurnOut · Dec 20, 2013

Zacharrrr said:
hey, i just bought a suit from ebay and it a quite significant damage which was niot in the description or visible in pics. Link to the original auction: http://www.ebay.de/itm/Canali-Made-...ddH4mWV%2BAKl%2BGdiuE%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc pics of the damage: I paid 80$ for shipping and import tax, the suit was 120$ (everybody makes mistakes, so go easy on me there) Whats my play here?

Next time don't buy a 3 button, unvented suit with triple pleated pants. Unless, of course, you're buying it as a costume for a 90's themed Halloween party.

k4lnamja · Dec 20, 2013

Capnwes, vlsi, and Mas

I know I've made the mistake of deleting on the NZ info but I didnt know OIA couldn't look up the person's name in their database. Plus, after I sent the item I told the buyer I deleted his NZ info
And he said it shouldn't be a problem since they've his info in the database.

Anyway, I called and left a msg and sent an email do hopefully
The package is still there. and they just need a forwarding address.

Thanks everyone!

Zacharrrr · Dec 20, 2013

TheBurnOut said:
Next time don't buy a 3 button, unvented suit with triple pleated pants.

Unless, of course, you're buying it as a costume for a 90's themed Halloween party.

Taste, my friend, varies. But I'm glad you enjoy trolling.

TheBurnOut · Dec 20, 2013

You overpaid for a horribly dated suit. Not trolling. Merely offering a suggestion.

Reosymes · Dec 20, 2013

TheBurnOut said:
You overpaid for a horribly dated suit. Not trolling. Merely offering a suggestion.

Seriously, did he post this in the WAYWRN thread? Did he solicit any feedback about the nature of the suit? He's asking for help about an ebay issue. The item in question is irrelevant.

Buying and Selling on eBay: Tips, Tricks, Problems & Questions

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