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

Steve Smith · Jan 28, 2013

Evil Abed said:
Skeet successfully sold! So it's been a while since I've attempted to sell anything. Does he not get an invoice until I send one?

That is a good question. Probably not. When I have put in a bid days prior to winning the auction, and won it, I only find out by checking my Purchase History tab.

concealed · Jan 29, 2013

Brianpore said:
So this kind of annoys me.....and you sometimes wondering why sellers get a bad reputation...

I see this in my saved searches this morning...NWT VINTAGE RUGBY RALPH LAUREN CLASSIC FIT JEANS RRL SELVEDGE - $37 BIN with shipping....seems pretty good.

Click on the link and see they arnt RRL...hmmm, maybe they are selvedge which would still be a good deal. Send a nice email asking and but nope they arnt. He says he puts "RRL" and "SELVEDGE" in the title to get more views, but its ok, because he dosnt say they are RRL or SELVEDGE in the actual item description.

I really want to report this little bastard. For all us honest hard working sellers you have jerks who try and game the system and it annoys me.

I really hope someone buys them expecting RRL Selvedge jeans and leaves him a negative feedback.

definitely a reportable offense

Aidan K · Jan 29, 2013

I sold an item, and still with a relatively new account. The item is listed in the USPS tracking as "Delivery status not updated". Is this common, or something to be alarmed about? Obviously annoying because the money won't release until it is marked "delivered".

capnwes · Jan 29, 2013

Brianpore said:
So this kind of annoys me.....and you sometimes wondering why sellers get a bad reputation...

I see this in my saved searches this morning...NWT VINTAGE RUGBY RALPH LAUREN CLASSIC FIT JEANS RRL SELVEDGE - $37 BIN with shipping....seems pretty good.

Click on the link and see they arnt RRL...hmmm, maybe they are selvedge which would still be a good deal. Send a nice email asking and but nope they arnt. He says he puts "RRL" and "SELVEDGE" in the title to get more views, but its ok, because he dosnt say they are RRL or SELVEDGE in the actual item description.

I really want to report this little bastard. For all us honest hard working sellers you have jerks who try and game the system and it annoys me.

I really hope someone buys them expecting RRL Selvedge jeans and leaves him a negative feedback.

Yes, You can report it for keyword spamming. Looks like he has changed the title now, and removed "Selvedge". I suppose he can still get away with the RRL since it is Rugby Ralph Lauren.

Evil Abed said:
Skeet successfully sold! So it's been a while since I've attempted to sell anything. Does he not get an invoice until I send one? Sounds obvious but I just don't, when I win something I usually pay immediately after the auction ends. Also on the send invoice page, my shipping changed from $10 and change to $15.80. Is that a preset of some sort or is it taking into account where the buyer is and adjusting the priority rate?

As always, thank you guys, I'm a seasoned ebay buyer but just getting back to the selling aspects.

Steve Smith said:
That is a good question. Probably not. When I have put in a bid days prior to winning the auction, and won it, I only find out by checking my Purchase History tab.

Yes, ebay now sends an invoice automatically after the end of auction or BIN. After 2 days, they will then send a reminder on your behalf. I typically wait til the 4th or 5th day before I resend the invoice. If still no payment is received, I open a case on the 7th day, and send a friendly reminder. See below. The buyer then has 4 days to pay. If they do not pay by the 4th day, I close the case and relist. It works out pretty well this way. My auctions all end on Sundays, so with the above method the buyer has 11 days to pay and if they do not, I relist on the 11th day (Thursday) for a 10 day listing to start ita ll over again.

My standard 7th day payment reminder/open case notification: I always send this so they don't freak out.

"Hello, DON'T WORRY, YOU STILL HAVE 4 DAYS TO MAKE PAYMENT. The following message is just being sent as a reminder, and notification of a pending case.

I have not yet received your payment for this item. Buyers are given 11 days to make payment for purchases. As a matter of procedure, I open a unpaid item case on the 7th day so that I can relist the item on the 11th day in the case of non-payment. Don't worry, you still have 4 more days to make payment, and the opened case has no negative effect on your eBay account. Please make payment within the next 4 days or contact me if you need more time, to avoid any further action."

capnwes · Jan 29, 2013

Aidan K said:
I sold an item, and still with a relatively new account. The item is listed in the USPS tracking as "Delivery status not updated". Is this common, or something to be alarmed about? Obviously annoying because the money won't release until it is marked "delivered".

Has it tracked at all since you shipped it? Many times, the carrier doesn't scan the label. Or potentially the delivery confirmation label could have fallen off, or gotten damaged.

Could you post the tracking number so we can see what it is saying?

Aidan K · Jan 29, 2013

capnwes said:
Has it tracked at all since you shipped it? Many times, the carrier doesn't scan the label. Or potentially the delivery confirmation label could have fallen off, or gotten damaged.

Could you post the tracking number so we can see what it is saying?

The item tracking number is:

9405509699939493479522

As you can see, everything seems fine until the last status update.

capnwes · Jan 29, 2013

Looks like it could be a few possibilities.

They forgot to scan it.
They forgot to batch out the scanner at the end of the day.
They still have it on the truck.

I would give it a day or two and call the post office. Or call sooner if you want.

Did the buyer leave feedback by chance?

Aidan K · Jan 29, 2013

capnwes said:
Looks like it could be a few possibilities.

They forgot to scan it.
They forgot to batch out the scanner at the end of the day.
They still have it on the truck.

I would give it a day or two and call the post office. Or call sooner if you want.

Did the buyer leave feedback by chance?

No feedback yet. Though in ~10 sales, it usually takes some time to receive feedback. I'll hang out a few more days, and then call the post office if it is still undelivered and no feedback indicating it was received is posted.

Thanks for the help.

Steve Smith · Jan 29, 2013

(6 days ago) ebay seller message to me: I have left You positive feedback regarding the purchase of this item. When you receive the item can you please return the favor for me and leave me positive feedback as well?

me: Will do.

(today) ebay seller: You still haven't left me feedback for the item, can you please do so?

me: I do my feedback in batches, about once per month.

(10 minutes later) ebay seller: Ok, But it would literally take you about 20 seconds to leave the feedback.

me: OK now you have wasted the time I would have used for feedback.

HansderHund · Jan 29, 2013

Steve Smith said:
(6 days ago) ebay seller message to me: I have left You positive feedback regarding the purchase of this item. When you receive the item can you please return the favor for me and leave me positive feedback as well?

me: Will do.

(today) ebay seller: You still haven't left me feedback for the item, can you please do so?

me: I do my feedback in batches, about once per month.

(10 minutes later) ebay seller: Ok, But it would literally take you about 20 seconds to leave the feedback.

me: OK now you have wasted the time I would have used for feedback.

That's weird, I've never heard of someone so insistant on feedback. Did they have a low number and wanted more to lift restrictions possibly?

Does anyone else add words to their title as an auction goes? I know most probably use the max anyway, but sometimes I like to add words midway through the auction and chart the views, check to see if certain magical words related to an item make a jump in traffic.

Steve Smith · Jan 29, 2013

HansderHund said:
That's weird, I've never heard of someone so insistant on feedback. Did they have a low number and wanted more to lift restrictions possibly?

Does anyone else add words to their title as an auction goes? I know most probably use the max anyway, but sometimes I like to add words midway through the auction and chart the views, check to see if certain magical words related to an item make a jump in traffic.

I don't know the reason. If the seller had given me a reason like that then I would have given the feedback immediately. Instead he kept buzzing around about it and irritated me a little bit when he explained how little time it takes. I have always thought it is undignified to beg and kiss ass for feedback. Now I am leaning toward not giving him any.

Changing your words and tracking results is a version of A/B Testing. Very interesting subject.

Brianpore · Jan 30, 2013

Steve Smith said:
Quote: As a seller I always leave feedback when paid with something along the lines of "Super Fast Payment...A+++" I do this even if payment takes a few days. It's stored as my default and just easier. I would say about 1/3 to 1/2 of the people actually leave feedback in reply. If it is a higher dollar item and or I think they may buy something again, when I see the feedback I write them a quick note thanking them for the feedback because most people dont take the time and offer a discount of 10-20% of my BIN prices on a future order. After a month (and there is not problem thankfully) I might also send a quick one liner, saying something like "Thanks again for the purchase, hope you are wearing in good health, if you have a second to leave feedback that would be greatly appreciated". If they do, great, if not, oh well.

As a buyer I use to leave feedback all the time, but have stopped leaving it until the seller leaves it. The seller has no down side to leave feedback but is just too damn lazy so I'm not going out of my way to do it anymore. If they leave it, I'll do it right away as well.

Fueco · Jan 30, 2013

What part of BINOBO do people not get??

cptjeff · Jan 30, 2013

Fueco said:
What part of BINOBO do people not get??

I often throw things on the watch list if I'm undecided or comparing to similar items. Don't see what's so unusual about that.

Fueco · Jan 30, 2013

cptjeff said:
Quote:

I don't know... I've seen 4 or 5 watchers without a buyer. But 10? You'd think someone would be more interested than that. Or if it's not worth the $30, make an offer. I haven't even gotten an offer on this thing.

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

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