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

[Fueco]

It's never been a requirement for TRS FVF discount. Must be another reason, or a glitch.

How is your Defect rating looking?

My defect rate is high... .52%. ;p

I'm sure this is just a glitch.

 

[Brianpore]

Quote:
These are the mathematical conversions. Sorry forgot to actually post them. You time by .79. Info stolen from AAAC

An inch is 2.54 cm. Since the chest size is centimeters divided by 2, you get 1.27 units per inch instead of 2.54.

.79 times 1.27 (centimeters divided by 2 per inch) = 1 inch.

Euro 48 = US 37.9
Euro 50 = US 39.5
Euro 52 = US 41.1
Euro 54 = US 42.7
Euro 56 = US 44.3
Euro 58 = US 45.8
Euro 60 = US 47.4

 

[Koala-T]

Quote:
There are the mathematical conversions
Do you have the formulas captured somewhere?

 

[Orgetorix]

Remind me: how do I view offers that have been weeded out by my auto-decline settings?

 

[borbor]

go to your selling page, look for items that has "review all offers" on the right; those are the ones that has offered put in.

 

[capnwes]

Do you have the formulas captured somewhere?

I've understood it as this....I could be wrong, but it is always works out very close.

Basically the IT size equates to centimeters pit to pit. Usually you can double it for full chest measure, then divide by the inch conversion (about 2.54) to convert.

Size 50

(50 x 2) / 2.54 = 39.37


Size 56

(56 x 2) / 2.54 = 44.09


Size 58

(58 x 2) / 2.54 = 45.67

 

[Koala-T]

Quote: Thanks!

 

[Fueco]

This is a new low for Ebay users... Buyer clearly didn't know what he was looking at when he placed the bid.

Since I offer hassle-free returns, I'm forced to take the return, but the CSR said I can charge the restocking fee by refunding through PayPal and then calling Ebay to get the return closed. I took her name and got a reference number for the call, so hopefully she wasn't just blowing smoke to get me off the phone. This **** gets frustrating sometimes... This is my second bogus INAD case in the past week, after having none (even legit ones) since May!

The image shows the latest generation model on the right and the one I sent him on the left (his photo).

At least Ebay seems to understand that this is a cut and dry buyer's remorse case.

 

[Letric]

So.. you offer "Hassle Free Returns"... and you are the one being hassled.

This is why I don't offer returns. It allows buyers to make up odd excuses for returning things, when it was just their own ignorance or w/e. I accept returns for things that I mis-measured, or mis-represented... as long as it's all legit.



I'm gonna go ahead and say this... People on here seem to experience so much more BS returns and problems than I've experienced. In my 3+ years of selling, I've only made 2 refunds. 1 was just this week for a tie that I guess was creased from being folded for so long, and I didn't notice before shipping... buyer provided photos and that was fine. The other was years ago for a shirt that I mis-measured. I had the chest written down as 42", but for some reason the listing said 44". My mistake, so of course I accepted.

Other than that, I've received like 3 neutral feedbacks. 1 for a tie when I first started selling, 1 for a pair of jeans where nothing was actually wrong with em, and then 1 for a jacket where the buyer claimed the photos showed a much lighter color. I chalked that last one up to difference in brightness / monitor settings. The photos all showed accurate color representation on my end, and I use 3 different monitors for photo viewing / editing. All are calibrated perfectly.

Yeah sometimes I feel bad for buyers who mistakenly buy something from me, and they didn't check the listing closely... But I'm not going to delay sales, and take a hit on shipping / re-listing fees because someone screwed up. It may sound harsh, but people really need to read through a listing completely and examine photos closely before clicking "Bid" or "Buy It Now". I always triple check **** before I purchase it... I've been burned a couple times (luckily on cheap stuff), but I sucked it up and took my lumps.


I don't think I'll ever offer returns. There's just too much hassle, and who knows if it even makes a difference in the buyers' minds.

 

[Fueco]

So.. you offer "Hassle Free Returns"... and you are the one being hassled.

This is why I don't offer returns. It allows buyers to make up odd excuses for returning things, when it was just their own ignorance or w/e. I accept returns for things that I mis-measured, or mis-represented... as long as it's all legit.



I'm gonna go ahead and say this... People on here seem to experience so much more BS returns and problems than I've experienced. In my 3+ years of selling, I've only made 2 refunds. 1 was just this week for a tie that I guess was creased from being folded for so long, and I didn't notice before shipping... buyer provided photos and that was fine. The other was years ago for a shirt that I mis-measured. I had the chest written down as 42", but for some reason the listing said 44". My mistake, so of course I accepted.

Other than that, I've received like 3 neutral feedbacks. 1 for a tie when I first started selling, 1 for a pair of jeans where nothing was actually wrong with em, and then 1 for a jacket where the buyer claimed the photos showed a much lighter color. I chalked that last one up to difference in brightness / monitor settings. The photos all showed accurate color representation on my end, and I use 3 different monitors for photo viewing / editing. All are calibrated perfectly.

Yeah sometimes I feel bad for buyers who mistakenly buy something from me, and they didn't check the listing closely... But I'm not going to delay sales, and take a hit on shipping / re-listing fees because someone screwed up. It may sound harsh, but people really need to read through a listing completely and examine photos closely before clicking "Bid" or "Buy It Now". I always triple check **** before I purchase it... I've been burned a couple times (luckily on cheap stuff), but I sucked it up and took my lumps.


I don't think I'll ever offer returns. There's just too much hassle, and who knows if it even makes a difference in the buyers' minds.

Keep in mind that I also have 40X more listings currently than you do.

 

[Letric]

RIght... I'm not a very high volume seller currently, however I wasn't directing that solely at you or anyone else in particular. (except the part about your offering returns and dealing with BS).


I just notice that in general, people on here seem to experience a lot of issues that I have not. I'm wondering if its listing practices, regions, types of items people sell... Or maybe some sellers just attract crazies lol.



*EDIT* Also... Give me 1 - 1.5 months, and I'll close up that sales gap.

 

[Reosymes]

I just notice that in general, people on here seem to experience a lot of issues that I have not. I'm wondering if its listing practices, regions, types of items people sell... Or maybe some sellers just attract crazies lol.

I think it's more a case of sampling bias. An Ebay transaction going smoothly isn't very noteworthy, but something that happens like 0.5% of the time merits a mention in this thread. It's just more interesting.

 

[capnwes]

I have been a hassle free returns user since they started the program. In 18 months I have had 124 returns (about 7 per month) I'd say probably 95%-98% of those were opened with honesty on the buyers part, usually for fit issues.

The returns don't really bother me, it's all part of selling clothing in my book. Additionally, the returned items usually seem to sell for more the next time around.

 

[Fueco]

I think it's more a case of sampling bias. An Ebay transaction going smoothly isn't very noteworthy, but something that happens like 0.5% of the time merits a mention in this thread. It's just more interesting.

It's definitely a matter of scale. I've had roughly six sales go bad so far in 2015. My YTD sales are around $110k at the moment. There are bad apples in any business, and there is a percentage of Ebayers who will abuse the system. In my experience, that number is less than .1%, but when they happen, I get vocal about it. There's an obvious workaround to this ****, which I have given to at least five different Ebay CSRs: that is to not make returns for "INAD" automatically accepted. In a few situations where an INAD case might be warranted, I've worked out a solution with the buyer without them opening a return. For many of my sales, it would be cheaper for me to refund the buyer completely than to accept the forced return. And why shouldn't there be an option to do so without garnering a defect on my record?

 

[classicthrifter]

This is the year I'm getting a Mac for Garage Sale. I'm still a very low volume seller but am always looking for ways to save time (plus I want a mac).

I'm hoping the 2.6 Ghz version of the Mini will be enough? 8 GB Ram, 1 TB storage.

http://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/mac-mini

Should that suffice?

Would a used different model be better? I'm trying to stick around the mini price range though. I already have the keyboard, mouse, monitor...

I'll need to figure out if my laserprinter (HP Colorjet 2605dn) will work on it along with my dymo 450.

Super excited to have a dedicated computer all funded with thrifting.

Anything else I should consider or have missed?

Thanks all!