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

[stevent]



To piggyback on this, I had a eBayer send me this with his OBO and I quote specifically:
[TR] [TD]"Hanging threads, well worn second soles, loose upper on outside left toe, worn tassles, cut in the left front. This shoe is heavily worn with possibly little life. Auctions can go for $80 shipped like new condition."[/TD] [/TR]
Immediately Declined Offer, and Sent "Best of luck to you on eBay" and blocked him...not worth my troubles And the description of the condition is so off its not even funny.

Yeah getting a lot of this recently, as well as how items can't be new since I'm not a store so it has to be listed as preowned. Also got my "good luck selling at that price" from buyers during the weekend and of course the items the mentioned all sold. Always seems to happen that way.

 

[Fueco]

All of that!

Plus a new one, "Those kind of sandals aren't made in the USA". As if I would lie about this! I politely informed this person that all Chaco sandals were made in America until a few years ago.

 

[TheWGP]

Is absolutely beatable.

1. Call ebay and get an agent on the phone
2. Have them look at case and say something like "is this not the clearest case of buyers remorse you have ever seen?"
3. Agent will clearly agree with you (as do I) that they stand no chance to win the case
4. GET A CASE NUMBER FOR THE CALL and have them put in their notes and opinions of the outcome of the case (only if they agree with you) for the deciding agent on the 4th business day
5. Send reply to case repeating what you said in ebay messages - no refunds, sizes posted, you are sorry that it does not fit HIM but the fit for him does not mean it is not as described
6. Regardless of what he says, dont type a reply
7. Call ebay the morning of the 4th business day after it was opened, have the agent pull up the call number and notes from the agent you originally spoke with, reinstate that its textbook remorse and not a snad.
Feedback cannot be left if you win a case.

Thanks a million - I thought I'd seen you post something like this before, but this is textbook. I'm giving it a shot - I called and the lady didn't want to come right out and say "yeah this is really obvious" but it was clear she was being careful how she worded things and saw what I was talking about, so I went ahead and got her to write a note and give me the call reference number. We'll see what happens.

The 4th business day threw me off - Case was opened December 14, and I was given until December 18 to respond. That means I call on the morning of the 19th, which is also the earliest he could escalate it? I'm guessing part of the strategy is to make it so that *I* am the one who escalates the case to support, not him. When I call on the 19th, I can expect them to basically take down what I say and look at it, and then say "we'll get you a decision within 48 hours" right - or do they tell you anything on the phone too?

I wouldn't even bother if I didn't think he had clearly stated his buyers remorse. Thanks for the tips.

 

[Fueco]

Is it just me, or is there a surplus of super-lowballers on Ebay lately?

Is it the Holidays? Is it just that I have a lot more NWT items listed so I'm noticing it more?

I have a sweater listed at $168 OBO. Dude offers $34.99 and gets offended when I counter with $139.99. WTF is this all about? I understand bargain hunting, but predatory "It's all about me" bargain hunting is ridiculous.

 

[JackFlash]

Is it just me, or is there a surplus of super-lowballers on Ebay lately?

Is it the Holidays? Is it just that I have a lot more NWT items listed so I'm noticing it more?

I have a sweater listed at $168 OBO. Dude offers $34.99 and gets offended when I counter with $139.99. WTF is this all about? I understand bargain hunting, but predatory "It's all about me" bargain hunting is ridiculous.

I don't have the patience for OBO. It's just as bad a selling in the SWD B&S; I get lowballed within seconds of posting a very reasonably priced item.

 

[stevent]

Just set auto decline on offers, I have items with 10-15 offers and only one or two actually got to me.

If you have repeat buyers a lot that get declined it might be an issue but in general it works well for me. Usually set minimum a little less than I want to sell and then go from there

 

[SeaJen]

Is it just me, or is there a surplus of super-lowballers on Ebay lately?

Is it the Holidays? Is it just that I have a lot more NWT items listed so I'm noticing it more?

I have a sweater listed at $168 OBO. Dude offers $34.99 and gets offended when I counter with $139.99. WTF is this all about? I understand bargain hunting, but predatory "It's all about me" bargain hunting is ridiculous.

Successful win-lose negotiation often involves emotions (feeling like you are asking for too much as a seller; feeling like someone will jump in and buy it from under you as a buyer; etc.) In this case, I would just take it as it is, an opening offer subject to counter. The "offended" part is likely just a tactic employed to make you come down further (see The Flinch: http://www.managerwise.com/article.phtml?id=371)

In Australia it's known as the Dummy Spit and if you really want to make a scene, the Double Dummy Spit.

 

[Fueco]

Hah, true...

My emotional response is generally to say "Go ---- yourself", but I never do. I need to remember to actually set the auto reject!

 

[capnwes]

Is it just me, or is there a surplus of super-lowballers on Ebay lately?

Is it the Holidays? Is it just that I have a lot more NWT items listed so I'm noticing it more?

I have a sweater listed at $168 OBO. Dude offers $34.99 and gets offended when I counter with $139.99. WTF is this all about? I understand bargain hunting, but predatory "It's all about me" bargain hunting is ridiculous.

I have seen a huge increase in offers on non-sold items after the auction ends. I almost always accept them, unless it is ridiculously low.

 

[hooker4186]

I don't use auto-reject minimums personally, as that would deprive me of the joy of coutering lowballs with a price higher that the BIN.

 

[jebarne]

I have seen a huge increase in offers on non-sold items after the auction ends. I almost always accept them, unless it is ridiculously low.

How do you accept a post-close offer? I've had a couple of those and when I re-listed, I gave them the number.

 

[Steve Smith]



I don't use auto-reject minimums personally, as that would deprive me of the joy of coutering lowballs with a price higher that the BIN.

lol. I thought I was the only one who does that.

 

[capnwes]

How do you accept a post-close offer? I've had a couple of those and when I re-listed, I gave them the number.

I negotiate the amount first, then set up the listing as a 3 day BIN fixed price listing. If they don't go for it in the 3 days, it get's relisted on Thursday at the original amount, deal is off.

 

[JackFlash]

Help me save my Kiton! I've saved a lot of ties by just hanging them (a few for many, many months). The crease here is quite hard. Hang? Try to use *gasp* and iron? TieCrafters?

 

[SpooPoker]

...

Thanks a million - I thought I'd seen you post something like this before, but this is textbook.  I'm giving it a shot - I called and the lady didn't want to come right out and say "yeah this is really obvious" but it was clear she was being careful how she worded things and saw what I was talking about, so I went ahead and got her to write a note and give me the call reference number.  We'll see what happens.

The 4th business day threw me off - Case was opened December 14, and I was given until December 18 to respond.  That means I call on the morning of the 19th, which is also the earliest he could escalate it?  I'm guessing part of the strategy is to make it so that *I* am the one who escalates the case to support, not him.  When I call on the 19th, I can expect them to basically take down what I say and look at it, and then say "we'll get you a decision within 48 hours" right - or do they tell you anything on the phone too?

I wouldn't even bother if I didn't think he had clearly stated his buyers remorse.  Thanks for the tips. 

Good on ya.

You may even want to call back again and speak with someone else and have another opinion noted if they agree with your side as well.

The point of this is to have the deciding agent (the one who makes the final decision on the 4th day) see so much overwhelming evidence in your favor that they close it towards you.

On the 4th day, when you call, the agent you speak to that morning will have the ability to close it out right there on the phone. So be polite, charming, and let the notes left for the other agents be your jury.