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

[JackFlash]

What an a$$ hole

 

[ace13x]

Guy says jacket is wrong color and wants a $50 refund on an item. I apologize and ask him to send me a pic, I say it's the only peak lapel jacket I have and if it's the wrong one I will send the correct one out right away. He sends me this pic, saying it's black not blue. Seriously, the guy is a ******* eye doctor, and he takes a black and white pic of a ******* jacket to try to squeeze $50 out of me. what a complete *************. One of my auction pics (black mannequin on the right):
View attachment 1143589

His pic:
View attachment 1143590
Username:
View attachment 1143592

Auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=323719336362

Eff him take it back. No suit for you, his ass.

 

[txwoodworker]

I offered to take it back first thing, before even seeing his bullshit pic, but he doesn't want the hassle of returning it, just wants a discount.

 

[drlivingston]

I offered to take it back first thing, before even seeing his bullshit pic, but he doesn't want the hassle of returning it, just wants a discount.

I would call eBay, send them the pics, and show where he is trying to force a partial refund. Show where you were willing to accept a return. Gain assurance that you will be protected from neg/ neutral feedback and ask them for a case number that you can refer to if needed. Then, tell the asswipe to return it or keep it, no partial refund will be given. I had to do this once last year. The guy ended up keeping the item.

 

[txwoodworker]

Hm, will do. Better to be proactive.

 

[ace13x]

I would call eBay, send them the pics, and show where he is trying to force a partial refund. Show where you were willing to accept a return. Gain assurance that you will be protected from neg/ neutral feedback and ask them for a case number that you can refer to if needed. Then, tell the asswipe to return it or keep it, no partial refund will be given. I had to do this once last year. The guy ended up keeping the item.

This exactly. I bet if you pushed the return, he might be goaded into feedback extortion.

 

[kbadgley84]

I had Two people try that **** a couple months ago. I told them to send the item back if they didn’t like it. The each had nice large partial refund requests too. Never heard back from either of them

 

[Sartoriamo]

Yep, I concur. I think there are some buyers that just "try it on". I have had a number of people complain about an item and threaten to return it, either for fit, or color or any number of reasons. Or make up some story about tailoring (oh, I see, you want ME to pay for YOUR tailoring on a $4500 suit you bought for $249?). But the interesting thing is that if I push back politely but hard, they quite often just disappear. This is why it's suspicious. If there was really a problem, there would STILL be a problem. Taking a position that you will accept a full return, but not offer a partial refund often helps tease out their intent.

That said, if someone is clearly not going away, for me it's pure economics: is it worth the money for me NOT to have to deal with it again? In many cases, I'm happy to be "played" because I would have taken less for the item than they offered. I just work the conversation so they state in an eBay message the amount for which their concern will go away, or that they are returning for non-SNAD reasons or whatever. That keeps me covered with the 'Bay. And then, if the amount is worth the relief of not having to re-list, I grin and quickly refund it. Done. Next, please. They think they won, but it was I who made margin, checkmated a possible neg, and got it out of my life. Path of least resistance.

Now it may be that I have a very low threshold for hassle compared to some of you, but by the time I add up costs of postage, time taken to unpack, check, repack and re-list, and the hassle factor of having to even think about it, versus the margin on the item, the partial refund usually wins, even if clearly bogus. As long as I still made good margin, I'm fine. Once a sale is made, I like to keep that sale made unless the extortion represents a clear loss. But if I'm well ahead, great. I doubt it's ever gone over a few hundred bucks a year total in "payoffs". Small price to pay for not having to think about that kind of crap, and now they are blocked. I don't need to be the karmic vigilante for every douchebag buyer (though I take my turn every so often). They're gonna have it coming anyway . . .

 

[capnwes]

I offered to take it back first thing, before even seeing his bullshit pic, but he doesn't want the hassle of returning it, just wants a discount.

I’d offer to send him a free matching accessory, then send him a solid black tie.

 

[wumpyfish]

Breaking news. Pernicious enabler helps with banners over popular searches...

 

[ace13x]

Yep, I concur. I think there are some buyers that just "try it on". I have had a number of people complain about an item and threaten to return it, either for fit, or color or any number of reasons. Or make up some story about tailoring (oh, I see, you want ME to pay for YOUR tailoring on a $4500 suit you bought for $249?). But the interesting thing is that if I push back politely but hard, they quite often just disappear. This is why it's suspicious. If there was really a problem, there would STILL be a problem. Taking a position that you will accept a full return, but not offer a partial refund often helps tease out their intent.

That said, if someone is clearly not going away, for me it's pure economics: is it worth the money for me NOT to have to deal with it again? In many cases, I'm happy to be "played" because I would have taken less for the item than they offered. I just work the conversation so they state in an eBay message the amount for which their concern will go away, or that they are returning for non-SNAD reasons or whatever. That keeps me covered with the 'Bay. And then, if the amount is worth the relief of not having to re-list, I grin and quickly refund it. Done. Next, please. They think they won, but it was I who made margin, checkmated a possible neg, and got it out of my life. Path of least resistance.

Now it may be that I have a very low threshold for hassle compared to some of you, but by the time I add up costs of postage, time taken to unpack, check, repack and re-list, and the hassle factor of having to even think about it, versus the margin on the item, the partial refund usually wins, even if clearly bogus. As long as I still made good margin, I'm fine. Once a sale is made, I like to keep that sale made unless the extortion represents a clear loss. But if I'm well ahead, great. I doubt it's ever gone over a few hundred bucks a year total in "payoffs". Small price to pay for not having to think about that kind of crap, and now they are blocked. I don't need to be the karmic vigilante for every douchebag buyer (though I take my turn every so often). They're gonna have it coming anyway . . .

That’s admirable, and I commend you for your pragmatism.

But I don’t care what it would cost me as long as the turd doesn’t get what he wants.

I’m petty like that.

 

[txwoodworker]

I used to not give in to buyer's demands, but now I just usually do it, block and move on. Would have done it with this one if he 1. asked for something less than 50% of the purchase price, 2. If it was Navy blue, instead of REALLY FREAKING BLUE, then 3. that bullshit black pic he sent back really put me over the edge.

 

[noob in 89]

Yo...how do I initiate a return without having it count against a seller’s ratio?

I bought something listed as a men’s shirt that turned out to be women’s — one of those confusing “Ralph Lauren” branded shirts. (The chest and length measurements checked out; had the shoulders been listed, I would have known better).

Ad said returns accepted for any reason. I’d like to get my $$$ back minus shipping, but don’t want to ding the guy for an honest mistake.

 

[Reosymes]

A return for Item Not As Described is no longer a defect. Though, if your return percentage is unusually high over a period of time, ebay will raise your seller fees.

 

[carreragt7]

What is the consensus on chrome hangers? I know for nicer stuff like suits that it’s ideal to use an actually wooden suit hanger. But for jackets, tees, etc. is this style of metal hanger alright?

I just bought 200 of this exact brand/style from local store for $30 (.06/ea) and they had another 4-5 boxes so trying to decide if they’re worth grabbing to use in place of the crappy plastic ones that cost around 6-10c each and break in cold weather.