rjh_54

I'm getting seriously tired of eBay. Both as a buyer and seller.

In November I purchased a CD that was listed as "Brand New". When it arrived I saw that there was no white security tape on it, but I figured it might've just been to replace a damaged case. I opened it up and the CD was clearly used and as I looked at the booklet there were even indications of use. I contacted the seller who agreed to the return. I got the slip and sent it back, only for the seller to open a case against me a few days later. An hour after the case was opened, it was closed because eBay had already reviewed it and decided that I wouldn't be getting my money back, despite my item being in transit. I tried contacting the seller a few times (who has good feedback), and of course I got no response after the second try. I was furious but I took it as a $12 lesson learned to never buy an item on there that is just the stock photo (that was my way of thinking before this incident but I decided to give it a chance and this is what happened). I went to leave negative feedback, and of course I get a message from eBay notifying me that my feedback was removed because I lost my case.

More recently but equally as frustrating, a buyer made an offer on a complete series DVD set I was selling last week. I accepted the offer and after two days he hadn't paid, despite sending him an invoice and a payment reminder. Of course this automatically opened a case against him, but I had to wait a few days before the item could be relisted. Similar issue happened this week with another item that I sold.

It's frustrating that I can't leave negative feedback and they feed us with the "nonpayment will be recorded on the buyer's account" crap.

Sonic

Why did the seller opened a case against you? You must have done something to warrant that type of escalation.

Spare yourself the headache of sleepless nights waiting for non-paying buyers to pay you and set all your listings to "Require immediate payment with Buy It Now".

rjh_54

The item didn't arrive back to them on the "return by" date, even though it was sent back well before that date. The tracking number wasn't showing updates so I asked him what I can do and what steps I could take but of course got no response.


I was certain I had it set to that, but I think it's different since offers were made on both of these items and I accepted.

Sonic

Wow that sucks. Even sucks more when it's out of your hands and it's up to USPS to determine when they make the delivery, in which it's never fully guaranteed. Most of my items use USPS instead of First Class because with First Class majority of the cases it's late delivery. Haven't had a mishap yet on Ebay. *crosses fingers*

I see. I've never sold an item using Best Offer so I imagine it will give the buyer some time to pay when you accept their offer? Would be great if ebay asked the buyer for immediate pay once you accept their offer.

rjh_54

Yep, the return label I was sent was for First Class, so I thought if anything it would get there sooner. Guess I was wrong.

Yes, that's exactly what happens. Once the offer is accepted you're forced to wait for payment. Once I accept an offer I always send an invoice with a message thanking them and saying something to the effect of "Please pay promptly so I can ship the item to you quicker and to avoid order cancellation". It sucks. Buyers should be forced to put in all of their payment credentials when making an offer and the transaction should automatically go through if it is accepted.

Troy Stiffler

It's all a broken system.

Risk tolerance must be considered before doing anything on Ebay. Used products are inherently complicated. If you can't, or don't want to, risk the loss, don't buy or sell anything on Ebay. I've bought and sold before, where I know the customer just ripped me off. The most common thing is for a customer to buy an item and switch it out with their own broken item, and then do a return. Or buy an item (say, a circular saw), use it for a job, and then return it claiming its broken. People rip off retail stores like that frequently.

There's nothing you can do. And I predict that reviews (in general) will eventually be pushed wayside as fewer and fewer people actually care.

Your case is a perfect reason why a lean and efficient thrift store could be the next big trend in trading. If you just bought a new blender and your old one still works ... just go take it to a pawn shop, or donate it to Goodwill. That's my opinion. The whole Ebay/Craigslist/etc. thing is unnecessary.

Amazon knows this, and now blocks most sellers from selling media (along with many common products from common brands). Too many bootlegs, damaged products, etc. It's just not a good system for private sellers to sell.

thetao

So you're out both the CD and your cash?? I'd be mad as hell, and at the very least would be filing a claim with my credit card company. Did the tracking eventually show the CD as delivered? Even if not, I assume you still have a receipt of some kind showing that it was mailed with tracking? I've had a few EBay transactions go heavily awry but never went away empty-handed and hope you'll continue to push.

Viper187

I hate all these power sellers that are too big for their own damn good. There's literally only been one seller offering this out of print DVD I'm looking for the past month (1995 remake of Piranha). The asshole has had the same garbage listing running for a month now, and refuses to offer anything but economy shipping. I sent them a message saying I'd buy it right now if they relist with real shipping options. I don't do fucking "Economy" bullshit. Nope. Stupid motherfuckers claim they can't do that. CAN"T? SERIOUSLY? Won't let me pay for better shipping, so the $43 listing is still there. Nobody buying it. Business 101, people. If you can make a sale by offering a better shipping option, which the customer pays for, what's the fucking problem?!?!?! I miss half.com already.

I also got fucked out of $300 on a Paypal "Goods and services" transaction recently in spite of providing the tracking number proving the motherfucker received the item back.

rjh_54

Ok, here's a new one!

Ordered a new Blu-Ray box set a few days ago and received it today. It's clearly a bootleg. The artwork is very grainy and there is even a glaring typo on the rear cover of the inside of the package. The bootlegger even went as far as replicating an insert booklet (again, grainy and looks like it was printed themselves). The Blu-Ray discs even appear to be BD-Rs, as you can physically see the remaining blank space when looking at the discs that don't hold much content (much like you would on a CD-R or DVD +/- R that isn't filled). I've seen the set in stores and the one I received in the mail looks off enough that this just might pass as authentic for people who don't know better or just don't care.

What's the best way to go about dealing with this? I'm certain the seller won't admit to it, and I guess I can't technically prove it's a bootleg.

Obi-Wanma

In these kinds of situations, the buyer typically holds all the power, despite your previous interaction, which seems to be a loophole that he was able to get out on because USPS delayed the item. So depends how you want to play it. If you want to play polite and contact the seller, he might not flat out admit to it, but he might claim ignorance and blame his sources where he acquires DVD's from or something like that. Chances are that he knows what he's selling though. He may offer you a refund and return shipping in hopes of you not giving him negative feedback.

Of course, you've already had a negative experience with this kind of return, so you may want to just open a case with Ebay straight away. You've cited enough things in this post that I'm sure they will side with you, and refund the purchase. You may not even need to send it back.

rjh_54

How do I do that? I went to their online CS page and it was basically a long-winded way of saying I had to open a return request first.

movieguru

I get a some customers that ask if I will do expeditied shipping if they pay for the cost of it. i may be selling a $30-$100 item and they are willing to pay an extra $50-$60 for expedited 1 day shipping. I will usually refuse tihs for several reasons. One is i would have to likely make an extra trip to the post office just for this item. If the item still gets there late they can file a claim for the extra cost they paid or if they file a not as described and want to return it, I would have to refund them not only the price of the item but the cost of the expedited shippig. Not worth my trouble for the amount I would make or the risk from even a $100 sale. The customers that usually request this kind of stuff are often primadonnas and a hassle to deal with. i would rather wait an extra feww days for a customer that will buy the item with the terms already in my listing.

movieguru

Technically you are only out one ot the two. You would never had have both of them at the same time. You would either have the money or the cd. He would not have been entitled to have both at the same time.

movieguru

If the tracking number is updated and shows it was delivered back to him, you can file an appeal of the case. Just because it is closed doesn't mean it's over. If you want to take the time you can call Ebay and have an appeal filed. You can also go to Paypal and file a claim there if your appeal doesn't work. If that doesn't work and you paid by credit card, you could go to them next.

I've had a customer try this on me because he was an idiot and didn't read the description. The item was exactly as describe. It was a Region 2 which won't work in the U.S. with a regin free player as stated in my listed. He lied during every appeal saying that my listing did not state it was region 2. This was easy to prove and re lost every step of the way. In your case, just pull up the tracking number to show that it was delivered back to him and you should win the appeal.

Viper187

An extra trip to the post office? Oh, poor baby. It's a goddamn DVD. All I want is for the asshole to ship it Priority instead of fucking media mail.

Why So Blu?

This happened to me years ago and I had one of my librarian friends write me up a letter stating that the items were bootleg (since the library has a DVD collection) due to the markings, artwork, disc, etc., and PayPal/Ebay sided with me. I ended up mailing the bootlegs back and was credited my money back.


EDIT - All of this was after I filed a claim with the buyer and claiming that the items were legit -- PayPal/Ebay almost sided with him until they asked me for proof. That's why I had to get resourceful. It was over $100, too.

TheBang

What are you concerned about with Economy shipping? The transit time? In the span of the month you've been watching the listing and bitching about it, you would have received the movie already if you'd just ordered it when you first saw it.

Are you concerned about not receiving it? In my experience, economy shipped packages have no difference in lost package frequency. And even if it is lost, or damaged, you're covered by eBay's Money Back Guarantee.

TheBang

There's two ways to approach this. First of all, you received a counterfeit item, which is against this eBay policy:

https://pages.ebay.com/help/policies...unterfeit.html

The second thing is, that you received material on recordable media, which is also against eBay policy:

https://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/recordable.html

I would send a message to the seller, and cite both policies, and tell him that you want a full refund immediately or else you will open a case with eBay and report him for the selling violations. In my experience with a couple times that I've received counterfeit discs, at that point when I send the message, the seller usually just rolls over and sends a full refund. Because their margin on the bootlegs they DO successfully sell covers their loss of $5 worth of disc and printed material that they sent you, and they'd rather not risk getting an eBay report.

If, however, he doesn't roll over, then I'd escalate it to a case with eBay. You would start a Return, and then choose Item not as Described, and "Counterfeit" as the reasons why. However, when opening the return, make sure to also highlight that it is on recordable media. It may be difficult to prove it's counterfeit, but the recordable media violation is indisputable.

You should not be paying any return shipping on this (if for some reason the seller wants it back). A return label should be provided at not cost to you.

rjh_54

Thank you so much. I sent him a polite but firm message noting the inconsistencies between this and an authentic set and citing eBay's policies. As far as the recordable media thing goes, the only thing I really have to go off of that is the fact that you can physically see the unused space on some of the discs, so hopefully that has some merit. I told him I hoped to resolve the issue and that I'd hate to have to file a claim with eBay.

Viper187

It's a matter of principle. I despise slow shit shipping and refuse to pay for it. It's the 21st century. Everything should get here in less than a week, and I won't settle for any garbage shipping methods.

TheBang

Good. Let us know how it goes.

There is a way to definitively prove it's recordable media, but you need a BD-ROM drive for your computer to read the media codes. That would tell you definitively that it is BD-R media.

rjh_54

Well, I got a response. The seller is going to contact their "supplier" about the issue. He issued me a refund and said he will keep me updated. No apology and no explanation whatsoever I wonder if he'll try to get me to send the set back to him. For some reason now, when I go to the My eBay page the order is showing as unpaid. I wonder what that's all about.

Viper187

There are actually BD-R releases though. Warner Archive, Sony etc does some. All Through the House was BD-R and I got that from Best Buy. Not Another Teen Movie(?) is BD-R released by Sony.

Why So Blu?

Warner Archive BD's are NOT BD-Rs. FYI

Viper187

Well, some companies are doing it. I haven't bothered to keep track which aside from a couple specific releases.