Large Scale Central

Done with selling on ebay

General Discussion
#1

This really isn’t a rant but if you sell part time on ebay you might want to check out the new terms.

I usually sell an item or two a month. i logged on this morning to list a few items and see ebay has changed their selling policy again. Now to sell you have to have a linked bank account/credit card that ebay can charge if the buyer doesn’t get what they want it’s damaged or the item ‘doesn’t arrive’.

I was ok with the fees ebay charged cause I wasn’t looking to get rich. But this to me is a bit crazy. If the buyer complains about the item ebay will reimburse them then charge you, the seller. So now the buyer can get your item and their money back. Will most people be dishonest? No. Will I give ebay my bank account or credit card number to pay buyers at their descretion? No.

Oh, and for those of you who are thinking to use a card or account with no money in it, ebay has stated they will turn you over to collections for non payment.

This is all in the name of ‘buyer protection’. I can understand to a degree but what about seller protection?
Thanks, but no thanks.

Terry

#2

Just wondering if this is everywhere else except the EEC countries, as they have strict rules (particularly the UK) about selling goods.
Interesting though.

#3

I’ve had a “linked” account since day 1. I guess it wasn’t required, but it gives you as a seller the “verified” designation.
The linked account is only used for eBay. When I sell an item, I leave the funds in the account for 30 days. After 30 days, the buyer can no longer contest the sale.
As for seller protection, there pretty much is none. eBay will almost always rule in favor of the buyer, no matter how full of crap they are.

But, even with the eBay and PayPal fees, it is still a huge market for your goods. Consignment shops charge 50-60%. eBay is still much cheaper with a much larger audience :wink:
Ralph

#4

My wife has a eBay store and yes there are some people who try to “pull one” on you from time to time. They don’t always win - you have to keep good records etc. But as Ralph said, for the fee, it is much better than a consignment shop and the amount of traffic and exposure is sure a heck of a lot bigger.

#5

ebay is the only market for “G” scale trains in my book. I have sold a little on the forum (and bought as much!) but the market is indeed very small. Sure there is a risk, but I’ve been stiffed by club members too (R/C, not trains). I have to accept the chance I’ll lose if I want to sell my stuff.

#6

As both a buyer and a seller, I can state, from my experience, that it is not the buyer to worry about but the seller himself. As a buyer/seller with many thousands of transactions, both as a buyer and seller, I am most wary of any seller I have not had many previous dealings with. I have been ripped off several times by unscrupulous sellers who set up a site simply to rip off customers. They sell numerous small items such as baseball cards ($0.99c a pack) to establish feedback and then hit the bigtime by offering an item not normally in their ‘store’, such as train items.

Prior privacy legislation, a buyer could fully research a dealer to establish his bona fide credentials. Of cause there may be the occasional buyer who either denies receipt of item or does the two shoe shuffle and switches an identical non-working item for the item just received and claims item not as described. In general I have found all my buyers to be honest and most return for multiple purchases. If a buyer looks suspicious to me by the tone of his questions, etc., then I ban him from bidding to cover myself. The buying public are honest, but alas many thousands of transactions are undone by just one crook who seeks to make money out of a deal by using eBay’s protection rules.

The rules as Terry has stated, have been inforce downunder for years. EBay uses Australia to gauge any new regulations prior imposing them on their home turf, the U.S. eBay site. We are unable to impose a reserve start bid price on items so must put a minimum start bid price which actually discourages potential buyers as they prefer to start at a low bid, say $0.99c and work up from there. Enjoy your U.S. eBay site while you can as their are many more rules to come.

#7

Hi Terry:

The problem is there has been excessive fraud on the part of sellers.

I bought an oil lamp, photographed by the seller, such that the non existant missing burner was hidden from view and the glass shade was cracked on the opposite side from which the photograph was taken.

The seller’s explanation is " this was my Grandfather’s or Grandmother’s lamp and was always a prized possession of our family ". Ya, right.

I have been victimised through many other such similar frauds such that I no longer buy on ebay except to shop for a few old Delton plastic coaches.

The sellers have brought these regulations onto themselves. I still am amazed as to how people have absolutely no self respect or conscience to steal from buyers in this manner.

Norman

#8

The sellers haven’t brought these regulations on themselves. There is just as much buyer fraud as seller fraud. The reason ebay favors the buyer is because if no one buys anything they don’t make money.

Terry

#9

Well, Norman, while I sympathize with you, I think your story of the lamp underlines a few basic old rules about buying and selling.

I’m sure you’ve heard them before.

Caveat emptor. Know what you’re getting. In the case of the lamp, know your stuff well enough to look at the item from all angles! If the seller won’t give you a satisfactory view then back off!

Remember there are more sellers than buyers - as buyer you’re often in a better bargaining position than the seller, but he doesn’t want you to suspect this!

Finally, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.

Not much comfort in these words, I know, especially after you’ve been burned, but hold these thoughts for next time.

Oh, and “There are plenty of fish in the ocean.” You can always find another deal somewhere else. Maybe a better one…

My favourite is the tenth Commandment: about not coveting thy neighbours stuff. The whole consumer society is based on breaking that one! If you can avoid the temptation to covet some seller’s goods, (think Wall Mart & others here) you won’t get burned, will you? :confused:

#10

Yup their newest latest policy stinks, but really they are the only decent game in town. It takes awhile sometimes to sell, and get a fair price out of your item, but in the end it’s worth the wait and risk I guess. I have been wronged since 2004 twice once as a seller and once as a buyer, both times by “Evil Bay” and PreyPal too. My using the bay is out of necessity, and not just a hobby to buy and sell. I have had no luck with train forum classifieds up to now. “Whoops” I take that back on my last sale, the day I sold it to a guy who turned out to be in Hawaii, I did get a buyer from another train site, but I could have made more money by swaying or pushing the bay buyer off, but I did the honorable thing and went through with the sale to him even though losing an additional 12%, but I did keep the other guy till I was sure the 1st sale went through, keeping the second buyer informed as to what was going on and would have sold to him had the 1st one went South! So you have to take anything nowadays with a grain of salt and “hope for the best but expect the worse” “Buyer Beware” is right!! Regal