Large Scale Central

eBay seller ratings inflation

General Discussion
#1

Sorry for the long post, but I thought my experience with eBay might be helpful to anyone actively purchasing items through the site.

I just completed a transaction on eBay in which my purchase was never delivered and I needed eBay to seek a refund. I got my money back, but found out some interesting facts about how eBay works.

I won an auction for an Accucraft 2-8-0 Mogul for $1,400 plus $50 shipping. I paid for it using PayPal immediately. The seller emailed me that the product would ship in about four days. She shipped it seven days later to the wrong address. She emailed that it would take another week to get the product back and reship it.

To the seller’s credit, she refunded $150 due to the hassle.

A week later I emailed her asking for the tracking number. She replied that it was shipped and she would provide it ASAP. Several days later I asked for it again and she replied that she would provide it ASAP. No tracking number was ever provided.

I had to open a case with eBay and wait another three business days for the seller to respond. No response. At the end of three days eBay sent an auto-email asking if the case was resolved. I responded no and asked for a refund. eBay rejected my request because their records showed that the item was delivered. That was the original delivery to the wrong address! I called eBay and finally talked with a real person. Fortunately, I had emails whereby the seller admitted shipping to the wrong address. eBay finally refunded my money.

Now for the interesting part. I tried to leave feedback on the seller’s performance. I gave her a negative review. eBay would not let me post it because in their opinion, the case was resolved. So even though the seller lied about reshipping the item and did not respond to the formal eBay request and never voluntarily offered to refund my money, I cannot give her a poor review. Wow! Buyer beware! It is virtually impossible for a seller to have a negative review on eBay!

Always make your purchases through PayPal to give you an added level of protection.

#2

That is why I usually buy only cheap stuff on eBay: Glues, paint, LED’s etc. It ain’t worth the hassle to try to get $5.00 back.

#3

You are lucky Joe. Here if we ring you get someone overseas and have trouble understanding them

As you say buyer beware

Glad it was all resolved for you

#4

Joe,

I have been fortunate enough to never have any buying issues with eBay, however that said I stopped buying from them five or six years ago when I learned that eBay OWNS Paypal. From my perspective that is kinda like the fox guarding the hen house. Not to mention that after having changed the financial tied to the Paypal account they now require sufficient HARD COPY information for identity theft, I don’t need either.

As for the issue of not being allowed to post a negative rating for a seller, consider who is paying eBay fees? Even though in reality the buyer pays it in the cost of the item. Compound that with the reality that eBay MAKES PROFIT on shipping by including it in their charged fees. That is federally illegal, but most individual folks don’t have the where with all to take that to court, so it continues.

If I can’t find it at a legitimate dealer, from a fellow forum member (here and other sites), or some other face to face, I don’t need it. I would rather pay the additional expense of going to a legitimate dealer then put up with the hassle of less than reputable sellers on eBay that there is no means to properly address.

This is my opinion, but I am finding more and more folks that feel the same way and are joining me in avoiding eBay.

Bob C.

#5

Joe, I believe you are in the minority of those who have had a bad experience on Ebay. In the past year alone, I’ve purchased quite a bit of items from sellers through Ebay (only those with excellent ratings) and have never had a problem. I buy/bid mostly on G-scale rolling stock. Of course I’ve never bought anything set sale or bid on anything over $150.00. The only frustration I’ve ever felt is when I lose a bid on an item! A couple of people here call them “Evilbay” and I don’t know why - I guess they’ve had a bad experience or two. I usually communicate with the seller beforehand; usually with questions about the condition of the item, because I’m picky. I’ve never received anything that I haven’t expected, and have always received the item promptly, even from the Right Coast. I never deal with sellers overseas.

#6

I quit E-Bay cold turkey a few years back when several things seem to happen in a short time period.

As Bob pointed out they bought up Pay Pal, and tried to make any private payment system “ill-legal” They also changed the feed back system so it was meaningless to a buyer. Some where about then private sellers started to all but disappear and almost everything became “stores”.

Prior to all those, and more, happenings I sold a lot a stuff on E-bay some of the collections hit 15-20 K by the time all was said and done. I also bought a lot of things for my own use or to fix and sell. Good fun and you could almost trust most of the people.

But after E-bay tried to ban/deny contact between buyer and seller after close then changed it to highly discourage after the outcry, I like I said, just quit cold turkey.

I’m sure lots of people have what they consider great experiences on E-bay.

But maybe it is just the frog and boiling water thing(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-foot-in-mouth.gif)

Rick

#7

To chime in: As long as your PayPal account is linked only to a credit card, no worries. Over the years I’ve had items not shipped, “lost” in transit, or wildly different than described. If eBay/PayPal isn’t being helpful, a quick call to American Express has sorted each one out in three or four minutes. I don’t trust PayPal to do the right thing, but I don’t have to. The credit card company will quickly set things right.

I’m not sure if AmEx is getting the money back from PayPal, or eating the charges, but it makes little difference as far as my personal ability to buy things and get issues resolved. This gives me a little more confidence in buying more-expensive items from eBay–though I don’t think I’ve paid more that $700 for a single item (an Aster/LGB Frank S. that turned out to be a great deal)

If you’ve linked PayPal to your bank account, you’re completely on your own.

#8

Rick Marty said:

But after E-bay tried to ban/deny contact between buyer and seller after close then changed it to highly discourage after the outcry, I like I said, just quit cold turkey.

Huh. I just bought a train car last week from a lady on Ebay and continued to talk to her via the Ebay message thing for three days after the sale. Also, when I didn’t provide any feedback regarding the sellers after the sale, Ebay sent me an e-mail encouraging me to give feedback on the seller. I had no problem with that. It made me realize that Ebay supports their sellers. They should - they keep about 10% of the sale.

Edit: I also use the default Paypal function, never had a problem, and no, I don’t work for Ebay! (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-smile.gif)

#9

Michael Kirrene said:

Rick Marty said:

But after E-bay tried to ban/deny contact between buyer and seller after close then changed it to highly discourage after the outcry, I like I said, just quit cold turkey.

Huh. I just bought a train car last week from a lady on Ebay and continued to talk to her via the Ebay message thing for three days after the sale. Also, when I didn’t provide any feedback regarding the sellers after the sale, Ebay sent me an e-mail encouraging me to give feedback on the seller. I had no problem with that. It made me realize that Ebay supports their sellers. They should - they keep about 10% of the sale.

Edit: I also use the default Paypal function, never had a problem, and no, I don’t work for Ebay! (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-smile.gif)

Just sayin, 6-7 years ago it wasn’t like you describe.

#10

I use ebay a lot, always check the ratings and the comments, and see how many items they have sold.

I always use paypal, they are pretty responsive, only had to force a refund once.

But I ALWAYS ask the seller at least 2 questions. By how long they take to respond, and how they respond you can tell a lot.

Clearly no response, no sale. Slow response needs an explanation. Snippy or curt? I take my money elsewhere.

A few simple things can be a good filter.

Greg

#11

I can say I have only ever had one raw dealing with Ebay and that was like 20 years ago. I buy a fair amount and have had no issue other than the one dealing. I have bought or sold over a thousand items. One bad sale in a thousand, I don;t think that is so bad.

But it does suck when it happens and I am glad you got your money back.

#12

Yeah that inability to leave negative feedback is something. I bought a big ship model for a low price with free shipping, then had the seller backpedal and not ship it bellyaching that he was going to loose money on the sale. The asshat kept grousing that they didn’t know that they had indicated free shipping, which isn’t true, it’s that he put in low starting bid hoping to get a bid war started, except I was the only bidder. So I don’t get my boat, I have to open a case, then badger him and eBay to refund the item, then when I wanted to lower the boom on him I couldn’t. I was however able to leave a NEUTRAL rating with a written blasting, so maybe that’s an option.

#13

Joe,

Who was the seller?

Let us all know so we, possibly, don’t get taken.

Adam

#14

I asked one seller on Ebay to lower the price a little on a small $26.00 part because I thought it was too pricey. I didn’t really expect him to lower the price, but I asked him anyway to see what he’d say. He replied that he had to pay Ebay part of the proceeds in addition to shipping, and that he would lose money on the deal if he dropped the price (which was crap). I ended up paying the guy what he wanted because I really needed the part at the time.

The thing that kills me are the guys who offer an item on Ebay for sale or bid at a very attractive price, then when you open up the page and look at the shipping cost, all of a sudden it isn’t attractive anymore. It’s like they set a reasonable or low asking price for the item to suck you in, then raise the shipping charge to make up for it! Almost like the sales tactic of “low-balling” to get you to buy something. “Oh, by the way, that’ll be 19 bucks for shipping”. Forget that! It doesn’t cost that much to ship a 4 lb. train car Economy USPS Ground! I know from past experience approximately what the hell the postage is suppose to be. Be reasonable! There’s a car up for bid right now where the guy only wants $7.52 for Economy shipping a USAT reefer with metal wheels. The USAT car that was shipped to me last week was only $6.75 for shipping. That’s the way you get a sale and a reputation; not by ripping people off. Some people are gullible, but not me. Who are they trying to kid?

#15

Greg Elmassian said:

But I ALWAYS ask the seller at least 2 questions. By how long they take to respond, and how they respond you can tell a lot. Clearly no response, no sale. Slow response needs an explanation. Snippy or curt? I take my money elsewhere.

Exactly.

#16

This was my first bad experience with an eBay seller and the dispute resolution system. I’ve made around two dozen purchases over the past several years and all have gone smoothly. Greg has some great suggestions and I think that you can get a feel for the seller by seeing what else they have for sale. If they have quite a few items then they have at least a part-time business going and they are probably more concerned about maintaining their reputation. In this case, the seller had only sold a couple of items before this. I should have been suspicious. At least I got my money back. I’ll continue to purchase since you really can save quite a bit if you know the market and don’t get caught up in the bidding frenzy. I always decide up front the maximum I am willing to pay and I NEVER exceed it. And Michael is right, watch out for those shipping costs.

If I see the same seller or the same listing again I will be sure to warn you!

#17

Michael -

With all due respect, I don’t think theseller “low-balled” you on the shipping charges. I just checked the USPS website for the shipping charges for a 4 pound, 0 ounce large package (any one dimension longer than 12 inches), and the charge is about eighteen dollars no matter how you ship it from my location - western New York - to San Francisco area where you are.

I buy stuff occasionally on eBay and I occasionally sell stuff there. The first thing I do when trying to set a reasonable price is check the USPS website. I enter my zip code and I use 94123 for the destination which would be pretty close to the farthest distance (actually its Cow Hollow in San Francisco where I used to live back in the day when normal people could afford to live in San Francisco). If I knew a zip code from way up in Maine and a zip code from the bottom of California, I’d bet the cost would be even more. The worst news is that, generally speaking, UPS and FedEx would cost MORE than any USPS rate.

I agree with Greg’s suggestions too. I recently had a big old Heathkit unit on eBay that didn’t sell. Not surprised, it weighs 28 pounds. The eBay shipping calculator gives the buyer a good estimate of shipping price. I wouldn’t want to ship it to my own zip cose.

Jack

#18

I once signed up for the paypal credit card and found that you can not use paypal $$ to pay the bill, so I canceled it right away. This made no sense to me at all as I was hoping to keep it simple and it was not.

#19

Joe

I had a similar situation of a tracking number posted but never shipped. Initially I could not leave feedback because issue was resolved by refund… After several days after the issue was resolved, I checked my purchase history. The item showed up there and allowed feedback. I left negative feedback successfully.

If that does not work try calling EBAY (or better yet have EBAY call you). They normally can find a way to help you out as feedback is a key aspect of the service.

Hope that helps

Stan

#20

I have over 1k transactions, combined buying and selling and have only had one bad experience. The guy claimed the tank car arrived damaged, which was possible, it was a custom job, very heavy. He wanted to give him a refund, keep the item, and file a claim to also get money for the damage. I reported him, and he has not been heard of since. They were on my side completely as this guy was obviously committing fraud.