Ebay auction peeves

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by Mr. Gnome, Jun 14, 2020.

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  1. Andersoncouncil

    Andersoncouncil Forum Resident

    Location:
    upstate NY
    Not really a pet peeve, but something I fail to understand. I only buy on ebay, not a seller. When the "buy it Now" price is only slightly higher than the opening bid price.
    Here's an example: today I bought a CD lot of 5 discs. opening bid was $15, buy it now was $20. If you really want the item, why would you create unwanted anxiety over bidding. I just (gladly) bought the CD lot for $20.

    Also, what is up with international (non US) shipping prices. You see these great deals---as an example a CD I wanted for $3, but the shipping cost was $28.95! It was an item that usually sells for $12, so it seemed like a great deal until you saw that ships from UK shipping price!
     
  2. Andersoncouncil

    Andersoncouncil Forum Resident

    Location:
    upstate NY
    I actually do this (bid early) and maybe it's because I'm not real computer savvy. I do this so I have a list in my ebay summary of items i'm bidding on. Sometimes it's hard to find the item again later if you don't place that initial bid. Although I'm probably missing some other way of doing it.
     
  3. R. Totale

    R. Totale The Voice of Reason

    Postage to and from overseas is expensive. You can use the filters on the left to show items shipped from the US (or North America) only.

    Put the item on your watch list. eBay will email you when it's almost up.
     
  4. Manalishi

    Manalishi With the 2-pronged crown

    Location:
    New Hampshire
    That cuts both ways. If your last second bid is not enough to top the high bid, it is you who will have run out of time to up your bid.

    Most of the time, if I have the high bid, that is all I wish to spend so I couldn't care less if the snipers snipe me.
     
  5. Bingo Bongo

    Bingo Bongo Music gives me Eargasms

    Location:
    Ottawa, Canada
    Agreed, I've lost just as many bids the same way. Tells me they wanted to pay higher than I wanted too.
     
  6. rjh_54

    rjh_54 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Gotta love eBay!

    Won a t-shirt in an auction two weeks ago - a tour shirt from one of my favorite artists that I'd been looking for for a while - and it was supposed to arrive a few days later.

    A week goes by without so much as a shipping notice, I asked the seller if they've shipped and for a tracking number. They replied with only 4 words: "I will ship soon!" I explained that I'd like an exact date for when she would ship the shirt, (since the last estimated delivery date was the following day). She said that she had a busy week and would have to wait until Monday to ship because the UPS and FedEx stores near her close early - which was a HUGE red flag that she was lying because I paid for USPS First Class shipping.

    I told her I don't mind that she had a busy week, I just wish she had communicated that to me, rather than leave me hanging for a week. I also told her I'd like her to ship before Monday if possible (which would mark about two weeks after I won the auction) and that I really don't want to have to report her on eBay and file a claim with PayPal. All she said was "Please don't report me!" I was annoyed, but I wanted the shirt so I told I won't if she actually shipped it.

    She then canceled the order because the item was "lost or damaged", according to the email from eBay that I got. She then proceeded to relist the auction at the exact same starting price. I'm watching it and debating winning the auction again just to see what happens.

    I left her negative feedback and called her out for lying, and she somehow had my feedback removed. :rolleyes:
     
  7. nosticker

    nosticker Forum Guy

    Location:
    Ringwood, NJ
    It's really hard to find anything resembling a deal on eBay anymore, because there are so many eyes on every listing--even the misspelled ones! Sniping is definitely where it's at, as it's happened to me many, many times. I believe that there are bots who will even do that for you.



    Dan
     
  8. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    There has been auctions where I bid early and then I would watch as a bidder or two would bid in $1 increments over and over again. They would take a break, then a day later, would do the same thing until they eventually went higher than my max bid. Fair enough you want to bid $21 to my $20 but why do it a $1 at a time?

    Anyway, after seeing this happen a few times and then learning about how some sellers practice the art of shill bidding I decided I would make one bid in the last few seconds.
     
  9. Francophile50

    Francophile50 The man with the satisfied ear.

    Location:
    Concord,CA
    Over the years I've come to realize that eBay is not necessarily a fair market just a market. I've heard of stories where something increases in value in between the time the shipper receives the money and ships it so they cancel the sale and relist it at the higher price because they can get more money at that point. There is no honor among thieves. If I were to win an auction and then see it for sale for less somewhere else could I just cancel my commitment to pay?

    Another thing that annoys me is after you paid and you're waiting like you were and hear nothing you bug them and say are you shipping the item or has it been shipped? There was a response it will go out today or the first business day. How about some communication so I'm not left in the dark? When I'm bidding on multiple items of a seller I'll first ask them do you combine shipping? Even if they say no I will let them know I'm considering bidding on multiple items of yours could you please combine shipping? If they agree then I will let them know I will request a invoice after all the bidding has concluded so at least they don't think that I'm just forgetting to pay them.
     
  10. Francophile50

    Francophile50 The man with the satisfied ear.

    Location:
    Concord,CA
    People are indecisive and insecure.the reason why people bid in dollar increments is because they want to pay as little as possible.

    If the auction starts off at a dollar they would prefer to pay a dollar or two only. Instead of deciding what the maximum amount of money they would be willing to pay for the item they try to focus on how cheap they can get it.
    This tactic usually winds up in disappointment. Me, I'm like you. I know how much I'm willing to pay but I don't bid early. If the auction starts off for a dollar and someone bids $5 for it, it will show up as a dollar until someone else comes behind them and bids more.

    If it's just me and that person and I think it's worth $10 I'll wait till the last moment and bid and it will go up to $6. If I give that person time they can return and figure maybe I'll pay $7 for it. So they bid $7 and it goes to $8 and I win it because they still don't want to pay more than I do.

    If I give them time and only drives the cost up for me. $6 or $8 matters little to me but if I can get it for less why not?
     
  11. rjh_54

    rjh_54 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    CT, USA
    I've heard of that happening too, and that's really scummy of a seller to do, but I don't think that's the issue in this case, since before I won the auction she had relisted the item twice at the same exact price because of no bidders. This last time when I actually bid on it I was bidding against one person (who had only placed one bid).

    Exactly. There have been times where I've ordered something that wasn't marked as shipped only for it to show up on my doorstep a few days later, so I thought maybe that might've been the case, which is why I waited a little while to reach out. I understand that life happens, especially with everything going on now, but it takes two minutes to send me a quick message saying "Sorry, I've had a busy week, I'll ship on (day)". I shouldn't have had to reach out to her the day before the final estimated delivery date to find all of this out. I wonder what would've happened if I hadn't said anything.

    And according to my order, the seller was supposed to ship USPS First Class, so it doesn't make sense for her to tell me that the UPS and FedEx stores near her close early. Even if that was the case, you don't need the store to be open, just drop the package off!
     
  12. Francophile50

    Francophile50 The man with the satisfied ear.

    Location:
    Concord,CA
    The thing is, communication is key, but I understand how people get, but they're disregard and thinking that we'll wait and won't care is selfish on their behalf.

    I think that what the people do is generate a tracking number for USPS and they figure that buys them sometime. Maybe they haven't packaged the item up or they're lazy or busy or something. Irregardless to keep us in the dark and then try to stretch out something that can easily be taken care of is unfair to us.

    Another situation is they take it to a third party that gives it to the post office like UPS or FedEx. I've been trying to get ahold of one of the people I bought a CD from because supposedly they generated a tracking number and it hasn't been logged into the USPS tracking system. Does that mean the third-party lost it before they gave it to the USPS? Or did USPS not scan it in when they accepted the package?

    Another situation was I paid for some CD colored jewel boxes and I was supposed to receive them and when I checked back I saw it noted package held where it was shipped at post office upon customer request. I thought what the hell is this about I never requested it held there.

    I checked with the seller and they said that eBay miscalculated the postage and USPS wouldn't ship it because it wasn't fully paid for. It was held until the shipper paid the remaining shipping cost. He went in and did but USPS didn't scan it in and note it was on its way. There are a lot of mistakes being made by everyone involved except us. We did our part we won the auction or bought the item and paid for it. Why is it so difficult for everybody else to ship and deliver our package?
     
    Motorcity supernaut likes this.
  13. Francophile50

    Francophile50 The man with the satisfied ear.

    Location:
    Concord,CA
    I just came across this one. An auction with pictures that don't tell you where the CD was made. And in the description it's listed only as used.

    I've seen some auctions where they take amazing pictures of the case but neglected take a picture of the disc.
     
  14. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    Do you make an offer that's reasonable? To me, an offer that's > 40% below the listing price on a buy-it-now item is often bottom-fishing, and if you hear nothing or get shot down with no dialog that's to be expected.

    On an auction item, 40% below what a relevant similar item has sold for at auction would also be bottom fishing.

    No one likes bottom fishers.

    I have listed stuff that I have no idea how to price and I've had people offer me >50% off and I've taken it. But if I know how much something is worth (that is, there are reasonable comps), then > 40% off is typically bottom fishing nonsense and I'm not going to get into a dialog.
     
  15. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    I have dropped things off at the post office and it has taken a WEEK or longer for them to get scanned into the system. The USPS has gotten bad during the coronavirus era. I typically accept the date that the seller creates the label as within a day or two of when it will be shipped. As long as I get that tracking number, I'm patient these days. If you can't be patient, don't buy online.

    That said, if the seller put the wrong postage on the package and it gets held, that IS on them, and if they don't take care of it, leave negative feedback and feel free to refuse/return on their dime.
     
  16. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    If she got the feedback removed, then she knows how to game the system. This is not grandma cleaning out the shed. But, you have to know how to leave feedback. If you call someone a liar in feedback, it can be removed. If you threaten negative feedback in an email, the feedback can also be removed.
     
  17. Francophile50

    Francophile50 The man with the satisfied ear.

    Location:
    Concord,CA
    To me I usually offer 75 to 80% of what they are asking. When I mean a bottom-feeder I'm talking about a few dollars for a CD as opposed to $20, $30, $40
     
  18. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    If you're offering 80% of what they're asking then, yeah, they should at least provide a counteroffer if they don't want it.

    I have encountered listing with a BestOffer option where I've offered 90% of the listing price and had it auto-rejected. In that case, I'll move on because they have pissed me off. (If you aren't even going to consider offers <=10% off, then why are you even providing the best offer button?)
     
    Motorcity supernaut likes this.
  19. Mirrorblade.1

    Mirrorblade.1 Forum Resident

    Shill bidding is worst thing on ebay.. by law sellers who do this can be arrested .
     
  20. rjh_54

    rjh_54 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Sorry, I should've clarified. I didn't call her a liar in the feedback, I just asked her in a message why she lied about the item being "lost or damaged" in the cancellation reasoning when she relisted the item minutes later. I got no response so yeah, I think she knows what she's doing.

    I did bid on and win the relisted shirt. I do really want it, so if she wants to game the system, I can call her bluff. The fact that she canceled the first time may have been the result of me threatening to file a claim. She could've easily (tried to) take the money and run, so I'm wondering what will happen if I wait it out. I know I'm protected, so I don't think I have much to lose.
     
  21. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    I assume you refunded you your money through PayPal for the first order? In that case, she also gets dinged for the PayPal fee, which they don't refund to her.

    So there's a cost associated with her nonsense.
     
  22. Francophile50

    Francophile50 The man with the satisfied ear.

    Location:
    Concord,CA
    I'm sure it probably happens but how often? I wonder.
     
  23. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    I once had an offer declined by a seller, who then responded and said that he would only discount the item by $2 max. For $2 I wouldn't even bother making an offer, I'd just pay full price. lol

    When I list with best offer, I also use the auto-reject feature as its handy but I agree, you need to be reasonable with best offers, a few dollars is sort of pointless as most people will pay $20 if they are willing to pay $18.
     
  24. Francophile50

    Francophile50 The man with the satisfied ear.

    Location:
    Concord,CA
    Well in any kind of situation communication is the key to making a purchase and a sale. Say the person that was selling a $20 CD could only accept $18 no less because after that they would be losing money. I could understand that reasoning. And I had the option of not buying their CD or accepting the offer.

    Sometimes it is worth paying the full price and not losing the CD over a dollar or two.
     
  25. I recently had to refund an item with delivery delayed by the Covid-19 hampered USPS. The only fee I lost was the 30 cent fee.
     
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