Your Experiences as a 'Seller' on EBay

[Andre Noble]

There's been a lot of discussion regarding buying experiences on EBay. But I've recently begun to sell photography items on EBay. I'm surprised at the number of problems to be encountered with the process as a seller.

Perhaps I'm expecting too much. Problems I've encountered:

Non-U.S. bidders on auction where "US only" explicitly stated.

Zero feedback bidders on ads where "NO Zero Feedback Bidders" explicitly stated.

Winning bidders who don't establish communication within 48 hrs after winning an item, against terms of the listing.

Winning bidders who don't make themselves available to sign for their UPS packages in order to facilitate closing the deal.

And last but not least, one non-paying winning bidder who phoned me and made personal threats of a stalking nature because the item went to someone else on a Second Chance basis due to his lack of communication with me after auction close.

And all this in my first 5 sales! Am I doing something wrong? Or are your experiences as a seller similar. What communication timelines, payment timelines, etc do you consider acceptable?
On average, how long does it take to completely close your deals?

[Juergen Sattler]

I must say (insert knock on wood three times) that I have not had any significant problems as a seller or buyer on eBay. All my transaction have closed in just a couple of days. I like Paypal because it gets the money to me faster and I can get the item out the door quickly. I ask for payment within 10 days. I also allow US buyers only, but my experience is that serious international buyers will contact me and ask is they can bid - that gives me the chance to check out their feedback and if everything looks good I will allow them to bid. I don't put restrictions on zero feedback buyers (I was there too once:-)).
I only had one transaction where I needed the winner to remind three times to send the money - after that I implemented my 10 day payment policy.

[Michael Kadillak]

Simple solution to all of your problems Andre'. Use a third party sales agent (they are popping up all over the country) to sell you items, but be very explicit as to your terms and conditions.

Sit back, cash the checks and stay out of the line of fire. Spend more time in the darkroom or out in the field.

Cheers!

[Jon Shiu]

In my experience you just had some bad luck to start off. 95-98% of my sales have been good experiences. Although, it might depend on what type of items you are selling.

[Scott Fleming]

Agree with all of the above.

Well I've had 24 transactions. About 50/50 sales and purchases. Most in multiple hundreds and several in the two and a half thousand range. Never had the least problem untill lately. Lots of 0 feedback players who just do not understand how ebay works and because they have no feedback evidently are oblivious to getting a ding on their record. Still I have yet for a deal to go south other than one non paying bidder and the item sold on a quick relist for more money anyway.

My policy is to always give a 'buy it now' option but one that requires immediate payment. I insist in large red letters that 0 feedbackers and those with negative feedback contact me prior to bidding and that they use paypal. I exclude bidders with more than 3% negative feedback but only tell em that after they contact me. As a seller I never give feedback untill the buyer gives theirs. If zero and negative bidders bid I contact THEM and inform them that they are vilolating my stated policies. Depending on their response I may or may not exclude them.

Another thing I do is always give a story about the item. I tell em why I owned it and why I'm selling it. If I am the original owner I say so and show the reciepts. Can't prove it but I think this makes people feel safer and more ammenable to me as a seller. I know when I buy stuff it shure works on me.

[Oren Grad]

I still buy on eBay fairly regularly - a few times a year. But although I've sold a handful of items on eBay, I've pretty much given up on that. The problem is that I found it to be very time consuming to be a good seller. If you want to do right by your buyers, and in the process to maintain an excellent feedback rating, you need to spend time getting the descriptions - and these days the photos, too - right, answering questions from bidders, following up promptly at auction end, and, inevitably, dealing with the hassles when something goes wrong.

As an example, once I sold a Toyo 2x3/6x9 roll holder on eBay. At the time, I didn't know as much as I do now about the quirks of Graflok compatibility, and it didn't even occur to me that the holder might not fit except on the most exotic cameras. Well, it turned out the buyer had a Graphic that it didn't fit. I spent time on the phone with the buyer figuring out what was going on, and eventually took the holder back. The buyer felt that I'd dealt with him fairly, and was kind enough to give me positive feedback. But between the extra time spent and the shipping expenses, eBay and PayPal fees, I really would have been better off just unloading it to a dealer. (In fact, it's still sitting in my closet. We're talking serious intertia here.)

For really expensive items the time vs money equation is a bit more favorable, but the financial risk is also much greater if the transaction goes seriously wrong.

I am curious about how the immortal dagor77 views this. I imagine a lot rides on just how long it takes him to churn out those delirious item descriptions, and on what other activities compete to fill his time. Looking at it from the outside, I can't help wondering how much time and energy he's had to invest to achieve his success as a seller.

[Doug Dolde]

My experience as a seller has been no problems at all. I am often surprised what items bring and even sometimes fetch more than the new price !

As a buyer I have also had near perfect luck...but don't bid until the last 15 seconds ! Snipe sites are quite useful in accomplishing this feat.

[Larry Gebhardt]

I have only sold a few items and have never had a bad deal. I did have a bidder from Korea bid at the last minute, even though I said US buyers only. He sent a money order and everything worked out fine, so I still count it as a positive. I am going to put a few items up again, so lets see if my luck holds out.

One thing I found was it helped me to put up multiple listings at onece, to help manage my time. I think this way my time investment per auction was cut by a third.

[Frank Petronio]

eBay still favors the seller (possession until payment) but less and less so. Buyers are getting bargains (they hope) and rightly assume more risk by sending payment before seeing the item.

One of my biggest fears is to sell an expensive item and have the buyer return it with a few parts missing or replaced. People swap good parts for bad, then return the item for a refund. So now I don't offer refunds, which isn't really fair to all the good buyers.

A couple of years ago I fell for a deal too good to be true set-up by a clever thief on eBay. While the police caught him on other charges, my complaint and prosecution led to his spending additional time in jail and making full restitution. But eBay was absolutely no help whatsoever. In fact, their limited correspondence to me - after six months - was along the lines of vaguely encouraging us via "helping resolve misundertandings" while the perp was cooling his butt in jail! So I wouldn't depend on eBay to do a thing.

If you base your judgements solely on feedback, it is difficult to gauge the integrity of the eBayer. People are usually very reluctant to leave negative feedback for fear of getting a retalitory negative feedback. Usually it is only newbs who sling negatives and neutrals arounds. And I've gotten plenty of items that weren't up to their description, but I usually just never leave any feedback, because I figure the seller is trouble, and might do more than just leave a negative feedback - I just want to get away from them. So I take most feedback with a grain of salt.

As a buyer, I often run into server overload problems and "unable to process" errors on eBay. As a seller, I wonder how often my auctions aren't available or aren't seen because of their difficulities? The last time I listed multiple expensive items, only some of them showed up on the new items listings - the rest took 24 hours to catch up. That means a lot less people saw the listings, because they are still sorted chronologically, and my new items were several pages "back." So now I use a clause that I am not responsible for eBay's technical errors and reserve the right to relist.

Contacting eBay is joke. I've given up trying to get refunds for non-paying listings or outages - their terms are so hard to wait for or meet that it isn't worth the hassle. Sometimes everybody pays and everything goes perfectly. Othertimes I've had 2-3-4 auctions in a roll end up with non-payers. Some buyers claim the mail lost the package - if you've ever done an insurance claim with UPS or USPS, you already know how painful and slow the process is.

Finally, I just read a clip in the local paper about the IRS looking at eBay transactions and doing some audits of larger sellers. How long before eBay opens their databases up to the Feds? I'm not worried about the taxes, but the hassle factor would scare me off.

In other words, seller beware.

I'm sure people like Dagor do it for fun and money, but I use eBay as a way to experiment with lots of nice gear I would never otherwise be able to see locally or afford new. I've also met some extremely nice and interesting folks all over the world (I have no problem selling internationally - it is pretty fun actually). I've made a profit when I break a collection up into smaller individual auctions, but just as often I've taken a loss - It would be really nice to trade directly with more people, and cut eBay out of the loop. I wish this forum had a "trading" area.

[resummerfield]

I'm an ebay BUYER, preparing to also be a SELLER. All the points above are well put. Almost makes me think twice before selling. As a buyer I try to contact the seller immediately and make arrangements. And so far every sale has been good.

What bothers me most, as a buyer, is when sellers specify "lower 48 only". I live in Alaska. I understand excluding foreign buyers, because of payment or customs, etc, but Alaska is part of the US too. So I have to e-mail first, and wait for a reply. Sometimes if the bidding closes soon, I just don't bid. Yet I have always been given the "go ahead". As a seller, wouldn't it be better to say "US only, Alaska and Hawaii pay actual shipping"?

[Tom Diekwisch]

Hi Andre, I have had many interactions [100% positive feedback], both selling and buying, and almost all have been positive . The 95 - 98% positive experience rate mentioned above is about accurate. My perception is that you should be more patient, at least in two cases:

Winning bidders who don't establish communication within 48 hrs after winning an item, against terms of the listing. Think about somebody out on vacation or on a business trip with difficulties to access safe web sites.

Winning bidders who don't make themselves available to sign for their UPS packages in order to facilitate closing the deal. Think about people working all day who aren't supposed to receive private packages at their work address.

Ebay has become such an everyday part of business that at least I have made allowances for people who have a life outside of ebay.

Interactions with foreign countries have a slightly higher problem rate. But from time to time you might find an Asian bidder willing to pay a collector's price for an item that will fetch much less in the US. You might open up items that might be viewed as such to foreign bidders as they may increase your profit by several hundreds or thousands of dollars.

Anyway, just some thoughts. Good luck in the future.

[Scott Fleming]

Hey, while were on the subject. What's the best way to ship to the UK? I have a big ole 50# box full of telescope I need to ship.

[Jim Galli]

With 1998 positive feedback and 2 negative I guess I'm a veteran. Ebay is extremely time consuming and I'm looking forward to the day when I throttle back about 80%. But in the mean time it has enabled me to build my large format system that I plan to use for the rest of my life. I'm about there really. And it's been done solely through marginal profits and losses via Ebay. --André my advice is to loosen up a slight amount. Do you really need signature deliveries with recipients present? I haven't. Sure I had one SOB take me to the cleaners for $85 on an enlarger lens he claimed never got to him. Cost of doing business I guess. All in all I just kind of go with the flow. For instance a guy in China won a $470 G-Claron recently. He was far more stressed than I was trying to figure out how to get me paid. 5 weeks later USA cash showed up. I guess I'm a born optimist. There really are a lot of very nice people out there. After 2000 transactions I've just learned that about 98.8% of the time everything will work itself out. So loosen up, relax, and get into the flow. Since you've gotten 5 difficult sales out of the way, I predict the next 150 will be easy. tpahjim

[mark blackman]

sounds like you've just been unlucky! Most other people have answered your questions, but I'll add to one of them: non-US bidders.

This is mainly down to ebay not having a USA specific site. If I go to the uk, .de, .au or .fr sites I know they are based in the relevant country. The .com domain is a *global* commerical domain intended for use by global organisations. If you list on this address don't be suprised to get a global response and don't expect all users to have a full grasp of English.

[Andre Noble]

I'm getting the feeling from you EBay sellers here that you're allowing more time for things to play out with the sale after auction close.

I guess I'm making somewhat snap judgments based on how I conduct business as a buyer. When I win an auction, I feel the seller, who has already invested time and money into the listing, deserves at least quick communication on my intent to follow through with the contract, and I always do so. Not to do so, I feel sets up questions in the seller's mind that you're having second thoughts about your decision to buy the item. One guy who didn't contact me claimed he was in Japan. Papua New Guinea might have been a better excuse in terms of not being able to access the web. He also had a history of balking at transactions, not closing deals. And personally, I wouldn't be bidding on a $3,000 item when I’m in the middle of a time consuming international travel excursion.

As for the guy who doesn't sign for his UPS package, he is a professional photographer, and package is to his photo studio, and based on a web search of his business, there's another professional photographer's studio listed right next to his - possibly in same building.

When listing on EBay, I make my items attractive, no reserve, and $1.00 initial bid. I take care of my stuff, so it's in good condition and there's a lot of competition for them near the close. The final price is usually high. There may be some correlation between the final selling price and the time it takes to close the deal.

[Brian Ellis]

I've had only one serious problem in about 15 sales, a guy who notified me a few minutes after the auction closed that he wouldn't be buying the item (then got upset when I told him he'd get negative feedback). Also had someone in Hong Kong who was the winner on a "U.S. Only" sale but that ended up o.k. The others have gone fine, not perfectly, not always quite as fast as I'd like, but o.k. Lately I've started selling through rec.photo.marketplace and the photo.net classifieds. I set a reasonable price and have always found buyers without any trouble and a lot less hassle than ebay.

[Dave Moeller]

Andre-

Regarding non-US bidders: I make it very clear in my auctions that bids from bidders outside of the US and Canada who do not contact me first will be cancelled. I put an ominous warning that bids entered by such bidders in the last seconds of auctions will be ignored...I don't really know how I'd handle the situation if it came up as every bid I've gotten from outside of North America has been placed only after I've been contacted by the bidder through email. (A note to readers from outside of North America: I'm sorry that my auctions are restricted in this way, but my only negative experiences on eBay happened with buyers from outside of North America when I was new to eBay selling. Since I can control neither the speed of the shipment nor the various customs agencies who are involved in long-distance transactions, I got fed up with being held responsible for the speed with which the items were arriving at the buyers doors. Now when I get a request from someone who wants to bid on an item from outside of North America, I reply telling them that shipping and customs problems can hold the item up for weeks or even months...if they accept that then I'll OK the bid as I have some form of proof via their emails that they knew what might happen.)

For zero-feedback bidders, I insist on PayPal payment within 24 hours and with a confirmed address. So far I've only had one such bidder win an item, and he paid right after the end of the auction. If it ever occurred that 24 hours passed without my having received a payment, I'd go on to either a re-list or a 2nd chance bidder...but again, I've not had to test this method yet. For bidders with greater-than-zero feedback, I insist on payment within seven days.

I have a few hundred successful transactions on eBay. So far I've not received negative feedback...but I do list all photographic items as accurately as possible along wth an "as-is" clause and lots of accurate pictures.

I have a friend who sells old computers on eBay. He opens up each machine and marks each componenet with UV-flourescing ink. When people complain about something he's sold them, he tells them to return the item so that he can check that the parts all have his "secret mark" on them. So far every buyer who's wanted to return something has backed down with some lame excuse: "I'll fix it myself.", "I can probably get it working", etc. He is also scrupulous about recording serial numbers and photographic identifying marks on items. Buyers who wish to return components get a message along the lines of, "Your payment for [insert widget description], serial number XXXXXXXXX will be processed upon receipt of the item in the condition in which it was sent to you. Your item will be compared to photographs of the item that was sent out." Again, once they see the possible mess, unscrupulous buyers tend to back down.

Like me, this seller always insists on insurance on shipments. I list my shipping costs as "US$XX to the lower 48 states, including shipping, handling, and insurance, and non-negotiable. Email me for rates to Alaska, Hawaii, and Canada." If something gets damaged in shipping, the buyer can take it up with the shipping agent. I package things well enough that damage during shipment is extremely unlikely. Some buyers will try to haggle down the shipping costs; such buyers get a terse message that says, "As stated in the auction, shipping costs are non-negotiable." I have yet to have someone try to fight me a second round on this one.

Ebay can be a fun way to play around with new equipment. If you're a buyer, ask questions. If you're a seller, cover your butt. If you're a buyer, make sure you understand the whole transaction (what you're buying, when you'll have to send payment, how much you'll have to pay for the shipment, when to expect receipt of the item, etc.) If you're a seller, describe your stuff honestly and include lots of pictures. Make sure you spell out all of the things a buyer would want to know. I know there's a tendency to gloss over defects, but if you point them out you'll give people a "warm-and-fuzzy" feeling that you're showing them everything there is to know about an item. Make sure you spell out your auction terms in detail, and use words like "as-is", "non-negotiable", etc. If an item has a serial number, include enough of it in the auction so that the buyer knows you know it. I'd guess my "happiness" rate on eBay is over 99%. It takes a little extra effort to cover yourself whether you're buying or selling, but doing so can save you a lot of grief.

Be well.

[David A. Goldfarb]

I've made a few hundred transactions, buying and selling, and haven't had any serious problems.

If the transaction takes a week or two to complete, this isn't a big deal to me. Even if the buyer is delaying because they are getting the funds together, as long as the money ends up in my hands, that's okay.

I don't worry about zero feedback bidders as much as I'd worry about zero feedback sellers. If they get me the cash, I send them the item. If they don't, I can cancel the auction and offer it to the next person on the list or I can relist it. They'll also likely be outbid by someone more experienced, so their bidding gets me a better price.

I'll ship anywhere. Why shouldn't I, if the buyer is willing to pay for shipping and has a reasonable way of paying for the item? I make it clear that I'll only accept payment in U.S. currency from PayPal or check or m/o drawn on a U.S. bank. Sometimes I'll mention in the auction that I think foreign shipping costs will be prohibitive for certain items (like an enlarger), but if the buyer is willing to cover it, I don't see the problem. Again, why exclude potential bidders, if they'll raise the selling price?

How to ship a heavy item to the UK--USPS will be the best price. You can run the numbers at the usps.com website, and e-mail the options to the buyer, and maybe try ups.com or fedex.com for comparison, and let the buyer decide. Usually the best compromise in terms of convenience and price for something like that will be USPS air parcel post.

[Dan Fromm]

Andre, take a cold shower.

I don't sell as much through eBay as Jim Galli or "dagor77." Compared to them I'm just a small time chiseler. But I have sold high value photographic items and I've sold overseas. My largest single sale was to a buyer in Japan.

Sometimes buyers are slow to come forwards. I don't know why, that's not my practice as a buyer. So far I've had one non-paying bidder. All of the others have paid, sometimes after a week of silence. Just be patient. The most a non-paying bidder will cost you is the listing fee and some time.

Opinions differ on whether to sell outside of the US. I do. Foreign bidders run prices up. My foreign bidders have understood that they have to pay shipping, and haven't balked at that. Of course, I do give them a choice of method. Always USPS, but some have opted for surface. Slow, inexpensive, and its their money.

In my listings, I'm explicit about how I'll accept payment. Otherwise, I set no restrictions. It makes no sense to do so. Its better to have more bidders.

So far, so good. I can't understand the fear, as expressed from time to time on places like photo.net, of transacting via eBay. I don't know whether the fearful ones are KEH employees in disguise or are the sort of people who buy into Ponzi schemes, send money to Nigeria, ...

Before eBay came along, I sold gear, mainly cine, through Shutterbug's small ads. That's how I financed my Super 8 kit. I thought S'bug was great. eBay is incomparably better. It has better reach, it costs less, and it gets results faster.

Yes, dealing with unknown strangers is risky. So is dealing with acquaintances. If you can't live with a low level of uncertainty and risk, don't get out of bed.

Cheers,

Dan

[Ted Harris]

I agree with Dan,

I have been buying and selling stuff on eBay for 6 years and have had very few problems as either a buyer or a seller and that includes international sales and purchases. More importantly, I have bought and sold photographic equipment through USnet groups, otuer internet boards and Shutterbug for some 30 years. Without these avenues of sales aand purchase I would have had to wait until I got to 'the big city' to get msot anything. EBay has provided a vast improvement in the marketplace with one possible exception. In the old days of a small internet community you virtually never heard about any problems with a sale and as the numbers trading on eBay continue to grow so do the problem sales ... but they remain a very small percentagee. OTOH, since I don't do the eBay sales thing primarily to make money but mostly to get rid of surplus equipment I look hard at my investment in what I am selling and at recent eBay prices and then attempt to price my stuff at a very attractive BIN price. It usually results in a fast sale with no hassles.

[Andre Noble]

O.K. I'm going to TRY to reform why viewpoint in the future, perhaps with the exception of international sales. I feel the U.S. is populated enough to create good competition on any given item.

Additionally, with international sales you're introducing additional risk: a third party in the transaction, namely customs brokers w/ concomitant customs fees, longer shipping times, and "foreign credit cards"- I don't know exactly what risk the latter entails, but I know that many of the heavy volume professional photo dealers won't accept the foreign transactions/cards, so they must be NOT accepting them for a reason. Why wait to get burned to find out why?

PS, I'm outta bed Dan, and may even go into a Dark Room :-)

[John D Gerndt]

I think the key here is thinking about making money. It DOES take a lot of time to sell something on eBay. With the experience shared above, one can take the precations to allow for a smooth transaction. It cuts into the return rate to be so careful.

I sell not for profit but to try things out. I figure on loosing money and spending time. eBay has afforded me opportunities to learn by using that I never could have managed before because of the size of the market and because othersl like me are putting out equipment for sale at prices that do not support a living. It is a hassel to sell. Don't expect eBay to be helpful or even responsive. They are just a business sucking money, but their presence affords me a clear opportunity.

Cheers,

[Ole Tjugen]

As an "international buyer", I'd like to voice my opinion too:

I have bought several items from the USA, several from Germany, some from the UK, and even occasional items from France and Ukraine. One place I have not bought from on ebay is Norway, since the local market is too small to justify a local division of ebay.

Of course I know that shipping is expensive and takes time! I have even bought items where the shipping costs are significantly higher than the closing bid, only because these items are not available locally - or only available at a significantly higher cost.

I have no idea what is meant by "foreign credit cards". I have VISA and American Express; and if they are good enough for PayPal I can't see what the problem should be?

Best regards from Norway,

[Jim Galli]

I'll add one more tiny bit about international selling. I almost never say no. Malaysia and Nigeria etc. sorry, no. But when international folks ask, I simply insist that the item has to go via USPS Global Express Mail which costs about double. But it short circuits a lot of the customs wait and the package is traceable. 3 day service and even though it's pricey, usually everyone is happy. As an aside, once I told a Malaysian guy no and he apparently had a Malaysian US cartel bidding service bid and win the item. I shipped to the USA address and they shipped to him I guess. Only time I ever got over $500 for a f11 WA G-Claron in barrel no less.

[Capocheny]

Andre,

I wholeheartedly agree with Dan F... all the way! And with Juergen, Ole, David, Ted, and Jim...

There's always a degree of risk in dealing with strangers but that's not only on ebay!

"Non-U.S. bidders on auction where "US only" explicitly stated."

I can't tell you the number of times when this has been stated as a condition of the sale but, lo and behold, when they're asked if they'd send the item out of the US... guess what? 99% of the time...they answer in the affirmative! Frankly, when you're buying and selling on ebay... you're hoping to sell at the highest price and buy at the lowest...and this means exposure on a world-wide basis. That said, if you're happy with offering it ONLY in the US then that's fine. You can always say no if you're asked.

"Additionally, with international sales you're introducing additional risk: a third party in the transaction, namely customs brokers w/ concomitant customs fees, longer shipping times, and "foreign credit cards"- I don't know exactly what risk the latter entails, but I know that many of the heavy volume professional photo dealers won't accept the foreign transactions/cards, so they must be NOT accepting them for a reason. Why wait to get burned to find out why?"

It doesn't take a brain surgeon to fill out a couple of customs forms... concomitant customs fees? I believe US Customs is much like Canadian Customs in that they don't charge you fees for exporting; Nor do they charge you fees for importing. You must be talking about Brokerage Fees, taxes, duties and the like...but it's NOT a Customs Fee for exporting and importing items.

"longer shipping times?" You must be talking about items being held up in Customs for whatever reason! I've had items sent up from the US and there hasn't been delays whatsoever.

"...foreign credit cards?" - Yeesh! As far as I know... a Mastercard whether issued in the US or a country such as Canada makes no difference to either the buyer or seller. I've used my cards on numerous occassions and have had no challenges whatsoever. The seller (if they're a merchant) will ALWAYS phone for authorization anyway. Sure, there are credit card scams all over the place... in AND out of the US!

If you've encountered ALL these problems in your first 5 sales... YOU ARE DOING SOMETHING WRONG!!!! Or, unfortunately, you're terribly unlucky!

I've had a couple hundred transactions and haven't had ANY of the issues you've mentioned...

I've only had 3 issues and guess what? They were all with folks from the US. The first was with a company that sold backdrops... it was an item that was shipped in "less than satisfactory condition." The second was with a yahoo that bought an item from me and he decided he wanted the cost of shipping included in the bid price after it ended! The last problem was with a purchase from a photographer in LA who declared the camera mint but it wasn't! Bottom line? All of these problems could have arisen even if I lived in the US and purchased them there.

Oren,

Dagor77 is one of the best sellers on ebay, bar none! I've had transactions with him and they've ALWAYS gone absolutely smoothly. He answers his email quickly and responds in a totally honest and straight-up fashion. I wouldn't hesitate dealing with him again. (BTW, I have no connection with him in any way, shape, or form.)

BTW... I've had successful transactions with some of the posters above (Greetings Michael, Frank, and Doug) and everything went smooth as silk! So... international transactions can AND do go smoothly!

Cheers from Canada,

[Andre Noble]

Henry's.com in Canada? Thanks for the Bronica accessories. Nice price.

Cold shower has been taken. Coincidently, one of the 'problem' guys has since phoned me, and he sounded like the nicest guy in the world - I felt so gulity for misinterpreting his "non-communication". Reason why he didn't email was that he wanted to speak to me on the phone and buy additional items!

Still, I have had problems shipping to Canada. I'm not trying to blame it on the Prime Minister, but customs turned back a flash head sent via expensive USPS Epress mail. (I'm out $37 on that one) without explanation On the re-ship, it clears customs but then takes11 days time total for UPS ground service (L.A. to Saskatoon!). Amtrak's fater than that.

Just beginner's luck, I guess.

[Oren Grad]

Dagor77 is one of the best sellers on ebay, bar none!

Henry -

Yes, I've completed several transactions with Andrew too. He's an honorable seller who stands behind his products, and his wit and wisdom provide vast entertainment value to boot...

[Capocheny]

Andre,

I wonder if the reason it was sent back to you was because the paper work wasn't filled in properly? I purchased a number of filters from a seller on Photo.net and he sent them through to me via UPS. When I received the package, I was charged $80 plus dollars tax and duties on the purchase. I paid much, much less than that for the filters. After inquires with UPS and the seller... it turned out he had filled in the forms incorrectly. After the forms were filled in correctly... I was refunded the majority of those dollars paid!

Most of the time, I ask the seller to use USPS Express for shipping my winnings and they've always been great! No hassles whatsoever... unlike UPS! And, with the purchases I've made... delivery was quick and never a damaged item (cross me fingers and knock on wood!)

Oren,

Yes, I agree... Andrew's postings always left me in stitches too. It's unfortunate that not more sellers are like him on Ebay!

The funniest listings use to be those where he came up with these incredible stories of some old person contacting him about a bunch of LF equipment, which they found in the basement. Invevitably, the cache of gear always included a number of 8x10 Dorffs in mint condition! Lucky stiff! :) And, after the transactions, when he went back to the addresses... poof! They've vanished! :)

Cheers

[Oren Grad]

Henry -

But what has happened to the comely Artara? She's been scarce lately...

[Capocheny]

Oren,

I think she went onto that reality show, The Bachelorette, and hit the big times. She's now retired and living in The Grand Caymans...

But, if Andrew is really nice about how he asks, she may make guest appearances in the future! :)

Cheers

[8x10 user]

Most of the time its a pleasure selling items on ebay but I just recently found that it can very rarely you get a buyer that just cannot be pleased no matter how hard you try...

So I was selling a lens recently, it was a good lens in immaculate condition, the price was fair and there was a fair amount of interest in it. I had one person who kept putting in low offers and would get offended when I did not take them. He said there as no market for large format anymore. Anyway I am about to sell the item to this nice ebayer from japan when the fellow buys the lens with BIN (buy it now). There was a three day handling time listed in the auction details and we shipped the lens on the second day via overnight shipping. The buyer paid for priority mail but we upgraded at our cost. The buyer was still upset that it wasn't shipped a day earlier.

I messed up and made a mistake with the listing and put down that lens caps were included when I don't have them. The item was shipped with clean glass that was protected by a sturdy polystyrene board. The buyer informed me of the mistake and I offered to have brand new lens caps shipped to him on monday. I have tried to resolve the issue with the buyer but he wants to return the item. He has that right since I did list the item with a satisfaction guarantee. I told him that refunds are sent after the item is received and inspected and that shipping is not refunded as per details filled out in the return policy section of the auction. Now he started a claim with paypal, he says I am a con man that should be removed from ebay... I guess the new con on ebay is that you sell a really nice lens but try to rip the buyer off on the lens caps ;)

I can see how it could be frustrating if you were planning on using a lenses or couldn't or if the lens was packed in a way where it could get damaged from not having lens caps. I have tried everything to resolve the issue with the buyer. I hate to say it but honestly I am starting to wonder if he purchased the lens with the intent of returning it just to get back at me for not taking his earlier offer. Does it seem strange that someone would return a perfectly good lens because lens caps were not included in the box?

When I sell an item I try my very best to be a "good seller" a look for tiny defects and I feel that I describe, photograph, and pack my items well. People have always seem satisfied with me as a buyer and I never had an issue except for a time a lens was lost in shipping and I replaced it at my own expense (it was a $800 lens).

It is inconvenient but I am ok with the buyer returning the item. I put the satisfaction guarantee on the auction so that buyers can bid with confidence and because customer satisfaction is important to me. I feel that this customer might be taking advantage of my policy to screw with me but if that is the cost of a policy that increases the satisfaction and confidence for every buyer then it is a small price to pay.

For the most part I like the one sided feedback system on ebay because the transaction should be as buyer friendly as possible, and buyers should feel free to voice legitimate complaints. I suppose the chance of an encounter with a unreasonable buyer is just the risk of selling anything. The two-sided feedback system would not have solved this issue either. It can be frustrating to know that in the end you are completely at the mercy of buyer. I'm going to handle the situation in the same way I would with either system, "be nice and accept the return". Its just a little bit sad to be reminded that if your a seller that ebay is never going to be on your side.

I still think its hilarious that he said I was a "con man" because he would have to wait a few days for couple brand new lens caps.

[Frank Petronio]

I think I've sold my last eBay item and rarely look for anything anymore. I rather just buy from KEH, MPEX, etc. and not deal with amateurs. As for selling, I am going to avoid it, I trimmed everything down.

[Jody_S]

I buy at local flea markets for pennies and resell on ebay to finance my LF addiction. Otherwise I simply would not be able to afford LF. Ebay does what it does, yes there are bugs in the system but there's no other way for me to match any given item that I happen to find with a buyer who actually wants it. I do occasionally take a loss, but it's usually my own damn fault for overpaying for something, not bothering to check first what the item is worth or what condition it's in. And the con artists I deal with are the flea market vendors, who swear to me that the item is working, belonged to their grandmother or whatever, when it's obviously a piece of junk they found rummaging through someone's trash can.

The real issue is that selling is an art, it doesn't matter if you're selling Rolex watches or used cars, you need to have the temperament to deal with the public and the passion to sell your wares. Obviously you also need a supply of wares to sell. It also doesn't matter if you're selling from a storefront or ebay, it's a matter of margins and percentages. Treat it like a business and you'll either make money or stop selling. I have the passion but I'm a little short-tempered when dealing with a$$holes.

[Steve Smith]

As a seller, wouldn't it be better to say "US only, Alaska and Hawaii pay actual shipping"?

No. It's better to say "will ship worldwide but buyer pays actual shipping".


and don't expect all users to have a full grasp of English.

Especially if they're American!!


Steve.

[Jody_S]

Quote Originally Posted by mark blackman
and don't expect all users to have a full grasp of English.

Especially if they're American!!


Steve.

In the late 90s, I sold a The Fisher monobloc tube amplifier to someone in Hong Kong for $450 or something. He paid another $275 I think for UPS shipping to HK. He received the package, signed for of course, then wrote me asking when the 2nd monobloc would arrive! Because somewhere in the description I had written that if you had a pair of these, they would make a great stereo system.

Google translate is a lot better than Babelfish in the late 90s. I don't get serious miscommunications these days, but I try to write descriptions in fairly simple English, with short sentences.

[Sal Santamaura]

...As a seller, wouldn't it be better to say "US only, Alaska and Hawaii pay actual shipping"?


No. It's better to say "will ship worldwide but buyer pays actual shipping"...There is no "better" in this matter. It's entirely seller preference what market(s) an item is offered to. Buyer preference doesn't come into play.


...and don't expect all users to have a full grasp of English.


...Especially if they're American!!...Residents of the US have no monopoly on communication deficiencies. Those who have a tongue other than English (American or British) as their primary language deserve deference and respect for making the effort. Native speakers on both sides of the pond, including all Commonwealth members, regularly demonstrate a willingness to go along with current Internet fads in fracturing this language. Singling out one group does nothing to advance things and, by building resentment, probably turns off anyone who might want to improve their skills.

I have abandoned all snide comments about and attempts to correct English errors in posts. Instead, my new approach is to ask polite questions if meaning is ambiguous, remaining silent otherwise. It seems more productive so far.

[BrianShaw]

I have abandoned all snide comments about and attempts to correct English errors in posts. Instead, my new approach is to ask polite questions if meaning is ambiguous, remaining silent otherwise. It seems more productive so far.

Too bad we can't get this into the forum "rules". It is funny the first time and appears only arrogant, but the repetitive nature of these comments make it look like bigotry.

[Kuzano]

If you have read every one of these posts, buried in here is good information that would have addressed the problems you say you have encountered so far:

1) You have the ability to reject bids as they are made, like the limited feedback restriction. However, remember that you were a newby and you had to start with zero feedback. Most people start as buyers, so you are not giving people a chance to join in the fun when you reject zero feedback.

I usually, on small sales, take the risk and help a newby out.

2) I do not advertize that I ship internationally, but it turns out that there seems to be more money for photo equipment in other countries, and in most cases bidders from other countries will ask if they can bid before they do. Those that ask, I look at their feedback. When they have some it is usually good. I will quote an international rate. I only ship by the US Postal service.. there are two rates... Priority and International First Class. I use them both. International First Class is the least expensive, often not more than Priority mail in the US. My last four large format cameras went, two to Federation of Russia, one to Thailand, and one to Bulgaria. NOT ONE PROBLEM.

In fact, over the years, and with a good number of my sales International, I have not lost one deal. The worst was a camera to CANADA that was below the radar for 30 days in customs inspection. I suspect that a customs agent took some "hellish" good medium format pictures for a couple of weeks before packing it back up and sending on to it's destination.

3) You have the right to blacklist certain buyer by differing criteria on each auction. Learn these rights.

Now let me say this. I teach eBay buy/sell at our local Community College for 6 years now, twice each quarter.

I have been on eBay about ten years. On my current primary account (I have two, one of which I use to sell for others, or buy for others), I currently have 431 positive feedbacks at 100%. I'm not saying every transaction has been perfect. I am saying that by judicious actions, communication, an occasional buy back (4 times), I have manage not to "PISS" anybody off to the point of giving me a negative feedback. And after doing just one, I don't do partial refunds (that's a scam to reduce price). I only buy back, and when I do I refund shipping and return shipping. It's happened 3 or 4 times also.

Just counting feedback alone, over the past 12 years, I have had 700 buys or sells on the current or previous accounts. Any secret to that. Clarity and communication, and using the tools provided by eBay. If you are not sure about a function on eBay...LOOK IT UP ON YAHOO...that will take you directly to the appropriate pages on eBay. The eBay help system itself is far to convoluted to find help on the site. USE YAHOO!!!

I ask for an usually receive feedback... but perhaps there are another 50 transactions in my history where no feedback was given. I always give it.

It may also be appropriate to say that eBay is no longer the same as it was ten years ago, when there were "stealer" deals on auctions. However, good deals can be found, because there are always newby's who make little effort to learn the sytem.

eBay constantly evolves, and is now more of a sales venue with locks on prices, than it is the Auction site of it's heyday. It's not for everyone, and I know that if I can get 25% of my student's to actually try and continue to use eBay, I am probably doing good.

Otherwise, take your lumps, and the risk of being financially or physically hurt on Craigslist, or pay the ripoff prices for local advertising.

My sales reports from eBay show that I have accumulated approximately $30,000 in NET profits (and I count ALL expenses, including time spent packaging and running packages) over the last five years... VERY part time.

[BrianShaw]

It can be frustrating to know that in the end you are completely at the mercy of buyer. I'm going to handle the situation in the same way I would with either system, "be nice and accept the return". Its just a little bit sad to be reminded that if your a seller that ebay is never going to be on your side.

Has that happened yet? Has ebay ruled in favor of the buyer to your disadvantage?

I understand your frustration. The situation isn't right. The buyer is unrealistically impatient. But is this mostly your frustration speaking or have you really been treated unfairly so far?

[Kuzano]

For all sellers whining about the favoritism shown to buyers, it needs to be said that the Sellers brought this shift in favoritism on themselves.

Just a few years ago, it became obvious to eBay and a lot of buyers that sellers were highly favored. It also became clear that Seller, most often Power Sellers, were using the feedback system in a retaliatory way on buyers. Many were withholding feedback, until they saw the feedback left by buyers. If they did not like what they saw, they responded with feedback they considered appropriate to the level of feedback left by the buyer.

eBay came down on Sellers hard, with the "funds hold" policy and more.

My feeling is that Sellers should have been required for some time prior to that action to leave feedback for the buyer based on receipt of "collected" funds. This would normally have been enough of a change, since shipping is not done until payment is received in any event. I always left feedback as soon as I could access the funds from the buyer.

So Sellers have had to jump through hoops to be on the "right side" of the transaction since that time...And so, the pendulum swings. Sellers cut themselves a new, very harsh deal.

In spite of that, I have only seen two transactions having funds held. As long as you stay active and meet the minimum requirements for no "funds hold" or other "hoops" it won't happen to you.

Yes, buyers are on top now... I suspect it will change.

[Ron Stowell]

I've sold sold for several years and I'm at the point of giving it up.
Just not worth the problems that seem to be the rule of the day.
I also find KEH to be my best source of equipment when I need something

[Brian Ellis]

I stopped selling to anyone other than buyers in the U.S. and Canada. It seemed like every time I sold anywhere else I had a problem of some kind or other. Fortunately I haven't had any buyers ignore that policy and bid anyhow. Maybe I've just been lucky but except for when I sold internationally and almost always encountered problems (except Canada) I've never had any real problems with buyers when I was a seller or as a buyer myself. I've had some irritants, mostly with buyers who don't bother to read the item descriptions but everything has generally worked out with a minimum of fuss. I had more trouble with the one sale I made of a Canon lens on Fred Miranda than I've had in the 100 or so purchases and sales I've had on ebay.