EBay works Perfectly NOT! I prefer LFPF FS/WTB

[Tin Can]

So a few dislike the FS section and how it is run?

I just got fooled by this eBayer, who changed the shipping cost and cancelled the sale. Early this morning.

First he lied about his location, he is not in CA but in China.

Shipping did seem too cheap, but China often ships very cheaply, way cheaper than USA can ship to China.

Then he asked for $20 more but before I could reply he cancelled the sale and it is now invisible. Ebay disappeared the sale from 'My EBay'.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/linhof-kard...97.m4902.l9144

Obviously not the end of my world, but every transaction I have done on this forum has been flawless.

Both as seller and buyer.

Thank you Mods for a good FS site!

[Serge S]

Hi Randy

Thanks for the heads up!
We need to be vigilant.
The typo was a tip off, not an English speaker.

Cheers,

Serge

So a few dislike the FS section and how it is run?

I just got fooled by this eBayer, who changed the shipping cost and cancelled the sale. Early this morning.

First he lied about his location, he is not in CA but in China.

Shipping did seem too cheap, but China often ships very cheaply, way cheaper than USA can ship to China.

Then he asked for $20 more but before I could reply he cancelled the sale and it is now invisible. Ebay disappeared the sale from 'My EBay'.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/linhof-kard...97.m4902.l9144

Obviously not the end of my world, but every transaction I have done on this forum has been flawless.

Both as seller and buyer.

Thank you Mods for a good FS site!

[Alan9940]

I, too, much prefer selling here vs eBay.

[tonyowen]

All potential buyers should keep in mind the age-old truth caveat emptor irrespective of the source of the sale of interest.
Whilst there are no guarantees in life I'm surprised that Randy [apparently] did not contact eBay about the matter in post #1

regards
Tony

[rdenney]

All potential buyers should keep in mind the age-old truth caveat emptor irrespective of the source of the sale of interest.
Whilst there are no guarantees in life I'm surprised that Randy [apparently] did not contact eBay about the matter in post #1

regards
Tony

Randy had no loss. He didn’t pay extra and the transaction was canceled, so he had no standing to take it up with eBay. The worst outcome for him was disappointment.

eBay is actually pretty good for buyers, but selling there requires a bit of self-insurance. I have recently returned a couple of items that didn’t function at all, and eBay handled the return automatically, including providing a return shipping label. Of course, the seller ended up with paying for shipping both ways, but had they really tested what they sold like they claimed, maybe they wouldn’t have had to. But buyers have all the control, and they can be unscrupulous, too.

I would always sell LF stuff here first, not that I’m much of a seller. As a buyer, I didn’t always have perfect transactions here, but buyers and sellers would usually rather work it out than risk their forum reputation. That’s why we added the advisories section.

The one advantage to looking here is that sellers have no excuse for not knowing what “good working order” means.

Rick “who always looks here first before buying most photography stuff” Denney

[Henry Ambrose]

Randy had no loss. He didn’t pay extra and the transaction was canceled, so he had no standing to take it up with eBay. The worst outcome for him was disappointment.

eBay is actually pretty good for buyers, but selling there requires a bit of self-insurance. I have recently returned a couple of items that didn’t function at all, and eBay handled the return automatically, including providing a return shipping label. Of course, the seller ended up with paying for shipping both ways, but had they really tested what they sold like they claimed, maybe they wouldn’t have had to. But buyers have all the control, and they can be unscrupulous, too.

I would always sell LF stuff here first, not that I’m much of a seller. As a buyer, I didn’t always have perfect transactions here, but buyers and sellers would usually rather work it out than risk their forum reputation. That’s why we added the advisories section.

The one advantage to looking here is that sellers have no excuse for not knowing what “good working order” means.

Rick “who always looks here first before buying most photography stuff” Denney

Sure, he had a loss. Just not in the newly constructed ebay version of law. EBay abrogated the usual laws surrounding these transactions with their terms of use. But of course with the seller in China, he can do anything he wants with impunity. Who is to challenge him?

What the seller did would violate many state’s consumer protection laws to say nothing of the most basic contract law. But they’re on the other side of the world and eBay cons everyone in to believing that they will police their sales. It is to eBay’s benefit for any sale to happen so they promote their business as a world wide marketplace and gin up sales with the knowledge that a certain percentage will go bad, but not enough to cut into their bottom line depending on how they re-draw the rules.

The expectation of the very most basic benefit of the bargain is what makes trade happen. On a macro scale their system works (for them) , but for Randy it didn’t. I am afraid to sell anything there after the last transaction several years ago where the buyer misrepresented his location and then tried to return a bogus item, not the same as I sold him. Fortunately I had pictures and he lost. But I never was compensated for my time in proving him to be a cheat. In the end, my sale of a $60 filter cost me money.

[neil poulsen]

Randy had no loss. He didn’t pay extra and the transaction was canceled, so he had no standing to take it up with eBay. The worst outcome for him was disappointment . . .

If Randy completed the purchase, and the seller "skipped town," he did indeed have "standing" w/EBay to protest. EBay sellers make a legal commitment to follow through on sales; and this seller refused to follow through on that commitment. Sellers like the one Randy encountered undermine the EBay experience.

Were it me, I would call EBay and complain about this seller. While there may not have been a financial loss to Randy, there was a financial loss to EBay. I think that EBay would want to know about this failed sale. They can't take action against disreputable sellers like this, unless they learn about the circumstances.

I regard EBay as an amazing place of commerce, and it works quite well. It's sort of the great equalizer. Through EBay, individual sellers like us can have the market accessibility of much, much larger entities. As buyers, EBay gives us this undeniably huge selection of goods from which to select. Again, quite amazing. It certainly has made a huge difference for me.

[DonJ]

If Randy completed the purchase, and the seller "skipped town," he did indeed have "standing" w/EBay to protest. EBay sellers make a legal commitment to follow through on sales; and this seller refused to follow through on that commitment. Sellers like the one Randy encountered undermine the EBay experience.

Were it me, I would call EBay and complain about this seller. While there may not have been a financial loss to Randy, there was a financial loss to EBay. I think that EBay would want to know about this failed sale. They can't take action against disreputable sellers like this, unless they learn about the circumstances.

I regard EBay as an amazing place of commerce, and it works quite well. It's sort of the great equalizer. Through EBay, individual sellers like us can have the market accessibility of much, much larger entities. As buyers, EBay gives us this undeniably huge selection of goods from which to select. Again, quite amazing. It certainly has made a huge difference for me.

There was no financial loss to eBay because the seller was still charged the fee for the sale. That doesn't go away because they sent Randy a refund, because the seller initiated the transaction cancellation. They also don't care about the circumstances; canceling a sale, unless it's done at the request of the buyer, adversely affects the seller's account automatically (unless they're in China, which apparently gives them Teflon superpowers).

[Luis-F-S]

You don’t often see here the half truths and flagrant lies by sellers who know nothing about what they’re selling!

[Ron Stowell]

You don’t often see here the half truths and flagrant lies by sellers who know nothing about what they’re selling!

We never see the stories of the scammers who steal our products and get their money returned to them from E-bay.
The fact that you can't communicate with E-bay isn't mentioned here.
Best results is the fraud dept of the buyers local police.