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270994 Frank Filippone <bmwred735i@g...> 2020‑05‑24 Selling on eBay... Experiences
I have listed a bunch of stuff on eBay recently.. cameras and not.  And 
a lot has sold.  But the complaint rate has been over 10%... just plain 
complaints.

One guy said the camera had a bad button.  No it didn't, not when I 
shipped it.  When I finally allowed the guy to return it, he stopped 
complaining, and I have yet to see it returned.

Another guy said his lens had fungus in it.  It was off brand and 
cheap... at first I said return it, then changed my mind and just 
refunded him all his money, he got to keep the lens free.  ( More $$$ to 
pay the return postage than give him the lens).  Did the lens really 
have fungus?  I doubt it, but I did not do a good inspection....  I do 
not KNOW for sure.

I am a trusting person.  I expect others are as trustworthy.  ( Read 
that last sentence as I am stoopidly trusting)

I sold a camera without the AC charger.  I went out and bought one new, 
and sent it to him at no additional cost.  Then I got a complaint that 
the AC adapter I bought and shipped to him never arrived.  I checked 
(USPS Tracking) and it was delivered to his mail box.  The guy said that 
was strange and that he had gone out and bought a new one anyway.  He 
responded but stopped complaining.

Then a lady bought a lens.  After she bought it, started complaining 
about the condition, the price, got her hubby involved, and kept 
complaining, the defects were changing all the time........  It all 
stopped when I told her to send it back.

EBay has a policy that the buyer may return anything they want. Period.  
For any reason including.... I found a better price.  You can not beat 
this.  EBay will back the buyer.  So the buyers' unsaid threat is always 
that if you do not negotiate, you are going to get the item back.  And 
that you as the seller, do not want the item back.......

What is the common thread?.... there were COMPLAINTS, but no one asked 
specifically to return the item.   They just complained. AND when I 
offered to take the item back and refund them, the complaints stopped.

I went a looking for eBay scams for stuff shipped... and there it 
was..... One ( reported and documented) purpose of making a complaint 
and not asking for a return of the goods is to get a partial refund, and 
therefore lower the price that they paid, even though it was an auction 
and THEY set  the selling price.

You may not go along with this, and may claim that the buyers had the 
RIGHT to complain, and may have been truthful in their complaint, but 
when selling to an unknown buyer, you MUST remain suspicious.

So you are going to sell something on eBay and want to protect yourself 
against this kind of nonsense, how do you do it?  The answer was also 
looked up.... You immediately offer to have the item returned.  If the 
complaint is true, you get the item back for inspection and resale. ( 
keeping in mind that if eBay gets involved, they will force you to take 
it back anyway.)  If the complaint is a scam, the buyer complaint goes 
away with the return offer ( Playing chicken means he blinked first) .  
They keep the item that they paid for and received.  One seller claimed 
that he gets 1-2-3 complaints a month, and the actual return rate was 1 
item per YEAR.

SO the message is.... sell somewhere where you can trust the buyer or 
just say....

"I am sorry your purchase did not meet your expectations.  Please feel 
free to return it to me."

I'm betting the complaint will go away.......

-- 
Frank Filippone BMWRed735i@g...
270995 Erik Levin 2020‑05‑24 Re: Selling on eBay... Experiences
Frank wrote a medium length, well though out statement on the travails of
selling on *bay

> ... clipped ....


I don't get people. In particular, how some people can live with themselves.

In twenty years, give or take, I have had a complaint once as a buyer on a used
item. The seller shipped the wrong item, I contacted, he checked, shipped the
correct one and didn't want the other back. An employee (or him, maybe) pulled
an item with a similar shelving code.

Otherwise, I have had a few surprises, but nothing I could complain about, in
general. If I can't identify likely issues in the listing, I ask. If I don't
like what I see or what the seller tells me, I don't bid.


Maybe I am weird?


(I have had a number of issues with sellers of nominally new items, both the
item not being new or the item not being what it was listed as. Watch for the
"appearance may differ".)


This is why I have enjoyed dealing with people here over the years.


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270996 Frank Filippone <bmwred735i@g...> 2020‑05‑25 Re: Selling on eBay... Experiences
I do have no returns in the ad.  Makes no difference. If the customer
complains that the description and object are different, you get it back.
eBay jams it down your throat.  I admit that we all make mistakes.  Life is
like that.  But to complain with the intent of getting money out of you, (
sometimes called extortion) is what gets me.
Yes, sometimes the seller is wrong.  SO take back the complained over
merchandise.  The worst that can happen is that you get it back.  The best
is that the complainer goes away.....
Frank

On Sun, May 24, 2020 at 2:10 PM Bill Ghio  wrote:

> There is an option to say no returns. All my listings say no returns and I
> have not had experiences such as yours. I sell about a dozen items each
> year. That said, I am processing my first return right now. I mis-described
> an item and my pictures did not reveal the error, but could have had I
> pictured the other side. So I quickly agreed to take it back and he shipped
> the next day. Tracking says I will have it next week. Fingers crossed it is
> not a scam, but seems clear enough.
>
> Bill
>
> > On May 24, 2020, at 2:56 PM, Frank Filippone 
> wrote:
> >
> > I have listed a bunch of stuff on eBay recently.. cameras and not.  And
> a lot has sold.  But the complaint rate has been over 10%... just plain
> complaints.
> >
> > One guy said the camera had a bad button.  No it didn't, not when I
> shipped it.  When I finally allowed the guy to return it, he stopped
> complaining, and I have yet to see it returned.
> >
> > Another guy said his lens had fungus in it.  It was off brand and
> cheap... at first I said return it, then changed my mind and just refunded
> him all his money, he got to keep the lens free.  ( More $$$ to pay the
> return postage than give him the lens).  Did the lens really have fungus?
> I doubt it, but I did not do a good inspection....  I do not KNOW for sure.
> >
> > I am a trusting person.  I expect others are as trustworthy.  ( Read
> that last sentence as I am stoopidly trusting)
> >
> > I sold a camera without the AC charger.  I went out and bought one new,
> and sent it to him at no additional cost.  Then I got a complaint that the
> AC adapter I bought and shipped to him never arrived.  I checked (USPS
> Tracking) and it was delivered to his mail box.  The guy said that was
> strange and that he had gone out and bought a new one anyway.  He responded
> but stopped complaining.
> >
> > Then a lady bought a lens.  After she bought it, started complaining
> about the condition, the price, got her hubby involved, and kept
> complaining, the defects were changing all the time........  It all stopped
> when I told her to send it back.
> >
> > EBay has a policy that the buyer may return anything they want. Period.
> For any reason including.... I found a better price.  You can not beat
> this.  EBay will back the buyer.  So the buyers' unsaid threat is always
> that if you do not negotiate, you are going to get the item back.  And that
> you as the seller, do not want the item back.......
> >
> > What is the common thread?.... there were COMPLAINTS, but no one asked
> specifically to return the item.   They just complained. AND when I offered
> to take the item back and refund them, the complaints stopped.
> >
> > I went a looking for eBay scams for stuff shipped... and there it
> was..... One ( reported and documented) purpose of making a complaint and
> not asking for a return of the goods is to get a partial refund, and
> therefore lower the price that they paid, even though it was an auction and
> THEY set  the selling price.
> >
> > You may not go along with this, and may claim that the buyers had the
> RIGHT to complain, and may have been truthful in their complaint, but when
> selling to an unknown buyer, you MUST remain suspicious.
> >
> > So you are going to sell something on eBay and want to protect yourself
> against this kind of nonsense, how do you do it?  The answer was also
> looked up.... You immediately offer to have the item returned.  If the
> complaint is true, you get the item back for inspection and resale. (
> keeping in mind that if eBay gets involved, they will force you to take it
> back anyway.)  If the complaint is a scam, the buyer complaint goes away
> with the return offer ( Playing chicken means he blinked first) .  They
> keep the item that they paid for and received.  One seller claimed that he
> gets 1-2-3 complaints a month, and the actual return rate was 1 item per
> YEAR.
> >
> > SO the message is.... sell somewhere where you can trust the buyer or
> just say....
> >
> > "I am sorry your purchase did not meet your expectations.  Please feel
> free to return it to me."
> >
> > I'm betting the complaint will go away.......
> >
> > --
> > Frank Filippone BMWRed735i@g...
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
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> > aficionados, both collectors and users, to discuss the history, usage,
> > value, location, availability, collectibility, and restoration of
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> >
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> > https://oldtools.swingleydev.com/mailman/listinfo/oldtools
> >
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> > https://swingleydev.com/archive/faq.html
> >
> > OldTools archive: https://swingleydev.com/ot/
> >
> > OldTools@s...
>
> --
Frank Filippone
BMWRed735i@g...
271014 "Andrew B." <andrew.bouland@g...> 2020‑05‑26 Re: Selling on eBay... Experiences
Frank wrote a medium length, well though out statement on the travails of
selling on *bay

> ... clipped ....
Thanks for the warnings.  I absolutely agree that eBay definitely takes the
buyer's side, no questions, so when I have had any issues, I don't even
quibble.  If the item is worth having returned, I'll ask for it back,
otherwise I'll offer a discount/refund depending on what seems best for
all.  The few times I've received complaints, it never struck me as a scam
and truly seemed fault of mine for missing a flaw.

On the selling note, if anyone remembers the old "Daddy has a saw problem"
posts from long ago, I think I'd fit that description for saws, braces,
planes and chisels most notably.  I've thankfully been able to work from
home through all of the lockdown but with the extra time at home without
the commute and no estate sales to go to I have been catching up on a lot
of 'round to it' culling and selling of excess tools on the bay.
Thankfully, have not had any similar experiences with complaints but will
be wary if I do.

I started selling excess stuff through a booth in an antique mall a few
years ago and hadn't sold much online for quite some time.  The antique
mall is good for large items that don't ship well and small items that no
one would pay shipping on but I've found that Stanley planes in nice
condition do not sell well for the prices I wanted and so I've just been
setting those aside.  Here recently, have found on the bay that planes have
overall been doing well, especially for the larger sizes.  Common 3 and 4
sized have been a little under what I might have expected but still doing
fine compared to the yardsale prices I got them for.  I only seem to be
able to clean one or two planes a week but over the course of the last two
months it's putting a pleasing dent in the backlog.

Brace drills still seem to do OK and I've had a few surprises with some of
the less common ones I've listed.  Throwing a few bits in with the listing
seems to help.  Have almost depleted the pile of "excess" braces although
the "keeper" pile probably needs some scrutiny.

Haven't tried getting rid of any saws yet.  If anyone has any tips for
where to find suitable boxes to ship I'm all ears.  Would have torn into
the stash but still can't come up with a good option here that doesn't
involve making something from a much larger box.

Other random tools seem about the same as I ever remembered.  Push drills
do well if all the bits are there and are barely worth the time if they
aren't.  Saw sharpening stuff is still OK if it's got a recognizable name
but if not is not going to get a whole lot.  Box lots of pliers don't seem
to do much better than yardsale prices which will hopefully dissuade me
from buying anymore once things start getting back to normal.  Drawknives
in decent shape still have plenty of demand if you can buy them right.
Unfortunately most that I have that can go away are missing a handle(s) and
I still haven't mastered the art of making replacements.

Last week I made the major mistake of getting all of the chisels out and
laid them all out in one place to pull things that were not worth the time
or that I had too many of.  SWMBO thankfully didn't comment on them if she
saw them.  Have now got a pile that need to be prepped to sell but looking
at completed items, seems like chisel prices may not be too promising for
anything that isn't in spectacular shape.  Hoping I will keep the momentum
up and find out one way or another.  Will be nice to get some of the shop
space back regardless.  If I keep it up, maybe I'll make enough room to get
the lathe back up and running and fix that drawknife problem once and for
all.

Take care all,
Andrew

Recent Bios FAQ