A new eBay abuse

[fazool]

I won't call it a "scam" but it kinda is.

Someone already posted something about this but I wanted to give more specifics.

I think it's best explained with an example:

I sell an item and include shipping which is worth $50.
If something is wrong I reimburse the price and I pay shipping to get it back to me. So I am out $100 for there and back shipping costs.

A buyer buys an item then messages me there is something {insert vague claim here} wrong. They say they will return the item or I can just give them $75 partial refund and they will "fix" it on their end.

Of course a seller is screwed because they will lose $100 otherwise - it's basically like eBay extortion.

I had a buyer just try this with me and I proved he was lying to which he immediately said "Oh OK" and then left me a glowingly positive review.

[Glennwillow]

Interesting.....

Thanks for this Fazool!

- Glenn

[Simon Fay]

ALWAYS select "Returns allowed". Then you can specify the timeframe for which returns are allowed and that the buyer has to pay for return shipping. If you put down that you don't accept returns -- the buyer can still return the item if they say the listing wasn't properly described. Also, you are then liable for return shipping.

[Fogducker]

I pretty much have ebay in my rear view mirror as far as selling goes.

I buy small items (Batteries, dvd's) but otherwise the seller has to have a wide track that is backed up by feed back.

Fog

[rllink]

Originally Posted by Fogducker

I pretty much have ebay in my rear view mirror as far as selling goes.

I buy small items (Batteries, dvd's) but otherwise the seller has to have a wide track that is backed up by feed back.

Fog

I have too. It isn't just ebay, it seems the practice has become pretty much common these days. To the point, depending which side you are on, it isn't even thought of as a scam, it is the way business is done. I mean, people right here post pictures of perceived imperfections and ask us all his much we think they can ask for. Some of them are real concerns, but a lot of them I think they are just looking for validation. But all the platforms these days encourage the practice.

[rmp]

eBay is just getting BAD..

Never been a big user of the site, sold a few things, but the more I read stuff like this...

no idea how they can maintain a business with so many different ways sellers
(who eBay needs to survive) can get screwed. Sheesh!

[buddyhu]

Originally Posted by Simon Fay

ALWAYS select "Returns allowed". Then you can specify the timeframe for which returns are allowed and that the buyer has to pay for return shipping. If you put down that you don't accept returns -- the buyer can still return the item if they say the listing wasn't properly described. Also, you are then liable for return shipping.

This is a good tip for those that want (or need) to use eBay.

Last time I sold something on eBay (a Lladro figurine that my wife inherited from her mother, and no longer wanted), the buyer received it and claimed that the 8 pictures were an inaccurate representation (even though the figurine had no damage whatsoever....the only thing I could imagine was that she felt the distortion that was the result of the iPhone camera somehow made the item look different, or failed to render the colors perfectly...or that she intended to scam me).

Rather than pay for return shipping (half the value of the item), and re-list it, I gave it away. But I no longer regard eBay as a way to get things out of our basement and into the hands of someone who might enjoy them, and to give me a bit of an incentive for cleaning the basement by making some money to pay for lunch while doing all the work. EBay is just another layer of bother, and more time devoted to tasks that aren't very rewarding, in and of themselves.