FUBAR

General Discussion
#1

Funny thing to say, but I’m not much of an eBay user.

I’ve bought and sold tons of stuff on Kijiji and elsewhere without problems. I figured it’s time to pop the cherry and try it, by selling my old B7 RS4 wheel (replaced it recently with a nice FBSW). So I place an ad as Buy-It-Now, and 7 days later I have a buyer ($550 by the way). I email the buyer and he sends me his phone number and info, etc and I send him an eBay invoice. We converse about what car he’s going to install it on and I confirm the airbag is included to a question he sends.

Having read in eBay that funds are withheld for several days (since I have 0% rating), I figure OK, no money appears yet, but I’ll ship it.

Yes I know, you master eBay users are probably saying to yourself “WTF. Are you stupid? NO, don’t ship it yet, you dumbass”. But I go head and ship it (UPS), just to be sure I wouldn’t screw up my first transaction.

Skip ahead two days later, and I suddenly receive an email from the buyer saying he’s found another wheel and says “Sorry”.

It’s at this point I realize I’ve made a major miscalculation and am now in grave danger of losing both my money and wheel. Knowing the buyer is about to receive the wheel any minute, I fire off an email providing a link to Buyer rules on eBay. I also advise he has until midnight to pay, else I’ll take it to eBay Resolution plus I retain the option to take him to court. I’m very concerned he will just keep the wheel and say fuck you - “possession is 9/10 of the law”.

Next day, I log into Paypal and am a little surprised to see the full amount in my account.

I check my email and the buyer has written: “I just got a wheel today and pay for it so… not nice”. He also include’s a cool icon of a fist, business end pointing towards me.

I hate eBay.

#2

I will start off by saying that I have never sold anything on ebay so excuse me if I’m a little off, but if you ask me, that is totally that other dudes fault. He is the one who changed his mind and it bit him in the ass. I don’t see why you should be held responsible for that. If it was me I would just tell him that you would be happy to refund his money if he ships it back on his own dime.

#3

Haha you shipped it? Wow.

#4

eBay is a doubled edged sword. Often times sellers get shafted by eBay because they protect the buyers over the sellers.

#5

it’s funny how it works. The sellers pay the fees and keep the place running.

It makes sense though because if a buyer doesn’t feel protected, he won’t buy. Goes both ways.

I have never really had a problem. I have filed probably 10 claims on ebay over the years (paypal) as a buyer and been protected everytime. I was also protected by paypal as a seller from a couple of scammers. I used to sell lots of shit on there. Haven’t bothered in years.

#6

Best you don’t start back unless you’re interested in 10%+ final value fees.

#7

I remember the one time I got kinda screwed by the eBay system. It wasn’t a big loss but it showed how eBay siding with the buyer can be problematic.

I was selling a 3D BluRay copy of Avatar that I’d received free with a TV I’d bought. (and wow is that TV ever a story on it’s own) That movie was worth over $100 so it was kinda neat. Only my buyer radio’d back that the SOUND on the disc didn’t work. We talked it over and I ascertained that it was an elderly gentleman who’d hired geek squad to install his home theater. So I know his opinion that the sound doesn’t work is of suspect reliability.
I explained that these discs get files saved on them in mass production and it’s essentially impossible for a disc to have something wrong with it’s audio. I suggested he have someone help with his home theater’s settings. No good; he wanted out of the transaction. So I told him he had to mail me back the disc. He did so. I then issued a transaction cancellation form to get my final value fee credited back. He declined it thinking that meant he wouldn’t get his money back. I attempted to explain that he was mistaken; he was getting all his money from the transaction back. This was just for me to get back what eBay charged me. No good. He was just an obtuse old fucker who didn’t at any point listen to what I had to say about anything even though I was the learned one of the two of us.

So I mentioned I had the disc back. I tested the sound. Worked. So I sold it over again and in the end I paid two final value fees on the sale of one item. Boo Hoo. But it was an annoyance being powerless in the eyes of eBay and paypal when dealing with an inept old coot.

#8

Yeah it doesn’t matter if you have the add selected to say “No Returns” if the customer starts a claim you are shit out of luck. We have had customers LIE to us and apologize for the lie in the same email chain through eBay and they STILL won the claim.

#9

For the most part, ebay has done a spectacular job finding buyers that would have been very difficult to locate otherwise.

Similar to thenewBruno, the only issues I’ve had are with uneducated buyers who didn’t really know what they were buying, or didn’t know how to use it.

That said, I treat ebay as found money. Just a hobby to realize value on stuff that would otherwise be sitting around in my house. PS3 games, unused electronics, miscellaneous crap that somebody somewhere wants…

#10

I know. I still can’t believe this transaction “worked”. Major brain fart.

#11

This is an example of how things can go wrong for reasons beyond your control. It’s exactly why I’m still a little freaked out the wheel sold. And I agree it was the buyer’s fault - too late to back out but I fucked myself royally by shipping too soon. Live and learn.
I won’t give up on eBay yet but I can’t see myself being a power user any time soon…

#12

I guess my buyer could still file a claim against me… what’s the time limit to file a return claim?