ebay feed back

It's interesting to read how much experiences with eBay can vary. I've had over 300 transactions (mostly buying but some recent selling) on eBay since late 1999 and I've only been ripped off once (by someone in Texas selling "Steak House" steak knife sets for $10). Generally speaking, I've been well satistifed by the items I've purchased on eBay (including an Atlas 12" lathe for $1,250), and have probably spent close to $5,000 there. (By contrast, I've sold about $2,000 worth of items on eBay, and still retain a 100% positive feedback rating.)

I believe the eBay feedback system works very well. In fact, I judge whether to ship something in advance of payment receipt based on the buyers feedback history, and I will never purchase anything from somone with excessive negative feedback.

Sure, some things I've purchased on eBay turned out to be be real junk, mainly because I read things into the item condition that I shouldn't have done. Still, over the past 5 years eBay for me has been a positive experience, and it is the first place I look for something that I need (or want).

The guidlines I follow are simple:

1. Primarily buy from private sellers and not from businesses.
2. Think carefully about any seller listing themselves as a "Power Seller". Most of these sellers offer distressed merchandise that hasn't found a market or is in some way inferior or defective.
3. Before placing a bid, review the seller's feedback. It tells a story about their past performance and customer satisfaction.
4. As a seller, don't ship to anyone in advance of payment who has less than 25 positive feedbacks and no negatives, and then only if you can absorb the loss if the buyer turns out to be a deadbeat (this has not happened to me in 5 years).
5. Emails from the seller or buyer reveal a great deal. Read carefully!

Hope this info helps someone.

Also, please stop knocking eBay. It is a very valuable resource for us little guys and ordinary people!

Harry C.

p.s. If you haven't considered selling something on eBay, I'd urge you to give it a try -- on certain items you may have surprising results. Here's a true story based on my experience: About 6-months ago I was about to trash two old Infocom computer games that dated back to the

1980s. I had purchased them for my children, but the boxes had never even been opened. I had expect to receive, at best, $15 for the pair, but it turned out that they were very collectable to some game enthusiasts, and the final bid was in excess of $1,000 which came close to paying the total cost of my Atlas lathe! (I call this beginner's luck, since everything else I've sold since has sold for $5 to $50.)

Once, I had a terrible seller "extort" good feedback from me, by holding a refund on a shady deal until I left him "positive" feedback!!!

So I clicked the "Positive" box, but left a very negative comment. (even still, I felt like taking a shower after clicking the Submit button-- how aptly named is that button!)

Only then did it occur to me that I probably wasn't the first joe this guy had done this to, and sure enough, reading his feedback carefully revealed a lot of negative comments that were marked "positive".

The moral is: Don't assume that a "Positive" feedback rating means it! Read, read, read. And if you see ANY clearly negative comments labled as positive-- run away.

If any seller has less than a 99% positive rating, you have got to take the time to read the comments!!!

--Max

I've bought from businesses and had very good transactions.

Not been my experience at all.

This I agree with 100%

Why ship in advance of payment. I don't understand why anyone would do this. And I wouldn't expect anyone to do it for me.

Yup, I agree again 100%

You are right. EBay is not the culprit here, but rather people who abuse the system and other people. I do agree with a previous poster who said that the length of feedback allowed is not sufficient to fully explain what happened. Some creative writing and editing is required sometimes. No mater what eBay provides as a system of feedback, there will be those that find loopholes or otherwise don't use it as intended.

I have a score of 106 with only one negative from 127 transactions. About the one negative I knew I was taking a chance because of prior negative feedback, but he had what I wanted and the money wasn't that big a deal. I finally did get what I bought from him, but not without some hassles. He has since made his feedback private and changed his eBay ID. Both done to try to hide his misdealings in the past no doubt. I've bought two items that weren't up to the description the seller put on the auctions. I returned both and received refunds including shipping. One was a power tool that simply didn't work when plugged in. The other was a tool that had a key component that was from a different size of the same tool which made it useless.

Lane

John Lovallo sez: > Harold, it's probably time to stop pushing little pin's into that Florida

I suspect Harold will keep on sticking those pins until someone squeals loudly! More power to you Harold and best wishes for a favorable resolution. BTW, I trust you gave them *negative feedback*. Do you know if it scared them very much? Were you scared in turn when you got negative feedback? Gimme a break! This whole diatribe on Ebay feedback is walkin' bullshit! All the posters' comments re. negative feedback, this... positive feedback, that ... mmmmnnn, sometimes *neutral feedback*, counting feedbacks, how to manipulate Ebay, ad nauseum, comprises the dumbest thread I've seen in a long time. I'm sorry I followed it this far. Bye!

Bob Swinney

Names or user ID used on ebay ?

Enquiring minds want to know.

Best Regards Tom.

I rarely buy from business except for commodity items like ink jet and laser cartridges. Still, I do occasionally buy from a business as well. Still, don't expect a bargain from these guys.

Take a close look at the items being offered (I won't even call their offerings auctions). Consider the source of these items and their quality. When buying from these guys you generally get exactly what you pay for, and no more, which will satisfy some of the less discriminating buyers wants. Still, most people have in the past turned to eBay as a means to purchase known, quality, name brand products at auction prices. You won't find this the case with any of the "Power Sellers" of which I am currently aware, since most offer only merchandise that they've purchased from one of the wholesale catalogs of distressed and surplus merchandise.

As a small, occasional seller I do it because (1) speeds completion of the transaction enormously, (2) exposes you to very little risk if you've done your homework and checked out the guys feedback including his feedback comments, (3) it enhances buyer/seller goodwill enormously (which is important to sellers and buyers (half of my positive feedback doesn't show up in my score because of repeat business with the same people doesn't count in the score), (4) Because as in business, you can generally trust a buyer who has a substantial positive feedback record without JUSTIFIED negatives. The eBay feedback history of a buyer (if you bother to read the comments) provides almost as much insight into the buyer's integrity as would his D&B report in a conventional business venue -- sometimes more. In sort, it's simply the way real business works!

Lane, the fact that that seller made his feedback private say a great deal about him. It should be a given that you never do business with people like this unless it is a face to face transaction, just like drug dealers do! :-)

Other tips I would offer to eBay newbies, take a look at the date when a seller registered his CURRENT name on eBay. As Lane suggests, there is usually a reason why a seller would want to abandon his feedback history on eBay and start fresh -- I personally would worry about doing business with these guys.

Beyond that, never deal with a seller who insists on payment by money order and who will not accept Paypal or personal checks held subject to bank clearance. Money orders leave a very difficult to track audit trail, and beware of the sellers who require payment via this method. While some are legitimate, this is the prime method employed by the rip-off artists. If you pay my money order and the seller rips you off, the bottom line is that you're totally screwed and should have known better!

I guess that as a seller I have been lucky, although I do always provide a photo of the item and as close to as accurate description of it as I can muster up. (I have had one neutral, from a woman that purchased a sealed in box Cabbage Patch doll from 1984, then complained that it "smelled like smoke". Strange comment, since no one here smokes. Since it was still sealed in its original package, I have no idea of how it smelled except it was probably a little musty after

20 years sealed in a box, and needed to be aired out for a day or two. Still, this is the type of response that sellers must deal with.) For what it's worth, I swore on that day to sell only high-tech hardware/software and machine tool items from that time on.

Again, how my 5-years buying and selling experience on eBay helps at least someone.

Harry C.

I think eBay should can private feedback. I've bought one or two things from sellers with it, and had winning bids from several buyers. The stuff I bought was bad, the guys who won my auctions were screwballs.

I have to disagree with this. Most of the stuff I've bought and probably half the stuff I've sold has been by money orders. I also take checks, but most folks pay by MO and that's how I prefer to pay. Checks slow things down waiting to clear, and from outside the country you never know if it's valid in the US. PayPal has its own set of problems, some making it easy to get screwed over if someone files a complaint.

GTO(John)

This happens with Harleys also, same scenario. What they do is harvest someone's(with say 109 positives) account and then post a bike for sale. Most times the pictures of the bikes for sale are from somebody elses past auction.

Tom

On Tue, 28 Sep 2004 08:20:37 -0700, Grant Erwin vaguely proposed a theory ......and in reply I say!:

remove ns from my header address to reply via email

Basically everybody wishes that Ebay gave a double damn about _any_ part of the process that it makes its huge miney from..

***************************************************** I know I am wrong about just about everything. So I am not going to listen when I am told I am wrong about the things I know I am right about.

On Tue, 28 Sep 2004 18:43:29 GMT, snipped-for-privacy@esper.com (Dave Mundt) vaguely proposed a theory ......and in reply I say!:

remove ns from my header address to reply via email

Whan I left negative feedback for a vendor (who of course waited and negd me as well) I sent them an email telling them I was going to bag them. no swearing etc, just a strong email.

Ebay's reactiuon was to "warn" me that my email was "unwanted" and contravened their policies.

I posted to the forums, _with_ swearing (I said it was bullshit) and had the posting removed because it contravened policies.

But I was severely ripped off on new stock. THAT did not appear to contravene policies.

***************************************************** I know I am wrong about just about everything. So I am not going to listen when I am told I am wrong about the things I know I am right about.

Always the gentleman, Mark!

Very nice to hear from you, and refreshing to know that there are still those with principles amongst us.

Are you sure this Kink guy has an education? If so, he certainly hides it well. I'm not sure I've ever encountered anyone with such apparent low moral values. Ah, well! No matter. I will no longer be reading his dribble.

Harold

Thanks for posting the link. I stand by it, and my specific advice to the Victim Vordos. Perhaps you and he will someday see the wisdom of it. Consider Prilosec and Benadryl in the meantime.

Richard J Kinch sez:

"... Consider Prilosec and Benadryl in the meantime..."

Hmmmnnnn, an ordinary poster on RCM is now recommending medical treatment. I suppose we will have to refer to him as Dr. Dick in the future.

Bob Sw>

Waggish mockery when the sick need healing? Truth weakly correlates to credentials, which become a crutch for those who can't think critically. Especially in newsgroups. You don't need an MD degree to preach the wonders of lithium [metal content].

Great link Richard. Thanks for taking the time to create it!

Harry C.

Chuckle! Figures, a loud mouth with plenty of (piss poor) advise for everyone, but won't use it himself, as badly as he needs it.

I think I figured out what the problem is, Bob. Dr. Dick Kink isn't getting any blood to his brain.

Harold

After three or more years of satisfactory buying hundreds of items (and a little selling too) on eBay I think I finally got ripped off, and it was on a piece of art goods, just like your Susan's.

Fortunately my experience was way down at the $20 level, and I'll forget it about as fast as I will some restaurant dish that didn't taste as good as SWMBO or I might have liked.

Another of my arcane hobbies (for over 40 years now.) is collecting carved asian ivory pieces, and sometimes carefully restoring them if they need it.

Come to think of it, I used my lathe just last week to freehand turn an ivory stopper and dipper for a little 2 inch tall carved ivory snuff bottle missing its original one. I snagged the bottle on eBay a short time ago. It has the twelve animals of the chinese zodiac carved on it. (2004 is the year of the Monkey). Here 'tis,

************************************************** The seller of eBay item No. 2268695812 described it as a "carved ivory figure". As is my standard practice I questioned the seller before bidding on it, asking them to warrant that the item was carved from genuine solid elephant or mastedon ivory. The seller replied that it WAS ivory.

I bid, won the auction, and mailed the buyer my check, the only form of payment they accepted. The seller waited two weeks for my check to clear before shipping.

When the item arrived I could tell immediately that it was a molded polyester resin fake but I gave it the "red hot needle test" which proved it was just a piece of "white s**te".

Polyester resin with ivory colored filler mixed in is sometimes described as "mandarin ivory", but there's no real ivory in it. If you are considering buying an ivory handled knife, a pistol with ivory grips or something else with "ivory" on it, the hot needle test will help you distinguish ivory (or bone) from plastics. The point of a safety pin heated red hot over a match will plastic and leave a tiny raised crater accompanied by a burnt smell. Ivory or bone will at most show just a pinprick visible under magnification.

Anyway, I returned the piece the same day I received it and requested a refund of everything I'd paid, including even my return postage. Judging from the negative feedback which has started piling up for this relatively new eBay seller I think my chances of receiving a refund are two; Slim and none. Slim left town the same day my check cleared my bank.

Jeff

Hmmm where did it go?

Anyhow , I got burned by a guy named Skip once. I can't recall how I hunted down where he lived and the phone # there, but I called up and his dad said he signed up for the service and was gone. I told his dad that he sure named him right and hung up. If I knew the information age was coming I would have made sure I remembered his last name.

I have a full name of a very special person that needs looking up someday. We may all have it coming and also it just happens , but this guy needs some help.

That reminds me ! I got an expensive BLT this morning and got to the job and they didn't 8&^%#^%$#%$ing toast the bread ! Hmmm where's that phone #.