Ebay etiquette
Discussion
Jimboka said:
From the EBay site:-
Timing is important
If you don't receive payment, you can open an unpaid item case in the Resolution Centre as early as 2 days or up until 32 days after the listing ended.
This is clincher for me. The longer these things drag on, the more likely the seller will forget all about the unpaid sale and associated ebay fees.Timing is important
If you don't receive payment, you can open an unpaid item case in the Resolution Centre as early as 2 days or up until 32 days after the listing ended.
Now imagine that a seller lists 50-100 items per month and also holds down a full time job. Reporting non-payers to ebay ASAP when still fresh in the seller's mind makes perfect sense.
The 'up to 32 days' bit is the issue. By the time you see the invoice from ebay, it's usually too late to contest a fee that charged because of a hoax bidder.
Ebay etiquette? Try the last 3 cases against me.
1. Sold vintage lego kit. Downloaded instructions and built to these. Case opened against me as a lego website, which i was not aware of, listed all of the parts which came with the original box and weren't listed on the instructions i used. Contacted buyer, sent off parts (which i luckily had in other kits) and all resolved amicably.
2. Sold some table lamps - packaged with loads of "FRAGILE" tape and wrote "THIS WAY UP" all over the box. Buyer claimed non delivery. Courier tracking stated left in porch of house. God knows how they missed it. Claim cancelled - but not contact from buyer to apologise or nothing...
3. Real bobby dazzler this one. I had a bundle of toys up for sale at £60 starting price. Original auction came and went and then i was contacted asking if i would sell part of the bundle. Agreed a price and sorted it all out. I'd relisted the original listing so as soon as i received payment for the items, i amended the listing and reduced the starting price to £35. My revised listing stated at the top of the listing that i didn't include the sold items, that i'd reduced the price accordingly and that no refunds would be given if this was the reason for the refund being requested. Another item (from the original listing) stated that i couldn't find the adaptor for a night light and that if i couldn't find it, buyers should be aware they may receive the night light with no adaptor.
I originally has photos of each toy on the listing as well as a photo of the full bundle so once some items had sold, i removed the individual photos but left the "bundle" photo to show them all together.
Buyer bid on the items on the last day but well after the amendments and hours before the listing ended and they won it with a second bid. It took them 4 days to pay for the item and in between, i'd contacted the buyer and reduced the postage and packaging as i'd managed to minimise the box due to the items previously sold not being there.
All good so far.
Buyer received item and opened a case stating "not as described" and asking why some items (the ones noted on the update as being already sold) as well as the adaptor not being present. Contacted them stating they should have read the listing and this started 9 days of contact between us with the buyer stating they'd been conned and misled (!) and asking for a full or partial refund and myself refusing. They also admitted that they hadn't read the listing properly in on of the messages.
I contacted the buyer when the case could be escalated asking them to do so as we were getting nowhere. They didn't do that so i did the following day. The advisor from the resolution centre was frankly the most useless "customer service" person i have ever spoken to. All ends up is that they settled the case in favour of the buyer as i hadn't met the buyers expectations - despite specifically and explicitly stating what they were bidding on.
Rather bizarrely, the buyer contacted me a day later and stated that as they were going away for a month, they wouldn't be sending the item back and the case could be closed!!!!
I was hugely sceptical that i'd get a paypal chargeback against me but after speaking with a rather nice chap from the resolution centre, the case was settles in my favour and closed for good.
All in all a really strange experience and after reading Ebay forums, it would seem that Ebay is now set up to protect the buyer at all costs - even to the cost of common sense. Etiquette? Seems to be to screw over your buyer / seller at all costs.
1. Sold vintage lego kit. Downloaded instructions and built to these. Case opened against me as a lego website, which i was not aware of, listed all of the parts which came with the original box and weren't listed on the instructions i used. Contacted buyer, sent off parts (which i luckily had in other kits) and all resolved amicably.
2. Sold some table lamps - packaged with loads of "FRAGILE" tape and wrote "THIS WAY UP" all over the box. Buyer claimed non delivery. Courier tracking stated left in porch of house. God knows how they missed it. Claim cancelled - but not contact from buyer to apologise or nothing...
3. Real bobby dazzler this one. I had a bundle of toys up for sale at £60 starting price. Original auction came and went and then i was contacted asking if i would sell part of the bundle. Agreed a price and sorted it all out. I'd relisted the original listing so as soon as i received payment for the items, i amended the listing and reduced the starting price to £35. My revised listing stated at the top of the listing that i didn't include the sold items, that i'd reduced the price accordingly and that no refunds would be given if this was the reason for the refund being requested. Another item (from the original listing) stated that i couldn't find the adaptor for a night light and that if i couldn't find it, buyers should be aware they may receive the night light with no adaptor.
I originally has photos of each toy on the listing as well as a photo of the full bundle so once some items had sold, i removed the individual photos but left the "bundle" photo to show them all together.
Buyer bid on the items on the last day but well after the amendments and hours before the listing ended and they won it with a second bid. It took them 4 days to pay for the item and in between, i'd contacted the buyer and reduced the postage and packaging as i'd managed to minimise the box due to the items previously sold not being there.
All good so far.
Buyer received item and opened a case stating "not as described" and asking why some items (the ones noted on the update as being already sold) as well as the adaptor not being present. Contacted them stating they should have read the listing and this started 9 days of contact between us with the buyer stating they'd been conned and misled (!) and asking for a full or partial refund and myself refusing. They also admitted that they hadn't read the listing properly in on of the messages.
I contacted the buyer when the case could be escalated asking them to do so as we were getting nowhere. They didn't do that so i did the following day. The advisor from the resolution centre was frankly the most useless "customer service" person i have ever spoken to. All ends up is that they settled the case in favour of the buyer as i hadn't met the buyers expectations - despite specifically and explicitly stating what they were bidding on.
Rather bizarrely, the buyer contacted me a day later and stated that as they were going away for a month, they wouldn't be sending the item back and the case could be closed!!!!
I was hugely sceptical that i'd get a paypal chargeback against me but after speaking with a rather nice chap from the resolution centre, the case was settles in my favour and closed for good.
All in all a really strange experience and after reading Ebay forums, it would seem that Ebay is now set up to protect the buyer at all costs - even to the cost of common sense. Etiquette? Seems to be to screw over your buyer / seller at all costs.
On the Other side, whats reasonable in terms of sending something?
I sold an item last Saturday. I put on the listing that it would usually be sent within three working days, with a plan to send it on Tuesday. For a variety of reasons I couldn't send it until first thing Thursday morning. I emailed the buyer late Wednesday evening to apologise, and let him know what things had been late, and that I would send a tracking respons Thurs am (which I did).
Friday (a bank holiday), he emails a stroppy messaged demanding his money back, as the item hasn't been delivered. I reply letthing him know that i'll refund all his money on Tuesday if there hasn't been an attempted delivery by then.
I screwed up by being a day later than expected (but sometimes things happen in life that you can't avoid).
Would you have refunded the money, was he reasonable to be stroppy?
I sold an item last Saturday. I put on the listing that it would usually be sent within three working days, with a plan to send it on Tuesday. For a variety of reasons I couldn't send it until first thing Thursday morning. I emailed the buyer late Wednesday evening to apologise, and let him know what things had been late, and that I would send a tracking respons Thurs am (which I did).
Friday (a bank holiday), he emails a stroppy messaged demanding his money back, as the item hasn't been delivered. I reply letthing him know that i'll refund all his money on Tuesday if there hasn't been an attempted delivery by then.
I screwed up by being a day later than expected (but sometimes things happen in life that you can't avoid).
Would you have refunded the money, was he reasonable to be stroppy?
In terms of postage/shipping, i would argue that Easter should be treated in the same way as Xmas (2 bank holidays). Ordering something 4 working days before a 4 day bank holiday is possibly a bad idea if it is urgent. The buyer knows when easter is and should accept the possibility that the item might arrive after the upcoming 4-day bank holiday weekend.
H22observer said:
The Moose said:
Don't lose sight of the fact that the buyer is your customer. Even in a C2C transaction, as a seller, you're not the customer.
People take a few days to pay. It's not rude, breaking the rules or anything like that. Just have a little patience.
it's not really the same thing though. The winning bidder is usually getting a bargain in some way and the seller is selling the item for way below market price. Possibly selling at a huge loss after paying ebay and paypal fees. The buyer/seller relationship changes when there is zero profit in the transaction imo.People take a few days to pay. It's not rude, breaking the rules or anything like that. Just have a little patience.
My expectation of customer service varies depending on the nature and cost of the product.
The higher the profit margin, the higher the expectation of service. I wouldn't expect identical levels of service when buying a newspaper or a tank of petrol compared to buying a brand new car, an expensive suit or a watch. It's just not the same thing.
If you're buying something for thousands of pounds or from a business on ebay, then maybe i can see your point.
The Moose said:
Then that's where you're going wrong. The buyer, even in a C2C sale is still the customer. Whilst they MAY be getting a bit of a deal, so is the seller - a few quid for some tat that would probably go in the bin...remember advertising stuff for sale in the local paper and getting bugger all for it?.
1. I don't sell 'tat'. *2. I'm not 'going wrong' anywhere. All of my paying customers are happy and have left positive feedback. The only unhappy customers are the hoax bidders & non-payers. I have no idea where you got the idea that i was 'going wrong'.
- Unless nearly new Xbox One games & Game Of Thrones - Season 3 on Bluray are considered tat these days.
I have just sold an item on ebay. Auction ended yesterday at 4pm. No communication or payment yet. I have sent a very polite message requesting payment asap. I'm giving the 'buyer' until wednesday midnight to reply or pay, which i think is reasonable.
If i receive no communication or payment, i'll report it to ebay and get a fee credit.
If i receive no communication or payment, i'll report it to ebay and get a fee credit.
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