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-   -   The EBay thread. (http://cellar.org/showthread.php?t=30894)

glatt 05-25-2015 09:50 AM

I'm out about $60 on shipping and eBay fees, plus a $250 player. So I'd be eating $310 to give him a full refund. $60 of that is real money.

I think he's being honest, btw.

I'm going to offer to go halfsies on our actual losses, which would mean sending him about $120.

Undertoad 05-25-2015 10:35 AM

If there is an official method/direction of eBay problem resolution, you should go that route, I would expect?

Undertoad 05-25-2015 10:36 AM

Like, did he go through the resolution center to say what happened, or did he just contact you directly? He could very well accept money from you and then open a problem against you...

Gravdigr 05-25-2015 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glatt (Post 929321)
I'm out about $60 on shipping and eBay fees, plus a $250 player. So I'd be eating $310 to give him a full refund. $60 of that is real money.

I think he's being honest, btw.

I'm going to offer to go halfsies on our actual losses, which would mean sending him about $120.

That's reasonable. If he's on the up & up he should go for that.

glatt 05-25-2015 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Undertoad (Post 929331)
Like, did he go through the resolution center to say what happened, or did he just contact you directly? He could very well accept money from you and then open a problem against you...

Very good points. My brief poking around leads me to believe it would be a slam dunk win for me with eBay. I have proof it was delivered.

But I need to research this more.

glatt 05-25-2015 11:21 AM

And according to this page at eBay, I win. I have proof it was delivered. So any money I give him is because I'm a nice guy.

And crunching the numbers:
Auction total was for $280.77 (which includes shipping)
Paypal took $8.44 and sent me a payment for $272.33
Ebay will take 10% and after I pay I'll have $244.25
Shipping was $31.77 so we're down to $212.48

If I go halfsies with him, he'll get back $106.24 of his $280.77

And I'll get $106.24 for my troubles.

Hopefully a neighbor took it in for him so it wouldn't get stolen and it will still turn up.

If he gives me negative feedback, I'll still have 96.9% positive feedback.

sexobon 05-25-2015 01:12 PM

I've seen eBay listings containing seller statements saying that they are not responsible for lost shipments; but, will follow up with the carrier as best they can.

This provides for a good rebuttal in the event of negative feedback. The seller can state that the buyer knew the policy and made the purchase anyway so there's no foul.

BTW, If a seller's rating is below 99.7%, I read the negative and neutral feedbacks. If the seller hasn't successfully rebutted them and done so in a professional tone, I don't buy from that person.

YMMV and perhaps it would be a good subject for a Cellar poll: What percentage of eBay seller positive feedback is your threshold before becoming wary of buying? 100%, 99.9, 99.8, 99.7, 99.6, 99.5, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 90, 85, 80, 75, I throw caution to the wind.

Undertoad 05-25-2015 08:16 PM

The pawn shop is 99.3%. That is a good rating for a pawn shop, because pawn shop items do often have issues that could not be found. A first-hand seller knows everything that's wrong with an item, but a second-hand seller can often only know that it switches on and all the controls are not stuck. Alan is a good packer of items and manages everything very efficiently. I'm sure that's about the best possible in his situation.

The tweaker was running a 98 for a while, he had to learn a few things about how to pack and how to manage the operation. He's actually at 99.2 right now.

gvidas 05-25-2015 09:48 PM

Since you like crunching numbers, what's the dollar value of your feedback?

Let's say it's going to cut your returns by 5%. (That seems high, but let's run with it.) Are you planning on selling $2000 worth of items in the next 12 months?

I think that feedback is an imperfect measure of how trustworthy a seller is. The only time I had someone flatly try to scam me they had great feedback.

I would play it by the books. If a week after the official ebay resolution comes down you still have trouble sleeping, donate the $106 to a local charity.

glatt 05-26-2015 07:35 AM

Well, I'm doing a bunch of selling now in large part because my FIL died last Fall and we inherited a lot of his stuff. Our house got extremely cluttered in a short period of time, and we've figured out what stuff we'll be incorporating into our lives, and what stuff is just extra. Some of that extra stuff is worth a lot, and I want to work up to unloading it on eBay.

With that expensive stuff, I'll be much more careful about insuring and requiring signatures, and even building a crate out of plywood and maybe even looking in to expanding foam packing systems.

I expect that if I prepare the packaging before I actually list the auction, photograph it, and explain what the careful shipping will entail, any negative feedback about a missing item won't hurt me much.

Clodfobble 05-26-2015 03:01 PM

For big and heavy stuff, you should really try craigslist first. If no one's interested, you haven't lost anything but time and can post it on eBay. But if you can get someone local who can just come pick it up, it will be way easier for you, and there won't be any fees taken out.

limey 05-26-2015 04:00 PM

Craigslist isn't really a thing here in the UK

Sent by thought transference

infinite monkey 05-26-2015 08:07 PM

Why, because you guys are too smart to set yourself up for murder or robbery or combinations thereof? Seriously craigslist isn't safe, unless you are meeting in a neutral location and you're willing to stab some one in
the face if need be.

Sundae 05-27-2015 03:26 AM

I wonder if it's because people are less willing to travel? Car travel is much more expensive here, what with tax, compulsory insurance, higher petrol prices, limited free parking and Congestion Charges.

If you live in London you'd have to be getting something free to make it worth getting in your car.

Clodfobble 05-27-2015 07:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by infinite monkey (Post 929452)
Why, because you guys are too smart to set yourself up for murder or robbery or combinations thereof? Seriously craigslist isn't safe, unless you are meeting in a neutral location and you're willing to stab some one in
the face if need be.

Craigslist personals aren't safe, sure. That's weirdos trolling for sex. But selling low-dollar used shit? I mean, if someone wants to rob me, why don't they just rob anyone in a random store parking lot? Would be a lot faster than exchanging three emails and then driving out to my house specifically. Why don't they just pick a house and knock on the door? That person's just as likely to be home and victimizable.

I mean yeah, don't drive out to a backwoods warehouse location at night with your grandmother's diamond ring. But if a guy gives me his home address in the suburbs to sell me a table for under $100 during normal daylight hours? That's safer than eating at Taco Bell.


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