Power Sellers Unite

Janzy · Joined: 13 Nov 2011 Posts: 8

Well this is my 2nd time to try to post this...so far I can't see that this posted anywhere. I'm going to try again as I really need some advise. I've got a problem with eBay..but then who on here doesn't...anyway.I'm more than upset. I need advise. Here's what happened I sold a rhinestone necklace and earringson Nov. 27 to a woman in Fl.(she won my eBay auction) I had good photos and good description.Even eBay said I did. She filed a case against me for the items not matching the description...yet they are they very same items. Customer wanted to ship items back, but auction said on it no returns. I'm quite sure it was case of buyers remorse. I phoned eBay...to make a long story short I was told, by eBay, not to not accept the items if she shipped them back to me and then the PO would send them back to her. So today when they came to my PO box I refused to accept them and they were shipped back to her ( the postmaster of the post office I go to did it). Tonight I went to my eBay account, I found out that not only did they refund her the full amount with out any proof other than her lies. They didn't ask her to send the items to them or even a photo. Now she not only has a full refund, she also will have my merchandise (or will have) in a day or two (as soon as the PO delivers them to her). I did what eBay told me to do...not accept them back, yet eBay refunds her money without even seeing the items or anything...they just accepted her lies...she said she resells rhinestone necklaces and says she knows jewelry, yet she never emailed and asked me any questions or for more photos.I had good close up photos and a good description. She's really put it to me and ends up with not only my money, but also my merchandise and my guess is that she will also leave me a neg and there's not a darn thing I can do about this. That really makes me mad at eBay.I should have at least gotten my merchandise back. They should have not told me not accept back, but when I do what they say, what happens...they give the full amount of money back to the customer and the let her have the merchandise.I'm so darn mad it's not even funny....any suggestions on what I can do?The only think I can think of is to email the people on the stock market who rate eBay and a few of the anchor on CNBC and tell them what not only happened to me, but several other things that happened to others on this board and tell them to come here and read...maybe then they knock down eBay's ratings when they find out what eBay is doing to the sellers.

things4u · Joined: 21 Jan 2007 Posts: 1332

well first off you should have just refunded her money even if you had no returns in your add and when they arrived at your door you should have accepted them even though e bay told you not to and your problem would have not even existed then. Because you gave a full refund before ebay got involved and that cancles the transaction and they can't leave you a neg and even if they do you call e bay and complain that the transaction was cancled and a full refund was given. at this point looks like your out on both ends product and money. Unless by chance she will resend them back to you but you will have to pay for the return shipping but it isn't likely that she will do that but you can ask the worst she can say is no

wtcollectibles · Joined: 03 Dec 2010 Posts: 23

I have to confess that I never understood the "no returns accepted" policy. If you're dealing with PayPal, you're going to give a refund (voluntarily or not), so why would you not want to at least try to get your merchandise back? Not that I enjoy eating the return shipping cost, but I guess it's just way against my principles to let the varmints keep the item AND get their money back.

I'm sure there are idiots out there who will break it intentionally or otherwise make it impossible to resell it, but I've actually gotten a few items back and they were fine to relist and I sold them to other people.

I just can't reconcile using PayPal in conjunction with a No Returns policy. And I'm so glad I've never called an eBay rep for advice. I have never read about anyone who got good advice from them! :x

Janzy · Joined: 13 Nov 2011 Posts: 8

I've read what both of the above posts have said and the reason I didn't accept it back was that eBay TOLD ME NOT TO REFUND, so I didn't. I felt i was in the right. There was no way this woman was being honest. If she had just contacted me and asked to speak on the phone and been honest, rather than lying, I would have refunded her. I've a refunded a few others in past, so I had no problem with doing that. Also this did not come to my door...it came to my PO Box and I immediately took it into the Post Master and told him I wanted to refuse to accept it and he sent it back. If I had known what I know now I would have never listened to eBay's reps...but stupidly I thought they were honest...boy did I have a lot to learn! I now realize there is no point in calling eBay rep or for that matter even bothering to be honest with eBay in any manor. I'm seriously considering closing my account with PayPal and eBay after this. One thing I am going to do is to make sure of the stock annalists know what eBay is doing to many sellers. If they don't already know of this site, they will after today...I'll make sure of that. I may be being ripped off by eBay and this lyingXXXXX but I don't have to take it lying down!

things4u · Joined: 21 Jan 2007 Posts: 1332

Part of doing business on E bay that is common knowledge is that e bay sides with the buyer and no matter if they are right or wrong they win.
If you are that staunch about your sales being final without a refund you need to do flea markets or craigs list as e bay doesn't work that way and A good business person would have thought it through and accepted the return and refunded the money to avoid any hassels like you have now.
1 why would you do anything someone on the phone tells you to do?
2 business 101 the custoner is always right.
3 some times buyers have remorse
4 you as a seller should not look at every customer as a scamer
5 if they have remorse you should refund and move on no problems
6 asking e bay for help is not what your going to get
7 talking down to those that answer your questions doesn't help you either.

finally we all learn by our mistakes and if what we answered to you didn't help you then your not a seasoned seller as we have all had a sale go south and realized that the best fix to the problem was to refund and move on and chalk it up to future experience as the rest of us have done in the past and will probally have to do in the future

wtcollectibles · Joined: 03 Dec 2010 Posts: 23

I'm sorry this happened to you and sorry that you got such advice from eBay. I wasn't trying to insult you and please don't take it that way.

I am just trying to figure out how we can be forced to offer PayPal, the kings of refunding, and still offer the option not to take a return, thereby laying us open to this kind of garbage.

Occasionally I have bought things on sale that were marked "all sales final" or "no returns" and I understood that. But are there a lot of mail order or online places that won't take returns? From a buyer's standpoint, I don't think I would order something that I wasn't sure I could return. Is this the new normal for ordering, no returns?

things4u · Joined: 21 Jan 2007 Posts: 1332

all the big box online stores like Wal mart, K mart, Target, Costco, ect all accept returns the same as they do in the local stores no questions asked or offer a credit for future purchases. no returns is not the norm.
buyers want to be able to return an item the same as if they bought it in a brick and mortor store don't know of any that don't take returns or offer a credit.

pie4himm · Joined: 21 Mar 2007 Posts: 407

having a no return policy is what a junk seller would have as a policy, they are relieved thinking they have successfully pawned off an item that they are not giving full disclosure about and 9 times out of 10 it is the used item sellers that have this policy.. I am basically a used item reseller but will accept all returns no questions asked..selling used items is a hard row to hoe if you are not really open and honest in regards to the condition of the pre-owned item..

pie4himm · Joined: 21 Mar 2007 Posts: 407

I am not certain, but I would bet a dollar to a donut,one of the tiniest of rhinestones was missing out of the cluster, and that would be easy to overlook without a thorough inspection, also, quite possible one of the rhinestones popped loose while in transit? rhinestone jewelry is rather fragile ..if you do ever get the item back, check it over well and see if I wasn't right..coincidentally I am shopping around for loose rhinestones as I speak so I can repair some nice vintage Haskell brooches

knappschiles · Joined: 25 May 2005 Posts: 4035 Location: Wi

I know you got terrible advice from eBay, but there is something you can do about it.

Send the buyer a POLITE email explaining that you refused the return due to bad advice and before you knew she was going to get a refund. Ask her to re-send the return. Offer to pay the postage. I know that will hurt but maybe you will at least get your item back.

IF she responds negatively, or doesn't respond at all, THEN send an email with a reminder that if she keeps the item that is considered "mail fraud" and you can get the USPS Postal Inspector involved. It's a federal offense that may just scare her into returning the item.

Don't use the threat in a first email. Be nice even if you have to bite your tongue.

Carol

Janzy · Joined: 13 Nov 2011 Posts: 8

I've read all the comments, and to reply to them individually:
things4u you have obviously formed your opinion of me & it's apparent you are very opinionated. I have no problem with accepting advise when I ask for it, but I would hope at least that the person offering it would have good enough manners to be polite...or is that just asking too much? as for answers to your questions 1...because I trusted ebay..until this last year they have never given me reason to not trust them, but then I never had any problems until this year either. 2--yes I agee, but there is a point when you have to make a choice between what eBay tells you to do and your buyer wants..now if you wanted to keep on the good side of eBay..would you do what they told you to or not? After I am trying to sell on their web site and they are the "500lb gorilla in the room 3- agreed, but most are at least descent and don't try and cause you grief and they don't threaten you...she did threaten me.4 I have never looked at even 1 customer as a scammer until they prove me wrong...and thank God this was my 1st time...from which I have learned at lot..from that and from reading your posts.5-that is exactly why I called eBay...to find out what I could and should do since I had marked the auction as no returns and that meant eBay would not get any money from the sale. 6--boy have I learned that one!7- I am not doing that..but if you are wrong in your assumption which you were, then I have the right to correct the wrong impression ...do I not? BTW if you are feel you are so perfect and always have the right answer then why are you hiding if you are a male or female and any other information about you? Why do you feel you have to hide. What did you do or have happen to you that bought you here? I read for weeks on this site before I became a member here and I read many posts where the poster had the currage to come out and say what had happened to them...have you done that so we can all pick apart you...or did you like me come here for some positive help? I came here for help not to be taken apart. If you are going to post then try and keep that in mind. I'm am not some young girl who will back down.

wtcollectibles-thank you, no I didn't mean to sound like I was upset with you.I'm upset at being unfairly treated by eBay and being outfoxed by a professional buyer who knew how to take advantage of the system and knew how to beat me out of my money and my item...and I stupidly fell for it. I do take what everyone says as being honest until they prove me wrong. Maybe that's too naive for selling on eBay, but I'd rather live my life looking at people as being nice and honest than having to constantly watch what everyone says and does.

pie4himm: I have been selling on eBay every single day for 11 straight years and this was the 1 and only item I've ever put up on auction with no return. I did that because this was the 1st time I'd sold jewelry like this and that is what a number of other larger sellers where doing, so I thought it best to follow someone who knew what they were doing...well that sure was the wrong idea!If you question my honesty, how did I get 100% feedback and 5. & 4.9 stars on communication and item as described? If you like I'm more than willing to give you the auction number and you can go and judge for yourself. just email me privately

pie4himm · Joined: 21 Mar 2007 Posts: 407

I'm sorry hon, and was not insinuating you are dishonest, I am just saying there might be the tiniest of flaws to the item that might have been accidentally overlooked.. I was not lumping you in with the selling crowd on eBay that expect you to scour the photos for imperfections in used items rather than calling them out....I had to return a guitar once I purchased on eBay and the seller had a no return policy, he flat out refused to give me the go ahead to mail it back for a refund, so I had to get eBay involved, since that is what he suggested, told me to file a dispute, in which I did, and eBay sided with me and even sent me a shipping label on the house to cover return shipping..that guitar was a wreck, but the seller vaguely said "it had a great voice", which I took as an honest statement, and that it had good intonation and was playable, he did not point out the guitar had been modified at the bridge and nut, and that the label he showed in the listing had recently been pasted on, could not make out anything wrong with just photos and a shady seller's description..

things4u · Joined: 21 Jan 2007 Posts: 1332

first if I hurt you feelings I apologize to you but you asked and I gave you my opinion and didn't sugar coat it this is the part of business that no matter who is the seller this ends up with this happening.
as for hiding there are some things that are not nessary to post on a open form as for gender I am male as for anything else it is on a need to know basis and everyone doesn't need to know simple as that.
as for my opinion of you it isn't what you seem to think.
your not the first one that this has happened to and won't be the last, selling on e bay is constantly changing and not to the benefit of the seller your issue case in point they have been siding with the buyer for quite some time and no matter how deceitful,lame,dumb,foolish or any thing else you would like to add here your going to loose because e bay says the buyer is right no matter what if this were a large amount of money yes than get all up set and complain but it is probally 10.00- 50.00 maybe with all the shipping and fees this is the part of selling on line that doesn't seem right but you as a seller can't do much about unless you want a boat load of hassels.
simply if you would have just refunded and accepted the item back the buyer would have no ability to neg you or ding your dsr as the contract was made void because of the refund no matter even if you stated no refunds have you noticed that a lot of sellers have a return policy that is because ebay suggested it as part of helping you grow your business plan and others put returns accepted only if the item is misrepresented faith and trust in the po to deliver an item in good shape is a risk it can be damaged because it goes through several machines and hands before getting to the buyer even though you take as much care to pack it so it doesn't get damages but some times it does happen selling on line since the mid 80's and on e bay since the start I have seen a lot of scams and abuse but it never stops but evolves like selling does and the unpublished rules change to. you hit one that took you to the wood shed and best you can do it be polite and ask for the item to be returned and pay the postage and chalk it up to experience and move on and re post it and hope you can sell it and make up some or all of your loss with this transaction.
Have a good evening :wink:

Schistosomiasis · Joined: 19 Jan 2010 Posts: 192

Hi Janzy,
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I'm sorry this happened to you; it stinks. Things like this, bad buyers and bad advice from Ebay, used to drive me insane. Over the years I have learned to consider it part of business. I have a few comments:
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1) Personally, I list as "no returns", but if someone contacts me I take returns anyway. The reason I list no returns is to prevent someone from buying 10 pairs of earrings to see them in person and returning 9. People do this frequently with shoes, clothes they buy from big box stores, but I'd rather not deal with that type of inventory issue. However, if someone buys something from me and wants to return it, I take it back and give a full refund, exactly for the reasons you experienced. They'll get their money back anyway.
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2) Ebay has advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is a huge customer base and good advertising. You'll move your merchandise. The disadvantage is the customer support is frequently wrong and not accountable for the bad advice. I'd suggest accepting them for what they are and moving on. Also keep in mind that EBay gave you the advice, but the payment reversal was done by Paypal. They are co-owned but administratively separate. The Ebay customer rep you spoke to has no control over what Paypal does and is probably unaware of their policies.
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3) You didn't mention if the fee reversal was a Paypal decision or a credit card chargeback. If the latter, Paypal had nothing to do with it.
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4) I've been through this many times, trust me when I tell you, accept it, block the buyer, and move on. You can also post her name here so we can all block her. Brick and mortar stores have shoplifters, we have these people. Don't drive yourself nuts trying to hurt Ebay or Paypal, it will only aggravate you and they won't even notice. Stock analyists won't give a crap about your situation. Make a decision that's best for your company, learn from this situation without emotion, and move on.
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Again, I'm sorry this happened to you.

MIKEHATESEBAY · Joined: 18 Nov 2010 Posts: 160

eBay does what puts the most money in their pockets...period...... supporting small sellers by having an actual American employee review the case costs them money.

Always siding with buyer is the path of least resistance (cheapest)

ebay is mo longer a "community" of equal trading partners , it is a glitzy on-line Walmart, you are no more than an on-line Walmart employee., and will receive Walmart employee treatment or worse.

My advice, support other venues by buying and selling.