eBay Selling Advice

[Guest TabbyBoy]

It's be nice if eBay had a "probationary period" for new buyers where they can only purchase items of up to

[Guest TabbyBoy]

weird situation.

 

sold The Mine Minecraft set right before xmas for 180.

 

4 days ago, item is returned to me unopened - "no such address found".

 

i attempted to contact the buyer 3 times via email in the last week inquiring if they wanted a refund or did they want to confirm the paypal address to me and try a resend with Fed Ex.

 

no response.  no complaints to ebay.

 

thought about whether i should just refund the money to avoid issues but then that would be me cancelling the transaction which could come back to bite me?

 

so for now i'm just sending emails and waiting.

i'm leaning towards just refunding it, but worried that no good deed goes unpunished will bmita.....

 

odd thing is - this is the SECOND TIME i've had this issue.  

one of the $100 RI's i sold on amazon during NYT weekend was returned to me after 6 weeks -

person never went to the postoffice to get it or never signed for it.

no response to emails.

never got a complaint to amazon.

wasn't sure how to go about a return so i just left it in the box ready to go if called upon but 4 months later - nothing.

i googled the person's name - she is a fairly high profile attorney in a major city so its weird that she didn't come after me... yet.

i have her RI waiting (along with 58 brethren).

no good deed goes unpunished.

 

Dead buyer?

[exciter1]

Try calling the number on file?  This happened to me once and the person I called was very appreciative, since their EBay account information may have been compromised.

[cladner]

Try calling the number on file?  This happened to me once and the person I called was very appreciative, since their EBay account information may have been compromised.

the phone number they entered is 111-111-1111.

i think i may just do an online chat with an ebay rep and explain the situation.

 

 

Dead buyer?

 

that was the thought that crossed my mind when i googled.

but she was a partner in a superlawyers law firm in a major city - someone who's obit would have popped up so i rejected that.

my current leading theory is that someone gave one to her as a gift and she forgot the ordered one?  i dunno.

Edited January 4, 2015 by cladner

[jbacunn]

Only when they import it on the plane or whatever back to Brazil.  It shouldn't be your worry.

Yeah, that's what I told him. He bought the item and paid. The shipping address in ebay is showing Orlando and the address shows as Confirmed in Paypal. I feel like I'm good on this one. 

[justafrog]

weird situation.

 

sold The Mine Minecraft set right before xmas for 180.

 

4 days ago, item is returned to me unopened - "no such address found".

 

i attempted to contact the buyer 3 times via email in the last week inquiring if they wanted a refund or did they want to confirm the paypal address to me and try a resend with Fed Ex.

 

no response.  no complaints to ebay.

 

thought about whether i should just refund the money to avoid issues but then that would be me cancelling the transaction which could come back to bite me?

 

 

 

This is a really good point I had not thought of with the new defect system -- in the past, I'd have advised simply refunding with an explanation to the buyer (after doing what you did and trying to contact them) -- but you're right, not now.

 

I would also be wary of letting a CS cancel this for you -- they're not always well trained and they don't always give a hoot whether they're damaging your defect rating. Sometimes, they just want to get you off the phone so they'll cancel, tell you it won't come up a defect, and it does. Good luck getting THAT removed.

 

Sadly, my best advice is probably to simply hold the item until or unless you hear from the buyer. If I didn't hear back in 60 days I'd relist and resell, keeping the paperwork pretty much forever in case the buyer contacted me later for the refund.

 

That's going to make me really uncomfortable the first time it happens to me.

[matt1147]

What about a situation where an ebay buyer messages you through ebay and tells you to ship to a different address than what's listed (usually as a gift). As long as its documented, will ebay back you up or do they always have to add the address to their profile?

[LegoManiacc]

What about a situation where an ebay buyer messages you through ebay and tells you to ship to a different address than what's listed (usually as a gift). As long as its documented, will ebay back you up or do they always have to add the address to their profile?

I was told on the phone by CS that as long as it's documented through messaging that I am ok to send to the requested address. Never hurts to double check though, just to be safe!

[justafrog]

I was told on the phone by CS that as long as it's documented through messaging that I am ok to send to the requested address. Never hurts to double check though, just to be safe!

 

This is what I've been told as well. Never got an item-not-received case on one of these, though, so no first-hand experience on whether they'll back you up.

[Alpinemaps]

 

odd thing is - this is the SECOND TIME i've had this issue.  

one of the $100 RI's i sold on amazon during NYT weekend was returned to me after 6 weeks -

person never went to the postoffice to get it or never signed for it.

no response to emails.

never got a complaint to amazon.

wasn't sure how to go about a return so i just left it in the box ready to go if called upon but 4 months later - nothing.

i googled the person's name - she is a fairly high profile attorney in a major city so its weird that she didn't come after me... yet.

i have her RI waiting (along with 58 brethren).

no good deed goes unpunished.

 

 

that was the thought that crossed my mind when i googled.

but she was a partner in a superlawyers law firm in a major city - someone who's obit would have popped up so i rejected that.

my current leading theory is that someone gave one to her as a gift and she forgot the ordered one?  i dunno.

 

Okay, so how's this?  I had a buyer for an RI a few months ago.  He contacted me, told me he represented a female attorney in NYC, and he was getting this for her as a gift.  Wanted me to make sure there was no price tag, no invoice, etc. in the box.  It was going to her verified address.

 

I'm sure your buyer wasn't the only high powered female attorney in NYC that wanted RI at the height.  I just found it funny that we were both had similar buyers.

[francis_crowe]

I've been thinking about offering returns on brand new sealed sets. Quite a lot actually. A return policy is a trait many buyers look for and helps you earn points in eBay's eyes. My concern is those deceitful folks (although there are few) who play the game of resealing boxes. Case in point was a Dino set that I bought on a whim at Target a few years back. Opened the box when I got home only to find that the box was filled with crap: random used MegaBloks and some Oriental Trading Co junk like beaded necklaces. I sliced the seals cleanly with a razor blade. This was my first and only exposure to this practice and only opened it because I thought my daughter deserved a treat that day. I examined the seals that I had cut a second time. Upon closer inspection I could honestly say that to the naked eye there appeared to be no perceptible signs of tampering. It's scary to consider that what you buy is not what it turns out to be. Recent stories about ToO coming to them with two different seal codes raises the hair on the back of my neck. It has me thinking I should break the seals to some MF Zombie sets I acquired at Target a few years back. Weighing the box offers some comfort but you could still defeat that with a simple postage scale. So, to ensure I don't get burned on returns from malicious buyers I bought some tamper evident seals. The seals are custom made and sequenced. This ensures that if a buyer claims shipping damage or wants to return an item, I merely have to examine my tamper evident seals and correlate the sequenced number with my records. Only problem with this strategy is that it adds an unsightly, albeit small, sticker that a serious collector of sealed boxes may find abhorrent. However, it would be in my best interest to reveal this practice in each listing I sell. What do you think? Am I over thinking this too much? Too many years of watching conspiracies on the X-files? Imagine never opening a brand new "sealed" 10179. Many years pass and it's worth enough to pay a year's worth of mortgage payments. So you sell it and the buyer claims it's filled with crap. What would you have to say about that? Do you keep meticulous details on how each set was acquired? Weigh the box to ensure it weighs exactly as listed on brickset? Thoughts????? Maybe this happens so far in the future that I get to examine every box with my X-Ray goggles from Google. A patch to Google Glass?

[justafrog]

Thoughts????? 

 

Yes. Please use some paragraphs. Those huge walls of text are very difficult to read. I only got through yours by highlighting blocks of it with my mouse and reading it a patch at a time.

 

Regarding seals, I wouldn't bother - all a scammer has to say is that he broke the seals and you sent him a  pile of junk. Unless he has a history on eBay of claiming this too frequently, eBay will side with him and you'll be accepting the return of the opened set, or issuing a refund without requiring the return.

 

A certain number of scammers is unavoidable. Fortunately, most people are honest. Set aside a certain amount of money for scammer problems as a cost of doing business, just like a brick and mortar store would have to do for shoplifting.

[Guest TabbyBoy]

It's a shame that most buyers I encounter (UK at least) insist on mint/sealed boxes as I'm more than happy to open the sets and confirm contents before shipping.

[cladner]

quick followup to yesterday's post -

 

thanks to ed "emazers" for directing me to the "Advanced" button in the upper right corner seen on most ebay pages.

even though paypal phone number was 111-111-1111, this ebay button gave me the buyer's cell phone.

long story short after a quick conversation she still wants the set (phewsh) and thanked me for getting in touch - she had forgotten about it.

thanks for everyone's input.

[vexxet]

just had a ebay buyer leave me neutral feedback complaining I shipped them an open item and it was in disaray whatever that means.  this is when I first started selling on ebay also so I came out of my own pocket 7.35$ to ship this from them.  However, I have photographical proof item I sold to them was sealed and not opened or in "disarray".  I also purchased free insurance for them.  Do I just take this hit feedback nonsense or should I escallate this somehow?

[justafrog]

just had a ebay buyer leave me neutral feedback complaining I shipped them an open item and it was in disaray whatever that means.  this is when I first started selling on ebay also so I came out of my own pocket 7.35$ to ship this from them.  However, I have photographical proof item I sold to them was sealed and not opened or in "disarray".  I also purchased free insurance for them.  Do I just take this hit feedback nonsense or should I escallate this somehow?

 

There's nothing to escalate. eBay will not remove this sort of feedback, and you cannot retaliate against a buyer in feedback on eBay (including leaving a negatively-worded positive).

 

Review your packaging procedures to make sure you're sending sets well protected, and move on.

[trekgate502]

You can leave a one time non editable response to the buyers feedback that will show up to people in your feedback.

Recommend if you do that wording it well and then consider blocking the buyer.

[legogregors]

You can leave a one time non editable response to the buyers feedback that will show up to people in your feedback.

Recommend if you do that wording it well and then consider blocking the buyer.

I have never noticed that option before, thanks!  I just responded to a negative feedback that had been bothering me, closure!!!

[diablo2112]

Does anyone else use disclaimers for box condition in eBay auctions?  I've recently started to add the following to all my NIB Lego sales.  I combine this with good pictures of all sides of the box, plus a note about any defects (shelf wear, minor creases, etc.)  I'm sure many of you have better wording for this, which I'd love to see.

 

"IMPORTANT INFORMATION for my Lego auctions.  Lego boxes are fragile.  The pictures of the box in this auction are accurate and taken the day of the auction listing.  I will carefully pack this kit, with appropriate cushioning material and protective paper.  None-the-less, box damage does occasionally occur in shipping, especially for larger lego kits.  The box for this kit is sold as-is.  Should shipping damage occur, I have both taken pictures of your kit prior to shipment, and insured this for the full value of your auction, so you might pursue a damage claim at your discretion."

Edited March 23, 2015 by diablo2112

[justapilgrim]

I just put something to the effect that box may have some shelf wear. Thing is you can put whatever disclaimer you want, they can have their kid drop it after opening and blame it on you.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Brickpicker mobile app

[exciter1]

I just put something to the effect that box may have some shelf wear. Thing is you can put whatever disclaimer you want, they can have their kid drop it after opening and blame it on you.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Brickpicker mobile app

 

Yep, now they might even target you, to make sure you have the full EBay experience.

[chinothegeeko]

Does anyone else use disclaimers for box condition in eBay auctions? I've recently started to add the following to all my NIB Lego sales. I combine this with good pictures of all sides of the box, plus a note about any defects (shelf wear, minor creases, etc.) I'm sure many of you have better wording for this, which I'd love to see.

"IMPORTANT INFORMATION for my Lego auctions. Lego boxes are fragile. The pictures of the box in this auction are accurate and taken the day of the auction listing. I will carefully pack this kit, with appropriate cushioning material and protective paper. None-the-less, box damage does occasionally occur in shipping, especially for larger lego kits. The box for this kit is sold as-is. Should shipping damage occur, I have both taken pictures of your kit prior to shipment, and insured this for the full value of your auction, so you might pursue a damage claim at your discretion."

I would remove that disclaimer. Take good pics, describe any obvious issues and say please ask questions if necessary.

[ravenb99]

Yeah I would not put that disclaimer.  Setting yourself up for more problems than if you had nothing at all.

 

Just a generic "box may have minor shelf wear" works well

Edited March 24, 2015 by ravenb99

[diablo2112]

Hmmm, not had an issue with this type of disclaimer, have had issues when I haven't had this.*  Many eBay auctions have far-harsher wording.  For example, this seller.  

 

"There are no refunds for opened Lego sets or due to box condition. If an absolutely perfect box is required then please do NOT bid on or purchase this listing. Thank you!!!'

 

Is the advice to not have such a disclaimer your opinion or based upon some other experience in which such a disclaimer lead to more issues?  In 15 years of eBay sales, I've never had problems when describing an auction (or elements such as packaging) as as-is, especially since I always have good, accurate pictures?  

 

*I sold a kit with a set of accurate box pictures, and the buyer claimed additional damage.  Wanted a partial refund, I refused and simply said I'd fully refund his kit instead.  Got the kit back, in worse shape than when I shipped it, and I ate shipping charges as well.  For better or worse, there's a small slice of buyers that look to take advantage of eBay and extort additional payments.  I refuse to play that game, and usually just offer full refunds.  Haven't had a problem since I gave these gentle disclaimers.

Edited March 24, 2015 by diablo2112

[chinothegeeko]

Hmmm, not had an issue with this type of disclaimer, have had issues when I haven't had this.* Many eBay auctions have far-harsher wording. For example, this seller.

"There are no refunds for opened Lego sets or due to box condition. If an absolutely perfect box is required then please do NOT bid on or purchase this listing. Thank you!!!'

Is the advice to not have such a disclaimer your opinion or based upon some other experience in which such a disclaimer lead to more issues? In 15 years of eBay sales, I've never had problems when describing an auction (or elements such as packaging) as as-is, especially since I always have good, accurate pictures?

*I sold a kit with a set of accurate box pictures, and the buyer claimed additional damage. Wanted a partial refund, I refused and simply said I'd fully refund his kit instead. Got the kit back, in worse shape than when I shipped it, and I ate shipping charges as well. For better or worse, there's a small slice of buyers that look to take advantage of eBay and extort additional payments. I refuse to play that game, and usually just offer full refunds. Haven't had a problem since I gave these gentle disclaimers.

Honestly then I wouldn't change what is working for you then. I used to fret about condition of box but most don't care for Lego box condition and if they do they normally will ask questions.