My EBAY Nightmare

[seanfingh]

I would also appreciate a few good references from my comrades. The rest of you savages can have your fun.

 

You've been an awesome customer JR.

 

(thumbs u

 

Although trucking all those boxes of slabs to the Post Office can be a PITA.

 

 

John is as solid as they come. Beach bum on the other hand . . .

[RockMyAmadeus]

Corporations deserve to be bashed, at any and every time possible, in every way possible, as loudly as possible. They are not people with feelings that should be protected, they are entities. Bashing them is what keeps them honest.

 

Here's the catch: it must always be the truth. Always, always, always, forever.

 

Otherwise, it really IS bashing, and people doing that are wrong.

[KryptoSpidey]

I know if's fashionable to bash eBay now, and I keep saying, I don't love them as much as I used to...but they do serve certain purposes...and for those purposes, they still work well.

I'll bet that 90 out of a 100 buyers at least know about eBay, but maybe 15 out of 100 know about Comic Link.[/color]

 

I'd agree with your stats for the average comic book, but Amazing Spider-Man #1 in CGC 8.0 condition doesn't have an average pool of buyers, nor do any of the higher-dollar books that don't make sense to sell on E-Bay. I'd estimate 90% of the pool knows about E-Bay and about 75% of it knows about ComicLink, Pedigree, and/or Heritage.

 

And I'm not being fashionable in bashing E-Bay...I've been doing it for about a decade now! And by "bashing" I mean just pointing out the obvious, that they don't offer any protection to make you feel good about spending more than about $1K on an item through their site, because they absolutely, positively do not, nor have they ever. The reason these high-dollar sales do usually work out is simply because most people are fortunately honest.

How is there no protection over $1g..i'm confused?

I've had several,over the last couple of years,large transactions that were fully protected thru my Paypal payment once they changed the policy to cover "Full purchase price"...talking thousands of dollars..way over $1g.

 

[VintageComics]

I would also appreciate a few good references from my comrades. The rest of you savages can have your fun.

 

You've been an awesome customer JR.

 

(thumbs u

 

Although trucking all those boxes of slabs to the Post Office can be a PITA.

 

 

John is as solid as they come. Beach bum on the other hand . . .

 

Hey, watch it! I'm training to be a beach bum.

 

[fantastic_four]

How is there no protection over $1g..i'm confused?

I've had several,over the last couple of years,large transactions that were fully protected thru my Paypal payment once they changed the policy to cover "Full purchase price"...talking thousands of dollars..way over $1g.

 

Since I've ignored E-Bay entirely for a few years now, I don't know, but I'll look into it. If anyone else knows more detail about this, please reinforce krypto's statement with what you know. If it turns out the total amount of a buy like this Spidey #1 would have been covered, I won't just be surprised, I'll be shocked. It's not because I think E-Bay is evil, it's because I understand the challenge of insuring purchases like this...the opportunities for people to try defrauding E-Bay over large purchases on a regular basis would multiply if they insured full purchase costs. If they're doing it now, then I'm highly curious as to how that makes sense for them financially, because it makes sense as to why they weren't insuring buys in the past--it's AWFULLY ambitious to insure person-to-person transactions with no escrow or without consignment being involved.

 

In fact, if E-Bay is insuring full purchase costs for auctions, I'm now not seeing much reason for ComicLink and Pedigree to be a preferred venue.

[Pmack-migration]

First off, thanks for answeing the questions.

 

#2 My bid was placed within the last minute [less than 30 seconds] & the verification had not been completed by auction's end.

 

#3 Verification was successful, but the bid did not appear in the auction history.

If the process was completed after THE END, shouldn't it have logged regardless?

It was approximately 15 seconds [or less] post-auction...

Unfortunately, no. Bidding is a two step process; you place the bid on the main page and then you have to confirm it before it becomes an actual bid.

 

You placed a bid and then should have been sent to the confirm page. Instead, you were shunted to the verification process. Once that process was completed, you would have been returned to the confirmation page, where you would have pressed the button to confirm and it would log your bid. But since the auction completed before your verification was completed, the site couldn't send you to the bid confirmation page and just discarded your bid entirely.

 

It's similar to if you are not logged in to ebay but place a bid. You place a bid on the first page, and get kicked to the ebay login page. If you log in fast enough, you are returned to the bid confirmation page, otherwise you just get the completed auction page.

 

I hope you & the seller can hammer out a deal and you get your book.

 

 

 

 

 

[MCF335]

Sorry I have left that out;

EBAY handle is KITDHAWAN49

So, do I pass muster?

Comics have been a life long passion;

Bought my first key books for 10 & 12 cents;

haven't done much but buy on EBAY...perhaps I've been

luckier than I thought....

[MCF335]

Perhaps I left that ambiguous; I was hitting the CONFIRM BID within the last 30 seconds...

[BeachBum]

I would also appreciate a few good references from my comrades. The rest of you savages can have your fun.

 

You've been an awesome customer JR.

 

(thumbs u

 

Although trucking all those boxes of slabs to the Post Office can be a PITA.

 

 

John is as solid as they come. Beach bum on the other hand . . .

 

 

You owe me a drink now in Chi-town Sean.

[Pmack-migration]

(unless he wants to pay through paypal).

I missed this before, but I'd be really careful here. Your Paypal account was frozen, and if you didn't jump through their hoops before, you're going to have to do it this time if you take a Paypal payment for that much.

 

My suspicion (based on my own experience with PP) is that your account was frozen because you took in too much money too fast, and that triggers a fraud alert. I had my account frozen a few years ago for that exact reason. I was regularly accepting about $2k a month for over a year. One month I had an exceptional run and took in $6k on a single transaction and got locked down less than a day later. I faxed them all their requirements and was back up and running in 36 hrs.

 

I like Paypal, and I generally have no complaints, but I'd never process a payment of this size through them. Stick with a bank check.

[Pmack-migration]

Perhaps I left that ambiguous; I was hitting the CONFIRM BID within the last 30 seconds...

Wow... that's actually worse. They ask you to verify AFTER you confirm a bid?

 

In any case, the process is the same; your bid is not placed until after the condition is met. And since you couldn't meet the condition before the end of the auction, the system didn't actually place your bid.

 

This might be what the CSR rep told the OP she saw, where you placed a bid but it wasn't accepted.

[KryptoSpidey]

How is there no protection over $1g..i'm confused?

I've had several,over the last couple of years,large transactions that were fully protected thru my Paypal payment once they changed the policy to cover "Full purchase price"...talking thousands of dollars..way over $1g.

 

Since I've ignored E-Bay entirely for a few years now, I don't know, but I'll look into it. If anyone else knows more detail about this, please reinforce krypto's statement with what you know. If it turns out the total amount of a buy like this Spidey #1 would have been covered, I won't just be surprised, I'll be shocked. It's not because I think E-Bay is evil, it's because I understand the challenge of insuring purchases like this...the opportunities for people to try defrauding E-Bay over large purchases on a regular basis would multiply if they insured full purchase costs. If they're doing it now, then I'm highly curious as to how that makes sense for them financially, because it makes sense as to why they weren't insuring buys in the past--it's AWFULLY ambitious to insure person-to-person transactions with no escrow or without consignment being involved.

 

In fact, if E-Bay is insuring full purchase costs for auctions, I'm now not seeing much reason for ComicLink and Pedigree to be a preferred venue.

 

Generally, you must pay for the item in one lump sum to be covered.

 

What happened to PayPal Buyer Protection?

PayPal Buyer Protection on eBay existed only for eBay customers who paid for their purchases through a PayPal account. Now purchase protection and issue resolution for your eBay purchases will be managed by eBay, for all eligible payment methods.

 

With eBay Buyer Protection, buyers will receive coverage for the full purchase price of the item, plus original shipping. eBay Buyer Protection also introduces a new, streamlined process for customer service, so you can get help quickly either on the phone or online.

 

 

How does this program benefit sellers?

eBay Buyer Protection makes it easier for buyers and sellers to resolve issues with a new, streamlined process for customer assistance. We encourage buyers to work directly with sellers before opening a case because this is often the fastest and easiest way to resolve problems.

 

The new system also makes it easy for sellers to give their information to eBay. Sellers can always contact our customer support specialists to discuss their case 7 days a week, between 5:00 AM - 10:00 PM Pacific Standard Time (PST).

 

[fantastic_four]

How is there no protection over $1g..i'm confused?

I've had several,over the last couple of years,large transactions that were fully protected thru my Paypal payment once they changed the policy to cover "Full purchase price"...talking thousands of dollars..way over $1g.

 

Since I've ignored E-Bay entirely for a few years now, I don't know, but I'll look into it. If anyone else knows more detail about this, please reinforce krypto's statement with what you know. If it turns out the total amount of a buy like this Spidey #1 would have been covered, I won't just be surprised, I'll be shocked. It's not because I think E-Bay is evil, it's because I understand the challenge of insuring purchases like this...the opportunities for people to try defrauding E-Bay over large purchases on a regular basis would multiply if they insured full purchase costs. If they're doing it now, then I'm highly curious as to how that makes sense for them financially, because it makes sense as to why they weren't insuring buys in the past--it's AWFULLY ambitious to insure person-to-person transactions with no escrow or without consignment being involved.

 

In fact, if E-Bay is insuring full purchase costs for auctions, I'm now not seeing much reason for ComicLink and Pedigree to be a preferred venue.

 

OK, I looked into this a bit more...it's all coming back to me now. Yes, PayPal does say they cover a buyer's full purchase price if they find a seller to be at fault, which is nice. However, the chances for fraud with PayPal declining to pay are rampant. A seller can ship a buyer an empty box, or exploit one of the other foolproof ways sellers can hose buyers. Buyer received package, seller shipped with confirmation proof, end of story. Sorry, you're screwed, and PayPal will not refund your cost. If the seller has tried something less crafty and PayPal can cover your cost by taking your money back from the seller, they will, but if they can't, past experience tells me PayPal will take any and every escape they can to make sure any restitution doesn't come out of their pockets. Again, if anyone has found that they've gotten less slippery about this of late, please post your experiences.

 

So I shouldn't just say that you're completely unprotected in buying large items on E-Bay. You're protected in buying large items on E-Bay if something semi-normal happens and the seller isn't experienced with E-Bay fraud...but if they want to screw you...they will. Same goes for the danger to sellers--buyers have a myriad of options for receiving a book and screwing the seller out of their payment. The person-to-person shipping model for expensive stuff is just RIPE for fraud. I've been avoiding this model for years on big books, and although the rules have changed, the game remains the same from what I can tell.

[KryptoSpidey]

Totally agree with you on those points regarding ways to still de-fraud.

However,if/when i purchase a large $ item,from anyone that i'm not familiar with,or any red flags at all are there,i will not sign for the package at my house.I will go to the post office the following day and open it in the presence of the USPS Inspector on duty or the Post office manager.

Any "empty box" or wrong item will immediately be filed as "postal fraud" and the report filed with Paypal in the claim.

I have not had to do such,but that extra level of protection is there as needed.

As a seller,all items shipped are insured up to $5g thru priority or express...anything larger goes "Registered Mail" at full value,and i've never had a buyer try to scam on grounds of "empty box,broken,ect" as the item will just be a USPS claim at that point.

I'm sure there are other "scams" that have/will be tried..i do try to "cover my bases" for the most part.

I have an over $3g item listed on Ebay right now,and have full confidence in the sale being completed without any problems when it ends in 3 days.

[Jaymole]

So if I am reading this right, the only way Ebay might have screwed up in MCF335's case is if he actually did have a verified account (ie: valid Credit card) on file and really did not need to verify, correct?

[skypinkblu]

Hello neighbah!

My ebay handle is KITDHAWAN49,; Loosely [very loosely!] based on a tribe of Indians up here in

X-MEN-LAND.

 

Very nice to have another comic collector in this area:) I'm in Mamaroneck....lots of native American names here, too.

 

I don't think there has every been any doubt that John has the book, nor that there would be any worries about you getting it... as you can see by the thread, he refunded a purchase, but there was never a doubt about him taking money and not delivering the item (if he kept the money) ...I hope this is making sense;)

 

Good luck if you both decide to complete the transaction.

 

[Pmack-migration]

So if I am reading this right, the only way Ebay might have screwed up in MCF335's case is if he actually did have a verified account (ie: valid Credit card) on file and really did not need to verify, correct?

That's how it looks to me. I suppose MCF335 could confirm, but he probably didn't have a credit card on file.

 

This is the big problem, really. For most bidders, they will never need to have a CC on file (which is the simplest way to verify your account). Since just about every big dollar purchase gets sniped nowadays, some bidders are finding out about this bit of verification nastiness at the worst possible time.

 

So in MCF335's case at least, this wasn't an ebay glitch, but it is a really, really badly designed UI. Which, to be honest, is much worse than a glitch. At least a glitch might go away. This is by design.

 

[Jaymole]

So if I am reading this right, the only way Ebay might have screwed up in MCF335's case is if he actually did have a verified account (ie: valid Credit card) on file and really did not need to verify, correct?

That's how it looks to me. I suppose MCF335 could confirm, but he probably didn't have a credit card on file.

 

This is the big problem, really. For most bidders, they will never need to have a CC on file (which is the simplest way to verify your account). Since just about every big dollar purchase gets sniped nowadays, some bidders are finding out about this bit of verification nastiness at the worst possible time.

 

So in MCF335's case at least, this wasn't an ebay glitch, but it is a really, really badly designed UI. Which, to be honest, is much worse than a glitch. At least a glitch might go away. This is by design.

 

Then if all the bidders had the same problem as MCF335, it was a legitimate auction, at least according to how ebay's system is set up (whether you agree with that system is another matter)

 

I guess the way to avoid this is to put a note in your auction telling people that they to need to make sure with ebay that they are verified before they bid $15,000 or more.

[thirdgreenham]

This thread was an awful read.

 

Andy

[InvstmntComcSuply]

 

Then if all the bidders had the same problem as MCF335, it was a legitimate auction

 

 

This is what I have been saying all along.