eBay Buyers...What Do You Want From Sellers?

[Jiminy_Cricket-migration]

More disappointments than there are stars in the sky.

 

Bill, what is your eBay name so I can block you and save both of us disappointment?

If you're a Top-Rated seller and get the fee/shipping discounts associated with that, you MUST have a 1-day handling time and a 14-day return policy. The 1-day handling time means that within 24 hours of payment you have to have the label not only printed out but scanned into the USPS system.

 

I ship everything that way because I have to to keep the discount, so it's not too far of a stretch.

 

Peace,

 

Chip

 

That is not accurate. A seller has until midnight (3 A.M. here on the east coast because ebay runs on Pacific Time), the next day, to upload the tracking number to make the TRS requirement. So a seller actually has longer than 24 hours in most cases. Also... the label DOES NOT have to be scanned into the USPS system to be eligible for TRS. Ebay's only requirement is for the tracking number to be uploaded by midnight. A seller could then sit on the package for as long as he/she wishes before actually mailing it out. Many buyers complain about sellers abusing the TRS system this way. They print the labels, upload the tracking, but don't get around to actually packaging and shipping the item(s) until they feel like it. A buyer can leave negative FB and ding the seller's stars if this happens to them. Also, a seller would lose the automatic 5 star rating for shipping time if the package is not delivered according to ebay's estimates, which won't happen because the seller stated 1 day handling and then took his/her sweet time in actually mailing it out.

 

 

Sometimes a buyer will wait 3-6 days after an auction ends and pay at 11:00 on a week night. I don't know about you but getting up to pack someones book at that point to get the discount is not appealing. Also, I've been on vacation and someone does a BIN and since I don't have a store I can't put the "vacation hold" on my eBay presence and that jams up the TRS discount too. There are more examples.

That's why the tracking requirement is not 100% to keep the discount. It's 90%. That gives a bit of leeway for situation like you described above.

 

As far as traveling to the post office every day...I don't. I schedule pickups right at my home.

 

Peace,

 

Chip

 

This is also inaccurate. TRS requires a seller to upload the tracking number by midnight of the following day from the time the buyer paid for the item, not when they purchased it. So, if a buyer pays for an item at 11 P.M., a seller has until 3 A.M. (on the east coast), the next day, to print the label and upload the tracking, schedule a pick-up for the morning, and ship it out. That would actually be the second day from when the buyer paid, but would still be eligible for the TRS standards.

 

I would recommend some of you spend some significant time on the ebay buying and selling forums to learn some of the intricacies of selling on ebay. I am going to put some information in a spoiler here because it is quite long but very useful info for all sellers.....

 

 

Whenever an eBay buyer doesn’t pay there are basically 4 different actions that a seller can take. And always remember, no matter what, a seller can’t leave Negative or Neutral FB.

 

1. Seller Takes NO ACTION against the Buyer

 

Do you get your FVF back – No

Can you qualify for a “relist” credit - No

Can Negative or Neutral Feedback Be Left – Yes

Can Negative or Neutral Feedback Once Left be Removed for Reasons of Nonpayment – No

 

2. Seller Files a MUTUAL CANCELLATION against Buyer

 

Sometimes a buyer asks a seller to cancel the transaction which would then result in the buyer not receiving any adverse action on their account. A mutual cancellation means that the bidder does not receive a nonpaying bidder strike and eBay does not consider the buyer has done anything wrong. Often sellers will agree to a mutual cancellation because they are fearful that buyers will leave negative feedback if a seller reports them for nonpayment. Most of the time sellers think they are “protected” from negative feedback but they are not.

 

Do you get your FVF back – Yes [if the buyer agreed to the cancellation]

Can you qualify for a “relist” credit – Yes [if the buyer agreed to the cancellation]

Can Negative or Neutral Feedback Be Left – Yes

Can Negative or Neutral Feedback Once Left be Removed for Reasons of Nonpayment – No

What if the buyer doesn’t respond to the MC? - The seller can close the MC after 7 days if the buyer has not responded to the request. However keep in mind, the buyer still retains the right to leave FB, but you will get your FVF returned and the right to relist.

 

CAUTION: Keep in mind this is exactly what it is called a “MUTUAL” cancellation. If the buyer does not agree to the cancellation and responds to the email Ebay sends when you file for the cancellation telling them just that, you have a problem. You can’t touch this buyer now. Absolutely nothing you can do and if this buyer still does not pay even though they did not agree to the cancellation, there is NOTHING you can do. You can’t now go file a UID, it is not allowed. You can only file either for a cancellation or a UID, you can’t file for both. So with this situation:

 

Do you get your FVF back – No

Can you qualify for a “relist” credit – No

Can Negative or Neutral Feedback Be Left – Yes

Can Negative or Neutral Feedback Once Left be Removed for Reasons of Nonpayment – No

And just to add insult to injury – You do not get paid.

 

3. Seller Files Unpaid Item Dispute MANUALLY against Buyer

 

Do you get your FVF back – Yes

Can you qualify for a “relist” credit - Yes

Can Negative or Neutral Feedback Be Left – Sometimes

Can Negative or Neutral Feedback Once Left be Removed for Reasons of Nonpayment – Yes (at eBay’s discretion). But handled properly with Ebay, you can get it removed providing the UID was filed and closed properly for nonpayment.

 

4. Seller Files Unpaid Item Dispute AUTOMATICALLY through Unpaid Item Assistant against Buyer

 

Do you get your FVF back – Yes

Can you qualify for a “relist” credit – Yes

Can Negative or Neutral Feedback Be Left – No (once the dispute has been OPENED)

Can Negative or Neutral Feedback Once Left be Removed for Reasons of Nonpayment – Yes (at eBay’s discretion), again handled properly this can be removed.

 

If a buyer ends up paying with an electronic payment method after the UPI Assistant opens a case then the buyer can leave negative feedback. [Caution: Ebay is not noted for sending out politically correct emails. Ebay’s emails may offend or just plain tick off your buyer which could result in payment and not so nice FB, so consider this option carefully and do what you think is best.

 

Note: Once you file a UID, stop all communication with your buyer. No invoices or anything. Ebay sends reminders to them. You do not want to encourage your buyer to communicate now. If you buyer does send you an email, then of course you need to respond appropriately.

 

[loadstone]

Good points blazincomics and good info Jiminey Cricket. Thanks!

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

More disappointments than there are stars in the sky.

 

Bill, what is your eBay name so I can block you and save both of us disappointment?

If you're a Top-Rated seller and get the fee/shipping discounts associated with that, you MUST have a 1-day handling time and a 14-day return policy. The 1-day handling time means that within 24 hours of payment you have to have the label not only printed out but scanned into the USPS system.

 

I ship everything that way because I have to to keep the discount, so it's not too far of a stretch.

 

Peace,

 

Chip

 

I try to batch my packing times so I'm not packing comics every single day of the week. I typically go to the post office three days a week (MWF). I want the top-rated discount (currently power seller), but having to pack books and go to the PO everyday is not an efficient way for me to operate.

 

Sometimes a buyer will wait 3-6 days after an auction ends and pay at 11:00 on a week night. I don't know about you but getting up to pack someones book at that point to get the discount is not appealing. Also, I've been on vacation and someone does a BIN and since I don't have a store I can't put the "vacation hold" on my eBay presence and that jams up the TRS discount too. There are more examples.

 

I understand why eBay does the TRS discount. Believe me, it's to the company's benefit and not the seller. Ebay has done the math and know the likelihood of buyers spending more dollars if they have a certain experience on eBay. Example: What if a number cruncher figured out that a buyer on eBay is 37% more likely to buy another item in the same week they received an item from at TRS versus someone that took two weeks to get an item to them. The buyer would probably feel aggrevated on the latter and shop elsewhere (maybe... Amazon).

 

Companies NEVER (ever) just give something away without and angle that comes back to them. They say charity, I say tax write off. They say investing in customers, I say promoting your product. They say good will, I say dollar bills (coming your way). Is it a coincedence that companies promote all the "good things" they do for the world?

 

No... the real truth here and that eBay forces the working class (us) to bough down to them and they make billions while we turn the economic wheel for them. It's a reflection of our society.

 

 

 

So, what do I want as a buyer:

 

(1) Honesty

(2) Secure ship (no rush as long as it arrives safe)

(3) Good pics/scans

 

That's it

 

 

I think Arch screwed up your custom title.

[HighStakesComics]

Good stuff, buddy. When a week goes by and I haven't received payment typically I will as the seller offer a mutual cancellation. Ebay typically sends less offensive language, and at this point I pretty much just want to be able to relist my item. It sucks, but I understand I'm selling comics. If someone has car problems or has unexpected medical expenses; etc, I can't expect them to make books the priority. That said, habitual offenders should receive some type of ding versus just being blocked by sellers individually. There is almost zero recourse.

[Chip Cataldo]

That is not accurate

That's what I meant when I typed it. I thought 24 hours was close enough and didn't edit it because I didn't think anyone would nitpick my post.

 

This is also inaccurate. TRS requires a seller to upload the tracking number by midnight of the following day from the time the buyer paid for the item, not when they purchased it.

That's also what I meant when I typed it. Sorry for the confusion.

 

As far as it actually being scanned in by USPS to count...I was actually remembering that from the changes they are implementing in August. So, it's not that way RIGHT NOW, but it will soon enough for this discussion.

 

Peace,

 

Chip

[Jiminy_Cricket-migration]

That is not accurate

That's what I meant when I typed it. I thought 24 hours was close enough and didn't edit it because I didn't think anyone would nitpick my post.

 

This is also inaccurate. TRS requires a seller to upload the tracking number by midnight of the following day from the time the buyer paid for the item, not when they purchased it.

That's also what I meant when I typed it. Sorry for the confusion.

 

As far as it actually being scanned in by USPS to count...I was actually remembering that from the changes they are implementing in August. So, it's not that way RIGHT NOW, but it will soon enough for this discussion.

 

Peace,

 

Chip

 

Don't count on it. That new defect rating is full of errors and is taking considerable heat. There will be changes to it, if they even implement it at all.

 

Also... the USPS tracking does not work well enough for everyone, to be used as a criteria for checking to see if a seller actually shipped an item out. Sometimes the USPS doesn't scan it right away and sometimes they don't scan it at all till it shows up as "delivered". And sometimes they scan it but it doesn't show up in the system online for another day or two. Ebay knows this and that's why they can't penalize sellers for not having an immediate scan to prove it has been shipped. But they did implement the "ebay estimated delivery time" to combat sellers from printing labels, uploading tracking, but not shipping out for another week or so. If the delivery falls outside that estimate, the buyer can ding the shipping time star.

 

Peace

[rjrjr]

Very easy answer for me. ACCURATE DESCRIPTION sellers, instead of a few blanket words describing your item. In the last month I've received several books without the Marvel value stamp that were not noted in the item description, missing pages, tape cover pulls, coupons and water damage across many auctions. And then when I want to return the book for a full refund the seller starts in with the tired excuse of "I have too many auctions to check the interior of every book," so why don't you just keep the book for a reduced price. That's BS. List the item correctly and I won't even waste time or money bidding on your book.

Regardless of how many auctions you have correct representation of each item should be your primary concern. I latch on to sellers like that and continue to buy from them. Good packing helps too btw.

imho, if given an overstreet grade, nothing else is needed.

 

 

Yes, except how many listing say "Fantastic Four 12 NM" and then go on to say: "I am not a grader", "look at the [crappy] picture to determine the grade", "vg-nm", etc. I wouldn't buy based on the letter N-M alone. I don't even think some seller know what those letter mean, but just throw them into their auction because everyone else does.

True, but you shouldnt be buying an ff 12 NM raw online either. Any high dollar raw, should be bought in person.

 

I was thinking FF volume 3 when I typed this.

[youmechooz]

Very easy answer for me. ACCURATE DESCRIPTION sellers, instead of a few blanket words describing your item. In the last month I've received several books without the Marvel value stamp that were not noted in the item description, missing pages, tape cover pulls, coupons and water damage across many auctions. And then when I want to return the book for a full refund the seller starts in with the tired excuse of "I have too many auctions to check the interior of every book," so why don't you just keep the book for a reduced price. That's BS. List the item correctly and I won't even waste time or money bidding on your book.

Regardless of how many auctions you have correct representation of each item should be your primary concern. I latch on to sellers like that and continue to buy from them. Good packing helps too btw.

imho, if given an overstreet grade, nothing else is needed.

 

 

Yes, except how many listing say "Fantastic Four 12 NM" and then go on to say: "I am not a grader", "look at the [crappy] picture to determine the grade", "vg-nm", etc. I wouldn't buy based on the letter N-M alone. I don't even think some seller know what those letter mean, but just throw them into their auction because everyone else does.

True, but you shouldnt be buying an ff 12 NM raw online either. Any high dollar raw, should be bought in person.

 

I was thinking FF volume 3 when I typed this.

Haha. Then 12 pics arent gonna cut it.