I'm kind of angry about an Ebay transaction 0

[lizards2]

7 minutes ago, kav said:

 

That is so frickin' terrible.

[kav]

3 minutes ago, lizards2 said:

That is so frickin' terrible.

poor lil guys

[malvin]

So sorry to hear, I purposely put down a long handling time for all my auctions just for that very reason, I think I put down 4 or 5 days.

Hopefully eBay can do something, but not sure if they will.  Please let us know how it goes

Malvin

[ADAMANTIUM]

5 minutes ago, lizards2 said:

I like to just crush blocks of styrofoam for packaging.  That way the recipient has that great static cling and particles everywhere that cannot be cleaned up easily.

I've had that happen as often as packing  peanuts. Not so much crushed styrofoam but old styrofoam leaves it everywhere as well  because it's brittle... you'd think I'd learn I not to open packages over carpet

Edited August 14, 2017 by ADAMANTIUM

[kav]

Just now, malvin said:

So sorry to hear, I purposely put down a long handling time for all my auctions just for that very reason, I think I put down 4 or 5 days.

Hopefully eBay can do something, but not sure if they will.  Please let us know how it goes

Malvin

I always immediately head to the post office when something sells.  If it's an auction all my auctions end around the same time so I just pack em up and head out.  I don't want any 'misunderstandings'.  

[Monstertruck97]

As a person with 40,000+ feedbacks and 17 years on eBay, relax as things will be just fine. If you deal on eBay, you are going to deal with "insufficiently_thoughtful_persons" and this guy, in my opinion was in the wrong and is  just an impatient jerk whose life probably sucks as is taking it out on you. Ebay WILL NOT DO ANYTHING for you (this is a fact, don't bother trying), and them removing the negative feedback that you are able to leave for buyers was horrible and gave too much power to the buyer in more ways than one. All you are left is the ability to "Report The Buyer" and that report probably goes in the bin.  But what are you going to do, not use eBay? I have been lucky to have less than nine negative feedbacks and about a dozen neutrals throughout my time on the site.

 I had a guy in Georgia want to fight me because his item came three days late. I had another guy call me up because he wasn't able to understand the simplest of my descriptions (something a five year old can understand) and when I kept  telling him that he doesn't understand, said that if I tell him this one more time, "he will break my jaw". I have more nightmare stories, but anyone that deals on eBay has a collection of them, I am sure. It could always be worse. It could have been a negative and simply reply to the feedback left and explain yourself, and next week I am sure the anger will dissipate. For the most part, 99.999% transactions go without an issue, but it's the small amount that do go array that seem to get us most upset.  Good Luck.

[Westy Steve]

I'm happy to report that the buyer changed his feedback. I wonder if he saw this post. I know he buys a lot of comic books. Whatever the case I think that I learn my lesson here as well.

[comicartfan]

4 hours ago, Westy Steve said:

The thing that irks me is the "full of excuses" part.  What sucks about it is that he wrote me and said "it's all good" before writing that feedback.  What a person_who_is_obnoxiously_self-impressed.  Seriously, I pride myself on being extremely honest.  I didn't think I needed any excuses since it was the fourth business day, and all I told him was that I had a family emergency (which I did). 

Does anyone remember when ebay was new and most sellers took a while getting out the shipments because we weren't all Ebay professionals...but rather just hobbyists who liked comics?

Full of excuses my Azz.  If that guy doesn't reverse his feedback, I'll out him here...it's the right thing to do. I can't leave feedback for him on Ebay, and  I don't want you guys to get dinged by him.  I wish I could retroactively block him.

I hear what you're saying and any of us that have sold on eBay have felt the same frustration. 

What I am getting from this post is that you are taking this too personal. You appear to be having a difficult time processing the fact that this guy called into question your character. This is where I would challenge you to use some mindfulness here. Remind yourself that this person doesn't "know you" in any form. He doesn't know where you're coming from and what are your motivations. When you get annoyed and starting the mental spinning, going over the whole exchange again and again, tell yourself to stop. That you're not what he may assume. 

The next part is to look at it from a  different perspective. As a buyer, we want our item to be arriving quickly and well packaged. When you get a book for example that is super well packaged. It looks like there was a professional shipping expert that packed it up. Think of it like dating..."The first impression".  What this does is it shows to the buyer that you respect their item.  - Buying is emotional....Makes them being disappointed all the more painful, in their eyes. 

My recommendation is to take it constructively. Maybe you could have packed it a little better, shipped it a little quicker and maybe you can learn....instead of thinking of it as an attack. 

 

[01TheDude]

one of my recent ebay comic purchases took one week after I paid for them to "package" and I use that term loosely. They took an old padded envelope, scribbled off the old addressing items, slapped on a hand written delivery note, then took it to the post office. It did have tracking but they didn't bother to update that in ebay either. The book was bagged and boarded but NOTHING else--did not even tape the bag shut--  just flopping around in this over sized envelope. Zero care taken in the shipping in the hopes of saving a few pennies in the process. This was a buy it now with freeshi pping-- so the guy wasn't trying to save money after the fact  from a low sale price on an auction. Nope-- just a bad shipping job, Not even a "do not bend" written on it. Probably dropped the books grade doing this so I was not happy to see this.

I won't be buying from that guy ever again. The package weight: 3.68 ounces. Easily could have sandwiched it between some card board and that would have been fine. uggh-- frustrating.

Edited August 15, 2017 by 01TheDude

[thehumantorch]

2 hours ago, lizards2 said:

I like to just crush blocks of styrofoam for packaging.  That way the recipient has that great static cling and particles everywhere that cannot be cleaned up easily.

You're Dr Evil 

[lizards2]

47 minutes ago, thehumantorch said:

3 hours ago, lizards2 said:

I like to just crush blocks of styrofoam for packaging.  That way the recipient has that great static cling and particles everywhere that cannot be cleaned up easily.

You're Dr Evil 

  Sim, sim, salabim!

[porcupine48]

9 minutes ago, lizards2 said:

  Sim, sim, salabim!

 

[Westy Steve]

2 hours ago, comicartfan said:

I hear what you're saying and any of us that have sold on eBay have felt the same frustration. 

What I am getting from this post is that you are taking this too personal. You appear to be having a difficult time processing the fact that this guy called into question your character. This is where I would challenge you to use some mindfulness here. Remind yourself that this person doesn't "know you" in any form. He doesn't know where you're coming from and what are your motivations. When you get annoyed and starting the mental spinning, going over the whole exchange again and again, tell yourself to stop. That you're not what he may assume. 

The next part is to look at it from a  different perspective. As a buyer, we want our item to be arriving quickly and well packaged. When you get a book for example that is super well packaged. It looks like there was a professional shipping expert that packed it up. Think of it like dating..."The first impression".  What this does is it shows to the buyer that you respect their item.  - Buying is emotional....Makes them being disappointed all the more painful, in their eyes. 

My recommendation is to take it constructively. Maybe you could have packed it a little better, shipped it a little quicker and maybe you can learn....instead of thinking of it as an attack. 

 

Agreed. That's good advice.  And yes, I definitely was bothered when my character was questioned.  I strive to be above board and take pride in that.

[GM8]

Can't stand those kind of buyers but they do exist and selling on ebay one takes the risk of dealing with one every now and then.  

I had a guy ask me to send him photos of a CGC 9.8 comic I had listed.  I responded as to why he would need photos when the one I have is clear and it's a flipping 9.8.  He said that many 9.8's aren't and that he wanted to make sure it was worthy of his purchase.  I blocked his annoying #$&$ and told him that my book wasn't for him.   It sold to an appreciative buyer a week later.  In the past I might actually have coalesced to the annoying guy but now I know life is too short.

[Dick Pontoon]

18 hours ago, Westy Steve said:

I've got over 700 feedbacks with only one neutral.  Until today.  I got another one.

When I sell things, Ebay automatically indicates the turn-around time on the seller form.  It says 2 to 3 business days.  I'd like to figure out how to change it (my default setting), but I've been just living with EBay's selection of my turn around time.  I'm not a professional seller...this is my hobby.

I sold a book to a guy and couldn't ship it until the 4th business day.  I shipped a slabbed comic in a Priority box.  I didn't have packing peanuts, so I used paper towels, as I have done many times.   I actually prefer them because they are cheaper and do a good job.

The guy wrote me and asked me where his book was on the fifth business day, and I informed him that I'd sent it the previous day.  I believe I entered the tracking info before he asked, but can't be sure of the timing.

A day later, he informed me he got the book, but said I didn't have enough padding in there.  But the book arrived fine, and it was insured in the event that it was damaged. 

So the guy gives me a neutral, said that I was "full of excuses", that the book was poorly packaged and "luckily" arrived in good condition.

I know by posting this I'm opening up to criticism, but I wanted to vent.  I had a legitimate delay in my shipping time and I will be changing my settings to a slower default shipping time when I figure out how to do it.  I sell books to fund my hobby.

Allright, I guess I’m going to be that guy….

I’m surprised no one has said this, but if you are shipping slabs and using paper towels for packing material, you are asking for trouble. Doesn’t matter if you’ve done it before and it turned out okay. Eventually you’ll wind up with a cracked slab and an irate buyer, possibly a neg and be out the cost of the slab and shipping when ebay finds in the buyer’s favor.

Always, always, always use a ton of bubble wrap or bubble wrap with packing peanuts. Paper towels are not going to absorb and stand up to any impact if the box is damaged. For a valuable book I’d suggest double boxing. These packages aren’t getting some white glove treatment – they’re getting tossed into trucks, across rooms into bins and through various mechanical sorting machinery. Pack a slab as if you expect the box to be handled by a gorilla; pack a slab the way YOU would want to receive it.

Secondly, why aren’t you generating postage and printing it through ebay? You don’t have to remember to enter the tracking number, it’s automatically attached to the listing. It’d the easiest and fastest way to ship.

Finally, go to your seller dashboard and change your handling time. What's to figure? If you can't find it in your menu items, ask Google how to change it. Again, you’re just setting yourself up for problems.

[FN-2199]

Here is a tip I learned this year that has helped me cut down on shipping time:

I print the label at home through eBay or PayPal (OK, this isn't news). Once the label is printed, I can drop it off at my local Post Office 24/7. I've noticed that some, not all, USPS offices have drop bins in the lobby which is open 24/7 for PO Box customers and shipping using the self-service postage machine. Now, when I can't get to the Post Office during the day, I can swing by at night and drop packages in the giant blue hopper drop off. My local post office even has a separate drop off for "Large Envelopes and Flats", perfect for mailing out single raw comics or a Gemini comic mailer. Then I drop the bulk purchase or slab in the package bin next to this drop off. I visit multiple Post Offices and not all have these drop offs but many do (the ones with the self-service postage machine). Check it out. If you can do this, your package will be processed at the end of the next business day.

[Artboy99]

22 hours ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

Packing peanuts are annoying but they're better than nothing and they work! Maybe still use a little bubble wrap so that packing peanuts don't go everywhere when they get their package.

Like this?

Books with bags, no boards and peanuts everywhere! Small partially crushed little bits of packing peanuts stuck to every bag.

Edited August 15, 2017 by Artboy99

[ADAMANTIUM]

Recipe for shipping comic book soup:

Put a little of this

A little of that 

A comic

And a big dash of peanuts to make it salty

I'll have mine with extra cardboard and bubble wrap please!!!

[F For Fake]

On 8/15/2017 at 3:37 PM, FN-2199 said:

Here is a tip I learned this year that has helped me cut down on shipping time:

I print the label at home through eBay or PayPal (OK, this isn't news). Once the label is printed, I can drop it off at my local Post Office 24/7. I've noticed that some, not all, USPS offices have drop bins in the lobby which is open 24/7 for PO Box customers and shipping using the self-service postage machine. Now, when I can't get to the Post Office during the day, I can swing by at night and drop packages in the giant blue hopper drop off. My local post office even has a separate drop off for "Large Envelopes and Flats", perfect for mailing out single raw comics or a Gemini comic mailer. Then I drop the bulk purchase or slab in the package bin next to this drop off. I visit multiple Post Offices and not all have these drop offs but many do (the ones with the self-service postage machine). Check it out. If you can do this, your package will be processed at the end of the next business day.

The 24/7 bins are good if you're only shipping 1st class or media stuff. But if you have at least one priority package in your shipment, USPS will pick them up from your doorstep. Once I found that out a few years ago, it CHANGED MY LIFE. Oh, those years of dragging tons of boxes in to USPS to get priced and shipped. Ugh. If I could only have that time back.

[lizards2]

3 hours ago, F For Fake said:

The 24/7 bins are good if you're only shipping 1st class or media stuff. But if you have at least one priority package in your shipment, USPS will pick them up from your doorstep. Once I found that out a few years ago, it CHANGED MY LIFE. Oh, those years of dragging tons of boxes in to USPS to get priced and shipped. Ugh. If I could only have that time back.

I can't believe that more people aren't printing postage at home through Paypal, eBay or some other device.  It saves you or your customers money, and it saves you time, especially coupled with home pick-up from USPS.  I think the savings on a medium flat rate box are somewhere in the $2 range, which to me is significant.  Using Paypal shipping also allows you to ship first class up to just shy of 1 lb / 16 oz, whereas the USPS sites only allow 13 oz.