posted on November 17, 2000 03:37:06 PM
I hope this isn't going to be an indicator of what Buy It Now is going to be for me (or anyone else too). I listed an expensive item last night with the Buy It Now option. This morning I checked my auctions and saw that auction was gone from the list. I then checked my email and saw that three hours earlier someone had used the BIN option. There was also an email from the buyer saying he used Buy It Now and "paid through ebay." He also wanted to know how soon the item would be shipping.
I assumed immediately that he chose to use Billpoint but thought it odd that I received no information on the transaction from them. I thought it was also strange because trying to pay as a single transaction would have exceeded Billpoint's charge ceiling but I checked my account anyway. As I suspected, nothing there.
I wrote back to the buyer saying that Billpoint has no record of any payment from him and would he please send me a copy of the confirmation email they sent to him? About an hour later I got an email asking if I would call him... Uh, oh. This sounded like the first inkling of trouble. I called him and he said he had paid through ebay. I asked him exactly what he did to "pay" and he described ebay's new credit card verification process to be allowed to use Buy It Now.
I explained to him that was not a payment form but rather a way for ebay to prove the bidders using the new system were who they say they are. I then told him that he would have to make payment arrangements using one of the many options I offered in the auction.
Since I had him on the phone I also asked about his email because he was actually referring incorrectly to the item he bought. What he kept saying in the email was a completely different form of the item. My auction ad was extremely detailed so there could have been absolutely no possibility of mistakes about what the item was. It was explained at length once and summarized twice in the auction. When I asked him about this he said he assumed it was the other. Please keep in mind that there is an email link in the auction for any questions about the item as well as a HumanClick button which he could have immediately reached me directly. He did neither.
Now, it became obvious pretty quickly that this person has a pretty tough time getting around computers and web browsers. I asked him to go to the auction so we could go over the content to understand why he thought otherwise. He couldn't figure out how to do that. I emailed him the url while we were on the phone so I could walk him through it. He brought up the email and couldn't seem to find the link in the message which was interesting because it was the only thing in the message. I eventually had to spell out the url slowly so he could type it into the address bar on his browser. Ok, everybody now... h t t p : / / w w w .
This was getting annoying but I was determined to do whatever was necessary to get this deal closed. So, we finally get to the auction page and I point out the 3 occurances in the description where I spell out what exactly the item is and I get from him, "Hmm, look at that. It sure does say that. Well, that's not really what I wanted though."
He then said he was going to talk to some friends and see if it could be utilized for his needs but would get back to me on Saturday or Monday about payment. Again... uh oh. Here comes the runaround.
So... two hours later I get an email from him...
"it is becoming to hard for me understand this.i thought i was buying XXX.please cancel my order and resubmit to ebay auction.sorry for inconvience
caused you. regards,"
My reply email explained to him that his misunderstanding cost me $170 in fees which will take me a month to recover from ebay and the fact that his use of Buy It Now took my 10 day auction and killed it after 8 hours. I described to him the fan mail he will be receiving from ebay as I file my NPB and FVF in the month long process to get my money back.
Just a note... this buyer has been registered with ebay since Jun of 1999 but has only 4 positives and 1 negative. Not too good of a ratio. The 1 negative says, "This guy is a pain in the ass to deal with, I don't recommend at all!!!!!!!!!!"
So, I hope this isn't a foreshadowing of what Buy It Now will be like. There's only so many times that I care to get screwed out of an auction run AND get to pay $170 for the pleasure.
AND... on top of this my new large Sony TV went on the fritz one day after the 90 day labor warranty expired. But alas... Sony was very nice about it. They asked my to fax them my sales slip and they would extend my warranty to cover the repairs since it only ended yesterday. At least something went right today.
[ edited by avaloncourt on Nov 17, 2000 03:51 PM ]
posted on November 17, 2000 03:52:54 PM
AmyM - well, at least there would have been a much higher chance that someone else would have placed bids and there would have been a backup bidder. The auction never got the chance for that to happen because this guy can't read.
Had this guy also placed a non-sniping bid in regular auction I would have cancelled his bid.
[ edited by avaloncourt on Nov 17, 2000 03:54 PM ]
posted on November 17, 2000 03:54:57 PM
He still would have been the same pain in the derriere...But judging by his feedback record and what avalon had to go through, hand-feeding him, he prolly has no clue what sniping is...
But seriously, sorry about the rotten luck, avalon...Guess that is another feature I will not use....
******************** Gosh Shosh!
posted on November 17, 2000 04:01:04 PM
avaloncourt, what a *bummer* ! My sympathies. My only problem wit BIN so far has been something of the same nature (buyer thought he paid through Billpoint when in fact it was just ebay's verification thing.) Luckily he wasn't quite such a beginner as your buyer and we straightened it out in a quick email exchange. But I can see there is definitely going to be a need for education!! I wish eBay would use a distinctive logo or page in that part of the process, which should indicate this is *not* a payment, just a verification. Maybe they already do, but unfortunately, they are heavily encouraging Billpoint for use with BIN, and IMO that's leading to some of the confusion. ("this is not a payment---but you can pay right here with billpoint"---some bidders won't get the difference.)
posted on November 17, 2000 07:10:57 PM
Tommy, you do have a very good point. The whole purpose of Buy It Now is Rush, Rush, Rush... Don't ask questions. Get it now before someone beats you or gets a bid in. It really isn't conducive to a well informed bidder. I wasn't thinking in that way when I posted it. I figured the average person knows what they want and a well described auction will allow informed buyers to buy immediately.
I did't think that it would be a haven for the impulse buyer who claims ignorance and remorse.
Check out the "I just made my first Buy It Now sale" (or something like that) thread and see all the smiley-faced Buy It Now converts who don't care that it's going to turn eBay into a store, so long as they can make a sale. I get the impression they weren't having much luck with auctions. Their attitude seems to be, so what if Buy It Now negatively affects the folks who are making a go of the multi-bid auction format -- just so long as they can find that one buyer they need.
That's what I meant -- that Buy It Now will turn eBay into an antique mall or a flea market.
As for the level playing field comment -- I chose to let it slide. Personally I don't know where anyone could get the impression that they're entitled to a level playing field in this business. I do feel bad for people whose sales have slumped, but I don't think the answer is to change eBay's proven format so that they can dump their stuff via flat sales. Sure, Buy It Now may help those sellers in the short run, but I think it's all the rest of us who are going to Pay Later.
posted on November 17, 2000 10:14:41 PM
I use Buy it Now on Yahoo BUT--- wouldn't use it on a high ticket item... unless I'm in no hurry to sell it - Yahoo let's us relist if we want so - I can get 20 full days on a buy it now and again If I choose. Once in a while I got NPB's but at least it didn't COST me anything.
I believe on ebay this could be quite costly--since it's true- people DON'T READ!
Ebay should have had the PENALTIES on these BIN sites in bright red letters. Saying: CAUTION! Your BIN BID is FINAL and Binding-- please read ALL listing data and ask ALL questions before placing your BIN !!
Also,howsabout: bidder agrees to pay seller all ebay listing fees if the BIN was placed in error or without asking questions!
Methinks ebay jumped into this waaay tooo soon without consulting with sellers about the pitfalls [silly}
posted on November 17, 2000 10:48:34 PM
Well at first I was in favor of the Buy it Now feature, but after reading what Spaz wrote in another thread; I would have to agree, it won't be good for ebay and will cause some heartburn to alot of bidders.
I guess a bidder would need to be on 24/7 now to make sure of getting the right item for a collection.
Ain't Life Grand...
posted on November 18, 2000 11:18:23 AM
There are bound to be people who keep refreshing the "New Today" page in order to snipe newly listed BIN items that are undervalued, or for hard-to-find items. This may keep those items from ever making it to the general eBay population. It's ironic, in a way. When I go to flea markets or antique shows now, all I hear is people grumbling about how they can't find anything interesting to buy, that "all the good stuff is being put up on eBay now." Might there come a day when eBayers lament that they can't find any good stuff in Search anymore because it's all being snatched up by Buy It Now snipers?
I remain convinced that Buy It Now is going to hurt us all in the long run, buyers and sellers both.
posted on November 18, 2000 11:23:29 AM
BIN sounds interesting, with some possible downsides as shown here. But I'm not an "early user" kinda person. I'd rather wait a month or two and see how it shakes out before I jump in. That will also give buyers a chance to get used to the new system, too, so there should be less confusion on their part.
The folks who can't wait to try every new bell and whistle are great researchers for the rest of us. We just read the comments, good and bad, and learn before we leap.
What I'm interested in learning more about is the perceived problems with turning eBay into a "marketplace" or an "antique mall." Why is this a Bad Thing? Apparently several people feel very strongly about it, and I;m not sure why. I'm fairly new to both the auction venue and selling in any other location. I've done very well with auctions here, but I don't know why selling at retail would be such a turnoff for many people. Help me out here, will ya?
posted on November 18, 2000 11:38:34 AM
I envision fewer problems with BIN than with preselling. Last evening I took time out to read complaints at traderlist.com. An eye opener!
I buy vintage costume jewelry and buy and sell beanies so those categories are probably a lot different than the high-priced category items would be. Those of you who auction upper scale items would not like me I'm afraid. I don't buy sight unseen and the most I have ever put out on an eBay auction is $215. Touch wood! As both a buyer and a seller I have been very lucky.
I'm still reading all of the comments about Buy It Now with great interest, but I won't be posting any more about that topic. Last night I received an email I can only describe as "sickening" from someone who apparently does not like my comments on these boards. I'm saddened that what I thought was a spirited debate about auctions became (for someone, anyway) an occasion for an anonymous person to scare me with the vehemence of his/her emotions and make incredibly nasty comments and criticisms. I wish no one harm, my hope for BIN is as a tide that raises all the ships, but it's not worth the kind of stress this email caused me. The ISP has been contacted and the email address blocked on my end and hopefully I won't get anything like this again, but for now, I'm just going to remain silent on this subject. Best wishes to all--
Kim
posted on November 18, 2000 12:39:21 PM
People are idiots, Kim. You should send a copy of the e-mail and the e-mail address to [email protected], in case the person who e-mailed you did so from the same address they're registered under here.
Don't let their ignorance silence you -- on this or any other subject. I differed with yours and other opinions regarding Buy It Now, but I certainly respect your right to express them.
posted on November 18, 2000 12:43:42 PM
Kim,
Please don't let some %^$^% silence you. Without differing opinions, there can be no debate, or an exchnage of ideas.
