posted on December 2, 2000 01:11:32 PM
I just started on e-bay... but thought this was funny. Is this the way its going to be??
Post my auction... State clearly, only accept Paypal or Money orders.
Contact winning bidder, 3 days later
GET AN E-MAIL
CHECK 2347 has been sent for item.
NEXT DAY
get an email stating, I've been sick, I may not have paid you, I'm not sure, I've had a fever.
I REPLY... your check sounds like a personal check. I don't accept those.
NEXT WEEK
Check 2347 arrives, its a personal check.
I accept it and tell the buyer that I will hold item for 15 days. She thanks me.
I SHIP ITEM. I see three days later positive feed back, item arrived, packed wonderful, as promised.
TWO DAYS LATER... Get an e-mail... received item, it was broken.
I RESPOND: Ship back... will refund money and $4 for your troubles.
SHE RESPONDS... my husband threw it away.
posted on December 2, 2000 01:23:12 PM
Nope this is not the way it works and if the buyer dont have the Item to send back or take a picture of to send you Dont send a refund.
Sound like this buyer was trying to pull a fast one there is no way it can arrive fine one day in feed back and arrive broken a day or two later according to there email.
here is a tip always Insure breakable Items this way you are protected if the buyer claims damage they would have to take the package and Item to the PO they will get paid Insurance if it was damaged in shipping.
Sound like this buyer is trying to pull something On a new seller just let then know No Item No refund that simple.
posted on December 2, 2000 01:29:13 PM
Yes, insurance. I've insured every item I've sold on e-bay except this one, because she annoyed me so much, I wanted the 85 cents
And... I did not send any money back to her of course. Once I asked her to produce the body... it was all over. Thanks for your input. I just wonder if this is going to represent a substantial portion of the e-bayers out there.
posted on December 2, 2000 02:29:15 PM
Only about 1% will be ding a ling's like this. But you CAN Count on them! That's why now I do a lot more .35 cent delivery confirmations! Especially on any item over $20
posted on December 2, 2000 02:54:32 PM
well KRS its fair to say 5% are worse or you just deal in bad neiborhoods
basically I been selling a year well over 500 item sold and shipped I sell on yahoo and ebay I have so far had three I can call rough deals.
One confused buyer who you might label a ding Bat but that sale to workout ok in the end after many email repeteing the same thing.
posted on December 2, 2000 02:58:50 PM
If you really truly don't want personal checks, you must make that clear. Most people who simply don't check the box will in fact accept checks, particularly for lower valued items.
A lot of people won't bid if they have to go out to buy a money order, particularly for lower valued items.
Personal checks are considerably more reliable than PayPal or Billpoint, and you can require personal check writers to be patient while the check clears.
posted on December 2, 2000 05:55:43 PM
the best is when you have someone pay you with a bank/certified check, you notify them that the payment has been received and the item will/has shipped only to get the payment back from the bank because the check was canceled.
Didn't think that you could cancel a certified/bank check? I didn't either, not a bad scam though for the crook, you buy an item for say 80.00 you send a bank check, the seller ships it, you cancel the check when you know that it has shipped and it costs the crook 15.00 they have a savings of 65.00. you loose the item, the shipping fees, ebay listing fees, plus a returned check fee.
we have been selling for over 2 years, we have had this happen 3 times for 47.00, 83.00, and 124.00, dollars. only in the last 4 to 5 months. I've lost more money to this scam, due to the dollar amounts, than all the bounced personal checks with fees added together.
also people check the header info on your PayPal transactions, or check it against what your account says on their web page. I've received a few email that look like they are from PayPal but if you check the header it was sent from the winning bidder not a PayPal server.
posted on December 2, 2000 06:31:32 PM
I shopped for a bank before I ever sold a single thing on EBAY. My bank charges me $3.00 for a bad check. I won't take PayPal but I will take a check from a zero feedback buyer. For a low dollar amount purchase I accept unused US postage stamps. I now have enough Christmas stamps to do all my cards.
Shop around. Find a cheap bank and take checks. I've had 2 bad checks, 1 paid the bank fee, the other one at least made good on the check.
