posted on January 3, 2001 02:57:54 PM
My first sale...buyer left a really harsh feedback for a item that was in great condition.
A (CD) I like new..even though it was missing the little paper in front with the artist on it! Was I wrong?
posted on January 3, 2001 03:11:26 PM
You have to make sure you stay within the quality rating that Half.com has stated. If it is missing the liner notes a CD is considered as 'acceptable' even if the CD is in perfect condition---or if the cover art is damaged. There is no way to respond to feedback left by a buyer.....if you feel the feedback is wrong you might try writing to Half.com...or you could start a new with a new ID. I suppose you would have to cancel the existing one to be able to that, but I have no idea.
"Good - Minor damage to jewel case (scuffs or cracks) or item cover (scuff
marks, scratching, or cracks), cover art and liner notes included for a CD, VHS
and DVD box included, video game instructions included, no skipping on
CD/DVD, no fuzzy/snowy frames on VHS tape. "
"Acceptable - Tear or hole in CD cover art or VHS/DVD box, video game
instructions and box not included. Promotional CDs. "
posted on January 3, 2001 05:59:56 PM
Yes, you were wrong. How can you claim something is LIKE NEW when part of the item is missing? Come on. If I were the buyer I'd have been furious too!
posted on January 4, 2001 11:51:04 AM
Wow isn't that something how you react Jema.
I only got 5 buck even less after they took out their fee for a Christmas CD I played one time.
AND PAID MORE THAN 17 BUCKS FOR!
It would have been more worth it to give it away ... than to get a slap in the face for trying a new service!
Hey... thank you , your response has given me a shining light. So, I have removed all my items from HALF***.com !
I could get more from a yard sale ..with no nasty comments from people ... which I don't get to refute people get to leave nasty comments for public viewing so other are afraid to buy and miss a good item for a great price.
How fair is it to not get to respond????
When someone does it to you maybe you will be more understanding ...
to comment you are not pleased is one thing , but to say "It stunk this is a peice of crap!"
I don't think that is at all fair!
posted on January 4, 2001 03:00:13 PM
"a good item for a great price"?
Well, you could have set whatever price you wanted, but be accurate in terms of condition. Let the buyer decide whether they want to pay that price for something less than perfect. What response would you like to leave that customer? You sold them something definitely below the quality they were expecting. How would you like to have bought a CD on half.com, perhaps intending to give it as a gift to a cherished friend or your child for Christmas, only to find out that it didn't have the insert cover present, just the CD in the jewel box? Guess your friend would realize just how cheap you were buying them something used
And I can understand unfair feedback on that site. Sold a perfect video to someone who, judging from the comment they left, played it on a defective machine while on vacation and ruined it...blamed me! I couldn't get half.com to remove it, so I sucked it up and moved on. Stopped selling there only recently with the newest rip-off, errr, I mean, "price adjustment" to shipping rates there. That's where they make their money, skimming the postage paid...sickening.
posted on January 4, 2001 03:07:27 PM
athena is right---you should have described it as 'Acceptable' condition--explained why it was described that way---and then priced it for the amount that you wanted to receive.
You could have priced it at $10.00 if you wanted to--you would have gotten the money you wanted for it--and a buyer would have known exactly what they were receiving.
Their feedback was a little harsh--but I buy a lot of books there and the way some people ship books is terrible and can understand the buyers frustration--though I am a bit more diplomatic in my feedback.
posted on January 4, 2001 03:14:15 PM
I, too have DUMPED Half.com after a dimwitted customer gave me a "1" because she didn't realize BOOK RATE takes WEEKS...not DAYS....I thought it would be easy to fix at first, since clearly this was an erroneous feedback---I had proof of the day I shipped---less than 24 hours after getting the order! but Half.com refused to change it, and generally was so ridiculous about it that I removed all 100 of my books and marched them over to Amazon where they've been doing just great. Half.com is a very flawed system. Not to mention that few people are making money there because sellers have undercut each other so badly.
posted on January 4, 2001 03:54:06 PM
parentof2, please understand that from a buyer's perspective, they don't give a rat's patootie what you paid for the CD, nor do they care about the fee half.com takes from your sale price. All they know is that you offered a "like new" CD for a price you were obviously willing to accept, and when they received the CD, it was far from "like new", even though CD itself may have played fine. You made a mistake - we all make mistakes. Just try to move on and learn from it.
posted on January 4, 2001 05:41:53 PM
Parentof2cutetees -- Sorry your experience was so unpleasant. But you might be able to learn from it, too. Generally (it seems to me), used CDs sell for around 1/3 of their retail price (unless they are really special/in high demand) -- it doesn't matter that you only played it once or whatever. (Retail used CD stores sell them for as much as half of their retail price, but when I buy from an individual I expect to get it for even less than from a used CD store -- otherwise I'd go to the retail store, where I could inspect it before buying.)
As a purchaser of used CDs, I will tell you that the paper inserts in the CD are VERY important to me. Otherwise I'd just listen to the songs on the radio and not bother to buy it! I want to know ALL the details listed about the songs, the musicians, and anything else those inserts say. A used CD without the insert would only be worth 99 cents to me.
(That said, if I'd been the buyer in this sale I would have contacted you and let you know that the CD wasn't satisfactory and asked to return it for a refund. If that was successful, feedback would have been positive; and saying something like: "Cover insert missing not mentioned in ad, but seller refunded my money." )
Violetta
(Not known by this nickname anywhere but here.)
[edited: no winky -- I'm serious]
[ edited by violetta on Jan 4, 2001 05:47 PM ]
posted on January 4, 2001 07:21:46 PM
I have found that a number of the half.com buyers give harsh feedback. Although the majority of my rating are 5's, I do get an occasional undeserved 4-3-2-1. One reason was that my book arrived a day later than other books ordered the same day (shipped on time). Another is that the buyer felt they paid too much after including the postage costs(why buy it then?) And there were a number of undeserved comments that unfortunately sellers do not have the ability to reply to. Half.com told me they were planning to add a response feature to feedback in the future. I used to get horribly upset but I don't get upset anymore, I just take it as it comes. I know I'm a good seller (700+ ebay rating and 500+ yahoo rating). Those few bad comments did not affect my sales on half.com so I don't even look at my feedback anymore.
posted on January 5, 2001 02:30:56 PM
Thanks for all your comments (Athena) and you others.
I now realized how I could have better clarified the situation.
I would not want to recieve a CD without the insert either.
And yes I would have gladly refunded the money because , it turned out that the CD I order from a store didn't come til' after Christmas , and I could have had my own CD...lol.
I will not use half.com again , but have gathered some valuable info.
