mcjane
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posted on June 10, 2001 12:11:37 AM
My son sold a book on eBay for 22.00. New bidder with zero FB. Well, seems so far he's a NPB, hasn't replied to any emails & the auction ended 10 days ago. No problem if a bidder changes his mind, but at least say so, even with a lame excuse.
I want to sign up for a hotmail email address & tell the bidder that I missed bidding on that auction & will buy the book from him for 35.00 if he is willing to sell. Then wait to see if he emails my son with his excuse for not getting in touch & then sends his payment. (My son & I have different home addresses)
Of course I'm not going to buy the book. Is this a good scam or a dumb idea?
I would really like some opinions, and there is always good advice to be found on this board.
This guy kept outbidding everyone else, he's new on eBay & we feel he needs to learn a lesson. He will get negative feedback if he doesn't send payment & neutral if he does for being so late, also, he gets to keep the book that he no longer wants!!!
So, what do you say, should I do it?
Jane
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amy
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posted on June 10, 2001 12:37:16 AM
Is this a good scam
I think your own words says it all 
If I knew a seller did something as unprofessional as what you are proposing I would never bid on their auctions...I don't think I would trust a seller who was this underhanded.
Please say this was a troll post!
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cantonpalace
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posted on June 10, 2001 12:44:55 AM
LOL! A good scam if you don't get caught, and definitely NOT worth $22 if you do. 
He'd probably want PayPal payment up front before emailing your son to let him know he still wants the book. lol
I'd probably just neg him and move on. JMO.
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mcjane
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posted on June 10, 2001 12:50:10 AM
No amy, not a troll & yes underhanded & unprofessional & acting as bad as the bidder.
I'm just fed up with new signees playing games like this & want to play one back on them. It probably won't happen, but he deserves it. He bought the book & he should pay for it one way or another. How do you get back at a NPB & negative feedback is not going to do it.
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pharlap
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posted on June 10, 2001 12:54:37 AM
Well I for one give you an A+ for thinking outside the square 
... Having said that though I wouldn't do it - it would probably backfire somehow.
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mcjane
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posted on June 10, 2001 12:56:23 AM
cantonpalace, if I do it, I will just change my mind, like he did. I think he would want the book before he said yes to me.
I read an earlier post about how to get back at someone & it inspired me to think this one up. It was just that he was new & he kept bidding......otherwise it would be no big deal.
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twinsoft
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posted on June 10, 2001 02:15:47 AM
It's kind of fun to fantasize about it, but no I would not do it.
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david2001
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posted on June 10, 2001 02:33:42 AM
Underhanded?
Unprofessional?
I guess it isn't unprofessional or underhanded when a despartment store has security cameras or security personnel behind 2-way mirrors to make sure people aren't stealing. That's called "loss prevention".
I guess it isn't unprofessional or underhanded when police set up a sting operation to catch a crook. That's called "good police work".
Mcjane: DO NOT let people disuade you from doing what this bidder deserves. In a way, this is your form of loss prevention. Your time does have a value.
An eye for an eye.
Some people believe that you should turn the other cheek, I believe you should slap back.
I treat my customers with the untmost respect and courtesy, so when someone burns me, it irritates me all the more, and YES, I wouldn't hesitate in giving someone a taste of their own nasty medicine, even if it only makes you feel better.
Whether or not this would violate Ebay rules is not relevant. YOU are the one who has been slighted, if not in money, certainly in lost time. Rules are a great way to ensure that the bad guy will usually win, because the good guys are too afraid of violating a rule to seek real justice.
However, I am a good guy, but I will also get my pound of flesh.
[ edited by david2001 on Jun 10, 2001 03:10 AM ]
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rarriffle
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posted on June 10, 2001 04:42:44 AM
The payment still may show up though.
I had a 0 feedback newbie bid and win an item the day he registered.
No email response, 12 days later I receive the payment with his address hand written and undecipherable on a sheet of paper. Since he included a copy of my email to him, I knew what he was paying for.
I wrapped the package and taped his handwritten address to the package. Sure hope the USPS has better luck with reading his writing than I did. He did pay for delivery confirmation so I can watch the package somewhat.
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amy
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posted on June 10, 2001 08:24:03 AM
Mcjane...it is fun to fantasize about "getting even" but IMO that is ALL it should be...fantasizing. To carry it through would put you on the same level as your "thief"
How do you get back at a NPB...you "get back" by filing for your FVF and leave a negative. You stay professional and remember your goal is to sell your merchandise and not to "teach the public a lesson"....otherwise you enter the ranks of "Sellers from Hell".
Plus, as someone already told you, your son may receive the payment in a couple of days.
Good luck...hope your son gets paid for this book.
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TheRedCircle
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posted on June 10, 2001 08:50:23 AM
There are times when I wonder why a majority of kids nowadays are boorish, rude, ill-mannered oafs with little sense of right or wrong.
I guess this gives me my answer.
----
TRC
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cartoonglassfreak
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posted on June 10, 2001 09:32:59 AM
mcjane:
I say go for it! I too am sick and tired of deadbeat bidders. I have four packages sitting upstairs just waiting to be mailed. They have sat there for over a month. I am going to relist them and neg the bidders. Give it a shot and let me know what happens! Don't listen to Amy...I don't think she understands the frustration that comes along with deadbeat bidders. And I think her words were very rude for your innocent post. Well you asked for my suggestion and I gave it...DO IT!!
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dubyasdaman
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posted on June 10, 2001 11:11:24 AM
IMO this would indeed be a scam, a dirty trick. It would actually put you on a lower level than the deadbeat since you would be telling a blatant lie. The end doesn't always justify the means and in this case it surely doesn't.
It may well work and your son may well receive payment for the book, but some principles are more important than proving a point and teaching a lesson (no matter how much the lesson needs to be taught).
This isn't a personal attack and I hope you don't take it that way. I'm just stating my opinion and answering the question that you started this thread with.
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rosiebud
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posted on June 10, 2001 03:33:03 PM
You wanted an opinion? I will give you mine. This is something that my 14 year old would think of. These types of 'headgames' are immature and childish and really not something I expect from an adult.
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snipekiller
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posted on June 10, 2001 03:39:21 PM
I detest NPB's and had to think hard about this one. If the bidder is just a deadbeat new to ebay then I would move on. If the bidder was really nasty, had outbid me in other auctions myself in the same category or if the bidder was better looking than me and has too much money and a couple of Porsches or a Bentley then I would definitely do it, or if the bidder is a hypocrite. Life does get complex. haha
sk
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koto1
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posted on June 10, 2001 03:59:34 PM
File the NPB, wait the appropriate time, then if you still haven't received the $$, file the FVF and neg feedback. Keep it simple, like clockwork, and NON-personal.
It's fun to fantasize about, but in the end it'll be much more valuable to you knowing that you stayed professional. Don't worry...you might not see it, but people like your bidder do get theirs in the end.
"Who's tending the bar?  Sniping works up a thirst"
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david2001
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posted on June 10, 2001 04:11:32 PM
Pure and simple:
ANyone who screws with you, deserves to be screwed with back. If that means you are "lowering yourself to their level" then by all means, lower away!
Unless you send people a message by letting them experience the BS that they put you through, they learn NOTHING.
They might not learn anyway, but you have a much better shot at teaching them a lesson when you do stoop to their level.
This is not mere supposition. I have seen this and experienced it. It is fact.
Turning the other cheek simply passes them on to the next guy, unscathed.
Nonsense.
[ edited by david2001 on Jun 10, 2001 04:12 PM ]
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tuesday2001
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posted on June 10, 2001 05:02:59 PM
LOL Jane; I LOVE it! =) Go for it.
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yumacoot
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posted on June 10, 2001 06:55:05 PM
McJane.....I Love IT!! I would have never thought of that. I have mixed feelings about doing it though. I hav eonly had about 4 NPB, but it sure gets aggravating! All they have to do is send a note saying "sorry, changed my mind" It's still maddening, but at least we would know!
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guntotingdad
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posted on June 10, 2001 07:11:12 PM
david2001 you are making the same argument that McVeigh made -- the government screwed up with waco so they deserve to get screwed back. The trite saying that two wrongs do not make a right does relate to a certain truth but it is also important that if something like Oklahoma City or Waco does force the government to review the tactics and methods that it uses when coercing it's citizens into compliance with the government's version of the law then at least something has been learned from these incidents.
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mcjane
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posted on June 10, 2001 08:13:17 PM
gtdad...We are talking about 22.00, an eBay auction & a no harm done trick. No need to bring the government into it. It's not that deep.
I'm not out to hurt anyone, I'm just planning a harmless little surprise for a deadbeat and david2001 made some very good points.
Thank's to all that agree & also to those that don't. On AW everyones opinion counts.
If I do it I will post the outcome.
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david2001
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posted on June 10, 2001 08:21:27 PM
guntotingdad:
Whether or not the government screwed up at Waco is to some degree a matter of perception, whereas this situation has to do with deadbeat bidders who are CLEARLY in the wrong. Don't confuse the issue.
There are, unfortunately, too many Ebay users who abuse other members and then benefit by those victims being too timid to violate the rules to get even.
Some of us, proudly, do not take this laying down.
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quickdraw29
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posted on June 10, 2001 11:54:06 PM
mcjane, just file for a FVF refund, neg the guy and if he gets a few more of them he's gone off ebay. 99% of my deadbeats are now non-registered, so ebay does a good job.
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guntotingdad
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posted on June 10, 2001 11:58:50 PM
david2001 if you were sitting in your house minding your own business and the ATF, National Guard or some other Federal arm drove a tank through your home would that be a matter of perception?
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quickdraw29
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posted on June 11, 2001 12:11:55 AM
guntotingdad, I see your point but let's not go there. If you're "minding your business at home", but your business is building a nucleur arsenile, obvioulsy the ATF should bulldoze down your door.
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david2001
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posted on June 11, 2001 03:23:43 AM
I think we all know where guntotingdad
is coming from. LOL!
Yikes!
FYI: The ATF, FBI and other government agencies are an extension of our government--which is an extension of we the people, and when someone (Waco) is doing something outside of the law and resisting said authorities in such a manner, they deserve to be steamrolled....and I support our government 100%.
Those who feel the government is out to get them, certainly will not feel that way....for obvious reasons.
[ edited by david2001 on Jun 11, 2001 03:33 AM ]
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MrBusinessMan
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posted on June 11, 2001 07:31:04 AM
99% of my deadbeats are now non-registered, so ebay does a good job.
I would disagree. My guess is that 99% of those 99% are alive and well on ebaY bidding under brand-spanking new, spotless feedback user IDs.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Sellers and ebaY should NEVER try to boot a deadbeat from ebaY. In fact, ebaY should find a way to FORCE deadbeats to do business with their neg-laden account instead of doing them the favor of booting them and allowing them to re-register under a new ID.
The ironic thing about this is that most of the sellers who are gung-ho about NARUing deadbeats are the same sellers who religiously check the feedback profiles of those bidding on their auctions as a way to avoid deadbeats. There is a serious conflict in logic here since a re-incarnated deadbeat will have a spotless record when he bids on your auction under his new ID. Kind of a self-defeating policy...
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Valleygirl
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posted on June 11, 2001 12:57:30 PM
This sounds like fun, please do it and let us know the result.
Not my name on ebay.
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chris97
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posted on June 11, 2001 03:00:21 PM
mrbusinessman,
what is to stop a person with negative feedback and that hasn't been NARU'd from abandoning their profile and starting a new one?
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surrrfurtom
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posted on June 11, 2001 07:06:15 PM
I agree with David2001 that sometimes a little payback is sweet and can even be a worthwhile learning experience for the payback-ee or in this case deadbeat.
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