posted on May 6, 2002 03:54:11 PM
What a week! Is it a full moon, or what? I'm just about ready to hang it up on ebay. Sales are way down, seems like only looney tunes are bidding on my auctions.
This past week I've had to deal with a bidder who notified me 2 months after his package had been mailed that it had not arrived. It was a $5.00 item. He didn't want me to fill out the insurance form because I had only insured it for $5.00 (the value of the package)- he wanted to fill a claim for $50.00 on it. I refused to commit mail fraud, after several nasty emails, ended up sending back the bid amount just so it would finally be resolved. Daily emails were getting ridiculous.
Then I had a bidder with a whopping feedback of 9- I clearly state what day I ship on, regardless of when payment is received, my items go out on that day. They didn't get their item soon enough for them, now they've filed a I didn't get my item charge with paypal (eight days after he paid, four days after I shipped) threatening to leave negative feedback, contact the FBI, etc.
Then I get the newbies with the "I think I've been patient long enough" emails- I'm going to report you to ebay- when the auction is not 6 days old.
Then there is a crop of non-paying bidders, Plus, I'm getting inundated by email virus' from other ebayers.
I could go on and on, won't bore you with everything, just felt a need to vent and get it off my chest. I'm ready to quit ebay!
posted on May 6, 2002 05:41:59 PM
Nasty sellers who can't be bothered shipping more than once or twice a week but expect payment NOW are my big problem with ebay.
posted on May 6, 2002 05:42:54 PM
If you only ship once a week, please leave. It's people like this that give all other sellers a bad name. If you get payment (Except personal check) Ship the next day or Monday if received on Sat. This person has a legite gripe in my opinion. If your schedule doesn't allow you to get some where, you MUST e-mail each and every person you owe items to and let them know about the delay. As I buyer, I expect it. As a seller, I would do nothing less than to let the buyer know exactly what is going on with their item.
>>If you only ship once a week, please leave. It's people like this that give all other sellers a bad name. If you get payment (Except personal check) Ship the next day or Monday if received on Sat.>>
It's trolls like you that give chat boards a bad name. Who are you to tell tcells how to run his or her business?
[ edited by outoftheblue on May 6, 2002 05:59 PM ]
didn't realize I'd get flamed just for venting my frustrations. Maybe I should clarify a few things.
1)the first incident I mentioned, a buyer wanted me to falsify an insurance claim.
2)I clearly state in my TOS in nice bold letters what day I ship on, and again in my emails when I thank them for sending payment.
3)Third, the newbies I mentioned, I haven't even received their payment yet, or had a chance to ship, and they are already threatening to turn me into ebay.
I give ebay a bad name? Another mentioned that I should email each and every one of those people to explain the delay. What delay? I'm really sorry I even bothered to post here. I've seen other people post here and get embarrassed and humiliated, sorry I even bothered.
Sometimes when it rains it pours.lol Don't be upset by a few rude posters.
You have made it perfectly clear that you only ship once a week so all bidders should be aware of your policy. But, as you know a lot of buyers don't read and when they pay immediately by Paypal or Billpoint etc. they expect next day shipping. I don't know how or if that can be changed.
Fortunately, I live right around the block from the Post Office so I've never had that problem.
word change ed. posters to buyers.
[ edited by Helenjw on May 6, 2002 07:30 PM ]
posted on May 6, 2002 07:11:34 PM
tcells, hang in here and vent whatever you want to.
No matter how you conduct your business, you will find that others do things differently. And many of them are just so convinced that their way is the best way and the only way to do it. Every chance they get, they will come here and try to hammer it at you that you are doing it the wrong way.
You may state shipping days in your auctions and e-mail but a good percentage of bidders never read or they think it doesn't pertain to them.
posted on May 6, 2002 07:24:07 PM
See the power struggle some buyers have? It's not enough to just use sense when buying and patience waiting for delivery, but they demand it now at the lowest price, and expect sellers to take responsibilty if the buyer can't read or take the care to know what they're bidding on.
If you notice, it is nearly always the cheapest buyers who complain. The ones who win an item for $2 that normally sells for $10. It's that time of year when prices drop and the cheapos win. That means more looneys!
But what does nasty sellers have to do with the topic of this thread? tcells, don't be scared away, they are insecure people who are stealing your energy, don't let them. You're entitled to keep your energy.
Last month, April is my annual looney month, was my worse. The nastiest buyers I'd ever want to come across. Wish those people would stay away from ebay.
Don't quit ebay, neg those buyers and hope they leave. You will have mostly good months selling. About twice a year these creepy crawlers come out of from under the rocks. It's expected, but you won't get hurt from it besides a couple negs and wasted time.
They are in every business, big businesses and small have to deal with these weirdo buyers.
To deal with them, tell them straight up how rude they are and point out their mistakes. Cancel their sales. When they realize they can't have your energy, they will back off and look for an easier target.
Most of all, just keep a positive attitude. Think of what good you are doing when you help to get these mummies off ebay!
posted on May 6, 2002 07:27:47 PM
Thanks Kiara and Helenjw-
Actually I have to carry my packages miles through the snow, barefoot- oh wait, thats my grandpa's story. :0)
I live way out in the boonies, my nearest post office is 30 miles away, hence the once a week shipment. I try to have my auctions end on the weekend, so my usual shipment time is 3 business days. If I receive several payments after that I will make another trip to get them out.
posted on May 6, 2002 08:14:26 PM
We all have our own ideas how to run eBay business. If it clearly stated in tcells TOS about shipping then he should stick with that. Living that far from a PO I wouldn't make that trip to often either. It sounds like if people pay promptly he mails promptly but if they are 1 day late then they wait. The buyers need to be more prompt with their payment and then they will get their items faster. Imagine what tcells handling charges would be if he drove to the PO everyday. Whew!!!!!
posted on May 6, 2002 08:45:19 PM
Wow, why don't people think before they speak, this person needed to vent and some climbed down her/his throat, It really makes me angry, If stated the shipping times in the auction then the buyers have no reason to gripe! Neither do the folks here.It keeps people from asking questions or learning, isn't that what this thread is for. I for one hate to ask here sometimes because of the rudiness, then again as always Helen and Kiara and a few others are always so helpful...
It must be a full moon on this thread also.
Please think before you type, you can give constructive thoughts in a nicer way.
Good luck tcells!
Tcells, I can truly sympathize with you. Buyers are an odd lot. I've had a coupla doozies lately. Is the moon full?
Can I vent some too?
I just got an email from someone who won two of my auctions. Dishes - heavy ones that would just as soon break as look at you.
Both of the auctions stated the rate for priority mail plus insurance. Separately, shipping and insurance would have been $5.20 + $1.10 and $6.45 + $1.10. A total of $13.85.
I sent my EOA message with combined shipping of $6.45 + $1.10 insurance for a package which (crossing fingers here) won't go over four pounds. She lives halfway across the country. I don't charge for handling or packing material.
Not a "Hey thanks for combining shipping, you've saved me some money." No, she wants to know if I can ship by a cheaper method without insurance... I let her know parcel post would be $6.05 with an estimated delivery time of 8 days, meaning her dishes would be bouncing around in a truck for all that time. Also let her know I was unwilling to ship uninsured.
If she hadn't won both auctions I wonder what she would have wanted. Maybe I could have put her dish in a paper bag and sent it to Ohio on the back of a couple of marching toads.
Thanks for sharing your thread, tcells. I think I'll go get another glass of wine.
<"If you only ship once a week, please leave...">. Whoa, get a grip. If the shipping time is stated in her TOS, then she has every right to ship when she says she will. Don't you feel bad, after she explains that she lives a great distance from the post office, that you jumped at the the chance to tell her how things should be done (according to the laws of caffeitalia)?
<"Please leave">, she has the same right to be here as you.
posted on May 6, 2002 10:40:47 PM
tcells--Just one comment after reading all the pros and cons here. If I lived 30 miles from the P.O., I'd make sure that fact was in my auction description along with stating that I ship once a week, and in my end-of-auction message I would remind them (again) that I ship once a week.
And, do you inform them when their payment has come in the mail? Perhaps you could have a statement something like this (after thanking them for their payment): "I'll be shipping your item on Wednesday, my regular shipping day." Something, at least, that reminds them not to expect the package tomorrow!
I KNOW you've already stated once a week shipping in your auction, but sometimes that's not enough, and I'd rather not risk negative feedbacks if there were a way I could remedy this.
You're doing fine, though, and your other complaints were truly valid in my book. Don't leave eBay!
It wouldn't matter if you shipped every day or not. We actually ship twice a day, we have a morning pickup and we also drop off in the evening right before the post office closes. We have to do this just because of the volume we have. We still get people that e-mail us inquiring as to why they haven't received their order three days after they paid for it. Just today we got a nasty gram from someone complaining about thier child being a basket case because the item wasn't waiting for them when they returned from having surgery, of course that happened to be two days after they made payment. Their turning us into eBay, the FBI and they may sue us for their childs medical complications. We have had more threats in the past month then we have had all year. We have finally gotten to the point where we can laugh about it at least. Hang in there this to will pass!
posted on May 7, 2002 02:43:15 AM
I understand that it is in your TOS that you ship once a week. As a buyer, I am one who reads the TOS and if the seller only ships once or twice a week, I don't bid.
That being said, your business practices are your business and if I lived 30 miles from the USPS then I would probably ship less than daily myself.
I applaud you for refusing to commit fraud, I have had a seller request this same thing of me in the past. He purchased insurance on his own on one book I bought. He claimed he sent 2 books for almost 4 times what I had paid.
posted on May 7, 2002 04:35:32 AM
I can see that this post brought out a bunch of people that are making excuses for being poor sellers. An excuse for everything as to why they shouldn't ship a persons item.
posted on May 7, 2002 04:43:56 AM
Everyday I will pray that I can be as perfect as caffeitalia
.... maybe we should all tell him/her to leave. I think we would all like that!!! What a jerk
posted on May 7, 2002 07:32:27 AM
caffeitalia:
<"I can see that this post brought out a bunch of people that are making excuses for being poor sellers. An excuse for everything as to why they shouldn't ship a persons item.">
My, you're a rigid my-view and my-view only person, aren't you! I ship the next day after receipt of payment, even on Saturday, but I understand and respect the reasoning of some who can't. If you lived 30 miles from the post-office, I can just see you running out to your car at exactly 9:24, so you can be at the post-office at exactly 10:00 sharp when the door opens, driving at exactly 68 miles per hour, so as not to exceed the speed limit, with your little load of two packages that just have to go out today, because that is the thing all respectable and perfect sellers should do.
Give us a break!
posted on May 7, 2002 07:49:22 AM
Sorry for the length, just wanted to wrap this up in one last post.
caffeitalia - Why do you persist in calling me a "poor seller"? Nearly all my buyers pay via paypal, I ship via priority mail, total turnaround time is 6 days (7 if the mail is running slow, or the buyer requests a cheaper method of shipping) even with my once a week shipping.
The few who mail payment don't seem to get around to doing it until the end of the following week (payday), so by the time I receive it my regular shipping date has arrived again, and their packages go out promptly.
If completing a transaction in less than a week makes me a bad seller, then I guess I'm guilty.
The air must be thin up at the top of that high pedestal you've placed yourself on. You're either suffering from oxygen deprivation or you are the type of person who can only make themselves feel good by demeaning others. If you ship daily, I commend you for having the ability to do so. I respect your right to do business as you see fit. Please respect my right to do business as I see fit as well.
Thank you all for your replies, I feel better already. My initial post was simply to try to ease my frustration at the nastiness of bidders lately. I'm not a writer, its hard to put words into a post that come across the same as the spoken word.
posted on May 7, 2002 08:24:39 AM
I was going to respond to the many posts here, but tcells has wrapped it up perfectly. And, BTW, pretty good writing.
posted on May 7, 2002 08:46:35 AM
The nuts are definitely falling from the trees. Just had a buyer send an email complaining about the quality of an item we sold him. The only problem is that he referenced the item number for an identical item that he won on Ebay.
Either we have a future "switch-a-roo" or a buyer doing a little too much Ebay shopping.
posted on May 7, 2002 09:07:08 AM
I hate it when buyers complain about slow delivery. "I bought this item for Johnny's birthday, which was two months ago! Where's the freaking package? " Get bent, lady.
My pet peeve: Snooze alarms. Heck, if they're going to let you snooze, then why ring at all? Gad, that really bugs me.
posted on May 7, 2002 10:29:53 AM
I have no quarrel with any seller's terms... as long as they tell me upfront what I can expect from them.tcells, it sounds as if you did just that, and I sympathize with your frustration! eBay does have "professional" full-time sellers that perform just like any other business...but it also has people like me.
I have a full-time job, I have another business (making and selling crafts at shows) and I have a family. I do two things through eBay: Sell excess craft supplies (I buy in large volume to get the best discount, then sell off the excess on eBay and usually "pay" for my supplies that way) and sell off items in other areas where I myself am a collector. I usually CAN ship the day after payment, because there is a post office in the building where I work. But I NEVER promise that...my TOS says "within 3 business days."
I have to be honest with you. Most of the truly delightful transactions I've had as a buyer, have been with "non-business" types like myself. But I don't expect that from any seller.... just that they stick to the terms of the agreement they offered when I bid. Anything beyond that is lagniappe. Anything short of that and I'm not happy.
ohmslucy I love your turn of phrase. "Marching toads." LOL! And do you think she'll thank you when she gets two whole dishes instead of two bags of shards? Nope!
