posted on April 16, 2004 04:17:59 PM
Wow...Where Do I begin? My chief competition on Ebay wrote me the following email today. I'm changing the "Ebay User Names throughout the scope of the email for obvious privacy concerns.
From Ebay User To Me:
you know what you can compete with turbos an every one else over those red and black handled knives ,ive been selling those knives way before the both of you turbos is my brother and i let him sell the r/b handle knives .BUT YOU are barking up the wrong tree if your going to compete with me because i will give the #*!@ knives AWAY before i let you take a knive im selling and beat be on knives i have to much experience with ebay .if you so much as copy any of my ads i will turn you in just like i told turbosdabomb to do i will turn you in for every thing from shill billing to harassmant . so back off .find your own words and item to sell you WILL NOT take any of mine i promise you ., just do your own thing and your own buisness stay out of ours . did you know maxam wherehouse has plenty of other items take your pick .dont be a leach. this is my respect to you i wont sell anything your selling you dont sell any thing of mine show respect . thanks from d bar
Is it I or is this guy "Freaking Crazy"? He then continentally "I think not", opens up another Ebay account today and places a bid on every single one of my listings and "Cleans Out", my Ebay Store.
Obviously what he's going to do is now Leave me Negative Feedback for every single item he purchased through my Ebay Store, in an ill fated attempt to destroy my Feedback Rating.
I have already contacted Ebay and well "We All know How That Goes"? This idiot’s brother reported me to Ebay two months ago for "Picture Theft". Ebay after throuraly investigating the case found me innocent of any wrong doing.... However the damage was already done!
All my listings were "Taken Down", and the "Event" cost me hundreds of dollars, and more importantly hours of my time.
I'm sure this "Event", is going to cost me even more money, and even more time! I have already blocked the user account, which he just opened today on April 16th from bidding on ay more of my auctions. I obviously won't be running any more auctions until this "Mess" is cleaned up...hence costing me hundreds of dollars in projected revenue.
Does anyone know how to block bidders with either "O" Feedback, or "Newly Registered Users", should he simply open up another account.
Well I'm "Exhausted" as a direct result of all this "BS Nonsense", any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Warmest Wishes,
Ryan
posted on April 16, 2004 04:27:56 PM
In this order:
A) Turn him into eBay. Are you a Powerseller? This would be a good time to contact a PS rep.
B) Turn in his brother to eBay too.
C) Start up a second or third eBay account of your own and start selling inexpensive stuff to build up some feedback on your alternative IDs. It never hurts to have a backup if things go really badly.
D) Take a week or two vacation. MAYBE he'll just go away. Whether he does or not, he won't have anything to work with for a little while.
E) See what happens as far as A&B go, repeat if necessary
F) If the feedback bombing actually occurs, send copies of everything to eBay. They know an attack when they see it.
G) In the meantime, look for something else to sell if at all possible. Who needs the hassles?
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We do not stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing -- Anonymous
posted on April 16, 2004 04:30:17 PM
Tough situation..I don't think you can block 0 bidders but you can cancel all the auctions he is bidding on to avoid the negative feedback..But as you say he may come back anyways and Ebay will not reimburse you for the fees.
I just had a zero feedback bidder bid on 16 of my items and they have emailed me deciding that they aren't going to pay. I can get back FVF but not listing fees which are more money.
Ebay unfortunately leaves all sellers vulnerable to these types of situations because there is no immediate payment required.
posted on April 16, 2004 04:52:23 PM
I just had a thought...
What if you put that have to pay right now thing in your auctions? The auction doesn't end until payment has been made. Then he'd have to pay and might not mess with you for the sole purpose of leaving negs.
posted on April 16, 2004 05:04:35 PM
First thing I would do is go in and cancell every auction, that is if you can. Next I would report him to eBay and send them the email with all the headers. This is a free country, at least it was the last time I looked, and you can sell what you want and can't be dictated by another seller. What gives him the right to tell you what to do. Only your mother can tell you that. Report him, sit back, take a deep breath and try and relax. Good Luck
[ edited by Libra63 on Apr 16, 2004 05:07 PM ]
posted on April 16, 2004 05:22:19 PM
The one question I do have is this: Did you really copy his auctions? Words or pictures or both? If not, then he's anticipating you'll play as dirty as he usually does
If you did copy something of his, I'm sure you won't do that anymore?
___________________________________
posted on April 16, 2004 05:47:40 PM
What he is attempting to do looks like restraint of trade and/or price fixing, both of which are a violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. I would notify Ebay of my intention to report this to the Justice department if they continue to condone his business practices.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on April 16, 2004 05:48:36 PM
You didn't give us any email headers so I'm going to proceed on an assumption that your "competition" used eBay's email system to contact you.
Man, what a dumb thing to do.
eBay normally doesn't get involved in matters of email, but if he used their system they can check logs to verify that your competition did send that email and you're not just making it up.
Give eBay 48 hours to respond. I think they will.
If you don't get any satisfaction, write up this incident, clean it up as far as spelling and grammar goes, and start sending it to reporters for the major media outlets. Be sure to let eBay know you're doing this. If you know of anyone else whose auctions have been trashed by this guy, contact them too.
posted on April 16, 2004 06:00:57 PM
I never once copied his ads, quite to the contrary he copied my ads, and my straegies. If I have to resort to contacting the media I will, and hire a lawyer....I believe I have "Deeper Pockets", then this "Scumbag"
posted on April 16, 2004 06:09:54 PM
I deal with the company you are refering to. You can buy what they call is a Sellers Toolkit for $25.00 which has everything in their catalog including pictures and descriptions for use on your own website or for selling on E-Bay,on CDs which most Sellers for these products are using so this guy is making a big deal out of nothing. I would turn this fruitcake over to E-Bay. I have found your do better selling their products on your own store, I use Vendio and do real well at Christmas.
posted on April 17, 2004 09:10:21 AM
Regardless of whether ebay gets this settled, getting a lawyer and filing a lawsuit for damages is a good idea. I bet this guy changes his tune when he is served. You could actually profit from this venture, who knows?
posted on April 17, 2004 10:54:13 PM
Quit protecting the guilty. Tell us the low lifes ID and his brothers and let them get what they deserve.
[ edited by stonecold613 on Apr 18, 2004 08:42 PM ]
Report him, sit back, take a deep breath and try and relax. Good Luck
