eBay WARNING!

[ProteinNerd]

I hate to but have to agree with @bn1966 the classifieds here just don't reach the potential buying pool of people that ebay does.

Sure the fees suck but paying the fees means at least your item has sold. I'd rather sell here but I must have listed about 8 jackets and all sold through ebay, none here sadly.


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[shadowrider]

As a buyer, I've never felt ebay ever did much for my "protection" when a problem arose.

The worst was when I bought a gold label Brooks cafe racer from the US (paid about 250$ including international shipping).
When the item arrived I was required to pay about 150 Euros for custom fees. Turned out the seller declared a value of almost 1000$, for some reason. Ebay customer service basically just said that custom fees are out of their field of work.

I refused delivery, waiting for the jacket to be returned to the seller as it was supposed to. Seller told me the jacket never came back (there was no tracking for the return trip).
Ended up losing jacket and money.

 

[Fanch]

This thread seems to illustrate the problem a number of Lounge members have experienced with international shipping, although the most recent post #42 is over the top, that and what happened to @Big J . Personally I have never experienced any of those issues since I have never shipped nor received international eBay stuff. This has been an interesing thread though.

 

[Downunder G Man]

I must say , having 401 "positive" feedbacks on eBay I have had very little trouble over the years.

Some 6 of those transactions were "bad" in some way , a very small % ( 1.5% in actuality !)

HOWEVER a few of those 6 were SO griefsome in extremis I would have given eBay away..

You live and learn as indeed I did and moved forwards

 

[Edward]

I've been very lucky myself in that I've only once been ripped off on ebay - by a seller who kept coming up with very plausible comments, reasons, feedback.... right up until it hit the magic 90 days, and then never a peep more. I was lucky that it was a relatively small amount, but twenty quid is still twenty quid..... now I'm straight onto the dispute resolution thing at the slightest sign of a problem, with an appropriate note to the sellers as to why ("nothing personal"). Most sellers have been totally cool with this.

It seems that most, though by no means all, of the most common ebay issues relate to being in the seller position. I'm no proponent of the invisible hand of the markets, but still, with little or no competition elsewhere, ebay seem to be a bit lax in some regards. Etsy seems a more civilised place to do business, subject to certain limitations.

 

[l0fielectronic]

Yes, eBay do generally favour the buyer, certainly if it comes to a 'he said, she said' scenario.

A new buyer problem I've just come across is buyers wanting to return an item, sold with a no returns policy, damaging items in order to complain they arrived that way - I've just had this and know this is what happened but have no way to prove this to eBay - if you are selling jackets on there, take multiple photos of the insides and outside of the jacket would seem to be all you can do but still, it seems eBay will favour a return in this situation leaving you with no sale and a less saleable item returned to you at your cost.

Well over 95% of buyers and sellers on there are honest, like most everywhere else, its just the few who can ruin things for the many.

 

[bn1966]

Got caught out early on over a vintage leather trench coat. Seller said it had been shipped..never arrived..any request for tracking details was met with I'm unwell will get back to you..there's been a death in the family will get back to you & so on an so forth. Eventually smelt a Rat & contacted PayPal who said I'd left it too late to have any recourse. Paid significant shipping costs to get it over the Ocean too

...checking it looks like they sold the coat twice Once bitten & all that!!!

 

[Downunder G Man]

I bought an Aero Highwayman in 44 from a "reseller" in the UK , a girl , no way "her" jacket. Described as "hardly worn". Was listed/sold with "grainy" photos.

Arrives in Australia "well worn", end of life front zipper etc etc, Shitfight ensues , I am refunded 100 quid. Cost of me posting it back was not going to happen.

I only then look thru' her past sales , HUNDREDS of jackets over the last year...a dealer for sure. Live and learn.

I buy a "hardly worn" Eastman Fliegerjacke from a guy in the UK , it arrives and it's BRAND NEW ! So there you go , some you WIN !...

 

[HPA Rep]

This post certainly details some of the pitfalls and attendant horror stories facing sellers, especially as it relates to Ebay. As one who has seen too many scenarios play out over the years as a full-time participant in the shipping business, the one thing that could have helped just about every seller I've read about is proper shipping insurance.

Investigate the shipping insurance available to you via the shipping companies you wish to use, then go with the best shipper offering the best shipping terms; if you are a seller moving several shipments a month, buying some sort of private insurance is going to be best and could be as simple as adding some cheap coverage to your homeowner/renter policy. You want insurance that is going to be simple for filing claims and getting paid, where a recipient's claim for damaged goods received will usually be enough to get you paid and little or no documentation is required. Most insurances available in the USA from shippers would be fine for this purpose; USPS is easy to get to agree to pay a claim, but there are low insurance limits available for international (most or all of the EU is limited to $500 per package and this is further limited by the USPS policy of using the SDR value vs. real value, thus $500 in insurance isn't really $500 via USPS and is actually an amount that fluctuates based on the value of a basket of currencies that is always less than what you think you paid for). DHL, UPS, & Fed Ex offer much higher insurance limits, but you'll pay more for the shipping, which is also definitely better than USPS shipping, but these same carriers tend to make you really work for the insurance payment unless the shipment is missing.

Most claims I've seen for items gone missing are the simplest to get paid for because it's very easy to verify if an item is lost, thus payment is also fast and simple. Claims for damage varies in difficulty, but as mentioned, USPS is easy to work with, as is the private carrier U-Pick; U-Pick insurance is also available via the Endicia shipping service, but you need to be moving some volume to justify the annual enrollment fee that's around $100 or a bit more.

The bottom line is that the seller is legally responsible in the USA (and likely all nations following western law) for safe delivery of the sold goods UNLESS the buyer is the shipper. Having the buyer be their own shipper is not difficult as long as you state this and the buyer agrees. If you are in the USA, the buyer would need to purchase a shipping label (using packaging details you provide) from DHL, UPS, Fed Ex, etc. via their websites, then the buyer sends you the label (USPS may not be available for purchase by the buyer outside the USA). This makes the buyer fully responsible for the customs information and the ultimate delivery of the goods, though it doesn't preclude the buyer from claiming that the goods weren't as described, but it does protect you from scams for missing goods, customs headaches, and damage from being in transit (and you can argue that any damage the buyer may claim exists occurred while in transit). Only good shipping insurance will protect you from contrived claims of damaged goods that you will argue happened in the buyer's hands and the buyer will claim is a case of not as described.

Become savvy sellers and limit your downside. Good luck!

 

[Edward]

Indeed. I would now only sell stuff that is likely to have significant value on eBay - and I'd refuse to ship any method other than recorded delivery.

 

[ProteinNerd]

With all this doom and gloom, I just had a really nice selling experience on my Steer Board Racer.

Despite there being no "best offer" I was contacted and asked (as he wasn't sure if it would fit) if I would take less and he made an offer.

It was closer to the low balls I had previously had but I wrote back and explained that I thought it was a reasonable price considering it included free shipping and he should check the measurements against a jacket he already owns.

To my surprise he bought it at the asking price day or so later. We had a few emails about whether he wanted it declared full value so I could insure it or if he wanted it undervalued in case customs got involved etc.

I just got a nice email from him thanking me for packing it so well and to tell me it fits perfectly, he is really happy with the look and will leave me positive feedback shortly.

....wow, so there are nice, normal people out there that use ebay [emoji44]


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[HPA Rep]

We had a few emails about whether he wanted it declared full value so I could insure it or if he wanted it undervalued in case customs got involved etc.

[emoji44]


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Nice ending indeed. But please keep in mind that you certainly weren't doing yourself any favors by not insuring for full value; had this ever gone belly up, you'd have only had coverage on what was declared. You acted as a nice guy and gentleman, and this buyer appears to have done the same, but this was a business transaction and handling it in non-business form can only hurt you if this buyer had been more like the "bad" actors in this thread.

I just want readers and you to understand the potential consequences of such decisions. Good luck!

 

[ProteinNerd]

Nice ending indeed. But please keep in mind that you certainly weren't doing yourself any favors by not insuring for full value; had this ever gone belly up, you'd have only had coverage on what was declared. You acted as a nice guy and gentleman, and this buyer appears to have done the same, but this was a business transaction and handling it in non-business form can only hurt you if this buyer had been more like the "bad" actors in this thread.

I just want readers and you to understand the consequences of such decisions. Good luck!

We decided to declare full value and it was insured for that amount as well, but you are right. I probably shouldn't offer to do that in the future.

 

[Sloan1874]

I've been very lucky myself in that I've only once been ripped off on ebay - by a seller who kept coming up with very plausible comments, reasons, feedback.... right up until it hit the magic 90 days, and then never a peep more. I was lucky that it was a relatively small amount, but twenty quid is still twenty quid..... now I'm straight onto the dispute resolution thing at the slightest sign of a problem, with an appropriate note to the sellers as to why ("nothing personal"). Most sellers have been totally cool with this.

It seems that most, though by no means all, of the most common ebay issues relate to being in the seller position. I'm no proponent of the invisible hand of the markets, but still, with little or no competition elsewhere, ebay seem to be a bit lax in some regards. Etsy seems a more civilised place to do business, subject to certain limitations.

I've never dabbled in Etsy. Is it straight forward and safe?

 

[tropicalbob]

I've never dabbled in Etsy. Is it straight forward and safe?

I've done a lot of business through them and never had a problem. In fact, I'm often impressed with the speed of the shipping, the packaging, etc. The "store" owners are necessarily very conscious of their good names. Ordering is also very easy. Too easy.

 

[Sloan1874]

Excellent, I will definitely investigate. Ebay's getting very expensive both to buy and sell on.

 

[Edward]

I've never dabbled in Etsy. Is it straight forward and safe?

Never sold on it, but buying always been fine. Works best for new and crafty items, I suspect, as the search facility is not all that.

 

[Dumpster Diver]

Thanks for the heads up about this. Duly noted.

 

[ButteMT61]

Never sold on Etsy, but have bought without issue. It's not nearly the deep market that eBay is, but sometimes they have better vintage items at better prices. People seem pretty nice too. As a buyer, I can tolerate eBay, just not as a seller ever again.

 

[Bern1]

Have heard GSP horror stories also. I used it a couple of times as a seller but it was expensive for the buyer. At this point I won't offer it any longer. Unfortunately that means even more expense for trackability or restricting my sales to conus only, neither option is really great. But as a seller you have to have reliable shipping, unless it is something really inexpensive.