Has Ebay really got this bad?

[Lyndaishistory]

"Warranty Information:
I'm going to start by saying the item is sold "AS IS, That is, no refund!" But it doesn't matter. As long as you submit a request for return under the category of "not as described" (even if it was), eBay will allow you to send back the item despite any of my objections or how valid your reason is. Want a bad ass CPU for a weekend lan party? Order here and when your done return it under the "not as described category". Want to test out a piece of hardware you aren't familiar with? No problem! When you're done with it just request a return under "not as described category" (even if it was). To reiterate, the party line is, the item is sold as is with no refunds. But just tell eBay it wasn't as described (even if it was) and they will seize the money out of my paypal the second you request the return. When I ask eBay to intervene, there automated system will automatically grant you your request regardless of any objections I have, or evidence I wish to present. AND.... if that isn't enough, it will generate a return label and you can send it back at my expensive. So, even though I'm just one guy working out of my garage, selling used electronics, you can buy with the same amount of confidence you would with Amazon, because as far as eBay is concerned, I may as well be."

Seen a lot of these types of messages in independent sellers listings, recently.
Has Ebay really go this bad? I remember it being a great place to sell things but recently I sold a couple of things that (unfortunately) went for 99p. I ended up owing ebay money for those listings.
Is there an alternative? Or will Ebay continue to get worse?

Link:
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sigma-Designs-Realmagic-EM8300-/163201304485?nordt=true&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m43663.l10137

Yep my experience too. If you want a refund, you get it, no matter what. I don't bother with eBay for selling now!

I've literally just had this experience. Sorting out m DS toys after a move. Agreed with him we'd sell some on eBay and I'd pay the fees and he could keep the money. I've spent so much time wrapping stuff in bubble wrap etc. Sold something to one guy he said it's broken. I said it absolutely wasn't when I sent it and it was so well wrapped. Apparently he can't work out how to use it properly despite it being very straight forward and a popular product with so many instructions online. He just requested refund because not as described and eBay granted. Never ever again. Would rather a car boot

I bought a book for my daughter's college course last week - would be £12.99 new, I won an auction at £1 plus postage as I was the only bidder. Seller has cancelled the paypal transaction, and relisted the book in another auction that doesn't end until next weekend citing 'old paypal email address', and my daughter goes away to college on friday!! Am beyond pissed off. Seller clearly had no intention of selling it for £1, but I won the auction fair and square and I want the bloody book, for the price I won it!

@Mummymummums !!!!! Hahaha!!!!

There is an alternative to eBay - it's called eBid and has been running for quite a few years now. It's not as popular as eBay (obviously) but I can see a time in the not so distant future where it does get more popular because of exactly the way eBay has chosen to alienate sellers.
Might be worth a look?

I used ebay a lot for about 3 or 4 years but found that for a lot of things postage makes things quite expensive and didn't think that either buyer or seller could be getting a good deal. I bought some nice secondhand baby clothes but thought the seller must have been misusing work's postage systems! I had no real problems as a buyer or as a seller (mostly CDs and even some old cassettes, v cheap to post!) But then someone tried to steal 100 euros from my bank account via Paypal, and Paypal (owned by Ebay) didn't give me any real answer when I complained. My bank fortunately were much better, but at that point I took my bank details off Paypal and didn't use it again.

My mum did use it a bit, with more success than me I think, to buy things like newish/never worn Ecco shoes for me. She also bought a few things for my sister, and also to sold a few designer items for her. My sister was a poor student but had a celebrity friend/flatmate who would get sent free clothes and shoes by companies and gave some of them to my sister when she went back to the US, and didn't mind whether sister kept them or flogged them. I don't think her name was mentioned on ebay, just the designers!

I stopped selling years ago. Sold a bunch of brand new with tags clothes to several people.

One buyer claimed she hadn’t receive the item. I duly tracked it. RM had tried to deliver 3 times, and it was now in their sorting office. I told her. She said she couldn’t be bothered to go and fetch it, claimed Item Not Received, I sent all the info to eBay, she got refunded, and I had to wait a month before the item got returned to me visit RM.

Another buyer, left me positive feedback with comments about how much she loved the top, two weeks later claimed INR, eBay could see she’d left feedback, that RM had delivered and she’d signed, she still got a refund

I think eBay's been more trouble than it's worth for small scale sellers for a while now. Paypal can also be an awful company to use if you're a seller. They take a high percentage in fees and can freeze your account and demand to see all kinds of documents and proof of postage etc without having to give a reason.

Ebay and Paypal have a blanket 'the customer is always right mentality, so we'll refund them' , which seems to encourage scam buyers. Hopefully someone will start a decent rival company to Paypal, as it's becoming less sustainable for small business to continue using them for online selling.

I use Ebay quite a lot as buyer and seller, been quite lucky I guess as never had anything go missing and only one dodgy complaint when a buyer claimed I had sent her shoes with dog poo on - she didn't actually complain to me, just left negative feedback saying that (it was some time back) so I think she must have had the item confused with another.
I do hope this thread won't give scum any more ideas!

Also, I make a point of never buying BNWT stuff, 9 times out of 10 it will have been shoplifted IMO.

I stopped selling around 2009 IIRC, when they bought in maximum postage prices for certain items and stopped sellers leaving feedback.
EBay has dug it's own grave tbh.

I wish I'd known this when a cheeky cow sold me a top that turned up with massive damage to the lace on the front that was NOT on the listing picture, then complained I'd done it myself when I emailed her (why would I do that????), and offered only half the money back if I returned it. Wasn't worth the time and effort.

If only I'd known I could have raised it with ebay or paypal. I thought I had to try to resolve with the seller first.

Yep I used to sell all my baby items on there however stopped after a recorded delivery item was refunded and taken from my account (high cost item couple of hundred pounds) because I had not entered the tracking number when I first sent it! I had picture prof to say it had been signed for etc and i got my money back in the end however a month later they then took it from my account again and I had to go through it all with their customer services again!!

Would like to add a positive outcome of selling an item to a bogus buyer.

Sold an attachment flash for a Canon camera, it sold for just short of £200. It was brand new apart from being tried beforehand to ensure it worked.

Sent signed for delivery, arrived okay. Until the buyer stated the flash didn't work and wanted to return. Problem was I stupidly hadn't updated my returns address so was beside myself with worry my £200 flash would be sent to my old address or worse they were swapping over their faulty one with the one I had sold them.

I requested a call back from ebay and spoke to a really helpful lady. I explained what had happened, told her to look at my hundreds of 100% feedback. She said she would look into it and give me a call back.

No longer than 5 mins later I got a call back from the same lady to say they had been in contact with the buyer and had advised him to try several things. Turns out the bloody idiot didn't put batteries in it! So it worked all along. As soon as she heard that she closed the case before he could make any other complaints.

I kept my money and I felt that ebay was actually on the sellers side for once. Couldn't even give him bad feedback but was glad I was snubbed of my money or postage.

I would highly recommend contacting them or requesting a call back if anything happens, and always send recorded delivery with items even if it means charging them more because its so easy to claim you didn't receive the parcel these days and that's when they get easily refunded.

Sorry but I have only good experiences on ebay.

I sell 8000 items a year on ebay, and rarely have a bad situation.

Yes I have had 2 horrific experiences as a seller. I'm done with it.

My daughter was banned from selling designer bags on ebay as someone complained one was fake,it definitely wasnt
Another time when something that was actually signed for she was told didnt arrive, she had to refund
Although before all that she sold and made a good profit,she made £1000 which went towards a new car
So its swings and roundabouts really
I will tell her about the ebid site though

I'm really surprised by all these awful experiences as sellers.

This morning the 1st scenario I posted upthread (about the buyer who said the item hadn't arrived so I sent her the tracking info and heard nothing more) was escalated to eBay by another message from the buyer saying she hadn't received it. I wasn't able to act, it just said 'case pending'.

By lunchtime the case had been closed and found in my favour. The message says Final decision: This case was found in your favour. We received tracking information that shows the item was delivered to the buyer's address. This case will not affect your seller performance. Any Feedback left for this transaction will be removed

It seems really simple - as long as you have the tracking, I don't see how eBay can decide to refund the buyer. Maybe it's because mine was a cheap item so they didn't feel the need to back the buyer so much?

I can see that the item not as described cases are much harder to prove and are likely to go against the sellers. I've had a few of those in the past but haven't argued them as the buyer has usually been correct - they have found small pulls or holes that I have missed. They might have had to search carefully but they are there and I've no proof that they weren't there before I sold so I just refunded and got the item back no problem, sometimes selling it on again for more.

It seems really simple - as long as you have the tracking

If only I'm another who stopped selling after too many scammers claimed "item not received". Even with tracked delivery ebay just said "it's the buyer's opinion", though how opinion comes into something which can be proved defeats me

As PPs have said, it all fell apart when they ended feedback for buyers. Unlike private sellers the big ones can probably absorb the scamming - plus they know that "listing offences" which would get a little guy banned will be overlooked by those earning ebay a lot of money

^^
But I don't get why they would say 'it's the buyer's opinion' to one seller but be so instantly supportive and say 'we received tracking information so don't worry' to me. I would have thought it would be the same response to all.

My item only sold for £1.99. I wonder if they would have been less likely to support the seller if it had been £199

Another one here going through it now. Bloody buyer chased me 12 hours after buying to ask when item would be sent as they needed it ASAP. I sent it the same day to help them out. They then said they hadn't received the bottle warmer until I uploaded the tracking info showing they had signed days before. They've now decided that the item doesn't work but can't tell me why or whats wrong with it despite asking five times. Load of balls, it was sent absolutely perfect. Now I'm in a situation where the money is on hold for the second time and I know the damn thing will come back broken (by the buyer) & I think why the hell have I bothered? Things like this make me not want to use ebay. I use vinted too but they don't have almost as many listing categories.

I would have thought it would be the same response to all

I used to think the same myself, until I realised how little proper training there is and how much depended on the staff member and whether they pressed the right "answer button"

I've even had totally incorrect info from them when selling an expensive item, only to hear "Oooooo that was wrong" from the next adviser and a painful silence when I asked how they were going to protect me by putting it right

Unfortunately IME they simply don't care unless you're a big seller - and only then while the money keeps rolling in

I find eBay far too faffy to sell on, especially the bit where you have to trudge to the post office at an inconvenient hour.

I sell on Gumtree and Facebook nowadays. Less admin, all cash on collection, no fraud

I find Facebook is only really good if you live in a large town or city. I buy lots on Facebook but, being 20 minutes outside the city I live 'in' in a small village, I find it difficult to get people to buy from me.

I've even had totally incorrect info from them when selling an expensive item, only to hear "Oooooo that was wrong" from the next adviser and a painful silence when I asked how they were going to protect me by putting it right

That is really bad for such a huge company!