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eBay

If you buy or sell items on eBay, you will find tips and advice on this forum.

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Original poster

Is selling always this stressful.

26 replies

FiveGoMadInDorset · 16/04/2009 16:59

After this lot I am giving up. Just had a moany email from somone who bought A pair of No Added Sugar trousers for 99p and wants a refund which I will give as I don't want to lose my 100%, they are in great condition barely worn, 0-6 months,gold and red stripes, washed and ironed before being sent, she says they smell, they have shrunk, they are discoloured and they are in awful condition. Are buyers always this awful, I know I amd not.

Just a rant really.

OP posts:

EldonAve · 16/04/2009 17:22

tell her to return and then refund
she probably won't bother

Wuxiapian · 16/04/2009 17:24

Oh, how I sympathise with you, FGMID...

EachPeachPearMum · 16/04/2009 17:27

Well, I took delivery today of a dress described as 'worn once, mint condition' that has dark marks all down the front, and stinks of fags....
ranting along with you!

Original poster

FiveGoMadInDorset · 16/04/2009 17:34

EachPeach - I am shocked, I have given some great clothes to a friend because they had a small mark on them and I didn't want to sell.

Wux - I saw that.

I have now withdrawn all my clothes except for the ones people are watching and will sell through our local thrift shop, and look out for other sales. Is it worth trying on here.

OP posts:

frogs · 16/04/2009 17:37

Oddly, I have never had any trouble. I've refunded twice only in all my time of selling on ebay, and in both cases the buyer spotted a defect that I hadn't described accurately, so I just refunded without asking them to send it back, which tends to earn you sycophantically nice feedback.

I mainly sell Mini Boden stuff though, so perhaps not representative of all ebay buyers?

Lizzylou · 16/04/2009 17:43

I have had this Fivegomad, it was a vertbaudet outfit that DS2 had worn once, v stroppy email stating it had obviously been worn by lots of children and washed loads...
I replied back, much affronted and linked to items in that seasons catalogue (he was going through a growth spurt!). Never heard anything back and she left me glowing feedback
Bonkers.

Frogs, so if you only sell mini-boden you just have to suck it up in a typical English manner?

expatinscotland · 16/04/2009 17:46

Buyers are allowed to take the piss on sellers on Ebay. So they do.

I don't sell there anymore.

I use boot sales and gumtree instead.

Original poster

FiveGoMadInDorset · 16/04/2009 17:48

Expat - is gumtree good?

OP posts:

crokky · 16/04/2009 17:51

I sold a DVD boxset 17 days ago and the buyer hasn't even bothered to pay (although 8 days ago, he promised to pay that day to entice me to post it!). There are alot of dishonest or immoral or outright thief sort of poeple on eBay. Most transactions go smoothly (I mainly sell stuff I'm finished with), but the odd few when you encounter horrible people are upsetting.

My best, classic one was where I sold a bulky "buyer collect" item. The winning bidder arranged to collect it on THREE separate occasions, kept us waiting in for hours and didn't show with no explanation!! So, I though, mustn't judge her, we'll offer to deliver the item FOR FREE (10 mins drive away) in case she is a woman struggling with practicalities/has no car etc. So we put this item (with difficulty) into my mum's small skoda fabia and drive it over to the buyer. She is OUT at the time she chose!! She lives on a nice council estate which all the residents take very good care of etc etc APART FROM HER! Her front garden is overflowing with manky rubbish etc and we still think, oh, maybe she can't drive it to the tip, has no car, whatever. Until she turns up very late in a brand new people carrier with zillions of shopping bags with no apology. Then we judged that she was a total lazy cow who thinks everyone owes her something.

expatinscotland · 16/04/2009 17:52

Gumtree's worked for me better than Ebay, Five! I got really sick of being ripped off by buyers because Ebay allows it. Plus they charge a lot in fees.

Original poster

FiveGoMadInDorset · 16/04/2009 17:55

Ok will look into it, I need to sell the mountain of clothes that DD has accumulated. Thank you.

OP posts:

expatinscotland · 16/04/2009 17:59

I also do boot sales and have had an okay time selling non-clothes stuff on Amazon or Play.com.

Original poster

FiveGoMadInDorset · 16/04/2009 18:01

We are also pretty lucky as we have a good thrift shop on the loacl army camp which I use, but they do limit the amount you can take in, will venture into the world of car boot sales.

OP posts:

frogs · 16/04/2009 18:56

Expat, do you not get lots of complete timewasters with Gumtree? Do you set up a separate email account for gumtree stuff?

expatinscotland · 16/04/2009 21:09

I have a separate account for Gumtree stuff but I don't get a lot of timewasters because this is a small town/village and anonymity is at a premium.

Original poster

FiveGoMadInDorset · 16/04/2009 22:10

So Gumtree is local to where you are?

OP posts:

expatinscotland · 17/04/2009 09:42

Gumtree covers the region, and then of course you state where you are in the ad.

frogs · 17/04/2009 09:45

Ah, that'll be the difference expat. We're in London which is timewaster central. And a huge stock of people with such limited grasp of English/computers/Life that they have no idea what constitutes an appropriate response.

Still, may set up a separate email account and give it a whirl.

Marne · 17/04/2009 09:48

I sell a lot on e-bay and i come across some horrid people, i have had people complain about the condition of clothes when they are even new with tags , i recieved bad feedback for an item which smelt of smoke(i don't smoke) and i have had a lot go missing in the post and have had to refund for the item. I also get a lot of people who just dont pay .

At the moment i have one person moaning as their item has not turned up and i have another lady that won an item and couldn't pay by paypal, said she would post a postal order a week ago but still no sign of payment and no answer to my e-mails.

expatinscotland · 17/04/2009 09:52

And with the new free p&p rules in June, Ebay's going to become just another online shop with professional sellers rather than a means for regular people to flog off what they've got in the odd de-clutter or move.

Honestly, the way people take the piss I prefer boot sales because then I get the cash and the person goes away. No, 'Give me a refund' or feedback bullshit. They see it, if they like it, we agree on a price, they put coins or notes in my hand, I put the item in theirs and that's us finished.

FAQinglovely · 17/04/2009 09:52

I had someone last year try to tell me that the "Cars" slippers I'd sold them, which I had described as hardly been worn (they hadn't - bought them for DS2 and his feet immediately grew ) but did have a little scuffing on the toe of one of them.

She tried to tell me they'd got a hole in them that went all the way through and were unusable.

I suggested she returned them to me and I would fully refund............oddly she'd apparently thrown the slippers straight into the bin (somehow I don't think so - there was no hole and they really were in good condition LOL).

Feedback was positive from what I can recall "quick delivery but not what I expected"

frogs · 17/04/2009 09:54

But at boot sales people really do expect something for nothing, so you end up selling kids clothes at 3 for £1, which is a bit mad.

Plus you have to get up v. v. early in the morning.

expatinscotland · 17/04/2009 09:56

See, I don't mind selling like that, particularly because on Ebay, people also expect something for nothing and that's usually close to what you get after paying fees and PayPal, which they force you to accept, plus all the hassle.

frogs · 17/04/2009 10:00

Fair enough. I have had enough success on ebay to make it worth my while (we inherit loads of MiniBoden which sells for stupid money even after it's been worn by a couple of my children after being worn by a couple of someone else's).

But IKWYM, we have done some car boot sales and there is something nice about cold hard cash. Paypal makes me spitting mad, they take a cut of your money for the square root of nothing. I'd much rather people paid by cheque/PO, but you can't insist on that any more.

They're all wankers, let's face it. But will try Gumtree and see if I emerge unscathed from under the avalanche of loony emails...

expatinscotland · 17/04/2009 10:02

And the way 99% of the time PayPal gives money back to the buyer even though some are thieving.

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