Was I unethical on Ebay???

[KitFisto]

That's an interesting point. Usually when someone buys a car they pay all of the fees up to and including the taxes.

Yeah, but many sellers jack up shipping to cover Paypal and listing fees. Not all, but many do.

 

[nash]

Yeah, but many sellers jack up shipping to cover Paypal and listing fees. Not all, but many do.

but again, Ebay has implemented the Detailed Seller Rating. The buyer now has the power to destroy the Sellers DSR, which in turn will increase his final value fees. advantage buyer.

 

[KitFisto]

. advantage buyer.

Since I only buy and don't sell on eBay.

Just kidding. I don't know that eBay will ever be a fully fair system for anyone other than eBay themselves. Crooks they are.

 

[Bannister]

According to eBay rules, when you place a bid, you are entering a "contract" to purchase that item if you win. Well, as a buyer, if I am entering a contract to purchase then the seller should also be held to a "contract" to sell IF someone has already bid. I have never canceled an auction that already had bids on it, and think that is against eBay rules and also breaking the contract between buyers and sellers. There are always exceptions to any rule and there may be a legitimate reason to occasionally end an auction, but to end it just because it hasn't reached the value you want is pretty much against the whole idea of putting something up for auction. Go to any true auction house or online auction company and try that! It wouldn't be allowed. And they wouldn't allow you to pull the item from the auction because you found someone willing to pay you more that the value you were looking for. Just because it is eBay, doesn't mean you don't have to play by the rules.

Ebay allows buyers to cancel bids as well as sellers. I have done this many times. When you want to close an auction that already has bids, ebay gives you the option to cancel all bids and close the auction. Buyers are guilty of doing this stuff too. Just yesterday I had some auctions going off. One of the bidders emailed me saying, cancel my bid on this item. I bid on the same item from another seller, so if you don't cancel my bid, don't expect me to pay. I had some buyer do that to me on an item they already won as well. Ebay even allows buyers and sellers to back out of auctions after the auction is completed. It is called mutually withdrawing from the transaction. You get your final value fees back that way. I have had to do this a bunch of times with people who bought things from me by "mistake" or because of idiotic international buyers who don't bother to read my auction description and win an item only to have it be too big to be shipped to their country.

 

[nash]

Ebay allows buyers to cancel bids as well as sellers. I have done this many times. When you want to close an auction that already has bids, ebay gives you the option to cancel all bids and close the auction. Buyers are guilty of doing this stuff too. Just yesterday I had some auctions going off. One of the bidders emailed me saying, cancel my bid on this item. I bid on the same item from another seller, so if you don't cancel my bid, don't expect me to pay. I had some buyer do that to me on an item they already won as well. Ebay even allows buyers and sellers to back out of auctions after the auction is completed. It is called mutually withdrawing from the transaction. You get your final value fees back that way. I have had to do this a bunch of times with people who bought things from me by "mistake" or because of idiotic international buyers who don't bother to read my auction description and win an item only to have it be too big to be shipped to their country.

Great points John, i totally forgot about buyers canceling bids and mutual withdrawals.

 

[Moonloop]

Ebay sucks! If you wish to cancel the auction and finish the deal outside of ebay, then there is no problem there. I don't see how it's breaking the rules. Once you cancel that auction, technically you are done working with ebay and can do whatever you want with your item, like deal with someone else.

Your good man, don't let it bother you.

 

[El Roranous]

Ebay sucks! If you wish to cancel the auction and finish the deal outside of ebay, then there is no problem there. I don't see how it's breaking the rules. Once you cancel that auction, technically you are done working with ebay and can do whatever you want with your item, like deal with someone else.

Your good man, don't let it bother you.

Yeah I agree. When it comes to screwing over Ebay I say go for it and don't let it bother you.

 

[Darth Madden]

I always wondered why they have different listing fees. It doesn't cost them any more money, time or space if I list something for $1 or for $50 yet I have to pay more for the $50.

 

[lcummins]

...Well Lonnie, if Joe Schmoe places a $5 bid and thinks he's going to win my $500 item, he's dead wrong. Imo a $5 "contract" isn't very binding to me.

Then you shouldn't start the bidding at $5 or else, place a reserve!!!

...There are always exceptions to any rule...

I never said that both the buyer and seller can't cancel bids, only that it should be a rare occurrence. Just because eBay allows it, doesn't mean it is still not against the rules in most cases, and if you cancel too many bids as buyers, or cancel too many auctions as sellers, eBay can and will take action...

 

[EVILFACE]

but again, Ebay has implemented the Detailed Seller Rating. The buyer now has the power to destroy the Sellers DSR, which in turn will increase his final value fees. advantage buyer.

They can destroy it even if the shipping price was exact. And I agree with ya that the buyer needs to absorb some of the fees.

In the end, if ebay lets it happen, there is no problem.

 

[Masao]

First off, I don't like the term 'ethical' because ethics are generally just a set of arbitrary rules made up by committee.

Was it wrong? Yes.

You made an agreement. You refused to abide by that agreement.

The fact that ebay was involved is irrelevant, as was the whiny bidder's comment about telling on you.

The fact was, you had no legitimate reason for violating the agreement you made. If you don't want to accept the minimum bid, you have 3 options:

-Don't list the item.
-Raise your opening bid.
-Use the reserve.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter who you make the agreement with or if you decide you don't like the terms later. Once you make an agreement of your own free will, it becomes your obligation to follow the rules you made.

Your feelings or the feelings of others are no excuse for violating your obligations.

 

[BuffBuff]

Hell I would have just said 'my dog ate it.'

 

[EVILFACE]

First off, I don't like the term 'ethical' because ethics are generally just a set of arbitrary rules made up by committee.

Was it wrong? Yes.

You made an agreement. You refused to abide by that agreement.

The fact that ebay was involved is irrelevant, as was the whiny bidder's comment about telling on you.

The fact was, you had no legitimate reason for violating the agreement you made. If you don't want to accept the minimum bid, you have 3 options:

-Don't list the item.
-Raise your opening bid.
-Use the reserve.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter who you make the agreement with or if you decide you don't like the terms later. Once you make an agreement of your own free will, it becomes your obligation to follow the rules you made.

Your feelings or the feelings of others are no excuse for violating your obligations.

Guess you were the bid he canceled

 

[pixletwin]

The fact was, you had no legitimate reason for violating the agreement you made. If you don't want to accept the minimum bid, you have 3 options:

-Don't list the item.
-Raise your opening bid.
-Use the reserve

Otherwise known as "shill bidding" which is worse than pulling an auction.

EvilFace =

 

[nash]

Otherwise known as "shill bidding" which is worse than pulling an auction.

EvilFace =

pix, shill bidding is bidding on your own auction. Raising your opening bid is simply making the auction start at say $100 instead of $.99.

Guess you were the bid he canceled

 

[Ryanfromindiana]

Guess you were the bid he canceled

 

[pixletwin]

pix, shill bidding is bidding on your own auction. Raising your opening bid is simply making the auction start at say $100 instead of $.99.

Doh. I misread that... I thought he was saying raising the minimum bid.. which is, you... bad.... 'n stuff.....

 

[tylerd]

Doh. I misread that... I thought he was saying raising the minimum bid.. which is, you... bad.... 'n stuff.....

can you get more and will you share?

Let me explain to you how this works: you see, the corporations finance Team America, and then Team America goes out... and the corporations sit there in their... in their corporation buildings, and... and, and see, they're all corporation-y... and they make money.

 

[Mesa]

I've had a bad week on Ebay. Granted, cutting this auction early was my idea, and as I've said, I'm not really proud of it and will probably never do it again (unless the offer is ridiculously good).

In addition to the LOTR stuff, I had some Edward Scissorhands stuff left over from my earlier days that I just needed to let go. I ended up taking a loss. So the winner is this crazy person. check out her feedback. I was hesitant to even ship to her after reading her feedback, something I do regularly to make sure I'm not going to get scammed, but decided to risk it. I sold her the 4 Mezco Edward Scissorhand figures for something like $50, I think I paid around $80 or $90 a few years ago. I was willing to take the loss to free up some space. It's important to check out her feedback, because if this had been anyone else, I would have probably refunded the $5, but since she has a history of doing exactly the same thing she was now asking me to do, I refused. Read on...

After the auction, I get this:

We received the 4 figures today. The only issue is the clear Edward has about 1 inch of the clamshell broken off the lower corner. Its partly visible in the auction picture when you are looking for it. As this type of clamshell damage is equivalent to a torn card with a piece avtually missing, it should have been noted in the description. It is not worth paying to return and ship a replacement but we would request a $5 partial refund in consideration due to the type and extent (pieces broken off) of the damage. Thank you.
- rgannett

I replied with:

Dear rgannett,

As it is, I've already lost close to $40 from what I sold them for compared to what I paid for them. As I hope you could see, I packaged these as safely as possible and insurance wasn't purchased, as was your option. I can not afford to refund any further than the reduced price you have already received. The item descirption accurately describes "all figures are in MINT condition" and pictures were provided for you to see what you were buying. I don't have a replacement because I'm a personal collector, not a business.

Scott

She proceeded to leave me neutral feedback:

1 clamshell had more than an inch broken off a corner. Not mentioned. Others OK. Buyer: rgannett ( 899) Mar-03-08 21:06
Follow-up by rgannett (Mar-05-08 06:30):
Guy figures since HE sold for loss, WE should not care about condition of item.
Reply by sunfun_az (Mar-05-08 07:04):
You have received 64 negative feedbacks. That speaks for itself. You're crazy

of course I left my own feedback.

Then, I come home today to check my email and find in my personal email:

Pull your head out of your ass and wipe the $h!+ from your eyes. For you to consider ANYTHING to be our fault is totally absurd. You say you are a "personal collector" then deny that the condition of the packaging DOES NOT MATTER and warrants NO MENTION if damaged? What a stupid, lying, cocksucking, sob of a b!+%*...go sell your busted up crap in a driveway garage sale where it belongs and people do not have to RELY on the seller's honesty. By NOT stating the damage, you were INTENTIONALLY misleading buyers, period. Too bad you had the edge of the damage showing or you'd be trying to make a bull++++ claim that "the post office did it"...boo ++++ing hoo....

And then shortly thereafter a second email

oh, your packaging was ++++...a few pieces of filler on SOME spots but not around all the sides. Just wrapping a sheet of bubble-wrap around something doesn't do jack squat. Too bad you could NOT blame the post office for your crappy effort huh....

Oh yeah, for reference, this is an example of the LOTR bust I'm shipping to France (I take pictures on the high-dollar items for my own protection). That's a double box people (usually only do this for interntaional shipping, cuz they can take a beating. Each bust has styrofoam shells taped back up, placed in box, and that box wrapped in bubble wrap. Styrofoam peanuts fill the voids so the don't bounce around.

So, what's the point of all this? The latest upset buyer was pissed cause I guess one of the clamshells had a broken corner; I really didn't notice as they were in bins since picking up and I didn't notice when taking pics. I can understand that. I did advertise as "figures are unopened and in mint condition" and didn't really describe the condition of the packaging at all. I will be sure to add "packaging/boxes may have some shelfwear, please contact me if you want additional pictures", etc. in my next listings. And all she asked for was $5, which I probably would have left for her. But once I started reading this person's feedback, I wasn't going to fall for the underhanded tactics she likes to employ on others. This whack job has 64 negative feedbacks from various sellers. Look at how she leaves feedback for others, about 1 out of every 5 or 10 items have an issue.

If you're still with me, here's the link to the item.

I turn stuff over on Ebay so I can afford cooler stuff, it's become somewhat of a hobby. Call me a flipper if you want, but it certainly takes some work to make any sort of profit. But it's how I'm able to afford statues that cost $300 and UP UP UP. But sometimes, it just feels like this BS isn't worth it.

 

[nash]

Scott no offense bro, but if you're not going to stand up for yourself on ebay and just be "polite" to obvious jerk-offs then why even bother posting this here? You need to grow a thick skin on Ebay, because there are a lot of people looking to scam you or threaten you with negative feedback so that they can get THEIR way, even though they are probably making the BS up.

All this stuff about doing "the right thing" and not canceling auctions and etc etc etc is all BS. do what you have to to save your own ass and keep your own reputation up as a seller.

PS: I have just blocked that ebayer from all of my listings.