Are fruitcakes running rampant on eBay lately? Selling, buying, listing, feedback, etc...

[Guest TabbyBoy]

 

Not sure if this is the thread where I saw this before or not but here is message my daughter received from an EBay buyer (scammer) concerning a Friends Heartlake Stables set she had listed. I know it sounds almost word for word like one I saw posted somewhere before so thought I would pass it along. I wonder how many times this ploy actually works?

 

Hi there, is there any possible way you might consider my offer of $30 for this set? I know it's not much but I've been in and out of the hospital due to my chronic illness but I've been trying soooo desperately to find one of these in the box for my sweet little girl for her birthday . This is her all time favorite and she would be just ecstatic if I could get a hold of it for my little sweetie. I can't express what a kindness you'd be doing for us. Thank you for your consideration.

- gamer4life777

 

 

Reply with, "Email me a scan of your medical notes and I may just add you to the back of the very long queue of similar requests!"

[RunMan3]

Reply with, "Email me a scan of your medical notes and I may just add you to the back of the very long queue of similar requests!"

My daughter told her she had her own problems to deal with and wished her well. I looked her up and seems gamer4life777 has made some recent purchases but I wonder if people that sold gave her a bargain.

[Anakinisvader]

 

Not sure if this is the thread where I saw this before or not but here is message my daughter received from an EBay buyer (scammer) concerning a Friends Heartlake Stables set she had listed. I know it sounds almost word for word like one I saw posted somewhere before so thought I would pass it along. I wonder how many times this ploy actually works?

 

Hi there, is there any possible way you might consider my offer of $30 for this set? I know it's not much but I've been in and out of the hospital due to my chronic illness but I've been trying soooo desperately to find one of these in the box for my sweet little girl for her birthday . This is her all time favorite and she would be just ecstatic if I could get a hold of it for my little sweetie. I can't express what a kindness you'd be doing for us. Thank you for your consideration.

- gamer4life777

 

 

Send them a note back stating:  I too have been in and out of the hospital and have to sell my childs LEGO collection to pay the bills.  This is why I have to charge the prices I do.  I can't express what a kindness you would be doing for my family if you just paid the asking price.  My family would be ecstatic if I could pay off the bills before I die.

 

scammer4life666

[RunMan3]

Send them a note back stating:  I too have been in and out of the hospital and have to sell my childs LEGO collection to pay the bills.  This is why I have to charge the prices I do.  I can't express what a kindness you would be doing for my family if you just paid the asking price.  My family would be ecstatic if I could pay off the bills before I die.

 

scammer4life666

I like that. Actually that is very similar to the response my daughter did give.

[Noodlenut]

 

Not sure if this is the thread where I saw this before or not but here is message my daughter received from an EBay buyer (scammer) concerning a Friends Heartlake Stables set she had listed. I know it sounds almost word for word like one I saw posted somewhere before so thought I would pass it along. I wonder how many times this ploy actually works?

 

Hi there, is there any possible way you might consider my offer of $30 for this set? I know it's not much but I've been in and out of the hospital due to my chronic illness but I've been trying soooo desperately to find one of these in the box for my sweet little girl for her birthday . This is her all time favorite and she would be just ecstatic if I could get a hold of it for my little sweetie. I can't express what a kindness you'd be doing for us. Thank you for your consideration.

- gamer4life777

 

I wonder how many people this guy sends this message to... and if it works.  The weird thing is that he has 100% feedback.

[Miami Bomb Squad]

If the buyer doesnt pay say a week, which to me is too long.
And you open a case and he still doesn't pay.......Can you give them a Negative feedback Without them giving you a Negative in return?
Does anyone know how this works because these buyer should be pointed out with negative feedbacks without them hurting the sellers feedbacks.
 

[Bold-Arrow]

If the buyer doesnt pay say a week, which to me is too long.

And you open a case and he still doesn't pay.......Can you give them a Negative feedback Without them giving you a Negative in return?

Does anyone know how this works because these buyer should be pointed out with negative feedbacks without them hurting the sellers feedbacks.

you can't give a buyer a negative period.. eBay will mark their account as a non paying buyer but that will be kept for internal use only. In the very unlikely case they leave you a negative, eBay will remove it. As always just make sure you go thru the proper producers ( open case, wait, close case).

[Miami Bomb Squad]

So, how long do you guys wait "for payment" before you open a case with ebay?

[Bold-Arrow]

So, how long do you guys wait "for payment" before you open a case with ebay?

try to open a case , it will give you a date. I want to say 2 days for BIN but it has been a while for me. Where art though your majesty Queen Frog? .

[Miami Bomb Squad]

I think BIN is immediate payment
Auction should be IMO 3-5 days tops
 

[Migration]

Unless a buyer contacts me And says I will pay on x date I open a case as soon as ebay lets me, I think it's 3-4 days. Not as much of an issue since I switched to BIN. Of course now that I have to pay insertion fees for those I expect to have to do that more frequently for less expensive mini figs and such that I sell with an auction.

[Bold-Arrow]

I think BIN is immediate payment

Auction should be IMO 3-5 days tops

even with BIN requiring immediate payment , eBay won't let you open a case for few days. I guess it makes sense overall . But as migration stated, I usually open one the day eBay allows it , no point on waiting

[holleman67]

even with BIN requiring immediate payment , eBay won't let you open a case for few days. I guess it makes sense overall . But as migration stated, I usually open one the day eBay allows it , no point on waiting

Precisely as they make you wait another 4 days I believe for them to pay. Pain in the ass as they have all the time to pay and your item just sits there not being able to be sold.

[RunMan3]

even with BIN requiring immediate payment , eBay won't let you open a case for few days. I guess it makes sense overall . But as migration stated, I usually open one the day eBay allows it , no point on waiting

I have mine set to automatically open the case after two days, then you have to wait the extra days (per EBay rule) to give the buyer the opportunity to pay.

 

I don't see any point in delaying the process one minute longer than necessary. If the buyer pays within the 2+(Ebay extension days) the case is closed. If they don't pay then the FVF is refunded and the item is automatically re-listed by EBay.

[justafrog]

try to open a case , it will give you a date. I want to say 2 days for BIN but it has been a while for me. Where art though your majesty Queen Frog? .

 

Arise, Sir Bold-Arrow. 

 

Two days to open, another four days to close (those are the minimums). You can automate it in your settings so you don't have to remember to do it.

 

For fixed price or buy it now, you can also set up your listings for Immediate Payment Required - when they buy, they pay, or they can't buy (they can put it in their cart, but that keeps it available for anyone else to buy).

[Darth_Raichu]

BIN IPR is the only way to go. I do not have time chasing after some NPBs and tie up my inventory in the process

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

Here is a rarer situation and one that makes me want to punch something.

 

Just saw a used Sandcrawler (the new one) pop up on Ebay for $150+shipping. Person has good feedback etc.

 

I go to buy it - BIN is gone. It was an auction as well AND SOME IDIOT BID ON IT. Really? Just buy it. Now I can't buy it and it will go up past $250 at least.

 

So irritating. Would have been happier to just lose it to someone else. lol.

[mcortez]

 

Not sure if this is the thread where I saw this before or not but here is message my daughter received from an EBay buyer (scammer) concerning a Friends Heartlake Stables set she had listed. I know it sounds almost word for word like one I saw posted somewhere before so thought I would pass it along. I wonder how many times this ploy actually works?

 

And I just received this message from the same user:

 

Hi there, is there any possible way you might consider my offer of $40 for this set? I know it's not much but I've been in and out of the hospital due to my chronic illness but I've been trying soooo desperately to find one of these in the box for my sweet little girl for her birthday . This is her all time favorite and she would be just ecstatic if I could get a hold of it for my little sweetie. I can't express what a kindness you'd be doing for us. Thank you for your consideration.

-gamer4life777

[exciter1]

I received the same message the other day.

[stoltzjl77]

I recently listed a number of non-Lego items in auction style. All of them said "I will combine shipping" at the end of the description. A bidder sent me a question anyway asking if I combined shipping, to which I  politely replied "yes absolutely!" Throughout the auctions he asked a lot of questions about the items and I always replied politely and promptly, even to the silly and borderline unprofessional questions he sent.

 

He ended up winning 8 items with a combined shipping weight of 4 lbs. When I sent him the invoice he sent me a very rude reply saying he had expected to pay no more than $5.95 for shipping for an unlimited number of items. His reasoning was that another seller's online store, with fixed-price items, advertised unlimited items shipped for a fixed price of $5.95. 

 

At no point had I told him what his items would cost to ship, since I didn't know how many he would win and therefore couldn't predict the final shipping weight. I did not put any upcharge on the shipping cost - it was simply my cost including the 10% cut eBay takes. I tried to explain without being snippy but I was a bit defensive being completely taken off guard by his demands. I did try to remain professional even though he called me (not in so many words) an incompetent cheat.

 

So my question is, what kind of feedback would you provide in my place? I've never gotten a negative feedback before as either a buyer or seller (I've only had about 200 transactions on eBay so far), so I'm worried that he could potentially give me 8 negative ratings and seriously hurt my positive feedback score. At the same time, I don't want to hold my feedback for him hostage, and I also don't feel right giving him positive feedback. I've never been in a situation like this before, so I appreciate any advice from those who are more experienced with eBay - including any info on whether there is seller protection against false/spurious negative buyer feedback.

 

Thanks!

[justafrog]

You can't hold a buyer's feedback "hostage" on eBay like you can on other sites, because you can't leave him a negative or a negative-sounding positive, period.

 

So, you can either leave him no feedback or an actual positive (it can be something like, "Thank you for shopping with us" which is all I ever leave, I think the feedback that goes "Best buyer ever! OMG! I want to have his e-Babies!!!" is stupid anyway.)

 

In the future, tell the buyer what it's actually going to cost in postage. Nebulous questions, "Do you combine shipping?" aren't helped by nebulous answers, "Sure!" I ask what items they're looking at, and I give them a total shipping cost before they bid. It takes a few extra minutes but avoids this very problem.

 

Re his potential 8 negatives, depending on what he says, they may be eligible for removal. The deed is done for now, you'll have to wait and see.

 

Edited to add: By the way, when I get warning that a buyer is overly needy and/or unreasonable, I generally add them to my blocked bidder list. It sounds like the warning signs on this guy may have been there with his many questions, so another thing to consider for future. If your spidey senses are tingling and telling you someone's trouble, listen to them.

[Yellowtot]

Yep those type of buyers just insta block, it's not worth the bad dsr's ( well defect now...) or hassle.

[dmc]

The good news is, even if he does give you 8 negs, only one counts in your in positive feedback percentage:

 

"The positive Feedback percentage is calculated based on the total number of positive and negative Feedback ratings for transactions that ended in the last 12 months, excluding repeat Feedback from the same member for purchases done within the same calendar week"

 

I wouldn't worry too much about it, personally. It sucks, but negative feedback is going to happen. There are just too many crazy and/or unreasonable people out there for it to be avoided forever. Just respond to any negative feedback with a polite explanation and move on. Good luck!

[stoltzjl77]

I'm more leaning towards not doing combined shipping anymore - for this situation, I had listed the items (about 20 in all) in 3 groups spread over 3 weeks and he bid on some from each group, so when he initially asked the question (on one of the items from the first group) I had no way of knowing, nor did he, how many items he would bid on. In retrospect I probably should have given him subtotals each week but he never voiced his expectation that there would be a flat, weight-independent cost until after I sent the final invoice.

 

*Sigh* live and learn. The irony is, the only reason I did all these auctions in the first place was to try and get my transaction count up to qualify for top-rated seller status. And now that eBay has brought back the insertion fees, I don't even know that it is worth it to achieve that. Bargle gargle.

[DoNotInsertIntoMouth]

I'm more leaning towards not doing combined shipping anymore - for this situation, I had listed the items (about 20 in all) in 3 groups spread over 3 weeks and he bid on some from each group, so when he initially asked the question (on one of the items from the first group) I had no way of knowing, nor did he, how many items he would bid on. In retrospect I probably should have given him subtotals each week but he never voiced his expectation that there would be a flat, weight-independent cost until after I sent the final invoice.

 

*Sigh* live and learn. The irony is, the only reason I did all these auctions in the first place was to try and get my transaction count up to qualify for top-rated seller status. And now that eBay has brought back the insertion fees, I don't even know that it is worth it to achieve that. Bargle gargle.

 

Raise your prices, do free shipping. Don't sell anything that you would take a loss on if you send it across the earth. Believe me it will help.

 

Then there is no bitching about combined shipping. I will give people a dicount on items through Best Offer if they buy multiple but it certainly isn't required.