Never selling on Fleabay again

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kalavinka

Feedback: +4 / =0 / -0
Joined
Jan 16, 2013
Messages
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Hey guys, just wanted to share an experience on that auction site with the "e" so you guys don't go through what I had to. I've had several great transactions on the forum so I don't know why I listed my Chris Reeve soldier on ebay instead of here. They already get nearly 10% after fees and paypal fees. Anyways, the buyer who clicked the "buy it now" was from Russia so that was first red flag. I sent it anyways via 1st Class Air and I took photos of all the documents from the Post Office for proof. Well of course a month later I get an email from ebay saying that the item was never received. I go through all the due diligence of posting photos of the documents, trying to contact the buyer etc...and in the end ebay rules in favor of the buyer. Ebay of course only protects buyers and they have all these rules in fine print so that they will never judge in favor of the seller, despite providing the docs, and this is the kicker. My feedback is 349 with 100% feedback and over 10 years as member - the buyer is new is 0 feedback.
In hindsight, I made a couple mistakes of selling to a new member in Russia, but the biggest lesson, trade on the Forum and save money and hassles. The 2nd lesson is ebay will never rule in favor of the seller so beware. I hope this helps anyone avoid what I've just had to deal with. Cheers and thanks BF.
 
I try to sell here as well to avoid the fees, but when it comes to PayPal, it was my understanding that if you keep it in the US and get tracking so delivery is confirmed (and signature confirmation over $250), you get some seller protection from PayPal. Since you can't get that kind of confirmation internationally, you're taking on the risk of it getting "lost" along the way.
 
Support Bladeforums, buy a gold membership and sell as much as you like here for $25. For a year.

Zero feedback and from Russia, well I'm glad you tried but sorry you were burned.


Good luck in the future
 
I'm not a fanboy of fleabay but I can honestly say that they ruled in my favor at least 3 times in my 10 years of using it as a seller. The most important lesson that I learned is always pay for tracking and insurance on high price items. I've sold everything from diamonds, Rolexes and gold coins with no hitches. I've had to also eat their exorbitant fees which have really risen over the years as well. I hate to say it but I also never ship internationally unless the seller contacts me and I can find some anecdotal evidence of their persistent use of the email address that they email me from.
 
Thanks doods. I think my main gripe is that ebay is always going to favor the buyer unless you conform exactly to all their fine print rules. I made a point of telling the buyer that the shipping quote did not include insurance or tracking and he did not want to shell out the extra dough for shipping. So even though ebay could see all my correspondence on the invoice, they still rule in favour of the buyer. My trading will now all take place on the blade forum, the fly fishing forums, and the tool forums!
 
eBay is expensive, and it does totally stack the deck against the seller, no question - but there are some things you can do to control your exposure as a seller. Among others, I recommend going into your seller preferences section and changing settings so that you exclude (if you wish) all non-US buyers (and AK and HI if shipping costs are an issue because you're providing free shipping), and then changing other settings so that eBay won't permit bids from places you won't ship to. Your Russian buyer could still have done an endrun on this, as I found out late last year in a very expensive theft on eBay, but it's harder. :(
 
More time should have been given. I sold a set of Ran chef knives to a guy in Israel. It took them more than 2 months to show up. Of course, he was very understanding and patient. Unfortunately this is a risk you face ANY time you sell internationally, not just through ebay. That, however, was the last time I ship anything internationally.
 
kalavinka said:
Hey guys, just wanted to share an experience on that auction site with the "e" so you guys don't go through what I had to. I've had several great transactions on the forum so I don't know why I listed my Chris Reeve soldier on ebay instead of here. They already get nearly 10% after fees and paypal fees. Anyways, the buyer who clicked the "buy it now" was from Russia so that was first red flag. I sent it anyways via 1st Class Air and I took photos of all the documents from the Post Office for proof. Well of course a month later I get an email from ebay saying that the item was never received. I go through all the due diligence of posting photos of the documents, trying to contact the buyer etc...and in the end ebay rules in favor of the buyer. Ebay of course only protects buyers and they have all these rules in fine print so that they will never judge in favor of the seller, despite providing the docs, and this is the kicker. My feedback is 349 with 100% feedback and over 10 years as member - the buyer is new is 0 feedback.
In hindsight, I made a couple mistakes of selling to a new member in Russia, but the biggest lesson, trade on the Forum and save money and hassles. The 2nd lesson is ebay will never rule in favor of the seller so beware. I hope this helps anyone avoid what I've just had to deal with. Cheers and thanks BF.
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You're wrong actually. As much as I dislike ebay, they protect sellers as well. I was covered for $1600.00 when someone tried to screw me by them.


Did the knife get returned? Any more tracking information on it? Mail fraud one way or another is a federal offense, ESPECIALLY when it's international. You would have a leg to stand on if you so chose that route.
 
That is a bummer -

I have sold some things on the bay, and my experience is that the fees are closer to 15% total after all is said and done.

You pay for the convenience.

I will be selling some knives here, since this crowd is more in tune with the blades etc, and I like the people here more.

I use the USPS web site to pre-print my shipping labels, and that also saves you a small amount.

I hope you get some recovery for your loss of product.

best

mqqn
 
jill jackson said:
You can refuse to sell items to certain countries, or refuse to sell outside the USA period.
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This, there is even an option for it...

CYA bro, sorry to hear you had issues, sincerely. I bounced my mortgage payment unbeknownst before paypal stepped in and reimbursed me because the buyer pulled some stuff with his credit card co.
 
richard thurman said:
just refuse to ship outside the USA and then just take post office money orders. you see all of your problems go away.
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Money orders on eBay? The only problem you'd have is lack of buyers. Most people on eBay aren't going to buy anything unless they can use paypal.
 
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How is this ebay's fault ?
He probably didn't get the knife.
I haven't sold much on ebay, but I would never sell out of country on ebay. There is an option for that when you list the item.
I would also never ship without USPS signiture confirmation and will only ship to their PP address.

If you ship to a verified PP address with SC it must be signed for and you are protected.
Sounds like you're the one that made a mistake and are now blaming ebay for it.
 
The buyer/seller protection thing is via paypal, not ebay. I know they have common ownership but you can use them independently of each other as well - for example, many of the items sold through this site utilise paypal as the payment method. Don't know about Russia but there are countries that you can post to and get delivery confirmation - this gives you protection against fraudulent claims of non delivery.
 
jill jackson said:
Money orders on eBay? The only problem you'd have is lack of buyers. Most people on eBay aren't going to buy anything unless they can use paypal.
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way back in the day when I was selling on ebay about 20 years ago I was taking money order all of the time. has it changed that much?? I am glade I am no longer selling there. I am not selling any more. boy do I miss the good old days.
 
richard thurman said:
way back in the day when I was selling on ebay about 20 years ago I was taking money order all of the time. has it changed that much?? I am glade I am no longer selling there. I am not selling any more. boy do I miss the good old days.
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Nothing wrong with money orders, just PayPal is a lot more instant.
 
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