Selling on fleabay nightmare!

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Lensflare

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Simon Everett
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I don't now if this is the right place for this, or even if I am allowed to discuss it, but my blood is boiling.

I put an item up, it ranits course and sol, for a reasonable sum, one that I was happy with anyway. Then the next day I got an email/message from the "winning bidder" to say he wouldn't pay and was pulling out of the sale. I have only sold a couple of things on the e site, and they were so long ago I can't even remember what they were. It took me over 2 hours to put it up for sale, trying to work out how to do it, so that gives you an idea of how much I know about the workings of the place....but I thought if you committed to buy, that was what happened, you were committed to buy.

I have contacted the admin team and they opening an investigation into the bidder under an unpaid for item thing. Anything I have bid for (I have bought stuff, just not sold much) I have always paid for it as soon as the auction ended. Just clicked "pay now" and the item has arrived a few days later.

Anyway, it isn't quite as clear cut as that, as I have now found out. So be careful out there.
 
Yes Ebay can be a nightmare.

Good old Buyers Remorse, the Q&A forum on ebay used to be really helpful but it changed a couple of years ago and now it’s just painful.

The worst bit is you have to go through the claim non-paying bidder bit and that takes forever, you need to do it thought to get your final value and listing fees back.

You could offer it out to the second bidder at a second chance offer!
 
You're right to rant, I don't think there's any solution in auction style format, but if you use the "Buy It Now" format you can require payment in order to win the auction.

I've tried to avoid selling on ebay these past few years for similar reasons. It's frustrating, but sometimes it is the only way to move some items on :(
 
Check out second chance offer. On the My EBay Summary, your item should be listed under sold items. Look along the column under the actions there should be a clickable link to Second Chance Offer. It might say send invoice. If so click the drop down arrow to open up more options and it should be there.

Second chance offer will email the second highest bidder and offer them the chance to purchase your item at their highest bid which will be only a couple of pound less than you were expecting.

HTH
 
To be honest I have been messed around as much, if not more, on the 'safe' internet forums (such as this one) than ebay. Yes you do get some people who do mess you around but I have bought and sold everything from £2 computer spares up to £5000 cars. Yes the fees are expensive, but then you do reach a wide audiance.

As said above the second chance offer does help, and I have had some success with that. Unfortunately the second chance offer does usually come too late by the time the winning bidder has messed you around.
 
I sold a lens on ebay last week and the day after the sale the buyer sent an email pulling out of the sale saying he thought it was an IS version and not the non IS version, although I didn't specify in my description anywhere that it was IS.
Anyway, long story short, contacted the second bidder and offered a second chance and it was paid for within an hour at a satisfying price I might add. Just remember to cancel the sale with the non paying buyer or you will get charged the final valuation fees. I don't sell much on ebay as their fees add up to too much, but needs must.
 
Thanks for your help folks. I'll try the 2nd chance thing.

I hate confusers!
 
it is annoying when that happens but just report them for non-payment then set your selling options not to accept bidders with non-payment strikes.

almost as annoying is people that dont leave feedback after a sucessful deal.
 
Some buyers can be totally unreasonable but sadly happens everywhere, even had it here!
Hope it works out for you and that you are not too far off the price for your lens :thumbs:
 
I feel your pain.

If someone buys your item, they have entered into a contact with you. You can take them to the small claims and you will win. ebay will give you any info you need to make the claim.

The other pain in the a**e is someone who doesn't want to sell an item you have won because it's too cheap. Again it's a contract and let them know.

My first foray into ebay I bought a car by mistake. :bonk: I still paid for it though. A deal is a deal.

I'm having a bit of trouble at the mo with this oik.

One way or the other I will get my mono pod. He has a polite letter before action from me. I must say the mods have been excellent in their support. :clap:
 
Already done mate.

The bloke has skin as thick as thick. No answer to any form of communication.

He's prolly created a new user name already.
 
ChrisGilbert said:
Make sure you give them a really cr@p feedback score to warn off other sellers.
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Pretty sure sellers cannot give bad feedback anymore, as some of the large traders were abusing it and using it to cover their poor service.
 
Thanks for your help folks. I did the second chance and that buyer has already paid me when I got home! There are some decent folks out there after all.

I shall go and get it packed up for him now, and sent tomorrow. If I had bought a 500 f4 I would want it pretty sharpish too!:cool:

Thanks for all your help.
 
ebay is a con, as is Ripoff(Pay)Pal - with no protection for the seller. Best avoided.
 
cambsno said:
ebay is a con, as is Ripoff(Pay)Pal - with no protection for the seller. Best avoided.
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Not strictly true, you just have to really cover your behind as a seller. Take photos of everything before you send to document condition, serial numbers and packaging. Always send via a recorded postage method etc etc.
 
E-bay is a waste of time, by the time you pay to list then the final value fee's then if paid by paypal the paypal fee's, they make more than you!!! gave up on ebay ages ago.
 
hersham boy said:
E-bay is a waste of time, by the time you pay to list then the final value fee's then if paid by paypal the paypal fee's, they make more than you!!! gave up on ebay ages ago.
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Bit of an exaggeration.. I sold about 300 and something worth of car parts the other day and paid 20 something in fees I think ( I can't be bothered to check ). I'm still 280 ish up..
 
I have sold a lot of lenses, laptops, cameras etc on ebay and their fees ARE high BUT your item will get far more exposure than selling via less popular websites, and the higher sale price will likely offset the higher fees. Timewasters are always a hazard in ANY type of sale, both online and offline.
 
I think ebay is now a victim of its own sucess, the fees are ridiculously high now and the feedback system is weighted in the buyers favour and dont get me started on the protection however it is still the only way to get alot of people viewing your item. Curse you Ebay god I wish Id thought of it!
 
Too true, I shudder to think how much ebay makes daily.

That's why the classifieds on here are so important. As long as you adhere to the rules, it's a genuine alternative to ebay.
 
simon44 said:
Too true, I shudder to think how much ebay makes daily.

That's why the classifieds on here are so important. As long as you adhere to the rules, it's a genuine alternative to ebay.
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except when youve been advertising things for months with little interest :(

sometimes ebay has the target audience to get stuff shifted.
 
I bought a couple of Nikon to Canon mount adapters on eBay a few years ago, because it seemed to be the easiest way to get them. The adapters were inexpensive, so I wasn't risking much, and it was painless experience. My sister in law buys and sells a lot there, so it works for her, but I just don't feel comfortable about the idea of dealing with complete strangers and larger sums of money.

The forum classifieds aren't foolproof - there have been issues with buyers/sellers - but they're pretty few and far between. I think there's a bit of a comfort zone too, because a lot of us 'know' each other, even if it's only through the forums, and there's support from other members and the mods. You're not going to get the market exposure that eBay gives, but I feel more confident here and most people seem reasonably happy with the prices they get and pay.
 
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