Realcent.org

So last week on ebay I drop $212 on a Washington Mint 8 oz silver round. The listing says it will be shipped usps priority shipping for $6.50. So I pay with paypal immediately. The next morning I receive an email from the seller telling me he just sent it off but gives no tracking#. This tells me he didn't use ebay's free shipping label service or I would have received a computer generated email with the tracking#. So I hope he addressed it correctly.

Three full days pass and no package. So that evening I email him asking for the tracking#. He emails me back that evening and says he keeps all his postal receipts in his glove compartment and his wife had to go out of town to visit her sick mother and she took the car. So I asked him to please ask him wife, the next time he talks to her, to locate the postal receipt and give him the # and then email it to me.

The next day he emails me and says his wife "hurriedly" dug through the receipts and couldn't find the one with Springfield, Oregon on it. He tells me its not her fault because he stores all his postal receipts in the glove compartment and there were probably 50 or so that she had to go through.

Well on the 5th day my package arrives and lo & behold it wasn't sent priority mail (as was stated on listing and was paid for) but instead was sent first-class! Because the guy wanted to pocket a few extra dollars of my shipping money he caused me to be overly concerned after three days whereas had I known it was coming first class I wouldn't have been concerned at all and wouldn't have contacted him to begin with!

Sometimes Ebay sellers REALLY pi** me off.......

You should not worry. That is one good thing about e-bay. The buyer protection is very good. Lost package and no tracking number and you can just file a claim. You will get your money back. In fact if you were a sociopath that had no morals you could have done that to the seller of the 8 ozer.

Glad to hear that you did get your package...there's no question the color of the feedback this seller deserves.

If he would have printed the shipping label using EBay's shipping service he could have still printed a 1st class shipping label with tracking. I have 2 items in the mail now that were shipped 1st class using EBay shipping.

Even if he decided to pocket the extra money... I dont understand why he wouldnt still have tracked your package... it would have given you peace of mind... and here is the biggest advantage of tracking.. the buyers don't ever bother me asking where their package is all the time... They can just look it up!!

-The Great

eBay rules are heavily written to the benefit of buyers. The buyer will usually get full reimbursement of purchase price and shipping charges if the seller can't show proof of delivery (and for larger purchases, signature acceptance). eBay now makes a seller responsible for getting sold items into the buyers hands safely. Sellers aren't allowed to make insurance an optional extra charge, then say "sorry you didn't pay for insurance" when something is lost or stolen. Sellers must also now have a valid credit card on file before listing, and must agree that eBay can charge that card in the event of a dispute that is ruled against them. Plus a seller must have a refund policy and even if they don't allow returns, they still must provide full refund in a 'significantly not as described' dispute that is ruled against them.

So I really like buying if I can find a good deal on eBay now but not so much selling, just too stressful tracking the package every 5 minutes then hoping they don't have buyers remorse later and ask for a refund, because getting all the eBay fees and PayPal commissions refunded to me in a cancelled transaction as a seller can be exhausting.

Selling rare coins on eBay has been especially unsettling in a few of my experiences. Once I sold a 1931-S Lincoln cent and the buyer told me it was fake and insisted on a refund. I had no idea if he was right or wrong. My biggest concern -- if it was indeed authentic, but he sends me back a well-made fake, how would I know? So I told him I'd gladly take it back, but that I had high resolution images of the penny that'd I'd have an expert compare it to before issuing a refund. He never sent it back or replied to my request... so who knows if he was a scammer or what.

I think you should file a claim for the difference in shipping cost through PayPal. If you paid for premium shipping and a lower cost shipping method was used you are entitled to the difference. Leave him the extra buck or so he inflated the priority shipping charge to cover eBay fees, but request a refund for the difference between the promised shipping method and the actual shipping method.

HoardCopperByTheTon wrote:I think you should file a claim for the difference in shipping cost through PayPal. If you paid for premium shipping and a lower cost shipping method was used you are entitled to the difference. Leave him the extra buck or so he inflated the priority shipping charge to cover eBay fees, but request a refund for the difference between the promised shipping method and the actual shipping method.

Good suggestion and that's exactly what I'm going to do. Its not the extra few bucks he pocketed that upsets me but instead its the aggravation he caused knowing he sent it first class versus priority and stringing me along with excuses as to why he couldn't give me the tracking#. Simply put his $3 shipping profit caused me two days of unnecessary worry. I really do hate such petty people....

What is the seller's Ebay handle?

JerrySpringer wrote:What is the seller's Ebay handle?

I intentionally omitted his Ebay handle in my original post on the off chance he may be member of this board or other sites I post at. Suffice it to say he received his negative feedback along with a paypal claim for his petty pilfering & headgames.

pennypicker wrote:

JerrySpringer wrote:What is the seller's Ebay handle?

I intentionally omitted his Ebay handle in my original post on the off chance he may be member of this board or other sites I post at.

I think this was a very good idea. Good Job

-The Great

I think it's interesting that the listing isn't showing up on Ebay. Did you already file a claim??

JobIII wrote:I think it's interesting that the listing isn't showing up on Ebay. Did you already file a claim??

For the same reason I omitted the seller's name in the original post I also slightly altered the nature of the item I purchased as well as the price. I anticipated there might be some members who "just had to know" who the seller was and would search ebay's sold listings. The bottom line is I was able to vent some frustration by writing my post and I took the advice of a respected fellow member and yes a paypal claim was filed. Let's just leave it at that....

pennypicker wrote:.......I also slightly altered the nature of the item I purchased as well as the price. I anticipated there might be some members who "just had to know" who the seller was and would search ebay's sold listings........

All those years on the CU boards made you sharp as a tack Don.

I'd say I'm afraid to ever have to deal with this group through Ebay. Getting negative feedback for charging a dollar or two more in shipping... Anyways I can relax knowing that our inflated prices on the bay would never attract any of you. But wow. I know this is a tough crowd but wow.

Wow INDEED.... I would appreciate if the OP would PM me his eBay username so I can block it...lol. Since I'm someone who's been selling on there (on and off) for 15+ years, I would prefer to avoid the hassle. Good to know for future reference on this board though!

JobIII wrote:I'd say I'm afraid to ever have to deal with this group through Ebay. Getting negative feedback for charging a dollar or two more in shipping... Anyways I can relax knowing that our inflated prices on the bay would never attract any of you. But wow. I know this is a tough crowd but wow.

To me, it's the principle of the matter. The seller fraudulently charged for priority shipping when he was planning to send first class.

Engineer wrote:

JobIII wrote:I'd say I'm afraid to ever have to deal with this group through Ebay. Getting negative feedback for charging a dollar or two more in shipping... Anyways I can relax knowing that our inflated prices on the bay would never attract any of you. But wow. I know this is a tough crowd but wow.

To me, it's the principle of the matter. The seller fraudulently charged for priority shipping when he was planning to send first class.

Thank you Engineer for your comment. Yes it is the principle of the matter and not the couple measly dollars the seller pocketed. It is the head games and deceitful answers regarding the tracking# that caused me to believe something might be awry. He knew he was going to ship it first class and simply thought that when it arrived I would be happy and not give the five day wait & overcharge any afterthought--he was wrong. Hopefully from now on he will set aside his pettiness and conduct his transactions in an adult manner!

CardsNCoins wrote:

pennypicker wrote:.......I also slightly altered the nature of the item I purchased as well as the price. I anticipated there might be some members who "just had to know" who the seller was and would search ebay's sold listings........

All those years on the CU boards made you sharp as a tack Don.

The CU boards have a way of doing that to a person...a lot of real characters over there...brutal sometimes.

Engineer wrote:

JobIII wrote:I'd say I'm afraid to ever have to deal with this group through Ebay. Getting negative feedback for charging a dollar or two more in shipping... Anyways I can relax knowing that our inflated prices on the bay would never attract any of you. But wow. I know this is a tough crowd but wow.

To me, it's the principle of the matter. The seller fraudulently charged for priority shipping when he was planning to send first class.

I have to agree. I consider Priority Mail with tracking much more secure than just plain first class mail without tracking.

I would NEVER spend that much for silver on Ebay without tracking. Absolute dealbreaker.

Can be a mistake. Also small time or new ebayers may not be very familiar with shipping, priority, FC etc... just another angle

EBay is full of unscrupulous sellers, but the rules are certainly stacked against sellers. The unscrupulous ones profit from the ignorant or people who just don't have the time to make a fight out of it. As an Ebay seller I am regularly held hostage by buyers. Selling large quantities of cheap items, often under $1.00, makes the first class parcel service too costly. That means most of my shipments are without tracking. If someone says they did not receive the item I just refund the full payment price and postage without any more questions. Even then I face the risk of a bad rating or negative feedback.

Anyway, here is the anecdote I wanted to share. I sold someone three coins, the price was under $2.00 for the lot, under $3.00 when you include shipping. On the 89th day after the auction closed the person filed a charge back with their credit card company. They stated that it was a fraudulent transaction, which was blatant falsehood since I have had several transactions with the person in the past and all of the purchase information was the same. Since I sent the items without tracking I had to refund the money, no problem there and nothing to lose sleep over. However, since the person filed it as a charge back with the credit card company, rather than a complaint through Ebay or Paypal, I had to pay a $25.00 "fee."

I don't know if this has happened to other sellers but you face this risk if someone files a chargeback through their credit card company.

When Sellers don't ship via the class promised it's easy to file a complaint and seek a refund, try fighting a buyer though. Good luck.

currencydebasement wrote:However, since the person filed it as a charge back with the credit card company, rather than a complaint through Ebay or Paypal, I had to pay a $25.00 "fee."

I don't know if this has happened to other sellers but you face this risk if someone files a chargeback through their credit card company.

Whoa...that certainly sucks. I'd lose my mind if that happened to me on a $3 sale.

currencydebasement wrote: On the 89th day after the auction closed the person filed a charge back with their credit card company. They stated that it was a fraudulent transaction, which was blatant falsehood since I have had several transactions with the person in the past and all of the purchase information was the same. Since I sent the items without tracking I had to refund the money, no problem there and nothing to lose sleep over. However, since the person filed it as a charge back with the credit card company, rather than a complaint through Ebay or Paypal, I had to pay a $25.00 "fee."

I don't know if this has happened to other sellers but you face this risk if someone files a chargeback through their credit card company.

When Sellers don't ship via the class promised it's easy to file a complaint and seek a refund, try fighting a buyer though. Good luck.

When I did sell things and accept PAYPAL, mostly fansub tapes but the occassional Ebay
item (back before Ebay bought PAYPAL), one of my terms people had to agree to before
I even sent them the E-mail address I use with PAYPAL was no credit cards, it had to be
from either their PAYPAL balance or an ACH transfer. If someone sent a CC sourced
payment I would decline to accept it. Though in my case I was primarily concerned that
some kid would use their parents credit card since most people don't keep their credit
card locked up away from their kids. Don't want one bad apple to ruin things for the
honest majority.

I never had trouble (anime fans are apparently a generally honest bunch).

IDK, if I was the guy that got that fraudulent CC chargeback I'd at a minimum be posting
full details on my web site (the nice thing about selling through your own website rather
than Ebay, complete content control) and shame them into paying up. As a fansub distro
I tended to have a very loyal customer base, basically in the day if someone messed
with your fansub distro _you_ would get mad at them. (Not many "bussinesses" where
the customers are willing to form a lynch mob in support of you. ^_-) Once when
annother person who was involved with fansubs got stuck with a bad check I told
them if the person who did it was in Winnipeg I'd be willing to help them collect.
They didn't take me up on it (could have been from anywhere) but I'm sure I'm not
the only person who offered to assist in "persuasion". ^_-

pennypicker wrote: lo & behold it wasn't sent priority mail (as was stated on listing and was paid for) but instead was sent first-class! Because the guy wanted to pocket a few extra dollars of my shipping money he caused me to be overly concerned after three days whereas had I known it was coming first class I wouldn't have been concerned at all and wouldn't have contacted him to begin with!

Sometimes Ebay sellers REALLY pi** me off.......

He did over charge you for shipping. However, priority packages and first class packages (weighing less than 13 oz) travel at the same speed. First class letters (non-packages) are slower.