Ebay conundrum

Hi All,

I'm a bit stumped about how to handle a bad ebay situation, and thought I'd ask folks here. I figure I'm not the only person faced w these situations, and that we as a community might eventually develop a general strategy for dealing w bad sellers. I bought a lens a couple of months ago, the communications were bad from the start, but eventually got a total and about a month after the auction ended, got a lens.

Unfortunately, just 'a' lens, not the 14inch artar I'd bought, just some anonymous anastigmat in a different focal length. Obvious seller mistake, wrote the guy several times, eventually started calling and talking to him, he said he'd take care of it. I waited 1.5 months, nothing, sent another email, the guy didn't remmember the story, or maybe it's his daughter answering emails now, who knows (I'm trying to make a long story short).
Bottom line, I'm out $60, don't want to put any more energy into this whole deal, and don't want to leave negative feedback because he'll probably just retaliate, which in the long run, if I want to sell stuff on ebay, will cost me more than the 60 bucks. I thought of just publishing his ID here and on LFPhoto, but am unsure of the forums' policy regarding this kind of thing. I'm guessing I'm not alone in this, and was wondering if we could start a bad sellers list, or some other such device, to help each other out in a way that avoids the pitfalls of ebay feedback. I know I'd like to have such a list for my own use, as it would save mee some trouble and reflect real photo people's experience better than ebay feedback. What do you all think?

If it is within 45 days of the sale, report it to Ebay. In any event, I would leave a neg feedback--that is the only way to warn others.

Leave the neg feedback. How else are others going to know what happened? This is the problem with the whole feedback issue: no one wants to get retaliatory feedback so the rubbish sellers get away with it all the time. Neg feedback seems to make no difference to the bad sellers, they continue to sell, so no reason why it should bother you especially as you do not sell at the moment. You get the chance to respond to any feedback he leaves (actually, can you still leave feedback after all this time?).

I never use eBay anymore partly for this reason - feedback ratings are worse than useless.

Cheers, Bob.

Hi
Very important part of buying on eBay is to read feed back of the seller. Also see how often he answers the negative feed back and if he retaliates. How much money you want to risk if anything goes wrong.
I had a similar experience two years ago where I bought a 4X5 view camera it said in great condition with extra bellows. I won the auction for $ 150. A bargain I thought. When I received the camera it was obvious the camera was dropped one of the knobs was badly bent. and the bellows had pin holes in all the corners. Well I thought about it for a day or two. and decided to keep the camera and fix it my self. It took me about a week to fix the knob and the bellows and squerness of the camera. And I have fully functional camera now for $150 and a little bit of my time. As for the feedback I gave him positive feedback but like"camera received". Maybe the lens you got could be used and chalk it to the experience or try to get your money back trough eBey channels

Cheers Greg

I don't like the idea of "bad seller" lists. This is a "guilty without trial" concept ... just a bad idea!

Negative feedback should be given when necessary. Risking getting a retaliatory negative is part of the business, and I'll bet I'm not the only person who reads both sides of a sellers negative. Most decent buyers and sellers can tell good from bad.

Also, as a buyer, you have not only rights, but if you wish to persue a bad seller, then you have a responsibility to follow your own correct procedure. Waiting past the eBay reporting deadlines for any reason makes it look like you didn't really care that much, no matter how much you are trying to be a decent cooperative sort of person. Buyers and sellers both need to read the rules and either follow them or suffer by them. As my sweetheart says .... you snooze - you lose ...

As a matter of last resort, if you have good email documentation of your transaction and if the seller has admitted his mistake, then you can persue him thru' the courts - not likely worth the trouble for a $60 lens.

The foregoing is not much help I know, but eBay is not a game, it's a business and so requires a business attitude.

I suggest you chalk it up to being a cheap educational experience and see what you can do with what you rec'd ... sort of a broken eggs and omelette deal

cheers

I would start your own auction with this heading:
FREE 14 inch Artar!
Then proceed to direct people to the seller in the 'description" stating since he didn't send it to you, they should email him (provide link) and try to get it for free since it's paid for. It could be a pain in the ass for him if he gets a slew of emails, plus alert others to his bad habits... and be sure to add a link to his ebay site/store/auctions.

No pictures needed and satisfaction for under a buck I think..

There was a lady last year or more who did an auction to get sympathy as her hubby constantly was on ebay searching and spending on camera equip.
(yeah, sounds familiar..)
She ended up getting about $45 for selling nothing and apparently got her hub's attention..

So maybe you could add a sympathy button and try to get your $60 back...ya never know...

blaze-on said:

I would start your own auction with this heading:
FREE 14 inch Artar!
Then proceed to direct people to the seller in the 'description" stating since he didn't send it to you, they should email him (provide link) and try to get it for free since it's paid for.

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This may be emotionally appealing, but the auction would probably get yanked by eBay as soon as the original seller complained. It would also look childish and therefore might hurt your chances at getting a favorable resolution if you choose to report the seller to eBay. That's what I'd do, BTW -- there are instructions for doing so somewhere on eBay's page. If that doesn't help, leave negative feedback. Yes, you might get dinged back in retaliation, but the whole problem with the eBay feedback system is that people are fearful of entering negative feedback, so they don't. One other feedback consideration: There is an option for mutual removal of feedback. If the seller is concerned about his feedback rating, then leaving a negative feedback may motivate him to resolve the issue so that you can both mutually remove your feedback.

Also when he retaliates, leave a note in replying to it to see your other feedback and this guys is scum and a liar, or something like that.

flash19901 said:

Also when he retaliates, leave a note in replying to it to see your other feedback and this guys is scum and a liar, or something like that.

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A little hint here, I read these comments, and whoever sounds more reasonable gets my presumption of innocence. When someone is totally nasty in feedback or replies, I tend to wonder about that person. If he leaves you bad feedback, leave a calm reasonable reply stating that it is retaliation for your neg and that you never got the item.

I've always felt a little unsure of e-bay but my wife has proved me wrong. She has bought and sold quite a lot of stuff, mostly low value (household items) with suprisingly few problems.

So with that in mind, when I needed a new lens last year, we successfully won a bid for a Nikon zoom which arrived from overseas all on time and the lens was perfect, just as it was described and we couldn't have wished for a better deal really.

The reason why I bought the above lens was becuase I dropped the previous one and it suffered some damage. I threw it in the bin. My wife rescued it and advertised it on e-bay and was very upfront about the awful condition. To my astonishment someone bought it, someone in Russia I think. I'm not quite sure of the details but the buyer had some problems in paying money and, as he seemed genuine, my wife suggested he sent a present instead to the same value. This man kept his word and sent a lovely wooden figurine which we were very pleased to receive, especially as we'd posted the lens off. Another good experience.

However, there is potential for lots to go wrong, much I guess based on trust. No matter how many safeguards there are in place, there will always be some scope for things going wrong, people taking advantage, unintentional mistakes and outright swindles. It is quite possible we'll get a poor deal but we'll be philosopical about it, when the dust settles.

A question with the "bad seller list" idea is that while it might make someone feel better, it might be hard for someone else to defend themselves????

Has anyone tried selling photographs on e-bay? Might start off a thread....

I bet that was that Tonapah Jim character !!----he'd sell your mother for a Deardorff V-11 !! Shame on Jim !!

Why hasn't this seller already left feedback for you? Every seller I've dealt with on e-bay left feedback for me as soon as he/she was paid. You should definitely leave negative feedback yourself. If he retaliates, just refer to your own feedback - most buyers on e-bay can tell the difference between genuine negative feedback and a retaliatory rant. Also, never deal with this seller again.

I think you have 90 days to leave feedback. Leave a negative late on the day before and he will likely never have the chance to retaliate.

Also check the reflections on your "anonymous anastigmat" (BTW, if it's really anonymous, how do you know it's an anastigmat?). If it's a Dagor or Protar type, or a Wollensak Series I type, you may well have gotten a bargain, although not what you thought you bought.

Steve

dslater said:

Why hasn't this seller already left feedback for you? Every seller I've dealt with on e-bay left feedback for me as soon as he/she was paid.

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Many sellers (probably a majority of those who bother to leave feedback in my experience) wait until the buyer has posted feedback before leaving feedback themselves. From the buyer's perspective, this can be annoying and, in the event of problems, it can deter leaving honest feedback. From a seller's perspective, OTOH, it can serve as some minimal insurance should the buyer be unreasonable (complaining about flaws that were described in the ad, for instance). Ultimately, I don't think it makes much difference if both parties are happy with the transaction. When there are problems, well, that's when it gets dicey.