eBay sellers getting lazier?

[MAGNUM4342]

I'm not talking about the "economy shipping" or anything like that. But I bought an item on the 15th, the seller just marked it shipped yesterday!

Another item bought on the 17th, I had to contact the seller, who said "Oh I must have overlooked it, sorry." Still has not been marked as shipped.

Half the time anymore they don't bother to mark the item shipped and less and less sellers are giving feedback. By the way, the first item, the one bought on the 15th? It's coming from Nashville to Parkersburg, and it's expected delivery date is somewhere between the 21st and the 3rd! WHAT IS GOING ON!??

[Rob Hall]

Depends on the sellers schedule, I guess. One very reputable eBay seller I personally know only ships on Saturdays because they are only home on the weekends.

Edited March 22, 2013 by Rob Hall

[martinfan5]

Oh, dont get me started on about a seller right now

[1930fordpickup]

I had to contact someone last week. He said his computer was down for a few days. It showed up a few days after contacting him.

I am not perfect so it will cut some slack. It was one seller so not so bad.

[Deano]

Ooo ... let's bash eBay sellers! Wanna hear about buyers? Didn't think so. i predict topic closing before the weekend.

[slusher]

over the last year or so l have had very good people to buy from and l have been using the same swllers when l can....

[Casey]

Ooo ... let's bash eBay sellers! Wanna hear about buyers? Didn't think so. i predict topic closing before the weekend.

I get your point. As both a seller and buyer, I see it from both sides, and very rarely are there any issues. I've had maybe five people buy and never pay, but with eBay's non-payer bidder claim process, it's really easy to get a fee credit, so I don't really worry about it. You never know what might've happened to them, and there have been one or two times when I either lost a shipping label or just plain forgot to ship something. I also had one seller ship the wrong Shabo tires dry transfers...twice, so I totally understand. That said, each seller and each buyer is different, and shouldn't be lumped together. Feedback is very effective on eBay, and while not perfect, it helps weed out the bad seeds so to speak.

I don't get the eBay bashing, either, and I just got a message from eBay stating they are going to a flat 10% fee for certain sellers/categories (maybe all? I dunno), so that's another thing to love about eBay. They have been pretty proactive as far as trying to please both sellers and buyers, and with a business that large, it's no easy task.

I find eBay to be an invaluable resource for model kits too, from looking at vintage box art and kit contents to finding that oddball obscure set of wheels you never knew existed.

As far as locking this topic, I hope it doesn't come to that.

[martinfan5]

Ooo ... let's bash eBay sellers! Wanna hear about buyers? Didn't think so. i predict topic closing before the weekend.

Some people just need to vent a little a bit, and there is nothing wrong with that, if everyone can remain civil, then this thread wont get locked.

[Rob Hall]

I've been buying old model kits, resin kits and parts, etc on eBay since 1997 and probably 99% of the transactions have been successful.

[Erik Smith]

It's not eBay. It's a marketplace with thousands of individual sellers. Some are businesses, some are weekenders, some are one timers just trying to get rid of stuff.

Always check the estimated arrival date - sellers can put in how many they think it will take them to ship. A lot of inexperienced sellers don't know about the feature, though, and are the ones that don't realize how important prompt delivery is for good feedback, and thus, increased amounts for items sold.

[martinfan5]

I guess I will share one of my few bad seller experience's, I been trying to get my hands on the Aoshima stock Toyota Hilux kits, well a seller had one, going for $55, which is not a bad price, but he had the make and offer, so I did, we went back and fourth, and he accepted my offer of $42, yay me I was thinking.

I paid the seller on 2-23, a week later, I sent him a message about some other items of his , and thats when I found out he had not shipped out the kit yet, he gave me some story that his account had been compromised and he didn't know that I paid for the kit yet, hmmm, yeah sure whatever, but ok, he said he would have it shipped out on Monday, ok, no biggie.

So on the following the Monday, still no kit, message him again, he said that he "gave it to his employee to have them mail it out", hmmm ok, sure whatever, he said he would talk to that person to find if it was shipped. A few days later, get a message back, employee said they did ship it, but of course there is no tracking number.

So he says he has another one of the kits that he can send, and he would refund the shipping, I replied with, I dont care about the refund of the shipping, I just want what I paid for, and that was the last I heard, and another week went by, so I had no choice to open a case on 3-17, and still have not heard anything from the seller

[Harry P.]

Think about it. Think about how many people buy and sell on ebay. Think about how some people are honest, how some people are weasels, and some people are flat-out crooks. Then think of the millions of listings and transactions that happen on ebay. In my opinion, what ebay does is nothing short of miraculous. The fact that ebay works as well as it does, despite the morons there who keep trying to mess things up, is amazing to me, and I give ebay all the credit in the world.

[cobraman]

I guess I have been pretty lucky. I have been both buying and selling on ebay since 1999. Close to 1500 transactions with little to no trouble. I describe my stuff honestly and normally ship within 3 days as I state in my auctions. When I buy I always check feedback and if I see something I don't like I just don't buy. I can recall only one time when a buyer did not pay and I relisted the item and got about 10 bucks more the second go around. Thanks deadbeat !

[hpiguy]

I get more late shipments and blatantly false auctions ("new in box", box arrives and it's open and missing major parts) from the plastic model side of Ebay then I ever do the general merchandise and R/C sections of the site.

I wonder why that is? Makes me curious more than anything.

I'd say 3 out of 50 sales I buy from in general merchandise and R/C stuff has any issues at all. Usually very minor stuff.

Easily 3 out of 10 sellers I buy from will have some sort of issues on the plastic model items. Either taking well over two weeks to ship or having glaring issues with the item matching the auction description.

[wgflatliner]

i've had good luck with ebay. i always check the reputation and feedback of sellers prior to bidding - but i also read the entire listing so i understand the shipping process too.

as far as me being a buyer: i always make prompt payments (literally, within a minute), so to make the seller's job a little easier.

[Sam I Am]

I always go to ebay first when looking for a kit or aftermarket piece. Have always loved my results as a buyer. I just sold about 300 kits from Nov-Feb, and had 100% positive feedback. I've bee on since 2000 and have about 1300 transactions with 100% positive. i have a guy in Germany bought about 25 kits in all and he says I'm his #1 seller. It was just a fluke that I had all these kits from a huge lot I bought off craigslist. There were a couple who were nit picking, but thats to be expected. Oh, and I have had more than one seller tell me they got my payment notification before ebay notified them their item sold. lol

[Tom Geiger]

You know how when you go to a swap meet and there's always the one scuzzy little seller that you walk wide around his booth to avoid him? Remember, he's on eBay! There's always gonna be one, but the market does sort out the bad sellers in time.

I've been on eBay both as a buyer and seller since it was new. 99% of my deals have been good and some of them have been fun, learning that you provided a needed car part to a guy with a Cadillac in Switzerland or that I sold a bunch of antique postcards of dams to the authority that built and still owns them. Cool stuff like that. I once sold some old medals I found in a junk box to a museum for the black fraternal order that originally issued them. They were rare but I was very pleased to send them home!

I'd say overall, hobbyists have been great to deal with. Whether they were modelers, coin, stamp or postcard collectors, there is a camaraderie and sense of fairness between people with the same common interests. Every issue I've had with purchases, I've calmly written the seller and they in turn took care of the issue right away.

The problems I've had have been my encounters with the general public buying consumer goods. Once my bro-in-law, in the computer business, gave me a huge box of stuff to sell. Every buyer was a problem, so after I listed the first grouping, I returned the box to him! They all complained like they were dealing with Walmart. No more consumer junk from this seller!

[Monty]

I've been buying old model kits, resin kits and parts, etc on eBay since 1997 and probably 99% of the transactions have been successful.

Rob, were you also bidding on HO slotcars at the time? I'm pretty sure you and I went head to head on quite a few. I was buying mostly Tyco Type II cars (button pick-up shoes) and Aurora Magna-Traction cars.

Edited March 23, 2013 by Monty

[Rob Hall]

Rob, were you also bidding on HO slotcars at the time? I'm pretty sure you and I went head to head on quite a few. I was buying mostly Tyco Type II cars (button pick-up shoes) and Aurora Magna-Traction cars.

No slot cars, I was bidding on a lot of vintage Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Corgi, etc diecast then. I have a few slot cars, Aurora T-Jets my brother gave me when I was a kid....when I have larger house I want to set up a slot track.

[von Zipper]

Last month on E-Bay I bid on and won this 1963 Valiant promo

But when the box arrived there was this 1960 4dr. Valiant instead

I sent the seller a P.M. and explained the situation to him, we exchanged phone numbers because it would be easier to talk it out instead of E-Mailing back and forth.

I'm proud to say we both handled it like grown folks, ( a little common respect goes along way)

He said it was a simple mistake in that he grabbed the wrong box marked "Valiant" and for me to send the '60 4dr. back and he would send me the '63 that I had bought and refund ALL of my shipping cost-We ended up working out a deal that as soon as the '63 arrived to me- I went to Pay-Pal and paid for the '60 4dr. -for a really nice price.

As it turns out, the E-Bay seller is also a member here and a really nice guy to deal with.

So there was a bad situation at first, it got handled the right way and I am very happy with the result=

I got the promo I bid/bought that turned out to be a friction powered promo which was more that I expected.

Got a great deal on the '60 4dr. promo.

AND made a new modeling friend.

Now I know that not all E-Bay deals go this way and I have been burned a few times by a couple of "chiseling nickel baggers" but not all E-Bay buyers or sellers are crooks.

[Tom Geiger]

Nice Valiants! And a great story about how things can work out on eBay.

[MAGNUM4342]

Nice Valiants! And a great story about how things can work out on eBay.

Agreed! now I ain't saying there aren't some darned nice folks on the bay, heck two of them made my favorite sellers list lately just because of how they responded to a message. I'm just thinking the weather change (or impending change depending on your part of the country) might have something to do with the current laxed attitude.

[w451973]

I used to sell alot on there but it became too much of a hassle. Since I just got back into models I've been buying on there. I can't beleve some of the prices these sellers are asking and then adding shipping charges on top of it. I'm still trying to get over how much they've gone up in prices.

[martinfan5]

I guess I will share one of my few bad seller experience's, I been trying to get my hands on the Aoshima stock Toyota Hilux kits, well a seller had one, going for $55, which is not a bad price, but he had the make and offer, so I did, we went back and fourth, and he accepted my offer of $42, yay me I was thinking.

I paid the seller on 2-23, a week later, I sent him a message about some other items of his , and thats when I found out he had not shipped out the kit yet, he gave me some story that his account had been compromised and he didn't know that I paid for the kit yet, hmmm, yeah sure whatever, but ok, he said he would have it shipped out on Monday, ok, no biggie.

So on the following the Monday, still no kit, message him again, he said that he "gave it to his employee to have them mail it out", hmmm ok, sure whatever, he said he would talk to that person to find if it was shipped. A few days later, get a message back, employee said they did ship it, but of course there is no tracking number.

So he says he has another one of the kits that he can send, and he would refund the shipping, I replied with, I dont care about the refund of the shipping, I just want what I paid for, and that was the last I heard, and another week went by, so I had no choice to open a case on 3-17, and still have not heard anything from the seller

I know I am quoting myself

But guess what I got today, and email from Ebay telling me that tracking info was updated

[cobraman]

If you need or want another one of those trucks or one of their other ones try Tokyo Hobby. They are selling most of them for around 25 bucks but the shipping is about 12 bucks. You will get you kit in 2 weeks or less. They sell on ebay but also right from their web site.