Some eBay scammers...

Tudor,
I have only had two incedents on Ebay, one exactly like you described, 2 weeks after recieving positive feedback and even exchanging e-mails with other questions, the buyer tried to do a charge back. Fortunately, it went to Canada so it had to go through customs and I had multiple forms of tracking and proof of shipment. It took another 3 weeks for Ebay/Paypal to settle the issue in my favor.

The other was with a seller that gave me a second chance offer on an item that didn't sell at his reserve. I took the offer, which was at my last bid, about $30 under his reserve and paid. He didn't want to send the product because he wanted more more money to match the reserve. After arguing back and forth through e-mails that he really needed to read the rules on how a second chance offer worked, I gave up and filed a claim. I got my money back but never got the assanine negative feedback removed. I think he was yanked from Ebay after that but the negative is still there.

 

Another problem with FeePay is getting undeserved negative feedback removed. They will even go so far as to tell you that it is physically impossible for them to remove it. GF has had a few go-rounds with them on that. She actually did get some undeserved negative removed, but not all of it. She has since stopped using FeePay, as have I.

Someone posted a remark about the whole thing's being taken over by the big sellers. I am guessing that FeePay is making big money from them and does not need the small and medium sellers, so it does not care about alienating them.

If one of the other sites would come up with a search engine that is as good as FeePay's, and had decent policies (READ: DIRECT OPPOSITE of certain FeePay policies), FeePay would go bankrupt. I would not be sad to see that.

Now all that would be required is to get an on-line pay service with policies that are directly opposite certain policies of PAYUP, pal!. Seeing PAYUP, pal in Bankruptcy court would be reason for a nationwide celebration.

 

You might get a ok price on items, but they are making money on shipping. It seems that they can make up on price by the cost of shipping. Its not always that way but I see it alot.





dave t

 

Not sure if you're the same seller I used buy from and watch (you sound like him). If you are, you are greatly missed!

 

Its possible. I bought, sold and traded thousands of $$ through Ebay then. My user name was (still is) "ChooChoo-N"....

 

I have never used ebay before. I had thought about it recently... but after hearing all these horror stories, I think I'll stick with my local hobby shop and continue in my stubborn belief that e bay just a fad! :mbiggrin:

 

What you have to keep in mind, all this said, is, pretty much all you are gonna hear are the horror stories.. Ebay, certainly is not what it used to be, but I still watch it daily, and buy off of it fairly regularly. But, I just rarely sell on it anymore. Sure they fee the hell out of you, but think of it this way. if you put an item in a garage sale, you might get $5 or less for it. That same item if put on Ebay you may end up with $10 or more, simply because it is seen my thousands, rather then a dozen or so people. In a garage sale, you are in hopes that maybe by chance, someone may stop by that wants that item. On Ebay, you will more than likely end up with many people that see it and want that item. So, if you get $10 for it on Ebay, (keeping in mind you would be lucky to get $5 in a garage sale), and they fee you 10% (which is said to be the average percentage after all said and done and the dust settles), you only end up with $8 or $9 out of the deal. STILL allot more than you would have in your hand by sticking it in a garage sale.

So, yes, as much as I hate what Ebay has become with 90% of the crap on it, I still watch it for that 10% of stuff I might want. And, I sell sometimes like most recently just stuff I don't want anymore, nor care what I get for it. But as far as making the big bucks like I did 2 years ago, that day is gone for sellers like myself. Buyer beware, and know what you are getting, AND, DO THE MATH, including what you are paying shipping. if it is still a good deal, go for it. I know what I will give up for something knowing what I know, and my reserch, I know what something is worth, and what it is worth to me, and I never go over that including the shipping it costs. I NEVER get into a bidding war. If it goes over, even a dollar what I set it is worth to me, I walk away.

I have had good luck on the bay if you take in account the number of transactions I have done on both sides of the coin. I have a couple horror stories, BUT I have been using Ebay for many years. I was probably one of the first sellers on ebay when it started in the bay area of San Fransisco where I was living for several years.. If you take that in account, the amount of horror, vs. the amount of pleasant good deals and transactions, the success rate is very high.

So, yeah, be VERY cautious, but Ebay still has it's usefulness for stuff that is hard to find anywhere else.. Be cautious, do the math, and do your research and you will be fine.

 

Thank you for the warnings; I have a lot of ATLAS track (bunch of switches too) that I've never actually used but have bought from various people (some eBay, some from stores, off layouts, etc.) and since I've gone with EZ-track (yes I know boo hiss) the ATLAS stuff is just sitting there.

Ideally, I'd prefer to swap it out for more EZ-track stuff, but since there's no "swapbay" lol I was planning to get some of the funds back, give someone a really good deal and then buy some of the remaining switches, etc. I need.

Now I am rethinking all of that.

Thanks much to you all for sharing your experiences - newbs like myself new to RR'ing etc. appreciate it.

 

I have purchased items on E-bay that were rare finds with no problems. But items that are available in hobby shops I will not bid on.When I see those items I just laugh.

 

I agree with E-8, I had some experiences on Ebay, most for the better, but without Ebay I wouldn't have most of the rare or discontinued items. Using some common sense seems to help out. Following a few guidelines that I made up for myself as bad things or things that went wrong has helped me out. I'll share them with you in the hopes it may help everyone out.

Rule #1 always check out the ebay seller positives and see how they answer the negatives in case they were not deserved.

Rule #2 Never deal with those who refused to give refunds to those who were not happy. I made this rule up after I bought a USA coal car and was sent a Bachman gondolla instead, but sent the car back and was given a refund less the money I spent on the shipping back to the person.

Rule #3 If you are the buyer, never give a positive feed back until the seller gives you one first. There are Too Many Sellers who say you give feed back first, DONT DO IT, this is to protect themselves in case they want to leave you a negative or leaves the door open for being ripped off. I have recieved emails from the sellers in the past requesting for me to leave feed back, but I tell them you leave me a positive first or I won't leave you anything.

Rule#4 Based upon rule #3, never delete a ebay sale that you didn't recieve any feedback on, this gives you the edge to watch the item to make sure things don't go wrong, the seller may get nervous and finally post a feed back for you.

Rule #5 Always research the item you are bidding on, make sure it is what the seller claims that it is. Some sellers seem like they are trying to rip you off, but in some peoples defense there are some sellers that just don't know that much about trains. Look at the picture make sure the posted clear pictures. You can also copy the picture to your computer so you can take close looks at the item by blowing it up. For Example: Someone may be selleing a USA Trains box car but may really be a Aristocraft. Due to the fact that big collectors are dieing or selling off thier collections, those who have multi make trains sometimes the item may get put in the wrong box, but the seller doesn't know this. I have seen for example someone selling a item claimed to be a USA Trains F3 but was actually a Aristocraft FA. That selling just didn't pay attention, this happens on auctios that have alot of postings by one vendor and they make a mistake.

Rule #6 Always try to send a message on a item that is up there in price, no ,matter what dumd question you want to make up, how fast they respeond or even if they respond at all is the key if I bid on that high price item.

Rule #7 Always check the shipping price of the item BEFORE bidding on it, some ebay sellers do make up the difference on shipping. If it's out of whack or too much, just walk away, don't not get into a confrontation with that person on price, Ebay is now watching this on going problem themselves

Rule #8 Be careful of SPOOF ebay emails, I have recieved 2 in the past 3 years and turned both into ebay. What a spoof ebay email is some one who isn't even related to ebay or a hacker sending you a message that you won something, but you send them money to thier account thru paypal on a fake item which has a fake auction and you will never get it back. ALWAYS log on ebay and verify bot the seller and the ebay auction bid number on your ebay won items.

Rule #9 Always save a seller to your favorites on ebay of smooth no problem transactions for future reference, this may help you when you do buy things on ebay that often

Rule #10 DONT bid up a item that previously showed $0 and no bids. Some sellers will have a low $0 reserve making you think you are gonna get this item cheap, but as soon as you bid on a item it will show immediately you been out bidded. Some sellers have a program that will do this so they get what they want for the item. Just walk away, don't bid any more.

Rule #11 As a buyer ALWAYS print your pay pal reciept and keep it for your records as least for 1 year

Rule #12 AS a seller ALWAYS send your item signature required, this keeps those buyers from ripping you off by saying they never recieved the item. Your ONLY proof to Ebbay is the siganture of delivery, they will NOT accept a confirmation delivery reciept, it has to be a Signature Confirmation reciept, these are TWO different services with UPS, FED_EX and US Parcel Service

These rules I made for myself are far from perfect, but with a level head, patience and not getting caught up in the bidding exceeitement, I have recently been keeping myself out of the hands of rip off artists

 

I dont really have an horror stories, but I do hae one short story. A couple years ago purchased a Kalmbach book on modeling city scenes. I paid the seller through PayPal after he sent an invoice and received the item a week later, and I left the positive feedback.

The seller then sends me a nasty email demanding the return of the book becase he didn't receive payment and would leave negative feedback ASAP.......... huh? He filed a claim with eBay and Paypal and left negative feedback within..... an hour or so after the initial email. So I send everything I have to PayPal and eBay, explaining that I paid weeks ago and had the book in my hand.

Sure enough 5 days later, PayPal had refunded me the total I had paid for the book, every last cent. I emailed PayPal back and never did receive a response. A week later I check the seller's feedback again and there were 5 negatives in a row from othr sellers and his account had been suspended. His PayPal account was locked up too, so I couldn't give him his money PayPal had mistakenly refunded me.

No address and no other way to contact him, so ended up geting a 20 dollar book for nothing. Still feel bad about it, even though he was a jerk.

Now regarding the lack of deals on eBay these days, shipping costs sems to go up every year. I cost me $4.95 to ship one Athearn Blue Box kit one state away, and the package only weighed 7 ounces according the the post office scale.

The problem is that if a seller sells a kit valued at $10, he might get 5 or 6 dollars out of it because the buyer has to pay an additional 5 or 6 dollars in shipping. Of course the average buyer in't going to pay much more than the item is worth, so the seller just has to take the loss, or start the auction high enough and no one bids. Ebay is just an exercise in the basics of gambling.

 

The eBay BS is really getting out of hand. A few observations from my side of the train room.

1) I have TWO entirely separate eBay accounts: One for buying and one for selling. Each has it's own Paypal account. Each Paypal account has it's own Bank(Credit Union) account. This way eBay/Paypal can NOT get into my household bank account for ANY reason. And eBay/Paypal can too. Imagine if eBay/Paypal gets hacked, your eBay/Paypal account is tied into your personal/home bank/credit account, a hacker could get in and clean you out.

2) I now am requiring ALL buyers to pay for shipping that includes a SIGNATURE REQUIRED shipping expense. More expense for buyer, more work for me, but get BURNED once for shipping on a high dollar shipment(supposedly never received), and have eBay/Paypal side automatically with the buyer because of seller only having a confirmation of delivery notice.

3) As E-8 & EMD Trainman stated, eBay can be a good place to pick up odd ball & rare items, but you have to know what you are supposedly buying and watch your sellers(& buyers!) now more than ever.

4) There are a lot of other places now to sell online: TRAINBOARD has a TRAINSTORE for selling/buying. N-Scale Yard Sale @ yahoo groups is another good one too. I have used both and can vouch for both. There are several different online Model Railing Auction sites around. I have used a couple of them too, but not enough to judge them. Do a search for the online auction sites.

5) The old saying : IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT PROBABLY IS! Still applies today.

 

Sorry, I had thought that I did mention. But apparently I kind of forgot..

But yes, I did hear back from the guy. It was appreciated, but reaks of fish, lol. It was a few days later, so I assume he was trying to figure out a way to bow out and save face that he was trying to be slick and failed. I assume he wasn't prepared for my epic record keeping, hahhah...

Anyway, his reply was to let me know that my email to him helped him locate his package. He said he went to the mail room (Which was weird that he has a mail room at his home? lol). And looked and found that the package fell behind a table or counter or something like that. But, he was able to find it. The odd thing is, he must have gotten it the first time and it was in his hands, because he did leave me positive feedback saying he received it in good condition on the day that the PO reported that it was delivered. So, either he got it, left me feedback and then lost it and tried to put the blame on me the seller because he lost his item, or, he was just trying to be slick. I dunno. But, all in all, yes, he did reply back...

 

Like I said...its worse when they leave negative feedback first...screw up your rating...then everything gets sorted in your favor (EckBay & PayupPal) and you cant get that negative feedback removed. I worked hard for a couple years to keep my 100% rating...just to have it screwed up by some guy with his head up where the sun dont shine !!! JMO

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Maybe he was (saving face)...and maybe he wasn't. Sometimes people begin to lose their memories or get distracted by life and get a little confused. Or maybe it's an even worse problem, like when older people begin forgetting where home is.

Could be all kinds of things, not necessarily bad. (Though another possibility is that he's a drinker). You just never know. You probably got satisfaction from him because your approach to him was a polite and decent one. :thumbs_up:

 

All that is true, and I take all that in consideration in all cases. Ya never know the circumstances of someone else's life. This is why I always think before I act, or write emails, etc. I think it through, sometimes don't write anything until the next day after I anylize what is going on on both sides of the coin. I always maintain curtesy until it is blatenly obvious of someones intentions. I always try to settle disputes in a respectful mannor with everyone until that plays out, then if I have to, I will go further and include "administration". I was this way in management in my career as well, which was a big reason for my success as a manager of a staff.

At any rate, all is good, and he and I are both satisfied and case closed on that one... On to the next, lol..

 

More Ebay Woes

Hello,

I have also been selling and buying all 3 gauges for several years. I am now utterly disgusted with ebays dictatorship policies, the latest being not allowed to bid or buy-it-now on several items because 'i dont have a paypal account' or ' your paypal account is not linked to ebay' I tried to discover where one puts this requirement against buyers, and found naught. I consulted w/seller, she said it wasnt her doing - it was ebay - soooo being a logical person, what i got out of this is - If I link my paypal to my ebay, this "requirement" that diss-allows bidders will automatically be plastered into my profile. OF COURSE - the HIDDEN reason -- to stop the buyers who still ask a seller to accept a M.O. - if they are disallowed to bid, they cant ask the seller if he/she accepts other payment besides the 'pal. What a bunch of disgusting garbage.
And if you send them a complaint, they dont even read it, they genarate a reply that has nothing to do with it, based on what a machine interpreted your email as.
I am also angry as I wasted my time 'chatting' to be told cancel the bids, then i can change the shipping error on the listing. Well after cancelling the bids, the ebay still would not let me change anything, except to add on comments, that are placed so blasted low on the listing, no-one would read them anyway. I think once my current stuff is gone, I am done with them.
Thanks for being able to vent my frustration. Trainboard is cool -

Tim

 

Good advice. Seller ratings should be your first clue as to how your own transaction might fare. To add, I would be gun shy about someone who has 100% positives, but only a few transactions under their belts The final ratio is the key - 98% for 12k transactions are better than 100% with only 50 transactions, IMHO.

IMHO, a waste of time for you and the seller. If the seller has a few thousand items on eBay, imagine the number of emails they may be receiving. If they're swamped and can't respond when you want them to, why punish yourself and miss-out on a good deal? To me, the time taken to answer questions can be better spent looking for something you want.

FWIW, a PayPal record is available to you for as long as you have an account. If you need to file a dispute, you must do so with 45 days, however.

 

I’ve been buying a lot on eBay lately and I’ve never sold anything.

Recently I noticed some venders asking to leave 5 stars or none at all because they are penalized the same with 4 stars as with only one star. This is really disturbing to me, because in the past I’ve always tried to be honest about the ratings.

I’ve left 4 stars in the “How reasonable were the shipping and handling charges?” but only because I thought the shipping was a little high. If it where outrageous then I would not even bid on it. I don’t like someone else deciding to add insurance to my fees. Most of the time it’s more of a hassle to collect the insurance, especially with USPS. I’m still owed money from 10 years ago.

Well anyway, that’s another story. The point I’m trying to make is that I now feel bad that I may have hurt someone’s overall rating even though I was happy with the purchase. I gave 4 stars instead of 5 stars. That to me is outrageous. 4 stars should not be the same as 1 star.

I now only give 5 star ratings and add to the comments that I thought they were trying to get rich on the shipping.