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Ebay as a selling platform going down the tubes?

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tbcass said:
Mark Weiss said:
There is another scam on eBay that a customer of mine alerted me to this past summer. Credit Card chargebacks with PayPal. My customer told me he had sold a fairly expensive item on eBay and for six months he heard nothing no complaints no negative feedback no filing a not as described claim or anything like that. Then after 6 months he gets a letter from PayPal saying that the credit card used to make the purchase had a chargeback and PayPal was coming after him for the money. Of all the things I have experienced from eBay this is new. Just a heads up folks it's getting dangerous out there.
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Sounds fake and probably not from PayPal.
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I don't know what the time-frame is for doing this, but charge backs do happen. People pretending they never got the product or never ordered it. This happens with credit card fraud in the retail world as well.
 
Never had a problem. Insist on Paypal only, provide only mint condition gear, excellent packaging and special delivery etc. Doing everything top notch makes you more likely to attract the better customers. I also have only a 14 day return policy. I also vet the buyer of course, if little to no feedback or non feedback I might pass or re-list for that customer with no returns period.

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Poor juvenile solutions, explaining nothing. No need then for caution, we may reason on to our heart’s content, the fog won’t lift.
 
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Easy Rider said:
Never had a problem. Insist on Paypal only, provide only mint condition gear, excellent packaging and special delivery etc. Doing everything top notch makes you more likely to attract the better customers. I also have only a 14 day return policy. I also vet the buyer of course, if little to no feedback or non feedback I might pass or re-list for that customer with no returns period.
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What you state as return policy does not matter to eBay. If a buyer wants to return anything, you’ll be immediately out of the shipping cost both ways. If you dare to challenge eBay, they will then add insult to injury by charging you all the listing and final value fees.
 
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I stopped selling and buying on eBay due to their authoritarian policy on sellers. One bad experience selling is enough for me.

Craigslist has served me well in my gear acquisition, but fear of fraud prevent most sellers from shipping items to buyers.

A new player called offerup.com has potential to displace eBay and Craigslist in that sellers are charged less fees and are sometimes willing to ship. I’ve had three successful transactions through offerup and I hope they continue to gain traction.
 
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Easy Rider said:
Never had a problem. Insist on Paypal only, provide only mint condition gear, excellent packaging and special delivery etc. Doing everything top notch makes you more likely to attract the better customers. I also have only a 14 day return policy. I also vet the buyer of course, if little to no feedback or non feedback I might pass or re-list for that customer with no returns period.
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Also, if you don't want to be burned by idiots who fear their wives or suffer infinite buyer-remorse, click the box that says you "Must pay immediately on Buy it Now listings." Otherwise, you might find people who simply refuse to pay and Ebay does basically nothing to them except hits them with a flaccid "buyer's non-payment strike" which has little impact at all.
 
Yeah I only do buy it now sales, paypal only.
 
ZodiacPhoto said:
Escrow service may check if there is a lens or a camera in the box, not a brick.

They may even check if the lens make and model are as ordered, and if physical appearance matches the description.

Will they try to mount the lens on the matching camera to see if it works? Will they inspect aperture for oil? Lens elements for dust and fungus?

Will ANYTHING they do prevent the seller from saying "corners are not as sharp as I expected" and still return the lens?

Or, with a camera, saying "the image quality is not up to my expectations", or claiming an intermittent (once a week) problem?
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The point is that the escrow option would prevent theft, not returns!
 
RedFox88 said:
who buys new from there? It’s a place for used stuff no matter how they advertise to try and save that website!
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eBay has some reputable dealers seller brand new items there. They actively recruits those sellers in favor of the smaller one about 10 years ago to transform the platform.

I used to be one of the biggest photographic accessories sellers there and I had containers coming from the factory every month.
 
It is easy to read into the easy return/refund policy to think that a lot of people will take advantage of it.

My own experience being the one of the largest photographic accessory sellers, also as seller of my own pretty high end cameras/lenses (my hobby), I have found eBay a very reliable selling platform. People are generally honest. They buy what they need. Unless the individual is a crook, there is nothing to gain by buying the item and falsely claiming defect.

The number of outright crooks I encountered through my own experience is no more than what I would encounter in real life. Think about the shoplifting problem retailers face.

The biggest problem lies with buyer's remorse of inexperienced buyers who have no idea what they are buying, or have false expectation of the items purchased. The first indication is tons of non-essential questions and expression of over excitement about the purchase. That's unavoidable but thank God it's not too many of them out there.

When I sell my used cameras or lenses, I would have a paragraph describing any minor, insignificant blemishes or defect as a full disclosure so the buyer would know what they are buying (let's hope they read). Some inexperienced sellers would think their used camera is just like new and absolutely love it and you should too. That's the best way to invite trouble on eBay. The first rule of customer satisfaction is to lower expectation and over deliver, not the other way around.

Forum talk is also a prime problem area. I bet most of the people come here to talk about some problem they heard of, instead of their own experience. That is how rumor and uncorroborated half-facts are spreading.
 
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PhilDunn said:
ZodiacPhoto said:
Escrow service may check if there is a lens or a camera in the box, not a brick.

They may even check if the lens make and model are as ordered, and if physical appearance matches the description.

Will they try to mount the lens on the matching camera to see if it works? Will they inspect aperture for oil? Lens elements for dust and fungus?

Will ANYTHING they do prevent the seller from saying "corners are not as sharp as I expected" and still return the lens?

Or, with a camera, saying "the image quality is not up to my expectations", or claiming an intermittent (once a week) problem?
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The point is that the escrow option would prevent theft, not returns!
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Does not prevent fully theft during shipping- item can be stolen on the way from escrow to the buyer.
 
ZodiacPhoto said:
PhilDunn said:
ZodiacPhoto said:
Escrow service may check if there is a lens or a camera in the box, not a brick.

They may even check if the lens make and model are as ordered, and if physical appearance matches the description.

Will they try to mount the lens on the matching camera to see if it works? Will they inspect aperture for oil? Lens elements for dust and fungus?

Will ANYTHING they do prevent the seller from saying "corners are not as sharp as I expected" and still return the lens?

Or, with a camera, saying "the image quality is not up to my expectations", or claiming an intermittent (once a week) problem?
Click to expand...
The point is that the escrow option would prevent theft, not returns!
Click to expand...
Does not prevent fully theft during shipping- item can be stolen on the way from escrow to the buyer.
Click to expand...
Of course, but that can be covered through shipping insurance.
 
PhilDunn said:
ZodiacPhoto said:
PhilDunn said:
ZodiacPhoto said:
Escrow service may check if there is a lens or a camera in the box, not a brick.

They may even check if the lens make and model are as ordered, and if physical appearance matches the description.

Will they try to mount the lens on the matching camera to see if it works? Will they inspect aperture for oil? Lens elements for dust and fungus?

Will ANYTHING they do prevent the seller from saying "corners are not as sharp as I expected" and still return the lens?

Or, with a camera, saying "the image quality is not up to my expectations", or claiming an intermittent (once a week) problem?
Click to expand...
The point is that the escrow option would prevent theft, not returns!
Click to expand...
Does not prevent fully theft during shipping- item can be stolen on the way from escrow to the buyer.
Click to expand...
Of course, but that can be covered through shipping insurance.
Click to expand...
How do you prove to the carrier that you received a brick , and did not swap the camera yourself - unless you open the box in front of the carrier employee?
 
ZodiacPhoto said:
PhilDunn said:
ZodiacPhoto said:
PhilDunn said:
ZodiacPhoto said:
Escrow service may check if there is a lens or a camera in the box, not a brick.

They may even check if the lens make and model are as ordered, and if physical appearance matches the description.

Will they try to mount the lens on the matching camera to see if it works? Will they inspect aperture for oil? Lens elements for dust and fungus?

Will ANYTHING they do prevent the seller from saying "corners are not as sharp as I expected" and still return the lens?

Or, with a camera, saying "the image quality is not up to my expectations", or claiming an intermittent (once a week) problem?
Click to expand...
The point is that the escrow option would prevent theft, not returns!
Click to expand...
Does not prevent fully theft during shipping- item can be stolen on the way from escrow to the buyer.
Click to expand...
Of course, but that can be covered through shipping insurance.
Click to expand...
How do you prove to the carrier that you received a brick , and did not swap the camera yourself - unless you open the box in front of the carrier employee?
Click to expand...
To much to go into here but if you are really interested in the subject look into how shipping insurance and claims work, at least here in America.

Nice photo for your screen name, by the way.
 
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ZodiacPhoto said:
jonikon said:
Amazon has gone down hill as well with fake reviews and unethical sellers.
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I never tried to sell on Amazon - is the process straightforward? Is it safe for sellers against buyer's scam?
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No, it's not. Amazon always sides with the buyer (whereas ebay sides with the buyer only 99.9% of the time.)
 
Mark_A said:
I have never bought from ebay, I can't be the only one

I buy used from businesses that give me 6 months warranty and or a no question return policy.

I don't think I would trust a private seller.

Mark_A
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If you pay with PayPal, you have six months to return items purchased on eBay that don't work or aren't as described.
 
richdm said:
ZodiacPhoto said:
jonikon said:
Amazon has gone down hill as well with fake reviews and unethical sellers.
Click to expand...
I never tried to sell on Amazon - is the process straightforward? Is it safe for sellers against buyer's scam?
Click to expand...
No, it's not. Amazon always sides with the buyer (whereas ebay sides with the buyer only 99.9% of the time.)
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"The customer is always right," or as some might phrase it instead, "buyers are liars." Buyers lie about everything and get away with it because retail is so terrified about losing any.
 
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