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This information is provided for all of us who have bought an item on ebay.
There are two real scenarios in this ebay guide. This first auction transpired in the past prior to the current changes. The second auction transpired recently (9 - 2007).
The Nike Air Rift Running Shoes
I
won an auction for a pair of running shoes. ($74.00 + $9.00 shipping and
Handling = $83.00 total) from a Seller who sent me the wrong size. They
were 1/2 inch too large. new Nike Air Rift yellow olive/pollen 10 (This item is very popular with the movie stars of Hollywood, California)
I had to pay the full amount in order to ship them back to Texas as stated in his auction at the very bottom. I had no problem with shipping the shoes back. I did so with the United States Post Office using "Priority Mail". Paypal's policy states that the Buyer is responsible to pay for freight one way, not both.
Be sure to read all of the fine print of a auction. He stated on the bottom of the auction in font size 1 that the buyer had to pay for all return shipping charges.
- I emailed him asking for a refund.
- I waited, waited and waited. I filed a Paypal claim only to be told that I was too late.
- Paypal a ebay Company told me that the time limit to file a claim had expired!
- Claims must be filed within 30 days.
- Owe me $350.00
- Immediate payment, item never shipped. Extremely poor seller.
- never heard from him after I paid!
I emailed ebay with this information that his number was not in service.
I received a email out of the blue from him stating that his number was in service.
I called him in Texas. He told me to expect a refund of $74.00 in my Paypal account.
Another month went by!
Did I give up? No.
- I
filed a case with the Internet Crime Complaint Center and since the
United States Postal Service was utilized, I filed a case with the
Unites States Postal Police.
- I called his cell number and left a message stating that he left me no choice. I wanted my refund.
- I finally received a full refund of $74.00 into my Paypal account from him.
As Buyer, you must protect yourself. If you do not receive a item in 10 days, do not wait. Of course, one has to consider how the item is being shipped. Parcel Post will take quite some time. Let us take the state of Florida for example if you live in the state of Hawaii. If you won an item from a seller located in Florida, it would be placed on a truck and sent to the state of California. It would then be placed on a ship and sent to Hawaii. Also, do bear in mind that what could possibly slow down a shipment is if the Post Office decides to wait until they have enough items to send by truck to its next destination which in this example would be the state of California.
Other possible variables are when the seller sends your item to the wrong address. Take a look at this feedback left for me on my feedback profile:
Sorry about the slow shipping! Best Ebayer I have EVER dealt with!!!!!! A+++++++
I waited for the items and received a email from the seller stating that he shipped and went on vacation. When he returned, so did his shipment. He emailed me and told me what happened. He sent it to me Priority Mail. My feedback left for him:
Honest seller, 5 stars overall due to great honesty about shipping, RECOMMENDED!
The policy now is that you can open a dispute between 10 and 60 days. If you paid with a credit card you can dispute the charges with your credit card company and show proof you mailed the item back.
A good idea is to obtain Delivery Confirmation or a Tracking number which will cost more. The Tracking number is a better system to go with. The policy now is that Buyer's ship item(s) back at the buyer's expense. So that is all buyers need to do is pay with a credit card and use Paypal.
Follow through. Contact your Seller to find out what is going on instead of waiting. Learn from my example. As of January 2007, Paypal doubled their maximum loss coverage to $2,000.00 but they make the determination if the seller can offer protection for the buyer up to the maximum of $2,000.00. If you look at the right hand side of a auction on the bottom, you will see the following:
Up to $200 in buyer protection. See eligibility or Up to $2,000 in buyer protection. See eligibility
The words: See Eligibility are a link to Paypal, guess what? I clicked on the link and was directed to a Paypal webpage which mentioned: Page not found.
The Star Wars Miniatures Toys
I just recently filed a claim September 2007 for $227.09 on a auction of "HUGE Starwars Miniatures Lot; 6 near Complete Sets NR." 460 + pieces! Oh Boy! This sounded great! I truly was really excited. I had initially bid on the item when it was around $20.00. The Seller who is a ebay Powerseller sent me a email stating, "Thanks for bidding, hope you win! etc.." As soon as I won, I received emails asking for payment. He must have sent me at least six invoices in 48 hours. So, I paid two days later since he had another item that I was watching and had thought about bidding on. I asked him to place Delivery Confirmation on the shipment. I was able to insure the shipment prior to paying for it, at least he told me that he was insuring it. Here we go again, after 10 days, no shipment. I don't expect a shipment in 10 days from Philadelphia since his auction stated "Flat Rate Shipping" which could mean that he sent it possibly Parcel Post or U.S.P.S. Ground but I do really have to wonder why I have received items from the East Coast Parcel Post, Ground and First Class in less time than this seller?
ebay powerseller requirements What is a PowerSeller?
PowerSellers are eBay top sellers who sustain a consistent high volume of monthly sales and a high level of total Feedback --with 98% or better positive rating by other eBay users.
powerseller criteria
Uphold the eBay community values, including honesty, timeliness and mutual respect
I recall that in the past, a Powerseller was a pillar and part of the foundation of the ebay community, at least that is what I had received in the mail back in 2003 when I qualified to be a Powerseller. As of 1-2008, my selling account: landofthejawas qualified to become a Powerseller. Most ebay Powersellers are pillars of the ebay community. One must look at his past NINE negatives: (Sept 7th to Sept 18th - 2007) 91.5% Feedback Rating and he still was a Powerseller?????
- one month, did not respond to email. nothing recieved yet. do not do business
- Waited 1 month and never received item. Does not respond to emails.
- paypal claim to get money back, never received items, unanswered emails-lousy
- READ feedback before you pay. Paypal dispute was decided in my favor.
- PAID$227.09 REC'D NoThInG FILED PAYPAL CLAIM USPS POSTAL POLICE FILED FBI FRAUD
- Seller accepted payment and did not send item. Do NOT do business with them.
- 40 days, no merchandise. PayPal complaint filed.
- Have not received item a month after I payed for it, opened a dispute w/ paypal.
- 3 weeks after payment, still have not recieved item. Tried email no responed
Here is the meat and potatoes of the email that I received from Paypal on 9-19-2007:
Dear darthoz,
After careful review, this claim has been decided in your favor and $200.00 USD has been credited to your account. This is the maximum amount covered by PayPal. If your claim was for more than the amount recovered, the outstanding balance is due from the seller and we will make our best effort to recover it for you. This case is closed. No further action is required by you at this time.
Will I ever see my $27.09? Time will tell. I would like to obtain it back from the seller and until I do, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (ICCC) complaint will still be on file. I called Paypal and spoke to a real person on the other end of the phone. I was told that they will make their best efforts to try to collect the $27.09. This amount might seem small but in reality, one can buy nine gallons of gas for a car or a lot of other items, especially shopping on ebay. ;-)
I did receive a letter from the State of Hawaii, Office of Consumer Protection, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to the Bureau of Consumer Protection, Office of Attorney General, State of Pennsylvania stating that they are referring a complaint from me against him. The complaint appears within their jurisdiction as the respondent is located in their state. I received another letter from the Office of the Attorney General, State of Pennsylvania mentioning that since the $27.09 amount is small, I have the option of taking the seller to Small Claims Court if I was interested in pursuing the matter. Filing the online claim at the ICCC obtained me results. It is the principle of this issue that I seek justice for and a quick resolution!
As of September 19th, 2007 the seller is no longer a registered user with ebay. He is no longer a Powerseller either. Score one for the Buyers! Sure, I have a ebay store. I collect toys and I am also a Buyer. This is what ebay is all about, the Buyers!
3-2008
One idea is that if you buy a big ticket item from ebay or any place online, prior to opening the package/shipment, you might consider taking images of what you receive. You will have proof of what was sent to you if you have a problem with the shipment and/or are trying to prove that you received something other than what was described in the auction. So, this can be accomplished with a digital camera or a small cam recorder. Besides the date of the image, you can always take the latest edition of your daily morning edition of a newspaper with a date on it visible. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words.
Ebay's changes to the feedback system:
The new DSR' (Detailed
Seller Report) for all sellers on ebay.- Item as described
- Communication
- Shipping time
- Shipping and handling charges
Item as Described Communication Shipping Time Shipping & Handling Charges
Very Accurate
Accurate Neither inaccurate or accurate Inaccurate Very Inaccurate
Very Satisfied Satisfied Neither satisfied or unsatisfied Unsatisfied Very Unsatisfied
Very Quickly Quickly Neither Quickly or Slowly Slowly Very Slowly
Very Reasonable Reasonable Neither Reasonable or Unreasonable Unreasonable Very Unreasonable
Very Accurate
Accurate Neither inaccurate or accurate Inaccurate Very Inaccurate Very Satisfied
Satisfied Neither satisfied or unsatisfied Unsatisfied Very Unsatisfied Very Quickly
Quickly Neither Quickly or Slowly Slowly Very Slowly Very Reasonable
Reasonable Neither Reasonable or Unreasonable Unreasonable Very Unreasonable Penalties are placed on a ebay seller now if their DSR' (Detailed Seller Report) ratings average or drop below 4.6 out of 5.0. Active ebay sellers have a seller dashboard which goes into detail with all aspects of their:
- Search standing
- PowerSeller discount (applies to those who have met the requirements)
- PowerSeller status (applies to those who have met the requirements)
- Policy compliance
- Buyer satisfaction
- Account status
The area most severely impacted where sellers receive less stars is the Shipping & Handling charges rating. Let us take a look at this for a moment. One of the recent packages that we mailed out cost us $2.60 cents. Our shipping charge was $3.50. We do not charge handling at all and will gladly combine shipments when possible. The profit we made was .90 cents. One has to factor in the cost of the shipping mailer as well as the costs of gas it takes to drive to the local U.S.P.S. which at this time in the state of Hawaii is $4.25 +. Before you leave stars for the S & H charges, take a look at the amount charged on the auction(s) and compare it to what is on the label.
If it has a pre-printed label on it, you can always ask the Postal Clerk for assistance. To obtain a rough idea of what it cost the seller to ship to you, take the parcel and ask the Postal Clerk to weigh it and give you a estimate of what it would cost you to send it to the seller. Be sure to read if it is sent Parcel Post, First Class or Priority Mail. The price might not be on the label but the weight will be. This will give you a indicator of the costs. As mentioned above, to be fair to the seller, one must factor in the shipping materials involved to protect your auction item. :-)
Feedback is now calculated on a 12 month percentage.
So, think before leaving the orange star icons on each feedback comment for a seller.
Positive feedback , the
Green icon is what all sellers strive for on ebay.A Neutral feedback, the grey
icon is just the same as a negative feedback, the 
red icon.When we think of the word "Neutral", what comes to mind is that it will not affect a score. This has changed on ebay which now calculates scores by the division of the total amount or number of positives by the full combination of positive, neutral and negative feedback.
A Neutral feedback now severely impacts the feedback percentage of a seller the same way as a negative feedback. Here is a example.
Sue Seller has 100 positives, 0 neutral and 0 negatives, the feedback percentage rate is 100% :-)
Bill Buyer leaves Sue Seller a neutral feedback after a transaction without emailing her.
Sue Seller has 100 positives, 1 neutral and 0 negatives, the feedback percentage rate is now 99.8% :-(
The ebay feedback overview page states: "A neutral rating leaves the Feedback Score the same." What is NOT mentioned here is that the percentage changes.
Once a rating is left, it cannot be changed, it is imperative that you contact your seller prior to posting feedback. Some buyers were surveyed recently from sellers. One buyer admitted that they gave their seller a 4 out of 5 star rating on some aspects of the DSR since they believed that no one should receive a full 5 star rating. Another buyer left 1 out of 5 stars since he had the option to do so. When told that the 1 out of 5 stars would severely hurt the seller, he was confused. This is really bad since all it will do is hurt the seller who is trying to provide the best service on ebay.
As of July 10th, 2008, ebay has decided that Neutral feedback will no longer count on towards the overall percentage of a members profile and that Buyers will be provided with the ability to change feedback for their Sellers. Information will be provided in the fall.
If you have found the information helpful in my Guide, please rate it with a yes vote. Help keep it up high in the rankings so that others can find answers with all of this information. Thanks.
Darthoz - Veteran of Operation Desert Shield/Storm
Class of 1990-1991
I shall never forget!
No Questions Asked Return Policy
Looking for Star Wars Toys, check out my ebay Store: landofthejawas
I offer a 7 Day 100% full money back guarantee on all items (unless specified)
No Questions Asked Return Policy
Copyright © 2006 darthoz [-o-] May 2006
Guide created: 05/31/06 (updated 07/23/08)
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