I have to admit, I have met thousands of nice buyers on eBay in the 11 years I have been selling, but recently I have met some real dopes and I know you will have to agree.  I have written many guides for eBay and I am a professional photojournalist by trade and own a web based organization for photographers, journalists and members of the media called International Press Association. In addition I now have a blog called Don't Get Me Mad which deals with good and bad companies and people you deal with each day.

You can visit my blog at: dontgetmemad.blogspot.com and my web site at: internationalpress.com

Please visit them when you have some time, I think you might find them useful and enjoyable.

But enough of the background, the only reason I mention this is because I take great pride in my writing abilities and the clear and precise auctions I have run over these years on eBay. With approximately 9,000 plus sales and a feedback score of close to 7,000 positives and 5 negs from non-paying bidders that have retaliated, I think I must be doing something right.

I wrote a review to advise sellers never to leave feedback on any buyers profile until they have left feedback on yours.  The reason is that a newbie eBayer (or even an experienced buyer) not realizing the rules of conduct required to do business on eBay,  can kill any sellers perfect record.  They tend not to do this, when you still have the option of leaving them feedback, because they must be smart enough to know you might leave them poor feedback as well.  I always email a buyer to notify of shipment of their items, which is usually the same or next day after payment.  If you review my profile you will see this is the case and you will see the same comments over and over again...fast delivery, smooth transaction, excellent item and so on.

In the past 6 months my internet business and writing has taken most of my time, so I have really not bothered to run much on eBay.  With all the new eBay fees, the new form you fill out that messes up HTML code and my limited time, it is not a high priority anymore.  The only items I run now are a small slide/negative viewer and some photo light disks (I purchased some time ago) and still have a few remaining for sale.

The slide and negative viewer is a cute little battery powered light box used to illuminate your 35mm slides and negatives.  If you go to my profile you will see my auction ad, description of the item and the glowing feedback I have received from buyers.  In December '06, I sold two buyers that take the cake for shear stupidity.  I  am usually kinder in my choice of words, but frankly, I am so mad at these two that I am sure when you hear why, you will agree.

One buyer purchased a viewer and they claim they emailed me on Dec. 26th about the bulb on the viewer blowing out.  Now understand these are brand new units direct from my distributor.  I test every one of them when I insert two high quality batteries in each unit before I ship them.

Very few sellers will also include the batteries on a $12 item, but as a courtesy I do this so the buyer can enjoy the purchase the moment they receive it.  Now if a bulb blows out, or something is wrong with the item my buyers have a few options to resolve their problem.  First, they can contact me for a replacement and would be happy to mail to them.  Second they can contact the distributor who's name and phone number is on the package. They as most companies will either repair or replace a defective item.  In this case a replacement bulb would be sent to the buyer.  Finally, they can return the item to me for any reason and get a full refund on their purchase price.  Could I do more to make a buyer satisfied with their purchase?

Well in these two cases I did do more and left both buyers a positive feedback before they left me feedback. This as I have previously mentioned is not my policy and is against all of my rules and experience on eBay. Hey, it was Christmas and in the spirit of the Season I decided to give everyone positive feedback before the end of the year...This was a big mistake as you will see.

Buyer number one, you know the one with the burnt out bulb (a 50¢ item) after 7 weeks after receiving the viewer, receiving positive feedback and receiving a replacement bulb from my distributer, leaves me a neutral feedback...you have to read this one to believe it, I didn't make this up:

Neutral - Bulb blew 1st time used. Seller did not respond. Smooth transaction/delivery

So understand with my near perfect record I got a Neutral which will show up on my profile for a full year because the bulb blew and I because she claimed that I never responded to one email she sent me.  You will also note she was kind enough to say it was a smooth transaction/delivery.

For the record, I respond to everyone usually within minutes or hours because I am online at least 12-15 hours each day with my other business and writing.  I wrote to this buyer to explain that I never heard from her, never got the email and why on earth, if she got a new bulb from my supplier, would she even leave neutral feedback.  She kept telling me I never got back to her and she found another dealer who sent her the bulb...it wasn't another dealer it was my distributor who's number was on the back of the package.  She just wouldn't understand that one email could get lost in cyberspace and she should have contacted me again if it was a real issue or certainly used the eBay mail system to contact me or even call me on the phone.  Apparently it was nonsense and why on earth did she wait almost 2 months to even post the feedback, is that the eBay way?

So Buyer number 1, with her (42) feedbacks couldn't understand why I was upset...can you?

Now Buyer number 2 is even better...

Also bought a viewer in the beginning of December, didn't hear from her and left her positive feedback the end of December. We are now in the beginning of February and I just discovered this feedback from her:

Neutral - Was under the impression I would see negs in color as shown in the auction - NOT!

Now once again, look at what she wrote:

I was under the impression...This means she apparently didn't understand what the item was.  She either didn't read this auction carefully or look at the very clear photo showing two viewers, one in the package showing a slide in the viewer window and the other, showing how a 35mm negative strip slips into that window from the side. Of course after 9 weeks, she probably just forgot what she bought and decided to leave this poor feedback on my profile to piss me off.

Read this copy from the auction and see if this is clear to you:

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Now you can in the handy little pocket slide and negative viewer from Omega the enlarger people. Takes two "AAA" batteries (included) and enables you to view your 35mm slides (which slide in the top side) or your 35mm negatives (which slide from left to right on the sides).

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With the photo and this description could this be any clearer?  It clearly states this is a slide and negative viewer.  The copy clearly explains that this is a pocket sized portable light box to help illuminate the slides and negatives and even suggests getting a magnifying glass to see fine details because it does not enlarge the images, just illuminates them.

Now how can any intelligent person think that a light box, some how by magic, can convert a negative to a positive and do it for $12 then they should really go back to school. If they didn't read the copy, known what a slide is or taken the time to contact me with any questions, then who is at fault?  I must admit I have had others ask this same question and each time they do, I can't believe the question, but I do answer them politely and ask them to go back and read the auction copy again.

By the way, I sent her a link to this article today to let her understand what she did and ask if she wanted to withdraw her comment and she wrote me that I changed the photo now and it now shows the negative in the picture.  How bizarre is this. I have run the same photo for years and sent her back to the original auction she bought the item from. You can't change the copy or the photo on a completed auction, everyone knows this...she just didn't pay attention when she bought it.

Because of this last incident, I have now taken the time to make it even clearer on the ad, because I realize how some people are and how you have to make every thing clear enough that a kindergarden student could understand what the item is.

Here is what I just added to these auction ads:

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Note: This is not a computer and will not convert a negative image to a positive one. The photo you see above simulates a slide in the viewer window, not a converted negative.

Replacement bulbs are available through me or through Omega
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But this is not why I am mad, I am mad because I go out of my way to email each and every buyer after the purchase to let them know to contact me if they have any issues or problems and to do so before leaving feedback. This way I have the opportunity to resolve any problems. Both of these Christmas buyers have confirmed what I already knew, some people in this world, no matter how you try to treat them, will always do the wrong thing and make you suffer.

You have probably seen this type of person in a store, yelling at the poor clerk for something that has nothing to do with the store or even the item they bought. Some people have to take out their frustration because they have a miserable life and this makes them some how feel better.

So once again, I am telling all Sellers, never, I mean never, leave any buyer positive feedback before they leave feedback for you. By not having the ability to leave similar poor feedback on these creepy buyers, you leave yourself open to their unfair attacks. By leaving them the same kind of feed back they left you, you have a chance to have that feedback removed by eBay. You see eBay allows both parties to withdraw feedback if they want to and I can tell you, I have had this done on 4 occasions already.

Once you leave them positive feedback they have won and no matter what was really the truth you are labeled with this poor feedback. Imagine bending over backwards for buyers thousands of times over 11 years and earning such a positive profile and having two creeps try to ruin your reputation.  Would you be mad if you were me?

I know that these two are simply a minority and don't make up for all the wonderful buyers I have had the good fortune to meet and sell over all these years on eBay. However, you all know how much this can disturb you, especially when you really didn't deserve this treatment.  Just imagine going into politics and having people tear you apart for no reason...no wonder the really good guys don't want to run for public office.

Enough said, I wish you all good fortune and happy trading on eBay. If this or my other  guides help you understand a bit more on how to be a good seller or buyer on eBay, then that was my intent.

Buyers, this is for you...if a seller has a stellar reputation and you purchase something from him and you feel there is an issue, Please, Please give him the courtesy to make it right.  Don't wait two months later after you received the item and gotten a positive feedback to leave him a Neutral or Negative one because "You Thought" some how the product is not what you wanted or expected.

If you have a problem buying on eBay mail order, then don't.  Go to Costco or your local stores and deal with them.  Some buyers just should not deal with mail order or internet dealers, they have the need to buy and return items on a regular basis or don't take the time to research what they are buying.

Now one last item...All of this was over a $12 item...think about all the dishonest sellers that you have heard about or warned about.  You know the bait and switch guys, the ones that never deliver or intend to deliver that computer, iPod, or other expensive item you bought from them.  Those are the ones that you need to leave negative or neutral feedback for, not a guy that did the right thing and the bulb blew or You Thought it would do magic.

Thanks again to all my friends and supporters on eBay, have a great year of trading.

Please leave a Helpful Vote on my reviews if you feel they have helped you understand how to deal with certain issues and problems you might encounter on eBay.