Underhanded EBay tactics

[X-O HoboJoe]

o.k. you got my curiosity up. I went and checked cgc*comics feedback. wow His numbers are all effed up. There are so many red flags with this guy its scary. The big thing I noticed was how many postives and neutrals he got that should have been negs. I can kinda understand putting a neutral instead of a neg to avoid retailation (which is b.s. and a flaw in the FB system) but why in the hell would you write "comic was way overgraded..."and still give him a positive, ESPECIALLY since 90% of the negs state he over grades. And these guys weren't noobs. Most were in the 200+ range. Honestly I don't even know why ebay has private auctions. If I could I would contact every current bidder and direct him/her to the cgc article about this guy(s?)
m
p.s. didn't sibill say there were TWO guys who he was having trouble with? Wonder who the other is

My moneys on ComicKeys.

[ZephyrWasHOT!!]

o.k. you got my curiosity up. I went and checked cgc*comics feedback. wow His numbers are all effed up. There are so many red flags with this guy its scary. The big thing I noticed was how many postives and neutrals he got that should have been negs. I can kinda understand putting a neutral instead of a neg to avoid retailation (which is b.s. and a flaw in the FB system) but why in the hell would you write "comic was way overgraded..."and still give him a positive, ESPECIALLY since 90% of the negs state he over grades. And these guys weren't noobs. Most were in the 200+ range. Honestly I don't even know why ebay has private auctions. If I could I would contact every current bidder and direct him/her to the cgc article about this guy(s?)
m
p.s. didn't sibill say there were TWO guys who he was having trouble with? Wonder who the other is

And now you see the real problem with eBay, and the feedback system....

I've gotten books that were clearly, beyond dispute overgraded....and yet, the seller points to their feedback and proudly proclaims "you're the ONLY ONE who had a problem with my grading!"

Which, of course, may possibly be true....but what amount does that change the fact that the books are still overgraded....?

Not one iota.

And see the people who left a positive anyways...? They're cowards. They're too afraid of what "everyone else might think" that they leave wussy positives, or nothing at all.

Meanwhile, activists and rabble rousers like myself....with provable, perfectly legitimate situations...get unearned neg after unearned neg after unearned neg....because the FB system is useless.

Absolutely, positively, utterly useless except in the very BROADAST sense.

Hell, I just left a seller a neutral for overgrading....he left a neg....and accused me of trying to pull a scam (that one's my favorite...I get that ALL the time.)

Get negged from 3-4 sellers, and they WILL begin to gang up, seeking safety in numbers, and try to assuage their guilty consciences in an ad-hoc support group called OA....

Overgraders Anonymous.

Hell, I'm more of a wuss than I'd like. I'd LOVE to have been able to neg each and every overgrading/S&H gouging seller who then copped an attitude with me, but....alas, it even wears ME down after a while...

And then, even being transparent like this on a message board will get you attacked by some.

There is valid use for private auctions, by the way....lots of high dollar goods tend to attract annoying spammers, who will then (whether they are legit or not...and mostly not) send you junk spam about THEIR crap they're selling.

I can't tell you how many times I've bid on a book in the $500-$5000 range, and had idiots spam me.

So, it does serve a legit purpose.

But this guy's just using it to keep the fraud gravy train rollin'.

[steverino]

I feel that eBay will always have "problems". It's a site where sellers and buyers constantly trade and money flows endlessly. To assume people are not going to find loopholes or take advantage of the shortcomings of the system is ignorant.

It doesn't matter what changes eBay makes, people will always be unsatisfied, and gripe. It's human nature.

As far as protection from bad sellers. EBay's not going to bite the hand that feeds them. From what I've heard, a buyer can get only 3 negs before his account is suspended or terminated. A seller however, can get many more without suffering such consequences. Is the system unfair? Hell yeah! But then again, the buyer doesn't pay the fees, the sellers do. If the buyer paid the fees, perhaps it'd be more on the buyers side.

I believe that the best and only true protection is knowledge. Do the research on a seller before you buy, and even then it's no guarantee. I mean, lets face facts. EBay can't offer the same guarantees as Wal-mart. They don't handle the product or personally deal with the seller.

Perhaps what people really need is a separate feedback system not controlled by eBay. A completely different website that people can submit their dealings with a seller and their opinion of them. Of course that would mostly encourage negative feedback so even that wouldn't be completely fair, honest, or accurate. But it's an idea.

Personally, what I'd do if I got screwed over with a seller overcharging for shipping. I'd simply message him and state that I don't feel that charge is reasonable and if he refuses to lower it substantially, perhaps we shouldn't do business. Should he give me a neg....who cares. I can always get another eBay account.

[stone384]

Comickeys huh? Well off to ebay to do a search....ooohhhh I feel a rant coming on ; )
M

[stone384]

Btw good point on the private auctions. That hadn't occurred to me.
M

[stone384]

Oops, sorry double post. Darn fat fingers. Lol
M

[steverino]

Btw good point on the private auctions. That hadn't occurred to me.
M

They have private auctions so that sellers can sell to a specific buyer or buyers and not infringe on eBay policies by selling outside of eBay.

Doing a sale outside of eBay to eBay members could get you banned.

[jedimarley]

Sellers are allowed to charge some kind of handling fee, but I don't know exactly what is considered to be absurd to ebay. I would guess even they would consider this kind of shipping gouging to be a no-no. I would report them to ebay and see what your response is..

Nope.

It's not until you get into the $40-$50 range for one comic that eBay considers it "absurd."

Sad but true.

Not true.

Ebay just sided with me when a seller tried to charge me $11 to ship 1 comic media mail.

And how did that work? Details, man, details!!

If this is true.....this would be the reverse of official policy for nearly a decade.

So, yeah, explain what happened, what you did, if you just got lucky, etc. It would help everyone out.

Seller sent me a invoice for $11.99.
I sent him a email saying I will not pay $11 for shipping.
Seller filed a non-paying complaint.
I told ebay I will not pay $11 in shipping for one comic.
Ebay sided with me.

[ZephyrWasHOT!!]

At the risk of creating a situation....that's not what a private auction is.

Private auctions are auctions in which the identities of the bidders is revealed only to the seller. They are visible to everyone, and can (generally, with a couple exceptions) be bid on by everyone as well.

The More You Know....

[jedimarley]

if you people would just ASK me, I could give you a list of everyone not to deal with!

Am I still on that list?

Dude, totally.

Oh well.....All those Harbinger #1's I was going to put on ebay....Guess I'll just through them out.

[ZephyrWasHOT!!]

if you people would just ASK me, I could give you a list of everyone not to deal with!

Am I still on that list?

Dude, totally.

Oh well.....All those Harbinger #1's I was going to put on ebay....Guess I'll just through them out.

Yay! More dumpster diving!!

[steverino]

At the risk of creating a situation....that's not what a private auction is.

Private auctions are auctions in which the identities of the bidders is revealed only to the seller. They are visible to everyone, and can (generally, with a couple exceptions) be bid on by everyone as well.

The More You Know....

In that case, then it's probably for several reasons, more likely the Mature Audiences section of Everything Else to where the buyer wants full anonymity so that others don't know they're buying porn.

Or because they don't want the buyers that have been screwed over by said seller to contact the current bidders. That may bring down the final bid. Useful if you're a seller that's made some enemies.

But there is a way to sell only to select buyer. I'm sure.

[ZephyrWasHOT!!]

At the risk of creating a situation....that's not what a private auction is.

Private auctions are auctions in which the identities of the bidders is revealed only to the seller. They are visible to everyone, and can (generally, with a couple exceptions) be bid on by everyone as well.

The More You Know....

In that case, then it's probably for several reasons, more likely the Mature Audiences section of Everything Else to where the buyer wants full anonymity so that others don't know they're buying porn.

Or because they don't want the buyers that have been screwed over by said seller to contact the current bidders. That may bring down the final bid. Useful if you're a seller that's made some enemies.

But there is a way to sell only to select buyer. I'm sure.

Yes, there is.

You can have a "pre-approved bidders" list, where people have to be ADDED to the list by the seller before the system allows them to bid.

There's also the Second Chance Offer, wherein a special auction only visible through a link in an eBay e-mail to the underbidder is listed and then acts as a BIN at the underbidder's high bid.

[steverino]

At the risk of creating a situation....that's not what a private auction is.

Private auctions are auctions in which the identities of the bidders is revealed only to the seller. They are visible to everyone, and can (generally, with a couple exceptions) be bid on by everyone as well.

The More You Know....

In that case, then it's probably for several reasons, more likely the Mature Audiences section of Everything Else to where the buyer wants full anonymity so that others don't know they're buying porn.

Or because they don't want the buyers that have been screwed over by said seller to contact the current bidders. That may bring down the final bid. Useful if you're a seller that's made some enemies.

But there is a way to sell only to select buyer. I'm sure.

Yes, there is.

You can have a "pre-approved bidders" list, where people have to be ADDED to the list by the seller before the system allows them to bid.

There's also the Second Chance Offer, wherein a special auction only visible through a link in an eBay e-mail to the underbidder is listed and then acts as a BIN at the underbidder's high bid.

All is well.