Worst type of eBay "guy"
 

Coming off a couple frustrating auction experiences and now I'm curious about the community's biggest pet peeves.

I personally can't stand the "starts an auction at $.99 but sets a ridiculously high hidden reserve" guy....as Tommy Devito in Goodfellas would say: Am I here to f$@%# amuse you?

Who is the "guy" you can't stand?

peeve
 

Tommy DeVito ? Jersey Boys.....the guy from the Four Seasons ?

When you message someone to negotiate a price and they raise their BIN price. Cmon, it’s terrible form.

Sellers who overcharge shipping, charge $4 then ship in a PWE.

People who say " I won't leave feedback until you do first" you sound like a used douche.

I hate when I make an offer and seller asks to take the sale off Ebay. Why would I give up the buyer protection that Ebay offers just to save you a few bucks?

The feedback nerds for sure. It has been completely worthless for a very long time. Even better the buyers that think the sellers need to leave feedback FIRST. The transaction isn't over for the seller till AFTER the buyer has left feedback. The buyers that message you begging for feedback.

Off eBay, the people that you agree on a price. Then they are such cheap POS that they send PP WITHOUT adding the PP fees when they agreed to pay the fee. There is one member on here that does this but always posts that they cover fees.:rolleyes:

This is pretty common. I recently had this happen on a item that had been relisted a few times. I offered about 75 percent of their BIN price. Seller messaged me back saying if it didn't sell they would raise their price. It didn't sell and they did raise the price, strangely someone bought it at the higher price.

People who give lousy feedback because the USPS is overwhelmed and slow as sh*t at times. Particularly when you are shipping out of NJ. In a blizzard.

People who write things like any questions ask, or ask questions before bidding in the description.....and then do not respond to questions.

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That feedback is easily removed.

Or buyers who ask a question with 10 minutes left in an auction. :)

I don’t think I can narrow down my worst, but my favorite is the guy who gives a detailed description of a slabbed card. They are the unicorn of sellers for sure, but I greatly appreciate it.

The guy who when your about to win an auction for a card that's price didn't go as high as he wanted, pulls the auction. Just put it up for a BIN if you want a certain number I don't understand.

I really only try to use eBay as my last option nowadays. Much rather work out deals with everyone over here. Saves the Hassle and the Taxes :D

Do buyers do that? As a buyer, I care less about feedback. It doesn’t do anything for me, the benefit of good feedback is for a regular seller. Is there some benefit to feedback I am missing as a buyer?

On the topic, I agree with the OP, why list something at a .99¢ if your going to have a reserve? Just start your auction at a price you can live with if that’s the only bid.

Last week I received a fake Frank Robinson RC. Politely informed the seller I would be returning it. He launched into a profane, abusive tirade accusing me of being a scammer (and various other adjectives). This continued over multiple emails, even after I took the time to provide side-by-side photos explaining to him how I could tell it was fake.

The guy who can't sell a pair of GU uniform pants for $80, so he raises the price to $600, then a few days later drops the price to $150, calling it a "flash sale" with a 75% price reduction.

Theres no point in even contacting the seller. I know its the polite thing to do but too many people take things personal and things get ugly.
Just file the INAD claim and move on.

You could probably get him suspended if you choose to, its against Ebay rules to use profanity.

That strategy can work.

A few years back, I listed a jersey for sale. It was relisted many times with no takers. A good friend told me the price was too low, that I was devaluing the jersey. So I pulled it, relisted a few months later at double the price and it sold the same day.

Good to know, thanks.

It did get me thinking, though - I'm sure there are scammers out there who will buy a real card, claim it's fake and open an INAD, then return a fake that they already had and keep the real card for free. What's a seller's recourse in that case?

Buyers who ask "What's the lowest price you will accept"....sometimes I feel like responding, "What's the highest price you will pay".....thankfully with a hot card market, those questions have stopped.

Mine was the potential buyer who contacted me asking if I combine shipping even though it says I do right in the item description.

Then they contact me again going on a rant because they can't bid on my cards. Turns out they had two or more NPB strikes against them within the past year and I have it set to block bidders who have that.

They then proceed to tell me that I'm doing ebay all wrong, all while they have previously bid on and won items and didn't pay for them.

The folks that hit the BIN on your items without reading the description or checking the photos then complain/demand partial refunds when the card(s) show up exactly as described and pictured.

I hate that guy.

He's a jerk, and he probably smells bad, too.

I ran into a variation of this guy lately. One of the museum collectors on eBay had a card I was interested in. One week it was $999 and the next it went up to $1,499 without reason. I offered $100 below the prior asking price and was told off for "low balling" the guy.

My last negative I got on Ebay was from a guy who bought a vintage photo and wrote in the feedback.

"There was a crease in the photo."

Went and checked my description, and right there under condition, I wrote "There is a crease in the photo. This is where the crease is....". LOL!

Also included was two large pictures showing the crease.

BTW this feedback was from a guy who waited until the absolute last second of an unpaid item reminder on an under $35 item, to make payment.

Amazingly I was able to get the feedback removed, though it took weeks and was kind of a pain in the ass.

Seller feedback trolls. Don't pepper me with 99 PMs asking for feedback on a $2 sale.

Psa
 

Not a big fan of the PSA 10? in title guy, especially when the card is noticeably o/c :cool:

Anything that says - PLEASE READ

normally this is reserved for reprints...so when a seller puts that in the description, real or reprint, I just move on.

Always love the L@@K....haha...I usually don't open those either.



I did have something REALLY strange the other day...a "Deans Card" was the best deal in the best shape. Whoa. I still couldn't buy it, but hell had just froze over...

Best Offer guy that puts an auto rejection to an offer of 90% the BIN.

I try to buy here first. Recently I've been buying 2021 Topps parallels off ebay of the Reds. It bothers me when I offer a fair price for a nobody player, comps support my offer, but the seller is selling at x4 the going rate and refuses to budge.

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A few...

The guy who puts "expedited" shipping on a low dollar item so the shipping is as much or more than the item.

The guy who has done zero research into his item and has it priced so ridiculously over the top that I know that POS will be showing up in my searches for the next 5 years.

The guy who says "the pictures are part of the description" then gives you one, typically lousy, picture just of the front of the item.

The photo doctorer who enhances his pictures to make his item look much better than it really is. I've run into this guy a lot lately. I don't think iPhone's camera is helping this situation but I'm talking about the deliberate guy.

I suspect there's a lot of this going on right now. Since Covid started and shows have pretty much stopped, the market for what I collect is so competitive that a good item will literally will be sold within seconds of being listed on ebay. You have to strike first and ask questions later or you will have no shot of getting the item. Sucks I know...but that's the environment we live in right now.

Worst ebay guy
 

The guy with over 15,500 feedback that bids on a $9.00 card and cancels his bid before the auctions ends because he entered the wrong amount. And the bid was for the opening amount.

I guess with only 15,500 feedback he is still trying to figure out how to use ebay.

My 3 favorites are:

Buyers who cancel bids in the final hours of an auction.

Buyers who ask questions about the condition of a card after they won the item.

Of, course I hate Non Payers.

The seller on Ebay (won't mention but they have a lot of autographs) who takes a dollar off on best offers but then takes it back in postal costs.

Do people still cancel bids so they can sell to an off Ebay offer?
I hate that.

That and the ones that won't honor a winning bid, claiming they sold the card over the weekend but didn't get around to cancelling the auction until after it closed. Then offer as a "consolation prize" like 20% off their autographs that are probably fake and way over priced. (Yeah, I'm still POd I didn't get that Lundgren and the two caramels that were with it. )

Or the ones that sell trimmed stuff and won't respond to emails until it gets posted here. The come crying about how they were "busy" or on vacation and couldn't answer emails, but never put their store on vacation hold. Like it's not a hard thing to have an "out of office" automated response. Sorry, no matter how much other people say you're awesome, I'm still not changing that negative.

Absolutely they do. This is why I set my eBay store to automatically leave positive feedback upon payment. It glitched on me once and didn't leave the feedback for a while, which I discovered when a buyer messaged me and threatened to return his purchase because I had not left feedback.

No they haven't.

This is what I originally intended to post, but you beat me to it. So I will add to it sellers who use terms in their descriptions not because they actually apply to their item, or even because they know what they mean, but simply because they think it will help it sell. An Item Not As Described out of ignorance is still an Item Not As Described. Better to simply not describe it and refer to the crappy photo.

that's always a good one. i sent out a package in similar situation - also from NJ - of course package gets re-routed like 6 times. i reached out to buyer several times to check in (even with the buyer having the tracking number). finally gets the package and feedback: "the shipping was terrible, so slow, but cards got here" :rolleyes: not everyone has a clue i guess.

Steve,
I had something similar happen to me on ebay last year. I won an auction and started to pay, when suddenly the auction was canceled. I don't remember exactly what the message from ebay said, but effectively the item was no longer available. I guess it didn't go for a enough money and he didn't want to sell it that cheap. I didn't get offered any "consolation prize". I just had to move on.

Some sellers list their inventory on ebay, their own website, and in their store if they have one. Several times I have negotiated and bought stuff, which the seller then had to pull off ebay. In fact I bought 13 T202 cards from a member here last weekend in this way.

A couple of times, after I'd agreed to the deal, I got pretty nervous when the seller was slow to remove the item from ebay; the standout examples were all involving the same well known GU dealer: a Johnny Bench rookie bat, a super rare 1965 Twins Al Worthington World Series bat, and a 1964 Vic Power Twins flannel.

I have a good relationship with this dealer so I'm sure he would've kept his word to me, but I worried what it would do to his reputation if someone came along and hit the BIN while it was still hanging out there.

When a seller has a price or best offer and you make a reasonable offer only to have the seller counter with the full price. If you wont except less than the asking price don't put "make a offer" in the sale.

I agree with much posted above.

Shipping charges annoy me when it is $4 or $5 and I see they spent under a dollar for postage.

I like cardboard inside the envelope and rubber bands. I hate magic tape on card holders.

But ya'll have hit a sore point on feedback. As a buyer, once I've promptly paid I expect the item, AND I expect feedback. And I deserve it at that point. I've paid, nothing left for me to do in the transaction. The seller still needs to accept payment, package well, and promptly ship. They don't get feedback yet. I consider sellers who want feedback first to be holding feedback hostage... Seems to me that sellers should submit feedback once I've paid.

Reasonable for the buyer is not always reasonable for the seller.

Oh, man. So very much this!

Sellers: Why do you keep ruining perfectly good top loaders?? I collect raw cards. I store them in top loaders. They're not cheap - I know you know that. You shipped the card in a top loader, so presumably you buy them too.

So why oh why do you cover it in packing tape that's so hard to pull off, I feel like I'm risking creasing the card, and it leaves so much residue that the top loader is useless for storage??

Theres really no point of a seller holding feedback hostage, since they can only leave positive. That was the reason why Ebay changed the feedback system.

As a sometimes seller. I am selling a card(s) not a toploader. The toploader and tape are to protect the card(s) I sold. A lot of times i use old crappy scratched up toploaderss to ship.

Sellers job is to protect against damage, not to provide you with a brand new top loader for free. :)

Never had a seller come back with full price but have had a couple sellers knock a quarter or two off which is an eye roller.

I will admit I accepted both times this happened as they were items I would have paid full price for if OBO wasn't an option, so ultimately we both won.

The sellers who cancel your bid and close the auction when it’s not going to sell for what they want. Just list it with a reserve. I’ve had six auction bids cancelled in the last two weeks.

So this.

That's not what I'm talking about. I don't begrudge a seller the right to ship in a crappy top loader (although it's always a point in the seller's favor for return business if they can see fit to include a nice one). I'm talking about sellers, and there are shockingly many, who ship in a nice new top loader that they render useless by mummifying it in tape. Or even with a strip of Scotch tape all the way across the top - that stuff doesn't come off. There's plenty of tape that will actually peel off without ruining the top loader.

Bottom line: If you're going to spring for a new top loader in the first place, let the buyer enjoy the benefit of it too!

Now you sound like a used douche!

Or maybe the buyer can spend twenty five cents of their own if it's so important to them? :rolleyes:

When they changed that it made feedback pointless. It became mostly a pat on the back for doing what you're supposed to do in the first place. Like having Target break out the confetti and balloons for everyone who put their card in the slot... I stopped doing feedbacks shortly after that, with a handful of exceptions.

If a buyer was new and paid quickly I would usually give feedback. (My expectation for "quickly" was very lax, something like 2-3 days. )

If the sale was unexpectedly pleasant, like the couple people who asked sensible questions and ended up having a brief hobby discussion. Not necessary for either of us, but fun.

Usually if someone asked politely. I would do it, but wasn't in a hurry. I'd let them know that I did it when people asked and that I'd get to it soon, today, maybe tomorrow.

Once I was in the feedback leaving pages, I'd usually do a bunch of them, most of the ones on the page. So maybe 1/3 of what was waiting.

Back when the system was meaningful, I did it regularly.

Sorry...You don't get or deserve feedback until the TRANSACTION is a success. Not just because you paid. You could pay then say the item never arrived, say it was damaged or run any number of other scams after paying. Using your logic, every scammer would have immaculate feedback.

You're buying the card. I've yet to see a listing that says "and you get an immaculate top loader too!!!"

It’s completely unnecessary for both parties to have to buy new top loaders. How is that even controversial?

Again - not what I was talking about. See my subsequent post.

I agree the buyer should have toploaders to store their cards in. That is way better than using shipping materials to store their cards.:)

Ok, let me try this again:

If a seller wants to ship in crappy top loaders, fine. That’s the seller’s right - although as a buyer I give “that’s a nice gesture” bonus points for shipping in nice top loaders.

However: If a seller does choose to ship in nice top loaders, please don’t ruin them with tape. There’s no need for it, and then nobody benefits from the nice top loaders. So why do it?

That’s all I’m saying.

Sounds like you guys have identified why some sellers choose to ship in crappy toploaders. Get too fancy with it, and next thing you know you'll be having to buy team set bags to put them in too...

Say you were throwing in a bonus card, as some sellers do. Would you go out of your way to crease it before you sent it?

Ebay offers protection to buyers if a transaction goes bad. Why would you give that up to save a few bucks?

To make sure the card arrives safely. I've received packages that looked like they were run over and the card inside was undamaged. Better to have too much packing than not enough.

On the top loader thing...I much prefer tape to a card that shifted in transit and now has 1 or 2 banged up corners.

So, in my mind:

No Tape < Tape < masking tape < team set bag

People who ship a cheap card in a brand new top loader in a team set bag are going WAY above and beyond and should be considered for knight/saint-hood. :D

Well dinosaur that I am, I didn't know that eBay sellers can't leave a negative. That surprises me a bit, it sure creates a problem for a nonpaying buyer.

So sellers, what are you going to do when you message a buyer about leaving feedback first, and he responds with a message that he's got the card and satisfied/happy with it?

Still, I think the seller leaves feedback first. And if they don't, I feel held hostage.

Back when I was last selling stuff, I recall leaving feedback for the buyer when I got back from the post office having mailed the item. Maybe today's buyers aren't as reliable as they were 15-20 years ago.

Say you receive a bonus card. Would you complain if it wasn't mint?

I used to collect GU bats. Bat tubes, bought in bulk, cost about $4.00. When I would sell a bat and ship in a bat tube, I taped the end caps on to ensure the item (the bat) arrived without damage. Rather put tape residue on a $4 tube than risk damage to a $300 bat.

If the card was covered in tape, or otherwise ruined, and I knew the seller did it intentionally, I would wonder why the hell the seller did that. It's not a question of what the buyer is "entitled to," it's a question of "why?"

Different situation. I don't collect bats, but I would imagine with heavy objects like that, heavy-duty packing tape would be necessary to secure the item. So that makes perfect sense.

With cards, though, there are plenty of other easy ways to secure them to prevent damage to the cards that don't also ruin the holder. Blue painter's tape, for example, which a lot of sellers use. Peels right off, and no residue.

Yea I don’t get this since the last 30 seconds are when the price jumps


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There is an eBay feature in place for some sellers. The platform will convert BIN listings, after a few weeks, to BIN or Best Offer. Then, eBay will email the seller to let them know Best Offers have been enabled...after the fact.

According to eBay, they do this because "allowing offers (of 50% off the BIN price) will increase sales."

So, in some cases, the seller didn't "put 'make a offer' in the sale." Sometimes, they just started getting offers when they never set up the listing that way.

It would be nice if eBay at least asked first.

When more of my collecting focus was on pinback buttons and cloth patches, eBay sellers would frequently have multiples of a particular item and post a photo of one of them as an example. On several occasions, the item I was sent was in materially worse shape than the depicted example. I would have to send the items back, and sometimes the sellers would express surprise and frustration because "it's pretty much the same thing." Oh well.

Brings to mind a pet peeve of mine is sellers who will post an image with multiple items in it, and in their description state something like "auction is only for the item in the title." As a longtime seller who continues to be amazed how many buyers browse and purchase solely based on the main image, without regard to details clearly stated in the description or even the title, I cannot possibly see how the amount of time it saves to not create individual photos for each listing outweighs the headache that must come from dealing with buyers who assume they are bidding on everything in the photo.

Wow, that's really shady. It seems there's always a new level of suckage to discover with ebay.

I usually scan the fronts separately but scan the backs 4 at a time. Not worthwhile to make separate scans on cheap cards.

As for tape, some sellers need to learn that 'blue tape' is not the same as tape that happens to be blue.

Speaking of top loaders, if you ship in them SEAL THE F****NG TOP! I bought a $70 card last week that came in a ton of packing but the seller did not secure the top of the top loader. The card was out half an inch and there was a big ding on one corner. Back it went...

I've dealt with this countless times, both from sellers and "promoters" returning my items back from paid signings. You'd think the latter would at least know how to properly return items, but so often the answer is a confounding "no".

If shipping a card in a top loader with First Class/Tracked shipping or any pricier method, first put it a penny sleeve with the bottom of the sleeve facing the opening of the top loader prior to taping it. Then place a piece of sturdy cardboard on either side and tape the borders of the cardboard on all sides. This is not the Manhattan Project.

In addition to "L@@K", "Read", and "Rare", I saw a new one today - "PSA 3 Authentic". It was ofcourse not even graded.

LOL....

I dislike the people selling very obvious fakes for a few dollars and saying they don't know if they are real or not. They know....

.

Yep, this! So many sellers with fake cards on there trying to fool unsuspecting buyers. They definitely know.

How about the habitual 'PSA 9 in the title, but it's actually a PSA 8 card' guy? He ropes you in with the 'very-low-price-for-a-9' listing, and after you examine the card and see how nice it is (and wonder why it's so cheap), only then do you see it has an 8, not a 9, on the label. Argh!!!!

He's the very close cousin to the PSA 8(ST) guy, who lists it as a PSA 8, never mentions any qualifier, and includes an incredibly fuzzy picture from 200 yds.

Getting very sick of the "Read Description". As if the thumbnail wasn't enough to tell you, "Read" = "Don't read. I'm about to waste your time.".

How about the seller who tells you that they must list their raw card as a reprint per eBay rules.