Got a small Ebay situation to deal with....
 

Forgive me if this is a repeat question as I don't deal with Ebay that often in any capacity anymore...

I won a VERY small item from an ebay seller (by small, I mean $6.25). The condition it showed up in was such that I could make use of half of the "lot" while the other half was broken. The half that was broken was not mentioned in the description, nor could I really tell by looking at the picture that the item was defective.

My question is this - the seller refuses to budge from his "all sales final" schtick. It's actually too much hassle to even bother returning an item this small so I don't care about that. I was going to leave him neutral feedback with "1"s rating him for his auction description and communication. Is there any way he could retaliate by leaving me a negative or even a "positive" with a negative comment thrown in the comment space?

No, if he leaves a negative disguised as a "postiive" you can report it and it will be removed...There is some option when you report it that says something like comment is not consistent with feedback

not worth the hassle
 

Unless I got a box of air for $6.25, it's not worth my time to even send an email to the seller.

For such a small amount, I would just ship it back and demand a refund (if it is even worth your time). I bought a lot of cards from an Ebay seller in which the seller blatantly lied about the condition of the cards. I simply shipped them back and demanded a refund. When I didn't get one, I had Paypal intervene and got my refund the hard way. It is much easier to leave a negative once you have to do all the legwork in getting a refund. Stating "No Returns" doesn't apply when the item that was received is materially different than the item described in the auction.

e-bay
 

Brian, If you push the issue with paypal. They will make seller give you a refund for auction cost and shipping. Your on your own as far as cost sending it back, also make sure you do delivery confirmation so he can't claim he never got it do to the fact that he's PO'd he had to refund. Not sure if it's worth it at 6+ dollars. As far as negative comment with postive feedback I often wondered if e-bay would let that fly or if they would remove it based on that. Best of luck... Ralph

I think your only error is to leave a neutral. If this doesn't deserve a negative, what does?

Actually no, it is not worth the hassle to send the item back, demand a refund or file a complaint really. It's too low in price for that and part of the "lot" is usuable to me. But I do want to let the seller and others know I wasn't pleased with how the auction was described and would prefer to leave neutral/negative feedback if I can do so without any sort of retaliation. Sellers used to not be allowed to leave negative feedback for buyers...I'm assuming that's still the case...

Brian -

I believe you can have any negative removed...

Agree, not worth the hassle for $6... But you should definitely leave a negative/neutral comment. It should be the buyers duty to warn others that the seller might be misleading people.


Hope all is well.

negative
 

As far as I am aware sellers still can't leave negatives. I would maybe tell the seller simply.....give me a partial refund, as is warranted, or I will be forced to give you a negative. Then do it if they don't make it right. The choice is then theirs...

If I left him a neutral/negative, would he be able to just simply have it removed easily?

No. You can neg or neutral a seller. He is stuck with it.

Two words. Move on. Not worth the time.

Good to know that you at least tried to work things out with the seller. By the way, even if the seller indicates no refunds on his listing, that would not apply if the item was not as described.

From the sellers side of of the coin, I am sure there are very few things more frustrating than having a buyer slap down negative feedback without even giving the seller an opportunity to make things right. Sometimes things just get damaged or lost in shipping. I always try to show the same consideration as a buyer.

When I am selling, I want the buyer to be happy about the deal. If something were to get damaged in shipping, or even if the buyer is just not satisfied with what they received (even if exactly as described), I would rather take the hit and lose a few bucks than to have the buyer leave with a bad taste in their mouth.

I'd leave a negative. You tried to work it out and the seller still thinks he can keep your money just because you paid him.

Leaving 1 star in each category can do the most damage to a seller, IMO.

Jeff

Ebay will actually jump you for this type of thing. I told a seller I was going to leave negative feedback for an item he didn't ship and shortly thereafter I received an email warning from ebay about feedback extortion or some crap like that. Apparently he had turned me in to ebay.

I ended up leaving a negative and he was able to get it removed and I was out the money and the card!

And yes, there is no retaliation options for sellers anymore. They can't leave negative feedback for buyers. They can only file a non-payer claim for a deadbeat buyer, which is really the only way a buyer can underperform, other than delay a payment. I love the rule, because there were plenty of spiteful, crappy sellers who openly retaliated for deserved negatives.

All this for $6.25??

Negative for a $6.25 deal? Cmon! What would you expect to get for $6.25?

Why does the price even matter? The OP said that the description and picture did not indicate that the item was defective. He also said that the seller is being uncooperative and not issuing a refund. 1 star in all categories and a negative, regardless of the original cost, is how I would proceed.

Agreed. I expect the seller to attempt to get my purchase to my home safely.

Because a seller who acts this way on a $6.25 deal will not be any better on a $1,000 deal and will probably be worse. Sweeping this under the rug now will just make it worse for someone else down the road.

It has already been said, but warrants repeating if ANYONE (buyers and sellers alike) has this type of thinking and this is the reason that a feedback system like ebay's will always be flawed. Many buyers do a little selling themselves and they are sometimes sympathetic to sellers over factors the sellers have control over, such as careless shipping. This leads to greater acceptance of otherwise unacceptable behaviors. Nobody's score are affected, the next group of buyers don't know and they continue the process. This is a bit simplistic, but I know you get the point.

I don't mean to blast someone over an obvious problem outside of their control, such as delayed shipping for weather or natural disasters or damage that was obviously postal abuse. I am talking about things these sellers have control over and choose not to be careful or respectful. They set the terms on ebay, set the shipping charges, etc. Buyers are merely complying with the terms and usually have reasonable expectations for their money. Cheaping out on shipping to save a non-bendable surcharge or an 8 cent toploader and sending a card loose or in a soft sleeve inside a plain envelope! How is this EVER acceptable regardless of whether there is no damage THIS TIME? Inserting a packing peanut to make the package thicker (when it ends up being smashed into the card) or not including some sort of rigid protection like cardboard, packaging large, loose lots directly into a shipping box (no double boxing or impact protection), not sending something for weeks, glaring discrepancies in the description of an item or condition. etc.

Whether it's $3, $300, $3000 or more, I expect a seller to act in a professional manner. This includes a minimum level of communications, a safe and reasonable job in packaging the item I bought and to handle the transaction is a reasonable time frame.

Anything less indicates this seller is not serious about what they are doing. So yes, I do expect a card to be delivered safety and on time. Even for $6.25!