Why Ebay Sucks To Infinity

[Rich Wetherbee]

I read these threads and there is a part of me that smiles, since I know it is not only me that gets screwed by jackass buyers. I sell a lot of 19th century non-sports tobacco cards, so any correspondence that I have is generally on the Non-Sports Net54 side.

I had a situation a couple months back where Ted M. from Connecticut bid on a bunch of my cards. After winning 7 cards, he emails me several days later and claims that he lost his job and can not afford the cards. He requests that I re-list them. I go through the ebay process of canceling the transactions, one by one.

Sure enough, a couple weeks later, Ted is involved in a thread on the Non-Sports side in which he is excited to be planning a weekend at the Baltimore National Convention. So I email him back, and ask him how he can afford the trip when he could not afford the $60.00 to pay for the 7 cards that he won. He responds by saying he has a new job and can afford to pay $40.00 for the cards, but no more (you can see where this is going).

Bottom line, is he had a bad case of buyer's remorse. Stupidly, I did not block him from bidding, and he ended up subsequently winning 4 cards from me. I sent the 4 cards upon receipt of payment, well packaged. And I immediately blocked him from future bidding. About 3-4 weeks later, I receive 2 neutrals with the response, "OK" for two of the cards he won (he paid $12.00 for the pair). The only thing I could do was respond to each one on my own feedback page.

Now this is a guy I would warn everyone about, if I could. Ebay gives you no forum as a seller to inform other sellers about jerks like this. Dan's idea about buyer ratings is a great one, as there is no need for commentary; just a rating on punctuality, communication, etc.

All this being said, I am still listing on Ebay. It is still the best place to sell for me, even though I never get the warm and fuzzies from them.

Rich Wetherbee