What percentage of ebay buyers are just plain stupid?

[buymycards]

Rhys, I agree with you on the $30-$40 limits. All of my problems and npb's come from sales under 5 bucks and bidders with feedback of under 20. I have been thinking seriously about bundling my items and not selling anything under 30 bucks.

Rick

[slidekellyslide]

I get a lot of buyers who fish for partial refunds, but my policy is flat out return the product for a full refund, I do NOT give partial refunds. Very rarely do items get returned by partial refund fishermen. I also don't give a crap about my star rating anymore since ebay has made it virtually impossible to get the discount so I am far less likely to cave into unreasonable buyers than I was just a few months ago.

[earlywynnfan]

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide

I get a lot of buyers who fish for partial refunds, but my policy is flat out return the product for a full refund, I do NOT give partial refunds. Very rarely do items get returned by partial refund fishermen. I also don't give a crap about my star rating anymore since ebay has made it virtually impossible to get the discount so I am far less likely to cave into unreasonable buyers than I was just a few months ago.

At the risk of jinxing myself, I have never had a buyer ask for a partial refund. What possible reason would they have for even asking?

I've had some knuckleheads who can't read, and in particular one SOB from Philly who returned items on a whim until I blocked him. But so far, that's the worst.

Ken

[RobertGT]

I agree with the statement that about 10 percent of eBay buyers are idiots. Most of the idiots I encounter are idiots who buy my stuff and then never pay. The vast majority of my buyers are great.

Every once in awhile I get an idiot who is also a jerk who must be immediately added to my "blocked buyer" list, like this clown who sent me this note after I had the audacity to turn down his UNSOLICITED lowball offer. I never had a "best offer" option on the card, which coincidentally sold a few hours later at my BIN price.

To: me

after a month shove it . thanks for the dumb comments, i dont care what you did in 13 yrs . what does feed have to do with covering a transaction..bye dummy"

-

I got that response after replying to his offer with this:

I think I will hold out for awhile. If it's still for sale in a month or so email me again and I'll sell it. And I've never not sent a card in 13 years on eBay. Check my feedback.
Thanks,
Rob

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by earlywynnfan

At the risk of jinxing myself, I have never had a buyer ask for a partial refund. What possible reason would they have for even asking?

I've had some knuckleheads who can't read, and in particular one SOB from Philly who returned items on a whim until I blocked him. But so far, that's the worst.

Ken

Partial refund fishers will make up reasons to ask for a partial refund which is why they hardly ever return the item. I once had a buyer do that to me twice saying the item was damaged in shipping....the first time I gave the partial refund and just went about my business...when he purchased from me again a few months later he claimed the same thing..I recognized his name and asked him for photos...he never replied to me at all, so I just went ahead and blocked him. Then a few months later he tried to bid on another of my items and got pissed off that he was blocked. He sent me a nasty email and said the item would have sold for ten times what it sold for if he'd been allowed to bid. I just ignored him...Maybe a month or so later he requested my contact info from ebay. I sent him an email telling him if he uses my address for anything I would call his local police. Haven't heard a thing since then. Ebay is full of weirdos.

[slidekellyslide]

Yeah, I am currently dealing with another idiot. Just got a message from him that says "DO NOT WANT TO BUY"...I told him it's too late and he already bought it...he comes back with "YOUR EBAY AD SAYS I CAN RETURN IT"...I told him you haven't even gotten it yet...he replies "I DONT CARE I WANT MY MONEY BACK I FOUND SOMETHING ELSE I WANT TO BUY".

Here's the item.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...:X:RTQ:US:1123

His feedback is 66.7%, I think I'll cut my losses and refund him right away before I end up with another stalker idiot

His ebay id is nj1098 if you guys want to block him.

[Runscott]

That's strange. I've never had anyone ask for a partial refund, but I've had a few complain really loudly, then stop when I told them to send it back for a full refund.

My attitude did bite me once - I sold a very valuable tintype for the opening bid of $1,000 and was quite disappointed. The buyer sent me a nasty email, BEFORE I shipped it, saying that it was an obvious fake, and that he had talked with experts. This was back before ebay put all their energy behind the buyers. So he ended up with a great deal on a rare piece, and I got screwed, but my overly-large ego was still intact.

[thecatspajamas]

I definitely agree with the "no partial refunds, only returns for full refund" policy. Not only does it weed out the partial fishers, but also at least some of the bums with just enough energy to type an e-mail but not enough to actually pack it back up and go to the post office. It doesn't work every time, and I've had to eat the return shipping costs in a few instances (paid upon return of the item), but more often than not informing them of my return policy is the last e-mail I have to send.

Interestingly, eBay sent an e-mail not too long ago letting me know about a new no-hassle-returns program they were launching. In short, the buyer could opt to return the item and have eBay print a return shipping label and deduct the return shipping cost from the seller's account, all without ever having to contact the seller. They suggested I should opt in (thankfully it's not mandatory, yet) as it would "minimize necessary communication" between the buyer and seller. Shya right! Sounds like an awesome program if you want to operate a lending library and prop up the postal system with extra shipments! I went ahead and deleted that e-mail so that I don't even accidentally click on anything that looks like ACCEPT.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Runscott

That's strange. I've never had anyone ask for a partial refund, but I've had a few complain really loudly, then stop when I told them to send it back for a full refund.

My attitude did bite me once - I sold a very valuable tintype for the opening bid of $1,000 and was quite disappointed. The buyer sent me a nasty email, BEFORE I shipped it, saying that it was an obvious fake, and that he had talked with experts. This was back before ebay put all their energy behind the buyers. So he ended up with a great deal on a rare piece, and I got screwed, but my overly-large ego was still intact.

Personally I wouldn't have shipped it. I'd have probably refunded and relisted later.


The partial refunds thing is not so uncommon for at least one collectible. 16mm films are hard to photograph, and worse to try to explain the condition. Many are worn at the start but are fine after, and what's badly worn to one person is just fine for another. And since lots of feature films are 4-500 and expensive to ship there's a bit of willingness to work with a buyer if there's a problem. Especially internationally.

I've had a few things sell that didn't work out, but the buyers ended up happy. I don't have a return policy, because each situation is different.
I had a bunch of BMX helmets I'd bought from a defunct distributor. Each came in a carrying bag. One I sold the guy emaild saying it had cracks and looked repaired. I hadn't checked anything more than glancing at the color and size, so I asked for pics. He sent pics showing the edge cracking and what looked like glue near the plastic bit that covered the edge. I shipped a replacement before he'd even asked. That was my second reply. "Geez that looks bad I should have checked all of them a bit better. A good one is going out with todays mail." Talk about surprised! Even better, when he asked about return shipping I told him to keep the broken one. He wondered what he'd do with it and I told him to have a local airbrush or grafitti guy have at it and make it into a lamp base. He thought that was a great idea.

I've had a few others that were similar, but all cheap stuff. If the people are nice and I made a mistake I usually just refund and tell them to keep it.

If they're complaining, and demanding about something that's not my mistake I usually don't do much for them.
"But LL Bean has free shipping both ways"
"When I have their sales I'll do that too until then I don't pay return shipping"

And my descriptions are usually brief. (Unlike my posts)

This is a card #year player excellent condition
shipping in the US 1.50 international at cost.
And a couple nice big pictures front and back.

"How much is shipping to Florida"
"Do you have a scan of the back"
"Is this a rookie card"
"What's the card number"

Yeah, I usually wait a few hours before answering so I can be polite.

Steve B

[chaddurbin]

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...:X:RTQ:US:1123

His feedback is 66.7%, I think I'll cut my losses and refund him right away before I end up with another stalker idiot

His ebay id is nj1098 if you guys want to block him.

don't know what i was thinking, i do need this brett after all. i'm going to bid again with my 2nd account

[jsage]

Looking for some advice as to delivery to buyers.
I always use US Postal Delivery Confirmations for all my sales.
As I am sure you have experienced, many buyers do not post feedback that acknowledges receipt of the item sold.
How long do you keep the post office "documnents" - just in case, at a later date, a buyer claims he did not receive the merchandise?
Thanks,
Jerry Sage

[Exhibitman]

I differ with most on the partial refund issue. If it is a buyer's remorse issue, that's one thing, but sometimes there is a good basis for the request. I can recall at least two occasions where I received a card that was improperly packed and ended up slightly damaged--a crease or a ding [and always when the seller has charged me for shipping]. The conundrum arises when there is a rare item for which I have been waiting and for which I paid top dollar. I'm not going to send it back for minor damage that kills the technical grade but I am definitely going to reach out to the seller and make it known that he messed up and I am disappointed. If that makes me a "refund fisher" so be it, but my view is that if a seller messes up and he and the buyer can reach a reasonable accommodation that leaves both sides satisfied, it is better than having a disappointed buyer, especially when ebay so closely ties performance rankings to discounts and other benefits, or an unwound transaction that disappoints the buyer. If it makes you feel better as a seller to know that you will never be victimized by a 'refund fisher' than it does to issue a partial refund for a genuine issue you caused, that's entirely your decision. Me, I'd rather reach an accommodation that all parties can accept and not waste my time relisting, reselling and reshipping an item. Also, the vast majority of people I've dealt with are honest and of good intent, and I prefer to assume that to be the case when I enter into a deal. Plus, my goal is to have a satisfied customer who will order from me again, not someone who had a bad experience and won't look at my next listings. If all that takes is a discount when I am at fault, I'm doing it.

One other point is that for a buyer it is often quite costly to send back an item, especially if it is large or heavy, and some of the derided 'fishers' may have been legitimate people who did not want to incur the cost. I had to return a large item that arrived in a Beckett slab that had been damaged in transit and it cost me 25% of the item price to send it back.

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

I differ with most on the partial refund issue. If it is a buyer's remorse issue, that's one thing, but sometimes there is a good basis for the request. I can recall at least two occasions where I received a card that was improperly packed and ended up slightly damaged--a crease or a ding [and always when the seller has charged me for shipping]. The conundrum arises when there is a rare item for which I have been waiting and for which I paid top dollar. I'm not going to send it back for minor damage that kills the technical grade but I am definitely going to reach out to the seller and make it known that he messed up and I am disappointed. If that makes me a "refund fisher" so be it, but my view is that if a seller messes up and he and the buyer can reach a reasonable accommodation that leaves both sides satisfied, it is better than having a disappointed buyer, especially when ebay so closely ties performance rankings to discounts and other benefits, or an unwound transaction that disappoints the buyer. If it makes you feel better as a seller to know that you will never be victimized by a 'refund fisher' than it does to issue a partial refund for a genuine issue you caused, that's entirely your decision. Me, I'd rather reach an accommodation that all parties can accept and not waste my time relisting, reselling and reshipping an item. Also, the vast majority of people I've dealt with are honest and of good intent, and I prefer to assume that to be the case when I enter into a deal. Plus, my goal is to have a satisfied customer who will order from me again, not someone who had a bad experience and won't look at my next listings. If all that takes is a discount when I am at fault, I'm doing it.

One other point is that for a buyer it is often quite costly to send back an item, especially if it is large or heavy, and some of the derided 'fishers' may have been legitimate people who did not want to incur the cost. I had to return a large item that arrived in a Beckett slab that had been damaged in transit and it cost me 25% of the item price to send it back.

I should make it clear that I will refund if I feel it is my fault...I have sometimes refunded the full price and let the buyer keep the item. I take lots of photos, or scans in the case of baseball cards, and pack extremely well. The refund fishers are almost always easy to spot by checking the feedback they give to others.

And if someone is just blatantly dishonest I don't care for their future business. I had a lady buy a Nebraska pinback button from me which she said was in horrible condition, water damaged, et cetera. I have tons of experience with pinbacks, there was no water damage, and it was in excellent shape. Did she want to return it for a refund? No, she wanted half her money back. On a whim I checked the feedback she gives to others, it was almost all negative positives and neutrals.

Overall though my experience as a seller is a good one...I sell a ton of items on ebay and it's way less than 1% of buyers that give me a headache. I also believe that the pendulum is swinging back towards protecting the sellers a bit better than they had been.

[earlywynnfan]

I usually sell baseballs, and my listings almost always start off with "Official ONL Coleman ball..." Yet almost weekly I get "What kind of ball is it on??"

Paragraph three states: "I do combine shipping, add $1 for each additional ball won." (This was just cut and pasted from an actual listing.) Again, weekly: "Do you combine shipping?"

Sometimes I think people ask just to drive me nuts.

Ken

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

I differ with most on the partial refund issue. If it is a buyer's remorse issue, that's one thing, but sometimes there is a good basis for the request... If it makes you feel better as a seller to know that you will never be victimized by a 'refund fisher' than it does to issue a partial refund for a genuine issue you caused, that's entirely your decision.

FWIW, with my "no partial refunds" policy statement, that was with the understanding that I can and do make exceptions when I screw up. I've also been doing this long enough to know when I'm either being falsely or improperly blamed for something that was fabricated or not my fault.

As others have said, approach me with a legitimate complaint and without cursing in your e-mail, and I'm far more likely to work with you than if you open your message with "Hey dummy!"