Forum vs. Ebay

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 6:25 am

I want to say how refreshing it is to deal with Forum members after recent Ebay dealings. I have recently bought and sold several items with fellow members, and although I've never met any of them face-to-face, every transaction has been easy, safe, and hassle-free. I know that this Forum doesn't exist to compete with Ebay, but it is a much better venue for people like me who don't like the way things often go on Ebay. How many of you have bid in a 7 or 10-day auction only to be beat out by $1 in the final minutes on an item that no one else seemed interested in? Worse yet, have you ever watched an auction right down to the wire as the only bidder, only to have the seller stop the auction with less than a second to go? While I've never been a victim of outright fraud on Ebay, I get the distinct impression that many sellers are manipulating the bidding process through shill identities and software packages. I much prefer doing business with my fellow Forum members.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 7:29 am

It's very pleasant to make online friends and exchange goods and services with folks in this fine group!

This Forum is the best online community I've ever belonged to.

Although I, too, would rather deal with friends, as I've mentioned before, I use E-Snipe in all my serious eBay dealings. Cuts the nonsense and keeps the sharks at bay, eliminates frustration and manages my auctions. All for 1%. I highly recommend it.

But it won't do anything about an auction that ends early.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 9:12 am

Evil-bay ...

nick_st_hilaire · Post by **nick_st_hilaire** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 1:21 pm

No kidding, I traded guitars with a forum member and he sent me his first.......without anything more than my word that I would ship mine out upon his arriving.

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 1:50 pm

Nick, that's how it ought to be. Gentlemen should be as good as their word. Don't get me started on some of the Ebay people I've dealt with...

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 2:00 pm

I think it helps that you "know" people here and are more likely to trust them. And....if things do go wrong, you might get flamed, so be a good boy! I have actually had basses that I wouldnt sell to Forumites because they weren't "mint" enough, back in the good ol' days!

jps · Post by **jps** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 3:19 pm

YEah, I just got a Traynor YS-15 off ebay and while the cabinet is fine the "NOS Celestion" speaker is a dead Chinese made who=knows-what! The cone is frozen solid and the voice coil reads 0 Ohms. The seller did refund me the cost of a new speaker so he did take care of me but...

What should I do? The guy has a 375 rating with 100% positive feedback, so I don't know how I should rate this deal. He is taking care of me and is decent guy otherwise. However I do have the feeling he knew that he was misrepresenting the "Celestion".

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10171&item=7326990244&rd=1

mgauction · Post by **mgauction** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 3:33 pm

Thats a tough call, Jeff! And you're a nice guy to consider his rating. What you might do is give him a neutral. That would be fair to you, as you really do have a comment that need to be made, and, it does not really hurt his rating. This would really make him think before listing his descriptions, and, also puts potential buyers on notice.

wormdiet · Post by **wormdiet** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 10:38 am

I've had one transaction through the forum and it was pretty seemless. It helps to know what I sold has a happy home.

jps · Post by **jps** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 4:36 pm

Thanks for the opinion Mike, that is what I have been considering, also.

cheyenne · Post by **cheyenne** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 1:34 am

I dont know Jeffery, I've sold lots of stuff on ebay and maintain a 100% positive feedback rating, and I do this by being honest. If I am selling something that I'm pretty much clueless about, I will flat out state that. This guy's whole description revolves around the celestion speaker. I think he stated false information to sell the item for maximum bucks, realizing that he MIGHT have to make good on the speaker. Id burn him down.

I hope he comes through for you. These kind of situations are very bad for the honest sellers out there.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 5:11 am

Scott, consider your advice. On the one hand, you have a 100% positive feedback. So, apparently, you've never been unlucky as Jeff has, so you've never "burned [anyone] down", because if you had, there's a good chance that he would have retaliated and there goes your 100%.

I would do as Mike suggested and give him a neutral and explain why briefly on the feedback page.

Six months ago, I was selling a few guitars on eBay. Everything went smoothly until my last auction. A guy from Canada (djmugenh) had clicked "Buy It Now". In my in-box was an e-mail from him requesting a total including shipping and asking me to declare it a gift "for customs purposes". I responded that I don't do that. My response e-mail was refused by his provider. Now what to do? Four hours later, there was another e-mail from him asking me to sell him the guitar at a lower price. I sent him another e-mail, copying the first one as well. Refused by his provider. I save all this stuff until feedback is in, but in this case it made no difference.

I received a third e-mail from the next morning, asking me to send the package via FedEx (less paperwork) rather than UPS. I copied him the TWO previous ones and told him if I did not receive a Cashier's check in 72 hours, I would relist the item. This one went through, because he responded that he would like me to REDUCE the value for customs purposes, and could I also send it FedEx? I patiently responded that I would do neither, and was he going to pay or not? This one also went through, but I received no response, until the next morning, when I received an exact duplicate of his most recent e-mail, with all my responses attached, as happens when things are forwarded. I sent him a final reply, which went through, with a 48-hour demand for payment. The next day--nothing. I relisted the item and "burned" him on feedback. The item (a $240.00 guitar!) sold on a BIN within 2 hours of relisting to a guy in Chicago.

Now it gets squirrelly--he in turn "burned" me, claiming I was a flake who never responded to any of his 10 e-mails! I wrote eBay. Their rules are as follows: If they can reach the buyer and get a response, my claim of not being able to reach him are invalid and the negative stands. He had blocked me on and off, but of course let them get through. Djmugenh wrote me the next day, asking if we could mutually withdraw the negatives. The nerve of this guy. I refused and it stands as my only negative out of 96.

The negative remains as my own badge of integrity.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 5:50 am

I had a guy who ran an auction for a case ... I won ... I sent him a check and he deposited it and left negative feedback and sold the item to someone else ... that is my one negative feedback ...

jwilli · Post by **jwilli** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 8:56 am

I've got a single negative on me as well. I bought an old Monster magazine from the '60s. I sent the seller a Money Order the next day. Well, I forgot to put which item number that the MO was for. Instead of contacting me, the seller did nothing except give me a negative feedback! I got in touch with him and straightened it out. I still have a neg. feddback but he added that the deal turned out ok, ugh.

cheyenne · Post by **cheyenne** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 11:20 am

Hmmmm. OK, point taken. Just a bad situation all the way around I guess.