If you have experience selling on eBay PLEASE HELP!

[DHart]

Over time I've learned again and again to listen to and trust that quiet little voice in your head that whispers messages from your intuition (aka your gut). Almost without exception, when I disregard that message, I learn the lesson one more time.

 

[dime21]

i've sold extensively on ebay and craigslist, everything from little $10 parts to $30,000 used cars.

if you sell on ebay, be sure to include the extensive fees, along with the true cost of shipping. if you sell on craigslist, anything worth more than a few bucks, be sure to meet the buyer in a busy public place, where you're less likely to get robbed by a thug. craigslist robberies happen all the time. whatever you do, do NOT invite potential buyers to your home. i have a concealed carry permit, so i've always got a loaded handgun on me. somebody tries to rob me during a sale, they're in for a lead poisoning surprise. look into the gun laws in your state and get yourself a permit. know your rights and exercise them!

$1000 is nothing to get worked up about. just be sure to package the item well if you're shipping it, and to only ship with full insurance and signature confirmation. if you sell locally on craigslist, accept only cash! personal checks can bounce, and bank checks or money orders can easily be faked. cash only!

also, to all of you folks who have been scammed by the ebay buyer protection - don't just roll over and take it in the butt! take those people to court! you can file claim in small claims court on your own, no cost and no lawyer required! if the other party fails to appear for the court summons, you win the case by default! it doesn't mean you'll get your money, but at least then they will have it as a legal stain on their credit record, and they will feel some pain from their scam!!

 

[ActionableMango]

also, to all of you folks who have been scammed by the ebay buyer protection - don't just roll over and take it in the butt! take those people to court! you can file claim in small claims court on your own, no cost and no lawyer required! if the other party fails to appear for the court summons, you win the case by default! it doesn't mean you'll get your money, but at least then they will have it as a legal stain on their credit record, and they will feel some pain from their scam!!

Not free. In my State there is a filing fee.

Also, you have to file suit in the defendant's jurisdiction. Most Ebay sales are across state lines, so you are on the hook for taking time off from work, flying, hotel, etc. How many hundreds of dollars will you spend chasing a $1000 sale for which the evidence from both parties is roughly equal (printed shipping receipts, etc.)?

 

[abz1981]

Hey. Not sure. Its been mentioned. But have you ever thought of selling your item through amazon.com?

I have used my countrys amazon.co.uk service and find it good to sell. Ok the fee might be slightly high but that depends on how much you want to sell the item for. However you get paid directly into your bank account by amazon.

You dont have to worry about eBay fees or final value fees by email or paypal fees.

 

[MacHamster68]

I've sold and bought laptops on ebay over the years without issue. Then last may, I sold my 2300 dollar macbook pro to some douche with 100% feedback with a confirmed address. He claimed that when it arrived it was broken. So we went through the process of giving out the refund. Welp, he sent me a fake ups box tracking ID number, PAYPAL (Ebay's fraud-ridden payment system) withdrew 2300 from my account. I did not receive my computer back!!!!

Its been 8 months now since it happened. I've move on. I took it as a lesson learned thing. I have a higher paying job now and sold the mac when I was super broke and needed the money. I didn't get my computer back nor my money. The seller is still somewhere and I hope that some day, that guy will receive a horrible medical diagnosis.

Anytime i have the opportunity to bad mouth paypal or ebay I do so since that's the only way to get any justice from them.

This way to defraud sellers has been around and on the ebay forums sellers have long complained of this loop hole, yet paypal and ebay have done nothing. Therefore, please please please, take heed, before you sell on ebay. Deal in person. Sell it on this forum of craigslist. Meet the person in person at starbucks. Bring a friend, let them test it out in person. That's what I've done now. I'll never ever EVER sell online any high priced item above $200. ITs just not worth it.

i have sympathy with you and you are not alone out there , and even as a buyer you can get fooled by ebay and paypal 's security

when i looked for my G5 iMac the buyer sold as refurbished, capacitors replaced , i did send emails around to ask who and when did replace the caps , and got told must have been the previous owner as he sold it like that , after looking for the previous owner i found that the previous owner had bought the iMac form a shop who sold it as fully refurbished

so i thought should be alright then , what i did not do before pressing buy it now was reading the listing again , as in the meantime while i confirmed via email the seller has altered his listing and taken out the little note of capacitors replaced fully refurbished , 2 weeks after i got the iMac caps blown ...as only a few had been replaced but not all

despite having all the correspondence of that ebay and paypal refused filing a case because the listing i pressed buy it now for is important to them so the seller did not list wrong in his final listing , and what he told by email or how the listing looked originally is not important and of no interest to them as a seller has the right to alter listings and i could alter emails to fit my needs too

so i dont buy expensive items on ebay any more (above £150 ) as the risk is to high to find a honest ebayer nowadays who does not alter his listing to fit his needs while/after confirming things he listed via email, especially when it comes to Mac's as their high resell value compared to pc's invites all the low lives out there to list or bid
its a shame ebay once was really good and lots of honest people are still there , but if that is worth the risk ....

so to the op , you can list , make photos of all imperfections and list the imperfections , and for your own safety open the Mac and mark certain parts (everything inside really )and make photos with date and time stamp
as there are people out there who have for example a broken iMac and want a working one , they bit on yours only to get the working parts , and then send back your "broken in transport or not working one " and want their money back

 

[cu6236nu]

I was recently scammed on eBay when the buyer of my old iPhone 3G claimed "Wifi doesn't work" and got a refund from eBay. He supposedly sent the phone back to me although it never arrived. I had withdrawn the money he paid into my PayPal account before he opened this case against me so now PayPal wants the money back and I have a negative balance.

I'm obviously never going to use eBay or PayPal again after seeing how easy it is to scam people so I'll stick to the common sense Craigslist approach.

Does anyone know what will happen with my negative balance in PayPal? I'm not going to pay that money since the phone had no problems when I mailed it and I never received it back anyway. What is eBay/PayPal going to try to do to me now?

Update: The iPhone arrived back to me in the mail. It's all scratched up but I've verified that the wi-fi (that supposedly did not work) works perfectly. What the guy did though is remove the SIM card before he sent it back to me.

Can someone tell me the most common reason for doing this?

As a side note, I sent the guy an email after receiving the phone stating that the wi-fi worked perfectly and how what he did was a crap thing to do. He responded to my email with two words in all caps (FU).

I noticed when I log into eBay now I can click a link to appeal the decision that was made by eBay in favor of the buyer stating that I have new evidence. Should I do this or just call eBay? I have the phone and can verify that the wi-fi works although the SIM card was taken but why would eBay take my word for that?

I appreciate any advice.

 

[DHart]

By stating a "No Returns" policy on the sale from the get go, one eliminates the possibility of being scammed by a buyer, correct?

 

[svenn]

By stating a "No Returns" policy on the sale from the get go, one eliminates the possibility of being scammed by a buyer, correct?

That would prevent cases like the one above, where a shady buyer will try to return something other than what you sold. But you should also be wary of the payment too. Make sure it is legit, and usually paypal is a safe bet as long as everything is verified and confirmed and all that.

 

[Jayrcee]

just sell through craigslist dude, its so much easier

ebay has become more of a hassle the past few years. fees are ridiculous, ebay almost always sides with the buyer and paypal is not entirely scam free.

you might have to waite a little longer, but craigslist is far more worth it.

Totally agree!

 

[dime21]

Not free. In my State there is a filing fee.

Also, you have to file suit in the defendant's jurisdiction. Most Ebay sales are across state lines, so you are on the hook for taking time off from work, flying, hotel, etc. How many hundreds of dollars will you spend chasing a $1000 sale for which the evidence from both parties is roughly equal (printed shipping receipts, etc.)?

If you shipped your goods via USPS, you have the Postal Inspectors office on your side. Postal Inspectors carry guns and make arrests - they are serious business, and are eager to prosecute interstate commerce fraud (a felony btw). I've seen it in action with a friend who got scammed selling $2000 worth of automotive parts - the Postal Inspector's office worked with him to gather sufficient evidence and then arrested the guy at his home!! You do not want to be on the Postal Inspector's naughty list.