The MLP Arena

Pony Talk => Pony Corral => Topic started by: HollowZero on October 06, 2020, 11:02:16 AM

Title: eBay n00b, do I leave negative feedback?
Post by: HollowZero on October 06, 2020, 11:02:16 AM
Long story short, received a pony that, on the listing, looked great. But once I got it, her whole side is marred with some kind of dark color. Not sure if it's rust from the inside or what.

Regardless, seller only had photos which obscured this fact. Thankfully I didn't pay too much, and I won't bother to return her (time for pony cleaning experiments!) considering there's no returns anyway. Do I contact the seller first?
Title: Re: eBay n00b, do I leave negative feedback?
Post by: tailrustedtealeaf on October 06, 2020, 11:04:56 AM
I think it would be best to contact the seller and try to get a partial refund out of it at least. I don't think you can leave a neg after receiving some sort of refund ? (It's been a bit) but leaving a negative without at least contacting the seller is usually frowned upon.
Title: Re: eBay n00b, do I leave negative feedback?
Post by: banditpony on October 06, 2020, 11:52:41 AM
Always contact a seller first to see if they will make things right for you... As a seller, I know I'd appreciate getting a chance to make things right before getting a negative.

I say that, but also there's a lot of crummy sellers too.

If a listing says "no returns", that means you can't return it because you changed your mind. You can make returns things that are covered under buyer protection... such as "item not as described" etc. (and as far as I know, ebay still covers the shipping cost for this).
Title: Re: eBay n00b, do I leave negative feedback?
Post by: goddessofpeep on October 07, 2020, 06:07:41 AM
I’ve been on ebay since 1997, and I’ve had my fair share of problem transactions.  When I have a problem transaction on ebay, I have found it’s best to start out nice, and then to escalate the situation slowly to firm while remaining polite at all times.  I have a much better chance of getting a positive result with a minimum of drama.

1) Feedback is the final step after everything is finished, never the first step.  For two reasons - first, the transaction’s not over until you’ve exhausted all options, and feedback should reflect the entire transaction.  Second, your potential feedback is the best leverage you have to get the seller to resolve things in a positive way.  Once you’ve left it, it’s over.  The seller has no reason to work with you now that you’ve negged them.   

2) Don’t start out aggressive or accusing. Assume it’s a mistake, not on purpose, and your first contact should reflect this. If you come out of the gate foaming at the mouth and insisting the seller is a scammer, they will not work with you. 

3) Never mention feedback in any of your communications, unless it’s all over and you’re informing them that you already left feedback.  “Give me a refund or I’ll give you bad feedback” or “if you give me a refund, I’ll give you a positive” is feedback extortion, and it is one of the few things that can get a buyer in trouble. Ebay also takes a broad stance on what counts as feedback extortion, so just don’t mention it.  You don’t need to mention it.  The seller knows you can leave bad feedback.  You don’t need to remind them. 

4) I usually start out with just informing the seller that there’s a problem, what the problem is, and why I’m unhappy, and seeing what they say.  If the seller comes back with an apology and a solution that I’m happy with, I’m good and that’s it.  If the seller doesn’t care, brushes me off, or doesn’t offer me an acceptable solution, then I start negotiating. 

5) Even bad transactions can lead to good feedback from me if the seller handles it right.  Even good sellers can have bad days, and I judge a seller more on how they handle a problem than anything else.  It’s easy to have a good transaction when nothing goes wrong.  It’s the lost packages and the wrong item in the box that shows what kind of seller I’m really dealing with.  Some of my favorite repeat sellers caught my notice due to a well handled problem transaction. 

6) Never forget that ebay employees have access to everything you and the seller send to each other through the ebay message system, so keep things civil.  This also means that you can report the seller for abuse of things go really bad.

7) You’re dealing with a human being, not an amazon fulfillment center, so be patient.  I like to give about 48 hours for a seller to reply to a message before messaging them again.  Filling up a seller’s inbox with messages every 15 minutes is an easy way to get them to report you for harassment.  Just know your dates(last date to leave feedback, and last date to file a claim), and make sure you stay within those. 

8) It’s not over until you can’t do anything else with the seller.  Either it’s resolved,  you can’t come to a resolution, or the seller stops replying. THEN you leave feedback on the whole transaction. 
Title: Re: eBay n00b, do I leave negative feedback?
Post by: banditpony on October 07, 2020, 06:23:26 AM
goddessofpeep is spot on!

I want to also add. Generally, don't do anything with the item in case the best solution is to send it back for a full refund. You'll need to leave it in the same condition as you received it.
Title: Re: eBay n00b, do I leave negative feedback?
Post by: HollowZero on October 08, 2020, 07:55:31 AM
Yeah I haven't started any cleaning or what not, because I was pretty shocked at the condition and knew it'd take a lot of elbow grease.

Awesome replies everyone. :)
Title: Re: eBay n00b, do I leave negative feedback?
Post by: HollowZero on October 13, 2020, 09:00:50 AM
As an update, yep the seller has an attitude lol. I can see negative feedback in her future.

She's trying to act like I did it when the listing deliberately obscured the stain. :lol:
Title: Re: eBay n00b, do I leave negative feedback?
Post by: FiddlePhan on October 19, 2020, 11:47:12 PM
As an update, yep the seller has an attitude lol. I can see negative feedback in her future.

She's trying to act like I did it when the listing deliberately obscured the stain. :lol:

Sorry they're being a pain.   So many scammy folks out there.
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