eBay member: stalkingraiden - anyone have experience?

[ChipsteRJ]

Rather nasty exchange of emails.... over a MAJOR holiday nonetheless.

Anyone who has dealt with me knows:
1) I take forever on Trades
2) Always pull Through
3) Take my time shipping.

I am a buyer & seller- to some perhaps a flipper (I have a VERY large collection and most of the time I buy I really only need 1-5 items and no use for the other items, so I pass extras along).

I understand the pains and anticipation when waiting...

Said member sent a best offer. I accepted it. Paid the following day.

4 days later (Christmas day) demanded a tracking number.

MY response:
I was at my folks for the Holiday and that I would ship Mon or Tues since on vacation I was unable to ship out Sat.

Buyer: You didn't say anything about going on vacation. Cancel my Order

Response: I copied my shipping terms back and stated Clearly listed in my auction/listing I stated Shipping was done Saturday ONLY.

Buyer then threatens to defame my perfect feedback for their experience.

Again I realize I am probably the slowest shipper you will deal with. And fully understand the anticipation over adding new additions to my collection...

As long as I Clearly list my Shipping terms in the listing is this request unreasonable especially within the Holiday Shipping Chaos?



Since I can't keep up with buyer demand and ebay's shipping TOS (within 4 days) I'm seriously considering leaving e-bay- Too often they side with the buyers, who are not always honest.




Ultimately a refund of $7 is not worth defamation, so I did send a refund & cancelled the purchase and blocked the buyer.

[brighteyes]

Wow what a pain!  And over the holidays too :-(

I've bought from you on eBay and I didn't think you were slow at all but then I generally feel a week is a reasonable time to wait for something to be shipped out, especially around the holidays when people are extra busy.  Most people that eBay have jobs and are just doing it for extra money so I don't expect the same level of speed as I do with say, Amazon.  Some people are just never happy regardless of what you do.  At least you were able to get rid of them before they dinged your feedback.

[bluerose9978]

If you state in your auction terms that you ship only one day a week, then, seriously! People can live without the item for a week! I'm sure it's not something they will die if they don't get in a couple days! Wow, some people!

[lovesbabysquirmy]

I can see where you both are coming from.   

Technically, if you are on personal holidays and unable to ship within your shipping timeframe, your Ebay shop is supposed to be on vacation.  You said, "My shop terms say shipping Saturdays" but then you said to your buyer, "But ............I can't ship that day."  Personally, If I was shopping on Ebay, hoping for late holiday items to be rush-shipped from someone who seemed to be able to ship on Saturday (like your terms said), but then paid the seller and was told, "No, actually despite what the terms were presented to you upon the exchange of money, actually.... yeah, not true," I would be really angry. If you're shopping on Ebay during the holidays, you are believing and hoping that everyone's shipping and handling terms are accurate.  I certainly don't want to be told that you've gone away on holidays and you'll be spending my money before I have my item.   

Amazon has spoiled many, many people so it's not really a surprise that your buyer was having a fit.

Sounds like holiday stress; it's good that you were able to get out of dealing with that person. 

[lunar_scythe]

I bet the buyer didn't read your shipping terms at all, and if they were that upset over  your shipping practices, they probably would have dinged your stars even if you *had* mailed out on your regular day.

[LadyMoondancer]

eBay buyers have become very impatient as virtual shopping becomes more prevalent.  It's not like the old days when people were willing to let the seller wait for 2 weeks for a personal check to clear.  (Crazy to think about now!)

I think you're running a big risk by shipping once a week.  AFAIK the longest eBay will allow is shipping three days after payment.  They will side with the buyer on issues like this, regardless of what your auction says.

If you do auctions, you can mitigate the risk by ending them on a day of the week when you know you can ship the next day.  For example, end the auction on a Friday or even a Thursday, package everything up and mail on Saturday.  Most buyers pay within 24 hours.

With fixed price or BINs it's trickier.  I don't know that there's anything you can do about those.

[ChipsteRJ]

LBS, I don't have an Bay store. I think only those with stores have a vacation option.

Also the hard part of making my listings end a few days before I can ship is that Sundays have proven to be the largest grossing day... Also BIN/ OBO... who has enough time to calculate when the 30 days are over?

Sat & Sunday are the only days I have time to list my sales anyway. I have a full time job (with plenty of opportunity for OT).

I do know how impatient I get waiting- hence the reason for being up front about my slow shipping practices.

[LadyMoondancer]

Sat & Sunday are the only days I have time to list my sales anyway. I have a full time job (with plenty of opportunity for OT).

Yeah, eBay is really tough on small sellers and people with full time jobs, as they seem to expect, or at least want, you to be able to do everything for your customers at the drop of a hat.

As far as listing goes, I often schedule my listings.  You can list them any day of the week and have them "activate" on Friday or Saturday or whenever. They'll run for a week and end on the same day.

You can also schedule pickups with the post office for anything other than first class.  (Priority mail, Express mail, etc).  Just print out the postage, schedule the pickup and the mail carrier will pick them up for free as they do their route.

Just to be clear, I don't think there's anything wrong with shipping once a week.  But I do think sooner or later you're going to get a buyer who, rather than contacting you, is just going to leave a negative.  And that would suck.

[MiRaja]

I've entirely quit ebay for this reason.  I, too, have a full time job, and my job is long hours.  I go to work at around 6-7am, depending on the day, and sometimes I don't get done until 5pm.  That means I start work before the post opens, and leave work after it closes.  Kind of sucks.  I always preface that I am a slow shipper, but people are stuck on the instant gratification.  I've had to stress to one buyer this season that the Holidays have me working nonstop and that my only chance of shipping is if I leave early.  Today, I was able to ship.  Which I did so after I had an outpatient surgery.  Surgery.  After surgery.  That's how little time I have. 

Anyways, there are facebook groups for MLP?  I would try with that.  I've heard mixed reviews with it, though.  I sell antiques/dolls, etc on a few Facebook groups and it's been really good for me.  Way less in fees, only to deal with paypal, the administrator of my main group is awesome.  Non-payers and actual bad sellers are booted from the group.  I bought a doll from a seller who packed the very fragile doll in a box about 6 inches too small, and it caused the doll's head to be split in half when the box got knocked around in transit.  She was nuts.  Administrator blocked her, and Paypal did side with me.  I can also put in my terms that I ship around once a week, and most people are fine with that.  This last lady here has been the first problem I've had seller-side.  So, it's been much preferable to me.  Buyers on there like it too, because they can get a little better deals.  I can offer my dolls for sale for about $10-$20 cheaper than Ebay, because I don't have an insane amount of fees to pay, while still making more money.