The MLP Arena
TCB => Trader & Shipping Support => Topic started by: Marlin on February 22, 2012, 05:14:46 PM
-
New edit 12 March - Ashlyne's progress page three of thread
EDIT: oooohh... an interesting update (29/2/12)... this seller just received her first negative feedbacks - and one concerned shipping. Looks like I'm not the only one shafted by her!
***************************************************************
Hello postie experts :)
I'm a bit new to the overseas pony buying game, and wondered if someone could help me with some typical costings concerning shipping of pony related parcels from the UK to New Zealand?
I did my first ebay purchase recently, and although I didn't dispute it, was rather shocked by how much I was charged for shipping, and I want to know through others who may have shipped from the UK to NZ before (or any NZ'ers who've had parcels from the UK), whether the charges I received were to be expected, or a little unreasonable?
I had 3 ponies shipped, and was charged 12.50GBP (nearly $24 NZ$). They came in a white polythene envelope, and the sticker from Royal Mail says 4.16(pounds). I can't see anything to suggest this package was insured, though it did arrive quickly (it's only taken a week to get here).
Does the Royal Mail sticker mean the sender only spent 4 pounds to send the parcel? If so I am shocked at being charged 12. The ponies weren't even cushioned in bubble wrap or anything, so they can't have charged for handling/packaging?!
I am happy enough with the ponies which luckily I got very cheaply, but I can't help but feel the whole thing is a little soured by the shipping...
If anyone can give me advice/typical quotes, it would be much appreciated :)
-
I am in the US so I am pretty clueless on prices from UK to New Zealand.
Hopefully some pony can come forward and help you out. :heart:
-
I know that shipping to and from New Zealand can be pricey, but $24 for 3 ponies that came in an envelope sounds a bit wacko.
Usually the sticker on the envelope or box indicates what was paid. So if this is the case... that is a very significant overcharge
However I'm not sure on all this exactly
-
The Royal Mail is simple....the price on the sticker is the price you pay. If you pay for insurance or additional costs it will be listed on the large square sticker. Does the sticker simply have a large "A" on it?
The Royal Mail website gives you prices very easily and in all honesty I think UK shipping is usually reasonably priced in comparison to other countries [sorry those who live in Aus and Canada!]
http://www.royalmail.com/price-finder
Even if you factored 90g per pony and a small amount extra for the envelope and wrapping it comes to £4.26. I do think sellers should be allowed to charge a little more for packaging so postage doesnt have to be exact - also because a seller looses a paypal fee on postage a few extra pennies should be permitted but that doesnt stretch it to over £12....did you ask the seller to combine postage? It sounds as though you have paid postage per pony rather than for a combined package.
-
Thanks so much for that, Hathorcat, and to the others for your support. Have to admit, I am now gnawing my lip in an attempt not to spew some curses.
This lady was very pleasant to deal with, and I did ask about combined postage, to which I had a reply along the friendly lines of 'we'll sort it out' when the auctions finish. I had even checked the Royal Mail site beforehand in preparation to find out how much it might cost, and I thought it would be about 6 pounds, but being my first ebay transaction and not wanting to be rude, I didn't push her to find out exactly how she would be posting the ponies (like, would it be a packet, would it be about 6 pounds...) before the auctions finished. I didn't want to suggest how she should post the ponies - she sells an awful lot, and I, perhaps rather naively, assumed she'd have it all under control.
ARGH!!! in fact... Grrrr. This lady was very nice. I am very nice too. And the ponies aside from being a tad dirty were good ponies that I am pleased with. But I don't think I can let this slide. I might contact her again to query this, and see if I can get a partial refund.
Thank you so much for your help, everyone.
-
Its fair enough to allow a small over charge on postage as I mentioned but that is 3 times the price...so yes, you should query it with her...just a polite "I wondered if you had simply forgotten to combine my shipping costs" and see what she says. It is not in the interest of a seller to over charge so significantly for postage so hopefully she just forgot and can offer you some kind of refund!
Let us know how it turns out...
-
Thanks :) I sent her a message. She was lovely to deal with up to the auction finish, so I hope she is reasonable about it. I wish I had queried before I paid now, but had never had anything shipped from the UK before, so despite being a little unhappy about the charge, went along with it.
I'm really glad I queried this on here now, otherwise I think I would have lost some confidence buying from the UK. I'm really happy to have had your reply, and to know now that shipping from there doesn't have to be as exorbitant as what my first experience has proved! :P
Will update with progress... I hope it's positive... :lookround:
-
Thanks Cat for the info :) I knew someone would come to the rescue!
Hopefully your seller just made an honest mistake and she refunds you the difference in postage.
Good Luck!
-
That's criminal! :mad: And a week or two is standard, insurance doesn't usually make a difference to the time frame oddly enough... only if you pay $50 then you can get a 2 day service.
Anyway I hope she refunds you some money because £12.50 is extortionate! Hopefully it's just a simple mistake where she over estimated the cost ( some sellers do this when sending abroad, they panic about the cost and then charge extra to make sure they won't pay from their own pocket. Although usually a simple set of kitchen scales can solve that issue :rolleyes: ).
-
Hmm that does sound pricey :huh: the £4.26 would be the standard airmail price.... the only way it could have been bumped up a lot higher was if she paid for "international signed for" Airmail, which is an extra £4.95 on top of the usual airmail price, bringing the actual cost of postage to £9.21 . If she charged you for the packaging as well, then I guess that will bring it closer to what you paid.... but... if she didnt send it "international signed for" (if she did you will be able to get a tracking number from her - there will be one on the receipt), then I cannot see how she can justify that amount, unless she did forget to combine shipping for you
sending her a polite message and giving her the chance to explain was the right thing to do :bigups: let us know how it goes :hug:
-
You guys have been awesome, thank you so much for your helpful replies!
Well..... you gonna LOVE this.
Got a reply this morning:
"im glad you recieved them ok.i dont know what to say as i charge the £3.50 per pony and DO NOT COMBINE AT ALL.i halfed what i usually charge for you it just causes all this hassell.usually if people think the postage is too high they wont bid.regards..."
I don't what to do but laugh, actually. She HALVED this shipping cost for me? This is a joke. I ASKED her if she would combine the shipping before the auctions finished. Some communicado as follows:
ME: "Hi ***, *** here again! Sorry to trouble you once more, but before I go crazy bidding on a few further of your auctions, I thought I'd better check to see if you'd happily combine postage? And if yes, how many ponies could you send in one parcel?
I understand you have set amounts of postage listed on each individual auction, but I'm hoping we can combine and reduce the postage cost? (in the event of course, that I am lucky enough to win some of your auctions!)..."
HER: "hi hun yes im happy to combine postage i could fit alot of them in a asos shoe box.we will sort it out if you win,i hope you do.also yes thats fine you can wait until the auctions are finnished and pay all at once.any other questions please ask.thankyou for your message.kind regards..."
Does this, or does this not, completely contradict her reply to my querying how much I was charged?!
That earlier reply to my question about combined shipping (the way I read it at least), did not explicitly say that she would NOT combine the cost, which would have been very simple to say.
-
Yes...that is a little outrageous! If she was going to do this she should have sent the 3 ponies in 3 separate parcels....
At this stage...I would suggest you keep it as perfectly polite as you have done and copy & paste the above communication and send it back to her...see how she responds...see her contradicting herself....
It is very very silly of a seller to do this...a 1 star out of 5 on a postage costs DSR can actually cause enough damage to restrict an account depending on how much feedback the person has.
-
Thanks, Cat :) She has 100% positive feedback, I don't want to cause a stink, but I am feeling that this is just a touch unjust. I will be contacting her again reminding her of her earlier reply, though at this stage I am sensing that I'm not going to get very far!
Would it be truly evil of me to reveal who this trader is? I feel like doing it, partly as a 'beware' to other buyers. I don't know if she is a member here or not.
I really don't want to fight her about it, I hate it when things get ugly, but this just feels so unreasonable! :mad:
-
I am sure overcharging on shipping by 3times the amount is something lovesbabysquirmy will think deserves a place on her list!!!
However, I think the more worrying aspect of this person as a seller is the fibs now...stating one thing to get you to bid and then retracting that after the fact is a little unacceptable...
-
I've had sellers overcharge me on postage before, I always ask for a partial refund. It's only fair - I'm quite good as guessing postage myself but if I'm way out I always refund. A message explaining (with copy-paste) that she said she'd combine P&P I bet will do it.
-
Well, I had my response, and it was as expected to be honest. Here's what I wrote to her:
Hi ***;
I'm confused. I asked you about combined shipping, and you said you would, as follows:
ME: "Sorry to trouble you once more, but before I go crazy bidding on a few further of your auctions, I thought I'd better check to see if you'd happily combine postage? And if yes, how many ponies could you send in one parcel? I understand you have set amounts of postage listed on each individual auction, but I'm hoping we can combine and reduce the postage cost?"
YOU: "yes im happy to combine postage i could fit alot of them in a asos shoe box.we will sort it out if you win"
I think it was quite clear I was talking not only about putting the ponies together, but also reducing the cost of shipping. Not once did you ever explicitly state in your answers or auctions that you would charge postage PER pony. If I had understood that to be the case, you are right, I would not have bid.
At the time of the invoice I was unhappy with the cost of shipping, but went along with it with a 'live and learn' attitude, thinking such a charge might be expected in the UK. I have since been helpfully enlightened that the shipping you charged was extortionate, which is why I am now addressing it.
I in no way wish to be rude or antagonistic, but must express my dissatisfaction over this issue, and hope you will do the honourable thing by giving me a part refund on the majority of the difference of shipping.
Regards, ***"
And she writes back:
"it says next to the pony how much i charge postage.i said as stated i dont combine HOWEVER i did reduce considerably for you to less than half of what sending them seperate would be.i have set prices for each this is why i dont combine or ship abroad due to all this.if you werent happy you didnt have to purchase you knew the price when i sent you the reduced invoice so im not happy to lower any further as i have bidders buying 10 at a time and are willing to pay seperate postage for each,also you got the ponys cheap enough.i will combine out of good willif you buy more.sorry my time is precious to me and dont have enouigh hours in the day for all this im sorry again, ***"
She still isn't really responding to/addressing the fact that I'd sent back her own communication stating she 'would' combine, and though yes, there is a shipping price per pony on her auctions, she does not state anywhere on the auction that she won't combine the shipping cost. Everyone has a shipping cost per pony on their auction - that's WHY I asked her if she would combine shipping for (expletive) sake! As I said in an earlier post, I wish I had said something before paying. Maybe this could have been avoided. But being inexperienced with true shipping costs from the UK at that point in time, placed trust in it (whilst still feeling something wasn't right). Oh well. I'll retain the live and learn attitude here. I'm not going to cry about it, it's just disappointing that there are people out there who choose to do things certain ways. I've bought some more ponies off a couple of members here through the arena just in the last couple of weeks. They've been awesome, and it has been so much more pleasant and personal - maybe I should just stick to that!!
-
Oh sweetie! What a horrible seller...personally I would appreciate if you could post the username as I certainly will be avoiding them!
You could open a dispute [I think] for a small refund but personally sometimes the fight isnt worth it...however, with an attitude like that I think you are well within your right to leave a low DSR for postage prices or even a neutral/neg on feedback...when you leave the low DSR ebay will probably ask you if you had a problem with the purchase and you could report the issue then. If it wasnt for the fib then I would understand if you simply wanted to let it go but she clearly says its not a problem and then takes that back which is grossly unfair.
-
Grrr..I do not care for her response that you got the ponies cheap enough.
It is against ebay's policies to overcharge on shipping by that amount and that is that. If she does not want to resolve this I would simply report it to ebay. I think you have been more than patient with the issue.
I had this happen once with some Boyd's Bear houses. She wouldn't give me a better rate and in the end she had to ship them seperate because she wasn't prepared. So it ended up costing her more.
-
...wait, so the price to ship per pony is listed in the auction as 3.50? And you bought 3 ponies and paid 12.50 in shipping.... and she is telling you that she reduced the price for you? Can we all do some quick math? 3 ponies at 3.50 (which lets be real, 3.50 for one pony is absurd anyway) does not add up to 12.50....
-
Very important.... do not threaten to leave bad feedback in any communication with her as Ebay sees this as extortion and will remove it if you do leave it.
Stand your ground! IMO, she's just trying to make an extra buck. I'd report her to ebay, and jus tleave her a big red donut and 1's. If she is a normal seller this will hurt her. Short of filing with paypal and ebay, there's not much more you can do to get the extra money back.
Can you share the auction with us?
-
Report her to eBay and leave neg feedback. People like that whizz me off because she's not playing fair. And name and shame, too.
-
Please let us know who this seller is... :( I hate when sellers try to gouge and profit from shipping prices.
-
...wait, so the price to ship per pony is listed in the auction as 3.50? And you bought 3 ponies and paid 12.50 in shipping.... and she is telling you that she reduced the price for you? Can we all do some quick math? 3 ponies at 3.50 (which lets be real, 3.50 for one pony is absurd anyway) does not add up to 12.50....
I know, right?!! :shocked:
Thank you all sooooo very much for your support in this. I really appreciate it, and am glad I am not alone in my reaction here!
Well... as much as I would lurve to slap something negative on her account, I had (stupid me) already placed positive feedback prior to my questioning the shipping (this was before I had started this thread and realised how grossly I was overcharged). Unfortunately I can't change it now (my fault really for placing the feedback before investigating) but I did do a follow up comment warning other buyers that she doesn't combine shipping.
I don't want to seem weak, but I don't think I'll go ahead with reporting her. I am so new to ebay that I'm a bit scared of what retaliation she'll do in return (if she can) to my own feedback account. (sucks that my first transaction makes me feel threatened, I have 100% positive feedback on over 100 transactions on my NZ auction site!).
I did give a snarky reply to her last message, (I was offended by the 'you got the ponies cheaply enough' comment too) and told her if she was trying to recover fees then she shouldn't list them at .99 start price... I look back and wonder whether I should have done it, but I figured I wasn't going to get any further with her, so what the hell, I'll give it to her bluntly.
Anyway, I think I will take your advice and name and shame. If it can at least help others in the pony community to be aware of her then I guess it can do some good.
So then, beware ebay trader: klicic1986 (http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/klicic1986/&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2754)
Ok. Did it. Phew.
Thank you again, all of you, so much for your help and advice. I am so grateful for the supportive and community minded nature of the arena. You guys are awesome <3
-
Sellers aren't allowed to leave negative feedback for buyers, so you're safe. I just checkered her out and her stars aren't the best, guess other people aren't happy either.
My best advice as a new buyer: Do your research before purchasing something. Check their feedback, even if it looks all positive. Ask question before bidding (which you did). What bothers me is that she lied about the shipping.
I hope this hasn't put you off from buying- there are still a lot of reputable sellers out there. :)
-
Thanks for posting her user ID Marlin. I will be sure to steer clear at all costs of this one. >_<
Honestly though what a rotten seller! It's not even the fact that she overcharged you on shipping, she flat out lied.
I can almost bet when the auctions ended she thought they should of been more so she oviously screwed you over on the shipping. But looking at her shipping stars you are not the only one. :(
I think you did everything right for being a new buyer. Don't let it discourage you! There is still going to be idiots out there don't get me wrong but the next time you will be prepared! :ohyeah:
-
I had this before and opened a dispute but there wasn't the option for overcharging postage and it didn't go very well!! I'm really sorry this happened to you it's so bad!!!
-
:hug: It was good you tried to work out shipping before hand. I guess it is getting to the point that we will have to have a firm shipping offer before we commit to buy. You could always return them for your money back but you'd be out return shipping. I hate the negative tone of her reply and also the fact that she is blatantly lying. No one is willing to buy ten ponies from one seller and have them package them all individually to post. It would be ridiculous. The lying and the rude tone is worse to me than the overcharge. Greedy and awful. I plan to block.
-
Oh, that's disappointing. I was watching some of her auctions and was planning to bid but I guess I'll ask shipping questions beforehand and see how she responds.
-
Thanks for posting her ID :hug: TBH I dont like her response either :( I was watching some of her items too, but I'm not liking her attitude :mad:
-
Hello postie experts :)
I'm a bit new to the overseas pony buying game, and wondered if someone could help me with some typical costings concerning shipping of pony related parcels from the UK to New Zealand?
I did my first ebay purchase recently, and although I didn't dispute it, was rather shocked by how much I was charged for shipping, and I want to know through others who may have shipped from the UK to NZ before (or any NZ'ers who've had parcels from the UK), whether the charges I received were to be expected, or a little unreasonable?
I had 3 ponies shipped, and was charged 12.50GBP (nearly $24 NZ$). They came in a white polythene envelope, and the sticker from Royal Mail says 4.16(pounds). I can't see anything to suggest this package was insured, though it did arrive quickly (it's only taken a week to get here).
Does the Royal Mail sticker mean the sender only spent 4 pounds to send the parcel? If so I am shocked at being charged 12. The ponies weren't even cushioned in bubble wrap or anything, so they can't have charged for handling/packaging?!
I am happy enough with the ponies which luckily I got very cheaply, but I can't help but feel the whole thing is a little soured by the shipping...
If anyone can give me advice/typical quotes, it would be much appreciated :)
I havent' read the other comments, butusually if something is dirt cheap. They get the total that they want from the item through shipping fees, which usually include with those kinda people the actual pacakging, the cost of post and the cost of their precious, precious time and going out of their way to post something THEY wanted to get rid of. I never pay more than $10-$15 for shipping from the us, I assume the Uk would be around teh same amount.
edit: Okay now I've read everything :lol: . Yeah she sounds liek a real money grubber of a sales person, I usually wait a few weeks to leave feed back to see how I really feel about the product and the postage and what not. Maybe you should let her know she's on the bad trader list on the forum and what not where so and so amount of members reside? or something.
-
Oh wow... again my enormous gratitude to you all for your support!
You know, the daft thing is, I actually asked her TWICE about shipping... the first was asking if she would be happy to ship abroad, and how many ponies could she post for how much if she would? She replied along the lines of 'I can put buy nows on...' At first, I thought she thought I was stupid or something, asking how much I could buy her ponies for (as though I didn't know how the auction process worked or something). I eventually sent her another message which is the one I posted here earlier, asking about reducing postage cost. Now I think, in reflection of her first answer, she was just avoiding the whole combined shipping query completely. Perhaps I am reading into it too much, but it makes it feel all the more duplicitous.
I'm also tempted as you suggested Bagheera, to point her in the direction of this thread, but I had my final say in my last message to her, and I think it would probably just throw more oil into the pan... I think I'd rather just leave it alone now. Maybe she is a member here, and will ultimately see this. That would be some sweet justice in itself perhaps, to see how others think of her actions.
Annnnnyway...
But you know what I AM happy about? Despite the ugly cost, I got three little lovely ponies who I now know have a good, NICE home! They've been cleaned and shampooed and brushed (Twisty Tail had some serious tangle issues!), and I'm sure they'll have a lovely time making friends with some kiwi ponies ;) And thank you too, you guys for the reassurances about continuing to buy on ebay. I'm sure there are some terrific sellers out there. It was just unfortunate that I came across a dud whilst inexperienced to shipping costs etc. I'm the wiser now, thanks especially to you lot!
-
Yeah ebay is great, do continue to use it. But if the shipping price is too high just avoid it or compare the cost of buying instore. Alot of hong kong sellers offer free shipping world wide (I paid $1 for a 12 pack of hair curlers!) but they can also have dodgy products and sometimes you get what you paid for.
BUT they can be the nicest people to deal with it, I ordered sew and sew and thistle whistle and it took two months and no ponies. So I emailed them and they sent new ones! then three days later the ponies came and I emailed back asking if they wanted them back and they told me to keep it for my trouble.
...Which was a good marketing ploy because I went back and bought more things from them xD!
-
Wow, that's REALLY shady! Her shipping costs aren't that bad for one pony, but I would never expect to be charged that much for EVERY pony. It really sounds like she was purposely trying to deceive you, the way she answered your questions. I will definitely not be buying from her.
I'm sorry she charged you so much, but I'm very glad you are happy with your ponies.
-
Thank you so much For sharing your story. She doesn't sound like anyone that I want to deal with. I'm also going to avoid her and her shady business practice. Her replies to you were so rude!
-
Thanks for the warning - I am sure that her sales will be affected enough that we don't need to jump up and down with flashy lights to direct her that people are not pleased by her attitude or behavior.
-
oooohh... an interesting update
Just had a peek at klicic's feedback to look at other sales around the time I bought from her, and she just received her first negative feedbacks - and one concerned shipping. Looks like I'm not the only one shafted by her!
-
Ugh. I wish I had seen this earlier :( Same seller klicic1986.
I got a "combined" shipping charge of £20 for some ponies, and they too came bunched up in a plastic mailer, no padding or anything. The postage price? £6.48. I naively assumed my shipping charge was going to go towards a nice roomy box with packing supplies to keep the ponies from rubbing against eachother, maybe some insurance or signature delivery.
But nope. £20 paid for a £6.48 stamp.
I did ask beforehand about combined shipping and she agreed, although there wasn't a set amount since I didn't know how many ponies I would end up winning. After I won a few auctions, I asked if she wanted me to wait to pay since there were more I was planning on bidding on later in the week. She said to wait till those auctions ended. So through the week, I ignored ebay's reminders to pay for those first items.
The last auction I was bidding on ended at 4am USA time, so I set up an autosnipe. Four hours later, first thing in the morning, I'm taking care of my ebay winnings on the computer and there was a message from her:
"hi hun im still waiting for you to pay for your items,i really need topost
asap.let me know of any problems,regars XXXX"
.....and four Unpaid Item Cases opened against me on those first auctions I won from her.
I promptly reminded her that she told me to wait to pay for those and since the last auction I won ended overnight, I hoped this was just a mistake. I also promptly paid for them. She responded "hi hun sorry i got confused,yhats absolutly fine ill post them now.regards" The cases were closed.
I was relieved that was settled amicably, but combined with what's happened with Marlin, future buyers might want to keep in mind that this seller may not have it all together.
Fast forward, I get dirty (but repairable) ponies in a very expensive plastic baggie. I also notice I got a pony I didn't order, and was missing another.
The auction showed the UK Sweet & Spicy pony in the photo, but the description said "Blackberry Pie sweetberry pony". I did not get the UK pony in the photo; I got the unicorn Boysenberry Pie (which is the US name for Blackberry Pie, I just found out). I will be contacting her soon about pony mix up, but hope people can help me out here with a couple questions:
1. Do I even bother bringing up the combined shipping issue, in light of her uncooperative response to Marlin?
~Separately, the auctions would've cost me £4 each in shipping (total of £28 for 7 items). She dropped it to £20, but sent it at the cheapest rate of £6.48 with no protection. On one hand, she did lower shipping a bit; on the other hand, she's still cutting corners / overcharging to pocket A LOT of people's shipping money.
2. Do I have a case to file an Item Not As Described, if she refuses to do anything about Blackberry Pie?
~On one hand, her description is actually accurate; on the other hand, her photo is misrepresentative. I usually rely on the photos since people's information can be innaccurate, especially when it comes to the hundreds of ponies out there. She does have a negative for sending someone something that was different than the auction photo already.
-
Oh my goodness!!! I'm sorry this has happened to you too!!! :enraged:
This REALLY makes me wish I hadn't placed feedback on her when I did, because she totally deserves to be exposed on her ebay account. If what someone on the arena told me here is right, she can't place bad feedback on you, so there's no stopping you outting her awful actions through placing some honest feedback that will also help caution other future buyers.
My ebay experience is so limited, I honestly don't know what to recommend, but I'm going to edit the title of this thread to try and attract the attention of the awesome people here who helped me, to see if they can help you :hug:
-
if she refused to work with you, you can file an item not as described. You'll have to pay return shipping but she will have to refund the entire amount including original shipping, so all the extra she made on overcharging for shipping will be returned to you. Hope it works out for you in the end... I hate people like this.
-
Ashlyne, I am sorry you had to deal with the same PITA seller. :(
I would not think twice about confronting her about the excessive shipping charges. But it seems by her past behavior on the matter you are going to get nowhere.
But you can report her to eBay for abusing the shipping and handling costs. Click the following link and Report the Seller to eBay (http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-practices.html) - scroll to the bottom of the page where it says "Contact Customer Service" - report the seller for "excessive shipping" or "circumvention of eBay fees".
Also, yes you can open an item not as described case if she refuses to work with you. The picture was not the same as the description. Good Luck and I hope it all works. If not I would most certainly leave appropriate feedback.
-
But you can report her to eBay for abusing the shipping and handling costs. Click the following link and Report the Seller to eBay (http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-practices.html) - scroll to the bottom of the page where it says "Contact Customer Service" - report the seller for "excessive shipping" or "circumvention of eBay fees".
Thanks for the info, ponylady. I'll keep that in mind. I sent her a message about the switched pony. The auction I won states the pony was made in Hong Kong and the Boysenberry/Blackberry pony I received was made in China. This means there are errors in both the photo and description -- good support for my case. Also, I noticed there was paint transfer from one pony to another, most likely from the poo-poo packaging job they did, which weren't there in the photos. I let the seller know I wasn't happy about this, when I sent plenty of money to have those ponies shipped safely. We'll see where that goes.
HUGE UPDATE: I've been doing some pony detective work tonight. It appears to me, in my opinion, that this seller had an alternate ID that bid on her own auctions. That's right folks.... shill bidding? This is LOOONGG but could be important information.
I wanted to see if my Nice & Spicy pony (the one I should have received) was accidently sent to someone that was expecting the Boysen/Blackberry pony I got by mistake. Looking at klicic's past auctions, I saw pretty much the same auction (same title) but with a photo of the Boysenberry I received.... same braided tail with yarn tie, same folds in the hair:
EARLIER BLACKBERRY AUCTION - ENDED (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&item=280784834438&nma=true&rt=nc&si=9aqDxapjKBiWICKSaGKN5g8z3EQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc)
The winner of this auction, katiew1992 (13), is no longer a registered user. So I'm thinking, they got booted because of not paying on the auctions they won, right? Well, here's the odd thing: katiew1992 and klicic1986 both left eachother positive feedback for this pony. katiew1992 said "excellent got item quick just as described!!" Now I'm suspicious, since how is it that I have that pony now?!
I look deeper into katiew1992's feedback (a feedback count of 13). From her account opening through June of 2011, it looks normal, different people left different feedback. But all the feedback after that has been from klicic1986, a total of 29, from klicic's auctions in December and this February.
I began listing all of katiew1992's winnings from klicic1986, the ones they both left glowing feedbacks for each other. I notice that two of the ponies, Tulip & Majesty, are also ponies I bought from klicic recently. The older auctions don't have photos showing anymore though, but if anyone knows how to look up cached pages for old auctions, I'd be REALLY interested in seeing if the ponies I have were the same ones bought and sold by these two.
It's not just my ponies showing up in these set of old auctions either. Of the 29 completed listings between the seller klicic and buyer katiew, at least 18 of those ponies were resold in February.
I got REALLY curious at this point, and started comparing the wording, spelling and phrasing of these two to see if there were any similarities.
EXAMPLES OF katiew1992's SPEECH PATTERNS (her feedback left for seller klicic) (http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=katiew1992&ftab=FeedbackLeftForOthers)
EXAMPLES OF klicic1986's SPEECH PATTERNS (her feedback left for katie1992) (http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=katiew1992&ftab=FeedbackLeftForOthers)
Also, excerpts of messages klicic sent to me:
hi hun thats fine just wait until you have finnished bidding then pay at the
end.thankyou for your message.regards katie x
hi hun im still waiting for you to pay for your items,i really need topost
asap.let me know of any problems,regars katie x
hi hun sorry i got confused,yhats absolutly fine ill post them now.regards katie
x
Among other similarities, there's little to no capitilization, the misspellings, the running together of words and punctuations, and the usage of "thankyou" as one word, and adding "x" to the end of phrases. Not to mention, klicic signs her messages "katie".
It's my belief klicic1986 and the now unregistered katiew1992 were the same person, and the alias was used to bid up auctions back in December. I have yet to see if / how many auctions katiew bid on but lost out -- I only know she's technically won those 29 ponies and it seems at least some of them are being resold.
I did notice that another bidder, who ID is still scrambled by ebay (k***k (13)), bid on 8 ponies from klicic in mid February, won 6 of them and 4 of those ponies are now being sold again. Unfortunately, this buyer and klicic have not exchanged any feedback, so I don't know their full ID or any other details such as when they opened their account, their country location, or their speech patterns. They have bid on other seller's auctions though in the past 30 days. They could simply be a non-paying bidder, unrelated. But I would exercise caution and possibly keep watch on this seller and her buyers. If you get any second chance offers on an auction you lost, check to see who the winning bidder was.
I'll update if I learn anything else. I'm not expecting any cooperations from this seller in straightening out my auctions, but at least I won't feel guilty about leaving appropriate feedback and ratings if she doesn't. I'm going to see if this katiew1992 also bid unsuccessfully on other auctions. If so, that's a big no-no and the pony community should know about it.
-
:( oh noes! I'm so sorry to hear you had problems with her too ashlyne - that really is a very high shipping amount :crazy: and the wrong pony sent as well ..
I agree with ponylady - report her to ebay for the high shipping - and also if she will not work with you as regards the wrong pony being sent then you can open an "item not as described" case
ETA: eesh! that does look like shill bidding and some definite dodgy dealings going on there :whoa: good research! :bigups: definitely this person needs reporting to ebay, and appropriate feedback left too!
-
This situation sucks - at least her star rating is starting to actually show her true colours, however, it isn't always a good indication that the seller is truely bad, because uneducated customers leave whatever they wish with stars without actually giving sellers a chance first.
This chick sounds like a real pain though, that isn't just a small mistake, its a huge overcharge, and she should refund the difference.
I personally try to refund any overcharges before any parcels arrive at their destination, but at times when I do a larger post out, may skip over one and not notice the overcharge, so I message all my customers and let them know that if I have overcharged, to let me know so I can resolve it immediately.
I had one of my customers message me the other day for a smaller overcharge of $4.20AU, I refunded the difference immediately. I did not however deliberately overcharge, or try to pocket the difference. It was a completely honest mistake and the customer understood this and was happy once they had their refund.
This is how it should be with all sales. A small handling fee is fine I think, I don't charge it myself, but anything over probably $3 - $5 (that is if they have used a post office box, bubble wrap etc.) should be questioned in my opinion. $12 is ridiculous. I will be sure to steer clear of this seller, I am so sorry that two of our lovely members have been caught in this mess :(
-
That is some super detective work! I'll bet that if that new name is also her, then she isn't leaving feedback because she doesn't want to get caught. Someone might have caught on before.
Are you going to alert Ebay?
-
Great detective work Ashlyne visitors can't see pics , please register or login
It looks to me that it pretty much all adds up to that. I would definately report it to ebay, along with the excessive shipping overcharge and being sent the wrong pony.
Boy, you have your work cut out for you today. :)
-
Thanks for the update... :(
-
OK, so I've been communicating a bit with the seller. So far, she's been fairly pleasant and it hasn't gotten nasty. But she does seem to be avoiding the issue of the 13GBP overcharge.
She apologized for sending the wrong pony and has offered a refund for it if I send it back. I asked if she was going to cover my return shipping and she's agreed.
For the two damaged ponies (the ones that got scuffed up from bumping eachother in the bag), she's only offered a 10% compensation.....which adds up to a whopping 0.50GBP. She said they could probably clean up just fine. Which isn't the case for the pony missing the paint, and the pony that now has the paint smudge has it on her cheek, so I may risk removing her cheek blush if I attempt to scrub it off or use acetone. I replied that I didn't think 10% was enough, especially when she's got an extra chunk of money of mine that was supposed to go towards a safe shipping method that would've avoided the damage.
I've opened an Item Not As Described on the mix-up pony, because ebay recommends you go through their resolution center so they can keep track of the return and all communications. I gave the seller a head's up that that's what I'm doing so they're not offended by it.
I'm not exactly sure what to do on the damaged ponies, but I'll wait till she responds. If it doesn't go favorably, I'll probably open cases on those too so we can officially have ebay involved. At this point, I'd be perfectly happy sending everything back for a full refund. But I doubt she'd go for that or at least I bet she won't agree to pay for my sending them back and I'd be out money with no ponies. I did receive 1 pony and three accessories that were OK (grubby and dirty, but probably that way before she sent them).
I tried looking into katiew1992's history a little more, but because the auctions are old (from December), I couldn't pull up the bidding history on a lot of them to see if she bid up auctions she didn't win (shill bidding). I can't see any proof that's what happened or didn't happen, but at the very least, it seems she used two ID's to bolster her feedback ratings.
Of the 29 auctions katiew1992 won from klicic in December, it looks like 28 were resold again by klicic a couple months later. I cautiously say "looks like" because most of the older auctions no longer have photos showing so it's possible the seller had doubles of all these ponies .... I personally think that's quite a coincidence, but it's not solid proof either way. Nearly all those auctions had the same title & description.
Will keep you all updated! Marlin, if you want to update your original post to point people to page 3 on this issue instead of "at the end", that might be helpful :) Thanks for the advice and help. I definitely have some options but am trying to see if the seller will come through with righting this wrong before I consider reporting her and leaving feedback. The good thing is, she's already left me feedback, so she can't take that back.
-
Yep... I'd like updates! I'll be very interested to see how this all plays out.
-
Okey Dokey.
The seller got even more frustrated and asked me to send all the ponies back for a full refund plus shipping. Which was fine with me since she agreed to pay return shipping on that one.
I opened cases on the other 6 auctions so ebay could keep record of what was going on. The seller responded to those cases and I received instant refunds for 6 of the 7 auctions. The original shipping (20GBP) was split between all the auctions, so I got most of that back too.
But one of auctions, for some reason, didn't release an instant refund. It said in order for me to get that refund, I had to send that item back.
I mentioned this to the seller and said I was getting ready to send them back. I got a shipping quote. Now, ebay requires a tracking number, which doubles the cost of me sending these ponies back. The seller had previously agreed to pay for it, but I felt she would raise a stink if I asked her to pay $23+. So instead, I offered to pay for the tracking part, which was more than half.
I felt that was more than fair, right? After all, I'm getting nothing out of this. She's at least getting sales ponies back. Well, she responded with:
"rite ok,dont see why it let me refund all 6 of the others but not this.you do realise this has wasted my entire night trying to sort this for you and more stress than any other person has in my entire life,if it wasnt for the fact you need to send them back before you get yourb refund id be telling you just to keep them.i dont want to hear anything else about the matter"
I thought I was being very friendly about this, so I don't know where all this stress was coming from. But anyway, I felt I wasn't going to get any positive response by trying to work this out further. I sent her a short message saying because she just wanted this over and done with, I would opt to "keep the item" on the open case. She keeps the money from that pony plus 1/7 of my original shipping. It closes the case and doesn't require anything more. I told her I'm still open to working out a way for her to get the other ponies she refunded if she wanted them, but it was up to her.
I'm not going to do anything with the ponies for several weeks in case she calms down and wants them. Do I need to do anything else? I don't like having an unhappy seller, but I don't know what else I could've done differently. :blink:
-
Oh what a mess... How do I block her? I want to avoid bidding on her auctions at all cost!
-
Oh what a mess... How do I block her? I want to avoid bidding on her auctions at all cost!
My thoughts exactly... I just don't understand how people can be that way to customers... I mean, sure, there horrible customers but you are still supposed to have good customer service and deal with everyone in a polite way to keep people coming back to you even if they may not have been completely thrilled with everything... no reason to be rude to people who are just trying to sort things out.
-
I was about to bid on her auction but then I saw this thread. I'm sorry this happened to you guys :sad: but at least I know not to bid on her auctions now. How do I block her?
-
I don't know if you can block a seller. I think you just have to make sure you avoid them. You can block buyers though: http://ocs.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?CustomerSupport
I'm hoping this is the end of it, but she messaged me about the refunds she sent on her Paypal account, saying something was wrong. There's something about what she said that makes me think she expects me to return all the refunds, essentially paying full price for the lot again (which would include that ridiculous shipping!). If anything, I would be fine sending her payment for the ending price of the 4 auctions that were OK, half payment for the 3 that were damaged/wrong, and her shipping cost (6.50GBP).
-
Oh what a mess... How do I block her? I want to avoid bidding on her auctions at all cost!
The only way you can block sellers is to do an advanced search and click the "exclude seller" box and enter her ID every time you search. It's a shame there isn't an easier way to permanently hide them =(
-
I wouldn't return all of it either. I'm thinking ebay refunded you right away is because she has her preferences set to no returns. As for shipping i'd probably only return what it cost to send them plus maybe a dollar for the handling. no way does she deserve all of it back.
-
Oof what a nasty seller.
All the ponies she has listed now have ended before recently with a winner... a winner who did not leave or recieve feedback...
I wouldn't be surprised if she has more than one shill bidding account.
Other than the suspicious katiew1992(13) in her feedback history, there is another one I find suspicious:
mlpu2me(2) who left feedback on Dec 07.
That one also has the same speech pattern as klicic:
"very good communication and would recomed. I will be back thanks again ; ) xx"
Who knows how many accounts this seller has used to shill bid >_<
I was about to bid on her auction but then I saw this thread. I'm sorry this happened to you guys :sad: but at least I know not to bid on her auctions now. How do I block her?
Same here. I was going to bid on her mlp annual but then I saw this thread.
Glad to see she is losing out on sales because of her behaviour. :biggrin:
I hope ebay will ban her soon.
-
Oof what a nasty seller.
All the ponies she has listed now have ended before recently with a winner... a winner who did not leave or recieve feedback...
I wouldn't be surprised if she has more than one shill bidding account.
That's interesting... Those three ponies were originally sold to katiew1992 back in December, then to someone with a scrambled id of 0***0 (51) in late February, and now they're listed again. From the bidding history of that person in the past 30 days, they've bid on 10 auctions, 8 of those were klicic1986's auctions and they "won" 4 out of those 8 auctions. But we don't know what country they're from or their speech pattern. Even then, it's difficult to really say if the IDs are connected. Could be someone who saw this thread and simply cancelled their wins to get out of the hassle. I'd keep an eye out for more bids from 0***0 (51). If they keep popping up on her auctions and backing out, there could be something there.
Other than the suspicious katiew1992(13) in her feedback history, there is another one I find suspicious:
mlpu2me(2) who left feedback on Dec 07.
That one also has the same speech pattern as klicic:
"very good communication and would recomed. I will be back thanks again ; ) xx"
Maybe. They are no longer a registered user (like katiew1992) and they're from the UK. It's a fairly new ID, only 4 months old. Speech pattern is similar, differences would be there's a space between the sentences and klicic usually uses very short phrases and not full sentences. Butit's similar. The only thing is that pony, Love In A Mist, hasn't popped up again. And it was just one auction, not a bunch. Interesting though...
I did hear back from klicic1986.....and now she wants me to resend all the refunds she gave, paying full price for all the items including the 2 damaged items and another completely wrong item. I let her know that made no sense, since that was the reason I started this ordeal. We were in the middle of an agreed return, so if she still wants them back, I'm willing to pick up where we left off. If she doesn't want the ponies, I would gladly pay her for the four items at auction price that were fine, 50% for the three messed-up auctions, and the shipping cost she spent to get them to me. I'm expecting a blow-out and am considering calling ebay to see exactly what my obligations are at this point if she refuses both offers.
I also sent ebay my suspicions that klicic1986 was using katiew1992's ID to improve her feedback rating, and that I think they're the same person. They sent me a message back to give them a call about this, which I'll do tonight.
-
My poor mum is officially fired as ebay helper....I asked her to watch and bid on an auction as I was in on a conference call when they finished...she bid on the wrong items...guess who I have to pay £10 now to ship about 8 combs?!!!!
I was only watching the auctions out of curiosity! Sigh....I cant believe I have been suckered into this as well....my own fault for not deleting the auctions or clearly leaving the right information for bidding...
Bless her she is so upset! I ll pay and go straight to negative feedback and minimum DSRs I think! And a report to ebay on price gouging sellers...I really thought you werent supposed to make money on shipping...
-
My poor mum is officially fired as ebay helper....I asked her to watch and bid on an auction as I was in on a conference call when they finished...she bid on the wrong items...guess who I have to pay £10 now to ship about 8 combs?!!!!
Oh, so sorry you got sucked into this mess! It might be worth a shot to see if you can cancel the transaction if you haven't sent money yet. That's what I would do! If not, you'll probably have to pay. Was it just one auction that had the 10GBP shipping fee? If so, keep your packaging bag if you decide to report her for excess shipping.
I don't believe ebay goes after excessive shipping issues if it's a combined shipping situation. I think they'll only do it if it's a single package. I could be wrong. They look at it as "hey, the seller was doing you a favor by giving you a discount when they don't typically combine shipping". It's a terrible loophole.
I think klicic and I have come to an agreement. Will update when that's done.
-
Its 4 lots of 2 of 2 combs and one of 3 combs...it will cost less than £2 to post...and I have been invoiced £10.00 total as the price on shipping for each item was £2.50 so there is simply no combined shipping. I know as a seller she can do this but it still doesnt sit right.
I ll pay for them...I dont really want a NPB issue to be honest...its my own silly fault I was completely aware of the issues with this seller I was only watching the auctions for nosiness...and one of them does have an item I wanted but I had simply been refusing to buy because I could see she was a headache waiting to happen.
When it arrives I ll speak to her about the price and give her an opportunity if not I have no shame in leaving DSRs and feedback to match the situation!
I hope you are managing to get everything sorted Ashlyne...
-
:hug: Oh geez...Cat, that's horrible. But I am sure your mum feels terrible.
I would contact her and say you are aware there are problems with her high cost of combined shipping. And could she please adjust your total to the correct shipping charge. I am sorry but I would be upfront about it. It wouldn't hurt.
I think klicic and I have come to an agreement. Will update when that's done.
@Ashlyne~I hope your update is going to be a good one.
-
I know bless her...I think she feels worse than me...and here she was only trying to be so helpful! I kinda feel bad for making her feel bad....guess it will have to be a very very good Mothers Day gift this weekend!
Good idea...I ll message her a polite little note tonight before paying and see what she has to say....thanks ponylady! I think I was just so upset that I seemed to have been dragged into it I kinda wanted it all done with! Terrible I know.
Post Merge: March 15, 2012, 03:45:53 PM
Oh well...I got the answer I expected which was "tough" thats the price I am charging...
On this one...my fault for not being more careful on who I am bidding on but I have had people leave me less than perfect DSRs for being 20 or 30p over on shipping so it is a little irritating - I ll give her one more chance when the parcel arrives and I can check the actual postage on the package...after that I ll write a moaning letter to ebay [lol cause that will have any affect] and unfortunately leave the appropriate feedback...sigh....lesson learned by a very silly hathorcat
-
This thread keeps getting worse and worse! What a horrid seller. I'm sorry to hear you accidentally got sucked in to dealing with this person. :( I hope everything works out for all involved. Definitely looking forward to hear from ashlyne again.
-
OMG!!!!!!!!
I can't believe what I am reading!!!
:dropjaw:
My thoughts are exactly along the lines of Tokibear's sentiment: this thread seriously is just getting worse and worse! Oh, Hathorcat! I'm so sorry you've become embroiled :hug:
I'll be watching for updates... Can I still, after the length of time that's gone since my rotten transaction with her, file some sort of complaint/report her regarding her shipping? (which I never did, mostly because through my inexperience I completed the transaction and went on to give her positive feedback :argh: ) Maybe if we all got on board together ebay will take some action against her?
-
Technically couldn't you cancel that auction since it was someone else using your account? eBay covers that. I've had that happen before to me.
-
Technically couldn't you cancel that auction since it was someone else using your account? eBay covers that. I've had that happen before to me.
Nah.... technically I shouldn't have allowed her to us my account anyway - she was the one doing me the favour as I was - as per the norm - too caught up with work to make room for the important things like ponies...I shouldnt have asked her or allowed her to do it.
In all my years of collecting there have only been a dozen or so times I have been snagged into sometime like this - I am probably lucky so I ll have to make do...I paid last night anyway...I just wouldnt like to risk a strike over something like this.
-
OK, so I gave her two options like I mentioned before: Option 1: continue with our return, we split the return shipping costs Option 2: I pay her for the ponies, full auction price for the four items that were fine, 50% auction price for the three messed up ponies, and the shipping cost she spent to get them here.
She replied Option 2 would be the best way to go, but worded it this way:
option 2 would be the best course of action. pay me for the 4 ponies that were ok and 50 percent (on the damaged items). and yeah pay me for the shipping that you agreed on the ponies.
:ninja: Sneaky, sneaky!
I sent a "just so we're on the same page" reply, repeated what I initially said, and I told her I'd add 2GBP for handling and such. She responded with an "yeah just go ahead, let me know when everything is done your end."
I sent her Paypal last night, made sure all the item #s and prices were listed clearly. I also said I was sorry it went in this direction and wished her the best with her future sales. I thought it was important to leave on a positive note.
A LOT of hassle, but it worked out for me in the end. I think I'd have been screwed if it weren't for those instant refunds though. I consider myself VERY lucky. Hathorcat, I just hate that she's continuing such aweful shipping practices. Whether or not she's backed by ebay, it's just unethical to take people's money like that. I hope at least she's learned a lesson in taking more care to package her items safely. Please keep us updated!
Do you think it'd be OK to add the seller's ID to the title of this thread? It might be easier to see if others are considering her auctions.
-
Do you think it'd be OK to add the seller's ID to the title of this thread? It might be easier to see if others are considering her auctions.
Or at least put it in the first post. I know it was mentioned before but people might miss it having to dig through 6 pages <3
-
I've added her ID to the title of the thread ;)
-
Ok - cant doubt the speed of postage as the parcel arrived today...total cost to post £1.68...she has offered to reduce postage to £5 from the £10
Question...am I still being fair if I leave a low DSR on shipping? I dont want to engage in a conversation with her about the feedback or stars I ll leave as thats a feedback extortion situation which is unfair to the seller....but I dont know if I should leave neg feedback now seen as she did give me some kind of discount but I still feel a plastic envelope, no bubble wrap and £1.68 for post doesnt equate to a £5 postage charge!
-
If it were me I would leave positive and put "items as described (if they are of course), very fast shipping, shipping costs a little high" and then give her 4 stars on the shipping DSRs. Because yeah, she still charged you 3 times as much as it should have been, but she could have charged you 6 times as much. So the shipping cost definitely wasn't "excellent" (5 stars in my book) but it wasn't as bad as it could have been, and it did go out quickly.
::edit:: And I know anything less than a 5 star DSR can affect sellers but honestly, if at least two people have already contacted her telling her she's crazy and she's still not changing her ways, maybe restrictions from paypal/ebay will finally make her realize that "combined shipping" is not defined as "less than sending them individually but still more than it actually costs to ship". Or it'll just make her mad and chase her ebay forever... which would work too lol!
-
I agree with leaving positive feedback but low stars. I'm kind of surprised she gave you that much (maybe she's learning?) 5gbp isn't *too* bad for a single package delivery, but it's still over twice the original postage. Then again, a pound or two for handling isn't uncommon either. I would probably say "Fast shipping, needs more care in packing" or something like that and give a low star rating. The star rating is completely anonymous, so she won't be able to tell, even if she notices. Ristvak is right though - it might help her change her policies if enough customers make it so ebay has to take notice.
I wouldn't doubt more of those comb auction winners will get a surprise postage stamp when they receive their auctions too.
As for me, I'm not leaving feedback, or at least not yet. I sent the payment, but haven't heard back. Since the payment wasn't through ebay, I want to keep a little leverage in case she tries to complain.
-
Ok - cant doubt the speed of postage as the parcel arrived today...total cost to post £1.68...she has offered to reduce postage to £5 from the £10
Question...am I still being fair if I leave a low DSR on shipping? I dont want to engage in a conversation with her about the feedback or stars I ll leave as thats a feedback extortion situation which is unfair to the seller....but I dont know if I should leave neg feedback now seen as she did give me some kind of discount but I still feel a plastic envelope, no bubble wrap and £1.68 for post doesnt equate to a £5 postage charge!
£5.00 is still very high - especially for something that wasnt packaged that well :crazy: personally I would not leave her a neg, since she did lower the shipping, but I would definitely leave her a low star rating for shipping costs :awake:
-
Thanks guys - I left a positive as the item did arrive very fast and she was no problem to communicate with...however I did leave a low DSR on shipping price...although it seems to make no difference to her total which suggests other people are maybe not as bothered as we are!
-
Yikes, is the UK more lenient with ratings? I think on the US Ebay she would have been suspended by now...
-
Yikes, is the UK more lenient with ratings? I think on the US Ebay she would have been suspended by now...
I wouldnt have thought so but I think her rating was 4.4 - and that was with me leaving the minimum DSRs....I am sure I am not the only one...
I certainly dont get it...I thought if you were lower than about 4.7, ebay started getting antsy with you!
-
Yikes, is the UK more lenient with ratings? I think on the US Ebay she would have been suspended by now...
I wouldnt have thought so but I think her rating was 4.4 - and that was with me leaving the minimum DSRs....I am sure I am not the only one...
I certainly dont get it...I thought if you were lower than about 4.7, ebay started getting antsy with you!
Yeah, that's what I remember people posting about all over forums!
But I have noticed many sellers outside of the USA that have horrid feedback. I'm always wondering how they can get away with it.
-
^^ I wondered about that as well :yikes:
-
a 4.7 or lower won't get you kicked off, it just affects how you get your money. And of course we have no way of knowing if she's been put under restrictions from her low DSRs, but I would suspect with a 4.4 rating ebay is probably holding her funds. Ebay will only suspend you for NPB or if they think you are selling counterfiet or stolen items or other similar issues. They don't really care if you're overcharging for shipping.
-
Ebay will most definitely ban for low DSRs. Also they don't just ban for selling counterfeit goods or being a non-paying bidder :| They ban for a million stated and unstated reasons.
Many many people have gotten banned for DSRs that would be considered good by normal standards. Many people have gotten banned for reasons unknown to them as Ebay does not have to legally give you a reason to ban you.
Many times when a person gets unfairly banned it's because of some kind of reg flag automatically popping up. Or, they were magically linked to a suspended account. Unfortunately most people that have this happen to them don't even know that's a possibility and so don't know how to fight it.
There are many theories and speculations as to why Ebay is so crazy with banning and suspensions lately but none are proven.
:work: Now back on topic.
NoDivisions assessment on overcharging on shipping on Ebay is correct. For some reason, many buyers are claiming that a handling fee cannot be charged which can't be further from the truth.
A handling fee is 100% legit and allowed on Ebay. However, excessive handling fees are discouraged by putting them lower on the "Best Match" results and of course the star system.
My concerned with this particular seller and why I'm confused as to why she hasn't gotten banned is thus:
- She does have one DSR that seems pretty low. It will probably get even lower as we watch.
- It looks like buyers are reporting her. I would imagine that's a big deal.
- She flat out lied to one of the buyers and said she combined shipping and stated the INCORRECT shipping amount. This is lying and I really have no idea how she can justify saying one amount and charging for another.