OT: Ebay Seller Strike

[Archive]

Posted By: Tony Gordon

Steve,

I sell mostly low-grade pre-war and low-cost post-war vintage from $10 to $25 a pop. For this stuff, the buyer is not willing to take on added costs. Last year after eBay's annual fee increase along with the post office increase, I raised my shipping fee and saw a big drop in sales. I think for higher end items, buyers are willing to pay more in shipping but for my stuff, I just can't get much from the buyer.

Robert,

I used to leave feedback for buyers right after I shipped the item. It was a great way for me to keep track of items I sent. Then a rash of buyers claimed to have not received items I had shipped. I checked their feedback, all positives, so I sucked up the losses and refunded the money. Then I started getting these no-receipt claims every month and realized it was a scam. The key to the scam is having all positive feedback because sellers won't refund the money if there are negatives. To combat the scam, I started to wait until the buyer left me feedback before reciprocating -- the result -- I have not received any claims of no receipt.

I do get some irate emails from buyers who want feedback immediately. What I don't understand is that these buyers seem to make purchases on eBay solely to receive feedback. Why aren't they more interested in adding a card to their collection than receiving feedback? I also collect cards, have been for more than 30 years. When I buy a card on eBay I want it to arrive without damage and in a reasonable time, I could care less about receiving feedback from the seller.

As a seller, feedback will no longer help me identify a bad buyer thanks to eBay's new policy, so I don't see the point in leaving it after Feb. 20.