OT: Ebay Policy Change

[thecatspajamas]

After rereading the thread on the ebay boards, I think there is some misunderstanding about what exactly happens. It's not that the buyer clicks cancel and is immediately off the hook. The way I am understanding it is that the buyer clicks Cancel, and then the seller either clicks Agree (off the hook) or Decline (buyer still has to pay). Very similar to the way it is now where a seller can click to cancel a sale but the buyer has to click Agree before it's cancelled.

IF I'm understanding that right, it's not as bad as my original assumptions, though I think it doers still send the wrong message to buyers. Also, buyer's (predictably spiteful) reaction aside, it's not clear what eBay's reaction to a seller denying a buyer's cancellation request will be.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by thecatspajamas

After rereading the thread on the ebay boards, I think there is some misunderstanding about what exactly happens. It's not that the buyer clicks cancel and is immediately off the hook. The way I am understanding it is that the buyer clicks Cancel, and then the seller either clicks Agree (off the hook) or Decline (buyer still has to pay). Very similar to the way it is now where a seller can click to cancel a sale but the buyer has to click Agree before it's cancelled.

IF I'm understanding that right, it's not as bad as my original assumptions, though I think it doers still send the wrong message to buyers. Also, buyer's (predictably spiteful) reaction aside, it's not clear what eBay's reaction to a seller denying a buyer's cancellation request will be.

I'd wager it would help to cause a "defect" at some point in time.

Whether a spiteful buyer, or Ebay's usual condescending "because I said so!".

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

I'd wager it would help to cause a "defect" at some point in time.

Whether a spiteful buyer, or Ebay's usual condescending "because I said so!".

I don't doubt that. But at least it puts us back somewhat closer to the current system where the buyer has to actually communicate with the seller to get out of a transaction than I had previously thought. Don't get me wrong, I wholeheartedly feel that giving the bidders any kind of inclination that they may not be held responsible for their bids is a big step in the wrong direction. And if someone is determined not to pay, no amount of cajoling or explaining to them why they should be responsible is going to change that (see my latest neg).

I just want to be sure I have the opportunity to talk some sense into those who may not be determined, but just ignorant and/or stupid.

Case in point: I once sold a set of 4 Star Wars comic books to a buyer who contacted me when they arrived saying, "Why did you only send me issues #1 and #3? Did you make a mistake? I want all 4 issues that I paid for." My reply was something like, "Umm, please don't take this the wrong way, but can you turn them over and check the back? The missing issues should have been bagged back-to-back with the issues you said you received" to which he responded, "Oh, nevermind. Thanks!" Had I not had the opportunity to communicate with this knucklehead, under the new return system, I would have gotten all 4 issues back in the original mailer loosely resealed with 1/2" cellophane tape, had to give a full refund including original shipping, billed for the return shipping, and gotten dinged for a defect all because he didn't think to flip the books over.

It never ceases to amaze me how eBay consistently underestimates sellers' ability to voluntarily provide good customer service, and overestimates the intelligence and honesty of the average buyer.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by thecatspajamas

Don't get me wrong, I wholeheartedly feel that giving the bidders any kind of inclination that they may not be held responsible for their bids is a big step in the wrong direction. And if someone is determined not to pay, no amount of cajoling or explaining to them why they should be responsible is going to change that (see my latest neg).

Oh, even worse was one of your neutrals because a press photo had the newspaper version of the photo attached to the back.

That's gotta be infuriating.

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

That's gotta be infuriating.

You have no idea...

The neutral I got today, in French, which translates to "hello, thank you, all well received, see you soon (france)" was a nice backhanded compliment as well. Thanks, Frenchy

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by thecatspajamas

After rereading the thread on the ebay boards, I think there is some misunderstanding about what exactly happens. It's not that the buyer clicks cancel and is immediately off the hook. The way I am understanding it is that the buyer clicks Cancel, and then the seller either clicks Agree (off the hook) or Decline (buyer still has to pay). Very similar to the way it is now where a seller can click to cancel a sale but the buyer has to click Agree before it's cancelled.

IF I'm understanding that right, it's not as bad as my original assumptions, though I think it doers still send the wrong message to buyers. Also, buyer's (predictably spiteful) reaction aside, it's not clear what eBay's reaction to a seller denying a buyer's cancellation request will be.

Thank you, Lance, for the clarification, because that is exactly how I was reading it.