- Joined
- Jul 24, 2010
- Messages
- 252
- Reaction score
- 5
- Points
- 18
- Location
- Dayton, Ohio
- Your Mac's Specs
- 2 iMacs, 1 MBP, 1 UMB, 1 mini
Let me start off by saying I have been buying and selling on eBay since the inception. I have used it as a sports ticket brokerage in the late 90's and early 2000's, I manufactured and sold poker tables during the poker boom in the mid 2000's, and now I sell computer equipment almost exclusively.
I have never had any problems more severe than a non-paying bidder until recently when I sold a 16gb wifi only ipad to a Canadian customer with a short eBay feedback profile (10 - all positive).
I do not normally ship internationally, but for some reason I decided to make an exception when the customer emailed me and asked if I would. I am not one of those sellers that charge more than the going retail price for merchandise because they are willing to ship worldwide. The ipad was new, sealed in the box and I sold it for $475. The customer made immediate payment and I shipped the next day (insured, priority, return receipt).
Fast forward to 30 days later, and I get an email notice form paypal that the customer's credit card issuer has originated a reverse payment chargeback. The buyer had claimed that the purchase was made without authorization to use the credit card.
Now, long story short, paypal froze the funds pertaining to this transaction in my account for about 26 days. After that time period, I received another email from paypal saying that because I had followed their seller protection policy, paypal was going to cover me in the chargeback case. Even though the credit card issuer's investigation was still pending, paypal had already returned the funds to me and the case, at least on my end, was closed. (Great news!)
I appreciate that paypal honored their policies and protected me in this instance. I had read a lot of horror stories on the internet and had almost considered the money to be long gone.
SO.....time to leave a little bit of feedback for this seller....right? I was gonna let the whole world know that this deadbeat tried to scam me out of $500!!!! So, I collect my thoughts, made a deal with myself to maintain professionalism....and then sat down at my computer to leave this guy some NEGATIVE feedback.
But wait....I didn't see where to leave it! I could see the option to leave positive feedback. And I could see the option to "report a problem with this transaction" (which I did). But nowhere did it give me the option to actually leave negative feedback for this guy so future sellers would be informed as to his previous fraudulent activities.
After a quick internet search, i find that eBay has removed this option for sellers. If you are a buyer, you can still leave negative feedback for a seller. But if you the seller, you have no way to notify other sellers that it may not be in their best interest to do business with someone.
This erosion to the core of the feedback system will surely bring on its utter demise. The implied threat of negative feedback is what keeps the buyers and sellers walking the straight and narrow. They have removed any implications for these kind of shady buyers. The warning system is gone.
I know that I am a little behind on this....and that is because eBay never notified sellers of this change. You wouldn't realize that the negative feedback option was gone, until you were ready to use it!
I apologize if this has been gone over before.....I just had to rant.
I have never had any problems more severe than a non-paying bidder until recently when I sold a 16gb wifi only ipad to a Canadian customer with a short eBay feedback profile (10 - all positive).
I do not normally ship internationally, but for some reason I decided to make an exception when the customer emailed me and asked if I would. I am not one of those sellers that charge more than the going retail price for merchandise because they are willing to ship worldwide. The ipad was new, sealed in the box and I sold it for $475. The customer made immediate payment and I shipped the next day (insured, priority, return receipt).
Fast forward to 30 days later, and I get an email notice form paypal that the customer's credit card issuer has originated a reverse payment chargeback. The buyer had claimed that the purchase was made without authorization to use the credit card.
Now, long story short, paypal froze the funds pertaining to this transaction in my account for about 26 days. After that time period, I received another email from paypal saying that because I had followed their seller protection policy, paypal was going to cover me in the chargeback case. Even though the credit card issuer's investigation was still pending, paypal had already returned the funds to me and the case, at least on my end, was closed. (Great news!)
I appreciate that paypal honored their policies and protected me in this instance. I had read a lot of horror stories on the internet and had almost considered the money to be long gone.
SO.....time to leave a little bit of feedback for this seller....right? I was gonna let the whole world know that this deadbeat tried to scam me out of $500!!!! So, I collect my thoughts, made a deal with myself to maintain professionalism....and then sat down at my computer to leave this guy some NEGATIVE feedback.
But wait....I didn't see where to leave it! I could see the option to leave positive feedback. And I could see the option to "report a problem with this transaction" (which I did). But nowhere did it give me the option to actually leave negative feedback for this guy so future sellers would be informed as to his previous fraudulent activities.
After a quick internet search, i find that eBay has removed this option for sellers. If you are a buyer, you can still leave negative feedback for a seller. But if you the seller, you have no way to notify other sellers that it may not be in their best interest to do business with someone.
This erosion to the core of the feedback system will surely bring on its utter demise. The implied threat of negative feedback is what keeps the buyers and sellers walking the straight and narrow. They have removed any implications for these kind of shady buyers. The warning system is gone.
I know that I am a little behind on this....and that is because eBay never notified sellers of this change. You wouldn't realize that the negative feedback option was gone, until you were ready to use it!
I apologize if this has been gone over before.....I just had to rant.