I’ve made my living selling on eBay for close to ten years and loved every minute of it. But every once in a while something happens that makes me want to reach for the bottle of Absolut and the tonic.
Maybe you can relate.
1. Where did all the buyers go?
You buy two of the same item and pay a fairly hefty price for them. To protect your investment, you list the first one with a starting bid of $49.99. During the next seven days it gets 43 bids from a total of 27 unique bidders and sells for $650. You list the second one a week later and, thinking you’ll save a few cents on listing fees, start the bidding at $9.99. One week later one person has bid on it, and it sells for $9.99.
2. Where did all the buyers come from?
You buy something that has always been a good seller in the past. After one week on eBay, the auction ends with no watchers and no bidders. Shaking your head, you re-list it again. Same result. Still certain there must be someone in eBayland who wants it, you list it a third time. This time it attracts 13 bidders and sells for $150.
3. Do buyers read descriptions?
You buy a blue Roseville Pine Cone vase. Your headline states ‘blue pine cone’ vase. The word blue is used twice in the description. You include four pictures in the listing. The winning bidder is someone who has placed a total of thirteen bids throughout the seven day auction.
Twenty minutes after the auction ends, you receive and email from the winning bidder saying they don’t want the vase because they thought it was brown.
4. Where did my pictures go?
The ISP or auction management service you use for picture hosting somehow screws up and all the pictures for all your auctions along with the 839 items in your eBay store have been erased. When you talk to them you get - ’sorry, they can’t be restored.’
5. Where did the ‘7′ go?
Somehow you make an error in your listing, or your invoice, and quote a shipping price of $5.50 instead of the $57.50 it will actually cost to ship an item. Of course you don’t realize your error until you receive payment from the buyer.
6. But it’s only 2 more inches
You list a Lego Star Wars set and several bidders move the price to $100 before two of them, who it happens are both from Australia, get into a bidding war driving the final price to $200. The winning bidder pays immediately with PayPal.
The next day you pack the set and take it to the post office. That’s when you find out the size restrictions for packages shipped to Australia are smaller than for most other countries. When you check other shipping options they either have similar size maximums or it will cost $80 more to ship the set than what you quoted the buyer.
How about you? What are your experiences that have made you reach for a bottle and the mixer?
Photograph by Rudolf Schuba.
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February 15th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
7. You have 20 of a particular item, in my case posters. You count and recount your inventory. List an item and sell it. Only to find your count was one off and now you have nothing to send. Embarrassing, and the buyer has every right to be mad. And the seller has every right to have a gin and tonic.
February 15th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
I once sent the wrong item to a buyer, which I’m sure has happened to many sellers. Unfortunately I sent the item to the U.K., had to wait for (and pay for) it’s return, then send it on to the correct person. I believe I had many cocktails during this period, as it was a pricey item and the shipping was not insured. Both buyers were extremely gracious, and both left me positive feedback in the end.
February 16th, 2008 at 9:10 am
@ Genuine -
Oh yeah - that’s one is always fun. Do you tell the buyer the truth or just say the dog ate it?
@ Minx -
Been there - done that too. In fact twice on the same day. I mistakenly switched two purchases around and sent item A to buyer B, and item B to buyer A. Luckily both buyers were repeat customers so the only downside was some extra shipping expense out of my pocket and both of them getting a good laugh at my expense.
Gary H.
February 16th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Hi Gary,
So many, especially your #3, questions about the listings which I go to the extreme in detailing–probably 80% of the questions I’m asked I just have to cut & paste text already found in the listing.
I’ve also been befuddled by #’s 1 and 2 several times. My variation on #2 is buying the second item and posting it with a hefty Buy it Now Price, which I still feel is a bargain, only to have it rot in my eBay Store for months…or longer.
Probably the main one though, and it just happened again today, is getting a package back in the mail from the Post Office because of the wrong address. I check the invoice, I check any paperwork mailed to me if they paid by check/money order or double-check the PayPal info, I check the info on the auction page itself, and it always matches where I’ve sent it.
Then I have to contact the buyer, explain this in detail because if it happens to be the correct address I figure they will go into a panic, but when it’s not the right address, as is always the case, then I have to reply requesting the correct address and then ask for another shipping fee. To be honest, unless it’s send Priority Mail I’ll often just eat the shipping fee myself to be done with the transaction.
Very annoying.
On another topic, I haven’t posted in a while, I really love what you’ve done with the site! I can’t believe this is Wordpress, I’m jealous!
Take care,
Cliff
February 16th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
PS Gary,
Just so you know, after I hit the “submit comment” button I received a Wordpress error. I’m glad I checked to see if my comment was there before submitting it several times! Anyway, if I get it again I’ll copy it and e-mail you the info so you have it.
Still, jealous of your awesome design though!
Cliff
February 16th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Hey Gary,
There are many times we have wanted to hit the alcohol. Good thing neither of us are big drinkers, but we can understand why people start!
Our own story of mis-shipping items is sending the wrong item to the correct customer in Australia. Just ended up shipping here the correct item and eating the cost on the first item. Learned to be more careful with that “little” mistake!
-Marshall and Joli
Lizard Wisdom