Anyone have an eBay business?

How do you deal with the people on ebay?

I have to vent.

I have a merchant account for my motorcycle parts biz and I process hundreds of CC transactions per month and have been doing so for over 3 years. I have never had a single chargeback - ever. And I've run hundreds of thousands of $$ through our merchant account and I've only ever spoken to those folks maybe twice, just to offer us a better % rate or to ask if we want a POS system or handheld swipe machine.

A couple of months back i decided to part out a car I had so I listed stuff on eBay. I have gotten more grief over the 100 transactions from eBay (which are for the most part $50 or less) than I have from thousands of other transactions. It is nuts. The thing is, we're a "good" company, and when the auction ends, I email people the ship amount, tell them to either mail payment or call with a CC number. if they call by 3pm, I ship same day and I put their email into the UPS computer and it sends them an email with their tracking info.

I usually have my auctions end Sunday so there will be lots of people home and bidding. I come to work Monday and box stuff up (often people buy more than one part) and send out invoices. If people don't get an invoice within an hour of the auction ending, they email and complain. If people don't get the tracking # within a couple of hours of calling with their CC info, they complain and sometimes send emails saying they will call their CC company if they do not get a tracking # within X number of hours. Its *insane*.

Has this society become so suspicous that people demand instant gratification? I close out my UPS shipment at 4pm, just before my driver comes... if someone calls with payment at noon, they won't get their tracking email until 4pm... thats SUCH a big deal?

I cannot imagine people who sell these $5 and $10 items on eBay actually making money and a living doing it. The amount of hassle from the eBayers is just extreme. How do you guys do it? I always knew that there is the 1% that takes up all your time and causes all your frustration, but does this collective 1% of society all congregate on eBay or something? Do people act this way in person? Do they go into a store and yell and throw things if they realize the coffee machine they bought at Sears is missing the power cable or has no instructions in the box?

The irony is that *I* take the risk when using credit cards. Their liability is $50. Mine is whatever the item cost was. They can tell their CC company they never got it, and I'm pretty much screwed. Almost every vendor I know in the biz has horror stories of stolen merchandise. Most CC fraud that I have seen happens when you give your card to the $5/hr clerk at the gas station who wires the # down, or the waiter who departs for 10 minutes to process your card. Yet people are SOOO suspicious of online CC transactions. It just blows my mind. Is this a product of the fear of online transactions and fraud that was prepetuated by the e-Commerce companies? Whatsamatta with people these days? jeez!

 

I have 88+ feedback and 2 negative. One negative was an ebay n00b who didn't know what was supposed to happen... sent him 2 invoices, he calls me and says he will send payment, never did... 2 weeks later I relist the item, he gets pissed and gives me a neg. Only other one was a guy who bought a pair of calipers and said one was leaking fluid... I offer a 100% refund in my auctions, he never contacted me, just left a neg.

Funny thing is I got sick of people paying 3 weeks late, so in bold I say payment must come in 4 days. 2 weeks later I still get stragglers coming in. I never bother with negative feedback unless I get it first, just seems to cause more hassle and be more punitive than anything.

 

No we manufacture LED lights and some electronic doodads like shift lights and NOS controllers... you're looking for triple tree parts? I can put you in touch with a good guy who buys from the big distributors, if you're looking for OEM parts...

 

I'm not too worried about it - just venting My business doesnt' sell anything on eBay, I just occasionally buy equipment I need or sell a thing or two here and there that I don't need. The irony is this is my first time selling "small" parts of lower value and it seems to cause all the hassle. Its funny that someone can spend hundreds of $$ on something and everything is cool but the guy who buys a $5 piece of plastic is freaking out when he doesn't get his tracking # within a few hours of talking to me on the phone

I think its a lot like these forums. People aren't dealing face-to-face and it both emboldens them and makes them suspicious. I was soooo close to calling UPS and telling them to just send the package back, and refunding his CC instantly and telling him thanks, but no thanks - have a nice day. People who are so demanding and suspicious often create their own problems. I've had people be late on sending me stuff I won or sending me payment for stuff I sold and I just take it in stride. If I need something badly I will let them know and ask if they can make sure it goes out, and I never had an issue. Its like racing - often people create their own luck!

 

Damn you dragged this up from the past! It's more than 2 years old

I really dont sell much of anything on eBay these days. I do buy a fair amount of stuff and I am constantly amazed at what passes for "customer service". If I buy something in an online store like Walmart.com, BestBuy.com, Amazon.com or wherever, I have an expectation that my items will be shipped within 2-3 days at the most, and I will get them maybe 3-5 days later. So after 1.5 or 2 weeks after I pay, if it hasnt shown up, I will follow up. It seems many eBayers (and I am talking BUSINESSES with eBay stores and lots of buy-it-now stuff) feel it's perfectly OK to ship stuff a week or two after it's paid for. WTF?!?!?

Why is it an eBay phenomenon that they feel it's OK to ship stuff more than a week after its paid for?