Why are people on ebay so retarded?

I can't stand "Ebayers". It's a bunch of idiots, jerks and cheap ***es. Every now and then I use it to clear out some items in my house that are too expensive to throw away and I don't want to give them away for free. It's a painful process.

Last week I put an item up with no reserve and a starting bid of $75. Some guy bids the minimum $75 and then sends me a message telling me to end the auction cause he bid the minimum amount and so he claims it's his now, "end of story" he tell me. LOL...WTF?? I tell him there's still 6 days left. He gets nasty and sent me some message all pissed off with threats, etc. I had to block him as a bidder and pray he gets outbid so he can't leave any feedback. He got blocked and outbid, so when the auction ended and he did not get it, he got REALLY pissed.
So he sends me some letter about four paragraphs long cussing me every which way and called me every name in the book.

A couple years ago I had printed up some tshirts and was selling them on there. Sales were picking up and I'm making decent extra cash for doing almost nothing. Then some jerk bids on three shirts. He pays for none, and I leave negative feedback for all three shirts. He replies saying I took his money and did not ship the shirts. My sales after that instantly flatline and that ruined my little extra cash flow.

Ebay sucks.

 

I can't stand what E-Bay has become; I don't think I've done an auction for 3 years. Since E-Bay does little to enforce a clean transaction, you get exactly what you'd expect; a high probability of dirty, sleazy, problem-ridden transactions. What I can't figure out, given how bad it's becoming for people that honestly want to move product or attic items at a fair price, is where E-Bay's growth is coming from.

 

If you are selling and don't get the price you want, call a buddy, have him bid, then forget about it. Yeah, you will still have to pay the fee, but WTH ?

The reason I say this is because a friend on mine inherited a flash unit, didn't know what it was, stuck it on EBay with a $25 minimum, THEN called me to ask what it was worth. $800 at least, if not closer to $1,200 with all the spares and add-ons. No, I didn't 'phantom bid' for him - his wife did.

As far as folks backing out of deals and leaving the second-place guy as the winner, I've been shafted myself by that: I bid on an item, I get outbid, so then I go bid on a different auction (same kind of item), win that one, then all of a sudden I magically win the first one I was outbid on, and I'm expected to buy it also ? No, sorry.

As far as I am concerned, EBay is only good for items that are less than about $200, any more than that and you are asking for problems.

 

I totally agree with you. Retarded is exactly what they are!

 

How do you retract your bid? Sorry, I'm not as eBay-savvy as a lot of you.

 

Believe you me, I've had my fair share of rants relating to eBay, but as far as it being a medium for traders, I find it hard to be beat.

As a seller, I've found it to provide maximum exposure and a number of leads.

As a buyer, I've often been able to find what I've been looking for cheaper and faster than what regular-way etailers might be able to provide.

Most of the negative experiences I hear about on eBay come from buyers. As a buyer, I have a simple rule: do some basic diligence before you put a bid in. Check the seller's feedback, type of prior sales, frequency of prior sales, etc. On anything larger than a couple of grand, reach out to the seller. We've become a society that loves to hide behind our keyboards - put a voice to the name. It'll give you a lot of comfort - or make you walk away. I've done both when I've taken that crucial step.

Work the system right, do basic diligence, recognize that - just as in the real world - idiots abound, and you'll do just fine.

NAP - sorry to hear your story. Wish it had turned out different. But you can always put it up for rebid. -

 

Best line in all the posts. May I quote? "It's a painful process" Thank you Mrscarface. I have to agree 100%. Ebay has become a pain in the ass. Recently had to jump thru hoops because of a stolen pass word. It sucked. My friend Ken who has over 700 feedbacks all positive also has had his pass word stolen twice. Also I saw an item on recently that looked like a good deal. I was checking it out while I was on the phone with Ken. He said check the guys feebacks which were 100% then he said to me see what he has sold in the past. Well heres where the story gets good. This seller in the past looks like he sold mostly old books, but under his user name there was all kinds of high end electronic equipment. The old books had an address of CA. the electronic equipment were in another state. The electronic equipment, every last piece were 1 day auctions only and the seller said money wire transfer only. Reported to ebay and within 20 min. all the electronic equip. auctions were gone. Big scamer.

 

If I am bidding on a 'high dollar' item, I try to check it out in person and arrange in person pickup and payment. If the guy is legit, 95% of the time he is fine with it. This only really works for local items though.

As Ghost says, putting faces between the seller and buyer really helps establish credibility for both.

 

Guess i'm lucky- bought and sold all sorts of things for work and play for between $200 & $2,000. Had a couple non payers (amazing how many family emergencies come up). At least once I had the guy be honest & tell me his wife wouldn't let him charge $1,400 for a Ferrari model and he couldn't buy it.

EBAY is a better place to sell then buy. If you want more- put a reserve on it. But a reserve will discourage bidders from even trying.

EBAY has gotten kinda expensive compared to what it used to cost - i sell less on there because of that.

 

I've had 3 buyers back out of an auction because of family emergencies! One had to buy medicine for his dad, another because he got hurt at work and doesn't have money anymore, and the other one I forget.
I also had some people just not pay. Why do they bid on things they don't intend to buy!

Other than those, I guess i've been lucky on ebay. 93 transactions, 5 non-payers, that makes it about 5% deadbeats.

 

This makes sense but it can be a hassle for the seller.

I was selling a motorcycle jacket - high end jacket. New it was $400 and it was going for $100 or so after a couple days. I had at least 5-6 guys email and ask if they can come try it on. I told them it wasn't convenient - for two reasons. First, I don't have time to waste 30-45 minutes with each guy who wants to come try it on and then want to ask a bunch of ??'s about our shop and what we do, etc. I also don't really want people to know where I live or where my work is, because if they come in and see a nice bike, or the computer equipment at my work, or the stuff in my garage, etc. Its not worth that for a simple jacket that will probably sell for $200, tops.

I also had people asking if I'd take it back if it didnt fit, or asking about my return policy. WTF? Its a leather motorcycle jacket that I wore maybe 3 times. Why all the ??'s and demands! funny thing is the times I did accomodate those requests, the person never ended up being the high bidder, so I wasted all that time on a person who was hoping to get the iteam for cheap money.

 

I TRIED, EBay would not let me.

 

Wow, thats freaking stupid. The internet sometimes brings out the worst in people.

 

I've been on ebay for almost six years now and have just over 100 feedback. I have only one negative, and it was/is a frustrating story in non communcation, not significantly different than the ones being told here.

I've been ripped off once, and have been very lucky as far as non paying bidders go.

 

No, this was 3 full days before the item expired. I just bought both and resold one of them to a friend.

 

I have had pretty much all good experiences with Ebay, although I dont sell anything yet, I buy little stuff here and there.

Bought a set of OEM Accord floor mats Brand new for half of what a dealer would charge, I play competitive racquetball and pool, and find all kinds of cheaper accessories and genuine as well.
Found some cool posters and shirts, and of course as everyones says do your homework. I dont use it for major purchases but for little deals and knacks you cant beat it...