Buying and Selling on eBay: Tips, Tricks, Problems & Questions

[FPB]

Is this as ridiculous as it seems to me?
I won an auction tonight. Seller has the exact same vintage timepiece simultaneously listed in a buy it now listing, asking price for over double what my winning bid is.
I was watching the the BIN listing as well as the auction, honestly hadn’t connected the dots on being same item just yet. 2 hours after winning the auction the dude sends out a Special Offer to the watchers of the BIN listing, at over $250 more than my winning price.
I haven’t paid yet, but the winning bid should be binding and he should just honor the sale, correct? And if the BIN listing ends from someone else purchasing it, it’s got to be something I can report the seller for, right?
Ending times clearly will show I was the first to commit to purchase, and the listing did not require immediate payment so I should have a reasonable amount of time after the auction ends to complete my end without him selling it out from under me in a different listing.

Sounds like you won the auction and therefore the seller is bound to sell to you.

 

[tonylamer]

Some great eBay negotiating:

Message 1 from buyer: "Tell me when you drop the price to $150 with free shipping." (Item is $249.)

OK. Typical fishing expedition. No big deal. I wasn't dropping the price, so I ignored it.

Message 2 from buyer: "Hey man. I said I'd buy this for $150 with free shipping. Why haven't you sent me an offer yet???????"

 

[goatamous II]

Send him an offer for $248
And throw in free shipping since it's the holiday season

 

[Steve Smith]

Sounds like you won the auction and therefore the seller is bound to sell to you.

It does sound that way, but good luck on getting damages or specific performance.

 

[pendragon]

I've noticed recently that eBay no longer offers a search by collar size in dress shirts when I'm looking for a particular seller (i.e. by Steve Smith or one of you guys.) I can search by brand, fabric, etc. But not by collar size. It seems bizarre. Can any one explain why?

I can search by size if I do a sitewide search, but then I have to wade through...

 

[txwoodworker]

Expand the size selection, this box will come up.

 

[FPB]

It does sound that way, but good luck on getting damages or specific performance.

Wrong. Assuming he pays, damages would be a refund of his purchase price if the seller does not ship him the watch. Agreed on specific performance.

 

[Steve Smith]

Wrong. Assuming he pays, damages would be a refund of his purchase price if the seller does not ship him the watch. Agreed on specific performance.

From reading the post of the OP I think he believes that getting his money back would still leave him with damages as opposed to execution of the contract. When I used the term 'damages' I was referring to the difference, an amount which the OP would deem equivalent to the loss that he was subjected to by the seller's default on the contract.

Everyone here realizes that ebay will refund a buyer if a seller does not produce the item.

 

[Steve Smith]

I've noticed recently that eBay no longer offers a search by collar size in dress shirts when I'm looking for a particular seller (i.e. by Steve Smith or one of you guys.) I can search by brand, fabric, etc. But not by collar size. It seems bizarre. Can any one explain why?

I can search by size if I do a sitewide search, but then I have to wade through...

You should be able to go to my store and do a title search. If there is space in the title I put the neck-sleeve format size (e.g, 16.5-35), even if it is a sport-sized shirt (S M L XL). The real problem for me is not the Size block but rather the Sleeve Length block where my choices are not numbers but rather Short Sleeve, Long Sleeve, etc. I enter the number for the sleeve length in listings but I wonder if I am excluding my stuff from searches because a prospective buyer looking for that 16.5-35 has chosen Long Sleeve for his search.

I have been selling on ebay for more than 20 years and every time they do software changes the result is a dumbed down system that is more visually appealing. Before, for sleeve length I could select '34/35' from the pull down menu. That was bad enough. I don't wear a 16.5-34. I wear a 16.5-35 and they are not the same thing.

I think that ebay tasks web developers to put together software but nowhere in the process do they involve anyone with knowledge of the category. Get your head around this: When listing a shirt in the Dress Shirt category the pull down menu doesn't give me options for sleeve length in inches, but down the page I can check 'Astro Boy' or 'Grumpy Cat'. So far neither of those have been relevant in the description of a Brooks Brothers shirt.

 

[div25sec9]

another for the blocked list: peza_7155

"doesn't seem authentic" to stick me with an international return because of buyers remorse. New in box inside of original manufacturer's cardboard shipping box with authorized retailer's tags, yet ebay just allows this nonsense.

 

[pendragon]

You should be able to go to my store and do a title search. If there is space in the title I put the neck-sleeve format size (e.g, 16.5-35), even if it is a sport-sized shirt (S M L XL). The real problem for me is not the Size block but rather the Sleeve Length block where my choices are not numbers but rather Short Sleeve, Long Sleeve, etc. I enter the number for the sleeve length in listings but I wonder if I am excluding my stuff from searches because a prospective buyer looking for that 16.5-35 has chosen Long Sleeve for his search.


I can search in the title, but I don't get an Size block at all. Or any sleeve length at all. (And I agree, sleeve length in inches is far more useful than "long sleeve.")

I get this:

Format
Color
Fit
Pattern
Material
Collar Style
Country/Region of Manufacture
Features
Theme
Character
Size Type
Brand
Department
Type
Neckline
Model
Guaranteed Delivery
Condition
Price
Item Location
Delivery Options
Show only

 

[Steve Smith]

another for the blocked list: peza_7155

"doesn't seem authentic" to stick me with an international return because of buyers remorse. New in box inside of original manufacturer's cardboard shipping box with authorized retailer's tags, yet ebay just allows this nonsense.

"Doesn't seem authentic" is the most irritating return. If a prospective buyer is questioning authenticity I usually just put them on the Blocked Buyer list, don't bother to respond to the question, and move on. If they are suspicious let them buy from someone else.

I once had one of these returns with the buyer telling me that a Brooks Brothers corduroy sport coat was counterfeit because his salesman at a Brooks Brothers store told him that "Brooks Brothers doesn't sell any clothing manufactured in Thailand".

 

[carreragt7]

As I expected, the dick cancels my order. Same exact item, lots of pictures to prove it as same unique item in both listings, and they sold it for more via the buy it now listing that was simultaneously listed and I had already won the auction. This is the sort of thing that pisses me off beyond belief. Block this lame excuse of an ebayer, as they appear to buy and sell. Mainly watch stuff from the looks of it.
I’ve filed a report with eBay CS and they promised to investigate it. How nice of them. As a seller they always eff me over and side with a buyer, the rare time I attempt buying and they don’t seem to be too interested in getting the seller to fulfill their obligation.

 

[drlivingston]

As I expected, the dick cancels my order. Same exact item, lots of pictures to prove it as same unique item in both listings, and they sold it for more via the buy it now listing that was simultaneously listed and I had already won the auction. This is the sort of thing that pisses me off beyond belief. Block this lame excuse of an ebayer, as they appear to buy and sell. Mainly watch stuff from the looks of it.
I’ve filed a report with eBay CS and they promised to investigate it. How nice of them. As a seller they always eff me over and side with a buyer, the rare time I attempt buying and they don’t seem to be too interested in getting the seller to fulfill their obligation.
View attachment 1522190

Probably a shill buyer purchased the BIN item.

 

[Steve Smith]

As I expected, the dick cancels my order. Same exact item, lots of pictures to prove it as same unique item in both listings, and they sold it for more via the buy it now listing that was simultaneously listed and I had already won the auction. This is the sort of thing that pisses me off beyond belief. Block this lame excuse of an ebayer, as they appear to buy and sell. Mainly watch stuff from the looks of it.
I’ve filed a report with eBay CS and they promised to investigate it. How nice of them. As a seller they always eff me over and side with a buyer, the rare time I attempt buying and they don’t seem to be too interested in getting the seller to fulfill their obligation.
View attachment 1522190

Not that it is proportionate to the offense, but he will get a defect for using a false reason for the cancellation.