Author Topic: Everything eBay! Scams, questions, etc...  (Read 192254 times)

Offline McMetal

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Re: Everything eBay! Scams, questions, etc...
« Reply #600 on: January 20, 2014, 11:34 PM »
Sucks, this is exactly why I do not ship to foreign countries and require tracking on all domestic shipments. Just too much potential for trouble and fraud otherwise.
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Offline Dave

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Re: Everything eBay! Scams, questions, etc...
« Reply #601 on: January 21, 2014, 09:59 AM »
I had a similar issue just last month. 

In November I shipped a package to Chile via first class mail as advertised with no tracking.  It took two months to get there.  :o :o

I ship internationally frequently as I find I get better bids from international people and I've never had an issue before (just sold my entire 140 item 12" collection and 2/3 of it was purchased by international bidders).  Luckily this person was very patient and didn't get too cranky.  But because of this issue I've decided not to ship any other way than Priority mail.  I've made a few exceptions for shipping first class to Canada, but will not ship any other way internationally. 

Hopefully that protects me when it comes to angry/unreasonable eBayers.  It seemed to help on a recent shipment that was stuck in customs in Germany for a month.  The tracking number showed the package made it to Germany and was sitting in a holding area, so the purchaser was able to direct his anger at the German postal service and not me.

If I could avoid eBay to clear out the extras in my collection I would.  I just don't know of any great other options.  I've only had tepid response from listing things on Craigslist.

Offline Morgbug

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Re: Everything eBay! Scams, questions, etc...
« Reply #602 on: January 21, 2014, 10:41 AM »
If I could avoid eBay to clear out the extras in my collection I would.  I just don't know of any great other options.  I've only had tepid response from listing things on Craigslist.

I agree that opening it up to bidders outside the U.S. often results in more money and I don't really like to exclude anyone if I don't have to, but I'd just rather have less money and be able to keep it.   :-\

Changing gears to respond to the quote above, we have a thing called Kijiji.ca up here and I don't know if it exists in the U.S.  It's really pretty much exactly the same as  Craigslist and I've had spectacular luck with it last December.  I decided to move out a bunch of stuff, notably Hasbro ships and I sold all of my ships, about 25 of them, except for two A-wings, a Tie Interceptor and the OTC Tie vs. X-wing set.  I picked ships in particular because the shipping on larger items out of Canada is absolutely horrendous.  I sold a Gunship on Ebay for $100 and charged $20 shipping but actually paid $44.  No way any buyer was paying that amount in shipping even though it's the completely accurate cost. So selling ships was making me take a loss on shipping on top of eBay and PayPal fees.  Ugh. 
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Offline Dave

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Re: Everything eBay! Scams, questions, etc...
« Reply #603 on: January 21, 2014, 04:59 PM »
I was surprised to find that having true (high) shipping costs hasn't overly hindered my international auctions as much as I had thought. 

Like I mentioned, I cleaned out my entire 12" collection including Taun Tauns and Speeder Bikes.  All of them ended up shipping international where shipping was $55 or higher per item.  I think it ended up driving bidders to buy lots of stuff and combine shipping. 

I had a guy from Germany buy $500 worth of stuff as a result and pay $175 in shipping.

Not sure if shipping from Canada to international locations is similar or worse than US rates though.

Offline Jesse James

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Re: Everything eBay! Scams, questions, etc...
« Reply #604 on: January 21, 2014, 06:47 PM »
never heard of that here before, but I'll second Craigslist as an alternative.  I sold the old liner to my gf's pool...  It was torn from getting it out of the pool as I dismantled everything, and I still sold it for like $30 I think.  Tons of things sell there that I can't imagine selling on Ebay.

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Offline EdSolo

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Re: Everything eBay! Scams, questions, etc...
« Reply #605 on: January 22, 2014, 07:11 AM »
I was surprised to find that having true (high) shipping costs hasn't overly hindered my international auctions as much as I had thought. 

Like I mentioned, I cleaned out my entire 12" collection including Taun Tauns and Speeder Bikes.  All of them ended up shipping international where shipping was $55 or higher per item.  I think it ended up driving bidders to buy lots of stuff and combine shipping. 

I had a guy from Germany buy $500 worth of stuff as a result and pay $175 in shipping.

Not sure if shipping from Canada to international locations is similar or worse than US rates though.

What is the going rate of Hasbro 12" stuff these days?  With all the Sideshow stuff, I was thinking of trying to ditch most of my Hasbro 12" stuff if I could get decent money for it.

Offline Rob

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Re: Everything eBay! Scams, questions, etc...
« Reply #606 on: January 22, 2014, 09:33 AM »
I sold mine for about $10 each, but that was 5 or 6 years ago.

Offline Dave

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Re: Everything eBay! Scams, questions, etc...
« Reply #607 on: January 22, 2014, 12:10 PM »
I had a nearly complete (just missing a few TPM items) boxed Hasbro 12" collection that I sold off individually.  I probably got $0.75 on the dollar for what I paid for it. 

A handful of items are selling at a decent premium.  Half sold for about retail, and about 1/3 sold for steeper discounts of $9 for a $20 figure. 

As I mentioned previously, probably 1/2 of my collection sold to international bidders with nearly all of the big ticket items going internationally.

I did sell my stuff in the November/December time frame so I might have gotten a little boost from Christmas shopping.

It was amazing how much room I created by clearing out my 12" collection.  All those boxed items took up a ton of space.  Probably eight very large moving boxes worth of stuff.

It was a lot of work though.  Finding all the items in my collection, taking photos, finding comparative pricing on eBay, listing them on eBay, re-listing them on eBay, shipping, and dealing with all the auctions was a lot of work, but I ended up getting $2000.

Offline Morgbug

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Re: Everything eBay! Scams, questions, etc...
« Reply #608 on: January 25, 2014, 12:28 AM »
No longer mad at you Rob.   ;)

Buyer contacted me today to say the shipment arrived.  Postal system even apologized to the buyer saying the box had been there a while but got shuffled off to the side and forgotten about.  So it was a Mexican system screw up, though I can see that happening anywhere.  Doesn't do a lot to alleviate the feelings I have about shipping where tracking is expensive so I don't see me changing my stance on the shipping policy going forward.

But the buyer is sending me the money again. 

I was quite angry when it happened and in my response to him/eBay, my early draft showed that anger.  Thankfully I didn't send it, revised it to be disappointed but polite and asked that should it show up I would appreciate it if he would contact me and pay me and lo and behold, he did.  Honey good, vinegar bad. 
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Offline Rob

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Re: Everything eBay! Scams, questions, etc...
« Reply #609 on: January 25, 2014, 02:17 AM »
Good move.  eBay isn't necessarily going to side with you, but they're very likely to side against you if you get all pissy in the email and response history.

Glad to hear it worked out and that the guy was honest about paying you back.  He could have easily gotten away with keeping the money.

Offline JediJman

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Re: Everything eBay! Scams, questions, etc...
« Reply #610 on: February 14, 2014, 12:56 PM »
So, I have recently had pretty good luck contacting Ebay sellers who were unable to sell their items.  If I've seen something I want re-listed or noticed no bids by the auction end, I'll sometimes shoot over an email offering to buy direct.  This saves the seller time re-listing, avoids Ebay and Paypal Fees, and guarantees an immediate sale.  On my end, I typically get it for a little less and don't have the hassle of potentially being outbid at the last minute.  Win-win scenario in my mind.

Recently, I saw a fairly common vintage carded figure go unsold at $29.99 + $4.50 shipping.  So, I contacted the seller to see if we could work something out. His offer?  "Sure, I would be willing to sell it to you for $50 direct."  Ummmm...what?  How about I pay $15 more than what it didn't sell for initially?  WTF is wrong with people? 
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Offline GrandMoffNick

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Re: Everything eBay! Scams, questions, etc...
« Reply #611 on: February 14, 2014, 01:07 PM »
That's hilarious in a super obnoxious way! I thought you were going to say he sold it to you for $15.
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Offline JediJman

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Re: Everything eBay! Scams, questions, etc...
« Reply #612 on: February 14, 2014, 03:52 PM »
That's hilarious in a super obnoxious way! I thought you were going to say he sold it to you for $15.

Ha!  I would have been happy to buy it for $30...not sure I want it at all now. 
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Offline Rob

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Re: Everything eBay! Scams, questions, etc...
« Reply #613 on: February 15, 2014, 11:49 AM »
The last few times I've tried to offer people slightly lower prices for things that don't sell, I've been ignored and then found the items resisted for the same price.  Seems to be a side-effect of there being no listing fees (mostly) at this point.

Offline Greg

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Re: Everything eBay! Scams, questions, etc...
« Reply #614 on: February 15, 2014, 03:41 PM »
I usually just ignore offers sent via messages, but if I'm in a good mood I'll respond to the person, politely decline, thank them for looking, etc. I tend to find offers to be annoying, mostly because if I wanted offers on my items I would add the "best offer" feature (also free now, BTW). I run sales and sometimes lower prices (then still have sales) on most of my items, but some things I am okay with sitting on for awhile to get the price I am looking for.

Jman, regarding your seller, it seems like he was being a dick. Responding to your inquiry/offer with a higher price than his listing seems straight up snarky and kinda rude.
« Last Edit: February 15, 2014, 03:49 PM by Greg »