Ebay sellers

[HenryJ]

... Patience would be my advice. You don't NEED them today. Give it a couple weeks.
Slow down and enjoy life. That money won't burn a hole in your pocket.

Agreed, but thats not how you run a buisness.

Keep in mind that Ebay is not a full time business and the sellers don't usually have employees.
It is a convenient part time job. If you expect "service" from a business, look to support your local businesses.

There are some that do go out of their way to offer quick service on Ebay. Don't expect it would be my advice. You do have the option to take your business elsewhere. I would suggest patience though. We live in a fast food generation that want everything right now. Slow down. Let your blood pressure lower. Enjoy live and eliminate the stress. Good things come to those who wait.

[04crewvt]

Yes I agree with Brule on this one. I find even big companies rarely get back by e-mail quickly, if you need an answer in a hurry that's what phones are for.
Same with shipping, if you opt for free shipping and they send it USPS and you give a negative feedback for slow shipping you should be flogged. Same with those who opt not to pay for insurance and don't get their items. Remember USPS ground is not a guaranteed delivery. I often order from the west coast and simply expect it to take a minimum of 10 days to arrive. Parcel post moves when there is room on the truck not when you want it too.

[fallvitals]

Harsh.

I am enjoying life. I love to have projects to work on. This isn't holding up the project, but 4+ days to reply to an e-mail when you are selling something, part time, full time, etc etc, shouldn't matter. (I am sure it doesn't take them 4+ days to withdraw your money from paypal, or relist items) Especially if its a product you are producing, you should have enough responsibilty to take a few minutes each day to handle your affairs. Thats my opinion for any one, in any situation selling something in person, online, in store, etc etc.

If they have the time to list products to sell and profit from, they should have enough time to answer some simple questions. Black and white, if they can't they shouldn't list them.

Again, not in a big hurry on this item, but 4 days is a bit excessive to have two simple questions answered. Im sure if you went to buy a new car, and the sales person said come back in a few days, you would keep your cool and calmly come back in the given time frame.

I am gaining more and more patiance in my "old age" for most situations, but this is not one. Im dragging this one out of course. But I would IDEALLY prefer to part with my cash to a seller who seems to care about more then just selling something. I'll check locally, but it seems ebay is the best bet.

This is obviously something im not gonna change any minds about, and thats fine. I wanted to make sure my opinion was said and im not just impatiant, full of stress, have high blood preasure, or any other exagerations.. I am very easy going and what not, but when it comes to matters of buisness/purchases (expecially $100+) I want the selling party to conduct themselves as profesional as possible, not just when someone can get around to it.

...you should be flogged. Same with those who opt not to pay for insurance and don't get their items. ....

Now, this is completely wrong.

First, agreed, free shipping=slow shipping. If you leave negative feedback, flogging, lol.

But Insurnace is the sellers responsibitly. Once they sell that item it is up to them to make sure it arrives at its intended destination. Reguardless if insurance was offered or not.

Ill just copy paste this from an ebay buying guide on ebay's website.

ONE BASIC TRUTH ABOUT INSURANCE

The simple fact of the matter is that the seller is responsible if your package is lost or damaged by the shipping company. It just doesn't matter whether you bought insurance, the seller bought insurance, or no one bought it. Once you pay for an eBay item, the seller has an obligation to deliver your purchase to you in the condition in which it was advertised. Furthermore, the seller, and not the buyer, enters into an agreement with the shipping company for the service of delivering your package safely. Since the seller pays the shipping company for this service directly, the seller must handle any issues that come up. If no insurance was purchased, that's the seller's loss. You, as a buyer, should cooperate fully in any claims filed for missing or damaged shipments, but you should not be out any money if the package is not delivered or arrives damaged.

If you sell something, say your shipping USPS, and the buyer claims they never got it, when infact they did, or didn't. A dispute with paypal will be filed. And now its up to the seller to PROVE they shipped the item. AKA, the seller has to provide a tracking number (USPS = Delivery Confirmation). If they can't provide it, they have no proof it was mailed. The buyer gets their cash back. Insurance is to protect the seller. Package gets lost, you need to refund the buyer's money, then file your insurance claim. Thats how ebay and shipping insurance works, not how its been twisted to think it works.

I know first hand. I shipped an r/c gas powered truck with no delivery confirmation or insurance. I offered it, but buyer didnt pay for it. It got lost in the mail for a 1.5 weeks. In my research I learned I was ignorant to the sellers responsibiltys, and me typing " seller wont be responsible for lost packages if insurance is not purchased" in the auction wont change ebay/paypal policys. I was prepared to take a lose on the package when it finally showed up.

[HenryJ]

...t 4+ days to reply to an e-mail when you are selling something, part time, full time, etc etc, shouldn't matter. (I am sure it doesn't take them 4+ days to withdraw your money from paypal, or relist items) ...If they have the time to list products to sell and profit from, they should have enough time to answer some simple questions.

Email is not perfect. How do you know they even got the email? Spam filters remove lots of unsolicited email.
The payment process is usually automated. Paypal will pay once a month without doing anything. Can't the preferences be set to automatically relist an item if it does not sell?
As a side job I could see setting things up to only have to deal with them once or twice a month.
We will agree to disagree.

You are right to spend your hard earned cash where you like. In the end that will influence how business is done. If no one buys from one that does not meet standards then they fold. As is evolution.

[fallvitals]

As a side job I could see setting things up to only have to deal with them once or twice a month.

I hope that doesn't include dealing with customers? I contacted them through the "ask the seller a question" icon. So they have messages in their "my ebay" inbox, and probably recieved a auto matic notifcation of it. No e-mail isnt perfect, but that message arrived in his ebay inbox.

I have plenty of patiance. I have patiantly waited 3 weeks so far for my new contacts to arrive at the optomitrist. I waited 7 months for my RRA AR15 I ordered last year. I have been waiting 5 months now for some .45acp ammo. But it is rediculous to wait 4+ days (not inculding the weekend) for a reply to a simple question. I agree with you, we will have to agree to disagree.

[HenryJ]

As a side job I could see setting things up to only have to deal with them once or twice a month.

I hope that doesn't include dealing with customers?

It might. I have a life and can be out of town for long periods of time if I get the chance. I am not going to get too worried about something that is not my bread-n-butter.
If you want my product you will work on my schedule. If you don't , I have plenty more that are willing to work on my schedule. I don't NEED your business. It is YOU who NEED.
Set up right the transaction will take care of itself. All I will need to do is relist/restock items for sale and check to make sure my supplier is drop shipping them as previously arranged.
If I miss a few that have questions , no biggie. Those who know what they want will buy.

[fallvitals]

wow. Agreed to disagree.

That buisness mentality reminds me of a guy named John Ciener. Hes, well known, in the firearms world. A few different companys have started making similar products to his, hopefully he will become extinct soon.

[F9K9]

I went through a similar situation buying a roof rack for my XJ (I think). Turns out that the makers/sellers were Hispanic. Whoever did their translations only came around once a week or so. Obtained phone number, called, called, called, emailed, PMed.............yada, yada, yada. It took two months to get the issue resolved.

Ebay "cargo safari roof rack" saga

[fallvitals]

Geeze, glad it did work out for you eventually. I have only had two bad experiances on ebay. One as seller not sending item, and paypal refunded me.

The other, I bought one of those powered MTX thunderform sub woofer used from a guy who claimed it was in working order. Dad and I wired it all up. Which was cake, at the time I wasnt as handy as I am now. (RCA from headunit, remote turn on from head unit, ground it to the seat bolt, and power cable, with fuse removed till install is complete).

Well, we got it wired up, and nothing. We messed with it for a while. Finally pulled the powered amp in the box and it was fried. E-mailed the seller, he basically told me I ruined it. He had "profesionals" install and remove it. He finally got annoyed with me after a few weeks of going back and forth and he offered me a little less then half of the money paid for a new amp. I decided to take it and put it behidn me as well. Plugged it into the existing wiresd, nothing changed from when i first tried the install, and nothing blew up. Still have that amp in my truck, a JBL (cheap amp, works like a champ). Going on 8 years now I think? Probably worked out best, I replaced the MTX sub with a rockford fosgate and the built in amp wouldnt have handled it.