Ebay advise---seller problem: can't you #$%^ read?

danarchy

Hello all.
As some here know I have started running auctions on ebay. Problem is bidder seem to refuse to read the details. I have 6 payments sitting here that came in today. 3 postal money orders, a credit union check, a no name money order, and a personal check.

OK this is copied and pasted from one of my auctions:

Payment
Please make payment in the form of: postal money order, paypal. Other payments will be returned(unless it's cash, that's ok too)Thank you for looking.

now a copy/pasted from the ebay invoice:

Hello.

Thanks for your winning bid. Payment can either be paypaled to:
no_hype_auctions@hotmail.com
OR
postal money order can be mailed to:


So,besides people don't listen, how much more clear can a person be???

Well, anyhow, I just wanted to run my notice of returned payment across a few of you. Please let me know what you think...



Hello. Sorry to notify you that your personal check is being returned to you. Why? It is stated in the auction description that: "Please make payment in the form of: postal money order, paypal. Other payments will be returned(unless it's cash, that's ok too)" Also in the ebay invoices,it stated "or your postal money order can be sent to"
We felt these comments would be clear enough. They haven't been. We would apprechiate any suggestion to clearing up any doubt about payment.



THANKS


dan

BTW if any of you sent checks or non-postal money orders, excuse me, this is kinda erksome. Contact me( or I will be in contact with you), we CAN work something out.


EDIT:I got my answers, and a few pointers, quickly. I am leaving the post intact, but it seems pretty clear, I need to change my policy!

VonZipper

I have had the same problems with my auctions.I was paid by check and went ahead and deposited and waited two weeks for it to clear.When I started getting emails about where their coins were,I said after the check clears I will send them out,if you read the payment terms it says I don't take checks.I would'nt send them back the payments too much postage cost and time on your end.Just ask them if they want to wait 2 weeks for everything to clear.FYI money orders can be bad or bogus just like checks.

prooflike

Welcome to the world of ebay, get used to it...

Russ

I hope you realize that, even though the bidders ignored the instructions an it's clearly their screwup, you're likely to get negged by returning the payments. If we're not talking about a lot of money, I think it might be better if you simply reminded them of the policy, but tell them that you will accept it this one time with an appropriate holding time.

Russ, NCNE

supercoin

If only that were the worst problem you'll encounter on ebay.

I'd cash the checks, e-mail them to let them know you're waiting for them to clear, and don't sweat it.

Normally I don't even wait for them to clear unless it's larger amounts from a new bidder.

newbiecollector

A couple of comments from a buyer....not seller........for what it is worth:

I think your notices a clear but maybe you should consider adding .. "personal checks are not accepted due to administrative reasons"...... or some such reason

I don't know the value of the items these jokers have bid on but if not of very high costs I would be careful that they do not give you a bad rating.

Is the spelling "erksome" or "irksome"... I figure you spell better than I do anyway.

Some pewople do not read the notices before jumping on the auction. I try to always check before I bid but on two occasions I have bid before I read that the seller only ships to the USA. Both cases worked out OK and the seller got higher offers... so I know it can sometimes be an honest mistake.

IrishMike

For $4.95 a month you can use the Ebay software to set up your auctions and more importantly track every thing you do. I have always accepted checks and have never had a problem with a check being returned. State in your auction that you will hold the check 5-7 days and when it arrives email the buyer that payment has been received and on what date you will ship the item. Follow up with another email to tell them that the item has been shipped. It's a simple matter of communication. I have found that by doing that it encourages them to bid on your auctions again. I have sent out items in as little as 3 days depending on their rating. Heritage, Bowers, and Teletrade all honor my checks and ship immediately. Instead of looking for negative things to post in your auctions, like no checks, find postive ways to encourage people to buy. Trust me, sellers are a bigger risk and pain in the butt than buyers.

jtryka

danarchy,

I feel for you, but my advice to you is to suck it up, accept their payments and e-mail them back and tell them that since they did not comply with your requirements they must wait 10 business days for the checks to clear. As an eBay seller, I can tell you far worse stories, like the many times I receive e-mails from buyers several days after the end of the auction asking if I can ship to Australia or some other country even though all of my auctions say I will ship to the US only. Or the one time I had a guy that wanted me to ship to Denmark, and he wanted the US shipping rate, and he wanted to pay with a personal check in Danish Kroner, could I translate the total???? I have a guy now that hasn't paid in a month and a half and he is convinced he paid me by Paypal for this and several other auctions, even though he only won one auction from me and the total was about $35 less than what he thinks he already paid me! Bottom line, there are a lot of people on these boards that like to bash sellers on eBay, but we never get the chance. I have 455 positives and 0 negs or neutrals in my feedback, yet I often expect at least 1 of every 5 winning bidders to be a problem. Why don't I complain? Well, probably because I've come to expect it, and most people assume us sellers are all a bunch of dirt bags anyway. It's sad that a few bad apples have spoiled the public's perception of all sellers, I just wish the people on these boards who I view as more informed would just once look at the other side of the coin.

danarchy

Trust me, sellers are a bigger risk and pain in the butt than buyers. LOL

Ya think buying coins on ebay tricky, geez guitars is just as rough. There are so many people hidding things out there.

I know the postal money order thing is a little demanding, and even a little pricey... I want to do this to build a customer base, and yes make a few bucks. I agree the more possitive reasons to bid, the better. I will certainly take this all into consideration, consult with the others...However at the same time, I want to be able to ship same day, next day. A postal money order gives the ability to treat the transaction as cash. Boom,done. I feel that my start is strong, but reading the replies, wonder how many bidders I lost because of the payment situation...

again all thank you.

airplanenut

I believe it is "irksome". not erksome

newbiecollector

jtryka... danarchy .... and others

I, for one, do NOT consuder all sellers on ebay "dirt bags". If I have any concern about a seller I ask opinions/experience of folks here on this board or I just do not proceed. I am sure there are bad sellers and bad buyers out there.
I would never lump the majority of either into one group.

Just my opinion.

WWBillman

If a seller won't take a check or Paypal odds are I won't buy from him. I have enough to do in my life and running to the post office to get a stupid money order is just not on my list of things to do. I have to good a feedback rating that I feel warrents a little bit of trust.

I sell and buy, when I sell I have never waited for a check to clear prior to shipping the item and have never been burned.
BUT
As a buyer I have been burned twice. Where I sent money and never received my coin and the sellers ended up NARU.

What does that tell you?

jtryka

Bill,

I have never been burned by any seller on eBay that ended up NARU, where I sent money and got nothing in return, I have however as a seller been burned by 2 bounced checks and 5 people who never paid for an auction. What does that tell you??? It tells me that it is dangerous to make hasty generalizations on either side based on a limited number of experiences.

danarchy

I have been burned twice, which resulted in NARU. recently, I have had two really bad transactions.Bad.

I am doing this with help of a friend...The PMO was a convience to her...

As I just wrote in a pm to a member who had read this post. I need to get my priorities straight. The buyer, the money, then her...my current auctions have been editted to reflect this. Again thanks everyone



dan

IrishMike

jtryka, you keep buying long enough and you will get burned by a seller. I have never been burned by a buyer and have lost money to two sellers. I sent a check two weeks ago to metrocameras and yesterday I checked and they were NARUed. I wasn't bashing sellers either, I sell on Ebay as I stated in my post. I was just passing on my experiences. I have always sent payments immediately and have occasionally had to wait weeks for the merchandise. I can quote you as many lame excuses from sellers as you have quoted from buyers. These aren't generalizations, they are facts. My point was to try to be as accomodating as possible to as many buyers as possible in order to get the highest prices possible, that is just simply good customer service and good business practice.

smprfi

Reading this post makes me feel lucky. I've had no problems buying or selling.

jtryka

Mike,

My comments were not directed at you, but to everyone that makes the logical step to hasty generalization. I can just as easily say to you that if you keep selling, you will eventually get burned by a deadbeat buyer. That doesn't mean all buyers are bad, just as experiences with some bad sellers does not make all sellers bad. In my auctions I try to be as accomodating as possible, accepting as many payment options as possible, offering a 7-day no questions asked return priviledge, etc. I just find it a little annoying that most of the threads devoted to this topic revolve around bad sellers. Well I am all for warning people about potentially bad/fraudulent sellers on eBay, but when is the last time one of us sellers started a thread to tell everyone to avoid a particular buyer? I can't recall one. That to me just highlights the bias towards buyers and against sellers on the forum. I don't know if that is a good or bad thing, it's just the way it is.

kingmatt

I would put the payment terms in large, boldface to make it stand out from the rest of your verbage. Something like TERMS: Postal Money Orders or PayPal Only!

Dog97

I've always said buyers never read the descripitions and that proves it! danarchy is one of the few people in America that doesn't have a checking account so he can't deal with personal checks. Me, I like to keep things simple and make it easy for the sellers to give me their hard earned money so I take most payments except barter for chicken & eggs although PayPay fees are getting out of hand.
Maybe you should use a larger font and some color like red to detail your payment options.

newbiecollector

Dog97......

Just a comment from my on personal view/situation..... I have Paypal as an only option for a reasonable way to pay... I am not in the USA. I would not think it out of order for a seller to ask me to add the Paypal fee of 2-3% (Idon't know the amount).
Of course not many Ebay sellers are intersted in buyers outside of the USA, understandable but sad for me.

cointagious

probably the best thing you can do is to complete the sale with the payment tendered and then give a neutral feedback with the explanation that 'buyer didn't follow clearly worded payment instructions-otherwise ok.'

while you risk a retalitory neutral or neg, it's worth it to get the truth out about particular sellers/buyers. that's what feedback is really about.

dakra

I always send an email after the auction is complete and spell out the method of payments I take. I actually state "Let me know how you wish to proceed with payment". This generally works.

-David

Dog97

newbiecollector first of all it's against the rules to charge extra to recoup the fees. An auction can be pulled for that.
I'm always reading about how nobody wants to deal with you. Just how much in the heck does it cost to mail a coin to Norway?

lathmach

What's the reason for not accepting payment in these other forms? You can hold the goods until you see that the payment is good.

Ray

newbiecollector

Dog97....

I think that is an unfair statement. It does not, has not and never will cost a seller anything to post to me. I always pay the posting. Always offer up front and always expect and pay the posting. My point about the fees was if I made a mess of someones auction I would pay the fee...asked or not!

Have I said something that upset you? If I have the please accept my apologies.

Dog97

newbiecollector I asked you a simple question and that's all it is, a simple question requiring a simple answer! No need for all that apoligizing.

You have made many posts in which you mentioned the difficulty of buying coins in Norway, I think you live in Norway? Maybe I'm confusing you with somebody else?

When I sell on eBay I offer free shipping and wouldn't mind you bidding on my coins at all.

newbiecollector

Sorry D97........ My over re-action. I do live in Norway. It most certainly costs more the post something to Norway than inside the USA or to Canada. I have had single coins posted to me in the small boxes (I think from the post office) and the stamps on them were about $5.50 as far as I can remember. Of course I just bought a bulk of coins from a memeber on here, paid $230 for the coins and the shipping was an extra $55.That kind of hurts but I must "pay to play".

I think my biggest problem with buying via Ebay is the extra hassle it takes to send to me, the unrealistic choice of insurance and the exposure the seller feels he has.... seems likely these reasons anyway.

I probably complain about it too much. Just feeling sorry for myself I recon...LOL

FlyTooHigh

With respect to personal checks, I take them from my ebay buyers and after 400+ transactions, not one problem. Just wait for them to clear.

MICHAELDIXON

I sell coins on Ebay quite often and have never received a bad check. When Coin Universe had the Auction Boards, I received a $1.45 bad check for a baseball card (1997 or 1998). The person made it good and paid the $15. fee that my bank charged. I like to ship the coins out as soon as the auction is over. Most of the time, if the high bidder sends me an e-mail saying he is sending payment and the e-mail has his shipping address, I go ahead and ship open account. So, far, I have never been burned. A little trust goes a long way!

Russ

<< <i>Most of the time, if the high bidder sends me an e-mail saying he is sending payment and the e-mail has his shipping address, I go ahead and ship open account. >>



I was doing that but, thanks to a deadbeat who just ripped me off, I won't be doing it any more. If any of you get a bid from the eBay handle "bisoncard" be wary. On top of all that, when he sent me his shipping address it said "Rev." in front of his name. Reverend my ass.

Russ, NCNE

supercoin

newbiecollector,

Many US sellers don't know anything about shipping internationally. In fact, we barely know where Canada and Mexico are.

Try e-mailing sellers ahead of time with some boilerplate like this:

=============

Hi, I want to bid on your auction, but need the coin shipped to me in Norway.

Coins can be sent to Norway in a Global Priority Mail flat-rate envelope (available at the post office) for $5.00, which I will pay. I will also accept the risk of it being lost in shipment.

I am a Paypal verified user and can send you funds immediately. As you can see from my eBay feedback I have ## trouble-free transactions.

Please let me know if that's acceptable to you before I place a whopping huge bid in your auction. Thanks!

=============

If you send them that, and they still say "no", you probably don't want to deal with them anyway.

Also one more thing -- don't ask the seller to lie and put "Gift" on the customs form. Suck it up and pay your import tax, that's the price you pay for free medical care or whatever it is you weirdos do over there.

Rampage

Dan. Your comments are way to harsh and you will get negged if you send that statement with a returned payment. The only thing I can suggest is opening a checking account.

fletch2645

With over 1800 transactions on ebay, I have never received a bad check (knock on wood). I never hold the check for clearance, although I do state in my auctions that I might do just that. Depends on the feedback rating, etc. 99.9% of the time, I mail the item immediately upon receipt of the funds (any form).

When I first started selling on Ebay, I held items for check clearance religiously. All it got me was additional emails asking if their item had been shipped yet, causing me extra time and trouble to answer the emails. I think it's easy to think up all kinds of reasons to not trust buyers, but for the vast majority of them, they are honest people and live up to their end of the auction. I have had some "no pay buyers" as all of us have had if we sell on Ebay. I think I can count on 1 hand those individuals that never paid for an auction.

Maybe I should consider myself lucky, but as someone has already posted--You should try to think of ways to get people to bid on your auctions, not give them reasons not to bid.

supercoin

I've had several bad checks, all but one repaid.

Also had a couple of attempts at credit card fraud on my web site, including someone who wanted me to ship some platinum to somewhere in the Australian outback with a stolen card number. Made for an interesting e-mail to send him after I found out... no template for that one in the business books.

Far more common is simple non-payment, which on eBay costs you at least some money, not to mention a buncha time and aggravation.

But in the long run I think you come out ahead being more accomodating -- legitimate buyers will return more often and/or bid a bit more, which more than balances out the occasional deadbeat.