My S/O is upset about his first negative feedback on eBay...

He's been selling off his collection of Herend porcelain figures- His late partner purchased them all, and he's just tired of having to take care of them (the periodic cleaning and dusting of the curio cabinet), so he decided to sell them on eBay.

Shipping charges for the things (with insurance) vary depending on where it goes, so to simplify things he set a flat rate of $20 to cover the shipping, insurance, and his time in meticulously wrapping and boxing the items up (they're quite fragile, and many of his have slender appendages that break if you look at them wrong). The $20 would cover anywhere in the lower 48 (and often beyond), and international rates were handled on a case by case basis.

The latest piece he sold went for about half of its published value, so he was a little disappointed but that's the risk you take when you don't set a reserve price. The buyer (in Puerto Rico) sent him a message complaining that he felt the shipping charges were WAY too high (but he bid on it anyway :shrug: ). S/O replied that the charges were clearly stated up front, but he'd knock off 5 bucks or let him off the hook for the bid. The guy replied that $15 was satisfactory and the payment came through. After packing it up (bubble wrap, peanuts, and a nice sturdy box) he mailed it off via USPS priority insured for the proper amount.

The buyer gets the item, in perfect condition, but is pissed off that the postage on the box is marked as $8.40 and starts ranting about overcharging for shipping. So basically, he got a piece worth about $300 for $160 plus $15 shipping and handling, and he's going to be a prick about the $6.60 that would fall into the "handling" category (which is less than minimum wage for the time spent packing the thing up).

The winning bidder sent me an email saying the piece was not in the condition I said it was (box opened). I offered to take it back, they declined, then posted negative feedback saying it wasn't in the condition I said it was. :eyes: So I posted a comment on their comment saying I had offered a refund that they declined.

He should just (briefly) spell out his side of the story on the reviewer's comment.

I don't think it's much of a big deal, but he's taking it to heart.

It's handling,any residual after shipping, is all handling. Of course there are some assholes that want you to work for free. Fuck that.

Don't sweat the negative. Tell your hubby to give HIM a negative as a buyer. As long as you are in the 90% range as a seller, you are all good.

I just found out that the buyer sent him a PM on eBay saying basically, "I only agreed to the $15 S&H charges because I thought you'd do the right thing and refund me the difference once you saw that it only cost $8.40 to ship it." He ended the message with "You've got a lot to learn."

it's HIM that has a lot to learn. Just don't deal with him again. There are plenty of other ebayers that won't hassle you for the S&H. Give me his email, I want to read him..LOL..just kidding.

I haven't sold anything on eBay yet (although I can think of some items,) but I buy from there and was never disappointed so far. I keep my positive comments up by paying right away and I once even payed the highest bid I put in, although it went through for a lower price. But yes, from what I've heard, there are people out there who will start a fuss over $.50. I think there's a blacklist you can add them into at least.

Just make sure you add everything into the description, even the handling fess that might occur; make it as detailed as it gets. :hi:

he sold used CDs for a penny, and something like $3.00 shipping. So you could feasibly get a CD for $3.01, back in the days before iTunes and such, which was a pretty good deal and I bought a ton of things from him. He was fair about multiple purchases- if you had 10 cd's to be shipped he didn't charge you $30 or anything. But people started hounding him because the postage for mailing a CD was more like a buck or so, and accusing him gouging. I think he got fed up and quit selling.

A guy misrepresented a set of cylinder heads. I figured it out before I paid and refused payment. That was August of 2000. I have since achieved a feedback rating of 659 to date.
Make sure he states in his auctions that he will charge actual shipping charges and then does so. He can also follow up to the neg that it was a mistake and that the buyer did not allow him to make good. People do not like getting overcharged for shipping and some are very sensitive about it. Some people who are assholes are sensitive about shipping charges. That's the way it goes. I only charge actual shipping and people get packaging info so they can make their own online estimates but they still give 4.5 ratings for shipping charges so there you are.

One neg will not hurt, if he responds and if he addresses shipping charges clearly in future auctions.

That the $20 covered shipping, insurance, and the extra care required to ship these things (His very first shipment got smashed in transit because he let the people in the FedEx store pack it). Hell, of the $6.60 that was leftover after actual postage, probably half of that went to the reinforced box he sent it in.

But you're probably right- it's probably best to charge them only the actual postage/insurance charges and account for handling time (if applicable) in the auction price.

He can also appeal the feedback. Not that they care, they don't even care when buyers are outed as product return fraudsters with clear proof. But he can try. Ebay now has phone numbers for help. Try 866 934 9647 to see if that one is still working. If the buyer negged him for something that was clearly in the description then he may be able to get it removed.

I've advised him to not dwell on it. Once all of the Herend pieces are gone, his eBay career will be over.

buyers used to be afraid to leave unwarranted negative feedback, because then the seller would turn around and give negative feedback to the buyer for giving false negatives.

Now only buyers can rate, not sellers. How are you supposed to know if a buyer is any good or will pull something like this. If the shipping and handling were clearly stated on the item, this feedback should be removed.

re: only buyers get to rate. That's just wrong- anybody who's ever worked retail knows that the buyer is absolutely NOT always right.

and I was just checking my eBay account to see if the latest seller rated me ... Duh ...

Mostly I use the local 'eBay,' which is a total other service. There, sellers and buyers can still rate themselves, and I find this way more helpful. Beware if you haven't produced and documented a high-resolution picture of your fingerprint on the back of an item ...

So what are you supposed to do when shipping things that can and do get broken in transit? I guess their thought is that insurance protects the seller more than the buyer.

but I think eBay is heading for commercial stores anyway, getting rid of the 'small' people who want to sell their stuff. :shrug:

I much prefer CL for most things, since I can arrange to meet up and actually see what I'm buying.

..hacker friends to put his name embedded in their sites..."smear" Google and other search Engines and in 3 days he'll be known as a no-good piece of shit that destroys reputations on Ebay. :)

They did it once to a buyer and he was warm toast for awhile. :)

enough to break even on just shipping and packing....I make nothing on the time and effort to post the sale or do the pics, etc. I sold a book to a guy in California and it cost me about $2.00 - not a great business. I did pretty well on ebay several years ago, but they have really turned against small time sellers.

Ebay is making it very hard on small sellers to make a profit, and I have told them that many times via email. I advise you to use their contact service and get a phone number to speak to a human, then explain the situation - you may get some relief.

Good luck.

mark