I need to vent about selling on eBay

[alexdub]

I know, eBay sucks for sellers. I've been burned before, and I'll be burned again. It seems like every time eBay has sided with the buyer in a case involving items I've sold, the return requests become more and more insane.

 

Case in point: I recently sold a $200 driver shaft with a Ping G400/G30 adapter. I included in the listing at 3 different places (listing title, and 2 spots within the listing description) that the shaft had a Ping adapter. The buyer opened up a case because, as they claimed, "this shaft won't fit in my Titleist driver."

 

Ebay has sided with the buyer in the case, and will be charging me for return shipping. I spent 30 minutes on the phone with eBay customer service this morning and was told by a supervisor, "that is the risk of selling on any online platform." I thought it was interesting that eBay wasn't even willing to be honest about their buyer prioritization, but passed the buck on the basis of marketplace risk. I'll be out something around $30 for both ways of shipping.

 

I'll be mad for a while, complain to people in my life who don't know or care about the travails of online golf equipment liquidation, and then go back to listing other things on the bay. /complaint

 

A question to spark discussion: After it's all been added up, do you think it's more worth-while to sell on the BST? Weighing the fact that while the BST is more headache free, average $$$ is commonly less than eBay minus fees.

[SubaruWRX]

eBay is such a cash cow, they don’t care to do the right thing. With so many customers, they don’t care if they lose the small fish. They take care of power sellers though. Run a business that makes fleabay a lot of income and I bet you’d be protected.

[avgjoe]

ebay cs is sh!t

[KCCO]

BST is easier, no fees, and most likely you are going to deal with someone who knows how it works. I did say “most likely”. I haven’t lost much money on BST either after all of EBays fees...I always go BST first, if for some reason item doesn’t sell, I keep and relisr at later date, or turn to the bay. But I really don’t like eBay as a seller, as a buyer is no picnic either as you really never know, unlike the BST seller that has been given the rules and knows to go above and beyond, and repercussions if not in full disclosure with items, unlike eBay where seller could care less, where as here, you will buyer/seller will have to see you in community again if you wish to be a part of this great site.

[Justmuckit]

I've never been burned on Ebay, but after hearing stories like this over the years I quit selling there.

[Togatown22]

I stopped selling on eBay a few years ago, mostly because of these stories. I'll still buy there. But when it comes to selling, I'll sell here every time. So much easier, I don't care at all if I could get 15-20% more on the bay, it's just not worth the potential headache.

[OLD_BONES]

If I need to sell something it's either here on BST or Craigslist.

[Jagpilotohio]

ebay cs is sh!t

 

For such a large successful company Their CS is surprisingly hideous. I find that speaking to someone in the Philippines who seems to have very little training to be extremely irritating. I’ve called 3 times and it always seems like they barely know what they are doing.

 

 

Edit....,and I’m not making that up. I asked a supervisor where the hell they were located last time I called and was particularly pissed off.. Their CS staff is in the Philippines to save money on labor..... Effing eBay.

[thewral]

Yep - I won’t be selling on eBay. It’s terrible. Save the headache.

[Gh05t]

buyers are the worst part of ebay. I've bought on there, but usually from places like dallas golf, CPO, global golf just cause I know I wont have much of a hassle. recently I had a driver for sale, buyer made an offer and I accepted. then they gave me this story about how they are out of the country and will pay in 3 days. I was cool with it, but then they turn around and claim it was for their dad and it wouldn't be the right club for him!?!?!?! thanks for wasting my time! I'm done with ebay unless they do those sales and I can find something from a reputable seller otherwise it's a waste of time.

[GoIrish17]

Why do you think BST will net you less money on your sales? I’ve found that after figuring eBay fees and whatnot, and including shipping and PP fees here, there’s no clear cut winner in terms of profit. But, the buyers on this site are exponentially more knowledgeable, understanding, and just better buyers all around. The only real advantage of selling on eBay is increased exposure. I treat selling on eBay as an absolute worst-case final option and try to sell everything I can here. To the point that I’ll gladly accept less to sell here versus eBay, to avoid the exact situation you find yourself in now.

[ryuartz]

I know,eBay sucks for sellers. I've been burned before, and I'll be burned again. It seems like every time eBay has sided with the buyer in a case involving items I've sold, the return requests become more and more insane.

 

Case in point: I recently sold a $200 driver shaft with a Ping G400/G30 adapter. I included in the listing at 3 different places (listing title, and 2 spots within the listing description) that the shaft had a Ping adapter. The buyer opened up a case because, as they claimed, "this shaft won't fit in my Titleist driver."

 

Ebay has sided with the buyer in the case, and will be charging me for return shipping. I spent 30 minutes on the phone with eBay customer service this morning and was told by a supervisor, "that is the risk of selling on any online platform." I thought it was interesting that eBay wasn't even willing to be honest about their seller prioritization, but passed the buck on the basis of marketplace risk. I'll be out something around $30 for both ways of shipping.

 

I'll be mad for a while, complain to people in my life who don't know or care about the travails of online golf equipment liquidation, and then go back to listing other things on the bay. /complaint

 

A question to spark discussion: After it's all been added up, do you think it's more worth-while to sell on the BST? Weighing the fact that while the BST is more headache free, average $$$ is commonly less than eBay minus fees.

 

And yet, they charge 10% Ebay fee from seller.

[Froo Shon Tay]

I feel everyone's frustration. I've been selling for 15 years. I've had less than a handful of bad experiences with eBay. And really really bad and frustrating experiences when dealing with a shady buyer and having eBay side with them when I was not at fault.

 

With that said.. you cannot beat EBay's exposure. Always price high and let it ride. Someone will purchase it. And the majority of buyers are legitimate.

[JJlew66]

Just close your account! It sound like a horrible idea but u have to!! I had like 375 feedback 0 negatives and 6 years ago I got bent over by a buyer long story short shipping both ways fees , all said and done lost 78$ trued working it out with whoever I talked to from there they use the word supervisor but that’s BS .. The word eBay makes me cringe when I think about what they charge u to sell ! So when I was on the phone with superivisor I lost my mind dropped about 20 f bomb and whatever else came outta my mouth ,, and closed my account rite there! And haven’t looked back .. I hate EBay!!! Look at my eBay I.d haha on here

[Rob G 89]

IF you have Facebook they have a good selling group. If you thought selling clubs was rough on eBay try selling football trading cards.

[jschwarb]

I feel everyone's frustration. I've been selling for 15 years. I've had less than a handful of bad experiences with eBay. And really really bad and frustrating experiences when dealing with a shady buyer and having eBay side with them when I was not at fault.

 

With that said.. you cannot beat EBay's exposure. Always price high and let it ride. Someone will purchase it. And the majority of buyers are legitimate.

 

Agree. Out of a gazillion buyers and sellers there's bound to be a few bad ones but my experience has been nearly perfect. Maybe that's because I generally deal in goods that are pretty straightforward, I don't sell used clubs or many items where there may be room for interpretation about condition.

 

What I also like about eBay is finding out what the market is on something. I'm not afraid to start an auction at a penny and see where it leads. If the item is worth $200, no one's sneaking it out for $20. It's too big of a marketplace.

[Greenie]

I still buy regular on Ebay but I haven't sold anything in about 5 yrs. The last thing I sold was a new driver that still had the shrink wrap on it. The auction ended Sun night. The buyer paid right away. I was at the post office early at opening Mon. morning to ship it. I ran a few more errands and came home to get ready for work. on the afternoon shift. I go to send the guy the tracking info and see he had already sent me 13 emails asking about tracking and telling me if he didn't get it before Friday for his scramble he was playing in that he would be returning.it. I replied to him that I had shipped it Priority and he should have it in a few days. After a few days I get an email from the guy saying he received it in time and that he was happy. He goes on about this scramble he was playing in and expected great things with the new driver. Friday night I get an email from him saying he didn't hit it any better than his old driver and that he would be returning it. After I told him I did not accept returns especially when a new item was now used he went ahead and filed an item not as described. I fought it but Ebay sided with him. I ended up out the shipping both ways and got a driver with a nice skymark returned to me. I had another go round with Ebay about the condition of my returned driver but they didn't care. The seller has no protection and the scammers know it.

[justasgood]

I have had 3 sales( me selling) that were disputed and I won all 3

Don’t like the fees, but no complaints with the customer service.

[Medic]

Purchased a non golf-related item Monday evening on eBay. Supposed to be delivered by the 13th. The seller didn't ship until this morning - no way it makes it by the 13th. (Coming from California to Florida) He created a label and it isn't Priority Mail. I will look for it Friday or Saturday.

 

It wasn't an expensive item BTW but that's not the point. Sellers aren't protected from buying/bidding scammers. And buyers have to wait until the supposed receipt date to file a claim or truly force the issue. Fortunately, for buyers, a little patience will almost always lead to positive results. But my point is that eBay is supposed to be nothing more than an introducer - a conduit for those with items to sell to meet those looking for them. But with eBay essentially taking sides with scammers, setting parameters that protect people who don't follow basic rules and making excuses all the while - I keep hoping that somehow Amazon or some other big player online might start slowing taking eBay out. Sort of like what happened to MySpace when Facebook came along.

 

The only way eBay will change anything is if they are forced to. And the only way to force them will be by way of their income.

 

OP, I either trade or head to BST if I am going to part with anything. (Mostly trade now) It just isn't worth dealing with the scams/scammers on eBay and the total lack of accountability.

[snapier]

OP - Please post the eBay link to the completed listing you mention

[sdandrea]

If I need to sell something it's either here on BST or Craigslist.

 

^^THIS^^ eBay selling sucks. I still buy there, but selling es no bueno.

[DGunia]

I've had similar problems. Put a 915 3 wood head on ebay. Buyer filed a claim saying no shaft was included. I put in the title and description head only. My next couple auctions I put in the description do not bid if you don't know how to read.

[VNutz]

Op: can we get the eBay buyer so we can block them please?

[Middler]

eBay used to be a good deal for buyers and sellers, it's not anymore. Between eBay and PayPal, they skim off about 14%. It can still be a good deal for buyers, but the chances of a seller doing well are very slim nowadays. Professional eBayers have driven down prices on everything.

 

I've sold on eBay 84 times, and been burned by clearly dishonest buyers twice. But you can't win fighting with a buyer, it's better to consider it an added cost of doing business there.

 

We still sell on eBay, but we use alternatives way more often than we used to. The biggest remaining attraction with eBay is no one else can out your merch in front of so many potential buyers. If you're selling something hard to ship, or something in high demand, eBay may not be you're best option. But if it's an item with a narrower following, you're probably more likely to find a buyer on eBay.

[augustgolf]

I auctioned off a real WWE Doughboy combat helmet, with about 15 pictures.

 

The buyer tried to scam a return because it looked too old & pictures didn't accurately indicate the age/wear.

 

From WW1, FFS...I won, but got bad feedback

[GoIrish17]

I auctioned off a real WWE Doughboy combat helmet, with about 15 pictures.

 

The buyer tried to scam a return because it looked too old & pictures didn't accurately indicate the age/wear.

 

From WW1, FFS...I won, but got bad feedback

 

Oh, WWI... I thought you were talking wrestling at first.

[augustgolf]

I auctioned off a real WWE Doughboy combat helmet, with about 15 pictures.

 

The buyer tried to scam a return because it looked too old & pictures didn't accurately indicate the age/wear.

 

From WW1, FFS...I won, but got bad feedback

 

Oh, WWI... I thought you were talking wrestling at first.

Funny...autocorrect "fixed" one but not the other

 

 

[RSinSG]

I'm still a buyer on eBay but I'd rather donate something to charity than go through the misery and dismissive treatment CS gives you when you're a seller. I used to sell high dollar items like a Panerai watch, vintage Coke items and even a vehicle one time. Years ago it was a great place to sell - not so much anymore. Now I try the BST and if something doesn't sell I'll try Craigslist and then donate it to either the local Junior Golf program or a high school.

[jrsharp21]

Someone needs to come up with a StockX type of application/service for golf equipment.

[Ldub22]

I have had 3 sales( me selling) that were disputed and I won all 3

Don’t like the fees, but no complaints with the customer service.

 

Consider yourself very fortunate because I have sold on eBay for 10+ years and had around 5 run ins with shady buyers wanting to return things for bs reasons and I have only won 1 out of 5.

 

I have had customer service tell me “oh go ahead and accept the return and then upload pictures of the damage or use of the item” and I go ahead and do that - once I receive the return and they say “Oh, we have no way of knowing that those photos were altered in photoshop or tampered with so we are going to side with the buyer”. Be careful out there because eBay will bite you in the butt sooner or later.