I have bought many items on Ebay (over 500) and have had my share of dealing with the idiots, thieves and lowlifes. I have reported people and opened claims with PayPal. Knock on wood (hitting self on head) all but one with positive results ( had 3 against one seller, they wouldn't pay them all against that seller). I have heard everything from these Ebay dwellers ..... the lies, lame excuses, and hard luck stories. I'll give anyone a chance to make it right.....sometimes they really do have a personal problem or something going on on their life (actually went through such a saga).....but when enough is enough I report them. Now I pay close attention to sellers feedback ratings. If they are too low for my liking (below 98%) I just don't deal with them. What ever i'm looking for will show up eventually by a reliable seller. Just be careful who you buy from and you should be OK. OH YEAH....and watch shipping charges. I understand the cost of the box, tape, label, and gas to the post office....but some charges are rediculous. I also don't deal with people that WON'T combine shipping charges.

If they are too low for my liking (below 98%) I just don't deal with them. What ever i'm looking for will show up eventually by a reliable seller.

Sounds like my eBay mantra.

same here

Yep. Me,too.

I sometimes look at why they have had negative feedback if I am about to bid. I noticed one guy got a negative because the 40 yr. old t-jet he sold a guy had a cracked tire? I got a neutral once because the guy said he didn't have time to check out the car and would later, thinking he could change his feedback or something.
BTW I got something the other day shipped in a Marlboro lights box with tobacco flakes making it onto the commutator even.
As far as the cost of tape boxes and gas to the post office....that's just the cost of doing business and maybe sellers should consider that in their reserve or opening bid. J

Check for just negative & neutral feedback here. http://toolhaus.org/ You don't have to wade through the positive feedback to read the bad.

One more feedback checker. http://www.goofbay.co.uk/ebay_tools

I'm getting tired of it as well. Selling or as a buyer. Have over 1500 transactions (not many). Lately, some of the sellers i'm coming across are really testing me. Shipping takes forever, description in some cases is questionable once you get the item, and when you low score the rating they send an email bitching. Like I tell them, I didn't get a 100% rating by BSing anyone with the item description, shipping time or cost. I believe It's time for me to can my epay account. It's really getting to be a joke, not to mention the epay costs... :freak: rr

Hey Win ,how ya doin? Yeah I know what you mean about labels ,tape , boxes and stuff but this item I just got is in a box that has been around for awhile and the label is a peice of notebook paper with his handwriting on it. I don't even mind paying the five bucks for the shipping but heck he could have used the extra money for insurance for all I cared. It just irks me that he refuses to send my item because I had this junker. I mean I paid already so put the thing in the mail.
But if I do go back to the bay it will be to buy from ones I have already bought from

I think the shipping charges are generally excessive and getting worse. What Ebay ought to do is let shipping be part of the bid.

I once ordered an AFX McLaren Can Am car to replace one lost 30 years earlier.....Not seen one since.

So imagine my surprise when it arrived in a "package" that was no bigger than a golfball. The seller had literally wrapped the car in paper and tape!

It made it o.k. but I never would have thought it!

Jim Norton
Huntsville, AL

I've received slotcars in envelopes, or the paper mail folders, or Jolly Green Giant frozen food boxes. Sellers want you to pay 7.00 for shipping and it arrives at 1.35. I don't mind 3 or 4 dollars, but over 5 is outrageous. They want you to pay for their time, gas, tape, packaging materials, electric bill, and house payment. You can ship First Class with insurance for about 3.00. Priorty is no big deal, package usually gets there about the same time, if not by the next day anyways. It's tought to buy an 8.00 car, and pay 5.00 to 10.00 for S&H. Just adding my thoughts...RM

When I was selling on ebay, which I won't do anymore, I used Paypal and USPS shipping. Go to Paypal to buy postage and print label. No charge for this service and the money was taken out of your account. From there you can go to USPS and arrange to have them pick it up for free. USPS supplies you with Priority Mail boxes for free. I reused foam peanuts from packages I received and old newspapers for packing. I usually would put items in plastic bags in case their postman left the package out in the rain. I quit shipping overseas due to the hassle of having to drive to the post office to get the correct cost for postage, send the info to the buyer, and go back again when I got paid.

I am very selective on what items I bid on. I look at the sellers feedback, shipping cost, and their RULES! If the rules for bidding are pages long, I won't bid. It is also hard to believe there are still auctions without pictures!:freak: YIKES!! Yeah, I'm gonna bid on something from a person I don't know, on the internet, and I can't see it!!!

MOO

Marty

As long as the postage is listed in the auction, I have no problems. I will make my decision on an auction per auction basis. There are times when I'm willing to pay more and times when I'm not.

The item's price, the seller's rating, shipping cost and how badly I want the item, all pull in different directions until the decision comes. I don't have set rules, which has lead to several instances of ebay remorse. Where you overpay for something only to find that after you've received it, you didn't really "need" it as much as you thought you did when you were caught up in the blood lust of a bidding war.

Shop Victoriously... MY A$$!

Like the time I paid 128 bucks for a green Faller VW bug. (hey, at least it was MIB)
A month later, another one, just as nice, went for $52.
I have a dozen "shot myself in the foot" stories like that one.

Ebay can kill you that way.

I dont know if it makes anybody feel better, but my friends wife collects "Head Vases", her freind collects Breyer horses, and after talking about the chatter here, they all go through the same thing. Buyers with fuzzy pictures, wont disclose shipping till after the auction, cheap copys of what it's supposed to be.... on and on. So just like the NFL, if you keep buying season tickets and digital dish nfl packages and hats and jersys its never going to go away, or hopefully, it hurts enough to where e-Bay notices a drop in revenue and decides to throw the scumbags out. Since these three threads have been going here I have become alot more aware of what I'm doing before "Pushing the Button"

Jerry I agree with you on the ratings in the feedback,but I have had the same problem with two different people and both have had ratings above %98

If a seller has less than 100%, I'm closely checking the negs, and asking a question and getting a response before I bid. I only got taken once, and it was by a seller who supposedly died.

Sometimes the seller isn't to blame for the slow shipping. I hate the USPS online "tracking" system. I had a seller recently ship his item the day after I paid. He gave me the 'tracking' number and I went online and confirmed that he had shipped the item. 2 weeks later I sent him an email asking if he had received it returned or something, because I hadn't seen it yet. He called the post office and chewed them out over it. 2 days later I had the item, but it was postmarked the day he said he had shipped it. USPS implies that you can track your package, but only post that you receive the item. I gave him positive feedback, and we both griped about the post office.
Last week, I bought another item on the bay. I had it in 2 days. Same shipping option from about the same distance. What gives?
It seems we're slipping back in time....
Send 19.95 plus 6.95 shipping and handling. Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery.

Rich

I have bought many items on Ebay (over 500) and have had my share of dealing with the idiots, thieves and lowlifes. I have reported people and opened claims with PayPal. Knock on wood (hitting self on head) all but one with positive results ( had 3 against one seller, they wouldn't pay them all against that seller). I have heard everything from these Ebay dwellers ..... the lies, lame excuses, and hard luck stories. I'll give anyone a chance to make it right.....sometimes they really do have a personal problem or something going on on their life (actually went through such a saga).....but when enough is enough I report them. Now I pay close attention to sellers feedback ratings. If they are too low for my liking (below 98%) I just don't deal with them. What ever i'm looking for will show up eventually by a reliable seller. Just be careful who you buy from and you should be OK. OH YEAH....and watch shipping charges. I understand the cost of the box, tape, label, and gas to the post office....but some charges are rediculous. I also don't deal with people that WON'T combine shipping charges.
Thank you .that is excellent advice to us newbee. e bay buyers like me!:woohoo:

I heard that Ebay announced that come October they are forcing everyone to PAYPA and no more checks or money orders. There are also reportedly shipping cost and designation guideliens coming and supposedly some of the shipping costs built in are less than actual. Before long it will be a wonder why anyone uses ebay any more.

it sounds like I won't be selling there much after October

this could be a good thing, it could create an opening for another auction service to move in