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 Replies: 45 / Views: 5,768 |
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Moderator
 Canada
10460 Posts |
For sake of privacy, I have not included the seller's name here, but for those of you who strive to sell coins on ebay, let this serve as an example of how not to do business with collectors: I left town Friday night for a short field excursion (I am a geologist, and I don't always travel in zones of cellular coverage with internet secure enough to use PayPal). I bought an item Friday night (June 8) while killing time in an airport, it was a 'Buy it now', but the seller had no terms of payment, nor was it one of those auctions whereby immediate payment is demanded. I arrive home late Tuesday night and on Wednesday morning, the seller had already filed a non-payment case with ebay (after 4 days!). So I contacted the seller and told him I had been away, this was my reply. Quote:As soon as I receive the payment, the case will be close and nothing will apear on ebay account. If you dont pay unpaid item will be recorded on your buyer account. Rule #1, as a seller, you do not try to threaten the person who is giving you money with ebay policies. Maybe if I ignored all messages and didn't pay for a month, or had a ton of negative feedback, it would be acceptable. But after 4 days? That is not good business. After I reported his message to ebay, I replied: Quote:I would have accepted almost any kind of answer and then paid for the item, but trying to force my hand by threatening with ebay's buyer account record is not going to work. I could care less about a virtual reputation in an online world, but in the real world, that is not how a seller does business. Cancel the auction, or not - you are not getting my money now, and I don't want to buy a coin from someone trying to manipulate ebay's policies against me. I suggest you modify your auction listings, so that buyers can see in advance, exactly what your payment terms are for your 'Buy-it-now' auctions. Chalk up another ebay'er to the list of sellers I don't spend my money at. Stuff like this makes me appreciate coin shows more and more... "Discovery follows discovery, each both raising and answering questions, each ending a long search, and each providing the new instruments for a new search." -- J. Robert OppenheimerContent of this post is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses...0/deed.en_USMy eBay store
Edited by SPP-Ottawa
06/14/2012 09:45 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1302 Posts |
I agree that he was brusk, but as a matter of personal policy, I consider the NOW part of BUY IT NOW imperative. As a seller, I wouldn't mind waiting- but as a buyer- if I thought there would be a delay of more than a day I'd have sent them an email. As I don't routinely sell on ebay for profit, I'm usually pretty cool waiting a few days for payment. I'm usually surprised that people aren't in a hurry to get their item. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1796 Posts |
ebay is really getting to be dog-eat-dog with policies that really pit buyers and sellers against each other. It's not an edifying medium of exchange anymore.
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Valued Member
United States
117 Posts |
SO because you didn't like the seller dunning you for that money you owed him, you reneged on your bid?
Two wrongs do not make a right.
You had an ethical obligation to pay and not doing so makes me hope you never bid on one of my auctions.
Granted, the seller may have jumped the gun but waiting 4 days for someone to pay for a "Buy It Now" would get me nervous as a seller.
You are in the wrong in this matter.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
4411 Posts |
Quote:
SO because you didn't like the seller dunning you for that money you owed him, you reneged on your bid?
Two wrongs do not make a right.
You had an ethical obligation to pay and not doing so makes me hope you never bid on one of my auctions.
Granted, the seller may have jumped the gun but waiting 4 days for someone to pay for a "Buy It Now" would get me nervous as a seller.
You are in the wrong in this matter. I could not disagree more with you. The least the seller could have done was try an message you and wait a few days. 4 days is no time at all. The seller obviously doesn't know how to do business and I also would have declined to pay after his rudeness. Out of interest how much was the coin worth Spp-Ottawa? |
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Moderator
 Canada
10460 Posts |
If you are insisting on instantaneous payment (putting the NOW in "buy-it-now") there are settings on ebay to allow you to set your auction whereby payment with PayPal must be done at the time of sale. If that had been the case, then item would have been put on a watch list, and bought when I got home. If you insist on payment within 24 or 48 hours, then say so in your terms of payment (something ebay also helps you with). This was not about the seller filing the case and asking for money owed to him. But outright trying to force my hand with ebay policy, I don't like that. Four days is not a lot of time, and this is a hobby. Long weekends, fishing trips, outings with the kids, business trips, and real life in general can make time fly whereby you don't have secure internet access. As a seller, I usually give the buyer the benefit of the doubt, and send them a message after 14 days (you have up to 45 days according to ebay policy). But trying to hang a threat over my head after four days, am I the only person who thinks that is a bit uncomfortable? "Discovery follows discovery, each both raising and answering questions, each ending a long search, and each providing the new instruments for a new search." -- J. Robert OppenheimerContent of this post is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses...0/deed.en_USMy eBay store
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
4411 Posts |
 completely with you. He was braisen enough to sent the message to you containing the threat and that allows you some backup to hit back with. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2366 Posts |
I would have had no problem receiving a politely worded message requesting payment in this situation but would also have been offended to be treated this way. I had a similar situation around Christmas where I was accumulating a few wins to get combined shipping. I had messaged and received confirmation this was okay. Then I got hit with 3 or 4 non-payment cases. I was quite upset as this had never happened to me before. It took a couple of days for him to get back to me because he was away for the holidays but he was quite apologetic, closed the cases and gave me an additional discount on shipping. Turned out the guy had a setting turned on to automatically generate these cases (he was a relatively new seller) that he didn't know about. I was happy and have bought a couple of more items from him since. This is the way I expect ebay transactions to work and, if not, then this is a free market and I can choose who I buy from. |
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Valued Member
United States
154 Posts |
You keep mentioning insecure internet. As long as it says 'https' in the url bar, as it very often does when entering a password or using paypal, no one will be able to intercept any information. Well, technically that's not true, it's still possible to intercept, but it would be practically impossible for them to decipher the encoded information. Like only certain well-funded clandestine organizations of the federal government have the computing resources to crack the encryption. Only when it says 'http' at the start will anyone be able to listen in. Also, it's not like the internet is a party line and just anyone can start watching what you're doing, it takes a fair amount of effort to do that. I just went to paypal.com, and it automatically made the website secure.
Whichever browser you're using, there is probably some marker that you are using a secure site, a lock, a colored bar, something. If you know all this and are spending a lot of time in the Kremlin or something, where information security is very suspect, I apologize, but I think you are worried about something that you shouldn't be.
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Moderator
Canada
10460 Posts |
When I travel light, I use wireless connections with my iphone. I don't have encryption software on my phone, like Hotspot Shield, for example, like I do on my laptop. Hosts of wireless servers can easily intercept all kinds of transactions. I have been burned before, so I am just very cautious when using wireless for online banking and PayPal. Do a web search on "Caffe Latte Attack" for a few examples of horror stories...
"Discovery follows discovery, each both raising and answering questions, each ending a long search, and each providing the new instruments for a new search." -- J. Robert OppenheimerContent of this post is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses...0/deed.en_USMy eBay store
Edited by SPP-Ottawa
06/14/2012 12:22 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1192 Posts |
Seller was out of line, but it could all have been avoiding by simply taking the couple minutes to pay right after you hit the BIN button.
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Valued Member
Canada
457 Posts |
I buy a fair amount of coins from ebay and I almost always pay instantly when I win a bid or do a buy it now, but when I'm buying multiple items I will wait up to a week to pay. I have never had anyone ask why I haven't paid yet and if they ever did I would not buy from them again. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1161 Posts |
I do not offer Buy-It-Now options on my ebay listings so I'm not exactly sure on proper Buy-It-Now etiquette or policy when listing / buying such items. I do believe that if the seller has a specific time requirement for receiving payment for any listing on ebay that it should be clearly stated in the listing for all buyers to see. Without such information stated for all buyers to see...the seller must then abide by ebay's policy for acceptable time frame for making / receiving payments. I also believe that the seller was way out of line sending a threatening email after four days. As a seller there is proper etiquette that should be observed when dealing with buyers who are potential customers again in the future. It just makes good business sense. Whether to pay the seller or not after such communication is completely up to the buyer. I do not think I would of payed the buyer after such an email but that is just me. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10045 Posts |
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The least the seller could have done was try an message you and wait a few days. A good businessman would have tried to clarify the matter with you, rather than assumed the worst and go on the offensive. With those I buy coins on eBay--if they don't get payment immediately, they first assume I want to combine shipping--see the difference?  The hothead routine from amateurs gets tiresome. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1581 Posts |
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Valued Member
United States
117 Posts |
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The least the seller could have done was try an message you and wait a few days. The buyer should have contacted the seller right after he hit the BIN button and informed him he wouldn't be able to pay for several days. Reneging on a bid because a buyer stands up for his rights is unethical. I'm sorry but the buyer was completely in the wrong in this matter. |
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Replies: 45 / Views: 5,768 |
Posted 06/14/2012 10:06 am
