Today is December 23rd, Festivus (as per Seinfeld fans) and part of this time honored tradition is the Airing of Grievances.
So, in the spirit of the, um, season, what was your number one grievance about this year in terms of buying and selling online? In a rare move, I won’t try put a positive spin on anything, feel free to get as negative or complain as much as you want, it’s part of the fun.
But I have to ask you, please, no political fights in the comments. Complain but still be nice to each other, OK?
I’ll probably jump in on the comments but, for now, I think this sums up my issues nicely…
“There’s got to be a way for me to make a living without leaving my house or doing anything or talking to anybody or being awake.” -Michael Ian Black
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This year my biggest complaint is against the bidder who bid a very nice price on a Thanksgiving platter that I put up just before Thanksgiving. By the time this person responded to my complaint about no payment and informed me that they didn’t want the platter after all, it was too late to relist before the holiday! People…if you’re going to bid, follow through with payment!
I agree with amweeks. I’ve had more NPBs this holiday season than in my entire previous 8 years on eBay. Most of them bid on holiday-themed items, too, tying up my inventory and preventing me from selling them to people who would actually pay for them. The increase in crummy buyers were my only real negative experience on eBay this year.
Even Paypal was largely positive this year, backing me on a chargeback that was obviously fraudulent (buyer claimed unauthorized charges several weeks after winning the auction, despite attempting to file an INR 2 days after paying for the item).
I also saw sales on 4 of my non-eBay venues, despite not putting a lot of selling effort into them yet. That bodes well for the coming year, when I plan to focus much more efforts on these other venues.
As a buyer, my only negative was an Artfire seller who took 12 days to ship my items (in-stock, non-special-order items). Good thing I ordered them early for Christmas. That seller lost out on further sales, since I had planned to order more of a particular item if I liked the one I purchased. Another Artfire seller shipped within one day. Guess who will be getting more of my business 🙂
I agree with amweeks. I’ve had more NPBs this holiday season than in my entire previous 8 years on eBay. Most of them bid on holiday-themed items, too, tying up my inventory and preventing me from selling them to people who would actually pay for them. The increase in crummy buyers were my only real negative experience on eBay this year.
Even Paypal was largely positive this year, backing me on a chargeback that was obviously fraudulent (buyer claimed unauthorized charges several weeks after winning the auction, despite attempting to file an INR 2 days after paying for the item).
I also saw sales on 4 of my non-eBay venues, despite not putting a lot of selling effort into them yet. That bodes well for the coming year, when I plan to focus much more efforts on these other venues.
As a buyer, my only negative was an Artfire seller who took 12 days to ship my items (in-stock, non-special-order items). Good thing I ordered them early for Christmas. That seller lost out on further sales, since I had planned to order more of a particular item if I liked the one I purchased. Another Artfire seller shipped within one day. Guess who will be getting more of my business 🙂
My gripe is the new ebay buyers. I don’t think they should be able to leave feedback until after they have at least 10 feedbacks. They just don’t know the rules. Two negatives this season from Newbies..over nothing..very annoying.
My other gripe is the International shipping. No proof if they get it or not. You’re held hostage because of the feedback. Even when you can prove you sent it, you still lose. We’ve stopped shipping to a lot of countries because it ends up costing us!
Most of my sales are Immediate Pay..it’s the only way to go. Pick a high price and then use the Make Offer…