The Genii Forum

440 to 1.

For the first time ever, after years of eBay dealings, I have received my first ever "negative" feedback from a winning bidder. To wit:

"bad customer service. Not a pleasant transaction" [sic].

So here is what went down and I will allow you to decide:

I put a collection of Greater Magic books (three editions) and ephemera (three pieces) up on eBay for $499. (When I told George Daily that price, he called it a "bargain.")

A few days before the end of the auction, I received a message from an individual offering me $380 if it didn't "sell through."

This, for those who do not know, is a direct violation of the terms of use one makes with eBay. I should have reported him. I should have blocked him from bidding! But how the hell could I know that, after I told him his "offer" was out of bounds as well as an insult, he would still bid. (Apparently I held his neck to the ground with my iron boot.)

He won and I sent an invoice (Feb 21).

He paid with a PayPal "eCheck" on February 22 (after sending another message complaining about the price--again, apparently having been forced into bidding).

I waited for the eCheck to clear. It didn't. He cancelled it (according to PayPal on Mar. 2). So I sent a message asking what his intentions were. Then I waited a day or so and sent him a final message that said he had 24 hours to tell me what his intentions were regarding the auction or I would be forced to report him to eBay. This was not a "pay or else" message mind you, it was a request as to what his intentions were or else. After all, as far as eBay was concerned, it sold and I owed them money, so I had to do something to conclude the transaction one way or the other.

After more than 24 hours with no communication (we are now up to March 4), I reported him.

The next day he paid (direct payment). I shipped the next day. He received it a few days later. So he dislikes my "customer service," which was sticking to my price, following the rules, asking to be paid, and finally asking what he was going to do when his first payment fell through. Not to mention shipping the next business day and I even included a nice thank you note on one of my nice Taschen Magic postcards.

Today I get the negative feedback.

Of course as a seller, I cannot leave negative feedback. That's okay: I'm positive that my negative comments in my "positive feedback" tell the truth. Just as I have done here.

And Mr. Anderson, as I know you are reading this, you are blocked from ever buying anything from me ever again. Even if it is a bargain.

Dustin

Dustin, no need for me to "decide"; it is clear that you did all you could to make it a professional transaction.
And the buyer got a great deal. Three Greater Magic books? Fantastic deal.

Don't stress it; you know that every once in awhile there's a bad apple that doesn't see things clearly. You also know that one bit of "negative" feedback will not remotely impact your future transactions. It's just too bad you had to waste one of those nice Taschen Magic postcards.

Enjoy the weekend!

Hi, I would call ebay and discuss what you have posted,
report him and tell ebay he offered you a reduced price if the auction ended without a sale, outside of Ebay.
Also look at his purchases in his feedback to see if this a common thing with this buyer.
I had a customer buy 2 items a few years ago and said he never got them and he demanded a refund,he also did the same thing to 7 other sellers.
Ebay shut him off.
Rich P

You could probably call Ebay to address this. With the buyer trying to avoid Ebay fees, they could look into his background for other occurrences.

With the negative feedback, I don't know the duration but you you will go back to 100% overtime.

If you're on Ebay, sooner or later you have to encounter this BS.

10-12 years ago Ebay was a good place to sell things. Now it is so full of cons, ripoffs, and just plain old idiots bidding and complaining about foolish, trivial things that I have given up almost.

The fees alone make it next to impossible to come ahead.
SME group on facebook is a much better place to sell some used magic. No fees, 6,000+ members and you make your own price rules.


But yes, Dustin, you are in the right. But ebay will usually side with the idiots and thieves.

I gave a seller negative feedback for various reasons. He sent me an email through eBay asking for a change of feedback. So, there is some official apparatus which eBay offers for a seller to send to a buyer requesting that the feedback be changed.

I changed my feedback from negative to neutral, and the seller was still screaming.

Richard Kaufman wrote:I gave a seller negative feedback for various reasons. He sent me an email through eBay asking for a change of feedback. So, there is some official apparatus which eBay offers for a seller to send to a buyer requesting that the feedback be changed.

I changed my feedback from negative to neutral, and the seller was still screaming.

I had a similar experience wherein the seller treated me rather flippantly when he refused to take back an article of clothing. When I gave him a negative feedback, he had eBay remove it. When I tried to return the item through eBay for a refund, they refused citing buyer's remorse instead of the improper fit that it was.

I don't get treated like that in retail stores. Throughout the whole sorry ordeal, I spoke to Filipinos 99% of the time. It's an indication that eBay outsources it's grunt work to a Third World country, like so many other corporations. It's just another sleazy company, and if it wasn't for the rare magic items that flow through the pipeline every once in a while, I would close my account.