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Post by Tbone81 on Nov 25, 2018 12:16:36 GMT -6
Sorry in advance for this rant but I had to get this out.
So I buy and sell alot of gear on ebay. I recently sold an Aphex 651 Expressor. I had three units, decided I only needed 1-2, so lets make some money and fund other purchases. Anyway, the piece in question was the best of the three that I had (all 3 were in great condition). About two weeks after it was sold and delivered I get an email from the buyer saying that once he received he immediately send it to Jim Williams for his mod. And upon inspection by JW the unit had a power transformer that was loose, a loose pot, the input meter was permanently pegged into the red, and something was wrong with the sidechain. JW said he couldn't/wouldn't fix it and was sending it back. The buyer questioned how I could sell him something in such poor condition and made a rather condescending comment, informing me of JW's reputation. He asked for refund even though the sale was explicitly no refunds.
So I responded that I knew who JW was, no explanation needed there, and that the unit was perfect when I shipped it. Maybe it was damaged in shipping? The buyer said he never opened the box when he got it, but that he immediately re-shipped it to JW. So, I refunded him anyway, ate the shipping cost both ways and received a screwed up Aphex 651 back from him. Sure enough it had the problems that JW said it did. However, upon careful inspection it looks like the unit was dropped at some point. One of the rack ears was slightly bent, the faceplate looked as it wasn't in perfect alignment with the chasis too. The box I shipped it in looked perfect, no damage.
So now I'm thinking this guy dropped the damn thing and sent it to JW for repair/mod and when it didn't work out blamed me for it. I'm super pissed, and have almost no recourse. I refunded the purchase because I know from experience that ebay almost always sides with buyers during disputes and I really needed to keep my feedback perfect because of other pending sales but I'm almost ready to completely forget ever selling anything on eBay.
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Post by EmRR on Nov 25, 2018 17:58:01 GMT -6
Sorry to hear.
My first course would have been to tell ebay the buyer had admitted not inspecting the unit (not even opened box!), and sent it on to a third party before confirming it had arrived from you with out damage. Buyer admitted it in writing? In the message system? They may side with you in that case. After all, it voids any ability to claim damage on the first shipment if it's immediately shipped again.
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Post by svart on Nov 26, 2018 7:50:02 GMT -6
That sucks. Unfortunately, even with claiming that it happened in shipping, unless you explicitly bought the extra insurance, it's almost impossible to get anything out of the shipping companies, and even it you did get the insurance, it's still hard to get them to pay for it when a box is in good shape with no obvious external damage. They'll almost always come to the conclusion that "you didn't pack it good enough". I learned this the hard way.
It's the nature of selling and shipping gear. You're just going to have a few folks who do this. I've had a few folks send back stuff they've obviously broken or disassembled but it's impossible to *prove* it to a dis-interested 3rd party.
The only recourse would be if you had excellent pictures of the condition of the unit before shipping, and then you might get Ebay/Paypal to listen, but it's an uphill battle where I'm not entirely sure they don't count on it being hard so that many will stop pursuing actions that take time and money out of their pockets.
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Post by EmRR on Nov 26, 2018 9:41:10 GMT -6
True about the carriers potential response, but ebay doesn't care about the carriers response, only procedure. The buyer admitted they did not inspect it, and sent it on to a third party immediately. They negated part of a shipping claims procedure. That's the only hope I see.
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Post by Tbone81 on Nov 26, 2018 9:45:06 GMT -6
Yeah, I feel there’s not much I could’ve done. I once had a buyer give me bad feedback because he didn’t like the action of the digital encoders on a synth I sold him. He didn’t give me any warning or a chance to remedy the situation. So now I’m really paranoid about disputes. Plus, I’ve heard countless stories of other people’s eBay nightmares.
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Post by Blackdawg on Nov 26, 2018 11:24:54 GMT -6
Why are you so concerned with prefect feedback? I buy from people all the time with high 90s due to shit like that which is generally why they don't have perfect feedback anymore.
Still, super shitty man.
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Post by Bender on Nov 26, 2018 12:20:36 GMT -6
Sounds like a shit show,sorry brother. I personally would've stopped the buck there had he said he didn't open it & directly shipped it out.RED FLAG. Sorry but since he did that, I'd tell him he's SOL, especially with the no returns policy, your feedback record etc. IMO that puts the responsibility on the buyer, as it puts you in a tough place even if was insured. Hindsights 20/20 though, I always ship fully insured but again since a 2nd shipments involved this complicates things further which brings me back full circle.
Stories like this,the higher fee's, and the quality of client that used to message me on ebay is what made me decide not to sell on there anymore. A shame considering all the traffic they get. Less potential money in my pocket when it comes to selling assembled kits or 2nd hand gear, however less potential for headaches like this as well.
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Post by rowmat on Nov 26, 2018 18:36:08 GMT -6
"...The buyer said he never opened the box when he got it, but that he immediately re-shipped it to JW." Sorry but the buyer is bullshitting you bigtime! Think about how many people would purchase something (especially used online from an unknown seller) and NEVER even look inside the box before sending it on to another party? I can tell you... ZERO! I have no doubt the buyer damaged it himself and then attempted to distance himself from 'said' damage by claiming he "never looked inside the box". What utter crap! |
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Post by Tbone81 on Nov 26, 2018 18:54:32 GMT -6
Thx everyone for your comments. I was and still am pretty upset. Initially I was kind of taken back and confused by the whole thing. I didn’t know what to make of it.
I was rather insulted too, his initial message to me implied that I might have sent him a broken unit on purpose. And that’s what really got me angry, that my integrity was being called into question
Oh well, I guess it’s water under the bridge now. I’ll let karma work it out.
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Post by rowmat on Nov 26, 2018 18:56:56 GMT -6
Thx everyone for your comments. I was and still am pretty upset. Initially I was kind of taken back and confused by the whole thing. I didn’t know what to make of it. I was rather insulted too, his initial message to me implied that I might have sent him a broken unit on purpose. And that’s what really got me angry, that my integrity was being called into question Oh well, I guess it’s water under the bridge now. I’ll let karma work it out. What kind of an eBay score does he have? |
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Post by bowie on Nov 26, 2018 19:02:54 GMT -6
This is why I take detailed pics of everything and, for high-dollar items, even take pics of the packaging process. All it took was one ebay scammer 10 years ago to strike paranoia into me.
When you have problems like this, always get an ebay rep on the phone. The ones who review claims online (when it's not going through the automated system) don't give a damn. The phone reps at least take the time to understand what's happening.
But, be aware that ebay takes a "buyer is always right" approach. I've got their reps to flat out admit this. If a buyer is unhappy and claims it's not as described, you must take it back. The best you can do is report a suspicious buyer and they will make note of it. This is why I avoid selling on ebay.
Take over 10% and offer me no protection? No thank you.
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Post by Tbone81 on Nov 26, 2018 19:53:22 GMT -6
Thx everyone for your comments. I was and still am pretty upset. Initially I was kind of taken back and confused by the whole thing. I didn’t know what to make of it. I was rather insulted too, his initial message to me implied that I might have sent him a broken unit on purpose. And that’s what really got me angry, that my integrity was being called into question Oh well, I guess it’s water under the bridge now. I’ll let karma work it out. What kind of an eBay score does he have? His feedback score is 33, all positive. |
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Post by svart on Nov 26, 2018 20:06:52 GMT -6
Thx everyone for your comments. I was and still am pretty upset. Initially I was kind of taken back and confused by the whole thing. I didn’t know what to make of it. I was rather insulted too, his initial message to me implied that I might have sent him a broken unit on purpose. And that’s what really got me angry, that my integrity was being called into question Oh well, I guess it’s water under the bridge now. I’ll let karma work it out. . My father was a cop. He interrogated a lot of people in his career. First and foremost, liars always overly embellish their version of the story because they are trying hard to convince you of it. Secondly, they'll usually accuse the other person of what they're personally guilty of, so if they accuse you if scamming them, it's likely they're scamming you. |
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Post by cyrano on Nov 27, 2018 8:12:39 GMT -6
That's why I abandoned Ebay years ago.
For me, it was an expensive router. Nobody was able to get into it. Password reset didn't work. I sold it as defective, for parts, mentioning in big red characters "Password reset procedure doesn't work" in three languages. It sold for 5 €. Transport was three times that.
The buyer immediately filed a claim, without even contacting me. Ebay/Paypal sided with the buyer. I refunded, because it was only 5 € and sent the buyer a mail he could keep it. After refunding, my Paypal account was blocked for over six months. The buyer still gave negative feedback. When I emailed ebay about it, there was nothing they could do.
I figured I didn't need that kind of hassle. Plenty of other ways to sell. Sure, ebay yields higher prices, but if you deduct all the pain and the hassle, it simply isn't worth it. And now, I only sell to people I know can use the equipment and want the gear. Buyer's happy, I'm happy.
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Post by Tbone81 on Nov 27, 2018 10:25:34 GMT -6
Anyone use Reverb? I’ve bought a few things off there but don’t know what the seller experience is like.
I do like that there’s a time limit on giving feedback. Thoughts?
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Post by jcoutu1 on Nov 27, 2018 11:21:34 GMT -6
Anyone use Reverb? I’ve bought a few things off there but don’t know what the seller experience is like. I do like that there’s a time limit on giving feedback. Thoughts? I use Reverb all the time. Better fees and better audience, at least so far. I've done well when there have been issues. Sign up with my link. reverb.com/refer-a-friend/jesse-c |
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Post by Bender on Nov 27, 2018 11:51:13 GMT -6
Anyone use Reverb? I’ve bought a few things off there but don’t know what the seller experience is like. I do like that there’s a time limit on giving feedback. Thoughts? I use Reverb all the time. Better fees and better audience, at least so far. I've done well when there have been issues. Sign up with my link. reverb.com/refer-a-friend/jesse-cYou beat me to sharing a referral link lol.Another user for Reverb here. I've had zero issues and think it's been superior to fleabay in everyway. |
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Post by rowmat on Nov 27, 2018 13:23:16 GMT -6
My first Reverb experience was not good.
I purchased an Alesis HD24XR from someone in Hawaii and after paying for it Reverb then arbitrarily just cancelled the sale without first notifying me.
When I asked "Why" they told me they deemed my purchase as a "Suspicious Transaction" but could not/would not give me any evidence to justify their claim.
The seller was pissed off with me because he assumed I had backed out of the sale.
So after calming him down I was made to jump through a bunch of hoops after phoning Reverb support and had to provide scans of my Australian driver's licence and credit card (which I was not particularly comfortable with) before I could repurchase the item.
What really pissed me off was the $70 AUD charge I incurred in international transaction fees on the cancelled purchase which I never got refunded. It was no more than about 10 minutes between purchasing the item and then receiving notification the sale had been cancelled. But regardless I still incurred the transaction fees.
Although I complained to Reverb they denied any liability and refused to compensate me for this loss as I was charged another $70 in fees the second time round.
When I asked why they didn't first contact me before they cancelled the sale they just told me it was some kind of security algorithm that automatically flagged and then reversed the transaction.
I asked if they also had an algorithm for automatically refunding my original transaction fees but I got no reply over that question.
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