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The pointless behaviour of eBay sellers

Started by madhair60, May 13, 2020, 02:47:54 PM

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madhair60

Bought a Dualshock 3 controller to replace my knackered one. Arrived today. It's not a Dualshock 3, it's a Sixaxis, and it doesn't hold a charge so only works with the wire plugged in. What is the point? Why even sell it to me? Is the idea that I'm supposed to go ah well, it's the wrong item and it doesn't work, but whatever, who cares?

What is the point?


Cuellar

Got to agree with idunnosomename I'm afraid. They want your money.

Cerys

Don't complain to the seller.  Simply package up every single turd you do from now on and post it to them.  Without affixing any stamps, though, so they're paying for the privilege of receiving your shit.  They'll get the message.

Bought a "brand new" WWE mask off Ebay for my son. Whilst it was very much new and in the packaging, fuck knows where it was being kept because it was covered in grime and absolutely stunk of cigarette smoke. Like, open the parcel and the whole house fucking reeks-level of bad. Tried washing it, but the smell just clung onto the rubber.

There was no way I was putting that anywhere near my son's face. Thought about complaining and getting a refund, but I just chucked it in the bin. Can you imagine the fucking correspondence you'd be having with someone who keeps kids toys in that sort of state? Nobody's got time for that.

Cerys

Crap in a box.  You know it makes sense.

Sebastian Cobb

I bought a component cable for wii, didn't arrive after a few weeks so I clicked 'not arrived' and 'I want the item' rather than 'i want a refund'.

A bit later I got a refund and had to order a cable from someone that wasn't a muppet. That one arrived.

QDRPHNC

I recently bought a fairly delicate item off ebay, which arrived, loose, in a large padded envelope and smashed to bits.
When I brought this up to the seller, he said, "That's weird, I told them at the post office it was delicate."

I think part of the problem is that people don't know what they're selling half the time. They're basically virtual junk shop owners, who don't know how something is supposed to look or work, and assume that anything that looks "vintage" must be worth some money, even if it was mass produced in the millions.

Cerys

Or they know damn well what they're selling and lie about it, which is why when your first ever laptop stops charging and you open it up you find that the power socket has been in inexpertly gluegunned into place with all the finesse of a polar bear.

Fr.Bigley

Some are alright but I've been had before too.

I bought a SNES about 10 years ago for nostalgia purposes and the seller said it was in ok condition, when it arrived it was actually new old stock only opened to check the contents as well as a jap copy of Megaman 7 sealed and everything. Paid 40 quid for this thing, sold the Megaman game at Arcadia for 200 quid.

Still best eBay find yet.

seepage

Quote from: QDRPHNC on May 13, 2020, 05:54:30 PM
I recently bought a fairly delicate item

I instantly thought you meant a sex toy or drugs, this being CaB.

QDRPHNC

Quote from: seepage on May 13, 2020, 07:03:38 PM
I instantly thought you meant a sex toy or drugs, this being CaB.

MY DRUGS HAVE SMASHED

pancreas


Ferris


Ferris

Does everyone still leave internet 1.0 feedback?

"FAST SELLER GOOD ITEM AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA++++++++++"

I remember my dad showing me a part he'd bought for the front suspension on his MG, then I watched him leave feedback by applying caps lock and holding down the A key on his knackered old second hand keyboard (which, coincidentally, he bought off eBay). A heartwarming bit of old school internet use.

I think eBay is solely populated by old men selling each other bits of old shed and things they found in the loft. I'm amazed it is still going to be honest.

Al Tha Funkee Homosapien

Quote from: FerriswheelBueller on May 13, 2020, 10:09:25 PM
Does everyone still leave internet 1.0 feedback?

"FAST SELLER GOOD ITEM AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA++++++++++"

I remember my dad showing me a part he'd bought for the front suspension on his MG, then I watched him leave feedback by applying caps lock and holding down the A key on his knackered old second hand keyboard (which, coincidentally, he bought off eBay). A heartwarming bit of old school internet use.

I think eBay is solely populated by old men selling each other bits of old shed and things they found in the loft. I'm amazed it is still going to be honest.

It is a bizarrely archaic website to navigate. The differences between the same platform on desktop, mobile and app versions is just so weird.

But what is the alternative platform?

chveik

Quote from: FerriswheelBueller on May 13, 2020, 10:09:25 PM
I think eBay is solely populated by old men selling each other bits of old shed and things they found in the loft. I'm amazed it is still going to be honest.

dunno, I've bought some nice clothes on it that I could never possibly have afforded otherwise.

Sebastian Cobb

Quote from: FerriswheelBueller on May 13, 2020, 10:09:25 PM
Does everyone still leave internet 1.0 feedback?

"FAST SELLER GOOD ITEM AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA++++++++++"

I remember my dad showing me a part he'd bought for the front suspension on his MG, then I watched him leave feedback by applying caps lock and holding down the A key on his knackered old second hand keyboard (which, coincidentally, he bought off eBay). A heartwarming bit of old school internet use.

I think eBay is solely populated by old men selling each other bits of old shed and things they found in the loft. I'm amazed it is still going to be honest.

I think a lot of the sellers are pretty active. One of my mates flips loads of shite on there that he gets cheap at small auctions, car boots, junk/charity shops etc. Like many on there, he's probably using it enough to get his wrists slapped by the taxman if someone was petty enough to grass.


Marner and Me

I quite like eBay. Don't use the app. Found stuff I'd not be able yo find otherwise.

poodlefaker

Bought a jacket that didn't fit so immediately sold it on for a profit. Then got an email from PayPal saying the original seller's email wasn't recognised so my payment was never made. He's never contacted me about it.

poodlefaker

I've also sold stuff - clothes mainly - that could be bought cheaper new. A quick Google search will find them, but no, someone would rather pay £45 for my five your old jacket with a button missing than £30 for a brand new one. Bizarre.

jobotic

I've bought some nice clothes I could never afford otherwise too. Few CDs too.

I've watched bicycle related items before that do eventually sell for more than you could buy them new in a shop, on a few occasions. Odd.

idunnosomename

i like ebay because i put my old shit up there from the 90s and nerds give me money for it AAAA++++ oh babby

Ray Travez

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on May 13, 2020, 10:37:54 PM
I think a lot of the sellers are pretty active. One of my mates flips loads of shite on there that he gets cheap at small auctions, car boots, junk/charity shops etc.

I used to do a lot of this, but it became too much of a pain in the arse. It's a buyer's market now. If you don't mind listing a lot of stuff and making a quid on each item it's ok; or if you get reduced postage rates that gives you better margins. But it's just not worth the candle. I sell the odd pair of trainers but that's it- rather give my stuff to Scope. Similar situation with amazon books.

It's a shame, 'cos I used to love selling stuff- things I found, or bought at jumble sales/ car boots. 

Icehaven

It annoys me how if you search for something fairly common, a black Tshirt or a vape coil or something, there's loads of identical entries with different prices but the same picture, clearly the same seller trying to catch the full range of price filters. Wading through them all is a total ballache.

Sebastian Cobb

Quote from: Ray Travez on May 13, 2020, 11:06:16 PM
I used to do a lot of this, but it became too much of a pain in the arse. It's a buyer's market now. If you don't mind listing a lot of stuff and making a quid on each item it's ok; or if you get reduced postage rates that gives you better margins. But it's just not worth the candle. I sell the odd pair of trainers but that's it- rather give my stuff to Scope. Similar situation with amazon books.

It's a shame, 'cos I used to love selling stuff- things I found, or bought at jumble sales/ car boots.

He seems to do quite well due to geography I think. He's got a good eye and can spot fairly niche things, i.e. he managed to find an original Sony Walkman in amongst some crap and punted it for a couple of hundred quid. It's basically gouging at that point.

It's a bit depressing really, if he finds a hobby he inevitably ends up just turning it into some money making scheme. He got in to whisky for a while but buying and selling took over from any interest he had in it.

All the admin sounds a bit like work to me, and I do my actual job so I don't have to do any of that in my free time.

pancreas

Janie Jones says she makes thousands buying and selling Toby jugs.

Ferris

To an earlier point, I guess the alternative is amazon marketplace? I've used that once or twice and it's been alright

Sebastian Cobb

Facebook and all. And Gumtree.

Although gumtree always feels quite awkward, I often get the feeling the sellers find me turning up to give them money for something they've listed a massive inconvenience. I don't even bother haggling.

Sony Walkman Prophecies

Quote from: FerriswheelBueller on May 13, 2020, 10:09:25 PM
Does everyone still leave internet 1.0 feedback?

"FAST SELLER GOOD ITEM AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA++++++++++"

I remember my dad showing me a part he'd bought for the front suspension on his MG, then I watched him leave feedback by applying caps lock and holding down the A key on his knackered old second hand keyboard (which, coincidentally, he bought off eBay). A heartwarming bit of old school internet use.

I think eBay is solely populated by old men selling each other bits of old shed and things they found in the loft. I'm amazed it is still going to be honest.

I think most of the trade they do is now through big retailers. Argos sell on there, as do John Lewis and all the other big boys. Effectively it's no different from Amazon these days. The fact you can bid on items (which hardly anyone does now) is more of an eccentric hangover from the past than part of their core business model. It's all about Buy it Now /Make Offer at this point.

Personally, I prefer it over Amazon because. A. You're not buying from huge warehouses with questionable working conditions. B. There's more flexibility on price. Stick an item in your watch list for 5 days and you'll usually get a 10% offer come through, and of course you can usually make offers directly, as opposed to Amazon where the focus is on dynamic pricing which is almost impossible keep up with.