eBay selling strategies ... rant loading

[Lansky1]

I recycle small boxes, too. I'm not paying (or charging) $7.20 for a priority mail box when I can send a small box of my own for $3-4. Mine goes priority just like the $7.20 box.

exactly

[LongBlade]

I love ranting about eBay ...

Never did sell and only bought so here is a buyers perspective - I always pay or paid within minutes of auction end! I got fed up when I was burned on 2 auctions within a short time frame - 2 sellers who both outright lied about knife condition - one who even messaged me to say the knife had great opening and closing snap and no wobble - it had absolutely no snap and wobbled like an old wagon wheel ... Even though he had a no returns policy he took it back as I told him I would contact ebay immediately as I have evidence of a fraudulent description - guess that is your buyers protection .. Other case the seller hid all damage in photos by his angles and again he never described it when asked - I made him even pay return shipping!! So I got gun shy on ebay and became sick of the gamble...

Nowadays I only bid on rare occasion - when I see something that goes un-noticed due to wrong categories etc, titles etc and usually this is from sellers who are not knifers - and I can see it is a nice knife... Maybe I bought 5 times on eBay in last year or so... also mostly uneducated sellers - or "junk" dealers who have a few knives - I have helped a few out in the past understand my questions and the great majority have been grateful as they learned how to describe a knife and a few cut me breaks by accepting offers that both of us were happy with in the end! I got a knife for a fair price and in the future they would know how to sell a knife and what is important...

So speaking of shipping - last time I had a seller who listed $7 shipping (originally they listed $14 shipping and after I asked why the seller lowered it to $7 in the auction without answering me) - bought the knife & it came in a padded envelope which I hate as I had a knife lost once in an envelope - just don't trust those envelopes & I expect a box for $7 - Anyway I saw the price was $3.50 for shipping on the envelope... so they were actually making up for eBay's cut... as a buyer I was pissed - why am I paying for your decision to pay eBay's fee game on my wallet - that is wrong!! It is a matter of principle not the $3.50...

The whole eBay system feedback game is terribly flawed - yes in favor of buyers but I can feel for the sellers as some buyers can be ridiculous with expectations... and if a seller doesn't give me feedback after I just paid immediately and was more than polite if I asked any questions than I should get my feedback after I pay - not waiting for them to see what I will say for them - sorry it all is just a game...

Give me a knife show, a find at a local venue in antiques, vintage items etc or somebody who I know that deals in knives rather than gamble on eBay!

[Lansky1]

AGREE about the feedback system being flawed. I hate to admit it, but I'm one of those guys that holds my feedback until a customer leaves theirs. I've been burned by unreasonable buyers leaving bad feedback, and have had no recourse because I've already left positive feedback. I figure if I don't leave instant feedback, a buyer will be less likely to ding me if I still have the retaliatory feedback hammer in my back pocket. This is the mutually assured destruction concept ebayified. For the record, I do leave instant positive feedback for the buyer as soon as they post feedback for me.

[Miller Bro's]

Here's my eBay rant..........

I bought a knife, ( what else?), I get this message from eBay when I try to check out

! This item does not ship to P.O. boxes. Here is what you can do:

Change address
To ask for an exception, please request a total from the seller

Really? The seller doesn't ship to the United States Post Office? In this day and age with package theft I think it is wise to have your packages delivered to the local post office. If I go away for a few days I don't have to worry about a box sitting in my mailbox or on the front porch where it can be rained on or stolen.

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

That probably means he doesn't use USPS. UPS & Fedex will not ship to a PO box.

[Railsplitter]

Here's my eBay rant..........

I bought a knife, ( what else?), I get this message from eBay when I try to check out

! This item does not ship to P.O. boxes. Here is what you can do:

Change address
To ask for an exception, please request a total from the seller

Really? The seller doesn't ship to the United States Post Office? In this day and age with package theft I think it is wise to have your packages delivered to the local post office. If I go away for a few days I don't have to worry about a box sitting in my mailbox or on the front porch where it can be rained on or stolen.

I've been thinking about getting a PO box but I'm having trouble deciding if it's worth the expense. Now I have another reason that I might not do it.

When listing an item on Ebay there is a section that you can check off certain shipping exclusions like countries, territories, PO boxes, etc. The first time I saw PO boxes as one of the exclusions my thoughts were similar to yours. Why would anybody not want to ship to a PO box?

[zzyzzogeton]

When I see that a seller does not ship to a PO box, I ask why, and tell them I am interested in their auction BUT I only accept deliveries to my PO Box to avoid "porch pirates" and "mailbox shoppers". I have only had 1 seller refuse to ship to a PO box. He had some bogus BS reason for not doing so. I just said, "Well, you'll have to sell it to someone else."

For those not using a PO box, check with other POs than the one closest to you. Many larger POs accept UPS and FedEx deliveries IF the address used is the physical address of the PO, rather than your PO box number.

I have lived in the boonies for the last 30 years. I had a rural address between 2 small towns. I used to have multiple items a year (not just knives) lost due to "mailbox shoppers" and "porch pirates". The items would show delivered but I dang sure never saw them.

When the PO built a new big PO in the larger town 13 miles away (towards Austin, I drove by it every day going to and from work), they put out a flyer saying that they would accept USPS and FedEx deliveries (using their address as stated above). I shifted to having every delivered package go to the PO. Failed deliveries dropped to zero. (Still had issues with stupid packagers, but that's another tail.)

When I moved 58 miles to another rural location between 2 small towns, I just left all packages going to that PO and make a trip over there (46 miles) every 7 to 10 days. The PO makes for a very secure temporary storage facility when I have to go out of town for a few days.

I think a PO 17 miles closer has started accepting UPS and FedEx deliveries now, so I'll be checking it out and, if so, will be moving to that PO when my box rental is up in May.

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

You must have a postmaster that understands they service rural customers. I don't think it works that way in the city. UPS & Fedex won't leave it there, and the post office won't accept it. What most people do in that situation is get a box at one of the local "UPS Store" type of businesses. (UPS Store used to be called "Mailboxes Etc." There are a ton of them by many names: "Postal Anex", "Mailbox Center", etc, etc.

[mrwatch]

I too have come home too find a package (S) with very expensive items sitting. No signature required. Or they called because their was no apartment number. Gave up apartment life. My now rant is that eBay has add choices with "that women's" face "Hillary" showing more than once. Seems like fleabay became very wealthy and doesn't need add choices.