The sellers got me to quit using e-bay, when they posted "MAY (WILL) NOT SEND TO CANADALAND, plus the insane prices to ship by mail and parcel courier, the US postal system is one of the cheapest in the world, even with their increases, sellers charged me $17.50 to send a small boxcar kit??? c’mon, that ended my dealings with ebay.
I would give their seller ID Rich except that I may have no choice but to do business with them again some day and wouldn’t want one of the members to write them and say that I had been bad mouthing them here on the forum. They may not know it was me but then again they might and I don’t want to take the chance. If however the situation were bad enough I’d give you all the info you wanted.
Tracklayer
I don’t use either paypal or ebay, probably won’t for several reasons. First, there are some that won’t do anything if you have no feedback, which means a first time buyer or seller, they’ll do nothing. Then there are those that make a part time business of going to rumage sales, buying up everything in sight, so they can resell it on ebay, depriving any other “local” of the opportunity to buy for the same price they did. Then, the horror stories I’ve read on other groups, of paypal locking someone’s credit card until there’s a resolution to a complaint, or if one was dumb enough to give their checking account number, locking that, not just the amount disputed.
A lot of the HO scale stuff I’ve looked at, the reserve is more than the retail price for a new one from a legitimate dealer. CHeck the dealers first, then if no satisfaction, look on ebay, buyer beware.
SOme sellers, if you do not leave a glowing positive feedback, will leave negative feedback on the buyer. DOes this make any sense? Not in the real world, only in the inflated ego of the seller. If they got their money on time, that’s all they have any right to expect, not an ego stroke. Real world, what you want and what you get are sometimes not the same.
Rich.
What’s happening to eBay sellers??? It’s 20 replies behind Shady ebay practice?..
[Edit: Ahhh…I see the Insert/edit link feature is once again on the fritz [N]]
There is absolutely no reason why you cannot post a link to that auction. You don’t need any seller’s ID. And there is no way that anyone can identify anyone else who just happens to be looking at a completed auction. Right now we’re hearing only one side of a complaint. Who’s to say whether or not that complaint is valid?
Tracklayer, no one is going to contact the seller. We are just curious to see the link to the auction so we can see what he had to say about shipping and look at his feedback to see if there has been any negative feeback, especially regarding shipping.
Without the link, there really isn’t anything more that we can say or do to help you.
Rich
Well, maybe ONE mention of the weather…
gmpullman wrote:
Geography plays a role in how fast a shipper can get to the post office, too. My wife bought a few items from a seller that had recently had several bouts of nasty snow storms. She honestly said she tried to get to the P.O. first, a road was closed and on the second attempt someone hit her car and ran her into a ditch…
Take care, Ed
If your life is so fantastic that this minor incovenience causes you to rant like this, you must have it pretty good.
Perspective, people.
What is the status of your layout construction? Were you ready to run those items the instant they arrived?
Out of 300+ eBay transactions (internationally) with USA sellers I have had only 6 sellers with lousy service, ranging from slow shipping, S&H pirates, poor packers, and items not as described. That is a very good average and better than the service I would get in retail I think.
In fact, my last seller went far out of his way to assist with shipping to stop eBay’s new practice of trying to get a third party involved to charge brokerage and customs fees (not accurately either) and forcing premium shipping rates. He could not even alter his invoice to me because of the kind of listing eBay had roped him into and was being asked to ship to the eBay’s third party for reshipping to me. He restored my faith in buying on eBay after they had instituted this new cash grab routine.
You bet I have it made alco fan. Apparently you don’t know what that’s like. Can you spend $500.00 a week on train items and it not hurt you ?. I can. As for my reason for posting this issue in the first place, it was to give other members the opportunity to tell their stories about bad ebay experiences. When I buy an item I expect it to be delivered within a few days and not be told after the fact that it will be two or three weeks. I guess to some people that’s whining but I’m not the only one that feels this way. As for those of you that have asked me to post a link to the sellers I’ve mentioned my final answer on that is still no. Sorry. Thank you all for your input. As far as I’m concerned the subject is closed.
Tracklayer
Ummm…the tacky nighty might be a warning sign…kick the dust from your shoes and don’t look back.
Dan
Never worried about time it takes to get stuff except twice, one guy had a heart attack so I was dealing with the son 3 weeks later and the other was just slow but got back to me as soon as I sent an e-mail. Had one person send the wrong item once. Only serious problem I had was one in which the guy tried to fix something that fell off after he took the pic, bad job and e-bay agreed and refunded all including shipping both ways!
Well, that’s too bad. Kinda like reporting a crime but refusing to testify.
Rich
Well, I am not embarrassed to say that I sure don’t have $500 to spend each week on train items [:|]. Considering you do based on your post, perhaps Ebay isn’t your best source for model train equipment and supplies? I write that with no disrespect intended whatsoever nor am I trying to sound like a jerk or idiot. I am merely suggesting that if you have a $500 dollar a week model train budget (average of $2000 a month or $24,000 annually) you may want to seek out some of the non-EBay online hobby stores that advertise here, in the magazine and elsewhere. I think the service dealing directly with these non-EBay stores may suit your needs better.
Good luck and happy modeling!
Don.
Don, that is a good point.
And, I might add, that if someone is spending that amount of money, per week, per month, per year, on model railroading equipment, a retail store like MB Klein or Caboose Hobbies would probably provide added attention and service, expedited shipping, and probably larger discounts than what might be available to the rest of us.
Rich
26k??? Wow, tracklayer sure has some deep pockets.
But i agree, if he can make it rain [st] like that i would think many stores would be eager to have his orders.[G]
I too buy 80% of my MRR supplies through eBay and I have a 100% buyer rating, because I only shop when I actually have the money…
My relationship with Paypal is so good that they pay the seller immediately instead of waiting until the funds are processed from my account.
I can understand sellers’ frustrations with late payers, but just as bad are the sellers who wait to see my Feedback before placing their own. This is just wrong, as I should have my Feedback as soon as they get my money, as my active part in the transaction is over.
But when ordering from mainland China, delivery can take up to a month.
I only deal with sellers who can offer First Class shipping (much cheaper, not doubling the cost of the item) and no brokerage fees. They are still out there. I would use Priority for a really rare item, but for available high priced items I’d still rather go to my LHS or order directly from the manufacturer.
That’s all IF they will even ship to Canadaland. But if it’s something I really want, I’ve got an old classmate who now lives down south (my own Yankee Mole) who will bid for me & then ship it to me later. In these cases I really have to fight the urge to drop a note to the seller & show him that in spite of his xenophobic attitude, Captain Canada has thwarted his evil plans, nyah ha ha…
My experience with eBay is that the prices I find are not much better than I could find dealing with Amazon or MR Klein However I have never had a problem with EBay either.
I use it to find hard to find or unusual items. For example I just bought an orange 76 antenna ball to use as a over the highway sign. The seller told me he never thought to market them for train layouts.
Honestly, as soon as I saw the big lady in lingerie holding a train car while laying in bed I would exit the sight ASAP. I have never seen MRR stuff displayed like that. Really, really tasteless.
MIKE