Sunday, March 28, 2010

When I Sell on eBay...

... buyers argue about the postage charges. If you do not like the postage cost, then do not bid.

... international buyers try to tell me that the postage cost is lower than what I quoted. Unlike the sellers who inflate their charges for international postage, my charges are usually within $1.00 of the exact cost. Sometimes I even charge slightly less than the actual charges. I have had multiple people tell me in the last two years that a book can be shipped to Canada for around $3.00. Maybe 10 years ago...

All of my packages weigh at least 1 pound, four ounces for hardcover books. The minimum cost to Canada is $5.99 if I don't charge $1.00 for the cost of my supplies.

... buyers change their minds and want me to cancel their bids. There is a form for that, right? Why can't the buyers take responsibility for their own actions? They are not supposed to cancel their bids, but eBay gives them that ability, so long as it is done before the last 12 hours of an auction. But no, they want me to do it, probably so it won't count against their records.

... buyers want me to break up a lot and sell them just one or two books for a low price. For instance, let's say I have a lot of 20 books for $50.00, so the books are priced at $2.50 each, but the buyer must buy all of them. The buyer selects the most valuable book in the lot that might be worth $10 or more and wants me to remove it from the lot and sell it for $2.50 plus shipping. Um... no.

... buyers make really strange requests. For example, someone liked a dust jacket on a book up for sale better than the one on her book. She wanted to trade jackets with me. She wanted to pay for the cost of postage, and I would only mail her the dust jacket. She would mail me her dust jacket. The end result would be that I would have a mismatched book and jacket. This was not to my liking, so I did not agree to it.

... buyers ask for me to take a much lower price on the first or second day of an auction that is scheduled to run seven days. Shouldn't they wait until the item closes without bids before asking for a bargain? If the item does not sell, then a seller might be willing to negotiate. These buyers seem not to understand that normal auctions have a minimum and then the price goes up, rather than down.

... some buyers cause no problems at all.

In the last year, I have sold very little on eBay. I have had around 40 transactions as a seller on eBay during the last year. I have had slightly over 300 transactions on Bonanzle during the last year. I have had far fewer problems with buyers in my transactions on Bonanzle. There have been a few scattered situations, but those situations are very few. I have had more transactions on Bonanzle with fewer problems. Hmm....

I find that eBay buyers are now very picky and demanding, in general. Before you get offended, please note that I am an eBay buyer, and I know that not all eBay buyers are of this type. This is based on my transactions as a seller. Perhaps the large lots attract the bottom feeders. I don't know what it is, but I don't like it.

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