June 15, 2009

As a buyer -

  • You are buying something sight unseen from a stranger so only buy from a seller who states in the listing that they accept returns without any strings attached. “No returns” = Gambling. Chances are very good that a “no returns” seller is selling misrepresented items. Avoid sellers with the “only if” ruse in their listings, where the seller adds conditions to the return details section (some slip the conditions in the payment sections or elsewhere, too), these sellers are only pretending to accept returns so they can make more money on their listings (they know that buyers will pay more from sellers who say they will accept returns). “Only if grossly misrepresented” = “Only if hell freezes over” since the seller gets to decide whatever “grossly” means. Try to return something and these sellers will say no without missing a beat. Which of the following the bad seller will come back with if the buyer protests, take your pick: they pretend the item is perfect and you are the problem, they pretend it’s OK for there to be undisclosed damage since they said it was “used”; or they pretend that you caused the damage that they intentionally didn’t disclose. Also while we’re on the subject of returns, avoid sellers who charge restocking fees, this adds insult to injury.
  • A bad seller will usually offer a refund only if the buyer lets them know that they will file a claim or if they actually file one. At what point the seller will do the right thing depends – they may accept a return if they know the buyer will pursue the matter in Resolution Center, or only once the buyer enters a dispute in Resolution Center, or only once the buyer escalates the dispute to a claim. If the buyer is getting nowhere, the final option is filing a buyer protection claim. If you have a choice, go the PayPal route – nobody really knows what the new ebay system is like, and one component of the new plan opens the door to abuse by sellers because it allows the sellers to not disclose the “minor scratching” of “used” items and get away with it. This is wrong on two levels: scratches should always be disclosed since virtually all antique and vintage items are “used” and unscratched ones are worth more money, and two, “minor” is a subjective term, and I wouldn’t bank on ebay siding with the buyer as to what is minor and what is not. Frankly, this change alone dissuades me from spending more than trivial amounts of money on ebay. At any rate, be very detailed in your opening statement, extensively describing all the significant problems with the item that, had you known about them, you would never have bought the item; you may not get another chance to present your case before a decision is handed down.
  • Another particularly difficult scenario for the buyer is if the seller does agree to accept the return but refunds the buyer using a personal check instead of PayPal, this is a sign that the seller hasn’t managed their funds well, or else just there are no funds and they are broke and stalling. While ebay looks after themselves by forcing the seller to accept PayPal for payments, ebay does not look after the buyer by making sure the seller uses PayPal for the refund. So the buyer must wait for the check to arrive, wait for a chance to deposit the check, then wait an indefinite amount of time to see if the seller’s check bounces – and of course the buyer is liable for the resulting fees if it does. Also tricky is that if the buyer registers the transaction on ebay’s resolution center (the step necessary prior to filing a claim that sometimes must be used to force the seller to accept a return) the buyer only has 20 days to file a claim or the case must be closed. The problem is, the time to wait for the seller’s check in the mail, deposit it, and wait for the out of state hold to be released on the funds could very well take more than 20 days – and just because the hold is released on the funds, that is no assurance the check has cleared and will not bounce in the days ahead.
  • Your best source for clues to predict how a transaction will go is not the feedback section, but the listing itself. If the tone of a listing turns you off, don’t buy. Think about it, if you walked into a store and the store owner started immediately complaining, threatening and/or coming off like a pompous ass, wouldn’t you just turn around and walk out? Do the same when shopping on the internet. What you want is the simplest of listings, with just a clear description of the item only and nothing extra in the description or the other boxes. All the normal buying and selling terms are already in the fine print of ebay so for a seller to indicate they will attempt to place further restrictions on the buyer is a bad sign of things to come. And avoid people selling their “personal collections” which are inevitably overpriced junk (more on this next). The problem with people who are in financial difficulty is that they overstate the condition (“I hate to part with my collection but I must”…) so these clues are a good tip-off.
  • Take a seller’s positive feedback with a grain of salt. In many cases you are only hearing part of the story. There are many bad experiences not being recorded in the feedback section for the simple reason that feedback is not anonymous. Many sensible people are reluctant to get into a publicly recorded war of words on the internet with an unstable person who has their name, address, and phone number. And there are many “good experiences” that should never have been recorded in the form of positive feedback. Since the vast majority of items sold on ebay have not been accurately assessed by true experts, as would be the case in a legitimate auction house, the market becomes flooded with junk that sells at low prices. Some pretend the junk they got for such a good deal is “mint” – and leave positive feedback for items that have been repainted, repaired, altered, etc., then they sell the item as “mint” and the cycle continues. Remember for the most part ebay is just a big yard sale.
  • Know shipping costs before you buy and don’t buy from sellers who inflate shipping costs. A one pound item in a free Priority Mail box from the Post Office costs less than $5 and packing material can be recycled. There’s no reason to inflate shipping, and the type of seller who does will typically send your item in a battered old box stuffed with newspaper. Yes, it takes time to pack things but that’s included in the price of the item, as it is anywhere else that you buy. When comparing similar items, always use the drop down box for the lowest price with shipping included. Then weed out “no returns” sellers. Another reason to make sure the seller has told you the shipping cost in writing before you buy, if an item doesn’t sell as well as a seller wants they would rather re-list and try again instead of honoring the completed auction, so they will never tell you the shipping amount so you can’t pay (and not paying puts you in a potentially bad spot with ebay).
  • Never buy anything from Canada where the shipping method is UPS. Bad Canadian sellers will not disclose (or hide in the fine print) that in addition to the shipping charge the buyer pays, that the buyer will have to pay nearly as much again as they paid for shipping (sometimes more) for “brokerage fees”. UPS will bill the buyer for this amount, not the seller. So for instance, the buyer pays the seller $50 for shipping, weeks later the buyer will get an unpleasant surprise in the form of a bill from UPS for close to $35. Once again ebay drops the ball when it comes to protecting buyers by not requiring that sellers disclose this significant hidden charge.

As a seller -

  • Provide detailed descriptions with lots of clear pictures and identify any and all flaws; pack well and ship fast, providing tracking numbers; accept returns graciously to ensure customer satisfaction. If you do all of this, most buyers will love you and return to buy from you again and again. This is the best scenario for an honest seller, building a base of good buyers.
  • Studies have repeatedly shown people pay more for items when they know they have the option of returning it if they don’t like it. It’s sellers who play the gotcha game that make people not want to shop on ebay, buyers get burned so many times they don’t come back, or they are afraid to pay fair prices because they keep getting junk instead of the real thing. And while it’s possible someone may damage an item and return it, risks come along with any profit-making venture.
  • Since most of the problems with buyers revolve around payment, get around this by listing as “Buy It Now” with “Immediate Payment Required”. If you set a good price, the item will sell quickly. Be careful about setting a price too low or too high, check completed listings for price-setting clues, but keep in mind the seller may have misrepresented the quality of the item. If you price “buy it now” items too low for quick sale, beware of other sellers buying from you with the intention of reselling at a higher price, bad sellers will leave you lower stars than you deserve in one or more feedback areas out of spite because your numbers are higher than theirs, to make themselves look better.
  • Verify ebay and PayPal accounts for purchases. Don’t accept payments from another person’s PayPal account. Ship only to the confirmed address on the PayPal account and only to the same person registered on the ebay account that the item was purchased with. Always use delivery confirmation.
  • If you didn’t require immediate payment, get ready to spend a lot of time dealing with nonpaying buyers. Be very careful with the option to mutually cancel a transaction. The buyer can suddenly refuse to cancel the transaction and just like that, ebay will close the case forever so the seller is stuck paying the final value fees for an unpaid item and the non-paying buyer never receives an unpaid item strike. The only way the seller can definitely recover the final value fees for an unpaid item is to force an unpaid item strike against the buyer. To do this the seller must wait 7 days then select “I haven’t received my payment yet”. If the buyer doesn’t answer in 7 days, the fees are refunded, but if the buyer answers sooner yet still doesn’t pay, the seller must select “I feel I have no other option but to end communication with the buyer” to have the unpaid item fees refunded. Of course at this point the nonpaying buyer will inevitably retaliate by leaving the seller undeserved negative feedback. And ebay lays a trap for the unsuspecting seller once again: if the seller selects “We’ve agreed not to complete the transaction” then the seller is stuck paying final value fees for an unpaid item and the buyer won’t get an unpaid item strike.
  • Use the block bidder utility. Every time you have a bad experience or observe someone who turns you off, add that person to your block bidder list. If you can’t find the link on ebay, put the terms into your search engine.
  • If you are shipping to Canada, do not use UPS, your buyers may be billed significant additional fees related to shipping (“brokerage fees”) and understandably will not be happy about that.

That all sounds like a lot of work just to buy or sell something. And it is.

So are there any good alternatives out there?

Alternatives -

  • There are good online markets where you may have a better experience but it’s important to make sure all your bases in the “as a buyer” section above are covered there, too. Being able to return something without hassles is critical. Avoid Ruby Lane, it’s like an ebay run by bad sellers. There are some good sellers there, which is a shame; the bad sellers ruin things for the good ones.
  • Buy in person at shows and shops whenever possible. Most metropolitan areas have all sorts of antiques and collectibles dealers selling at stores and antiques malls. There are also shows for whatever it is you like to buy at local fairgrounds and other venues several times a year. Look items over very carefully; take along a magnifying glass, a flashlight, or anything else that will help you get a really good look at the item. Ask to take the item to a window to look it over in natural sunlight – often problems with condition that were hidden are immediately revealed this way. Always give yourself some time to think the purchase over; if it’s a local store, you can always come back to buy the next day and if it’s a show, take the seller’s card and they will gladly ship it to you later. Beware of hovering sellers who attempt to pressure you to buy while you are considering a purchase. Shake them off and give yourself time to think it over by walking away and around for a bit, even if you are pretty sure you want the item. If you decide to buy, make sure your items survive the move from the place of purchase to your home; watch the seller to make sure they handle the item carefully and package adequately, and take your time getting things into and out of your car and into your home.

Good luck!





Reference
Recommended Sites
Quotations
Women

"Grab the broom of anger and drive off the beast of fear." ~ Zora Neale Hurston

"Life can be wildly tragic at times, and I've had my share. But whatever happens to you, you have to keep a slightly comic attitude. In the final analysis, you have got to not forget to laugh." ~ Katharine Hepburn

"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song." ~ Maya Angelou

"If only we'd stop trying to be happy we'd have a pretty good time." ~ Edith Wharton

"Mistakes are the dues one pays for a full life." ~ Sophia Loren

"For most of history, Anonymous was a woman." ~ Virginia Woolf

"Woman must not be awed by that which has been built up around her; she must reverence that woman in her which struggles for expression." ~ Margaret Sanger

"Probably, hanging onto the past brings more destruction than any other single cause. ...It's the Muslim fundamentalists who worship the past and ignore the reformist spirit with which Muhammad viewed women. It's the backward-looking Christian literalists who interpret religious teachings in a way that consolidates their power..." ~ Gloria Steinem

"'Inherent differences' between men and women, we have come to appreciate, remain cause for celebration, but not for denigration of the members of either sex or for artificial constraints on an individual's opportunity." ~ Ruth Bader Ginsberg

"Feminism is and always has been about women acting in the world as full-fledged citizens, as real participants in the world of ideas and policy and history." ~ Susan Faludi

"As a woman, I have no country. As a woman, my country is the world." ~ Virginia Woolf

"...remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors... If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation." ~ Abigail Adams

"Bloody treason, murderous act
Not by women were designed.
Bells o'erthrown nor churches sacked
Speak not ill of womenkind."
~ Gearoid Iarla Fitzgerald

"We are coming down from our pedestal and up from the laundry room. We want an equal share in government and we mean to get it." ~ Bella Abzug

"Too often the great decisions are originated and given form in bodies made up wholly of men, or so completely dominated by them that whatever of special value women have to offer is shunted aside without expression." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

"There cannot be true democracy unless women's voices are heard. There cannot be true democracy unless women are given the opportunity to take responsibility for their own lives." ~ Hillary Rodham Clinton

"If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse gift will find a fitting place." ~ Margaret Mead

"Of my two 'handicaps' being female put more obstacles in my path than being black." ~ Shirley Chisholm

"Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company?" ~ Zora Neale Hurston

Nature

"Eventually, all things merge into one; and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs..." ~ Norman Maclean

"There was a strange stillness. The birds, for example - where had they gone?... It was a spring without voices." ~ Rachel Carson

"If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men." ~ St. Francis of Assisi

"I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men." ~ Leonardo Da Vinci

"God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand straining, leveling tempests and floods; but He cannot save them from fools." ~ John Muir

"The idea of wilderness needs no defense, it only needs defenders." ~ Edward Abbey

"We could never have loved the earth so well if we had had no childhood in it... Our delight in the sunshine on the deep-bladed grass to-day might be no more than the faint perception of wearied souls, if it were not for the sunshine and the grass in the far-off years which still live in us, and transform our perception into love." ~ George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans)

"Those who dwell, as scientists or laymen, among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life." ~ Rachel Carson

"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world." ~ John Muir

Freedom

"The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect its free expression should be our first object." ~ Thomas Jefferson

"A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood of ideas in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people." ~ John F. Kennedy

"I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." ~ James Madison

"When you think of the long and gloomy history of man, you will find more hideous crimes have been committed in the name of obedience than have ever been committed in the name of rebellion." ~ C. P. Snow

"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth." ~ Albert Einstein

"Necessity is the plea of every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves." ~ William Pitt

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." ~ Benjamin Franklin

"No matter how big a nation is, it is no stronger than its weakest people, and as long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you might otherwise." ~ Marian Anderson

Truth

"Rules are not necessarily sacred, principles are." ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

"If somebody tells you you ought to quit, it's because they're afraid you won't." ~ Bill Clinton

"The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." ~ Robert F. Kennedy

"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"Find things that shine and move toward them." ~ Mia Farrow

"The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me? But the good Samaritan reversed the question: If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?" ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Abuse of Power

"We can have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth in a few hands, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis

"Usually, terrible things that are done with the excuse that progress requires them are not really progress at all, but just terrible things." ~ Russell Baker

"O, it is excellent to have a giant's strength; But it is tyrannous to use it like a giant." ~ William Shakespeare

"I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be." ~ Thomas Jefferson

Violence

"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

"When men talk about defense, they always claim to be protecting women and children, but they never ask the women and children what they think." ~ Patricia Schroeder

"I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity." ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

"What difference does it make to the dead whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?" ~ Mohandas Gandhi

"Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind... War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today." ~ John F. Kennedy

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." ~ Jesus

"Every gun that is fired, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children." ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

"When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?" ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

"I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent." ~ Mohandas Gandhi

"The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends by defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hypocrisy

"And thus I clothe my naked villany with odd old ends stol'n forth of holy writ, and seem a saint when most I play the devil." ~ William Shakespeare

"And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing... in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men... But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret..." ~ Jesus

"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man & his god, ... legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between church and state." ~ Thomas Jefferson

"Persecution is not an original feature in any religion, but it is always the strongly marked feature of all religions established by law." ~ Thomas Paine

"I believe a woman has a right to an abortion. That's a decision that's up to the pregnant woman, not up to the pope or some do-gooders or the Religious Right.... There is no place in this country for practicing religion in politics." ~ Barry Goldwater

"Being pro-choice is trusting the individual to make the right decision for herself and her family, and not entrusting that decision to anyone wearing the authority of government in any regard." ~ Hllary Rodham Clinton

Politics

"I never was surer of my position that no self-respecting woman should wish or work for the success of a party that ignores her political rights." ~ Susan B. Anthony "In America, anybody can be president. That's one of the risks you take." ~ Adlai Stevenson

"On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron." ~ H.L. Mencken

"All political movements are like this - we are in the right, everyone else is in the wrong. The people on our own side who disagree with us are heretics, and they start becoming enemies. With it comes an absolute conviction of your own moral superiority. There's oversimplification in everything, and a terror of flexibility." ~ Doris Lessing

Pretended Patriotism

"Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism." ~ George Washington

"Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism - how passionately I hate them!" ~ Albert Einstein

"True patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else." ~ Clarence Darrow

"When a whole nation is roaring Patriotism at the top of its voice, I am fain to explore the cleanness of its hands and purity of its heart." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them." ~ George Orwell

"To (say) that we are to stand by the president right or wrong is not only unpatriotic and servile, but it's morally treasonable to the American public." ~ Theodore Roosevelt
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