Ebay horror stories ??

[Donner]

I just did a batch of auctions and 2 of my 7 auctions were zapped by ebay because of bogus bidders...

I can understand ebays side - but man I hate having my time wasted......



any other stories or tricks or experiences youve had that we could leanr from ???

[justonwo]

I don't have any horror stories, per se. I've had lots of difficult transactions, primarily when I'm the seller.

People threatening to leave negative feedback if I don't cover import duties.

People threatening to leave negative feedback if I don't reduce shipping charges (which are always posted in the auction for all to see. Not to mention the shipping is always the exact shipping cost for me. No "handling" fees are added.)

A gazillion buyers asking to declare a lower value on customs forms (thereby putting the risk on me if the item is lost).

More often than not, buyers take their sweet time paying for an auction after it closes.

And sellers charging me PayPal fees, which they're not allowed to do (on a $2500 guitar, no less).

I think the thing I've learned is not to do any special favors for anyone. It ends up usually being a pain in the end. I overload the auction with details about the item, leaving absolutely no room for ambiguity. I post the exact shipping charges. And I ship when I get the money. If I get a bunch of excuses or requests for special treatment, the item goes right back up for auction.

In the end, I think the system works about as well as it can given the ENORMOUS number of flaky people out there. I've had about 130 transactions, and all have ended without issues . . . so far. Sometimes it takes two weeks to get an email from a buyer or seller, but that's just the nature of the beast.