Bad Trader Alert

[+FujiSkunk]

Movie/TV Blu-rays are covered by Media Mail.  You should be fine.

 

Yes, it's paradoxical how the post office says video games "aren't educational" then allows A/V recordings to be shipped by Media Mail when most of them aren't educational either.

[+OLD CS1]

I misread the qualifications.  I found the relevant article (DVD, etc.) here.

[+sixersfan105]

eBay ID: charlesjdazzle

 

I submitted a Best Offer on a 7800 that was recently listed (within hours of my offer) and came with the power supply and two controllers. It had been tested for power but that's it and was being sold as untested. List price was $39.99 plus shipping. I offered $30. A few minutes later, he accepted. Before I could pay, I got a cancellation notice and follow-up note from the seller stating that he had cancelled the order because he had managed to test it and it worked perfectly, so he was no longer selling it. Naturally, a brief time later, it was relisted for $79.95.

 

I try to avoid dishonorable sellers like this and would recommend steering clear of this character. 

[ClassicGMR]

Wow... he didn't even edit the text in the auction - still says untested and for parts... right under the "tested and working using my buddy's cable" line! eBay at its best.

[Blazing Lazers]

I've had a bad bit if luck on Ebay lately, falling victim to one (and possibly another) interest free loan scam. I highly urge everyone to avoid the following seller: sabredog392

 

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?isRefine=true&sid=sabredog392

 

...I paid$80 for a copy of Elder Scrolls Shadowkey to give to a friend, but after 10 days it still had not shipped. Upon asking the seller what was going on, they sent a message saying that he was out of town and that the item would ship soon. They had of course never put any "seller away" notice on the listing. Some days pass and no tracking or any other shipping update was provided. Upon further inquiry, the seller claimed it was shipped and asked me to confirm if it had arrived via air mail. It never did. Yet somehow the seller thought they could claim that the game had been returned to them without first reaching me.  At no point was any tracking provided, nor any proof at all that the seller had ever actually sent anything or even that they own the item at all. They also claimed that they normally use tracking, but did not explain why shipping costs were $20 even without tracking.

 

They basically got a $100 interest free loan at my expense, and I was out that amount from July 19th to August 7th. I've heard of this scam before but this is the first it has happened to me. All a crook needs is an image or so of a desirable item and no sense of right and wrong to be able to list something that no buyer will actually receive. Create a new account, make a few purchases, put up a scam listing.

 

I also recommend adding them to the blocked buyer lists for obvious reasons.

[vtadave]

Curious how long people wait to panic  after asking for and not receiving a tracking number.

[+sixersfan105]

23 minutes ago, vtadave said:

Curious how long people wait to panic  after asking for and not receiving a tracking number.

On eBay? I wouldn't panic. Technically, tracking is expected but not required (some countries don't have it for all shipping methods). You are covered by the eBay Money Back Guarantee if anything goes awry. 

[vtadave]

2 hours ago, sixersfan105 said:

On eBay? I wouldn't panic. Technically, tracking is expected but not required (some countries don't have it for all shipping methods). You are covered by the eBay Money Back Guarantee if anything goes awry. 

Thinking more non-eBay such as this site

[+sixersfan105]

3 minutes ago, vtadave said:

Thinking more non-eBay such as this site

Hmm...I've never had an issue on here. How's their feedback in the User Feedback Forum? How long has it been? Have they read your message(s) and are just ignoring you? Did you use PayPal Goods & Services or Friends & Family?

[vtadave]

18 hours ago, sixersfan105 said:

Hmm...I've never had an issue on here. How's their feedback in the User Feedback Forum? How long has it been? Have they read your message(s) and are just ignoring you? Did you use PayPal Goods & Services or Friends & Family?

No feedback in the forum.  Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I paid on Saturday and was told it would ship on Monday, but I asked for a tracking # 22 hours ago and haven't received.  Guess I'll give it a couple days.

Edited January 7, 2020 by vtadave

[+sixersfan105]

@vtadave Yeah I'd give it a few days. Some people aren't on the forum every day and don't have new message notifications go to their email, etc. 

[+stupus]

Here is 1 to add to the bad buyer list:

 

matthove-0 on ebay

 

He made an offer on my item, I accepted and he didnt pay. Gave him a few days and still nothing....sent a message and no reply.....more messages....no replies. Had to go thru resolution center to end sale to get my fees back. No replies to the resolution center from him. He took the non paying bidder hit.

Now ebay wants me to leave feedback.....that can only be positive lol

Checking his "positive" 100% feedback now, half of them are sellers saying he didnt pay for purchased items. Lol! Thanks ebay for your outstanding feedback system!

 

[+OLD CS1]

Yup.  Going back to the buyer who tried to extort me to install unlicensed Windows on a Kali Linux laptop I sold him, eBay and PayPal both royally jacked that situation.  eBay would not remove the feedback because it was his opinion, and I was not allowed to leave a negative feedback, only a response.

[+stupus]

Yeah, its a crazy 1 sided system. No reason to even have an option for sellers to give feedback if it can only be positive.

And last i read its actually against ebay policy to leave any non positive comments in a positive feedback post.

The buyer can have them easily removed and the seller can actually get a strike for doing so. WTF!

[Tanooki]

^That isn't a last I heard issue, that's fact.  That is exactly the process ebay follows for feedback and follow up.

[glazball]

On 3/25/2020 at 2:28 PM, stupus said:

Yeah, its a crazy 1 sided system. No reason to even have an option for sellers to give feedback if it can only be positive.

And last i read its actually against ebay policy to leave any non positive comments in a positive feedback post.

The buyer can have them easily removed and the seller can actually get a strike for doing so. WTF!

It was a big change when eBay stopped allowing sellers to leave negative feedback.  Overall, I think it was for the best though.  Too many sellers were using (or were able to use) feedback as leverage or petty "revenge" for a negative from an unsatisfied buyer.  I think there should still be -some- option for sellers to leave feedback on non-paying bidders or other troublemakers without having to make it "positive."

 

I am curious though @stupus, did you end up leaving feedback for him with your remarks?

[+stupus]

Yeah, i will give it that its a hard system to police so people dont unfairly use it either way. I suppose non paying buyers should just get an automatic negative as thats definitely a time they should.

I didnt leave him negative comments in a positive feedback. Since its against ebay policy and just not worth it.

I hardly sell on ebay anymore because of all this stuff. It was actually the last item i had for sale on there still. I just blocked him there.

I much rather to sell or trade with friends or at shows....even if i sell stuff for less

[larrylaffer]

@Zohaibk created this thread selling "refurbished backwards compatible PS3 with one month warranty".

 

Getting the console to ship took him a while but eventually I got it. It worked for exactly 2 weeks and then I got the red light of death. I contacted him and very politely he offer to send me a new one with a return label in the box. Again with quite a bit of delay (about 10 days) he sent me a tracking number that since 5 days ago from the moment I write this has stayed in "pre-shipment USPS waiting item" for the PS3 that he was supposed to have handed over to the carrier two days back. He never replied to any of my messages since then. I created a case with PayPal and waiting to get my money back. ?

 

[_The Doctor__]

No, ebay does indeed apply strikes to buyers.... You can use such statistics to keep bad buyers from even participating in your' auctions... you can set # of transactions and the like as well.

 

Just sayin, been there done that....

 

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/creating-managing-listings/setting-buyer-requirements?id=4152

 

there are a couple more ways to deal with bad guys, both buying and selling!

Edited May 5, 2020 by _The Doctor__

[+stupus]

Besides a non paying bidder strike?

If so i have never seen or heard of it.

Where and how do we find this info on ebay users?

[mumbai]

I typically keep these things to myself, but I'm going to make an exception here. I'm reaching my limit with 100% feedback sellers who've been in the game for decades and pull stunts like this on buyers.

 

It is my strong recommendation that people avoid purchasing items from eBay seller "coolo23".

 

Multiple purchases of boxed games were individually sent in a paper envelope with two strips of cardboard to either side of the enclosed game (cut-down so as to be smaller than the actual box dimensions). Even though the items only had to travel about 100 miles, you can imagine the predictable results to the "package" contents from routine mail handling.

 

Bad enough.

 

Collective hours spent in back-and-forth over a span of days with the standard eBay seller script: "I've shipped dozens of games just like this over the past twelve years to places as far away as England, and no one has ever complained ... how I packaged the games is not the problem ... clearly there's something wrong with your local mail carriers."

 

Finally, the seller agreed to do "whatever it took to make me happy" and directed me to return the items for a complete refund. I opted to use eBay's return process, as everything leading up to this suggested I would be a fool to trust a return outside the system.

 

Well, the first return was delivered back to the seller, who promptly refunded me 40% of the original purchase price with the only explanation being "per eBay policy", which, no. No, that's not right.

 

Now I get to delay posting the other returns until the dust settles on this one. More time wasted, I guess.

 

So, please, if you see something from this seller of interest, consider passing. The only boxes I know he/she (two different names are tied to the transactions) might think to use are the one I used for the return and those torn apart to provide "secure protection" inside the manila envelopes.

 

(I just received a "courtesy refund" from eBay for the remaining majority of the purchase price. Does anyone know whether that means the seller gets to walk off with that same amount they didn't issue back to me in the first place?)

[Albert]

The only reason sellers will try and skimp on packaging like this is because they want to save as much on the shipping as possible.  There's no excuse to ship boxed games in a "paper envelope", and putting pieces of cardboard on either side of the box surely isn't going to keep it from getting crushed.  I also find it hard to believe nobody's complained before, if he's shipped "dozens of games just like this" in the span of over a decade.  Boxes suitable for shipping games like this are cheap, and the shipping isn't that much more expensive (it could even be the same rate for First Class Mail). 

 

I hope you leave suitable feedback for these items.

 

 ..Al

[+save2600]

Sandwiched and lost.

[atari181]

11 minutes ago, mumbai said:

I typically keep these things to myself, but I'm going to make an exception here. I'm reaching my limit with 100% feedback sellers who've been in the game for decades and pull stunts like this on buyers.

 

It is my strong recommendation that people avoid purchasing items from eBay seller "coolo23".

 

Multiple purchases of boxed games were individually sent in a paper envelope with two strips of cardboard to either side of the enclosed game (cut-down so as to be smaller than the actual box dimensions). Even though the items only had to travel about 100 miles, you can imagine the predictable results to the "package" contents from routine mail handling.

 

Bad enough.

 

Collective hours spent in back-and-forth over a span of days with the standard eBay seller script: "I've shipped dozens of games just like this over the past twelve years to places as far away as England, and no one has ever complained ... how I packaged the games is not the problem ... clearly there's something wrong with your local mail carriers."

 

Finally, the seller agreed to do "whatever it took to make me happy" and directed me to return the items for a complete refund. I opted to use eBay's return process, as everything leading up to this suggested I would be a fool to trust a return outside the system.

 

Well, the first return was delivered back to the seller, who promptly refunded me 40% of the original purchase price with the only explanation being "per eBay policy", which, no. No, that's not right.

 

Now I get to delay posting the other returns until the dust settles on this one. More time wasted, I guess.

 

So, please, if you see something from this seller of interest, consider passing. The only boxes I know he/she (two different names are tied to the transactions) might think to use are the one I used for the return and those torn apart to provide "secure protection" inside the manila envelopes.

 

(I just received a "courtesy refund" from eBay for the remaining majority of the purchase price. Does anyone know whether that means the seller gets to walk off with that same amount they didn't issue back to me in the first place?)

Yes, A courtesy refund is covered by Ebay not the Seller.  I have this happen very often. I actually had three items I returned last week for this exact issue.   I rarely leave Neutral or Negative feedback, but in a case where the item arrives damaged and a seller doesn't give me 100% of the product price and shipping , they get a Neg.

 

I actually had a boxed game that I paid $400 for come shipped in a plain brown envelope. Not even a bubble mailer.  I am not sure how but the box still perfect.

 

[mumbai]

Just now, Albert said:

The only reason sellers will try and skimp on packaging like this is because they want to save as much on the shipping as possible.  There's no excuse to ship boxed games in a "paper envelope", and putting pieces of cardboard on either side of the box surely isn't going to keep it from getting crushed.  I also find it hard to believe nobody's complained before, if he's shipped "dozens of games just like this" in the span of over a decade.  Boxes suitable for shipping games like this are cheap, and the shipping isn't that much more expensive (it could even be the same right for First Class Mail). 

 

I hope you leave suitable feedback for these items.

First, I'll admit that I don't leave negative feedback unless a situation is egregious and/or the seller outright lies about something. My thinking is that doing that in each similar interest would make me look like a "problem buyer". I'd like to believe that I'm anything but. Perhaps I should change that personal policy.

 

You are entirely correct as to the underlying rationale (postage costs). In this case, the irony is that a few of the cardboard slats had the dimensions of the donor box printed on them ... and those dimensions would have been ideal to ship any of these games. The mind boggles.

 

Oh, and I don't believe for an instant that the seller in question has sold any such quantity of boxed games, let alone sent things off to Merry Ol' England, from what I could glean from his/her standard listing fare. Whenever I get the scripted "no one has ever complained", I simply say I'm not going to engage that, how would I know one way or the other?

 

I do wonder whether there's some seller forum or site where this denial tactic originated.