those crazy chinese

[davidc4430]

i bought an item from a chinese seller for $1

he advertised this item as 4pcs for $1, these are easily found at around $2.50 for 4 so at $1 was a good price.

so after waiting 2 months my items arrive, but not 4 only 1.

so i leave a very rare negative feedback.

so far ive had 4 messages begging me to remove the feedback. hes offered a full refund.

me, i think sellers need to adhear to their edverts so i will not remove the feedback.

on checking his feedback hes got 18 negs and 22 neutrals and 2217 positives in 1 month, i'm wondering if all the non positives are getting his sob story about it hurting his business which is his only way to support his family.

[davewil1964]

Never for me.

I would have reflexively, automatically, deleted the messages on receipt by now.

[davidc4430]

funny, he begs to get the neg reversed if he refunds the $1 but never offers to post the other 3 supports to complete the sale as it should have been.

[countessalmirena]

As davewil says, I'd be deleting any further communication from that seller unread.

davidc4430, I must suppose that sellers who offer those small dollar refunds after an item arrives in unsatisfactory condition or unsatisfactory quantity would do so because they've worked the best possible way of managing their business. The appeals mentioning family or imminent starvation will catch x% of customers. The offers of a partial refund will catch y% of customers.The offers of a full refund will catch z% of customers. Then there are the offers to resend without actually re-sending (taking a% of customers beyond the time to lodge a dispute or leave feedback), the offers to resend when a re-send is really sent (for b% of customers; this is also item-specific and situation-specific), and goodness knows what else.

It's a business model that works very well. The number of negatives that we see in the bad Chinese sellers' feedback only represents a drop in the bucket in terms of negs that would be given to unhappy buyers who were strung along beyond the time of leaving a negative, or unhappy buyers who settled for a partial refund or full refund, etc.

[digital*ghost]

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@davidc4430 wrote:

funny, he begs to get the neg reversed if he refunds the $1 but never offers to post the other 3 supports to complete the sale as it should have been.

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That doesn't suggest much beyond what their primary motivator is, though JMHO if the seller was seriously interested in getting a positive comment, they wouldn't offer anything in exchange for FB revision, they would just do something and maybe suggest afterwards that FB be reconsidered. 

From an objective viewpoint, whether or not the seller intentionally advertised 4, knowing they'd only send 1, is irrelevant to what solution best fits with the problem. They got $1 for a product, including shipping, and would have had a few cents left over whether they sent 4 or 1, I'd warrant - by which I mean to suggest that even the most honest of sellers is going to find the refund option the most appealing or cost-effective solution, but the most honest of sellers would not try to exchange a solution for the buyer for good FB. 

[davidc4430]

the order i placed with another seller (also chinese) for the same item arrived today, well packed and 4 of the supports!

i shall now leave positive feedback for a seller doing the right thing.

i realise when selling there can be mistakes and errors.

all you ask as a buyer is the seller sees there is a problem and rectifies it.

my first seller has not adjusted the advert to show either hes selling just 1 of the item or raised the price and is now selling 4 as the advert reads.

i have been ignoring the emails/messages, have not replied to any of them.

they just keep turning up.

[kopenhagen5]

Well I received my test purchases today after nearly 1 month.

I ordered 2 x 4pcs so should get 8.

I received 2 pcs. It is as I surmised and seller will be getting another neg as they still haven't changed the listing.

I very rarely leave negs but they are not learning and suspect it is done intentionally.

Those darn Chinese sellers. 

(David, if you want 2 more 8mm holders, happy to send them to you. Just PM a postal addy)

[kopenhagen5]

After messages back n forth with me sending screenshots and seller begging for feedback revision, he has decided to change his listing after much persuasion.

Hopefully he keeps the listing amended.

But gee the number of Asian sellers taking advantage has grown immensely.

eBay need to address these problems as the site's reputation is fast slipping.

[davidc4430]

i havent had a begging email for over a week so i assume he finally worked out i wasnt going to answer.

all he had to do was say sorry, fix the listing, then offer a refund as it was his fault the ad was missleading.

[davidc4430]

i'm noticing a lot of interesting selling tactics by chinese sellers in my tamiya searches, like puting a picture of a whole car then in the writing making it look like they are selling a whole car but actually its just a part for that car.

usually a seller just puts a photo of the item then in the title area it would say 'front bumper for a XYZ model car'

but these sellers are posting a picture of the car then 'NEW XYZ car, bumpers.'

only when you read the whole ad do you work out its not the bargain of the century but tricky listing.

[countessalmirena]

That sounds very misleading!

Ah, but my ... well, not quite cynical, but let's call it more realistic ... my reasonably realistic mind in shopping mode tends to assume (in the absence of definitive evidence) that something which looks like the bargain of the century is going to be a scam, a mistake, something misleading, something I'm misinterpreting*... I doubt that I'm scam-proof, any more than any person is completely scam-proof, but I think quite a few people have become more cautious with the proliferation of online selling, global transactions, and the ever-increasing deluge of scam-spam emails. We've lost our e-innocence.

*In spite of that, I have actually purchased some items which I thought were bargains, and usually I buy things at the best possible value - but sadly I have never found an original Fragonard for chickenfeed, or an elegantly snarling Maserati for peanuts. That's a tragedy more heartrending than Titus Andronicus.