Have eBay's recent policy changes done more to erode buyer confidence than to address it?

[pennyforum14]

I have been an eBayer for 15 years, sold for nearly 10, then took a break from selling and only returned a year ago. 

I remember the time when, if a buyer had an issue, the very first thing they would do is contact the seller to see what they could do to fix it.  Since returning to selling on eBay, I am now finding that, not all the time, but all too often, buyers are jumping in and lodging disputes or just going straight to leaving negs, without even bothering to contact the seller to express their dissatisfaction and see what could be done.  Furthermore, they will often not respond to attempts to correct the problem, even when a seller offers a refund. 

I believe this behaviour has been instilled in some buyers by eBay's blatant promotion of the MBG and defect system.  It is far easier to push a button and request a refund through the system, than to write a message to the seller.  Okay, I can understand that part, but what's with the neg thing?  I have seen numerous posts in recent weeks and it has happened to me twice now, where the buyer just goes straight to negative feedback.  The first you know there is a problem is when you see the red dot.  I always contact the buyer, and ask what the problem is and offer a solution, which usually includes the offer of a refund, but on both occasions recently, there has been no response from the buyer.  Why would they not want to accept a refund?  And why are they so keen to jump to negs without contacting the seller first?  Is it because all eBay's so called "buyer safety" measures actually do more to erode buyer's confidence in sellers than to make them feel safer?

Open for discussion......

[curmu-curmu]

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@joethenuts wrote:

how can you have a fake can of paint ,, oh you mean brands of paint ,, too many brands are that close to each other ,you would need a chemical chemist to tell the difference ,if the label fell off , as i have said most brands change there formulas a little bit 4 times a year and there label at least once a year .

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Joe - I'll try to explain it one more time.

I, and many others, can tell a fake Shimano reel in many ways, but only from the outside. Looking at the insides, well - I doubt many of us would know the subtle differences in gear and bearing quality. Machined tolerances are another clue - tight in Shimano, sloppy in copies.

Similarly, you, as an experienced pant seller, should be able to spot the difference in cans from a genuine product and a fake one.

Looking inside? Well, no. As you said, it would take an industrial chemist to differentiate.

There's always a way to spot fakes. Power Pro fishing braid is another good example. All chinese copies carry the same barcode - regardless of breaking strain and spool length.

So how do you spot a paint brand copy? Or doesn't it happen with paint?

[mbselections00]

Could it possibly be the occasion for which it was purchased has now been & gone & so there is no need for the item now ??

(Just saying as I see you sell clothes)

[dylan11235813]

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@rachelle011273 wrote:

it was not the colour she was disputing, I have taken images in both colours to show the style, my buyer has an issue with the item, I just dont think she likes it or maybe it does not look so good on her, who knows, I just wonder why she has taken so long to make her displeasure noted ...

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To be honest I only read (is that how you spell it??) the first part of your post and decided to post something general, not really aimed at you. The thing I was trying to get accross though is that if there is no description there can be no claim made. It would be interesting to test ebays policy in such a case...In more than 3 years of selling I have never got an "item not as described" case against me, most buyer just leave bad feedbcak and low DSRs (or possibly open a INR case for the incorrect reason), I didn't realize but I have had more than 20000 item sales, that $0.10 on postage costs adds up.

[dylan11235813]

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@curmu-curmu wrote:

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@joethenuts wrote:

how can you have a fake can of paint ,, oh you mean brands of paint ,, too many brands are that close to each other ,you would need a chemical chemist to tell the difference ,if the label fell off , as i have said most brands change there formulas a little bit 4 times a year and there label at least once a year .

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Joe - I'll try to explain it one more time.

I, and many others, can tell a fake Shimano reel in many ways, but only from the outside. Looking at the insides, well - I doubt many of us would know the subtle differences in gear and bearing quality. Machined tolerances are another clue - tight in Shimano, sloppy in copies.

Similarly, you, as an experienced pant seller, should be able to spot the difference in cans from a genuine product and a fake one.

Looking inside? Well, no. As you said, it would take an industrial chemist to differentiate.

There's always a way to spot fakes. Power Pro fishing braid is another good example. All chinese copies carry the same barcode - regardless of breaking strain and spool length.

So how do you spot a paint brand copy? Or doesn't it happen with paint?

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And because ebay decided to advertise reels to me after looking at the dodgy one, the real ones are about $300, 10% of the price, seems like the fishing shops mark up the price a bit more than I thought.

[joethenuts]

fair enough   

[rachelle011273]

who knows ... the rag trade lol is not such a wise choice these days, at least not on ebay other sites no issues

[rachelle011273]

I have often wondered if maybe I should just use images and very basic notes to avoid item not as described however this buyer is saying item is not described as it looks nothing like the image, yet the image is the same item ... 99.9% of my buyers are fantastic it is just that minority which cause concern and can damage feedback and dsr ratings, not much I can do about that though

[lane-ends]

Not as described claims will increase as they don't have to prove anything. just make the claim, ebay tells you to accept return and pay return postage and defects you. Incentive to claim not as described over change of mind to buyer is obvious.

Eliminating full description is only going to increase chance of buyer dissatisaction as they have less info to make a wise choice on in the first place.

[rachelle011273]

would agree with you on full description and as I said only a minority of buyers cause concern

[dylan11235813]

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@rachelle011273 wrote:
I have often wondered if maybe I should just use images and very basic notes to avoid item not as described however this buyer is saying item is not described as it looks nothing like the image, yet the image is the same item ... 99.9% of my buyers are fantastic it is just that minority which cause concern and can damage feedback and dsr ratings, not much I can do about that though

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Most of my buyers are fantastic also but there will be a few. They get what is in the picture, I think under Australian law though something has to be usable so in the end they can go with that.

Ebay has just made it so difficult to sell, I loved it once, but all the BS is just so frustrating. I happly give customers advice but with ebays system it is worthless, why do I bother? And because Australia Post can't run their business I suffer, and give the CEO a tax free bonus to donate to a non profit organization.