Honest Seller"Stuck with UNDESERVED,UNWARRENTED"NEGATIVE FeedBack*BEWARE*

[brookreflections]

Dear Sellers- I just felt I should share my story with you in hopes that none of you succumb to anything similar as this virtual blackmail situation. Just when you thought you had seller protection on eBay?.. The fact is you don't really, there is a nasty hole in the system that has left me very open & vulnerable as a seller with no protection + exposed to an ongoing black mail type situations.

Recently a buyer purchased an item from me + after only paying only one dollar, ordered goods to the value of $120 without paying.It became obvious after sending polite reminders they had no intention to pay but still expected me to send the items- after a couple of weeks- Still No payment- no goods sent, they applied Negative feedback saying "NOT GOT"[Wow man so polite as well] & then my 6 years of hard 7 day week yakka as an Aussie battler- Crashed.My reputation permanently tarnished. I could not even return the Neg feedback.Buyer refused to revoke the feedback, still expecting the goods for free. Ebay could do nothing despite numerous emails Devastating.

Totally unwarranted negative feedback has only drawn the attention to others of just what they can get away with. Give an inch of generosity and there are always a dubious character out there waiting to jump on the bandwagon for a freebie.

Straight after the negative feedback was added over 400 people read my offending innocent listing for 'free postage' in one day out of curiosity inadvertently at the same time educating innocent buyers as to how to get freebies.

It is not hard to understand why many sellers succumb to giving away their valuable goods when buyers threaten them with feedback in this way. Even worse, offer to remove negative feedback in return for goods.

I do pride myself in honesty + very much value the same from my customers. Most of my buyers + many returning buyers are fantastic people. I do feel sorry that these good honest people have been exposed to & have had a lesson in such evil dishonest manipulative behavior.

For many it is merely sickening but for others a great lesson, interesting 'Food for thought'& merely a confirmation that 'Yes' they CAN still get away with it and even better let of Scott free! - No negative feedback, no unpaid item strikes - Nothing whatsoever to loose- only gain.

Unfortunately the teaching continues feeding the world.

Please don't let this happen to you.

Take care

Kind regards Deb

[colic2bullsgirlore]

Nice thoughts Thanks- Sure, I refunded the $1 + offered plants whilst requesting a revision of the feedback. Sadly got no response despite my emails.

I am not sure if I could request a revision once again?

If that were possible- perhaps I could just send them something nice without asking + they may reconsider the situation as you say....

I am more than happy to do this - as long as it is acceptable within the policy + not seen out of context- main concern..

regards D

 I would .........count to ten.....and amend your about me page first, nothing ventured nothing gained.

Even if the feedback cannot be removed ( I think the buyer can ask request and state that they left it in error if you have already used your chance) a positive response from the same buyer on your feedback if they choose to buy some plants in the near future could only be a good thing.

[bsal6160]

NO. Your listing said for $1.00 you get free postage PLUS 14 plants. THAT IS IN THE TITLE and that is what the buyer should get.  To do otherwise is fraud and you should be reported to ebay and the police.

[cuddles_01au]

Im not a seller just buyer but on reading your listing it is misleading many buyers

read the first few lines and automatically assume total cost is $1

reword your listings and move on 🙂

[brookreflections]

Thank you all for your thoughts. I must say I did expect this forum was for sellers to share their support in helping others- rather to find it mostly merely a place of nasty personal attack, lacking integrity, as opposed to a place to offer and share their valuable learning, intelligence + wisdom from their selling experiences.

I can honestly say I have personally worked endlessly over many years to restore confidence in buyers who have suffered the fate from less than honest sellers to try to regain their trust not only for myself but other sellers alike. I have learned that there are compromises one must make – Like Karma what you give will always return + it almost always pays to give more than what is expected from you.

It would be great to have a forum aimed at consumer confidence to share positive suggestions & ideas to help make eBay a better place for genuine sellers. Personal attacks aside

Thanks..

All the best

Happy selling

[jensmanchester-australia]

Deb - as others have said the listing is very confusing and could appear to be deceptive even though that wasn't the intent.

When listing on ebay listings should be clear and simple to avoid confusion for buyers. I was told several years ago at an internet conference that listings should be simple enough for a 10 year old understand. If they aren't then they become too confusing for buyers.

There is probably little you can do about the negative feedback but treat this as a learning experience as that will make you a better seller in the future

[jameshouseofstyle]

Hi OP, sorry you copped  all this - most of the people here are just not capable of advising anyone where they may have gone wrong without  the abusive commentary on the side!

The only trouble is - that approach creates the oppsite effect, it puts the person off side straight away and advice is not taken any notice of.

And - just how many times does the OP has to explain what the idea was with that listing?

It is in plain English, even a 10 years old can read.

And any buyer who could have possibly thought they are getting suff for a dollar with free postage would easily see that is not the case as heaps of others did, obviously.

To think otherwise, as a buyer, you'd have to conclude that the seller is retarded or brain dead

to give $120 worth and post for free - for a dollar.

[*crikey*mate*]

Geez Folks, you're a bit rough, eh?

Do you really think if this seller with 3,400 FB would come here and advertise they were doing something wrong if they knew they were doing so?

REFLECTIONS - I understand what your listing is/was - to me it does read "Buy some plants for $120 and I will post for free IF you have this token."

I do get it, but whilst I believe unintentional, your listing is deceptive (is that the right word?) because the very meaning of the word "free" implies exactly that, that to receive it requires no effort or financial contribution on behalf of the receiver. So charging any amount for a "free" service, even this paltry amount of $1  wrong.

I realize that there was a second or other listings where you paid full fees for the sale of the plants, and I ASSUME that each of those had a postage price attached so that you were not trying to manipulate search matches or circumvent fees.

So here is where I believe you have gone wrong - instead of selling "free" postage for $1, this should have been included in the listing of the plants.

(One plant is $5 and post is $8 for example.

SPECIAL OFFER

FREE POST WITH ORDERS OVER $120)

If something is free, it does not require payment or the promise of performing another task. You have fallen into a trap of other marketing ploys seen in trading, but have not worded it or implemented it correctly.

Technically what you have done is paid for advertising to redirect potential customers to other items in your store - now whilst I acknowledge that you didn't set out to do anything wrong, just created a way to reposition and advertise your products as a method of marketing, the bottom line is you are in the wrong here and whilst you probably didn't deserve the negative if this was the first time you had been called out on it, I see it as a fair reflection on the customer's perception of the transaction.

So, yes, you have made mistakes, and you have now provided the opportunity to other sellers to consider some listing practises they should not employ. Not your intended message, but nonetheless invaluable.

It's not a scam. You are in the wrong. Your marketing strategies have backfired. Accept the wrong doing, even though it is a mistake, correct any other listings so that it doesn't happen again.

In summary - either list one plant with it's true postage cost and include in the listing your special offer of free post for purchases over $120 or list $120 plants with free postage. (If doing this be careful of listing practises regarding choice - I am sure that there are rules where you have to specify what the customer is purchasing, they can't pick their own unless it is in a special category that offers that option like clothing)

[*crikey*mate*]

Gawd - I feel like judge Judy LOL

I reckon if this was a case before her, I would have awarded it in your favour as I don't believe that your intentions were to mislead - in saying that though, I am too lazy atm to do any research to find out if you have breached any trading practises or laws in which case Judge Judy's hands would be tied regardless of your intentions.

[colkym]

Deb, Not meaning to crucify you but your listing is confusing me as well.

Not all buyers read ALL of the listing and not many buyers will go check out your other listings either.  I appreciate you didnt mean to mislead anyone, but on reading that I wouldnt know whether to expect 12, 14, 24 or 28 plants.

You do need to list a bit more clearly, though it does sound like your buyer possibly could have deliberately set out to scam you and take advantage of the ambiguous listing.

All you can do now is to move on from it.....  I daresay your buyer would possibly have gotten added to a few BBLs from this thread, for their actions.  The fact they are not interested in assisting you to rectify the issue does suggest to me that they may have been taking advantage of the situation.  Its moved off your first few pages of feedback now, so just persevere, and perhaps list with a bit more clarity.

Good luck 🙂

[*crikey*mate*]

oops sorry *blushes*

allow me to clarify

"Technically what you have done is paid for advertising to redirect potential customers to other items in your store -"

That is what you have done when presenting the listing as a stand alone product. I realize it was intended to be an "internal promotion" or "added extra" for customers to choose to add to their purchases and to encourage them to buy multiple items, similar to how many offer combined post.