what a day!

[funkyflamingo*]

Hmm, where to start from?. Oh when I woke up this morning.  I sold two items, package them up, and organised a courier.  The postage costs were a bit cheaper, so I tried to refund the two buyers through PayPal.  Not thinking straight, refunded the total amount, not realising and organised the couriers.  Two minutes before the couriers came, I realised what I did, cancelled the pickups, and then had to contact the buyers saying that I have had done and re invoiced them through PayPal.  I wanted the parcels off as soon as possible due to the Christmas rush. I’m still waiting on the payments- my fault entirely!

Second thing, I wasted 30 mins of my life last week by ringing up eBay to remove a defect as I posted the item the first business day, and it arrived late, thanks Aus post.  The man at eBay said he looked into tracking, and can see I posted it in a timely manner and the defect will be removed at days end.  One week later, still there, and had to ring up yet again!

Third thing, a buyer purchased an item, but contacted me before hand and asked if the postage would be cheaper. If not, can she cancel the transaction? She was worried someone else would buy it and she would miss out.  Unfortunately, postage from Melb to W.A is expensive, and I could not get the postage down.  She had paid for the item and shipping, and I said that I would refund her the money and cancel the transaction.  I didn’t realise that I could refund through eBay, and did it through PayPal.  It is still coming up as paid, and I cannot cancel the transaction.  While on the phone about the other issues, I spoke to eBay, and said I cannot cancel, as it has not recognised the refund.  he had the ordasity to ask why I want to cancel the transaction since you have refunded the money …wait for it, while giggling.  I said “because I want my fees credited back to me as I have not sold the item,”!

Forth thing. I bought a rare item from Italy. Paid for item and postage.  He now wants more money for postage as postage is facetious! I have to wait until the 15th of Jan to put a claim in, or just agree to cancel the transaction......Oh brother! 

Sorry, I needed to vent! It's been a while since writing on the boards, but I am always reading!  I hope everyone else is selling up big, and having less problems then me. 

[*tippy*toes*]

Go and buy a lotto ticket, your luck has to change after all that!

[zanadoo_56]

Wow, what a litany of disasters.  Hopefully things will get better.

Reading your post reminds me of days when my mother (who imagines everything old that she wants to get rid of could sell for a lot of money), knowing I buy stuff on eBay thinks I could sell all her stuff as well and give her the money.

I'm thinking I shoud print out your post and read it to her, to point out how things do sometimes go wrong because selling is more complicated IMO....and that is why I will always be a buyer and never a seller.

[funkyflamingo*]

Hey Zanadoo,

I was having a bad day yesterday!  Selling vintage is the thing I love most.  Ebay buyers who are into vintage are wonderful people 99% of the time, and usually it goes more smoothly than what I posted.  I especially love the stories behind why they bought the item.  If your mother wants to sell her item, I say go girl! There is a lot of effort goes into wrapping the item, as you can't just go and replace it, and most vintage items have some sort of imperfections. 

By the way, the two buyers that I refunded by accident the whole amount have re paid, and very lovely people to deal with!  

And yes to the other response, I'm going to buy a lotto ticket right now!

[phorum_junkie*]

Forth thing. I bought a rare item from Italy. Paid for item and postage.  He now wants more money for postage as postage is facetious! I have to wait until the 15th of Jan to put a claim in, or just agree to cancel the transaction......Oh brother! 

You do not have to wait to open a Paypal claim.

[zanadoo_56]

---

@funkyflamingo* wrote:

Hey Zanadoo,

I was having a bad day yesterday!  Selling vintage is the thing I love most.  Ebay buyers who are into vintage are wonderful people 99% of the time, and usually it goes more smoothly than what I posted.  I especially love the stories behind why they bought the item.  If your mother wants to sell her item, I say go girl! There is a lot of effort goes into wrapping the item, as you can't just go and replace it, and most vintage items have some sort of imperfections. 

By the way, the two buyers that I refunded by accident the whole amount have re paid, and very lovely people to deal with!  

And yes to the other response, I'm going to buy a lotto ticket right now!

---

Buyers have bad days too.   I like buying (mostly 1960s) vintage items...and the joy of owning something that was too expensive to have when I was a child, not available in Australia at the time, or from tracking down a replacement for one I had lost is the reason eBay still has relevance for me.  True, there are dealers' sites (and I've bought from some of them and they've been great) but with eBay the turnover is the key.

This week I took delivery of a 1930s item which had been on my wanted list for years...and out of the blue there it was - in the UK, great condition for its age, BIN not auction (hurrah!) and reasonable postage.  I couldn't believe my luck.  In fact it was the last collectable of its kind and era that I'd been looking for so I have now deleted my search list.  I took it to show my mother for Christmas.  eBay never ceases to amaze her.

Unfortunately two of the things my mother would love to sell (and which she thinks should be worth more money than they are) are two large and really heavy old books that had belonged to my late father.  I've looked them up - they might be old but they aren't rare, and the postage alone would be prohibitive.  It would be like posting house bricks....or slabs of slate.  It might be better to donate them to charity.