Anyone be shafted on ebay lately?

[Merchant UK]

I had an unexpected windfall at Christmas and thought I would treat myself to some tools from ebay, so I bid on quite a few, some are real bargins, I suppose I must of bidded on at least 10 items in the Welding category. So far 6 have been closed by the selling for excuses such as item no longer for sale or lost and damaged. :-(

I'm not overly happy with this as I was wining most of them I came top on an SDS Drill at 99 pence only for it to be withdrawn and the excuse was "Lost or damaged" this happened 15 mins towards the end of the auction.

To be honest if people didn't want their items going for peanuts then they should of either set up a reserve or do it as a buy it now.

Bad thing is I can't leave neg feedback to these idiots.

Has anyone noticed this worrying trend amongst sellers nowadays?

 

[japancool]

If ebay didn't charge additional fees for features like a reserve price, it would probably happen a lot less.

It might be that the seller has had a better offer from elsewhere and decided to sell it outside ebay.

 

[10032012]

For this reason, its absolutely why ebay is losing out to Amazon. You say its a recent thing but its always been that way, like @japancool states, you have to pay for the right to set a reserve price so people simply don't bother (also a reserve price for many items will prevent anyone trying to bid on it) and simply pull the listing.

I attempted to sell something on ebay the other day, ebay pulled it (10 day auction, 2 hours left... several bids, price was more than I expected) because I said payment by paypal or bank transfer... apparently the latter is not legitimate. ebay has a big monopoly on the website forcing people to only use paypal... it used to be an option, then it was an always selected option but allows you to accept cheque or other methods, and now seems like you must accept paypal only and always.

The auction concept specifies bargains - people want bargains. People prefer to buy from amazon and even retailers like argos, but don't like the prices.

I have stopped using ebay significantly since they collapsed. They backfill UK searches with US items (always having to select UK only) because there really isn't so much on there anymore. You used to be able to find anything on ebay, and I liked it not to buy the latest top-of-the-range consumer electronic product that don't exist in most cases, actually is used or refurbished instead of new (as described) or where its hardly cheaper than elsewhere, but less common items you cannot get on the high street and where a specialist would set you back a lot more money or used items (including liquidation items etc.).

 

[DexSmart]

This comes along with the business. You can't do anything if you do drop ship there!

 

[philip41]

ebay has a big monopoly on the website forcing people to only use paypal... .

The one reason i will not sell on Ebay.

 

[Merchant UK]

It might be that the seller has had a better offer from elsewhere and decided to sell it outside ebay.

But I thought they had a legal obligation to sell once listed like we have an obligation to buy if we bid?

 

[japancool]

But I thought they had a legal obligation to sell once listed like we have an obligation to buy if we bid?

I think the obligation only applies if the auction is completed and someone has won the item, not if the auction is pulled for whatever reason. I believe though, you're not supposed to pull the auction within a certain number of hours, it might be 12 or 6, of scheduled end date. It's been a few months since I sold on ebay, so I can't remember exactly.

 

[Merchant UK]

I think the obligation only applies if the auction is completed and someone has won the item, not if the auction is pulled for whatever reason. I believe though, you're not supposed to pull the auction within a certain number of hours, it might be 12 or 6, of scheduled end date. It's been a few months since I sold on ebay, so I can't remember exactly.

Yes I think that's correct, but when you receive an email from the buyer saying that the item is no longer available even though I won the auction it does make you get angry since its happened to me nearly every day this week.

Its not everyone, I've got some great bargains of some tools from there, in some cases the postage was worth more than the tool, so its a win win, its just when you wait so long for the auction to finish and then you still cant have it :-(

Oh well that's life

 

[10032012]

Its all nonsense - a legally binding contract doesn't really apply to online auctions - although in theory it should. You are basically promising the seller you will buy the product for your bid.

I am not aware of a single case of someone suing a seller for not selling someone an item on a completed ebay auction listing. it only really becomes a problem if you pay and do not get the item. If the seller refunds, relists or apologises... most will see that as adequate - after all you not lost any money through it (despite probably going to cost you more to get the item elsewhere).

I remember buying shares on ebay a few years back for a 30-40% stake, I won, paid, was refunded and they refused to honour the share sale (and without any of the cheap "advertised elsewhere so may end early" like disclaimers). it was a big deal to me as although paying at full price for investment, it would have yielded a relatively big ROI. I almost took the guy to the small claims court for it... sometimes I keep to my original belief that the judge would have probably thrown it out and other times I think I might have won the case. This said it was a private limited company and shares shouldn't be up for sale so publicly. Seller refused to communicate.

I think the biggest issue is you are dealing through a middleman, technically both the buyer and seller are parties to ebay, but not to each other. On top of the 'legal obligation' through contractual law, you have your statutory rights also - which can never be diluted or prohibited through any contract.

I am disappointed that no major contender has decided to rival ebay, ebay has added some long overdue features in the last few years but its been damaged with other ecommerce rivalry (not just Amazon) so there is definitely a gap in the market.

 

[Merchant UK]

I agree 100%, although I do buy from amazon, its mainly new stuff as opposed to 2nd hand, some tools are so expensive new it does pay to look at bargains that are second hand, however don't get too attached too soon as the sale might get removed by the seller

 

[japancool]

I buy collectibles off ebay and occasionally harder to find items like specialist items of clothing, imported foods, as well as a few consumables like printer toner. But I'd never rely on it as a source for... well, anything. I look at it as, if you manage to grab yourself a bargain, that's great but expect it.

Prices vary enormously, but it does often seem that people want to buy the same things I do at the same time I do, so I sometimes end up paying through the nose for a particular collectible. And next week, three of them will appear.

 

[10032012]

I think ebay to an extent use shills to bump up prices. When I was listing on there the other month, the majority of bidders were: 1) new 2) zero feedback and 3) all had jumbled usernames.

ebay makes it tricky for newbies to bid on many items as they impose limits - they also require verification I believe. So its unlikely to be just a few individuals doing it. You can only pay by paypal - ebay has a double whammy with final value fees and paypal fees - the higher the amount it sales for the better for them.

These other bids didn't come in until an established member made the first bid. Could be a coincidence. I know ebay generates usernames in a strange way these days, but it does make it all seem suspect. Of course, there will be people registering as they stumbled across my item and don't have an account... but in mass numbers pretty much on the last day of bidding? Hmm...

 

[Vectis]

I can understand your frustration, but I wouldn't say you've been 'shafted'. It hasn't cost anything apart from time. Annoying though.

 

[Dot Design]

Find Ebay very annoying these days, account hacked and there doesn't seem any resolution other than 'change your password'. Ebay don't seem bothered about trying to investigate the issue either.

 

[Merchant UK]

Find Ebay very annoying these days, account hacked and there doesn't seem any resolution other than 'change your password'. Ebay don't seem bothered about trying to investigate the issue either.

I think when your making a ridiculous amount of money each day you don't really bother with things such as looking after your members or problems that they may have. They rake in millions so they're not going to worry about little issues

 

[fisicx]

I can understand your frustration, but I wouldn't say you've been 'shafted'. It hasn't cost anything apart from time. Annoying though.

Agree. Ebay hasn't shafted you, the seller is the one doing the shafting.