Ebay Seller Refusing To Sell

[Pete S]

Won a record last night, cheap British thing, Checkmates Ltd on Ember demo - £12.

Seller invoiced me £3.50 for 1st class standard postage. Actual cost £1.20.

So I sent a polite email asking why the postage was so high.

This is the reply I got. Just because I asked about the postage.

Is there anything I can do? Seller name edwardbobtail

This Record has been damaged and is no longer for sale, apologies Stephen

[Soulfuljules]

I'm afraid not. a few years ago i won a copy of betty lloyd - i'm catching on, it was an unissued version, original pressing.

As it ended quite cheap (approx 130 usd i seem to remember), a few people started to discuss this on here. Somebody emailed the seller who later contacted me saying that his dog had broken the record, which was no longer for sale...

[sepia]

I'm afraid not. a few years ago i won a copy of betty lloyd - i'm catching on, it was an unissued version, original pressing.

As it ended quite cheap (approx 130 usd i seem to remember), a few people started to discuss this on here. Somebody emailed the seller who later contacted me saying that his dog had broken the record, which was no longer for sale...

i remember that.didnt you ask for a photo of the broken record.did you ever get a photo?.

[boba]

i just started a thread on this on another message board. I asked for a photo in a polite message and didn't get a response. I'm calling ebay tomorrow to see what I can do, since reporting them using the ebay interface is impossible or useless.

I also requested this person's phone number so I can call him. If he's going to lie, at least he needs to have the balls to lie when confronted on the phone.

I wouldn't be very upset by a single one of these, I would just blow it off (which I have been doing), but I have had a lot of instances of this recently and I would like to have a generic set of actions to take on each one.

[Soulfuljules]

i remember that.didnt you ask for a photo of the broken record.did you ever get a photo?.

I did get a photo almost 2 days after asking for it. plenty of time to scan the white label with a red marker sign on it, glue it on another record and then break it into 2 or 3 pieces.

I seem to remember seeing the same record on ebay, offered by an american dealer a few months later...

[Jnixon]

Had the reverse of this a few weeks ago were buyer paid $250ish for an absolute mint unplayed 45 on ebay and when it got there had turned into a vg, apparently. I only had a few and tested them all. He wanted a refund and was very insistent. I gave him the return address and told him another would be sent . I guess he wasn't expecting that. A week later he mailed and said its all fine. Funny that.

He overpaid, thought about scamming us then thought better of it. Presumably his trigger happy stupidity won over his guilt of his up and coming crime and he thought better of it.

Auction remorse works both ways and when people realise they have done something stupid everybody else suffers.

If you ever get to talk to them you'll find out if they are lying or not. it will show a mile off but ebay don't have to give the number to you of the other party doesn't want you you to have it. Personally, I feel if someone wont talk to you then they are lying.

Edited May 3, 2012 by JNixon

[Pete S]

Just an update on this, after he sent me the original email which I mentioned above, I replied saying that I would be contacting ebay and his reply was

"Dear boy, I am 71 years old and have a terminal illness, what do you think Ebay can do to me"?

So I replied that they spend enough time chasing non paying buyers, what about non selling sellers? No reply.

Since then I have had four or five reminders asking me to pay for the record, eventually I rang Ebay on thursday, told them what happened, they checked the correspondence etc and said they would send a note to the seller advising him he is in breach of their rules regarding selling, and not to worry about it.

This morning they opened a non paying buyer case against me

[sepia]

unreal.

you should of told them you had a terminal illness,it worked for him,lol.

[boba]

in the last two weeks I have gotten 3 "I broke it while packing it" stories, always asked for a photo, never got one. It's frustrating because although the seller deserves to be punished or reported, they might come up with something you really need later, bid high enough so that it's not "broken" and win. And there's no way to prove that they're lying.

[Guest MissHongkongfuey]

For the last 12 months or so, I've been watching a Joe Arnold track that's been re-listed over and over again without any takers. So I thought I'd ask Him very politely if he'd consider taking slightly less, as there's been no interest at his price for a considerable time. He declined my offer and thats fair enough....I didn't mind in the least.

A few months ago, He re-listed it but as an auction sale with a much lower starting price and as it got closer to the finish, I placed my bid knowing that my chances of getting it at a better price were really good.

He then ended the sale with no reason given and weeks later, re-advertised the same 45 back at the inflated "Buy Now" price. Big big portions of Grrrrrrrrrr to him!!!!

[boba]

there is no limit to the amount of delusional sellers on ebay

[Guest MrC]

For the last 12 months or so, I've been watching a Joe Arnold track that's been re-listed over and over again without any takers. So I thought I'd ask Him very politely if he'd consider taking slightly less, as there's been no interest at his price for a considerable time. He declined my offer and thats fair enough....I didn't mind in the least.

A few months ago, He re-listed it but as an auction sale with a much lower starting price and as it got closer to the finish, I placed my bid knowing that my chances of getting it at a better price were really good.

He then ended the sale with no reason given and weeks later, re-advertised the same 45 back at the inflated "Buy Now" price. Big big portions of Grrrrrrrrrr to him!!!!

That's really bad, and that's the sort of really annoying, unfair trading that E-Bay should do something about! Grrrrrrrrr... indeed!!

[Dylan]

I recently saw a record I wanted that didn't make its reserve so I offered the guy a fair price for it and he never replied to my enquiry.

a week later he relisted the item and it sold for less than I offered

[Jnixon]

in the last two weeks I have gotten 3 "I broke it while packing it" stories, always asked for a photo, never got one. It's frustrating because although the seller deserves to be punished or reported, they might come up with something you really need later, bid high enough so that it's not "broken" and win. And there's no way to prove that they're lying.

thats true. you have to take that and move on.

had some guy send me 6 copies of a nice 45 i could have traded with but packed like it was an un breakable thing, no extra card in the mailer no buffers. 6 cracked 45 arrived. i then had an argument that he graded them as i got them - what all 6 cracked? doubtful you said that anywhere in our conversations. of course, he didn't.

so i had a lot of my record budget for the month tied up 6 mashed tunes that i had to send back to the US then wait for them to arrive and get the money back of the guy who wont accept its his mistake. all the while paypal have the money. these kinds of stories are a weekly occurrence at the moment in my house.

[Sutty]

Someone just over-charged me at £3.50 sent 2nd class UK for a 45, actual cost on the mailer £1.10

I knew i'd get nowhere questioning his high shipping cost, but the record was much cheaper than it always goes for, I gave him positive feedback as the record was graded very well indeed, but 1 star in feedback for shipping rate.

I'm led to believe that the star rating affects sellers over time more than the actual feedback + or - and comments?

cheers Sutty

Edited May 15, 2012 by Sutty

[Johnlloyd]

I won an unusual lp a couple of years ago - one side a full aretha franklin album, the other side a rascals album.

He contacted me after a couple of days and said his wife dropped it on the way to the PO. It was cracked an he refunded me my money.

I kept a watch on his feedback and about a week later he received positive for the same lp at a cot of 20p more than my winning bid.

What can you do ?

John

[Roger Williams]

I bought two LPs from ebay a couple of days ago and they turned up today, both in excellent nick, well packaged and reasonably priced.

Do you think I should I report it?

[Ernie Andrews]

How about this one

2 packages recorded delivery gone missing Buyers make a claim - No problem and found in their favour again I have no problem with that & Ive made a claim against the Post office.

I also have another dispute over the buyer saying I mislead him over a record - DIspute has not yet been decided but my seller rating has been reduced before the decision is made. Talk about sentencing someone before the trial has been finished.!

Apparantly even if you are in the right just because claims have been opened even if it was a mistake on the buyers part you have your seller rating reduced!

Ebay = Everybody Bow And Yawn!

[Lovemusic]

I bought a record recently, through Gemm. It was a cheapie, £2 plus £1.20 postage. A few days later it arrived, the right artist and label but the wrong record. It was through the self-proclaimed biggest rare northern soul website, so i checked for a phone number and their trading hours (it was a saturday morning) and rang, speaking to S***e. I told him what happened and asked for the right one to be sent. I got a monologue about these cheap records not being worth selling financially or timewise, and as a dealer of 30 years standing he wouldn't look for it himself and would probably have to refund it, and for me to keep the other record. End of call, and about an hour later the money was put back into my paypal account. So he didn't look for it and, wasn't in the least bit sorry for the mistake made and it obviously wasn't expensive enough to care about(what price for caring, £10 or £100, but definitely not £2)!

Also saw a record on Anglo's site, tried to buy it but the system wouldn't take my money. I rang up, spoke to Tim and he coudn't find it where it should be, but said he'd investigate (i.e. get Rick to look). Rang me back and sorted it. Arrived the next day! That's how it's done!

[Chris L]

Won a record last night, cheap British thing, Checkmates Ltd on Ember demo - £12.

Seller invoiced me £3.50 for 1st class standard postage. Actual cost £1.20.

So I sent a polite email asking why the postage was so high.

This is the reply I got. Just because I asked about the postage.

Is there anything I can do? Seller name edwardbobtail

This Record has been damaged and is no longer for sale, apologies Stephen

Probably not, Ebay is tilted towards the seller, after all they're the ones paying. All you can do is very politely leave a negative feedback. Do check postage costs before bidding, I do and about half do lower their shipping costs some don't and you have to bid accordingly. Good luck.

[Paddy Ferry]

I bought a record back end of last year not expensive, when it came well packed and quite quickly, I opened it to find a chunk missing off the edge [unplayable] I got in touch with the guy and he told me it was fine when he sent it. Ok I said so where's the missing piece? It must have fell out when you opened it. Yeah right, he then went on to suggest that I get in touch with R/Mail and put a claim in. I said no and he refunded me. I don't cheat or con people and like all of you folks expect to be treated the same, but going back to the original question , is there anything I can do, then no I don't think there is.

[NEV]

unreal.

you should of told them you had a terminal illness,it worked for him,lol.

Pete has .... He supports Wolves

[KevH]

in the last two weeks I have gotten 3 "I broke it while packing it" stories, always asked for a photo, never got one. It's frustrating because although the seller deserves to be punished or reported, they might come up with something you really need later, bid high enough so that it's not "broken" and win. And there's no way to prove that they're lying.

I won a record on ebay from a guy down the road from me (did'nt know who he was at the time of the ebay messages).Asked if i could pick it up asap after winning.I was at his home an within an hour of auction ending.

"Broke whilst cleaning,but do you want to look through these."........

[Guest DELORENZO]

Please do not tar all of us Ebay sellers with the same brush, I have now over 4500 positive (100 %), I start all my ebay auctions at 99p whatever the value it sells at, I post (my fault for putting a stupid starting price). My problem is with the buyers, who bid and don't pay, after numerous invoices and messages and still no joy, we can't leave no negative feedback, just a unpaid item dispute and that's a joke !!!! I have 3 at the moment, and 1 does really pissing me off lol

Jed

Edited May 15, 2012 by DELORENZO

[Guest Gogs]

A fair few years ago i won a copy of "just walk in my shoes" gladys knight & the pips on Gordy when it arrived it was in 3 pieces but i surmised from the state of the packaging that my postie had tried to fold it in half to fit through my letter box (after a quick word this has never happened again). I advised the seller about what had happened but told him that as it was nothing to do with him i would still be leaving him positive feedback, after a few mesages between us, me constantly telling him that he was not to blame, my account was re-inbursed with the cost and full postage charge. Not all sellers can be tarred with the same brush and i really think that more are good than bad.

[boba]

I do think that the DSRs have made a huge difference in grading and gotten lots of crappy sellers off ebay. I do think that negatives don't matter any more to ebay, just the DSRs. The problem is that it's not really anonymous and if a seller sees you left a low DSR they will just block you. I refuse to leave any DSRs if I can't leave negative ones, it's pointless.

[boba]

A fair few years ago i won a copy of "just walk in my shoes" gladys knight & the pips on Gordy when it arrived it was in 3 pieces but i surmised from the state of the packaging that my postie had tried to fold it in half to fit through my letter box (after a quick word this has never happened again). I advised the seller about what had happened but told him that as it was nothing to do with him i would still be leaving him positive feedback, after a few mesages between us, me constantly telling him that he was not to blame, my account was re-inbursed with the cost and full postage charge. Not all sellers can be tarred with the same brush and i really think that more are good than bad.

this happens to me frequently. 45 sellers should be sending records in a rigid package that won't bend so it's not totally not their fault.

[Guest Gogs]

this happens to me frequently. 45 sellers should be sending records in a rigid package that won't bend so it's not totally not their fault.

Honestly Bob it was well packed how the postie managed to fold it beats me.

[boba]

Honestly Bob it was well packed how the postie managed to fold it beats me.

It's funny imagining the mailman standing there holding both sides of the mailer and trying really hard to crack it.

I had a mint copy of tony daniels on beval that was packed in a new 45 mailer with filler pads where the box actually got crushed on one end and the record cracked. The seller had sent it insured on his own costs and even said he would handle the insurance claim on his end (since I have the worst post office ever). Then he sent me another copy of the record that he had. Great service.

[Mak]

I have an on-going argument at the moment with a seller , I recieved a package , really well wrapped . I signed for it , run to the kitchen to open it ......empty !!! . I seem to be losing the battle as the seller has stated he posted the record and I signed for it .That has never happen to me before , anyone got any suggestion apart from finding him and introducing him to my best piece of 3x2

Edited May 16, 2012 by MAK

[Tolbert]

My missus sold a record via ebay to a guy in Germany, she sent it registered but noticed that it hadn't made its destination and hadn't been signed for after about three weeks. The guy got in touch with her between the third and fourth week after posting to say that it was on it's way back to her and that the GLS (I think GLS is a company that Deutsche Post sub contract delivery work to) had failed to deliver it, she told him not to worry and as soon as it was back in her hands she would re-send it!

So about four days later the record arrives back with her in the UK but this guy had already put in an item not received claim and once again she gets her Paypal account frozen, this guy is either a total no-brainer or a complete whey anchor, I'm kinda thinking he's a lot of both .

I think if you use ebay to either sell or buy on a regular basis it's a simple fact that you're gonna come across some right tw*ts, some of them will be playing the buyer protection game and be blatantly trying to scam you, the rest, well I think they just don't have the intelligence to find their way home half the time

I'm sorry to say that the german post is getting worser and worser. Low pay, more work, lesser people and sub-companies. I had it several times that I got no infomation in the post box that there is a parcel for me at the post office. So it went back to sender. Once I met the postman at my postbox putting in the advice to get my parcel at the office. I asked why he cannot give me the parcel now, he had it not with him because of to much to do...

The other problem is the custom when you get records from the USA. Sometimes you get the information that it is in the custom weeks later than it is in germany.

In the moment I have the following problem. I won a record more than 5 weeks ago. I asked the us-seller yesterday when he sent out the record. He said that he sent it last week because he was moving. I have only 4 days left to open a case of not receiving the record...so what to do?

Tim

[Pete S]

I have an on-going argument at the moment with a seller , I recieved a package , really well wrapped . I signed for it , run to the kitchen to open it ......empty !!! . I seem to be losing the battle as the seller has stated he posted the record and I signed for it .That has never happen to me before , anyone got any suggestion apart from finding him and introducing him to my best piece of 3x2

That is one of the nastiest postal cons there is, presume this is not someone in the UK, if it is you should tell us who it is, I'll help you out with that 3 x 2

[Amsterdam Russ]

In the moment I have the following problem. I won a record more than 5 weeks ago. I asked the us-seller yesterday when he sent out the record. He said that he sent it last week because he was moving. I have only 4 days left to open a case of not receiving the record...so what to do?

Tim

Open up an "Item not received" claim immediately. If the seller has sent it as promised, you can agree to wait for it to arrive whilst keeping the claim open. If it does turn up, you close the claim. If it doesn't turn up, you're covered.

[Roger Williams]

I'm getting feck'n sick of this lot. Another two packages arrived from America today, both well packaged, LPs all in great nick and quite cheap. This is no good, I'm knocking ebay on the head, I can't be doing with this buying music that I want and receiving it without any problems, I need some drama in my life that I can moan about on the internet.

[Guest MrC]

For the last 12 months or so, I've been watching a Joe Arnold track that's been re-listed over and over again without any takers. So I thought I'd ask Him very politely if he'd consider taking slightly less, as there's been no interest at his price for a considerable time. He declined my offer and thats fair enough....I didn't mind in the least.

A few months ago, He re-listed it but as an auction sale with a much lower starting price and as it got closer to the finish, I placed my bid knowing that my chances of getting it at a better price were really good.

He then ended the sale with no reason given and weeks later, re-advertised the same 45 back at the inflated "Buy Now" price. Big big portions of Grrrrrrrrrr to him!!!!

I know this sort of thing has been mentioned before, about sellers pulling items with no warning or explanation, but what DO you do when it happens?

I had a bid on a record, a 7 day listing, then, with 5 days left, I was the only bidder, but know full well that within the last 24 hrs the price would have doubled what I had entered as my highest bid, the record came up as a finished item on my watch list the same evening.

It's not even an expensive record, the guy was selling a few other northern things, mainly 70s pressings, but it didn't state they were being offered anywhere else, or that they could be withdrawn from sale on E-bay. He just ended the sale, no warning, no email to the only bidder so far (me) to say the item was no longer for auction, no excuse or reason.

Are sellers allowed to do this?

I have sent an email asking wtf is going on, and that I am prepared to let E-Bay know of this somewhat dodgy practice if he doesn't give me a good reason (with proof) for the withdrawing of the item.

Like I said, It's not an expensive record, my max bid was £20, but I was expecting to double that before the auction end, so it's not like I was expecting to get one over on someone by getting it far too cheaply, it was with some other northern things, so it's not even as though it was mis-listed.

Annonying? I should say so! Does anyone actually know what E-Bay rules are regarding this kind of thing?

[Pete S]

I know this sort of thing has been mentioned before, about sellers pulling items with no warning or explanation, but what DO you do when it happens?

I had a bid on a record, a 7 day listing, then, with 5 days left, I was the only bidder, but know full well that within the last 24 hrs the price would have doubled what I had entered as my highest bid, the record came up as a finished item on my watch list the same evening.

It's not even an expensive record, the guy was selling a few other northern things, mainly 70s pressings, but it didn't state they were being offered anywhere else, or that they could be withdrawn from sale on E-bay. He just ended the sale, no warning, no email to the only bidder so far (me) to say the item was no longer for auction, no excuse or reason.

Are sellers allowed to do this?

I have sent an email asking wtf is going on, and that I am prepared to let E-Bay know of this somewhat dodgy practice if he doesn't give me a good reason (with proof) for the withdrawing of the item.

Like I said, It's not an expensive record, my max bid was £20, but I was expecting to double that before the auction end, so it's not like I was expecting to get one over on someone by getting it far too cheaply, it was with some other northern things, so it's not even as though it was mis-listed.

Annonying? I should say so! Does anyone actually know what E-Bay rules are regarding this kind of thing?

I'm afraid I'm guilty of this from time to time, if I do a set sale list and things don't sell, sometimes I put them on ebay, then a couple of days later someone will ask if it's still available and I usually say it's on ebay but if you definitely want it, I'll cancel the ebay auction. Most of the time there's no bids anyway, but sometimes there are.

[Guest MrC]

I'm afraid I'm guilty of this from time to time, if I do a set sale list and things don't sell, sometimes I put them on ebay, then a couple of days later someone will ask if it's still available and I usually say it's on ebay but if you definitely want it, I'll cancel the ebay auction. Most of the time there's no bids anyway, but sometimes there are.

You B*stard.

[Guest MrC]

Just had an email from the guy.... it was pulled because it didn't have a company sleeve (but did in the photo), and it wasn't listed as being a German copy (even though it obviously was from the photo).

He has relisted it with the same starting price though..... weird.... It may have a higher reserve I guess, but couldn't he have altered all those things without pulling the listing altogether?

Still, he sent me the info, and the link to the re listed item, so that's something I suppose.

[boba]

technically you didn't "win" the auction -- he cancelled your bid before he ended it right? that is different than if you win and they don't sell.

[Guest MrC]

technically you didn't "win" the auction -- he cancelled your bid before he ended it right? that is different than if you win and they don't sell.

I know that Bob, but you try pulling a bid from an auction that's still ongoing.......

it's just dodgy practice when there's no mention that it may happen if the item is for sale elsewhere even though in this case it wasn't)

~Anyway, he has relisted it, and he did reply to my message (even though if I hadn't sent a message, I'd be none the wiser), so, at least that's pretty fair.

Just glad it wasn't a Pete Smith auction........ - SORRY PETE! I don't mean that really, I'm sure Pete knows that, but if anyone else who reads this just disregards that bit....

Edited August 21, 2012 by MrC

[Chris L]

I guess with vast volume of transactions that take place we should count ourselves lucky that the majority does go well. I have recently won a record for £109.00 that the previous seller of same item had a reserve of £300 on it (and it sold)