Just want to warn you that "no refunds" posted in your listing will not protect you if your seller wants a refund through Paypal. Paypal told me that they expect ALL ebay sellers to have a refund policy just like Wal Mart or Target and that a buyer can return anything for any reason even "I just changed my mind." Doesn't matter if you are a business or not. Doesn't matter if you sell used stuff only occassionally. On top of this ridiculous policy, you are also expected to eat the cost of the original shipping charge as well. If you disagree, it doesn't matter, they will dip right into your paypal account and give the refund anyway. Happened to me yesterday. I will be closing my paypal account and my ebay account.

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Thanks!
Carolyn
carolyn7856@yahoo.com

Humm..I didn't know that. Thanks for posting. I have given refunds in the past, but not for shipping. This must be new?

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Everybody's happy, everybody's fine.
Your body's fancy and so is mine.
(Fred Rogers)

The whole thing must be part of this new catering to the buyer outlook that both ebay and paypal have. Not only did this buyer waste my time and my money but I can't even leave a well deserved NEGATIVE on Ebay. I'm done with it anyway, just wanted to warn everyone else.

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Thanks!
Carolyn
carolyn7856@yahoo.com

I've never sold a thing on ebay, only bought. But I think the policy you described stinks. As a buyer, I assume some risks by purchasing but there's a payoff too: bargains. No wonder I haven't found many bargains lately. Bummer. Poor policy.

I used to love Ebay but when they changed their policy a few years ago about not being able to list NO PAYPAL I quit. I do buy occasionally on Ebay but have not sold anything in a while. It's not worth it as they make TOO much off you.

Sorry to hear you had to eat the return shipping too . . . that really stinks!

Patty

Ebay bounces between favoring sellers and favoring buyers.

We just had a defective new item credited back to us after the seller wouldn't respond.

As soon as UPS tracking showed delivery to the seller, ebay issued our refund.

We could have emptied the cat pan into a plastic bag and reurned it to the seller. Of course, we behaved honorably.

Way too dangerous to sell on ebay any more.

I had an extremely bad experience with Ebay (posted previously, but quite some time ago) and quit selling with them too. I wish someone (60 minutes? some investigative show?) could draw more attention to some of the crazy policies they've put in place that rip off decent sellers.

Sorry you had a bad experience. I'll never sell with them again- unless their policies and fees become reasonable.

I only buy, I've never sold on Ebay.

I have noticed lately when I am bidding on something, at the end of the page, Ebay will list other similar popular items that are selling right now at the same time on Ebay-- and they are from other sellers!!! That does not seem right. How can they push someone else's listing on a sellers auction???? That would make me angry if I were a seller.

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Donna

I think sellers can opt out of this cross-selling.

Yes you can opt out for the cross promotion.

Now for the topic, there are only 2 reasons you can file for a return, item not as described or item not received, you can't just change your mind and not want something and the seller has to take it back and pay shipping.


This is not new, it has always been like this, but Ebay is now making it more known. Sellers put that into the listing hoping to trick the buyer into thinking they can't return something, hoping they don't know any better. But they HAVE to take something back that isn't what you expected, or was described wrong, etc.

I have always taken returns and have never had a serious problems with buyers ( some pain in the neck ones, but nothing that bad). And I think it all depends on what catergory you sell in, some are more dangerous than others.

Ebay is NOT seller friendly, they have driven a lot of sellers away which is good for me. I am a perfectionist and if you aren't then Ebay isn't the place for you these days. Buyers get away with murder and if you don' t know how to work the system then you're in trouble. There's delicate balance between the buyer and seller and by saying and doing the right things you can get it to tip in your favor, but if you aren't experienced you can get eaten alive over there.

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

Unfortunately, you just have to claim it was not as described. The buyer is not required to prove that before they win. So if someone just changes their mind, they can easily make the claim and you have to give them their money back (including shipping) plus you might not even receive back your item in the condition it was originally sent.

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A deal is not always a deal - Some just make you pay in the end.

give me a break. Ebay has turned into a private business for sellers, with no OVERHEAD COSTS. yet you want to charge same prices as "the retailers", for the most part "refurbished products". don't like Ebay? open a storefront and see what it will end up costing you. i'm tired of hearing all the "out to make a quick buck" sellers now complaining about having to take back returns. you tend to forget "buyers" take a huge risk from scammers. yes there are quite a few out there. Paypal and credit cards are their only protection. face it. Ebay is not your typical "mom and pop" store. some sort of protection needs to be in place. especially when you're charging same price as retailers for inferior products. so quit your whinning and see how long all you "resellers" would survive at "flea markets" and "garage sales"

Ebay has ALWAYS been a private business for sellers, that's the whole idea of Ebay? There are a lot more scamming buyers out there than there are sellers. Sellers who aren't good at what they do, yes, but not "scammers" like buyers are. And as with any retail establishment, you don't have to buy there. If someone is willing to pay more than retail because they can't find that item near them then that's how the business works, you don't like it don't buy it period.

And no overhead costs, I guess you've never sold on Ebay as if so ,not in a scale that gives you much experience. There are definiatly start up costs and overhead involved.

I have always taken returns and most times it's just because a buyer changed her mind or something didn't fit, no big deal. BUT I've had buyers try filing not as described saying something I had was a fake trying to get something for nothing and I have a receipt and proof it's not. SO for me, it's a lot of scamming buyers trying to get something for nothing. I have always had 100% positive feedback since I joined in 2000 and it's certainly not from being a scammer.

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

Are you serious?!? No OVERHEAD COSTS?!? It's apparent that you have never sold on Ebay. My average "No OVERHEAD COSTS" are $1500.00 a month! And that is for fees only.

Your overhead is $1500 month?? If that's the case, then obviously you're making extremely good money on Ebay to have overhead costs of that much. Most storefronts, you'd pay that for rent, lights, personnel, insurance, etc. and more.

I don't think it is whining to point out that current policies allow honest sellers to be abused.

Sellers do pay a nice premium to eBay to sell their items. On average, you spend 30% of the selling price on eBay and PayPal fees.

For that price, eBay provides little service and opens you up to extreme risk. You can easily lose your item as well as the money you were paid when an unscrupulous buyer commits fraud.

International transactions are particularly risky because you cannot get the same delivery confirmation you can in the US unless you pay a fortune for expedited airmail services. If they claim they did not receive the package, you automatically lose.

I am not selling as much anymore but have sold for over 11 years. I do everything I can to protect myself and automatically insure all packages to help prevent some problems.

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A deal is not always a deal - Some just make you pay in the end.

Yes, my fees average $1500 a month, some months they have been as low as $700 but then some months they have been as high as $2400. I had a store front before my health got the best of me and it was easier for me to work from home and my overhead costs were never over $550. Yes, I have been blessed to have good selling products but with the way ebay has gotten, not standing by sellers, (even us powersellers), outrageous fees etc. The only reason I do as well as I do and can afford to continue selling on ebay is because what I sell has a markup of between 500% and 600%. In the last couple of years ebay has lost probably half of it's sellers.