Read the NORMAL Print!

This one should be filed under newbies with NO clue! A friend of mine is selling a purse, and had a bid on it, when a brand-spanking-new member bid on the item - as in, joined that VERY day. So being an intelligent seller interested in protecting her sale, she sent the bidder this message:

Dear buyer,

Hi, you are bidding on one of my items.
you are new with no feedback, and i have had a lot of problems with new members not paying.
are you planning on paying? or is your bidding just for kicks? cuz if it's for kicks, don't bother and i can cancel your bid.

thanx
seller

So this is the response:

Dear seller,

I do plan on buying one of your items, but it depends on the price and shipping once the bidding is done. the lesportsac is gorgeous, is it new? can we clarify that before i confirm giving you money?


- buyer

Huh - how about that. This buyer first off, didn't read the rules when joining eBay. It's pretty clear when you join that if you bid, and win, you have to buy. And then there's the fact that the buyer is CLEARLY not reading the description of the listing.

Dear buyer,

Hi,
shipping and that the purse is preowned is both listed in auction.
Once you bid, it's not "negotible" after auction ends. if you bid and win--you pay.

Amazingly, this seller tells me that the buyer has replied with even MORE questions about the status of the purse - all of which are answerable by READING THE LISTING.

What is wrong with people? Do they assume the rules don't apply to them? Do they see a picture, think, OOOH, pretty! and bid away without reading a dang thing? It's sad. It makes you feel futile as a seller. We spend good portions of our time taking pictures and writing descriptions so that we don't get silly questions.

I told my friend to cancel the bids and block the bidder. It's not worth the hassle. I mean, this buyer is already being difficult. And to me, it's screams non-paying buyer.

How Am I Supposed to Know??

Like I said in yesterday's post, I'm selling a silverware chest. We got it as a gift for our wedding 10 years ago, but we hadn't registered for it, or a set of silver. Sometimes, people are wacky. Anyway, we thought, hey, maybe we'll get silver some day. Yeah, well, it's been 10 years - still no silver. I am sick of the thing, and it's brand stinking new. So I'm selling it. Now, it's not like I'm an expert on silver chests. There is no information anywhere on the chest except the manufacturer's name, and the name of the store from which it was purchased. So I got this question:

Is the interior tarnish resistant felt?
Thanks

How in the world would I know that? I've taken pictures from every angle, there's no booklet or tags in the pictures, and I make no mention of instructions, booklets, etc, included. I wanted to reply, "Uh, how do I tell??" Because, really, I state clearly that I've never once put a piece of silver in the thing. I sort of assume that all silver chests have tarnish resistant felt, right? It's made by Reed and Barton, who are silversmiths. Am I wrong to assume they would be worried about their own product tarnishing inside?

I was super nice, though, and just replied that I wasn't sure, but reiterated who made it, and that I assumed it was, but was not sure.

It nearly killed me to be so nice.

If at first you don't like the answer, ask, ask again!

I received a question that sounded really familiar. I sat there thinking, wow, a LOT of people from Germany are looking at my items. Then I thought, wait, maybe same person, two of my items?? Um, wrong, super wrong, crazy wrong.

cann you send to Germany?

[insert buyer's name here]has sent a question about :P&P for item #260418220788
Received: May-28-09

can you tell me Shipping to GERMANY
Thank you

You've received a question from [insert buyer name here]about your eBay item #260418220788
Received: May-29-09

Apparently this buyer is either suffering from short term memory loss, or s/he didn't like my first answer and wanted to see if it would change, or the funnier thought I had - this buyer was trying to trip me up and see if I gave two different answers. And before anyone asks, I replied to the first one with the shipping quote in it. I replied that, yes, I can ship to Germany, but since the item weighs 11 pounds and is traveling halfway across the globe, it's going to cost ya a pretty penny, and really, aren't you better off buying new in town rather than paying $75 to ship the thing, anyway?? Because it's a silverware chest, not some one-of-a-kind thing.

Since I tend to envision buyers being up to something, I am leaning towards "Didn't like the first shipping price so trying to trip up the seller."

Um....Read the Description?

I write descriptions for a reason - to explain what I am selling. So it always amazes me what people are thinking when they ask things like the following:

Hi Are you selling the entire blender or just the glass pitcher? Thanks

Here is the description:

Up for auction here is a Waring Pro WPB Series Blender. This is the Professional Bar Blender, Model # WPB09, in chrome. It has a glass pitcher and a powerful 2 speed motor. This item is BARELY used - maybe 3 times. It was a gift, and we have another, and we've only ever used it at the few parties we had need for 2 blenders. This is a great blender for crushed ice drinks, bartending, etc. Heavy duty, strong, and durable. Treat yourself to the quality of a professional grade bar blender! Since these retail for around $100, this is a great deal!

What part of any of that would imply that it's the pitcher only? I mean, the title is this:

Waring Pro Professional Bar Blender LN! Glass Pitcher

But all sellers specify parts of the auction in the title - it's not necessarily the title you're bidding on, you're supposed to read the description. Which, if you do that here, it's CLEAR that I'm selling the whole thing.

Not to mention here's the picture I've included with the auction:



I just don't get people....isn't it obvious that the whole blender is up for auction???

Schizophrenic Buyers are EVER so Delightful!

Right, delightful.

A buyer of mine bought a blender on March 17, paid for it promptly. I shipped the next day. I get an email about 2 weeks later, where is it? Ok, yeah - that's weird. I track it - um, it's coming BACK to me. I send her the tracking result, and show her that I put EXACTLY the address she has in the system on her package, and she replies, yeah, I have that problem sometimes.

WHAT? You have that problem?? Then, um, fix your address???

So we have to wait for the stupid thing to meander back to me, and for me to find out I have to pay, AGAIN, to ship. And I asked eBay if it was ok for me to request she pay for that. They said yes, it's her fault. So I send her a request for the second shipping fee. NO response.

Then this week, on Apr 21, I get the following:

i still have not recieved this item it has been over a month now and nothing.. since march 17 i have ordered a total of eight large items similar to this one, all to the same address with no problems. They have all arived.. please let me know.

UM, hey psycho? We've already covered this! DUH. Seriously, can some of these people not even keep their purchases straight?? Are they really buying this much crap online??? And they get pissed at sellers....

So I reply, explain to her, even forward the emails I sent about the money for shipping - and she says, you know what, let's just go for a refund of purchase price, etc. Ok, fine.

SHE LEFT ME A NEGATIVE. WTF?? It's HER damn FAULT. That's bs. Just so wrong and sick and stupid, I can't even get over it....

I wish I hadn't sent her the refund, now...

User Error It IS!!!

Mmm hmm - I was right - user error:

Hello, I want to thank ou for the quick response to my question about the menu functioning of the z6 camera I bought from you. The suggestions were helpful but did not actually apply. I kept trying things to get the menu function to work fully then discovered that the SETUP menu on the far right was a duplicate listing of the menu list column on the right. I was mistaken in thinking that the setup menu was not working. The camera works fine and I am about to leave positive feedback for the auction. Thanks,

Dang right you're leaving me positive - because the thing is perfect, like I flippin' said so! Yeesh - seriously....you'd think someone would try to find the user manual or play with the camera a bit before asking for a refund, eh?

Got to Love This One...

Might not be stupid, per se, but it's still lovable and irritating in the extreme.

Hello, On 3/23 I won this Minolta Konica Z6 camera from your auction. I have discovered that when i put the Menu on SET UP setting in all modes I cannot operate any of the functions in the dropdown menu. When I first discovered this I thought the function might be limited to only a few selected functions but in reading up on it it applies to all functions. In the meantime, I have just started operating the camera and all setting adjustment functioning is lost in the setting I have described.

I would like to return the camera for a refund as it was described as in excellent condition. Please inform me as to what you would like me to do.

First off, I have no idea what in the world he's talking about. His description of the problem is so hard to understand, it's laughable. I'm getting something about menus. He's reading about it. Uh, ok. To me, it sounds like he's either dropped the thing, and wants to return it, or doesn't like it and wants to return it. Because the moment it left my hands, it was in perfect working condition. And if it's not working now, it's either user error (fairly likely if you ask me. Since he seems to be able to read, barely, he should look up the user manual online and try that angle), or shipping problems. Both of which? Not my problem.

It's always amazing to me that the first instinct of the buyer is to blame the seller - hey, you lying beyotch - you lied and sold me a faulty camera so give me my money back!

Which is grossly unfair, seeing as I know the thing was working the day I packed it (very well, I might add) and shipped it. So either the postal carriers drop kicked it left and right, or he's not the brightest bulb in the package (which, gee, seeing how well written his description of the problem is, how could that be??), or he dropped it/doesn't like it and just wants his money back.

Not happening.

Oh, I did suggest he try a factory preset reset. Which, hello, is probably the problem. Let's see what I get in response, eh? I await his reply with baited breath.