eBay, etc. General Question/Answer Thread

[poopsie]

Some odors can be acquired during transit or from the packaging. Years ago I bought a bunch of poly mailers. When I received them they reeked to high heaven. I had to hang them outside for the longest time for the odor to dissipate.
If you shop online for pre-owned items long enough you are bound to run into a few odiferous items. It has been my experience that in 9 times out of 10 it isn't a big problem. The only item I was never able to completely rid of odor was a Coach bag that I had put away wet after carrying it in the rain. That was years ago and it still smells slightly of mildew. I just use it as a beater bag. I got a smokin deal (pun not intended ) on a Prada from Yoogi's that smelled like smoke. It aired out beautifully

 

[northerndancer]

Thanks, everyone, I appreciate your input. It was listed as used and since I really like it and everything else is fine with it I'm going to keep it and try to air it out (and some other stuff - I've had some success with smells in the past, though it can take a while). What should I do about feedback though? I didn't ask, so that's on me, but I could smell it as soon as I opened the box - there's a clear odor. Maybe just leave a neutral?

I would only leave a neutral if you had tried to return it and the seller had given you a hard time. The problem with smells is that they are subjective and people get used to them so it is possible that your seller was not aware of the smell. You didn't mention the nature of the smell so I am guessing it is not smoke. That is one that should be disclosed because smoke smell tends to cling to everything. I think the issue with pets is more to do with allergies than with odour. I have received items that smell like smoke but I have never received anything that smells like pet.

 

[klynneann]

I would only leave a neutral if you had tried to return it and the seller had given you a hard time. The problem with smells is that they are subjective and people get used to them so it is possible that your seller was not aware of the smell. You didn't mention the nature of the smell so I am guessing it is not smoke. That is one that should be disclosed because smoke smell tends to cling to everything. I think the issue with pets is more to do with allergies than with odour. I have received items that smell like smoke but I have never received anything that smells like pet.

I emailed with the seller who was very apologetic and gave me a very plausible explanation, so I ended up leaving positive feedback for her. It was definitely one of my more pleasant experiences on ebay, despite the issue.

Thanks to everyone who responded with their opinion/advice/personal experience!

 

[nicole0612]

Does anyone have experience with eBay live auctions and the seller's premium fee? I am looking at an auction estimated to sell for $5,000 and it says the seller's premium may be 30%. That is quite a large added fee!
The seller has some bad reviews, but all of the negatives are for high shipping of $85-100, which I would expect for a high value, insured purchase.
I gather that is an additional fee added on at the end of the auction. What is the purpose? It sounds like the premium % will change as the auction goes along according to what I read on eBay. So does it have a similar purpose to a reserve price in a regular eBay listing (to make sure the seller gets the price they need)? I tried to search this thread, but I think the search words are too general. Thanks for any additional info.

 

[whateve]

Does anyone have experience with eBay live auctions and the seller's premium fee? I am looking at an auction estimated to sell for $5,000 and it says the seller's premium may be 30%. That is quite a large added fee!
The seller has some bad reviews, but all of the negatives are for high shipping of $85-100, which I would expect for a high value, insured purchase.
I gather that is an additional fee added on at the end of the auction. What is the purpose? It sounds like the premium % will change as the auction goes along according to what I read on eBay. So does it have a similar purpose to a reserve price in a regular eBay listing (to make sure the seller gets the price they need)? I tried to search this thread, but I think the search words are too general. Thanks for any additional info.

I've never bought from one but it is set up just like a normal live auction from an auction house. It is my understanding that there are bidders, possibly at the live auction or on the phone, that you are competing against, not just other ebay bidders. It is normal for an auction house to charge a seller's premium. Usually you'll know the percentage before you bid. I would think there would be a link you could click for more information as to what the exact premium charge is. The seller's premium is what the auction house makes as the bid price on the auction goes to the original seller. The auction has to pay a percentage to ebay and paypal, which is probably why it is so high.

 

[Catbird9]

Does anyone have experience with eBay live auctions and the seller's premium fee? I am looking at an auction estimated to sell for $5,000 and it says the seller's premium may be 30%. That is quite a large added fee!
The seller has some bad reviews, but all of the negatives are for high shipping of $85-100, which I would expect for a high value, insured purchase.
I gather that is an additional fee added on at the end of the auction. What is the purpose? It sounds like the premium % will change as the auction goes along according to what I read on eBay. So does it have a similar purpose to a reserve price in a regular eBay listing (to make sure the seller gets the price they need)? I tried to search this thread, but I think the search words are too general. Thanks for any additional info.

I've never signed up for a Live Auction on eBay. The purpose of charging a buyer's premium is to imitate the practice of prestigious live auction houses like Sotheby's, who have created this so-called "industry standard."
Here's an eBay Guide about it:
http://www.ebay.com/gds/Ebay-Live-Auction-Secrets-Revealed-Part-I-/10000000003026968/g.html

 

[nicole0612]

I've never bought from one but it is set up just like a normal live auction from an auction house. It is my understanding that there are bidders, possibly at the live auction or on the phone, that you are competing against, not just other ebay bidders. It is normal for an auction house to charge a seller's premium. Usually you'll know the percentage before you bid. I would think there would be a link you could click for more information as to what the exact premium charge is. The seller's premium is what the auction house makes as the bid price on the auction goes to the original seller. The auction has to pay a percentage to ebay and paypal, which is probably why it is so high.

I've never signed up for a Live Auction on eBay. The purpose of charging a buyer's premium is to imitate the practice of prestigious live auction houses like Sotheby's, who have created this so-called "industry standard."
Here's an eBay Guide about it:
http://www.ebay.com/gds/Ebay-Live-Auction-Secrets-Revealed-Part-I-/10000000003026968/g.html

Thank you, that is helpful. It just says that "up to 30% will be added to the winning bid". When I click on the additional listing info and the additional payment info, it does not specify. However, the high end of their estimate plus 30% is still not a high selling price for this item (I would say it's low-medium compared to normal eBay auctions), so it may sell for more than the estimate.

 

[BeenBurned]

Does anyone have experience with eBay live auctions and the seller's premium fee? I am looking at an auction estimated to sell for $5,000 and it says the seller's premium may be 30%. That is quite a large added fee!
The seller has some bad reviews, but all of the negatives are for high shipping of $85-100, which I would expect for a high value, insured purchase.
I gather that is an additional fee added on at the end of the auction. What is the purpose? It sounds like the premium % will change as the auction goes along according to what I read on eBay. So does it have a similar purpose to a reserve price in a regular eBay listing (to make sure the seller gets the price they need)? I tried to search this thread, but I think the search words are too general. Thanks for any additional info.

The only "experience" I've had is reporting, reporting and more reporting of these live auction sellers and getting frustrated because not only does ebay not remove the listings but the sellers charge exorbitant shipping, often have authenticity disclaimers and sell blatant fakes without having made any attempt to verify authenticity.

I don't know which is the particular company you're referring to but one seller I have in my records (reported repeatedly since March) is ejsauuctionandconsignment. Although I haven't been successful in getting action on listings, the shipping charges and additional premium charges appear to have been removed from the listings and are now hidden. The premiums are in their see terms and conditions and shipping has to be arranged privately with the seller, probably after they extort more money from the buyers.

The seller doesn't accept paypal so buyers have no protection because it appears from the description of payment instructions that you're paying the seller what is effectively cash. Why wire transfer references are even allowed in these sellers' listings is beyond me.

Again, without knowing your specific seller, it's hard to guess what the listing says but I expect they're similar. Most also imply that credit card chargebacks will be fined so you'll pay a $25 penalty to the live auction company for filing a dispute!

Personally, I would avoid them!

 

[nicole0612]

The only "experience" I've had is reporting, reporting and more reporting of these live auction sellers and getting frustrated because not only does ebay not remove the listings but the sellers charge exorbitant shipping, often have authenticity disclaimers and sell blatant fakes without having made any attempt to verify authenticity.

I don't know which is the particular company you're referring to but one seller I have in my records (reported repeatedly since March) is ejsauuctionandconsignment. Although I haven't been successful in getting action on listings, the shipping charges and additional premium charges appear to have been removed from the listings and are now hidden. The premiums are in their see terms and conditions and shipping has to be arranged privately with the seller, probably after they extort more money from the buyers.

The seller doesn't accept paypal so buyers have no protection because it appears from the description of payment instructions that you're paying the seller what is effectively cash. Why wire transfer references are even allowed in these sellers' listings is beyond me.

Again, without knowing your specific seller, it's hard to guess what the listing says but I expect they're similar. Most also imply that credit card chargebacks will be fined so you'll pay a $25 penalty to the live auction company for filing a dispute!

Personally, I would avoid them!

Thank you! The seller is auctionatany. The feedback detail looks like they have not had complaints about authenticity, but do have multiple complaints for high shipping. That is relative, $80-100 is fair if it is a large or high value item, so I sent a question to the seller to find out what they charge to ship the items I was looking at. I googled the seller, and I believe their company can be found at: https://auctionata.com/en
It is sounding like it may be more trouble and stress than it is worth if there are so many hidden fees, and certainly if there may be difficulty getting a refund if authenticity issues come up.

 

[nicole0612]

The only "experience" I've had is reporting, reporting and more reporting of these live auction sellers and getting frustrated because not only does ebay not remove the listings but the sellers charge exorbitant shipping, often have authenticity disclaimers and sell blatant fakes without having made any attempt to verify authenticity.

I don't know which is the particular company you're referring to but one seller I have in my records (reported repeatedly since March) is ejsauuctionandconsignment. Although I haven't been successful in getting action on listings, the shipping charges and additional premium charges appear to have been removed from the listings and are now hidden. The premiums are in their see terms and conditions and shipping has to be arranged privately with the seller, probably after they extort more money from the buyers.

The seller doesn't accept paypal so buyers have no protection because it appears from the description of payment instructions that you're paying the seller what is effectively cash. Why wire transfer references are even allowed in these sellers' listings is beyond me.

Again, without knowing your specific seller, it's hard to guess what the listing says but I expect they're similar. Most also imply that credit card chargebacks will be fined so you'll pay a $25 penalty to the live auction company for filing a dispute!

Personally, I would avoid them!

Oh, and they accept PayPal for items with a selling price under $10,000 and I would not purchase a bag for over $10,000, added fees or not. If it goes that high I would be "out" of the bidding anyway!

 

[BeenBurned]

The only "experience" I've had is reporting, reporting and more reporting of these live auction sellers and getting frustrated because not only does ebay not remove the listings but the sellers charge exorbitant shipping, often have authenticity disclaimers and sell blatant fakes without having made any attempt to verify authenticity.

I don't know which is the particular company you're referring to but one seller I have in my records (reported repeatedly since March) is ejsauuctionandconsignment. Although I haven't been successful in getting action on listings, the shipping charges and additional premium charges appear to have been removed from the listings and are now hidden. The premiums are in their see terms and conditions and shipping has to be arranged privately with the seller, probably after they extort more money from the buyers.

The seller doesn't accept paypal so buyers have no protection because it appears from the description of payment instructions that you're paying the seller what is effectively cash. Why wire transfer references are even allowed in these sellers' listings is beyond me.

Again, without knowing your specific seller, it's hard to guess what the listing says but I expect they're similar. Most also imply that credit card chargebacks will be fined so you'll pay a $25 penalty to the live auction company for filing a dispute!

Personally, I would avoid them!

Thank you! The seller is auctionatany. The feedback detail looks like they have not had complaints about authenticity, but do have multiple complaints for high shipping. That is relative, $80-100 is fair if it is a large or high value item, so I sent a question to the seller to find out what they charge to ship the items I was looking at. I googled the seller, and I believe their company can be found at: https://auctionata.com/en
It is sounding like it may be more trouble and stress than it is worth if there are so many hidden fees, and certainly if there may be difficulty getting a refund if authenticity issues come up.

Oh, and they accept PayPal for items with a selling price under $10,000 and I would not purchase a bag for over $10,000, added fees or not. If it goes that high I would be "out" of the bidding anyway!

I didn't think you were talking about the same company/seller but they run their businesses similarly and IMO, neither is worth the possible problems.

auctionatany's feedback percentage is so much lower only because they have a low feedback score so a few negs on a low-feedback account hurt big time.

ejsauuctionandconsignment 's percentage is 89%, still awful but better than the other seller.

If you look at the comments on both sellers' negs, they refer to hidden charges, added charges, slow shipping, broken garbage (a buyer's comment), and other issues.

I can't imagine you'd be any happier buying from one of these types of sellers than you would be if you waited to find a non-live-auction "regular" seller on ebay or another online venue. And in fact, based on what I've seen, it's likely you'll be disappointed.

Again, I wouldn't do it!

 

[nicole0612]

I didn't think you were talking about the same company/seller but they run their businesses similarly and IMO, neither is worth the possible problems.

auctionatany's feedback percentage is so much lower only because they have a low feedback score so a few negs on a low-feedback account hurt big time.

ejsauuctionandconsignment 's percentage is 89%, still awful but better than the other seller.

If you look at the comments on both sellers' negs, they refer to hidden charges, added charges, slow shipping, broken garbage (a buyer's comment), and other issues.

I can't imagine you'd be any happier buying from one of these types of sellers than you would be if you waited to find a non-live-auction "regular" seller on ebay or another online venue. And in fact, based on what I've seen, it's likely you'll be disappointed.

Again, I wouldn't do it!

Thank you!! I just deleted them from my watch list. You are right, not worth it at all!

 

[3pups]

Hello
I am just curious if ebay sellers on the forum typically send a personal thank you note to buyers either through ebay messaging or directly to the buyers email after they pay, or is it good enough to just let the buyer get the shipment notice from ebay and leave them positive feedback?
Thanks!

 

[whateve]

Hello
I am just curious if ebay sellers on the forum typically send a personal thank you note to buyers either through ebay messaging or directly to the buyers email after they pay, or is it good enough to just let the buyer get the shipment notice from ebay and leave them positive feedback?
Thanks!

I used to send a thank you note after purchase to the buyer, but I guess ebay didn't like the flood of messages so they changed the star ratings system so that if you didn't communicate at all with the buyer you would get an automatic 5 star rating. I don't think that is still in place, but I don't send a thank you anymore. I rarely get them from any sellers either. I have a note thanking them added to the shipment notice when I buy my postage so I think that is enough, although I bet most buyers don't even open that email.

 

[ccbaggirl89]

Hello
I am just curious if ebay sellers on the forum typically send a personal thank you note to buyers either through ebay messaging or directly to the buyers email after they pay, or is it good enough to just let the buyer get the shipment notice from ebay and leave them positive feedback?
Thanks!

i always say thanks and direct them to look in their account for the tracking number. some people don't use the site often so they don't even know where to look for tracking updates. most people seem so surprised to get a personal note that they say thank you right back. i'm a power seller and send out hundreds of packages but i say thanks to every single person and personalize each message to what they bought.