The Forum at Handcuffs.Org

A pet peeve ... eBay sellers note ...

22 visible archived posts · 22 preserved total · topic ID 4782

sean97 02 May 2012

Several times in the past I've tried to bid on items only to find that eBay sellers have knowingly or unknowingly set their bidding requirements to be so restrictive as to make it impossible for qualified bidders to place bids and / or to contact sellers when problems or questions arise.

Like today for example.

I tried to place a (generous) bid on a cuff only to have it refused because

"This seller has set buyer requirements for this item and only sells to buyers who meet those requirements.

You are unable to bid on or buy this item because:

You either don't have a PayPal account or your PayPal account is not linked to your eBay account. We encourage you to register with PayPal - it is the fast, easy and safe way to pay. Register with PayPal | Already have a PayPal account?"

While I am one of those Luddites who doesn't have a PayPal account, I have bought more than a few things using my (major) credit card through PayPal. The seller gets paid by PayPal and the charge appears on my card statement as a payment made through PayPal. So this should be a non issue for the seller. IMO.

But then, to compound the issue, when I try to contact the seller through the eBay mail system, I sometimes can't because

"We're sorry we couldn't find an answer for you. Unfortunately, this seller is not able to respond to your question. We suggest reviewing the item again to see if your answer is in the seller's listing."

this DESPITE the text in the sellers ad that says "Questions WELCOME. ASK BEFORE BIDDING."

EBAY SELLERS NOTE: If you make your settings so restrictive as to prevent legitimate buyers from bidding and / or prevent them from contacting you, then you are loosing sales. Guaranteed.

If you are "black..." then this is for you.

Blackburn 02 May 2012

Well I am BLACK... so I guess I will respond to your statement. I have set certain guidelines to protect myself against bidders who never pay.

I have it set to only accept bids from people with PayPal, because that is the only form of payment I will accept for an ebay auction. If you would like to bid on my auction, then link your PayPal to it. You can pay through PayPal with whatever means you want, I don't care as long as it goes through them.

This is done for multiple reasons. The biggest reason is so that you have a registered address on file that is confirmed. I had a good friend who got ripped off by someone who had an address in ebay and a different address in PayPal. He lost a cuff and his money. I don't want to be in a similar situation.

I also won't ship a cuff outside the united states. While It is Illegal for me to export to every country except Canada, I could legally ship to Canada. So why don't I Ship to Canada? Because the shipping is quite a bit more expensive and takes a while for someone to get their item. Buyers hold this against the seller even tho they know this before they bid. I don't wanna get negative feedback or get low stars on shipping for something that is outta my control.

If you don't meet these requirements then you are a blocked bidder. Since there is no hope for you to bid on my item anyways, why should I waste my time or your time answering questions when you are not eligible to bid on my item anyways. That just wouldn't be smart for either one of us. But now I have typed 4 paragraphs explaining all this to you anyways.

I appreciate all the bids I receive on my items for sale. I ship items quickly. I answer questions usually within 15 minutes but very seldom more than a few hours. I haven't had a unsatisfied customer yet. If a problem does arise, I work quickly to resolve it. I just have these parameters to be eligible to bid on my items.
Block buyers who:

Don't have a PayPal account
Have received 4 Unpaid item Strike(s) within 1 month(s)
Have a primary shipping address in countries that I don't ship to
Have a feedback score equal to or lower than -1

Now looking at my bidder requirements, can anybody blame me? If you wanna bid, make yourself eligible!!!

sean97 02 May 2012

Since "black..." seems to have stepped forward to identify himself ...

There's an old saying, "He that has the gold sets the rules." You seem to have convinced yourself that you can set your own rules and force buyers to jump through your own hoops. Meanwhile, I'm the guy with the gold who was willing to buy something from you. And at a better price than any of your bidders. Guaranteed.

I don't have PayPal and I don't want PayPal. It's one less thing for a hacker out there to go looking for. I understand the issues you think you're dealing with, but I don't think you do. I use my credit card to make a payment through PayPal. You get paid by PayPal. My credit card provider knows who I am and where I am. As does eBay. They have a confirmed address. So what's your big deal?

I suggest you copy / paste all the "hoops" you want people to jump through to your all your future auctions. You'll save people like me from wasting their time with you.

My bottom line still stands ... If you make your settings so restrictive as to prevent legitimate buyers from bidding and / or prevent them from contacting you, then you are loosing sales. Guaranteed.

Blackburn 02 May 2012

Well I'm sure alot of LEGITIMATE Qualified bidders will be glad there is one less guy to compete with them......Guaranteed

Have a great Day!

Blackburn 02 May 2012

I found the gold your talking about

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221014834272

I can buy 4oz of dirt with gold glitter in it

edgeplayusa 02 May 2012

The seller has few rights and fewer protections on eBay. One protection he has, is that he can set the criteria for who he sells to. It ain't much.

I'm sure Blackburn realizes that the tighter he sets his filters, the fewer customers will fit through. It's a risk-benefit thing.

Personally, I've always believed that I should make it as easy as possible for someone to pay me. I'll even take chickens and goats by negotiation. Others mileage may vary.

Anonymous 02 May 2012

Well if your ebay name is seven*sean should make it impossible to buy

Blackburn 02 May 2012

After further investigation, ebay seller protection will not cover you as the seller if someone does the direct pay through paypal like you are referring to. It leaves the seller totally open to someone doing a chargeback from their credit card. Paypal offers no protection from this either.

They have that option for a reason. I would recommend all buyers protect themselves by blocking buyers without a paypal account to cover your investment. It's just smart for business.

tim71 03 May 2012

Well, I'm very cautious about hackers and such as well. That's why I opened a separate checking account that I use strictly for paypal. I deposit money into it, and my paypal is linked to it. No credit card involved.

I've done business with Blackburn several times and have always been happy with my purchases.

Tim

Joshua 03 May 2012

#10

In today's age the seller has to cover there own butts as the protection is severely one sided on behalf of buyers. I always prefer PayPal however will accept postal money orders and once they clear I'll ship the item out. I reckon if someone shows up at my front door with cash in hand I'd be more than happy to give them the item. My wife even has a credit card swiper that attaches to her iPhone (not a big fan). However prior to handing it out or shipping the item we take a photo of it in packing to show proof of shipping and condition. I also require that insurance is taken out on all items. EBay will do little to back up a seller so taking a few extra steps ourselves is neccesary. I want to make sure I'm happy with sale and someone is happy to add something to there collection. In summary I totally understand Balckburns point on protecting himself and perhaps there are a few extra annoyances he can do to open his market to catch that one collector who may raise the ending price 50% or more.

joe tanner 03 May 2012

#11

JOSHUA::: it is good that you photo the item in packing it, but you might as well STOP !! it is meaningless - i know as i have done the same thing & even photo'd the package sealed up with the PRIOITY MAIL LABEL that showed the name & address TO whom it was being shipped to.... also had the foreign PROOF OF MAILING receipt which had the POST OFFICE date stamp on it as well as the POSTAL RECEIPT showing that a package WAS sent to person's TOWN ..... guess what -- EBAY/PAYPAL -- still -- took the money away from me.... i have had the same experience just sending items - here - in the USA .... EBAY is 150 % for the BUYER ---- 000 % for the SELLER !!!! so syou might as well STOP wasting your time & energy.... joe

Nils 03 May 2012

#12

I appreciate it when a seller offers to sell internationally. I'm always excited when I get package from abroad (like today, from Marocco). That's part of the fun of collecting.

Even if a seller refuses to ship internationally, I can often offer to ship to a US address to a friend who will safekeep the items for me (that person is also registered to my paypal address). But in order to do that, I sometimes need to contact the seller. It's really annoying if sellers keep potential buyers from even asking them ("The seller is unable to answer your question.").

I believe nobody here collects only restraints from "his" or "her" continent. We rely on others in other countries to trade and deal with. I've also met some great people this way, and I've received (and let go) of some fantastic items.

There is a tendency of isolationism in the US, especially in times of crisis; or when fleabay (love the word!) changes its policies to tighten the screws on sellers - again (feedback policy, paypal, the list is endless).

We can also use the forum to buy, sell or trade. I can safely say that I would send $100 to almost everybody on the forum in good trust. Trust, of course, comes from mutual experience. Maybe a sub-forum for buying and selling would be nice.

I kindly ask everybody to keep an open mind, and deal and trade with others abroad. If you sell worldwide, you will almost always fetch 20-30% more. After all, where did you get your Stotz, Hamburg 8s or Clejusos? In 10 years, I've only had one package lost in the mail, and that was from Holland.

Nils

Blackburn 03 May 2012

#13

Nils,
It wouldn't be so bad to sell international if I could ship everywhere internationally. I am limited with Canada being my exception. Now I wouldn't have a problem shipping to a U.S. address on your behalf. I've done this before for a forum user. My whole thing with selling on ebay is seller's are dependent upon DSR's and Feedback. How many times have you seen negative feedback left for sellers over shipment time(not handling time) to an international location? Ebay just changed it's policy to remove negative feedback that only references international shipment time. A HUGE U.S. handcuff distributor until that policy change had a negative feedback from someone in canada saying package still hasn't arrived. Feedback was left 6 days after purchase. I think anyone realistic would have waited much longer than 2-3 weeks to leave feedback stating that. It wasn't right for that seller to be stuck with a negative feedback like that.

I'm not trying to stereotype and say every international buyer would do that, I just am trying to protect myself from the higher chance. Yes, anyone in the U.S. could leave me that same feedback, but most of the time, they have their packages in 3-4 days. And like I stated I would gladly sell anything I have to potential International buyers if they have a U.S. address listed on their paypal. In fact I'm pretty sure if It is listed on your paypal you can contact me, because you wouldn't fall under my blocked bidder guidelines.

Nils 03 May 2012

#14

I'm afraid that doesn't solve the problem. I have two addresses registered with my paypal account; I can modify the address at checkout. However, that does not allow me to contact a seller, because my ebay account is still located outside the USA.

I could set up another ebay account, I suppose, but I would much rather have people be willing to ship worldwide, or at least not automatically block communication. It's kind of like welding your mailbox shut.

Nils

Blackburn 03 May 2012

#15

Contact from all ebay users is unblocked. Feel free to contact me anytime. I didn't realize it blocked contact under those circumstances. That isn't fair to them.

I'm sticking to my guns on my other requirements tho because I don't want someone bidding on my items if they:

Don't have a PayPal account
Have received 4 Unpaid item Strike(s) within 1 month(s)
Have a feedback score equal to or lower than -1

I see these as proper steps I can take to protect myself.

edgeplayusa 05 May 2012

#16

I've only had one or two problems with what I considered were Item Not Received scams. They were both international sales, though. I buy insurance on significant international sales. eBay won't allow you to charge for that, but I add a handling fee for International. In general, I haven't found insurance to be worth the bother. I put the money in my pocket and pretty quickly, that will cove the infrequent losses in transit.

There are some countries that just have terrible reputations on eBay. Italy is one. Their postal/customs services seem to be populated by thieves. Any place in Africa, except maybe South Africa, is considered by many to be too fraud prone to risk. Parts of Eastern Europe have similar reputations. The tales go around on the eBay seller's board, and scare away many potential international sellers. Since the international market is not very big for most items (Shipping kills it.), it is not much of a loss to click "Will not ship internationally," and not worry about it.

eBay is PayPal land. They own PayPal, so they stack the deck against other payment methods. You really just have to live with that if you want access to the eBay market.

Anonymous3x 06 May 2012

#17

eBay has specific guidelines to follow with the shipping of won auction items, and waiting to process an export license to ship handcuffs legally to an international destination takes time and puts the seller in direct conflict with the shipping time frame.

I would have no problem selling handcuffs to our international friends but ebay seller terms and US law make it not worth spending the time and effort of acquiring the export license and taking the chance of losing the item and or the money of the sale by selling internationally and having something go wrong. ( it is the sellers responsibility to know the import laws of the country you are shipping the item into. )

I believe USPS Express mail is the best way to ship international as it offers online tracking and a signature of the receiver when delivered.

Unknown / guest 06 May 2012

#18

Hi Joe, My brother had a similar issue last year when he sold a used netbook.

His only mistake was using the ( as is, no refunds accepted ) ... It keeps the item covered under the buyer protection and lets the buyer have like 45 or more days to file a claim on the seller.

Since this happened, he now uses the 3 day return privilege as this takes away the buyer protection if the buyer doesn't notify you within the 3 days that there is a problem.

I have bought some cuffs n keys from you in the past and have always defended you on the forum here. You have always been up front in your auctions with price and shipping cost. (nobody is forced to buy from you)

Anonymous 11 May 2012

#19

Last year right around this time...
Sean ended up with my handcuff and his money.
Then he came here looking for a key 2 weeks later after leaving a negative feedback.

Its called Karma.

Anonymous 11 May 2012

#20

Or should I say Justice! Thank you Justin for blocking this turd.

Anonymous 11 May 2012

#21

Even if its not the same Sean.. Anyone with the name sean needs to be blocked.
Scammers are not welcome.

sean97 12 May 2012

#22

I began this thread. I have no relation whatsoever to the "sean" referred to above.