A well described technique of profitable buying

Some may find this anti-seller in nature, but I encourage sellers to understand the nature of poor descriptions.

Many may not understand your position but I would hazzard a guess that your buy first ask questions later approach lands you a number of good buys along the way.

I don't buy a lot here but I have jumped on a few less than adequately described lots in the past that turned out to be steals and a couple of duds along the way as well.

But I too managed to get my money back on the duds and made some hefty profits on the steals. They would have likely been opportunities missed had I waited for a better description of the lots.

Ebay: do you know what your CS reps are saying?

A quote, missing some documentation, but posted to the fb board:

Here you think buyer can not leave you feedback for he has not paid for the item. For this point, maybe you have a misunderstanding. According to eBay policy, buyer has the priority to leave you feedback once he bid the item from you, showing his real shopping experience. So we always encourage user to pay attention to the service before, during and after the bidding, which belong to the whole transaction.

Dramatic increase in removal of unfair negs

We have seen a dramatic increase in reports of unfair negs being removed within the past two days.

1. buyer complained of shipping method, negged, but relisted the item
2. buyer reported by seller as having returned item minus the gold
3. buyer complained about the stuff, but declined to return it, and posted neg instead claiming INR
4. buyer negged because while the stuff was the size described, it did not fit

In all of these cases, ebay seems to have detected a pattern of abusive behavior in buyer. While all of the negs seemed quite unfair, the patterns were not always so obvious. What does seem obvious is that the fairness issue has swung in favor of sellers.

Neg removed due to pattern of items not fitting

Neg not removed for extortion, but was removed for:
I see that [buyer] left a similar negative Feedback for another seller regarding the size of their item and how well it fit them
personally. Given that this appears to be a pattern with them and their reason for leaving negative Feedback in both cases does not reflect any wrong-doing on the part of their sellers, I've decided to remove the Feedback. Note that your seller dashboard may take 24-48 hours to reflect this removal.

Argentina buyer doesn't get 25% of stuff, negs sellers

Here is why I don't sell internationally, because the risk of this is just too high.


Feedback left

Will this last one stay, or will it go:

never received this item

Seller's fb from 5 Mar 11

Ebay: do you know how buyers are being treated on your discussion boards?

Synopsis.

Buyer in Hawaii selects parcel post.

Stuff takes a long time to arrive.

Buyer ends up rating shipping time a '2', with positive fb.

Seller confronts buyer, who thought that the rating was anonymous.

Buyer comes to the feedback board, where she encounters intense hostility, and is accused of personally destroying her seller.

Buyer takes this seriously, and is emotionally crushed.

Requests ebay to modify the '2', but is denied.

Accepts board demands to compensate her seller.

Recall: ebay is paying for this board to exist.

Here's Buyer's plight:

I guess I will not be asking any more questions since these boards get rather hostile. I have told the seller to send me a request to change the feedback and I will do so. I have always thought I was a good buyer, but apparently I am not.

Then:

Just an update. I have tried to get the seller rating for shipping revised, eBay said it could not be changed. I even asked to speak to someone in higher authority and was told I would get the same answer. I have told the seller I will send her a payment to make up for her losses. Can anyone tell me what the "discount" amount might be that she says she will lose?

Then:
Since I am a senior citizen on a fixed income I cannot afford to send her thousands of dollars but I think I can afford $100. I am so upset by all of this I had a hard time sleeping last night. Dop you think that woudl be fair?

Eventually:
Would everyone please stop. I feel like I am on trial. I am not a power seller, I had no idea that the seller ratings had anything to do with "discounts". I occasionally sell even though I have been on eBay a long time. I recently have been getting rid of some of my collections as I am getting older and only have one child who does not want my "stuff". Sometimes I go months without listing anything but I buy regularly to build different collections, especially the Hawaiian dinnerware that I still do collect. Do I need to spell out my entire life history? I am sending the seller some compensation and I have already apologized and I have tried to repair the feedback through eBay to no avail.

And finally:
I was advised earlier to pull my post. I kept it on because I felt that I had to defend myself, but now I see that it is not possible to do that. I really tried to make it right and I just get beat up for it. Again, I am sorry that I made that mistake and then asked a question that started the uproar. I hope that when you get to be may age, (over 60) that you do not have to suffer these kind of attacks and meaness. I will leave the post up a little longer so you can see my apology again, I don't know what else to do. I would normally sign something with aloha, but I really don't feel much aloha right now.

Here's the thread link:
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/topic/Feedback/I-Thought-Quotdetailed/520266678

Extortion? will it stay or will it go? Update: comment removed, neg stays

Some board posters see this as extortion.

I recently sold my daughter's old Nintendo DS. I looked it over pretty thoroughly before selling it (listed it in "fair" condition) and included an option for a refund if my listing was inaccurate. Today I notice the buyer gave me negative feedback for a hinge that was broken. Huh? I don't remember seeing that! I'm usually really careful to list anything wrong with an item, but regardless gave the buyer the option for a refund. I contacted the buyer and the buyer writes back that there is a crack in the hinge and if I refund $20 she will remove the negative feedback. What should I do? Do I have any recourse?

Here's the rule:
The buyer isn't allowed to threaten to use Feedback or detailed seller ratings in an attempt to force a seller into providing:
Goods or services that weren't included in the original item's description or purchase price
A refund
A return

Here's the neg:
Right hinge part was broken; Did not mention about it.

Here's the link: 3 Mar 11

Updated:
Comment removed, but the neg stays.
That's just odd.

Seller adds:
Thought I would post a follow-up in case anyone is interested. I called eBay this afternoon and they agreed that this was indeed a case of extortion and have agreed to remove the feedback.

Also they say they will look into this buyer, so hopefully they can shut him down, if only for a little while.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Hopefully by doing this I've saved at least a few people the trouble I went through!