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The nightmare that is selling on eBay

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The nightmare that is selling on eBay

#1
Few weeks ago, I decided to sell my unused Macbook Pro as I upgraded to the new model. The laptop was sold within hours of the listing and done! or so I thought ...

Just yesterday .. which is more than a week of selling my laptop, I receive a notification from eBay that the buyer wants to return the item because it does not match the description!

Despite clearly stating a no return policy on the item, it seems that eBay just doesn't care as long as the seller selects the reason "item does not match the description" .. very nice right! However, the reason for the return was _drum roll_

"On the original listing it stated that the laptop had an estimate of 10+ hours battery life, however when I’ve used it, it’s not lasted longer than 3 hours. I would say it had around 2 hours on average of battery life, which is far from the estimate stated in the listing which is therefore inadequate."

The nerve on this lad, to issue a return because a brand new battery (with a cycle count of 4, which he asked about on messages and I have screenshots as a proof) does not last for 10 hours .. and the ad clearly said "and a integrated battery that provides an Apple estimated 10 hours of runtime"

I am completely shocked by this request and my sane mind tells me, no way this will fly with eBay .. but to be sure I call their customer support

After waiting for 45 mins, and 10 minutes explaining the situation, the agent calmly tells me that as eBay does not check the fit for description, they always go with the buyer on this and that I have to issue a refund for the item! unless of course, I need to make an appeal bla bla bla!

Clearly, am not letting this go, but come on eBay! seriously! a buyer with zero karma .. does not reply to the messages I am sending to the claim, who comes up with an audacious reason and just click "does not match description" and you just take his side!

I have never had such an experience selling on any platform and eBay, you can do better

Re: The nightmare that is selling on eBay

#2
1) For those who never put an ad on eBay before, when you finalizing your listing, you have this "FREE" word floating around the submit button, making you think that listing on eBay is free and how do they get money you say? well thats when you want to purchase addons or bump your add (or so the naive person inside me thought). The laptop was sold within hours of the listing, and the usual payment went through Paypal on hold until the shipment is sent. This is when you first realise that Paypal (which is owned by eBay) takes some fees to process your payment .. i was ok with that .. it was less than 60 USD on the transaction

2) Few days ago, I received a bill from eBay telling me that I have to pay close to 200 USD as ad fees, as it turns out that eBay takes a percentage on every transaction that happens.. I swallowed that too and made the payment .. in the end its on me not reading properly (but the devil in me completely blames eBay for not being transparent on this .. a simple fee calculator before you submit the ad is really minimal work)

Re: The nightmare that is selling on eBay

#5
Pragmatically, you will be lucky if you can offer him a few hundred off and he keeps the item, or if he actually sends the laptop back to you. If you're unlucky, this is a prelude to him shipping you back a box of junk and keeping your laptop. If you do get a package back, video yourself opening it.

I buy plenty of stuff on ebay, but I'd never sell anything expensive there.

Re: The nightmare that is selling on eBay

#6
Lol... you got off easy! Many buyers will claim that you shipped them a brick and get a full refund leaving you with no item and no money!

I rarely sell on eBay but I demand that people have 100 feedback, no negatives, and more than 10 years on eBay. Probably costs me some money on the prices but I’ve never had a problem.

Re: The nightmare that is selling on eBay

#9

Pragmatically, you will be lucky if you can offer him a few hundred off and he keeps the item, or if he actually sends the laptop back to you. If you're unlucky, this is a prelude to him shipping you back a box of junk and keeping your laptop. If you do get a package back, video yourself opening it. I buy plenty of stuff on ebay, but I'd never sell anything expensive there.

thats actually a good idea! thanks

Re: The nightmare that is selling on eBay

#10

1) For those who never put an ad on eBay before, when you finalizing your listing, you have this "FREE" word floating around the submit button, making you think that listing on eBay is free and how do they get money you say? well thats when you want to purchase addons or bump your add (or so the naive person inside me thought). The laptop was sold within hours of the listing, and the usual payment went through Paypal…

Both these things are listed pretty clearly up front.
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