Keys, Synths & Samplers

[synthetica]

Originally Posted by The Pro

The only way I would sell something on eBay would be NO RETURN - NO REFUND.

This is what I don't understand about eBay. I actually have a NO Return policy applied to the auctions but any buyer can just open a case with Ebay and they FORCE you to accept a Return and issue a Refund regardless of the circumstances and is always processed in the buyers favor. Whats the use in allowing you to define a return policy if they are going to overide it anyways.

[Outkaster]

Funny I had a big problem selling this Hammond ABV. This guy was so back and forth. I talked with him on the phone. He was going to drive to hear in NYS from VA ( it should have been my first clue) to get this organ because it was a steal. It also had a 122 kit installed already. It had pedals but no bench. Anyway this guy dicked me on the sale and I had to relist it. Sometimes people with good feedback are just as bad and don’t think anything of leaving negative feedback to a seller.

What I hate is when people watch your auction and don’t by. Telling people that 9 people are watching does nothing for the bidding process.

[keybdwizrd]

I've had nothing but good experiences until recently.

I bought a vintage cassette tape from a guy and it arrived completely smashed. I mean, it was as if someone had stomped it into the ground.

I sent a photo of it to the seller and he said that while it wasn't his fault, he'd acquire another one and send it to me. This was several months ago, and I've received nothing. I never left him feedback. He still has my $6.

[plaid_emu]

Originally Posted by keybdwizrd

I sent a photo of it to the seller and he said that while it wasn't his fault, he'd acquire another one and send it to me. This was several months ago, and I've received nothing. I never left him feedback. He still has my $6.

I'm assuming it's not available in a modern format, or are you nostalgic for cassettes? May I ask which cassette it was? Just curious.

[zoink]

I remember how for years the big problem on eBay was with all of the dishonest sellers. It's true that the rules now favor the buyer (in many cases unfairly), but it's really a reaction to unscrupulous sellers of the past. If sellers were ripping people off it would undermine consumer confidence. EBay would eventually lose its customer base, and they know this.

So the pendulum swings in the other direction.

With the fee structure as it is, I don't know how people who sell things for a living can really make any money. Ebay charges a lot more than they used to.

[Outkaster]

A lot more than they used to is correct.

[Gribs]

Most of the used gear buying and selling that I have done in the last year or so has been on the b/s/t forum on muffwiggler or directly from/to local wigglers that I know. There have been some issues with bad sellers there, but I think the community filtered them out. I sold a couple of items on feebay but didn't have a problem. I guess that I have been lucky.

[keybdwizrd]

Originally Posted by plaid_emu

I'm assuming it's not available in a modern format, or are you nostalgic for cassettes? May I ask which cassette it was? Just curious.

I am just nostalgic for cassettes - a completely ridiculous thing given how much I hated cassettes before the era of CDs.

This is what came in the mail. Really.

[1001gear]

You can put the tape in another shell if that's any consolation.

[plaid_emu]

Originally Posted by keybdwizrd

I am just nostalgic for cassettes - a completely ridiculous thing given how much I hated cassettes before the era of CDs.

This is what came in the mail. Really.

WOW!!!!! Maybe the seller just hates Elton John and his fans and the joke was on you. Oh well, thought I might be able to help if it was out of print, as my family has a gigantic music collection and much of it is rare and unusual stuff. A good deal of it is just not available anymore. I'm pretty sure you can snag another one of those. Even on cassette.

[Acid Hazard]

One popular scam on ebay is to buy a piece of gear they already own but doesn't work. Switch out the internals and ask for a refund for items not working. Or else, sending back an entirely different unit. Writing down the SN and taking pics of the internals is always a good idea. I refuse to sell on ebay. The fact that Pal Scam holds your funds for ransom until getting positive feedback is a deal breaker for me.

[McHale]

I only sell on CL now, pickup only. I'll sell for less money then going price (plus shipping) on ebay which seems to help stuff move. I also had problems with ebay and scammers. Just not worth the hassle any more. I'd rather keep the item and wait until I find a local seller than deal with the huge fees of ebay and Paypal while risking getting screwed.

[xpander]

i always put everything for sale "as is" due to chip-switching paranoia but guarantee it 100% functional to any buyer picking it up in person.

i've sold a bunch of my old synths on ebay in the past; however, the last thing i sold (my microwave xt) went on craigslist. cash in hand the day after i listed it. nice.

[Son of HuHefner]

it goes both ways. Sellers really need to be specific about condition, make honest appraisals of used gear. If they do that, buyers are not surprised.

eBay use to be a sellers marketplace and buyers could get stuck. This has changed and it needed to.

Amazon has always been a buyers marketplace and gave them easy ability to return stuff. I think eBay had to respond to that and did it with the claim process.

As a seller, you need to understand that your stuff can be returned for any reason, as flimsy as the reason is. You are really selling on consignment, sort of try and buy, or 30 day rental. Until the customer is satisfied, your item is not sold. You must know how particular musicians are about gear, its not a casual purchase.
If a buyer decides he does not like your synth, etc, you can't be too surprised with the claim/return. This is simply the way eBay ( and Amazon) operates.

I use CL to sell my stuff. I have perfect success and use common sense when the scammers hit my ad.

[Son of HuHefner]

Originally Posted by synthetica

This is what I don't understand about eBay. I actually have a NO Return policy applied to the auctions but any buyer can just open a case with Ebay and they FORCE you to accept a Return and issue a Refund regardless of the circumstances and is always processed in the buyers favor. Whats the use in allowing you to define a return policy if they are going to overide it anyways.

I agree , this is a convoluted way to do it. See my prior post to get insight why ebay does it this way.

[MartinHines]

Originally Posted by synthetica

This is what I don't understand about eBay. I actually have a NO Return policy applied to the auctions but any buyer can just open a case with Ebay and they FORCE you to accept a Return and issue a Refund regardless of the circumstances and is always processed in the buyers favor. Whats the use in allowing you to define a return policy if they are going to overide it anyways.

I don't think it is supposed to work that way. The No Return policy is supposed to indicate that buyers can not return the item just because they decide they don't want it, assuming the item is exactly as described in the auction.

I suspect Buyers might use one of the legal outs -- e.g. not as described, to get around the no Return policy.

I have definitely tried to reduce the number of items I sell on eBay -- it seems their fees (eBay and PayPal) get higher all the time and there are more hassles.

[Travst]

Overall, I have had good luck with Ebay, both as buyer and seller.  However, the downward trend started about 3 years ago when the rules changed and buyers started asking for partial refunds and the like.... blackmail if you will.

My worst experience was when I listed a 4-wheeler with a $1200 BIN and local pickup only and it sells within a day.  The buyer never paid.  When I contacted him, he started a song and dance about how he only had $900.  I asked why he bought the ATV for $1200 and he goes into a spiel about how he's handicapped and poor and I should sell it to him for $900.  At this point, he becomes abusive and starts making physical threats.  Remember, he's local and knows where I live.  Then he left me negative feedback that he bought the ATV and it fell apart right after he picked it up.  Keep in mind that he'd neither seen or ridden the damn thing.

I called Ebay, who informed me that they would not intervene until the payment was delinquent for a week.  I asked to speak to a supervisor and asked for his email address.  I held him on the phone while I forwarded all of this loonytune's emails.  After a quick read, he cancelled the transaction, wiped the feedback, and banned the "buyer".  However, the whole experience, when coupled with several other scams, has left a very bad taste in my mouth.  I have done hundreds of deals on Ebay, but I am reluctant to use it now.  I've had a couple of buyers ask to return guitars because they didn't like the setup, even though I have language in my guitar listings that each player is different and that the guitar may require a setup to meet their preferences.

[zoink]

I can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would sell something of real value on eBay anymore. There are just too many buyers from hell these days who will try to scam sellers because they know they can get away with it. Non-paying bidders seem to be the big problem now. They ruin your auction by bidding on an item with no intention of actually buying the item.

Ebay was a great idea when it was new, but they've had to make too many changes to their rules to accommodate the one lingering problem: human nature.

[Purity_Control]

I'm not sure it was ever such a great deal as we thought it was... it just took a while to sink in how badly policed it was, how easy it was to stuff people and how few consequences there were for doing that.

If i'm not mistaken, there's only ever been one single prosecution for shill bidding in the UK... some people will just keep on pulling cr*p like that as long as they can.,

[yzf125]

Because of all these same experiences I have had with Ebay and other greedy corporate businesses over the years has prompted me to take action in my own hands with the help of a few key people in place....

Very soon I will have a web site for everyone to go to for FREE and get what they want...... Sorry, right now I cant reveal details about it as we are about a month or less away from launch, It is going to work for anyone and everyone looking for something Stay tuned......