Ebay scams are getting really bad these days

jdwk

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
I had a perfectly working, recently serviced Akai GX 635 D on ebay. plugged it in and played and recorded on it in both directions for two hours the day before it went up. all controls work, and this deck must have been serviced not too long before I got it, thats how clean and nice it was.

first winning bidder snipes it up to $903 in the last second, THEN a minute and a half later, sends a cancel request saying "he had a stuck machine" when asked what he meant the reply was "its gaining in all the wrong places" THEN I get an email from him asking me to sell it to him for $750. so much for the "stuck machine" right? so then I immediately relist it again that night thinking "great now no ones going to bid on it because they will think I shilled it and I'll end up losing my ass on this thing now.

Second person wins it and tell me it doesnt work and a "technician they spoke to told them of the age related issue these have ( it's funny all the tech's I have ever attempted to describe a problem to always tell me they need to actually see and test the deck themselves before they can say whats wrong with anything.)

I am not one of those guys that just finds something in a storage locker and goes "OMG those is worf MONEY!!!!!) this guy expects me to just hand him $200 bucks back because he says it doesnt work.

I cannot believe its getting so bad that its actually getting harder to actually just sell something especially something a lot of people want on Ebay.

not to even mention I know how to pack a deck the right way so this guy didnt have to go through the heartache of having a deck arrived smashed. I put a lot of time and effort into what I do and its starting to seem like its not worth it and I might not be able to have anyactual sales, it seems like its all mostly people who bid things high because they just assume most of their bid will get refunded back to them.
 
I feel your annoyance. If something vintage is described as "sold as is", that should be the case. no refund. After ebay changed the money back guarantee forcing returns due to any asshole's reason, and the rampant snipping, i will not list anything worth $100 or more.
 
The problem with ebay is there are so many rules and promotions that it exposes the seller to gaming. I noticed recently more resellers buying an item just to look at it and deciding to return. There is no risk to them so there is no reason not to become serial returners. I read somewhere that ebay has some stupid rewards program where you get coupons for buying. Transaction completes, buyer gets the coupon, and then buyer returns the item. Agreed, it's getting worse and worse. The more Schiit they try, the more the seller suffers.
 
You could almost replace the thread title with "People are getting really bad these days"

The number of people that actually seem to enjoy actively ripping off another person seems to be increasing exponentially. I, myself, never understood the attitude that stealing from a big company was okay just because it was a big company but it has now spread to stealing from average people is okay. That or people think that anyone selling on ebay is rich so they deserve it.
 
not to meantion they keep telling me the noise level increases when they hit the source button. I believe I am dealing with a person whose first language isnt english and I am trying to figure out a way to tell them how many things can cause that problem and have nothing to do with the deck. they kept talking about having to pay for a tech to look at it. Then I said "okay tell me who you are going to take it to, I need the name and phone number. if they have to make a repair, I need an official receipt with company letterhead with details of what was done and I will help you.......then all talk of taking it to a tech stopped right after I said that and they went back to it not working and wanting $200 back......funny isnt it?
 
In recent years, the Bay has made it possible for buyers to take NO responsibility for their actions. IMHO, things like "buyer`s remorse" should NOT be grounds for issuing an instant refund. This type of action does not encourage any buyer discipline, because they know that eBay will take their side regardless, and will pull that money right from your account, without even discussing it with you. SOP for eBay these days is to hold back (for up to 25 days) a fair chunk of whatever money is due you, just in case a buyer files for a refund. The process has become very one-sided !
 
In recent years, the Bay has made it possible for buyers to take NO responsibility for their actions. IMHO, things like "buyer`s remorse" should NOT be grounds for issuing an instant refund. This type of action does not encourage any buyer discipline, because they know that eBay will take their side regardless, and will pull that money right from your account, without even discussing it with you. SOP for eBay these days is to hold back (for up to 25 days) a fair chunk of whatever money is due you, just in case a buyer files for a refund. The process has become very one-sided !

Counter Point.

I was just refused a refund for a disput I opened saying the seller did not disclose all that was wrong with my purchase. EBay sided with the seller.
 
I have read threads like this before. And all of this frightens me as I do have a couple of quality, near perfect, audio items that I intend to sell (one around $1000 and the other $200). Unfortunately, have had better results selling to ebay's much larger market than through Bartertown.

So I ask this question: is there anything that an honest ebay seller can do to protect him/her self ?

What about reviewing the buyer's ebay profile and history (to whatever degree is possible) before shipping, and cancelling the sale if there are any red flags for that buyer?
 
Kaplang, yeah there are ebay shitheads, I don't doubt yuo for a minute. but if you buy gear from me I try really hard to have happy customers. I am also a buyer, I have been in their shoes. I also sell alot of audio and Lp's cd's reel tapes etc,because thats what I love, it is not sloely profit driven like it is for some people on Ebay.
 
I can vouch for the OP being an honest and conscientious seller.

There are lots of threads here about how messed up and how wonderful ebay is. Usually the defenders are buyers who are happy with the return policy. I have zero patience for shenanigans so most everything I buy are from companies, and small ticket items. I sell everything on CL, and am happy to let the buyer audition gear for as long as they want.
 
To the OP the only way I can think of to protect your sale is to video the deck working in every way. Video the packaging. Buyers will never go to this extent.
Sold a turntable once. Secured the tonearm, padded the shell head(no stylus). removed/seperated the platter. TOLD THEM in the ad it was untested.
This guy removes the headshell and takes a picture of it dangling from the cartridge wiring. Tells me It was packed porley and wants partial refund. I sent him pics of the packing and asked him to provide damaged carton. He just drops the request. Protect yourself. Make sure it's dated. Ebay tracks these guys.
 
I have been screwed a couple of times on ebay,and have read a lot of horror stories.Therefore I usually only sell expensive gear locally and have bought and sold on Bartertown without incident and will only sell on ebay less expensive items that aren't worth a great deal.
I feel it would be difficult to make any sort of business out of fleabaying due to the amount dishonest buyers and their fees.
 
So I ask this question: is there anything that an honest ebay seller can do to protect him/her self ?
Like Champco said, document.
Post youtube videos of the unit working properly, all the functions you can, including audio quality and defects and post the link in the ad.
 
Ebay has really gone down hill I buy a lot of stuff and ebay is about 50/50 hit or miss with me. I have really received some junk from ebay its almost not worth it!
 
$900!!!!
$750!!!!

Where did you find those buyers????

I’ve had to damn near give away RTR due to lack of buyers.

I just parted out 100 decks because the market sucks balls.


FWIW, there is a LOT of A-holds in the tape deck buyers market. I have more problems with that than everything else I sell.

There is a certain class of people that buy.
They expect new mint product and don’t pay worth a damn.

I swung through tapeheads.net to ask a question about parts and got reamed for parting out junk decks. I explained to no end that the decks were beyond saving and gave them all the info about parts and even the few machines that worked. There was some interest in the machines and parts so I made brother-/in-law offers. Not one of those pukes bought a damn thing.

Point being, yes, there is no end of funny business on ebay. Nearly no protection for a seller. But the tape world is just riddled with the worst buyers I’ve ever seen.
 
YMMV... I've been away from selling decks for awhile, but when I was selling them I only encountered one a-hole out of dozens of decks I sold, with a number of them topping $2K that went to happy buyers. Ironically the guy that gave me the most trouble was on a "for repair/parts" sale on a Nak 250 or 250 that sold for a pittance, was something like $50-$75 IIRC. He filed a SNAD/missing parts claim on me because there was a tiny pebble shaped piece of plexi missing near one of the tape door hinge points - this on a deck that I had described accurately as a project and even mentioned the door was broken. He also was barely able to stitch two words together in English, but somehow managed to convince eBay that I had misrepresented the deck.

I DO however think there's a small amount of insanity involved with some of that stuff. No good reason I can think of why a parts deck should sell for close to or above $2,000 but it happens regularly with a few iconic models. Then again, look at the price of the big G Sansui's and Marantz receivers. Collecting does tend to drive passion, and if people have the means to scratch that itch they will. Conversely, there are passionate collectors that think any broken piece of equipment should never cost more than $100. The concept of demand and supply is 100% foreign to that bunch, and if you're on the other side then you're just a money-grubbing capitalist.

I watched the TH thread run downhill, can't say much except:

1) most of the folks there never met a deck they didn't think should be salvaged, and

2) your post had more commercial overtones to it than some - I totally got it, have had to make the same decisions about parting vs. selling projects etc. but that lit the fuse, basically

I wouldn't write off the group entirely. There are a healthy number of professionals in the membership that were not amongst the pack of dogs barking at you, and those guys have much to contribute on the subject of tape decks etc. They also mostly appreciate the value of otherwise irreplaceable spare parts.


John
 
The last time I sold anything on ebay, it was a cheap but nice sounding Denon DP-7F turntable and I made a video showing the table working perfectly.
and I posted it to youtube.
I also packaged it as if it was a $7000 turntable not $70. The new owner was happy. I also took pictures of the turntable packaging and had them in case of asshole dickheadedness but the buyer was a cool guy.
 
Ebay.com seems to suck. Ebay.de is better.

If you sell something as defect, it is just that. And there is no way to get a refund.

And if a buyer doesn´t pay, a lawyer can force him to pay.

And a seller HAS to deliver the sold item, even if he got much less than he was hoping.
 
Recently sold four pair of Jamo C103's I snagged on an Amazon sale to some buyers in Australia. One bidder wanted all four, his buying history was nonexistent so I contacted eBay before accepting the sale. They warned of red flags so I canceled the bid. The next bidder also from Australia wanted three pair (for the boyfriends bday) and again no buying history. I again contacted eBay, again red flags. Canceled this bid also, the buyer wanted an explanation. With the explanation the boyfriend got involved, contacted eBay, eBay practically fell all over themselves trying to correct their mistake.

Some guy in Australia now courtesy of his girlfriend is enjoying one hell of a surround system.

As I've mentioned before in many TT threads, due diligence is required in contacting the seller "before" purchase, the same goes when on the other end of the transaction.
 
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