Angry eBay customers..

[jelle]

I have a more uplifting story about Ebay, although I am a buyer in this one.

Bought 4 SVT power transformers on ebay recently. Got them in last week. Seller did an awesome job packing the items. Second box came in and one endbell was dented, it seems that the box was dropped but there was no damage to the box. Contacted seller, explained situation, offered pics. He replied by offering a full refund without question.

I must add that my tone towards the seller was very different than the wah guy in the OP.

[Teleguy61]

I bet you get HIS broken pedal back, not yours.

John

I bet this is it. Also as Reel said, tell him the pedal you sold him is marked.

[NickC]

I bet you get HIS broken pedal back, not yours.

John

I bet this is it. Also as Reel said, tell him the pedal you sold him is marked.

It sure would be a drag to get back some other pedal ..... ancient and beat up ..... definitely not the one that was initially sold. And then open it up to repair it and find "Property of Jimi Hendrix" etched by hand inside.


I think I smell an urban myth brewing.

[ER]

"Sold as is due to age", insure with shipping for the buyer's cost.
That's how I always sell stuff on Ebay, haven't had anything comeback yet...

Marking the item somehow and listing the serial# in the posting is good practice too.

Did have a guy from Hong Kong that was upset that none of the 100 multi-section caps I sold him went up to 800 volts, I told him to read the description again carefully and didn't hear anymore after that. Now I only sell in the U.S. but I have sold things to people outside of the country if they contact me and have a U.S. shipping address they can use.

Sold my old '29 Gibson LO to a guy from England who was in country for some bluegrass festivals, later on I saw the same guitar for sale in England online for 3x the price claiming it was an heirloom guitar that had been in the same family since new.

Hard to trust people now days.

Some of the kids out there it's hard to blame, they've grown up in a world where crap is king and stuff either doesn't work out of the box or has a built in self-destruct mode, or a new better version comes out in 6 months. I've gotten stuff my nephew was putting in the trash because he was ready for the upgrade and it was perfectly normal to him that the still useful item had no perceived value.

[dartanion]

Always insure what you are shipping and document the shit out of it especially if shipping outside the US.

On another note, eBay/PayPal doesn't always side with the buyer. I had a legitimate issue with a seller and their auction that I won. It was for an early 70s Marshall 412 with original speakers. I won the auction, which had paypal accepted all over it. So I go to pay for the item and shipping immediately after winning the auction, and I get a message saying that the account does not exist. So, I could not pay using paypal. I contacted the seller and he said they stopped using paypal a few weeks earlier and had forgotten to remove the paypal accepted from their auctions. I told him that I would only use paypal because of the protection it offered buyers and the seller said, sorry I will only take a money order or cashiers check. I said, sorry no deal. So, I get a warning from eBay that I hadn't paid for the item. I explain the whole thing to them to no avail. Paypal also sends me a warning, and had to explain the whole thing to them as well. Still, I get a warning attached to my account for non-payment. Fuck them both! I almost never buy anything from eBay now unless I really want something. Paypal hasn't been an issue since, but man, how wrong minded can they be? How is it the buyer's fault that the seller advertised paypal accepted, then wouldn't accept payment via Paypal?

Anyway, just be careful and document everything.

[Cliff Schecht]

I'll know if the pedal was mine or not the second I get it back. I've repaired this thing once before and I might have to do it again. Perhaps I'll just sell this one locally for cheap (pawn shop?) and try to get some resemblance of money out of the whole ordeal.

Also thanks for the advice guys. I'm taking the hit on this one and sent the guy a very apologetic email in hopes that he doesn't leave me horrid negative feedback. He probably will but I don't really care. You can't win them all.

[briane]

I bet you get HIS broken pedal back, not yours.

I've had people try and pull this crap with me - its a common scam.

One guy came to my house - tested it (was a korg organ) - goes home - then emails me thats its broken - but refuses to tell me what the symptoms were -

if the buyer cant discuss the issue cohesively and logically, and gets all flustered - its a scam.

If the buyer is honest and open - then they tell the truth.

tell him to call you at home - I dont give a sh*t about policy if the guy is lyiing - but you need to figure that out, things can go bonkers in shipping.

[Cliff Schecht]

I doubt it's a scam because the guy has a flawless track record and many purchases on eBay. Again I'll know pretty much instantly if it's mine or not. Not much I can do if this is the case other than try to fix whatever is sent to me and resell it.. Hopefully it's in better cosmetic condition than the one I sold .

Edit: I thought about trying to troubleshoot it over email/phone but in this case I will just give the guy his money back. I almost always sell items as is with no returns but this was one of my first auctions (that failed because of a no-payer) and so I just reposted it without modifying the listing. Nothing else I have listed has a return policy so hopefully I don't deal with this crap again..

[Cliff Schecht]

The guy apologized for coming off "a little sharp" when I contacted him and said I was an honest person and wanted to make thing right. I guess he snapped after being burned a few times from other sellers. I'll eat the shipping on this one because I sent him a repaired pedal without mentioning that specifically in my listing.

Once it's back I'll get it working and probably sell it to a pawn shop it if they offer me anything over $20. I just want to make my money back at this point, I can't afford to take too many hits like this!

I've been having a string of bad luck with both the repairs and the eBay/Amazon stuff this whole week. The pros of trying to make a living doing this (as opposed to getting a real job) definitely outweigh the cons but I still cut it close sometimes when it comes time to pay rent!

[brentm]

Take the pedal back, close the issue, and move on.

When selling on eBay.... think "demographics"

Car stereo? Don't sell it on eBay. Guitar pedal? Don't sell it on eBay... your demographic of buyers are kids who exploit the system and leave you holding the bag.

Had it happen on a pedal. Kid swapped the guts with a mod gone bad with my perfectly good pedal. I took the return and fixed it, and chalked it up to a lesson.

Always think about your demographic when selling on eBay. If it involves cash strapped kids, think again. :/ Sorry that happened!

[Reeltarded]

I would have sent him the intestines of his POS back with a "you spilled your guts" letter.

[briane]

The guy apologized for coming off "a little sharp" when I contacted him and said I was an honest person and wanted to make thing right.

nice to know - the right thing to do.

I know when something goes bad in an odd way - and it may be an act of god - my first thought is always who did what - I've learned often its more like, what unusual has happened here? Sometimes it turns into a good relationship builder.

Gotta keep my mindest of whats important in life- surely not a little chunk of metal and crystal lattice.....

[LeftyStrat]

http://www.theonion.com/articles/i-cant ... ing,10727/

[Reeltarded]

Damned you!

I want to see that movie now.

[LeftyStrat]

Damned you!

I want to see that movie now.

Holy crap! I didn't think it was real, but it really is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superstar: ... nter_Story