If you go to eBay, there are plenty of coupon clippers out there willing to sell you hundreds of already-clipped coupons for only a few bucks. But according to a group representing dozens of the country’s biggest food, pharmaceutical, tobacco and toy makers, it’s a practice that eBay needs to put an end to. [More]
25 CEOs Who Made More Than Their Companies Paid In Income Taxes
By August 31, 2011
The Institute for Policy Studies has just released its 18th annual review of U.S. executive compensation and found that 25 out of the country’s 100 highest-paid chief executives actually earned more in 2010 than their companies paid out in corporate income taxes. [More]
eBay Asks New Seller To Shell Out For Shipping
By August 31, 2011
Jamali is a longtime eBay seller, but his wife isn’t. So he was shocked when his wife went to sell something on her account, and was asked to pay for the shipping ($21) out of pocket while PayPal held on to the money until the transaction was over. Normal auction practice has the buyer send money to the seller, and then the seller ships the item. The buyer can file a chargeback if the item is not as described, never arrives, or if the buyer is a jerk. [More]
PayPal: You Owe Us $38.41 From 2004 Because We Say So
By August 26, 2011
Did you know that there’s a seven-year time limit on PayPal chargebacks? Yeah, neither did we, and neither did Dan. He still had to fork over $38.41 owed to PayPal from an an unknown account belonging to him, even though he didn’t recognize it. What? [More]
After 10 Years Of Selling, Why I Swore Off eBay
By August 12, 2011
After having used eBay for 10 years, Daniel has vowed to never do it again. “If I have something I know I can sell on eBay,” he wrote in a letter to eBay executives, “I’ll give it away before listing it.” Why is Daniel so steamed? [More]
Antique Piggy Bank From eBay Stuffed With $133 In Cash
By July 7, 2011
Shawn bought this antique piggy bank on eBay for $13.50. Adorable, isn’t it? What was even more adorable was what he found when he pulled out the original cork: $133 in cash. That’ll do, pig. That’ll do. [More]
Do Not Body-Pierce Kittens And Sell Them As 'Goth'
By June 16, 2011
Cats are born equipped with defiant attitudes, night vision, and claws, so it doesn’t take anything more to make them “goth.” At least I always thought so. A Pennsylvania woman with kittens to sell had different ideas. She gave the animals ear and neck piercings, docked their tails, and then pierced their tail nubs. Why? She thought it would look “neat.” Then she listed them on eBay for $100, until PETA and the local ASPCA noticed and came calling. She was convicted of animal cruelty, and the Superior Court of Pennsylvania recently affirmed her sentence and conviction on the grounds that no one could possibly be stupid enough to think that this was a good idea. I paraphrase. [More]
Spurned Woman Strips Down, Sells Ex's Clothes Online
By May 24, 2011
An anonymous woman who says she kicked her cheating live-in boyfriend out of their home is selling his clothes on eBay, accompanied with lurid photos of her with the clothing. [More]
EBay Won't Let Me Re-List My Item After Scammer Ordeal
By May 23, 2011
All Richard wanted to do was sign up for eBay and PayPal and auction off a few things. But when he was hit by a Nigerian scammer, he says he got into a complicated ordeal with eBay as he tried to get his money back, and was then unable to re-list his item. [More]
Debunking The Creation Myths Behind 5 Huge Companies
By March 30, 2011
It might be shocking to you to find out that some companies have lied about their own creation, but hey, who doesn’t like a good story? From eBay to YouTube, tall tales have been spun to consumers for various reasons. Let’s take a walk down liars’ memory lane, shall we? [More]
How To Switch Your iPhone From AT&T To Verizon And Make Money
By January 18, 2011
Are you an AT&T iPhone 4 owner with Verizon envy? Dan over at MoneyTalks News has formulated a minimally devious, moderately labor-intensive and somewhat risky way of switching carriers and getting a Verizon-capable iPhone and end up in the black. [More]
eBay Chat Agents Live In The Mythical Nation Of "Chat Session Ended"
By January 10, 2011
D. suspected that his customer service chat rep at eBay didn’t really understand what he was saying. So he asked where the rep was located. We suspect that hanging up on the customer is not the eBay-endorsed response to such queries. [More]
Man Cons Woman Into Paying For eBay Auction She Won
By December 15, 2010
A guy over on Reddit had tickets to a big sporting event but at the last minute couldn’t go, so he sold them on eBay for $600. The event was in less than 24 hours and when he contacted the winning bidder after they didn’t pay for a while, the woman told him that her husband had said that it was too much money and wouldn’t let her go. Never mind that winning an eBay bid is a binding contract and now the guy has little chance of selling the tickets. So he concocted a fiendish scheme to trick her into paying. [More]
Make All Your Bordello-Managing Dreams Come True Via eBay
By September 3, 2010
We know times are tough and many of you are looking for work. So even if you haven’t given much thought to the idea of managing a bordello in Berlin, now might be your chance to get in on the ground floor of a (somewhat) recession-proof industry… in Germany. [More]
Use 10-Day eBay Listing Starting On Thursdays To Max Exposure, Increase Profits
By August 30, 2010
One tip for increasing the number of potential viewers to your eBay listing is to use the 10-day listing option instead of the default 7, and then start your auction on a Thursday. Why? Doing so gives you two full weekends of visibility, when traffic is the highest. [More]
PayPal Says Man Owes Nearly $300 For Dispute That He Won
By August 30, 2010
Kentaro already went through a dispute resolution with PayPal for an HTC Droid Eris he sold on eBay. He says the reason for the dispute no longer exists, and anyway, he won and that was supposed to be the end of it. But now he owes $287, according to PayPal. [More]
Geniuses Are Buying Downloadable Transformers Characters For Big Money
By July 1, 2010
As enticements to get fans to preorder the Transformers: War for Cybertron video game, GameStop, Amazon and Best Buy offered codes for downloadable characters exclusive to each seller. Clever entrepreneurs are turning around and selling those codes to nostalgic people who are careless with their money, and some were getting north of $100 on eBay yesterday morning. [More]
Get Shoved By The CEO Of eBay, Receive $200,000?
By June 15, 2010
The NYT is reporting that Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay and current Republican candidate for governor of California, allegedly shoved an employee who didn’t do a sufficient job of preparing her for an interview with Reuters. [More]
