Timothy, our hapless eBay seller who kept having problems listing his laptop on the auction site, was contacted by a Real Live Human from eBay the day after we posted his story. “Garrison” apologized for the frustration, and said he’d be making a note on Timothy’s account to keep it from getting shut down by other agents. He also suggested several listing options that were pretty well-covered by our commenters in the original thread.
ebay
Woman eBays $103,254.11 In Debt
By 4.26.08
This lady is trying to eBay her family’s $103,245.11 in debt. It comes with her house and car (loving family not included). I guess it could be useful if you’re trying to decrease your tax liability, or you just want to feel part of the credit crunch crisis. Maybe you could work out a Prince and the Pauper thing.
Seller Gets Scammed On Ebay, PayPal Won't Help
By 4.26.08
Matt just got his first taste of Ebay, and it wasn’t good—as soon as he mailed off the Best Buy gift card to the buyer, the buyer reversed payment on Matt’s PayPal account and stopped communicating with him. We’re pretty sure he’s screwed on this one, but does anyone have any good advice for what he can do next?
This Buyer's Experience Pretty Much Sums Up What's Wrong With Ebay
By 4.11.08
Veteran Ebay buyer/seller Monty has just come off a triple play of misrepresented auctions, each from a different seller, and has had zero luck getting things straightened out with any of them.
Shipping Is Getting Expensive
By 4.7.08
Emily noticed that the weird puppet crap she was thinking of buying on Ebay would make her PayPal account explode:
I know shipping products can be expensive, what with the rising fuel costs and all, but this shipping charge from the UK to Utah is ridiculous! Maybe the seller’s just padding the fee, I don’t know. 🙂
Round 14: eBay/Paypal vs COX
By 3.31.08
This is Round 14 in our Worst Company in America contest, eBay/Paypal vs COX cable.
eBayed BMW M3 Resolution Hits Pothole
By 3.27.08
The guy who won a BMW for $60k on eBay only to have the dealership back out is chaffing at the conditions the dealership imposed after the two, following an international onslaught of criticism, came to terms. The two conditions the dealership asked for were 1) That Ken not sell the car for a certain number of years after he bought it and 2) That Ken has to go around to all the internet sites that picked up his story and tell them that the dealership worked out the deal. Ken’s lawyer was able to get the first one struck but Ken really doesn’t like the second one, especially after the following quote from the dealership appeared in the Journal-Star, “These bloggers out there, they have lots of time on their hands to do this.” To this, Ken wrote, “I got placed under the impression that the dealership really isn’t sorry for anything they have done here. Their attitude, it seemed was that I am to blame for the firestorm that culminated, implying that I wasn’t being proactive enough in getting the word out…I had no intention of becoming a pawn for this dealer, not after the way they treated me!” For their part, the dealership says they are ready to sell the car at the agreed-upon price once they receive payment from Ken.
Facing Online Onslaught, Dealership Honors eBay Sale
By 3.24.08
The dealership that refused to honor a BMW 3 Sedan for sold on eBay for $60,000 seems to have buckled under the deluge of criticism, emails, and phone calls made by irate internetizens sympathetic to the buyer’s plight. A post by buyer Ken on m3post.com says that the dealership has agreed to honor the original price. However, there will be certain “conditions,” which Ken wasn’t yet able to specify. Ken’s story appeared in various auto forums, and on Autoblog, Consumerist, Fark, and Digg (although for some reason, it got buried even though it has 475+ diggs…dealership sockpuppets at work?). Online social justice networking is in effect.
What Can You Do If PayPal Holds Your Funds For 21 Days? Gamble With It In Their Money Market Fund
By 2.28.08
EBay’s highly criticized fee changes—lower listing prices but a 67% increase in seller fees—kicked in last week, and next month eBay’s payment service PayPal will start holding certain deposits for up to 21 days if PayPal considers the transaction “high risk.” PayPal earns interest on any money it holds—and it’s perfectly legal because PayPal is a deposit broker and not a bank. If you do find your money stuck in “high risk” detention, there’s only one way you can attempt to earn money from the delay, and that’s by sticking it in PayPal’s Money Market Fund.
eBay Boycott Having An Effect? Listings Are Down 13%
By 2.25.08
USAToday says the eBay boycott over fee and policy changes has driven listings down as much as 13%:
The Great eBay Boycott Is Officially On, Will Anyone Notice?
By 2.20.08
Here we are a few days into a week-long eBay boycott over policy and fee changes and no one is sure if it is having any effect. It appears that listings are down 3%, but no one is sure if the drop is the result of the boycott.
Study Says Shoppers "Save" Money On eBay
By 1.29.08
EBay doesn’t share data on bidders’ maximum bid amounts, so it’s always been difficult to quantify whether or not buyers are actually saving money, but a new study has attempted to put hard numbers behind the transactions. The study’s authors use data from bidders who used a specific sniping agent—by measuring what those bidders were willing to pay versus actual winning amounts, they’ve determined that the average winning bid comes in about 30% lower than the maximum amount the buyer was willing to spend.
Archivist Arrested For Stealing Historic Docs To Sell On eBay
By 1.29.08
Daniel Lorello, an archivist with New York’s department of education, was arrested this week and charged with “grand larceny, possession of stolen property and fraud” for allegedly “stealing hundreds of historic documents, many of which he sold on eBay.”
$60 Million Shoplifting Ring Busted In Florida
By 1.25.08
Holy crap! A “multiagency” investigation that started with a single shoplifting incident has lead to the arrest of an 18 person crime ring in Florida, says The Ledger.
Ungifting: The Art Of Selling Your Crappy Gifts To People With Bad Taste
By 1.7.08
If your family gave you something crappy this year, why not help the item find its intended audience by selling it online? The Chicago Tribune caught up with one woman who did just that. She didn’t want to return the singing penguin figurines her mother purchased from QVC, because she didn’t want to hurt mom’s feelings, so she sold them on eBay.
DirecTV Screws Reader Six Ways From Sunday Night Football
By 12.10.07
About six months ago I moved into my apartment in Chicago to learn that the only service available was with DirecTV. Not only that, but we were forced to use MDU communications, a DirecTV reseller. With no options for television, I reluctantly purchased my own HD receiver off eBay (The HR-20) to avoid entering into a contract with them for two years. When I received my unit, I called MDU to sign up and the CSR at MDU told me that since I had my own receiver, I could sign directly up with DirecTV. Awesome I thought, I can cut out the middle man. The CSR at MDU even transferred me to DirecTV account set up line himself.
