TO SELLER WORRIED ABOUT NEGATIVE FEEDBACK

OMG ... I think you and I are victims of the same buyer. I sold her a 10 pack of polaroid 600 film. She opened it on her vacation in Europe and sent me a nasty email accusing me of "purposely" ruining her vacation as the film was not as described. She was right. I HONESTLY did not know that there was an advertisement for a soda company on the film's borders. I had no camera for testing and all the film was sealed in plastic, in 10 pack by the manufacturer. The photos themselves were fine. Like an idiot, I refunded her in full immediately ($150.00) with the understanding that she return all unused film -- 9 boxes -- upon her return to the States. I was thinking that she could use the money to buy herself a decent digital camera to use on her trip. Nearly 4 weeks later, she emailed me and told me that she decided she liked the film and wanted to keep it. I replied, "Fine. However, you need to repay me for the film." She was totally insulted ... changed her story and said that she "trashed" all the film in Europe as she didn't have the luggage space for it because she spent all of the money I sent to her on souveniors and that she had no intention of repaying or returning anything. Then she added, "I still have a few boxes left and if you want them, you have to send me the money for shipping and then I will return them one at a time." At this point, I contacted eBay for advise. They encouraged me to continue to deal with the buyer in a businesslike manner and if she doesn't repay me on her own, that Paypal would reverse the transaction for me. They also pointed out that I never should have refunded her before she returned the film. Following eBay's advise, I replied to her in a very businesslike manner, "Suppose you purchased this film from Walmart. Do you think that they would refund you if you did not return their merchandise? You need to return your unused film within 7 days and you also must repay me for all of the film that you cannot return." After a few weeks, I received 4 unused boxes of film from the buyer's mother and 2 opened/damaged cartridges along with a letter stating: "you ruined my daughter's dream trip of a lifetime and if you try to charge her back for this "junk" we will leave you negative feedback". Luckily, her letter was a copy of an email that she sent to my yahoo account, so I was able to provide eBay with full headers, and the body of the email in hopes that they would take some kind of action. No such luck. They sent me a message telling me to speak with a rep. Every time I click on CHAT, the box pops up, but it does nothing but load. I tried calling, but spend 15-20 minutes on hold. I am a relatively new seller and I bend over backwards to keep buyers happy. I now realize that I was wrong to be so trusting of people. Additionally, I sold the same film to quite a few other buyers. No issues from anyone else. I've even had a couple of repeat buyers for the same film. OK ... someone please tell me ... isn't there something called "feedback extortion"? Also, what will happen if I do get negative feedback? How badly will that affect my auctions and store? She never left any feedback from the original transaction which occurred back in May. I'd sure appreciate any advise from anyone who has experienced a similar situation. Sarah

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Orignal From: TO SELLER WORRIED ABOUT NEGATIVE FEEDBACK

Most money got from an auction that surprised you

I will start the ball rolling 1 pair used 2t toddler tights $28.00 Ok your turn

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Orignal From: Most money got from an auction that surprised you

Why am I being asked to leave feedback for items w/ feedback already?

I left feedback for a string of items three times already and yet it still appears that I need to leave feedback for the same string of items. At first, I scratched my head and thought, I already gave feedback, so I'd leave feedback again and come back days later and scratch my head, wondering, did I or didn't I leave feedback? I know I did. So I checked out the seller and there's the feedback I left from the first time, and that was a week ago. And the little stars in my ebay should be solid blue, but they are white stars, which indicate feedback was left. Enough days have gone by for these stars to turn solid. Must be another Ebay glitch.

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Orignal From: Why am I being asked to leave feedback for items w/ feedback already?

seller used profanity and insults when i wanted tracking info

I got the nastiest response from the seller when I requested the tracking info for a shipment. MY QUESTION IS... How should I handle the feedback ( i received the item and it is what he said it was) but want other buyers to beware of his insults and filthy language. I did report him to ebay, and supposedly they are looking into it. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

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Orignal From: seller used profanity and insults when i wanted tracking info

leaving feedback first

I still think ebay's reason's for not letting sellers leave negative/neutral feedback for buyers is insane. I find it very frustrating and feel a sense of dread everytime I ship. And even if the buyer has a problem and I solve it they can still leave a negative. Just on a whim. But my question is - since we can't leave feedback, are most sellers waiting to receive feedback before leaving feedback? Receiving postive feedback seems to be the final step in the transaction and you know then you're safe. Is there any point in waiting before leaving feedback? Just wanted to hear if other people felt the way I do. Thanks everyone -

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Orignal From: leaving feedback first

starting things off...

threads,op,ignore...this week was my first experience with any chat of any kind...for me ,what a rocky start..but little by little...I think some warmed up to me...a case of my worst foot forward...I've really enjoyed hearing everyones comments...I guess stepping out of my comfort zone...I've heard that's the only way to grow...I guess what I'm trying to say is;I like you guys and would like to be in the loop...now if I have not paid my dues or I'm now on everyones ignore list...well I will just ride off into the sunset...without me starting all the threads where we've talked..how would I go about getting to visit some??wado

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Orignal From: starting things off...

OT...The One That Got Away!

Hey Everyone! This is kind of a sister thread to the one asking about your biggest surprise for the price of an item you sold. What did you pass on that you could have sold for a bundle? Last year I saw a cool mid century Italian floor lamp at a flea market. I'd seen it in reference books and thought it was beautiful but had no place for it in my house. The dealer wanted $300.00 and I didn't want to blow that much of my spending stash so early in the morning on speculation. He had it for several weeks before it finally sold to another mid century dealer. Every week the place is crawling with antique furniture buyers and I was a little surprised it took so long to sell. Imagine my shock when I saw another one listed a few weeks later which sold for $6,900.00! And all subsequent ones are usually in that price range. Trust me, the seat of my pants was just about worn through from kicking myself... Joe Just when I learned the rules... they changed the game!

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Orignal From: OT...The One That Got Away!