Re: [CR]Feedback 98%+ on ebay

(Example: Framebuilding:Brazing Technique)

Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2004 10:58:59 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Ted E. Baer" <wickedsky@sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Re: [CR]Feedback 98%+ on ebay
To: gpvb1@comcast.net, Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
In-Reply-To: <092020041920.20332.414F2D7A000470A100004F6C2200734748CE0D909F09@comcast.net>


Hi Greg,

Yes, I can think of a few vintage bike part sellers ("bikeheaven@peoplepc", "collalbo", and others) that should be tried in a court of law, convicted, and forced to retire from eBay alltogether.

I am in 100% agreement with you that eBay is NOW the number one source for buying and selling vintage parts world-wide.

When you say "sharks," are you referring to buyers, sellers, or both? I myself could be classified as a shark in that when I see something new come onto the eBay market that I want, I will buy it if the auction includes a "Buy it Now."

You have an excellent reputation on eBay. And in my comments to CR I did not mean to imply that you were in anyway part of what I am tired of.

I guess what gets real old is the "policing" of eBay by SOME of the CR members. Yes, it is fine to point out that joe-seller is mis-representing an item. But (between you and I only), many people from the CR list will email a bidder (which is a MAJOR violation of eBay rules) with the intent of "educating" said bidder about the item he or she is bidding on. And CR justifies this by saying, "well if I were at a live auction and about to bid on something, I would appreciate it if Joe Blow would step in and point out to me the problems of the auction." Well, this is not a live auction. This is a cyber auction. People make their own decisions and have to live with them.

Can you imagine standing in line at a grocery store and having some jerk approach you and tell you that you should not buy this or that because this product is bad for your health?

And we need to keep in mind that we are dealing with petty items (money-wise.) We are not dealing with diamonds, real-estate, or Ferrari's.

Again, none of this is aimed at you; I'm just venting.

On a different note, do you have an on-line catalog that shows what you currently have in stock? I need small parts for Campagnolo brakes, derailleurs, etc.

Ted Baer hanging onto a questionable 99.8% feedback rating on eBay Palo Alto, CA


--- gpvb1@comcast.net wrote:


> Ted:
> I concur 100% regarding eBay. I can think of one
> vintage bike parts seller in particular that should
> have been tried and convicted of something by now,
> that falls into the category you mention....
> Like it or not, a lot of the vintage stuff we
> cherish crosses eBay on a regular basis. It's
> arguably the best wordwide 24/7 marketplace for
> items that are in any way out of the mainstream.
> Unfortunately, it has a (fairly small) number of
> sharks too.
> Greg "close to eBay burnout, so I know whatcha mean"
> Parker
> Dexter, Michigan
> Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 10:53:27 -0700 (PDT)
> From: "Ted E. Baer" <wickedsky@sbcglobal.net>
> To: Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Subject: Re: [CR]Feedback 98%+ on ebay
>
> Donald Gillies <gillies@cs.ubc.ca> wrote:
>
> <The feedback mechanism is actually designed to
> maximize ebay's profits. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH
> CREATING HONEST TRANSACTIONS.>
>
> Yes and No. What the feedback system does do is
> provide the buyer with a pretty good idea of who to
> buy from and who to stay away from.
>
> Have you noticed that there are certain sellers who
> have a ton of negative feedback where in "the
> customer
> did not receive the item?" These same sellers are
> quick to use the follow-up excuse: "The item got
> lost
> in the mail." Scroll down and read all of their
> other
> negs and sure enough, the response is "Not my fault,
> he didn't pay insurance, item lost in the mail."
> Sorry, I do not buy that. I have shipped probably a
> 1,000 items worldwide and only 1 was lost in the
> mail.
> And it was my fault because I mis-spelled the
> buyer's
> street address.
>
> <NUMBER OF DAYS BEFORE BUYER FEEDBACK WAS LEFT is
> probably a much higher statistical predicter of
> seller
> responsibility and chance of a successful
> transaction
> than the actual feedback rating.>
>
> Most people do not dash off to their computers and
> enter feedback immediately after receiving an item.
> Sometimes a month will go by before I get a positive
> from someone. People are busy and have things to
> do.
> Checking on eBay feedback that needs to be left is
> not
> always a high priority.
>
> CR should start it's own separate eBay "blog?" That
> way those of us who want to focus on vintage bike
> discussion can read the CR list without hitting the
> delete key so often.
>
> And those who want to discuss eBay problems with
> buyers, sellers, PayPal, shipping amounts, etc, can
> all chime in on the "blog."
>
> Ted Baer
> "burnt out on eBay" in
> Palo Alto, CA
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > You can easily get negative feedbacks on ebay, if
> > _you_ choose to
> > purchase from someone with a low feedback rating.
> I
> > have two negative
> > feedbacks. In both cases, I got screwed and
> entered
> > (negative,
> > neutral) feedback. The other side went postal and
> > retaliated both times.
> >
> > One seller misleadingly described a $10 campy
> > braze-on shifters to
> > make them seem like clamp-ons and wanted $9 to
> > return them, and
> > another domestic seller cashed a $130 check and
> > rested a month before
> > shipping a camera lens.
> >
> > After these two events I probably had a 70%
> feedback
> > rating because I
> > made the stupid mistake of giving feedback before
> > the other side had
> > entered their feedback rating, allowing them to
> > retaliate.
> >
> > The feedback mechanism is actually designed to
> > maximize ebay's
> > profits. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH CREATING
> HONEST
> > TRANSACTIONS. For
> > example, the NUMBER OF DAYS BEFORE BUYER FEEDBACK
> > WAS LEFT is probably
> > a much higher statistical predicter of seller
> > responsibility and
> > chance of a successful transaction than the actual
> > feedback rating.
> >
> > If seller feedback is < 100% I try to decide if
> the
> > guy has
> > successfully executed the last 20 transactions,
> and
> > check for no bad
> > feedbacks on the most recent page (e.g. no recent
> > death in family or
> > whatnot). If these two checks pass then they are
> > probably o.k. Also,
> > I always pay by check to get an address and keep
> an
> > email conversation
> > going - every ~5 days - about the transaction
> (check
> > shipped, etc.) so
> > that I know whats going on with the seller.
> >
> > - Don Gillies
> > San Diego, CA
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