eBay rant

[Hot Flatus]

The bastard.

I know.  He could at least have sent enough to build another wheel 

It's a bit like the free gifts toys you got on children's comics in the 70s that required you to buy the next one to get a key component for the toy.

I once got a shoe from the 80s paranormal mag 'The Unexplained', but had to buy the following month's edition to get the charred foot to go in it.

[MikeFromLFE]

I recently won an auction.  On my phone it said it had 3 minutes less time remaining than the countdown on my laptop. At the risk of inflating the price I went with the mobile and won. I forgot to look at what the laptop countdown did but I would have lost the bidding if I hadn’t used a mobile instead. Never seen that before.

Moral of the story:  Use AuctionSniper - it's the only way I bid now.   Decide on max I'll bid, enter the details and forget about it until I either get the winner email, or the end time passes I don't.  Stops you getting carried away with bids.

I only buy on auctions in ebay with the Gixen sniper.
Like you, i decide what i think it (usually an old camera) is worth *to me* - enter that, and a week or so later i get a surprise email saying 'outbid' or 'pay now'.
I'll occasionally look at the control panel and be astonished at what some people appear to be paying (unless, as i suspect, there's jigger pokery at work occasionally).

[ian]

The bastard.

I know.  He could at least have sent enough to build another wheel 

It's a bit like the free gifts toys you got on children's comics in the 70s that required you to buy the next one to get a key component for the toy.

I once got a shoe from the 80s paranormal mag 'The Unexplained', but had to buy the following month's edition to get the charred foot to go in it.

if you bought the last ever issue, you got the entire Templar fortune (27p at 1984 prices).

[rafletcher]

So the latest money making trick (as if eBay needed one) is the new, convenient "get paid directly into your bank account" requirement.  I was "invited" to set this up recently, not that there appears to be any choice in the matter. And yeserday I made my first sale since. So I get the confirmation email which informs me that the payment - unless subject to some unspecified "hold"" will be "initiated" by eBay within 2 business days, and then subject to "normal bank processing times".  So instead of instant payment, it'll take 2-3 working days to get your funds. No wonder farcebook marketplace is growing.

ETA Just checked an my payment (less the extortionate fees - another reason to minimise use of eBay now) is indeed expected to complete by the 26th.  I'll not be posting the item until I see the money in my account.

[hubner]

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/11/ebay-axes-paypal-sellers-bank-accounts-upping-fees/

I heard about it recently.

Ebay has also changed paying by Paypal as a buyer. Now there's a redirect to Paypal's website where you have to log in to complete the payment.

[Pedal Castro]

Hmm, I've just started using ebay to sell off various incomplete cigarette card sets but not sure how to more successfully dispose of the 500+ complete sets so I will try FB marketplace I think.

[Giraffe]

As a buyer, there is no alternative to Ebay other than, to some extent, Amazon. I looked at other sites and they're useless - none of the items that I've recently bought aren't on them; nothing too specialised but nothing there.

[rogerzilla]

Had an email from J. Random Browser asking why something was £5 and is now £32.  Well, it got no bids at £5 (books don't tend to sell as auctions because people want them now) so is now BIN for £32 and can sit there until it sells.  It's still the cheapest copy of the book on eBay.  If you wanted it that much, you should have bid at £5, you knob.

I blocked him as a buyer.  He'd never leave good feedback.

[rogerzilla]

Fed up of shite search results where people have put Apollo Bike not Colnago, Sunrace like Shimano, or similar keyword spamming.  There is a specific eBay report form to get such listings removed (misuse of a brand name for search and browse manipulation) but, as you'd expect, they do absolutely nothing.

[robgul]

Fed up of shite search results where people have put Apollo Bike not Colnago, Sunrace like Shimano, or similar keyword spamming.  There is a specific eBay report form to get such listings removed (misuse of a brand name for search and browse manipulation) but, as you'd expect, they do absolutely nothing.

That's not just ebay - it's any search for anything on Google and/or other search facilities seeding the broadest possible descriptions into websites . . .  and a whole load of goatee-bearded Hoxton "meeja" hipsters are making money by setting all this up for all manner of businesses.

[hubner]

Fed up of shite search results where people have put Apollo Bike not Colnago, Sunrace like Shimano, or similar keyword spamming.  There is a specific eBay report form to get such listings removed (misuse of a brand name for search and browse manipulation) but, as you'd expect, they do absolutely nothing.

That's been going on for years, probably since Ebay started.

I've seen:

C Record era referring to Athena or other lower group stuff,
eroica for anything old,
fixie for practically anything.

Another browsing manipulation is where Buy it Now listings offer variations of the same product, eg different colours or sizes. It means you don't have to have a separate listing for each colour etc. But Ebay lets you include anything in the listing and also differents prices.

If you include a cheap item for 99p along with the actual product, eg £9.99, the listing shows up as "99p - £9.99" and gets to the top of the search/browse results sorted by price.

[rogerzilla]

"New" chainring arrives.

Filthy with oil.  Scars on the back from the chain dropping the the inner ring.  Two broken teeth.  I left neutral feedback sayjng it was very obviously used.  I wish I'd left negative feedback.  I'll just sell it on as I dislike dealing with shysters.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

I'll just sell it on as I dislike dealing with shysters

..err right..

[Tim Hall]

I'll just sell it on as I dislike dealing with shysters

..err right..

Presumably sell it on as used and with an honest description.

[rogerzilla]

I'll just sell it on as I dislike dealing with shysters

..err right..

Presumably sell it on as used and with an honest description.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334040072159

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

If it was described as new then you should get a refund - misdescription.

[rogerzilla]

If it was described as new then you should get a refund - misdescription.

Yes.  And I could.  But for a likely loss of less than a fiver, I'd rather just warn other buyers and move on.   I don't want to engage in conversation with such people, and getting return postage refunded can be a nightmare.

[Kim]

Fed up of shite search results where people have put Apollo Bike not Colnago, Sunrace like Shimano, or similar keyword spamming.  There is a specific eBay report form to get such listings removed (misuse of a brand name for search and browse manipulation) but, as you'd expect, they do absolutely nothing.

That's been going on for years, probably since Ebay started.

I've seen:

C Record era referring to Athena or other lower group stuff,
eroica for anything old,
fixie for practically anything.

And the perennial favourite for anything that might concievably be used for hydroponics or weighing small quantities of things: "NOT CANNABIS"

[rogerzilla]

Ordered a Brompton RH brake lever with bell (new style).  Good price.  Evidently too good, because it's never arrived and the seller hasn't responded.  Will get a refund from eBay but it delays a project 

[Pickled Onion]

Ordered 28 spokes.  Seller does them in 8s or 2s.  I ordered 3 x 8 and 2 x 2.

I got 40 

Some time ago I ordered some RJ45 plugs priced individually but packaged in packs of twelve. So I ordered 24 which came to £1.20 inc postage. They sent 24 packs — I don’t think I’ll need any more this lifetime!

[robgul]

Ordered 28 spokes.  Seller does them in 8s or 2s.  I ordered 3 x 8 and 2 x 2.

I got 40 

Some time ago I ordered some RJ45 plugs priced individually but packaged in packs of twelve. So I ordered 24 which came to £1.20 inc postage. They sent 24 packs — I don’t think I’ll need any more this lifetime!

Similar thing happened to me a while back - ordered some fluorescent tube fittings for my barn workshop - packed in 4s - received 16.  Good old Wickes - they told me to keep them 

[Kim]

Some time ago I ordered some RJ45 plugs priced individually but packaged in packs of twelve. So I ordered 24 which came to £1.20 inc postage. They sent 24 packs — I don’t think I’ll need any more this lifetime!

Similar thing happened to me a while back - ordered some fluorescent tube fittings for my barn workshop - packed in 4s - received 16.  Good old Wickes - they told me to keep them 

Ever noticed how the probability of this happening seems to be inversely proportional to the usefulness of the items concerned?

[robgul]

Some time ago I ordered some RJ45 plugs priced individually but packaged in packs of twelve. So I ordered 24 which came to £1.20 inc postage. They sent 24 packs — I don’t think I’ll need any more this lifetime!

Similar thing happened to me a while back - ordered some fluorescent tube fittings for my barn workshop - packed in 4s - received 16.  Good old Wickes - they told me to keep them 

Ever noticed how the probability of this happening seems to be inversely proportional to the usefulness of the items concerned?

Sort of - once I installed the 4 tubes I thought I bought I found that the barn (BIG) needed another 4 - I later built two internal rooms in said barn and used 4 more - then used the last 4 at the next house I bought for the large garage.   

Current workshop at another house now has LED battens - bright as an operating theatre and very low energy consumption (ordered 3 and 3 were delivered  )

I do have a spare battery nail gun as a result of over-delivery 

[fd3]

These days if you want to sell second hand then use FB.  We sold the cargo trike in a week - Bank Transfer, no fees.  eBawho?

[rogerzilla]

FB Marketplace is a scary place though, with nothing to insulate you from the idiocy of the Great British Public.  There was an item for sale locally where, instead of a photo of the item, she'd used a screenshot of an SMS conversation between herself and her employee 

Also, they know where you live.

It is the best place to buy a s/h Brompton, though.  As long as it's not nicked.