I have been a buyer and seller on eBay since the early days of the site – I joined in 1997. Over all these years I have learned a lot about shopping safely on eBay. Here I provide a number of important details from my lessons learned.
Feedback Review
Before a placing a bid on an item, be sure to look at the seller’s feedback. Don’t just look at the number provided on the listing or their profile page. If it is a seller that moves lots of items, then several negative and neutral reviews will still show as 100% Positive feedback. I’d like to say this is a defect in the eBay tracking system, but I suspect it is by design. This feedback rating is also only over the last year, so terrible feedback that was left for this person 367 days ago will roll off. So negative feedback from 367 days ago will drop off the rating. The feedback still exists, but no longer counts toward the percentage ranking.
As shown in the above example, this seller (name blocked as a courtesy) has sold so many items that the 92 neutral and negative reviews have barely affected their overall Positive Feedback rating. After doing the math, just now as I write this article, I realize that the use of the phrase “Positive Feedback” is misleading. Since this example has 92 feedback items which are in fact less than “positive”, the rating should be 98.3% positive. eBay is ignoring the neutral feedback in their calculation. The nine negative feedback items are why the score is reduced by only two-tenths of a percent.
Is the Negative Feedback Appropriate?
We can’t make everyone happy and despite our best efforts, some will still complain. Sometimes negative feedback is not deserved. Don’t reject a seller simply because they have negative feedback. Spend some time to read the negative and neutral feedback – look for a common complaint from different buyers. Also read the seller’s responses to the feedback. If the seller is not providing additional information, then they might not care enough to ensure quality service. I’ve seen seller responses that were rude and contained inappropriate content which dissuades me from doing business with them.
Feedback Review (Member Identification)
You might have noticed that bidder names are not displayed on auction details – in bidding history or the auction itself. Instead it will just be displayed as three asterisks with a single number or letter at each end. Those letters are likely not the actual start and end characters of the user’s ID. Random characters are assigned, but they will be consistent in the same page for each individual user.
Shown here is an actual bid history for an item I won. See that “n***l (402)” at the top? That’s me. You’ll also notice it a couple spaces lower. I was outbid by 4***a, but I put in a new bid. As you see, in this list I am represented by the same random characters in both bid locations. When looking at another auction I bid and win, I am represented by completely different characters.
You might be wondering why I explained all that about the member identification. Keep the random user names in mind when reviewing feedback. If several negative or neutral feedback items are left by the same person it will be apparent, just as it would be if multiple people are leaving the feedback. This helps to gauge how to personally rate the feedback.
If a seller only has four negative feedback items in their history and they are all from the same user, then you can probably take the feedback with a grain of salt – It might not be relevant to you. If the four negative feedback items are all from different users, then there may be cause for concern.
Listing Quality
Listings should contain a description, pictures, shipping data and any other relevant information.
Description
A listing should describe the item(s) being sold in a reasonable detailed manner. Defects should absolutely be disclosed. I’ve seen too many sellers put in one or two sentences, or only instruct potential bidders to look at the pictures, and nothing more. I feel this is indicative of a lazy seller that simply doesn’t care to provide a quality service or product.
Pictures
High resolution, clear pictures should be on the listing. Collectible items absolutely need multiple quality pictures. If the pictures are dark or out of focus, or there is only one picture, then the seller may be inexperienced, lazy, or they are hiding something.
Shipping
Although there are scenarios where local pickup is available for auction winnings, most of the time the items will be shipped. Some sellers provide free shipping, which is wonderful. Many sellers provide a flat rate or weight based rate calculated by eBay.
And then there are the bad sellers which significantly overcharge for shipping. These sellers are taking advantage of eBay not charging commission on shipping and using the shipping as a way to ensure they make more money on the sale. I steer clear of these parasitic sellers.
Combined Shipping
Sellers that combine shipping help us to save money – if they are one of the sellers that actually provides a discount when doing so. Too many sellers charge a flat fee per item for shipping and will not combine shipping. If you’re only buying one item from them, this isn’t that important. If you are buying several items, then if they do not provide a combined shipping discount, you’ll be in for a hefty shipping bill. In this scenario, they’ll likely still put everything in one box (size and weight permitting) and pocket the extra shipping fees.
If a seller of an item you are purchasing does offer combined shipping discounts, be sure to look at their other sale items before paying. Check their combined shipping terms to learn how long you can make purchases for the discount. Most sellers will only allow up to one day, while some offer several days.
Watch for Scams
All of the information I provided above will help guide prospective eBayers and hopefully reduce the chance of getting ripped off. Remember, if it is too good to be true – it probably is.
My Recent Scam as a Buyer
I enjoy numismatics and have acquired a number of coins through eBay. I usually stick with coins that are certified by the top third-party grading organizations – NGC, PCGS and ANACS. Every once in a while I’ll venture off that path if it is with a Seller which I have previous experience.
This one coin I bought from a familiar seller which I trusted was not a standard issue. It was an American Silver Eagle which another organization applied 24k gold plating to the main features on the face and back of the coin. It was a stunning coin and I was excited when it came in. While I was looking at the coin, I noticed that the letters, numbers and stars (which were not gold plated) were not as crisp as they should be. Kind of like when painting a surface with texture, the texture softens due to the thickness of the paint and it rounds off sharp corners. I disregarded it at first, but then when I was photographing the coin I accidentally dropped it on my desk and I noticed it didn’t sound quite right. Next I noticed a weird texture in the “proof” mirror-like silver background. Look at the right-side background of the picture of the coin. That ripply texture would not be there in a true Proof coin.
I contacted the seller for this matter, and although they usually do not allow returns, because I showed them that the coin was counterfeit they paid for the return shipping and gave me a full refund. I suspect they had not realized the coin was counterfeit and they wanted to do the right thing. I will do business with them again, but I will do so with some caution.
Another coin was from a Seller which I had not done business previously, but had good reviews and nothing negative. I bought a PCGS certified proof silver dime. The pictures looked great and the certificate number checked out on PCGS’s verification website tool. The coin was promptly shipped and when I received the coin, I discovered that it was contaminated. I didn’t remember seeing this contamination on the coin in the pictures and I didn’t recall it being disclosed in the listing.
Upon reviewing the listing, I was correct. There was no disclosure of the contamination and it wasn’t present in the pictures. Then I realized that the certificate number in the picture did not match the coin I was sent. They substituted this coin for the one they were selling. Probably because I got a good deal and they didn’t want to let it go for that low a price.
The only way to treat the contamination is to remove the coin from its sealed case and cleaning coins is frowned up by most collectors. So instead of keeping the coin, I reached out to the seller and they promised to replace the coin, but after a month of waiting they failed to do so. Ebay will not help resolve the matter because it has been too long. Probably the sellers plan. I left negative feedback, since that was my only recourse on eBay and filed a complaint with my credit card which reversed the charge. Unfortunately, I am still out the cost of shipping the defective coin back to the seller. I will not do business with them again.
Summary
A diligent effort will help you to shop safely on eBay and similar market sites. Maybe this article will even help sellers learn how to improve their sales.