- eBay operations and rules in general but more specifically:
- The fact that eBay provides NO EMAIL ADDRESSES that you can contact them by. Go ahead and try to find two
useful email addresses for technical support and customer support. There aren't any.
- The fact that they will not answer your inquiries or suggestions by email, telephone or regular
US Mail.
- The fact that they lie to you all the time regarding changes. For example, consider their change in email address
policies. The real reason they don't want you to know your trading partner's email address is that they are afraid
you'll sell something without listing it on eBay. Their stated reason for the change in email policy is to
"protect users". Horse poop.
- The fact that they change listing pages willy-nilly so that third party listing and bidding
products cease to function. The intent here is to force you to use only their products. Which of course
you cannot buy - you can only rent them month to month.
- The fact that they will not remove what is clearly retaliatory feedback. Originally, eBay
stated that they couldn't remove the feedback (which was a lie). Now they just won't remove the
feedback.
- Have you ever tried to re-list an item for sale while using Internet Explorer? You can't. eBay has known about
this problem for many years and can't seem to fix it. Their advice? Use another browser like Netscape! That's
sort of like owning a Corvette. You take it to the dealer for an oil change. The dealer says, "I'm
sorry but our tools won't work with your Corvette. You should buy a Geo Metro because we have tools that fit
it..."
- Did you ever try to find a way to communicate with eBay? Whether intentional or by accident (stupidity), eBay seems to delight in
hiding useful links and tools so that you can't find them. Go ahead and try to find out how to cancel a bid, end
an auction early, request credit for a failed auction, complain about a listing that appears to be outside the eBay
rules...the list could go on forever. It seems to give standing to the old adage of "You can't get there from here."
- Do such terms as "Safe Harbor" mean
ANYTHING to you? Join the club. They also seem to believe that their "clever" names are
recognized by most people. They aren't. I'd bet that the average IQ of the eBay seller is less than
average. I base this assessment on the content of their ads. They have absolutely no clue as to what
"Safe Harbor" means.
- Sellers on eBay who are complete idiots. You know who they are. You see them all the time. In
the area of photographic equipment, some of my pet peeves are:
- "Rare BLACK Canon A-1 Camera!!!" - This camera only came in black.
Another color would be rare.
- "Rare Canon AE-1 Programmable Camera" - This camera is no more programmable
than my sneakers.
- "Canon A-1 camera with TV setting so that you can take pictures off your TV screen"
- This is actually quite funny. And moronic. The "TV" on the camera stands for Time Value where
the camera is in shutter-speed priority mode.
- "Professional Canon AE-1 camera outfit with 4 professional lenses" Then the ad goes
on to list the lenses, "Toyo Optics 28mm lense, Kalimar 135mm lense, DeJur 200mm lense, Focal
70-210 Zoom lense." Not only can't the author spell "lens", but these lenses are the bottom of the
barrel. Real crap. No pro that I am acquainted with would use such trash. Wasn't it P. T. Barnum who
said, "There's a sucker born every minute"? Bidders on this stuff prove it.
- "Professional Cannon lense" - Learn how to spell, you
idiot.
- Listings that tout a particular lens but don't list useful data such as the maximum aperture of the lens, the filter size,
whether or not there are any defects in the lens or even what camera it fits. Who would buy such a lens? Only a moron.
- Sellers who list a lens, tout its wonderful features and condition, then say, "I don't
have a camera to test this on so I am selling it AS-IS".
- Sellers who list a camera body for sale and state, "Camera is untested because I don't
have a battery so I'm selling it AS-IS." My advice? (Imagine me shouting this:)
"Go to the freaking store and buy a
freaking battery you butt munch!"
- Actual camera DEALERS who list items incorrectly. I recently inquired about a listing for
a motor drive being offered by a camera store. This item was actually a power winder with fewer features than
a motor drive. But they didn't know the difference! What a bunch a bozos.
- Sellers who list a camera for sale and only include a listing of camera features - nothing on condition. What are they afraid of? Also, most fail to list a serial
number for the camera which has some importance as regards its age. What are they afraid of? I don't
know of any real use for the serial number other than demonstrating age - it won't get you anything else, so
why not list it? I recently asked for the serial number of a camera and was told (seriously) that it was
against eBay Policies to disclose serial numbers! This guy was serious. Frightening, isn't it?
- Have you ever seen an ad that is simply one long sentence of about 1,000 words? Could you
read it? Not likely. The authors of such ads need to invest in an ENTER key for their keyboard. C'mon you ignoramuses - break things into paragraphs.
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- Sellers on eBay who impose such ridiculous terms that it surprises me that anyone would bid on their
auctions. Examples of such terms include, but are not limited to:
- "Bidder must contact seller within 3 days or item will be re-listed and negative feedback posted." I must tell you
that in my opinion, it should be the seller who contacts the buyer.
- Statements such as "Your bid is a binding contract" This is simply not true and is unenforceable
under the UCC (Uniform Commercial Code) which governs contracts. For a contract to be binding, there must
be two things present - an offer and an acceptance. Until accepted, a bid is simply an offer to buy at a
specified price. Only when the auction ends and the seller accepts the high bid is a contract made.
- Mandatory insurance really boosts my blood pressure. Let me explain something here.
US contract law is very explicit as to when title passes from a seller to a buyer. It is a two step
process. First, the buyer pays for an item. Next, the seller must deliver the item to the buyer.
Until the buyer actually receives the item, they don't own it (title has not
passed). Because they don't own the item, a buyer has no insurable interest in the item. The seller is
the only one that can benefit from postal or other insurance. Claims cannot be made by the buyer, only the
seller. So sellers who insist that you purchase insurance or attempt to disclaim their responsibility for safe
delivery are ignorant twits. As an aside, there is a seller on eBay who sells camera lens filters who insists
that all customers purchase insurance. But he NEVER buys it. That's right, you're charged for it but don't get it.
- Inflated shipping charges. I was searching for a focusing screen recently. I found
exactly what I was looking-for. Everything was perfect except for the fact that the seller demanded $35
shipping. For those of you unfamiliar with a focusing screen, it is about 1 inch square and weighs about an
ounce. I sent a message to eBay complaining about excessive shipping fees and they responded that it didn't
appear excessive to them. I guess I found out that it doesn't really matter what the shipping charge is - eBay
just wants their commission! I didn't bid on the item.
- Have you ever seen those auctions that state, "Buyer to pay fixed
shipping charges" - then you read the ad and nothing about shipping charges is mentioned.
Watch out because you are about to get screwed!
- While I'm at it, how about seller's ads that have a one-line description of the item for sale
and 50 lines of "terms" that you must abide by. Get a life you control freak!
Just because you
think you CAN make onerous terms doesn't mean you SHOULD make onerous terms.
- How about statements like, "Don't bid unless you intend to buy..." No
kidding? I guess the seller thinks that people who bid on their item are just killing time or screwing with
their mind.
- Other things:
- Sellers who won't post feedback on a transaction until the buyer posts feedback.
For those that don't understand such things, I will spell it out for you. The buyer's sole responsibility in a
purchase is to make timely payment. That's it. There is nothing more that a buyer can do.
Once
they do that, they have earned positive feedback. It really frosts me to see sellers withhold feedback.
The only reason to do that is so that retaliatory feedback can be posted against the buyer if they complain.
What a great way to do business. These guys are the lowest form of scum within eBay.
- Incomplete ads that are carefully written to conceal some defect. This happens a
lot in the used book area. Many sellers simply list the "good" points of a book and remain silent on
others. For example, a book may be listed as a First Edition in beautiful shape with the original dust
jacket. That's nice to know, but what if the seller failed to mention that the cover is torn and is
price-clipped. After you get the book, you complain to the seller, right? They will probably respond by saying,
"You should have asked before buying it!" So you leave negative feedback about your lousy
transaction. Then you get a negative feedback not related to the transaction but a personal attack on your
integrity. These sellers are real bottom feeders.
| While I have your attention, I'd like to poke some fun at other's ads for camera equipment
on eBay. It may be that I am overly critical of spelling, grammar and factual representation, but some of the ads
I read are downright funny. I know you've read them too! Lots of the ads I see look like the following
amalgam: |
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mail this auction to a friend
watch this item
