Top 10 Rules on How Not to Buy on eBay!
...or how to get your sellers really upset!
There are a bunch of guides of "how to buy on eBay." Some provide really useful tips such as when to bid and how to identify good buys. But none provide information on how to be a really awful buyer. Well, after buying over 5000 items on eBay and selling over 100,000, Andover has a few rules of how not to buy on eBay.
BOOKMARK this page as the "How Not to Buy on eBay". If you have more rules, please send them our way!
Rule #10 - Don't Ask Questions
The seller must have posted everthing that they know about the item, so any questions answered before the sale would not be.
Rule #9 - Request the seller use your shipping service
Heck, you paid good money for that item. You were shocked to find out that you were had when you tested it. Why not sell it the same way it arrived to you?
a. State: "came from working environment" but that it is sold "as is", "no warranty". That will guarantee everyone will bid thinking it works.
Rule #8 - Don't pay
You've had a tough day and the last thing we need to deal with a complaint. Besides, if you don't respond to that email, chances are that the buyer will go away.
Rule #7 - Don't pay quickly
Why tell the buyer who is shipping the item? Heck, that is what they would be expecting. Instead, ship from a mystery location without a tracking number.
Rule #6 - Demonstrate you have not read the listing: complain about missing items that are described as missing
UPS, DHL, Fedex and most other major carriers will get a signature upon delivery. The Postman will walk right up to you, scan a package saying it is delivered and not bother with a signature. The postman can theoretically deliver the item to his friend Bob or his car trunk and then mark the item delivered. There is no signature guarantee for 90% of the items delivered through the USPS. To quote the Andover Postman, "that is an extra cost!"
The post office does not offer a pickup service for international.
Rule #5 - File a Paypal complaint without contacing the seller first
Why give your buyers a way to track the progress of your shipment? Heck, they don't deserve it. Shroud your shipment in mystery! They will appreciate it far more getting it when they least expect it. Better yet, ship via the US Post office as their tracking numbers do not show progress. Their tracking numbers simply show "delivered" wherever the Postman decided to deliver it.
Rule #4 - Pay with the wrong account and then insist upon a refund
Be unknowledgeable of what is real and fake for the items you are selling. "They don't make counterfeits of the item I am selling." Better, know that it is counterfeit and use stock or company photos of the real item on your sales page.
The less you can claim to know in the listing, the better off you will be when someone points out that selling counterfeit is against the law.
Rule #3 - Negotiate shipping costs after winning an auction
Lets face it, electronic payments are danagerous and Paypal, while successfully managing billions of payments each day, is the enemy of the old traditional piece of paper check. The person can't "charge you back" for sending them the wrong item, dead item or bad item. You hold the upper ground.
Besides, everyone loves going to the post office to mail you the check.
Rule #2 - Lie on your paypal claim.
You will ship it eventually. I mean, the buyer got a steal on the auction. You thought the item was worth $100 and the buyer won it at auction for $15. They probably did not need it anyway.
To really have fun with the buyer, wait til the buyer complains and then ship it via the US Post Office so that the postman can deliver it wherever he feels like delivering it.
and Rule #1 - Leave your seller a negative even after they have helped you
Ah, now that you have packaged poorly, sold counterfeit, took a check payment, and shipped late, you now have the ability to leave the buyer a negative if they complain or leave you a negative. Remember to also threaten a lawsuit in small claims court if they file a paypal claim against you!
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