eBay

ett1954 · ‎03-01-2025

After nearly 20 years of selling and more than 45,000 items sold I have just received my first negative feedback. Before I make the decision outlined at the end of this post I was wondering if anyone else had been in this situation before and any useful advice to offer.

I sold an item on 27th October 2024 to a buyer in Spain which was posted on 28th October. Low value (£17.45) sent large letter untracked at that value as I self-insure for items under £20 and usually have only 1 or 2 INRs per year.

26th December (Boxing Day) I receive a message from the buyer "I haven't received the item." - nothing else.

27th December I replied to the buyer with an apology stating that it was my opinion that it had been lost at some point within the postal system and that although it was beyond the 30 day eBay Money Back Guarantee period as a matter of courtesy I would either refund his payment or resend another. I asked him to confirm his address if he wished to have another item resent.

31st December I received the following reply "Send them" - nothing else. As I was on my way out of the house I quickly responded with the following - "I will drop you a message when they are on the way." knowing there was nothing I could do until January 2nd.

I started to prepare to resend them yesterday (2nd Jan.) and noticed he had left a negative feedback. I had checked his previous feedback which is interesting. A feedback of 330 however rarely leaves feedback for anyone else; only 16 of which 7 are negatives, all from orders he placed with international sellers and regularly complaining of an INR. No feedback left in more than a year before mine, the one previous to mine being another British seller who in his reply intimated that his address was not complete - which is why I had asked him to confirm his address which I would have sent tracked.

My inclination is to not resend but simply refund his payment and leave a truthful response to his feedback. I was also of a mind to report the buyer, drawing attention to their feedback history however there is no option on the 'report the buyer' dropdown list for this reason.

At the end of the day and after the 45,000+ sales it is not the negative itself which bothers me but just the reason and manner in which it was given and the fact his long delay in reporting means I cannot even reclaim the original postage back from Royal Mail.

Any alternative sensible suggestions to my proposed action would be welcome.

moldosgifts · ‎03-01-2025

Unfortunately not much more you can do Spain is notorious for INR without tracking.

So your first error if you can call it it that was to send without any form of tracking, (buyers to pay for this service).

Cost of sending to Spain, Italy and Germany who have horrible track record of say not delivered.

I have data to back this up.

ett1954 · ‎03-01-2025

I appreciate your comments but 40% of my sales are international and I haven't had an international INR for years and Spain, Italy, and Germany are 3 of my top 4 European destinations. As stated I self insure so buyers pay anyway - the refund is not an issue at the end of the day. I have always found that providing that documentation is completed correctly with HSS codes, EORI number etc. etc. international selling is not a problem.

fatbobfan · ‎03-01-2025

Do what you think is best and forget about it, personally it stinks, block and report

Poor comms Google translate does work and a tool many have used well for years, good tool to instigate/improve comms

The negatives raise alarm bells, and the fact the negative was given while you were trying to resolve? is that a 'how to get a refund tactic?'

Why would they continue to order international with all those delivery issues, doesnt sit right, Can a buyer really be that unlucky? I dont think so. if I read your email right, thats just short of 50% failure on International delivery, very suspect. 7 in 16 over how long would be interesting to know and perhaps give an insight in to the buyer

Maybe its the sceptic in me but the picture, doesnt ring true, apologies kif Ive read it wrong.

Wake up tomorrow and remind yourself of your selling record, you must have worked hard to keep the negatives away with great comms and service, so well done AND been bloomin lucky!

Congrats again, impressive record

magpiecorner1 · ‎03-01-2025

No harm in trying to get Dublin and ask for the neg to be removed. Out of time, offers to resend, even that you have been a fabby customer for a lifetime.

If you get nowhere, reply to the feedback, plenty of letters so remark about the offer to resend.

Don't resend, that would have been a kindness and a courtesy. His discourteous in writing the neg negates any reason to be kind.

dion5feb2016 · ‎03-01-2025

Ask eBay to remove the negative feedback. You are not ‘allowed’ to say anything bad about a buyer in your feedback to them as you probably know. You have to hit the ‘positive’ button and even if you did say anything negative about them or as you put it truthful their feedback would just show another positive tick so they gain really.

ett1954 · ‎03-01-2025

Thanks for your response and comments.

It is not my intention to leave him feedback but to use the facility to reply to their feedback to summarise the chain of events and my eventual action which at the moment will be a refund rather than their "send them" response to my offer. This will minimise my loss whilst ensuring they do not receive a positive feedback. I was quite prepared to resend even though it would have been the more costly option, however their immediate negative to my offer even though they waited 6 weeks after the estimated delivery time to inform me has negated that possibility. I will look purely at minimising my loss on the transaction. He will of course be placed on my 'blocked buyer list' as I am sure he is on others.