eBay

lighting_signs_and_vintage · ‎22-11-2024

I stopped selling (rather than throwing away) fixable but broken items on here because even when listed as 'For Parts or Not Working' 3Bay were allowing free returns for people that bit off more than they could chew repair wise.

Does anyone else sell things in this category and how do you get on with returns if you are a private seller? I imagine things would have got worse or not better, current trends are for people to be hyped up to believe they can do anything, but when they can't it's the sellers fault... YT videos like 'Man fixes PS5 with his oven and $2 of parts from Walmart' don't help.

johnwash1 · ‎22-11-2024

I guess you stopped selling such items a while ago, because searching even your sold items I don't see any that are spares/repair. And you're an experienced seller, so I suspect any advice I offered you would be like telling g'ma how to suck eggs.

But others may be interested, so here goes. I'm in much the same boat. I love repairing things and I've hoarded stuff with more ambition than free time for decades. Now the NHS are telling me that living to 150 is not a realistic expectation. So ebaying is the result.

I've learned that, even for items in good condition and well described, although as a private seller I could refuse change of mind returns, life is easier and cheaper if I allow them. Otherwise the buyers fabricate an INAD excuse and it costs me yet more postage. I never give them the satisfaction of a refund without returning unless it's clearly someone utterly genuine. I'd rather lose the extra money than give in to a scammer. That said, I encounter /very/ few scammers, and lots of really nice genuine people.

I've learned that there is a very wide range of reading and comprehension ability in this country. And apparently such life challenges don't preclude people from buying a phone and signing up for ebay. Ebay doesn't require buyers to read the full description before pressing 'buy'. And ebay splatters ads around so it's even more difficult to find pertinent info. So it's imperative to put 'spares/repair' in THE TITLE, not just in the category or mention it in the full description, though of course they should be prominent in those places too. I'm very tempted to put it at the BEGINNING of the title, but I fear that relegating my keywords to later in the title may impact my search placing.

And never sell something on ebay if you can't afford to lose the money.

I'd welcome advice from others?

selective_distribution · ‎23-11-2024

I've learned that there is a very wide range of reading and comprehension ability in this country. Ebay doesn't require buyers to read the full description before pressing 'buy'.

I am selling one of my guitars, there are 12 photos with a full description. The guitar is `as new`, and has a charger and comes in the original hard case both are prominently shown in the photos, and described in detail......

Question from potential buyer:

"Does this guitar have the charger?"

"Yes, it`s shown in the photo, and in the description"

A few minutes later:

"Does it have a case"?

"Yes, the case is shown in the photos, and in the description".

A few minutes later:

"Is it your guitar, is it damaged"?

"Yes it is mine, It is `as new`, Please look at the photos and read the description".

Needless to say I heard nothing more from him, and presume that he got offended by being told to read the description and look at the photos. As you say, people don`t bother to read the description and then get angry when the item is not what they thought it should be.

tressygirl · ‎23-11-2024

For me, that would be one question too many, and a red flag , if this turned out to be a sale for this buyer, they could potentially be troublesome.

I would be skipping quickly to place them on my blocked buyer's list.

@selective_distribution

rjwilmsi · ‎23-11-2024

I don't think there is much difference between private and business sellers on this matter because any buyer can claim that an item isn't as described, and the onus is on the seller to prove otherwise, which is normally impossible. The rules aren't really any different for "for parts" items.

So my view is yes as johnwash1 says you must make it very clear in all parts of the listing and the photos that the item is being sold as non-working. You should never give the impression that something is an easy fix - if it's an easy fix then fix it yourself. You should never give the impression that an item/part of an item is likely working unless you are promising that it is working. If you know a part or a feature is not working then state that clearly. I think most problems with non-working items are resolved by setting reasonable and clear expectations.

But of course even if you create the clearest possible listing there will always be some buyer who's a bit of an idiot and buys it without looking at any of that. To a certain extent you can't avoid that, but it's not any different as to whether the item is working or not.

My final consideration is about the price. In short my view is that you need to use the price to make it attractive to the buyer to keep the item if it's exactly as you describe it or even better, still keep it even if the item condition / level or repairs needed is slightly worse than you thought. I think if you do that you get many fewer returns. Somebody who buys your item will need to cover the cost of the repair, fees for reselling and postage, their time to clean, test and list the item. They'll still want to make a profit, or as a hobbyist/private seller they want to be saving money versus buying the working item. A lot of items I see listed as non-working are wildly overpriced when you think about the realistic cost and time to repair.

johnwash1 · ‎23-11-2024

@selective_distribution

Wow, just wow! I agree with Tressy. After a couple of such idiot questions on spares/repair item for 15 quid, that would probably be my limit before blocking. But an excellent condition item for hundreds of quid? No way I'd be that patient. Blocked on the very first question.

Which is not to say I don't like questions in general. Quite the contrary, I even invite them in many of my descriptions, along with welcoming requests for further photos. But when I hear the sound of knuckles dragging along the ground, ...

Maybe these people are smarter than I think, and want to test how patient and forgiving the seller is likely to be.

I also fail their 'test' when I get, as I did recently, a 5 quid offer on an item listed at 40. Instant block.

ps: I have to add that I'm sad that you gave up. The planet needs all the recycling we can manage. So does the cost of living these days.

downsizingxs · ‎23-11-2024

We've had a not working 32" TV sitting on the dining room floor for months awaiting a journey to the tip/recycling. On a whim I put it on ebay for 99p and it sold in 48hrs. It was collection only, done & dusted, and now we don't have to make that journey after all.

That said, after reading your post I'll think twice before doing the same with other smaller items.

johnwash1 · ‎23-11-2024

@downsizingxs wrote:
We've had a not working 32" TV sitting on the dining room floor for months awaiting a journey to the tip/recycling. On a whim I put it on ebay for 99p and it sold in 48hrs. It was collection only, done & dusted, and now we don't have to make that journey after all.
That said, after reading your post I'll think twice before doing the same with other smaller items.

Please don't let my misanthropy discourage you. I may focus on the bad, and the precautions to take, but I have had many many really delightful buyers. That TV of yours is an excellent example and I recently had a very similar transaction. For a couple of years we used a 40" TV that a friend gave us (I guess they wanted the latest giant one). But then the sound became a bit fuzzy, so we went back to the 32" TV we used to use and put the 40" on ebay for £25. Soon got a buyer. I was hoping the buyer would repair it (I was guessing it was probably a power supply dropping voltage causing sound to clip, a simple enough repair). But he bought it for his kids and planned to put the sound out to an external setup.

Anyhow, he was happy and I was happy. I've even sold a broken toaster and a broken kettle.

Don't give up.

lucy_farmer · ‎24-11-2024

Morning John, I'm so with you on not being a fan of the land-fill.

With stuff that's just too much hassle for even 99p on ebay, I've taken up 'freecycle' and 'freegle' just to *give* stuff away ( I mean stuff that charity shops *won't* take : electrical things, things that need repair or things that are just too much grief to post....). And yes, you do meet interesting people that way!

lighting_signs_and_vintage · ‎24-11-2024

Thought I'd better weigh in as it looks like I've started a thread and run away..

I knew that eBay hadn't changed their policy on this, though I did years ago appeal a parts MBG return and win a return case where the buyer admitted to having made alterations to the item i.e. tried a repair, then a return. To my surprise it went down in my favour. I was lucky by the standards then and I bet this wouldn't even happen now, with all the AI tat and automated nonsense. It must have been just after MBG was introduced for private sellers. Probably longer ago than I care to remember.

Sounds as if returns on 'parts only' items are about the same as ever. Regards details, I definitely put BROKEN / FOR REPAIR / SPARE PARTS ONLY etc... and similar in title and all over the description, extra pictures where appropriate (of course a broken TV will usually look physically fine - doesn't help with the listing does it sadly) , though as we know this won't stop a determined muppet.

I've personally had some real bargains over the years, the best was a huge heavy Fujitsu plasma in an aluminium Picture Frame style case. 'Made in Japan', must have been £3k new. £1 to me, in the same town! The fact it turned on for about 3 seconds was a bonus showing it couldn't be anything too serious, it wasn't - just a hi-res joint on the PSU, didn't even need a new PSU. Unfortunately my experiences with Freecycle etc... haven't been too great round here to the point it is more stress than it's worth. Luckily we do have a good charity round here which being independent has an 'anything goes' policy on electricals as long as they are clean and working, and I know do not just bin stuff unless they really have to. They have the benefit of a large former factory as their main showroom, but best of all sell stuff cheap so it (gasp!) actually sells.