eBay Adventure – Some People Are Not Your Customers

                No sooner do I accept the Kate Spade black patent leather tote bag then the buyer emails me through eBay saying ‘please disregard’. Now this is a new one: a customer saying that she wants to cancel an order after doing a bid. I am like ‘huh?’ because this has never happened to me. I agree to cancel because I refuse to fight over $26. Inside I feel like blocking this buyer for her messiness. However, I decide against it because she is probably petty and I need to conserve my energy for more sales.

                This incident magnifies that not everyone is my customer. eBay is a global auction place where anyone and everyone can come into your store; however, not everyone should be my client. You need to be discerning because some clients do not want to pay; and, you are in business to sale!

                Since I am now selling purses, I may get these customers because unlike my shoes and dresses, purses have a wider demographic. What I will do is ask more questions and screen them because cancelling orders hold up merchandise.

Shop my eBay store here: http://www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6

eBay Adventure – Wheeling and Dealing

                My eBay store activity has picked after these two sales. Also, I am happy that those weird midnight requests are gone. I have noticed something new that is happening to me. I am starting to receiving offers and counteroffers. This is a new trend so I am starting to flex my counteroffer muscle. In one such case, I have a brown embossed Kate Spade purchase where someone pitches me $35 for $75. I counteroffer $45. It is fair because half of $75 is $37.50. She has not replied but I am standing in my price and fairness. Since the beginning my counteroffer policy has always been ½ of the stated price. I am not bending over that. Remember, even though I am decluttering, this is a business. As a seller, my goal is to make a profit. I always tuck that MBA in the back of mind. It is the reason why I have made over $3200 in sales in 4 ½ months.

Shop my eBay store here: http://www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6

eBay Adventure – Foot Fetish?

                Now I was fresh off the holiday sales webinar feeling great. I had a full store and was about to retire when I saw that I had a message on eBay. I assumed that it was from one of my newer sales. Nope! It was from someone asking about the Rene Caovilla. These inquires were old hat. There were so many people asking about them. I even had people direct message me on Instagram about them; yet, they were still in my store. I relisted them at least twice. I opened up the message and here was someone telling me that I needed to photograph myself wearing the sandals. Yo! Was the person contacting me a foot fetish person?! It was 12:55 am after all. I shot the photo (no fingernail polish. No one got this at this ungodly hour of the morning!). I admitted that I was sideswiped by that strange request. I woke up later that day seeing the Rene Caovilla

Shop my eBay store: http://www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6

eBay Adventure – Firing Your Bad Customers

                I have received an email from a customer who wants a discount on an already worn, discounted item. I have told her that I could not honor her request for 3-4 reasons. Below is the synopsis of my response:

                Thanks for the correspondence and concern but I will not give you a discount and these are my 3 reasons.

·         First, the stilts price was originally $100. I agreed to your $65 best offer bid. That was already a 35% discount.

·         Second, I also extended my shipping deadline to accommodate you because you were on vacation. My normal shipment was 2 business days. I shipped on Saturday which was not a business day and outside the original scope of what I did for my other customers. You mentioned vacation after purchase.

·         Third, my description clearly stated worn and I priced my merchandise as such.

·         My store policy clearly stated no returns. I made no misconceptions about the material or my policies. I had accommodated your shipping request and accepted a deeply discounted item.

I had a situation like this before and eBay sided with me because I made no misrepresentation. Also you would have to explain to eBay how your telling me that you have been on vacation post-purchase would be in your favor. All of our correspondence was through eBay and that would be used in the decision-making process.

What I have learned throughout my 120 days on eBay, that sometimes you have to fire your customers because they are trying to take advantage of you. As a seller, never become a doormat!

Visit my eBay store at www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6.

eBay Adventure – Fees Don’t Fail Me Now

                I receive my monthly fee statement and nearly have a heart attack because it is higher than last month (Darn fraudsters! See here: http://carlarjenkins.blogspot.com/2016/08/ebay-adventure-fraudsters-are-back.html ). I have called eBay customer service to remove the $1000 because I am being charged fees. The $1000 in the red is being counted as payments but it is fraud (As of today, eBay still has not removed it so I will call again because the last thing that I need in my life is paying fees due to fraud. Yuck!

Visit my eBay store here: http://www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6

eBay Adventure – The Fraudsters Are Back!

                I am feeling very good having taken my birthday off. I return to eBay to check the status of Monday’s shipments. When I click on my messages, I learn that the two fraudsters open a refund request out of nowhere saying that I have not shipped them their items. Angry I tweet eBay customer service; but, decide to ramp it up by calling the 800 customer service number. These chicks are NOT getting away with this! I call customer service tell them about the fraud and how they haven’t paid. The lady enters this information into the computer then transfers me to the actual fraud representative who sides with me and closes those two cases. Although this is not the ‘welcome back’ I expect from my birthday, I am very happy to expeditiously resolve this matter. People will try you on eBay yet still I rise!

Visit my eBay store here: http://www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6

eBay Adventure - Bouncing Back from a Bad Review

                I admit that it still stings that I receive a bad review. I mean the customer’s feet don’t fit and she tries to lambast me. Although eBay has sided with me (buyer protection does not cover when you explicitly say that there are no returns), the bad review is messy because it actually subtracts from my positive reviews. Before I had 7 positive review. Because of the 1 negative review, my number is down to 6. The nerve! However, I am grateful that I have received two more payments for items. Receiving PayPal notifications do help the situation!

Visit my eBay store here: http://www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6

eBay Adventure – Reading Comprehension is Key

                Well, it has happened. I have received my first negative comment coming from the lady who says that I should give her a refund because her feet are too big for my shoes. First, it is clear as day on my site that I offer no refunds. Second, you should know your shoe size before buying them. You are a grown woman who should know her measurements by now.

I have responded to her negative comment stating that my site says no refunds and your feet not fitting the shoes doesn’t mean that my items are defective.  I have to respond because that lady is not messing up my future sales because she doesn’t know her measurements (I have received 3 sales after that little angry rant!).

I know that many buyers believe that eBay will side with them regardless. There have been many videos made from long-term sellers. A lot of buyer abuse eBay’s buyer protection program. I have decided to buck this trend because I don’t lay down like a rug. I offer very clear photos and high-quality customer service from responsible buyers who already know their measurements.

Visit my eBay store here: http://www.ebay.com/usr/carljenkin_6