eBay FAILS

[Justin]

What are the WORST EBAY FAILS you've come across?

 

[Justin]

Here's a legendary eBay FAIL I came across today from @kingmonkey25 on Twitter. I've had almost the exact same thing happen to me at least once a year since the late 1990s:

 

• Sends game in padded envelope rather than a box that would've protected it (and costs the same to mail!)
• Uses the cheapest possible mailing service (probably saving about $2)
• Customer service skills? About as awful as you'd expect given the above

 

[Gianna]

This is not related to gaming. I haven't sold much on eBay but I used to occasionally list clothes, and one day years ago someone bought a shirt I had listed. This was a nice shirt that was worn once or twice, accurate in size and priced low (maybe even too low). After the person received the shirt, they sent uncalled for and inaccurate messages. Followed by those was a request for a refund and I was supposed to receive the shirt back as a return. They got their refund but I never got the shirt back. Intentional?? 😒😠 

[RickR]

I remember one guy I sold an Atari 800 to complained about the packing peanuts I used being "dirty".  Ridiculous.  I asked for a picture and he showed what looked like a tiny bit of grass clippings on a few peanuts.  I was at a loss, and asked how that could possibly impact the 800.  He then proceeded to call me incompetent, blah blah blah.  "If you don't give me a <$XXX> refund, I'll leave a negative feedback". 

I thought about it overnight, and decided to give the guy his partial refund so long as he promised not leave that negative feedback.  After it was done, I blocked him.  He then proceeded to contact me using a different account and this time, he told me "no hard feelings, that 800 is only worth (whatever it was he ended up paying)." 

I blocked that account too. 

This was a long time ago, and I just decided to keep selling and doing my best.  Haven't had many problems since.

Sadly, there are too many human wrecking balls out there that cheat the system to get what they want.  Block them, and move on.  That's what I do.

[- Ω -]

I've purchased a lot of things off of Ebay (over 400 items) and only had problems with 2 items. 

The first PARTIAL fail was a Wico Joystick... the guy showed a stock image, what arrived was a joystick with rust on the shaft, no rubber feet and dirty.  He offered a full refund, but since I was able to restore it, I countered with a partial refund and was accepted.

Now my biggest FAIL was a DVD set.  I should have paid attention to the country of origin, anyway after being a month late, showing it was never even sent, I filed a claim and was awarded a full refund.  Then the guy sends it, and asks me to pay, I decided to wait for it to arrive and then pay.  I'm glad I waited, because what arrived were DVD-R's with hand scribbled text of a bootlegged home recorded copy... and even missing one DVD with that should have contained 4 episodes.  I didn't pay him squat!  I figured the delay in shipping was because he had to use a screen grabber to steal all the episodes and that took a long time.

[Sabertooth]

I've been on eBay since 1998 and I've had a couple of "fails" over the years. Most due to poor packing, one for a bogus description.

The most egregious was a new, sealed copy of Alien Brigade that was pristine in the photos. The seller packed it in a cereal box (Lucky Charms, IIRC), wrapped that with a paper grocery bag and shipped it from Hawaii. It arrived with that new copy of Alien Brigade absolutely crushed. I got a refund with no problems but what a waste! I still don't have a physical copy of that game. 

[Sabertooth]

I'll add that the biggest fail for me was probably as a seller. When I was 20-21, on my own, and with college debts mounting, I sold off all of my games and consoles, in a lot for about $1400 IIRC. I worked at a small regional chain called Video Game Exchange in high school and had amassed a pretty decent collection of games and consoles. I kept collecting after VGE folded. Picking up a near complete Virtual Boy set for $3 a game, clearance Jaguar titles, the Saturn late releases, Working Designs titles and more.

The full collection is too painful to list but I'll never own some of those games again, that's for sure! Talk about a fail! 😂🤣

 

[RickR]

I've got a good "FAIL" story to share.  Enough time has passed that I feel OK telling...

I had a 5200 multi-cart listed on ebay.  It was fairly priced -- let's say $80.  My listing had pictures showing the cart was full of ROM files.  I received an offer from a buyer:  a lowball $40.  I declined.  No message, just a "no thanks".  Next thing I know, my listing gets marked as "counterfeit/copyright" violation by ebay and taken down. 

Now I have no proof.  But I know that ebay only does this to auctions when someone reports it.  Put two and two together...

I also now know that selling items with original ROMS is not right, so I guess I'm thankful to that person for educating me (in a very passive-aggressive way).  I ended up wiping the multicart, putting on a few "public-domain" roms to show that it works, and relisting.  I got a full-price bid almost immediately.

Oh, and I blocked that lowball user on ebay.

Edited June 10, 2023 by RickR

[RickR]

Does anyone want to own Pig Pen's (from the Peanuts comic strip) computer?  The listing starts with these words:  "Needs to be cleaned".  Ya think? 

 

Edited June 10, 2023 by RickR

[TrekMD]

Only slightly cleaned.  Hardly any dirt on it.  😆

[- Ω -]

I would be positively ashamed to post something in that condition for sale.  It looks like something someone plucked while dumpster diving.

[- Ω -]

That picture of the Atari 880XL that @RickR posted makes me wonder if all my TI stuff will end up looking like that shortly after I pass away.  It's not like the TI is a popular retro item, and not too many people are willing to pay shipping costs on a P-Boxes.

[RickR]

If you are truly interested in selling, it will sell and you can do it locally so no shipping is involved.  Living so close to a big city will be to your benefit.  Trust me, I've sold off several of my collection items in the last two years with success, and did not have to ship. 

And if you are not interested in selling, then enjoy the f out of your stuff and do not worry about what comes after.  Won't be your problem then. 

 

Edited June 11, 2023 by RickR

[RickR]

Here is a link to the ebay auction so you can read the descriptions yourselves.  They mention that "The floppy drive is probably still good", which is silly because those old disk drives are most susceptible to failure from dirt and poor care.  Furthermore, that price seems a bit high for me given the risk of the whole lot not working.  If it was less, it may be a worthwhile purchase for anyone interested in a rescue....but glove and mask up!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/115818780799?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20211130125621%26meid%3Debd67b8e665a4e5187db64ffd2c19693%26pid%3D101465%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D115818780799%26itm%3D115818780799%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D3650466%26brand%3DAtari&_trksid=p3650466.c101465.m3507

[RickR]

There is nothing wrong with this listing here....except the pictures.  We are supposed to see the item THROUGH the anti-static bag!  Like taking it out was a huge effort.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/285326634234