The Ebay/Gamestop/Craiglist/Amazon/Goodwill/etc rant thread

[a_profile_name | 230]

On 3/26/2021 at 7:41 AM, OptOut said:

Oh, poor, sweet, naive summer child... How I so wish I could reclaim my innocence and blissful ignorance such as yours... For you see... WATA HAPPILY GRADE REPRODUCTION ITEMS!!!!!

They have zero qualms grading bootleg games, fake boxes and manuals, even "reproductions" of games that never existed at all, such as fan translations. As long as the check clears, they will grade WHATEVER you send them.

It is shady as fuck, it's a shameful surrender of credibility and integrity, and I hate it.

Only now I noticed they actually call this a "reproduction" in their official grade / description label. I think this can legally be considered a form of deception.

Maybe someone here should start making "repro" wata slabs, see how they react.

[noahvanderhoff | 16]

On 2/13/2021 at 11:03 PM, Andy_Bogomil said:

Anyone in Canada still selling stuff on eBay via letter mail within the country? I am wondering how bad the loss rate is these days without tracking. I want to sell a few cheaper things ($30-50) but it's not worth paying $15+ for shipping and selling locally is a pain.

I have sold about 100 games per month the last 4 months, all shipped via lettermail.  All items under $50, and I've only had 2 cases so far.  One case for 'item not received' and one for 'item not as described' where a buyer said I shipped the wrong game.  I think he was just confused; as the item he said he received is a game I've never owned or sold). 

If you're asking this question you obviously know the risk - any buyers that open any case for any reason (even my item not as described case) - eBay immediately will side with the buyer because there is no tracking number. 

I think I've been fairly lucky, Canada Post lettermail is very reliable.

[austin532 | 467]

And the scumbag seller of the decade goes to video-game-traders. Message reads from bottom to top.
 

Edited April 1, 2021 by austin532

[austin532 | 467]

He then comes back with this snarky comment.




Am I out of line here? It was a simple question. WTF...

Edited April 1, 2021 by austin532

[TDIRunner | 2,731]

You should try to get 100 people to ask him the same question you did.  

[Silent Hill | 276]

15 minutes ago, austin532 said:

He then comes back with this snarky comment.




Am I out of line here? It was a simple question. WTF...

Woof. At this point I would respond with *affect and be on my way, never to deal with them again. 

Also love that they use "RARE!" on a majority of their listings...

[austin532 | 467]

I guess I'm not a serious game collector and know nothing about games.

[FireHazard51 | 2,043]

I wish I could figure out how to block that seller.  They are trying to sell a factory sealed Batman: Gotham City Racer (PS1) for $499 when it's going price for new is ~$55.  Sound like complete shit bags to me.  Also like how they said "*Please note, these games are being sold as collectibles not to be opened or used."  Get the fuck out!  If want to play my seal game why the fuck should I not?  Fuck you saying what I can or can't do with MY video game I purchased.

[BlackVega | 583]

All you did to him is give free advertisement ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Tulpa | 3,491]

On 4/1/2021 at 1:42 PM, austin532 said:

And the scumbag seller of the decade goes to video-game-traders. 

A long time ago I had a weird interaction with them. They had a game where it looked like the label was creased, but it could have been a trick of the light. I didn't even ask for additional pictures, just wanted them to clarify. I got back a really rude reply. Bought that game from somewhere else.

[austin532 | 467]

On 4/1/2021 at 3:39 PM, VegaVegas said:

All you did to him is give free advertisement ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Hopefully people are smarter than to buy from him...

[LutherDestroysTheGond | 690]

Does anybody other than me primarily use a PO Box for receiving games? 

I use one for receiving packages and my last 3 big-ticket items I've tried to buy the sellers have flat out refused to ship to my box.  Never really had an issue in the past and I've used a box for close to 10 years.  Is there a stigma associated with PO Boxes that I am unaware of? 

I have 100% feedback on ebay and offered to pay extra for insurance/signature confirmation/etc.  Last seller basically told me to pound dirt.  This is getting really old really quickly.  

Edited April 4, 2021 by LutherDestroysTheGond

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

27 minutes ago, LutherDestroysTheGond said:

Does anybody other than me primarily use a PO Box for receiving games? 

I use one for receiving packages and my last 3 big-ticket items I've tried to buy the seller has flat out refused to ship to my box.  Never really had an issue in the past and I've used a box for close to 10 years.  Is there a stigma associated with PO Boxes that I am unaware of? 

I have 100% feedback on ebay and offered to pay extra for insurance/signature confirmation/etc.  Last seller basically told me to pound dirt.  This is getting really old really quickly.  

I don’t have a PO box but have always wondered this myself because Ive seen things for sale from actual businesses that wont ship to a PO box and I never understood what was so “special” about a PO box that they couldn’t send it there

[FireHazard51 | 2,043]

On 4/3/2021 at 5:40 PM, LeatherRebel5150 said:

I don’t have a PO box but have always wondered this myself because Ive seen things for sale from actual businesses that wont ship to a PO box and I never understood what was so “special” about a PO box that they couldn’t send it there

I've never used a PO Box but have a friend who does and I think there are few concerns.  One the PO Box doesn't allow any hazardous materials shipped to it.  If you buy something with a lithium battery it'll have a hazardous warning sticker on the outside of the box.  That package will get rejected and returned to sender.  Also from my understanding some post offices can be dicks and if the package doesn't fit IN the PO Box then it gets returned to sender.  So basically I think sellers don't want to deal with return packages which means a no sale though they paid for shipping.

I feel for those who live in areas where you can't reliably have packages delivered directly to home.  Either packages don't even come to your address or they are way too exposed and likely to be stolen.  If I had work around both it would be to send it to my work but I know for some that isn't a real option either.  If you live a rural area I think you have even less options to chose as urban areas have this problem more frequently so there are third parties you can use to safely receive and hold your packages till you pick them up.

I have some odd packages that didn't get delivered to me by UPS and ended up going to a CVS to pick it up for free.  I THINK you can pick that as the deliver location free but mine have always been due to a signature needed and if I wasn't their it defaults to the CVS just down the street.

Edited April 5, 2021 by FireHazard51

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

On 4/3/2021 at 2:10 PM, LutherDestroysTheGond said:

Does anybody other than me primarily use a PO Box for receiving games? 

I use one for receiving packages and my last 3 big-ticket items I've tried to buy the sellers have flat out refused to ship to my box.  Never really had an issue in the past and I've used a box for close to 10 years.  Is there a stigma associated with PO Boxes that I am unaware of? 

I have 100% feedback on ebay and offered to pay extra for insurance/signature confirmation/etc.  Last seller basically told me to pound dirt.  This is getting really old really quickly.  

Ive used a PO box for the last 5 years. I like the anonymity it affords when buying and selling. 
 

A lot of sellers dont send to PO boxes because fraud “used” to be more rampant. I dont think they used to require IDs, and anyone with cash could rent a PO box with no trail. Have stolen items sent there etc.  
 

Pretty sure that doesnt happen anymore though, and “no PO boxes” is a left over artifact. I run across it 1/10 purchases I make on ebay. 

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

On 4/3/2021 at 5:40 PM, LeatherRebel5150 said:

I don’t have a PO box but have always wondered this myself because Ive seen things for sale from actual businesses that wont ship to a PO box and I never understood what was so “special” about a PO box that they couldn’t send it there

Most cases where you see that it's because they ship either UPS or FedEx.   FedEx might deliver to PO Boxes now but pretty sure UPS does not.                

[LutherDestroysTheGond | 690]

I've had FedEx and DHL deliver to my box iirc although it's een a while for either.  Either the package gets addressed to the usual Box address and it transfers to USPS to finish the delivery, or, you can put the street address of the post office and a unit number that is your box  number and it'll arrive as well.  I haven't tried with UPS.  My instances of people declining was one seller said it wasnt worth the hassle to send FedEx to a po box.  (Literally nothing extra on his end).  The other 2 shipped USPS but refused to send to a PO Box. 

I know when I did my box I needed to submit photo ID and proof if residence.  Maybe once upon a time it was anonymous like @MrWunderful said but now it's pretty secure with documentation needed to apply imho. 

I know this is a first world problem but it's infuriating to finally track down some really uncommon stuff that rarely pops up for sale just to have a seller tell you to screw yourself for a PO Box.

I enjoy not disclosing my address to sellers and not worrying about package thieves which had been an issue in previous places I've lived.  With owning and receiving more valuable stuff just having my street address out there starts to feel like a liability.  Oh well, I guess it wasnt meant to be for now and I will direct my disposable income elsewhere to other sellers that realize my money is still green regardless of my PO Box.

If anyone wants to be a middle man for me for an item on ebay I may take you up it and make it worth your time lol.  

[noahvanderhoff | 16]

On 4/1/2021 at 1:08 PM, noahvanderhoff said:

I have sold about 100 games per month the last 4 months, all shipped via lettermail.  All items under $50, and I've only had 2 cases so far.  One case for 'item not received' and one for 'item not as described' where a buyer said I shipped the wrong game.  I think he was just confused; as the item he said he received is a game I've never owned or sold). 

If you're asking this question you obviously know the risk - any buyers that open any case for any reason (even my item not as described case) - eBay immediately will side with the buyer because there is no tracking number. 

I think I've been fairly lucky, Canada Post lettermail is very reliable.

This post cursed me as I've now had 7 cases in the last 2 days.  Either Canada Post has suddenly started losing mail like crazy or scammers be scamming.

[DK | 258]

Cleaned and tested a lot of NES games, sold via auction to a 0 feedback buyer in CA.

Gets the games, says they don't work and asks for a refund/return.

I don't really have much of a rant here beyond it sucks because I have to pay for the shipping they paid to get the games AND the shipping back....all because some moron has a dirty NES...

Fighting a return in a he said/she said situation is a no-win. I'm only out $24, but the feeling of being over a barrel when the buyer is wrong stinks...

[Tabonga | 2,317]

No wonder the post office is hemorrhaging money.

I had five packages coming yesterday (2 from Amazon and 3 from Ebay) via USPS.

At 7:15 I got two of the ones from Ebay and one of the ones from Amazon.

At 7:34 I got the second one from Amazon.

At 8:34 I got the third from Ebay.  (Although I had already gone to bed so I retrieved it at 4:30 this AM.)

And apparently i did not receive any regular mail since none came while I was awake and there was only the final package this morning.

I realize that if could be worse - at least I got everything I was expecting from the tracking. 

I have two more that are supposed to show up today - so we will see what the story is when they get here.

[Tanooki | 4,932]

Hey I got a fun story for you about a person on ebay who likes to play games with sellers.

I posted most of those Big Box PC games I chose from that stash not to keep on ebay Tuesday night.  This morning a buyer Chris Stauffer riftenstyxthetainc9 2420 picked it up for $39(50 shipped~)  Cool.  I was working on postage for two other items that sold the night before so I went ahead and printed that up, wrote the dude I was taking it, and that should have been that.

I get an ebay mail from a concerned third party about someone having borrowed my pictures to sell the same game and for a huge price increase (165 shipped/obo.)  I tried to report it, I get an error.  Have my wife use her account, works fine, seems the guy BANNED me from contact/sales/reporting as he put the listing up.  Dick move, totally.

Me not being amused with this called, got it escalated as far as stateside support, and well they won't do a thing about the images, but they weren't too amused by people doing what he did.

A bit later yet the person writes me again, asked me something I was soooo fixated on I didn't even think to look.  And I confirmed it.  The buyer of my item, is also the SELLER of the inflated item.  HE waited for the tracking to show possession and he pulled the scam.  Now he is selling the item he doesn't actually hold, and won't until the earliest this Saturday if he's lucky with USPS as it is. I called back into ebay, reported the new info, the rep lady was shocked even laughed at the guy for having the nerve to do it, talked about how scammers like that suck and are hard to catch.  She escalated it to some scam team I guess, said it was escalated to a group who could deal with fraudulent listings where the item isn't able to be fulfilled or something.

Here's his listing I'm banned from: https://www.ebay.com/itm/224442401092

And here's mine, look familiar?: https://www.ebay.com/itm/254958649258

[Tanooki | 4,932]

UPDATE 1: I got on the phone a second time, and a couple more (due to a snafu with the USPS website) and well unless something slips through the cracks I've hopefully just owned the scammer.  I've got it flagged when it does the arrival at unit scan in Atlanta to RETURN TO SENDER with notes about what the issue is/why and they'll return it same style mail for no charge.  Only clue he'll get is when it doesn't deliver and it shows that it was rescanned for arrival back here.

Once and if it comes back here, I'll refund the clown 100% of the charge, so he has no recourse and I've already banned him from bidding again.  At this rate I may just keep it, I don't need the money, just chose to sell that over an open standard box copy I already have.

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

On 4/28/2021 at 11:33 PM, Tanooki said:

Here's his listing I'm banned from: https://www.ebay.com/itm/224442401092

And here's mine, look familiar?: https://www.ebay.com/itm/254958649258

Any chance you can submit a DMCA takedown notice on this?  I mean, technically you're the photographer who owns the copyright on the pictures you posted of your items, so I think this would be covered somewhere under that umbrella.  I know it's most commonly used to take down audio and video that's infringing on copyrights of others, but you're the rights owner of the digital images being used without your permission, so I'd think you'd be all lined up to knock down the guy's listing (and any future listing he tries with your images).

[Tanooki | 4,932]

1 hour ago, darkchylde28 said:

Any chance you can submit a DMCA takedown notice on this?  I mean, technically you're the photographer who owns the copyright on the pictures you posted of your items, so I think this would be covered somewhere under that umbrella.  I know it's most commonly used to take down audio and video that's infringing on copyrights of others, but you're the rights owner of the digital images being used without your permission, so I'd think you'd be all lined up to knock down the guy's listing (and any future listing he tries with your images).

Not a bad idea but I question if they'd really care.  USPS carriers are garbage anyway, they were required by the system to stop that packages delivery, even showed in the system it was held for investigation, then within 30min later those twits dispatched it for delivery.  I guess basic literacy isn't required in certain places along the line.

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

Been awhile since I have felt the need to block a buyer, but one of my listings that had been sitting around awhile has elicited some post-sale harrassment.

Basically, this guy hit me with a low-ball offer that I simply ignored.

He followed up with a more acceptable offer via the eBay message system -- to which I replied that offer would work for me.

But then he waited 6 hours to actually make his offer official -- and in the meantime someone else beat him to the punch.

I didn't see either offer until the morning, so felt that the logical and fair thing to do was to accept the actual first acceptable offer.

 

Now I have this dude peppering me with emails complaining about it.  You would think if he had cared this much about the item, he would have given his actual acceptable offer in the first place instead of lowballing me.

But I'm pretty sure I need to put him on my blocked list now, so that he doesn't cause me any trouble going forward.