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I hate eBay

I’m cleaning house, selling a saddle, boots, and various other tack. Between the nine listings, I’ve had 14 “sales” to bots or scammers! And that’s just in the past three days! Here’s what gets me… it’s so obvious. So I then have to go and relist.

Just ranting…

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Seriously?! That’s awful. I’ve heard not-great-things about selling on eBay but that was more to do with being taken advantage of by unscrupulous buyers, or people being allowed to back-out of bids.

People suck.

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FB marketplace is just as bad. I listed something for sale and had three scam replies in less than an hour. Sigh…

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When they say “kindly do x y or z” it’s a scam. Unbelievable.

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Ugh. I’m about to list some stuff because I used to sell on eBay and I figure nothing can be worse than FB Marketplace.

What do you do when this happens, report the buyer for asking you to contact them outside of the eBay system so they get banned?

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Yuck. I hate scammers.

But what gets me about Ebay is the shipping prices some people charge. I was going to order something and the shipping charges were far more than the item. Um. No.

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What rips my undies about FB is that shipping costs a lot now!

So I go get the cheapest possible quote for someone using their zip and they ghost me because everyone is used to free shipping nowadays. Or they ask me to throw in free shipping on a $30 item that’s going to cost me $15 to ship to them. It’s not worth my time to box up something, print a label and drive to the PO for $15 - I either sell things locally or donate them.

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Yep- tack sales, tack resale shops, young girls at the barn…all have been recipients of my goods over the years. Ebay is tough with shipping costs and the commission. I haven’t listed in ages.
Rescues and therapy centers are awesome for donations as well! Plus, it’s more fun.

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Me Too.
And I’m a long-time eBay seller/buyer. “Selling” has gotten ridiculous between eBay restrictions and unauthorized bidders, bidders backing out, critical questions about items asked after the auction closes . . . And you can’t leave negative feedback, Oh, No :-P.
I’m about to toss in the towel; it’s just a waste of time.
Still OK as a buyer, tho, as long as you know what you are buying, and where it’s coming from.

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I haven’t even bothered to report anyone. I just relist. It’s not worth my time. I went into this with low expectations. With two saddles for sale, I was hoping to avoid shipping my saddles to online resale sites because it just seemed liked a bigger pain than eBay, but clearly I was wrong! :joy:

Just curious, does anyone know why CoTH doesn’t have a Marketplace? Seems like huge miss.

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often we just put the thing out on the curb and it disappears with hours (sometimes minutes)

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I do the same. If nobody snags it, it’s next stop is the landfill.
Ceffyl, try craigslist. It is often a waste of time, and spammers abound, but it’s free, and will sometimes get things sold for you. Locally.
I only permit contact thru the craigslist email relay (initial contact, anyway), and any responses that smell “spammy” just get deleted from my inbox.
You might also try posting a flyer at local feed stores and such; I know our local BigR store has a bulletin board in the back.

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FWIW I cleaned our a bunch of high-value Breyer horses on ebay earlier this year and every transaction was flawless. On the other hand that’s probably because nothing went for much over $100.

My experiences as a buyer are just terrible, though. One one saddle I asked the seller for pics of the off-side billets, she replies and says “oh I didn’t get a picture but they’re the same as the other side”, and I buy it and the saddle shows up and wouldn’t you know they’re both torn off half-way up. Biggish-name H/J trainer too. People are terrible.

Really I think people are still on the whole good and decent to deal with, but getting too many of the exceptions in a row is such a downer.

Sometimes I can’t even tell the bots and scammers from the people that fundamentally don’t get it–“I won the auction but now I have questions” is something people really do in real life. (Selling the Breyers went great, but selling other stuff has been a very mixed bag.) I complain with ebay, block the “buyer”, and move on. (Also FWIW I like Pelham Saddlery for moving out used English saddles.)

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I always work the shipping into the cost of the item, based on USPS priority mail flat rate boxes. Once someone is actually interesting in buying it, I can sometimes negotiate that overall price to be lower by using first class or other shipping methods that end up costing less to their zip code. I can also lower the price if they want multiple items since they can go in the same box. And obviously if they are local and can meet, then I can offer a screaming deal :wink: Now this doesn’t work as well if you’re selling stuff that is super cheap, but it’s been a good system for me when selling things like tack. There’s not really such a thing as free shipping… it’s an illusion.

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So ok how would you price say a used pair of XXL Davis soaking boots that won’t fit in a flat rate box? They’re $39 each new.

They do! It’s called…Marketplace. :upside_down_face: https://www.chronofhorse.com/directory/List/group/2/clean/true

But really, I’m just about certain it’s not free to list an item. The only free way to list an item on CoTH that I know of is the Giveaway forum. Much as that name implies, it is strictly for giving away items, though they recipient may pay for shipping.

And…I have long hated eBay. Tried to purchase a camera gizmo way back when as a gift for someone - never arrived. Well, in a way it did. Something like nine months after Inattempted to purchase the camera doodad, I received a “Burberry” tie. You know, Seller, close enough. Close. E…nough.

Now I avoid selling and buying from anywhere but online retail stores (being immunocompromised keeps me in my hides-hole as I WIN THE HERMIT OLYMPICS!).

Good luck!

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$40.

Why do you need to relist?

Because the item shows as sold because someone has “bought” the item when in reality they never intended to buy the item.

Ooohhhhh

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