Love this response from another EBAYER in England

Hi Barbara
I enjoyed reading your blog and nodded with agreement in many places. I too love selling on ebay and fortunately, most people I deal with are lovely and I have met great people over the last 4 years. However, I have had a couple of bad experiences, one very similar to the one mentioned in your blog about the guy who was 'No longer a registered user'. He didn't bank on one of his buyers (me) living about 5 miles from him and I took a couple of my mean looking friends (darlings really) and knocked on his door!! Well he totally pooped his pants and he could have kept the money for the look on his face...great! Anyway, got my money back and told him I would report him to the police if he didn't refund everyone else as well...don't know if he did but he was so scared I think he would have done anything at that point.
That's the other amazing thing about ebay. I sell all over the world and then every now and then, I get someone buying from around the corner...bizarre! Anyway, I'm going to keep your shop in mind for the future as you have some nice things there.
Best wishes
Vicky


Thanks Vicky for today's blog -
Vicky has nice things tooooooo! This is her site
I bought a wonderful WOLFORD COLORADO BODY SUIT from her for a great price. I know that I will get it - she's one of the honest ebayers that make it so much fun.

To Catch a Thief!

No - not the movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1955 with Cary Grant and Grace Kelly - more like the EBAY version!
As smart as I'd like to think I am - and so busy giving advice, it seems that I have managed to get caught again.
The thief - JAMES M DUGGAN from PALOS HEIGHTS, Illinois - the name of his company is Motion02-All-Nintendo. Anyone know this creep? He answers his cell phone "Jimmy here" but of course that is just a message - a thief doesn't really answer his phone.

I read an article about BRAIN AGE Proven software to keep your mind vigorous, agile and fit. Sounds good, yes? I though so and bought the game from Amazon. You need a Nintendo DS to play this mind game and it seems that you can't really find this game at the basic places - BEST BUY, etc. and being such an ebay person, I looked for it on ebay. Believe me, there are plenty for sale.

I found one for $158.50 with FREE SHIPPING. I checked his feedback - pretty good - not 100%, but the negatives were way back - not lately. I checked the items he was selling - all electronic type items and I checked the prices of things - he was selling things ranging from about $10 up to the $100s. Looked good. Did a BUY IT NOW and paid for it immediately. I was sent an email telling me that the item would be in on Saturday and that it would be shipped right out.

Well, you know - I never received it. When I went back to his site I now discovered that he was NO LONGER A REGISTERED USED! Great! I emailed a few people who had bought things on the same day that I did (things for about $300) and asked if they received their item. I did hear from one gal (I can't find her email) who said that she bought something from him for $315 that was for her son - who had saved up his money for this for months and of course didn't receive it.

I've put in a claim with PayPal and hope to get my money back through their Protection Plan - I'll believe it when I see it!

So once again - why do people do this? Obviously this guy built up an honest business so that he had good feedback and then starting cheating people! Nice!
You know how I feel about this - it's so disappointing that people have to do things like this. I wonder why I'm so surprised. Perhaps because I love ebay and I love selling, etc. etc. I take it very seriously and love MOST of the people I meet.

Such is life - there are always bad apples - my mom always said that!
People have to live with themselves - I'm sure that he has no problem.
Too bad for the little boy who saved and saved his $$$ to buy this item from this guy!

One last word - I promise.....

In response to something my son-in-law mentioned in his blog A Molar? A ski? A helium balloon?
I wouldn't call it a battle really - just a misunderstanding. I was under the impression that GPM was insured up to $100 and trackable. With that understanding I have sent 100s of items out of the country feeling secure. Never had a problem! Until the last two weeks - THREE items have not been received - one in London, one in France and one in CANADA! OK - it can happen (I guess - but all at once?) and then I quickly learned that the TRACKING # that I am given doesn't mean anything. There is no way to track the package - anyone you send a GPM package to can tell you they didn't receive it and you are OUT OF LUCK!
So today I sent out a pair of shoes to Sweden. I used EMS (through the USPS) for a charge of $26. The item is both insured and trackable AND I got a page for the postmaster to scan which will show that the item was indeed received at the post office.
To send this same package through UPS or FedEx would have cost between $70-$80!
I do love the USPS - it was just a very expensive lesson to learn that the packages were totally not insured AND not trackable!
Do you think they changed their rules in the middle of the game? I spoke with another gal who sells on ebay and she has been sending things GPM for years too under the same impression as me. She said that she won't anymore!
BUT I love USPS and I adore my sweet postmaster who has the upmost patience with me and my questions.
I love the boxes that they supply free of charge and the overall fabulous service I have gotten.

I know that Brown is great, as is FedEx - BUT they are just so expensive. So - I'll continue to ship out of the country but will NOT use GLOBAL PRIORITY anymore - I learned that nasty lesson!

Not to worry ANONYMOUS

Received this nice comment on my blog "BROWN it is!":

Hi Barbara, As you are one of my most favourite sellers, it is with regret that I see you are going "Brown". I live in Canada and have been so very happy with your service. Canadians really dislike UPS and FEDEX as they charge huge fees for delivering to Canada. They base their fees on the value of the parcel, as well as the assessed duty and customs. Last year I purchased some items from the US that totaled a little over $200.00 US and was somewhat shocked to have to pay an additional $129.00 when they arrived on my doorstep. I often read the ebay Answer Centre under the International section and there are countless articles on why Canadians avoid purchasing when UPS and FEDEX are listed. USPS and Global Priority are definitely the buyers' choice. I would love to be able to continue to watch, bid and sometimes be lucky enough to win your items and wonder if a successful bidder would be allowed to request your wonderful previous method of mailing. Keep up the wonderful work, Barbara. You provide excellent, conscientious and terrific service and are a joy to deal with.

First of all - I really appreciate your nice comments. I do work hard at ebay and really appreciate when it is noticed.

I did look into UPS and FedEx after all of that - and discovered that their costs are enormous! Way out of line and it would be impossible to use their services. An example that I used was to ship a pair of shoes to Sweden - $79 UPS and $89 FedEx! Can you imagine? So I called my sweet postmaster and discussed the situation with him. His suggestion would be to ship via Air Mail Parcel Post WITH INSURANCE! The same pair of shoes sent that way will cost $23! HUGE DIFFERENCE! and with the insurance you are guaranteed to be able to track the item. I think that it can take a bit longer than Global Priority - but there is just no way that I can send things that way anymore. Believe it or not I heard from someone else on Friday (from London) that she also has not received the Issey Miyake jacket that I sent her.

I am terribly afraid that one of these people might leave me negative feedback - even though the items were sent out and even though they will be refunded their full amount paid. This has really been so upsetting for me. It just seems so strange though - not to have had ANYTHING lost in over three full years and then three items in the last two weeks - isn't that odd?

I did ask another seller how she sends things out of the US and she uses GPM and said that she has never had a problem. She said sometimes it takes awhile but the item has always been received. She wasn't very happy when she heard what has happened to me. She said that she will not be using that method to ship anymore either under those circumstances. I shared my conversation with the postmaster with her.

In any event - not to worry - I will not be using UPS or FedEx - they're just much tooooo expensive!

BROWN it is!

It's really been upsetting to discover that the faith I had in the USPS was for naught. I did refund the gal in Canada for the Pink Prada shoes. Luckily she has been very nice and understanding. Disappointed that she did not receive the shoes, but at least she knows that they were sent out and that I upheld my end of the deal. I refunded her the money yesterday and for me - it's just a total loss. Discovering that I have absolutely no recourse is very upsetting. EVEN MORE UPSETTING because of the more expensive item that was sent out via USPS GLOBAL PRIORITY MAIL on January 9th to France! This sweater has not been received either and I will have to refund her next week. Our communication hasn't been as easy since my French is nil and her English is luckily better than my French but still not great. She also seems very nice and understanding - but again that doesn't help me!

It is interesting after ALL of the many many items that I have sent out of the country that both items lost were within weeks of one another. What could have happened? Up until I now I guess I have just been lucky.

This has been an expensive lesson for me. I will not ship anything else via USPS Global Priority out of the country - BROWN wins! At least they have a tracking system that is reliable and they do not suggest that they are NOT RESPONSIBLE for the item at all. I just don't understand how the USPS can just tell you something like that - we are not responsible to track the item and we are not responsible if it doesn't get there. Does this make sense?

Go fight City Hall! There is really no one to complain to - no one who can try to make this right. My sweet postmaster looked into it for me - but once he saw that letter from BETTY - he kind of washed his hands of it too. I feel for him, really - he is just about alone in our little post office. He has to sort the mail (I think on occasion he has a little helper) for the whole town - take care of anyone who comes to the window and answer the dumbest questions.

I find it very fascinating that people go up to the window when they have a package to mail and sometimes it is not even packed. They practically expect the postmaster to tell them how to do it from start to finish. Their labels are not made out and he stands there and patiently helps these people. And then of course, while he is helping them, someone else is complaining that their mail is not in their boxes yet. Well, of course! He's so busy answering dumb questions that he can't get the mail sorted. I'd like to see someone pull a stunt like that at the post office in New York City - they probably would be booted right out of the door!

Where do they find people who are actually willing to be subjected to this?
So how can I expect him to give my problem any of his attention? He's busy studying for some postal exam during his lunch break (yes, that is right - our post office closes at lunch time) and then has to come back after that to deal with all of these people again for the rest of the day.

The people in this town were terribly spoiled for over 25 years by having WALTER as their postmaster - he made his own rules and spoiled everyone. After he retired everyone was up in arms when the postmaster in charge now followed all of the postal rules - ie - not handing them their mail individually. Now there are new postal boxes with keys instead of the lovely old ones with the combinations. Time marches on.......we even have garbage bins now - before you had to take all of your junk mail home - now we get to leave it at the post office. So I guess you take the good with the bad.

I'm stuck with the bad - two lost parcels and a loss of $$$$.

I will ship all of my out of the country items through BROWN and hope it will be better for me. I learned the hard way.

Keeping the faith!

Well, I just received this email from PAYPAL

Hello, my name is Heather and I am happy to assist you with your concerns.

I apologize for any frustration with this situation. I am not able to find
the transaction based on the item number you have provided. Could I please
ask you to reply back with the transaction ID in question, or at least the
date and amount of the transaction. We can then review the information and
see what is happening. I appreciate your understanding.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us again.

Sincerely,
Heather
PayPal Business Support
PayPal, an eBay Company

I don't know what she will be able to do for me - but at least they are trying to help! I sent her the information - let's see what she can come up with.

The end of faith!

Well, that's it - I have been touting the USPS to everyone! Fast, reliable, responsible, and great! I love the fact that you get the boxes free (nothing is free) along with other mailing supplies - that's fabulous! I love that you can order the labels online - so convenient! BUT now I find out that if you send a package via GLOBAL PRIORITY MAIL out of the country you are on your own! They take absolutely no responsibility for the package - you can't track it - you can't do anything. If the person on the other side says that they did not receive it - BINGO! you're out of LUCK!

This is the response that I got from BETTY at USPS:

Thank you for contacting us about the package LC063691832US. I apologize for any inconvenience that this has caused you.

Ordinary Letter Post and Global Priority items do not offer tracking or tracing as part of the service. For this reason, the members of the Universal Postal Union have agreed that accepting or processing inquiries for Letter Post and GPM items is not mandatory. Accordingly the United States Postal Service has decided that it will no longer accept inquires on Letter Post items, including Global Priority Mail. We appreciate your notifying us of the possible delay or loss of the item you mailed. Please accept our apology for the possible delay or loss of this item and the inconvenience this matter has caused you.

If I can be of assistance to you in the future, please don't hesitate to contact me. Thank you for choosing the United States Postal Service®.

Regards,

Betty

Can you believe that? Basically it says "Tough Luck" "Who cares" "You think that we are going to take any responsibility?"

Well, this morning I refunded the shoes in question. Luckily (at least) my postmaster (I live in a small town - if you're in a city - forget it!) tells me that he was able to discover that the package was indeed received at customs in Canada on the 19th of December (it was mailed on the 13th) and that he will see what he can do from his end (what a doll!). But basically I'm out of luck - if she does receive the package and if she is totally honest she will give me back my money.

But now I know that I cannot trust the USPS and will no longer. I will continue using them for anything going beyond the CT/MA/NY/VT/NH/NJ area as UPS takes too long out of that area and I should be able to get tracking information - although the other day I received a message from someone who told me "I tracked the package that you mailed last week and it tells me that it was shipped November 22nd and is now in GA" - well, I emailed PayPal and actually discovered that the USPS uses their tracking numbers more than once! PLEASE! Is that the most ridiculous thing you have ever heard?

My faith is slipping, slipping, GONE!

BROWN - here I come!
All packages shipped out of the USA will go via UPS AND they will pick them up from my home AND I can order the labels online.

Hopefully the sweater sent to France on January 9th will get to this other woman or I will be out some more money! I have really been lucky up until now - my luck seems to have run out!

Should I write to my friend BETTY at USPS and tell her what I think? I don't think she cares!

I don't get it!

Lots of things sold over the weekend - things get very slow right around Christmas/New Year and then it takes a few weeks to get the momentum up again. By now, the third week in January sales are back to normal. That's good - I'm so happy to be busy with ebay.

What I don't understand though is why someone would bid and win something knowing the exact shipping cost and then AFTER they win the item send an email asking......what is the cost WITHOUT insurance?

I will not send anything out WITHOUT insurance! What happens if it doesn't get there? Am I really going to believe that the buyer will take full responsibility? No - I don't think so. Unless she/he gets their money back they will leave NEGATIVE feedback. They will say that they didn't receive the item and they didn't get their money back! I will insure an item that goes out for $9.99!

The cost of insurance is really not high and it seems like such an easy bit of protection against loss. Luckily very few things have been lost - once a shoe actually came out of the box. I did get the money back and was easily able to refund the buyer! That will never happen again - I will never trust the USPS sticky boxes to remain closed anymore. Now they get taped everywhere!

The only other time that something was not received was a stainless watchband - the tracking info did show that the item was received by the person's post office and she was able to collect the insurance at her end. Of course she wanted the watchband and was terribly disappointed - but at least she did not wind up without the band and her money!

So please, if you have a question regarding seller's costs or policies regarding shipping - please ask the question BEFORE the auction is over - NOT after you WIN IT!

THANKS!

What can this possibly mean?

I send things out as soon as they are paid for. Unless I am away from home for business or vacation, things are immediately packed and brought over to the post office. Luckily for me the post office is not even a mile away from my home. That benefits the buyers and me! I can easily make more than one trip in one day - so sometimes if an item is paid for after my trip to the post office I will happily go again.

The way it works is that when the item is paid for through PAYPAL you get a listing that allows you to print and pay for all of your labels at one time. How convenient! It's great - the post office sends the boxes right to your home and you just peel the label and put it right on the package. I love this! Sometimes I have as many as 20 things to pack and ship - so this convenience is great. I used to have to write out all of the labels - this was so time consuming.

At Christmas though I received an email from someone who had bought a Marc Jacobs bag for his wife and it didn't come in time. It should have - Priority mail is really good and gets where it is going within 2-3 days! This time it didn't and he emailed me and asked me to trace the package. Now I have always assumed that because you are given a tracking number that this would be easy! NO! I traced it and received the information that a shipping label had been purchased but nothing more! What I learned was that the package is brought to the post office and sent on its way and is NOT SCANNED! It doesn't get scanned (generally) until it arrives at the buyer's post office. I also learned that you can't even ask the post master to scan it - therefore there is NO PROOF that you have sent the package off. Only proof that you have purchased a mailing label. If you buy your labels through the United States Post Office site online you can receive a sheet that the postmaster CAN SCAN! THEN you would have proof that you did indeed MAIL your package.

Unfortunately it is much more time consuming to purchase online through USPS as you have to put in all of your information manually. With PayPal the information is there in its entirety. What to do? What to do? I admit that I prefer purchasing the label through PayPal - the connection right to eBay is also a good thing. So far I have been lucky - all packages have been received. The Marc Jacobs bag in question had been received the next day and then of course the tracking info showed that the item was received. Too little too late I would think.

BUT - what does this mean?
I received an email from someone who bought a wonderful pair of Pink Suede Prada slides. The item was sent out by me on December 13th and I received an email from her just a week ago saying that she did not receive the shoes...............oh, a seller's biggest nightmare! So I tracked the package and got this message............

		Home | Help | Sign In

	Track & Confirm	FAQs

Label/Receipt Number: LC06 3691 832U S Information for this item is stored in files offline.

I have since emailed the buyer many times and have not heard from her. I do not know whether or not she has received the shoes and just hope that not hearing from her means that the item has indeed been received. But I am truly confused by the tracking info from USPS. The only good thing though - is that it shows that the item has indeed been sent out.

BUT I am really confused by this information given to me when tracking the package.
INFORMATION FOR THIS ITEM IS STORED IN FILES OFFLINE! I really wonder what that means. I think that I will take the tracking info to my post office - I wonder if he can find out for me. I will keep you posted.

How do you rate?

Of course the very best is the person who pays IMMEDIATELY. I do that. Generally the moment I have won something on ebay I pay for it. So many people pay me before I even get a chance to send out the invoice - it doesn't get better than that. These are the people that you love dealing with - they have been shopping and buying on ebay for awhile, they know the ropes and they LOVE IT! That's why they pay right away - they want their item quickly and they know that you want your money! Let's rate them a big huge 10!

Then there are the people who email you to let you know that they are bidding on either one or more of your auctions and would like to pay at the end of the auction/auctions and combine shipping. Totally savvy - 10! They will generally pay the moment the last auction that they want is over. I just ask them to remind me......

Then we have the people who email while the item is still running and ask if it would be OK if they paid a few days later. Really, this is OK - I understand. The thing is that they realize that the person selling the items wants to have an idea of when they will be paid. Again, I just ask them that they remind me when the auction is over. If they do - definitely a 10! If they don't - an 8! Because chances are I won't remember (sometimes as many as 10 auctions end at the same time).

Then there are the people who you don't hear from at all. The auction ends - I send the invoice - NOTHING! NaDa! Zero! I wait a day or two and then I check their feedback. If it's good 99%+, I really am not concerned - they will pay, they just haven't gotten to it yet. My advice though - is that you should get in touch with the seller when the auction is over and let them know that you will pay in a few days. Rated - 8

Worse are the people who don't pay within 2-3 days of the auction's end and still have not bothered to get in touch with you. Generally they pay - you check their feedback and it's good. I don't think that seller's will give neutral or negative feedback to people who manage to take a week to ten days to pay - after all, we/they got paid - we/they are happy that they didn't have to go after the person for their money. I don't give them GLOWING feedback - but definitely good feedback. They did pay! Rated - 6

After 8 days you must report an item as unpaid! These people really hold you up. You can't relist the item - you have to wait until the dispute is over. You report the item as unpaid - sometimes you hear from the buyer. "I'm sorry - I will pay immediately" - OK, they finally pay and the dispute is over. Rated - 4

Then there are those who apologize and tell you they will pay - you still don't get paid. After another week you finally receive a money order! Rated - 2

Worse yet, they tell you they are paying and you get NOTHING! Finally you end the dispute, get your final fee credited to you account from ebay (remember, it still cost you the listing fee) and the person gets a NON-PAYING STRIKE! - Rated - 0

and then there are the people who get the Non-Paying Strike - seller gets a credit from ebay and a check arrives! Still - rated 0

There are also the people who just play around, bid, win and have never had any intention of paying. Why are they doing this? I really wonder. Can't rate them - they're just losers!

I think that ebay is great (you know that) and think that it is too bad that there are people selling fakes, sellers trying to cheat people and buyers who don't pay. OVERALL though - ebay gets a 10! I think that it is a fabulous market place. Great deals - the ability to find things that you could never find anywhere else in the world. It gives people an opportunity to deal with people all over the world. It's really fun and I love it!

Just do me a favor - if you buy something, pay quickly or get in touch with your seller - let them know that you're alive and intending to pay.
THANKS!

75% OFF

75% Off - that's a HUGE discount - you have to sell a lot in order to have a decent day. But we did - lots of merchandise out the door. It's amazing having sold so much there is still more to sell - and really - it's still great merchandise!

The customers really appreciate it - they're so happy to get such good value. It's good too - we're busy all day! The time goes by so quickly.

Again - most people are really nice and very appreciative of the big sale. My complaint for the day is only this - "entitlement"!

What is it about some people - what makes them think that they are more important than anyone else?

We close at 5:00 - we were busy all day - not a minute free. At 5:00 we turned the OPEN sign around to CLOSED and breathed a sigh of relief! TIme to add up the totals for the day and close out. FINE!

Except for the woman who walked in at 4:55! I told her that we were closing in 5 minutes - "no problem" she said and then started dragging things into the dressing room. I told her - "there's no time to try on" - "we're CLOSING!"

Totally ignoring us - we would have had to literally drag her out the door. She tried things on, told us she was "thinking". She really believed that it was all right that we had to now stand around waiting while she was "thinking".

Why was she in the dressing room trying things on? Why was she standing in there "thinking"?

Because to her we were not important - she is important - and she really couldn't care less that we have lives, that we were here all day and that we wanted to close up at 5:00 just like the sign on the door says!

My doggies were home waiting for me to come home to feed them. I had to drop off a card at another store where I bought a gift for someone and I was tired and wanted to go home.

"ENTITLEMENT"
Over the course of time I have met many people who feel that they are entitled! That they are more important than someone else - that their time is more important than yours!

There really wasn't much we could do. We told her we were closing - she just didn't care. Finally she came out of the dressing room - all apologetic for keeping us there later - bought two things and left. We stood there looking at one another and sighed! She won!

Other than that - it was fun - lots of people bought some great things - sale time is definitely fun time!

I just love it!

"Can you do better than that?"
Boy! We're practically giving the merchandise away and people will ask that question!
I would be embarrassed!
Don't people know any better.
We're already selling it for 75% off - the only thing better perhaps, would be if we either gave it away for free or gave them money with it!
What do people want?

OK - so I'm complaining - and I'll just keep going......

You come into a store to try on clothing. You don't have to put it away - although some people do - BUT on the other hand do you think you should leave it on the floor of the dressing room? Should you leave it inside out - or perhaps half inside out and half right side? Leave dirty tissues on the floor? LEAVE UNDERWEAR ON THE FLOOR? This was the worst that I have encountered! Someone asked for a "try on pair of panties" (don't you just love it?) and then left them on the floor of the dressing room. YUCK!

The other thing I really love are the people who come in with absolutely no intention of ever buying anything - will bring at least 50 things into the dressing room(over the course of the next hour or so) - try them all on and then leave them strewn all over the floor. On their way out - they seem to even forget to say "thank you".

Where was these people brought up?

Sorry for being a grump - but I hope no one who reads this will do these things - it's just not nice.

Most people really are very very nice. No one has to put their things back on the racks - we're happy to do that - happy to fold things up and put them away - but people should be considerate. The clothing that they're handling is very expensive (not that $$$ should be a factor here) and should be treated with respect.

One of my favorite things that has happened since I've been working here was at the very beginning....an attractive older woman (in her late 70s perhaps), gray hair handsomely coiffed, black clothing, tall, thin, nicely attired, came in and tried on a very interesting Issey Miyake cape. When she came out of the dressing room she was holding the cape out toward me - I didn't get it at first - but she was sort of tossing it at me! It took me a minute to realize that she expected me to grab if from her (perhaps I should have curtsied too) - people are very funny.

BUT I love it, I love the clothing, I love the people and I'll miss February and March while the store is closed for the cold winter months! But I will be working at the buying for next fall - so that will certainly be fun.

The Joy of a GOOD DEAL!

None of us can resist a really good buy!
Right now the store that I'm working at is having a 50% off sale. Everything must go! The store closes for the months of February and March. It's just too cold around here at that time of year and it just gets soooo slow in the store. The owner decided last year that the time has come to close for those two months.
It makes great sense - we get rid of all of the merchandise and open up with all brand new clothing/bags/shoes on April 1st. This year we will open on the last day of March as it is a Saturday. The customers will be waiting happily. Last year we had to let some of them come for an advance showing - they just couldn't wait! One of our customers was leaving for Europe and said that she couldn't go without coming to the store first!
It's also great for the customers who have been supportive the other ten months and now get to walk off with merchandise at a real deal!
Now it is hard for me today knowing that on Monday everything will be 75% off. What do you do? Do you look someone in the eye and sell them merchandise today at 50% off? or do you let them know that Monday is the day they have all been waiting for?
Well, I have given the few customers the 75% off as overall they are "regulars" and I just don't feel right about selling something at 50% off knowing full well in another few days it will be 75% off.
A lovely young woman came in before and tried on a beautiful pair of blue wool slacks - she had a definite English accent (was from London and is here at Shakespeare and Company for a special class). They fit her perfectly and looked quite lovely - she loved them and told me that she was going to go to the bank for the $$$$. I told her that she could have them for 75% off - $106.25 and she just burst with joy!
What can be better than that?

What a disappointment!

I must say that all of the trouble that the discussion group people caused me has definitely had an effect on me. I wanted to drop it and put it all behind me - BUT they have really caused me trouble and the really sad thing about that is knowing that it made them happy!

Yesterday Ebay pulled 5 auctions off of ebay because my blog was mentioned. Now - this is really OK - I did take any mention off of any other auctions but these 5 slipped through - it was not intentional! I spoke with someone from ebay and understand why they don't allow this.....really it's all about business! They just don't want people directing ebayers to other sites for fear that they are trying to sell them something. Of course I am not selling anything through my blog - but they don't know that (I guess).

What makes me angry though is how these petty minded people can take satisfaction in knowing that my hard work for all of these auctions has to be done again. Once an item is removed by ebay you can not bring it up again. That means I have to write the descriptions and take the measurements all over again.

The good thing though has been all of the wonderful support that I have gotten from so many people. I have put some of the emails up and am not going to put anymore on - but people are still reading my blog and enjoying it.

BUT I have other problems - luckily they are really not important enough to linger much longer on them.

I bought a new MacBookPro and have been on the telephone with Apple since last week. That is really why I haven't been blogging! So many hours on the telephone.

There is nothing wrong with the new computer - it is beyond perfect BUT I still cannot print foreign labels either through PayPal or the USPS and it is making me crazy. I have tried logging on at the Apple store and have been able to do it - so why does it not work on my computers?

Hopefully one of the many Apple techs will figure this out and I can move on to other business.

In all fairness!

Back from the cruise! It was really fun! It was good to get away and have a complete change of scenery for a few days! My only complaint was that I really could not use my computer. The connection on the ship was slower than slow and very expensive. I definitely tried using it and even managed to get a few emails off to my children, one or two scrabble plays and even managed to send off an invoice through ebay - after the third day though - it was all for naught and I just gave up. I guess giving up the computer really did make it a vacation!

My BLACK & WHITE clothing was perfect for me and it was great to be with the family!

Happy New Year!

Now let's get back to business.......

In all fairness I would like to say that I signed on to the discussion boards on ebay before going on vacation. I sent off a Marc Jacobs handbag right before Christmas. I print all of my labels online through PayPal. I find that to be the easiest way to do it. I used to hand write all of the labels and it was so time consuming and I was always afraid of losing the insurance slips. This way all of the information is right online and easy to trace! OR SO I THOUGHT!

The buyer of the MJ bag emailed me three days after the package was sent (still two days 'til Christmas) to tell me it wasn't received. When I traced it through the USPS it didn't even show up as being mailed. What does one do?

SO I asked my question on the discussion board on ebay.......I was happy to receive many good responses to my dilema. I learned that I should have the packages scanned when I bring them to the post office. Up 'til now I have just dropped them off - he takes them - puts them in the pile and off they go. No proof that they have gone to the post office - only that a label was purchased on PAYPAL. So perhaps the discussion boards are a good thing! It certainly helped me with this problem. I think that my previous situation was just an unfortunate thing and I learned something in the end - I learned that these boards can be very helpful.

I did receive this nice email (comment) from someone and I thank her very much for it......

"Happy New Year & I hope 2007 is free of the ridiculous, mean spirited people you had to contend with over the LV wallet. I have always purchased LV @ Neiman Marcus and I have sold several pieces on Ebay.The selling experiences were great--no silly questions, I just guaranteed authenticity & had no problems from any of the sales.I have gotten ripped off on fake Chanels (for a LOT of $$$$, twice !!)so, I only purchase an expensive bag from a seller like you--one who sells only high end items & with great feedback. Or..I purchase retail if I am unsure of the authenticity. You have an excellent reputation , your items are wonderful & priced fairly--anyone who buys from you will get a great deal. If these soreheads who made such a ridiculous mountain out of a molehill have so many doubts about authenticity they just should NOT bid or buy...it IS a choice. I did not think your replies & remarks were snippy or out of line. When you sell on ebay you get some pretty silly questions...it takes a lot of time to measure, describe etc a listing & my feeling is..'the buyer has a choice--buy or not' the seller can guarantee authenticity & back it up with a refund if purchaser is not satisfied. (bearing in mind, some people are NEVER satisfied !) You are a true asset to ebay & to your many buyers & reader/lookers like myself. I hope you had a wonderful cruise & don't let those 'things' that come out from under their rocks & gripe @ you--don't let them get you down."

AND the buyer did receive the Marc Jacobs handbag before Christmas! So, all's well that ends well!