What would you do?

I have now worked 8 years building a successful eBay business. Things like this just do not happen on their own. One thing led to another which led to another - I believe that is how a lot of things happen.
What I have developed is a business based on trust and honesty - on my part, the buyer's and the consignors. There are so many fakes out there and I have to know the people who are giving me their things to sell. I have to have trust in them that they would never, knowingly, give me a FAKE to sell.
100% feedback after 8 years is a big accomplishment and I really do take pride in it. I received (from a consignor in England) a beautiful Louis Vuitton cashmere and silk scarf. In the LV box and a certificate of authenticity (and in a black shiny pouch). It was truly gorgeous and felt so good. So why was I somewhat concerned about the authenticity? I was concerned because this consignor buys a lot of things on eBay. I know how careful I am when I am buying something like this on eBay - the homework that I do before buying something like this. But I have no idea where this gal got this scarf - although I must say - it is beautiful and feels so good. Generally I have a pretty good idea of what to look for in a handbag or scarf. I sell so many Hermes scarves but I am totally unfamiliar with this style of LV scarf. All that I knew was that it sure was beautiful, felt good and seemed fine. I did try reaching my consignor, but she seems to be unavailable right now. I think that she is in Turkey. I listed the scarf. The dilemma is that my buyers trust me. They trust me because over the last 8 years I have worked very hard to build that trust. I am a Top Rated Seller and only 1% of all eBayers are Top Rated. I take this very seriously. I listed the scarf as a 7 day auction - something that I don't usually do. Because I really didn't know a fair price for the scarf I felt that was the way to go - let the eBayers determine the final price. Bidding began immediately and with 3 days left to go, it was already over $200 with approximately 50 people watching. Good or Bad? Well, frankly I was becoming more and more uncomfortable. People were asking if I could prove authenticity - I could not! They were asking if I had the receipt - I did not! and then I received this email from another ebayer.........

Dear ilovemygirls3, Hi, I was looking at all of the lovely designer items that you are selling and came across the scarf and spotted it as a fake straight away. I then saw your feedback and thought you might not know that it is fake and can be purchased online for $25.00. A genuine LV scarf comes only with a cotton dust bag and no "authentication" paperwork (this can be verified at fashionpearlsogwisdom.com. The tag should be black with gold writing not orange, it should also be smooth and flat and held on with 2 fine stitches. It is always a pleasure to see such honest sellers. Regards,





What would you have done? I immediately removed the listing from eBay. The thought that I could be selling a FAKE was very distasteful for me. Frightening too! I take this selling very seriously and the thought that I would be passing off a fake as real - well, that doesn't fly. The most amazing part of this story is that you would be amazed at how many people were begging me for the scarf - real or fake - they didn't care! They just wanted this scarf. I was offered as much as $220 for the scarf - off of eBay - real or not! What would you have done?

note: Just heard from my consignor - she is in AFRICA, not Turkey :)
Hi B
Just got your email. I am in Africa 1st time in a week with internet. Do you really think I would knowingly send you this as real if it is fake? All I can say is that I paid a lot of money for it on ebay and bought it as real thing!

Well, I hope that she is having a great trip and I never believed for one second that she would EVER send me anything thinking it was FAKE - NEVER!

Check out my listings - all authentic top of the line items :)

Babsy's Closet

Nightmare or not?

I have a gal who is sending me 15 cartons of high end shoes/clothing and accessories. I don't know exactly where she got my name - from someone who knows someone who knows someone :) We've chatted back and forth regarding shipment and delivery. She said that she will have it delivered next week.
Of course that has to set my mind as to exactly how we will deal with it when 15 cartons - each weighing about 15-20 pounds - arrive.
Probably that is what was on my mind when I fell asleep last night.
How did this translate into my dreams? CRAZY!
I dreamt that these two women (mom and daughter) drove up with brown bags and cartons in their truck :) We chatted and then they left. I started going through the daughter's things first - and what was in the bags? All of the daughter's old toys - Minnie and Micky, kids clothing and blankets - I was not happy :( Instead of Prada, Chanel and D&G - here were dusty toys and broken trains.
Oh boy - eBay is taking over my dreams too.

What is this about?

After selling for so many years on eBay, I find it fascinating that you can still learn something new each day. Not always a good thing :(
Woke up this morning to discover that a claim was opened in PAYPAL for an item that I sent to Belgium.
It was purchased on August 12, paid for on August 13th and shipped out that same day.
So - what is the claim about? Luckily I can call and speak to someone at PayPal and was told that it was Paypal that opened the claim. Not against me, but that they have suspicions regarding the transaction.
DUH! So they pulled the $225 from my account!
What was established in my phone call was that I am protected with PayPal's seller protection (well, good thing!) and that all I have to prove is that I sent the item. I had to supply the USPS tracking number and he did check that the item was sent to the address provided.
NOW - even though I did nothing wrong - the money does not come back to me until PayPal has completed their research at their end.
I asked what that might be and was told that basically it was none of my business!
They can just pull money from your account - just like that! and you have no say! AND you have no choice because eBay tells you that PAYPAL is the ONLY way that you can accept payment.

Look, I love eBay and PayPal has been great over the years. I have no complaints with either and am grateful to them as it has proven to be a wonderful situation for me. They will work this out at their end - basically it has nothing to do with me - but I am the one who did exactly what I should have and they are holding my $$$

Looks like eBay and PayPal have it all figured out for themselves :) All that I can do is sit back and hope for the best. He did promise that it shouldn't take more than two weeks to figure it all out and that basically all I had to do was prove that the item was sent out with a valid tracking #.

We'll see.

PLEEZE!

Come on, you're being unreasonable. We really do take great pride in the job that we do on eBay. It's a lot of work.
Beautiful things come in every day - how lucky am I? and you.......to buy some really great things at much better prices -
We take each item - measure it, describe it and put it on "the line". Then it goes down to get photo'ed - hubby takes the pictures and his obsessive compulsive nature makes sure that he gets really good photos - remember, this is not VOGUE!
I take the descriptions, measurements and photos and get them listed on eBay. We try to take photos of the items front, back, sideways, labels, and any marks, stains or problems. We probably show about 8-10 photos of each item (at least). When it is a really expensive handbag - there might be 20 photos given.
That same pair of shoes I talked about - the Roger Vivier - $225 - I received the following email:
Would you please send me more raw pictures of the shoes? I just want to know more about the condition of the shoes, and do they run smaller or bigger?
My response:
I'm really sorry - I cannot take more photos of these shoes. We work very hard at our ebay and everything takes so much time. I believe that we have supplied photos of every angle of these shoes. I wear a size 9 shoe so there is no way I can let you know if these run big or small. This gal wears a size 6 - and we do give dimensions. Taking more photos requires us to go and get the shoes - take more photos (which will be the same as the ones shown) and then taking the time to send them to you. If I had to do that for every item, I would never be able to sell anything. I appreciate you concern - but please read my feedback - we really work hard at this and take pride in selling fabulous items.

I could have said a lot more - but hopefully what I said is enough. The photos supplied show the condition of the shoe (along with our written description) - what is this about? Oh yes, she also wants a lower price :)

Oh, by the way - while she was busy asking for more photos, the shoes were sold for $225 and have been shipped to the happy buyer. What did she have to say then? "Oh no, do you have another pair?" When you see what you want on eBay, it's best to grab it right away - or else you can lose it. I've seen it happen so many times.

I must keep this going.........

Had a lovely day out with a friend today and realized that writing of this blog is important......I enjoy it and it is a way to share some of the things that I learn everyday on eBay or in life, in general - and I always have a lot to say :)


Received an email from someone who wanted to offer $190 for a pair of Roger Vivier fabulous shoes that I have listed for $225.

This is the newest thing - people make offers for things even though you are offering the item as a BUY IT NOW for a set price. It really makes me crazy. Sometimes, it's OK, I can go down a few bucks - but it makes me feel badly for the people who don't make an offer and just buy! Sometimes though, I feel that the price is really fair and that's that - you want it at the fair price, buy it, or move on. A great item that is priced fairly will be sold. But I really believe that there are people who just won't buy unless you knock a few dollars off of the price. This really goes against my grain. I see it in the store too - people offer less than what the item is being sold for. UGH. Well, we NEVER EVER would take less for something at the store - but of course, that is not eBAY :)

Sorry, I just love the smiley :)

Anyway - this person went a little further - rather than offering a bit less, she also suggested (assuming it is a female) that she pay me directly through PAYPAL and that way she omits eBay altogether and suggests that I will save the fees for eBay.

I really find this just awful and unfair. Yes, eBay's fees are high - but here is this amazing marketplace that brings people together from all over the world. This morning I sold a pen to someone in Brazil and pretty much everyday I am sending something to someone in another part of the world - Russia, Italy, England, France, Norway, Denmark, etc. etc. etc.

Isn't it amazing? How can something that is in a closet in Boston wind up in a closet in Russia? Yes, that is what eBay does - it brings all of us together. So why should we knock eBay out of the equation? Does that seem fair to you? It doesn't to me - I appreciate eBay and the marketplace that they have built - people who sell on eBay have to realize this and pay the price.

So this gal didn't buy the shoes from me - because she wanted to cheat eBay out of their profit for bringing her together with me? People like this are always figuring out ways to screw someone else - I really can't stand it.

BUT I LOVE EBAY!
Check out my items http://bit.ly/ebcUZt