You can get scammed on ebay with ZERO recourse

[G.Irish]

Aside from the ridiculous fees and myriad of anti-seller policies, this is but another reason I refuse to sell anything on ebay from here on out:

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TLDR: Guy sells iphone on ebay to guy with good feedback, buyer issues a chargeback for 'item not as described'. Credit card company takes back the money, buyer not forced to return the phone, seller left with no recourse. 3 others hit by same scam by same buyer.

Craigslist only for me =/

[.RJ]

Ebay's polices have shifted so far in favor of the buyer in the event of any dispute that its ridiculous... I've been lucky so far, but there are too many dishonest assholes out there.

[HAULN-SS]

Ebay would much rather have the business of the chinese sellers hawking counterfeit goods than yours, anyway. I stopped using that sheister service years ago other than casually browsing cars to get price points.

[Evan]

great. You say this as I am selling 3 phones on ebay right now......

[G.Irish]

For now I would say reject any buyer with a bunch of feedback on cheap items. Or just cancel the auction and sell it locally. If anyone gives you funny business sic the dogs on them. That will also give you the opportunity to say, "RELEASE THE HOUNDS!"

[ScottyB]

i don't sell on ebay anymore, but i've been very lucky. more of a case of too much risk, and this is the nail in the coffin.

and i've about had it with their bedbuddy, Paypal, too.

[Mike]

Also no longer sell on ebay after many years of doing so. Power is entirely in the hands of buyer anymore and their fees are ridonk.

[Evan]

It used to be the other way around, the policies were written to benefit the seller. Which quite frankly makes sense since the sellers are ebays customers.
Sucks that its gone so far in the other direction.

For now I would say reject any buyer with a bunch of feedback on cheap items. Or just cancel the auction and sell it locally. If anyone gives you funny business sic the dogs on them. That will also give you the opportunity to say, "RELEASE THE HOUNDS!"

what sucks is that craigslist pricing is often much lower than ebay. and you have a much smaller audience.

2 of my buyers have good feedback, and a decent buying history. So I feel lucky in that regard but Im not going to sell any big ticket items (especially easily liquidated such as phones) on ebay again.

edit: i havent sold on ebay in a couple years, but holy crap, when did ebay fees hit 9% of the total sale?!!!

[Apoc]

what sucks is that craigslist pricing is often much lower than ebay.

Gotta pay that 9% somehow.

[G.Irish]

what sucks is that craigslist pricing is often much lower than ebay.

Gotta pay that 9% somehow.

That is exactly how I ended up where I am now. I sold my Transformer on ebay because I figured I could get a better price. I did get a slightly higher price but I ended up paying so much in fees I ended up with less money overall. I mean shit, if I'm gonna have to pay about 10% fees to line ebay's pockets I'd rather save myself the time and hassle of shipping something out and sell it locally. Not to mention the whole potential fraud deal.

[Steve85]

I was selling a set of cylinder heads and needed to reach a wide audience, so they went on ebay and racing junk. They sold through rj and I still ended up paying a bunch of fees only avoiding the "final value fee" or whatever they call it.

And related, heard this on the way in:
"According to his guilty plea, Jeffries obtained credit cards in his own name and fictitious names. Prosecutors say Jeffries purchased items on installment plans and closed the accounts, preventing merchants from being paid."

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Looking for more details, but as far as I can tell, ebay did nothing to protect the sellers.