lf-photo.org.uk

I have been a regular small time buyer and seller for interesting photographic stuff I have used personally for 5 yrs now with >750 feedbacks and 100% rating. Recently I have had a few experiences which have led me to quit ebay completely and found really personally upsetting. The latest of which culminated in a note from my buyer which to all intents equated to a threat to cyber assassination for the princely sum of £10ukp. Some buyers never acknowledged receipt of goods even though quite expensive, some buyers/sellers from overseas caused no end of hassle with completing transactions and I got to the point of paranoia some time ago that everyone outside the uk who wants to buy something from me must be a villain It seems to have been getting worse over the last 6 months to the point of me closing my account with a lot of sadness as I have bought/sold loads of things you couldnt get anywhere else on it and have corresponded with some great people.

Subliminally as a community climate, it seems to have moved from trust/honesty assumed first to cheat/lie/dishonest until proven otherwise. Ebay/paypal are no help at all assuming the seller always to be in the wrong.
Am I alone in this or just been lucky for longer than most ?

I haven't given up on eBay but it's definitely weighted against sellers these days.

I recently sold some NOS plastic cases to someone in Germany, who wants to send them back because (he says) they're not in good condition (they're brand new). It will cost him more in postage than the £15 he paid, so I'm resigned to him leaving -ve feedback. He will probably also have switched them for the damaged cases he originally wanted to replace ...

I'm also stunned by the number of US sellers who are now so moral they 'have' to put the full value of items on the customs form. As a result of that and the weak GBP, I was recently charged £3 VAT & duty and an £8 processing fee for something I bought from the US.

Ref: sellers not wanting to put a lower price on for customs - this may be because they want to insure for the full value which covers both them & buyer? Dennis.

And, to put no finer point on it, mis-declaring the value of goods for Customs purposes is nothing other than fraud. Are we to expect sellers to risk prosecution just to save us some money?

So the UK Customs & Revenue is going to prosecute someone in Dixon, Illinois for mis-declaring a secondhand eBay item they send to Dixon in the UK? I don't think so.

The insurance point is a fair one, but most sellers don't bother with it, and IME, postal insurance is close to not worth the paper it's written on.

BTW, I was happy to pay the £3, it's just the £8 for pushing some paper around that I resent.

Patrick Dixon wrote:BTW, I was happy to pay the £3, it's just the £8 for pushing some paper around that I resent.

Now, there we would agree

The worst is the ParcelForce "handling fee" on US items.

You can buy hundreds of pounds of stuff from china without problem (and 0.00 fee), but anything over USD 50 will get taxed, and not just VAT, custom... the worst bit is ParcelForce making you pay the delivery all over again.

E-Bay is not what is was, if I sell on there (even for a 99p sale) it goes recorded delivery, or it does not go. Simple as that

You mean I can sell on eBay as well as buying???

I haven't actually sold for a while but it's getting to the stage where I really have to have a clearout of 35mm and maybe MF as well, so I'm watching these warnings with some trepidation!

Yeah, list it here first at knock down prices. Ebay & PayPal will take approaching 13.5% anyway.

Well its done now, account closed - I was shocked to discover that I have been pottering since 2001. I am not sure what I am going to do with all that surplus gear now but at least I wont be adding to it !

I packed in ebay a few years ago now after I was scammed and they and PP didn't want to know. Not using ebay has probably saved me a fortune in the long run. If I want to buy and sell I sometimes use Gumtree as they encourage you to trade face to face. I've also found gems at camera fairs. And there's always the classified sections on forums.

Paul

I realise there may be problems with buying/selling on E-bay but what about the idea of simply using PayPal to send receive money for goods privately sold?

It's fine, and it works pretty well, but it's quite expensive (3.4% +20p). For transactions outside eBay there is no protection for buyers, and PayPal is not regulated in the UK, and IME, it can be a law unto itself.

Interesting; 3.4% is close to what you'd have to pay on a credit card transaction, if you were a merchant, but without the bind of having to enter into a long term agreement with the card companies.