Ebay Buyers - <sigh>

I have also taken up sellers on their Best Offer option and 2nd chance option and have had relative good luck. With the best offer I put only what I think is fair and I do consider their shipping costs. I have run into the same problem that Tonya had, except besides getting a "nasty-gram" they also blocked me from bidding and would not remove it when I asked from 1 particular seller. I had even sent along a message as to why I offered what I did based upon my philatelic knowledge. Oh well. You live and learn.

Sometimes you need a strong belly for ebay !! I sold two 50 dollar plus items to people in the orient...never saw a feedback from either one..but they did not complain either !!

I have hundreds of sales - and established a huge list of people who consider me a favourite seller - but over that long long period of time i've had the experience of dealing with maybe 6 or 7 people who seemed to have only one thought in mind - giving ,e a negative feedback.

Didn't matter how hard I tried - they were going to rip me. Even had a situation once where someone took my stuff, didn't pay - and gave a negative feedback. And paypal backed the buyer.

Days like that you think - I'm doing !this for a $3 sale??

Primarily I am a buyer. I almost always pay within hours if not minutes of a winning auction and immediately for a Buy Now. I dislike it when the seller does not provide me feedback at all or waits until after I have left mine once the item is received. As a seller if they pay promptly within the specified timeframe I would leave feedback at that time.

I leave + feedback when the item is paid for. However - with ebay's changed policies now it probably makes sense to hold off until the buyer issues feedback - because the seller has NO recourse to bad feedback. ebay for reasons known only to itself has created an uneven playing field.

As a buyer I could care less if I get feedback or not (as long as it's not negative, that is). Like Super Dude, I usually pay within minutes or hours and as long as I get the goods and they are as described I don't care.

I've never had to leave negative feedback, but have given some lukewarm feedback on occasion.

If it was me, $50 is all the feedback I need!
k

I think it helps to have a positive attitude.

Every day is a new adventure kind of idea.

I have learned and learned and learned some more about ebay and read books and tried it out myself and still there are some folks who want to play the game their way. That's OK and it allows me the opportunity to learn something new too.

It's like chess or some strategy game where you are having to learn new moves to counter the other player's new moves.

It always helps, I find, to be friendly and try to consider the other person's point of view before going on the attack because you feel you have been attacked.

Sun Tzu's 'Art of War' book might be a good reference for eBayers.
Understand the way of ebay like the way of a river or of a battle. Perhaps I am mixing ideas.

puzzler . . . always puzzling.

Puzzler - I am a noted authority on Sun Tzu. You do realize it has nothing to do with war - yes?

I have bought a few second chance items, it was nice to get them below my original bids! :)

The "Art of War" is about waging war. It is the primary example used in the work. However, the concepts presented can be applied to many many things. Why would you say "it has NOTHING to do with war"? [emphasis mine on "nothing"/"NOTHING"]

My research shows that it has nothing in common with military literature. It is a textbook on general management.

You've really got me confused, now. Have you actually read the book? The original title in Chinese means Sun Tzu's soldier law (or ordinances/regulations/rules). The entire book talks about the management and waging of a successful military endeavor -- it is the primary example throughout the entire book. It has many applications as a general management reference to almost anything (that is it's true value). But the original title of the book, the author, and the contents, makes it pretty clear it is about managing and using the military. It may be very applicable to other areas, and may not talk about techniques of hand-to-hand fighting, but that doesn't mean it has nothing to do with war. It's like game theory; it may originally have been mathematical concept, but it has tremendous applications in other areas -- you cannot say game theory has nothing to do with mathematics.

Anyway, I didn't mean to stray so much from the thread topic. You simply caught me by surprise with your comment on Sun Tzu's writing having nothing to do with war.

If someone offered me $8 for a $100 item I would not even reply to them.
In my language it's rude.

I run a Flea Market in our village and I take my tables elsewhere in the locality when I have the chance. I do not buy anything, so I can sell cheap, very cheap....and I do. If someone comes along and seriously tries to haggle on a 50c [1½ shekel] item, I can be quite nasty.

Not ebay I know, but a similar situation.

Tell them where to get off.

Londonbus1....Cheapskate number one !

Now I am confused on second chance. Recently I bid on several packets of stamps from the same seller. I did not win any of them. then I get the notification that I am being offered a second chance on each of the packets. However the price was not at my next lowest bid. The offer was to pay the same as the highest bidder. For example one packet closed t 30.00. My offer was to also pay the 30.00 and receive the item.

Is this common? It sounds like to me that the seller had multiples of the item and was trying to move them all.