Ebay Process - Not The Best Process..?

Hi guys...I was just thinking about how ebay runs their business..
Someone has a stamp he/she wants to sell on ebay..Now probably 99.9% of all people selling on ebay are honest people...But, what about the other 0.1%...The ones that are there to make money, and use whatever means possible to do so...Ebay's process makes it easy for someone to rip off anyone.

Here is an example of what I mean..I have taken my Scott # C8 stamps..I started to make them imperf between the stamps..I did a couple of perf holes to show you how easy it is..I did not spend a lot of time, but you get the idea.






Now you bid on this stamp..You win the bid..Your money is taken out...BUT, you receive no stamp or not the exact stamp..YOU JUST GOT SCAMMED.

Now would you buy a car in a bid on line...Ya, you see the picture..You pay your money..You get the car and it is NOT what you thought.

Why can't ebay run their process like this...You bid..You win the bid..The seller has to send you the stamp..If it is as promised, you contact ebay to release your money..SIMPLE..??

wert: ebay does have a system in place that's highly effective. If a buyer received something that is not as described or doesn't receive anything at all, then the buyer opens a claim through ebay or PayPal. Seller has a set amount to reply and make amends and if the seller does not then the buyer gets their money back. Buyers are protected against bad merchandise if they can recognize it as so.

What you proposed in your last statement is basically an escrow service. That's not simple as there will be buyers who will not or will forget to tell ebay that they received the item and it is fine. Also, many sellers need the at least at least a portion of the money up front to pay for shipping. Not simple.

Actually, Ebay/Paypal does hold the money from a new seller on ebay until a buyer leaves feedback or a certain amount of time has passed in case buyer doesn't leave feedback at all. It's only on new sellers for a set amount of time.

Really Battlestamps...So, if the OLD sellers wanted to make one last rip off..They could do it..???

wert: Not really as ebay would make sure the buyer was refunded. Buyer just needs to open a claim.

Not sure how you arrived at 99.9%; it seems unreasonably high to me but so be it. But doesn't really matter what you, or I, or anyone else thinks the number is. ebay knows the number yet they never let on what it is. If it were 'good', or if their policies and rating systems were working, would they not be using it to show everyone that? Instead we are left with just guessing; why? It is not like the number of bad transactions are a state or national security secret. Frankly my assumption is that it is not good, and that is why it is not shared.

Sadly the number of bad transaction is hidden not only at ebay's level, but also on the buyer's level. I would imagine that if everyone were too try for certs for all the stamps they buy on ebay the number of bad transaction would greatly increase. Far too many of us are happy to simply mount the stamp without wanting to believe that we got taken.

Of course there are no laws which require a company to reveal something like this. GM has its recalls made public because it's a safety issue. Banks and Wall Street got a black eye but only when they were finally forced to face the wreckage of their actions. IMO ebay contributes to our hobby in many great ways; I use it myself to buy and sell. I stand in awe at their IT infrastructure.

But to think for a second that they cannot improve some of the nonsense that goes on is nuts. How hard is it to write a 'red flag' for themselves when someone makes a listing with a shipping cost of $500,000? How hard is it to write an algorithm that notifies them of shill bidding activity? This isn't rocket science, any good engineer could do something like this in a day or two. They are choosing to not do these things because it does not help their bottom line.
Don

You are right Don...BOTTOM LINE..If ebay could make more money by doing what you say...THEY WOULD...But as long as they are making money why would they...Now lets say for argument sake..You sold me a stamp (Hey Don, no reflection on you ok) for say $300.00 and I get it sent to me to find out it is only worth $2.50...I bought it because of the way you (or anyone) writes up the description...whether intentional or not..Yes, I get my money back (probably), but you got money to...See what I mean..???

And if the seller is a complete scammer, he/she could do exactly what I have done with my stamps above..

wert: In your hypothetical situation, Don would not get to keep the money you sent him. The money would be taken out of Don's PayPal account or bank account. If ebay couldn't (say he tried emptying his PayPal account and switched bank accounts) he would be suspended by ebay and PayPal account locked unless Ebay/PayPal gets the money back.

Also if you tried what you did above on ebay, you wouldn't get past the first transaction unless the buyer is totally incompetent and doesn't know how to make a claim.

Ok Battlestamps...I see what you mean..Now can you tell me..I don't buy a lot on ebay (right now anyways) I have ordered my first 2 items..I ordered a "small queen" book from 1981 and the guy had it in my mailbox in 3 days..wow..Now on the other hand I ordered 3 magnifying loops and it has been 3 weeks..How long should one wait before contacting ebay..??

Good discussion. My view is in the middle of these viewpoints.

ebay is a good, not great, way to find stamps. I have seen many fake and fradulent stamps, so I am careful. I generally limit my purchases to less than $100 under the theory that if I am taken, then its small "stupid tax".

By using Paypal tied to a Credit Card, you do have protection in that (Ebay/Paypal) will take your money back if you report and win a reported claim. You must do this, I usually do it right away if I see the stamp and have issue. Alternatively, if a stamp is more than 1 week in arriving, I give the seller one warning, then report it right away. (I have done this with one legitimate seller who I hate because I paid in 1 day and he took 4 weeks to mail it). Also, if you use your credit card, you have up to 90 days to report and have them recover your money...at least in the US, this is standard protection on fraud and Visa/MC/Amex have this power to recover from the bank account (provided there are funds of course)

So its a good and bad think, but Caveat Emptor prevails

wert: It depends.

When did the seller actually mail them item? Contact seller if needed if not marked on ebay or seller didn't notify you when they shipped.

Where is the seller located? Close? Far away? Different country? ebay should give you an estimated date of delivery? Also take note - is the route traveled between seller and buyer affected by weather or anything else that may disrupt travel. I had mail arrive late to European countries a few years back since a volcano in Iceland shut down a lot of air travel. Also beware of postal strikes or other transportation strikes in other countries that can shut down travel.

How was it sent? Express, priority, regular first class airmail, surface mail, UPS, FedEx, registered? Each one maybe different. Registered mail is more secure, but slower than 1st class airmail.

After taking to above in consideration and it's still late then contact the seller to verify shipment, see if there's a tracking number or if there's another issue. Remember these are people with the same potential issue we all may face - illnesses, death in family or other event that may take priority over shipping. Things happen. Years ago a fellow stamp club member ( ebay id twhitehouse) sold on ebay, but then he wasn't able to make his shipments - he died.

If you can't make contact with the seller then contact ebay and file a claim that item hasn't arrived. Either the seller will make amends - make sure you get your item or give your money back or ebay will do it for them.

Wert, Find ebay instruction here: http://pages.ebay.com/ebay-money-ba...to-help.html

Thanks for the information Battlestamps...It helps.
Thanks for the link watermark..Will look into it.
Tommy..I a like you..afraid to blow my money away..

Also, I would go look at Canada C8 in the specialized stamp catalog first to see if an imperforate in between variety exists. If not, I would ask if it's a newly discovered variety and I would also like to see a certificate for it. Then, I would contact the certificate issuing authority, if it has a certificate, for verification that they issued a certificate for it. Maybe I am too careful compared to others regarding expensive purchases, but I try not to buy any questionable or suspicious looking items.

I've bought more than 1600 items on ebay. Five maybe six, bad experiences.
Current money-back guarantee means I haven't lost money for years.
No stamp dealer on ebay has ever disappointed me. All have cheerfully accepted returned items.
I've been told by quite a few sellers that it is the customer who is more likely to be a fraudster! You can always check the seller's feed back, not the buyer's.

My experience would agree with this. I've never not received a shipment. Ever. In many many hundreds of purchases. A couple times there were misidentified stamps, but I had a refund within hours every time. On the selling end, I bet I end up refunding or re-shipping somewhere around 3-5% of the time because buyers are claiming they didn't receive it. Given my own experience on the receiving end, I can almost (and I do stress almost) guarantee that those are buyers taking advantage of shipments shipped without tracking. ebay takes the buyers case every time and they know it.