Order Arrived With Tape On Stamps

johnsim03: Good post. This statement is interesting. "If the returned item is used, damaged, missing parts, or is damaged during return shipping because it wasn't packaged correctly, the seller might deduct from the refund to cover the loss in the item's value. Learn more about our Condition of returns policy."

I think this could be an opportunity for a dishonest seller to minimize their loss.

I'm afraid you begin from the wrong premise, which is an obsession with dishonest sellers. And the concept of background checks on people disposing of stuff on ebay … blimey.

GeoffHa: Based on previous replies to my posts, I strongly predicted you would take offence to me being critical of sellers on websites that don't deliver goods as promised. Most people will not buy a large ticket item (e.g. a used car) from someone they don't get a good feeling about, irregardless of the specifics of the item. The converse is also true as well, in that gregarious used car sellers are often successful. It is perfectly legal and common sense to not patronize a seller or merchant based on your innate feelings about them. An optional social media profile would be beneficial in that one could discover more about a seller and what innate sense they get about them. Never mentioned anything about a background check, so please don't take my comments out of context.

Dishonest sellers are a bane for resale websites.

There is a substantial difference between a dislike for dishonest sellers and a neurotic suspicion about those disposing of things on ebay. Lots of us have had thousands of transactions on ebay without encountering much in the way of problems. I think I can get by without becoming a low-rent James Jesus Angleton.

If you were a dastardly ebay villain would you not create phony social media accounts?

The bigger question though is would you make a purchase from somebody that had strong political views that differed from yours or was a Marilyn Manson fanatic or belonged to the NRA?

Would it not be fair for sellers to see buyers social media profiles to "judge" whether they will scam them?

What a nightmare.

I think it is a good example of why the ebay Feedback system cannot be trusted. From a QA perspective, the ebay Feedback system is a failure and would never pass muster as a legitimate metric to measure seller performance.

There are decent sellers on ebay, but I suspect that the majority of sellers are not business minded or business experienced people.

You have to do as much homework on the sellers as you do with the stamps/covers themselves. Support sellers like those here in SCF who have been around and are trusted by this community. If you feel like you should buy from an anonymous seller halfway across the planet, start slowly and build a relationship.
Don

I think ebay should show buyer's "Unpaid Item" record. That would be useful to me.

Don,

You are correct. On items that are priced averagely and are commodity items like clothing, I message the seller and ask a mundane question about how they would package the item for shipping and what shipping method would they use (a lot just mention economy or standard shipping) and usually get a pleasant response and that's a great first positive indication. You'd be surprised at how many don't respond and I don't buy from them. A good number don't even respond when I ask what are the measurements of a shirt, which is very important and why most sellers of clothing already list it, because sizes are not uniform. These aren't sellers with thousands of listings and their items are probably in a storage unit These are sellers with 20 items for sale probably in the same or next room as their computer. Laziness.

Sometimes time is of the essence on a lower priced or higher demand item and by the time you ask that mundane question to test out their sales skills, the item is already sold. In those situations, feedback is very helpful.