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Post by sherri on Apr 4, 2017 1:09:34 GMT
Just be interesting to run a couple of scenarios by you, see what you think of them.
Let's say you are a buyer on ebay. You see a piece of furniture in an ad, look for similar things, it seems the best price so you buy & pay. A week later a direct K mart delivery arrives. You are surprised as you didn't buy on k mart. You look up your item & find it is on sale at K mart at half the price you paid & even factoring in their delivery costs, you could have bought it there quite a bit cheaper. It seems the seller simply went on the computer after you bought from him, and ordered it from Kmart himself, typing in your address.
Scenario 2. You see an ad, in the title it says something like X box. The price is hefty but still a lot cheaper than you would get it in the shops. But when you read the ad very carefully, you realise you won't be getting the game, simply the box it came in.
Clever business strategies? Dodgy? Scam? Allowable?
My own opinion is in the first case-not a scam but stupid business practice to openly let customers know where you are onselling from. Presumably the K mart postage costs are lower than an individual seller can manage but I personally would up the price a bit, buy from the shop then post it myself. Although that could mean another box etc. Likely to earn buyer resentment if they see how you did it, make the buyer feel like a sucker. Not a good idea if you want to build up any repeat business.
Second case. I think that is dodgy & that sort of ad should see a person kicked off ebay as the deliberate intention was to mislead.
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Post by DADDY O on Apr 4, 2017 10:26:23 GMT
Scenario 1 - Perfectly legal. The buyer only has themselves to blame. If it were me, I would try to contact K-Mart to see if they would "Take it back", but I doubt they would.
Scenario 2 - Fraud and should be reported not only to Ebay, but to your Attorney General's (or wherever your consumer protection division is) office as well.
Lastly post your questions on line and see who else has been scammed as well.
Amazon.com sells for a lot of businesses and has product shipped from those businesses, so Scenario #1 is similar to it. Go on to Amazon and see if they carry the K-Mart item as well.....and for furniture Overstock.com.
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Post by sherri on Apr 4, 2017 21:42:02 GMT
Neither of these has happened to me personally. The likelihood of me buying Xbox is about none to zero.
But these are things that I have seen come up on another board. In the first case, the buyer came on very upset, saying he had been scammed.
He was pretty well shot down and told he was a fool for not comparing prices but he had not known it was in kmart.
As I said, to me it is not an illegal scam as such but I do think it is a bit of opportunism. I would feel annoyed if I did buy like that & just think the seller should hide his sources-unless he is just after a few quick bucks & then plans to close his account.
There have also been complaints by some buyers about the second scenario. And one seller like that coming on for business tips. A couple of his buyers got their money back (I think) but the seller was not kicked off ebay or cautioned because his ad did not promise an x box machine, it said it would be the box only.
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Post by mrp on Apr 4, 2017 22:33:46 GMT
1. Legal and normal business practice. No breach of criminal law and a bad deal does not make a contract reviewable or necessarily unconscionable as a dealing. If it is stupid revealing suppliers then any hurt feelings won't last long as they will be eaten by the comp and their own customers.
2. Fraud and misleading and deceptive conduct. A breach of criminal law (obtaining financial advantage by deception) and the Australian Consumer Law (CCA Sch. 2) which may attract civil penalties on top of statutory remedies to the consumer.
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Post by sherri on Apr 4, 2017 23:00:08 GMT
You're assuming that what is law is what applies, which is rarely the case in real life, I have found. For example, neighbours are supposed to share standard fencing expenses between properties, are they not? That's the accepted legal position so the council informed my daughter. But in practice, if a neighbour refuses, it is cheaper to pay the whole lot yourself because taking them to court would cost more than half the fence.
In the same way, you may say the second ad was misleading & deceptive conduct but mrp, this is ebay we are talking about, they are an international company and they make their own decisions which often go against what are quite probably Australian regulations. But again, most cases are too small for the person to take them to court. I can tell you now that seller and a few others like it are still on ebay, no penalty.
As for case #1, that seller is more likely to strike problems on ebay. He has already accumulated a fair bit of negative & neutral feedback from buyers. That will eventually affect his selling account and could see his account suspended eventually if he falls below the ebay deemed levels. As I said, if he is after a quick buck & then to close his account, no worries. But if he wants to continue, he needs to hide his source because he is making customers upset.
Reality and the law aren't always a perfect match.
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Post by joethenuts on Jun 17, 2017 6:41:40 GMT
HI i think seller is an idiot , but not so silly because he could make money without buying stock , had he advertised as kmart corner table ,he prob would not sold any, but like most posters stated was , it was the buyers fault not checking on prices, but how could the buyer check prices on a no name brand corner table mmmmmmmmm. [but what the buyer should of done because they wernt happy was , contact the seller and state part missing as it was a put together item. that would of fixed it up seller would have to pay postage back and then send another item. that might stop him doing it again. also sherri the problem with getting bad feedback is not a problem they can have 8 ids to an account, which is stupid problem 2. there is no dought a scam. but its getting harder and harder to put adds together. i remember a case the same as the xbox but a mobile phone it was on judge judy and of course its a tv program but buyer won because on discription ot had the weight of the phone i sell paint and had a picture of a room whith that color paint ,and had to put in the add that the picture of the color wall does not come with a grand piano in the picture.
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Post by sherri on Jun 17, 2017 12:09:02 GMT
That does make me laugh, Joe, as you have to wonder who on earth, when they buy paint, would expect to get the grand piano in the price.
But I totally understand what you mean, you can never assume common sense.
I remember way back several years ago, my sister & I sold something. I forget exactly what it was actually but something to do with wine I think. But we had photos of it & a description but my sister said the buyer wrote after it arrived and said he had assumed it came with something else. Whatever he thought it came with was not in photos, description & wasn't something you would need to make it work or anything. The item was complete in itself. My sister wasn't sure why he would have assumed it came with extras.
Do you find you have many problems selling on ebay these days, Joe? I'm nervous about listing there now as my sister & I had problems with about half of the last few buyers we had.
One was a NZ buyer who bid on an Australia only listing and got shirty with us when postage to NZ was not cheaper than what we had quoted for within Australia. How she thought that could happen, I don't know.
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Post by joethenuts on Jun 17, 2017 22:04:28 GMT
SHERRI being mostly a pick up only seller i dont have the problem of didnt get it or wrong product or not as discribed. they come they pick up , and thats that ,once a pick up is done then the purchase is finished theres no coming back, but of cource if there is a problem with the paint they get another can or a refund. but btheys days too many problems with items not getting there stolen from front doors and now on the news stolen from letter boxes.
and if you think the piano is funny i take photos of odd colors so that buyers can see the color , and 1 day i got a message asking if the can of paint came with a lid, ps i could not answere that, i will right a post on very strange messages i have got in my time selling online and direct.
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Post by DADDY O on Jun 17, 2017 23:21:57 GMT
Does it come with a lid? LMAO.
You should reply, "Of course it does for 2 pounds more".
Is that person from Florida?
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Post by joethenuts on Jun 17, 2017 23:30:12 GMT
i think i ended up saying just [yes] but i was going to say if you can put it in your car and dont spill any on your way home its for free. then theres what color should i paint my front fence thats it.
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Post by DADDY O on Jun 17, 2017 23:49:07 GMT
I guess I didn't know you could sell just locally on ebay.......if you're selling there. In the US we use a service(locally)called craigslist. I looked it up and there's one in Melbourne as well. melbourne.craigslist.com.au/Ever try this one. I've had great success with the craigslist in Austin........I even sold a Piano on it........no kidding. I advertised it as "Buyer must come and pick it up". I'm not hauling a piano around. You cant believe the idiotic responses I got from it. One lady asked if it would fit in her Volkswagen SUV. I said sure, and then I offered her the use of my chain saw. It went to two musicians in Austin who had a "startup" studio. Two weeks later they sent me a Thank You card and basket of fruit. Classy guys.
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Post by sherri on Jun 17, 2017 23:58:46 GMT
What great buyers they were, daddyo. Over here, if you sell on ebay you have to offer one payment method such as paypal but you can also offer eg bank deposit. Ebay tried to rule paypal type payment only a while back but the government over ruled them, said it was illegal.
So ebay mandated that sellers can have various payment options but one of them has to be paypal or paymate I think may be the other. That's fair enough.
When it comes to delivery though, sellers can choose how it is sent or they can choose pick up only.
Last few payments, my sister & I opted for pick up only. And a lot of buyers probably pay cash on pick up (though they don't have to, they could choose paypal I suppose if they wished).
Joe, I think you are probably a lot safer with pick up only, you are right.
Re the fence-just tell 'em white.
Or white and pale grey alternating (you'll sell two tins that way)
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Post by joethenuts on Jun 18, 2017 0:12:06 GMT
i might look at craiglist , but because i have being doing it for 7 years most of my online buyers who brought off ebay before now come direct to my warhouse now .
back to the lid sometimes we say things before thinking this time it was me. a chap drove into my warhouse and when he came out starting using sign lanquage but then stopped and waited for i asume was his daughter ,i said to my self thats better as i did not know sign lanquage , but guess what both could not talk or hear, then i get a pad out with a pen and got what they wanted .[ but as they left i said [heres my business card just [ring] me when you need some more paint. she looked at me and wrote how would you know its me that rang. mmmmmmmm
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Post by sherri on Jun 18, 2017 2:30:51 GMT
i might look at craiglist , but because i have being doing it for 7 years most of my online buyers who brought off ebay before now come direct to my warhouse now . back to the lid sometimes we say things before thinking this time it was me. a chap drove into my warhouse and when he came out starting using sign lanquage but then stopped and waited for i asume was his daughter ,i said to my self thats better as i did not know sign lanquage , but guess what both could not talk or hear, then i get a pad out with a pen and got what they wanted .[ but as they left i said [heres my business card just [ring] me when you need some more paint. she looked at me and wrote how would you know its me that rang. mmmmmmmm LOL. Have to be a text message, I guess.
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Post by joethenuts on Jun 18, 2017 9:54:32 GMT
MORE stories i keep remembering, 2 true stories 1 story staff got sacked , but the other story nearly the same was from my friend 10 years ago. now lady rang my friend in the computer shop saying my destop computer wont turn on. so ahaun the computer man said , firstly before you bring it back to the store we will go over some simple tasks. first check the cable from the momitor to the computer is in properly, check that the plug is in the computer from the wall, lady goes all checked and perfect , shaun said ok turn on monitor and the computer, lady says all done but nothing. so shaun says ok i know this might sound silly but it can happen so before you bring back the computer could you check that the power plug is in the wall and switched on. waithing waiting , lady comes back to the phone after 10 minutes and shaun said what has taken you so long to check the switch , and the lady said i had to find a torch , shaun said what for , and the lady said i needed a torch to see the switch as we had a blackout an hour ago. shaun just hung up. the first story staff got sacked as he had some nasty words to the owner of the computer
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