Ebay rant

[blindman]

Sold telescope on ebay to low lifer in Melbourne who is apparently opening observatory to make some money (greedy b).
First he offered almost half price CASH, wow can you imagine CASH via phone message somehow.

Then because it was through my sons ebay, and I couldn't say no, he asked for dew shield (missing, shown on photo) (which was NOT listed BTW) that was missing!
Then blackmail message came to me " I will leave positive feedback if you send me dew shield"!!!
Greedy *******...........
I paid for courier, because you know how handling is done by Ozi post (they even lost firearms few times....!!!); asked him - ok participate at least for part of the cost for courier, because safer delivery of fragile stuff, but no, he wouldn't give a cent in to get Celestron 9.25" telescope in good order!

To make story short, I sent him dew shield at my cost, just for positive feedback.
Really sad, so Rowan, if you are by any chance reading this you won't be proud of you low act.

[FlashDrive]

That ' sucks ' .... :screwy:

[alocky]

Something tells me that a ‘professional’ Observatory with a 10” SCT ain’t going to make a lot of money. With a bit of luck you can buy it back cheaply when it goes pear shaped.
I’m astonished by the number of people who try to make a dollar teaching astrophotography or charging people to look through their telescopes. I’m even more surprised by the fact that people will pay!
Personally I feel that nobody owns the rights to the night sky. It is there to be shared. The best way to devalue something is to turn it into a commodity.

[LewisM]

+1

[LewisM]

Why did you relent to this fool? By him demanding and you complying enforced his actions, and he will do it over and over again.

If someone does carp like that to me on eBay, I just cancel the deal and tell eBay why before the buyer/blackmailer have the chance to.

[dannat]

i setup my scope in local supermarket -i had people trying to give me money at every opportunity, even 1 guy who hung around [wanted to view everything] started telling other people to give me gold coins

i notice there is a guy on flinders bridge on the yarra smetimes at night who gets small fee for letting peeps look thru his scope

[alocky]

Nothing wrong with a gold coin donation, you’re entitled to petrol money :)

[inline_online]

After years and years of outreach astronomy at the South Perth foreshore, I have never taken a cent and never will. The interactions I get with people there are all the payment I will ever need.

The only payment i ever received was from an elderly couple about 10 years ago. They stayed at the scope one night for about two hours and loved it. The next time I saw them, they had a copy of a very old astronomy book from the 1800's called The Heavens. The man said "finally, we've found someone worthy of this book."

[Kunama]

To be fair to the buyer, the seller did display 2 photos with the dew shield prominently shown so perhaps it was reasonable for him to expect that it was part of the scope and therefore included in the price.

But in general dealing on eBay is fraught with dangers..... especially when adding PayPal to the transactions....

[LewisM]

Got a link Matt?

[StuTodd]

This about sums it up...

[csb]

Perhaps reporting the threats to ebay would have been helpful for yourself.

Ebay can and do delete negative feedback that is so unwarranted.

This type of threat would possibly happen often.

[el_draco]

I stopped selling on eBay after a low life flamed me. 100% positive feedback until I encountered that complete pig. I even offered it a 100% money back guarantee, including postage, in the listing but ebay refused to withdraw the negative. Checked the f*&^%$s feedback and he had done it repeatedly to other people. :mad2::mad2:

So outraged that I refuse to sell on that platform on principle. Be warned folks, eBay likes your money but doesn't give a rats arse about your reputation. :mad2:

[Boozlefoot]

Fleabay has its pro's and cons. I use it frequently out here in the scrub as it gives me great access to items previously unobtainable. HOWEVER it is a minefield, for both buyers AND sellers. It only takes one with a bee in their bonnet totally unrelated to the transaction who can start real problems. I have twice given a neg feedback, but only after pursuing EVERY option for a satisfactory outcome for each party. Nowadays, I don't bother giving neg feed, I don't need the aggro. I have a list of preferred sellers who I deal with frequently and are reliable to a tee. Caveat Emptor, and I feel for you Rom on the seller's side having to put up with your situation. If you persist with Fleabay's resolution system and stand your digs, they will eventually see reason and change the Fback, if only for the satisfaction of not letting that bugger have a win!:thumbsup:

[bigjoe]

You have to wonder why fleabay doesn't do something about these obvious serial pests, who do it repeatedly to many, with otherwise excellent feedback reputations.

I wouldnt sell there either...even using Paypal as a seller has its problems..sometimes better to take a loss and get them to pick up goods or deliver if local enough, or Gumtrees another option here in Oz.
bigjoe.

[bigjoe]

Just saw this ..good to hear that they do delete.
bigjoe.

[LewisM]

Yes, eBay DO delete BS feedback.

One twat from NZ bought a reference book from us. He paid paypal, and I shipped it next day. He left negative feedback the same day I shipped, with comment of "Paid and never received"! WTF? I asked him to remove it as I just posted it, exactly 1 day after he paid - no response. He had been a member for 4 years, with ZERO feedback, so obviously he was trying to Paypal scam. Not only did eBay remove his feedback, but Paypal denied his refund claim. Idiot.