Not such a Dodgy Lathe on Ebay

(First post from long time lurker-please be gentle - it's the first time I can post on this forum on subject of which I have a little knowledge!)

I recently cleared out my shed of a load of motorcycle parts. I clearly advertised the parts on ebay as only delivering to the UK. When bidding finished, one of the buyers messaged me from Russia informing me how I could change my settings to allow delivery to Russia. Ebay meanwhile charged me sellers fees, but when I reported the buyer to ebay and cancelled the sale I was refunded the fees. I haven't relisted the item yet, but will probably do so when I have more time or inclination. I hope that explains the process a little.

Andy

A bit concerning that one of the responses above suggests sellers bidding up their sale item is acceptable - IT IS NOT! It is referred to as 'shill bidding' and is (for obvious reasons) illegal. I've only come across it once (provably) and took action with Ebay. It (Ebay) is a useful function but a natural hunting ground for the rip-off merchants!

rgds

Bill

Yet another suggestion might be that the original zero feedback bidder was contacted to inform him that a zero feedback buyer bid would not be accepted and he then plonked in a huge bid at the close? It happens and may have happened to the seller previously? Just another guess, of course.

That zero-rated buyer may not be an ebay member by now, even. Epay favours sellers over buyers.

I’ve noted dodgy sellers with virtually zero feedback selling specific items which have very likely been adulterated before sale (if they actually exist at all) - ie removal of good parts and replacement with defective parts (yes, it happens). Epay remove them and they just open another account. Fairly obvious when the item location is the same town several times over.

On a high value item, I tend to pay cash on collection (and inspection).

My brother recently made a purchase but noted one part had been ‘accidentally removed’ from the box. It took quite some time before he received that part from the vendor. That prevented him from checking the item was working entirely as described, but his dispute was registered early so he is now going to check its operation very carefully...

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Whether the buyer is better off overall is hard to say, Barrie.

I opened an "item not received" case a couple of weeks ago, because I hadn't received an order long after it was due. Eight days after I opened the case the seller responded by simply uploading tracking information showing the item had been delivered, but not the address where it had been delivered to and no signature had been taken. It was certainly not delivered to me, nor to any of my neighbours.

A long phone call with eBay resulted in me being told that, even though delivery was self-certified by the courier not certified by a recipient and there is no record of where the delivery took place, and furthermore even though I insist I've still not received the package, eBay are going to find in the seller's favour because the tracking information is "proof" enough that I have received the item.

Apparently in these cases eBay place absolute faith in couriers' infallibility and take no account of a buyer's testimony. So I am without my item and without my money, and that looks as if it is the way things are going to stay, unless I can persuade my card provider to do a charge-back.

Edited By Bill Phinn on 24/07/2020 01:21:44

Talking up bids is nothing new. I remember a conversation from a friend with an auctioneer friend who had tried to sell his landrover. Who was the highest bidder, I night be able to do a deal? Auctioneer replied that there were only 2, you and me.

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One worry with Ebay, for me, is that featured in the present Unimat 3 'bundle on offer. All bids are "private listing - bidder identity protected" - why? I would never bid on any such item as it smacks of something 'iffy'. What are the advantages of such restrictions?

rgds

Bill

This also happened to me some time ago. I ordered an item that was way to big to go through a letter box. The courier marked it down as "pushed through letter box". I looked every where for the parcel and contacted all my neighbours to see if it had been delivered locally. No sign of it any where. I contacted Ebay and put in a not received ticket. After several weeks they found for the courier and would not refund my money. So that made me out to be a liar!! Now have an obvious camera on always record at the from door to stop any further thieving delivery drivers. regards

Sorry to hear that.

In these cases eBay are actually obstructing buyers from enjoyment of their rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

The salient point for our purposes is that:

"the retailer is responsible for goods until they are in your physical possession, in the possession of someone appointed by you to accept them or delivered to your nominated safe place.

This is because your contract is with the retailer, who you bought the goods from.

So, if your goods are still undelivered and you would like to make a complaint, you should complain to the retailer - even if you think it’s down to a poor service from the courier."

Naturally I've emailed the seller pointing this out, but received no reply. Chasing up the missing parcel with the courier direct is impossible as the courier insists on knowing such things as whether the parcel had stamps on it or was franked, where the parcel was collected or handed over, what date this was done, what kind of packaging it was in...

Being the buyer I have no way of knowing the answers to these questions.

Ebays buyer/seller protection bias has changed over the years, originally they belived the buyer over anyone but that's changed. I hink this is due to abuse by buyers. I've seen someone openly say on another forum that he will deliberately look for misdescribed items, buy them and then claim his money back and keep the item.
Protection also seems to vary depending on the type of item.
Remember too that rebay has moved from being an auction site to an e-commerce market place.

The cited live auction case of the Landrover is only legal if there is a reserve. Note that the reserve may not be public It is illegal to gets someone to bid up your item.

Robert G8RPI.

The lathe sold for £522 this evening

MichaelG.

Just to round the story off, I did request a chargeback for the sum involved and this was granted and credited to my account. Also, because my credit card company took longer than promised to credit the chargeback they voluntarily gave me an additional £35 ex gratia payment for failing to meet their own deadlines.

The lesson seems to be that in cases like mine Ebay are indeed "obstructing buyers from enjoyment of their rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015", but the determined consumer can win out in the end.

Hi Everyone,

I was the buyer of the Friedrich Scubert lathe referred to in this post. It arrived as described and in full working order with all tools and collets shown in the listing.

I bought this lathe as a surprise present for my brother's 60th but is too small for his purposes and I will be selling this lathe soon. If anyone has any advise on how best to sell it, it would be gratefully received.

Regards

Max

I'd try direct sales via specialist publications or sites... like this one, for a start.

Or something like the lathes.co site. Tony Grifftith's advertising fees are a bit steep but I don't know if he charges any commission.

Thanks Nigel,

I have contacted Tony.

Cheers

Why not stick it back on eBay?

Wait till they do one of their regular 'no final valuation fee' or 'maximum seller fee £1' offers, which they do quite regularly. A good description and a few photos and you're away.

Does anyone know what "Former Member" does or did to merit the deletion of his posts?

Just being nosy!

Rod

Don’t know, but the most likely scenario is that he/she had been banned previously and had since rejoined with a new handle?