# A word of advice to ebay sellers...



## PlaneDiggerCam (Jul 7, 2021)

Once again I'm dealing with the frustration of a local bottle I've bought on ebay being refunded becuase said owner "cannot find it."

First of all what lame excuse, if you sell something on ebay and have it listed you should be able to pull it out at whim in front of you. Why list something if there is even a slight chance you may not have it?

I couldn't believe my eyes the first time this happened and now a second time??!! Both times with bottles I've purchased that are local and closely attached to me.

So, if any of you sell on ebay please make sure that you know for certain you have an item before listing it and please double or even triple check. I cannot describe the frustration I am feeling right now.

In my view the full refund I received for the payment of the bottle in either case is not enough to match the desire I had for the bottle in which it was being  purchased for in the first place.

Have any of you been afflicted by this?


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## hemihampton (Jul 8, 2021)

I suspect they have it, they just thought it sold to low or got higher offer. I had a ebay seller try to offer me a Bottle they just sold on ebay for 5 times what they sold it for. I said no, not cool & he said everybody does it, no big deal. low ethics & morals many people have. LEON.


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## SKS.TUSC (Jul 8, 2021)

PlaneDiggerCam said:


> Once again I'm dealing with the frustration of a local bottle I've bought on ebay being refunded becuase said owner "cannot find it."
> 
> First of all what lame excuse, if you sell something on ebay and have it listed you should be able to pull it out at whim in front of you. Why list something if there is even a slight chance you may not have it?
> 
> ...


A lot of times Iv noticed this happening is because the seller has items on multiple sites like Facebook Market, Etsy & ebay. It's happened to me buying on Etsy, unfortunately. The seller forgot he had sold it on another site & forgot to take it down off Etsy. Not fun especially if the seller has multiple listings on multiple sites.


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## SKS.TUSC (Jul 8, 2021)

hemihampton said:


> I suspect they have it, they just thought it sold to low or got higher offer. I had a ebay seller try to offer me a Bottle they just sold on ebay for 5 times what they sold it for. I said no, not cool & he said everybody does it, no big deal. low ethics & morals many people have. LEON.


That too.


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## RoyalRuby (Jul 8, 2021)

About a month ago I won an eBay auction for a lot of about seven beer bottles of the style I collect, waited until the time/date shown in the listing that I should have received them, the day after that I sent a message asking what was up, the seller claimed he didn't even know that I had bid on them and his wife threw them out, even worse, he refused to refund me what I paid for the bottles plus the shipping, I had to open a case to get refunded. That's the first time I've had someone tell me that they didn't know that a bid had been placed and the auction was won, knowing full well that eBay sends you an e-mail telling you this.


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## UncleBruce (Jul 8, 2021)

SKS.TUSC said:


> A lot of times Iv noticed this happening is because the seller has items on multiple sites like Facebook Market, Etsy & ebay. It's happened to me buying on Etsy, unfortunately. The seller forgot he had sold it on another site & forgot to take it down off Etsy. Not fun especially if the seller has multiple listings on multiple sites.


This is what I think happens when these sellers on Feebay use this excuse.  I have also seen this on Farcebook where a member will list something for sale and then "FORGET" that they listed it in several groups.  It is sad, but to be a "GREAT" seller takes organization and I don't believe that is the case for a majority of Feebay sellers.  In my experience most folks just don't care and/or are plain lazy/careless.


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## PlaneDiggerCam (Jul 8, 2021)

SKS.TUSC said:


> A lot of times Iv noticed this happening is because the seller has items on multiple sites like Facebook Market, Etsy & ebay. It's happened to me buying on Etsy, unfortunately. The seller forgot he had sold it on another site & forgot to take it down off Etsy. Not fun especially if the seller has multiple listings on multiple sites.



I think that sellers really shouldn't list the same item on multiple sources for this exact reason.


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## SKS.TUSC (Jul 8, 2021)

PlaneDiggerCam said:


> I think that sellers really shouldn't list the same item on multiple sources for this exact reason.


Yeah don't see that happening, every one trying to make a quick buck.


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## RCO (Jul 8, 2021)

PlaneDiggerCam said:


> Once again I'm dealing with the frustration of a local bottle I've bought on ebay being refunded becuase said owner "cannot find it."
> 
> First of all what lame excuse, if you sell something on ebay and have it listed you should be able to pull it out at whim in front of you. Why list something if there is even a slight chance you may not have it?
> 
> ...



I've never had this happen 

have listed things for sale online and if the listing is really old it can sometimes be tough to find it . I have a huge pile of books in my room so to try and find a specific book could be harder than you'd think 

but if I list something for sale I usually try and put it in a separate area so I known where it is


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## UncleBruce (Jul 8, 2021)

PlaneDiggerCam said:


> I think that sellers really shouldn't list the same item on multiple sources for this exact reason.


It sure does create a lot of ill will and anger.  People like this usually don't last in the business, but unfortunatley there are plenty out there to replace the ones who disappear.


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## Merle (Jul 8, 2021)

I had the wool pulled over on me with a epoxy or slacker of some sort on a bottle. Couldn’t tell from pics and it looked perfect. I got it and thought there was a pc of clear tape stuck to the bottle and got to picking and the next thing you know I have mg pocket knife out. Needless to say I felt stupid and didn’t say anything and ended up with this


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## UncleBruce (Jul 8, 2021)

Merle said:


> I had the wool pulled over on me with a epoxy or slacker of some sort on a bottle. Couldn’t tell from pics and it looked perfect. I got it and thought there was a pc of clear tape stuck to the bottle and got to picking and the next thing you know I have mg pocket knife out. Needless to say I felt stupid and didn’t say anything and ended up with this


Etching does detract, but it is still a great looking bottle.  I don't pass up bottles just because they are not perfect.  The majority of my collection could use some polishing.


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## Merle (Jul 8, 2021)

Would buy it again in a heartbeat. But not offline. I only buy from the guys I’ve dealt with or at the shows after that lesson learned. I paid premium. Still love the bottle though. It was a hard one to find. And most of my collection could us polishing too. Just don’t want to take my bottles off the shelf once they get put up there and don’t have a tumbler


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## Wildcat wrangler (Jul 8, 2021)

Merle said:


> I had the wool pulled over on me with a epoxy or slacker of some sort on a bottle. Couldn’t tell from pics and it looked perfect. I got it and thought there was a pc of clear tape stuck to the bottle and got to picking and the next thing you know I have mg pocket knife out. Needless to say I felt stupid and didn’t say anything and ended up with this



It keeps happening to me with bottles I got 20 yrs back from a bottle show. I’m cleaning all my bottles and had this beautiful green swirly soda in the sink. I picked it up from the water and I guess they used elmers glue or something water soluble because the lip came off the thing, reveling the truth.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## SKS.TUSC (Jul 9, 2021)

UncleBruce said:


> It sure does create a lot of ill will and anger.  People like this usually don't last in the business, but unfortunatley there are plenty out there to replace the ones who disappear.


So now I'm mad, angry & confused. I won a bid last night on ebay, I was only "1 of 2 Bids", the first & only other bid was *1 cent", I come along & place the 2nd & only other bid @$25.50 being my max bid. There were no other bids made & I won it, only problem is they are charging me my max $25.50 bid... & Not my lower incremental bid of $4.00. I'm about done with ebay!!!


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## SKS.TUSC (Jul 9, 2021)

Merle said:


> Would buy it again in a heartbeat. But not offline. I only buy from the guys I’ve dealt with or at the shows after that lesson learned. I paid premium. Still love the bottle though. It was a hard one to find. And most of my collection could us polishing too. Just don’t want to take my bottles off the shelf once they get put up there and don’t have a tumbler


Iv been looking to build a bottle tumbler, it's not easy & nearly impossible to buy one online. Is tumbling bottles the way to go? Does it take off any embossed surface? Does bleach work better? Is it worth building one?


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## ROBBYBOBBY64 (Jul 9, 2021)

My biggest problem is Ebay searches. 0 items found. Are you kidding me. I couldn't even find my own listing i had even doing a search word for word. Odd how searches don't show the time left on the bidding, it used to.
ROBBYBOBBY64.


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## ROBBYBOBBY64 (Jul 9, 2021)

SKS.TUSC said:


> Iv been looking to build a bottle tumbler, it's not easy & nearly impossible to buy one online. Is tumbling bottles the way to go? Does it take off any embossed surface? Does bleach work better? Is it worth building one?


Jar doctor.
ROBBYBOBBY64.


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## ROBBYBOBBY64 (Jul 9, 2021)

SKS.TUSC said:


> So now I'm mad, angry & confused. I won a bid last night on ebay, I was only "1 of 2 Bids", the first & only other bid was *1 cent", I come along & place the 2nd & only other bid @$25.50 being my max bid. There were no other bids made & I won it, only problem is they are charging me my max $25.50 bid... & Not my lower incremental bid of $4.00. I'm about done with ebay!!!


Did you have it set to auto bid?
ROBBYBOBBY64.


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## SKS.TUSC (Jul 9, 2021)

ROBBYBOBBY64 said:


> Did you have it set to auto bid?
> ROBBYBOBBY64.


Yes my account is automatically set for that for bidding.


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## UncleBruce (Jul 9, 2021)

SKS.TUSC said:


> Iv been looking to build a bottle tumbler, it's not easy & nearly impossible to buy one online. Is tumbling bottles the way to go? Does it take off any embossed surface? Does bleach work better? Is it worth building one?


Go for it.  As RobbyBobby64 mentions there is 
*JarDoctor.*
There are also a couple of FaRceBook groups that share help with cleaning:  
*Antique Bottle Cleaning*
*MAKING ANTIQUE BOTTLES GREAT AGAIN!*


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## ROBBYBOBBY64 (Jul 9, 2021)

SKS.TUSC said:


> Yes my account is automatically set for that for bidding.


Maybe a cap on the item?
ROBBYBOBBY64.


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## nhpharm (Jul 9, 2021)

SKS.TUSC said:


> So now I'm mad, angry & confused. I won a bid last night on ebay, I was only "1 of 2 Bids", the first & only other bid was *1 cent", I come along & place the 2nd & only other bid @$25.50 being my max bid. There were no other bids made & I won it, only problem is they are charging me my max $25.50 bid... & Not my lower incremental bid of $4.00. I'm about done with ebay!!!


Could you post a link to the item you are referring to?  I am confused how this would happen without a second bidder there to bid $25.


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## opmustard (Jul 14, 2021)

nhpharm said:


> Could you post a link to the item you are referring to?  I am confused how this would happen without a second bidder there to bid $25.


Ebay has been a source of love/hate experience for me over the years. 
Have won some bottles that were great and others I sent back because they had major issues.
There were times as a buyer, I compleletly got ripped off and no help from ebay (at that time period.)
I wouldn't buy on Ebay for a number of years after the above mentioned time period.
It doesn't seem right about your bidding on this bottle. I don't understand why your second bid was used.
However, whenever you buy or sell on Ebay it seems like your taking a chance. Buy from a seller you know.
opmustard


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## willong (Jul 14, 2021)

UncleBruce said:


> People like this usually don't last in the business,


They can last indefinitely if eBay removes negative feedback in order to inflate buyer confidence with sellers having an unjustifiably high rating.

I had a scarce Italian Military rucksack on my watch list for about a year before I was alerted to a listing for one. Since it was available for a "Buy It Now" price that I could justify, I "bought" it and immediately paid, including the stated shipping charge,  with my credit card.

The "seller" was a little slow to respond. When he did, he stated that he was refunding my payment as the pack had some defective buckles that he hadn't noticed previously. I asked for pictures of the buckles or a slight price adjustment. I explained that I wanted to use the pack for hunting and could repair the damage myself. Seller said he was sending the pack back to the factory for repair and would notify me when he relisted it--note that he was relisting, not forwarding the pack directly to me.

Less than two weeks later, the pack again appeared on eBay, but with a doubled shipping charge! It was obvious BS! Without the foul taste, I might still have purchased the pack from a different seller; but it was obvious to me that the seller, seeing the virtually instantaneous purchase of the pack via "Buy It Now" had decided that he'd sold too cheaply, or had perhaps not specified sufficient shipping charge to cover his actual costs for shipping to the USA (pack was in Italy), a situation that I would have been negotiable on if approached honestly.

Since 2000, I have purchased literally hundreds of items through eBay. I was tempted to post negative feedback a couple times, but never did. However, I did post for the rucksack seller and explained my reason. Recently, after a few months had passed since the posting, I reviewed the seller's feedback--it is 100% positive, with no negative feedback listed in the statistics!

Plain and simple: Don't trust any of the Big Tech and Social Media corporations to even treat you fairly, let alone have your best interest at heart.


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## BottleDiver94 (Jul 14, 2021)

Wow, that's nuts. I am far too lazy to post on multiple platforms so I just list in one place and if it sells fine then it is on the shelf and I ship it. I am a moral person so I would never lie to someone about the listing but to have someone pull a stunt like that should kill their E-bay listing ability.


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## blobtop (Jul 14, 2021)

Whenever you win the bidding on eBay and the seller "forgets", "loses", or "discovers something new" and doesn't send the item - *REPORT THEM TO eBAY!  *Those are just excuses because the seller has seller's remorse for selling the item too low.  They should be banned from ever selling items again on eBay and should suffer consequences for failure to deliver on a contractual obligation.  This is not just an "oh well" situation, there are implications for the seller and you should pursue them.


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## opmustard (Jul 14, 2021)

blobtop said:


> Whenever you win the bidding on eBay and the seller "forgets", "loses", or "discovers something new" and doesn't send the item - *REPORT THEM TO eBAY!  *Those are just excuses because the seller has seller's remorse for selling the item too low.  They should be banned from ever selling items again on eBay and should suffer consequences for failure to deliver on a contractual obligation.  This is not just an "oh well" situation, there are implications for the seller and you should pursue them.


I could be wrong, but I don't think Ebay cares about any of this.
If it hurts them financially or someone in the government puts pressure (yeah, right) on them, then they will change.
In todays world, I just don't see this happening, especially with Ebay.
Just be very careful when it comes to Ebay.
opmustard


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## relic rescuer (Jul 14, 2021)

hemihampton said:


> I suspect they have it, they just thought it sold to low or got higher offer. I had a ebay seller try to offer me a Bottle they just sold on ebay for 5 times what they sold it for. I said no, not cool & he said everybody does it, no big deal. low ethics & morals many people have. LEON.


Yeah, That is a great excuse, everyone lies too so that makes it okay? So, now you (them) are in the crowd of A holes? People like that ya just wanna throat punch.


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## relic rescuer (Jul 14, 2021)

blobtop said:


> Whenever you win the bidding on eBay and the seller "forgets", "loses", or "discovers something new" and doesn't send the item - *REPORT THEM TO eBAY!  *Those are just excuses because the seller has seller's remorse for selling the item too low.  They should be banned from ever selling items again on eBay and should suffer consequences for failure to deliver on a contractual obligation.  This is not just an "oh well" situation, there are implications for the seller and you should pursue them.


Unfortunately it is just an "oh well" thing on eBay. They are way too in love with their sellers to ever kick them out of bed. I had one seller that was clearly false advertising, and sold me an inferior product that was not what was pictured, and had the same item for much cheaper, but they did absolutely nothing about it.


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## ckjbottleneck (Jul 14, 2021)

I have been a buyer and seller on eBay for years. But last month a item I sold went very bad for me and I was awakened to EBay’s  draconian selling/buying policies. Therefore I recently deleted my account. There are other companies other then EBay to choose from. EBay has a policy of “ money back guarantee” afforded to the buyer. All a buyer has to say is “ not as described” and you have to give  a refund. YOU the seller must pay to have the “ buyer” ship your item back to you. And if you don’t do this “ shipping label” thing within 3 days. EBay can “ close” the case and the “ buyer” gets the refund and keeps the item. It happened to me. Filing a appeal just went back and forth and was still awarded in favor to “ buyer”. I lost the sale, and my $200. Item.


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## Bohdan (Jul 15, 2021)

PlaneDiggerCam said:


> Once again I'm dealing with the frustration of a local bottle I've bought on ebay being refunded becuase said owner "cannot find it."
> 
> First of all what lame excuse, if you sell something on ebay and have it listed you should be able to pull it out at whim in front of you. Why list something if there is even a slight chance you may not have it?
> 
> ...


Never bought a bottle in my life. 
The attraction is in doing the research, going out to wherever and finding (or not finding) them.
"Posessing" them means very little - if anything. I give away most of my finds - keep (for a while) the ones that are a 'memory peg' to some person or event.


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## PlaneDiggerCam (Jul 15, 2021)

Bohdan said:


> Never bought a bottle in my life.
> The attraction is in doing the research, going out to wherever and finding (or not finding) them.
> "Posessing" them means very little - if anything. I give away most of my finds - keep (for a while) the ones that are a 'memory peg' to some person or event.



Bohdan, some bottles you just can't find easily, so you sometimes need to buy them. Actually, fun fact, some of the most valuable bottles were never found, but purchased from someone (sometimes for a lower price than they were worth). I can also guarantee that almost every collector has at least bought a bottle online, at a bottle show,, at an estate sale, etc. for themselves or others.

Also research of my newly aquired or bought bottles is actually my most favorite part of collecting. I also sell the ones I don't need in my collection, but I do keep the ones I'm looking for. In my opinion you are not a true collector if you don't have something in particular that you collect and wouldn't give away or are passionate over.

I always hate when people are in this hobby only to make money and troll others with false information while thinking that they, themselves, are "smarter" about topics than others in the hobby, when instead they are actually not and look stupid doing so.


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## ronbot (Jul 15, 2021)

PlaneDiggerCam said:


> Once again I'm dealing with the frustration of a local bottle I've bought on ebay being refunded becuase said owner "cannot find it."
> 
> First of all what lame excuse, if you sell something on ebay and have it listed you should be able to pull it out at whim in front of you. Why list something if there is even a slight chance you may not have it?
> 
> ...


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## PlaneDiggerCam (Jul 16, 2021)

Bohdan said:


> What an attitude!
> I've been digging since the early 70's and I don't believe I need a lecture from you about what a "...true collector..." is, boy.
> I don't understand how you can say"....some of the most valuable bottles were never found, but purchased from someone (sometimes for a lower price than they were worth)" and then turn around and say "...I always hate when people are in this hobby only to make money...".
> Give your head a shake sonny.



What meant was some of the most valuable bottles were found in attics and sold to people at yard sales (they were never dug). I also was trying to say that people who are in this hobby that only care about the monetary value of bottles FOR EVERY BOTTLE THEY EVER HAVE are bad. I think that buying bottles for yourself or for low price on occasion is different since you have other bottles that you do care about. You buy the bottles becuase you might want to research them or even to make some extra money on the side to buy other bottles for your collection (remember what I said about some bottles being almost impossible to dig or get for free). Also I was just stating my opinion on most of this. I'm sorry if I came across as having a negative attitude in your eye, I wasn't attacking you personally, I was just stating what I believe on this topic. I have many friends who were diggers back in the 70s as well and do respect those with high regard who came before me.


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## Timelypicken (Jul 16, 2021)

Yes some people do lose their listed items. I have before, but I’ve looked up to an hour for them and realized I place them in the wrong storage tote. Most of the time tho when they use that excuse they have sold it on another site or they broke it


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## Timelypicken (Jul 16, 2021)

SKS.TUSC said:


> So now I'm mad, angry & confused. I won a bid last night on ebay, I was only "1 of 2 Bids", the first & only other bid was *1 cent", I come along & place the 2nd & only other bid @$25.50 being my max bid. There were no other bids made & I won it, only problem is they are charging me my max $25.50 bid... & Not my lower incremental bid of $4.00. I'm about done with ebay!!!


They probably had a reserve set on the bottle for $25. eBay or the buyer does not charge you your max at the end of an auction unless their was a reserve and you bid a number past the reserve


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## Timelypicken (Jul 16, 2021)

blobtop said:


> Whenever you win the bidding on eBay and the seller "forgets", "loses", or "discovers something new" and doesn't send the item - *REPORT THEM TO eBAY!  *Those are just excuses because the seller has seller's remorse for selling the item too low.  They should be banned from ever selling items again on eBay and should suffer consequences for failure to deliver on a contractual obligation.  This is not just an "oh well" situation, there are implications for the seller and you should pursue them.


I am a full time eBay seller and those “excuses” are sometimes true. Reporting them to eBay does nothing. The best thing you can do is leave neutral feedback and move on once you have been fully refunded


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## Timelypicken (Jul 16, 2021)

willong said:


> They can last indefinitely if eBay removes negative feedback in order to inflate buyer confidence with sellers having an unjustifiably high rating.
> 
> I had a scarce Italian Military rucksack on my watch list for about a year before I was alerted to a listing for one. Since it was available for a "Buy It Now" price that I could justify, I "bought" it and immediately paid, including the stated shipping charge,  with my credit card.
> 
> ...


eBay has a weird glitch where after a certain amount of time the negative feedback will disappear or He could of had a good excuse for eBay to get it removed.


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