Sunday, December 11, 2011

Ebay Not as Cool as Craigslist

A few weeks ago I decided I would try my hand at ebay. The craigslist responders were just a little on the slow side here in Springfield Missouri; not quite what I was used to in Springfield, VA or Las Vegas, NV. I had put some nice things on Craigslist and nobody had responded in two weeks of having it posted! A Childrens Place peacoat was among other nice things listed I had to offer bargain seekers.
I looked into ebay and thought I had it all figured out: Small flat rate shipping $5, starting your auction at $.99 is free, ebay only charges if your item sells, auctions last a week etc, etc,....So I went on and posted 5 things: 2 old camera battery chargers with batteries, 2 old modems and routers, and the Childrens Place pea coat.
Well the first item to sell was the peacoat .....for $2.25! Crazy I know somebody just got a steal of a deal. Not too excited about letting the coat go for that little but hey it is $2.25 I didn't have before right? ...Wrong we tried to get some small flat rate boxes at the post office but they were out. I notified all of my buyers via email that I would get the boxes asap and even ordered them through the USPS website (however this took a week to get them so I went back to the Post office)
Next time there are boxes at the post office and guess what... the coat does not fit in there! I already had printed out the shipping label through ebay for the small flat rate box....so I thought I could go home and cancel the first label and make a new one...Nope....more than 20 hours had passed since I originally printed it and could not cancel. Again I notify the buyer on the status of the coat. Then I go out again to the post office and of course I forget my clear packing tape at home to affix the label on the box that cost $10.95 to ship! No way am I buying the Post office tape for $4 more since I already am losing $4 to ship the coat in the first place. I take the initiative and notify the buyer again on the status of the coat. I went out to the post office again that same day and had it shipped.
The next day I get this mean email from the buyer accusing me of lying and stating that this is "absurd" and I need to "overnight" the coat and I am going to be "reported to ebay" .....and there are "freezing temperatures" ...Okay lady calm down, it has only been 9 days from the time of purchase to the time of shipment,I kept you informed the whole time and was not avoiding you at all. I wouldn't be complaining either you just got a coat for 98% off of retail value and If your baby is freezing because you are waiting for the peacoat that is not something reporting to ebay can fix.....maybe child protective services can help... I don't know?
In the meantime Craigslisters were calling and texting me nonstop and I made about $80 on craigslist! Then I found this super awesome store called Other Mothers. I took in some baby stuff there and got $46 store credit! The store credit will never expire and their kids clothes go up to size 16. Also Way better than ebay! I will say the old camera batteries most likely will not have sold on craigslist and brought in $18 of profit after shipping charges for me so that was good =) I did put gospel tracts in all my packages and pray that my delayed shipping was not a bad testimony and that God would be glorified in all that I do =)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm so sorry that was an awful experience for you. I just sold some coffee table books on Powell's and was hunting for a box this morning all the while PRAYING that I am not going to lose money on this deal. Did everything work out in the end with ebay or are you done using them??

Jenny

Kelly Logan said...

=)I have another friend who lost money shipping books for some reason ebay only lets you charge no more than $5 to ship books....I mainly craigslist, right now I have two things on ebay that I have not got any craigslist responses(printer cables and curtains) ...so we will see how it goes =)Ebay is a last resort to me because they also charge a percent of your shipping fees when your item sells! of course the mean lady with the coat incident gave me bad feedback....but the Lord knows my heart and I was doing my best =)

Anonymous said...

I lost so much money on ebay trying to sell nice things.
I wish I lived next door to you, you seem like such a nice person.

I once got a nasty note sent back to my home that was extremely threatening after giving a nice item away. After that I had to quit ebay.

The Lord does make it all right in the end.

Unknown said...

I too am not a fan of Ebay. I haven't been very successful after shipping charges but I know some people who do great on there.

Kelly Logan said...

Anonymous That is so sweet, the house next door is for sale!!! It is bank owned and ready for a buyer if you really would like to live next door =)...lol =), Shipping charges are absurd! I mean most of the stuff I am trying to sell is about the price for shipping, and then EBay takes out the percentage based on your shipping rate too! they are thieves I tell you...thieves!...lol =)