Frustrated with eBay business

Hello all,
I am trying to get an auction business on ebay going and it has really been frustrating. I have sold over $2000 worth of items but no one wants to pay. And they are all seem to be trying to scam me into shipping overseas somewhere to their friend for their birthday. I even had someone buy an ipod video from me and then stole the money from someone elese account to pay me. I am stuck with paying the overdraft back now. Then Someone bought the ipod on auction and then backed out when they found out that I did not quailify for the pay pal buyers protection plan because I had less than 50 feedback. How do you get a business going so that you can build up your feedback so people will come to trust you more??? I sure could use some advice. Thank you

Well - not really sure here.

Only advice I can give is to not sell to international people right now, until you get your feedback built up 8) -

I believe somewhere in your preferences on the Ebay selling manager -- (I use selling manager not sure if you do) but somewhere in there you can make it so it prevents them (internationally) from bidding - and even if you don't want to accept bidding from someone who has less than 0-3-5 feedback, you can prevent them from bidding also.

You can also change your preference through paypal, that if they bid on your auction they have to pay now. Just another thought? :mrgreen:

I've been a member of Ebay since 1998 - and well, it was very hard at first to move up in the world - so to speak. But I rarely have non-paying bidders. It must be what you sell? Not sure.

What's your ebay id?

My ebay id is wboyd58. The items that Iwas selling is Apple ipod videos, Samsung digital camcorders brand name cell phones. You know that most of the ones who have been dealing on my auctions have been overseas or wanting to have the items shipped overseas. I dont understand why people want to scam and take advantage of others anyway. All they do is make it harder on the honest ones who are just trying to make some extra money.

I also have an ebay store but I do not sell overseas yet ...I built up my feedback buy buying things some were small some were large but I also have an ad in the local paper and I sell stuff for individuals for a 10% fee plus insertion fee ...I have sold quite a few large items like ambulances to mexico ...its alot of hassle but its the experience...wait till they freeze your account for a month...lol its gonna piss u off...I gave them the tracking # and all but they still froze it ..just sell quality products and be very honest and Describe the items fully...I dropship just for inventory and I sell here and there but the money for me is in vehicles ...I am glad my g/f dad is a car dealer..One last thing ...One guy tried to send me a money order that was fake and I turned it in to the FBI....never take a money order ...you will be scamed..if the offer is to good to be true its a scam...If you do take a money order wait till it clears before you send the item ...oh and make yourself a backup paypal account under a diffrent name just in case something happens and use it till your main one clears up..

You will do good - you have a great ebay auction set up - I think - just give it some time, you'll do well. Only 5 feedback -- give it a little more time to get more experience in it.

Hang in there - watch people wanting to wire - most people who are serious will mail a money order and/or pay right away with paypal. If no payment within 7 days, just relist the item - and contact Ebay. They'll refund your fees for you. Don't mess around with slow PAYING people. No money in that. Make it clear in your auction - 3-7 day payment arrangement - and if international is giving you a hard time right now, just don't accept any international.

I think you're auctions look great. :lol:

Hello wboyd58,
I have been selling on Ebay since 1996 and I too was just scammed by someone in france through Paypal. I sold a watch through a dropshipper, my first time using one and maybe my last. I ended up paying for a watch I dont need and my Paypal acount ended up negative , not only that but my auction clearly said US only but alas I really wanted the sale so i ordered the watch and was about to ship it when paypal froze his account. So I feel for you but on that note dont give up! I sell a lot to England and they are great as their money is worth 2 to 1 of ours. It will take you a while to build your feed back but you will get there. You can also set your paypal to not accept non verified buyers something im going to look into myself. Also I only have 194 individual positive feedbacks after 10 years and maybe 300 total positive feedbacks , I get repeat buyers. I prefer to sell expensive antiques most of the time. I would rather sell one thing that equals the price of ten , less work that way.
Keep trying though you will succeed in the end , it just takes time and remember not everone out there is a crook.
Good Luck!

Sorry i forgot to log in the above message is from me Jhepp7gw2 not a guest.... still getting used to this forum and I really like it here!

Make sure you sell to people that are older than 30 days old to ebay and make sure they have atleast a little pos. feedback. Look at their pos. feedback percentage also. If you want to build your own feedback up fast, just buy cheap products off ebay, and receive feedback from the sellers. Ebooks work best for this because they are very cheap and the shipping is free. Plus, you might learn a few things from these ebooks. If you are looking for a good supplier I would recommend Link hidden: Login to view I have dealt with them in the past and had no problems at all with them. Quick shipping and good prices. Hope this helped!

Hi wboyd58

in an earlier message you said that you sell ipods. could you please tell me where you get these from?

thanks :D
P

yeah where do you buy you ipods from i would to know what the price you get ? could you PM me thaks . and good luck to the hard road of reseling.

Most scamer are trying to sells you: (nigeria,indonesia)
-ipod
-xbox
-psp
-computers
-cell phone
-hioght tech valued goods

Hi, I am a powerseller, and I have just recently stopped giving feedback first. I print my shipping labels and in the message box I ask for positive feedback when the item arrives and I tell them I will do the same. I used to give feedback and receive only a portion back. Now, I seem to be receiving more and quicker. It is a struggle! I am having such a hard time finding a LEGITIMATE supplier. I seem to be selling just to buy a little more. Someone said they have very little non-paying buyers. PLEASE tell me how you do that?? My auctions state 3 days or arrangements for payment but nobody pays attention! :?:

Hi, I am a powerseller, and I have just recently stopped giving feedback first. I print my shipping labels and in the message box I ask for positive feedback when the item arrives and I tell them I will do the same. I used to give feedback and receive only a portion back. Now, I seem to be receiving more and quicker. It is a struggle! I am having such a hard time finding a LEGITIMATE supplier. I seem to be selling just to buy a little more. Someone said they have very little non-paying buyers. PLEASE tell me how you do that?? My auctions state 3 days or arrangements for payment but nobody pays attention! :?:

Put in big letter's at the top of the auction if you aren not able to pay within 3 days of auction end please do not buy/bid (On) this item.

I have another option for Ebay... well this site is public and people post alot up here in seattle, and 100% are legit and honest sellers and buyers..
i met alot of people that have good stuff here... you might find your city here.
Link hidden: Login to view

Bling~Bling (class of 05 my nigs)

Hi I am a UK Powerseller and it's not very often we get unpaid items, generally I am sorry to say most people who have tried to rip me off in the past are from the USA or Canada. To combat this I added a small sentence to our payment policy which states that an ebay member with a feedback of less than 10 must email us before bidding & if they don't we reserve the right to cancel their bids, which is your right as a seller if they do not follow your policies. We make a concious effort to contact all foreign bidders and if we get no response we cancel the bid it's that simple. This seems to have worked for us - touch wood - if you do this you must stick to it, you will find that scammers will not email you or respond to your messages.

Oh & before I forget to mention it! Once you cancel the bid remember to block that bidder from bidding within your ebay settings then email them a polite notice stating you have cancelled their bid due to lack of response and if they are a genuine bidder they should contact you so that you can re-instate their bidding rights on your items.

As previously stated the only way to stop these bidders is to block the bidders from countries you do not wish to trade with using the settings within ebay. If you select this preference your items will not be available to the bidders in those countries. You will find that genuine bidders will contact you to ask if you will trade with them.

The other thing you could try is a different payment method for those buyers which offers you protection against fraud better than paypal does,you would have to do a lot of research but it would be worth it in the end for your own peace of mind.

Unfortunately your items are at high risk of scammers but just remember not everyone is a scammer !! We have great International trade which is increasing all the time. I wish you luck. :D