Dinged corners has an
excellent list on how to have fun and
not get ripped off at eBay. You should
click for yourself and check it out if for no other reason than the cool Old Judge card that illustrates it. I will honor this post with a list of how I have blatantly broken these rules over the past couple of weeks. That's right, the card 'expert' here also does some mindbogglingly stupid things on eBay.
we do not visit eBay when distracted, tired, or vulnerable
Well, I've been tired for about a year and a half now, but going on an eBay binge when you're sick and hopped up on medicine isn't the smartest thing to do.
only buying from sellers with 100 percent positive feedback
I didn't do this and got slightly burned. I bought a few vintage packs ('83 Donruss & Fleer and '84 Fleer) so I could rip some interesting stuff on A Pack A Day. The guy had 99.8 or 99.9% feedback (only 15 negs out of a few thousand) and the packs were dirt cheap compared to what they would cost in a hobby shop so I went for it. I bought two packs of each so I'd have one to rip and one to save and when the package came I got two '83 Donruss,
one '83 Fleer and
three '84 Fleer. It would cost more than the pack to ship it back for a replacement so I just moved on. No '83 Fleer rip on A Pack A Day now unless someone has a pack they'd be willing to trade.
However, this strategy doesn't always work. I won another auction from some dude with a 2100+ rating with no negatives and two days after I sent payment, he's now listed as "not a registered user". Oops. All I can really do now is cross my fingers and wait by the mailbox. I'm hoping this is another case of a good seller run off by eBay's recent policy changes and not just a run of the mill rip off.
never pay more than $2.50 shipping for a single baseball card.
This one is just
stupid obvious, right? Still, when you see that enticing combo of 99 cent bids and "combined shipping" ya get sucked in. DON'T GET SUCKED IN. I saw that combo on a couple of Falcons autographed cards and I bid on 'em despite the $4.00 each shipping charge. I put in a cheap bid on both and left them alone thinking if I won one it would still be cheaper than buying retail and if I won both with combined shipping it would be a steal. The next day I checked back and I won both. I didn't see an invoice in my e-mail so I clicked on pay now. No combined shipping. Forget that, I closed the window and waited for the invoice. Four days later it arrives with the right shipping so I send a reply stating payment will be in the mail shortly and print it out. I mail it out thinking everything is cool and then two days later I get an unpaid item dispute ding on my account. Seven days to the nanosecond after winning the auction they zap me without any follow up e-mail at all.
"I have not received payment..therefore, it has not been paid for yet."
Ahh lovely. The USPS apparently did their job because a few days later I see the dispute is closed with:
"We've agreed to complete the transaction."
We haven't agreed to do crap because you've sent no communication to me about the whole incident. Just send the cards and enjoy your positive with bad secondary ratings. I've got over 1000 positives with no negatives from almost 400 sellers, and I'm going to choose to screw over
you? This kind of stuff plays havoc with my blood pressure. Buyers and sellers always need to remember to just communicate with the other party and this stuff won't happen. An e-mail from the seller reminding me that payment was due would have gotten an apology out of me and an offer to resend payment, an e-mail I've sent a few times before with no troubles. The best policy is just to stay away from these sellers. If they are not going to treat you fairly on shipping, then don't expect fair treatment anywhere else.
We decide before bidding and never sway from our price limit
I've been pretty good about this because I'm such a cheapskate. There was that one time a few years ago where I bid 65 dollars on a CC Sabathia Heritage shortprint card instead of 65 cents, but that's more a violation of Rule 1 than Rule 4. The final cost was $5.50 and one pair of ruined underwear but I learned my lesson.
I must stress here the
importance of determining and setting the price limit. There was a certain card from a certain set that came out last year (which I will not mention until I win the card, I'm so paranoid about losing it) where I really
really wanted it from the moment it hit the market. The cards were everywhere when the product first released so I put in a bunch of lowball bids to try to get one cheap. I didn't win any of them and about a month later they totally dried up. I didn't see even
one of them for a couple of months. If I'd bid fairly in the first place I would have won one, now I can't even find the dang thing at all. Know what you want and bid a price you're willing to pay. You might get that bargain after all.
do it for fun
In other words, buy what you enjoy and don't decide to try to complete the entire 2007 Goudey Relic Parallel set in one weekend on a whim because you just realized you have 10% of the set. Otherwise you might waste a whole evening and only end up with
this. No seriously, I actually tried that. I need to learn how to focus on my goals a little better.
So there are my eBay follies from the past few weeks and boy am I glad I'm broke right now so I can't go out and screw up some more! Thanks to NMBoxer for a great post that helped me articulate my frustrations. Remember kiddos - do as I say, not as I do and you'll be happier in the long run.
