Need some Ebay advice

[nothingman00]

Need some help from those of you with Ebay knowledge... I rarely go on e-bay for anything, but after getting shut out of the Pearl Jam-10 Club presale of the Limited Edition (Vinyl) Into the Wild Soundtrack, I went on there to procure a copy. I just got the following email from the would-be seller:

Hi Zach, got some news...not so good.

I am sure you have heard of aural exploits canceling orders for multiple copies. well, I was in that boat. Fortuanely I thought i had the problem remedied by finding another source. I spoke with him directly...and once again got an invoice for multiple copies. then a couple days later (Thursday) I found out those too were canceled. In the meantiume I am waiting to source a copy to fill your order because I do not want to be like those who canceled MY ORDERS. With that said I want to leave the decision to you how to proceed. I have three options and I hope you can choose one and be understanding with what has transpired. I can offer you proof of both orders and following cancelations...but that doesn't get us anywhere now does it. So here are the three optioins I propose and I hope you can choose one and we can call t a day.

Option 1
I paypal you a full refund. You give me positive feedback ..on ebay...for the refund....then I follow up IMMEDIATELY with another payment to you for $30 additional dollars. This way you get your money back....plus $30 which should land you a copy on your own in the days to come (since people wil start getting theirs in the mail and selling more on ebay.) And we can both call it a day...without negative feedback.

Option 2
excersize patience and I will purchase another copy from you from somewhere...somehow. This option however requires you to be patient while i source you a copy.

Option 3
I issue you a full refund...but since you are so pissed at this ball drop you want to issue me negative feedback. In that case, of course I do not follow up with $30 and positive feedback.

Sorry it had to come down like this...I am trying to be fair here and I hope you can be cool with one of the options. frankly, that is all I have to offer since I got blasted with canceled orders. only difference for you is I am offering to make you whole somehow. Your choice. Please let me know what you decide before the end of this weekend.

I sicerely apologise for the inconvenience.

I was leaning towards option 1, but only the refund portion. I don't want or need an extra $30 and find it fishy that someone would be giving out a free 50% of purchase price just to rectify a semi-fucked (not that fucked) situation. That said, I'm hesitant to do anything at this point. The dude has 100% positive feedback and all (over the course of 6 years) but nearly all of his reviews as a seller are marked "Private". Not sure what that means, but it has me concerned. Is there anything to be worried about by just asking for a full refund to my paypal? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[J~$$$]

http://answercenter.ebay.com/forum.jspa?forumID=24

[nothingman00]

http://answercenter.ebay.com/forum.jspa?forumID=24

Yeah J. I searched there first and got no answer to my question.

Thanks though.

Thanks to Tom, Courtney and FOI (and anyone who may be replying as I'm posting this) as well. I kind of figured a lot of people would be getting popped by PJ's 10-club for ordering multiple copies and this dude had listed at least 2 or 3 on ebay... I had logged on to the 10-Club after the vinyl had been on pre-sale to members-only for only a few hours and it was already sold out. So, a few people ended up buying in bulk (despite the 1 per customer rule) and amped up the price by about 200-300%. I was pissed that I didn't get the album from the get-go, but now I'm just trying to avoid having my personal info hacked into. Oh well, fuck it... Just going to tell him I want my refund, then we'll proceed as though nothing happened (because it didn't). I just wanted to make sure that was my best protection.

[Courtney]

Don't leave him feedback until you consider the entire transaction to be complete. So, if you're expecting an additional $30, I wouldn't leave him feedback until he sent you the full amount. That said, if you don't want the additional money because you think it sounds fishy (I agree), just tell him that you only need a refund of the initial amount and you'll give him positive (or neutral) feedback.

[TomAz]

I was leaning towards option 1, but only the refund portion. I don't want or need an extra $30 and find it fishy that someone would be giving out a free 50% of purchase price just to rectify a semi-fucked (not that fucked) situation. That said, I'm hesitant to do anything at this point. The dude has 100% positive feedback and all (over the course of 6 years) but nearly all of his reviews as a seller are marked "Private". Not sure what that means, but it has me concerned. Is there anything to be worried about by just asking for a full refund to my paypal? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I read it exactly the way you do.

[full on idle]

It's pretty shitty that he sold you something he didn't yet have. That feedback stuff is no joke for people that make ebay their business but I'm with you, I'd just get my money back and peace. No feedback.

[Courtney]

Also I think reviews are marked private if he sells adult content or something, right? Maybe he just sells a lot of porn.

Edit: I'm wrong. Sellers can choose to mark their feedback comments private if they choose; for whatever reason. It's not an automatic thing.

[luckyface]

The private feedback choice is the hallmark of a shady seller.

[nothingman00]

The private feedback choice is the hallmark of a shady seller.

Please elaborate... He has maybe 200 sales and probably 4/5ths of those are marked Private.

[luckyface]

If a seller is marking all of his feedback as private, he obviously is trying to hide something. You will find most people on eBay list their feedback for all to see. To me, private feedback means that he expects to receive negative reactions (or as Courtney stated, he is big into porn).

So that is what I mean. I am very weary of buying from sellers like that.

[Comrade]

I can understand him trying to keep a clean record, but that sounds both ridiculous and fishy.

[faxman75]

I don't see what's so fishy. I would go with option one and hope for the extra 30.

Seems legit and i ebay quite a bit. Nobody wants bad feedback and he is doing his best to make the situation right.

[nothingman00]

I don't see what's so fishy. I would go with option one and hope for the extra 30.

Seems legit and i ebay quite a bit. Nobody wants bad feedback and he is doing his best to make the situation right.

So there's no real privacy/security concern with just asking for my money to be refunded to paypal? I guess that's what this boils down to, ultimately.

[suprefan]

No, why would there be? You coudl take it up with paypal and ebay too. If you felt so inclined to open up a dispute abotu it, paypal will take it into their own hands and deal with the situation. Your money is protected and as stated before, this seller is being pretty shady, he is going the extra mile with the extra $30 because he doesnt want to tranish whatever his reputation is over the last 6 years. Marking it all private is stupid, besides, if it was all public for you to look over you woudl maybe see similar situations appear in their history and that he went and did some kiss ass stuff to make it right and to appease the customer over not delivering. Grab your refund and leave him no feedback.

[Wheres the beef?]

No, why would there be? You coudl take it up with paypal and ebay too. If you felt so inclined to open up a dispute abotu it, paypal will take it into their own hands and deal with the situation. Your money is protected and as stated before, this seller is being pretty shady, he is going the extra mile with the extra $30 because he doesnt want to tranish whatever his reputation is over the last 6 years. Marking it all private is stupid, besides, if it was all public for you to look over you woudl maybe see similar situations appear in their history and that he went and did some kiss ass stuff to make it right and to appease the customer over not delivering. Grab your refund and leave him no feedback.

Agreed.

Private feedback = shady

Plus this extra $30 he is enticing you with wont happen. What incentive does he have to send you the $30 after he got the positive feedback he wants? If it was me, and this is me, I would get my refund and leave him negative feedback. But if he is threatening you with negative feedback I guess you have to consider how much you care about that.
Bottom line: just get your money back and go elsewhere.

[faxman75]

I think if he gives you the initial $30 refund he already proves he is being fair and giving you back what you paid so you should leave the positive feedback just for that. He didn't rip you off, he gave you an honest answer and he then refunded your money as you deserved. Whether you get the bonus $30 or not doesn't really matter, it would be nice but your getting your refund anyway.

[Wheres the beef?]

I think if he gives you the initial $30 refund he already proves he is being fair and giving you back what you paid so you should leave the positive feedback just for that. He didn't rip you off, he gave you an honest answer and he then refunded your money as you deserved. Whether you get the bonus $30 or not doesn't really matter, it would be nice but your getting your refund anyway.

No way. What did he do that would warrant positive feedback? He's selling something the doesn't have. He rolled the dice and came up snake eyes. You dont get positive feedback for that.