mctaggart67
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2010
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- 663
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My biggest pet peeve isn't aimed directly at Ebay, but at inattentive (uncaring, in some cases) sellers who just don't understand that mint condition means flawless! With considerable frequency, I'll buy bottles on Ebay that arrive with pre-shipping damage, despite sellers' descriptions that use phrasings, such as "perfect condition," "no chips, cracks, scratches," etc. I verify such absolute statements by examining posted pix closely and double-checking with the sellers by emailing questions. And still I get bottles with lip flakes, small bruises (the type that grow over time), scuffs, etc. I'm not buying super rare and super expensive bottles on Ebay, so I'm not out very much, but its still irks me. Thankfully, most sellers will issue a small refund. Some play games -- short-term thinking for short-term gain, but losing sight of the big picture of building a solid and loyal customer base. Then again, my expecting different results from doing the same thing fits one definition of insanity, so I must be crazy!
My second biggest pet peeve, is Ebay's PayPal-payment-only policy. In Canada (and I imagine in the USA, too), it is not lawful to prohibit commercial transactions in actual, real live, legal tender specie. In other words, if two parties want to make a cash deal, then, under Canadian law, they have every right to do just that. This right extends to using any other legally recognized representative form of cash, such as cheques, money orders and debit transactions. And this right cannot be denied in any sales forum, whether physical like a traditional store or electronic like Ebay. Of course, Ebay knows this, so its policy wording is intentionally, but legally, misleading in that sellers must agree to publicly state with their listings that they accept PayPal only.
The idea here is that if sellers have to make such a statement, then customers will believe it and thus everyone follows the policy, and this all sets up a sort of "if you say it enough times, it becomes truth" system which is not questioned by its users. Indeed, I just had a newbie seller refuse a cash payment and local pick up because she believed that she must follow Ebay payment policy. To boot, she said she had to ship by Canada Post because that, too, is Ebay policy. Her fear was that if she accommodated the cash payment and local pick up, Ebay would deny her seller status.
Cripes, I wish people think for themselves and stand up for themselves! Economically speaking, I'm no leftie. In fact, I believe in the power of the free market. And that is precisely my point: a free market. If we blindly follow the dodgy policy dictates of companies like Ebay, then we lose some of our personal power and this diminishes the strength and thus the value of a free market.
Hey, you know what? My second biggest pet peeve about Ebay is actually my biggest one!
My second biggest pet peeve, is Ebay's PayPal-payment-only policy. In Canada (and I imagine in the USA, too), it is not lawful to prohibit commercial transactions in actual, real live, legal tender specie. In other words, if two parties want to make a cash deal, then, under Canadian law, they have every right to do just that. This right extends to using any other legally recognized representative form of cash, such as cheques, money orders and debit transactions. And this right cannot be denied in any sales forum, whether physical like a traditional store or electronic like Ebay. Of course, Ebay knows this, so its policy wording is intentionally, but legally, misleading in that sellers must agree to publicly state with their listings that they accept PayPal only.
The idea here is that if sellers have to make such a statement, then customers will believe it and thus everyone follows the policy, and this all sets up a sort of "if you say it enough times, it becomes truth" system which is not questioned by its users. Indeed, I just had a newbie seller refuse a cash payment and local pick up because she believed that she must follow Ebay payment policy. To boot, she said she had to ship by Canada Post because that, too, is Ebay policy. Her fear was that if she accommodated the cash payment and local pick up, Ebay would deny her seller status.
Cripes, I wish people think for themselves and stand up for themselves! Economically speaking, I'm no leftie. In fact, I believe in the power of the free market. And that is precisely my point: a free market. If we blindly follow the dodgy policy dictates of companies like Ebay, then we lose some of our personal power and this diminishes the strength and thus the value of a free market.
Hey, you know what? My second biggest pet peeve about Ebay is actually my biggest one!
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