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02/04/2008, 1:39 ebaynut Joined on 06/03/2007 Posts 128 Re: Ebay It's very late, and having terrible tech trouble with the forum lately, but thought I would let you know that this Thursday (3rd April) is a cheap listing day on the UK site. Good time to try it out? (Only 5p per item - regardless of start price - some exclusions apply) See: Details here    Report

20/04/2008, 12:39 ebaynut Joined on 06/03/2007 Posts 128 Re: Ebay Came across this listing on the UK site, and I thought you might be interested in 'some sellers' reactions to French buyers. Not that this is the norm I might add. We have sold items on dozens of occasions to France, and have NEVER had a problem. We have had items that took an age to get there, but got there in the end. We frequently come across listings on the USA site, who are absolutely adamant that they 'WILL NOT SHIP TO CANADA!' Why?...I don't know! We have found our biggest problem buyers (not that there are many) are always the inexperienced (low feedback), who think that you only have their sale to deal with, and who expect you to deliver to them anywhere in the world, no matter how heavy or large, the next day for 50p! As for shipping heavy items, once the item gets up to the 4 kilo price range for the PO, we always find that courier companies offer a much better, cheaper, and trackable service, particularly for international parcels.    Report

20/04/2008, 14:08 Ron Avery Joined on 29/11/2004 Posts 3,102 Re: Ebay Happily people like this are in the minority, I would think twice about buying from him even if I lived in the UK.  The bit about Paypal and the EU is utter rubbish plus he adds VAT to his postage costs which is totally illegal.  In my experience those who do not offer Paypal and post such ranting crap get much lower prices and I suspect looking at his sales that applies to him.  I buy and sell in France and have had only one item not get here and that was a real bargain that amazingly turned up back with the seller, she said, who then relisted it hoping that I wouldn't notice, so when I complained it was re-posted to France and promptly lost it in the post again!! Why not just post a sensible answer, people will appreciate it more    Report

21/04/2008, 11:11 J.R's gone native Joined on 16/07/2006 Picardie, Sussex Posts 1,695 Re: Ebay It was interesting to read the feedback that he left for others, a couple like "this Frenchman  doesnt understand English or French" I have some recollection from my VAT days that you should charge VAT on zero registered items if it was being provided as a service which postage and packing would probably be, this guy may just have had an inspector pick him up onit and insist all future invoiced P&P carry VAT. I think I learned this from my then commercial landlords who held a zero rated buildings insurance on the whole property, they in turn apportioned it to all the tenants and invoiced with VAT (which we were able to reclaim) as part of the service charges. Or should VAT not be charged at all to overseas buyers? Would that include the EU?    Report

23/04/2008, 0:52 ebaynut Joined on 06/03/2007 Posts 128 Re: Ebay I agree Ron, the problem though, is that honest sellers often get tarnished with the same brush, and lots of people are afraid of ebay as a result. You generally only get to hear about the occasional horror story, despite there being hundreds of thousands of successful and happy transanctions. Unfortunately, if he is registered to pay VAT, he is also legally obliged to charge VAT on P&P, as it is deemed to be a service that he provides! (Not sure how this works for customers outside UK though!) See here  The feedback system has had a huge benefit in building trust, both for buyer and seller, and the new rules regarding sellers not being able to leave anything other than a positive feedback for buyers, is so biased towards sometimes 'inexperienced' buyers, and against honest sellers, I fear many will pack it in! If new/inexperienced buyers see a couple of (unfair) derogatory comments made by other new/inexperienced buyers, they wont necessarily know how to check the real, overall honest integrity of the seller......that only comes with the experience of how to check someone out for real, and knowing how to read between the lines (they will just be blinded by the unchallenged/unreciprocated ones)!    Report

23/04/2008, 7:41 Ron Avery Joined on 29/11/2004 Posts 3,102 Re: Ebay Yes the changes are not for the best I fear. I particularly dislike the anonymous bidders, supposed to protect buyers from fraudulent second chance offers, however, this is allowing bidding by friends and family to go totally undetected. and even when picked up, eBay have done nothing,   I had a bid hike the other day by a bidder, who had made 379 bids in 30 days, ALL with that same seller yet a scroll through the sellers sales found not one of those bids was successful.  Have a look at the bidding record by a**C ( private)  on item 170209809119 and tell me if he is not connected with the seller  Yet this seller continues on, I thought the Germans lived by rules!! I think the point made by some of the Ford parts seller's customers was that he was charging VAT on postage, not P&P.  Businesses can charge VAT seperately and some do, particularly with  vehicles and this is added added to the total price including P&P if applicable,  however, many others choose to incorporate the VAT into the final bid price which makes them equitable to private sellers.  With this particular seller, his whole tone and attititude reminds me of that of a certain Leeds model shop who no longer does any business through eBay. Why not just post a sensible answer, people will appreciate it more    Report

23/04/2008, 9:33 tegwini Joined on 19/09/2007 Wiltshire & Vienne Posts 154 Re: Ebay Ron I have been attempting to buy garden furniture via ebay & have failed in 13 bids-   ALL innocent :   and caused by:   not fast enough; not experienced enough; too timid to fight for something & perhaps at the end rather  reluctant to pay the increased price.  So I have not 'won' any garden furniture, except for one tiny table set which I know I have overpaid for when comparing with others from the same company.  My timing for buying garden stuff is poor, should have bought it last Sept- Feb. But, it does not surprise me to hear of anonymous 'buyers'.  I have now 20 transactions on ebay & getting the hang of it, biggest problem here, IMO, is the cost of post which has just gone up again. regards Tegwini I think, therefore perhaps I am...    Report

23/04/2008, 9:43 Russethouse Joined on 23/08/2004 Forum Moderator Posts 9,508 Re: Ebay tegwini, Please have a look at www.auctionsniper.com Decide what the maximum you are happy to pay for the item is, enter it and forget it - the program will bid for you, 5 seconds before the end of the auction. That way you will not get involved in any bidding war, and in some measure it helps prevent the 'false' bid by friends scenario, except where the seller has used a similar last minute bid instead of a reserve I have just 'trained' my husband in this approach with positive results. www.quimperclub.org 99    Report

23/04/2008, 14:31 tegwini Joined on 19/09/2007 Wiltshire & Vienne Posts 154 Re: Ebay Many thanks RH I'll  give it a go- if it's not too complicated- husband has used this,  but it was a bit of a mess as we were so desparate to get something & I had failed before, & this time we used both lap tops, he used snipe, & a lower bid, I had a senior moment of panic & we bid against each other! We did get the item though. regards tegwini I think, therefore perhaps I am...    Report

23/04/2008, 14:37 Russethouse Joined on 23/08/2004 Forum Moderator Posts 9,508 Re: Ebay Believe me, if I can do it - its easy  just copy and paste the item number (less room for error) and if buying in France use a period instead of a comma for Euro's €25.45 instead of €25,45 PS I want to search on ebay.co.uk for Laget, how do I stop it defaulting to Lager ? ( Laget was an artist who specialised in designs that reflected the areas of Languedoc - Roussillon and Provence) www.quimperclub.org 99    Report

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