has anyone been ripped off here?

[plinker]

I had sent a money order (what he wanted) to a member for a Craftsman thin profile ratchet a year or so ago, never got the ratchet or a refund.

Wasnt worth going to the post office to try and get the $21 back, would have cost that just for inquiry fee.

I should have known better I guess, He was a senior member that hadnt been online in a while and only once after that.



No other problems, however.

 

[Lump]

I have personally had ONLY good experiences buying from members on Garage Journal.

You know, if you buy and sell often enough, to enough people, sooner or later something will go sour somewhere. And this is true whether you're talking about eBay, GJ members, flea market people, car show folks, etc, etc, etc.

You just pay attention to details, stay in contact with your buyer or seller, and get on with your life. You won't bat 1,000 in anything.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

I have personally had ONLY good experiences buying from members on Garage Journal.

You know, if you buy and sell often enough, to enough people, sooner or later something will go sour somewhere. And this is true whether you're talking about eBay, GJ members, flea market people, car show folks, etc, etc, etc.

You just pay attention to details, stay in contact with your buyer or seller, and get on with your life. You won't bat 1,000 in anything.

Agreed. But you can take steps to protect yourself, such as not buying from new members unless someone you trust has vouched for them. Not trying to pick on newbies, but I'm not fond of those that join and right away start posting stuff for sale.

 

[Bull]

I figured as much, just posted it as a reference to those that think money orders aren't secure.

Gotcha, and it is good info.

Wilmington...is that out east?

 

[jeffk14]

Agreed. But you can take steps to protect yourself, such as not buying from new members unless someone you trust has vouched for them. Not trying to pick on newbies, but I'm not fond of those that join and right away start posting stuff for sale.

Well, I joined and then posted an item for sale shortly thereafter. I didn't join just to post an item, it just worked out that way. I understand your concern, but I don't know why you wouldn't be "fond" of a newbie posting a for sale ad.

I've got some cred on other sites, just not here (yet). I'm the same user name over on fleabay as well as a couple of gun sites. Nuthin' but positive feedback. Not all newbies are crooks.

 

[FoMoCoPower]

Only had one problem on here, a small problem,as a seller. I thought I described a ratchet accurately enough,but I guess not.....just an honest misunderstanding. Now I know more of what the buyers on here want to know about,so I took it as a learning experience.

I had a buyer piss me off on crownvic.net once,so bad that I gave him his money back and refused to deal with him. Then the guy left me bad feedback about the deal. I have the right to refuse to deal with you if you aggravate the **** outta me.

BTW,I make a living off of primarily Ebay sales,and the only bad experiences I have had the last couple years were by people trying to scam me. It is real easy to tell the legit complaints from the false ones. I sold a NOS mirror to a guy once for $19.99,it had extremely minor shelf wear as noted in the description and seen in the pictures. He complained,said I sold him junk and demanded a refund,I said sure as long as he sends the mirror back. He refused and left me a negative. 2 weeks later he relisted the same "junk" mirror for $250.00 and it sold.

 

[treasureseeker]

I think as a seller you have to always be looking to keep the trust until the deal is finished and any buyer who has been ripped off is hanging on every word looking for what to expect. I have so far, sold one item on here, one on EBay to a member letting him know I had what he buys and earned their trust at every juncture.

 

[Bull]

BTW,I make a living off of primarily Ebay sales

Is this as awesome as it sounds? Seems like a good gig, except maybe for not having a benefits package.

 

[Chris_R/T]

Gotcha, and it is good info.

Wilmington...is that out east?

Yeah Northeast. About 10 miles up Rt. 93 from Boston.

 

[Bull]

Yeah Northeast. About 10 miles up Rt. 93 from Boston.

It's bizarre. Folks that I find on sites like this who are from MA are almost always from the east. People in the "sticks" out by me must not have internet

 

[FoMoCoPower]

Is this as awesome as it sounds? Seems like a good gig, except maybe for not having a benefits package.

I pay my income taxes like everyone else,and I pay my own health insurance.

Everyone complains about the new Ebay fees,but guess what...you still get more $$ on there and faster 99% of the time,and with alot less lowballers that just want to waste your time.

As long as you apply yourself and have what people want,you`ll do good. It has it`s ups and downs,but it usually evens out throughout the year.

Oh,and BTW...it`s not as easy as all of the non-sellers think it is. It is alot of work. I am constantly out looking for things,cleaning items,researching,driving,packing,shipping,etc,etc. Honestly,you might be better off with a "real" job,but that`s not me...I HATE working for other people,i am happier making less money working for myself.

 

[treasureseeker]

jeffk14:
Being a just a new guy also we just have to earn the trust. I sell on eBay also but this is a great opportunity. Not having everything take a week and with having people that know the item and its value not bidding as everyone else is or not bidding as no one else is. So far I found it to be a little tougher than eBay as buyers want to negotiate even if the price has no room to, so I have to make some changes in my sales. I gave up on one last week and moved it to ebay.

 

[Bull]

I don't think it would be easy. I know how much time it takes to clean, photograph, describe, pack, and ship the tools that I sell, and that's just a small-potatoes hobby.

You specialize in one thing on there, or sell all kinds of stuff?

Oh,and BTW...it`s not as easy as all of the non-sellers think it is. It is alot of work. I am constantly out looking for things,cleaning items,researching,driving,packing,shipping,etc,etc. Honestly,you might be better off with a "real" job,but that`s not me...I HATE working for other people,i am happier making less money working for myself.

 

[treasureseeker]

FoMoCoPower:
I read a lot of the classifies to see what items go for on here compared to eBay and to me it looks like the vintage tools do better on here and Craftsman and Snap on do better on eBay. I just started selling again on EBay and the vintage tools I have had got a poor response but some new Craftsman items that they don’t see every day got lots of bids.

 

[blarf]

Why didnt you use paypal?

Because Paypal offers all of zero protection. If you paid with a money order, start a fraud inquiry with the USPS. They take mail fraud fairly seriously.

 

[FoMoCoPower]

Bull,mostly just things that I know about....but I know alot,lol. Generally mostly automotive type stuff,tools,vintage things,etc.

http://stores.ebay.com/xjwagoneer

 

[Boiler]

I've had very good luck on ebay and so far on here, as a buyer and as a seller. As a seller I've had more problems with UPS than anything. They can destroy your item and if they can find anything wrong with your packaging, they will deny your insurance claims.

As far as a buyer, I've bought some things that had some really favorable pictures taken, meaning that they had some irregularities or flaws that you couldn't see or see well. Mostly though things have been fine. I try not to buy anything that is for sale in quantity, ie, 10 listings of the same item. Basically from the drop-ship type guys.

Also, every new seller has to start somewhere. You can usually tell who cares about their reputation and who doesn't. I usually try to give a very thorough description in ebay, little tougher to do it here if you're selling many items. But if someone asks me a question I'll usually make sure they get a very complete answer.

I too don't always ship next day. I only pack at night, so if you pay me after a certain point at night, I'll pack it the next night. Also sometimes stuff happens where I can't work one night, as I have a family. I try not to ever skip packing stuff for more than one night though.

All this said, there will always be people that will try to get something for nothing, or sell you an item for more than its worth, or just plain steal your money. I'm not sure why so many are so afraid of paypal. It is very convenient and much safer than other payment methods. I won't take anything BUT paypal. Its just so much easier because of the shipping tools and stuff. Totally worth 3% to me to have it all organized and ready to go. For me, time is money, and I also can't have cash ******* in items waiting for snail mail and for check clearing. Hobby sellers don't have bankrolls...

 

[Bolster]

While we're on the topic, my (many) dealings here on GJ have been outstandingly positive. I was just musing on that the other day...seems you get waaay more honesty here than on flea bay. Nobody sells you broken stuff and then pretends they didn't know.

Packing is usually outstanding. GJers really know how to pack. Rickster sets the bar high.

Worst that happened to me here was bought a set of a certain tool, and discovered there were owner markings on each piece (undisclosed). Not a big enough deal to even complain about...if that's the worst that happens I'll be thrilled.

Many times people have added surprise freebies into the tools I've bought. And sometimes guys will send me stuff just because they know I like it, and won't take any payment at all (most recently, Jabberwoki...thanks, bro!)

If I had a tool show up that was not what I expected or wanted, I'd ask to return it. And that goes for anyone I sell to...if you don't like it just send it back. Shipping's on you, but the refund is on me (unless I screwed up, in which case even shipping would be refunded).

I kind of feel that selling and buying here at GJ is like selling and buying from relatives.

Longwinded answer, but the short answer is: no, no bad deals on GJ yet.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

I've got some cred on other sites, just not here (yet). I'm the same user name over on fleabay as well as a couple of gun sites. Nuthin' but positive feedback. Not all newbies are crooks.

Never said that. Not in the least. I did say that if someone vouched for a newbie, that was different.

Welcome!

 

[ImportTuner]

I've had very good experiences here on the GJ classifieds .. just got ripped off on eBay though .. bought a Wiss (USA) sheet metal cutters and after almost a month, nothing and the seller does not respond to emails ..

 

[Wanna Ride]

Because Paypal offers all of zero protection. If you paid with a money order, start a fraud inquiry with the USPS. They take mail fraud fairly seriously.

Interesting. I was always under the impression that Paypal did offer buyer protection. That's the biggest reason that I only accept Paypal as a seller. I always thought it protected both parties, as it offers documentation that payment was sent, and received. I thought I was doing the right thing. I mean afterall, the seller pays the fee for the transaction, I know I always have.

What payment is best for buyer and seller?

I haven't been a member here long, and I've sold several things to members. In fact several of them have left positive feedback for me, right in the original thread. That seems to help.

I've found that one of the most important things to do, is maintain good communication. Answer the private messages in a timely manner, post good, clear pics, and I ALWAYS send the buyer the USPS tracking number.

FedEx or UPS might be better, but it's nearly impossible for me to ship through them because of my situation. I work two hours from where I live, so it takes a lot of time each day to commute. As with most post offices, they're closed before I get home, but I still manage to get my stuff shipped out quickly. And I do know that the USPS tracking system isn't updated as frequently as it should be either.

Bottom line is, be reasonable, and treat people fairly.

As a seller, it's aggravating that people say, "I'll take it" and then two days later you send them another pm and they tell you they changed their mind. Or they just don't answer you at all. Some folks just want to beat you up on prices and shipping. If you told them you'd sell them a sack of $20 bills for $10, they want to offer you $5 instead. Sellers shouldn't all get a bad rep.

As for the guy who complained about the tools being wrapped in a dogfood bag, wh ocares? as long as you get your stuff and the seller attempted to protect the item. Some folks think that all sellers are supposed to be equipped like the amazon.com shipping department.

OK, I'm done with my rant. But remember it's a two-way street and there's at least as many bad buyers as there are bad sellers.

To everyone that has bought from me here, on Garage Journal... thank you.
You have all been pleasant to work with, and I look forward to working with others as well.

 

[t100]

I've had nothing good transactions through GJ members, both as buyer and seller.

thou, I rarely deal with anybody with less than 200 posts.

 

[FoMoCoPower]

Bolster reminded me of the "bad" experience I had on here. Sold a guy a vise,and I took it apart to fit it into a flat rate box as per his request. Guy recieves it,then tells me he wants his money back for the "paper weight" I sold him. He told me that the main screw on the bottom was damaged and would not thread into the vise body. That was real funny because it came apart with zero problems,and I screwed that piece into the main body so it wouldn`t rattle around during shipment,it went back in very smoothly.

I know there was nothing wrong with it when it left here,but insisted the threads were completely stripped/cross-threaded.Against my own feelings,I said sure,send it back and I will give you the refund. Then his story changed,he wanted me to refund his money and let him keep it,because maybe he could find a new screw. I refused.

I know damn well the guy cross-threaded the screw trying to put the vise back together and tried pawning off his mistake onto me. Thats bad business.

 

[Wanna Ride]

I know there was nothing wrong with it when it left here,but insisted the threads were completely stripped/cross-threaded.Against my own feelings,I said sure,send it back and I will give you the refund. Then his story changed,he wanted me to refund his money and let him keep it,because maybe he could find a new screw. I refused.

I know damn well the guy cross-threaded the screw trying to put the vise back together and tried pawning off his mistake onto me. Thats bad business.

Unfortunately, it happens.

 

[sselander]

maybe take pics before you send it?

digital cameras with large cards are cheap enough now

 

[Wanna Ride]

maybe take pics before you send it?

digital cameras with large cards are cheap enough now

You're right, cards are inexpensive. I ALWAYS take plenty of pics.

 

[ngk22r]

I prefer to sell, buy and trade here at GJ, lucky for me I have had a great experience here.

FoMoCoPower for one is great to deal with, and all the other people I have delt with too.

Ebay is ok, had one bad nutjob who claimed I charged too much for shipping and was trying to swindle money from me. Which led me to have to put a long disclaimer on each of my auctions, and I had a few people on ebay take a week or more to try to pay me when I put in the auction "payment must be paid with in "X" days or item will be relisted".

Ebay seems to be riddled with those ready to scam, but here, even if I dont know you personally, I still feel that people here are more trustworthy and friendly to deal with.

Thanks to those who make it great to be here!!!

 

[rodm1]

no, money order. the person has received and confirmed it, now I get the maybe ship today BS. I sent this person the money when I said I would.
I may just stick to flea bay, this *****

Money order from the Post office? If sow fill a complant with them. They will place a visit to the crook.

 

[Bull]

Money order from the Post office? If sow fill a complant with them. They will place a visit to the crook.

Like I said, I really don't think this is the case! Seller reports he just received the MO on Saturday.

 

[Hiball]

This thread should have been deleted from the get go.. There is nothing but unimformed accusations and opininions being thrown around. The classifieds I'm sure where never designed to be a retail outlet, it was implemented to allow members to swap tools amongst each other. If the member did just receive the money order on Saturday the Op needs to calm down. It's great that he has 100% feedback at eBay, but as you stated that's your job. Not everyone gets to sit at home during the day and send packages. What a joke...

 

[mrholeshot]

Paypal protects both buyer and seller. I have been covered by paypal on both ends.
Great customer service in my opinion.

********!!!!! they don;t protect the seller. I sold a vintage guitar to some douchebag and he didn;t like that paticular sound ( I only warranty for stucutual defects and mistakes in my listings) he filed a complaint with ebay and PayPal (AKA ebay) so they ruked in his favor (thats fine just make sure my vintage gibson shows back up in the same condition) As soon as I signed for the package they issued him the refund. He had put some POS Harmony guitar in a newer case and kept my guitar. I'm screwed so I just told ebay and PayPal goodbye. I've been a member for over 10 years, have 100% seller feedback (Thats tough selling Muscle cars, Hot rods and vintage guitars) I had a feedback of 832 and he had a feedback of 4. I'm going to make a trip to Florida to recover my guitar. Can't disclose the detail but ebay and Paypal can kiss my big fat *** goodbye

 

[Jeff]

I've had only one purchasing experience on GJ and everything worked well. Consequently I've also had a good trading experience here as well. In general I think I would trust most people on GJ, but I would be somewhat leery of brand new members.

With regards to eBay, I've been a member since 1998. I've seen the good, the bad, and the idiotic. In the beginning I accepted money orders, checks (until cleared), cash, and gold. I did rather well during the first 5 years. Then things got out of hand with the scammers. Now I only accept PayPal or cash. And yes, some people still deal in cash only.

 

[Jeff]

********!!!!! they don;t protect the seller. I sold a vintage guitar to some douchebag and he didn;t like that paticular sound ( I only warranty for stucutual defects and mistakes in my listings) he filed a complaint with ebay and PayPal (AKA ebay) so they ruked in his favor (thats fine just make sure my vintage gibson shows back up in the same condition) As soon as I signed for the package they issued him the refund. He had put some POS Harmony guitar in a newer case and kept my guitar. I'm screwed so I just told ebay and PayPal goodbye. I've been a member for over 10 years, have 100% seller feedback (Thats tough selling Muscle cars, Hot rods and vintage guitars) I had a feedback of 832 and he had a feedback of 4. I'm going to make a trip to Florida to recover my guitar. Can't disclose the detail but ebay and Paypal can kiss my big fat *** goodbye

That *****. Luckily I've never been burnt like that. I'd be freakin' pissed off as well.

 

[Skyline]

********!!!!! they don;t protect the seller. I sold a vintage guitar to some douchebag and he didn;t like that paticular sound ( I only warranty for stucutual defects and mistakes in my listings) he filed a complaint with ebay and PayPal (AKA ebay) so they ruked in his favor (thats fine just make sure my vintage gibson shows back up in the same condition) As soon as I signed for the package they issued him the refund. He had put some POS Harmony guitar in a newer case and kept my guitar. I'm screwed so I just told ebay and PayPal goodbye. I've been a member for over 10 years, have 100% seller feedback (Thats tough selling Muscle cars, Hot rods and vintage guitars) I had a feedback of 832 and he had a feedback of 4. I'm going to make a trip to Florida to recover my guitar. Can't disclose the detail but ebay and Paypal can kiss my big fat *** goodbye

Did you discuss this situation with Paypal? What did they say?

 

[back2class]

Yeah, I despise ebay now...as a seler. Ok as a buyer for the most part. Somewhere ebay changed from a "community" to a giant online retailer/borg. My experience is over the last few years the scammers are there in great numbers now. I had 2 people rip me off there in the last year.

 

[eborcim]

Some ways to save yourself some ebay seller's grief is to not accept bids from those with questionable feedback, always figure insurance into the shipping price, document the product with pictures and description.

Online experiences: None bad for GJ. I've only had a 2.5 bad eBay experiences 1) early days of ebay guy took money for a floor jack and never shipped, 2) 3 yr ago guy shipped an Autometer Tach very poorly, and it arrived with a big dent in the trim ring, 0.5) recently a guy shipped a long ratchet in an envelope...all I got was the envelope. However it was insured so I claimed for twice what I paid. Just this week I had to call about an item purchased from a large auto restoration company. Was to arrive in 10 business days from purchase. 15 days came about and I called to find out UPS could not determine the shipping address to my work where they deliver every busisness day. Apparently A/B/C Lane is not the same as ABC Lane to a human..LOL It's supposed to arrive today.

 

[chadster1]

Like I said, I really don't think this is the case! Seller reports he just received the MO on Saturday.

He just received it Saturday? And its the week after a holiday weekend. And the seller is answering PM's.

Just what I thought........

 

[mrholeshot]

Did you discuss this situation with Paypal? What did they say?

Automated responses.Same with ebay. They get their cut regaurdless. Can't get a live person on the phone. It's a word agaist word situation with them and they protect the buyer. They are owned by ebay and ebay protects the buyer only and won't let the seller leave bad feedback. Use to you could judge a buyer by his feedback. Now if you do nothing but buy on ebay you will have nothing but 100% feedback.

 

[64merc]

I have had only one issue before. A ratchet fell out of the box and the buyer received an empty box, I had it insured and I sent a better ratchet in replacement.

Hey, if I remember correctly, I think that was me. Thanks for taking care of me. I'm glad it all worked out. BTW, I am willing to bet that someone in the USPS stole it.

I haven't done so in a while, but I've bought and sold items on GJ with no real issues. My personal opinion though, I would be careful with brand new members who register just to sell something.

As far as Ebay is concerned, I bought probably 50+ items recently and have had no problems there either. I've been lucky so far I guess.

 

[Lump]

eBay has apparently determined that fear about the seller's honesty is the number one reason why buyers are reluctant to buy items on eBay. So lately eBay has thrown a ton of energy into reassuring and protecting buyers, at the expense of sellers. That is why a buyer can leave any kind of feedback for sellers, but sellers can only leave positive feedback for buyers (I always chuckle to myself when a buyer brags that they have 100% positive feedback...So what?? It's the only kind sellers can give them!)

The same is true with PayPal. It definitely protects the buyer, but genuine fraud artists will use that to their advantage. They launch a new account with a new user name and password, then buy a few little items making prompt payment to establish the appearance of legitimacy, and then BOOM! They target an expensive item and buy it using PayPal, claim they never got it or that it was damaged, get a refund from PayPal, and then disappear. That is exactly what happened to Mrholeshot, I'll bet. And the seller can file an appeal with eBay and PayPal, who will "investigage" (what are they gonna do...drive out to the buyer's house and look at the guitar? No chance!) But then, in theory, if PayPal and/or eBay finally determines that a buyer has been through more than one of these type deals, they throw him/her off of eBay.

But that doesn't help the defrauded seller!

Frankly, eBay/PayPal understands this, but apparently can't figure out a way to really do anything about it...or doesn't care. I've been online on the eBay discussion forums with their people, and they seem to look at it as though we sellers are all full-time retailers, like Wal Mart or something...who appparently should expect some shrinkage through theft, etc, as a cost of doing business... Gee, how comforting!

This is why you will see many listings on eBay in which the seller states clearly in his auction that he will not accept bids from buyers with less than a certain amount of feedback transactions. Nearly all fraudulent buyers have only a very few feedbacks, with a relatively new account.