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Bluntly put, users have always been idiots regarding feedback.

To this day you can read "A+++ SELLER WOULD BUY FROM AGAIN THANK YOU SUPER FAST" on negative or neutral feedback.

I haven't sold anything there for years, and the horror stories of paypal chargebacks and whatnot have sort of put me off using it much these days aside from buying (which I've had issues with, but luckily they've been few and always ended up working out, not just because it's weighted to the buyers side, but because I was diligent and worked with people who were being reasonable where I could).

Man. I'm so glad I've never run into any of these issues. I've only sold 3 or 4 things on facebook, but never had an issue. The one time I had an issue with something I bought, I sent the seller a message, and they promptly took care of it.

Wow. Be careful out there, gents and ladies.

I sell rarely, but don't usually have issues. I try only selling in the states though.


As a buyer, nothing irritates me more than crappy packaging (well, outright fraud does, but I've only had that happen once). I have had awful packaging happen more than once. Heck, recently I bought some Armorcast trench pieces on auction, and the seller literally stacked them into a box, taped the box up and sent it to me. And, of course, pieces were chipped and one was outright broken (and not really repairable). This was his response:

"Well good sir first off I am sorry for the lack of quality shipping. When I received them that's how I got them and did not have them painted so I did not notice any paint chipping at all and thought when I sent them out there would not be an issue because I found the pieces to be quite durable. ... I have really no excuse for the lack of packaging materials and the one corner piece came to me broken as well and I apologize for not disclosing that in the listing."

Freaking idiot.

I'm old school.
I don't sell on ebay or any other online site.

I've arranged a couple of buys/sales online, but only with people I know and trust.

I'm tempted to sell some figures I have coming in a few months (part of a Kickstarter), and waver between using local markets like Craigslist/Kijiji, versus ebay. The latter would an order of magnitude more people who might buy, even if I just include the US and Canada, but as someone who hasn't sold in years and only has a 600'ish rating, I'm not sure I'm willing to put in all that extra time, effort and potentially money to deal with people trying to scam me for $20-200 in models.

Have to see how the local community seems to be developing and go from there.

Not sure if this has been covered but has saved my ass from eBay crooks. Always put in the item description. Sold as shown not responsible for shipping damages. Also add the disclaimer models can be damaged durring shipping.

Also never ship to another country it's more problems then it is worth.

cammy wrote:

 Howard A Treesong wrote:
I took to sending almost everything recorded. That costs a bomb when you go overseas but it's the only way to cover yourself. As is right I pass this cost onto the buyer but people are put off bidding because they don't want to pay high postage. Buyers complain about high postage afterwards even when it's stated up front on the auction. If I offer the choice of paying for recorded postage they usually pay cheap postage and then if it goes missing they expect me to cover the value from my own pocket. The seller takes all the risk.

So why should I ever offer them the choice? I always send recorded when selling miniatures. If you're not prepared to pay for the recorded delivery you're probably not a serious buyer anyway.

i agree, also i hate when people complain afterwards because the postage cost was less than the P&P cost.

If ii slung something in brown paper and posted it fair enought but i packeage everything OTT to ensure that nothing gets damaged by some hap hazard delivery guy. seriously i post something for say £5 and charge say £6 for postage and its clearly bubble wrapped, in a propper packaging box, and then inside there i have some space filler to ensure that the bubble wrapped items doesnt move in any direction and i get complained at! it cost me more than £1 on the packaging

Just point to ebay's T&C **if** the situation is actually as you describe.
You're indeed allowed to charge packing materials. You're explicitly NOT allowed to charge for your time to pack/send the item and yes, it is perfectly reasonable to complain if a seller does. As long as you're only charging actual/marginal/reasonable (e.g. not in any way more than it actually cost you!) costs for packing material you're completely within your rights. However, a quick pointer to ebay T&C with a quick example of a cost breakdown will generally suffice when a buyer complains.

 Bolognesus wrote:

cammy wrote:

 Howard A Treesong wrote:
I took to sending almost everything recorded. That costs a bomb when you go overseas but it's the only way to cover yourself. As is right I pass this cost onto the buyer but people are put off bidding because they don't want to pay high postage. Buyers complain about high postage afterwards even when it's stated up front on the auction. If I offer the choice of paying for recorded postage they usually pay cheap postage and then if it goes missing they expect me to cover the value from my own pocket. The seller takes all the risk.

So why should I ever offer them the choice? I always send recorded when selling miniatures. If you're not prepared to pay for the recorded delivery you're probably not a serious buyer anyway.

i agree, also i hate when people complain afterwards because the postage cost was less than the P&P cost.

If ii slung something in brown paper and posted it fair enought but i packeage everything OTT to ensure that nothing gets damaged by some hap hazard delivery guy. seriously i post something for say £5 and charge say £6 for postage and its clearly bubble wrapped, in a propper packaging box, and then inside there i have some space filler to ensure that the bubble wrapped items doesnt move in any direction and i get complained at! it cost me more than £1 on the packaging

Just point to ebay's T&C **if** the situation is actually as you describe.
You're indeed allowed to charge packing materials. You're explicitly NOT allowed to charge for your time to pack/send the item and yes, it is perfectly reasonable to complain if a seller does. As long as you're only charging actual/marginal/reasonable (e.g. not in any way more than it actually cost you!) costs for packing material you're completely within your rights. However, a quick pointer to ebay T&C with a quick example of a cost breakdown will generally suffice when a buyer complains.

what a load. the shipping charge is listed clearly. if i dont like how much they charge for shipping i dont buy it. i wouldnt buy it then whine about it later, that's just being a dumbass.

^amen to that.

 lord_blackfang wrote:
As a long-time buyer, I would just like to say that things do get lost or trashed in the post. A lot. And it's a pretty gakky attitude to assume that anyone who wants to get his money's worth is trying to rip you off.

As a seller you need to realize that this is how packages are handled in transit, and pack accordingly.

Wow, this guy looks like he went through the Airforce packaging academy of, " Eh, isn't my junk". Sadly I've worked at Fedex before and can vouch that yes, sometimes this is how packages are handled. Beware, they are dropped, they are tossed, they are stepped on even. It isn't always but in the rush of things, sometimes it happens. The worst is when a large package just flat out crushes a smaller one in shiping. Which always happens. Smaller packages will be jammed between larger ones, they will be crammed into the truck belly and they will end up rolling about on a conveyor belt and smashed up against something. Nature of the beast I suppose.

It's for these reasons listed that I prefer to use dakka swap shop and meet someone locally who is interested in what I have to sell. I have terrible luck and would probably get shafted the first time I attempt to sell off ebay.

How about unethical buyers in general?

I have had more then 1 customer order a large amount of items (my last one was $130 worth of Chapterhouse products). Then out of the blue, put in a credit card dispute for the purchase, AFTER the product was delivered (we use tracking on all US orders).

The last guy who did this, actually last week, never contacted me with any issues etc. Just BAM, paypal said they disputed the purchase, and -$130 from our account.

I emailed the customer why they disputed the transaction, and he said someone had hacked into his paypal account and ordered a lot of stuff. I replied back asking, "So you dont play warhammer 40K or with miniature games?", I never heard back from him.

Funnily enough, the guy has a 40k commission website, has gaming as a hobby on his facebook page, and also has a criminal record (I saw his mug shot when I googled imaged his name..).

So its much worst for us business owners, we are exposed to shady buyers too often.

If anyone happens to live near Marysville, WA, let me know, you probably know the guy and I wonder if hes using Chapterhouse products on the gaming table...