So I'm selling some stuff on ebay, and today I notice that somebody used the 'buy it now' option on one of me auctions. Then I noticed that I fucked up; I'm auctioning off a bunch of stuff, and used the 'sell similar item' function to create this auction after another one. Long story short: the item title is wrong, but the description is correct, with detailed description, contents, picture, etc. But the item title is wrong. Now, this all just happened, and I haven't even heard from the fellow back yet, but does anybody know what the ebay rules on this are? I couldn't find any, myself, and will probably wind up talking to their customer service people if the buyer winds up having trusted the title, and not the description.
I would say that the buyer and seller are still obligated to contact each other. If buyer never contacts you, then your mistake is irrelevant. You can leave negative feedback. If he contacts you and says he was going by the item title, then you have to let him off the hook. If everyone makes nice, then no one gets negative feedback. You could then re-list the item. You would wind up paying an extra re-listing fee, but it was your mistake in the first place. You can try asking ebay to refund your fee. I don't know if these are ebay rules, but I think this approach makes sense.
I guess we'll find out if he ever gets back to me. It might be worth noting, however, that he has zero feedback. Now, I don't put much stock in this, as everybody has to have their first auction before they'll have their first feedback. But it's not a good sign, even if it's not a bad one.
I force zero feedback users to email me before bidding. This is stated clearly in all of my auctions. Zero feedback users who do not comply have their bids cancelled and they are blacklisted from future bidding on any items I sell. Quite simply I have been screwed too many times by non paying bidders. Every time, it's a zero feedback user. I just got sick of it. The worst part is that eBay does not refund your listing fees, which is a load of BS in my opinion. Sucks to pay $4+ to list an expensive item and then have to eat the money when the bidder doesn't pay.
Ryan, Can you point me to some instructions on how to blacklist? I am intrigued by your ideas, and wish to subscribe to your newsletter. I may just incorporate that into all of my future auctions.
