Learn to buy and sell antiques and collectibles

Call me petty. . . My last negative for a buyer.

I left my last negative feedback for a buyer last Wednesday.

The pest bought an auction that ended on 4-14. He asked me to add insurance to the invoice which I did, and he paid with PayPal on 4-17.

I shipped the item shipped on 4-18.

On 4-18 he sent me an email asking for a tracking number. I replied with an email saying I don't send tracking numbers because it isn't worth my time. I also told him if the item isn't delivered by 4-22, send me an email and I'll track it.

That simple response wasn't good enough for this paranoid prick. Over the next two days, he sent me 5 more emails asking for a tracking number.

Finally I sent him an email repeating what I said earlier and telling him if he emailed me again asking for a tracking number before April 22nd, I'd leave him negative feedback.

The package was delivered on 4-21. The buyer left me the following feedback:

"Great Condition, Original Shipping Box, NO TRACKING NUMBER SENT TO SELLER AS REQ."

Now I really don't want to play games with paranoid people, but this idea that sending tracking numbers is a requirement is crap. More on that later.

I looked at the guy's feedback and he has gotten over a dozen negatives from other sellers because he was a pest. He has a history of pestering eBay sellers wanting special treatment.

When he doesn't get his way, he leaves negative feedback for the sellers. He's been doing this for years.

The eBay feedback system was originally designed for buyers and sellers to comment on transactions. A way to warn others about problem individuals, and a way to point out people who are pleasant to deal with.

Somewhere along the line feedback became something to brag about. Buyers didn't like getting negative feedback when they acted poorly so as of this month, only buyers can leave negative feedback.

Let me tell you what's going to happen. The pest I mentioned before stopping leaving negatives for sellers who refuse to jump through his hoops.

I bet the reason he started just leaving snide comments in all capital letters in positive feedback was so he could vent his rage at being unable to force independent minded sellers to bend to his twisted will without risking reciprical negatives.

Now the desire to avoid retaliatory negative feedbacks is removed. Can you guess his reaction?

Of course you can -- he'll go back to leaving negatives for sellers who don't respond to his begging emails for special treatment.

I bet within a few months he causes so many problems for eBay sellers he gets thrown off for his behavior.

Go ahead call me petty for my actions. But while you're looking down at me think about how good it feels to tweak a deserving idiot a little bit.

As an aside. . . Don't think the tracking number has any value. It only shows the item is in the system or has been delivered to an address. In the two cases I had where boxes just disappeared in the mail, the tracking number gave no information.

The only value of the tracking number is to prevent scamming buyers from winning PayPal disputes by claiming the item was never received.

Tracking numbers are a seller protection tool. The only use a buyer has for a tracking number is to waste time checking to see if the item was really shipped so he can lower his level of paranoia.

Anyway, back to this pest. After I left him the negative he earned when he asked for a tracking number after I told him to wait until the package had been in the mail a few days, he send me a begging email to reconsider. I ignored it.

A day later, he filed a feedback withdrawal request with eBay, got my telephone number from eBay - I guess he didn't read the note with my number included inside the box I sent him - and sent me a long whining email asking me to withdrawl my feedback.

Rather than write to him, I decided to use him as an example and started writing this article.

Here's his whiney email:

Hello Again,,,I would like to know what really messed you up so much for you to leave ME Negative Feedback, as i paid Immediately, Asked for the Tracking Number, and YOU KNEW the Original Invoice WAS INCORRECT,,,hence I do not believe I deserve Negative Feedback, I left you Positive Feedback,,as I paid a fair price, sent the payment immediately, and needed to Track the Shipment on the US Postal WebSite..I have done nothing Wrong Sir, and i ask that you RETRACT your Negative Feelings you somehow have for me, and Please Change your mind. There are Better ways for sellers and buyers to Communicate, just look at the Ebay Suggestions and you will see they suggest better comminications etc will help. All I asked was a CORRECT and COMPLETE Invoice, and for the Tracking Number when you ship. You Make Me look like a NUT, as NOBODY would be expected to pay an incorrect bill, nor would you have the tracking number until after you ship, you please reconsider, as I speak the Truth, why not !!!

I haven't edited the email except to remove personal information.

I particularly like the part about me making him look like a nut. He did that on his own.

Here's a question for you. . .

Which of us do you think will sleep better tonight?

I'll give you a hint. If I wasn't using him as an example, he'd already be out of my thoughts.

Terry

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Terry Gibbs has taught over 7,000 people how to make a good living on eBay. Terry's most recent eBay instruction manual is The Auction Revolution . The Auction Revolution is your guide to eBay and beyond. Here on Iwantcollectibles.com, you will learn about buying and selling antiques and collectibles, and about eBay.