Market place ETHICS (not rules) and the lack of!!

If a police investigation is opened up, can you guys then hand over IP addresses and such to a police officer without getting in trouble?

 

For the non-business paypal account, you can take a limited amount of CC transactions and take a higher fee for the privilege (don't remember the number). You are also limited to $500.00/month (last I checked anyhow) or they force you to upgrade to a Premier account. For small sales... outfits, heads, etc. it is fine, but full dolls can easily go over $500.00, and again, you would end up paying their 4-5% anyhow.

 

I'd like to know this too. Cause if I'm going to get no help from DoA, I have no case to open, really.

I still cant believe I got scammed on my first doll ever.

 

that is a good idea, i never thought about doing something like that, however i am a bit dubious about going back and adding it into my sale thread

as for the better offer thing, i don't think i could ever do that to someone, i think it's just mean, especially when you've already set a deal with someone else.

 

Unfortunately transactions will go wrong. As stated numerous times though, communication is the key. I've done a lot of buying on eBay and even when everything is fine, I prefer the seller to let me know what's happening. Did they get my payment, when will they ship the item and so on. In return, I will let them know I've received their product and wll be/or have posted feedback. If you've entered into a contract with a seller/buyer, I would think it not only rude but illegal to then sell the product to someone else, especially when money has already changed hands as in the post by andarton. I guess it's not only a case of buyer beware but also seller beware.

 

Just wanted to clarify. The feedback forum has been around for quite some time. The only new piece of the feedback subforum is that we now allow members to leave negative feedback for certain flakey transactions. We really encourage all members, buyers and sellers, to leave feedback for all transactions, good or bad. This helps other members who are doing their research before entering into a transaction.

 

I know I'm a little late on this one, but if you got stuck for $500, maybe it will help. Did you handle your transaction through Paypal? As much as I hate their fees, I love using them because they do have a fraud department. If you pay for an item through them and don't get your item, you can lodge a formal complaint and let them do the work. I've only had to use this once, but it was worth it and made me forgive them for all of the 4% fees they've collected from me over the years. Quick warning though: they do have a time limit on it, so make sure you report your problem in a timely fashion. (And good luck!!!!)

 

I agree If you dont have the money to spend dont say your buying things and get peoples hopes up and then make excuses it just shows the seller your irresponsible and they wont want to sell to people like that.

 

With regards to the Mods and the marketplace- I think that recent changes have been massively helpful. Users are now banned from the marketplace much faster for misbehaving, and while scams will always happen (not just here- it's a universal thing) I think that DoA is actually one of the better marketplaces on the net. I have frequented forums where no bad feedback is ever allowed, and members face no penalties at all for ripping people off, flaking out, or whatever.

 

I've encountered the occasional flaky "Oh I have to have that!" buyer who I contact about said sale and they then disappear. But for the most part I have had very good transactions in the marketplace so far. I do hear of a lot of bad/flaky transactions as of late and this does keep my guard up, but it won't stop me from buying & selling here.
I think for the most part these bad transactions are due to people getting greedy or having horrible manners where business is concerned. I can only say that as a frequent seller here it is a constant reminder to keep in touch with buyers and let them know right away when there is a hiccup in shipping time or something of the sort.
As for the PP fees thing...I simply won't buy from sellers offering items with PP fees tacked on to the final price. It's just my opinion, but it sours my excitement immediately when I see that "+ 4-5% PP fee" in the fine print. I close the thread. I don't charge them and I won't pay them. But there are plenty of other buyers out there who will, so no biggie I guess.

 

Regarding Feedback...

I've been on forums for many years. Feedback threads are very rarely accurate evaulations for sellers or buyers. And, negative feedback isn't always accurate because sometimes it is based on emotions rather than facts. I much prefer a reference-based system where people can contact people that someone has done business with via PM or a point system (Speed of Shipping: 4/5, Quality of item: 4/5, etc.) where people are required to evaluate the transaction.

I have left feedback on DOA for one item in all the three years (granted, I don't buy much either), because the seller is establishing herself as a clothing-artist (her work is very creative so seamstress doesn't fit in her case). But, for the most part, I don't leave feedback nor do I expect it to be left for me. As a thank you to sellers I do let them know the item is received, how I feel about it and I try to post pictures in my Flickr - especially for handmade items - with a reference to them to help advertise them as reliable sellers.

After all these years and with all these members, I'm very surprised that DOA doesn't have its own auction site (for a fee per item sold) that members pay to use similar to Ebay for doll-related items to help pay for this site. Currently, there are over 10,000 active members. Something like that could help eliminate flaky buyers and sellers since it could operate in a similar fashion to Ebay where a purchase is a contract.

 

The main thing for me..

Never ever tell me about your problems. EVER. I don't want to know about your sick kid or your Grannie. I hate that. It disgusts me to think that someone might lie about illness to cover up their flaky behavior, and if they are dealing with an illness well, I am not your friend so don't tell me about it. It is not my business and I don't want you to make it my business.

It is very childish to expect a stranger you are doing business with to care about your problems. Just give them the facts and tell them how you will solve the problem and move on. Fishing for sympathy is unacceptable in a business transaction. Period.

 

Unfortunately, something like that would require much more time and input from the moderators (who are not paid, remeber) and could open up a lot of legal issues for the people running the forum, which they probubly do not want. DoA is not a commercial site, so that would be a lot of extra responsibility for the owners and operators, with very little (if any) return.

Also, it would not eliminate scamming and flaking. Just as scammers avoide e-bay, all it would do is drive them off to other sites with marketplaces like this one. And unfortunately, an aweful lot of buyers and sellers would jump ship too, because one of the great things about the DoA marketplace is that you *don't* have to pay to use it. So really, all we would be doing would be killing the marketplace here, and shifting it- problems and all- to somewhere else.

 

elphsnt DoA did try to have a more auction styled marketplace a few years ago and it was met with great resistance from many members (although I thought it was awesome ). I think that coupled with the reasons guide stated make it hard for DoA to have such a marketplace.

Unfortunately, you have to take the good with bad on DoA and I think the mods have done the best they can to make it a safe place to trade, but ultimately it is buyer (and seller) beware.

 

I believe paypal fees are necessary when using paypal, you shouldnt have to lose money on a sale because someone is to stubborn to pay the paypal fee. Course I give the option of paying personal with a balance payment which will not charge you any fees.

 

Personally, I feel that sellers should work paypal fees into their asking price if they intend to charge them. Mainly becuase I hate agreeing to buy something, only to be asked to pay something extra once the deal is done.

I have less of an issue with it when the seller states in the thread that they charge the fees, but if they don't state it, then it really gets up my nose.

 

It is also against Paypal's policy to ask for the Fee, at least, on the US continent.

I don't' know why Sellers ask for this when they know they should have bumped up their price just a little.
Sellers who ask me after I had agreed to buy the Item, I report them to Paypal. Or open a dispute.

Asking for paypal fees Is NOT necessary, I feel that you shouldn't have to pay for them just to save the seller a dollar.

 

Yes they should say it in the thread thats important.

 

I think people should read your thread through and see if it mentions the fee before you purchase anything and also give them the option of balance payment with personal.