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

I don't know how Canada Post works, but in the US you can put Delivery Confirmation (which has tracking and proof the package was sent) for under $1 usually. I very rarely send a package without it (very small, inexpensive items sometimes go without it). For larger or more expensive items, I just won't send them without insurance and tracking, even if it's International. If an overseas buyer requests uninsured, non-tracked cheaper shipping on an expensive item, I tell them that I'm sorry but I won't do that.

It really is best for everyone involved to have tracking on shipping, but the shipping price does need to be disclosed before the sale is agreed upon or an order is placed.

 

There have been some scams where sellers have sent things- with tracking and insurance but NOTHING in the package. When the buyer complains to Paypal, the seller has proof they sent it and then what can the buyer do? That's even scarier!

 

I think communication is the most important thing, just to make sure the buyer and seller are on the same page, even little things like going away for a weekend, or that you'll only be able to pay once you get home from school, etc.
Make sure the information is really clear, especially sellers when laying out the sales terms, so that there's no room for misinformation. Plenty of pictures help too, with dates and names, etc.

 

Hi! I open this thread because resently I was trying to buy a second hand doll, and I make a offert to the seller and he told for sure that he will sell me the doll, he told this : "I have decided that I will definitely sell him to you" /" He's all yours!" , and the he give me his paypal address for make the payment, I was really excited and so happy, but then he send an other message and told me that he have a best offert and that the other buyer will be pay him right away.

Soo~ my question is...is this fair? I know and I understand that this person need the money, but I think that is not ethical, is not right. My opinion is before taking a decicion he must had to waited for more offers and not disillusioned me this way.

What you think? This same thing happend to you ?, If you will be in my place, what would you do ? ;__;

 

Sucks, but it happens. I would put the seller on my own personal blacklist and never buy anything he's selling again.

There really isn't much you can do about it except vow to not buy from that person again...it's shady, yeah, and not fair, but still completely legal.

 

Unfortunately that does seem to happen in this hobby... here's a thread with some similar situations. http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?t=203103

A situation like that happened to a friend of mine once... she had already made layaway payments on a doll, and it was sold out from under her to someone who could pay in full. Her payments were refunded, but it was still a horrible situation. (And unfortunately, that was back in the days before the feedback area. )

 

I find it that sellers generally don't always handle offers very well. When you put a listing that says "BIN this much (or make an offer)", you gotta be prepared to answering people who make those offers in a polite and timely manner. And once you accept one, it's a sealed deal.

However some don't bother answering to PMs from people who offer not enough. Some get offended by offers that are too low in their opinion. Why bother putting that "make an offer" line there at all then?

You gotta understand that when you go to marketplace, you're not dealing with professional salesmen. You're dealing with people who might have no clue whatsoever about sales etiquette and what is ethical when it comes to sales. Surely, by far not all are like that, but nothing guarantees that you won't bump onto one sooner or later. That's just something you gotta be ready to deal with and hope for the best or stick to buying from companies.

And when ugly things happen (like with your seller pulling off the deal, because they got a better offer), then it's best to shrug and walk away. It's not worth it stressing about it. Who knows, maybe it will even work out better for you in the end?

 

Agreed! Having a doll sold from under you seems to be happening more and more lately. I've just had this happen again and from a seller I would have never expected it from. I was really surprised this person behave like that, she's supposed to be on of the "good" ones. The way I see it, if you are going to be that rude to people then you don't need to be getting money from those people. Just shrug it off and move on.

 

i don't have access to the DOA marketplace yet, but i sell on other doll forums (and have great feedback and mostly great experiences!).

but, as a seller it can be really frustrating when people message to buy items and then don't follow through.... it's happened to me a lot (though, never on this forum, as like i said, no access yet).

i too believe that once you message to ask for something, if it's available, you should be buying it... sob stories aren't in any way appropriate, unless some sort of really serious emergency has come up!

 

wow, i've never heard of anything like that but that's incredibly scary! (and really sleazy to even come up with that kind of trick -- how awful!)

 

Looking through the thread, what I don't quite understand is why, exactly, is it disallowed to leave feedback on people back out paying (aka flakes)? There is a lot more to the whole transaction other than payment, after all. If someone constantly backs out of deals, other people who want to make business with them really should be aware of it @_@.

 

I don't think any seller would hate you if you find out that you don't wish/can't afford to by the item anyway.
Of course seller will be a bit sad that he/she will have to look for another buyer, but it's way better than seller not knowing why the money wont come. It saves a bit time.

But it's pretty stupid and quite rude if someone cansel one buy, because of money trouble, and start buying something else under the very nose of the first buyer.

 

I hate when people do that. I've had on many occasions, put something up for sale, had someone e-mail me and say they'll take it, we make arrangements for them to come pick it up, exchange numbers, talk several times, they say they are coming to get it TODAY, then you never hear from them again. I don't get it. How can you go from "I'll pick it up today", to just ... not wanting it any more and then don't even have the decency to say so >_< Gah, people annoy me! :P I also don't get why people say they'll take something, when they don't have the money for it, then continue to ask you to hold it until they get paid, then when they do, they still don't have money and ask you to hold it longer, then just never buy it, all the while you're telling other interested buyers that someone is already wanting it. lol ... sorry, bit of a rant there I guess It's definitely not right though, to jerk someone around like that =/

 

Something that has made me mad is when someone tells you that the trade deal is on, and then they flake out and decide that they want to keep it. Luckily this didn't happen to me, but it happened to a friend!

 

I dont have access yet to the market place so have never bought or sold here, but i have done many transactions on other dolls forums.

Not sure if you guys do this as i did\'nt see anyone had wrote it in this thread or maybe its not allowed here? But what most people do on the other doll forums when selling is ask for a non refundable deposit if someone asks for layway or hold on a doll, i usually ask for just under a quater of the full asking price, of course the buyer has to agree to the non refundable deposit but most genuine buyers are unconcerned by it, and whilst this is no guarantee a person wont their change their mind its is far more unlikely that they will or they loose money. In all the deals i have done over the years using this method no one has ever backed out of a transaction.

I just want to add also that a little communication goes a longggg way on the part of the seller and the buyer, nothing more frutrating than lack of communication, this is my pet peeve!

 

Lack of communication REALLY gets up my nose. I have been LIED to by a seller before, who was trying to save face. This really annoys me.
We're all in the same hobby, all in the same proverbial boat, why not just be honest with each other?

 

I really hate it when someone promises you a doll and you get all excitedand ready to pay, then the seller says 'actually no, I'm gonna sell to someone else instead.' Not naming names but this happened to me when I was looking to buy a Kuuta.

I spent a lot of time and discussion to work out a short layaway (just 3 weeks maximum was all I needed) and we had it all cleared. I agreed I would pay my first payment and the deposit the next day. I logged on in the morning, came to check my PM's before sending the money and lo and behold, there was a pm. The seller was suddenly saying the layaway was too long and she was selling it to someone else instead who could pay in one lump sum.

I was really upset being treated like that. If you would rather have instant payment instead of layaway then why even bother offering it, working out a whole set layaway plan only to turn around and say 'Actually, no' In my opinion that's just silly.

I also hate bad communicators. I've sold loads of clothes and shoes lately and have received feedback for less then half of the items. Most people don't even pm me to let me know when the item has arrived. Its really sad I think.

 

As a buyer, I have avoided some problems by following some rules. Not everyone will find them useful, but they have helped me.

-- I only do the equivalent of Buy It Now, with cash in hand. I can do this because I don't buy limiteds, so this won't work for everyone. No layaways. Only via Paypal, too.

--I don't buy (or PM) sellers who have threads with a) no pictures, b) blurry pictures, c) store pictures or d) unclear written descriptions/sale terms, or e)Make Me An Offer.

Right there that eliminates inexperienced, overly young, or unsure sellers, or the rare scam artist who doesn't have the item. I like pix with the seller's name on a card with the item if it is over 50.00.

I check that the price isn't more than if I had bought it factory-fresh from overseas. You'd be surprised how often sellers want more than the "going rate". But I always assume that is because the item has features I don't know about, and that the seller knows what they are doing..I just don't buy the item.


I also don't buy 2nd-hand outside the US and Canada, so there is tracking available.

Finally, because I don't buy limiteds, I assume that I can wait and buy later, so if a sale looks iffy, I move on.

That said, I have had only good experiences in the DoA marketplace.

 

Because this is a hobby and most people here are nice, the marketplace is seen by some as a playground, so it's ok not to be "professional" and not to follow some simple ethic rules. The anonymity of internet also adds to the situation.

I don't sell things in the marketplace but when I buy something I only do it if I have the money, I pay as soon as I get the paypal address from the seller and I always send a PM when the item arrives, if a problem were to come up the seller would be informed immediately. It's not that hard