Marketplace Etiquette

Also if someone's selling something and haven't been on since they posted the item (I'm talking like MONTHS and MONTHS in between like over six months) with the item still listed for sale...Report it I say...Been there, done that, wasn't happy to wait almost a week and a half after sending a PM out only to realize they haven't been online in months. I didn't have any other way to contact the seller so I just left another PM stating I wasn't interested anymore.

 

oh good point I sometimes dig in "old" marketplace posts looking for hidden treasures... and have noticed that some threads really could be culled. (or is it 'pruned' in these things?) It is fairly easy to check too.... go to profiles and it will show a members last activity ^^.

 

Yeah that's what I like to do too and see what pops up. Unfortunately when I checked the member's last activity it was posting that thread. Sucked too it was a really cute tan BBB Isabella. =A= I need to save up for other things though so it's probably better I didn't get her in the end.

 

One of my pet peeves when it comes to MP etiquette is this sudden influx of people asking (and in some cases, demanding) to be paid via Personal Payment. A lot of buyers don't realise that this gives them absolutely no protection if the seller decides to run off with their money and actually, in my eyes, makes the seller look more shifty/dishonest because they're specifically requesting me to waive my buyer protection. I disagree with asking the buyer to pay the Paypal fees anyway (these should be factored into the price of the item, in my opinion, and is in many countries against Paypal's terms of use!) although I will cover them myself sometimes with sellers who are particularly pleasant and/or accommodating and I have made exceptions for very unique items that I really want, but most of the time if a sales thread states 'buyer must add paypal fees' I will go and look elsewhere for that item.

The biggie, though, and what I consider to be most dishonest of all is the people who wait until you say "yes I want the item, where do I send my money?" and then say "oh by the way, you have to add paypal fees." After that I feel obliged to buy the item or risk flaky feedback but it's really not on. At least if you're up front about it if I choose to buy from you even though you charge fees that's my decision but adding them on afterwards is just sneaky and downright rude >:[

That's my current gripe with the MP anyway

I was fortunate to actually message someone and wait a long time for their reply about a doll I wanted but she did eventually get back to me and apologise that she'd been away for so long and although I ended up not buying the doll it did give me hope about keeping old threads in my subscription list!

 

the way I understood Paypal fees is that they are based on several different things like how (for example) "I" deal with Paypal... if i have a balance in my pp account no fees, if it goes onto my credit card ... fees... and so on. I'm not sure if different credit card and currency exchange directly affect this or not but still I would say not fair to the seller to try and guess what is fair to tack onto a price when it isn't fixed fees. Also, the idea of a purchaser essentially saying you the seller will have to put out a cash sum for the privilege of selling it? Now that to me is weird. I always factor in the fees as part of the price I pay. It's like the fact that for the privilege of getting something that I ordinarily would not be able too "I" am the one to pay.... I don't mind (reasonable) interest on my credit card... it's what I have to do to be able to make large purchases and NOT have to pay up front. Same idea to me. I hope that ramble made 'some' sense.

 

Yeah I tried really hard to resist this, but no, it's not happening because I see this more and more on the MP's now and it's just...no. I'll try not to hijack this thread into a paypal debate, but...

Paypal's terms and conditions CLEARLY STATE that the fees are THE SELLERS to pay. You get them because you are RECEIVING money through the Paypal system, the buyer/sender of the cash is not charged a fee during a GOODS transaction. This isn't buyers just being pernickity here, this is the ToS you signed up for when you registered to use paypal as a service. Not only this, but in some countries (mine, for example), it is actually against international trading law for a buyer to be charged these fees on top of the agreed amount of the sale. Now, you (general you) can see the whole debacle any way you want, but the LAW (in some countries) and also the ToS of the service you're using is really pretty crystal clear on the whole topic, which is why now, more and more buyers (myself HEAVILY INCLUDED) will walk away from any sale where fees are an arbitrarily tacked on percentage over the top of the set amount agreed upon. Breaking the ToS in that way could very well lead to Paypal terminating your account too, so all those buyers out there who get stiffed for the fees? REPORT THE SELLER. Easiest way to get this ridiculous rubbish dealt with once and for all.

Also, if you're idiot enough to pay personal payments for a purchase of goods, well...good luck with that, because if something goes wrong, Paypal will laugh in your face and tell you it's your own fault for attempting to circumvent their ToS. You will have ZERO comeback should you have issues and when you're dealing with the sums we trade in daily, sane people are going to WANT some safety measures in place.

Honestly, why this whole topic is still even a thing when it's BLATANTLY CLEAR is beyond me, yet here we are, still with people trying to extract extra money from their buyers...*boggled*

To get this back on track:
Feedback: People forget, give them a nudge, no one minds if you ask politely and life gets in the way as many others have said!
Everything XpHoBiaX said is also totally accurate *nod*

 

I just sorta add the fees in the asking price. But I rarely sell anyway.

 

I'm lucky when I bought my Song off the marketplace his seller was so sweet and was so much fun to talk to. Especially since he was my big birthday present from my mom it made it even better that she was willing to accommodate our schedule and gave us plenty of time to pay it. Another thing I have issue with is sellers who agree to a layaway and then say: "Oh but in only two installments and only able to do it for a week." or something like that and then threatening if even one payment is missed to basically run off with your money and sell the thing to someone else. I get some people get flaky with layaway's but I was always careful to do it I almost paid one of my payments the day BEFORE payment day because I was hyper alert about how much longer I needed and how much I had left to pay. Sometimes people just DON'T have the means to get the funds quickly like that and layaway last I checked was there to give buyers a little more time to get the funds in installments...Not feeling like their gonna have someone run off with their money and the doll their trying to buy.

 

I've only bought one thing in the Marketplace,and the seller was great about answering my questions and giving me updates about shipping. I wouldn't buy from a seller if they couldn't take the time to answer questions and communicate.

 

It's the seller's right to dictate the terms of their layaway, should they be so generous as to offer it, and any buyer agreeing to purchase that item is agreeing to honor those terms. If your (general you in effect) finances don't fit with a certain seller's layaway terms, then that's really just too bad and you'll either have to find a way to make your finances work if you really want that item or save up and wait for another one to come available. If the terms state that you forfeit your layaway upon missing a payment, then those are the terms you agreed to, and you knew the consequences. If the terms stated that your layaway deposit was non-refundable, then you knew that going in and knew that regardless of whether you completed the layaway or not, that portion of your money would not be coming back to you. I've found that a lot of sellers will be willing to work with a buyer on due dates if communication is kept open and cordial -- shit happens to the best of us and all that -- but if a buyer misses a payment without any warning, reason, or communication? That is not cool. Layaways are contracts, just as all purchases are; both parties are agreeing to the terms of that contract, and both parties are aware of what happens should that contract be breached.

Sellers have the right to cover their asses by dictating the terms of their sales. Those terms may not work for everyone, but that's just the way life rolls.

 

Hey that was just my opinion...I get it but doesn't mean I have to like it and I have passed up on dolls because of that type of layaway option.

 

The one thing I can't stand right now is rudeness.
I have a query. If I ask a question you should be polite to me because I can always go somewhere else if you don't reply or are rude.
I am a bidder. I bidded yes...but I can always cancel bid.
I am a buyer. I clicked the buy button but I can still cancel.
I paid you yes. But you should still be polite because I can be a returning customer.

I bought from someone before and because it was a rather nice experience I decided to buy from her again. I clicked the button first but I asked if I could have a PHOTOCOPY of the certificate - Question 1. She said there is none and I asked whether she meant the doll didn't come with one or she wasn't going to send it - Question 2. She tried explaining to me blah blah blah. It didn't add up so I commented on that - Question 3. By her 3rd answer, she obviously decided I wasn't worth the trouble and her reply came back really rude. Okay...right. I know whom NOT to buy from again.

This was all done in posts and not private messages.

 

Personally, I want to see better representation of the condition of your dolls/items you're selling. I'd much rather see someone be beyond honest about the condition ("It has scratches and staining in an area you'll never see, but you should know about this anyway" vs "it's in perfect condition" when there's visible damage), and damage doesn't always rule out a purchase--damaged dolls sometimes seem to sell faster than the ones in good shape. When in doubt, go over every bit of that doll with a fine-toothed comb and leave nothing out!

Along with that, better photos are a definite necessity. I've been looking at some listings of dolls lately... one has four headshots and one "full body" shot that cuts off at the knees and has most of the doll covered in clothing. Another is listed as WS but looks NS in the photos. I've seen blurry photos, poor lighting, showing off only one part of the doll (are you hiding damage?), all kinds of things that prevent me from seeing details of what this doll actually looks like.

On the side of a seller... please don't message me on something that's not open for offers and try to talk me into giving it to you for half price plus free international shipping. That potential buyer didn't seem too happy when I said no, but I'm not going to effectively take a loss on selling something because you can't afford it! I'm honestly better off with it sitting unsold than I would have been on that attempted purchase. Save up for it, and think through what you're actually asking the buyer to do for you. Don't just wildly throw out low numbers and expect they're going to go along with it.

Oh lord... there's so much wrong with this here. Paypal fees are actually fairly straightforward; the main "fees based on source" comes from when you send a personal payment, not a standard payment. In a personal payment, if you use a credit card, fees are added on your end (the person sending the money). If you use a Paypal balance or a connected bank account, fees are typically not added on either end. It is in the Paypal TOS that it is the seller's responsibility to pay the fees when they are selling an item. They are deducted when the money is sent, and whatever the seller is asking should take those fees into account. You don't have to do complicated calculations, just say "I need $300 off this so I'll sell it for $350." As for the argument about paying interest on your credit card being "okay?" The store that accepted your credit card as payment also paid that company. They have fees to the credit card companies. All of them. The prices in the store take this into effect, as do many store policies ("Sorry, no Discover cards" "Sorry, you have to make a minimum purchase of $10 to use a credit card"). Just because you don't see them (which is also how it should be in a proper marketplace transaction) doesn't mean they're not there.

A seller should never be asking the buyer to add on Paypal fees, nor should they be attempting to circumvent them. Just like in a regular store, the fee should be part of the cost presented to the customer. I don't think I'd be interested in buying from a seller that told me to add in some Paypal fees, and I definitely wouldn't buy from one who asked me to send a personal payment. (As an aside to this, when I run group orders, I factor the Paypal fee for the participants--because I am NOT a seller and would take a loss without factoring it in--but I refuse to accept anything as a personal payment. I do not want to receive personal payments for anything secondhand that I list on the marketplace, either.)

 

I think honesty and communication are important. I get super offended if people do not spring for a tracking number or ask me to pay their paypal fees. I think tracking is important because it helps show people you are being honest, and really tracking isn't THAT expensive. The paypal fees are just part of being a good seller.

 

Oh the irony...

 

I agree with the people who are annoyed about sellers asking Paypal fees.

I don't mind paying the fees myself when I'm doing a split with someone, or if someone gives me an extremely long layaway, as numerous layaway payments will eat into their profit, but when someone tells me "please send me this much, and also send this much for paypal fees"... it annoys me. Seriously, why is it so hard to calculate paypal fees and add them to your asking price?

 

Another one here who disagree's with paypal fee's. As a seller if you want to charge paypal fee's, include them in your asking price! I will get completely turned off by a seller who states "Calculate paypal fee's yourself". Really??? You are the one selling the item, it is the sellers responsibility in my opinion to have the prices worked out themselves.

Communication is a big one! I have a rule that if I don't hear back within 3 days, I'm done. Obviously I have made the exception but as a general rule, 3 days is sufficient to reply.

 

I also find people who post their dolls for sale for several hundred dollars more than any other doll of the same sculpt slightly irritating. I sometimes find myself in a position where the only person who is selling a doll I want is selling it for an unusually high price... which seems okay as it's the only one until I notice that this seller is doing the same thing, when they are not the only one selling a doll.... and no matter how much I want it, I want to encourage this behavior even less.

 

Hee hee, I'm glad I wasn't the only one who noticed that and snickered!
As for etiquette - sheesh, people seem to be awfully rude as of late. Perhaps that is just in my transactions. I had one girl who had agreed on a trade with me. After multiple pm's about very specific shipping instructions, I had everything ready and the doll packed up to go. Then right before I headed out the door to the post office, she pm'd me and said to cancel the trade because she found someone closer to her and agreed to trade with her instead. WTF???
And on a recent doll I had purchased, the seller tried to pull a fast one on me with the paypal fees. We agreed on a price, but when they sent me their paypal information they added a "and make sure to add an additional $60 for paypal fees".
Huh?

 

I am having quite a hard time figuring out the PayPal fees issue, and how to actually calculate/pay it. I understand that its a percentage from the amount of money to be able to send the payment to the seller, and that it is the seller's responsibility to pay it. However, how does one pay them? Is it automatically deducted from the balance the buyer sends over PayPal? Let's use an example..

If an item is sold for $30, the buyer sends $30 through PayPal, right? The seller receives $29.60 for instance, the difference being the PayPal fees were deducted. That means the buyer didn't pay for them, but they are automatically deducted from the seller's 'profit'. Am I completely wrong or is it correct? Now this means that the buyer payed no PP fees, and it's ok. However the real issue comes, if I understood this correctly, when the amount of payment is greater, and therefore the fees are increased? This is where I get confused. If the PP fees are $20 after calculating the percentage, how does a seller pay for them if they are deducted automatically? You can't add $20 to the price because that's "asking to pay PP fees" and you're not supposed to do that. Someone please explain :')

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Now on to the topic, one thing that irks me is when people don't Graveyard their sold items correctly. I've contacted many sellers who's sales threads were marked as FS, only to have them tell me it was sold long ago. So please mark them as Finished/Please Graveyard when the item is sold, and do NOT just add the word "SOLD" to the title of the thread, because that 1 second of hope reading the beginning of the title and prefix is not a nice thing. I understand that it may be an issue with the forum as well, as one seller told me that she indeed marked it as finished, but it wasn't.. so I'm not sure if its because people forget or there is a bug going on.