Hole In The Bucket

Last night I see "Messages (1)" above my ebay dashboard, and think "Here we go again" Yup. I sent a suitcase to somebody in Oregon, they were not happy with how I packed it, and wanted a 30% refund. I told them I've shipped 4 or 5 suitcases in the same manner, and never had a problem til now but refunded it. Argh.

Another Fuckin' Love Song

Ah ebay. Bastion of idiots. I love thee.
This idiot bought a 300+ piece Polly Pocket lot, including 8 playsets and various dolls and clothes pieces. I charged her $15 and change because on pre-weigh in the box weighed 14 pounds.

When I packed the box, it weighed 16 pounds, but I did not like how flimsy it seemed, so I bought another box to double box it with. It cost me $2.77. When I went to the post office it cost me ANOTHER $2.29 because the box was 4 pounds overweight. Meanwhile the woman bitched and moaned about "Where was her box?" I know from experience that people like that are just looking for shit to bitch about.

Then, last night I get this e-mail:
"why did you charge me so much for shipping when it only cost 2.29 to ship because you went parcel post.which is why it took so long to get here.they don't send it out until a truck is filled with parcel mail which takes a week or more.am i going to get the other 13 dollars back?"

This idiot thinks I mailed a 20 pound box from Mass to Indiana for $2.29. Yup.

I reply with:
"No. It cost me an EXTRA $2.29. When your weight is off at the post office they charge you there and add the extra postage sticker to the box. What you're seeing is the extra I paid.

It sure as heck costs more than $2.29 to ship a 20 pound box! It also cost me $2.77 for the extra box for the double boxing. It cost around $22 to ship that lot."

And as for your parcel post concern, If I had sent that box priority, I would have had to charge over $30 for shipping and depending on your zone it may have cost an extra $30 surcharge for an oversize parcel. You can look it up on USPS.com. From zipcode 0---- to your zipcode, 20 pound package.

Apparently the bitch is not only dumb, but also illiterate.
Reply:
"but it still only cost 2.29 to ship?and if you do have to pay 30 to ship it then you put 30 on the listing.i have been a dealer for 15 years (not all on ebay) but when you put up 15 dollars shipping and it cost 2.29 to ship it is wrong of you as a seller.when you can start 50 listings a month out at any price you want and put the shipping charges up also so that the buyer is not taken advantage of."

I had enough. My dad just got admitted to the hospital with high blood pressure and kidney failure, I had to deal with my mother-in-law getting cocked and falling on her ass and injuring herself on the sidewalk costing me a shipping day, AND had to drive her to work at 5AM twice, and overslept when I got home, when I should have been doing ebay...Fuck YOU lady.

I sent her a picture of BOTH receipts. The one from the printed slip and the one with the $2.29 added on by the PO. Then I reported her to ebay as harrassing me with unreasonable demands; I.E. Wanting me to ship a 20 pound box for $2.29. I also called them and got everything on record.

As expected, yesterday, the 6th, the bitch left me a neutral feedback STILL insisting that I charged $15 for shipping and only paid $2.29. I called ebay and had a lengthy conversation with one of their script-reading outsources about removing it, since it was a blatant lie, because she is dumber-than-a-box of rocks if she really believes I paid $2.29.

I am going to log into my old account from someone's else house and get her user ID. NOBODY should have to deal with her.

As Ebay Turns

Again I am faced with a couple of idiots. I am really hating ebay's reforms of the past few years. I wish I could leave appropriate feedback when a buyer deserves it. One bought a stack of quilt appliques. She paid the day before Thanksgiving. Sunday she e-mails me asking have I sent her stuff? Where's the tracking number (now that there is making an assumption because she didn't PAY for it). I tell her I am mailing it Monday, and that the number will be uploaded when I print shipping. Monday night she e-mails me with a bitchy tone asking what the tracking number is. I've printed the goddamned shipping. The number should be right in front of her dumb ass. I send it.

The other bought a lot of Polly Pocket crap. It was over 300 items including 8 playsets and she paid a grand total of $24 for all of it. She paid on the day before Thanksgiving.

I go to auctions on Wednesdays, and so I don't do any intensive packing those days and this package wound up taking an hour of my life...so I made plans to ship it on Friday. A bunch of holiday related and inconvenient shit happened so I then make plans to send Monday.

Mind you, I specify 3 BUSINESS days on my auctions. Thursday, Saturday and Sunday don't count. She e-mails me Sunday night bitching about it. I print the shipping on Monday and pack it, then realize that the box needs reinforcing, and plan to hit Wally for a bigger one to double box it. So I shoot for Tuesday.

I see that Phil's car won't start on facebook Tuesday. I check my phone to see if he needed a ride. I see 2 phone calls from my father-in-law. I call back. He says Phil needed a ride and he got one from somebody, but not before my soused mother-in-law decided it would be a good idea to walk to me and Charley's. She's only been here 3 times, she sits in the house all day and never goes anywhere, so she doesn't know her way around. It's 3:30. She's been missing since 12:45. I take a ride to look for her, Sheldon walks around looking for her. I go to their house and we mail our other shit. Charley goes to the police station, and they tell him his mother is at the hospital. By the time they bring her home (with my car) it's after 5...too late to send the goddamned Polly Pocket.

Today I get another impatient e-mail bitching that the tracking number shows I haven't brought it to the post office.

How do you tell an impatient asshole that Sorry, you had to deal with Thanksgiving and the residual BS from it, and a drunk ass mother-in-law who wanders off and busts her face on a sidewalk so your car was in use all day so you weren't able to mail her precious toys? I am only one day out from my 3 business day handling time.

I don't want her to blast her and tell her "You paid like 1 cent a piece for each item. People...even ebay sellers...have LIVES. You bought the item right before a holiday/holiday weekend...take a fuckin' chill pill already"

Another Love Song

This woman was clearly nutty. When I read her feedback later another seller left a note saying that he thought she was loopy. Is there one literate person bidding on ebay today? All caps. Accuses me of being a liar. Can't spell worth shit. I called ebay. They read my description back to me and told me if she opens a case, I don't have to worry. I am going to sit back and watch the fireworks. LOL.


Subject: Item I received is not as described:

Sent Date: Nov-06-12 11:03:05 PST
Dear______, these are in horrible condition, the strap on the white bag is almost completely cut in half and will not last if anyone carries it and this is NOT LISTED IN YOYUR DESCRIPTION ANYWHERE ALSO HWRE THE STRAP ATTACHES IS ALMOST READY TO BREAK ON THE WHITE BAG. I AM VERY UOSET WITH THIS PURCHASE MINT????? WHAT A JOKE, I WANT TO RETURN THESE AND GET THE RETURN SHIPPING AS WELL, AS IT IS NOT MY DOING THAT YOU LIED ABOUT THE DISCRIPTION, I ONLY BOUGHT DUE TO YORU MINT COMNDITION THAT YOU SAID THEY WERE..."( I WILL WAIT TIL TOMORROW BEFORE OPENING A CASE.
 

My reply:
Item description copied and pasted from the original. Asterisks added in order to point out flaws I clearly described:  

This is a pair of *used* vintage Dooney and Bourke drawstring bucket bags. They are both made from pebbled leather. The interiors are suede. The strap is adjustable and they can probably used as crossbody bags. Being used, *they do have some wear*, mostly concentrated on the drawstrings. They both have *wear to the fringe* and the white one *has some gouges in the drawstring* from it getting caught on the grommet. The white one could also use a cleaning. They *aren't* in mint condition, but still have some useful life in them. They are very durable bags.

*NOT IN MINT CONDITION* was clearly stated. Gouges in drawstring, also clearly stated.

The saga continues: I knew the bitch would open a case, even though her blatant stupidity was pointed out to her in black and white:

Subject: Re: Item I received is not as described: _____ sent a message about Pair of Vintage Dooney and Bourke Drawstring Bucket Bag Purse
Sent Date: Nov-08-12 08:06
deciever is what you are you very well knew that the strap was alomost completely ripped and yet you still sold and stole money from and HONEST EBAYER, ME."

Then the case was opened and requisite negative feedback left...I responded with...


"It's not my fault you did not read the description thoroughly and then had buyer's remorse when you received exactly what was described.

What in the world would make you think that you're going to get two mint condition Dooney bags at a start price of $18.00? I called ebay about your possible case before you even opened it. I read your complaint message to a man named Miguel with customer service and he read the description on my auction in comparison and told me I will easily win any case you open.

Another thing. I don't take kindly to being accused of being a liar when I clearly stated these bags were USED and NOT MINT. These are unfounded accusations.You madam, are what's wrong with ebay lately. Name calling won't get you very far when you want a quick and friendly refund. If you had stated that you did not want the bags because you mis-read the description in NON caps without name-calling, I'd have refunded immediately. "

I then reported her ass to ebay for Buyer Protection Abuse and then called them and complained to someone in customer service about her. The woman on the phone told me that people like her don't like being told they're wrong and that sometimes you're forced to use the white kid glove AKA "The Kindergarten Treatment" on them. LOL.

A few minutes after I hung up I got a message from ebay saying case was closed, they gave the whiner a refund but did not touch my paypal account or ding my seller rating...IE, the case was pretty much judged in my favor. I just am a little pissed that she still got a refund and I am still stuck with her negative feedback.

Update: I logged into my account several days ago and the negative feedback just disappeared into thin air. There was no revision notation, so I know it was ebay's doing. OMG. They did the right thing for once! Okay, now I can say that once in awhile they do handle things correctly.
Her User ID was myguys58. Avoid her like the plague. She complains frequently and leaves negatives when she cannot extort you.

14k Of Stupid

My ebay customers are as dumb as ever. The other night I listed some earrings. I mentioned that they were marked 14k cu which means the gold is mixed with copper. Some idiot messages me saying

"Is it right to assume that the metal is 14k solid gold?"

The description is about 4 sentences long and you missed one? Ugh.

Then this idiot bids on two of my purses. I say in the description "These are going to need a cleaning" she e-mails AFTER she bids, and then asks for more pictures, then she bitches that they are "too dirty" and that I never mentioned how dirty they are, and that she wants ME to cancel HER bid. I acidly reply that "needs a cleaning" is pretty much self-explanatory, and that I cannot cancel her bid, SHE has to.

Cheapskate Monthly

Ah, last Sunday was again fleamarket day. I decided before I got there that I was going to stick to my guns...no just giving shit away to placate a cheap-ass.

Had a beautiful McCoy pot, had no less than 5 people ask how much, and then walk away after being told $5. Lady asks me, again I say $5. She not only whips out the 5, she proceeds to buy several more things and leaves happy.

Sold nearly EVERYTHING. Went around the fleamarket and "shopped" for a few minutes, came up with a styling Cheerilee pony, a Coach purse, a Vera Bradley purse, an entire set of Harker dishes. Spent $30, left with my original $30 plus another $20. The guy next to us drove off, leaving a smoker, a deck sprayer, 3 pieces of furniture and several other random items. Charley jacks the smoker and sprayer right off. Then people file by and keep asking about the stuff on the table.

At first, we tell them the people drove off. Some of the stuff gets carted off. A family wants one of the desks, and asks us to watch it for them, it's getting late, and we're beat...the people have not come back and it's been almost an hour. Charley says to me "Fuck it. The next person that asks about that thing, I am gonna sell it to them" I say whatever. A couple asks how much is the desk? Charley says make an offer...the guy hands him $24, and we hightail it outta there...lol.

We are driving down the road, and Charley starts having a shit-fit because he just saw a giant-ass bag of packing peanuts on the roadside marked "free". Because he has crammed the smoker and the sprayer in the car, we don't have much room. We shift some crap around and cram the giant bag into the backseat as far as it will go. We drive home with Charley's face on the dashboard, with a box of whoopie cushions in his lap, and our ill-gotten gains crammed all around us.

The only blip on my day was when he kept the entire $24 from the desk...I sat there for 45 minutes babysitting the fuckin' thing too. That, on top of yet again paying for the table, rather pissed me off. He should at least take the $27 off what I owe him, which would make it like $48, but I am sure he'll conveniently "forget" when the time comes. Ass.

Another Day Another Dollar General

Ugh. This weekend is fleamarket time again. I sit here thinking over prices and then "customer" reactions. Last time I asked $5 each for full length bib aprons that, I might add, I could have sold for $15-$20 each on ebay. I had a snotty older woman ask me the price, I told her "$5 each, but I'll go $3". She says "I was thinking more like $1". I wanted to shove them up her candy-arse.

I just smiled and refused to back down, and she sniffed and trotted away. I later sold a few for $3 each. Do these people think about the fact that these items were originally either made, which took material which cost money, and time to make, or they were purchased by the present owner, which cost money to buy and also takes time, seeing as I usually wash, starch and iron my linens?

Nope. They don't.  When I shop at the fleamarket I don't ever ask someone to lower their price, they have a reason for whatever they are asking. I feel like it's shitty and insulting to ask someone who is asking $3 for a $25 item to lower it to a dollar. You're already getting a bargain, why push it?

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

Uggg. Another day at the fleamarket. People are so damned cheap and/or destructive. First, we go to set up and are immediately inundated with "Do you have _____?"

I put out several chenille bedspreads, and they swoop in. I price them at $5 each...very reasonable, even for a cutter. The first woman does not question me, she buys 2 at asking price.

Later, a woman looks over a full sized heavier one, and ponders a minute before asking "Will you take $3?" I sigh and agree. This leaves me with 2 left. One is a pink "cutter"...I am dealing with a paying customer, and a woman loudly yells "Hey! How much is this?!" pointing at the cutter. I say $2, she asks if I will take $1. I am fed up. I just say no, and she walks away. Jesus, screw you, lady. There's $15 worth of fabric. I am just going to cut the bastard up into 12 inch sqaures, and sell it on ebay for that. Fuck it. Lazy cheap asses.

Each week we price things with large signs "Scarves: 50 cents", "Books: 50 cents", "Fabric: $1 a bag" and each week we get "How much do you want for_____?" and then the inevitable hiss of breath and walk away. I feel like yelling after them "It's 50 FUCKIN' CENTS! what more do you want?"

They paw over things, dropping them on the ground, and trampling them, and then just leaving them there. Today some woman broke one of Charley's perfume bottles and just left it there. A few weeks back I was asking $1 each for tablecloths, and a woman walked off with 3 of them.

Last week a guy saw my 1940's pin-up postcards sitting in a basket I set aside for them. I had them marked $1 each. There were 33 of them. he asks me "Would you take $5 for all of them?" I wanted to ask him where he got his drugs from. I flat out told him no, and counted them in front of him, and told him they were $1 each...he poked around the table, grabbed a few other things, and asked me if I would take $20 for them. That was reasonable. I agreed.

This week, a man asked me how much my 1 gallon ziplock bags were...I was actually bagging cloth in them in front of him and he asked this and he was serious. I gave him a WTF? look and told them they were mine.

A lady came by and rifled thru my scarves and then asked how much the entire basket was. I told her "I don't know, I haven't counted what's left" So I went and counted them...24. And told her $10 for all of them. She sniffed and then just bought 2 or 3. Later on I restocked the basket with like 20 more scarves and then me and Boss went and looked around, leaving the table to Charley's devices. Bad idea.

I look around and say "Where's my basket?" He's like I sold it? I start panicking "For how much?" He says "Ten bucks" I am like in my mind "YOU FUCKING MORON!!!"

I calmly tell him that I had restocked the goddamned basket and the $10 price I quoted for the earlier lady was for 24 scarves in the basket...not the basket itself! Fuckin' A! This, on top of him sticking me with the entire table fee, has left a bad taste in my mouth about doing this anymore.

Honey Badger Don't Care

My mother has started getting on my nerves. She decided to start doing ebay, and as a result, every fuckin' little thing has to come across my doorstep..."_______ happened, what do I do?" She expects me to drop everything and help her, and she's like "Well, I work, I don't have time for that"

Today I have to pack 4 boxes and ship them out, photograph at least a dozen things, write descriptions and list them. Yesterday I got up at the asscrack of dawn, set up at the fleamarket, sat there in the hot sun for 6 hours for $100, got home, cleaned half a dozen filthy Dawn and Barbie dolls, then later that night spent 2 1/2 hours identifying them and their clothes, while fending off a 3 year old.

Saturday, I sorted and cleaned things from Fridays auction, again, while fending off a 3 year old, then went to another auction. Friday, took my mother-in-law grocery shopping 25 miles away, then went directly to the box lot auction.

I DON'T HAVE ANY DOWN TIME. None. I cannot get away from my work because it's all around me. I am sick of people expecting me to do shit for them, and with them because I "don't work".