Hello everyone!!!
As it usually happens, my blog went on vacation during summer. Well, I'm happy to be back at typing and sharing again some thoughts, recipes and things going on in my life.
What I'm going to share with you today is my latest experience with Ebay. I'm sure everybody knows what Ebay is....{well, people like my Mom may not know what it is..} In very poor words, it's a website where you can sell and buy things, used or new. You can find anything!
I've been on Ebay since 2013, you can check my profile HERE if you want. I have bought a few things at very good prices and sold some things as well. I never had any problems until last month, when I learned something really important: Be Really Careful, Don't Be Stupid. Yep, that's it.
I decided to sell my beloved phone (Samsung Note 4), because it was getting old, my battery wasn't working properly anymore. I listed it for $150 and quickly sold it! I didn't imagine it would sell that fast. To be honest I was going to change the description of my phone, as I had described it as "in great conditions" as it looked brand new. (Here comes my mistake) I was going to specify that it might have a battery problem, but someone bought it right in that moment! My heart started pumping....$150 is a lot of money, at least for me. I wrote a message to the buyer right away, explaining that there might be a problem with the phone and that I could just give him his money back right away. Well, he sounded fine with the phone not working well, that he could have bought a new battery, etc. He asked me to go ahead and send it to him.
I felt relieved and at peace with my conscience. I sent the phone and in the next couple of days I spent all the money, as I badly needed it.
A few days go by and the buyer starts complaining that the phone doesn't work , it was not as described in the listing, blah blah blah.... WHAT???? I specifically wrote to him in private and he told me to send it anyway!!!! That was my innocent and naive (or stupid) reaction.
He wanted his money back. The problem is...... I didn't have his money anymore! {or any other money...yes, that's how we live, money comes and goes day by day, some days we have a lot, some day we have zero}.
END OF THE STORY: Ebay held the money from my PayPal account for a couple weeks {through which my transaction was made}, so now I had a negative balance.. they waited for the buyer to send me back the phone and then collected the money straight from my bank!!!!
That was NOT a nice surprise. Especially when you count every penny in your bank account.
True, I should have not spent that money until I was sure that the customer was happy. The problem is that I was convinced he was ok with it, as I had warned him.
It has been pretty stressful and just so you know.......the buyers on Ebay always win. I have lost because of my ignorance and ingenuity. Well, now I know and I hope never to make that mistake again. And if you are buying something and you are not happy with it, I know you'll get your money back!! But please, don't take advantage of people.
Have you had bad experience selling stuff online? I'd like to know, to learn more about this cyber world out there.
Thanks for listening!
Hugs to you,
