Ebay Question.. is this normal?

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kppony

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I've bid on a Wintec 500 saddle at a bargain price of £185! I've not used Ebay before and I got this request from the seller....

Dear ktmpatton,

Hi, i see your leading the bidding on the saddle at the moment, as you have 0% rating on e-bay i would have to insist that should you be the lucky winner the payment will have to be made via Paypal followed by positive feedback to release the funds BEFORE i ship. I will of course then give you excellent feed-back to get you started on building up a good rating..Many thanks and good luck with the bidding...Regards..Steve


and then.....

Dear ktmpatton,

Hi mate, good to hear from you so promptly, wasnt a slight on you just have to be careful these days, lotsa scammers on e-bay...Ok if you win i will send an invoice for the payment, you then send the payment via paypal, the invoice will say pay now in a yellow block on the invoice, you click that and the payment will be done. Then you will get a note on your e-bay page saying " I need to leave feedback on 1 item", click that and you will get a page up asking for a pos/neg rating etc and a box to write a comment in, usually i put " Great deal, good communication, 5* e-bayer" Thats enough for Paypal to release the money to me otherwise i have to wait for up to 21 days for it to clear.There is a series of stars u will click on also that refer to postage costs are reasonable, prompt delivery etc, just click 5 stars on all..I will send the saddle out tomorrow via APC Overnight who do all my parcels next day guaranteed delivery, should you be the auction winner....I know it means giving feedback before the goods are recieved but its the only way to by-pass the waiting time for release of funds...Its a great saddle and was only used a handfull of times by my partner before her horse became sick and we lost him, the whole lot, straps, stirrups, girth etc were bought new by us just last summer....Kind regards...Steve


Sorry about the essay but I've never used Ebay and not sure if this is usual....

Thanks! x :)
 
I wouldn't post anything I'd sold on Ebay until I had the money, I've sold 2 saddles on there and have had the money through Paypal and into my account before feedback was left but I know other people haven't got their money until after feedback.
 
Thanks for letting me know. I just wasn't sure if it was normal to have to leave feedback before the saddle was posted. Auction ends in 1hr 30m so fingers crossed I get it!
 
Never heard of the money thing before feedback left, I have a business account and still it gets paid first.

But as to paying by paypal thats fair comment, what if you dont get the saddle though and youve left positive feedback whole other can of worms.
 
I think it's a little weird to leave feedback first as I won't know if the item is as described and posted quickly... Could I maybe suggest leaving feedback after? Doesn't sound like he's too keen on that though.
 
If you win and pay by paypal then you've entered a contract to receive the saddle....he should get the money straightaway regardless of if you leave feedback :confused:

If his feedback is less than 10 then he won't be able to access the money without you giving him positive feedback...clear as mud?!

Happy bidding!!
 
I wonder what ebay would make of this....
I absoloutely would not consider this as you have no idea if the item will be as described, never mind his *give me 5* for everything* when you have no idea if he will post it, if the item will be as described (could have scratches or anything!).
I'm also not sure that he is correct, I'm not sure why you having a low feedback would result in the money being witheld on their behalf. I've had money witheld selling something as I had a low number of customers, the money was released as soon as the buyer gave the positive feedback, which if delivery is as prompt as he says should be v. quickly.

I would be tempted to look up ebays rules to see what they say but I think he's breaking their rules and you'd be opening yourself up to major problems if you gave feedback before recieving the goods.
I also think you could point out to him that you are the highest bidder so he really is supposed to sell to you and you can complain to ebay if he will not send the saddle, plus you won't lose your money as if he doesn't send the saddle you can get your money back...
It does sound dodgy to me...
 
I pay via pay pal very good however never left positive feedback first, what if when you recieve item and you are not happy with it or if a horse calmer that can take time to work can you return or get monies back if you give positive feed back and turns out to be a dud.
 
I have no problem paying for the saddle straiugh away via paypal, although I assumed if I won the money would be taken automatically. The thing I'm worried about is leaving feedback before I've recieved the item. Should I reply to his message and say that I won't leave feedback until the saddle has been recieved?

Thanks for all the advice!
 
If it was me then yep i would point out that he "has listed the saddle as accepting payment by paypal and should you win the auction you will be using that option and as he has then entered a contract to sell to you he can post it by next day dleviery - as he has stated he will - and once you receive the item and are happy it is as described then you will leave him the necessary feeback as per the rules and spirit of eBay"

I am a hardened eBayer :D:D
 
absoloutely reply to the msg saying that.
having found the listing your referring to I believe it is because HE doesn't have enough feedback that the payment will be withheld to protect buyers like yourself.
let us know how you get on!
 
He is asking you to leave the feedback because of paypal finding yet another way of holding onto sellers money,they are currently doing this with our account as well,they say it is because we have had change in our selling pattern e.g selling items of greater value than normal (this isnt actually true,we have been selling on ebay for years) so all payments received are kept in a pending account until either positive feedback is received or I think its 30 days have passed.
It is a real pain in the backside as we use paypal to pay for all our postage as well so are having to add extra funds until payments are cleared so I can see the sellers point of view although he shouldnt really be asking you to leave feedback before you have received the item,if he posts quickly and the saddle is as described you can then leave feedback straight away and funds will be released.
On the positive side even if you leave feedback and then there is an issue with the saddle you are still totally entitled to put in a claim with paypal to get your money back.
Not sure if that all makes sense to you,Im useless at explaining things.
 
Thanks for all the replies :) I've messaged the sellerc saying that once I have recieved the saddle via next day delivery and it is as described I will be more than happy to leave positive feedback.

I'll let you know what he says! :)
 
Normally for cheaper items you wouldn't do it this way. You would pay, wait for the item & then leave feedback.

With ref to your 0% feedback, its understandable that he wanted you to get in touch via email to make sure you really are intent on paying for the saddle as so many first time bidders are not so honorable, - I have one at the moment & I've had to start a dispute.

I believe that paypal now does hang on to larger payments (around £200 upwards) until the transaction is complete, ie feedback has been left. Basically, he wants the money in his account before he posts the saddle.

I'd look at his feedback carefully. If he seems trustworthy you could do as he asked, but if not, you'll have to try & persuade him to send it ahead of his receiving the funds.

The trouble is, that if you receive it & its not as described, you won't get any backing from ebay if you want to return it as they will presume you are happy with it as you've left feedback.

Its a bit cheeky to tell you to click 5 stars for everything! You can always add follow up feedback if there is a problem. I'd make sure he leaves you pos feedback too before reciprocating!
 
We are a massive seller on eBay and would never ask the customer to do this! :eek:

Plain fact is that if PayPal don't release the money to the seller its because they are new, not you! If they are big and do a lot of trade they get the cash straight away as a seller.

If the seller doesn't get funds straight away they simply pack the saddle following seller protection rules (i.e. traced and signed for) and they are 100% protected.

They should not be asking you this and you should copy and paste the above!
 
Thanks CotswoldSJ I didn't realise that paypal hold on to the money until feedback has been left. I've messaged the seller saying that I would like to recieve the saddle first so I'll see what he says. I'm just nervous about leaving feedback before receiving the saddle.

I'll see what he says and then update you all soon. Auction finishes in 40m now! I've never bought of Ebay and its so nervewracking!
 
my OH sells jewellry on there, and quite often the funds dont get released until good feedback is received or 21days have passed.

Annoying really, as sometimes people just buy their item and dont go online again until they recieve it.
 
This is the message that I got back from him

Dear ktmpatton,

Thanks for the reply, the reasons i gave were because i see you have been an e-bay member for some time yet have no feedback record, you may check mine and will see i am 100% and always deliver the goods as promised in condition as described in all cases. Many e-bay sellers will not sell to buyers who have a low or no feedback rating, we all have to start somewhere and im a trusting person but its just that on a sale with someone that has no rating there has been past problems. Im in no way doubting you personally but im sure if you were looking at things from my end you would understand...As i said the pics dont lie, thats a great saddle and has all the bits others advertised dont have with them , we know its a bargain...Good luck..


Does this mean that he is going to send it or not?! So confused!
 
Hi everyone,

Thanks for all your help and advice. I won the saddle! yay! And the seller has agreed to post it to me and then once I have recieved it I will leave feedback.

Fingers crossed saddle is as described :D
 
Personally there is no way I would leave feedback before receiving the item.
His point about us all starting somewhere is totally irrelevant, once he has received cleared funds through paypal what difference does it make. I would not leave feedback until you have, just not worth the risk. I would prefer a small delay whilst funds cleared personally
 
You've def done the right thing, if he was bothered about people bidding on it with 0% feedback he should of set restrictions in the first place (not allowing people to bid with less than 10 feedback or bidders who have unpaid item strikes).
Hope to see pics of horsey modelling new saddle ;)
 
Knowing how ebay work these days, I can see where he is coming from.
being the cynic that I am, how do you know his feedback is accurate, maybe people have been forced, like you, to leave positive feedback when it shouldn't be positive? Just musing:rolleyes:
 
Just spoke to my OH about this, and he said NO WAY leave feedback before receiving item.

He also said that the seller is violating ebays terms and conditions by asking you to do this.

If you do leave good feedback, he could send you any old saddle and then you'd not have a leg to stand on.

The only thing I can suggest is telling him, you'll not forget to leave feedback once saddle has arrived.

If he doesnt comply OH said to contact ebay direct about this, and forward the emails on that he has sent you as well, as he may be doing this to many other people.
 
"I think it is normal for the seller to require the money before sending the goods. Paypal is pretty reliable. "

That's the problem, Paypal won't give him the money before he sends the goods. They will only give him the money when the buyer leaves feedback, or after I think 30 days. This is a new rule and the final straw that has stopped a lot of people selling EBay.
 
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