Subject:
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Re: My worst E-Bay/LEGO Experience-A Story, A Warning
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.market.theory
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Date:
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Thu, 12 Jul 2001 01:01:32 GMT
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Viewed:
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980 times
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In lugnet.market.services, Will Middelaer writes:
> In lugnet.market.services, Matthew Gerber writes:
> > I've wanted to share this story since I first started posting to LUGNET, but
> > couldn't find the information to share until doing some digging around the
> > house on other LEGO related business this evening.
> >
> > This story is a warning to my LUGNET friends about an extremely unscrupulous
> > E-Bay seller
>
> Matt,
>
> Wow!
>
> You have single-handedly, though perhaps unknowingly, indicted all of
> capitalism.
COOL! Take THAT capitalism...that'll teach you to mess with ME!
> For the trouble of extending Lego Shop @ Homes reach and advertising, for
> taking on the risk of selling at a loss, for bringing to market something
> that is in demand, for selling to you an item that you wanted at a price
> that you found acceptable, you have cursed out this seller, attacked him for
> lackign scruples, and then labeled him a jerk.
Let's see...he misrepresented himself, what he was selling and how he was
attaining it...in fact, he didn't actually OWN the item he was selling in
the first place (doesn't that alone break some kind of E-Bay rule in
itself?). I wonder how S@H would enjoy the fact that they are being used to
develop their own competition?
Oh, and I don't see where I cursed this guy out...mind pointing that one
out? I might consider *cursing* someone like this, but I'm not into that
sort of stuff...
> The practice that you refer to in your diatribe is commonly known as drop
> shipping, that is, having an item sent directly to a customer from a
> participant further up the distribution chain. In the end this increases
> market efficiency by lowering shipping costs, reducing the need to finance
> an inventory, remove the need for all kinds of overhead and make better
> utilization of the packing and shipping efficiencies of a large organization
> like S@H.
Don't get me started on people who use E-Bay as a business, breaking tax
laws, licensing laws, copyright laws, and hurting E-Bay's name and business.
If these folks want to start a business, let them foot some costs...that's
what I do in my business every day. And I doubt that this fellow had a
contract with S@H to represent their product on E-Bay, and act as a virtual
LEGO quasi-retailer.
> Brokers do this all the time, the value added being the information that
> they provide. Now, I know that many on the web expect all information to
> come to them for free (minus the cost of their computer, their connection to
> the web, the energy required to run their machines and the value of the time
> it takes to find information), but when things are free you get what you
> pay for. When analyzing and/or critiquing that last sentence, be sure any
> counter examples truly are "free", and are not just examples of times where
> other users bear the true costs of a service.
Did you read my story? There was no information provided...no value added. I
tried, I asked. The pitfalls of dealing with those on E-Bay? Yes. Did I deal
with it? Yes. Did I learn something? Yes. Whoop-de-crap! This seller still
didn't behave in a very "business-like" way, now did he?
> Your broker could have instead ordered the item himself, waited to receive
> it, then listed it on ebay at a higher price, as would be necessitated to
> cover the additional shipping.
As is right and proper for an E-Bay transaction, in my mind. And I may or
may not have bid on it, and/or, may or may not have won it.
> Or, he could just have chucked this all and not done any of this. Had he
> taken this path you might not even know about the existence of the very set
> whose existence (and availability) made you happy, minus a litters buyer's
> remorse.
Yes. You are right. Except that it was *The LEGO Company* and *The Walt
Disney Company* who made me happy by bringing this line into existence and
making it available to me. This particular seller however, didn't do me any
real service, now did he? Nothing I couldn't have done on my own with a bit
more research, and perhaps the latest S@H catalog in front of me. Did he
provide a 'service' to me? Of course. Was it right on his part? I don't
think so. Did you not grasp the fact that the sets were on the shelves
BEFORE I received mine?
> It might be time you read up on your philosophy and your economics a bit. I
> recommend a nice introduction to capitalism, like
>
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0451147952
>
> (Heck, I’ll even sell you well read copy, at a good price)
Gee, thanks bunches professor. When I want to be lectured about something,
I'll make that decision, thank you. I had enough of economics classes in my
school days.
> By your own account you did not bother to ask questions before bidding.
Right. Which is why I bothered to mention it in the story. See, I didn't
hide anything about the story of transaction, allowing it to be a complete
story, showing even MY mistakes. Pretty darn fair of me, wasn't it?
> You should ask yourself who you are truly mad with over this transaction
Not really 'mad' at all. A bit bent out of shape, perhaps. However, I take
my lumps, thanks. I did want to share the story though, even if it was
nearly a year later. Maybe to warn other buyers about this seller, and
others like him. Maybe to warn sellers like this that I am now aware of
their practices, and through this story that other buyers might be too.
> It may have been rude for the seller to not respond to your post auction
> questions, or it may be that he simply sends out a canned email to every
> bidder, figuring that the time for questions had passed.
Or he might have wanted to be up front with his buyer(s), letting them know
that this was a NEW set, available everywhere soon-ish, and that the actual
product wouldn't arrive for several weeks due to the fact that he was just
brokering a pre-order. He might have wanted to let folks know that he
wouldn't be following up with e-mail after the sale, and wouldn't be in
contact for anything but initial shipping information. Perhaps if he had
disclosed some of this information IN the auction, I might have made a
different decision regarding deling with this seller.
> You have learned a lesson on the utility of shopping around, the value of
> information, the benefit of checking your premises before purchasing, and on
> the disappointment that can happen when you contract while not fully being
> informed about the nature of the transaction at hand.
>
> By my book, you learned this lesson without having to spend much in the way
> of tuition.
>
> (What next, complaining that the cost of tuition is too high on the basis
> that all your teachers ever do is pass on knowledge learned by others in the
> first place?)
Wow, what bug crawled up your butt anyway? Did my story hit too close to
home for you or something? Do you mistreat E-Bay buyers like this on a
regular basis? I mean, I hope you don't, but if you do, PLEASE disclose your
user ID for E-Bay so I'll know to avoid your auctions in the future.
I admitted my faults in the matter in the story, so it's not like I'm just
bitching about a bad seller...really just a bad transaction. Again, I take
my lumps, and I learn from them.
Matt
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