Stuff Kimberly Likes

I need to vent about this. In general, I’ve found that the majority of people on eBay are downright nasty. Although I’ve gotten lots of great deals, I’ve had several bad experiences. A few summers ago I was selling my grandfather’s old comic books and a guy claimed that the centerfold was missing from the book and threatened to come to my house.

Get. A. Grip.

In recent months, I’ve listed various pricey items, from Chuck Bass’ J. Press scarf to several of my authentic designer handbags at what I believe are fair prices and have listed them as best offers so that buyers can submit a price to me and I can decide to accept or reject it. I’ve gotten several mean messages from people who write me to say what they think the item is worth – even though they have no idea what I paid for it. A lot of the people don’t know what the retail value of an item is or if it’s a collectible. Chuck Bass’ sold-out scarf retailed for $175. One person messaged me saying that he was willing to buy it “for a SIGNIFICANTLY lower price” (the caps are his, not mine) and that once I got down to a “reasonable” price of about $75 to let him know. Not happening, I said.

The Burberry Warrior bag I listed was the “It Bag” for the spring. It retailed for $3195 and is impossible to find in the US. After I listed it at $2795 or best offer, I received this message:

Um… you DO know that Burberry ITSELF is selling the bag for less than $1000 right?  http://uk.burberry.com/fcp/product/clothing-accessories//MEDAL-STUDS-WARRIOR/10000001836

How do you expect anyone to pay over twice as much for the same bag on ebay????? And isn’t it pretty OBVIOUS that you’re trying to have one last big scam before you leave ebay, because all of your other items are high-worth purses? You DO know that even after people pay you with paypal, they can claim it’s a fake within 45 days and get their money back? If they paid with a credit card via Paypal, they can file a chargeback up to 6 MONTHS. That means you think you have the money now, and one day in 6 months your paypal will be negative and they’ll send collections to come after you and your credit score will be ruined forever.

Just some things to think about… it’s not so easy trying to scam on ebay.

What the hell? I was totally blown away by this. First of all, as my listing says, my items are 100% real. I think fake bags are GROSS – I would never wear or sell one to anyone. This person is obviously a psycho. I told her off. Here is the exchange that followed:

Me: who the hell do you think you are? I’m not leaving ebay, I just decided to sell some of my AUTHENTIC designer items so that I can buy new ones. Burberry in the UK is selling it at that price – not the US. And if you read my listing, you would see that I am accepting best offers on the item and I listed a SUGGESTED price. And I suggest you keep your psycho rants to yourself and away from my authentic listings.

eBay pyscho: Listen I apologize if I got the wrong impression, it just seems suspicious because you have a lot of designer purses listed at once and previously you’ve only sold two hats. Jeez. And don’t you think US bidders would check the UK Burberry site before they bid? It’s not as if they’re BANNED from visiting British websites you know. I’d be surprised if you got offers above $600 for this bag.

Me: The UK site doesn’t ship to the US. the bag is impossible to find here. I haven’t sold things on ebay in the past few months but I have been buying and selling for five years – which is why, again, if you had read my listing, you would see that i have 241 positive feedbacks. I actually have a buyer interested right now who I am sending pictures to. Why do you care who makes offers on my bag? Go buy it in the UK and leave me alone.

What a nutjob. I get messages all the time from people who clearly don’t read my listings. I specifically said that I only accept paypal and will only do business with people with 10 or more positive feedbacks, yet I got a message from someone with one positive asking if I accept Western Union. I listed my $725 sold-out Stephen Sprouse Louis Vuitton scarf and have gotten offers for $200. As IF.

Based on my bad experiences, I’m trying to weed out anyone who might make a transaction difficult. One potential buyer for the warrior bag asked me for more pictures – FIVE TIMES, complaining they were blurry and needed to see the studs. I always make an effort to answer all questions and be accommodating, and I tried. I really did. But this person would just not give up, continuing to ask if I had access to an “experienced” photographer. So eventually I said that I was getting annoyed and she proceeded to go completely crazy and insulting me. And you know what? I don’t care how much money she’s offering. I’m not desperate to sell my bag and I don’t want to deal with her. She told me good luck finding another buyer. My response? Good luck finding another warrior bag! :) I blocked her from bidding on any of my stuff.

Today I’ve been getting messages from someone interested in my Chloe bag:

Hi. I would like to make an offer on your bag but you will think it is quite low but I have been buying and selling Chloe bags on ebay and to be honest they really don’t sell for much than about $500 (not what they are listed at but what they actually SELL for). I don’t really see why people keep pricing them for over $1,000 just to keep paying the listing fee. Anyway, that being said, I will make an offer of $500.

Wow. I suppose I’m supposed to be grateful for that detailed and informative message. She’s right -  I DO think it’s very low. To be honest, if she hadn’t sent me this obnoxious message, I might have considered the  offer. But $500 really is ridiculously low for a $1950 bag, especially one as rare as the Chloe Saskia. I guess I just get annoyed by how obnoxious people can be and how they try to bully me into selling them my things for so little money. I wrote back to the Chloe person (politely) declining the not-so-generous $500 offer and she told me that she was “giving me a chance to sell it since that’s all I’ll get”.

Gee, thanks!

I feel that since I’m the one who owns the rare and sold-out items that I should have the upper hand in deciding what they sell for. I’m not going to be intimidated by people who think they know what my items are worth. Hopefully the right buyer will come along.

In the meantime, thanks, but no thanks. I doubt these people will find my things anywhere else.

Sucks for them!