Scotts 2 Cents

So yesterday afternoon I wrote about people on eBay who have no respect for the community of eBay, the rules and guidelines that are very simple and very straightforward – you bid, you pay.  Simple and quite frankly nothing more than human decency, doing the right thing.  Now I agree completely that if you order a red 8gb iPod from me and I send you a 2gb purple iPod then you have a beef and I’m completely wrong.  But that’s not at all what I’m talking about.  I’m talking about people who simply don’t pay.  If you have a question that will effect your decision about the product then ask BEFORE you bid and win an item or make an offer or use buy it now.  I’m trying very hard to restrain myself from a raving rant about people who lack common courtesy to meet their obligation to pay for items they agree to buy on eBay and make an important point about meeting obligations on eBay and in life.  But twice, yes twice, yesterday people simply refused to pay – quite ironically AFTER my post which incidentally was even created because of another person who I thought wasn’t going to pay but finally come through with payment.

The first was a gentleman who made an offer of $75 for a pair of tickets listed for $99.99 buy it now or best offer.  Although the gate price for these tickets with parking (which was including in the auction) is $83 my cost as a season ticket holder was less and I’d make a very small profit by accepting $75 so I did so.  Then I get an e-mail that he supposedly mis-typed his offer and meant to type $57 and wasn’t going to pay $75.  First of all, eBay shows you your offer (bid) in big bold type asking you to confirm to this person apparently can’t type or read.  But my first point is that he sent me an e-mail telling me he wasn’t going to pay because he screwed up.  He didn’t apologize and ask if we could mutually agree to not complete the transaction, he just told he wouldn’t pay.  It doesn’t work that way.  No, eBay isn’t the police and you’re not going to jail for not paying.  But have some respect for the rules and guidelines that make eBay successful and honor your obligation.  And make reasonable offers when the option is available.  But also – double check what you’re doing when you bid on eBay so this doesn’t happen.  Despite his lack of politeness initially (he did get nicer in the next email) I agree to not complete the transaction and let him off the hook giving him the benefit of the doubt.  Then later that night a lady made an offer of $40 for tickets valued at $240 face.  It was for a 6 session event of which 2 sessions were over so the significant discount was justified and I accepted the offer.  Then AFTER the offer and acceptance she e-mails to ask if she could pick the tickets up.  She even acknowledged that my listing states I do not offer this option.  Still, I agreed because of the timing of the event.  In my e-mail I made a comment about that being a better question to ask before bidding.  If it had been said face to face with a smile and chuckle as I meant it she would have not likely thought twice about it.  But apparently in e-mail it didn’t come across correctly and she decides she’s not doing business with me and not going to pay.  Are you kidding me?  It just confirms for me that people suck.  Never mind that I don’t believe I was or even close but even I were the biggest jackass in the world it doesn’t change the fact that agreed to pay for my item.  Hey, the DMV people are rarely polite and often rude but I still pay them because I made a decision to own a car and thus I am obligated to pay taxes.  My credit card company has the worst service in the world but I still pay.   It should be basic human behavior – if you agree to pay for something, you pay for it.  Simple.  But like I said people suck.

I’m getting sick of non-paying bidders on eBay. I’ve been buying and selling on eBay since 1994, I even owned an eBay consignment service for a few years. And one of the most important things I’ve learned in all these years was something I already knew: people suck. It’s really very simple – don’t bid if you don’t plan to pay. Beyond the reminder in every listing and the bold face reminder right before you click bid that reminds you it’s a contract and you are agreeing to pay it’s simply common human decency to honor your obligation. It’s all part of the downward spiral of the human race. If you win – pay. Simple. Very, very simple.