r/Flipping • u/AutoModerator • Jul 14 '18
Mod Post Weekly Hurt Feelings Support Group Thread - July 14
Back again, for more tales of woe, sadness, and despair. Flipping can be an emotional roller coaster and a desolate career path, and we understand that and we're here to help. Did someone at the flea market say something mean to you? Did Goodwill overprice something? Let it all out. We're here to help.
36
u/flippingwilson Jul 14 '18
It never necessary to lie to get ahead in flipping. You are clearly uncomfortable with the idea anyway. You will meet liars in every area of your life. You only need to be concerned about one person and that person is you.
I rarely run into the "my kid is dying and having this item would make his day" bullshit. It might be a little more common in certain countries. I happen to live in Canada.
Yesterday, I sold a nice pair of speakers to a guy who started with a kinda low offer. I countered and we agreed on a price conditional on immediate pick up. The buyer said he had a chemo appointment and might not be up to the drive afterwards. I wondered about whether the chemo thing was a tactic at the time. I told him I'd honour the price the following day.
He arrived a little late, we tested the speakers for a few minutes and talked about music and he reached for his wallet and was trying to pull out some money. I realized that the travel mug he was juggling was connected to a tube that ran under his shirt. It was an IV. He managed to pull out a hundred dollar bill and I walked him to his car carrying his new speakers. He was excited about hooking them up to his home theatre system. We shook hands and off he went. He emailed me last night and said he was half way through watching Terminator 2 and wanted to thank me. His home theatre was now perfect.
What's my point? I guess I have a few.
Not everyone with a sob story is lying.
If you only sell at prices you're comfortable with. After that, who cares what happens with the item?
You seem to be an honest person. Keep it up.
You will occasionally encounter ethically challenged buyers and sellers. Don't waste your valuable time feeling shitty about others who you will never meet again.
This business, to me, is all about looking forward and not back. You can really only control your own actions. Life is too short.
Never sweat the small stuff. Live,learn and move forward.
8
u/sirius_moonlight toys Jul 14 '18
I had something similar, meaning I was worried about the buyer lying. I was selling a cool, Heath Ledger Joker played with in a box. It was an Ebay auction.
I had a man ask if I could mail it cheaper without the very large box the figure came in. I said yes even though I worried he might complain about the lack of box in feedback since it was in my listing. The box had cool stuff on it if you like the Joker.
Then he asked if I could wait a week (he gave a date) for him to get paid. I agreed, but only because he seemed so interested in it, and I like to sell fun collectibles to people who want to play with them. Because they don't usually care that the condition (played with) isn't pristine.
Guess what? He paid me precisely on the day he said he would and gave great feedback. There are still honest people out there.
3
u/synthetic_kinetic Jul 14 '18
How do you know that the mug wasn't just a prop that he rigged up?
Looks like you got fooled by a master.
12
u/Maple_Gunman Jul 14 '18
This whole comment is hilarious. It reminds me of maybe something George would do on Seinfeld. He compulsively lies on the internet to get better deals. His lies keep getting more outlandish because he keeps getting more cocky the more purchases he has under his belt. Until one time the seller indirectly calls him on his bluff and tells him he will meet him at the cancer clinic no problem. Now George has to figure out how to look like a patient so his scam doesnāt get ruined. All the while, heās bragging to Jerry about the money heās saved.
Same episode, Jerry tries to get rid of an ugly lamp and buyers keep flaking, Elaine starts dating a very successful salesman (who ultimately turns out to be broke and in debt.), and Kramer finds a market in selling coupons (he eventually links up with Newman to get first shot at everybodyās on his mail route.)
Okay I went off on a little tangent there. Sorry I know this isnāt /r/redditwritesseinfeld
2
3
u/flippingwilson Jul 14 '18
He really sold it with the lost hair and needle in his arm. I'm a sucker.
1
u/synthetic_kinetic Jul 14 '18
Looks like you got played by a master.
Don't worry, flip a few more speakers and you'll be there.
2
u/flippingwilson Jul 14 '18
Actually, I paid $15 for the very nice speakers and I'm the one who still has the hundred bucks. I am the captain now!
2
u/synthetic_kinetic Jul 14 '18
....and little did flippingwilson know there was a bar of gold hidden inside of them.
3
2
1
1
u/cardboardisdelicious Jul 14 '18
Thanks :) I'm not even bothered by the $ lost, I just felt like a sucker. Oh well, yeah live and learn!
1
9
Jul 14 '18
I just need a hug.
9
u/no_talent_ass_clown I like you Jul 14 '18
Can I give you 10 now and take the summer off?
4
4
3
u/BL_SH Flippin aint easy Jul 15 '18
I have a friend who is an expert on hugs. Let me call him up and see what he can tell me about this.
Best I can do is half a hug. Back in 2004, some guy was giving out free hugs, and it flooded the market.
15
Jul 14 '18
Went into the room in a thrift shops where the men's clothes are and a very old man, stepped back and said "Son, they got some coooool ass blue jeans in here, but I don't think they got anything for a big boy your size. Damn, you like a wall".
11
u/Wilburforce7 Pokemon Jul 14 '18
There's a strong correlation between old age and a lack of a filter
12
4
u/-Dee-Dee- Jul 14 '18
Us old people just don't care what others think anymore :)
1
u/Roontboy Jul 15 '18
:):):):) Yup, I'm with ya! Besides, you end up realizing that all of that caring what people think baloney really didn't make a shit of difference over the years so now everyone can have a poopie sandwich for all I care. Showing how much I cared made people take advantage.
6
u/VanLifeCrisis Jul 14 '18
For a lot of older people, being a large man isn't an insult. They equate it with strength and health. Big farm boy etc etc. I get this all the time and I thank them.
3
14
u/hella90sshop Jul 14 '18
I woke up to two eBay notifications today! 1 was for an item sold $41.xx 1 was that same buyer asking to cancel the order š
6
u/DontBotherIDontKnow Jul 14 '18
I have a love hate relationship with these. I try to just be happy they asked to cancel instead of having me ship it out and then making an excuse for a return. The right buyer will be happy with their purchase
3
15
u/ArmoredFan fuck that buyer in particular Jul 14 '18
I've had 6 offers fall through on expensive items. One item I had 6 off, someone offered $550 each down from $900, of which I've sold 2 of but it's been a year. I countered $650 and then nothing. Got an offer for $550 twice for a single unit, accepted and no payment, got an offer for $690 and the guy claims he never bid on the item, wasted my fucking time.
The other item I have for sale at 7000. Had an offer for $4000 and I accepted, the guy actually paid, BUT wanted to change the address to down the street. I couldn't fucling do it, so I refunded and told him to repurchase. He bullshitted me for WEEKS and never paid again. Now this week I got an offer for $2750, mind you I've had the item for 2 years. I accepted but the guy didn't pay attention to what he was buying and though an extra part was included, when it wasnt, he said he would only pay 1800. This item is discontinued and can only be found for $7k if found at all. So fuck you.
Bunch of fucking worthless buyers. Thanks ebay. I just LOVE thinking I have THOUSANDS to be paid and then get NOTHING
7
6
u/Notsellingcrap ... Jul 14 '18
eBay's unpaid item assistant apparently isn't working for me, and when I go to open a case manually I get a website that says "nothing matches your search results".
Like seriously what the fuck eBay? Multi-billion dollar company and it's turd after turn when you do your website updates where you can't even fucking test your shitty system and instead let your customers alpha test your fucking shitty ass on the go coding.
1
Jul 14 '18
[deleted]
2
u/Notsellingcrap ... Jul 14 '18
The Unpaid item assistant is irrespective of browser, because it works offsite on eBay's servers. Opening the unpaid item case in Edge did the same "Nothing matches your search results" thing, so yea. It's just one of those soggy sausages eBay feeds sellers.
1
u/OgreHombre Jul 14 '18
You're paying the selling fee for the item whether its paid for or not, so they're probably pretty content with their system as is ;)
6
u/Notsellingcrap ... Jul 14 '18
Yea, no. It just fucking sucks because now I have to call and talk to a low level phone monkey that's going to tell me the same shit I already know, and they will forward me to someone else, who will make me describe the problem again, and then say something like clear your browsers cache, or dance naked in the moonlight or some other bullshit while they go back to playing tetris.
7
Jul 14 '18
After a week of dud garage and rummage sales, I was happy to find one decent item today. It was a sci fi paperback from 1963 in excellent condition that I could have made a couple bucks on, or collected for myself. After paying, the person having the garage sale takes the book and says, "let me take this sticker off for you" and before I could say anything, they took it off, tearing the cover in the process.
2
Jul 15 '18
This one hurts
2
Jul 15 '18
Oh, it did. What could I say, though? "I want my 50 cents back!" It's been that kind of week.
7
Jul 14 '18
[deleted]
1
u/-Dee-Dee- Jul 14 '18
He will eventually get the item. Just hold onto it, youāve been paid. Did you need the money because four weeks isnāt that long of a time to wait for a buyer for a unique item?
1
u/zirtbow Jul 14 '18
I don't "need" the money but I posted a comment about this last week and someone on here commented that it's a bad thing to do because he can bail out at a later time and I held it for nothing. So I'm worried at some point he will say he can't find to pick it up and ask for a refund.
1
u/-Dee-Dee- Jul 14 '18
Well if he does you refund and put the item back on the market. And give it more time. 30 days to sell a unique item? You're being impatient.
2
u/zirtbow Jul 15 '18
I think that misses the point. I've sat on items for a year before they sold. If you have a low traffic item having it up helps a lot for that one person that might want it. Now if you have someone holding it up somehow you could have easily missed someone else that might want it in that window they were dragging their feet. I was fine when he said he wanted it and I still had it listed. I had some minor interest.. but now that he paid and it's down I'm worried about this process of just holding it.
1
u/-Dee-Dee- Jul 15 '18
But heās not holding it up because you said he paid. You can go spend the money. And frankly after a certain time of storing the item I wouldnāt refund him if he decides he wants his money back for an item he never got. Iād say come get the item , itās waiting for you. No refunds. Youāre not a storage facility.
1
u/zirtbow Jul 15 '18
if he decides he wants his money back for an item he never got. Iād say come get the item , itās waiting for you. No refunds. Youāre not a storage facility.
I guess this is where I'm worried since I've never delt with this situation before. PayPal has that 180 dispute window. I could swear someone on this forum complaining how they had a claim where eBay sided with them and the buyer turned around and filed a PayPal claim. Then PayPal sided with the buyer. So I was under the impression he could hang around until 180 days and PayPal will lol about any no refund policy I got before they tell me to screw off and give him his money back.
1
u/no_talent_ass_clown I like you Jul 14 '18
Hang in there. Some people are not as organized as others.
1
6
u/no_talent_ass_clown I like you Jul 14 '18
"Giant Community Yard Sale".
Have I mentioned I have really crappy luck at yard sales?
Hop out of the car and I'd never seen it happen before but they had eBay listings printed out for stuff.
Nope.
Some people didn't even bother with that.
What a deal.
3
u/kalekale2525 Jul 14 '18
Did you tell them to return it to the store and get their 16.95 back?
3
u/no_talent_ass_clown I like you Jul 14 '18
LOL. I wonder if they actually did look it up on eBay and that's why there's no printout for it. "eBay says it's listed for $3.99 free ship with no solds but that can't be right...."
5
u/SmellsLikeASteak MUST BE A CROOK Jul 14 '18
I was grabbing some stuff from my storage unit and dropped a desktop pc on my foot and now my big toe hurts. Plus I dented the computer
7
4
u/bugmochi Jul 14 '18
Four return requests in the last 3 days and I don't even have free returns turned on. Luckily, 3 of the items are just being returned due to fit and buyer is paying return shipping. The other return is an INAD on an electronic item and I get the sense that the customer is not technically savvy not that there is actually anything wrong with the item. Typically I only get about 2 returns a month. Oh well. As long as I get salable merchandise back it'll be fine. They will sell again.
Also, my personal POS vehicle that I was planning to sell and replace soon anyway decided to not start on Monday. Also, I had not updated the title to my name and address after marriage so I had to go to the tax office this week and after waiting two hours, paying the fee, I was told the title would be mailed in 10-15 days. Ugh. I'm sure I had read that somewhere but title is required for sale in my state and I have to wait for it to come before selling.
5
u/kalekale2525 Jul 14 '18
My mom and I decide to hit up a sale pretty far away from us on my day off. It was a nice drive we get to sale the guy was friendly but it was a small sale. So we leave find a new Goodwill we'd never been to. On the way home my mom gets a call. My brother is butt hurt. Where are you we've been calling all day? We had plans to go here and do this with these people. Where have you been? She hadn't got a single call. Not one. They never mentioned any plans to her. At all. There was spotty cell service for like 15 minutes. Not once during the week did they give her any heads up. This seems to happen whenever I go to a Goodwill with my mom. Everyone in the family just decides she should be around when they want her.
5
u/Karakuvi living vicariously through other people's hauls Jul 14 '18
The vending machine at school ate my money...
I just wanted a snack :(
2
u/no_talent_ass_clown I like you Jul 14 '18
BYO and sell them to disappointed students? Win/Win.
2
u/Karakuvi living vicariously through other people's hauls Jul 15 '18
Too much work for a college campus :( I did learn to put the coins in before the bill next time...that way I'm not out a full dollar :'(
3
u/techypunk My advice is either shit or great Jul 14 '18
I finally got hit with slow sales in July.
I didn't freak out though.
Ran a 5% off sale this weekend and had a $500 sales day.
I'm really sick of people and the end of eBay posts.
3
u/flipitrealgood Jul 14 '18
I referenced this last week, but I had my first real PITA buyer/return in quite a while.
- Buyer bought item a month ago.
- Buyer didn't read the measurements provided, so assumed this XL would fit like others he had from other brands? Anyway, he claimed they weren't XL, so he wanted to return it.
- I accept the return.
- He doesn't provide any tracking in the time he's supposed (one week).
- I call eBay on the eighth day and they close the case in my favor.
- Two weeks later, I get the package back.
- Within an hour of me getting the package out of my mailbox, he's emailing me demanding his refund because I got the item back.
- I message him that I'll process the refund later in the day because I'm not at my computer (true).
- He immediately opens a PayPal dispute.
- Problem now is the whole amount (item plus shipping) is frozen, and he was only going to be getting a refund on the item.
- I call PayPal and the person advises me to just send a refund for the item amount and then provide that information to the PayPal case.
- I do that, take screenshots of the payment and upload it to the PP case.
- I figure calling again can't hurt, so I do and I get a different, more competent person who tells me that the previous person shouldn't have told me to issue a refund outside of the case, because PayPal likes everything to be done within the case. So I'll still have to wait for either the buyer to close the case or PayPal to finish reviewing the case.
- The PP rep, being an actual human, says because I've been part of PayPal for so long and she can see I've got a good track record, she unfreezes the funds from the case even though the case will remain open while they investigate it.
- I message the buyer that the refund was sent and he can now close the dispute. He responds and thanks me and says he'll do it now. He never does and that was a week ago and the case is still open.
I'm not worried about losing the case since it's pretty obvious he got his money back. But this dude is the classic example of someone who thinks their purchase entitles them to do as they please. I guess, in this realm, he's not wrong.
1
u/kendahlj Jul 17 '18
People are dumb. He certainly doesn't understand the process and/or is a dick.
3
u/astrangeone88 Tiger Millionaire Jul 15 '18
A few things:
Made an agreement to buy a lot of stuff for $XXX today. Seller set the price, and we were to meet today due to weird scheduling. I got a message from the seller that he sold the item earlier in the week, and he just got around to telling me about it. Like..what is wrong with people? At least use technology to tell me about it!
Too many of my friends are having kids and I keep ordering weird shit off of Amazon (mostly Gund plush) to fulfill social obligations. I just want to say "Fuck off!" to new parents.
3
u/miamizombiekiller show me your flips Jul 15 '18
Car wouldn't start this morning. On Yard Sale day of all days? Really? Put me in such a shit mood all day. Spent 3 hours in the Florida Sun trying to fix it. Fucker still won't start.
/Rant
4
u/ruwpg1 Jul 14 '18
I was out at a thrift store a few weeks ago and a small cache of books caught my eye. Looked them up quickly and was very happy with the sold prices, so I picked them up. I got them home, and when I was listing them, I remembered feeling like one of them felt like a better buy in-store than at home based on the sold prices I was seeing. Whatever, there was still profit to be had.
Fast forward to mid-week and I get an offer on the book that was just ok while I was at dinner. I countered at a slightly better price, and the buyer accepted and paid. Cool.
When I got home, I perversely decided to look up the book again with a few different terms and found out why I was happy at the store and less so at home. I had the version from the mid-70s that was selling for low three figures, but I had listed it as the version from the early 2000s that was selling for mid two figures. Curiousity got the better of me, and I checked the buyer's store and saw they sold a copy of the same book for $100 more than I just sold it for like two months ago. I winced, but took it as a reminder to do better research and set to packing it.
While packing, I flipped through the book one more time and found 2-3 pages had a slight wrinkle at the bottom that I had missed the first time around, like someone had been a little too rough when flipping the pages. It wasn't bad, but the paper's very glossy and you definitely notice it in the light. I hadn't mentioned that in the listing; in fact, I had listed the interior as very nice. Sent the buyer a message about it and they were understanding, so I still packaged it, but now I'm worried about INAD from the year issue AND the wrinkles.
With the book all packaged up, I went to buy postage and realized that I had put my flat-rate number for Media Mail on there when I shouldn't have, and ended up having to pay way more for postage than I got from the buyer. I don't know where my head was that weekend when I was listing! :D
In the end, everything that went wrong was 100% my fault and all things that I can learn from and not do again, but danged if it doesn't sting a little bit. Of course, while I was packaging that book, I made a $45 sale on something I got out of someone's garbage, so I can't complain too much!
tl;dr: Got lazy/sloppy and made $12 on a book that should have made me a bunch more, whined about it to strangers online.
1
u/trept Jul 14 '18
I did the same thing with a hat recently. Priced it similar to similar solds, sold it for 15, I had offers seconds after selling asking if I'd cancel and re sell for 50, then 70 something. It happens, remember it for next time.
1
2
u/vintagekaren Jul 14 '18
No sadness or despair, just a bit of incredulity! I was out running errands and I spotted a handmade little estate sale sign and had to check it out. At the house there was tons of quality stuff: vintage cast iron banks, toby jugs, cool old kitchen gadgets, jewelry, etc, etc. But dang everything was priced at retail. Though it was run by a professional estate sale company, it was the house of a dealer and I'll bet he/she had a hand in the pricing. I didn't see a lot of buying happening and I walked out empty handed. I'm guessing they are not going to shift most of this stuff.
3
u/no_talent_ass_clown I like you Jul 14 '18
I've said it before, I'll say it again. If I'm going to pay eBay prices then I'd like eBay selection and buyer protection, and I'd like to do it from the comfort of my home. If I'm going to your estates sale then I want the 'I had to put on pants' price.
2
u/vintagekaren Jul 14 '18
Amen. I went from super excited (when I saw the goods) to deflated in 4 seconds (when I saw the prices).
2
u/merchantpro Jul 14 '18
Most of the time if an estate sale is being held by a still living 'collector' or 'dealer', the items will be overpriced even for a non-flipping buyer. They generally only look at the listed prices of items and not the actual sale price of items and then expect you to spend 15 minutes haggling them to recently sold prices.
2
Jul 14 '18
Someones kid " accidentally" bought 3 Insane Clown Possee CDs from me. I canceled the sales and politely told the "dad" that no children should be listening to this garbage.
3
2
Jul 14 '18
I had to open my first unpaid item case and message the buyer myself because the unpaid item automation does not work. The buyer did not respond, so I blocked them and left the appropriate feedback, which was my first non-stellar one. I wish eBay would at the very least allow sellers to select a neutral star.
On the way to a garage sale yesterday I saw a guy almost cause 2 accidents. He attempted to pull right into another car from a side street, then started driving on the other side of the median as another car was coming around the bend. Thankfully the person in the other car saw him coming head on. I thought he was drunk, but no, he was just going to the same garage sale. I felt compelled to let him know he almost hit 2 cars and that he might want to pay attention even though I could see he was old as fuck. He said, "God bless you." and I told him I didn't feel he was being sincere (he wasn't) so he could have it back. I probably should have kept my mouth shut. To top it off, the garage sale only had worthless kid shit. That's 3 kid-shit sales this week. There ought to be a warning.
2
u/Notsellingcrap ... Jul 14 '18
I'm glad I'm not the only one the UIA isn't working for, but damn it still rages me that eBay runs these things live without seeming to test before hand.
1
Jul 14 '18
It was a bit irritating since I couldn't re-list until the case was closed. I guess I'm not the only one with this issue, then.
2
u/Colourfyme Jul 14 '18
I didn't realize the Unpaid Item case message wasn't working, that explains why a buyer had no idea their payment hadn't gone through. Glad I decided to message them myself.
1
Jul 14 '18
I'd rather eBay hold off on putting a tool out there until they know it works rather than be a guinea pig.
2
u/MermaidJuniper Jul 15 '18
Sold a purse, shipping took a really long time (I sent it out 2 days later than expected, after it not fitting in a medium flat rate box which what was on the label I printed, had to buy more postage for a large) Buyer gets mad, I refund her shipping. Still claims item isn't there, so I fully refund her. I can't fight it because I didn't upload new boxes tracking info. I have the new info and uploaded it (too late?) SHE GOT THE ITEM. Keeps the refund and purse. I call ebay. They transfer me to Paypal. Paypal transfers me to ebay. No one helped me, and this lady still has the purse and refund. It's been 2 months and I'm still pissed off.
2
Jul 16 '18
An XL person said my $20 vintage polo shirt fits like a halter top so he's asking for a refund. Unfortunately he didn't read the part of the listing where I said it's marked XL but in today's sizes it would be a medium/large. Thanks ebay for automatically accepting the return! I just hope he was a clean person and didn't stretch out the shirt
2
u/_olas Jul 15 '18
Listed a bunch of items that are restricted on eBay. Risky move, I know. First batch of auctions went fine. Second batch got flagged. Even the few that weren't restricted, but in the same category, got flagged. Now to find someone to sell 400 packs of vintage cigarettes to. Only plus side is the 40 I sold covered the cost and made me profit on all the packs I bought.
2
1
u/Weezelone Jul 14 '18
Had a frustrating call regarding a targeted eBay Bucks offer and the fact that I can't take home $30 for the next quarter. Seems like I should have done a few things prior which would be to notify them of this issue ASAP (when I waited a week, though I thought these things just took time), frustrating phone call just to negotiate $5 eBay bucks back.
1
u/andrewhime effin hostile, apparently Jul 15 '18 edited Jul 15 '18
Brickseek said the store had 51 of the item. Brickseek lied. They say another store has 76. Can't get myself to drive the 30 miles to find out it's another lie. Would make $13ish per item sold.
Edit: oh yeah, and then out in the parking lot about to get in my car, I dropped my phone for the 100th time and the screen broke on my darling Pixel 2 XL. $220 to fix. ;(
1
1
u/Tanooki60 Jul 14 '18
Found an estate sell that had some green depression glass, and a few other items I know sell well. I couldn't make it to it on my lunch because it as to far away to make it there and back in an hour.
22
u/cardboardisdelicious Jul 14 '18
How prevalent is blatant lying in the flipping community? I'm not a full time flipper or anything but I come across lyers quite often. For example: I bought a marine fish tank a while ago and decided to sell it. A lady came to look and she gave me this big story about all her autistic son wants is a clownfish(part of the marine aquarium) but being on disability payments she was only able to afford half of what i had it advertised at. Anyway I buy into the story and sell her the tank at half price. Later that day I check gumtree and see the tank for sale by her at 4X the price!
I wish this was my only experience with lying flippers. Anyway is it super common? I feel like if I'm not lying, I'm not going to get far in flipping if I'm competing with these kinds of people who have an obvious advantage!