Transformers collectors are weird...

[foxmorganm]

Okay, now that I have gotten your attention....

I have to admit, I love Transformers and collect em... but recently this last week when I was selling Transformers on ebay, I had some unreasonable ebayers respond to my auctions. Is this normal behavior from Transformers fans? I mean really? This type of stuff never seems to happen with anything else I sell... what is up Transformers fans? Why are they so impatient?

To back track... years ago, one of my last sale on ebay was for a Transformer group lot... the person won the bid, never sent the money... and after two weeks of trying to contact the person, I waited two more weeks.. and finally put negative feedback on his account. This person flipped out and decided to put his own negative feedback on my account accusing me of never sending his package after having paid for it... and the entire situation escalated and it turns out he had done this to a lot of others... wow... this totally discouraged me and made me stop from selling on ebay.

I am now having that exact same experience again, and I don't want to have to deal with ebay (well at least for awhile).

This last week, I had an individual win three different ebay auctions... The auctions ended Sunday, he paid for them Sunday. By Tuesday 3am in the morning he starts sending me these messages demanding to know about if I had sent off his package! I calmly replied back that I would be sending them off that day (Tuesday) and that my auctions indicated that I would ship things up to 2 business days after the auction.

He immediately demands a refund by that 7am same (Tuesday) morning, and then by 7:30am puts a claim against me on my paypal account stating I had not sent his items and he wants a full refund.

He like, totally flipped out and was neurotic.

I call paypal and explain the situation, and they were wonderful! They said I was in the right and that this person was being impatient for not waiting...

Mind you this is the same person that repeatedly messaged me before the auctions ended, after the auctions ended, and then again after the paypal debacle ended... Total time waster!!! And each time I was wondering 'what the hell is wrong with you'?

THEN.... I get another ebayer who wins another Transformer this week that ends Tuesday, pays on Tuesday, and sends me a message asking on Wednesday when his package will be shipped!

OMG! What is wrong with you freakin Transformers people....

I tell the guy that I will be shipping off his item on Thursday, and that I have two business days from the date of payment received.

On Thursday, I send an ebay message indicating that I have sent off his package and gave him the confirmation & insurance #s as well as I voluntarily refunded him $2.60 in over payment for shipping. I then went to Paypal and refunded him the difference and left a message there too indicating his package was sent.

He replies Friday this morning, asking when I will be sending off his package! I tell him to check his ebay messages as well as his paypal account. He then says I should have sent him notice!

No "F"ing way... he then asks how to leave feedback and I politely tell him how to leave feedback as well as to wait until he gets his package so as to be able to leave feedback based upon the packing job and the condition of the item, as well as use feedback as leverage in case you are unhappy with the item that way you can contact the buyer to have the situation resolved.

I check my ebay feedback and he has already left me feedback indicating that I am efficent and fast, and honest, but that it would have been nice to have gotten a note...

What is wrong with you Transformers people? I mean really? Is it really that necessary to be impatient and waste so much time, when if you just did what was expected of you... by a) reading the guidelines of an auction, b) reading your own messages, c) be patient!

I recently have purchased some Transformers on ebay, and I didn't have a tantrum or accuse the seller of (fill in the blank)... I just waited and got my items.

I am curious to other ebayers experiences and especially in dealing with Transformers fans... I mean really, what is wrong with these people?

Oh, and as a bonus... I can share the correspondence.... with each of these goobers....

[foxmorganm]

Conversation on Transformer duche #1:

Duche #1: Can You Lower the shipping

Me: Hi Thank you for winning my ebay auction!
I looked at the cost of shipping and it looks like it would be pretty accurate. Please let me explain further... I recently sold a Robosapien V2 and I charged for shipping something like $15.00 and it totally was like $25.00. Even the small items I shipped off ran about $7.50...
While I do mandate that people pay for insurance, I not only make sure to send you the insurance number, but also the confirmation number, and tell you the total I spent on shipping which then can be cross checked when you get the package because the post office puts it right on the package. Be sure to understand that I don't make a profit off of shipping... you can see with my last batch of auctions (review my feedback), I actually lost money when items that were won were a $1.00, and I underestimated the cost of shipping. To further this. If I do happen to over charge you on my shipping, you will be getting paypal money return of the difference. I really appreciate your time and effort with my auction and do realize that I will be transforming your items into vehicle mode for the transport, bubble wrapping your items, each bubble wrapped item then gets courtesy pull tape tabs for easily removal, then placing them in individual plastic bags (in case water w/ the midwest), then in a large box that has crushed paper for padding. I take great pride in my packing and think you will not be disappointed.
If after all of this you are still not satisfied, please let me know before you pay, so that I might address your question or concern. I hope you are having a good evening. Respectfully, Mark

Duche #1:
Hello, Well Most ppl doesn.t charge three separate shipping charges. Am I being Charge that way? Also I don't Need the Insurance for it.

Me:
Good question. If I believe correctly... I put three examples of shipping ways/options. The insurance is to protect both of us, and is part of all my ebay auctions. The last thing I want happening is your package to get damaged in transport, you be unhappy, then me be unhappy, then us be unhappy towards each other, than money becomes an issue when it was neither of our faults. It's just safer, and resolves the problem. I will be insuring your item up to $100.00 and packing your item accordingly. How's the weather in OH? I actually have property in Cleveland! It's gonna be awesome having Shaq there...

Duche #1:
The Weather Is Great. I can Only get one the items than. I Just purchase a lot of transformers and all items went on one shipping bill. So the Dollar ones you can cancel and re list them. I assumed You did what everyone else did and combine the items on a single shipping bill.

Me: Hi, I just saw what you were talking about... sorry for the confusion... I went ahead and sent you one invoice with one shipping fee. Is this what you were referring to or did I miss out on something? Sorry but insurance has to happen for both our sakes. Thank you for participating with ebay auctions! Respectfully, Mark

and another message...

Me: Glad to hear the weather is good. I think I just sent you an invoice for all combined.. but double check.. we might be an email behind each other...
Please let me know if you still want those items for I am confused... do you want me to take them off the invoice I sent?

Duche #1: When Do you Plan On shipping? (Sent 3am on Tuesday)

Me: Hi. I worked Friday 4pm to midnight, Saturday 8am to 8pm, Sunday 4pm to 4am, Monday 9am to 5pm, and currently have been at work since midnight and will be getting off work at 8am... but yes, I will be sending your items off soon. I will follow up with an email indicating your confirmation & insurance #s, as well as the cost of shipping and if I need to refund to your paypal. I appreciate your patience. (Sent 5am Tuesday)

and again another message...

Me: Hi. Just to make sure that we are on the same page... Your auction ended Sunday, and per my ebay auction, I listed the following:

"Will usually ship within 2 business days of receiving cleared payment."

Which would put us at today, Tuesday. Once again, I will send you an email when I have put your items in the mail. Hope your week is going well.
Respectfully,
Mark (Sent 5:30am Tuesday)

Duche #1: You can Just Send Me a refund I shouldnt Have to wait, For my product especially since I paid for it right away. (sent 7am Tuesday)

Me: Okay, so let me get this straight before I refund you your money. Your auction ended Sunday, and you paid for it on Sunday. The United States Postal Service is closed on Sundays. Monday, as you have said, the payment was received. I have been waiting for my first free moment to ship your item off, which coincides with the two business days per my ebay auction listing (Monday & currently Tuesday morning), for the first chance to send off your package... and you are now telling me you want a refund for having to wait? What is wrong with you? I mean really? Is it really necessary to have a tantrum? Is this item urgent due to a gift or birthday? Could you have just explained the urgency in communication, instead of having some type of neurosis on the entire ebay experience. This is why I am not selling any more after dealing with petty and demanding ebayers who can't follow the rules and guidelines that are previously agreed upon. Your package was waiting to be sent off this morning. You decide money back or package mailed this morning. (Sent 7:30am Tuesday)

Duche #1: ou received Payment Yesterday I Checked with my bank and paypal (Sent 7:30am Tuesday)

Duche #1 immediately files a claim with paypal requesting refund... (7:30am Tuesday)

Duche #1: Yes It was for a Birthday, and I had some Horrible experience on Ebay Ppl demand you Pay right away and when you do they take there time to mail a package out prime example I paid for something on the 19 of july.. it says 3 to 5 business days its been a week and the guy just sent it off this morning saying he forgot. (7:30AM)

Me: I contact paypal and make sure the money is refunded and post messages indicating done. (8:00am)

Me: I hope your future ebay experiences are positive, and good luck with all your endeavors. Take care. Respectfully, Mark

Two days later...

Duche #1: THANKS I AM NOW HAVIN TROUBLE WITH THE REFUND. THE REFUND SHOWS A BALANCE OF ZERO AND A POSTED DATE OF JULY 1986. I HAVE TO CALL PAY PAL NOW..

Me: Yes, please contact Paypal. I was very upset, because I had
never had someone cancel and want a refund 48 hours after
purchasing my auction. So I went ahead and sent you $60.00
indicating with note that this was for your ebay auction items.
(Please refer to your paypal transactions and see that:
[e-mail] has sent you $60.00.) However, then I
noticed that on the claim at the bottom of the page, there was
simply a 'refund' button. I called Paypal and explained the
situation, they agreed that I had sent you the money, and
decided it would be best to escalate the claim, and therefore the
next action would be on you. I can not believe how much of my
time you have consumed on this, from all the initial questions
prior to the auction, to now after the auction, and again after the
refund. Once again, I hope your future ebay experiences are
positive. Take care. Respectfully, Mark

Duche #1: Mark I talked to ebay and the Money is there, The De 31 1969 must be your birthday? Idk.. But Ebay told me I need to manually Transfer the money to my account. I am having a horrible time On Ebay. I received two package in the mail and all the transformers was broken, The boost mobile Phone Is missing all the Pieces power cord and batter and USB I went back to double check it was all included and it was suppose to. I think I am done with this Ebay. Thanks take care.


AHHHHHH! And this is just one of my situations this week... what a freaky impatient little terd....

AND this wasted so much time..... I had to call ebay, I had to Paypal, I had to cancel the ebay auction... I ended up wasting about three hours of my time total over this entire ordeal, and to top it off... the three Transformers didn't sell... Ugh.... retard!

BUT, at least it is funny to read, and it points out the flaws of collectors... impatient, insensitive, and very non sympathetic to anything outside their little realms... my god, it makes me never want to do ebay again....

[foxmorganm]

And here is duche #2 conversation....

Auction ended: Jul-28-09

Duche #2: when do you anticipate shiping item. you should have received payment via paypal... thanks, scott (sent 7/29)

Me: Hi Scott,

I hope this finds you well.
I received your payment on Tuesday 7/28 (yesterday), and will
be shipping your item off tomorrow morning Thursday 7/30 per
my two business day shipping agreement listed on my ebay
auctions. I appreciate you patience and for paying upon the
closing of the ebay auction. After I ship your item off, I will be
sending a follow up email indicating that I have shipped your
item, the confirmation & insurance #s, the cost of shipping, and
if I need to refund any difference on shipping fees. Respectfully,
Mark (Sent 7/29)

and another message same day ten minutes later...

Me: Hi Scott,

As I am preparing your item for shipping, I just noticed that you
live in Fremont, CA! Would you like to meet so as for to give you
your item and refund your shipping money? Just a thought, if
not I will be putting your item in the mail and the cost for
priority, with confirmation, with insurance has been $7.90. I
hope this finds you well. Respectfully, Mark

Next day...

Me: Hi Scott, I have sent your package and refunded the
difference to your paypal. The confirmation # is 0309 1140
0001 1502 2393 & insurance # is 1309 1040 0001 1502
2393. Please leave feed back after you get your package.
Respectfully, Mark (Sent 7/30)

Duche #2: Dear fox morgan, have you shipped item, if not when... thank you, Scott
(sent 7/31)

Me: Hi Scott,
please check your ebay messages... I sent yesterday 7/30 a
message that I sent your package, and check your paypal for a
refund of the difference on shipping (it was less than expected).
I appreciate you contacting me, but first before jumping into the
situation, you might want to check your accounts. So please
once again, review your paypal and ebay accounts... if this is a
problem, I can send verification again to your paypal & ebay. I
hope you are having a good day, and yes, your item has been
shipped. Respectfully, Mark

Duche #2: received...thankyou...however having difficulty finding prompt for leaving positive feedback...is there something on your end to initiate process? Scott

Duche #2 goes and leaves feedback....

Me: Hi Scott,

I am glad that you got my paypal and ebay messages... I was
concerned that didn't happen!!! I was using my Iphone after
leaving the post office and thought something with the
connection might have occurred.

Regarding the ebay feedback, I believe you have two options for
leaving feedback. When looking at your list of ebay winning
items, on the far right next to each lined item that you won,
there will be a pull down menu... the other option is to actually
go to the specific ebay winning item page and you should be
able to do there.

BUT, please hold off on giving feedback until you actually get
the package and can examine the packing job and the item
itself. This is just a good habit to get into so as to have the
option and leverage to contact the buyer about concerns before
leaving feedback. For example, I recently purchased some GI Joe
action figure weapons but when the items came I was not happy
how the item were simply thrown into a ziplock bag with no
padding, and several of the items were broke... so I contacted
the buyer before putting feedback to let him know I was
unhappy and he resolved the situation by shipping me
replacements for free. So you are doing everything right and
communicating with the other ebayer! Take care and let me
know if you have any questions or concerns. Respectfully, Mark

Duche #2: I should have checked your quick response to my question before feedback though positive...nice to do commerce with someone so honest ( regarding chipping) you anticipated my question coming...but your integrity beat me to it. scott

AAAAaaaahhhhh.... what is wrong with you Transformers people? I mean really?

[foxmorganm]

AND... he has the audacity to leave this as feedback:

very fast, very efficient, small email to notify status would help but honest

AND, all of this for just $4.25... I mean, come on... really? Is this really necessary?

I would love to hear from some Transformers fans on why this is acceptable behavior?
I love Transformers but behaving like this is just... is just, bad....
What is wrong with you people?

[foxmorganm]

and just now... I am getting a third Transformer duche situation developing...

It just doesn't end... happy birthday to me...

[foxmorganm]

Fortunately, I had nipped this in the bud... by being honest and forth right before it could have gone worse....

Me: Hi Vito,
I wanted to let you know that I have sent off your package today.
The total cost of shipping was $7.90. The Confirmation # is
0309 1140 0001 7434 2526, and the Insurance # is 1309 1040
0001 1502 2454. I put tape pull tabs on the packing to make it
easier to unwrap. I also refunded you the price of Inferno, due
to my negligence in describing him, and included him too.
Please let me know that you are happy with your items by
possibly putting positive feedback when you have the chance.
Respectfully, Mark

potential duche #3: Hi, just wanted to let you know that I received these 3 items and was a little disappointed in the inferno and the car, bumblebee was ok. I did not know that there was a tire missing on the one and a broken ladder on the other. Your description said good condition and did not mention or show what was broken or missing I'm not asking for a refund but my feedback will be honest even if your description was not. Thank you, Vito

Me: Hi Vito,

did you check your messages? The day I packed up your item, I sent you a message indicating that I was giving you a full refund to your paypal account. Please check your paypal account to verify this a refund of $5.50. Also, in the image of the Sideswipe, it is clear that he is missing a wheel. I appreciate you contacting me and letting me know that you got the package. I sent you confirmation # & insurance # awhile back indicating that I could not accept payment due to my lack of properly describing the the Inferno toy. I hope to hear from you soon. Respectfully, Mark

Potential duche #3: Hi, You are right. You did do that and I forgot. Sorry about that, My fault, my memory was a bit faulty but you're right. I remember the email now. Sorry about that, guess I blew that one. Thanks for getting back to me before I made a fool of myself. Sincerely thankful, Vito

Me: Hey Vito, no worries, I have been having a unique time with Transformers collectors. I love Transformers and wouldn't feel right about getting the Inferno in his condition. I am sorry that I did not describe him properly... I was trying to take about or over 100 pictures of things to sell, and I just kept grabbing things off of my shelf, not really inspecting these things. When I went to pack him up... I was like, oh no! Oh no... I can't do this, I can't sell something with good conscience that is in this condition! So I immediately refunded you and left a message in the paypal as well as followed up with an ebay message letting you status. I am really sorry about that. Regarding all my Transformers listings... I started them all at a dollar... I think that was an indication, but at the same time I should have properly given more time to giving clear specific descriptions instead of cutting and pasting my message other than changing the name of the item.

yay... it ended on a happy note.... and only took 30 minutes of my life away....


so what is with Transformer fans jumping the gun? Not reading messages? and just all around being impatient?

[Meatybat]

I have said this for years , WORST collectors ever . Rude, arrogant and have some odd sense of entitlement . The ones that win the small cheap lots are the ones that are the worst. I have a bunch of TF to list and I may just take them to the flea market. Check your messages you stains and learn how to be humbled .

[foxmorganm]

SO.... I am not alone on this one. I appreciate you letting me know Meaty...

I recently won some Transformers on ebay, and I asked the buyers of their Transformers fans experiences, and I guess they were being polite & PC, because they said they don't seem to have these problems.

I hate saying it, but I am glad that you have also had this experience... I was beginning to wonder if I was being singled-out on this...

The funny thing is from my experience... when I buy or sell 3.75" GI Joes... the collectors tend to be honorable, which seems fitting with conscience of the military. When dealing with Star Wars fans there's a level humor and a sort of I don't know what, but it reflects upon the movies...

I just don't get why Transformers collectors act badly? But Meaty, you nailed the description better than I could! That's funny stuff...

[foxmorganm]

Just to clarify... I really have no problem with Transformers collectors other than my current ebay guffs. It's not that I have anything against any particular individual or group... (uh-oh this doesn't sound good... and don't all sentences that start off this way usually end racist?)

But my concern is that when people don't do what is expected of themselves and the community. It's like people don't hold themselves accountable for their actions. There are plenty of examples that I am sure would 'piss' any of you guys off in a given day... but the thing is that we live in a society, a sophisticated set of rules that we have all basically agreed upon to interact and follow.

For example, if I come to a door and there is someone behind me, I hold the door open. If I buy something I pay for it, and if I am doing work, I provide that service.... it's just common mutually accepted behavior.

I have a problem when people can't follow these guidelines. And that's when I get upset...

sounds like I will be getting more stressed and upset as time goes because it doesn't seem that people want to treat each other to a certain standard.

AND THAT, is my problem... the standards, or behavior that I hold myself to, is not necessarily conducive to what others' do, and so I should not hold others to my high expectations. Possibly I will be much happier to just expect nothing from others and that others can't or will not rise to the occasion. It sounds like such a fatalist attitude, and this coming from someone who used to be so optimistic. But think this... when was the last time you went to the movie theater, saw the commercial for turning off your cell phone, then saw people talk in the theater? Shouldn't this just be a common understood practice to simply turn your cell off during a movie? Should we really as a society revert to the lowest common denominator and have to be told or reminded of what should already be expected compliance?

Think about the toy hoarders, or the outrageous prices on some items, or not getting the service expected... is this something we should just get accustom to? I am curious to what others think.

[soundwave]

Aug 1, 2009 10:58:08 GMT -6 @foxmorganm said:

SO.... I am not alone on this one. I appreciate you letting me know Meaty...

I recently won some Transformers on ebay, and I asked the buyers of their Transformers fans experiences, and I guess they were being polite & PC, because they said they don't seem to have these problems.

I hate saying it, but I am glad that you have also had this experience... I was beginning to wonder if I was being singled-out on this...

The funny thing is from my experience... when I buy or sell 3.75" GI Joes... the collectors tend to be honorable, which seems fitting with conscience of the military. When dealing with Star Wars fans there's a level humor and a sort of I don't know what, but it reflects upon the movies...

I just don't get why Transformers collectors act badly? But Meaty, you nailed the description better than I could! That's funny stuff...

You Are SOOOO not alone on this one!! I don't mean to offend but like meatybat said they come off as if they think they have some sort of entitlement!!

I dable in transformers a bit but not to much because the prices people want for them are just retarded!! The people that come pick them up from me are very snotty when I ask if transformers are the only thing they collect!! Like I am totally Stupid for asking??