A ranty-rant, but, for those of you who found my blog through my eBay auctions, maybe this will be informational.

One sure way to get on Tiki's Happy Fun eBay Blacklist of Dooooom: don't pay me. Seems like this would be in "No duh!" territory, but I guess some explanation is needed. Sadly, the people who REALLY need to read this are probably also the people who won't. How do I know? I have maybe 10 whole sentences of text in my eBay listings, and they can't seem to manage even that much.

Some fundamentals: eBay doesn't do listings for me. I have to dig out my items, take photographs, figure out what size box I'll need for shipping to estimate postage, etc. Then I have to do individual listings for every single object I post, which often means doing a bit of research to identify what the heck I'm selling. I spend a good chunk of EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND doing listings. Unlike some other eBay sellers, I have a real full time job. And then of course I have to spend some time fielding questions, and more time actually billing and packing and shipping.

Most importantly: eBay doesn't list stuff for free. After the auction is completed, eBay takes a chunk of the selling price. They bill me for it. Unlike me, they won't wait a day or two for their money because I I don't get paid 'til Friday or my goldfish got sick or I'm going on vacation or whatever.

What happens when someone doesn't pay? If you want your money from eBay back, you have to start the non-paying bidder process. First, you have to wait at least a week after the auction ends to even file the request. Then you have to wait ANOTHER week for the person to respond. And I can't do anything else with the item during this time, like sell it to someone else or even give it away. It's gotta sit there, in eBay limbo.

If you're counting, that's THREE WEEKS from the day of listing that something has been sitting on my dining room table before I can finally try again. Then if I bother to relist it (I sometimes don't bother at this point), you have to wait another week for the auction to conclude. And, in my experience, usually the second auction doesn't go as high. And what happened last week was, the person who bought a thing that was up a second time decided she was unhappy, so in addition I ended up getting cranky feedback. Which impacts my ability to sell.

So, here's what happens if you're a winning bidder who "forgets" to pay: you go on the blacklist. Since eBay has changed the rules, so I CAN'T EVEN GIVE YOU BAD FEEDBACK FOR THIS, that and the non-paying bidder strike are my only recourse.

(Now, I have a couple people who are good customers who have taken a bit of extra time to send my payment, and that's cool. These people are "customers." How do you get to be a customer? Do at least one deal with me where you pay for your stuff promptly then leave me fair feedback. No whinging about postal prices or protesting that the dog ate your paycheck or alleging that aliens forced you to click the "BID" button. Despite what you've heard from Eddie Bauer, NO, customers are NOT always right. There are rules. And, by the way, Eddie Bauer just went through bankruptcy.)

I have some nice stuff, and actually the overwhelming majority of my customers seem to be pretty happy when they get a box from me in the mail. That's what's most upsetting. I'm now averaging about 1 auction a week where the winning bidder skips town. That's like a 10% non payment rate. If I were Amazon or WalMart or something, I could deal, but I'm not. It's just another thing that makes me wanna quit eating up my Saturdays and instead back a U-Haul to my front door and take the whole kit & kaboodle of old dolls down to Good Will, where at least I'll get a smile and a thank you.

todays twisted twittering:

• 07:54 Cuboidal Stitch & Angel: modular plushies, for your active lifestyle! flic.kr/p/7d8Na3 #
• 08:39 @amiryfenn I *heart* my Macbook. It is as part of my braaaaiiiiin. #
• 08:44 Glad I voted, I 71 is close: bit.ly/16tqWI #
• 10:15 Pumpkin-eye Scrump. A bit late for Halloween. But, it's always Halloween in my life!!! flic.kr/p/7cX2Qe #
• 14:10 Really awesome Stitch pet bed from Japan. flic.kr/p/7d9sLH #
• 19:18 No, scary Palm Pre Girl, you will not eat my soul!!! #
• 19:32 Reason #742,836 why Noel Fielding rules: he's starstruck by ... David Attenborough! is.gd/4Nw8j // via @bonniegrrl #

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