eBay problems, resolutions, shenanigans, questions and info (not bike finds)

Bought something with £8 postage, when it arrived the Royal Mail label shows the seller had paid £2 something.

Is it reasonable to ask for the difference back? It’s only a fiver difference but it’s £5 still.

Postage and packing, shipping and handling.

Some sellers will attribute value to their time getting to a post office. It's annoying but I don't really see an avenue to complain if the cost you paid was as advertised.

As someone who periodically buys on ebay I don’t really bother separating out the shipping from the product price; if I deem the overall cost acceptable I buy it.
As someone who periodically sells on ebay I absolutely retain the right to charge more than the actual shipping cost: I don’t know ahead of time where the item is going and can only estimate how much it will be. I sometimes lose on shipping and sometimes gain.

Better put than me but I agree totally.

Are fake Paul Components a thing?
Got a ‘buy it now’ for £50 on some ‘cantilever’ brakes and these mini moto turned up. So an easy return based on ‘not as described’ but I’d not argue with a set of mini Motos…
The box print is a little more shiny and the details aren’t handwritten, perhaps the engraved logos are more faint. Plus cheap blocks, no instructions etc.
The more I write : these are shady, right?

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Are fake Paul Components a thing?

Absolutely. Loads on AliExpress.

Good effort on the hand written labelling but think they have the hand written/printed the wrong way round surely!

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007116003481.html?

Thanks - that’s the clincher. Back they go.
This is a real box I’ve got, the labelling seems to be a mix of print (to look like freehand) and actual freehand.

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Absolutely. Some chat on the ali-x thread about them.

Thanks

Not that you need more evidence but I also think the Neo Retro on yours is stamped with an ink pad rather than printed.

Ah, they haven't gotten it too wrong then.

I presumed real boxes would have the 'Product - Colour - Notes' printed and then they'd have hand written in what it was in there.

Return initiated… fingers crossed!

I sold something on eBay with international shipping via the eBay global delivery service. The guy who won is in Poland and has said the prepaid duty is too high for him and he’d prefer if I sent via RM international and he’ll pay the duty himself after delivery.

It feels like this is opening up a can of worms for things to go wrong for me. If he gets lucky and doesn’t need to pay duty if it is delivered via Polish post is no issue to me but I don’t want to be in a situation where there’s some kind of customs issue and he puts in a refund request through eBay.

I think I’ll just tell him to suck it up or cancel, I can’t think of a way other than sending with pre-paid duty that keeps me covered.

I’d go with the plan laid out in your final sentence.

You’re right, after spelling it all out the choice is clear. I’d prefer to relist and sell for £20 less and not deal with any stress.

Bought a used etap 11spd rear derailleur from ebay to finally finish a etap rim group I had been trying to compile (for 5 years!). In my haste I did not check feedback (all 100% positive) when pulling the BIN trigger. Its been delivered, but the case backing which has all the electrical gubbins in it has a couple of tiny hex bolts which have been ham fistedly put back together and are rounded out.

It appears to work but a bit pissed its been reconditioned/refurbished and seller did not put this in the ad nor did he add pics of the backing where the rounded out bolts are located. At the time of buying this was the only rear derailleur he had and he has now advertised parts of etap rear derailleur and non-working etap rear derailleurs as separate listings. As I did not check his feedback at the time of purchase I now see he has sold previous etap rear derailleurs and component parts for them. He may well be reconditioning/chopping and changing parts and selling as completes and selling odds and sods componentry.

As these 11spd rim brake etap rear derailleurs are temperamental things I may need to disassemble in the future and now won't be able to due to the rounded out bolts. Should I complain/send pics mentioning its been reconditioned (not included in description) and mentioning the rounded out bolts or am I being a touch sensitive?

Should I complain/send pics mentioning its been reconditioned (not included in description) and mentioning the rounded out bolts or am I being a touch sensitive?

If you really wanted to return it, you'd have no problem getting your money back based on the condition of the bolts. You need to decide if it's worth it though. If it was described as 'used' and this is the only issue and you didn't pay over the odds, you may be better off just keeping it.
Can the bolts be removed and replaced for decent ones?
If you're definitely going to need to get in there and the bolts are stuck fast, it may be better to return it and wait for another to turn up.
It's your call but I wouldn't say you're being sensitive.

Thanks, two of the bolts are totally rounded out.

You need to decide if it's worth it though. If it was described as 'used' and this is the only issue and you didn't pay over the odds, you may be better off just keeping it.

Hmm...

I rode a 11 speed etap rim brake groupset for 20k kilometres and never had to touch the rear derailleur, other than to charge the battery and clean it.

This one, on the other hand, has already failed once and has been dismantled and reassembled by somebody ham-fisted. Not including pictures because it looks bad from that angle is shady.

Buyer wanting to offer cash on collection for my bike Quite old account, with only 4 items of feedback.

What's the best way to do this? Meet at a busy train station mid way?

£850 for the bike so not an insane amount of bike to meet in public with.

Or am I asking for a lot of trouble?

Hey folks - piggybacking this thread for some non-ebay consumer advice if possible as just been screwed out of a few hundred £ by what should be a reliable website
TLDR below.

Ordered off Tradeinn back in February 2024 for some Sram AXS GX, stem and assorted parts (tubes, ski poles etc)

Part gets delayed innumerable times to June despite automated and support promising various earlier delivery dates

Tradeinn refused to part dispatch the parcel without the GX parts, so I eventually had to cancel it and buy it more expensive elsewhere in order to release the parts and get the bike built, however due to the package's delay, I was out the country and had to have the parcel sent to my bike shop (which is a one man band that I trust)

The entire Royal Mail package arrived with large tears in the outer cardboard box and poorly re-bagged bin bag style, and my mechanic reported items missing but couldn't tell what amongst it all as there was no packing list.

When I arrived back to him a week later, I tallied the parts and reported it to Tradeinn which took 2 weeks to reply.
I then got a request from them out of the blue that I had submit numerous pieces of evidence within 48 hours or they would not fill out a damage claim, and received this email, and had received this email after being I was out of signal and data service for a week.

Nonetheless after providing information, they did not respond for 6 weeks and they've just voided my claim for not declining the parcel on arrival and/or reporting items missing it within 3 days of receiving.
This is all their fault and not feasible as:
They delayed the parcel therefore I could not receive it directly and had to divert it to the shop
I needed essential parts inside the parcel and I couldn't that tell items would be missing
Their stated rule to decline the parcel (if damaged) is not feasible to find out at the point of delivery
The 3 day rule is not stated anywhere.

TLDR
Parcel arrived extremely damaged to my bike mechanic with many items missing, but Tradeinn voided my claim and any responsibility as they claim I should have declined the parcel and reported it within 3 days despite having delayed the parcel themselves for several months.

As Tradeinn allow you to add parts to the order - I've paid this in around 6 transactions, mostly paypal, dating back from February, do I have any recourse through them?

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Opened a PayPal dispute for a non arrival of an item it’s been a week but also no responses to my request for tracking details.
How quickly do you escalate it? Says it needs to be done in 21 days if no response.

Immediately

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