26 replies to this topic

[SwingBlues]

Been selling on ebay for about 5 - 6 years now. I don't sell that many but its a good place to move my old clubs when it does not move here.

Usually, I hardly get any messages but I've just listed 2 items there an M4 3 wood and a Honma 16* hybrid...then I get an message about the M4
"is this a US version or a fake"?

I was thinking as I read it -  Kevin Streelman pops up with his red shirt and "Wilson" black cap...... "SEROUSLY"?!?!?!
Yeah, sure buddy I am about to scam out with a fake and I am going to be soooo honest and fess up it's a freaking flake, get a life!

The M4 guy I had no patience with, seriously, asking if the club is a fake - can't you freaking tell with 12 pictures uploaded from all angles?!?!


Then the Honma "can I see a picture of the hologram on the shaft".

The Honma one I didn't mind, I can take a picture of this, NBD but I wonder if the other Honma sellers are also going to post up their hologram? I didn't see any Honma sellers putting up hologram picture.


My hunch is that these 2 potential buyers are going to be trouble for the sale. I fear the "use it and abuse it" and claim it's a fake.

Like I said, all my sales have been super smooth with 100% feedback but these 2 messages seem to give me a bad vibe. May be I should bump up the prices if these people think it's too cheap - ITS GOTTA BE A FAKE!

WTH....

Anyone else see the same?

[Viewing As Guest]

[brkuck]

Ive come to believe that people sometimes enjoy sending out messages just to mess with the seller and waste time.  It happens here.  The guy that's "interested" and created an account that same day only to be never heard from again.  Seems to be trolls everywhere.  

Asking if its a fake is hilarious.  Even if it is, you gotta be whacked to take the time and post an ad somewhere, only to fess up and say its a fake when asked.  I know this happens and then the seller will put it back up again later on and hope not to get caught.  I think that comes down to society and people wanting answers right away without doing their homework.  There are fakes out there, but a simple search on what to look for and red flags will help the buyer to choose.

I wouldn't take it personally though.

Edited by brkuck, 11 February 2019 - 04:26 PM.

[jschwarb]

Don't take it personally. I bought fake Pro V1s off eBay once (seller didn't know, was very apologetic, got refunded, all good), and ever since then I have asked for photos of the side and bottom of the box because I learned what to look for in fakes. I'm sure the sellers thought "this guy wants more photos of golf ball boxes?" but I wasn't doing the deal otherwise. And I don't blow smoke, if I'm asking for more information and I get what I'm looking for, I'm buying.

Edited by jschwarb, 11 February 2019 - 04:25 PM.

[SwingBlues]

I don't take it personally at all... its just a sense of change not accustomed to.

That honma guy, i'll take a photo, its no skin off my nose. but sometimes you get vibes/perceptions by how the question is asked especially when after you work to setup as many photos to give a good idea about the condition of the club. That M4 guy's question is that plain silly and shows he does not know what to look for, just willy nilly fire off a question. I don't think it was jab or to infuriate me, but I would not sell my club to him. I told him that also. What I should have said is that if he is so concerned, he needs to go to Edwin Watts or TGW and pay full pop for a brand new club... that should have been my answer but I was not in that mood that day...

it's like that other OP who started that thread here with the M5 with the crooked line and it came from tgw, you sometimes go "WTH"?!?!


oh, I also learnt - always keep my club receipts - just in case if there are questions of where the club is sourced from.

Edited by SwingBlues, 11 February 2019 - 04:40 PM.

[cardia10]

I usually respond with the message "you have been banned from bidding on this seller's items." Did it twice today for people making offers for less than 50% of the price I had something listed. These are typically the ones to return and scam anyway, so I don't give them a chance. I may lose a few sells, but it saves me a ton of headache.

[brkuck]

cardia10, on 11 February 2019 - 04:38 PM, said:

I usually respond with the message "you have been banned from bidding on this seller's items." Did it twice today for people making offers for less than 50% of the price I had something listed. These are typically the ones to return and scam anyway, so I don't give them a chance. I may lose a few sells, but it saves me a ton of headache.

Totally agree.  Sometimes missing a sale is worth more than getting it and inheriting a headache.  You can usually spot those issues from the beginning but some are hell bent on selling items that they dont care.

[SwingBlues]

cardia10, on 11 February 2019 - 04:38 PM, said:

I usually respond with the message "you have been banned from bidding on this seller's items." Did it twice today for people making offers for less than 50% of the price I had something listed. These are typically the ones to return and scam anyway, so I don't give them a chance. I may lose a few sells, but it saves me a ton of headache.

I left the "Make Offer" on -but- you know that you can set a threshold in ebay. That automatically takes care of the low balls.

But low balls are everywhere, here as well but they way I see it, it's a free market and if you don't ask, you won't get. But you gotta know your market. I don't put my stuff up for bid, I know it's not going to sell quick if I did that - but I think I know the market price. I have patience. Sometimes, the Big Guns can come in and totally undercut you but that's the market.... u can wade it out...

[GoIrish17]

I get a ridiculous messages or insultingly low offer from anyone on eBay and they get blocked, no questions answered or messages responded to. I don't even sweat it. Too many buyers on eBay to worry about some weirdos, and I sure ain't on there to make friends.

[Augster]

GoIrish17, on 11 February 2019 - 05:04 PM, said:

I get a ridiculous messages or insultingly low offer from anyone on eBay and they get blocked, no questions answered or messages responded to. I don't even sweat it. Too many buyers on eBay to worry about some weirdos, and I sure ain't on there to make friends.

This.

Unless it’s a question about something you obviously forgot to put in the auction, it’s block time for anyone asking questions. I put up enough pics and a good description. That’s enough. This isn’t craigslist.

They can buy or not. But answering questions I’m done with. Plenty of buyers out there that know what they are getting just by the pictures and description.

[vanillafunk616]

Serious buyers know what they want, know how to identify it, and know what a fair price is.  The people with a million questions, need a million pics, want to argue about the item, etc. never buy anything and if they do they want to return it.  Don't waste your energy, time, or mental health on them.

[Viewing As Guest]

[GoIrish17]

Augster, on 11 February 2019 - 05:14 PM, said:

GoIrish17, on 11 February 2019 - 05:04 PM, said:

I get a ridiculous messages or insultingly low offer from anyone on eBay and they get blocked, no questions answered or messages responded to. I don't even sweat it. Too many buyers on eBay to worry about some weirdos, and I sure ain't on there to make friends.

This.

Unless it's a question about something you obviously forgot to put in the auction, it's block time for anyone asking questions. I put up enough pics and a good description. That's enough. This isn't craigslist.

They can buy or not. But answering questions I'm done with. Plenty of buyers out there that know what they are getting just by the pictures and description.

I’ve got no problem answering legitimate questions. But I answer quickly, directly, honestly, and to the point. I don’t expound, justify, explain, teach, chit chat, provide personal thoughts, add anecdotes, make small talk, etc. The last thing I want is for some scammer to come back after a sale and use my words against me when I thought we were just two golfers shooting the $hit about my club I’m selling.

[CrushSticks]

Had a guy buy some brand new, uncut taper tip steelfiber i95s from me. Asked a million questions, but he seemed fine. Messages a few days after receiving and tells me he wants to file a claim because his club builder says he installed them and they are like 3 inches too long. I ask if his club builder butt trimmed them to length. No response, no claim. eBay is fun, right?

[SwingBlues]

CrushSticks, on 11 February 2019 - 09:13 PM, said:

Had a guy buy some brand new, uncut taper tip steelfiber i95s from me. Asked a million questions, but he seemed fine. Messages a few days after receiving and tells me he wants to file a claim because his club builder says he installed them and they are like 3 inches too long. I ask if his club builder butt trimmed them to length. No response, no claim. eBay is fun, right?

OMG, that is hilarious. If I was that buyer, I would be worried about his "club builderhacker", if his hacker can't figure out what to do with the extra length. Wonder what super glue he used on the shaft


LOL - just got this message on my M4...

"provide me with more details on the condition and why you are selling? I will buy it now if you can provide me with some more information"


This is after 11 photos (sorry i thought it was 12)...and we are not talking small pictures either but large CLEAR pictures. And I have to give reason why I am selling it... ?

I have pending offers on it, I think I will let this one pass

UPDATE: Just sold my M4 to someone with 625 feedback. That person who asked had only 7 feedback.

Edited by SwingBlues, 11 February 2019 - 09:43 PM.

[RSinSG]

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away I did some undercover work with our Narc unit. On two separate cases I had people ask me if I was a cop. I told them of course not, and when they were in custody they told me it was illegal for a cop to lie to you. They actually thought they were going to get off.

I guess eBay buyers are equally stupid.

[brkuck]

RSinSG, on 11 February 2019 - 09:49 PM, said:

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away I did some undercover work with our Narc unit. On two separate cases I had people ask me if I was a cop. I told them of course not, and when they were in custody they told me it was illegal for a cop to lie to you. They actually thought they were going to get off.

I guess eBay buyers are equally stupid.

Stupidity knows no bounds...

[wrbush31]

SwingBlues, on 11 February 2019 - 09:18 PM, said:

LOL - just got this message on my M4...

"provide me with more details on the condition and why you are selling? I will buy it now if you can provide me with some more information"

This is one that blows me away every time.  I get the question a lot here too.  Who cares why I'm selling the club?  Unless I stated "it's broken, that's why I'm selling it" - I would assume any physical issues that warrant this question should be described in the listing.  Or even performance-based questions.  Just because I hit it too high and had too much spin has absolutely no bearing on what your swing will do with it.  That's a whole different pile of research to do instead of asking the seller how the equipment performed to them.

...if that even translates that well in type.  Pet peeve.

[indianalawnguy]

I seem to get a lot more low ball offers on the BST than i do on ebay. Its usually from the guy that asks for 8 insividual face pics and then offers $225 on a set of irons that are already generously priced at $450! They must not read the lowball offers will be ignored in bold print and message me several times wanting to know if i will accept the stupid low offer!

[MaineMariner]

I had a set of irons listed on OfferUp and LetGo. Somebody messaged me to ask if they could see the receipt from my original purchase.

I mean... what? No, you can't? I guess it's sort of defensible in the sense that I stated in the listing that I was the original owner and that the clubs were purchased new, but we're not talking about a used car here.

[SwingBlues]

indianalawnguy, on 12 February 2019 - 03:34 PM, said:

I seem to get a lot more low ball offers on the BST than i do on ebay. Its usually from the guy that asks for 8 insividual face pics and then offers $225 on a set of irons that are already generously priced at $450! They must not read the lowball offers will be ignored in bold print and message me several times wanting to know if i will accept the stupid low offer!

While I am part of this WRX community, that somewhat uses the FS Classified here and it pains me to say this - yes, this is trend here. I got some ridiculous low balls and trades eventhough I said no trades.

Now on ebay, you can can automatically do that with the threshold on the Make Offers & I somewhat wish they had something similar here. For here, I am still nice and just say no & thanks for looking. However, the posters here are more discerning and at least I don't get a "hey is this US version or a fake" dumb a** question...that one thats the cake for me. I am sure you guys got worse questions.

Good news - that guy asking about the Honma was legit & he asked right. Ended up selling my Honma to him and he's in my neighborhood

MaineMariner, on 12 February 2019 - 03:59 PM, said:

I had a set of irons listed on OfferUp and LetGo. Somebody messaged me to ask if they could see the receipt from my original purchase.

I mean... what? No, you can't? I guess it's sort of defensible in the sense that I stated in the listing that I was the original owner and that the clubs were purchased new, but we're not talking about a used car here.

Yeah, I only once included my old receipt in a sale to the guy. I think it was my One Lengths F8 just to prove standard loft & lie but I didn't have to. He was appreciative of it though. I keep it just in case any sale blows up with a "hey its a fake".

I know the Scotty and the Golf Prides MCC grips are notorious fakes on ebay but I don't think I've any M4 fairways or Honma fakes out there myself. I'm not saying they don't exist but rare unless someone here bring it up in this "deal or not deal", I don't hear about it...

[Orlandogolfguru]

sold a new m6 last week, and buyer sent a return request of "changed my mind, i dont want to spend the money" ugh.  at least ebay let me decline the return.  i dont get people sometimes.

[Viewing As Guest]

Wanna get rid of this ugly yellow box? And remove other annoying "stuff" in between posts? Create a FREE GolfWRX account here.

[Big Ben]

I will ask 100% XYZ factory authentic? I do this to make sure the product is still available and the seller is willing to communicate. I also have proof the seller is claiming authenticity just in case it’s fake. It’s a precaution and I always tell the seller as such. BB

[Jagpilotohio]

vanillafunk616, on 11 February 2019 - 05:23 PM, said:

Serious buyers know what they want, know how to identify it, and know what a fair price is.  The people with a million questions, need a million pics, want to argue about the item, etc. never buy anything and if they do they want to return it.  Don't waste your energy, time, or mental health on them.

Hum.  VERY  Interesting attitude.  It appears we have extremely different views on eBay shopping.  I find that many sellers are seriously  lacking on either the number or quality of pictures and quite often leave out important details on the item. Simply put..many ads are just terrible.

I am one of “those guys” that quite often asks questions and often asks for more pictures to be posted.

I also nearly always buy what I’m interested in and I have never needed to return anything due to lack of information or pictures.

If someone is too lazy or too disrespectful  to respond to my inquiries in a timely manner I have no interest in buying from them. I assume they are hiding something or at a minimum they just don’t give a damn, which I want no part of in a business transaction.

Perspective is a very interesting thing.  Everyone sees the world through a different filter.

[Jagpilotohio]

Follow up post.

Most recent example of a seller deliberately being shady.  Last month a TS3 Head came up for sale.  $249.00.   At least $50.00 under market rate.

I violated my own rules and immediately bought it.  The pictures of the crown were taken at a bad angle and with bad light.  The single picture was very poor..  The ad said “excellent condition. Slight scuffs on crown and sole from normal use”.

I normally would never buy anything with a picture that obviously looked like the seller was trying to hide something, but I knew it wouldn’t last if emails were exchanged.

Sure enough, when I get the driver  it looked like the guy never used a headcover while it was in his bag.  Scuffs all over the crown from banging into other clubs.  Fortunately it’s a glossy head and I used to own an auto detailing business.  I used two different rubbing compounds over a period of 15-20 minutes to buff out all the scratches from the clearcoat.   It’s pristine now, but only because I knew how to address the issue.

Crappy pictures or a serious lack of pictures either means the seller is hiding something, or lazy, or stupid, or all of the above.  Asking for more pictures or asking for more information is NEVER a bad idea.

[Bad9]

Jagpilotohio, on 15 February 2019 - 10:16 AM, said:

Follow up post.

Most recent example of a seller deliberately being shady.  Last month a TS3 Head came up for sale.  $249.00.   At least $50.00 under market rate.

I violated my own rules and immediately bought it.  The pictures of the crown were taken at a bad angle and with bad light.  The single picture was very poor..  The ad said “excellent condition. Slight scuffs on crown and sole from normal use”.

I normally would never buy anything with a picture that obviously looked like the seller was trying to hide something, but I knew it wouldn’t last if emails were exchanged.

Sure enough, when I get the driver  it looked like the guy never used a headcover while it was in his bag.  Scuffs all over the crown from banging into other clubs.  Fortunately it’s a glossy head and I used to own an auto detailing business.  I used two different rubbing compounds over a period of 15-20 minutes to buff out all the scratches from the clearcoat.   It’s pristine now, but only because I knew how to address the issue.

Crappy pictures or a serious lack of pictures either means the seller is hiding something, or lazy, or stupid, or all of the above.  Asking for more pictures or asking for more information is NEVER a bad idea.

+1. How many BST disputes have we read about over the years because a buyer didn't ask questions when they had some doubt? Lots. I imagine the percentage is similar on Ebay. For every deadbeat buyer there's an equally shady seller.

[Payton1020]

Were the messages live or were they Memorex?

[vanillafunk616]

Jagpilotohio, on 15 February 2019 - 09:56 AM, said:

vanillafunk616, on 11 February 2019 - 05:23 PM, said:

Serious buyers know what they want, know how to identify it, and know what a fair price is.  The people with a million questions, need a million pics, want to argue about the item, etc. never buy anything and if they do they want to return it.  Don't waste your energy, time, or mental health on them.

Hum.  VERY  Interesting attitude.  It appears we have extremely different views on eBay shopping.  I find that many sellers are seriously  lacking on either the number or quality of pictures and quite often leave out important details on the item. Simply put..many ads are just terrible.

I am one of “those guys” that quite often asks questions and often asks for more pictures to be posted.

I also nearly always buy what I’m interested in and I have never needed to return anything due to lack of information or pictures.

If someone is too lazy or too disrespectful  to respond to my inquiries in a timely manner I have no interest in buying from them. I assume they are hiding something or at a minimum they just don’t give a damn, which I want no part of in a business transaction.

Perspective is a very interesting thing.  Everyone sees the world through a different filter.

Well I make sure that as seller I list all information and take all pictures from all angles. If the question is legitimate, I am happy to answer it.  The people I am talking about are certain sub group of people who like to waste people's time.  Anyone who has worked in retail knows the people who are always at the return counter, always trying to haggle, etc.  I honestly think it's a form of entertainment or they think that purchasing something gives them the right to  harass the seller.  Either way I'm not engaging.

[bladehunter]

Lol.  “ you ask questions.  Balocckkeddddd! Wow. You do not want to sell do you ? Is that a horders trick ?  “ I swear honey.  Nobody was interested.  I can’t give this stuff away “.  Meanwhile hes blocked all of eBay.  Wow.

Edited by bladehunter, 41 minutes ago.