Thread: RANT: Why eBay sucks and don't bother trying to sell your used OEM Ballasts on there

Copying and pasting from another forum I posted this on.

Let me begin with my story from 2 years ago when I first bought the car. I have a 2004 Saab 9-5 Aero with visibility package, which means I have the bi-xenon headlights (and non-working rain sensing wipers ). The car was picked up in September of 2012 and had some eBay special 6000k bulbs, which were okay at the time but I wanted the OEM bulbs, so I bought some and installed them. First time firing up new bulbs can put a little more drain on ballasts as the bulbs need a little more to burn in correctly and blam-o I lost my Driver's side headlight ballast on first start up. ****.

Well, I went online to eBay to pick up a used one and found a guy that specializes in selling just used OEM ballasts, so I picked one up for $200 from him, not knowing at the time and didn't know for another year, that the Saab's need Saab specific ballasts to work correctly 100%. It arrived and I installed the ballasts, the lights worked and with the lights on I had no Xenon warning light HOORAY! Turn the lights off, Xenon warning light BOOOO! Well my lights worked, I had other things to worry about and it was getting too cold to really be messing with the headlights at this point, so away I went on my marry way into the wild blue yonder.

A few months later, when I went to have my A/C system recharged, that sometimes this happens and the car just needs to recalibrate the light and I'll be fine and the guy at the shop offered to do it for free because it was easy. He starts with the Tech-II and then I hear a "Huh? This is odd." Turns out he can't even properly communicate with this ballast so he asks me, have you replaced it and of course the answer is yes. "Ah I see, did Mr. eBay forget to mention that Saab likes Saab parts." Yes...Yes he did. ****.

So...I'll deal with that another day; the leaves grew on the trees, the days got hot and long, I put in a new suspension, the leaves changed colors and fell off the trees, and then it snowed...a lot last winter. I had since upgraded to what I thought was authentic Osram CBI bulbs at $200 and I was happy....or so I thought.

Come out to the car in 20* weather after work, it is dark at 5 now so I need my headlights, turn them on and start going down the road. I am looking left to pull out into traffic and as I turn my head back to the front of my car, I saw a flash of light, "Hmmm, was that me? What was that?" A few seconds, FLASH....**** it is me. They would only really do a quick off/on for the first 2 minutes off driving, after that, they were fine. Never really found out the answer to this one, but I do think I got knockoff bulbs, because as soon as I put the OEMs back in and it didn't happen. ****.

In this time, I had done a lot of research into this Xenon system and what makes them tick. I found out a lot and how for projectors, Saab was a little too hasty with them and they really have less output then 99-01 9-5 halogen headlights. Xenon systems and HID Projectors were very much in their infancy back in the early 2000s and.....Dave you are getting side tracked....back to the story.

Okay, so it is winter when this flashing is occurring so I hunt around with my wads of research and said screw it, lets replace everything in this system. So I wait for a nice black Friday sale (when eEuro had some decent sales) and scored 2 BRAND NEW Saab specific ballasts for $180/piece with 2 year warranties. I also picked up 2 BRAND NEW Osram CBI bulbs from TheRetrofitSource with 2 year warranties for $200. AWESOME!

The leaves come back on the trees, the grass turns green again, and ol'Dave here decides to buy a house so he can park his Saab in a garage. I finally get some down time to put in the new goodies and clean the leveling sensors all in hopes that ol'Dave here can go through one winter without having to worry about his headlights. I decided to keep the other Saab specific ballast from the Passenger side headlight as a backup and just sell this other ballast on eBay. This is where things begin to just suck.

I've been listing this ballast since May, I had done some looking around on ebay and the prices have definitely come down significantly since when I bought it, oh well it happens. One thing does catch my eye with some of the other listings. "We will make a video of the ballast in full operation before shipping it to you, this is to protect us from people who just want to test their system." (as a side note, I noticed some of these guys no longer sell ballasts) First sign that this isn't going to end well. Since these ballasts that we use in the 9-5's is connected to not only power the light but also control the level motor and sensors; people will often buy these ballasts to test and make sure other parts of their system work correctly and use them to troubleshoot their issues, which can often blow the ballast or controller.

I sold this spare ballast twice, both times they came back with people claiming it didn't work...and this is why ebay sucks, because you can make a video of it working, describe everything to a T and eBay can force you to take it back, giving the money back. eBay has it in such a way that no matter what you do as a seller, you are screwed...period. Both times this ballast came back and it worked fine. I made video of it working before I shipped it out, but I really had no leg to stand on with eBay's wonderful policies. All I can do is report them, which I imagine drops my report into the black hole of the internet, never to be seen again.

I finally sold it again for a 3rd time last week for a measly $80. I had 3 pictures in the listing and a VIDEO in the listing to show it worked. I had checked with my phone about 30 minutes before it would end and no bids. ****. 30 minutes later, I get an email and it said my item sold! HOORAY...I guess. I had no watchers and this guy swooped in at the last minute and bid, cool. I ship everything out the next business day because I work 9 to 5, so that is usually the best I can do.

Here is my listing:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/161431799978...84.m1559.l2649

Here is the message I get from the guy today:
Dear davevq11,

i received your ballast and not happy.
the lucking clip on the ballast is broken.
the ballast around edges and holes have brown spots so I know it was in the water.
clearly visible defects not mentioned in listing and pictures do not show that.
will email you pictures tonight.
I want $20 partial refund so I can sell it as is with these defects or full refund when I return back to you.
let me know how we can solve this problem.

-------------------------------------

Let me breathe into a paper bag before I rant.

*Breathe's very deep*

First off, the locking clips are on the connector ends that go into the ballast. The ballast wire has the clip piece and when I tested the ballast before shipping, it connected and worked just fine. The 12 pin connector is just like a connector for a power supply of a computer, while this wasn't tested in my video, these ballasts are locked into a headlight and because of how tight these connectors are, they don't exactly just fall out.

Second, you can clearly see in my pictures that yes, there are are some brown areas around the screw holes for the side of the ballast exposed to the elements. As for the part of the ballast that sits inside the headlight, it is clean and has never seen water. If it had seen water damage, the ballast wouldn't work. Not sure why something like this needs to look picture perfect for something that is buried in a car headlight and hidden.

So what we have here is a guy who saw the auction at last minute, swooped in and bought it without looking at anything. And that ladies and gentlemen, is why ebay sucks and it isn't even worth the effort to sell our ballasts used on ebay. My only choice here is just give this guy $20, I can't really do anything about it.

I have a shred of advice. Quit buying junk. And, now that I'm done ranting on your sig, consider quality parts, as well.

Yeah eBay is getting really bad. Did you know that now you have 180 days to return things that you purchased on eBay? 180 days wtf I can see 45-60 days because of the Chinese sellers taking a month to **** things out but 180 days that is just stupid.

Originally Posted by 02 WS6 TA

And, now that I'm done ranting on your sig, consider quality parts, as well.

I wasn't complaining about what I bought, it was about selling this damn thing and eBay itself. I chalk up the mistakes I made to not enough research and it is my fault, I don't care I have everything humming along just fine now. The whole backstory was just filler to poke fun at myself for stupid things and how we got to why I am selling it.

FYI, with all this new car entertainment crap, super computers we are pumping into cars, and advanced headlight and safety systems (airbags, blindspot, yada yada yada) not one car manufacturer will be immune from scrutiny when these systems take the test of time and begin to fail.

Originally Posted by Slick2500

Yeah eBay is getting really bad. Did you know that now you have 180 days to return things that you purchased on eBay? 180 days wtf I can see 45-60 days because of the Chinese sellers taking a month to **** things out but 180 days that is just stupid.

It is insane. I hate selling on ebay but this just seemed the best way to go about it. I do believe RareGMFan goes through this crap.

Yeah he does, I have talked to him quite a bit about selling stuff on eBay, and I hate doing it. You sell something for $50 and by the time you ship it and eBay takes their fees you end up with like $30 its pathetic.

eBay is terrible. The seller as no protection at all but the buyer can return anything. There's so many private sellers that get screwed. I sold something on ebay a few months ago and that was the last time I'll ever sell there again. 10% final value fee, 10% of the shipping fee and 3% for paypal. On top of all the charges for added pictures and all that BS.

First mistake was buying a Saaaaab

Drunkie.....u mad bro

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

For the most part, my selling experiences have been good. However, I have had a few issues here and there. Examples:

Negative feedback - "The visor doesn't move forward. Don't sell an item that's not fully functional."
This was for a Lexus RX300 sun visor with HomeLink. How does a visor not move forward? It was functioning when I removed it off the vehicle, so how did it..."break" in between then an installation? Sounds like dumbass user install. He didn't contact me, either. Just left the negative.

Neutral feedback - "just have a few issues with the lights don't fit the all"
First of all, his broken English doesn't make sense. Secondly, if he means not all the bulbs fit, or something along those lines, that is not my fault. He purchased a factory Volvo S40 tail light. If he bought the right part, there is no way for it to not fit/work. But he definitely got what was described/what he paid for. Again, I wasn't contact by this buyer.

More recently, a buyer received a 6-disc Pacifica CD/DVD changer, and the same day he got it, he filed a claim with eBay for "item not as described" because I forgot to put the wire harness in the box (I had unplugged it to get it to fit in the box with all the bubble wrap, then forgot to put it in the box). Rather than just sending me a message saying "hey, I thought this was supposed to come with the harness, but I don't see it", he decided to immediately start a claim. I communicated with him and got him the harness, after which he immediately dropped the case and left me positive feedback, but that was still a pretty stupid way to resolve the issue.

I also had one guy b*tch and whine that the Scion XB air bag he bought for $300 wasn't the right one for his model year, and that I should take it back because I had it listed as possibly fitting his year. After going back and forth a couple times, and telling him it's the buyer's job to make sure s/he is buying the right part, PLUS there are giant photos of the air bag which clearly show it doesn't look like his, he gave up and said "never mind, just forget it". Luckily, he didn't leave negative feedback, or file a claim because even though I was clearly in the right, I would have lost. eBay/PayPal have a nasty tendency to side with the buyers these days.

The only refund I've done thus far was a voluntary one. I listed a Mercury Milan mirror as folding by accident, which it wasn't. The buyer wrote me saying I know it says no refunds, but this is not folding and won't work for my car. It was ironic because he had every right to demand a refund, yet he was pleading for me to make an exception on my return policy and take the item back. Meanwhile, most of the people demanding a refund don't have any right to one. This case was 100% my fault. So I said of course I'd take it back.

So far, knock on wood, but I have not had to refund a complainer, or have someone run a scam on me yet. Regardless, these little incidences that pop up here and there can be nerve-racking. There are plenty of other issues, too, like the obscene eBay and PayPal fees, which are also deducted from what you charge for shipping, and takes a nice chunk of your sales. Then there's the fact that you can't leave negative feedback for a buyer no matter what s/he does (doesn't pay, lies about the item received, etc). You have your choice of leaving them positive feedback, or no feedback at all. That's simply ridiculous in my book. You also can't block no or low feedback buyers like you used to, so you have to deal with dipsh*ts who are either new to eBay and don't know how to play, or have started a new account because they've racked up too many non-paying bidder reports on their previous one(s). The list goes on.

Basically, eBay has castrated sellers. This is why eBay is no where near as busy or prosperous as it was 15+ years ago. Now it's cluttered with stores selling new cheap Chinese junk as opposed to the average Joes like you and me selling more obscure items. You know.....what MADE eBay??

Originally Posted by SomeDudeAtHome

eBay is terrible. The seller as no protection at all but the buyer can return anything. There's so many private sellers that get screwed. I sold something on ebay a few months ago and that was the last time I'll ever sell there again. 10% final value fee, 10% of the shipping fee and 3% for paypal. On top of all the charges for added pictures and all that BS.

I type up all my descriptions in MS Front Page, including embedding the pictures in them after hosting them on Photobucket. Then I copy/paste the HTML code to eBay for the listing. I'd never pay extra for any of their services.

What I'm reading here is... obviously Saab guys suck big time.

Slaab, and a Ranger. Where is the facepalm emoticom?

Originally Posted by BillBoost37

What I'm reading here is... obviously Saab guys suck big time.

This isn't exactly a Saab specific part though, this part fits Jags, Audis, and all sorts of Euro cars.

Actually this didn't work in my Saab because it wasn't Saab specific...so therefore it is not a Saab part

Originally Posted by RareGMFan

For the most part, my selling experiences have been good. However, I have had a few issues here and there. Examples:

Negative feedback - "The visor doesn't move forward. Don't sell an item that's not fully functional."
This was for a Lexus RX300 sun visor with HomeLink. How does a visor not move forward? It was functioning when I removed it off the vehicle, so how did it..."break" in between then an installation? Sounds like dumbass user install. He didn't contact me, either. Just left the negative.

Neutral feedback - "just have a few issues with the lights don't fit the all"
First of all, his broken English doesn't make sense. Secondly, if he means not all the bulbs fit, or something along those lines, that is not my fault. He purchased a factory Volvo S40 tail light. If he bought the right part, there is no way for it to not fit/work. But he definitely got what was described/what he paid for. Again, I wasn't contact by this buyer.

More recently, a buyer received a 6-disc Pacifica CD/DVD changer, and the same day he got it, he filed a claim with eBay for "item not as described" because I forgot to put the wire harness in the box (I had unplugged it to get it to fit in the box with all the bubble wrap, then forgot to put it in the box). Rather than just sending me a message saying "hey, I thought this was supposed to come with the harness, but I don't see it", he decided to immediately start a claim. I communicated with him and got him the harness, after which he immediately dropped the case and left me positive feedback, but that was still a pretty stupid way to resolve the issue.

I also had one guy b*tch and whine that the Scion XB air bag he bought for $300 wasn't the right one for his model year, and that I should take it back because I had it listed as possibly fitting his year. After going back and forth a couple times, and telling him it's the buyer's job to make sure s/he is buying the right part, PLUS there are giant photos of the air bag which clearly show it doesn't look like his, he gave up and said "never mind, just forget it". Luckily, he didn't leave negative feedback, or file a claim because even though I was clearly in the right, I would have lost. eBay/PayPal have a nasty tendency to side with the buyers these days.

The only refund I've done thus far was a voluntary one. I listed a Mercury Milan mirror as folding by accident, which it wasn't. The buyer wrote me saying I know it says no refunds, but this is not folding and won't work for my car. It was ironic because he had every right to demand a refund, yet he was pleading for me to make an exception on my return policy and take the item back. Meanwhile, most of the people demanding a refund don't have any right to one. This case was 100% my fault. So I said of course I'd take it back.

So far, knock on wood, but I have not had to refund a complainer, or have someone run a scam on me yet. Regardless, these little incidences that pop up here and there can be nerve-racking. There are plenty of other issues, too, like the obscene eBay and PayPal fees, which are also deducted from what you charge for shipping, and takes a nice chunk of your sales. Then there's the fact that you can't leave negative feedback for a buyer no matter what s/he does (doesn't pay, lies about the item received, etc). You have your choice of leaving them positive feedback, or no feedback at all. That's simply ridiculous in my book. You also can't block no or low feedback buyers like you used to, so you have to deal with dipsh*ts who are either new to eBay and don't know how to play, or have started a new account because they've racked up too many non-paying bidder reports on their previous one(s). The list goes on.

Basically, eBay has castrated sellers. This is why eBay is no where near as busy or prosperous as it was 15+ years ago. Now it's cluttered with stores selling new cheap Chinese junk as opposed to the average Joes like you and me selling more obscure items. You know.....what MADE eBay??





I type up all my descriptions in MS Front Page, including embedding the pictures in them after hosting them on Photobucket. Then I copy/paste the HTML code to eBay for the listing. I'd never pay extra for any of their services.

I **** you not, this guy and I went back and forth last night. His arguments kept changing, from I submerged it in water, to there is dirt on it, to I must have sent him a different one from the listing...I **** YOU NOT. He sent pictures and said look at the dirt on this, that is not in your pictures. It just some dust from where a rubber gasket will go to seal major debris and water from getting into the headlight. His whole complaint was that the part wasn't picture perfect because of dirt. The clip isn't broken, he sent a picture of that and I sent him a picture of a brand new one that looked exactly the same. I offered him $10 to clean the dirt off himself...yup he wants to return it and wanted me to pay shipping back to me, told him it was on him and he got really pissed. I listed this item at HALF the price of any other used ballast up on ebay right now, he wanted a ballast he could turn around and flip for money (if you read his first email he told me he intended to sell it). I caught this guy lying every which way but there is nothing I can do because eBay.

That's why I don't sell I only buy lol^ **** that **** lol

Clear as can be.....don't buy a European vehicle. LOL

Sucks for sure. I only buy on e-Bay, and have had very good luck. I don't bid though, I buy it now, as long as I like the price.

I sell the odd thing on Craigslist locally, and feel your pain drunkie. There are some real fawk-tards out there. I was selling my old Super Coupe wheels. Buddy came to look at them twice and didn't believe there were correct. He kept measuring the bolt pattern wrong, even after I told him so. I even showed him a picture of the wheels on my Super Coupe. I finally told him to f-off and stop wasting my time. His wife didn't seem to like that. LOL

I'd rather toss some of my stuff in the garbage than deal with trying to sell it.

I've sold a lot on ebay, its been a long time since I've had an issue at all (one guy bought something from me and had buyers remorse). I've made some good money lately.

Buyer's remorse is the #1 reason most of these guys try to come up with some BS excuse on trying to return an item. That reminded me of one other incident. I sold a set of '65 or so Thunderbird chrome headlight trims. They were rough, and they didn't go for much, but I didn't have a smart phone at that time, so I couldn't look them up from the yard to see if they were worth picking up. One of the trim pieces had a slit in the chrome on the inside where it can't be seen. I made very clear mention of this in the auction, AND it was showing in 3 pictures, including a close up of the damage. Guy gets it and says I owe him a refund because I didn't mention that part. Pointed him out to the exact quotes from the auction and which pictures it can clearly be seen in. He didn't respond. Again, luckily no claim filed or negative feedback left, but it's very irritating to have to deal with such douchebags and hope that nothing negative comes of it.

It sucks that eBay has given an out for people with buyer's remorse, but all in all, I've still made some nice spare change on there, so it's not all that terrible. I just wish Google or someone would come along and finish off eBay. Whenever I say this, I get some people that are like "companies have tried that in the past, and failed". To that, I retort with those companies (Yahoo! Auctions, Ubid, etc) tried at the wrong time. They tried to take a piece of eBay's pie while eBay was at the pinnacle of its popularity. Now, everyone hates eBay, so those pieces are ripe for the taking. Now is the time to strike.

I wish eBay had more policys that protected the seller but I guess thats kinda hard to do. But it seems like everyone always thinks a seller is wanting to rip them off. I recently looked into all the eBay fees and did a double take how much they actually take out its nuts.

Sent from BFE

Yup it is nuts.

Yup eBay has gone to help lately (well last year or two) really whenever they took over PayPal. I use to sell on there all the time until they started getting ridiculous with there fees. They want a listing free, percentage fee from the sale and then of course paywalls fee. As a seller you get zero protection. As a buyer you can say anything and get a refund. You get lucky enough to get your item sent back. Most of the time you lose out on both. Nowadays I only buy on eBay as a last result or if I find a killer deal.

Too hell with fleaBay!