Okay, so I fully intended to write an article on a moving documentary I watched called “Living on One Dollar,” and then another about my debt journey – but again something less meaningful to the human race takes its spot- but for a good reason.
I sell things on eBay quite often – and it’s been a pretty good experience thus far. The site itself is great (besides the fees, blah blah) and allows you to get rid of your crap for extra cash. Since I am set on succeeding into the transition of a minimalist lifestyle, I have upped my sales significantly. I obviously want to minimize my debt, too. But more sales means dealing with more people – and sometimes people can be ignorant assholes.
If i don’t ship out their item the day they pay for it, (even if it takes them 5 days after the sale ended to do so) they threaten bad feedback and leave multiple messages in my inbox demanding tracking information.
Chill. I will upload tracking information when I send it out. Which I ALWAYS do within two days of your payment. Always.
And I understand things happen. I specifically say I don’t allow returns because I don’t want to deal with them – but sometimes something just isn’t what you wanted. I do my absolute best to describe items the way they appear in detail, but sometimes I miss things, or something happens while shipping. So I always let buyers return something anyway. Hell, if they bought something for a dollar or two (or five) and want to RETURN it – I just say keep the darn thing, here’s your money back.
If you didn’t buy it I was going to donate it anyway.
But then you get those assholes that blame the sellers because a size small shirt that doesn’t fit them was somehow altered… that they only weigh so much and there’s NO reason it shouldn’t fit. (I literally got blamed one time for sewing on another tag to make ONE DOLLAR. For real? I’d pay to see humor like that)
BUT here are two stories where the kindness of consumers overpowered the evil – EVEN WHEN IT WAS MY FAULT.
1. I sold this electronic car diagnostic tuner thing… you know, the kind that you hook up to your vehicle and it tells you what’s wrong with it? Yeah, you see how well I described that? That’s ’cause I had no effing clue what it was, and my boyfriend wouldn’t answer his phone to tell me. So of course instead of waiting, I just googled the brand name and found a picture that sorta looked like it…and then copied the description into my eBay posting. Smart. These things sell, too, by the way. I got multiple bids on it and was looking forward to the cash in my Paypal account. Then a message came from the person who restored my faith in eBay humanity for the first time.
He stated that although they look the same, I chose the wrong version of the item to copy the description, because it was actually a newer version. He proceeded to tell me I also needed to tell the buyers if it was married or unmarried. (I was like, what? It doesn’t have a ring finger…) He then went to COPY THE CORRECT DESCRIPTION for me and informed me how I could find details out about the item even if I didn’t know how to use it. This was a long email, folks, and with not a hint of judgment.
I emailed the guy back after ending my listing, stating that he is an eBay Godsend and that I probably should never ever sell something again I knew nothing about – it was unprofessional and just plain ignorant. He replied that everyone makes mistakes – he just wanted to be nice and warn me to save me the headache of a less understanding buyer who would demand a refund and leave negative feedback. He said if everyone helped people out the world would be a better place.
AMEN.
2. This happened just last night, which explains this post’s relevance to my mood and to today’s topic. I sold a gold necklace to a lady on eBay. I couldn’t quite read the stamping on the chain as it was really thin and I didn’t have my glasses on. So, I just figured it was 14 K like all the other jewelry I sold recently. What a dumbass.
I send it to the lady, who obviously emails me back stating it was only 10K and not 14K, and that she is going to send it back. Only instead of carving me a new asshole, this was her email:
Hi reneex, I hate to tell you this as you have been great to deal with but I am going to have to return the chain and pendant (and earring) :-). Oh! I told the Post Office I hadn’t opened the package so it didn’t cost me anything to mail it back. Shame on me :o} so that saved you a little $. Excellent Feedback will be left for you, he*l we’re all human and make mistakes. I think I make more than my fair share though! HeHeHe I have to stop playing with my home lobotomy kit!!! I look forward to buying from you again. Don’t sweat it.
So I made the mistake, and SHE went out of her way to save ME money, and to ensure me that I was only human.
I get it – I need to be more careful about each one of my items. No matter if it’s my 50th posting that day, I need to pay special detail to each one. But my gosh – these people not only caught and accepted my mistake – but then proceeded to HELP ME OUT.
These two people are awesome. Kudos, Blessings, Good Karama.
Laugh Up My Sleeve 
