posted on March 15, 2002 04:35:04 PM new
i've had it up to here with half.com!!!! Nothing but dishonest buyers who take advantage of half.com's policy of "buyers are always right"! Back in Ocotober, I sent a video, then the buyer bitched it wasn't as advertised, but it was. I was selling the remake version of the movie, not the original. half.com's page even had the image of the video, the cast, description, everything stating this IS the remake, NOT the original, I told half.com, they said they understand,you are correc6 and i thought it was over.
then 60 days later, the buyer gives me a 1/5 rating saying I commited fraud, and half.com DEDUCTS the amount from my paycheck because the buyer does a charge back!!! And the buyer NEVER even returned the item to me!!! Isnt the buyer commiting fraud?
then 3 month ago, I shipped a book, a heavy expensive book that their miserable book rate DID NOT cover, I included a delivery confirmation on it, the USPS web site SHOWED it was delivered to this person's front door, one month later buyer says it wasnt delivered.I told them the USPS's web site showed it was delivered, on their street address,
I emailed half.com, they said it sure looks like it was delivered. well guess what, they AGAIN deducted the amount off my check!
the final nail in the coffin was I sold a brand new video game, factory sealed in a small case, then 3 weeks later the buyer bitches that it wasnt new as promised. I said "huh?" i said send it back to me to see whats going on. well half.com deducted a PRIORITY SHIPPING fee off my bi-monthly check for this clown to send the item back, as well as deducting the games amount/full refund.
Well I get the game AND IT WASNT WHAT I SOLD HIM! Same game, but was in a different case, the much older larger box edition, game itself was scratched up, it even had a blockbuster rental sticker/bar code1 i emailed half.com, no response, instead not only am i out of money, the buyer game me 1/5, calling me a scam artist for selling a used item as new!!! MY ITEM WAS FACTORY SEALED, in a small case, NOT a blockbuster video rental in the old larger case!!
I had enough of half.com. Why are they so against the serllers, and convinced buyers are always correct? At least at ebayws, i caqn give the buyer a negative feedback, or get sqaure trade involved. There is no protection for sellers at half.com. seems like at half.com, only one takin g a risk are sellers NOT buyers. half.com is full of nothing but fraudulent buyers. It wasnt this bad in early and mid 2001, i sold over 100+ items, no problem, but late 2001 to now, it is getting really bad. My feedback is ruined because of these 3 crooks. why?
posted on March 15, 2002 05:20:27 PM new
half.com is an ebay company.
That explains a lot.
As to feedback being ruined, I know the negs hurt, especially when undeserved. I have a few myself. But I still have a 4.9 rating, and most buyers really don't look much further than the overall rating unless it is low. Then they would go to the specific ratings and comments.
posted on March 15, 2002 05:33:59 PM new
I've had the opposite happen on half - A buyer says that the item was never received, I told him when I shipped. I never heard back from him, two weeks later I got the item back as undeliverable. He paid, never got the item, and I got the CD back. I tried to find a way to contact him but could not. I wasn't willing to spend more than 30 minutes on half.com trying to figure this out.
I basically ignore feedback on half. Since their new closer relationship with Ebay, I opened a brand new half.com account, so all of my old feedback is gone. I don't care, I don't sell much there anyway, and I guess it is one way to get rid of the negative. The buyer has too much power there. Fortunately as a seller when there has been a problem, I have worked it out just fine, but I make sure that the buyer gets all my contact info on my invoice so they deal with me directly...
posted on March 15, 2002 06:27:11 PM new
There are fraudulent buyers on everywhere. Just as there are fraudulent sellers. In sites, retail, mail order and so on.
If you had a retail store, you might get shoplifters or be held up or burglarized. The world is usually a nice place, but no place is perfect.
On half, a buyer has a maximum "scam" possibility of three chances. Out of how many millions of items and maybe a few million sellers are you really going to get taken by?
So what's your point? That you had some bad experiences does not make a site "full" of fraudulent people. I have had bad experiences on half, ebay, amazon and yahoo. So what? The vast majority of sellers and buyers are honest.
If you ran a retail business, an armed robber could kill you. You just lost some bucks. Get some perspective.
posted on March 15, 2002 07:22:39 PM new
The reason eBay backs buyers over sellers is that eBay uses the number of buyers to get large retailers to use eBay and Half com. Ebay gains nothing by offending a buyer, and if they offend a seller, there are plenty more to take their place. Amazon operates the same way.
posted on March 18, 2002 08:40:42 AM new
mrfoxy, are you hinting I am a fraudelent seller? (;. Actually a buyer is more protected at half.com then ebay, for at half, a buyer can complain 3 times a year, and half will refund the buyer without too much hassle, while at ebay, you are pretty much outta luck. the powerseller thebarry, who ripped off more than 200 customers, ran off with soewhere between 110,000 to 140,000 dollars, wouldnt have been able to pull this in half.com, as most buyers would have gotten a refund from half, while at ebays, all of these buyers who got ripped off, their cry falls into ebay's deaf years. ):
posted on March 18, 2002 09:20:58 AM new
Many of those buyers aren't committing fraud, they're just plain morons.
When there is only a hardback, and in the description I say it is a paperback, then in my feedback I'll see, "Seller sent paperback, supposed to be hardback." Very frustrating, they forget what they ordered, but Half won't remove this.
Fraudulant buyers are part of this business but Half should do whatever it takes to take the beast down. Could you imagine a store that caught a shoplifter, and the judge saying, "oh, it's part of the business, besides he said he didn't take anything." It's not the way to operate, Half needs to be more responsible because sellers are putting their trust in them to protect their interest, same as buyers.
posted on March 18, 2002 09:48:39 AM new
Hi quickdraw29, been enjoying (and agreeing) with your post on shipping and handling charges. Another thing that irks me on half.com is how everyone chooses book rate on everything, then leaves you a negative feedback, saying "it took 12 days for it to arrive", or"seller charged me 2.30 to ship, but only costed 1.78 to ship. rip off!". Well I am not the one who told them to choose book/media rate, they did!
also some of these books, the big hardcovers, cannot be shipped for less that 1.78, so I lose alot of money on shipping. besides, Half.com takes 15% off our shipping, which is kind of crime. we need that shipping money, and it does not belong to half.com. I think once Half.com said we need the 15% shipping to protect us from fraud, so that means they are buying themselves insurance so why let those customers steal from the seller on charge back?
also why do they tell us to put Deliverly Confirmation and insurance? even with proof of deliverly and with insurance, if the buyer wants to chargeback, they can. So why do they stress you to buy DC and insurance when it's money wasted as it doesn't protect you one bit!
So i buy $1.10 for insurance, but if the item is lost, I can't claim it for section 13 of the postal insurance form I need the signature of the customer on the form, which I can't get for I get zero communication with them thanks to half.com policy. so insurance can not be claim, unless you sign the buyer's name, which is a postal fraud. so does half.com wants we to commit fraud?
the site's idea/concept works, but the bad part does outweight the good parts. I think they are losing money with the $5 bonus they give to new customer for I get my payment by check from them, and they promise to mail every 15 days. well, they do print the check out every 15 days, but mails them 4 days late judging by postmark. so they need 4 extra day to make sure there check don't bounce.
posted on March 18, 2002 10:16:09 AM new
Half takes 15% off shipping? They don't say that on the confirmation page so it is an illegal charge. I'm going to look more into this and try to get this corrected because I had no idea I was charged that. So we lose money on packaging/handling plus lose another 15%? ouch! I may drop selling on Half, or cut back.
I've been pretty lucky with feedback on half. At least the one who complained about the paperback situation left a 4/5. Only 10% of my buyers leave feedback which is fine by me, just don't leave a negative either.
The best thing about selling on Half, is there are no annoyng emails, "where's my item?" "It's been five days and it should have arrived by now." "It's seven days, and it's still not here." "It's nine days, if it doesn't arrive by tomorrow, I'm reporting you to safeharbor." "ok, it finally arrived. thank you."
posted on March 18, 2002 10:31:08 AM new
All of Half's policies are clearly stated. If you don't like them, don't sell there. I find they take a hefty slice, but I still think it works.
I find that I can live with all the foibles on Half if I average out my sales. I average about $8 on a sale. That means $3 goes for shipping and $5 for the book which costs me about a $1.00. So I net maybe $3.00.
Most sellers worry about the profit and costs of each transaction. This makes every sale a metric nightmare. You are either making money or you aren't measured by each pay period, not each transaction.
posted on March 18, 2002 11:00:22 AM new
no not at all recently i purchased an item for $1493 from half.com and got ripped off.....well half.com took the hit and i had to do a chargeback on my debit card. turns out they done over 75k in fraud on both ebay and half.com
posted on March 18, 2002 11:50:29 AM new
mballai: First, Half.com's slice of the shipping they charge is NOT clearly stated. In their help area they never mention their 15% cut. It is left up to the seller to discover that the buyer pays one rate for shipping and the seller gets a different, lower rate. On the buyer side, half vaguely refers to "shipping and half.com's handling costs."
BTW, saying "If you don't like their policies, don't sell there," is not helpful or constructive. Is there a policy at eBay you don't like? Then don't sell there.
Yes, you do have to figure what they charge and what they pay, but I would think that any seller with a calculator could do that? They take 15% of the book price, they take more out of the shipping charge than 15%... at least for media mail.
There's a lot of things in this world we don't like; it's our free choice to do business with someone. Complaining about it when the policies are stated is a lot like dining at a fancy restaurant and then complaining about the prices...as if the prices weren't in the menu when you ordered.
It's tacky and stupid.
posted on March 18, 2002 08:40:24 PM new
That's why I dumped halfwit.com for Amazon zShops. There's many more buyers, driven to items they want to buy--and then buy my products at half the price. Plus, I get my money immediately--not every 15 days.
posted on March 18, 2002 10:32:58 PM new
Is this 15% on top of the regular commission?
mballai, your link doesn't explain about taking 15% out of shipping.
I guess citizens shouldn't complain about when they raise taxes; or when they build a Walmart in your backyard; and forget about protesting aginst abortion. Heck just move to another country!
I disagree. People complain because they like certain aspects of the business or country they deal with and they want to improve it, and to reach their standards. They would rather stay if things can be worked out. The option is yes, people will do business elsewhere, or move to another country. Notice tons of Mexicans crossing the boarder to the States? Notice K-Mart filing for bankruptcy? Adapt to the people's needs or die. Half doesn't have to change, and I don't have to do business with Half. Exactly. That's the market place at its best.
posted on March 19, 2002 03:45:50 AM new
It's not 15% of shipping. Read what it says.
I have no problem with someone complaining about something that is wrong and then doing something to solve the wrong. eBay/Half might be very well amenable to change if enough people complained to them about the amount of the charges. You'd probably have to stage a mass boycott, put your stuff on vacation until the policy changed. Sellers on Half have very little impact overall from what I gather unless they materially affect the profitability of the company. Leaving Half is surrender to the policy. Someone will just take your place.
. Actually a buyer is more protected at half.com then ebay, for at half, a buyer can complain 3 times a year, and half will refund the buyer without too much hassle, while at ebay, you are pretty much outta luck. the powerseller thebarry, who ripped off more than 200 customers, ran off with soewhere between 110,000 to 140,000 dollars, wouldnt have been able to pull this in half.com, as most buyers would have gotten a refund from half, while at ebays, all of these buyers who got ripped off, their cry falls into ebay's deaf years. 
):