Last year I was reading a private "divorce support" blog. This was a group of ladies discussing their STRESS problems and some ways they developed to raise money to pay for extras after their bum of a hubby left them etc. I sent one of them some Cardboard and Christmas palm seeds and a few other things from my garden and they let me in to read the blog. They had some good ideas that I used in my own ebay selling account. The story was of a gal selling her handmade craft items on ebay and from a small website. She also sold seeds, plants and bulbs she grew from her garden in Florida. She was doing great and everyone in the blog was cheering her on. One day she was very upset. A seller on ebay stole her pictures and some of the wording from her website... and her sales were falling. The seller took her wording from her ebay listings and turned it around. They were careful not to steal her ebay pictures but they took the pictures from her website and copied her designs etc. They made some changes that sound similar to these ebay sellers in your story. Ebay never replied to this gal. And the nasty seller was very nasty to her. Anyway evidently the blog members are located all over the USA... and around 15 members living outside the state of this victim... all bought one item from this seller... the cheapest items offered. After the purchase, they baited the seller with silly questions and comments... and the seller got upset in an email with each of them... threatening wording and snotty remarks from the seller to these buyers. So each buyer had a good reason to give this seller Negative feedback and ratings of 1 and 2 DSR stars. What do you think happens if a seller gets 15 negatives and 1-2 DRS stars? Ha! Ha! Ebay will protect their MEGA sellers by changing ratings but not any seller under that catagory. If a seller gets that many 1-2 star DSR ratings, then ebay suspends the seller... so simple. I was laughing my head off reading the blog story. It happened over a 45 day period. They all used credit cards in Paypal and all got refunds on a DOA or crushed auction. Several buyers claimed they never received the auction when they saw there was no DC on the package. The blog members spaced out the negative feedback so it would not look obvious and each had a different comment depending on what the seller said to them in the email. The nasty seller probably suspected something was up but there was no way he could complain to ebay. In eBay's eyes, he was now a bad seller. They spotted this same seller under a new ID and 10 more blog members stepped up to the plate with 10 different ebay ID's. This seller was still using their blogmate's pictures and wording. They put this guy down within 30 days this time. It was great mental therapy for all these women too... banding together to protect the economy of one of their own members. The women all thought it was a good deed because the seller was also using the pictures from other websites and other ebay sellers too. I would hate to be the ebay seller that stiffs any of these divorced ladies in the future.

We have been trying for 3 years to get our Craftmaster furniture repaired.We purchased the warranty and the recommended cleaning products. We had a claim where we needed to have a spot cleaned and the warranty company sent someone to look. She used scissors to cut pieces off of our sofa, which was coming apart naturally. Since then, there are now holes in the upholstery. We have sent photos and repeatedly called asking for new fabric and have been refused. When we went to Levin to buy new, they said our couches were so new and should have been great quality from that manufacturer and offered to give us contact info before they would let us buy new furniture. They were shocked and appalled that we were denied service after our experience. We will never recommend this brand again! (Photos to show damage and the whole piece.We obviously take good care of our furniture)

I have never sold anything on eBay, but I've been buying from eBay since 2001. My rating is 100%. I've got a feedback score of nearly 400, but it's more than 220 less than the actual number of positive feedbacks that I've received, because there are a number of sellers from whom I've purchased more than once. (You only get "credit" for the first feeback from a seller.) I would have to say that, no, I've never been duped on eBay, but I have had a few less-than-stellar experiences. Nothing that would prevent me from buying on eBay again. I disagree with Redcurls' comment about a rating of 99.5% being not very good. The percentage is determined by the total number of feedback received, so the more feedback someone has, the more negatives they have to have before their percentage goes down. I've seen more than one seller who is shown with a 100% rating, but who have received quite a few negative feedbacks -- but their total number of feedback is so huge that, in comparison, the negatives are negligible. What I do, if there is an item that I really want and the seller has any negatives, is read the negatives -- all of them -- and also check the feedback of the folks who have left those negatives. I've seen negative feedback that says, "Item is great. Thanks so much!" -- I find myself wondering what that buyer was smoking before leaving feedback. Why give someone a negative (or even a neutral), if you are writing only good comments??? I don't hold those negatives against a seller. I've also seen negative feedback where the buyer makes a comment about the item being dirty, or with some damage, etc., then the seller makes a comment in response that this was clearly described in the auction page. I look at the auction page and see that, yes, the seller was very honest about the condition of the item. If the buyer is too dumb to read the full description, or to look at the included photos, then it's the buyer's fault and I'm not going to hold that negative feedback against that seller.

There is no way in you know what, that I am going to defend what this woman did to me. She did not have dementia (my Mom had Alzheimers so I know it all too well). Even if she may have "forgotten" I gave her money, when I said it was for the sectional in her formal living room, all it would take is a glance to realize something wasn't right. And again, I know fabrics so I would not be fooled by something old and rotted. I am not a cheap CL shopper. I always offer a lower price, just like at the Antique shows (read Brimfield - love it) because that is what is expected. I do not, would not, ever low ball an item so as it is insulting. There is nothing in this world that I need that badly that would cause me to do that. That's what us" do onto others" do. Getting a 12 X 12 sectional reupholstered would be cost prohibitive in my area. I wound up buying a new one. lower range, from one of a New England chain (Bobs if you are from here - they have 50 stores so fairly well known). I know their stuff is not top notch, but we never ever use it. Honestly don't know why I even bought one. If I bit off my nose a bit, honestly it was well worth it. Looking at that thing everyday would make me cringe, that someone could lie so much, the loss of money meant less to me. I hate that I fell for her "need to downsize" crap. Re returns on CL - I don't care what it is, if you have been purposively deceived, you have a right to expect that person to accept it back. And if they won't you have every right in the world to be PO'd. I have purchased other items and never had this problem. Actually the new sectional is turning out to be great. Now we all have someplace to put our luggage on!!!