ebay is driving me nuts . . . again.

[Vinca]

I haven't been selling much, but I've had a few things on at a fixed price with the option of buyers making an offer. Earlier this month a woman made an offer on a book that was about $20 below the asking price (with free shipping) and I accepted it. She didn't pay and I sent her an email a few days later and she promised to pay by a certain date. That date came and went, so I filed a nonpaying bidder complaint. Still nothing from her (and, of course, she has 100% positive feedback). So I closed out the complaint, got a refund from ebay and relisted the book. Then she pays me. I had to refund the money and explain to her the deal couldn't be completed because ebay had refunded my fees and the book was relisted. The next day she sends the money back to me and asks me if I'll sell her the book. All the time I'm losing money on PayPal fees. Why, oh why, oh why did they ever do away with negative feedback for buyers? I'm so annoyed.

[eleny]

1. Overall is ebay still better for selling books than at Amazon or Abe Books?

[Vinca]

2. I don't know. I've never sold on the other sites and when I buy books

it's usually only new releases sold by Amazon and not a dealer. It's kind of funny sometimes when I'm researching a book I'll find dealers selling copies for hundreds of dollars and they don't even put up a picture of it.

[eleny]

3. I buy from both Amazon and Abe Books

A couple of times I've asked for a scan of the cover to be sure it's the edition I want. I've had good experiences as a buyer.

Abe is where I always go for the obscure book I'm looking for. The discussion groups are specially helpful to nail down the title and then I'm right there to see if someone is selling. It's always worked out.