Bollocks for Friday 12th June 2009

Rather dull offering from Mr Mollybollocks this week. There's a rant from a seller about how she'd like to be able to leave negative feedback for her buyer. This change happened more than a year ago, sister: get with the program. Would have been nice to see MB encouraging professional behaviour amongst sellers (you don't see Amazon leaving negative f/b for its buyers, do you), but no, the rant passes without comment.

Prize for missed opportunity of the week goes to the response to the lady who wants to know why her competition sell such a lot, while she struggles to sell "a few units a month". Having clicked through to her eBay shop, I'd suggest it's because she only has 26 items listed. You can't sell 2000 things if you don't have 2000 things for sale.

eBay sales increase exponentially: if you list 2000 things, you'll sell more than twice as many as if you list 1000 things. List 26 and you might as well not bother: you're invisible in the Great Big Pile Of Stuff that is eBay.

MB's advice? "Look at your competition and nick their ideas. Oh, and buy my book." Really, Sweet Sunnah - don't buy his book.

Bollocks for Friday 5th of June

This week Mr Mollybollocks yet again demonstrates he hasn't the faintest clue about eBay rules. We have a question from an eBay seller:

I have someone who wants to return an item, I have told her the 7 working days gives her until tomorrow for it to be returned, but she emailed me today saying she lost my address... anyway, just wondering how strict you are with returns? I know your book says guard your feedback at all costs!

The response is, frankly, incomprehensible:

Returns are tricky, I don't actually get many, so am a bit easy going. I have been known not to supply a return address when asked, sometimes the buyer decides to keep the item and sometimes they ask again which is fair enough.

I would be tempted to extend the period for them and just write it off to goodwill, then block them from any further bids.

Mollybollocks' advice contravenes not only eBay rules, but the law too. eBay's rules say that the buyer has to be given 14 days to return an item: something any so-called professional seller or so-called expert author ought to know.

The Distance Selling Regulations (and I'm simplifying a little here) say that the buyer has the right to return their item for any reason, or for no reason at all. Refusing to give a returns address is illegal. And refusing to deal with a buyer again just because they've exercised a legal right? That's just plain childish.

Bollocks for Friday 29th May 2009

Who needs Mollybollocks anyway? This week's offering features
1) the lovely Emma Jones from Enterprise Nation answering MB's questions for him, and
2) a lovely reader of MB's newsletter answering a reader question that MB couldn't answer.

Molly himself offers the staggering advice that Best Offers might mean sellers will take less than the BIN price for their eBay items, so you should considering making an offer before you BIN. If only I'd thought of that... oh, I had.