anyone else having bad experiences with amazon marketplace purchases ?

[the stig]

i'm getting ever more annoyed at the poor service i'm getting on there. this is like the 3rd time now that the seller has taken the amount paid for standard shipping WITH tracking and used the ultra basic shipping thus excluding tracking which i need and rightfully paid for.

i have all my packages sent to my US address, i cross over once i have at least 5 - 8 packages waiting for me and without the tracking i have to guess and hope that they have arrived or it's a wasted trip to just pick up one item.

and emailing the seller to express my dissatisfaction with their cheap methods and ripping me off obviously gets nowhere. but i do get a refund from amazon once i forward on my complaint to them, but still it doesn't help me out knowing when my packages arrive.

and no this is not just one seller, this is a few different ones. a couple tried to use the "well i'm not making much on the sale of the item alone so i have to find other means to make a profit" excuse.... like come on, it's freaking amazon not ebay so just raise the asking price a little and stop scamming on the shipping and screwing the customer from what they paid for.

i hate leaving bad feedback, but in this case i'm going to be leaving quite a few sellers such a thing for their shady ways.

has anyone else been experiencing this as well ? i've even cross referenced a few and found out they are also on ebay so that would explain the shadiness.

[Ojam]

You should change your subject to Amazon.com Market place sellers. I thought this was going to be related to buying from Amazon.

[BD006]

I love how you emphasize ".COM" when you should have been emphasizing "MARKETPLACE" :rolleyes:

Buyer beware when it comes to that

[the stig]

oops, my apologies i didn't know there was a difference.... i thought amazon was just one whole thing and wasn't divided into 2 sections. i'm new to amazon (only been using it a few months)

i got an email from amazon today that informed me that i was being refunded my full payment plus shipping as one of the sellers was constantly screwing buyers and was also not refunding people that had legit problems with items they purchased. i did not ask for this and was happy with just getting the refund on my shipping.... so that was a surprise, but then again this seller was one of the few that i noticed was also on ebay and had a less than stellar track record.

and i was stating .COM so that it wouldn't be confused with the canadian version as i have never bought off the canadian site to know how that is.

updated the header to reflect the topic.... thanks for letting me know.

[rabbit]

Just complain directly to Amazon about it. Hope you saved the packaging with the postage, as proof. There's no way the seller can talk their way out of it then :).

[Siefer999]

and no this is not just one seller, this is a few different ones. a couple tried to use the "well i'm not making much on the sale of the item alone so i have to find other means to make a profit" excuse.... like come on, it's freaking amazon not ebay so just raise the asking price a little and stop scamming on the shipping and screwing the customer from what they paid for.


Amazon Marketplace is basically the same as a buy-it-now sale on ebay. there are minuscule differences but they are the same. many of the amazon marketplace sellers are on ebay and vice versa. amazon and ebay are storefronts for sellers to sell their goods and those kinds of shady pricing practices are a problem but you could say that they are normal and expected.

[brunes]

Just complain directly to Amazon about it. Hope you saved the packaging with the postage, as proof. There's no way the seller can talk their way out of it then :).

+1


oops, my apologies i didn't know there was a difference.... i thought amazon was just one whole thing and wasn't divided into 2 sections. i'm new to amazon (only been using it a few months)

i got an email from amazon today that informed me that i was being refunded my full payment plus shipping as one of the sellers was constantly screwing buyers and was also not refunding people
... and that is why you should complain.

From everything I know you will have a much easier time getting Amazon to stand behind their Marketplace sellers than you will with eBay/Paypal getting a refund. It's another reason I rarely use eBay anymore (the main one being their sky-high fee gouging)

[rabbit]

> Amazon Marketplace is basically the same as a buy-it-now sale on ebay. there are minuscule differences but they are the same.

main differences:
Amazon has customer service.
Amazon sets the shipping rates.
Amazon takes your payment.

[SpillOnAisle9]

I bought a used book from a MarketPlace seller named DEALSCANADA in February. The same book was offered by other vendors
but this one said 'ships from Canada' so I figured 4-5 days at most. 3+ weeks later I get the book post-marked from UTAH.

I gave a negative feedback and they offered to refund me if I would remove it. I told them I had a book I paid for and I was
done doing business with them but I would not do business with them in the future....and the negative will stand

Caveat emptor

[apn64]

> Amazon Marketplace is basically the same as a buy-it-now sale on ebay. there are minuscule differences but they are the same.

main differences:
Amazon has customer service.
Amazon sets the shipping rates.
Amazon takes your payment.

Other differences;

Some mainline vendors sell through Amazon payments. I recently purchased new auto parts from Autopartsway.com and used Amazon for checkout. I've also purchased tools and other products from other online vendors and processed the payment through Amazon, because they don't take paypal.

[Cheap Cat]

i hate leaving bad feedback, but in this case i'm going to be leaving quite a few sellers such a thing for their shady ways.

has anyone else been experiencing this as well ? i've even cross referenced a few and found out they are also on ebay so that would explain the shadiness.

But this is the whole point of feedback. There is no use in feedback if users don't provide accurate accounts of the service, both good and bad. These sellers will continue to engage in shady practices as long as no one calls them on it. I doubt you are the only one who feels bad about leaving bad feedback.

Don't assume because someone sells on ebay as well, that they are shady. As you have discovered, the difference with buying through Amazon is that you can count on Amazon's excellent customer service.

[sandy_beach]

This is why I always try to purchase the products sold by Amazon.com because I dislike dealing with the private sellers who ship super slow ground.... However, I am a Prime member and lately from my experience the 2 day shipping sometimes has been 3 days for prime eligible products.

[BD006]

> Amazon Marketplace is basically the same as a buy-it-now sale on ebay. there are minuscule differences but they are the same.

main differences:
Amazon has customer service.
Amazon sets the shipping rates.
Amazon takes your payment.

They do? I didn't think so. Shipping rates are usually found on the seller's storefront.

Like others, I try to buy directly from Amazon. If something goes out of stock, I'll wait until Amazon gets it back in stock. But a lot of items found on Amazon can only be bought from the marketplace sellers, and fortunately, I haven't ran into any issues.

[rabbit]

Don't know with 100% certainty, but it seems that Amazon sets the shipping rates:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?ie=UTF8&nodeId=537734&#rates
Otherwise, I can't see them setting up a chart like this.

I think Amazon wants consistency, such as with shipping rates and processing payment transactions, to avoid the flea market style of eBay. Consistency gives a perception of reliability, even if the products are from various venders.

[atticus84]

I sell books on Amazon.com and .ca. The shipping rates are set by Amazon not by me. Tough to sell when we have to compete with the very low USPS.

[the stig]

ahh see this is what i'm talking about... amazon has the chart that outlines how much they would like charged for shipping on items. i like how it states the item and the shipping it should be charged, BUT the seller in some of my cases will not follow that chart and then ship it at the very cheapest they can go. like for instance (this is the one that i was refunded the full price + shipping) the seller shipped the dvd in a paper sleeve in a bubble wrap envelope with NO protection to keep the disc from being bent during shipping !! the total cost to the seller to ship it ? 55 cents !!!

they swindled me so bad that i never got the case, the insert and absolutely NO tracking.... i said that i hate to give bad feedback, but regardless i always give feedback be it good or bad as i don't want the next person to have the same thing happen. and that is also how i got a refund, but not from my feedback it was because someone else complained and they did an investigation into the sellers cheap methods.

lucky for me that the disc arrived ok... i still have it and that seller the last i looked is no longer on amazon.

what i don't get is that on ebay you state your opening bid price or buy it now price... so set it where you are comfortable getting a price you want. but a lot of these people either don't know you can do that or rush through their posting and skip that portion then whine to the buyer afterwards that it sold for so little and try to jack up the shipping costs. i had so many people come back on me after an auction ended and i had paid to ask for more money saying that the shipping was incorrect and it should have been more... this after i did the drop down menu for my location and the type of shipping i wanted (standard - expedited).

and now it's like those same people are on amazon and doing the same stunts.... OR they have the exact item posted on both ebay and amazon and will go with whomever paid more. so if you buy the item on amazon for say $5 and someone else buys it on ebay for $7 the seller will sell it to the ebay buyer and then you are screwed. and you can get an idea of this happening by watching the item on ebay.

if i bought the dvd on their amazon page and choose the 2 day shipping BUT it's also posted over on ebay with the auction to end 4 days away that seller will not ship the item until day 5 or 6 because they were waiting to see if it sold on ebay for more. this is totally unacceptable but you are at the mercy of the seller since how can it be policed to make the seller comply and send you what you paid for ?

and i found the same thing with the "prime" shipping. i tried the one month trial and was getting poor results... some would ship it 3 and 4 days out when i was supposed to have it in my hands on day 2. if it's such a hassle for a seller to comply with the rules then just stay off these sites !!!

[ceecee101]

Ugh I have really bad experiences with these marketplace sellers as well. I don't blame Amazon, because I think they have AMAZING service. Whenever something is wrong with my order I'd email them and they fix it right away. I try to stay away from the marketplace now if I need something right away like for school, but if I don't need it right away then I'm okay with it cuz the prices are cheaper and they do get here eventually.. lol.

[brunes]

ahh see this is what i'm talking about... amazon has the chart that outlines how much they would like charged for shipping on items. i like how it states the item and the shipping it should be charged, BUT the seller in some of my cases will not follow that chart and then ship it at the very cheapest they can go.

Again - the seller has ZERO CONTROL over what to charge for shipping. Like others have mentioned, I also sell things on Amazon - you DO NOT get to charge for shipping at all. You set the price and AMAZON charges the shipping, they then automatically add that amount (plus some extra) to your purchase.

For example - say I sold a book for $9.99. Amazon charges you (the buyer) $5 for shipping. They might provide me (the seller) with $9.99 + $7 = $16.99. The actual shipping cost for me is likely $9, so in total for my $9.99 sale I am get a net amount of $8.99 after accounting for my loss on the shipping.

This is how Amazon does things. They always charge the buyer LESS than the actual cost of the shipping and pay the seller a bit MORE than what the buyer paid, but it is still LESS than the full cost. As a seller, you have to be prepared for this, and account for it in your pricing, because you have ZERO control over how much you get for shipping as a seller.

Personally, as a seller I LOVE the Amazon system, as there is no arguing with the buyer over unfair shipping and other nonsense. Also, you can just throw stuff up on Amazon and forget about it, because unlike eBay the listings do not expire. I have had some old textbooks on there for 2 years now, and every couple of months we sell another one... this is how I like it. I get to "forget" about my selling and just gradually get rid of junk around the house.



Like for instance (this is the one that i was refunded the full price + shipping) the seller shipped the dvd in a paper sleeve in a bubble wrap envelope with NO protection to keep the disc from being bent during shipping !! the total cost to the seller to ship it ? 55 cents !!!

That is the pretty standard way to ship a DVD or Disc... 99.9% of the time nothing would go wrong with it. If something did go wrong, well that is what insurance is for. Anything shipped is insured for at a minimum of $100, I doubt your DVD was more than that. Just tell the seller the disc is broken, and to issue a refund and file an insurance claim. "Stuff happens". How often do you buy things online?

So far to me this alone does not sound like a bad seller. IF you told the seller the disc was damaged AND THEN they did not offer a refund OR an insurance claim, then you have an issue you should complain to Amazon about.

[rabbit]

Sure, the seller is almost guaranteed to go with the cheapest option to send the package. If you pay for some premium shipping, they go with the cheapest method that meets the requirements, and if they don't, then you complain to Amazon that you didn't get the shipping service that you paid for.

If they want to nickel and dime, and not provide adequate packaging, they lose business, just like any other retailer that skimps. Leave appropriate feedback to inform other potential customers. And if the product is damage, complain to Amazon, with photographic proof, and the seller will take the hit.

If you think you are cheated because you overpaid for shipping, tough luck. You know the rate before buying. Just think of it as shipping AND handling.