Where to buy Sony PRS-T3?

[Shopaholic]

I've been buying & selling on eBay since 1999. I've bought and sold all kinds of products including some digital readers both new, and my own personally used devices.

The seller posted by Rcentros is not someone I would buy from. Yes I'm picky, but too bad. I'm allowed to be. My reasons for not buying are as follows:

- POOR feedback - 9597 with 98.9% is not a good seller!
- 44 negatives in the last 12 months
- 32 neutrals in the last 12 months
- 25 revised feedbacks means he/she has somehow convinced buyers who left them a negative to revise it to a positive [not good IMO]
- listing errors. The Sony is not made in Uganda. Little attention to detail.
- their listing says if there are typos, they're not responsible [Hello??? then do it right!]
- their terms and conditions [a good seller doesn't detail all the dos & don'ts in a listing because of past experiences with stupid buyers]
- regarding refunds he says he won't refund shipping & charges a restocking charge
- gives you instructions re leaving them feedback, that's not good
- read the comments in the negative & neutral feedback he's received
- read the comments he makes back to customers

Yes it's only my opinion but I vehemently disagree with "He also has a very good feedback score." Some companies are good but get dinged by inexperienced buyers but I don't think that's the case here. I wouldn't buy from them.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Shopaholic

Yes it's only my opinion but I vehemently disagree with "He also has a very good feedback score." Some companies are good but get dinged by inexperienced buyers but I don't think that's the case here. I wouldn't buy from them.

I'll have to disagree with you. Having sold items on eBay (not nearly as many as this company) I know how easy it is to receive a negative comment. And the seller is helpless to counter bogus negative comments. No matter how clearly you advertise the item, some people complain that they didn't understand the description. I got a negative comment because a buyer claimed "he never bid on the item" -- even though he did bid on it, and he sent me a PayPal payment. I wrote back and told him, "fine, I'll refund the money," which I did immediately. Then he became irate because the process required that he confirm that he no longer wanted the item. eBay or PayPal kept sending him email asking him to confirm that fact. (And I didn't even know they were doing that.) Then he left a negative comment with a very nasty comment -- even though I had already returned his money (it was in escrow awaiting his confirmation that he no longer wanted the item -- which he finally did do, after leaving the nasty comment and negative feedback for me). So these big sellers have to deal with this kind of BS on a much higher level. I dare you to find very many big sellers who haven't been dinged at least 1%. And this particular dealer is getting complaints about new items shipped in sealed retail packages -- especially prominent seems to be SD Cards (4GB, 8GB and 16GB HC versions) that "won't work in cameras," probably ones designed for 2GB (maximum) SDcards. One buyer complained because his item took "two days too long" to get to him.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by booklover6

I buy and sell on ebay all the time. Including tablets and ereaders. That looks like a good T3. I'd love to have one, but really, how many ereaders does a person need?? I have enough (for now).

Same here. I'm not getting one -- at least not now (and probably never) -- but there is a small sense of urgency. Once these are gone, they'll be gone (new ones, anyhow). But basically it's just a higher resolution screen than the T2s and I don't think the resolution is bad on what I have. So I really can't come up with any valid justification to buy one.

[Shopaholic]

I have around 7300 feedbacks on eBay. I neutral in the last 12 months, 100%, 0 feedbacks revised. I've sold upwards of 12,000 items. I've been dinged by idiot buyers. We all have. My 'favorite', from several years ago, was where I got 5 negs less than 24 hours after the dimwit bought from me because she 'couldn't contact me'. I'm sorry. I was sleeping!! lol

I still disagree with you. You do what you want obviously but I wouldn't buy from him for all the reasons I detailed previously. The seller has to take responsibility for their listing and ensure it is correct and complete enough for the buyer to be informed. Tell the buyer about the item and what they need to know about buying from you in terms of when you ship, how you ship, how you'll contact them, etc and not your conditions for sale and leaving feedback.

[booklover6]

It's certainly "buyer beware." The buyer has to know what they are buying. If something doesn't match up in the listing (often the case for things like Kindle Fires) then they can easily buy the wrong thing, sure it's the seller's fault, but the buyer HAS to know what they are getting, or trying to get LOL

I've got 7843 feedback, 1 negative in the last 6 months, 2 neutrals in the last 12 months, 99.8%.

Here's one of the neutrals: "Quick shipment; item was in decent condition." Looks like a positive comment, to me.

You can't please everyone! I hate selling on ebay, but need the money.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Shopaholic

I still disagree with you. You do what you want obviously but I wouldn't buy from him for all the reasons I detailed previously. The seller has to take responsibility for their listing and ensure it is correct and complete enough for the buyer to be informed. Tell the buyer about the item and what they need to know about buying from you in terms of when you ship, how you ship, how you'll contact them, etc and not your conditions for sale and leaving feedback.

I don't sell as much as you and Booklover do, so I guess I've had fewer negative comments. The downside with lower volume is that one negative comment brings your percentage down 2 or 3 percent. As for this particular seller (the one selling the T3s), I guess it's a personal decision. I buy a lot of stuff from sellers with a 99% (or slightly lower) approval rating and have had zero issues with them. Most of my issues (actually less than 5 problems in 17 years) have been with new buyers (or sellers) who start out with great ratings and then just go off the rails. That's a calculated risk. I figure new sellers have to get started somewhere.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by booklover6

You can't please everyone! I hate selling on ebay, but need the money.

I hate selling on eBay now, too. It used to be a lot more even-handed. Now the small seller is completely at the mercy of the buyer. And eBay has turned into complete control freaks. A lot of times now, when I'm tempted to sell something, I end up giving it away or throwing it away because I don't want to go through the hassle of selling on eBay. It used to be a pretty easy process. I also tend to understatement the shipping (which I offer free) -- so, on some of my items, with eBay, PayPal and shipping fees, I end up losing money or barely coming out even. I hate to throw something useful away, but I don't want to pay to give it away either.

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I hate selling on eBay now, too. It used to be a lot more even-handed. Now the small seller is completely at the mercy of the buyer.

All sellers are.

Originally Posted by rcentros

And eBay has turned into complete control freaks.

Don't you just love how they charge final value fees on shipping? And then, Paypal, the company ebay forces you to use, AND OWNS, charges fees on top of the ebay fees, which is essentially double dipping! It's a racket. But it's the only game in town.

We seldom offer free shipping. It's certainly not free for the seller. We prefer to use calculated shipping based on weight and zip code. No handling fee, just actual shipping. Less chance for error, that way.

[Shopaholic]

We're getting way sidetracked now but it's all part of the discussion on where to buy.

eBay started charging FVF on shipping because of sellers who charged $0.99 for the item and $50 for shipping. Hm....can you say put the price of the item in the shipping costs??? So eBay lost out on fees because they only collected on the $0.99 AND some sellers only refund item costs not shipping, also before eBay changed things. So you'd get your $0.99 back but not the $50 in shipping. Gee thanks seller! ffft!

I have a very strong opinion on no handling fees. I hate it! I think it's stupid and you're shooting yourself in the foot. It annoys me to no end buyers who say well, I also sell and I don't charge handling fees like YOU do! Well you're dum and apparently like to lose money. I'd never say that to them but dang do I think it!! lol

You may think you're being nice to the buyer by not charging anything extra but adding $1 - $3 depending on the packaging involved, helps make up for the fees you pay on the shipping costs. If you're shipping costs you $6 and you pay fees on the $6 you're not even really getting the postage money to mail the item. Bad, bad, bad!

Do calculated plus a small handling fee to help even things out.

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by Shopaholic

Do calculated plus a small handling fee to help even things out.

I used to do that. But most of my stuff goes priority mail, and I get a discount shipping that way, so that helps add to my "fund" or hedge against returns.

I probably should put a fee on 1st class and parcel, though. No discounts for me on those.

[NNolan]

I bought a T3 from that ebay vendor last week. It was delivered within a week, which was a reasonable amount of time to ship something from the west side of the country to the east side. The screen is a different shade of gray than my T1; sometimes the T1 looks better to me, and sometimes the T3 does. At least the T3 has a newer battery than my T1, and the bezel isn't shiny. It's not a bad little reader for Sony's last hurrah.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by NNolan

I bought a T3 from that ebay vendor last week. It was delivered within a week, which was a reasonable amount of time to ship something from the west side of the country to the east side. The screen is a different shade of gray than my T1; sometimes the T1 looks better to me, and sometimes the T3 does. At least the T3 has a newer battery than my T1, and the bezel isn't shiny. It's not a bad little reader for Sony's last hurrah.

Glad to hear it made it okay.

In this thread everyone is using birds for their avatars?

[booklover6]

Mine and Shopaholic are showing our personal birdies

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by booklover6

Mine and Shopaholic are showing our personal birdies

I see. I just thought it was an odd coincidence. I've always liked English Sparrows, (house finches) because they seem to have an "attitude" for a little bird. Besides, they're always "busy." I guess I should NOT like them since they're "imports" to the U.S., but I like them anyhow. Not as many of them in Texas, so I kind of miss them.

[JSWolf]

Well, my Avatar is a penguin. Granted, he's dressed as a lego figure.