The universe and Oppo is telling me not to put a K&N filter on the Alfa

"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
05/11/2020 at 16:21 • Filed to: None

I posted earlier that my eBay K&N filters* were a bit wayward. One was “damaged and couldn’t be shipped” which is eBay speak for “I don’t stock anything and thought this would be easier to get”.

The second one was delivered to the wrong address because the seller provided the wrong tracking information. You want to guess what they just responded with?

You’re RIGHT! They’re just drop shipping them from K&N directly and not trying to hide it. Filter is backordered and won’t be back for a month.

Order number two is now canceled. There will not be a third.

*Yes you guys have convinced me not to use a K&N filter. Loud and clear. ACK.

But that said... I didn’t think eBay allowed this sort of thing? I thought you had to like... own the stuff you sell? Clearly not but I am more than a little annoyed. I mean... it worked out but still....

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DISCUSSION (17)

facw > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
05/11/2020 at 16:30

I don’t know about ebay specifically, but third-party dropship is a perfectly normal way to sell things. We do it on our Amazon store and elsewhere. Of course the seller should be managing inventory so they don’t sell things their vendor can’t ship. And of course having an order canceled is certainly cause for bad feedback.

Kiltedpadre > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
05/11/2020 at 16:33

I’m old enough to remember when eBay was basically an online garage sale. There are times I miss it because you could type in a search and find some really interesting items. Now if you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for with perfect key words you get 500 pages of the same item repeated whether it matches what you looked for or not.

Now I’d say 90% of it is businesses using it as a substitute for a store front. With car parts I think most are like what you ran into. They don’t actually have what they’re trying to sell until you order it.

I am now stepping off my soap boxes and am finished yelling at the clouds.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Kiltedpadre
05/11/2020 at 16:39

Yeah appears to be the case. Lately I’ve been trying to order used stuff from seller that look like actual people (few ratings, little else for sale).

And yeah... I remember old eBay. According to my profile I’ve been a member since June 1999. Ahh memories....

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
05/11/2020 at 16:44

This is a huge problem on Ebay— there should be a REQUIRED... LOUD... disclaimer of “This seller doesn’t stock anything, but is a shill purveyor of various brands. We don’t ban sellers like this, but want to make sure our valued Buyer Community is aware...”

Of course, Ebay derives all their income from the SELLER community, so you often see where their loyalties lie in such matters.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
05/11/2020 at 16:45

Funny, that’s my start date too. “Camera equipment” was the draw.

20 years and 1100 transactions.

NKato > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
05/11/2020 at 16:45

K&N filters have less filtration, which means more particulates are getting into your engine. This is reason #1 why I'll never use a K&N on a daily driver.

Discerning > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
05/11/2020 at 16:46

Every one is right. Buy a green filter.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
05/11/2020 at 16:50

It was video games for me. You’re certainly more prolific than me. I have a grand total of 166 feedback (no idea on total items bought)...

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
05/11/2020 at 16:53

It blew up into audio equipment and electronics stuff over time for me. In some categories it’s a reasonable proxy for Amazon on tools and supplies.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
05/11/2020 at 17:09

I don’t know how many years, but over 1500 transactions...

I just submitted only my second-ever negative feedback. Guy who mailed me the crusty, rusty GPU and the Visa bank took my side in the dispute and refunded me the money and the seller never asked for his item back. So I got a free 1060/6GB GPU, albeit an ugly one.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/11/2020 at 17:11

You do find that the Sellers WILL just eat it all, rather than take the Feedback hit.

Which, to my mind, means that the “average seller” is much, much worse than their ranking.

I basically won’t buy from anybody that isn’t at least 99.2%, but my theory is a “ranked 98% is actually a 60%” given the grade inflation and grade distortion.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
05/11/2020 at 19:35

Meh... just another reason why I stopped using eBay years ago.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > Kiltedpadre
05/11/2020 at 19:36

Yeah... the old eBay was interesting.

Then it became a bastion of fake bidders and other bs.

RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
05/11/2020 at 19:50

maybe they were using you as a money mule?

https://mashable.com/article/nespresso-money-mules-ebay-credit-card-fraud-def-con/

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
05/11/2020 at 22:24

This guy took the negative feedback. He was 100.0% and 113 deals. I gave him his first black eye. I haven’t bothered to go back and read his rebuttal, if he posted one.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/11/2020 at 22:32

Yeah, I feel your pain. Years ago I bought my kid a “mint” PS/3 from a 99 percent guy...

Doesn’t turn on nothing. Pop the cover. Literally filled, across all the heat sinks, with rotten moth larvae carcasses, board shorted out. Complete mess. Took a pile of pics and got my money back. Eventually. What a PITA though.

Ebay works for the sellers. Period. Learned my lesson and that grade of stuff I never buy off Ebay anymore.

OTOH? Cameras? Man those guys are absolutely fastidious. The best sellers ever.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
05/12/2020 at 00:11

My experience has been almost 100% positive and the two times it wasn’t, Visa backed me up. You also have to develop a sense of the vibe of the seller, and camera people make that easy when they are the real deal. Just that confidence that they know what they are talking about and don’t mess around. In this case, I bought from an actual used camera store front and when I called them today, they were solid. In the end, I had to get UPS on the phone tonight when, FOR THE FIFTH FARKLING DAY IN A ROW, they promised me delivery by 9 pm and then emailed me a status change. They said I’d be called bay a facility manager tomorrow morning. We shall see.

Ebay and Craigslist are a great way to buy crap and I swear by them both as options.