I’ll be getting rid of practically everything I own over the next couple of weeks, in preparation for leaving New Zealand at the beginning of March. This means I will be spending lots of time answering really dumb questions on the NZ equivalent of eBay, TradeMe, while also being frustrated that there is no way to contact bidders directly to inform them of late changes they might need to know about (eg “Oh shit the electric bike you’re bidding on has suddenly stopped working”).

The site is also on my minor shit list right now for being a little overzealous on how they go about recouping from sellers the astronomical expense of maintaining a website that hasn’t been improved since at least 2005 (complete with banner ads, and lacking an iPhone/mobile optimized view).

Dear TradeMe,

This is in relation to auction 267984251.

It seems I have been charged two success fees, even though I only sold one item. The initial arrangement fell through, so the item was then sold via fixed price offer. Hardly a remarkable turn of events.

Please refund the initial “success” fee of $15, since it makes no sense at all to charge me twice for selling the same item. Incidentally it also makes no sense for TradeMe to try to charge or penalize the original buyer in this case, as I believe they acted in good faith.

Why on earth do you charge immediate success fees before any verification that the sale is successful? How about waiting the 3 days you made me wait before I could even ask for my money back?

I imagine MANY auctions proceed as this one did, and it is ridiculous to me that you would expect me or anyone else to pay a fee for something that did not end up happening.

You charge commission for successful sale, fine. you also put banner ads on your site, fine. Don’t try to rip me off for a false start as well.

Again, please refund me the $15 for the first “success” fee– you can see for yourself the item was ultimately sold to someone else, what concern of yours is it that the original sale fell through?

thanks

Mark

I think I’ll have to write more complaint letters to companies and institutions on the flimsiest of pretenses, because these letters are perfect as blog posts, being whiny, self-righteous and ultimately about something that is probably of little-to-no consequence.