Do you remember the first item you ever sold online? Let us know by sending an email to ina@auctionbytes.com and we may publish your story. Today we hear from Rose and Leroy of Randle Collectibles whose first eBay sale taught them about human nature.

Hi Ina,
I truly enjoy AuctionBytes. I appreciate the opportunity to be able to tell this story that has bugged me for the last 6 years, and I think will do so for a long time to come. It definitely a learning experience both in online auctions and human nature.

We are Rose & Leroy of Randle Collectibles, just a ma & pa operation we started selling on Ebay to rid ourselves of the clutter of our collections of over 50 years.

Much like Jim & Barbara Nelson, we got our first computer in 1999, with of course no computer savvy at all. But we plugged along and decided since we had over 6000 items in our collection we would try Ebay.

Our very first sale was a prime 6 log Plantation X Bitters bottle that according to Kovels was a worthy antique bottle.

We did sell it at a very respectable bid, and at the time Ebay didn't have all the bells and whistles that they do now, so much of the contact with buyer and seller was done by individual E-mails. Which in the course of the buyer came off as sort of religious individual and was very happy to get the flawless item as per our description.

Upon receipt of the item, he hadn't had for more then an hour, because he sent an e-mail when he received it he immediately sent another saying he was very upset that it was not a described, because he found a rough chip on the bottle.

I know when we sent it, it was in excellent condition, but it was possible that in shipment something had happened so, because we wanted a satisfied customer we agreed that he should send it back and we would refund his money.

We received the bottle within a few days and we refunded his money. Upon close inspection of the item under my magnifier we found that the bottle we had was not the bottle we sent.

Of course there was at that time no resolution center or any other course of action than e-mail between buyer & seller. Which we tried to do, but the address had disappeared and his registration on Ebay was discontinued.

The episode sort of marred our fist experience, but we still plug along hoping that not all our sales will turn out in the same manner. I think that was before scam or fraud were equated with the Ebay experience.

Despite all the advances Ebay has made they do have a tendency to put out tools and enhancements to help the sellers, but are not thought through or designed for all systems. They have also forgotten their roots, the little guy, that just wanted to rid themselves of "useable clutter" or collections that others may find a need for.

Thanks, Now we feel better for venting!
Rose & Leroy for Randle Collectibles