Question
Heard about BluJay from this board....Went and checked it out...even registered and listed an item...No sale, but that's ok it was just a experiment with an unsold eBay item...Was quick and easy enough to do it, and the listing price is certainly right!
Then I went shopping...Found an item that I liked, contacted the seller with an offer (it was price negotiable) couple emails back and forth and a price was established...Got the buyers name & addy, sent Money Order...(3/15) email seller that MO was sent out...Never heard anything....Emailed seller 3/23, asked if MO was received....No response.....(emails were no problem when we were negotiating price, but NOTHING since payment was sent)...
The "View the item" link in the first email takes me to BluJay home page, NOT to the item...NOW, I can't find the item (search using item title finds nothing) and I can't figure out how to even find this seller again....
I realize that in this online auction "game" each seller is responsible for their own actions and that one bad seller does not a bad site make, but I have to tell ya, I don't really enjoy sending $18 out for nothing, is pretty much a show stopper for me when it comes to buying at a particular site....
Answer
Phoenix: Wish I could help but I can't. I think this is going to be a major drawback for Blujay. I've bought a few things there, but mainly from sellers who do 'Buy It Now' with Paypal. I have no idea if you can do a chargeback from a sale gone bad on Blujay even if the sale was processed though Paypal, so maybe that is just a false sense of security, or whatever.
I'm also getting nervous on one item I bought a couple of weeks ago (Wouldn't you know, it wasn't a Paypal transaction!) as it should have arrived by now, but still no sign of it. I'm hoping that everything will turn out all right this coming week, and if it doesn't, I guess I just kissed my payment goodbye. The first items I bought came through fast and quick, but this one is well overdue and I am getting concerned. Price was also $18, so maybe we both met up with the same seller?
I really like the ease of use in listing stuff on Blujay and have been quite vocal in singing the praises of the site. However, the situation you describe is one of my biggest fears about buying there, so I'm not sure how this will ultimately affect the popularity of the site. Probably negatively if many people have the same experience as we seem to be having.
One thing I can add is that I contacted a seller about an item they were selling on Blujay that I really wanted, as I wanted to check shipping cost, etc., before I completed the purchase. The seller asked me if I would mind making the purchase on another site where they had an identical item listed, as then we could post feedback for each other. So perhaps there is a major potential problem here, I'm not sure. I didn't complete the purchase at the other site as I didn't want to go through the registration process et.al., and the other site wasn't Paypal enabled. I like buying and paying with Paypal as I then have a transaction record I can import to my bookeeping system, etc., so I didn't complete the transaction.
A good feedback system helps to keep sellers in check and gives buyers an idea of what to expect from the experiences posted by previous customers. I am not too comfortable with the no feedback approach Blujay has taken. But then, they are a classified ads site and not an auction site, so I guess it really is 'Caveat Emptor!' I think I'll be doing a bit more Caveat Emptoring in the future before I make another purchase from the site, especially an $18 one!!!!!!!
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Hi Phoenix24,
So sorry to hear you have experienced this type of fraud. Although this is had occured to you on blujay please understand that this sort of thing happens everywhere. If you could send an e-mail to support*blujay.com giving us all the information about this item and the seller we will find out what we can.
It is true that right now we do not have a feedback system but this IS in the works. The reason we have not put one in place at this time is because we want to create a feedback system that is truthful and is very hard to fake and pad with false feedbacks etc. Yes right now Paypal is your best bet against these types of fraud. We are working to make our service more secure.
Thanks.
blujay
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Phoenix: Did you ever get this issue resolved? My parcel arrived in the mail today with an apology from the seller for the delay. I was very pleased with my purchase and feel a lot more kindly toward the seller now. So I hope your situation was resolved as well.
Adam: I do hope Blujay institutes some kind of feedback program. I know that as a buyer I do like to check the seller's feedback. I appreciate the fact that the management at Blujay listens to our concerns and at least looks into doing something to remedy or improve situations as they arise.
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Shanne...Thanx for your response....I too use primarily PP for my payments (it's soooooooooo easy!) but in this case (it figures) I used a Money Order...I HAVE (I'm VERY happy to say!) heard from the seller (don't know if Adam did anything to help that along...he did PM me for the particulars, which I supplied and like magic a couple of days later I got the email!)....Lost job, house, computer, using library computer, sorry for the delay, item will be shipped out....Still waiting on receipt on the item.....
Glad to hear that you received yours.....
Other than established (typically store type) websites, most of my internet buying is done on eBay, where I feel secure (right or wrong) in 99.9999999% of my purchases....I do realize that in a person to person venue all sorts of things can happen, and that you shouldn't judge a site by one seller, but it does make me leary....
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Hi Phoenix24,
I am glad you finally heard from the seller. I wanted to give them another week before intervening. I am glad things are looking up. I hope you will let us know when you do take delivery of your item.
As I've stated before we will be implementing a feedback system as well as providing a way for buyers and sellers to verify their legitimate status. As of now using Paypal for transactions is the safest way.
blujay
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Please, please, please make it somehow different than Ebay's feedback system! I am so tired of the scammers that want to use feedback to extort discounts and freebies. There is actually an infomercial which sells a "get it cheaper on Ebay by using our methods" package and from reading the Ebay boards and personal experience there are far too many folks trying this cr*p.