For a while now, I've been doing some sporadic business on Ebay with some older camera flash gear. Basically I've gotten pretty adept at repair and built up a decent inventory of pieces, so I offer both rebuilt/repaired items and a repair service.
One of my big businesses is rebuilding external high voltage battery packs. Some of what I work on/sell is still available new, but I sell it reconditioned for a fraction of the new price, and rebuild it for about half what the manufacturer charges(as well as servicing a bunch of models they don't anymore). It's something I enjoy doing, and I'm not getting rich on it but it makes a few bucks to feed my other hobbies.
Back in June, someone contacted me needing a 4 packs rebuilt in a hurry. The ones they wanted to repair are generally pretty low labor, and I can do a lot of my bench testing I normally do before I even have the pack in hand, so I can turn them around decently quickly. The big downside is that they are heavy as they use a sealed lead acid battery, so shipping is not insignificant. I offer them a bulk price that leaves me making about $15/pack taking Ebay fees and shipping into account-I figure I'm looking at 2-4 hours of work to do them, so I'm not exactly getting rich on the profits from this.
I get the packs on a Friday, rebuild them the same day, run them through testing. One has some issues, and after communicating with the customer, I offer to exchange a good core from my inventory(no additional charge) to get one 100% functional. I don't advertise this, but basically I either return and refund if I find one not working, or do a core exchange(this particular model it's not really even worth my time to diagnose and repair). I ship back the following Monday...and the the package gets caught in a sorting center in USPS's system. The customer NEEDS these in a hurry, so after discussion with them, I ship them 3 of my own packs(tested, fully working, and ones I've used some) by Fed-Ex to get them with something in their hands. They also send me two additional ones for rebuild, which I turn around in a hurry, and offer an additional one of mine. That also goes back by Fed-Ex, and they get everything back and are in business with two packs I've rebuilt and 4 I sent as loaners.
The original 4 I'd rebuilt finally turn up, and since then I get only sporadic communication. They've paid me for the initial 4 rebuilds, but not the additional two. I offered them a really good discount if they wanted to keep my loaner packs(same price as I charge for the rebuild-I don't need them...). I've had one message from them in the last 6 weeks asking how to pay. I sent a few options, including Paypal and even mailing a check to my address...nothing.
I'm at the point of writing this one off, but it's super frustrating. Overall the people I deal with are great, and often I get a sense of who's going to be trouble and will subtly discourage a deal before it's done(often my Ebay listings are a starting point for communication, but I do all initial sales through Ebay-usually making special listings just for the agreed service at the agreed price). I've had multiple repeat customers.
No, this one's not worth going to court over. I tend to trust people, and in general have no problem sending stuff out(especially to someone I've already done business with) ahead of payment. I went out on a limb for this one to help them out because USPS was being USPS...and at this point between $120 worth of replacement batteries(my actual cost, bought in bulk, for the replacement batteries I use in these packs), shipping 3 heavy packages, and Ebay taking their nearly 15% cut off the original deal, I'm in the red on this one not counting the value of the loaner items I sent them. No, it's not going to break me, and no this isn't my primariy source of income, but I still am doing this to at least make a few bucks. And yes, I know it's my own fault for trusting them to do right, but I guess that's it. Maybe they'll surprise me and pay, but looks like I'm writing this one off.
And no I'm not looking for suggestions-just venting.
One of my big businesses is rebuilding external high voltage battery packs. Some of what I work on/sell is still available new, but I sell it reconditioned for a fraction of the new price, and rebuild it for about half what the manufacturer charges(as well as servicing a bunch of models they don't anymore). It's something I enjoy doing, and I'm not getting rich on it but it makes a few bucks to feed my other hobbies.
Back in June, someone contacted me needing a 4 packs rebuilt in a hurry. The ones they wanted to repair are generally pretty low labor, and I can do a lot of my bench testing I normally do before I even have the pack in hand, so I can turn them around decently quickly. The big downside is that they are heavy as they use a sealed lead acid battery, so shipping is not insignificant. I offer them a bulk price that leaves me making about $15/pack taking Ebay fees and shipping into account-I figure I'm looking at 2-4 hours of work to do them, so I'm not exactly getting rich on the profits from this.
I get the packs on a Friday, rebuild them the same day, run them through testing. One has some issues, and after communicating with the customer, I offer to exchange a good core from my inventory(no additional charge) to get one 100% functional. I don't advertise this, but basically I either return and refund if I find one not working, or do a core exchange(this particular model it's not really even worth my time to diagnose and repair). I ship back the following Monday...and the the package gets caught in a sorting center in USPS's system. The customer NEEDS these in a hurry, so after discussion with them, I ship them 3 of my own packs(tested, fully working, and ones I've used some) by Fed-Ex to get them with something in their hands. They also send me two additional ones for rebuild, which I turn around in a hurry, and offer an additional one of mine. That also goes back by Fed-Ex, and they get everything back and are in business with two packs I've rebuilt and 4 I sent as loaners.
The original 4 I'd rebuilt finally turn up, and since then I get only sporadic communication. They've paid me for the initial 4 rebuilds, but not the additional two. I offered them a really good discount if they wanted to keep my loaner packs(same price as I charge for the rebuild-I don't need them...). I've had one message from them in the last 6 weeks asking how to pay. I sent a few options, including Paypal and even mailing a check to my address...nothing.
I'm at the point of writing this one off, but it's super frustrating. Overall the people I deal with are great, and often I get a sense of who's going to be trouble and will subtly discourage a deal before it's done(often my Ebay listings are a starting point for communication, but I do all initial sales through Ebay-usually making special listings just for the agreed service at the agreed price). I've had multiple repeat customers.
No, this one's not worth going to court over. I tend to trust people, and in general have no problem sending stuff out(especially to someone I've already done business with) ahead of payment. I went out on a limb for this one to help them out because USPS was being USPS...and at this point between $120 worth of replacement batteries(my actual cost, bought in bulk, for the replacement batteries I use in these packs), shipping 3 heavy packages, and Ebay taking their nearly 15% cut off the original deal, I'm in the red on this one not counting the value of the loaner items I sent them. No, it's not going to break me, and no this isn't my primariy source of income, but I still am doing this to at least make a few bucks. And yes, I know it's my own fault for trusting them to do right, but I guess that's it. Maybe they'll surprise me and pay, but looks like I'm writing this one off.
And no I'm not looking for suggestions-just venting.
. So, there is some mutual trust there by virtue of our shared contacts. 