No longer a Powerseller on eBay (NOT FOR LONG!!!)

Just this morning after I woke up, I checked my emails.

I got a notice from eBay, stating that my DSRs have fallen below average and I am stripped off my Powerseller status as a result of that.

I investigated further, and it was mainly because of my DSR for (Shipping Time). The rest of my DSRs were excellent, almost 5 out of 5 stars.

Well, I did not have such problems in the past when I was selling clubs and clubheads, because I would ship with FEDEX and it takes only 48 hours to get them delivered to the buyer.

However, with sleeves, I ship using the post office's registered mail service......sometimes to FL, TX, TN it can take 2 weeks (and my worst experience is a month....but does not happen often, 1 in 300) Now, I do not really sell clubheads and clubs on ebay....because all my regular customers would snap them up when I have them.....so there's no more left to sell on Ebay. What I sell on ebay, are sleeves and shaft adapters.

There's no point shipping a FCT sleeve using FEDEX, it cost $20 just for shipping alone! Imagine how much more I would need to price my sleeves if that were the case. The post office would cost me $3.65 with the packaging and thats how I manage to offer free shipping on eBay.

I have not been in the best of health last couple of months too. I've been hit with flu virus very easily and I have not been visiting the post office everyday like the past. Maybe that's also a factor with my low shipping DSR.

I guess buyers also need to understand that DSR is rated for how long did the seller take to ship the item, not how long was the transit time.

Well, with every setback, comes a challenge to overcome it and come back stronger.

I will work hard on improving my DSR, make it a point to visit the post office everyday even when I am sick.....and beg my buyers to leave me good DSRs.

I intend to improve on my DSRs within 1 month and get back my powerseller status.

I need to improve on my DSRs not just to get back my powerseller status, but also to continue selling on ebay, or else I risk limitations on my eBay account. Oh My God!

Please if you buy from me on eBay, help me, leave me with 5 stars. I'll do my best and I hope you can be satisfied.

Its the only way I can continue to offer great stuff at a competitive price.

Katie Stevens goes home :(

I can't believe it!~Katie Stevens to go over that Tim Urban guy?

I'm so sad!!!!!!!

I'm done with season 9......:(

Password scare, LOL!

I almost had a password scare! LOL

Just yesterday I changed my email password. I wanted to make my password 'more complicated' to minimize the risk of being hacked.

So I went ahead and created this ultra long password comprising of upper case and lower case letters, numbers and several symbols. LOL!!!!

When I tried to log on today, it says 'password incorrect'.

I was like 'holy shit, I changed my password to be so complicated that I myself could not recall!'

I told myself not to panic, I had a vague idea of how it should look like.....it was only 1 day ago, my memory was still quite fresh.

So I spent the last hour creating a list of possibilities............after 29 tries, I managed to get it!

Lesson learnt for sure :)

What kind of weather is this?!?!?!?!?

Geez!

Its 1:12am and its 32 degrees Celsius! What on earth?!

Its so warm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just took a shower and no more than 15 mins later, I am sweating again

I can't wait for my trip next month. 8 days in winter!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyways, happy Phil won. When he hugged amy at the 18th I cried, hahaha!

Oh man! I found out something...

Maybe because it's a small world, maybe because God is good, maybe because karma's a bitch... I managed to find out something about someone today

Remembering that karma is a bitch, I've decided to just know about it and 'swallow' it. No need to 'announce' to the world......unless there's a need to.

Well, the golf industry is small. Indeed

A well respected guy in a very popular american based golf forum has been selling stuff for a long time. He owns a golf shop too. His reputation is good. In fact, I'd say he has 'master' status. A lot of people look up to him and respect him. Enuff said.

So, I do not know why, but like 2 hours ago, a piece of evidence just fell into my hands, evidence showing that the 'so called' [tour only] clubs he's selling are shipped from china. (I did not instigate an investigation....this piece of info just dropped to my hands) An anonymous person gave me these evidences.

What does that say? Well, one word came to my mind - contradiction. How can you possibly tell people things like 'buy safe, buy from USA or take your chances elsewhere' when you yourself buy stuff from a dodgy origin?

I've never liked to bad mouth people behind their backs. For this case, it felt ultra pleasurable for me to find out about what I just found out. He did bad mouth me before, I do know know him, we never met, we never spoke, yet he tried to hurt me......so I guess this is what I mean by Karma's a bitch.

Anyway, I'm going to leave it as it is. I'm not going to reveal who he is, I'm not going to showcase to the world the evidence presented to me. I'd rather mind my own business.

Of course, the great part here is, if he does cross my line in future, I will have a whole lot of story to tell.

I am the kind of person who prefers a 'I mind my business and you mind yours' kinda relationship.

Until then, I thank God for showing me the light.

Also, I thank anonymous for giving me such precious evidences. You made my day....in fact you probably made my whole week! ♥

Its just a ferrule, chill out!

Interesting, a buyer asked me, if the ferrules I were selling for the 2010 FCT sleeves were meant for a .335 or a .350?

I replied 'it fits both', as I have personally tested it out.

Came a reply that another vendor mentioned mine was just an OEM.

Laugh Out Loud!

Who is this 'other vendor'? It leads me to wonder...

well, the truth is yes, there are 2 sizes, but I took a .335 and tested it on a .350, it fits perfectly, so what gives? The Minimum Quantity for me to bring these in is 2000pcs.....I'd rather order 2000pcs of a size, rather than to commit 4000pcs for 2 sizes, you know?

Anyway seriously, its just a piece of plastic so chill. (but make sure it does not break when u squeeze it....cos only a genuine one can withstand the pressure...only then you will judge for yourself if mine is an OEM or a real deal)

Chao!

My very 1st negative feedback on eBay. Surprise surprise!!!

WOW! So while I was enjoying my Hagen-Dazs ice-cream (Macadamia Nut) flavour, I clicked the refresh button on my eBay page.

Weird, my feedback score is 1167...I was thinking I thought it was 1168 just now?

"Crap, a negative?" I spoke to myself. I opened my feedback page there it was: - A BIG FAT NEGATIVE RED FEEDBACK staring at me.

Worst of all, the feedback says: "Fake, straight bore through, should have known from singapore"

You guys who follow me closely know that I never sell fake Taylormade sleeves. In fact after all I've done, writing articles to help people identify fakes (I usually write articles at mid-night...sacrificing my sleep), I would never be selling fakes.

There's only 2 possibilities here:

1) This is a misunderstanding

I would love to think this is the case, but if this is really a misunderstanding, the buyer would have contacted me first, tell me there is a problem. Even if not, he should file a Paypal dispute to get his money back. No dispute case has been opened until now. I'm very puzzled

2) Sabotage by competitors

Need I say more? I hope this is not the case but there's always the possibility, in fact I feel like I might be sabotaged. Come on, no one leaves negative feedback just like that without contacting the seller first. BUT, I wanna remain professional about this whole thing. I don't want to speculate so soon. It's still early.....I contacted eBay to request for his contact number, I tried calling the buyer up on his cell, it went straight to his voicemail. I left a voice message, I left him a message on eBay and I also sent him an email.

Yes, I spent money to do a long distance call....this shows how serious I am about upholding my reputation. I recorded my call to him and also recorded the voicemail I left.

Like I said, it's still early, I'm going to be professional about this and give him a chance to respond. This could be all a misunderstanding. Well, if not? Let's just say I know very strongly about my products and I won't allow my reputation to be defamed.

That's the purpose of this blog. I'm so glad I have a place to 'vent'!

Also, Thank You to all of you who has stayed by me, believed in me and supported me all the way! ♥

Well....I'm just going to chill now. Going to play Guitar Hero

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UPDATES:

Ok, so after about 12 hours later, the buyer revised the feedback to a Neutral.

This is what actually happened....

like I said, the first thing I did was to call him up on his cell, no answer....so I left a voicemail, and also sent him an email

I also had a friend, who gave him a call. My friend is in the US and he's so sweet by helping me out (Thanks S)

So my friend managed to speak with him....turns out the guy brought it to Golfsmith and the guys told him it was a straight bore. So of course my friend was surprised and stood up for me....offered to meet him up to have a look at it, and even offered him a new sleeve (from my friend's own pocket....yes, I'm so touched). They guy said ok, but he has already installed the sleeve he received from me (Questionable point 1: U say its fake, and u go on and install and use it?).

So I sent the buyer a feedback revision form, and I went straight to sleep. It was like 4:30am in Singapore already!

When I woke up, I realized he changed it to a neutral. Hmmm, 'can't he have changed it to a positive?' I thought to myself.

I mean, I think I did enough, in fact more than enough. More than what any seller would do.

So do I think this might be a case of a 'red eye sabotage'? Honestly, maybe. I don't wanna sound like a sour grape but you can't blame me for feeling this way can you?:

- no contacting me first, straight negative

- no paypal dispute (he does not want his money back....just wants to leave a negative, for $20...quite cheap)

- says my sleeve is fake, but has installed and used it?

- after all that I've done to make things right, meeting him to have a look at his sleeve, offering a new one, all I got was a neutral?

Whatever. Maybe he is a genuine buyer who is hard to please. I'll take it.....thats the kick you have to take for selling on eBay.

Or

Maybe he is sent by a competitor with the intent to bring me down. Whatever too. I hope from this episode they'll actually know that I mean business and will run a long race just to make sure my reputation remains intact. Especially when I am accused of something I know is not true!

Closed case. I shall just leave it as it is. The buyer, revised his feedback (although only to a neutral).....but at least he removed those defamatory remarks, I shall just let it be. I'll not dig any further. Instead of wasting time, I'll write more guides for you guys!

Woah Katie Stevens rocks!

Wow, I just saw her performance on American Idol this week.....AWESOME!!!

Her best performance yet!

2010 Taylormade Supertri FCT sleeves (Fakes, refurbished vs Genuine)

So, I wrote articles to spot fake FCT sleeves for the older FCT sleeves. Now that there's a newer more sophisticated FCT sleeve for the 2010 Supertri, the fakes are out.
Well, I have in my hands a fake and a refurbished. After taking some time to compare, I've made some findings....we shall compare the Fakes, Refurbished versus the Genuines.

By 'refurbished' ....let me explain what I mean. These are the FCT sleeves that are made of the same mould taken from the Taylormade factory. They are produced outside with that same mould. These FCT sleeves are better than the fakes, because they are adjustable....BUT are they done up to the exact specs? We would not know for sure, as long as the words (L, R, N, NU) are printed slightly off...even 0.01 degrees off, the angles that we play on our drivers will all be messed up some way or another. Some people may not mind....the Refurbished sleeves are much cheaper than the Genuine ones....but then some people are selling refurbished sleeves as genuines, and people buy them without knowing, afterall they look so similar. Pictures says a thousand words:

(Do not worry if you find the pictures too small. At the end of this page I will put up a link where you can view the big pictures)


So, we will be comparing 3 kinds of 2010 FCT sleeves here:
1) Genuine - 100% Taylormade (same as those installed on your Taylormade clubs)
2) Refurbished (made from the same mould, adjustable but may not be accurate)
3) Fakes (just replicas, not adjustable at all. Straight bore all the way)

We can see from the above picture, the 3 kinds of sleeves. Refurbished and genuine sleeves have tilt (which means they're adjustable)....the fake one is kinda straight. Also notice the very obvious difference in teeth groove on the fake (boxed in yellow)

Putting the refurbished and genuine sleeve side by side, its hard to tell any difference right?

Well I had the 2 in my hands and when I looked at it, the refurbished sleeve is one tone slightly brighter. However, this difference in color is NOT easy to tell. It really is very very close!

I noticed that on the refurbished sleeve, the line goes down way more than the genuine. Again, very close! Another picture below:

The fake sleeve are easy to tell by the teeth groove, also the hole for the screw to lock is red (for the fake). Pictured below:

I think this would be my pick for 'how to easily tell refurbished from genuines'. On the black part where the R, L, N, NU words are, you should see horizontal fine lines across....almost like fine laser machine prints. I looked through the refurbished one under the magnifying glass...it does not have it.

I notice that the paint tend to 'spill over' near the screw hole too.

Another look at the difference in length of the lines. Left is genuine, right is refurbished.

The R is different (font)...very close again. The gap for the genuine one is much smaller.

So, refurbished sleeves are adjustable, and 99.9% of buyers will not be able to tell them apart. Well the question is, how accurate are they made? Like I said, as long as the L, R, N and NU are printed slightly off, even 0.01 degrees off.....it changes everything.

I hope this helps.

Some may ask why on earth do I spend time doing this? Well, the answer is simple. I get questions everyday from buyers comparing me with other sellers on eBay. They say that my price is expensive - compared to the rest out there. People need to know you get what you pay for. Well especially now, when there is such a thing as 'refurbished sleeves'...well I am not sure if refurbished is the right word.....my vocab book is not working right now....haha, 5AM and I am writing this....brain freeze. If you guys can think of the right word, let me know.

Oh by the way, I only sell genuine sleeves. I am in no way tempted to go the refurbished route, although I can make more profits. LOL. Its hard to build a reputation, and harder to keep it clean. I won't risk it.

LINK to enjoy bigger pictures:

(click on these small pictures to enlarge. It will take you to photobucket website to view the pictures. Over there, you can click on the picture again for extra zoom)

Disclaimer: Links on my blog

I would like to clarify that the external links on my blog are not endorsed by me.

I have been asked several times, by some of my readers, if the links were put up by me. Apparently there are some links to buying golf products, it will direct you to another website, outside of my blog and my readers asked if I was associated with them.

No, I am in no way associated with these links. These links are put up by Google as part of their 'Google Adsense' program. If you click on the links, apparently I get to earn some money - like referral fees (but I have yet to ever receive any payment at all LOL)

So please just take note that these external links are not associated with me. I only sell things inside my blog, via Paypal.

Thanks

Dang it!

Woke up with a sore throat and runny nose. Dang it... There goes my Sunday....but I should be going to the post office tonight. There's a post office that operates on Sunday, although it is out of the way...I wanna go ship some stuff as some shipping has been delayed due to the Good Friday holiday.

Yes, chasing high DSRs on eBay is a chore

Watching the Malaysian F1 race on TV soon

One of my friend who used to be an assistant on the Japanese golf tour is now working with the F1 circuit. Cool! He goes to every F1 race around the world, how wonderful! Its a wonderful job man!