alan h.

I've been a member of listia for over 3 years, and other than the scams, It's been a Great experience. The mechanics of the site are like that of eBay, Feedback system, Bidding, Buy it Now/Get it Now, etc. Instead of money, we use a currency called "Credits" which are Earned and exchanged for buying and selling items on the site. So far it's been a good system, however, The value of credits has experienced major inflation in recent years, for example when I first joined 1000 credits = $1 dollar, Now 27,500 credits = $1 dollar, which in turn devalues the credits you've saved.

The vast majority of Sellers/Buyers on Listia are usually Honest, Friendly, Trustworthy and Always deliver on their promise. The sellers are really reasonable and they ship your order very fast, and when the item arrives, It's in pristine to perfect condition. And the buyers share the same honest, kind, characteristics as the sellers. They'll all a pleasure to deal with.

However, there are numerous scams and indecencies on the site which originate from various Buyers and Sellers alike. There was this one buyer (greggschimmel) who began to bombard me with rude and offensive private messages, just moments after winning my auction, which went on for several days until he finally requested a refund, which I provided him with, then after receiving a full refund and sending me a few more taunts, He gave me a permanent negative feedback rating on my account.

Also, I've been scammed countless times by Greedy Dishonest sellers on listia, Here are a few instances, 3 years ago, I won "Tomatillo Seeds" but, they haven't arrived since, and anther auction for an LG Phone which I won over 2 years ago, is still a no show.

There are way more auctions that didn't deliver on their promise, but I won't list them here because listia prevailed in refunding my credits for those fraudulent listings.

And remember to read listings thoroughly and I mean Rigorously thoroughly before Bidding!
Listia does not refund credits for misread auctions! The choice is only up to the Seller to decide on rather Keeping the credits for them self or Refund the credits to the buyer who Mistakingly thought they were getting something else by accidently misreading the listing's description! Unfortunately, If the seller says no, you just have to go along with the flow.

I should know because 6 days ago, I Mistakingly Made THE Most Ridiculous, Outrageous, Unfortunate, Regrettable, Unpardonable, Expensive, Unforgettable, Absolut WORST! Transaction I EVER! MADE! ON LISTIA! By Winning a 550,000 CREDIT auction for an Uncertain type and quantity of Blueberry seeds! From Lista Seller (bny)! I thought the auction Was for a LIVE BlueBerry Plant, Because I Discovered the listing under LIVE PLANTS! The TITLE READ: "Blueberry Bush" And THE Price Was Extremely HIGH! Like (1,375,000) CREDITS HIGH! But, I was very hyped about getting A Live Blueberry Plant, So I kindly asked the seller (bny) if the price can be reduced to 550,000, which the seller responded to in no time and it was reduced to 550,000 Which was virtually all of my credits which for the record took me more than 2 months of hard work to build up. And I thought I carefully read the entire description like 3 times before Submitting My credits, however, I've seemed to have missed the whole "seeds" part because it was cleverly hidden under the phrase 'Hardy Perennial' and the word 'seeds' was only mentioned once in the entire listing!

Bottom line, The Listing was listed under live plants, The price was very high,
The listing's title and description was typed up like a live plant auction, and the seller had a high feedback rating, So I assumed It was A Live Blueberry Plant, And I Submitted my 2 months work of 550,000 credits which has the equal value of $20.00 Dollars, That's RIGHT the equivalent of Twenty US DOLLARS! A few minutes later after winning the auction, I realized my regrettably expensive mistake when I saw the lone Word "Seeds" in the description, I immediately contacted the seller (bny) about the issue, but, to no response. And I had to wait 3 Days to submit a refund request via dispute, So waiting after 3 days, I sent in my refund request and reason, and I had to wait an additional day for The Seller and Listia's moderator to respond. Bny Finally responds by disappointingly writing: (Listia Rule #1 ~ Carefully read listing information and descriptions before bidding.)

And the moderator's response was: (Hi, I'm very sorry, but we are not able to refund credits to the winner in this case. Only the seller can grant a refund in cases of buyer's remorse, accidental bidding, or shipping payment issues. Since the seller is not willing to grant you a refund, it is advised that you continue with the listing, receive the item(s), and relist it. If you still do not want the item, the credits will be transferred to the seller.
Please let me know how you would like to proceed.)

It's been several days and Seller (bny) is still Ignoring my later messages, not answering my questions, And is very reluctant to refund any amount of my credits. 550,000 Credits/$20.00 Dollars, DOWN THE DRAIN. Hands Down the most Disappointing purchase I've made anywhere.
And still, no word from listia's moderators when I replied to their first message.

If anyone's going to use listia DO NOT BUY FROM SELLER: ( beware narcissistic yahoo) AKA (bny). Don't even try!

Anyway, other than that, Listia's not just only a superb site, but, a close friend, I'll use it and support it to the very end.

UPDATE: (1/24/2017) The issue still hasn't been resolved, And Crook seller (bny) went on vacation with the credits he stole. Also, HE DISABLED ME FROM CONTACTING HIM AFTER I GAVE HIM 550,000 CREDITS, TRULY HORRENDOUS.

I ASSUME HE'S VACATIONING INTO THE CAVE OF SHAME.

UPDATE: (1/30/2017) The tracking number I received appeared to be false because, the tracking info claimed that the item was delivered to DECATUR, TN. But, I live nowhere near Tennessee. And Eventually, The moderator finally refunded my credits.

UPTADE: The berry and Good greens tasted okay to me, However, the Chocolate flavor triggered anaphylaxis-like symptoms, Swelling throat, tongue, and Dizzyness. Luckily symptoms went away after drinking water for 5-10 minutes. I think it may have been the coconut sugar they added which triggered the attack.

Their free trial isn't free, It cost $2.99 to ship, I changed my mind about ordering it so I immediately Contacted them requesting to cancel my Daily Good Greens Free Trial Order and get my $2.99 refunded, I managed to cancel the $40 monthly Auto Replenish, But I still couldn't get the trial order canceled, I contacted them several more times requesting a cancellation and a refund, only to get a generic email 1-2 days later which READS:

( I can confirm that your ALOHA Replenishment Service has been canceled as of September 08,2016 at 6:37 PM
Rest assured that moving forward you will not receive any automatic shipments or charges.)

They confirmed that the Auto Replenish which was already confirmed cancelled the day before, has been cancelled, Yet they still didn't deliver on my main request which was to cancel the trial order and get refunded.

I continued contacting them pledging to cancel my trial order But no avail, Then Today I received an email which reads: (Your ALOHA order shipped!) They shipped the trail order anyway even after telling them to cancel it. So in the end, My order wasn't canceled (like I requested it to be.) I didn't receive my $2.99 refund, And I soon will be receiving a product which is known to have a Bad taste and cause Food Poisoning.