Ebay problem, WWYD?

[HockeyMomNH]

Ok, so here's the deal....

Tuesday parents bought an antique toy on ebay. There was no reserve on the item, but lots of bidding. They ended up paying over $400 for the item. The shipping cost was $25. As soon as the auction ended my mom sent the paypal payment.

Yesterday my mom got an e-mail through ebay from the seller. He wants her to send him an additional $5 to cover the shipping fees. He says that the auction listing stated that there might be additional fees for East or West Coast shipping. (He's in the midwest).

A few things about this bothers me, the guy's had over 1900 sales and has 100% feedback. You would think that he would know how to set up an auction to charge appropriate shipping in the first place. Also, is it really worth it to him to get potential negative feedback when he already is getting over $400 for the item? Especially since he had no reserve and could have possibly gotten much less for the item?

My parents really want this item and are willing to send the additional money, but I just don't know.

 

[akcire]

Ok, so here's the deal....

Tuesday parents bought an antique toy on ebay. There was no reserve on the item, but lots of bidding. They ended up paying over $400 for the item. The shipping cost was $25. As soon as the auction ended my mom sent the paypal payment.

Yesterday my mom got an e-mail through ebay from the seller. He wants her to send him an additional $5 to cover the shipping fees. He says that the auction listing stated that there might be additional fees for East or West Coast shipping. (He's in the midwest).

A few things about this bothers me, the guy's had over 1900 sales and has 100% feedback. You would think that he would know how to set up an auction to charge appropriate shipping in the first place. Also, is it really worth it to him to get potential negative feedback when he already is getting over $400 for the item? Especially since he had no reserve and could have possibly gotten much less for the item?

My parents really want this item and are willing to send the additional money, but I just don't know.

Shipping calculators are wrong. It happens. He may also have more insurance costs now. As a seller I would eat the $5. As s buyer I wouldn't think twice about paying the fee if I wanted the item.

 

[HM]

I don't shop or sell on Ebay. but it seems to me that $5 extra dollars isn't going to matter much on a sale of $400. Your parents should just pay it. Who knows why the seller did that...it does seem ridiculous though. With the money he made on the sale, he should have just let the $5 extra be a loss.

 

[RitaE]

He says that the auction listing stated that there might be additional fees for East or West Coast shipping. (He's in the midwest).

Well - I'm confused. Did the auction say that?

Because if the auction said that, then he is following the terms of the auction. You leave negative Feedback when the seller DOESN'T follow the terms of the auction, not when you don't like his terms and bid anyway.

If the auction didn't say that however then you have a gripe.

 

[mad madam mim78]

If the auction stated that there could be additional fees for east and west coast and you live on east or west coast then you probably could expect a higher shipping charge. I'm not quite sure how a seller can fully disclose all the terms of the sale, then you get mad. I would understand if it wasn't in the description but it was. Sorry I'm on the sellers side in this particular case.

 

[HockeyMomNH]

Well - I'm confused. Did the auction say that?

Because if the auction said that, then he is following the terms of the auction. You leave negative Feedback when the seller DOESN'T follow the terms of the auction, not when you don't like his terms and bid anyway.

If the auction didn't say that however then you have a gripe.

The auction did say that, but my mom paid right away instead of waiting for an invoice.

My mom is not very internet savy, so she was a bit freaked out about getting a message asking for more money.

I'm not saying that she should leave negative feedback, but I do think that the burden is on the seller to make sure that the auction is correct. On top of that, I'm just surprised that this guy would risk that potential negative feedback for $5. Actually, less than $5 after he pays paypal fees on it.

My DH and I have been running a small internet retail business for 14 years, I know how expensive shipping can be. I would never send a message to a customer over something this minor. I think it's just bad customer service.

 

[HockeyMomNH]

If the auction stated that there could be additional fees for east and west coast and you live on east or west coast then you probably could expect a higher shipping charge. I'm not quite sure how a seller can fully disclose all the terms of the sale, then you get mad. I would understand if it wasn't in the description but it was. Sorry I'm on the sellers side in this particular case.

Point taken. I've just never seen this particular situation before. I wonder, should the seller have sent an invoice for the difference? Is there a way for him to do that? It all just feels a bit under the table to do it the way he did. Ebay charges a fee on the shipping now too, don't they? I can't imagine that they would want people to be asking for additional payment outside of the auction where they are not getting their cut.

 

[jmartinez1895]

Nothing should be paid to anyone except through Ebay. Because the original item has been paid for I think he could reverse the transaction and then invoice for the new amount ( this is what we had done once , but it was a very different story). At this point I would call Ebay directly and explain things and see what they recommend doing. Again, I would not send the seller anything under the table.

 

[tuvalox]

The seller should refund your mom's original payment, and then send a new invoice. It does seem weird, but as others have said the seller may have had to pay more for insurance on the the item. Regardless with over 1900 sales one would think the seller could estimate the shipping and insurance to an acceptable amount and not charge more. I would not risk negative feedback for $5.

 

[marriedtodonald]

I've been selling and buying on Ebay for over 6 years now and have never, nor would I ever send a message to a buyer requesting more money for shipping. I'm with the OP on this one...it's just bad customer service whether you have a "disclaimer" in your auction or not. I've had several instances where the shipping calculator was wrong or I, myself have miscalculated shipping. I choose to eat the cost. It isn't worth the negative feedback or the potential to lose a sale! Furthermore, the seller really cannot enforce the extra cost. He could, however, decide to cancel the auction and refund the money to your parents. At that point, your parents can either accept or decline his request. If they decline, the seller will not get his Ebay seller fees refunded to his account. If I were your parents, I would email this guy and let him know that they will not be sending him extra money and that they will be reporting him to Ebay. They really frown upon payments outside of the business and it is quite likely that he will get some sort of slap on the wrist for it. Good luck!

 

[PatMcDuck]

Well, the seller is being ridiculous and should eat the $5. Also, if he is experienced at this, he could easily have set up the shipping to tie in to the buyers zip code, so then he could charge the exact amount. But I assume he did not do that. I never heard of listing an item, putting in a shipping amount, and stating, hey, here is a $$ amount, but it might be higher.

I used to sell a lot on Ebay. I would use a fixed amount for shipping, usually a mid amount. If I had to send to the west coast, I would lose a little, if it was east coast, maybe I would make a couple of $$. Seemed to even out over time. On high priced items, I often did free shipping, if I wanted to make my item more tempting. To be honest, I lost on shipping way too much, because I usually underestimated.

Anyway, at this point, IF i really wanted the item, I would pay it and absolutely mention this on the feedback. If I had any sort of buyers remorse, I would tell him to keep his item. I would probably warn him that I was going to do this; ie tell him, I will send you the $5, but I always leave accurate detailed honest feedback on my transactions. And I would do it.

And tell them to ONLY communicate thru Ebay. Do not get into a conversation with him outside of Ebay, via email.

 

[jls886]

I am a powerseller on ebay and would never do what this seller is doing. I have had shipping end up being a little more than I thought, and I eat the difference. In this case, my best guess, is that he did not factor in signature confirmation which is an extra $2-3 and has to be used for items over $250 in order for the seller to be protected. I have forgotten that before and been a little surprised when I go to ship, but I figure that was my mistake and I move on. Personally, from a customer service standpoint, I would think the seller would just eat the few dollars and move on. But apparently this seller does not feel that way.

OP, if you decide to pay him the $5, he needs to refund the original payment and invoice your mom again through ebay, NOT through Paypal. eBay does not allow any transactions to be taken outside of eBay, so if anything goes wrong with this or the item is broken, etc, you all need to have done everything by the book. You don't want any reason for eBay to find anything to say that you broke the rules.

ETA: I don't know that eBay really allows a 'here is the shipping cost, but it could change at any time and I'll just message you the difference' shipping policy. I really don't know, but I would imagine eBay would not necessarily be behind a shipping policy like that. Unless it stated 'Shipping is XX unless you live on the west coast in which case it is XX' that might fly, but it sounds like he is basically saying he is allowed to charge you whatever he feels like for shipping after the auction has ended, which in my book is not the right way to do business.

 

[bpesch]

Ebay's rules are pretty clear about not allowing a seller to ask for more after the fact. I'm not sure if his " He says that the auction listing stated that there might be additional fees for East or West Coast shipping." would cover him in this circumstance. I would call Ebay about it and see what they say.

 

[HockeyMomNH]

Thanks for all the replies. My parents really want this item and decided it was not worth the $5 to dispute it. She sent him the extra $5 via paypal goods. She didn't want to make a fuss and have him cancel the order since there were a lot of other bidders.

I am going to tell her that she should at least send him a message via e-bay about her displeasure with the transaction, after the item arrives that is. I think that depending on her response I would suggest at least mentioning it in the feedback.

It looks to me like he had just put in $25 flat fee shipping. It's not that hard to have ebay calculate actual shipping fees. Especially for someone who obviously sells a lot.

 

[DianeV]

I hate sellers like this because its so easy to have correct shipping on your auctions. You can enter the weight and any handling fee on the calculator and then wherever the buyer is they get the correct cost. I feel leaving it open like this seller did is only asking for problems. I wouldnt trust anyone like that in my opinion and this is someone with over 14,000 feedback between mine and my husbands ebay accounts, mostly selling. I would never ask for more money

 

[Pooh2]

Sorry to be off topic Hockeymom, but did you make those cakes in your signature?? They are awesome!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

A few things about this bothers me, the guy's had over 1900 sales and has 100% feedback.

I think you mean he has 100% positive feedback.

They should refuse the extra shipping cost and report the seller to eBay if he does not sell at the price/shipping stated in his auction.

 

[HockeyMomNH]

Sorry to be off topic Hockeymom, but did you make those cakes in your signature?? They are awesome!

Yes, thank you!

I think you mean he has 100% positive feedback.

They should refuse the extra shipping cost and report the seller to eBay if he does not sell at the price/shipping stated in his auction.

I do mean positive feedback. I looked through a bunch of it too, because sometimes you can get more info from the comments than the actual feedback scores. It all looked good though.

I agree with you, but they really want the item and are worried that he might change his mind and not ship it if they rock the boat.

 

[beachgrl001]

I've been selling and buying on Ebay for over 6 years now and have never, nor would I ever send a message to a buyer requesting more money for shipping. I'm with the OP on this one...it's just bad customer service whether you have a "disclaimer" in your auction or not. I've had several instances where the shipping calculator was wrong or I, myself have miscalculated shipping. I choose to eat the cost. It isn't worth the negative feedback or the potential to lose a sale! Furthermore, the seller really cannot enforce the extra cost. He could, however, decide to cancel the auction and refund the money to your parents. At that point, your parents can either accept or decline his request. If they decline, the seller will not get his Ebay seller fees refunded to his account. If I were your parents, I would email this guy and let him know that they will not be sending him extra money and that they will be reporting him to Ebay. They really frown upon payments outside of the business and it is quite likely that he will get some sort of slap on the wrist for it. Good luck!

What she said. I have been selling on ebay for years and like she said sometimes Ive had to eat the cost. The only other thing Id like to add is go with your gut. If it feels bad dont do it.

 

[jls886]

You can still report the seller even after the item has been received (I think) for violating eBay policies. That way if he is violating a policy eBay will know about it and then if he tries it again they will have that history. And if he has done nothing wrong, though I don't think you are allowed to ask for more after the fact, they will decide that as well. I would at least report him so they will be aware of this behavior in case it is, or becomes, a pattern.