Sorry--it's another ebay problem

[disneymom3]

I have been ebaying with DH for years. We have truly never had any problems--no nonpaying bidders, no sellers who don't ship, nothing like that.

So, I decided to set up a separate account in my own user ID. I wanted my own separate little fund for spending on what I wanted. I thought I would buy a few items first to get some feedback started. Well, I won my first auction in this new ID yesterday. The shipping should be less than $8 according to the shipping calculator on the auction. The invoice I got from this guy had shipping at over $18. Figured it was a mistake, emailed him told him what shipping should be according to HIS auction and asked for a corrected invoice.

Got an email back today saying he doesn't know why the shipping calculator has the pkg as weighing 3 lbs, as it weighs 15. I reallly could care less. I checked shipping before I bid and based the final price I was willing to pay on that.

So, would you tell hiim he has to honor hte terms of his auction or that you can mutually withdraw the auction? I WANT this item, but not for $12 more than I intended to pay. I am also feeling like this guy is trying to take advantage of the fact that I have 0 feedback and is perhaps hoping that I don't know what I am doing.

 

[DianeV]

I would pretty much tell him that you want the item but wont pay more then the calculator stated. HE set up the calulator so its his fault.

If he still is a jerk then just tell him to mutually cancel the transaction. You dont want to deal with someone like that

 

[pamlet]

Is the item something that would be closer to 15 pounds or 3. If 15, then shipping for 8 sounds pretty low - I would have contacted him prior to bidding to verify the shipping.

If the item is something that would be closer to 3 - then I'd ask him to mutually withdraw. If you're trying to build some feedback - torquing him off might defeat the purpose.

 

[pyrxtc]

I would pretty much tell him that you want the item but wont pay more then the calculator stated. HE set up the calulator so its his fault.

If he still is a jerk then just tell him to mutually cancel the transaction. You dont want to deal with someone like that

I agree, he should take the fall for his mistake. If he refuses then ask him to mutually withdraw everything. Wait to see if he leaves feedback, then leave for him explaining problem.

 

[seashoreCM]

How much do you think the item weighs? Are you willing to pay shipping based on that?

I would not call the seller a jerk because he made an honest mistake and does not want to take that much of a hit on the shipping.

Provided he is willing to let you not buy, not leave negative feedback, and not expect you to pay the commissions.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[pilgrimage]

In North Carolina, if something is in print, , unless there is a written disclaimer"Not responsible for typographical errors," the vendor must honor the price. It protect the buyer from bait and switch games some vendors engage in.

Obviously I do not know this seller, but I've had a few folks promise to send first class mail for $10, only to receive it 2 weeks later with $1.29 media mail sticker on it. That seems dishonest, but I don't know what I can do about it. My money is gone and the gift (first edition book) is late for a birthday gift.

 

[disneymom3]

Is the item something that would be closer to 15 pounds or 3. If 15, then shipping for 8 sounds pretty low - I would have contacted him prior to bidding to verify the shipping.

Well, not to be rude, as I know you are trying to help me, but it would never occur to me in a million years to write and ask someone if they were sure their shipping calculator was correct. I have used them in auctions before and they are pretty hard to screw up.

As to whether the guy is being a jerk or not, I am not saying he is, but I am frustrated, that is for sure. I am abiding by the terms of the auction. I bid in good faith based on HIS estimate of shipping. Grrrr. I sent him an email and didn't offer any solutions. I just said, look this was your error, I am sorry your info was wrong, but I placed my bid in good faith and wouldn't have placed ANY bid had the shipping calc told me there would be such high shipping. At this point I left it in his court to see what he does. If he puts up a major fuss, I will agree to mutually withdraw.

And I know what a bummer it is to be totally burned on shipping. I sold a trike a few years ago which I had weighed at home. Don't know what was up wiht my scale because when I took it to ship I was off by $17! And guess what? I ate the loss because it was MY fault.

I am frustrated still!!(Not about shipping the bike, about this new situation.)

 

[seashoreCM]

but I've had a few folks promise to send first class mail for $10, only to receive it 2 weeks later with $1.29 media mail sticker on it. .

You can use the eBay and PayPal dispute resolution procedures on this one.

This one is an acceptable use of negative feedback after trying unsuccessfully to resolve the problem.

Once I accidentally sent someone's package (videos) via media mail even though he specifically asked for and sent extra money for priority mail. I caught the error a day later and offered to refund all the shipping costs. He told me the package actually arrived almost as fast as priority mail would have taken and told me to send the difference to a charity.

 

[disneymom3]

Thanks for all the advice folks. Although I am ticked about it, I have agreed to mutually cancel. He won't ship for the price quoted in the auction and while I could fight it, it doesn't seem worth it to get all into it with him.

I will be keeping this seller's name in mind however and sure will never buy from them again!

 

[disneymom3]

A happy ending afterall!!

Got an email from the seller. Apparantly he used Turbo Lister and didn't know the shipping calculator was activated. Claimed he couldn't change it once the auction was started, but that sounds odd to me. Anyway, he offerred to send it to me for the cost of the shipping alone. (The winning bid was $8.99 and shipping was quoted at $7.90. Actual shipping was $18.95) While that is a little more than I had intended to pay, I am okay with this solution. I now feel sorry for the guy as he said he has three other auctions ending around the same time, and the shipping was screwed up on them too. Not a good ebay week for this guy.

He asked that I leave neutral feedback at least, but I told him that after we complete the transaction, I would be willing to leave positive due to his willingness to work this out.

Just wanted to let you all know that it turned out okay.

 

[fam4jc]

I listed an item using the shipping calculator. I accidentally listed it as 30 lbs oversized in the setup. It should have been 3 lbs. Once the auction had started, that is I received the first bid, I couldn't change the shipping calculator data. I did however edit my listing to state that the calculator was way, way off and I capped the shipping about stating that the seller would pay the difference if it went over xx dollars. So this guy was tellng you the truth about not being able to change the shipping. Anyway, I am glad it worked out for you. BTW, I Hate it when i get something that I paid priority for and it comes media mail!