Ebay Items won

Hello all,

I'm looking for some helpful advice after a run-in with a rude seller. Basically I need to know if there is any recourse through Ebay for this behavior.

I won two acutions from the same seller, who stated in his auction that he would combine shipping for LIKE items won for only $2.50 more. That is why I bid on the two items. IF I won the two Items my combined shipping total would equal $9.65. The seller then sent my invoice and the total shipping listed was $10.95. I e-mailed the seller to inquire how he came up with this total.

Here is the first letter I sent:

Hello,

I'm trying to figure your shipping cost as stated in your auctions.

Item number: 120101090178 states auctions won in a 24 hour period have an additional combined shipping of $2.50.

Item number: 120101092476 states auctions won in a 24 hour period have an additional combined shipping of $2.00.

Which is it? Even if you use your first statement from Item number: 120101090178 and combine it with the more expensive of the two shipping rates (which is $7.15) the total shipping should read $9.65. Please explain how you calculate your $10.95 shipping total?

Thanks,

Tim



And his reply:


Hi Tim since you want to be greedy here are your new individual invoices. Note in the combined shipping area it says LIKE ITEM'S these are not like items but I gave you a break now you can pay these I won't except anything else.


So now he wont combine any shipping because of my greedy inquirey!


Do I have any recourse or am I screwed?

 

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I also replied to the "greedy" email with this email:



Dear Roxie,

I'm sorry if my inquisition came across as greedy. That was far from the answer to my question though. I merely am trying to find a simple explenation on how you calculated the shipping total you passed on to me? You didn't provide any explenation what-so-ever, instead you chose to attack my integrity with a tersely written note by calling me greedy.

How dissimilar are these two items? They both are rolls of coins that come in a white box! There are two reasons why I bid on your auctions. One you have 100% positive feedback, and two, you stated in your auctions that you combine shipping totals for LIKE ITEMS.

I realize that most sellers like to reap a profit from shipping totals to off-set the cost of Pay-Pal and auction listings. That is perfectly fine, I also do the same for auctions that I list. What I will not do however, is state a price in my auctions for combined lsitings then recant those statements. That is bad for business.

Let me offer you an alternative. I will split the difference of the two shipping totals. If you agree, I will pay $10.30 shipping. The cost of one flat rate envelope plus shipping confirmation totals $4.55. That gives you a profit of $5.75 on your shipping fee.

I feel like I have been more than reasonable, and I hope you can provide me with an HONEST auction experience.

Tim


Now the question is, am I the one being unreasonable?

 

First of all, the shipping I see for 120101090178 is $7.70 not $7.15. Using that figure, the combined shipping would be $10.20 or $0.75 cheaper that your invoice. Is he being a @$#@#%@%? Absolutely. Would you get anywhere with eBAy? Absolutely NOT! You only choice is to leave a negative - assuming that you can afford one in return.

 

I still see $7.15 listed as the shipping total.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...MEWA:IT&viewitem=&item=120101090178&rd=1&rd=1

 

Well, I think he's basically being a jerk, but I can tell you his definition of "like items" is ones that have the same shipping charge. So he'd combine shipping on $7.70 shipping items, etc. Your replies to him were not rude.

I think you're options at this point are to try and send him some email and work it out amicably or tell him to forget it and let him know where he can stick his auctions (this will no doubt result in negative feedback).

 

I would probably pay his invoice, put him on my list of sellers I won't do business with, and give him a neg as soon as he gives you feedback, or if he doesn't (probable) in 89 days when the window should still be open and he might not have time to retaliate

 

I am sorry. You are probably correct. He is apparentlky using a calculated rate and you live closer than I.

 

I had a seller try to change the shipping cost after an auction ended. It resulted in the seller filing a NPB on me and leaving me neg feedback. Ebay removed the NPB strike, but not the feedback, so that's what you can expect.

 

Well, here is another reply to my inquistion:

NO, You pay the single individual invoices now and don't presume that you know how I run my business
Plus my other SITE ROSE CITY MINT COINS try bigtime16. I've run into guy's like you many times getting all huffy about shipping prices a dollar here a dollar there try to score on some leader auctions then think they can bluff there way through it. Don't pay if you want, but I have every right to either charge you for each product or combined shipping. 2- PCGS HOLDERS ARE THE SAME- 2 BOXES OF STATE QUARTERS ARE THE SAME- TWO ROLLS OF WASH. DOLLARS ARE THE SAME (LIKE ITEMS)You got combined shipping because I believe in giving my customers a good deal, how much did you save on the two auctions???? And you have the GALL to question a Dollar shipping, and that's just to much, how can he do that me the self absorbed Napoleon of Ebay. Don't pay and we will let my Ebay handle it. Get in the real world TIMMY.

Nice dealer!

and finally the last reply to my inquistion:

My name is not Roxie it's Douglas I'm tired just pay the combined invoice and I'll send you a Dollar, BUSINESS IS OVER. AFTER SIX YEARS of this horse**** I'm closing down my sites, it's not worth the aggravation .


All of that because I asked him a question about a shipping total!

 

Someone was having a seriously bad day! Have to wonder a little what really drove him to this point.

Be prepared for negative feedback. If he's shutting down, he will not care what happens afterwards. At this point, I'd be afraid to pay him as you may never see the coins.

I might try to offer to reimburse him for his listing costs and see if you can walk away for the deal.

Good Luck!!!

 

I’m glad I do not do E-Bay. I would not pay this guy and don’t worry about feedback.
This guy is mad because he sold them for less then he wanted

 

Darryl is absolutely right. If he's shutting down his auction site then he couldnt care less what happens to his feedback and you can bet he'll keep your money and you'll never ever see your coins or get another response from him. What a jerk!!!

 

He should have spelled out what like items were in his description if he was going to be this picky. Too bad as he needs to be more specific if he doesn't want this to happen over and over again. I would assume those are like items myself, but next time you may want to ask the question before bidding and assume nothing.

 

What is his EBay ID?

Just in case he isn't really shutting down, I want to make sure he's on my list of sellers who don't sell me anything.

 

Yes, I would like to know too, to make sure that I never buy from him. The funny thing is that he has the never to say you are being greedy by saving a dollar, but he is in return being greedy by demanding that dollar when he knows that he shouldnt have it in the first place! The pot is calling the kettle black here, and he doesnt realize it!

 

He is definetly getting rude. I wouldn't do business with him any longer. What is sad is, you can't do much about it, except not do business with him. But I feel there wasn't a need for that rudeness.

Phoenix

 

My typical answer to someone that doesn't combine shipping is to pay for each of them seperately, prefereably by paypal so as to hit them with max fees, and in the paypal payment provide them with different addresses for shiping. Or if they will only ship to the confirmed paypal address you wait two or three days between payments so that hopefully he will ship them separately. Reduce his shipping profit as much as possible.

 

roxierolls (auction numbers are listed in first post).

Personally, I wouldn't pay. If you're a buyer and not a seller, then feedback doesn't much matter to you and I'd leave it for him as a warning to others. You will get negative feedback in return though, but you can reply to it so people can see what the story was.

You might be able to file a dispute.

 

philly dog says the seller is mad that he didnt get the price he wanted. Thats possible. But a more accurate statement is this: theres a lot of sellers on ebay that charge a flat shipping rate that is more than the actual shipping charge. Its a bunch of bullsh--! BUT: they dont see themselves as dishonest. lot of sellers acutally think its legit to make profit on the shipping. This is the mentality of a lot of sellers. I dont agree with it. The coin (or whatever you're buying) is the product. The shipping is the necesary expense and effort to get the good to the customer. The shipping should not be an excuse to make more money. If you're not FEDEX or UPS or USPS or DHL, and its not shipping you sell, then you have no right trying to make money on shipping. its just plain unethical. BUT if you want the item bad enough, you put up with this crap. you can always leave a negative feedback afterwards that says "overcharges on shipping." But theres too much good stuff on ebay to not buy on ebay. to let the little crap bother you enough to stay off ebay is ridiculous.

 

Have to agree with you there. I don't sell on eBay much, but when I do, I only ever charge the actual cost of shipping. I only charge any "handling" if I have to buy special packaging to ship the item in (and even then, only the exact amount it costs me). The listing charge and final value charge is the cost of doing business on eBay and should come out of the sale price for the actual item. If after that, you just think you won't make enough money on the item to make it worth selling on eBay, then don't sell it on eBay. Just my own personal opinion of course, but I take a very low view of people who try to pad their profit by charging more than their actual costs for shipping and handling. If you can't get the profit you want from the item after paying shipping, handling, listing and final value fees, then take your item somewhere else to sell or just don't sell it.

Just as I take a dim view of "buyer's remorse," I take a dim view of "seller's remorse," by which I mean the seller isn't happy for what the item sold for and wants to make up for it somehow. If the seller wanted more money, they should have put a reserve on the item or set a higher minimum bid.