Accepted Buyer's Best Buy Bid now she says its with free shipping

Fullcloset

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Mar 2, 2016
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So ebay has a Make an Offer button which this buyer used and made an offer. I thought it was weird because it is the full asking price of the item but its happened before because sometimes they just do that when the sale is ending and they just want the item. I accepted and sent the invoice. She got the invoice and says I need to adjust it for free shipping because her bid was for the price and free shipping. I never got a message attached to the offer asking for free shipping but somehow when I look at the offer in the email in the ebay message system where the offer was accepted- it says free ship on the right side near my item but only her offer amount showing in the price. I charge shipping. It was in my listing and showed in my invoice. I don't know how she could have even changed the offer to free shipping because whenever I make an offer to someone - I don't have the chance to change their shipping - only offer a price and send a message if I want to. The shipping is $12 for this item and I don't want to have to eat it. If I cancel I'm sure she'll give me negative feedback. One of the reasons I really hate Ebay - how can Ebay allow certain buyers to offer free shipping with their best offers and not others and why aren't seller's even alerted? I looked at the offer and acceptance notification emails from ebay on my computer and neither one shows the buyer is asking for free shipping. I'm just going to tell her NO - I pay shipping so she pays shipping but I'll offer her some money off the item which I would have taken but not $12.
 
I believe that when you use the make an offer button, it says that it doesn't include shipping. She may have put free shipping in the note part. I agree that shouldn't be binding. If she wanted free shipping, she should have asked in a message rather than in the offer.

When buyers ask me for free shipping, I'd rather adjust down the item price than lower my shipping cost. I feel the shipping cost is a deterrent to returns, since they wouldn't get that back if they returned.
 
So ebay has a Make an Offer button which this buyer used and made an offer. I thought it was weird because it is the full asking price of the item but its happened before because sometimes they just do that when the sale is ending and they just want the item. I accepted and sent the invoice. She got the invoice and says I need to adjust it for free shipping because her bid was for the price and free shipping. I never got a message attached to the offer asking for free shipping but somehow when I look at the offer in the email in the ebay message system where the offer was accepted- it says free ship on the right side near my item but only her offer amount showing in the price. I charge shipping. It was in my listing and showed in my invoice. I don't know how she could have even changed the offer to free shipping because whenever I make an offer to someone - I don't have the chance to change their shipping - only offer a price and send a message if I want to. The shipping is $12 for this item and I don't want to have to eat it. If I cancel I'm sure she'll give me negative feedback. One of the reasons I really hate Ebay - how can Ebay allow certain buyers to offer free shipping with their best offers and not others and why aren't seller's even alerted? I looked at the offer and acceptance notification emails from ebay on my computer and neither one shows the buyer is asking for free shipping. I'm just going to tell her NO - I pay shipping so she pays shipping but I'll offer her some money off the item which I would have taken but not $12.
I haven't purchased nor sold with a b.o. in a while but I do recall that when a buyer is making an offer, they can include conditions in the message box. it's assumed that the seller reads the message prior to accepting the offer.

If she did include that condition with her offer and you accepted, IMO you're obligated to honor it. Just as we complain that buyers don't read listings, TOS and descriptions, the same goes for sellers.

I'm not sure why you're asking your question here because it sounds like you've already made up your mind not to honor it.

But another consideration is that you have a b.o. in the listing. Since you say her offer was the full selling price, the only contingency in the offer is that she wants shipping included in that price. I don't think that's unreasonable at all!
 
Addendum: Here's the policy - note the part I highlighted in BLUE.
http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/best-offer.html

To submit your Best Offer:
  1. Find a listing that accepts Best Offers.
  2. Click Make Offer. You may need to sign in.
  3. Enter your offer. If you want to include a note to the seller, click Add your note.
  4. Click Review offer.
  5. Review the information and click Submit offer.
Note the following rule for both buyers and sellers:
RULE FOR BUYER: If a seller accepts your offer, you're required to complete the transaction.
RULE FOR SELLER: After you receive a Best Offer, you can choose to
  • Accept the Best Offer and end the listing.
  • Decline the Best Offer. You can explain your reasons to the buyer if you want to.
  • Respond with a counteroffer. If the buyer doesn't respond within a reasonable amount of time, you can let the counteroffer expire.
  • Let the offer expire after 48 hours or when the listing ends, whichever comes first.
IMO, you're obligated. JMHO.
 
So ebay has a Make an Offer button which this buyer used and made an offer. I thought it was weird because it is the full asking price of the item but its happened before because sometimes they just do that when the sale is ending and they just want the item. I accepted and sent the invoice. She got the invoice and says I need to adjust it for free shipping because her bid was for the price and free shipping. I never got a message attached to the offer asking for free shipping but somehow when I look at the offer in the email in the ebay message system where the offer was accepted- it says free ship on the right side near my item but only her offer amount showing in the price. I charge shipping. It was in my listing and showed in my invoice. I don't know how she could have even changed the offer to free shipping because whenever I make an offer to someone - I don't have the chance to change their shipping - only offer a price and send a message if I want to. The shipping is $12 for this item and I don't want to have to eat it. If I cancel I'm sure she'll give me negative feedback. One of the reasons I really hate Ebay - how can Ebay allow certain buyers to offer free shipping with their best offers and not others and why aren't seller's even alerted? I looked at the offer and acceptance notification emails from ebay on my computer and neither one shows the buyer is asking for free shipping. I'm just going to tell her NO - I pay shipping so she pays shipping but I'll offer her some money off the item which I would have taken but not $12.

I had this very same situation happen to me recently. Have to really be on your toes with ebay! In the message in which my buyer made her offer she requested free shipping (along with her requested lower price). I caught it in the note and declined her offer but I can see how it may be easy to miss. I don't really understand the discrepancy between the message you received from her asking for free shipping and the offer in the email in the ebay message system where the offer was accepted.....those should have the same message, not a different one. I do hope that it's not ebay trying to 'put one over' on the seller by adding in free shipping......strange.
 
I haven't purchased nor sold with a b.o. in a while but I do recall that when a buyer is making an offer, they can include conditions in the message box. it's assumed that the seller reads the message prior to accepting the offer.

If she did include that condition with her offer and you accepted, IMO you're obligated to honor it. Just as we complain that buyers don't read listings, TOS and descriptions, the same goes for sellers.

I'm not sure why you're asking your question here because it sounds like you've already made up your mind not to honor it.

But another consideration is that you have a b.o. in the listing. Since you say her offer was the full selling price, the only contingency in the offer is that she wants shipping included in that price. I don't think that's unreasonable at all!
This!
 
I disagree, There is a part of the policy which specifically disallows this.

For listings in which the seller has specified shipping costs for the item, the Best Offer price includes only the listed item. For listings in which the shipping costs aren't specified, the buyer can choose to include shipping costs in their offer.
 
I disagree, There is a part of the policy which specifically disallows this.

For listings in which the seller has specified shipping costs for the item, the Best Offer price includes only the listed item. For listings in which the shipping costs aren't specified, the buyer can choose to include shipping costs in their offer.
Having gone through this with an Australian buyer years ago, I can tell you that while Best Offer specifically states that it does not apply to shipping, if a buyer adds Free Shipping or something to that effect in the terms box (although it is against Ebay policy) and the seller accepts then unfortunately the seller must provide free shipping because by accepting the offer they agreed to the buyer's terms (which may be against Ebay policy but Ebay will not protect the seller).

I now check every offer carefully and caught a few of those sneaky little free shipping demands and turned them all down.

You may need to swallow the shipping cost this time. If you cancel, not only do you risk a negative but also a defect (which is worse).
 
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Having gone through this with an Australian buyer years ago, I can tell you that while Best Offer specifically states that it does not apply to shipping, if a buyer adds Free Shipping or something to that effect in the terms box (although it is against Ebay policy) and the seller accepts then unfortunately the seller must provide free shipping because by accepting the offer they agreed to the buyer's terms (which may be against Ebay policy but Ebay will not protect the seller).

I now check every offer carefully and caught a few of those sneaky little free shipping demands and turned them all down.

You may need to swallow the shipping cost this time. If you cancel, not only do you risk a negative but also a defect (which is worse).
Me too!
 
So ebay has a Make an Offer button which this buyer used and made an offer. I thought it was weird because it is the full asking price of the item
This is where I'm confused and commented on it earlier in the discussion.

If I'm understanding the OP correctly, apparently all the buyer was requesting was shipping included in the BIN price. Unless this is a very lightweight/small item, I can't imagine the shipping cost to be more than a few dollars. So in comparison with the buyer making a lowball offer but not requesting shipping, this doesn't seem like a big loss to me.

OP, how much was the item price? How much did you list shipping at?
 
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This is where I'm confused and commented on it earlier in the discussion.

If I'm understanding the OP correctly, apparently all the buyer was requesting was shipping included in the BIN price. Unless this is a very lightweight/small item, I can't imagine the shipping cost to be more than a few dollars. So in comparison with the buyer making a lowball offer but not requesting shipping, this doesn't seem like a big loss to me.

OP, how much was the item price? How much did you list shipping at?
She mentioned the shipping was $12. It must be an inexpensive item, or she would have no problem eating $12.
 
I understand what you are saying, but as a seller I would direct the buyer to ebay's policy on the matter rather than eating shipping that I cannot afford to.

As a buyer, when I make an offer, it does not specify that the text box is for additional terms, it states that it is for sending a message to the seller. It may be different on some of the international ebay sites, but I didn't see anywhere in the ebay policies for buyers or sellers where the seller was obligated to accept terms outside of ebay's policies.

I don't sell enough to be concerned about a defect rating and I have no stomach for buyers' nonsense, so of course everyone else's mileage may vary.

Ebay policy in case you want to tell your buyer: http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/best-offer.html
 
I understand what you are saying, but as a seller I would direct the buyer to ebay's policy on the matter rather than eating shipping that I cannot afford to.

As a buyer, when I make an offer, it does not specify that the text box is for additional terms, it states that it is for sending a message to the seller. It may be different on some of the international ebay sites, but I didn't see anywhere in the ebay policies for buyers or sellers where the seller was obligated to accept terms outside of ebay's policies.

I don't sell enough to be concerned about a defect rating and I have no stomach for buyers' nonsense, so of course everyone else's mileage may vary.

Ebay policy in case you want to tell your buyer: http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/best-offer.html

Good for you, I completely agree with you!
 
Hi everyone thanks. I posted over on the ebay community too and there all the sellers are saying that ebay's policy is simply that shipping is not included in the best offer price - period -- and a buyer can not change that by trying to slip it in. Apparently it is a fight that has been ongoing and I only just had it happen. So I asked my buyer - interrogated her really - where she put "free shipping" - and she kept insisting that it wasn't in the comments - there is a box specifically for "terms" which I have never seen as a buyer or a seller and finally, she sent me a screen shot of another listing and sure enough - it says "terms" clear as a bell. So on the mobile app - it is giving the buyers the idea they can haggle the terms of the deal - and I guess - they could even change your return policy if they've a mind to. She's a nice buyer as it turns out so I'm honoring it but I dislike being scammed by buyers - even for a $1 - and I thought she was trying to pull a fast one, but I should have know it is once again ebay trying hard to F*** with its sellers with this mobile app. So now I don't allow offers anymore because I don't have the time to study each one that comes back and negotiate over terms of sale that I don't intend to be negotiable. Why they can't just have a price box and leave it at that - well, its ebay and they thrive on hurting sellers. I bet they have a contest going. I just really felt entrapped - they say over and over that make an offer DOESN"T include shipping and is for THE PRICE ONLY and then go ahead and give buyers a terms box to write their own sales policy. I would have done better donating this to Good Will.
 
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Having gone through this with an Australian buyer years ago, I can tell you that while Best Offer specifically states that it does not apply to shipping, if a buyer adds Free Shipping or something to that effect in the terms box (although it is against Ebay policy) and the seller accepts then unfortunately the seller must provide free shipping because by accepting the offer they agreed to the buyer's terms (which may be against Ebay policy but Ebay will not protect the seller).

I now check every offer carefully and caught a few of those sneaky little free shipping demands and turned them all down.

You may need to swallow the shipping cost this time. If you cancel, not only do you risk a negative but also a defect (which is worse).
Now I am curious - did ebay tell you that you had to give them free shipping or did you just decide on your own? On the ebay community site they were wondering what side of this ebay would come down on because its been a problem I guess for awhile, but I'm thinking if they had a problem before with "comments" , ebay took a position now against the sellers changing the "comments" to "terms" on the mobile app and giving the power to the buyer. It is pretty much directly controverting their own policy then though