eBay, etc. General Question/Answer Thread

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I purchased two items on eBay recently, one was from the UK and one was from Germany. The UK purchase was $2,000 less, yet I was hit with a $58 foreign transaction fee + an additional $5 foreign transaction fee for that purchase (that listing also had me prepay customs when I checked out, which is new to me - it was built into eBay and only showed up after I had already hit buy it now and went to my cart to pay). The item from Germany was more expensive, yet it had no foreign transaction fee and I will pay customs in the usual way, when it comes through customs.
Are these foreign transactions fees due to the type of listing, the location or my payment method (AmEx).
The item without the foreign transaction fee was purchased with a Capitol One card.
Both listings were "international" listings (showed the price in their local currency).
I would also love any input on the prepaid customs built into eBay on one of the purchased. Is this an option when a seller lists an item?
Thank you!
 
I don't buy much on eBay and should have asked here before I proceeded with a return. I purchased a CHI Volumizer flat iron, used. I already own the exact same one but needed a new one. This style was discontinued but I found one on eBay...looked good so I bought it. The lovely buyer sent it right out. Upon arrival I plugged it in and it didn't work (tried 3 outlets). No big deal. This is where I think I made a mistake. I contacted the seller but opened a claim for return. The seller sent me a nice note with apologies and return postage. I already paid for shipping. When the hot iron arrived back with the seller she said it worked great WHEN TURNED ON. OMG, I forgot to turn it on, never did with my old one just plugged it in. I contacted the seller immediately and told her my mistake. How stupid on my part!!! I also called eBay CS to close claim and tell them the situation...my mistake, nothing to do with the seller. The seller was very gracious and agreed to sell me the hot iron again. I gladly paid for her return shipping and the new shipping. The iron arrived back to me and works great! I contacted the seller to let her know and profusely apologized again...just a wonderful seller.
My problem...I tried to leave FB but eBay won't let me. Something to do with the damn claim. This poor seller deserves excellent FB and I want to leave it.
Suggestions?
 
I don't buy much on eBay and should have asked here before I proceeded with a return. I purchased a CHI Volumizer flat iron, used. I already own the exact same one but needed a new one. This style was discontinued but I found one on eBay...looked good so I bought it. The lovely buyer sent it right out. Upon arrival I plugged it in and it didn't work (tried 3 outlets). No big deal. This is where I think I made a mistake. I contacted the seller but opened a claim for return. The seller sent me a nice note with apologies and return postage. I already paid for shipping. When the hot iron arrived back with the seller she said it worked great WHEN TURNED ON. OMG, I forgot to turn it on, never did with my old one just plugged it in. I contacted the seller immediately and told her my mistake. How stupid on my part!!! I also called eBay CS to close claim and tell them the situation...my mistake, nothing to do with the seller. The seller was very gracious and agreed to sell me the hot iron again. I gladly paid for her return shipping and the new shipping. The iron arrived back to me and works great! I contacted the seller to let her know and profusely apologized again...just a wonderful seller.
My problem...I tried to leave FB but eBay won't let me. Something to do with the damn claim. This poor seller deserves excellent FB and I want to leave it.
Suggestions?
The only thing I can think of is if the seller is TRS, you might have to wait a week to leave feedback.

(And for the record, I was trying to use a curling iron the other day and wondered by it wasn't wroking. I'd forgotten that not only did I have to plug it in but had to turn it on too.)
 
Is it acceptable to ask for more money for shipping from a buyer?

I'm not sure what happened, but my eBay charged my buyer only $2 for shipping. It was on the setting of calculated shipping and it must have underestimated the weight. Anyway, it's just a shirt but I HIGHLY doubt it will only cost me $2, especially going across the country, MI to CA. Probably going to be $5 at least.

Anyway. I politely messaged the buyer explaining what happened and asking her for $4 more. No response. I sent a second message and still no response.

I know it's petty to fret over a few dollars, but the item was only sold for $20, minus the cost of the item($4 at thrift store) plus now me biting the extra cost of the shipping plus the eBay fees, I'm barely making anything off this sale :/
 
The only thing I can think of is if the seller is TRS, you might have to wait a week to leave feedback.

(And for the record, I was trying to use a curling iron the other day and wondered by it wasn't wroking. I'd forgotten that not only did I have to plug it in but had to turn it on too.)
I was hoping you'd chime in, dear BB! I'll wait a bit and try again...I've saved the info. The seller was such a darling and understanding she deserves excellent FB.
Glad to see someone else is mechanically challenged :hugs:
 
Is it acceptable to ask for more money for shipping from a buyer?

I'm not sure what happened, but my eBay charged my buyer only $2 for shipping. It was on the setting of calculated shipping and it must have underestimated the weight. Anyway, it's just a shirt but I HIGHLY doubt it will only cost me $2, especially going across the country, MI to CA. Probably going to be $5 at least.

Anyway. I politely messaged the buyer explaining what happened and asking her for $4 more. No response. I sent a second message and still no response.

I know it's petty to fret over a few dollars, but the item was only sold for $20, minus the cost of the item($4 at thrift store) plus now me biting the extra cost of the shipping plus the eBay fees, I'm barely making anything off this sale :/
Imo no it's not acceptable at all. When buying, one thing the buyer looks at is the total cost. To ask the buyer to pay more for shipping after the sale won't win you too many repeat buyers and if it were me, I would ignore your messages. It is also unacceptable to advertise one speed of shipping and then switch to a slower speed to save money.
First class package should cost about $2.60 as I'm assuming that since it's "just a shirt" it should not weigh more than a pound.
If you only paid $4 and sold for $20 you are making a lot more profit than a lot of us out there these days.
 
Is it acceptable to ask for more money for shipping from a buyer?

I'm not sure what happened, but my eBay charged my buyer only $2 for shipping. It was on the setting of calculated shipping and it must have underestimated the weight. Anyway, it's just a shirt but I HIGHLY doubt it will only cost me $2, especially going across the country, MI to CA. Probably going to be $5 at least.

Anyway. I politely messaged the buyer explaining what happened and asking her for $4 more. No response. I sent a second message and still no response.

I know it's petty to fret over a few dollars, but the item was only sold for $20, minus the cost of the item($4 at thrift store) plus now me biting the extra cost of the shipping plus the eBay fees, I'm barely making anything off this sale :/

Imo no it's not acceptable at all. When buying, one thing the buyer looks at is the total cost. To ask the buyer to pay more for shipping after the sale won't win you too many repeat buyers and if it were me, I would ignore your messages. It is also unacceptable to advertise one speed of shipping and then switch to a slower speed to save money.
First class package should cost about $2.60 as I'm assuming that since it's "just a shirt" it should not weigh more than a pound.
If you only paid $4 and sold for $20 you are making a lot more profit than a lot of us out there these days.
Not only is it unacceptable (and unfair) to the buyer, it's a violation of ebay (and other website) rules to ask for more money. Sellers are expected to calculate their costs prior to listing and if you underestimated the shipping cost, that's your error and you have to eat it.

Learn from the mistake. Invest in a scale and weigh items to get accurate shipping costs.

As Holiday123 pointed out, a shirt weighing less than a pound can be shipped by first class mail (bubble mailer/large envelope) for about $4 or less, depending on the weight. ($2.61 is the shipping cost for 4 oz. or less and I expect the package with a shirt will weigh more than 4 oz.)

And even if you lose a bit of money, it's an inexpensive lesson that one learns from.
 
The only thing I can think of is if the seller is TRS, you might have to wait a week to leave feedback.
....

Wait, what? Is this a new thing? It's news to me, and I'm wondering why eBay would do that to TRS sellers? I want my buyers to leave positive feedback right away, and I'm afraid if they have to wait a week, they will just not leave feedback at all. Could this be why I'm not seeing any feedback on my recently sold, accurately described, carefully packaged, quickly shipped, delivered items?
 
No, it's just that loads of buyers simply don't leave feedback.

Yes, I get that! It's just that almost every sale used to get feedback, and now all of a sudden my buyers aren't leaving feedback. And, I always leave feedback for things I buy. eBay nags me with those little "You need to leave feedback for (x) items" reminders and I comply.

I guess I just need to adjust to the new reality. :-s

ETA: 20 minutes later, I check my feedback and what do you know, a buyer has just left positive feedback! :happydance:
 
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Chanel stickers come off of bags all the time due to wear and is not necessarily a red flag for authentication. Entrupy offers a financial guarantee on their certificates so if the bag was scanned by them, I wouldn't worry about it. Did you receive a copy of the cert?

Lollipuff is not an Entrupy customer, and they do not use a computer to authenticate. They use artificial intelligence and patented algorithms that have been trained to determine on a microscopic level whether an item is authentic or unverified. Just wanted to clarify!
@DThompson -
Based on your first post, I'm gathering that you support or are connected to Entrupy. (And you never responded to my questions here in post #6975 https://forum.purseblog.com/threads...n-answer-thread.646884/page-465#post-31415494
In that discussion ^^^^, I think I mistakenly thought you were a lollipuff rep.

But since you are a fan (or admin) of Entrupy, you might consider reading this thread regarding a VERY OBVIOUS fake Louis Vuitton bag which was deemed authentic by Entrupy.
Of interest to those wondering about the accuracy of computer authentications

IMO, using a computer or some system of "artificial intelligence and patented algorithms" is NOT a dependable way to authenticate and clearly doesn't work, whether it's the way Entrupy does it or the way Lollipuff does it.

JMHO.
 
Okay so I had an order canceled and a couple days later it updated with shipping info. I thought maybe this was a mistake (maybe it was shipped to someone else and updated mine for some reason?) since my payment was still pending so I asked the seller about it. The seller was very nice and apologized and said it had gone through and they would send me a return label. My payment went through over the weekend. There is nothing on the eBay order to enter return tracking or anything so I'm a bit confused. The seller was super nice, but my concern is if I send back, where can I put a tracking or proof it was returned?
 
Okay so I had an order canceled and a couple days later it updated with shipping info. I thought maybe this was a mistake (maybe it was shipped to someone else and updated mine for some reason?) since my payment was still pending so I asked the seller about it. The seller was very nice and apologized and said it had gone through and they would send me a return label. My payment went through over the weekend. There is nothing on the eBay order to enter return tracking or anything so I'm a bit confused. The seller was super nice, but my concern is if I send back, where can I put a tracking or proof it was returned?
You said that the seller apologized and "said it had gone through." Does that mean she apologized for canceling and sending anyway?

Have you even received it yet?

Once you receive it, open a case that you want to return, enter the tracking number and send it back. (One can assume the seller will agree to the return since she already sent the shipping label.)
 
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