eBay, etc. General Question/Answer Thread

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#7,816
nicole0612 said:
I just had the opposite problem with shipping cost issues!
I’m not sure how to respond to this.
I just purchased an almost $10K item and the seller just sent me a message asking me to pay extra in shipping. I noticed that the listed shipping was way lower than the actual cost would be, but thought that the seller planned to absorb that cost due to the high selling price.
Everyone with any selling history (or who can use the shipping estimate tools) knows that to ship a large item with high insurance will cost over $100.

This is the message I just got:

“I have more bags to list, but eBay will not permit me to list them yet until I get a certain number of positive feedbacks. So a positive feedback would be much appreciated if you have time. I will go in and leave you one right now. Many thanks again for the business.

“On a less happy note, I have to let you know the shipping cost was more than the estimated $25. Because I wanted to be so careful in making sure the bag arrives completely intact, I have wrapped it in extra protective material and ended up with a larger box. Because of the size of the box, USPS had to charge me an extra $30.10 (see attached PO receipt) for the package to be sent Priority 2-Day and get to you on Monday 12. I would appreciate it if you could reimburse me the $30.10 on PayPal. If there is the next time for you to purchase from me, I will be sure to include the size of the box in the estimate. Thk you again.”

How would you respond?
First of all, she obviously didn’t send it with any insurance. That is a big red flag.
I don’t care about an extra $30.10, but the principle does bother me. However, it’s not worth upsetting her over $30, so if I decline to pay it I would want to phrase it in a nice way.
As I write this, it occurs to me that since she sent it without any insurance I should at least wait until receiving the bag and having it authenticated before sending any additional money to her.
Click to expand...
1. No feedback until AFTER you receive the item and verify that it's as described.
2. Sellers aren't allowed to request (or demand) more money to cover shipping if they've underestimated the price. That's the seller's responsibility to know what her expenses are going to be and allow for them. If she erred, she needs to eat the loss and learn from the mistake.
3. Yes, you should decline along the lines of the following:
Dear seller,

I'm sorry that shipping is going to be more expensive than you'd estimated but ebay doesn't allow sellers to charge more than their listing showed. Ebay expects sellers to calculate their expenses and know what to charge.

I bought the item because the item price plus shipping was what I budgeted and didn't expect nor allow for being charged a higher amount.

If you'd like, I will be happy to forward the section from ebay's policies that states the rules.

I will gladly pay $X for the bag (as agreed) plus the $25 shipping charge as shown in your listing.

Sincerely,
Buyer
 
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#7,817
BeenBurned said:
1. No feedback until AFTER you receive the item and verify that it's as described.
2. Sellers aren't allowed to request (or demand) more money to cover shipping if they've underestimated the price. That's the seller's responsibility to know what her expenses are going to be and allow for them. If she erred, she needs to eat the loss and learn from the mistake.
3. Yes, you should decline along the lines of the following:
Dear seller,

I'm sorry that shipping is going to be more expensive than you'd estimated but ebay doesn't allow sellers to charge more than their listing showed. Ebay expects sellers to calculate their expenses and know what to charge.

I bought the item because the item price plus shipping was what I budgeted and didn't expect nor allow for being charged a higher amount.

If you'd like, I will be happy to forward the section from ebay's policies that states the rules.

I will gladly pay $X for the bag plus the $25 shipping charge as shown in your listing.

Sincerely,
Buyer
Click to expand...

Thank you! I already paid for it (immediately) so I guess that is why she is asking for a second payment for the extra shipping.
Yes, I will definitely wait until it arrives and is authenticated to leave feedback and I would love to use the letter you composed. The tone is perfect.
 
#7,818
nicole0612 said:
Thank you! I already paid for it (immediately) so I guess that is why she is asking for a second payment for the extra shipping.
Yes, I will definitely wait until it arrives and is authenticated to leave feedback and I would love to use the letter you composed. The tone is perfect.
Click to expand...
Feel free to enlighten the seller:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-practices.html

What to do
You're required to include the following details in your listing:
  • Forms of payment you accept
  • Return policy
  • Restocking fee, if applicable
  • Shipping method, costs, and other information
  • Taxes and any applicable government imposed fees (such as electronic waste disposal fees)
  • Terms of the transaction
You're required to meet the expectations you've set in your listing.

^^ And by meeting the expectations, that means she can't surprise the buyer with an additional charge for shipping that wasn't "expected" by the listing!
 
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#7,819
BeenBurned said:
Feel free to enlighten the seller:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-practices.html

What to do
You're required to include the following details in your listing:
  • Forms of payment you accept
  • Return policy
  • Restocking fee, if applicable
  • Shipping method, costs, and other information
  • Taxes and any applicable government imposed fees (such as electronic waste disposal fees)
  • Terms of the transaction
You're required to meet the expectations you've set in your listing.

^^ And by meeting the expectations, that means she can't surprise the buyer with an additional charge for shipping that wasn't "expected" by the listing!
Click to expand...

I might also include a link to the shipping estimates link for USPS and UPS.
To be honest, I don’t usually get shipping estimates myself because I have some idea of what to expect, but the first couple of times I sold a very large or very expensive item it has been $50+ more than expected, but I know that’s on me because I didn’t take the time to confirm first!
One time years ago I sold a cheap item ~$25 just to clean out my closet and the shipping ended up being the same price as the item, so I essentially sent it for free ;) Lesson learned.
 
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#7,820
nicole0612 said:
I might also include a link to the shipping estimates link for USPS and UPS.
To be honest, I don’t usually get shipping estimates myself because I have some idea of what to expect, but the first couple of times I sold a very large or very expensive item it has been $50+ more than expected, but I know that’s on me because I didn’t take the time to confirm first!
One time years ago I sold a cheap item ~$25 just to clean out my closet and the shipping ended up being the same price as the item, so I essentially sent it for free ;) Lesson learned.
Click to expand...
Oversized packages (over 1 cubic foot / 1728 cu") jump way up in price, especially when going to distant zones.
 
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#7,821
BeenBurned said:
You quoted me so I assume you're asking whether I believe Entrupy works with artificial intelligence. If that question is being asked of me, i'll answer that I do believe Entrupy works that way and I don't feel that it's dependable enough to trust as the final authority. It's possible that computers can be used as one of the tools to help with authentications but without human eyes and expertise, I can't say I'd be comfortable.
Click to expand...
Yes, I meant to quote you and I agree with you on Entrupy. Authentications definitely have to be double checked by authenticators.
Because I've also seen fakes (that have been sold) on Lollipuff, I was wondering about their way of authenticating and whether it's the same as Entrupy (having a database of authentic bags/details for their device to go by).
"Artificial intelligence and patented algorithms that have been trained to determine on a microscopic level whether an item is authentic or unverified" does sound very impressive....
 
#7,822
nicole0612 said:
I just had the opposite problem with shipping cost issues!
I’m not sure how to respond to this.
I just purchased an almost $10K item and the seller just sent me a message asking me to pay extra in shipping. I noticed that the listed shipping was way lower than the actual cost would be, but thought that the seller planned to absorb that cost due to the high selling price.
Everyone with any selling history (or who can use the shipping estimate tools) knows that to ship a large item with high insurance will cost over $100.

This is the message I just got:

“I have more bags to list, but eBay will not permit me to list them yet until I get a certain number of positive feedbacks. So a positive feedback would be much appreciated if you have time. I will go in and leave you one right now. Many thanks again for the business.

“On a less happy note, I have to let you know the shipping cost was more than the estimated $25. Because I wanted to be so careful in making sure the bag arrives completely intact, I have wrapped it in extra protective material and ended up with a larger box. Because of the size of the box, USPS had to charge me an extra $30.10 (see attached PO receipt) for the package to be sent Priority 2-Day and get to you on Monday 12. I would appreciate it if you could reimburse me the $30.10 on PayPal. If there is the next time for you to purchase from me, I will be sure to include the size of the box in the estimate. Thk you again.”

How would you respond?
First of all, she obviously didn’t send it with any insurance. That is a big red flag.
I don’t care about an extra $30.10, but the principle does bother me. However, it’s not worth upsetting her over $30, so if I decline to pay it I would want to phrase it in a nice way.
As I write this, it occurs to me that since she sent it without any insurance I should at least wait until receiving the bag and having it authenticated before sending any additional money to her.
Click to expand...
Hope it all works out. I guess I don't understand why someone who just made a sale of 10K, would want to nitpick over $30.....
 
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#7,823
ironic568 said:
Hope it all works out. I guess I don't understand why someone who just made a sale of 10K, would want to nitpick over $30.....
Click to expand...

Thank you ironic :)
I don’t get it either.
It should arrive on Tuesday, so hopefully all will be well. I am pretty easy going about purchases, so as long as it is authentic and in good condition I will be happy.
 
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#7,824
This morning I got this offer: ebay 3 12 18 promo Capture.PNG
I listed and relisted a bunch of items to qualify for it. I made a sale at 1:29 PM and when I went to my sales page, the offer was gone. Now it is showing in my expired offers as expiring at 12:19 PM today. But I did get 25% off on today's sale.

I think they made a mistake about having an offer like that last an entire month, but I'm still perplexed by what happened.
 
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#7,825
whateve said:
This morning I got this offer: View attachment 3999017
I listed and relisted a bunch of items to qualify for it. I made a sale at 1:29 PM and when I went to my sales page, the offer was gone. Now it is showing in my expired offers as expiring at 12:19 PM today. But I did get 25% off on today's sale.

I think they made a mistake about having an offer like that last an entire month, but I'm still perplexed by what happened.
Click to expand...
It's gone from my promos too. Unfortunately, I didn't have a sale while it was active so I got no benefit!

ETA: I just sold an item and did NOT get the discount on the FVF.
 
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#7,826
BeenBurned said:
It's gone from my promos too. Unfortunately, I didn't have a sale while it was active so I got no benefit!
Click to expand...
Technically I made my sale after it ended, but I still got the promo. I'm a little mad because I wouldn't have ended my listings and relisted if I didn't have the promo. The item I sold was a new listing I would have listed anyway.
 
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