Should I Send This?

McLoverly

O.G.
Oct 7, 2006
1,992
549
Hi ladies,

I bought a bag on ebay last weekend. The auction closed on Sunday so I sent the seller a message and said I would go to the bank Monday and pay them by Tuesday morning (I use my debit card via paypal). By 7AM Tuesday I had already received 3 requests for payment! I was using my 10% discount which is only good once, but can be used on multiple items - several items I was bidding on were ending within days so it would have been nice to be able to wait until Thursday morning. I went to pay and discovered that they charge an extra 8.25% sales tax which was not mentioned in their listing (or included at the bottom with shipping/payment options). Frustrated, I paid.

Their address is only a 20 or 30 minute drive from me so it should only take a day to arrive once they ship my item. I was hoping to use my bag this weekend, but it still hasn't been shipped. With the holiday weekend, I won't get my bag until the middle of next week at the soonest.

I'm very frustrated! I don't mind a little wait, but not if I'm being harassed for immediate payment. I always pay quickly and I keep in communication with sellers. I also hate that I spent an extra $60 that I wasn't expecting and that I missed the chance at saving on other items even though they weren't shipping my bag.

Can I send them a message? What should I say?

TIA!
 
Hello, I'm in no way an expert on ebay or anything, I buy occassionally but, that is about it. Anyway, if I were in your shoes, I would definately be upset with the seller. What did thier listing say about shipping/delivery and payment time frames? If they wanted an immediate payment then, they should have said immediate payment required.
I would definately write them an email. I would just tell them that the main reason that you bought the item from them is because they were so close to you and you didn't think it would take so long for shipping, I would also mention the fact that you could have save money if they would have waited a little longer for the payment and that you are also upset about the fact that you had to pay $60 more than planned.
Can you file a dispute on the $60? I mean, to me, $60 isn't just something that gets overlooked. If there is going to be a $60 charge then it needs to be mentioned in the listing and if it isn't then, you shouldn't have to pay it.
Just my opinion.
 
Hi Coach,

Thanks for your reply!

Their listing said nothing about payment time frames. They listed shipping as free, but didn't mention the extra $60. I don't mind paying quickly (on business days I usually pay within 24 hours), but I expect if a seller is going to send multiple requests for payment within 48 hours that they will ship quickly.

When I paid I sent them a message that said it was unfair not to mention sales tax. I told them it was a nasty surprise at checkout and that few small sellers charge a tax. The seller didn't respond to that message.

They sent me a tracking number, but it didn't work so I asked if my bag had been shipped. The reply I got was that that would be my USPS tracking number and that it should work by Friday. Guess what? They still haven't shipped my freaking bag!

I don't know who to file a dispute with... I really don't think I should have to pay a charge I wasn't told about.
 
THIS is what I'm about to send:

Hi again,

I see that my bag still hasn’t been shipped and I’m getting quite frustrated. As a student I had to save to afford this purse. The bag is one I’ve been wanting for some time and when I received a 10% eBay coupon I started looking for this specific bag. When I found your listing I made an offer for as much as I could afford to allocate to a purse (I included my discount in this calculation). I hadn’t budgeted for the tax you charged since it wasn’t mentioned in your auction and would have made a lower offer had I known.

Within 48 hours of the auction closing you had already sent me multiple requests for payment even though I had made contact. Had I known that despite our addresses being only 20 minutes apart I would not receive my bag until the middle of the following week (you haven’t shipped my item and it’s a holiday weekend), I would have delayed payment for several days so that I could have used my discount for multiple items (things I actually need).

When a seller expects quick payment he/she should provide quick shipment. Please promptly send my bag in pristine condition with it's tags and dustbag. I’m not sure that you’re allowed to charge a tax that wasn’t previously disclosed – it’s really not fair. I hope that you understand my frustration.


What do you think? I don't want to upset the seller and receive a damaged bag.
 
Hi, I wish you had waited to pay when it was convenient for you. You have 7 days to pay and they shouldnt be harrassing you to pay any quicker.


As far as sales tax I am not sure what the rule is in different parts of the uS.
I would call ebay and as about this, I think it should have been mentioned in the listing.
 
Thank you all! I wish I had waited to pay. eBay live chat doesn't seem to work on my computer, but I think I have their number. I was worried that I was being unreasonable so it's really nice to receive supportive responses. :tpfrox:
 
I believe if you purchase something from someone in the same state as you and they are incorporated, you are expected to pay tax. When I order things on line with retailers who do business in my state (retail store, warehouse, etc), I have to pay the 5% tax - it stinks. This is probably what happened here with the $60 and you cannot get away with pay, but it should have been mentioned in the listing regarding sales tax. There are a lot of *bay listing where they do mention collecting sales tax.
 
Hi, I wish you had waited to pay when it was convenient for you. You have 7 days to pay and they shouldnt be harrassing you to pay any quicker.


As far as sales tax I am not sure what the rule is in different parts of the uS.
I would call ebay and as about this, I think it should have been mentioned in the listing.

I think if the seller has an actual registered business within their state, they may HAVE to charge sales tax, but they also need to be selling a certain amount of merchandise to be required to do so.

I have a registered business/trade name in Colorado, but I don't sell enough or make enough money through my eBay store/business to charge sales tax.

As mentioned above, obviously it is too late now, but in the future, eBay gives the buyer 7 days to pay from the end of auction. The seller cannot file a NPB until the 8th day. So next time, don't feel panicked or pressured, just e-mail the seller immediately letting them know your plans of payment, coupons, etc. so they know your intentions. They could have just thought that you were a deadbeat bidder, which unfortunately is rampant nowadays on eBay.

I have had a few bidders purchase some of my items without any communication at all—I was sitting there thinking when are they going to pay? Then they paid me like 5 days later. I typically don't have a problem waiting for payment, as long as the buyer is keeping me up to date. Communication is key!
 
Thank you all! I wish I had waited to pay. eBay live chat doesn't seem to work on my computer, but I think I have their number. I was worried that I was being unreasonable so it's really nice to receive supportive responses. :tpfrox:

Do you have your pop-up windows blocked? If so, you can uncheck it and Live Chat should work just fine.
 
I think their behavior is absolutely reprehensible. If you have been in contact with them and up-front about your payment plans, there is no good reason for why they should send you three requests for payment in that short of a time frame. The only time I ever send a request for payment to someone who previously alerted me to their payment plans is if they haven't paid within 24 hours after they said they were planning to pay.

Perhaps they are in a situation where they are required to charge a sales tax, but it's incredibly dishonest of them to hide the tax from you until you go to pay. I charge $1.65 for insurance on most of my packages, which is stated in the actual listing, but is pretty trivial and I can understand how often times it gets overlooked. However, $60 isn't exactly something trivial, and you have every right to be angry.

Furthermore, if they are going to be so impatient with you regarding payment, the least they can do is ship quickly. I don't think there is anything wrong with the letter you've drafted, and I don't think it's too harsh. Additionally, I'm not sure where to look on ebay to file a complaint about being overcharged for the tax, but I would definitely take some action to get that money back. Perhaps you can call paypal if you paid through them? At the very least, you should send a message to the seller requesting to have that $60 back since it was not included in the auction.

I'm so sorry you're having to deal with this!
 
Just an update...

I've sent two messages to the seller and received no reply. I called ebay and they said that charging sales tax without mentioning it in the listing is a serious violation - they asked me to file a formal complaint. Unfortunately, ebay also said I would have to file a dispute with paypal if I wanted to recover funds. My bag arrived today and was smushed and folded into a box (the leather now has weird wrinkles and creases) and did not include the store sales tags as promised. I specifically asked the seller to stuff the bag with tissue paper so it wouldn't lose its shape. I am beyond frustrated!
 
Just an update...

I've sent two messages to the seller and received no reply. I called ebay and they said that charging sales tax without mentioning it in the listing is a serious violation - they asked me to file a formal complaint. Unfortunately, ebay also said I would have to file a dispute with paypal if I wanted to recover funds. My bag arrived today and was smushed and folded into a box (the leather now has weird wrinkles and creases) and did not include the store sales tags as promised. I specifically asked the seller to stuff the bag with tissue paper so it wouldn't lose its shape. I am beyond frustrated!

I would file the complaint (as charging sales tax if not listed is a serious violation and depending on how it was listed it could be they are just pocketing the "tax") and if it doesn't have tags dispute it as SNAD as it could appear used as it is not NWT.
 
I would file the complaint (as charging sales tax if not listed is a serious violation and depending on how it was listed it could be they are just pocketing the "tax") and if it doesn't have tags dispute it as SNAD as it could appear used as it is not NWT.

The nice ebay support guy helped me file the complaint. I then sent a message to the seller telling them to please refund my tax or I'd have to file a dispute with paypal. It has "a tag," but it has no store markings on it - it's just a blank red Valentino tag. The bag has no scratches and smells new, but the leather on one side is weird. I just looked at the pictures and noticed they only photographed one side. The seller took two photos so I assumed it was both sides, but it's just the good side. I've been reading about all these SNAD problems today so now I'm wary of filing anything.
 
Technically, you have seven days to pay and they have seven days to ship. You shouldn't have felt pressured to pay faster (since immediate payment wasn't required), but you also can't expect them to ship any faster than that. I do think it stinks that they were so impatient for payment, but clearly not impatient to ship, but outside of those time frames, there's not much you can do about it one way or the other.

Sending it in bad condition is another issue altogether. If it is not in acceptable condition, you can file a SNAD. Some of the issues on here recently about problems with SNAD disputes seem to involve off-eBay transactions, where PayPal won't do anything about it. But for eBay transactions, you have a reasonable chance of winning the dispute. Take good pictures of what you actually got to compare to the auction listing.