Hey guys, need a bit of serious advice. I'm also kinda hoping that the eBay seller is one of us so he can see this message too. I won a G1 Rumble from a seller that goes by ripclaw923 about two weeks ago. In the auction he states he ships for $5 thru USPS parcel post. When I got Rumble in the mail, I found that the guy had sent him USPS First Class and got charged only $1.11. A bit peeved, I email him to ask for a refund for the remaining $3.89. Of course, he refuses. Now, I'm really mad. I've emailed eBay about what their policy is but what I'd like to know is - if eBay doesnt help me, where do I turn next? If nowhere, what kind of feedback do I leave? I don't feel comfortable with leaving a positive since its the equivalent of him shitting on my cornflakes right in front of me and then me eating them and smiling. I'm also a little leery of leaving a neutral since there's that superstition on eBay that neutrals are "soft negatives", and I just recently got a retaliatory neg from a little bitch that scammed my wife on a My Little Pony she bought. I really dont want another "blemish" so I'm kinda caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Any advice? I mean, I know $3.89 isn't a lot of money, but to me its equally unreasonable for this guy not to refund me. If he doesnt, then he's just thumbing his nose to buyers and once again, eBay fails at its own policies.
Sellers can charge whatever they want to, and per ebays' policy, they do not owe you a refund. If the auction says $5 - you have to pay $5 - even if it's an envelope Yes, it sucks, but that's the way it is. Most sellers overcharge to pay the ebay fees, paypal fees, etc. Happens to me, too, but I honestly wouldn't chance the negative or neutral over it.
you're looking only at the shipping cost and completely ignoring the packaging cost, right? if so, stop that.
I've been there. Paid $6 for shipping that cost less than a buck. Even factoring in the box (it was a used box with the old shipping info markered out) and packing (only used old newspaper) I felt quite ripped off. The fact that the item was inexpensive made it feel worse, not better. I wound up doing nothing outward about it, since there was no way complaining would have resolved it. I chalked it up to learning experience, gave the person no feedback (the only true neutral) and made note of the seller so as to avoid them in the future. Now, your situation may be slightly different in that he used a different shipping method than the one promised in the auction, so you may indeed have a leg to stand on with eBay. It isn't the small amount of money itself, but rather that you 'agreed' on a shipping method that the seller did not follow through on.
1. As long as he states his shipping fees, there should be no problem. You simply factor the stated shipping costs into your bids. It is not like he said it was $1.00 to ship, and then charged you $5, or never stated his charges at all, and then wacked you with an overcharge. I prefer that sellers are up front. I can already figure out that a cassette isn't going to cost $5 to ship, but as long as he states it, then that is cool and I'll just figure a total price that I can live with bid + shipping. 2. Not that big a factor in this case, but if an item costs exactly $5 to ship and buyer pays $5 with Paypal, the seller is actually losing money on that $5 shipping through Paypal fees, and is actually paying out of own pocket for some of shipping costs. 3. He upgraded you from Parcel post which is basicly 3rd class mail to first class mail, so that you would get your item even faster. Parcel post takes a whole lot longer then first class unless you happen to live close to each other. In my opinion, I don't think you have a case. Seller was up front with charges, and you agreed to pay them, by bidding on his items.
i agree, ive been burned when I've shipped too. yeah it costs a certain amount to ship it, but after you factor in bubble wrap, styrofoam and a box, plus gas to goto and from the post office, i sometimes and most often take a loss on shipping. so its not that bad man, but i do understand your point of view. just take into account other factors the seller(shipper) has to go through. hopefully this sheds some insight.
Just bid and win more often on ebay, you're get use to it. You will see that it is very common to over pay on shipping. It is because of the shipping cost that steers me away from certain auctions. But again, you have to consider the paypal and ebay fees the seller has to pay. It's not a good excuse but still that's the norm.
Exactly - it's not like it was a hidden charge either. Big freakin deal. Now if he originally said $5 and then shipped it C.O.D where USPS would be busting your balls for more shipping $$, then I'd agree that it would be a dick move on the seller's part - but no such thing happened. If you agreed to pay the stated shipping amount during the auction, suck it up. Who knows, maybe he factored in the bus trips to and from the post office or whatever else - just like folks here factor in "finders fees" etc during trades & sells.
Well for such a minimal amount, I wouldnt concern yourself with it. Now I just got a package that had the shipping as $6.70, yet I was charged $20 shipping. Now thats a little bigger deal. Sure there's a few bucks for packing materials, etc. but $13 over the actual cost? Thats getting a bit much. I've emailed the seller to ask if he's willing to do anything about it and havent heard back yet.
I once bought a piece that cost me $35 shipping to come EMS from Hong Kong...the item came Priority Mail ($6 in a FREE box) from Sacramento, CA...If I knew it was THAT close $35 is less than the gas it would take me to drive to Sacramento & back Ebay said I was SOL since the $35 was in the auction description...granted so was the "ships from Hong Kong" to make the shipping look more reasonable...
Yep, gotta figure in the packaging and handling costs, even if they don't really exist. You're gonna see this a lot on ebay. No foul on the part of the seller here, if he told you $5 to ship, that's what he gets.
if it is stated in auction it was to be shipped priorty then and you still have packaging you have legit claim and you can file with paypal of course if you win the paypal claim he might still leave you a neg and neg for $3-4 is not worth it also if you leave neg or neutral hi still might leave you neg i recomend not leaveing any till he leaves some for you then it is free game my 2 cent zap
How so? The percentage is almost exactly the same. It is disappointing when a seller over charges for shipping. I usually only bid on auctions where it is clearly stated that I'm paying the actual shipping charges.
Thats what I'm hoping for. I mean, seriously guys, if there were not an actual shipping method stated in the auction and he actually came right out and said "I use a flat fee of $5 for everything I ship", I probably wouldn't be complaining at all and maybe wouldn't have even bid. However, it never states in the auction that its a flat fee and states plainly that it is for USPS Parcel Post. Its the principle that he fucked up in his auction by not being clear on his fee in the first place, then compounding that with being SPECIFIC about his shipping methods later in the auction, that made me ask him for the refund. I've had to eat it for mistakes like that in my auctions, why doesn't he? No....and I'll try and explain why. First off, let me requote this: This is why the "you paid for my time, packing material, and the box" is a load of horseshit because 9 times outta 10, the seller won't even make that kind of effort. They use flimsy boxes. Hell, half the time they don't even use a box, they just throw it in a bubble envelope. They use crappy packing material (or not enough) and don't insure even tho you paid for insurance. If I'm paying a seller a little bit more for those "intangibles", then I EXPECT to get my money's worth. I mean, I'm not an idiot, guys, but a dishonest seller is a dishonest seller and crap like this just gets under my skin. I won't risk my eBay rep on this guy but I was just stuck and knew I'd get at least some straight answers from you all.
What did he ship it in? what was the packing material? This is a very important post. he UPGRADED your shipping. It's possible the stated shipping was for the other method, but he found out he could get it there to you faster using a different shipping method and thought he'd be doing you a service by doing so.
A reused, somewhat flimsy box with crumpled newspaper. I suspect under pressure it wouldn't have held up so well. Fortunately, it didnt have to. Truth be told, Valk - for that price, he could've "upgraded" me to Priority. Also if he was going to do that, he could've at least emailed me and said "Hey, it was faster and cheaper to send it First Class, would you mind that?" and gave me the option to go that route and get a portion of that shipping fee back. Instead, he sent it on the cheap and pocketed the money.
He could just as easily claim that $3 as a "handling" fee in accordance with ebay shipping policies, even if not much went into the packaging. As far as ebay is concerned, you're shit outta luck. Everything is within the given specs - he said $5 (which could include "handling") for shipping upfront, and even gave you a better shipping method than what he promised. If you win the auction, it's understood that you accept the seller's stated shipping terms and fees. http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-shipping.html
