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 Replies: 34 / Views: 4,302 |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
5953 Posts |
I Know ebay is sponsor of this site and don't wish to bash them. The comment is not directed at ebay but rather the people that use it. It seems it is no longer an Auction site in the classic sense. The customer has been given way to much say and protection and it seems the seller has lost out in this. I have several auctions closing over the the last and next few days. More than one buyer has added specific shipping instructions to their Payment from PayPal. If I don't follow them could it be used as an excuse to return the item for a refund. I suspect it will most certainly effect the rating they give me. I offer free shipping on my listings and its specified as USPS First class in most cases. If a buyer is not happy with that then he/she should not bid. I don't think its fair to expect me to burden the additional costs of using their specified shipping method. My margins are already non existent and any additional costs mean I actually loose money on some sales. |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
4411 Posts |
Do you specify in your listing that postage is by first class only and if a bidder wants a different method it will cost them extra?
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
5953 Posts |
My listing specifies Free Shipping
under the shipping tab is says standard shipping USPS First class
There is no mention of other shipping methods or the availability of such.
Edited by nohope587
10/07/2012 08:49 am
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Pillar of the Community
1119 Posts |
i have a seller wanting my ph number for posting? I wont be giving it
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Valued Member
United States
424 Posts |
I'd simply e-mail the buyer, tell them you offer free first class shipping, as per your listing, anything above that will be an additional charge. They may change their mind, or pay the extra money. Communication is key. Better to ask than just eat the extra expense...  Edited by Funny Money
10/07/2012 09:22 am
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5324 Posts |
just offer express postal service for 15.00 option
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Forum Mom
 United States
5877 Posts |
Do not, under any circumstances, ship to an address that is not on the Paypal payment. Customers will request this but you will not be protected under the Seller Protection policy. Email your buyer and explain that upgraded shipping will require an additional payment. Make sure that all communication is through ebay messages. You will need this if the customer gives you a problem later. If the customer wants to return an item because you did not give in to their requests demands, just accept it back but make the customer pay for the return shipping. Generally, anyone trying to change the terms of the listing through a note has not spent enough time on ebay to know how it works. You will be protected as long as you can prove that you stuck to your listing terms. Hope this helps.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5953 Posts |
Thanks Mom I will never ship to a non paypal address unless I know the person personally. An email through ebay has resolved one issue but one person is insisting on and upgrade to Priority free of charge because they bought several items. The combined weight is such that first class is still cheaper for me and that's the way its going as they don't want to pay the difference. |
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Rest in Peace
United States
1380 Posts |
Make sure you do delivery confirmation on any potenially troublesome customers like that one.
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
DC on everything. No exceptions.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1812 Posts |
@nohope587 ,I can understand why the bidder would like a upgrade to Priority, but that is without a doubt an additional cost reguardless how many items the buyer bids on, and it sounds like if you don't give him his way you'll receive negative feedback... I no longer sell on ebay due to account fraud back in 2006, but if this were to happen to me, I would cancel out his auctions and block him (unless ebay made changes where that is no longer a option)... I used to have a coin store on ebay, along with regular auctions, and would only send packages via Priority/Insured and would pick up the Insurance costs myself, and still would have some people complain that they didn't want to pay the Priority fee... Some people like to complain reguardless of how nice you try to be... If he persists, I would block him reguardless the outcome, and make changes to your item description to prevent a similar problem in the future.. |
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Quote:
I'd simply e-mail the buyer, tell them you offer free first class shipping, as per your listing, anything above that will be an additional charge.  I would suggest in your future listings make sure you specify a free method of shipping. It sounds like you like first class, no one will complain if it becomes cheaper for you to use priority mail and you send it a faster method. The buyer saying they want an upgrade just sounds like a demanding person. I would go ahead and block them for future auctions. Keep all the emails you have through ebay there, dont delete them till you have gotten feedback if the feedback is positive. If they ding you for not giving a shipping upgrade you can get it removed but its not easy and you will need to the emails. I do agree that they did swing things too much into the buyers favor in an effort to attract more business. They do seem to be trying to adjust that some and make that more reasonable as I'm sure theyve gotten a ton of complaints and lost a good amount of sellers. If you really want to make sure you protect yourself put in every listing that any shipping method besides whats listed will cost extra or also add priority and express options where the buyer pays. Id also put in the listings any return policy you may have |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5833 Posts |
Have you talk to any ebay representatives? What is stated in your sell listing is a policy both buyer and seller need to honor! If buyer demand extra services without paying, you're with the right to refuse such demand. First Class Free shipping is what you listed at and using ebay shipping method has DC covered at no extra charge. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
14454 Posts |
I would just tell them that if they want priority they will have to pay for it no matter how many items they purchased and if they don't want first class mail nor don't want to pay for priority then you will freely give them a refund. All of this through ebay mail of course so when/if they try to neg you and will not allow you to have ebay refund the fees by it not selling then you can prove to ebay what happened and they may remove the feedback and will decide to give you the fees |
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Forum Mom
United States
5877 Posts |
Call ebay and explain the situation. Ask them if you will be protected if you demand additional money for the Priority postage and the buyer leaves a neg. A buyer is not permitted to make demands that change the transaction outside of the terms stated in the listing. I am sure that ebay will back you on this. In spite of the money you could make on this transaction, you may want to ask ebay to cancel it and remove the option for the buyer to leave feedback. These days, aggravation like this can result in ruining your sales reputation. It's a scary world on ebay!  I recommend that you add Priority as an option to your listings with an additional charge of $5.00. This will not cover you for the entire amount, even if you use a flat rate envelope, but it will cover most of it and, with the option stated, there can be no confusion. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2049 Posts |
In my auctions, I try to cover everything in the description. It may be too much for some to read, but I would rather error on the conservative side and have it covered than to have someone come back with a negative or a dispute. I agree with the OP that it has become more friendly for the buyers and less so for the sellers, so my listing style has evolved because of this.
I've only had two issues in the past 3 years and because of the first one 3 years ago, I modified my listings to be even more detailed. The second issue was because the buyer had something with her bank, and even though Paypal froze the money for 3-4 days from me, I was covered by the seller protection.
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Replies: 34 / Views: 4,302 |
Posted 10/07/2012 08:48 am
