This is why ebay protects buyers.

[morbious_fod]

I recently purchased eight bottles in a carton off of ebay. They were all Diet Mountain Dew 16oz bottles two of which were variations I needed. I won it at the starting price of $17.99 and a shipping rate of $13.45. A little over thirty bucks but I could justify just over fifteen or so a piece for each bottle and I bid. The seller after I had won the auction bumped shipping up to $19.47 and when emailed about this I was told that her nephew was posting the items for her and had made a typo, and apologized for the misunderstanding. This seller is fairly new (12 feedbacks all of which were good).

My response reads thus, "My purchasing this item was based upon the information provided with put the shipping cost at $13.45 to be exact. I'm afraid your changing it after the fact is actually against Ebay rules.

What not to do "Entering an amount for shipping costs when you're listing an item, and then indicating that you charge a different amount either in the item description or after the buyer has committed to buying the item."

I realize you are fairly new; however, I agreed to pay the price of the item plus $13.45, not the price of the item and $19.47 for shipping, which would have been six dollars more that would have led me to not purchasing the item at all.

Your apologies are fine; however, you aren't the one out six extra bucks in the deal. You have already been paid, and I will let it go this time when in reality you should be reported to ebay for breaking their rules.

You made the mistake, but I'm paying for it. Which is never a good way to treat a customer. Remember that."

Unfortunately I didn't notice the raised price of shipping due to ebay's stupid practice of bundling two or three items in check out instead of letting you deal with each on it's own, and I had pressed the button before I noticed the shipping was a bit high. Which was my mistake, so I'm out six bucks.

I'm still temped to report this woman to ebay; however, mistakes will be made I can understand that. I also don't want to waste my time reporting the loss of six bucks, my time is worth more than that. I only wish she had had the credibility to at least own up to the fact that the mistake was on her part, and she should be the one to suffer for it, not her customer. That is the thing with these off the cuff sellers they have no idea what customer service is. I may still make a note of her bait and switch "typo" when I leave feedback. Positive if all things arrive in good shape (I'm not evil after all), but a full bore negative if it doesn't, either way she will be getting a low score on shipping and description no matter what. I won't be purchasing from her again that is for sure, you screw up you pay, not the customer. Anyone who has worked in retail will tell you this.

And people think I'm not a forgiving person.

So the next time I hear these seller whinning over ebay attempts to protect the customer I am going to remember this incident and just chuckle. Sellers like this are the reason why they are having to do that.

 

[morbious_fod]

Well the good news is that after my email to her she refunded the six bucks, and I was moved to help her out by telling her to empty the bottles to lighten the shipping weight so that the hit won't be as bad on her. That's just the way I work, I'm a nice guy when you treat me right.

 

[Lordbud]

I also had a similar situation as Mr. Fod where I'd won three items from one seller. Turns out the seller had never had one buyer win multiple items. The seller sent me three separate invoices with separate shipping charges, then two invoices, and finally one invoice with combined shipping -- after several emails back n' forth. But that was an exception most deals go off without a hitch.

On the other hand I come across this situation fairly often:
I'm again in the position of having won an item, paid very promptly -- yet still haven't received it. The seller in question is in Oregon. I've coincidentally won two more items since -- both from Oregon sellers -- both items having already arrived in a timely manner...how can this be?[:-]

 

[GuntherHess]

This is why ebay protects buyers.

I thought it was because fleabay has forgotten who pays them[]

 

[cowseatmaize]

I had a totally dis-similar experience but describes the Buyer protection now. I won 2 lots years ago and the seller, for $25 bucks said she would send them combined. It was going to be $40 individually. I agreed and all 12 bottles were crammed into one box with nothing more than a couple wraps of paper between some of them. No packing between the box and the bottles. I complained because, well, guess what arrived. She refused to refund or even offer a partial. I left 2 Negatives and so did she (back when sellers could). The total weight was no more than 8 lbs and that was 6 years ago. Shipping would have been about $12 at the time, even with materials.

 

[morbious_fod]

I have been fortunate enough to not have had to leave any negative feedback. I have had broken stuff arrive due to bad packing, items lost in the mail, and items arriving not as described such as warped records. My first response is to contact the seller and try to work it out, luckily I have yet to run into anyone who just flat refused to at least try to make some gesture to solve the problem, usually in a refund. In these cases I still give positive feedback because they did make good on the problem, that should be commended as well as everything going off without a hitch.

 

[morbious_fod]

ORIGINAL: GuntherHess

This is why ebay protects buyers.

I thought it was because fleabay has forgotten who pays them[]

And where does the money come from for the sellers to pay them? []

 

[GuntherHess]

And where does the money come from for the sellers to pay them?

from our own pockets all too often...

 

[CWBookAuthor]

I've wondered (?) why we sellers can no longer leave negative feedback against Some of the very few buyers who make bad or non-paying bids on eBay. Yeah, they get their money from us, the sellers, but don't give a hoot what problems we experience from poor bidders.

Mike

 

[GuntherHess]

To be clear, 99% of buyers I have dealt with are great people , especially when it comes to bottles. My problems are with the monopoly that controls the venue and the money system.