Who do I listen to- eBay or the buyer?
MasonG
Posts: 6,268 ✭✭✭✭✭
I sold a coin three days ago on eBay. Since then, I have received several messages, increasing in seriousness, from eBay about not having yet shipped the coin. In the transaction details, is this message from the buyer:
Buyer's note: Please hold off shipping for a couple of days as I may purchase additional coins. Regards, XXXX"
eBay wants me to ship the coin, the buyer doesn't. I'd prefer to listen to the buyer, but eBay can make selling stuff difficult for me in a way the buyer can't if they choose to. And it doesn't appear, in this case, anyway, that eBay is paying any attention to what the buyer wants.
So... make the buyer happy and piss off eBay or ignore the buyer and make eBay happy?
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Comments
I’d ship the coin. The buyer indicated they may buy something additional but they may not. You could offer the buyer an offer to hold for x hours but it must ship after that. You can place the blame on eBay as well.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
Did you try answering ebays notices either via the notice or phone(probably no longer available). But still there are ways to contact them and be sure to send as a photo a copy of the buyers requests.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.
If the buyer has already paid for the item, there is no sense in waiting to ship. You can't combine shipping without leaving yourself open to an item not received claim. eBay will also give you a defect for not shipping on time.
I usually just listen to the voices in my head.
True enough, but I'd prefer they buy more. And if I don't do what they ask, they might decide not to.
eBay's emails all say "We don't check this mailbox, so please don't reply to this message." I'm quite sure calling CS will not help, as the rep in India or the Philippines won't know how to respond if it's not in their binder of replies.
Doesn't hurt me (yet), as I don't get any sort of discount on fees anyway.
That might work. Or not.
I’d explain to the buyer that as much as you’d like to accommodate him, you feel you need to adhere to eBay’s request. If you’re so inclined, you could also tell him that if he ends up winning something else, you’ll give him a discount on the shipping charge (if applicable).
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Try messaging the buyer and explaining the situation.
You can also print the label now but choose a date several days ahead (print today for Monday). Ask the buyer what they were interested in and that will allow you to plan what kind of max weight the package will be (might not matter if you are using a flat rate box).
Sounds reasonable. There's no shipping charge (which the buyer knows) but even still- what's really bugging me is that the buyer asked me to do something I'm perfectly happy to do for him and eBay is screwing it up with their automated interference in the deal.
Understood and you can let the buyer know how you feel in that regard.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Just got done printing the shipping label and sending him a message. Thanks!
Sure thing and hopefully he won’t give you negative feedback for slow shipping.😉
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Easiest way to handle this is to just go into the order page on eBay and mark the item as shipped. You don’t need to add a tracking number yet, and you can go back into it later and update/add the tracking number when you actually do ship it. It gets eBay off your back, the system thinks you shipped on time, and the buyer is happy. I’ve done this many times over the years when scenarios popped up causing shipping delays.
If you don't get top-rated plus anyway, screw eBay.
Actually, what I've done on my non-Top Rated account is just to mark it as shipped, even if it isn't. You can always add tracking information later.
After I have won an item, I have emailed a seller to say that I am bidding on several of their auctions and that I will pay in whole for all coins won with one payment. I do this to save on individual shipping costs only. I wait 3 days or so before contacting the seller. I ignore Ebay requests to pay. This way the seller is not being contacted to ship. All transactions are paid in full by 7 days though. If the buyer has paid in full and asks for a delayed shipment, ship the coin and explain that Ebay says that you must ship.
Best of luck.
Wayne
Kennedys are my quest...
Just print a shipping label to satisfy ebay, but hold off on shipping till the customer is ready.
Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value. Zero. Voltaire. Ebay coinbowlllc
Shipping labels can be printed only a couple of days in advance.
add a bogus tracking number to satisfy ebay, let the customer know and then update tracking info when you have correct tracking and then again let customer know
It will happen suddenly
Watch out with the changing of tracking numbers. When that tracking is changed, Ebay updates the shipping date to the latest, which can make your shipment late for your handling time. Just ship on time according to your handling times and avoid all the Ebay death traps and penalties.
Yes. I printed a label and held one once for 5 business days for a customer. It still went through usps no problem. But it was some time ago, so likely could be an issue today.
Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value. Zero. Voltaire. Ebay coinbowlllc
I did this last summer when running alot of .99cent baseball card auctions.
Just ignored it, but it likely dings your Ebay timeliness rating (or whatever it's called)
But these were sub $10 cards.
I even put in auction for them to PM me if bidding on multiple lots.
Some repeat weekly buyers I would wait and send an invoice every week.
Never noticed any blowback.
Don't sweat it if it is low end.
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I contacted the buyer and let him know what was up. He said go ahead and ship the coin. He wanted to wait in order to save himself a trip to the PO, which seems like a reasonable request. Unfortunately for buyers and sellers, eBay wants so badly to be like Amazon, where the buyer and seller don't really have any contact and eBay's automated system can't handle anything out of the ordinary. A live person would be able to look at things and figure out what's going on but live people cost money. Programming (once developed) is pretty much free, so it's no surprise which eBay prefers. Oh, well...
Change your "combined shipping parameters" to no more than 3 days.
This entire thread is a happy wake up call to me saying that it likely isn’t worth my time and effort to start selling stuff again on the platform. I had been fancying the idea as something to do in retirement but it turns out- I have a lot of other things which are more fun and necessary.
My case is especially interesting as I now live in a fairly remote area with especially slow shipping and this, though not my fault, would likely not be favorable as a seller.
Thank you, and sorry to wander off topic into my own little world ;-)
Happy, humble, honored and proud recipient of the “You Suck” award 10/22/2014