What would you do - eBay?
U1chicago
Posts: 6,240 ✭✭✭✭✭
One of our favorite topics, eBay!
Here's the situation: a buyer makes an offer on several coins. A few were agreeable right away and another was haggled further until a price was reached. Being that all were via offer, the buyer did not have to pay immediately (I usually set up immediate payment on buy-it-now listings that don't have offers). I was making a trip to the post office, so I politely inquired about the buyer's payment plans. They mentioned not being able to pay for a week. I said that would be ok (I would have preferred they mentioned that when making the offers but it isn't that big of a deal). Fast forward a day and the buyer messages again saying they don't have money and want to cancel all but one item from the order. I didn't think much of the original request to wait a week but this raised my suspicions. I decided to cancel the entire order and let the buyer know that I could not just sell them part of an order. Since that point the buyer messaged multiple times: first they tried to offer more for the one coin they still wanted and then they tried to suggest a different payment timeline. I declined those and just mentioned that I want to move on (I probably should not have sent that message). The last communication was blaming me for backing out of a deal. At that point I stopped replying and made an addition to my blocked list.
I believe I should have canceled the order (after the buyer wanted to drop all but one item) and just blocked right away without extra communication. What do you all think? Is the deal broken once a buyer starts trying to cancel part of an order after a deal has been made on multiple items or would you agree to selling just part of an order?
Comments
It would depend on whether the acceptance of multiple offers was based on the fact that there would be multiple sales. If each offer was acceptable on its own, I'd agree to an offer on just one coin. If I had accepted the offers with the expectation that all would be purchased, I'd decline/cancel the entire order.
The buyer gave you ample reason to believe he was unreliable. And you were reasonable in not wanting to sell just the one coin he didn’t cancel. I think you did just fine.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
For what purpose(s)?
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
You did nothing wrong and exactly as I would have handled it.
USAF veteran 1984-2005
That is a good point to consider. I took less than I wanted on several because the buyer was willing to buy more than one item. So while there would be losses, I would be able to sell more than one item and ship them together (I offer free shipping but combining several items certainly helps save a little). I did not specifically state anywhere though that the offers were accepted since multiple items were involved. That seems like something that I should have done (or at least know to do for the future).
I'm not planning on going against any eBay rules. The issue isn't the eBay platform or fees. If the buyer had done this on another platform, I would have made the same decision.
Seems like not going through with everything but still wanting just one lot is a bit of a cherry pick. If it's a coin I wanted to see gone, I agree, that's to my advantage. If it feels like a cherry pick then just end the deal and move on.
One thing I'm pretty sure of is that all kinds frequent E-Bay. I try to be sensitive to the financial situation of others and work with people whenever I can. To me they better be driving the communications though.
I’m not surprised to hear that and felt that the post to which I replied might have been missing the point of your thread.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
A deal is built upon a set of mutually agreed parameters and once those parameters are unilaterally broken the deal becomes broken. Move on from this problem "buyer" and feel no guilt.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
I think you were smart to back away and don’t see any ethical issue with it. Higher than normal probability that there would be further problems with the buyer - have to weigh the risk vs. reward and I think you reached the correct conclusion.
The one coin they wanted was what I thought was the best of the lot. It's the others that I wanted to see sell.
And I agree that all sorts of people are out there. On all platforms I'm willing to accommodate. I have set coins aside for people when they ask for a week or two to pay. I have also offered payment plans (not on eBay as it wouldn't work too well there). I have somewhat become skeptical of those asking to pay later since more often than not they have ended up backing out (I'll still give most the benefit of doubt though).
That was my main reason to cancel all-the path the deal had taken made me think there would be more issues down the road- I would rather avoid a return or worse yet, a chargeback.
If you've made the buyer mad do not follow the above advice. He can easily report you to ebay.
To risk sanction from ebay, of course.
Anyone sends me a photo of an email address, I block them and report them to ebay. FYI.
I probably would have done the same thing. Odds are you would have been negotiating for a week or two and still ended up with no sale.
Personally I wouldn't have waited a week. I would have told him I'm going to cancel the order, and if they are still available when he has the money to come back. Unless you have a specific lot sale, I don't see why you couldn't sell him the one coin if they were listed separately (aside from the facts he's obviously coming across as unreliable). But likewise... Come back when you have the money, this is not a layaway program.
The way I see it, making a 'deal' on ebay is no real skin off my back if they back out prior to payment I probably wouldn't have blocked him that easily but to each their own.
https://www.the4thcoin.com
https://www.ebay.com/str/thefourthcoin
Once reliability is suspect all deals are off, IMO.
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.....Mark Twain
As a buyer I’d have been up front about this, and as a seller I would prefer to know about this up front. Make an offer feature is not a zero down layaway option.
Deal would have been off the table as soon as they mentioned paying in a week.
You either have the money or you don't. They don't. Get it and then come see me.
"It's like God, Family, Country, except Sticker, Plastic, Coin."
Do not walk away from this deal dude...run!
The customer is always wright.
@U1chicago .... I believe your course of action was correct. I would not have proceeded as soon as the initial deal was broken. Cheers, RickO
When I had my own dealership, I had a couple of customers, who were always right...until I decided that they should be former customers, who were always right.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
They have financial issues... they should not be buying coins.
With Ebay policy, you still own that coin long after the transaction is completed.
BST: KindaNewish (3/21/21), WQuarterFreddie (3/30/21), Meltdown (4/6/21), DBSTrader2 (5/5/21) AKA- unclemonkey on Blow Out
Not all customers are worth having
As an eBay seller it amazes me that people think it is OK to bid on a coin when they don't have the money to pay. Who does that? Apparently too many eBay bidders. All a seller can do is report and block them and move on
I have had two non-payers in August; one who backed out after I had shipped the coins. That made me eliminate "Free Shipping" since I want people to have a little skin in the game.
I agree that people should not be buying if they don’t have funds to spend but unfortunately too many don’t think through the process.
One other thing that I didn’t mention is that one of the many messages I received after the cancellation involved the buyer mentioning getting a new credit card. That was another warning to me. It doesn’t make sense to order a new card after claiming to not have any funds and it further suggested a chargeback could be on the way if they did pay.
You did the right thing for sure. They gave you multiple red flags and one is more than enough to move on. Too many people are desperate for sales and ignore red flags.
Unrelated to thread but something that annoyed me related to ebay recently that I just thought of. Sale for $5,100 + sales tax. Buyer messages me he has $3000 paypal credit promo and is having trouble using that and paying for the $2,100 + taxes with a separate method. I call ebay and paypal and they both tell me there's no way to split the payment up that way. I just can't fathom why they wouldn't have it set up to be able to do that but in the meantime the items sat for a month and I've lowered it $400.
That is annoying that eBay does not have a way to split that up. I’m guessing they also don’t have a way to split payments up among more than one credit card (since many might have less than a 5,100 limit on their card-although that might suggest that they shouldn’t be spending that much on their card).
He had to get a new credit card because all his other cards are maxed out.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
"It's like God, Family, Country, except Sticker, Plastic, Coin."
You took the exact right course of action. Blocking the buyer was wise and the best possible ending to his lack of ethics.
Perhaps if their first names are Orville and Wilbur...
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
A good clue as to the identity of those "customers" is that they insist that the customer is always right.
This may not be applicable to your situation but about two months ago, I had some unauthorized transactions made with my cc and when I contacted the card company, they cancelled my current card and issued a new one. I had no choice in the timing of this and there were a couple of recurring charges I had set up with the old card that failed to go through properly. Just sayin'.
The last time s-f-b canceled my card due to fraudulent online transactions, they helpfully forwarded the next set on the old card to my new card and offered the seller the updated card #.
Just saying Citi and you can substitute one letter for a homonym of their service....
ANA 50 year/Life Member (now "Emeritus")
I had one that took 4 days to pay just last week. Which I'm OK with as he let me know after we haggle a price (it's a hobby for me so it's not going to make or break the bank). Felt bad for the guy he seemed so confused and thought I was getting mad. Had to explain to him that he agreed to a price on the first of two coins and then submitted a second offer for lower, and asked if he was going to honor the original agreement.
It took a little work and having to relist one item but in the end he paid and it was no skin off my back. If I was dealing in tens or hundreds of coins that little bit of time would have been a lot as it adds up! But as I said earlier, if you can't pay within a few days don't haggle/bid until you can pay. If the coin is gone by then, oh well.
https://www.the4thcoin.com
https://www.ebay.com/str/thefourthcoin
Two points:
My payments were set up with the businesses I was sending money to, not with the cc company. When those businesses initiated the charge, it was declined as the cc company had no way to know it was a recurring charge.
What do you all think?
This!
I believe I should have canceled the order (after the buyer wanted to drop all but one item) and just blocked right away without extra communication.
You have been reasonable.
Tom
There could definitely be something wrong with a card that would require cancellation and needing a new one.
The timeline here was:
1) offers made
2) promise to pay in a week
3) changed it to can’t pay for any besides one coin
4) entire order canceled
5) messages about really wanting the one coin
6)talks about ordering a new card to pay
So I’m thinking it’s a different situation. If something had happened to the buyer’s card, I’d expect them to say they can’t pay for anything until a new card arrives-not want to cancel part of the order.
I think you handled it just right. It could have been a bigger can of worms had you tried to accommodate them any further. Blocking them from further headache was the best way to avoid future issues with them.
So were mine... both recurring payments AND additional fraudulent one-time charges.
It is no longer true (if it ever was) that the CC company doesn't know it's a recurring charge. There is a ton of transaction-level data - down to SKU and quantity - that must be transmitted when requesting approval to obtain the lowest merchant fees.
ANA 50 year/Life Member (now "Emeritus")