1 of my first crackhead ebay sellers

Rainman

i won't name names, but wanted to vent to see if anyone's had this experience before. i bought an item roughly 1 month ago and said i'd mail a money order. however, i wasn't able to get to the post office for roughly 10 days due to unexpected work obligations that took me out of state. before leaving i emailed the seller saying 'i'm going out of state- something came up at the last minute- i'll return in roughly 4 days and send a money order via priority.' i never heard back from the seller.

when i returned i emailed to confirm that he was ok w/me paying roughly 2 weeks after the auction had ended, explaining the contents of my prior email, etc. he said 'sorry b/c you didn't pay timely (< 2 weeks isn't overly untimely in my book) i sold the item.' i said 'ok fine- however i had emailed you 2x about why my payment would be a tad late etc.'

today i get a non paying bidder notice from ebay saying 'this is #1 if you get 3 your account's suspended.' i could see filing a NPB if i had NEVER offered to pay, but filing one in this case seems extreme/uncalled for. i HAD offered to pay, i HAD explained why payment would be slightly late etc.

needless to say i won't be bidding on joeschmoe's auctions anymore.

CON40

rainman;

Unfortunately, a lot people are just jerks. It is their God-given prerogative I'm afraid.

I agree, you played by the book. This guy just did not want to be flexible. Doesn't eBay have a policy that you have to withhold payment for 30 days to be a NPB by their standards? If so, you might be able to get the neg expunged. Especially if you can show them you made a good faith attempt to pay within 2 weeks.

Let us know how you make out.

Rainman

he didn't leave me a negative...just a NPB alert...I looked on ebay's info page and it says i can remove the NPB if I showed I made payment (I couldn't do that since he sold the item) or if the seller agrees to remove it (which since he filed it doesn't seem plausible...even though his email basically said "i sold the item"). You can file NPBs after 7 days I think...I know I've had to do it after 2-3 weeks (and that's been when I've had NO contact whatsoever from buyers).

it just seems like he overreacted...if he wanted me to pay his listing fee, i would've done that...i think it was a whopping $2 all told between the listing/final value fee. i could see filing a NPB if I had never contacted him, refused to pay, etc...

ebay says "after 3 npbs, your account will be put on hold indefinitely." i only have this 1 and have over 500 + feedbacks (1 negative), and a 99.8% feedback, so i'd think i'd have a good case if for some reason i racked up 3 NPBs.

just seems a little irrational and i guess i wanted to vent. if he leaves me a negative, i'll leave him one back.

qualitycards

This is another instance where Paypal is great. Minutes after the auction you could send payment and the seller receives it immediately. No hassles of waiting at the post office to pay for a money order, then to send the payyment (w/ stamp) and to hope that he gets it in a timely fashion...jay

Rainman

99% of the time i do send payments via paypal. however, paypal wouldn't load on my home computer (hasn't for months for some reason) and i forgot to send it at work before i left. like i said, i could see his reaction if it had been 3+ weeks and if i had NOT contacted him whatsoever. personally i think he wanted to back out of the deal b/c he resold it to a higher buyer.

sjeanblanc

Hi Rainman,

He had to file the NPB form because otherwise he would be charged by Ebay twice, for the same card. On the otherhand, I wouldn't have filed or resold the card until at least 3-4 weeks had passed and then only if no communications had been received from the bidder. If I had received communications from the bidder that a delay in payment was going to happen, I would have emailed the bidder to let them know wheter or not this would be OK. The only way it wouldn't be OK would be if I needed the money ASAP for some emergency.

As for Ebay and their 3 NPB's and your out, just take a look at "bkd67" this jacka$$ has had to have at least 80+ of them filed, including one from me, and he is still active.

Scott Jeanblanc
jeanblanc@iconnect.net
Ebay Userid : sjeanblanc
---------------------------------------
Collecting Nolan Ryan cards from (68-94)

Rainman

actually he sold the item OFF ebay so he wouldn't have been charged 2x.

sjeanblanc

Rainman,

Then he is a weasel, deserving of an 18 Wheeler turning him into a pavement pizza.

I would contest the NPB with Ebay, since the seller did get paid for the item and is only trying to avoid the Ebay charges.

Scott Jeanblanc
jeanblanc@iconnect.net
Ebay UserId : sjeanblanc
--------------------------------------------
Collecting Nolan Ryan cards from (68-94)

sagard

He should not have filed a non-paying bidder alert since you were willing to pay. He could have filed a "Mutually agreed to not complete the transaction." and you wouldn't have received the nastygram.

Since you usually pay, this really isn't a big deal. If he adds a negative, then you should be angry.

Rainman

well i talked to ebay's live help and they said if i send them the emails where i explained my delay in payment- and his reply saying he resold the item, they'll likely remove the NPB from my account. if he leaves me a negative, i'll leave him 1 back.

helionaut

Unfortunately, there are no rules about what a seller would consider timely. On the one hand, you did your best to communicate and I know sometimes it is a pain to stop somewhere and get a money order. On the other hand, you didn't pay, and when you went out of town, didn't they have post offices or convenience stores or banks or supermarkets or anything like that where you could get a MO? I dunno. He shouldn't have NPB'd you, as you weren't trying to be a deadbeat. However, he sold it elsewhere and wanted to get his fees back. Sometimes the dollars and cents are the bottom line.

Rainman

i didn't have access to a post office where i was at and didn't have his info w/me. granted i could've/should've taken it w/me, but since work was urgent (i.e., it was a case of get on the plane in 2 hours) and since i had emailed him explaining the situation, i didn't think it would be a huge issue. i also offered to send the $ via priority mail when i returned.

as for recouping the fees, he could've just asked me to paypal him $2 or whatever the total fees were...i gladly would've done that. given that he found another buyer so quickly (and emailed me saying 'i sold it to another dealer for higher $', i tend to think this was a case of he wanted more $ and took it.

like i said, had i had no/low feedback (or a lot of negatives), had i refused to pay, had i never communicated w/him, etc., i could see filing a NPB. but given that i did the complete opposite of all that, i think his actions were premature to say the least.

i've submitted the proof to ebay and will see what they do about my appeal

DeutscherGeist

Rainman,

Thanks for sharing this with us. The seller was clearly just a jerk. I mean, you communicated with him and all, showing no sign of being a deadbeat. I had sellers that were VERY understanding when I got into a jam and I think that was so because I communicated through email and kept them up-to-date.

I still have a bone to pick with jtcards. The transaction was perfect, yet he never left any feedback even when I left it for him and emailed him a polite letter.

Tell us how it goes with ebay.