Ebay seller problem..what would you do?

EB31 · June 4, 2006 9:09AM

I typically don't post these kinds of threads...ever. But I want this to serve be a multi-purpose post.

1) I would like honest advice

2) I want to get the word out that this seller plays these kinds of games

3) I hope the seller reads this.

Short and sweet version:

I come across an Ebay auction for a 79 Topps Pete Rose PSA 9. I contact the seller and ask him if he can do any better on the price.

He says he can go no lower than $85.00. I agree to the price and immediately ask him to adjust the BIN and I will buy it.

He responds, many days later with...."Hit the BIN and I will adjust the total in the invoice."

Well, of course this doesn't sit well with me as I do not trust anyone. Days pass...I request the BIN change 3 more times...no response.

I figure..ok, he has an outstanding reputation....I will see what happens. I hit the BIN fpr $99.99 and send a message to the seller. I reminded him of who I was and of our agreement, asked him to please send me the adjusted invoice and I would PayPal as soon as it arrived.

No response.

This morning I get an invoice for a total of $102.49

Of course, I reply....again reminding the seller of our agreement that was made via email. I also offer to forward the emails to him if need be.

No response as of yet.

Now, what would you do?

I know my options:

1) Let it go, let the seller be a lying POS and pay the $102.49

2) Don't pay and go the "take a neg, give a neg" route.

That's it..so what do you vote.....swallow my pride and go with 1...or stand my ground on a matter of principles and go with 2.

EB31

EDIT: thanks for the responses

Pinchdatail · June 4, 2006 9:38AM

iamthegreatcornholio · June 4, 2006 9:47AM

Do NOT pay the $99.99 out of principle.

I'd wait a week or two for a response - if none, neg him and move on.

If he retaliates - no big deal. You're ebay feedback profile is "6". You'd then have 7 positives and 2 negatives so I'd recommend creating another account on ebay. It won't be a big deal, and it'll be easy to "start-over".

Brian

Pinchdatail · June 4, 2006 9:50AM

How about Option 3?

You mentioned the seller took awhile to get back to you each time. Did you not see that he's sold over 5400 items and has a 99.9% rating? Think he might be busy?

Maybe he's not a POS and maybe you might want to wait more than a nanosecond before calling him that.

Just my opinion.

goose3 · June 4, 2006 9:50AM

pay him the 85.00 plus his stated shipping...........attach a copy of your correspondence.

Kurtman9 · June 4, 2006 9:54AM

what Goose said...

GOODLIEU · June 4, 2006 10:00AM

This seller has a Exceptional Feedback record. However he is a high volume seller and sometimes they are slow in responding and acting on questions,deals etc due to their volume. I would do the following since you already bought the item. If your going to pay by Paypal Paste your deal E-Mail message in the message box and send him the new total you agreed on. You may have to use your Paypal site with his email address to create a invoice. Like I said he seems to be a straight up dealer and will honor his part of your deal if he's reminded on the payment invoice. If your doing it by mail same thing just send a copy of the email with payment. I would use the following phrases in my message's "As per our arrangement" and "If there is a problem call me at (Home Phone #). just remain professional and hopefully he will do the right thing.

VintageJeff · June 4, 2006 10:07AM

I would request his contact info and call him.
At no time would I pay the full amount.
Either he contacts you with the lower amount or you do nothing.
You might want to adjust the payment yourself using the discount +/- on the ebay checkout too.

EB31 · June 4, 2006 10:08AM

Goose and Goodlieu,

I had thought of that.....

I guess I could go that route. Thanks for your time and advice.

WinPitcher · June 4, 2006 9:54PM

You might want to adjust the payment yourself using the discount +/- on the ebay checkout too.

that is what i'd do.

Steve

EB31 · June 4, 2006 10:27PM

<< You might want to adjust the payment yourself using the discount +/- on the ebay checkout too.

that is what i'd do.

Steve >>

Tried it...it's a no go. He has it set to where you can only add money for insurance...you cannot deduct from the total.

Either he sends me an invoice with the agredd upon amount, or he doesn't get paid. I am tired of running into dirtbag sellers. I guess I am too oldschool in expecting to pay a fair amount for fair service. (Same as doing an honest days work, for an honest wage).

Instead this guy wants to say one thing and try to do another....

That doesn't sit well with me. I really hope he is a member here, so others can see the kind of games he plays.

Oh well, it's Ebay...did I really expect anything different?

EB31 · June 4, 2006 10:58PM

Just updating:

They responded a few minutes ago. They want me to call them to discuss the purchase.

EB31 · June 4, 2006 11:47PM

After speaking to this dirtbag on the phone and I quickly realized that my ebonics is a bit rusty. I will post his email response. He now has jacked the price to $101.50 (after admitting to the $85.00 agreement) and clearly mentions trying to sell off of Ebay...when all I wanted was to keep it legit and exchange feedback when all was said and done.

This email has been forwarded to Ebay.

---------------------------------------

Jason,

As I told you on the phone in the future when your trying to save
yourself some money I would suggest you pay attention the the SELLERS
adjusted terms and not make up your own when you want "a deal on a card"

Many sellers would have not honored
your purchased based on the fact you chose to hit the purchaseon ebay costing us, the seller an additional 8%. I clearly stated
that this was an OFF EBAY transaction at the discounted price of $85 and you
chose to do what YOU wanted, YOUR way.

Now I explain all of this to your wife and tell her how to complete the
transaction and once again you want it YOUR WAY, and are telling me how YOU
are going to complete this transaction, you have harassed us regarding this
card for weeks now and your continuing to do what YOU want, WE
are the owners of the card not YOU, we gave you specific instructions on how
to complete the transaction and you ignored them and now once again you want
to do what YOU wan to do how YOU want to do it. NOT acceptable! If you want
to use PayPal to pay for this transaction than this price is $101.50.

Feel free to call me should you need to discuss this further.

Joe-
East Coast Sports Auctions
----------------------------------------

Like I said....it's irritating but is starting to become more of the norm on Ebay....running into sellers who only want to screw you for every last cent, instead of having a satisfied customer.

I will not ever do business with this piece of trash again. And I will leave the rest of you to make up your own minds as to how you rate his business practices. Ebay ID: eastcoastsportsauctions

sagard · June 5, 2006 4:17AM

Sales are completely legitimate either on or off Ebay. It is not uncommon at all when discounting to request to complete the sale without either Ebay or PayPal getting their chunk.

If you intended to pay via PayPal $85 delivered, he would receive $82.24.
If this was an Ebay Store item after you clicked the $99 BIN, he gets charged by Ebay: $5.70
Insured shipping would be right around $3.

He has now netted $73.54. Not sure if that is something he could live with or not. If you sent him the check for $85 and did the deal "offline" he nets around $82 and you are still getting the 15% discount from his original price.

I can see both sides of this one. If he agreed with no caveats to lower the invoice when you hit the BIN, then he should live up to his word.

montanafan · June 5, 2006 4:41AM

moral of the story: go through the proper channels or risk situations like these..

maybe at this point you could just say something like "hey i'm sorry we don't see eye to eye on this.. no hard feelings.." then ask for a refund for what you have paid, let him re-sell his card, and move on? that's what i would do.. good luck! i hope you guys are able to work it out.. let us know how it works out..

sagard · June 5, 2006 4:54AM

<< moral of the story: go through the proper channels or risk situations like these.. >>

What exactly are the proper channels?

montanafan · June 5, 2006 5:06AM

proper channels means don't make backdoor deals with the seller, take his word on it with no proof, click buy it now anyway even though it's not adjusted, then be surprised if there's a problem later.... that's all i meant

MorrellMan · June 5, 2006 5:12AM

<< ...."Hit the BIN and I will adjust the total in the invoice." >>

If this is indeed what he emailed, and you have it in writing, I would think the appropriate response to his tirade is to simply forward this back to him, reminding him that all you did was follow his instructions. What's missing here?

WinPitcher · June 5, 2006 5:18AM

Hmmmm this is interesting. You showed us his email to you claiming he made no such agreement. (I think) Do you have the email where he stated to hit the bin and he would adjust the invoice? from the email you show it appears that he may very well have said 85.00 for the card but did not want you to BIN. perhaps he wanted you to mail him the dough? Not sure we are getting the full story here. (from either side)

Steve

reggie1 · June 5, 2006 5:42AM

The dealer's right on this one. The collector wasn't paying attention to what he was doing. The dealer wanted $85.00 net on this card, not the lower price after the fees. Lots of offline transactions take place like this.

bri2327 · June 5, 2006 5:45AM

I hate to say it, but if was nice enough to agree to your $85 offer then you should have waited. By doing it your way it costs him additional fees that lower his net by nearly 10%. If he didnt respond after the offer then move on, but I think he has every right to be upset that you chose to do it your way and cost him the extra $$. Maybe I didnt understand your initial email correspondance with the seller, but if he agreed to have you hit BIN and adjust, you are in the right. If he made no such statement as to hitting the original BIN and adjusting after, and rather wanted to sell to you off ebay, then you are in the wrong. Either way I think a bit a patience and self restraint could have served you well.

montanafan · June 5, 2006 5:59AM

another option if you really do still want the card would be to cough up some more $$$ to make the deal go thru...

EB31 · June 5, 2006 6:44AM

<< 

<< ...."Hit the BIN and I will adjust the total in the invoice." >>

If this is indeed what he emailed, and you have it in writing, I would think the appropriate response to his tirade is to simply forward this back to him, reminding him that all you did was follow his instructions. What's missing here? >>

My point exactly. I did as he said and then he tried to stick it to me.

As for the other response....this was not a backdoor deal...read my original post again.

EB31 · June 5, 2006 6:47AM

<< The dealer's right on this one. The collector wasn't paying attention to what he was doing. The dealer wanted $85.00 net on this card, not the lower price after the fees. Lots of offline transactions take place like this. >>

Wrong..

He wanted 99.99, plus 2.50 for s.h

I offered $85.00, plus 2.50 for s/h (And he accepted)

Then turned around and sent me an invoice for $102.49 and wigged out on me for requesting an invoice for $87.49

Cut, dry....simple.

Let's not try to add your own theories in here.

meuandthelot · June 5, 2006 6:52AM

[quote]Ebay seller problem..what would you do?[/quote]

I understand, and have read everything...You got your point across EB.
To me it's not worth taking it to further levels/extremes(4 Kids & a wife...lol Add enough there out of the clear blue

If the card is worth $89(or whatever) offer him the $3 paypal so his Net requested is there... and see if the deal goes through, if not... forget about it.

Good Luck

EB31 · June 5, 2006 6:55AM

From : eastcoastsports <eastcoastsports@earthlink.net>
Sent : Tuesday, May 30, 2006 5:52 PM
To : "Jay Kowalczyk" <eb3131@msn.com>
Subject : Re: Question for item #8785710259 - 1979 TOPPS PETE ROSE # 650 PSA 9 MINT REDS

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

View E-mail Message Source
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

$85 is more than fair. I will be closed until June 4th so I won't be able to reply until then. If
the card sells on ebay between no and then I can't help that, if you want it
for $85 than use the BIN and just wait for the invoice.

Thanks Joe-

---------------------------------------------------

Here's the other email. Like I said...the bottome line to thsi story is the seller saying one thing and doing another.

I like how a few tried to flip the script on me by saying I was in the wrong lol I clearly only did what the seller and I agreed to...then he decided that he didn't want to stand by that agreement.

Anyway, I've moved on. I will find another card down the road...that's not the big issue.

I was only trying to keep others from running into future problems with this guy. I provided the info...do what you will with it.

Thanks,
EB31

EB31 · June 5, 2006 6:58AM

<< [quote]Ebay seller problem..what would you do?[/quote]

I understand, and have read everything...You got your point across EB.
To me it's not worth taking it to further levels/extremes(4 Kids & a wife...lol Add enough there out of the clear blue

If the card is worth $89(or whatever) offer him the $3 paypal so his Net requested is there... and see if the deal goes through, if not... forget about it.

Good Luck >>

I hear ya

I am over it already. I refuse to deal with people that give their word then back out.

Btw..the wife and I are expecting

This'll be mini-me #1. We just found out Friday. I don't know if I could handle 4....my head is spinning with the thought of 1 lol

WinPitcher · June 5, 2006 7:21AM

I have no idea what was in this sllers mind.

It appears he did say one thing then do another.

I do not agree that people here tried to change the script on you.

They (I) (was) were only going by what they (I) saw.

I would move on too. Hope he does not neg you now and issue you a NPB.

Steve

MorrellMan · June 5, 2006 10:45AM

In reading over the thread, it does appear you got leapt upon - I don't understand why you didn't just forward back to him that email that tells you to hit the BIN and wait for the invoice. I find it hard to conceive of a reputable seller reading that and not agreeing to honor his deal. I still have the feeling we're missing something, but if you're over it, EB, then so am I.

EB31 · June 5, 2006 10:52AM

<< In reading over the thread, it does appear you got leapt upon - I don't understand why you didn't just forward back to him that email that tells you to hit the BIN and wait for the invoice. I find it hard to conceive of a reputable seller reading that and not agreeing to honor his deal. I still have the feeling we're missing something, but if you're over it, EB, then so am I. >>

I did just that...emailed him copies of his email where he made the agreement, he then requested that i call him at his shop...which I did. I was and still am satisfied with how I handled everything....very professionally, the only way to due business (whether it's for .05 or $50,000).

I am just as shocked, still, by the way this clown handled his end...and the manner in which I was spoken to when I called him. But, I am from NJ..so I am semi-used to it...though I seldom tolerate it.

All in all, I am over it. I have now learned a valuable lesson....one which I already knew, but momentarily forgot....DO NOT TRUST ANYONE BUT YOURSELF.

This was my mistake, I ignored my gut instinct and trusted this lowlife at his word.

This was nothing more than a minor inconvenience and a wake up call for me to stick to my guns in how I do business.

Thanks everyone,
EB31

MorrellMan · June 5, 2006 11:36AM

<< But, I am from NJ.... >>

See? I knew we were missing something!

EB31 · June 5, 2006 11:48AM

<< 

<< But, I am from NJ.... >>

See? I knew we were missing something!

>>

lol I only have a little bit of my NJ attitude left (yea right).

I am trying to become more laid back like my Virginian enviroment

Ebay seller problem..what would you do?

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