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Another bad eBay situation...
zef204
Posts: 4,742 ✭✭
I had an auction end last night and the card sold for over $500. I just got the following e-mail from the winning bidder:
Hi, I am very surprised to see I won this auction, I only made a max bid of $89.00, I don't know what happened but it is an obvious mistake.
This REALY pisses me off, especially because the under bidder would have paid. Regardless, I looked at this guys bidding history and in the last 30 days he has not won a card for more than $50. Also, he has great feedback and zero retractions. He also hasn't gotten a neg in over a year.
How should I respond and what steps should I take?
0
Comments
Didn't this happen to you recently?
As a seller you can put blocks on what kind of bidders can bid on your items, you may want to start weeding out the buyers that don't meet your qualifications (recent negs, retractions, etc).
<< <i>Mistakes happen, I would see if the next winning bidder wants it or get my ebay fees back and relist it.
Didn't this happen to you recently?
As a seller you can put blocks on what kind of bidders can bid on your items, you may want to start weeding out the buyers that don't meet your qualifications (recent negs, retractions, etc). >>
It's only happened once before to me and it was over a year ago.
This bidder wouldn't have been blocked in anyones auctions he has 800+ feedback and 99.5% pos.
I highly doubt the under bidder will accept a 2nd chance as it seems that they always don't.
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<< <i>yep.. tell him you'll have to report him to ebay as a non-paying bidder, then block him from bidding, and re-list.. >>
This will recoop my fees, right?
My Auctions
As far as the dolt who bid $500, that's a tough call. The problem with these things is that they usually boil down to a judgment call and that means trying to determine the level of mailce by another person. Either way, honest mistake or not, a buyer has to be held responsible for their actions especially when it costs another person a substantial amount of money. Ask the high bidder a few more questions about the "mistake" and feel them out. If it sounds like BS then neg them.
Arthur
<< <i>
<< <i>yep.. tell him you'll have to report him to ebay as a non-paying bidder, then block him from bidding, and re-list.. >>
This will recoop my fees, right? >>
yeah.. i think it will first send him a "reminder" but then a week later you can file again when he still hasnt paid, and they'll give you your fees back..
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>yep.. tell him you'll have to report him to ebay as a non-paying bidder, then block him from bidding, and re-list.. >>
This will recoop my fees, right? >>
yeah.. i think it will first send him a "reminder" but then a week later you can file again when he still hasnt paid, and they'll give you your fees back.. >>
When filling out the form, should I choose "Buyer has not paid" or "We have both agreed not to complete the transaction"?
My Auctions
Collecting:
Brett Favre Master Set
Favre Ticket Stubs
Favre TD Reciever Autos
Football HOF Player/etc. Auto Set
Football HOF Rc's
<< <i>
When filling out the form, should I choose "Buyer has not paid" or "We have both agreed not to complete the transaction"? >>
NO! dont say we both agreed not to complete it.. just that the buyer hasnt paid.. it's all his responsibility..
In fact, here is one instance where it worked VERY well for me..
Around 2 1/2 years ago I was selling a 52 Topps Mantle for my future father in law. Sometime near the end of the auction the scans of the card, along with my description were stolen and being used by a scam seller.
After the auction ended I was contacted by the winning bidder who claimed someone contacted him saying that HE was the real owner and had it for auction, and that I was the scammer. This is how I found out my scan and description had been stolen.
I replied to the winning bidder explaining the scammer was just that, a scammer, and the card was indeed mine and there was nothing funny going on. I also sent him several scans and photos of the card in my hand, and another placed on top of that days newspaper, all to prove the card was actually mine.
In the end, the guy still backed out.
I proceded to contact the next highest bidder with a second chance offer, only to get no reply. I then went to the 3rd highest, and after a couple of days I received an interesting phone call...
What appeared, or sounded like a young kid on the phone claimed he was the 3rd highest bidder and wanted the card. He " offered " for me to bring the card to where he lives and so on so we can complete the transaction.
At this point I had already dealt with enough crap over this card that I didnt have one bit of patience for some jerk kid who is either playing a game or attempting to set me up for a mugging, so i went on a tirade and eventually hung up on him.
Later that night I receive another phone call, this time from an older woman. She was the mother of the kid who contacted me earlier. She went on to explain that her 18 or 19 yr old son did indeed bid on the card, and they wanted it. She explained that they didnt have a ton of money, but apparently this kid spends every cent he has and most of her spare money on cards too.
After talking this over with her for an hour or so, she agrees to actually pay me nearly $1200 more than the original high bidder was going to pay. I tell her to send me a certified check, explain to her how to go about getting one, and wait.
The next day a check arrives, much to my surprise. We head straight to the bank, make sure its good, and ship off her card.
So after all that we ended up selling it for around $1200 more than the first high bidder PLUS, now I dont have to pay ebay final value fees because we get the deal done off ebay !
-- Yogi Berra
I would tell him that you will make a 2nd chance offer to the #2 bidder and see if they take it. If they don't take it, I would ask him to pay a $20 restocking fee that will cover your listing/final value/re-listing fees.
<< <i>i would offer the second chance. my reason is the following. i have gotten second chance offers on things that i didnt even bid on. So now I just trash every second chance offer I get without even reading it. I would file a non-payer, as he says he wont pay. Then contact the underbidder and see if he would reach a deal with you outside of ebay that the both of you agree too. If he wont then relist the item. >>
I completely agree with the second chance offer. I think I am just going to re-list and contact the few underbidders and let them know the situation.
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If you believe this is an "honest mistake", then I would contact Ebay and explain your situation. I would also try to offer to the 2nd highset bidder. Even if it is a remote chance, you have better odds than with the high bidder. If the second bidder does not accept, then relist.
As for trashing the high bidder with negative feedback, I would look at it of the consequences to YOU (if they also leave neg feedback). Don't be taken down with them. There are more ways to punish a bad buyer than with neg Ebay feedback. Plus, it is a better judge of people of how they deal with tough situations.
BTW, is there a Ebay buyer/seller avoid list on the boards??
<< <i>Sorry to hear about your problem.
If you believe this is an "honest mistake", then I would contact Ebay and explain your situation. I would also try to offer to the 2nd highset bidder. Even if it is a remote chance, you have better odds than with the high bidder. If the second bidder does not accept, then relist.
As for trashing the high bidder with negative feedback, I would look at it of the consequences to YOU (if they also leave neg feedback). Don't be taken down with them. There are more ways to punish a bad buyer than with neg Ebay feedback. Plus, it is a better judge of people of how they deal with tough situations.
BTW, is there a Ebay buyer/seller avoid list on the boards?? >>
I doubt I'll neg him because he certainly will neg me back.
As for a list, I think someone tried to start one a while back but I think people were nervous about legal issues that could have potentially arose from it.
My Auctions
1. Offer the card to the under-bidder at $25.00 - $100.00
less than his last bid. The number just depends on how fast
and easy you want to move on, without having to relist.
(The problem with this kind of SCO is that the "$89.00 / $890.00
bid" was driving the entire auction. That makes the
under-bidder not want to accept the offer.)
2. File the UID. In the D Panel there is a "mutual" option
that will allow you to both cancel the deal fast. You will
probably have to explain to the PITA which buttons to
push, but it is a fast way to get the fees back.
If the PITA does not respond to the UID within 7-days,
you can close the dispute, AND the PITA cannot NEG you.
If he responds, both parties can leave FB... EVEN the
non-paying PITA. (Outrageous!!!!)
I never express dissatisfaction with non-payers until
AFTER I get them to do what I want them to do. I just
say, "No Problem," until after I get my fees back. Right
now, you need the PITA's help to quickly cancel the
deal on a mutual.
Sample email I use:
"Please do not worry about it. I have done the same
thing myself. Please just help me get my EBAY fees
back by following the directions in the dispute panel
as soon as you receive the UID notice. If you have
any questions about which buttons to click in the
panel, please email me right away and I will walk
you through it. Again, it is no big deal. I appreciate
your help. Thanks. sig"
DO NOT BLOCK the PITA until AFTER you have gotten
your fees back.
Sounds like the guy entered $890.00. As far as I have
been able to determine, there are NO documented
examples of EBAY's machines messing up and entering
the wrong bid. (As I have said here b4, I have bid $1500.00
on a number of $15.00 items; always MY FAULT, for not
paying attention to my fingers and eyes.)
EBAY is the devil. I love EBAY.
storm
<< <i>2. File the UID. In the D Panel there is a "mutual" option
that will allow you to both cancel the deal fast. You will
probably have to explain to the PITA which buttons to
push, but it is a fast way to get the fees back. >>
I'm not sure I follow...
My Auctions
Just remember that 2nd chance offers through ebay are at their max bid.
<< <i>If the PITA does not respond to the UID within 7-days,
you can close the dispute, AND the PITA cannot NEG you.
>>
Is this true? Not to stray too far off topic but I had a bidder win a $15 card, never pay or contact me, never respond to my eBay unpaid item dispute. I closed the dispute and got my fees back and would love nothing more than to leave him neg feedback. I was hesitant to do so because of the likely retaliatory negative. Are you saying that he CAN'T neg me?
File a NPB and leave him a negative. Honest mistake my a**!
that will allow you to both cancel the deal fast. You will
probably have to explain to the PITA which buttons to
push, but it is a fast way to get the fees back. >>
I'm not sure I follow... zef
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In the dispute Panel, there is an option that allows for
"Buyer and Seller Mutually Agree Not To Complete This Transaction."
That is the option that BOTH seller and buyer must take for
a fast reversal of the fees. (If the buyer hits the wrong button,
there will be a delay. That is why you NEED the PITA to help
you and why you MUST help him hit the correct button in the panel.)
If you are mean to him b4 he makes the correct selection in the panel,
he will not help you close the thing out quickly.
If you want to wait up to 3-weeks, you can file the UID after 7-days
and let the PITA have a chance to respond. No communication with
him is necessary under this scheme, but if he responds he can leave
a NEG. If he does not respond in 7-days, you can NEG but he cannot.
You must close the dispute at 7-days and 1-minute.
You can file UID immediately if you have an EBAY email from him that says
he wants out. That is why the PITA MUST select "mutual" in the dispute
panel to fast-track the conclusion. Again, if he is dumb and hits the
wrong button, more time will pass b4 resolution.
If the PITA bid early, there is little hope for a second chance offer;
unless you super discount the price.
storm
storm
julen
RIP GURU
you can close the dispute, AND the PITA cannot NEG you.
>>
Is this true? Not to stray too far off topic but I had a bidder win a $15 card, never pay or contact me, never respond to my eBay unpaid item dispute. I closed the dispute and got my fees back and would love nothing more than to leave him neg feedback. I was hesitant to do so because of the likely retaliatory negative. Are you saying that he CAN'T neg me?
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That is correct.
BUT, make sure you DOUBLE check the Dispute Panel -
making SURE he never responded b4 you closed the
dispute. If he responded after you last looked at the
panel, he can NEG you back.
EBAY really needs to dump the notion that non-payers
can NEG good sellers. Currently, only non-responding
non-payers are prohibited from leaving FB.
Always block anybody you NEG, or they will buy something
else for the sole purpose of NEGing you. If you suspect
that someone is playing this game with another ID (based
on address or PayPal accounts) you can cancel the
transaction and report "unwelcome bidding" to EBAY. They
will either block the FB or remove it if it has already been left.
storm
Wait a second guys. Mistakes do happen and mistakes do happen to honest people. I just made this mistake a few days ago. I went to bid $80 on a manual snipe and my 0 key stuck with the 2. The whole thing happened so fast I bid $802 on a card I planned on bidding $80 for. Card sold for $230 or so and i'm still trying to scrape up the cash to pay for it so I don't have to do what zefs buyer is doing and make myself look like an ass.
Minnie Minoso Master and Basic
1967 Topps PSA 8+
1960's Topps run Mega Set
"For me, playing baseball has been like a war and I was defending the uniform I wore, Every time I put on the uniform I respected it like the American flag. I wore it like I was representing every Latin country."--Minnie Minoso
<< <i>WHOA WHOA WHOA
Wait a second guys. Mistakes do happen and mistakes do happen to honest people. I just made this mistake a few days ago. I went to bid $80 on a manual snipe and my 0 key stuck with the 2. The whole thing happened so fast I bid $802 on a card I planned on bidding $80 for. Card sold for $230 or so and i'm still trying to scrape up the cash to pay for it so I don't have to do what zefs buyer is doing and make myself look like an ass. >>
That's very honorable. I do think this guy made a mistake by looking at his past wins. It just pisses me off that its going to probably cost me a lot of money.
My Auctions
Wait a second guys. Mistakes do happen and mistakes do happen to honest people. I just made this mistake a few days ago. I went to bid $80 on a manual snipe and my 0 key stuck with the 2. The whole thing happened so fast I bid $802 on a card I planned on bidding $80 for. "
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You will get no naysaying from me on that one.
Like I said, I ran up several $1500.00 bids, when I intended to bid $15.00.
The $890.00 could well have been meant as an $89.00.
BUT, fault, blame, innocence, guilt are all irrelevant when Zef just wants to
get out of the mess and relist the card.
No matter how I REALLY feel when a PITA does this to me, I always
pretend that everything is "not a problem." I just want rid of the PITA,
and scolding him ALWAYS has just the opposite effect.
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This is not a hijack, but on a related subject:
I just had 3 sales in the last 24-hours of items that I had ALREADY sold last month.
I did not remove the sales from an old Turbo-Lister load and was not cautious enough about
checking the relists. Two of the buyers accepted my $10.00 gift certificates, and
one of them is accusing me of not wanting to sell him the cards "so cheap." The nasty
guy's cards were worth about $4.00 and he paid $15.00 !!!!! The PITA has high
FB, but has gone totally psycho on me, even though I offered him $10.00 to spend
anywhere he wanted to. Also, ALL of the sales were FP and NOT auctions.
I also just had one with the wrong pix and the right description; that guy is also
being a PITA, even though I offered him a free card.
Also, I never chase the FVFs when this kind of thing happens. It is just not worth
it to me, and it only makes the buyer more unhappy when he has to "co-operate"
with the UID.
Being a seller on EBAY can make you hate everybody.
storm
Sorry to hear about your buyer's mistake. Mistakes with bidding do actually happen. I would give the buyer the benefit of the doubt on this one judging from his/her feedback. Although I think the buyer should pay your ebay final value fee's to be let off the hook too. Also as Storm indicated, you will be able to get your fee's back from ebay as long as the buyer cooperates and you agree to mutually not complete the transaction.
If the buyer doesn't agree to these terms, then you might have to play prison rules and file the non-paying bidder alert process. Then you'll get your fee's returned too, although you leave yourself open to neg. fb.
Whenever I've offered cards to the under bidder in this type of situation, the under bidder never responds back. With the scamming going on within the ebay site, it's no wonder. Also, as another poster indicated, you can only offer an item to the under bidder for what they bid, if you go thru ebay's system.
So you might have to relist it.
What a hassle, hey Zef?
I just had a seller that I won 11 items from for under a $1 each. My mistake was I didnt read that he didnt combine shipping fees. So I emailed him and asked if he would combine them and he wouldnt. So I paid the $33 in shipping on Sunday, and left a note on the paypal form with the following: I expect these items in the PO box on Thursday for $33 in shipping. If not then feedback will be left accordingly. We will see tonight if I get the items. Probably not. As I am sure he slapped a 39 cent stamp on the packaing.
Collecting:
Brett Favre Master Set
Favre Ticket Stubs
Favre TD Reciever Autos
Football HOF Player/etc. Auto Set
Football HOF Rc's
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It sure is NOT. As your S+H ripoff story indicates.
Sellers like that should not be allowed to play on EBAY.
IMO, if a seller cannot make money on EBAY without using
S+H as a primary profit-center, they should not be allowed
to use the venue. If they want to burn buyers, they should
set up their own website, and STOP harming the decent
sellers by further scumming up the reputation of the venue.
S+H rips are the NUMBER ONE complaint on EBAY. That is the
fault of bad sellers, NOT bad buyers.
storm