What would you do with this Ebay buyer?

artistlost · September 3, 2008 11:08AM

Here is the story...

Sold an item on ebay for 246.50 US shipping in. The buyer doesn't have Paypal so they ask if they can use a money order. I say sure just to make sure it is an international money order that can be cashed in Canada (this is EXACTLY how i word it). Well, the money order shows up today and it is one I can cash in Canada and in fact it is in Canadian dollars. The only trouble is the buyer didn't use the recent conversion and didn't even send the final amount. They sent 246.00 Canadian.

Now, I'm not upset about the 50 cents (though I do think it is just strange) he shorted me by sending 246 instead of 246.50. But, by sending the amount in Canadian I am out almost $20 (as the American dollar is presently worth 1.07 Canadian).

So what would you do? $20 is $20 and the final sale price was not paid for no matter how small the amount is.

I was thinking of holding the set until the seller send the remaining money but wanted to ask the board first.

mathew

downtown · September 3, 2008 11:13AM

I say get the remainder owed before shipping.
I probably would ship for $5 or less not received though and get FV refund from EBAY for sale of lower amount

WinPitcher · September 3, 2008 11:16AM

I'd make him pay the amount owed. I lost you somewhere Matt in the translation but I think he is short 20.50?

If so I'd tell him to mail it to me b4 I ship.

Steve

vintagechris · September 3, 2008 11:41AM

Send him a friendly email to let him know. He may not know the conversion rate.

torc · September 3, 2008 12:29PM

Myself, I probably would look at it a little differently. Does the buyer have a lot of experience on E-Bay or is he a newbie.
If he has a lot of experience, then I would think that he is trying to pull a fast one, and would hold out for the proper amount.

If he is new, then I would explain how things work, and let him know the difference still owing, I would still ship the card without waiting for the difference,

This would show great customer service, and possibly make further sales in the future for you.

PoppaJ · September 3, 2008 10:46PM

<< <i>Send him a friendly email to let him know. He may not know the conversion rate. >>

I agree!

Sometimes it's too easy to assume what the buyer's intention was .... and why take a chance on the assumption being wrong!

It's best to give the buyer the benefit of the doubt just in case he did make a mistake.

Good luck ... hope everything works out okay!

PoppaJ

jlzinck · September 4, 2008 5:14AM

I'd have him killed or at lest waterboarded

I'd request the remainder before shipping. You're talking about 8.5% here. Nothing to sneeze at.

artistlost · September 4, 2008 5:50AM

Thanks everyone for the replies.

I am going to take the route of a nicely worded email asking the buyer for the remainder of the money owing. Nothing rude as I don't think they tried to rip me off. I figure they didn't understand what an international money order meant and most likely thought that it had to be in Canadian dollars.

I'll fill you in when they reply.

Thanks again

mathew

What would you do with this Ebay buyer?

Comments