Am I a jerk?

jessewvu · October 14, 2008 11:53AM

I have about had it with people winning my eBay items and not paying, then having the nerve to request I let them out of the contract without paying anything. Do these people have any idea that it actually costs me money to list/sell on eBay? This has happened about 3 times in the past two weeks. The latest is a coin that sold for over $1400 on Sunday. I get an email today saying his wife lost her job and he shouldn't be buying expensive coins and asked that I issue a mutual agreement to cancel. If I did, I would eat about $75 in eBay listing and final value fees... I politely said no and that he should pay for the item and resell it if necessary.

I think I sound like a jerk but I just don't get where these people are from.

CaptHenway · October 14, 2008 11:55AM

No.

Cladiator · October 14, 2008 11:56AM

They are from the land of bail outs and entitelments (aka USA).

fc · October 14, 2008 11:56AM

you should be able to get out of these ebay auctions with a mutual
agreement. no loss of money?

i have to admit never doing it but i know something like it exists for
the final value fees at the very least.

pakasmom · October 14, 2008 11:59AM

I don't think you sound like a jerk, Jesse.
Most of what's wrong with our country is an epidemic lack of personal responsibility... If the guy wanted to man-up and pay the $75 or $80 bucks (that you'd be out,) then it might be different. Otherwise; you bid, you win, you pay.

CB2597 · October 14, 2008 11:59AM

Nope. They are...

TennesseeDave · October 14, 2008 12:00PM

File a non-paying bidder complaint with E-bay(I think you have to wait so many days) and I think they will let you relist,or send out a second chance to the underbidder.Stuff like this seems to be happining more often now that sellers cant leave negs. for buyers(or non-buyers in this case)

jessewvu · October 14, 2008 12:13PM

I called eBay and they said a mutual agreement to cancel refunds my FVF, and the buyer does not receive a bad mark. I guess all I would be out is the $11 listing fee and the possibility that the coin sells for $400 less the second time around

EvilEmpire · October 14, 2008 12:13PM

Fuggagedaboudit....THEY are wrong. Remember, as paper thin as the legality of it all is, a bid is a binding contract. They could cover your fees, plus some for the vig, but other than that, fuggagedaboudit.

edited to add.....NO, you ARE NOT a jerk.....PERIOD!

doh · October 14, 2008 12:20PM

Not a jerk at all. Hold him to the transaction or file a non paying bidder alert on the deadbeat and block his sorry butt.

pennyannie · October 14, 2008 12:21PM

It is the new improved Ebay. I had maybe 1 or 2 non payers in the last 6 or so yesrs with over 2000 items sold. In the last 6 months i have had over 6.

YaHa · October 14, 2008 12:25PM

<< I have about had it with people winning my eBay items and not paying, then having the nerve to request I let them out of the contract without paying anything. Do these people have any idea that it actually costs me money to list/sell on eBay? This has happened about 3 times in the past two weeks. The latest is a coin that sold for over $1400 on Sunday. I get an email today saying his wife lost her job and he shouldn't be buying expensive coins and asked that I issue a mutual agreement to cancel. If I did, I would eat about $75 in eBay listing and final value fees... I politely said no and that he should pay for the item and resell it if necessary.

I think I sound like a jerk but I just don't get where these people are from. >>

No I don't think you are a Jerk Jesse. I think strongly that anyone selling anything on ebay or any other auction house should have patience with this crisis we are going through.

I have stated in some of my other threads, tilt your head on the otherside of the fence and look at what might be there. Things are real bad. I will not get into my finances as I am sound but my bank just cut one of my Line of Credit acct's that I used to fix up one of my rental properties for no reason other than stating my condo is in a Hot Zone. So now instead of collateral I must use my savings acct and that's a danger.

Again things are bad guys for alot of folks and if the US doesn't straighten things out correctly and we know whom might be our leader for the next 4 years, I beleive things will continue to swell like a bloated dead tuna fuming on a beach in 100 degree heat. This whole mess stinks. Good Luck Jesse

19Lyds · October 14, 2008 12:26PM

Yer not a jerk Jesse!

Yer not a jerk!

GoldenEyeNumismatics · October 14, 2008 12:27PM

<< I get an email today saying his wife lost her job and he shouldn't be buying expensive coins and asked that I issue a mutual agreement to cancel. If I did, I would eat about $75 in eBay listing and final value fees... >>

Absolutely not true. If you are able to mutually cancel the transaction through the eBay dispute console you receive a credit for the full final value fee.

CheeseGuy · October 14, 2008 12:28PM

<< It is the new improved Ebay. I had maybe 1 or 2 non payers in the last 6 or so yesrs with over 2000 items sold. In the last 6 months i have had over 6. >>

While I also disaprove of the new Ebay feedback policies, don't discount the current state of the economy as part of this also.

As for the op, Expecting someone to pay for an item they've already 'purchased' doesn't make you a jerk

RunnersDad · October 14, 2008 12:28PM

You are certainly not a "jerk" by any definition of the word. The individual clearly bid that much money with the intent to win the item and should be held accountable for his winning bid. Unless his name is Freddie Mac of course....

MrEureka · October 14, 2008 12:30PM

You're not a jerk, but that doesn't make you a nice guy. A nice guy would cut the buyer some slack, assuming he believed the story about the wife's loss of her job.

jessewvu · October 14, 2008 12:40PM

<< You're not a jerk, but that doesn't make you a nice guy. A nice guy would cut the buyer some slack, assuming he believed the story about the wife's loss of her job. >>

I did reply back to him about 15 minutes ago and offer to sell the coin to the next highest bidder. We all have our money problems and I didn't sell this coin to pad my pockets.

As far as your judgement of me not being a nice guy, well, I guess you have know me pretty well then, don't you? I'm not going to get into a pissing match here.

MrEureka · October 14, 2008 12:44PM

As far as your judgement of me not being a nice guy, well, I guess you have know me pretty well then, don't you? I'm not going to get into a pissing match here.

Fair enough.

BTW, my dog's cuter than yours.

YaHa · October 14, 2008 12:52PM

<< You're not a jerk, but that doesn't make you a nice guy. A nice guy would cut the buyer some slack, assuming he believed the story about the wife's loss of her job. >>

Well stated Andy, I don't understand why some people go out of their way to call people "Deadbeats" and a "BUTT".

I hope there is a better understanding with this crisis. The way I see it people will crack and most likey they will crack some people with foul mouths. Tensions are already heated up in my area. One well respected Mortgage Broker that owned his own business here in my area had to shut his doors. The story says as his company didn't write no subprime loans and played fair. His staff of 15 just lost their jobs as well as himself and now he took a job at a local Highschool to pay the bills until something better comes along.

So I hope some of you out there understand things are bad and I guess those 15 staff members are so call "Deadbeats" because they didn't see this coming.

GoldenEyeNumismatics · October 14, 2008 12:54PM

<< As far as your judgement of me not being a nice guy, well, I guess you have know me pretty well then, don't you? I'm not going to get into a pissing match here.

Fair enough.

BTW, my dog's cuter than yours.

>>

idk, puppies are pretty cute.

micmt · October 14, 2008 12:54PM

You are not a jerk in my book. If a person bids on it then they should pay. It sounds like the high bidder was ticked off that the second highest bidder was willing to go higher so he ran the price up on him.....and went too far.

Anyways my perception.

Swampboy · October 14, 2008 1:01PM

No you are not.

At the risk of being mistakin for abc123, here are the words of Meg Whitman's successor as reported in todays business news

"There are times when I wish we can close this store and just open a new store, but we can't," he said. "We need to make bolder, more aggressive changes to the eBay ecosystem even if they are unpopular."

pakasmom · October 14, 2008 1:05PM

People that are real jerks don't worry about whether they are or not... so you seem like a nice enough guy to me. And one that is understandably disappointed with having a $1400 sale fall through. I think that YaHa and MrEureka are just trying to suggest that you try to temper your disappointment with a little "benefit of the doubt" for the guy.

WinPitcher · October 14, 2008 1:13PM

No, not a jerk and saying it doesn't make you a nice guy is not saying you are a bad guy.

Steve

Bochiman · October 14, 2008 1:33PM

<< 

<< You're not a jerk, but that doesn't make you a nice guy. A nice guy would cut the buyer some slack, assuming he believed the story about the wife's loss of her job. >>

I did reply back to him about 15 minutes ago and offer to sell the coin to the next highest bidder. We all have our money problems and I didn't sell this coin to pad my pockets.

As far as your judgement of me not being a nice guy, well, I guess you have know me pretty well then, don't you? I'm not going to get into a pissing match here. >>

So, you have a leading title, asking if you are a jerk. Someone replies, says you aren't, but then says you aren't a nice guy either, so you want to give a underhanded attack for that?

What I think is that if you are having these many problems then maybe ebay isn't the place for you. There will always be customers that return items or do impulse buys or things happen. Doesn't matter the reason. If you are going to sell on ebay, esp with just flipping items, it will happen. All of that should already be part of your business model if you are planning to sell more than the occassional dupe.

I've had folks ask to be let out of purchases (never had something returned) and I have always done it without threatening them, or whining, etc. Sure, it may not sell for as much and that sucks, but I went into it knowing the market, the product, and the customer set.
Those who want to try to "force" a sale are pretty stupid and mean, imho. Until money changes hands, it is NOT a done deal. Even after that, if paid with paypal, then they should be HAPPY once they received it or else it is coming back.

If you (generic "you" here) can't handle that, sell in person to a dealer or someone so once the sale is done, it is done. Don't use ebay if it is so difficult.

Coinhog · October 15, 2008 4:17AM

I have had this happen 3 times in the last 5 months.

It typically goes like this. After no payment and no communication for a week, the buyer sends an email and states that they found exactly the same item somewhere else for less money. They then either accuse me of ripping them off or asking me to "price match"..

My response has invariably been the same. I ask them to honor the terms of their binding bid. When they refuse to pay I wait the appropriate amount of time and file an NPB. Filing a non-paying bidder complaint frees the seller from fees and sends a clear message to the buyer that they are in a venue that has rules.

Buyers remorse.... for whatever reason, is not a free pass. I have bought things that I had buyers remorse with. I still concluded the contract and then just turned around and resold it. Sometimes I took a hit sometimes I sold for more than I paid.

We may not like all of the rules that ebay has bestowed upon us but we all have to play by them.

If the buyers can't handle the rules then maybe ebay isn't the venue for them. Just another viewpoint Bochiman

Barndog · October 15, 2008 4:20AM

I think jesse's dog is cuter, sorry Mr E.

RBinTex · October 15, 2008 4:24AM

"...I would eat about $75 in eBay listing and final value fees..."

You'd get all the final value fees back. Might be a way to recoup some or all of the listing fees as well. To the extent you can't have the buyer cover THAT amount (at least) to get you to a status quo ante position.

Personally, I ALWAYS let people out of a sale if they want out lest I'd be no better than the health club or time share salesman.

291fifth · October 15, 2008 4:34AM

See if you can get him to at least cover your listing fee of $11? Other than that, file for a final value fee refund and walk away. See if the underbidder has any interest in the lot.

Times are tough out there and likely to get tougher. There are probably going to be more tales such as this one in the next few months as enthusiastic collectors finally realize that they can't spend on coins anymore ... even though they want to.

19Lyds · October 15, 2008 4:36AM

Question: Why are your listing fee's $11 ?

SeaEagleCoins · October 15, 2008 4:41AM

There are many ebay buyers that used to be nervous and jerky....

...now they're not nervous...

Casman · October 15, 2008 4:52AM

<< Question: Why are your listing fee's $11 ? >>

, I can guess, bold, border, highlight, a bunch of pics, featured etc...There not all 35cents...And no you're not a jerk, some people are just deadbeats and butts...

ModernCoinMart · October 15, 2008 4:59AM

I haven't read through your entire thread here (and someone has probably already told you this), but I don't see how you would be out of the FVF. If you do a mutual cancellation, you get the fees back and you can relist the coin, and if it sells again, you also get the listing fee back from the 2nd listing.

If you've got a bullion item, this is going to happen a lot in a volatile market. One day they make the purchase, the next day the market is down and they decide they don't want to buy at the higher price. It also is probably not a great idea to just say No, when you can do the mutual cancellation, especially since he could leave you a negative feedback. Also, if you have a return policy (without a restocking fee), he can make the arguement of "Well, you have a return policy, I'm just trying to save us both some trouble."

SaorAlba · October 15, 2008 5:05AM

Bidders seriously need to be penalised when they do that. All over eBay there are statements about bids being a binding contract. People get away with this nonsense because it is too much trouble to pursue them legally, to make good on the so called "binding contract".

That is life. You know, if you are living close to the edge already, it just might not be such a good idea to be going out and bidding $1400 on a coin. Perhaps you should just stuff it in the mattress.

Casman · October 15, 2008 5:08AM

On a follow up Q, I thought with a relist, that you only get the insertion fee back, not the entire listing fee???

Russ · October 15, 2008 5:18AM

<< << Question: Why are your listing fee's $11 ? >>

, I can guess, bold, border, highlight, a bunch of pics, featured etc >>

If that's the case, and if he's a powerseller, he'll also get most of that back.

Russ, NCNE

coindeuce · October 15, 2008 7:06AM

Not unless you look like

And I don't mean our very own SM1!!

Outhaul · October 15, 2008 7:09AM

<< Am I a jerk? >>

Is that a rhetorical question?

Sorry, I couldn't resist...

Am I a jerk?

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