What to do about a shady seller?

[mickeypowpow]

I have a really good score on ebay, or HAD. I bid on a hat from a seller, and the postage said something about international shipping costing a certain amount. I am in the same country, so naturally, international shipping rates do not apply. Once the auction was over, I noticed I was still being charged for the international rate. I waited two days to see if the seller would update the charges, as some sellers need time to check things etc. Once I come back to ebay, he's already filed a non paying bidder report, and I wrote ebay about this, but they didn't bother to look into it, and my account has a strike against it.

Anyway the seller asked me why I felt as though I was being scammed, and I told him so. I do not want to pay for international shipping if I'm in the same country. He simply wrote back, you've got a strike now.

What should I do, and what can I do? He does not have the right to charge me for international shipping when I'm in the same country? Naturally I assumed, (maybe I shouldn't have), that he/she would be honest and not trying to pull the wool over my eyes, charging me more for shipping than I should pay. I understand some sellers get their money from shipping and handling, etc. But, I do not like it done in an underhanded way. Am I right or wrong? Please, don't just automatically jump to say yes or no, try to see both sides, even his, and then give me your opinions. 🙂

[toby_le_pue]

I would try an appeal,  Most of the time ebay will grant an appeal on the first strike.

[pocomocomputing]

What is the listing number so readers can check out the shipping in the listing. You cannot mention the seller eBay id in these forums but you can give the item number.

[toby_le_pue]

The listing said shipping was $13.97 for anypalce.

There was no seperate shipping for Canada.

You had 2 days left in the auction when you bid so you should have questioned the seller before you bid with regards to the shipping price to Canada.

If you look at the drop down shipping button it states shipping is $13.97 for Canada.

He has the same hat up now for $24.97 with Free shipping.

[pjcdn2005]

The listing says $13.97 Economy Int'l Shipping for Canada. When a Canadian seller posts his listing on ebay.com all shipping outside of the U.S. shows as Int'l shipping. That doesn't mean that the seller is charging you an international rate. They have to use the Int'l term and then put in the correct rate for shipping within Canada.

[i*m-still-here]

If you really care about the strike call ebay and they will likely remove it after they hear your explanation.

[mickeypowpow]

How do you know how many days were left? lol Even I don't know when I bid on it exactly. Is there a certain page I always miss? Anyway, yes you are correct, I could have asked, but I naturally assumed it was a mistake. Surely it was honest, as you can tell by my feedback, that I don't mess around with sellers. I bid on what I like, and usually do ask questions. I did overlook the shipping rates, however, I did reply to the seller BEFORE the strike was finalized, and he didn't bother to explain that to me. I wasn't, in my opinion, snotty about it, I just asked why I was being charged international shipping when we are in the same country. I understand the way that it's been explained in this thread, and I would have gladly paid for it had he bothered to reply to me and explained it nicely. He didn't reply at all, until I had the strike. As you saw, he now has the same hat listed at $25 dollars free shipping....

[pjcdn2005]

How do you know how many days were left? lol Even I don't know when I bid on it exactly. Is there a certain page I always miss?

The time left in the auction is shown on the search page and right above the price on the item listing page.

To see when you bid, Toby would have clicked on the number of bids (next to the price) and that  would show when the bids were made.

[gotwhatchuneed]

Funny neither of you thought to just cancel the transaction and be done with it. Foreign countries seem to offer better customer service than "screw you pay me" "if you don't I'll give you an unpaid item strike. Any I have dealt with will cancel a transaction when requested.

I've had a few items where after bidding when I review the item description or seller feedback it's not what I thought it was. (r.e. sold as solid silver but numerous negative feedback saying it's plated.) You just don't have time to review everything when buying items in the last minute(s) of the auction.

This being your first strike a simple phone call to Ebay will get it removed, be prepared to spend 10 minutes on the phone waiting.

I understand most sellers on this continent don't have the sales volume as foreign competitiors with their almost free shipping costs but hurting your customers reputation just isn't good customer service and relations, IMO giving a strike to a customer on EBay is similar to bad mouthing a potential customer who leaves your brick and mortar establishment without buying. Just because they didn't buy today doesn't mean they won't buy tomorrow, but if your rude to them they won't ever be back. 

[bb_cool_stuff]

You just don't have time to review everything when buying items in the last minute(s) of the auction.

A lot of us have made that mistake but we have educated ourselves to see that we don't make that mistake again.

[gotwhatchuneed]

You just don't have time to review everything when buying items in the last minute(s) of the auction.

A lot of us have made that mistake but we have educated ourselves to see that we don't make that mistake again.

If your "sniping" you really can't, your relying on a well written ad to give you the information via photo and 1 or 2 sentences at the top of the description. You are correct that after awhile though you generally know which ads are too good to be true.

I suppose you could browse listings ahead of time and save them in your watch list but i get my best deals by searching "time ending soonest" with some specific search criteria in the advanced search options. Who wants to spend hours of time browsing and waiting on auctions? Not me when I wanna shop I wanna shop and buy very soon.

[almond_t]

"If your (sic) sniping you really can't," -> you really SHOULD!  It's still your responsibility to confirm all details before, and not after, the fact.  'Sniping' doesn't mean bidding without looking!

"1 or 2 sentences at the top" -> wow, some sellers have 100 or 200 sentences of TOS to wade through.  If you choose to only read the bare minimum  there's nobody to blame but yourself if something untoward comes to light after the fact.

[bb_cool_stuff]

Yes, Watch List & Time Ending Soonest are Great Tools along with Saved Searches.

Who wants to spend hours of time browsing and waiting on auctions?

Yes, yes, but sometimes we have to wait for a unique item that is only available on auction.

Like you, i really dislike waiting on Auctions but some of these sellers are very savy. They know they are usually going to get big bucks for their unique items on Auction.

If i had a unique item, i would do the same.

Capitalism does have its advantages.:-D

[bb_cool_stuff]

You're right almond.

I think we would all agree it is still our responsibility to confirm all the details.

No one to blame but ourselves if things do not work out the way we thought they would.

[queenpalmer]

Did you as the buyer request an invoice?  You would have saw the S&H charge at that juncture and asked for  an explanation which could have led to cancelling the transaction.  Better approach in the future.

[gotwhatchuneed]

If your (sic) sniping you really can't," -> you really SHOULD!  It's still your responsibility to confirm all details before, and not after, the fact.  'Sniping' doesn't mean bidding without looking!

I guess it depends on which category your shopping in, I rarely have an issue now, I had quite a few transactions I had to cancel when the listings clearly stated the items were genuine solid sterling silver nothing in the ad to make you wary at all the item wasn't solid. And most ads in the jewelry section are brief only a few sentences long with lots of pictures.

 only upon review of feedback did I find the sellers had a large number of negatives for selling plated as solid. Now I don't know about you but when I see a seller has 15000 feedback or more and 99% positive I generally trust that and don't go reviewing feedback before I make a purchase.  But again .......after being around for awhile you learn what's too good to be true.

[femmefan1946]

I am in the same country, so naturally, international shipping rates do not apply.

Not true. If a Canadian seller is posting on eBaydotCOM, the US site, he will be forced to use Flat Rate International Shipping to set his shipping fees.

I waited two days

Did you ask him about the apparent discrepancy?

Once I come back to ebay, he's already filed a non paying bidder report,

The seller cannot file a Dispute before 96 hours (four days) have passed.

I understand some sellers get their money from shipping and handling,

Once maybe, but these days sellers pay the same fees to eBay on selling price and on shipping.

If the seller gave a price for shipping and you bid, you entered a contract. You decided to ignore the contract, because you misunderstood what was happening.

You got a strike.

Learn from your errors.