Hi all,
I had a buyer ask a question about an auction item (with a "Buy Now" option) on April 9th. It was a question asking whether my item would fit her. I politely went through the sizing information that is clearly explained in several places throughout the listing and also referred to the size chart.
On April 12th, while I was at work, she messaged me asking if, seeing as how no one has bid on the item, can she make an offer. I don't have the "Make an offer" option on any of my listings and do not wish to. My starting prices are as low as I can comfortably go. Shortly after that, before I got home and had a chance to see the message or respond, she had already gone ahead with the "Buy Now". So I sent the thank you/invoice along with delivery time estimates, etc...
She still hasn't paid so today, the third day after the sale, I sent a note asking her to please pay for the item and if she has any questions, not to hesitate in contacting me.
This afternoon, I got a message saying "I still haven't received a reply to my last message". She is referring to her request to negotiate the price she had sent to me shortly before buying the item, which I had not had the chance to respond to beforehand. In my opinion that discussion became moot as soon as she purchased the item so I did not respond to it. I just proceeded in my normal manner after the sale and sent the invoice. I assumed she was just eager to buy and didn't want to wait for a reply and would just go ahead and pay for the item she bought, as expected.
I responded by nicely explaining that after factoring in my item cost, import shipping costs, import taxes, listing fees, final sale fees, and PayPal fees, that I was sorry but the auction starting price is as low as I can go and since she already did the "buy now", that I didn't respond to the earlier message.
She now just messaged me asking if it is still an option to lower it, or not? I thought I just explained not...
So, I replied and said lowering the price was never an option. That the only two options available were to bid on the auction at the starting price, or to "Buy Now" which is what she did. She hasn't responded or paid.
I am not feeling good now about this transaction. Her initial question and the way it was asked was slightly annoying and in retrospect, I should have taken it as a warning sign and maybe blocked her, but I normally don't just block someone for asking a question. Then, asking if I can give her a lower price (anything under my start price would be lowball) since no one had bid yet. It made me feel uncomfortable but then I realized she had already bought the item so I just didn't worry about it.
Now, 3 days after the sale, it feels as though she is trying to get the upper hand and make me lower the price. She has not threatened, but I find her behavior somehow aggressive, in a psychological way if that makes any sense. I feel like she is the type of buyer to be angry if I don't do what she wants and I will pay for it later somehow. Hopefully I will be lucky and she will just not pay for it at all. She does not appear to have a history of bad or malicious feedback though.
Is anything she has done thus far reportable like asking to make an offer when its not an option or trying to negotiate the price after the sale and can it get me out of this transaction? Or am I just being silly?
Sheesh! I just wish all sales could be neat and tidy and drama free.
