Seller shipping fee not same as on auction

[vetmed2002]

I purchased an LP from a seller in New York. I am in Canada, and his auction clearly stated that the cost to ship to Canada was $7. I get an invoice charging me $12 for shipping. Naturally I am a little annoyed and send a request to the seller asking for an invoice with the correct shipping charge. Four emails later no response or invoice for the correct amount. All correspondence through correct channels. After a while I gave up and ebay stopped bugging me to pay him. Today I get a notice from the brainstrust at ebay that the seller has opened an unpaid dispute with me and to pay him or my account may be suspended. Damned if I am going to pay him and then try and get my $5 back, why ebay even lets this idiot file such a complaint considering the history of non-response is beyond me. I am curious what othe people here think.

[toby_le_pue]

When you look at the top part of the listing you see shipping is $12.00

When you click on the shipping button you also see $12.00

Down at the bottom of the listing you see $7.00

[vetmed2002]

So you are saying the seller can list 2 different costs for the same destination? Then pick and choose which one to apply? Ridiculous! I would  not have bought if the cost to ship was $12. And how about that communication- nonexistent. I hope you don't mean to tell me you actually sympathize with this guy?

[toby_le_pue]

When I see something I want to bid on I READ the complete listing

twice.

If I see more than 1 shipping charge or something I don't understand I try to contact the seller and if

I don't get answers to my questions, I don't bid.

You had to see the first shipping charge of $12.00 because it was right

on the top of the listing.

[vetmed2002]

Let's see if I understand what you are saying. There are 2 shipping costs in the auction so naturally I should have to pay the higher one? Back when I was selling a lot of stuff if I made a mistake and did not charge the seller enough to cover my costs I ate the difference. Your contention that there were 2 costs is only based on what you see now, which only reflects the seller's invoice that was sent to me, NOT what I viewed when I purchased the item. It does not matter to me even if there were 2 costs, which I do not believe there was, I would still expect an honest seller to charge the lower price. If you look at the seller's feedback it is pretty good but most of the contentious stuff involves a lack of communication. Essentially the seller has decided that I will pay $12 for shipping and no amount of protests by me is going to cause him to communicate or change his mind. If ebay wants to suspend my account over this then I am fairly sure that ebay has become a refuge for dishonest sellers and I am as well off not being a member. Look at my feedback, I am the kind of person ebay needs, not some person who is easily confused about shipping costs and does not communicate with buyers.

            Regards

[amandarae2304]

To tell all the truth i will be glad when someone else starts an honest sell and buying site, i am getting very tired of being told one sell cost rate and finding it higher then told. also this waiting up to 21 days or higher to recieve payment for a sold item is utter garbage. When you sell something and the buyer pays that money it is the sellers not ebays to decide when you recieve the money, What is the point of having a dispute center? When I sell an item such as a fragile electronic item and the customer has three days in which to destroy it, then say it  doesn't work makes me very angry. why should a customer have time to play with it first?

[lady.stark]

When I look at the auction, the shipping price below price is $12. In shipping tab, $12. In description: $7.

I think that what happened is the seller forgot to change his descriptions after the rate increase in January. It is true that an ethical seller will honor the price listed in the auction, since there was confusion. But it is not an obligation.

I guess it all depends on wether you really want the LP or not....

[vetmed2002]

Quite right, the main reason I no longer sell on ebay. I had a buyer  on the west coast several years ago that bought 3 different pairs of speakers from me, including a pair of large heavy 15" Altec speakers and insisted that I send them in 1 large box when I thought it more prudent to send them in 2 boxes. Needless to say there was damage despite my best packing efforts, and the seller said I was dishonest etc. Just not worth the hassle of dealing with idiots.

[pjcdn2005]

If the seller had revised the listed it would say right above the item specifics that there was a revision. Also,there is no way for a seller to revise a listing once there is a bid and/or after a listing has ended

USPS prices went up recently so my guess is that the information on the description page hasn't been changed since the prices went up. The amount on the shipping tab reflects the current prices. I haven't gone to USPS to doublecheck but I think that the LP will cost the seller over $11 to ship.

If I was the seller I would honor the lower amount since it would have been my mistake.. At the very least, this seller should communicate with you and explain what happened.

I think that being ignored would annoy me more than the actual shipping cost.

But if I was the buyer, I would see it from both sides and would pay the invoiced amount since that was the amount that would have shown on the search page and on the shipping part of the listing.  I'm not saying that you should see it the same way..just explaining how I would look at it. I do understand your point of view as well.

[vetmed2002]

Do I want the LP? Not at the expense of putting up with this, there are lots available as it is nothing rare by any means. Just the only record I don't have in a set of five, when I decided to "purchase" from this guy there were at least 3 other copies at auction. And just to reiterate what you see now on the completed auction only reflects the invoice the seller sent me, not how it appeared before I "bought" it.

[pjcdn2005]

Lady stark, I didn't see your post until after I posted. Since we both have the same "theory" we must be right! 😉

[vetmed2002]

There is NO revision here, the auction changes to reflect the final selling price and shipping charges. Before the auction ended there was no, I repeat, NO revision, and no mention anywhere of a $12 shipping fee before the auction ended. I am getting a little tired of people telling me, even though I have nearly 700 positive feedback and no negative feedback that I don't know what to look for in an auction.

[pjcdn2005]

Obviously we can't know what you saw but the auction does not change on its own. If you make a bid then the price changes, it doesn't change after the auction ends.  Yes the seller can change the shipping amount on the invoice but that does not affect what the ended listing shows.  Once you made that first bid, the shipping amount could not be changed on the listing. I suppose glitches happen but it seems unlikely.

Regardless, you thought that you were going to be charged $7, the auction did say shipping was $7 and you won't pay more. That is your right. Unfortunately, there is no way that the seller can be forced to ship the item to you so you're at a stand off.

 I don't like when things like this happen as it reflects on all sellers but there isn't an easy solution .

[vetmed2002]

Regardless of what you or anyone else thinks I saw there can only be a "standoff" if there is communication. I might have entered into a discussion with the seller about how postal rates in the U.S. have increased, might even have given him $12 if he had the courtesy to respond to my many emails. As it stands it will be a cold day in hell before this guy gets a penny of my money.

[kalvin@ebay.com]

Regardless of what you or anyone else thinks I saw there can only be a "standoff" if there is communication. I might have entered into a discussion with the seller about how postal rates in the U.S. have increased, might even have given him $12 if he had the courtesy to respond to my many emails. As it stands it will be a cold day in hell before this guy gets a penny of my money.

Hi vetmed2002,

Would you mind dropping me an email with the item number on this please so we can take a look at this for you?

Thanks,

[toby_le_pue]

Did you get this problem straightened out.

[femmefan1946]

Let's see if I understand what you are saying. There are 2 shipping costs in the auction so naturally I should have to pay the higher one?

If you don't choose one of two rates, then the seller will. And since the higher one probably gives him more protection that would be the logical one to choose, from his point of view.

But in this case the seller seems to have the higher shipping price on the shipping tab, but the lower price in his description. (As a seller who has been doing a lot of relisting lately, I sympathize with him. Stuff happens.)

The eBay computer can't read the description. It will automatically go to the shipping fee in the shipping tab.

Now.

Your errors were not reading the whole listing and not enquiring about the discrepancy before bidding.

His errors were the discrepancy and not responding to your startled post-purchase questions.

You could ask him for a Mutual Cancellation which would release both of you from the transaction with no fallout. But in the seller's place I would be uncomfortable if your communication with me were as confrontational and angry as your posts here.

The problem for a seller is that MCs allow both parties to leave feedback.

The seller also has the choice of opening an Unpaid Item Dispute four days after the listing closes. This is safer for him, since,unless you pay, you cannot leave feedback. That you get a UID Strike is not the seller's problem.

-----------

If wishes was horses, we'd all be eating steak.  -- Jayne Cobb

[vetmed2002]

Sort of. The seller withdrew his claim and I have an unpaid item in my record now. And I still have yet to hear a word from him. Contacted Kalvin as requested but have yet to hear back from him. I'm not very impressed with the way system automation generates stuff like this, and how ebay makes it so very difficult to deal with it.

[vetmed2002]

Not exactly sure what "startled post-purchase questions" is supposed to mean? You have no idea of the tone that I used attempting to communicate with this fellow but I can assure you that they were measured and even-handed to begin with. And may I also add that this fellow has a history of not responding to anyone's emails under any circumstances. If I had just paid I would never have been refunded the difference, but at least I would have had the satisfaction of leaving negative feedback for him. As things are I took a principled stand in this case and am rewarded with an unpaid item mark in my file. Thanks ebay, in the future when I need or want something I will just have to do it with ebay only if I am desperate.

[vetmed2002]

To put this dispute to bed I just received an email from Kalvin telling me that the unpaid item mark against my account has been cancelled. I feel vindicated and would encourage anyone else that thinks they are being overcharged for shipping not to cave in to threats of having an unpaid strike left on your record.