eBay

skivversnfld · ‎12-10-2005

I have experienced a reoccuring problem that many sellers have been experiencing lately. An ebayer won one of my auctions 10-11 days ago. within minutes of the auction ending, the ebayer paid for the auction directly from paypal without receiving an invoice. I sent my invoice with the correct amount, but had to refund the intial payment for insufficent postage. I have contacted the buyer daily with no response. Explained each time in each email why I had to refund the payment. NO RESPONSE. So without communication, or payment I decided to file a non-paying bidder alert so that as soon as the buyer logs on , they would be sure to receive my message. Today I received a response.
There must be a problem. I sent your money via paypal, Nov. 28th at time- 15:40:30
To a xxx xxxx - seller skivversnfld
my transaction mumber xxxxxxxxxx - again sent you money same day of bid, 11/28/05. I have a copy of billing history, payment made

following this reponse was a second:
I sent you the MONEY - AGAIN! PAYPal said, YOU click the send Refund. The same day 11/28/05, one hour after I first sent you the tranfer.

So I checked and sure enough the payment was again made with an insufficent shipping amount. about 1/3 of what it would cost to ship the 1kg to the US. Not once did this buyer address the problem of why the payment was refunded . I received two other emails sent to my email address both saying item has been paid for SHIP MY ITEM.

I have not caved, I refunded the second insufficent payment. Explained patiently once again why , and requested politely where they received the total in shipping cost from, It was not on the invoice. I also sent links to the Canada post website for small packet prices to the Us. Two shippings choices were given. I feel if I cave in this person would be sure to do this again and again and again to many sellers.

esellerauction · ‎12-11-2005

Just send the buyer a money request via Paypal and a note to say his item will be shipped as soon as he completes payment

skivversnfld · ‎12-11-2005

Good morning,
I have just completed the paypal money request linked with the auction number. Politely explained once again, that partial payments are not accepted, and items are shipped upon receipt of payment in full. Hopefully it will all work out , but somehow I see a negative coming...
this buyer is really difficult and does not respond to emails.

wdwron · ‎12-11-2005

Hi,

I have shared the same experience many times. In the past I would always refund the payment and request the payment be made again with the correct shipping cost.

Lately, I have decided not to refund the payment. Once you have their money in your hands they are more easily compelled to ante up the balance of the payment.

You will incur another fee from PayPal but I have found that it is a lot easier to get them to pay up this way.

jenzaka · ‎12-11-2005

Hi there:
I have used REQUEST MONEY several times in similiar situations with a very high success rate. I also tacked on an extra .35 for the fees. In the notes I include: Outstanding Shipping Fee- $3.25 (or whatever it is) Paypal fee for using this service- .35 Total balance owing- $3.55. In most cases they pay it promptly.
Joy

skivversnfld · ‎12-14-2005

Good morning,
this is an update.
I sent the money request as suggested.It worked!, they did not use my money payment request link. That one still remains unpaid. But they sent a fresh payment through , in full. No communication has been recd . Just the payment. My fingers are crossed that hopefully this one will work out.

This is such an uncomfortable part of the selling process. I myself also tried in the past to send a partial payment reminder with a past transaction. no communication was ever received. after two weeks. I got a negative for keeping the money and not sending the goods. That is why I now refund the money immediately. Their item/s show as unpaid.

nxtdriver · ‎12-14-2005

If a buyer sends partial payment, I email them to say that the item will not be shipped until the remaining balance is paid. So far everyone has made the extra payment. Don't waste your time emailing the buyer over and over. You have their money and they will ante up for the rest.

systemagic · ‎12-15-2005

I once received the supplemental payment for sufficient postage about 6 months after the auction ended. On another occasion, about 2 years ago, I never received the $20 shipping payment for the $10 item (A large plush toy)and still have the $10 payment.

The question arrises of how long do you hang on to the merchandise, or the payment, once it's been paid for and the shipping hasn't? After a certain amount of time you can no longer be negged but should this be the guideline for ethical conduct?

whoscloset · ‎12-15-2005

I usually wait about 2 weeks for a response then refund the payment.

Monique

grade_a-stuff · ‎12-16-2005

I really believe that some of the problem is that the buyer's email address has changed and the are not getting some of their mail.

I used to say in my ad descriptions that if your registered email address is not current it will be their responsibility to contact me first after winning my auction, but I removed it since hardly anyone reads more than 2 or 3 lines of an ad anyways.

jakeeangel · ‎12-16-2005

Part of the problem is eBay spoon feeding buyers of less than stellar intelligence. Pay Now - Pay Here - Click This. They don't have to think or read. Just look for the big buttons and pictures. They don't go into their PayPal account either. They do everything from eBay and totally miss the refunds and reinvoices. WHERE'S MY ITEM?!?

Frustrating isn't it? Go check out my feedback. This person made up their own shipping cost which was $1 different than the figure they came up with. They asked how they could get me the diff. I asked if I could refund and reinvoice. Sure that would be great thanks! I think it's over and done with, everybody's happy. Um, no, apparently not! lol Numpty!! They make it sound like I asked for $1 over my reported shipping cost. sheesh

I had a buyer of a silly craft pattern do the same thing. Sent me 3 payments all with their own shipping cost. I kept refunding with a note. Thanks for your payment however you've paid the incorrect shipping costs. Shipping was noted in the auction listing and end of auction email I sent you as $x or $y. Here is an invoice with $x shipping. It took her three tries to get it right. geeze!!