Is it legit for a lister to ask for more $$$ for an item by eBay messaging?

[randythepokerguy]

I had a seller ask me by eBay messaging the following.  This sounds like a 'bait and switch' to me and as such they should be reported to eBay.  Just want everyone's opinion.   The following is the copy of the eBay message I recieved from the seller...

Hi there, Im the wife of the seller and Im writing regarding the price of 499. I saw that you said you would be picking up the extra cost for shipping to Canada and that is great, we do appreciate that. We've shipped to Canada on other occasions but we ended up losing in the end because of something or another. Anyhow, this message really is about the price of the camera that was set at $499.00. I was at work when my husband listed it and when I returned home from work he informed me that we have a potential buyer for the camera. I thought, "wonderful" I asked if he had listed it at what fair market value would be, being brand new, not used as most that are listed are older models USED and may contain some of the same or similar package deals.(accessories beyond standard) Ours, however being more substantial given the extras included as opposed to this same camera but used on ebay (case, extra optic cables, hdmi, warranty, extra memory card stick, and a few others.) Another reason im price was changed is the fees taken by ebay would set me back further.

to conclude, if you were interested in buying at $499, but now once seeing that i had my husband raise the price not only because it is mine, but because we paid over $2000 and never used it, so $599, was and is fair, shipping will be calculated accordingly to where you live and how you want it shipped as well as any insurance and things of that nature. I am willing to entertain the notion of meeting half way though if you think that 599 is out of your ball park when you include shipping and sell it to you at $550, plus the shipping. I do apologize that it turned out this way, If you do or wish to buy it please contact us first before you do the buy it now so that we can adjust the shipping cost with how you prefer so that it is exact and not a guessing game and send you that buy it now, its much less complicated in my opinion

[femmefan1946 · Accepted solution]

Geez louise! What is this wifie thinking? If you have only bid, she can cancel your bid and revise.

Too high maintenance. Nothing but problems ahead.

Tell her to cancel your bid.

Run. Run like the wind.

[femmefan1946 · Accepted solution]

Nope.

The price and the shipping fee must be as advertised. Tell the seller that you based your bidding on their advertised prices and that you are not interested in spending more.

If they continue to insist on more, ask for a Mutual Cancellation. This frees both of you from the transaction and has no repurcussions on the buyer. The buyer can, however, leave honest feedback and the all important Detailed Seller Ratings.

If they go to an Unpaid Item Dispute, they would be foolish since all you have to do is pay the advertised amount to end the UID without penalty to you, while they would be required to ship or you, in turn, can open an Item Not Received dispute.

Aside- the seller has several hours to revise his listing between listing and publication. Then s/he can review it until it has a bid. Even if an auction has a bid, s/he can cancel any bid (in effect) and revise the auction. Grown ups take responsibility for their actions.

[femmefan1946]

Message 'her' back and tell her you purchased on the basis of the listed price and shipping cost.

Then stop.

Do NOT agree to a cancellation.

Ask for the shipping date , the service used, and the tracking number.

Then stop.

From 'her' message, should I understand that she has not yet billed you with the shipping cost?

In future, always get a firm quote on shipping before bidding.

Because otherwise, the seller has eBay's permission to charge whatever they deem fair for postage and packaging.

If she was smart, she would just charge you whatever extra she wants for the camera ($50 right?) and then add on the cost of the shipping service. All legal.

If the camera does not arrive by the date eBay gives you (a couple of weeks if the camera actually exists and is in the USA), you can open a Dispute for Item Not Received at the bottom of this page under Resolution Centre.

If you don't get a Tracking number, you can open an INR dispute with Paypal almost immediately. You have 180 days from payment to do this.

If you don't pay, the seller can open an Unpaid Item Dispute and you would get a Strike which would make it difficult to buy with many sellers who Block bidders with Strikes. Which would be blatantly unfair, since the seller is refusing to sell.

Politely. -- Captain Malcolm Reynolds

[trixie-cat]

I'd report her to eBay! She can't change the price after you bought it. She should not penalize you because she did not do her research.

Let us know how it turned out!

[momcqueen]

How did THIS one float to the top, it's from 2012!? And it was marked solved seven years later, it makes no sense despite that femmefan's answer is, in fact, very good and correct.

Zombie thread. 

@happy_pigeon