Confusing buyer

[zee-chan-jpn-books]

So, I was making use of the free auction promo and relisted a bunch of old books. An Aussie buyer (I haven't had one in a while) messaged me first saying my starting bid is too expensive since I'm also getting paid shipping to Australia. The message itself was kinda rude too.

Then minutes later she messaged me asking if she buys all 20 similar books, what's the cheapest price and again stating she's from Australia. She totally had me scratching my head wondering if she's aware of how far Canada is, or if she thinks Aussies should get a deal?? First she complains about one book being too expensive, yet wants to know how cheap I can go if she buys 20??

I checked her feedback and looks like so far she has only given out positive feedbacks. She's a 4 years buyer with around 20 feedback. Judging from the sellers she tends to buy from, those sellers start their auctions low and can afford cheaper shipping from Asia.

How would you handle this one?

I decided to reply only because she hasn't left any negative (not false positives either) to other sellers. Pretty much told her that I can't lower my starting bids, how much airmail shipping would be for all 20 books, and told her that there's nothing I can do about the expensive shipping from Canada to Australia but I do offer combined shipping for multiple books. Will see whether or not she responds lol.

The good part is, that means my listings aren't completely invisible on eBay! I listed those auctions about 12 hours ago so getting a message about them so soon means people are checking them out. Hopefully some of those watchers will turn into a buyer... 🙂

[silverpinups]

Would blocking them now prevent them from making payment via the UID?

The answer is no.. Blocking them isn't going to prevent them from purchasing that order.  

What you want is for them to not respond to the Unpaid Item Claim so you can receive your FVF's and then you can block them permanently and relist your books.

I would rather not deal with buyer that has to pay due to a Unpaid Item Claim because they can cause more trouble for you down the road in terms of opening a Item Not As Described Claim and wanting a Return or leaving Negative Feedback.  

[zee-chan-jpn-books]

Plot twist: the buyer messaged me again saying she changed her mind and she won't be buying (duh), emphasizing that she isn't a kid. She wasn't expecting an unpaid item strike (oh really?), and was asking me how to get it removed.

Would you bother responding? If you do, what would you say?

[momcqueen]

Although I am pretty much guilty of replying to every message always, this would I would not honour with my reply.

This buyer: (a) harassed you about postage costs and (b) then asked you to assemble a lot for specifically for her purchasing pleasure (c) failed to reply to your queries about when to expect payment but DID NOT ask for a cancellation and then (d) had the nerve to ask/blame you for her Unpaid Item strike, and ask you how to get rid of it. 

My only reply would be to tell her to 'stuff it'. I'm not generally rude with buyers, either, but in this case I think silence is the better or best response. You don't owe this user anything, and they've taken advantage of your good nature to this point. 

[momcqueen]

Particularly this: "She wasn't expecting an unpaid item strike (oh really?), and was asking me how to get it removed." There are two ways to get an Unpaid Item strike removed. One is to pay for the item like the user was supposed to do in the first place so the case closes with payment recorded, and the other is to call Customer Service and beg their forgiveness. If it is the user's first UI, then Customer Service will likely grant a mulligan if the account is otherwise in good standing. If not, school of hard knocks, baby. 

Also, the user doesn't need membership in a secret society to learn the methods of dealing with UIs. It's all available via the ebay Help pages on Search or, failing that, a good ole Google search. I know that you know that but I'm sometimes flabbergasted by how, er, unmotivated (a more polite term than the one I'd like to use) certain users are with asking questions of other users when it would LITERALLY TAKE LESS TIME than typing the query than to google it themselves. 

Rant over.

[zee-chan-jpn-books]

I'm tempted to tell her to just accept the unpaid item strike like a responsible adult, as that's the least she could do for having wasted 2 hours of my time lol.

I'm sure this is probably her first or second strike, as I do have the strictest setting at blocking anyone with 2 strikes within 12 months.

PS. I have the odd feeling I know who you're ranting about...

[momcqueen]

@zee-chan-jpn-books wrote:
I'm tempted to tell her to just accept the unpaid item strike like a responsible adult, as that's the least she could do for having wasted 2 hours of my time lol....

Maybe do tell her that then. I don't think I would do this particular buyer the favour of telling them to call Customer Service to get the UI strike forgiven, but I may tell them their 'decision to solicit a special offer, buy it and then neglect to pay was something that wasted two hours of my valuable time and a portion of my monthly listings allotments'  so perhaps they'll think twice before wasting time for the next seller. They really were ill-mannered about it. 

[momcqueen]

zee-chan wrote:.... PS. I have the odd feeling I know who you're ranting about...

---

Yah, I know you know to whom and what I'm referring. I gather they are a young person and as a parent to someone who's probably close to the same age...... I don't know what else to say other than that if I'm taking the time to speak to someone about something, I hope that are at least listening to the answers being given to the questions they have asked. Otherwise, what is the point? Anyway. That is another subject for another day. 

[zee-chan-jpn-books]

I did end up writing back and borrowed some of your wordings in your quoted sentence. I also noted to her that it takes extra time to research Australia shipping for a large order and to make the special listing. Since she bought and didn't pay, I had to file the unpaid item dispute to recover the $30+ FVF eBay charged me, and I couldn't relist the books for two weeks because of it (1 week when she bought and didn't pay, and about 5 days for UID to close). 

Ended my message saying that the strike is eBay's way to note buyers who failed to pay repeatedly, and since it's applied by eBay, I can't help her with removing it. 

This is probably her first or second offence, so I decided to explain to her how it impacted sellers (I think it was good for me to mention that FVF is charged even though she didn't pay). I hope I won't hear back though, as I already wasted enough time on this

[ricarmic]

A quick note, as a seller you can call ebay and get them to rescind an unpaid item strike against a buyer, because I have just done that a couple days ago (a VERY long story about multiple items purchased over a month, language barrier problems and one of the 12 lots they got dinged by before they paid for the works. Someday I may type it up it was an interesting saga).

Personally I wouldn't have responded at all. Once they don't pay, I block and cease communication. 

[momcqueen]

“A quick note, as a seller you can call ebay and get them to rescind an unpaid item strike against a buyer...”

Very interesting, I didn’t know that. Thank you for sharing. That sounds like an interesting tale.

[zee-chan-jpn-books]

Well, I certainly have zero incentive to volunteer more of my precious time to get this particular buyer's strike removed.

[momcqueen]

Don’t, they haven’t deserved it. That should be reserved for truly unique situations, like ric’s.

[juhech-0]

Chiming in (albeit kind of delayed)....

You're right Chit Chats international prices are either via USPS or a Standard International service offered via air. USPS will offer tracking however, depending on the country of destination it may not include delivery confirmation. I believe you can find a list of countries here: 

https://pe.usps.com/text/imm/immc2_022.htm

However having tracking is a good way to prevent the buyer from complaining or claiming that they never received the package. The other option Chit Chats offers is economical however delivery times seem to vary depending on the country.  I heard they will be offering a new international tracked service soon.

The other good thing with Chit Chats is that you can purchase insurance at a low cost for only $0.35 per $100 when you purchase the postage through Chit Chats - so this would apply to their USPS international postage. I believe insurance is not available for purchase on their Standard International service.