02-13-2017 03:47 PM
Yesterday I had a sale for a craft book with payment. I sent the usual thank you email and said I would mail it today.
An hour later, I have the same buyer purchase and pay again for the same book.
I have now sent 3 emails via eBay and her email address asking if she realizes she purchased the same book twice and if she wants them both, with no reply.
I don't know what to do, I have 3 options:
1) Send the first book and wait and see if she contacts me about the second.
2) Send both books
3) Just wait for a reply before I mail
Solved! Go to Solution.
02-14-2017 09:14 PM
02-14-2017 09:35 PM
Thank you! I agree, the buyer made the mistake and I really tried to find out if she wanted both books. I sent 4 emails, so I feel as if I did all I could. I didn't want to have a problem not shipping within my 2 day shipping time. I just have to hope that the buyer understands.
02-14-2017 10:13 PM - edited 02-14-2017 10:14 PM
Like I said earlier, I've had buyers accidentally buy two of the same item countless times but if they only want one, they only pay for one. The paid order gets shipped and then I wait for a reply to the not-paid one, and then wait for an acknowledgement of the Cancel Order. This is what eBay directed me to do the first time it happened. If it's paid, it's shipped. eBay does NOT want us second-guessing multi-item purchases. I have suspicions about your buyer in this case. It's just too handy to claim it was an accident after two days and FOUR MESSAGES requesting clarification and then say it was an error on their part only once is too late to stop. Maybe they saw your willingness to issue combined postage refunds as a sign of weakness to be easily exploited. I hope not but I do have suspicions.
02-14-2017 10:16 PM
(Not weakness but willingness to please. A combined postage refund is the right thing to do in this case.)
02-15-2017 12:46 AM
I agree with mjwl2006.. refund-without-return?? i wouldn't do that too! I think it's not fair as she can cancel the shipment if she doesn't really want it or have problems with it. You did nothing wrong so it's unfair.
02-15-2017 02:15 AM
02-15-2017 05:57 AM
02-15-2017 06:05 AM
02-15-2017 06:14 AM - edited 02-15-2017 06:16 AM
I just don't think it's reasonable for the buyer in this case to expect the seller to allow her to get the second item for free. If triber refunds the buyer who now conveniently claims it was a mistake to order two of the same -- as a gesture of goodwill because it was really only a $5-craft book -- my concern is that the buyer will see this as a potential situation to exploit in the future.
To use your example, zee, if you discovered you'd accidentally purchased an uncessary duplicate of something from a brick-and-mortar store, you'd hardly email that store to say you made a mistake, you don't want it but would still like to keep your item and get a refund. If you didn't want that item but wanted your money back, you'd have to take it back. At your own expense of time and return transportation. I don't think triber's case is any different.
Is it worth the angst of the seller for a $5 item? That I can't answer for her. My thoughts on this are reflected by what I think is right by online sale standards and procedures here.
02-15-2017 12:38 PM - edited 02-15-2017 12:40 PM
@mjwl2006 wrote:
Yes, however, I find it highly suspect the buyer was unreachable and uncommunicative to the seller's query of confirmation of intent despite being online and actively still purchasing from said seller until after the seller couldn't cancel the order because it had already shipped.
I think you may be seeing the situation from the point of view of your category (dealing with younger techno-literate buyers), and perhaps also as a young person who is plugged into technology on a high comfort level. Certain expectations go with that use that don't necessarily apply to over-65's. They aren't always on their devices, nor do they always understand them. There is a YMCA help group in our area where younger people coach seniors in how to use the dazzling, mystifying gadgets they've bought.
In the crafts category, there are always a lot of older, if not truly elderly people buying, and those people often use their computers the way they use their cars -- only as needed, and sometimes with difficulty. If you're selling in that category you have to allow at least a couple of days for email response. This creates difficulties because it clashes with eBay's "hurry-up-and-ship" policy.
Since the buyer actually paid for the duplicate item up front, I have trouble reading nefarious intent into her actions. It's more likely (as the OP originally speculated) that the buyer got confused and thought that because the listing was still showing as active her purchase hadn't gone through. Still, it isn't for the seller to guess if the buyer doesn't say anything. I think the OP did everything reasonable to resolve the question before shipping, but without buyer response a seller just has to do what they've been paid to do.
For a $5 item, I'd be nice and refund the money (not the shipping), asking the buyer to return the duplicate by ordinary lettermail when convenient. I wouldn't be surprised the OP is dealing with an elderly lady who just wanted a new knitting book (or whatever it was) and got a bit bamboozled by eBay's system. Hahaha -- haven't we all at some point?
02-15-2017 01:28 PM
02-15-2017 01:28 PM
Had a really nice email from the buyer saying it was completely her fault, thanking me for trying to find out if she wanted the other book and a apologizing for her lack of replies. I did offer a refund. She says she is sure she can find a friend who would like it. Not to worry about the delay in shipping, she LOVES Canada!
So all is great.
02-15-2017 01:31 PM
02-15-2017 01:32 PM
02-15-2017 02:37 PM
I don't think Rose was saying everyone is old and incompetent in her category.
I think she's saying that because there are likely a higher percentage of them, one has to be prepared for different behaviours, like slow email responses, and seemingly odd actions because the online world is not the centre of their universe, like it is for some in the newer generations.
My world is much the same as Rose's. One of my good customers let me know last week that at 92 he's still going strong! As a stamp seller who's only "medium old" - I'm just a stamp seller pup - one of the few only sort of grey heads at the stamp auctions....
One of my very most bizzare sales/problem situations devolved to the point where I was getting almost non-sensible one word ebay messages from the buyer, this was over a couple of days. I was really confused about what was happening or what they wanted to do. Thankfully I called, and I spoke with an exceptionally polite, "old" lady who's son had helped her purchase the item but wasn't there for any of the subsequent actions, which she was trying to do on her own and was having very much trouble trying to do so. 5 minutes on the phone fixed a couple of days of very frustrating stuff (probably from both our perspectives).
I very rarely buy stuff here under this (my selling) id. I did last week and darned if I could find my purchase history (I live on the ebay seller hub). Took me a while but I found it. I'm only "medium old" and at one point in my life I was a systems trained professional but because I very rarely purchase stuff here, took me a while to figure it out.... in 10 more years who knows!
02-16-2017 12:57 AM - edited 02-16-2017 01:01 AM
@mjwl2006 wrote:
To use your example, zee, if you discovered you'd accidentally purchased an uncessary duplicate of something from a brick-and-mortar store, you'd hardly email that store to say you made a mistake, you don't want it but would still like to keep your item and get a refund. If you didn't want that item but wanted your money back, you'd have to take it back. At your own expense of time and return transportation. I don't think triber's case is any different.
I'm sorry if what I previously said came out the wrong way and by no means I'm suggesting everyone should do the same; I merely stated what I did with my buyers in the past, also assuming that most of my buyers realize that I'm not a brick-and-mortar but just a fellow hobbyist who happens to be selling.
I know buyers in my category well and they are unlikely to buy two identical books. I had buyer thanked me for taking the time to communicate and double check when they purposefully bought two books (one for a friend) but from experience the majority of duplicates were errors. For what I sell, it makes sense to second guess a duplicate purchase.
If I do sell socks or other everyday items, I obviously wouldn't second guess my buyer and ask them if they really wanted two dozen socks As a book buyer, when I buy doubles by accident, I wouldn't go try to get a refund myself since the places I buy from have no return policy to begin with, so I'd either give the book away or try to sell it here. eBay on the other hand, I cannot enforce a no return/refund policy, so taking this into consideration, it is less of a hassle for me to communicate with the buyer, and refund (eat the small Paypal transaction fee) and cancel a duplicate-purchase sale than to ship it and then work out a return after the fact.
I also agree that triber already tried her best to communicate with the buyer but unfortunately couldn't wait for the buyer to respond before shipping because eBay can be a pain in the rear with handling time. I'm glad to hear that it worked out though, that the buyer said she'll find a new home for the second book And not to generalize, even buyers in my category (young adults) can be horribly slow with e-mails. But since I'm usually busy with work anyway I don't get bothered by slow responses.
02-16-2017 01:06 AM
02-16-2017 04:17 AM
02-16-2017 04:33 AM
02-17-2017 10:56 AM
zee-chan wrote:I'm sorry if what I previously said came out the wrong way and by no means I'm suggesting everyone should do the same;
Yes, exactly. I, too, took that as a given. I am always telling people they must make their own decisions. I posted my opinion, what I would do in the circumstances based on the limited information presented, and outlined my reasons for that position. Nothing more.
In post # 10.
I never presume to tell others what to do, because that is not my or any other member's place. People must make their own choices although it can help to hear others' opinions.
zee-chan wrote:
I know buyers in my category well and they are unlikely to buy two identical books. I had buyer thanked me for taking the time to communicate and double check when they purposefully bought two books (one for a friend) but from experience the majority of duplicates were errors. For what I sell, it makes sense to second guess a duplicate purchase.
You're right, it would. With what we were told about this particular buyer, like rose-dee and ricarmic I also did not see any villainy, just a mistake, for reasons I stated in Post #10. It could just as easily have been me who made the same goof. Two identical of a knitting book? Would I ever be grateful to a seller who caught my mistake!
Your buyers could possibly also intend to buy 2 of the same for the reasons others have stated, so it's a judgement call. And in a way, choosing to ship 2 identical items when they were bought so far apart and not both together at once is itself "second guessing" the buyer by assuming someone would want 2 identical knitting books. So a lot depends on how a seller chooses to see it. 🙂
But all is well, the buyer was nice as I figured she would be, and if she has a knitting buddy she can offer the extra book. Might be quite nice for the friend to receive. The seller is happy with the extra sale, so it would seem everybody wins.