Ebay Buyer Refuses To Pay.

[The 456]

In UK.
Buyer bid and won Item. Listed for 99p. With £9 P+P

I get a PM after saying:

hi i just bought this item off u and it had 1 min left so i bidded £1 not knowing the postage was another £9 sorry but im not paying £10 for an item that will cost £1 to send that is a scam

Ok. Now £9 is what i charge for P+P it is roughly what it costs to cover wrapping/process/post/travel to post office/anything else.

It should be noted that £10 overall is a good price for what the item is (and to have it sent straight to your door)


I am annoyed that they called my bid a scam.

But here is my question. What should i do? I want them to pay and STFU (ie no bad feedback if poss)

It's their fault that they bid without checking the P+P right.. and a bid is binding.. right?

Can i make ebay make them pay.. and poss make sure they dont leave bad feedback related to what is their mistake?


Thanks


Edit: Just noticed the person has already left me bad feedback.. actually stating they rushed to bid on the item and didnt realise the postage...

FACEPALM.. why should i get bad feedback.. when they actually publically admit they rushed/didnt notice..

 

[Australis]

Hmmm, I have problems with eBay, but of a different nature.

When you put the item up, did you put the P+P on the page? If so, they have nothing to bitch about. Most items I bid on have it listed, and I ask if it isn't there, or organise a courier.

If he continues to bitch, stick it in an envelope and it's his problem.

 

[The 456]

Hmmm, I have problems with eBay, but of a different nature.

When you put the item up, did you put the P+P on the page? If so, they have nothing to bitch about. Most items I bid on have it listed, and I ask if it isn't there, or organise a courier.

If he continues to bitch, stick it in an envelope and it's his problem.

He hasnt paid.. thats the problem..

yes.. the P+P was in the main details section of the listing and everything.. ebh i dotn know how he couldna seen it..

 

[Drogo]

Does he have the property?

 

[Count Zero]

I would contact E-Bay support. I'm sure they have experience in cases like this.

 

[Chaos Descending]

Some people are just arseholes.

If the item really is worth more than 10 pounds, the jerk should feel lucky he's getting the whole schmear for so cheap.

 

[Shazam!]

If you haven't sent it, and no money has changed hand, don't do anything.

 

[AntonyF]

The only thing you can do is file a non-paying bidder request.

eBay will warn them to pay... if they don't you get your funds refunded, and they get a mark against them.

It's annoying as it slows things down, but it's your only recourse.

Also request eBay privately withdraw that feedback. The thing is with eBay and PayPal, you have to keep on. Keep emailing. Keep badgering. DO NOT LET UP.

 

[Jadzia]

Can i make ebay make them pay.. and poss make sure they dont leave bad feedback related to what is their mistake?

When a person makes a bid it is quite clearly stated that they are entering a binding contract. He has no excuses. However, your contract is with the buyer not with ebay, so you can't make ebay do anything. But you would have the full weight of the law fully behind you if you choose to pursue the matter through a lawyer. You might want to remind the buyer of that. Is it worth the hassle though?

 

[Scout101]

Yeah, all you can do is file the non-payment thing, and hope for the best. Likely, you'll end up just getting your item relisted for free, and the feedback buried.

Totally his fault for not reading, but in his defense, is it REALLY going to cost 9 pounds to package and ship the 1 pound item? A pet peeve of mine, with people listing items for very cheap, and then charging exorbitant shipping to bring the price back up to 'normal'. It's not illegal, but definitely shady. It reduces your fees to eBay, cheating the system, and at the same time, it puts a big burden on the buyer, because all of the buyer protection devices go away that way. As a buyer, you only get protected for the purchase price, and not the shipping/handling, so if you buy a $1 item with $50 shipping (and $51 total is a good price), if you have a problem later, you can only dispute the $1, so can't get help or a refund if you've been scammed.

If 10 pounds total was a good price for the item, why did you list shipping so high, and why did it only sell for 1 pound?

 

[Holdfast]

You are totally in the right to consider his refusal to pay a breach of contract. And yes, you could file a claim for non-payment, and if he posts negative feedback at some point, appeal to eBay to get it removed. Be polite and professional in all correspondence with him & eBay and they will rule in your favour... eventually.

But! This will take a considerable amount time & effort on your part, and at some point, as with all eBay issues, it's MUCH wiser to consider: "is the hassle worth it?"

The simplest, easiest and least troublesome way of dealing with this issue, providing the buyer agrees, is to file for non-payment, but then choose the options allowing you to mutually cancel the contract, chalk it up to experience and relist and sell your item to someone else. You'll get your fees refunded with this method, too, and everyone can move on with their eBay lives much sooner.

Bottom line - if you want to fight this one, you'll end up with him getting a non-payment strike (pretty much meaningless), and you having to resell it anyway to someone else because he won't pay. If you don't want a fight, mutually cancel the contract and relist. If you want to sell the item now, negotiate a mutually agreeable shipping price and cut your "losses".

Whatever option you choose, do it because it gives you the most net benefit, not because of your pride.

Good luck.

 

[Aragorn]

This person is just being an idiot and an ass. The negative feedback he left is really the topper. You should post his address and a couple of my fellas can "take care" of him.

 

[K'Ehleyr]

Yeah, all you can do is file the non-payment thing, and hope for the best. Likely, you'll end up just getting your item relisted for free, and the feedback buried.

Totally his fault for not reading, but in his defense, is it REALLY going to cost 9 pounds to package and ship the 1 pound item? A pet peeve of mine, with people listing items for very cheap, and then charging exorbitant shipping to bring the price back up to 'normal'. It's not illegal, but definitely shady. It reduces your fees to eBay, cheating the system, and at the same time, it puts a big burden on the buyer, because all of the buyer protection devices go away that way. As a buyer, you only get protected for the purchase price, and not the shipping/handling, so if you buy a $1 item with $50 shipping (and $51 total is a good price), if you have a problem later, you can only dispute the $1, so can't get help or a refund if you've been scammed.

If 10 pounds total was a good price for the item, why did you list shipping so high, and why did it only sell for 1 pound?

I totally agree with Scout ~ It was the buyer's fault for not reading the whole ad but the total cost inc p&p can be overlooked by new buyers and your p&p does seem excessive. My total p&p when sending a £150 saxophone in case was £10 and 'it arrived to their door'.
Most sellers are reducing their p&p to attract sales.
Go to Ebay, community, post and packaging questions, for further info.
A mutual non-sale agreement seems the best way.

 

[tharpdevenport]

Also, aside from the "is it worth it" factor, you got to consider his feedback. Look at all his negative and neutrl feedback; has he been doing this before? If so, he deserves a strike. Need to hel prid eBay of people like him if so.

 

[Aragorn]

He already struck first with his asinine negative feedback, which clearly shows that he's in the wrong. So bring the rain.

 

[SmoothieX]

I've got a couple things on Ebay that I decided I didn't want and didn't pay for.

It's a dumb hokey internet site, what do you expect?

 

[The Grim Ghost]

Geez, your postage is ridiculously expensive! Unless your item is quite heavy, it's just absurd unless you are mailing it to the bottom of the ocean or something. I have to say if that is the way you normally do things then I'm surprised that anyone ever buys any of your merchandise. I certainly wouldn't.

That said, the buyer should have checked that before bidding on it. So yes, you are right to be angry and they should pay up!

 

[Amaris]

Geez, your postage is ridiculously expensive! Unless your item is quite heavy, it's just absurd unless you are mailing it to the bottom of the ocean or something. I have to say if that is the way you normally do things then I'm surprised that anyone ever buys any of your merchandise. I certainly wouldn't.

That said, the buyer should have checked that before bidding on it. So yes, you are right to be angry and they should pay up!

He (or she) did say this though:

Ok. Now £9 is what i charge for P+P it is roughly what it costs to cover wrapping/process/post/travel to post office/anything else.

When you consider that for material, shipping cost and travel, it's not so bad.
Here in the U.S., when I ship something, even something less than 1 lb, it usually ends up being between $3 and $8 for standard shipping.

J.

 

[Scout101]

Since Priority Mail has like $3-4 flat rate fees, and provides the boxes, still seems high. (@ J.Allen, obviously UK rates are different). And the 9 pounds rate is clearly too much. What do SIMILAR items on the UK version of eBay charge for shipping?

Legit enough, as it was listed clearly I guess, but still a shady business practice, and against eBay policies, as it means you don't pay much for fees on the sale (because of the low sale price), and the buyer has no protection, only eligible for protection on the 1 pound sale price, not the 9 pound shipping fee.

I personally won't buy from sellers that act that way, and if it's a CLEAR abuse (like selling a $100 for $1 plus $99 shipping), I'll occasionally hit the "report" button as well. Circumventing the system, and hurts the buyer.

Good luck fighting this one! Of course, because of how it was set up, all you can contest is a 1 pound fee anyway, NOT the 10 pounds...