posted on October 19, 2000 05:55:04 AM
Hi, I have a bidder who, through no fault of his own, will not be buying the item he won (my fault for a mistake on description).
Is there a way to file for a refund on FVF without ebay going after him with emails and warnings?
[ edited by loosecannon on Oct 19, 2000 05:58 AM ]
posted on October 19, 2000 06:41:51 AM
When you file for final value fee, there is an option that says something like:
Mutually agreed not to complete the sale".
The buyer then is off the hook, and the seller can recoup his fees.
posted on October 19, 2000 06:44:18 AM
Hi! Yes, you can get a refund for that transaction without it going against the buyer. When you file the NPB alert, you just choose "Both parties mutually agreed not to complete the transaction." They said that only the first two reasons get nasty emails from eBay, but that one is the 7th and last one down. The buyer will get some sort of email, but it shouldn't be a threatening one. Just let him know it's coming, and he won't be surprised.
posted on October 19, 2000 07:09:20 AM
What about the NPB Alert that it says you have to file before you can request credit?
I can communicate with this bidder and explain I'm trying to recoup the fees, but I really don't want to irritate him further.
He could leave me a neg if he gets a burr under his saddle.
Scenario was that I honestly didn't discover the problem with the piece until I was wiping it down before packing. It was a nearly invisible flaw. I emailed him about it, told him he was in no way obligated to buy, or he could still buy at a greatly reduced price. He chose not to buy. No problem with him not buying, just want the fee back if I can get it without reflecting badly on him or irritating him.
Wife and I are starting a new thing, where we both look a piece over before we describe it. It's embarrassing for an auction to end up the way this one did.
posted on October 19, 2000 08:03:29 AM
loosescannon,
You still file the NPB but use the "Mutually Agreed Not to Complete the Sale" option as other posters have noted.
At this point, you don't have to wait for the credit, ebay usually immediately credits your account in this circumstance.
When this has happened to me, I just contacted the buyer, explained what I was doing & that the "Mutually Agreed" scenario does not count against him or me.
There's NO guarantee he won't get irritated, but even if you don't file for the FVF credit, he could still leave a neg. Chances are if you explain there's no harm, no foul w/the "Mutual" option, he'll accept it & go his way.
posted on October 19, 2000 08:06:56 AM
About a month ago a bidder won one of my auctions for a laserdisc. Within minutes of the end of auction the bidder sent me an e-mail apologizing for bidding on it, but that he did not realize it was a laserdisc. He said that he did not have a player so he couldn't use it. If forced, he would pay for it. I told him he was off the hook and I offered it to the second highest bidder. The second guy said he wanted it, but then I never heard from him again. A week later I filed for FVF and used the mutual agreement reason. The fee was credited to my account almost immediately. Shortly thereafter ebay emailed the first winning bidder and told them that I had contacted ebay and indicated that I would not be selling the item to him. If that was indeed true, don't worry and please continue enjoying ebay. If it was not true, he was requested to contact ebay and tell them if he had purchased the item, or still intended to purchase the item.
The same happens when you refund money to the bidder and file for FVF from ebay.
posted on October 19, 2000 10:12:13 AM
Just last week I was notified that the reason that my high bidder had not paid is because he passed away from cancer. I did not want to bother the family in order to get the final value fee credit refund so I contacted Ebay directly and explained the situation. Here is the email address that you can contact customer support directly and try to handle it without risking upsetting your high bidder:
eBay Customer Support <[email protected]>
Yes, I did receive the refund.
