posted on January 24, 2001 11:46:28 PM
I have an odd problem.
I was the winning bidder of an auction under my bidding id. The seller is a Power Seller. The auction started at $9.00 with no reserve. I won the auction at $30. The TOS stated on the auction page is Billpoint, Paypal, check and money order.
I get an EOA notice from the seller, saying shipping/insurance is $8.50, but if I want to use Billpoint or Paypal I have to pay a $3.00 fee to cover the seller's costs.
Well I know that is against California state law, against Billpoint rules and against eBay rules to charge buyers a fee to cover merchant charge card costs. I am so irked by this I forward the email to eBay. eBay responds and tells me that the seller is warned against doing this again in the future. (Please note that eBay took action against a Power Seller.)
Well I want to use Billpoint to pay for this auction. I email the seller, say I want to use Billpoint, but the seller needs to send me a Billpoint invoice without the $3.00. I give the seller the urls so the seller can look and read why the $3.00 fee is illegal. The seller has the auction set up for Instant Purchase but I can't use it because the $3.00 fee is attached to the shipping and insurance cost; this cost is recorded as $12.00 - doesn't even match the numbers in the EOA which added up to $11.50 ($8.50+3.00.)
I don't hear from the seller. Nothing. I send another email. I say again nicely that I want to use Billpoint to pay for the auction but I need an invoice, the Instant Purchase has an illegal fee in it.
I still hear nothing from the seller. Right now I want to dig in my heels and pay with Billpoint. But I am stumped as to what to do. Get the contact info and call the person?
posted on January 25, 2001 12:01:33 AM
Send him a Paypal payment and then do a chargeback--would serve him right for trying to get you to pay $3.00 for something that would cost him 30 cents
It's pretty simple from your side. Write the seller and tell them that you will post explicit negative feedback if they don't change the invoice within a reasonable amount of time to comply with eBay and California regulations.
posted on January 25, 2001 04:10:17 AM
You can notify BILLPOINT about the fee and see what happens.
I like the idea of asking for a Billpoint invoice MINUS the ILLEGAL fee, and give them a time limit. If the will not do it, let them know the sale is off, or uold send them a PayPal payment, EXPLICITLY for that auction, and leave the $3.00 off of it. They might leave you a negative, but yuo can say "Wanted to charge $3.00 for using Billpoint, I refused."
posted on January 25, 2001 05:11:47 AM
Some time ago, as a newbie seller with a few stamp auctions, I signed up for CCNOW and inserted a fee in my auction TOS to cover the 9% fee. I didn't realise at the time that this was gainst Ebay rules. Credit card surcharges are legal in the UK and up until I signed up for CCNOW (to increase my foreign sales) I had been selling to the UK only.
Days later I received a snotty email pointing out that 'Credit Card Surcharges are illegal in most States' and threatening to report me to Safeharbour. I immediately removed the surcharge and wrote an apologetic reply explaining that I hadn't realised etc. What got me about the email was the 'I am a Power Seller' part. I dunno if that was supposed to scare me, I guess it did.
This just reminded me of that incident. Since then I've learnt from Auctionwatch to build my 9% into my opening bid. Sales have been great and no more complaints. I know that if I ever became a Power Seller, I would neither consider it my role to police the site, nor would I believe that having achieved Power Seller status, that I was somehow above the law. Even if surcharges weren't illegal on Ebay, imposing conditions which aren't in your original TOS most certainly IS. And I would expect a Power Seller to know better than anyone what the rules are.
posted on January 25, 2001 07:19:49 AMSince then I've learnt from Auctionwatch to build my 9% into my opening bid. Sales have been great and no more complaints.
And today's lesson is:
The credit card companies have done such a fine job of forcing fees on *all* buyers, regardless of whether or not the buyers actually use a cc that people hardly even notice that they are paying the fees for everything they buy.
posted on January 25, 2001 07:32:20 AM
I would again write ebay and tell then just what you stated here because I would image in the warning that they told them they could not by any means charge you the fee and they still are or they are trying to force you to pay 4 it another way which you should not have to. At this point the seller should apoligize and give you the item for free just to save some professional (and I use the word loosely here) face. Sellers like this give us all and ebay etc. . . I bad name. Report the continued 'power" trip abuse. Especially if they are a powerseller. They need to abide by certain rules of conduct and even though many are not they are thought to be to be more professional so make them act like it. If they knew what they were doing they wouldn't have to charge you the fee for them being in business. Don't let them make you pay for their failings
