posted on October 7, 2005 12:15:54 PM
I won a couple of auctions and requested a combined invoice on 3 different occasions without a response. (I tried writing through ebay's mail system and directly to his e-mail address.) On the 4th occasion, he finally wrote back asking for the auction numbers that I won so that he could send a combined invoice. I immediately wrote him back (within a few minutes) giving him the auction numbers. He never combined the invoice.
Now he has opened two NPB cases against me and I still don't have the combined amount. I did write again (albeit it wasn't quite so nice this time) but haven't heard back and don't think that I will.
What should I do? Should I just pay for the two auction wins? The shipping is way steep for the two auctions (over $15 for items that can be mailed media for $3.52). But at this point, I'm thinking I should just pay it and be done with it. It's on my buying ID so I really don't care if I get a neg or strike, but I have never NOT paid for items before. I have also never run into such an incompetent seller either.
I don't feel comfortable telephoning someone I don't know because I struggle on the telephone with my hearing disability.
posted on October 7, 2005 12:31:43 PM
Did his auction say that he combines shipping? If they don't state it - he may have no intentions of doing it for you. Sounds like he a real jerk but you may not have any recourse but to pay the high shipping.
Reply to the NPB that YOU are waiting for combine shipping and see what happens.
Good luck!!
posted on October 7, 2005 03:59:18 PM
Hi Diane,
since he filed NPA, how about filing an item not received to get his attention, stating that you have not received your combined shipping price nor your items.
Rosanne
posted on October 7, 2005 04:43:41 PM
Mamachia...I was thinking the same thing. File a non-performing seller complaint or a non delivering dispute. I would pull his contact info and phone him. Don't worry about a hearing disability. Every mad female I've ever dealt with has never let me get a word in sideways anyway. And if I did manage to, they didn't pay any attention.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on October 8, 2005 07:15:32 AM
if he did not offer combined shipping in his auction,and he is ignoring your email,I would just go ahead and pay for the items.
He could be making money on shipping,not the items .
I dont understand why buyers like to educate/coach/suggest/demand how sellers should ship their items,some sellers live far away from post office,some are disabled and cant get around,some dont drive,some may be low on gas,some make money on shipping,etc etc.
-sig file -------
Eat grass,kick ass,never go belly up!
posted on October 8, 2005 08:52:35 AM
I agree, it is amazing how many people think S&H is just the postage amount. I sell a lot of Sports Cards for .01 ea w/ $1.99 S&H. People still feel that is high! Plus I give a discount on multiple wins. I had a guy drop 13 negs on me because I would not combine 13 low priced items for $2!! The book value of the cards was over $40 and I wanted w/ S&H $15 or so. The best thing to do if you are unsure is ask a question BEFORE you bid. If you don't you need to stick with the sellers terms and not complain
___________________________________
If you build it, he will come........
[ edited by captian23 on Oct 8, 2005 08:56 AM ]
[ edited by captian23 on Oct 8, 2005 08:56 AM ]
posted on October 8, 2005 11:10:36 AM
Stop & Captain -- You both need to learn how to read. It states in my post that the seller wrote me back on the 4th e-mail asking for the auction numbers so that he could send me a combined invoice but then never did. DUH!
Thanks Lady, Sparkz and Mamachia. (Sparkz -- You crack me up every time!) I'm thinking of doing what you all suggested and see if it will give him a wake-up call.
I don't understand why he would ask for the auction numbers to send a combined invoice and then not do it. It doesn't make sense to me.
posted on October 8, 2005 11:22:24 AM
By the way, Captian, you may want to rethink your selling strategy as it is a way of circumventing Ebay's fees which is against Ebay's rules. And you may also want to rethink about announcing it on this board as it has been said time and time again that Ebay does read this board.
posted on October 8, 2005 11:26:01 AM
Captian - so in other words you are avoiding Ebay fees by charging overpriced shipping? As a result, those of us who do pay their full amount of fees, will probably continue to pay the price for this type of activity by the ever-increasing fees.
posted on October 8, 2005 11:38:00 AM
Caroline, in the long run, honesty wins out. The only problem is that sometimes it's a REALLY, REALLY LONG LONG run.
posted on October 8, 2005 11:53:18 AM
$15.00 s & h for 13 sports cards? i'd neg you, too! the others are right about circumventing fees. the point is to make $ on the listed items, not view the s & h as a cash cow. buyers are wise to that one. i suspect the number of repeat buyers you have is low... http://stores.ebay.com/postcards-postcards?refid=store http://www.vintagepostcards.org
posted on October 8, 2005 02:48:43 PM
Come on you guys don't be so hard on the cap..in some categories this is done all the time and ebay MUST know about it but looks the other way.
I know in the "start at under a $" jewelry categories this is the way it's done....
Jewelry sellers are paying 25 cents to list and not paying FVF's on $5-7 of the sales price but who are we to wonder why? Maybe we are the SUCKERS!
Ebay must derive SOME benefit by looking the other way! Maybe that's why they started this showing the shipping price in the search feature. Most of those jewelry sellers have 100% sell through with lots of repeat buyers
I should add that once, and only once, I tried listing postcards at under $1 when ebay had a listing promotion. It didn't occur to me to raise the shipping price accordingly. Most of the cards sold for the .99 with no other bids and by the time I paid PayPal, I think I LOST money on every transaction!!
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posted on October 8, 2005 03:10:32 PM
I agree that it just must be common in some categories. I have a coworker who occasionally sells tickets to sporting events. Shipping is $5.00. He puts them in an envelope with a .37 stamp and has glowing feedback.
posted on October 8, 2005 03:22:44 PM
Bizzy.
I learned how to read long time ago,I read what you said about him asking for item numbers so he can combine shipping in one invoice.
But saying is one thing,doing is another,the fact is - he did not send you a combined invoice (or may be you just did not get it) and filed NPB with Ebay.
You asked us what you should do,so my advice is go ahead and pay him and quit wondering this and that.
-sig file -------
Eat grass,kick ass,never go belly up!
posted on October 8, 2005 03:39:24 PM
Diane,
He just doesn't have his act together unless he is a newbie. He can go into MY Ebay, then into sold, hit invoice and everything under your seller ID will be there where he can adjust the shipping fees. That is what I do for my customers who buy multiple purchases. Or he can send his own. Maybe he is clueless about how things work.
rosanne
posted on October 8, 2005 05:39:28 PM
OK, Now how many of you have checked to see what the avg shipping price is in the Sports Card Category? Let me guess, NONE OF YOU! The $1.99 is avg for S&H. I am not avoiding fees or gouging. If I were to charge $4.99 or so that would be gouging. If I started my auctions at $100 and charged $1.99 would that be OK with you? I would be willing to bet there is more padding in your S&H than in mine. We are talking $2, how much in fees would I be avoiding? Seems to me that if I start an auction too high and it doesn't sell than there are no final value fees. I list at .01 because more people LOOK at my auctions. I sell more cards @ .01 than I did when I started auctions @.49 or $1. Funny thing I also get more page views. Amazing how that works. My point was that people don't read the TOS and then complain AFTER the auction ends. The seller is not obligated to change how they do business because you chose not to read or thought it should be different. You are obligated to honor the terms as stated. If the seller sends you an end of auction notice with a total that agrees with the terms of the auction, you are obligated to send payment. Before each of you go attacking and accusing you might want to do some home work.
___________________________________
If you build it, he will come........
[ edited by captian23 on Oct 8, 2005 05:41 PM ]
posted on October 8, 2005 05:57:43 PM
How much do you add per auction? I am sure you have more than a dollar over the postage amount. I am also sure you cover your fees in you S&H. And besides, the S&H was clearly stated in the auction and I did discount which I did not have to. I did not have it stated that I would combine.
It sounds to me like all you like to do is complain. Every post that you are involved in you are wining about this or that. Just pay the seller what he/she is owed and get off your high horse
___________________________________
If you build it, he will come........
posted on October 8, 2005 06:12:44 PM
remember Fluffy,she starts her auction at one penny and charges 5 for shipping.
Her bidders do not complain of her shipping fee.
-sig file -------
Eat grass,kick ass,never go belly up!
posted on October 8, 2005 07:23:02 PM
Not to take sides or anything, but in my expereices as a buyer and as a seller, it just "seems" worse when it's a low value item and the shipping costs more than the postage, even if it's by $1.50 whereas if we were overcharged by that same amount on a $100 item, most people probably wouldn't bat an eyelash.
Me personally when I buy something for $5 or $1 and the seller charges $4.95 shipping and handling, then the item arrives with less than $1 postage, I must admit, I do feel resentful. It's one thing if the postage was around $4, I realize we sellers need to cover our packing material expenses, gas, time to go to the post office, etc.
I've tried slightly undercharging for postage. Nobody said anything. I tried charging the exact amount for postage, nobody said anything. I tried adding a $1 or $2 to postage... and nobody said anything, but I seemed to get less feedback. Never tried charging a lot more for shipping like some sellers who charge $19.95 for shipping when it really costs a fraction of that.
posted on October 8, 2005 07:38:08 PM
Bizzy - Captains selling plan is not fee avoidance - it's survival in the sports card field. I helped a friend once get rid of part of his collection and it was one of the worst selling experiences I have ever had. Unless your card is professionally graded at 10 and of a now dead hall of famer, you have no hope of getting a bid if you start at anything over 5 cents. It's just the nature of that catagory. If there is one market that was completely destroyed by ebay - it's sport cards. The thing is that buyers KNOW that's the game. They are the ones that won't bid on a fairly priced card. I actually had a guy buy 20 cards then send me a money order for the auction price of the cards (under 2.00)and a 37 cent stamp. Since I was selling on a throw away account I removed them from the plastic protectors, stacked them in two stacks, wraped them in duct tape, added his address and stamp and sent them off. When he complained about the condition, and the fact that there was postage due, I told him that I had included all of the postage, care and handling he had paid for.
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
An intelligent deaf-mute is better than an ignorant person who can speak.
posted on October 8, 2005 07:42:47 PM
That's pretty funny! I don't know if I'd have the nerve to do something that bold though.
A friend of mine just gave me a huge box of assorted sports cards. I know nothing about them, but based on what I'm reading here, it might be best to just give them away for free to someone on freecycle. Sounds like they're not even worth the postage it would cost to ship that box.
posted on October 8, 2005 07:46:52 PM
Power - if you have any questions... pull 5 cards from that box and look at the completed auctions for them. You could try listing the box as a whole depending on the condition of the cards, and the sport(s).
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
An intelligent deaf-mute is better than an ignorant person who can speak.
posted on October 8, 2005 08:26:32 PM
fenix, that's a good idea, I'll do that and see if they're worthwhile or not. None of them are in plasic, they're all loose in a box, so I'm guessing since they're not mint condition they're worth less already.
I might just auction off the whole box as a mystery auction of sorts. They'll know what the contents are, just not each individual card (there must be a few hundred at least).
posted on October 8, 2005 08:58:19 PM
<< Just pay the seller what he/she is owed and get off your high horse>>
So just how much does she owe? She requested a combined invoice, he agreed to send one after she furnished the auction numbers, he never sent the invoice as promised. Why didn't he just say up front he's not willing to combine shipping, and to pay each transaction individually? So far, Bizzy has not refused to pay. She's still waiting for this dumbass seller to let her know what exactly she owes. Personally, if a buyer wins 3 of my auctions and doesn't contact me about combined shipping, I take the initiative and offer it to them. The last thing I want is three seperate payments, spaced 3 days apart, requiring that I pack 3 seperate boxes and make 3 seperate trips to FedEx for the same customer. I want to get it all in one package, make one trip and save time and gasoline. I'm more than willing to help them save $$ on shipping to get this.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on October 9, 2005 04:18:19 AMI did write again (albeit it wasn't quite so nice this time) but haven't heard back and don't think that I will...
Bizzy, maybe he forgot about the combining invoices? I mean, depending on his selling volume, it could have slipped by him...but then if you wrote him a bitc*y email, maybe he decided it wasnt worth the hassle?
Sounds to me like he probably is making a portion of his profit on the shipping. I dont think he "has to" combine shipping to be in compliance with the terms of the sale(s), but you, on the other hand, did bid on two items and I think Ebay would see it as youre obligated to pay for them as bid on.
Bizzy, technically, you would probably lose the dispute if you got into one over it.
Why get a strike(or two)on your account when you obviously wanted the items, right? You wanted them, you bid on them...so pay for them as if there was no mention of combining shipping (which, why did you wait until the end to ask anyway?)
If youve got negative feelings for the seller, you could always wait for another gizmo to come along, and not do business with him. But if you dont pay, I'm sure he will strike and neg your account. Youre asking for a prolonged headache here, imo. Dont do that to yourself, Bizzy
posted on October 9, 2005 04:36:49 AM
Captian -- What do I charge above shipping? 50 cents above actual shipping no matter how many auctions they win. If they win 10 auctions, I weigh the items and figure out the postage and tack on 50 cents. (Actually, it is only 37 cents if I use DC.)
fenix -- OMG! I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when he received his package! LOL ... That's hysterical! Sounds like Sparkz is rubbing off on you! LOL ...
posted on October 9, 2005 04:38:14 AM
Power - If they are older cards (70's or below) then you should have no problem listing them as a lot. You could also look for stars of the era and list that as a Star lot or as singles. If they are from the late 1980's then you could really make a neighborhood kid happy because of overproduction there is not much value there.
___________________________________
If you build it, he will come........
posted on October 9, 2005 05:19:15 AM
Captain, at first glance, they appear to be mostly late 80s cards, and 90s cards as well. The family they came from has kids that were born in the early to mid 80s, so that's probably who they were bought for. I'd say one of the neighbourhood kids on my street will be getting a box of sports cards very soon! (But I'll go through them in more detail before I give them away just to be sure).
Caroline 
