Ebay item won listed with free P&P - now £15??

fifib

Hi
My dad was bidding on an item in the UK and won. the item was listed as free P&P when you select Ireland as the postage destination. When he won the item he was sent the invoice and there was £15 listed for P&P
I mailed the seller asking why it said free P&P to Ireland when he was stating P&P as £15 now. He replied back that "the item was listed as £15 for delivery in the UK so if Im in the UK it will be £15."
I replied again this morning to tell him Im in Ireland. Dont use eBay that much myself so Im guessing he cannot see my address is in fact Ireland.
His ad does state worldwide delivery

Am i right in expecting to get free P&P on this item or was it a mistake?

rubadub

Post a link to the item, or the ebay number.

I am not certain how the invoices work, it could change from time to time, I usually pay immediately and go via ebay, not the invoice which I often get sent afterwards even after I have paid. I would imagine the ebay checkout should supercede the invoice sent and the postage should be listed as zero on this.

You are right in expecting free postage, even if it was a mistake they should not be able to lash it on afterwards or they could do this every time and pick any figure they want.

What was the item, there is no such thing as "free postage", the cost should be in addition to what it would cost. e.g. if the postage to the UK was £10 and £15 to Ireland he should be charging £5. But he should have put this in from the start.

fifib

this is the item:
NailGun

When you try and pay through ebay under the items won - pay now, it has the £15 Sellers Standard International Rate there

rubadub

fifib wrote: »

When you try and pay through ebay under the items won - pay now, it has the £15 Sellers Standard International Rate there

Yep, seems you are fully in the right. £200 seems a decent price too, even if it was a mistake he is making enough off the sale,

-i.e. in the past I once won an auction for a very low price as there were few bidders, I had emailed the guy beforehand to check the postage cost, when the package arrived I had seen he had underestimated the postage cost and so had actually made a loss selling it to me. So I sent him more money to cover his loss, it was only a few quid but it was on principle as I would be well pissed off if that happened to me. You have to feel sorry for some sellers you buy from if stuff goes for nothing and they are not a big powerseller.

With 336 ratings he is no newbie, I would (nicely) threaten neg feedback and reporting him. First I would contact ebay, as I do not understand how he could put on £15 after the auction is finished when it still clearly states it is free. What is to stop him saying £1,000

jor el

The Postage & Payments tab does indeed show free P&P for Ireland, so it should be free. You can't however force the seller to send it free of charge, all you can do is submit a complaint about the seller to eBay (who also won't force the seller to send it free of charge) and either pay up or pull out of the purchase.

Negative feedback regarding the change of postal rate would be appropriate, regardless of whether you buy or not.

rubadub

jor el wrote: »

You can't however force the seller to send it free of charge, all you can do is submit a complaint about the seller to eBay (who also won't force the seller to send it free of charge)

I never knew this could happen, I don't know why so many people bother with reserve prices etc if all they have to do is increase the postage at the end -though they obviously do not want neg feedback. Neither will this seller with 100%.

I suppose they could just refuse any sale though.

fifib

thanks guys! I will see what the seller comes back with but Im glad I know now Im right in expecting to just pay the £200 for it!
The thing is my dad really needs this item, he's been watching a few of them for a while now. He's type that would just pay it but Im the opposite!

*edit*
just a thought..but for UK it says £15 and even though the address registered with the ebay account is in Ireland...should ebay not automatically detect this and see that there is no P&P for Ireland?

jor el

I'd say what's happened is he made a mistake in the listing, as he has the correct postage for UK, but when he added the International Delivery option, he didn't add a price in, so it may have defaulted to free. If you choose any country other than UK, you'll see they're all listed as free.

So he didn't intend to give free delivery, but it's not your problem that he didn't list it properly, and you may not have bid had you known there was an additional charge to be added on top of the £200 final bid.

I'm not sure why the checkout system is including the UK postal rate, and not the free international rate that was in the listing.

Morlar

I have noticed this too. I sometimes buy ww2 photos from the states where the real world postage charge is .98c - some sellers are now looking to add on $15 to post an envelope to europe. This is the cost (I believe) of registered postage. I have now taken to asking in advance on any NA items and if there is no answer then that means they are looking to add on the $15 shipping and handling and so give it a miss.

fifib

So the seller got back to me:
"Please check the listing where it clearly states that Royal Mail postage within the Uk is £15. You are in Galway which is not covered by the Uk charges however I will send the goods at the Uk price provided a payment is made immediately. Thanks, "

Think I will contact ebay now and see what they have to say about it

Bob Z

fifib wrote: »

So the seller got back to me:
"Please check the listing where it clearly states that Royal Mail postage within the Uk is £15. You are in Galway which is not covered by the Uk charges however I will send the goods at the Uk price provided a payment is made immediately. Thanks, "

Think I will contact ebay now and see what they have to say about it

Ebay will probably take him at his word. he probably made a mistake when listing it

fifib

Maybe but this is what he replied then...
"Hi, thanks for your response but I think you are missing the point. I am in the UK so the best postal rate will be for the UK. If you are not in the UK you should have requested a shipping price to southern Ireland. You must have mistaken the wording on someone elses listing regarding free postage to Ireland! Unless I lived in Ireland why would I offer free postage there ?!"

I didnt request a shipping price as it stated clearly free P&P, if it said unknown then I would have enquired how much it would cost with him! and trying to make out Im mixing it up with another ad! This was after I sent him a screenshot of his ad with all the "free P&P" highlighted!! and you can clearly see the item number, his username and location on it!

rubadub

He has some bloody nerve, won't even admit it is a mistake. I doubt it would cost £15 in additional postage to send that here, and that is what it should be added on to the cost of the UK price as I mentioned earlier. I also mentioned he is no newbie and knows fine well that he is in the wrong.

I once asked for the cheapest postage to ireland and the UK seller actually charged me LESS than the UK postage -he sent economy rather than first class. When asking quotes I always say I know it will take longer and I will not leave neg feedback.

fifib

rubadub wrote: »

He has some bloody nerve, won't even admit it is a mistake.

I know! my dad was going to reply and say he was willing to pay the £15 yesterday, fair enough he made a mistake in listing the thing...til we saw his reply first!! £15 isnt goin to break the bank but its just the principle of it all!

he also sent a mail saying he has reported it to eBay to get his listing fees refunded - what does this mean?
is it that he's removing the item? or in a roundabout way admitting what we see with regards to free P&P to Ireland is correct and he or ebay made a mistake?!?

I sent a mail off to ebay but no response since. Its dragging out now wish he's just admit he f**ked up and take it on the chin!! My dad is afraid now if he does buy it will come damaged in some way in spite!

jor el

This guy is some sort of chancer. He made a mistake, he knows he made a mistake, but he's not willing to admit it or give any ground. I don't know why, because as you said, your dad would probably have paid.

The seller has probably filed for mutual withdrawal from the sale, so he can get his fees back, though he could also have possibly filed a non-paying bidder dispute against you. You'll be contacted by eBay in either case, as you'll need to agree to withdraw from the sale in the first case, or explain yourself in the 2nd.

You should find the link to report an eBay item, it should be on the auction page somewhere, then go through the steps and report that the seller is increasing the price after the auction has ended, or something like that.

emails to eBay are a waste of time. The report is probably a waste of time, but you should cover yourself anyway.

Bob Z

Make sure you forward all messages to your email address(in caase you have to forward then to ebay) due to privacy laws i don't think ebay can read messages in your actual ebay account

Bob Z

OP he definetly made the mistake. If he didnt want people outside the uk bidding on it he could set the auction to UK only what would have happened if someone in Ameerica or China had bought it?

But i dont think you are going to have any problems with the seller he has a positive rating of 336 and he has never had any negative feeedback so he wont want to risk that as it would effect his future sales. If it was damaged in the post you would be leaving negative feedback

Just remain polite in all dealings with him and you should be ok

How much are tthese items normally is he making much of a profit? Sometimes sellers get annoyed if they didnt get high enough bids and try to get an excuse to get out of the sale

fifib

I gather from my dad that new these things cost about €400!

I replied to him yesterday to say I was definately not mixing the ad up with another and the screenshot of the ad clearly shows that! I asked him did he make a mistake in the listing and I told him I do still want to buy the item and I have too referred the matter to eBay also to see how we deal with a situation like this and hope we can sort it out soon for both our sakes!

he came back with "Ime sorry I have now reffered this to ebay. I was willing to let you have it at the UK rate but even that was not good enough for you. I will certainly not accept bids from anyone else with a 0 feedback score in the future"

I told him my zero score had nothing to do with it. That I think he's made a mistake in the listing, couldnt admit it and tried to make out it was my error by looking at the wrong ad or misreading the ad. Said had he admitted it was a mistake then we probably would have paid the extra postage. Told him I had no choice now but to leave negative feedback

and he came back with...
"Well there's certainly no point leaving you neg feedback with you sitting on a big fat Zero. With the way you string people along trying to blag time and free postage theres no wonder you are still a big Zero. You are are time waster."
:rolleyes:

rubadub

I would immediately leave negative feedback, articulate non-abusive feedback make good use of the character limit. If you do not act now the auction may be cancelled as it seems he is looking for a refund on his fees and I imagine if this happens you will not be allowed to leave feedback at all.

I left well worded negative feedback for a seller who screwed me over refusing to sell me something. I visited his ebay page a while later and looking at his more recent sales history it did seem to have a dramatic effect on his sales.

fifib

left negative feedback

see this now on my account: eBay note: An unpaid item case is now open for this purchase. Payment must be made by 25 Apr, 2010.

Ive sent off an email with all the detail to ebay (Monday) through the Contact US on their site and reported the item(Wednesday)...still no response from eBay. their customer support isn't great is it!

jor el

You need to use the Report this Item link on the auction. I've looked through the options, and there isn't one relating to postal charges, so you could try one that's somewhat related to it. Maybe pick "Fraudulent listing" and "Seller requesting payment by unsafe method".

Can you respond to the non-paying bidder dispute at all?

Bob Z

You shouldn't have left feedback until the matter was resolved because a) he's not worried about negative feedback anymore and b) if he gets nasty(not to say he will) it will be too late to reflect it in fb

the item went for £200 but was worth £400? That's probably what really annoyed him not the postage.

old_aussie

Contact ebay and they will see you are telling the truth and the seller is deceitful and also the sale is a legal contract

Leave negative feedback to warn others

fifib

Bob Z wrote: »

You shouldn't have left feedback until the matter was resolved because a) he's not worried about negative feedback anymore and b) if he gets nasty(not to say he will) it will be too late to reflect it in fb

the item went for £200 but was worth £400? That's probably what really annoyed him not the postage.

but if id waited til the issue was resolved I may not have been able to leave feedback. I dont know exactly how it works but I presume the item will be removed and I will no longer have the "pay now" option or perhaps the "leave feedback" option.

no the item new in shops are worth about €400+ i think

Jor el - if I select those options all it asks for is the item number which is what Ive already reported during the week. they dont give you a whole lot of choice for the options/reasons!

I cannot respond to the dispute but now I have 1 case opened against me. the only actions I can take on this are:
Pay now or contact seller...neither of which I want to do!

Ticktactoe

fifib wrote: »

but if id waited til the issue was resolved I may not have been able to leave feedback. I dont know exactly how it works but I presume the item will be removed and I will no longer have the "pay now" option or perhaps the "leave feedback" option.

no the item new in shops are worth about €400+ i think

Jor el - if I select those options all it asks for is the item number which is what Ive already reported during the week. they dont give you a whole lot of choice for the options/reasons!

I cannot respond to the dispute but now I have 1 case opened against me. the only actions I can take on this are:
Pay now or contact seller...neither of which I want to do!

Do not give in, simply because the seller is been rude and ignorant about the issue and calling you a time waster. I have sold and bought items on ebay you most certainly do not behave as a seller in this manner.

Even if he thinks you are misunderstanding him re P&P(which i think you are not) he should try and resolve the issue avoiding any blame and especially abuse. Would you take this behaviour from a face-to-face sale??

Leaving neg feedback was a good idea so to warn other buyers, well done.

rubadub

Bob Z wrote: »

You shouldn't have left feedback until the matter was resolved because a) he's not worried about negative feedback anymore

He has the neg feedback now, he got it in while still possible as it seemed the seller was looking to get listing fees refunded -I would see this as an attempt to put a complaint in first so he appeared in the right and hopefully not be able to recieve the neg feedback he deserved.

I am not sure what you mean by he is not worried anymore -he should be very worried about his future sales. If you meant he is not worried by the threat of it, it sounded like the OP was not going to buy it either way.

My dad is afraid now if he does buy it will come damaged in some way in spite!

Pay now or contact seller...neither of which I want to do!

Bob Z wrote: »

b) if he gets nasty(not to say he will) it will be too late to reflect it in fb

If there are any questionable claims in feedback he can ask it to be removed. You only have so many characters to use and it should serve as a warning to other buyers. I do not care about the personality of sellers, if I read a feedback saying he was abusive etc I would wonder what really was going on, and if it was deserved TBH. The feedback the OP left was good & to the point, it looks bad and the seller cannot dispute it in any way.

fifib

Thanks for all the feedback guys and the support...its made me more determined to stick with this and get it resolved knowing ye are all in agreement with me!

I finally found the Online chat support on eBay....dam its well hidden!
The girl I talked to could see where I was coming from and pointed me to another section in which I had to again fill out a mailing form to send them. done that anyways and put in all the detail right up to today so I have myself well covered anyways...i hope!!

this is the link in case anyone is looking for it again!
EBay - Contact US - More Topics and Online Chat Support

jor el

This, not very helpful, page about reporting a seller for non-performance, is the only other reference page I could find. It says to use the contact us page to file a report, which I guess you've already done.

the groutch

sounds like an irish based bloke acting as an agent for an Asian company
I've seen this recently with a game I was gonna buy, said it was an irish seller, but description said shipping from Singapore.

rubadub

the groutch wrote: »

sounds like an irish based bloke acting as an agent for an Asian company

That is common, AKA dropshipping, but I don't think its the case here, otherwise postage would be the same to the UK as here if he was dropshipping from China. Check his other completed auctions and most were quoting posting only within the UK.