eBay

lookwii · ‎03-27-2014

I am confused on how this works.

My listings offer the following:

Buy It Now

Free Shipping and

Best Offer

When I review the Offer received, it says "Shipping is not included in the offer price."

My question: Do I add shipping costs on top of the Best Offer? Or is shipping included in the Best Offer contrary to what it says in the Offer received.

Thanks in advance.

hp48_master · ‎08-20-2014

Oops Ignore above post of mine!

I tried editing it and then I spent too much time, and no cannot re-edit.

Here is what I meant to say:

YES shipping would be free for the offeror (buyer) if your auction is advertising free shipping.

If your auction or Buy It Now sale has a stated amount for shipping, then it appears that the shipping would be added onto the buyer's offer price, no stated amount (ie: free shipping), then no amount added.

If you offer free shipping, then when someone sends you their best offer, the other terms remain the same even though EBAY's offer system reminds you "Shipping is not included in the offer price."

Unfortunately, if you offer free shipping then the offer stands at free shipping with the offer too.

I just counteroffered by adding in my shipping to my buyer's $10 offer.

Remember, ebay charges their percentage on all monies transacted, including the shipping when the shipping costs not "free shipping" specified.

mixedbagmosaic · ‎09-01-2014

Here's ebay's policy on this topic

Clear as mud

"For listings in which the seller has specified shipping costs for the item, the Best Offer price includes only the listed item. For listings in which the shipping costs aren't specified, the buyer can choose to include shipping costs in their offer"

critofur · ‎12-16-2014

When eBay is at fault, but says "too bad, we don't care, and we're not going to do anything about it".

What can we do?

It's totally bogus to expect a seller to ship an item for free when they offer they are presented clearly, and LITERALY states "shipping is not included".

Rediculous!!!

critofur · ‎12-16-2014

It's not unclear. The statement "Shipping is not included..." is not ambigous.

eBay is simply wrong to present the seller with that statement, then expect the seller to INCLUDE shipping, when they were precisely told it would not be included if they accept the offer.

denisus_vjtvma9i · ‎04-09-2015

I'm not very ebay savvy and I don't understand most of the terms that are being talked about here. But, if I've placed a bid on an object and won the auction and in the original listing it was stated "free expedited shipping" but now when I proceed to checkout I see that I do have to pay shipping.. is that ok? The item is in the US and I'm here as well..so why would it not be free?

gmacmmac · ‎05-11-2015

Here's my POV. As a seller, I offer free shipping with the price of my item as an incentive to the buyer to simply take the item. There's no hassle with shipping calculations, or price discussions, etc. Its a clean deal and the buyer's final cost is clear and unchanging start to finish, and many buyers will opt for this for just those reasons. But, the deal is predicated on a Full Price Offer, and when the protocol changes to a "negotiation" style sale, all bets are off, and everything is now on the table, is it not? The fact that ebay leaves a little note to that fact, regarding shipping, is a convienient device for settling the shipping matter from authority and I've yet to have a buyer object after negotiating a lower price, and then being billed for shipping by ebay.

Now, as buyer, I want to make a purchase, but I decide to opt for "best offer", and make a low ball attempt, at just one half the asking price. Let's say a camera lens priced at $300 w/ free shipping. So I'm offering $150. I really do not expect the seller to continue to offer me the free shipping incentive with such an offer. If the seller accepts, I consider it "a deal", and happily pay the shipping because I'm still way under the asking price of $300. It would be rude of me to expect the seller to ship the item for free after I slashed his price in half. No? The point is, all things are negotiable, when negotiations are initiated, shipping cost included.

@denisus_vjtvma9i wrote:
I'm not very ebay savvy and I don't understand most of the terms that are being talked about here. But, if I've placed a bid on an object and won the auction and in the original listing it was stated "free expedited shipping" but now when I proceed to checkout I see that I do have to pay shipping.. is that ok? The item is in the US and I'm here as well..so why would it not be free?

misterfenwick · ‎05-11-2015

Seems to be a lot of buyers that either think they are being funny, quite simply don't care or don't realize an item is free shipping when they offer 5 dollars or less, they have to know any buyer wouldn't be making any kind of profit if they sold an item for 5 dollars free shipping but they contiue to throw out such ridiculous offers.

d-k_treasures · ‎05-11-2015

@gmacmmac wrote:
Here's my POV. As a seller, I offer free shipping with the price of my item as an incentive to the buyer to simply take the item. There's no hassle with shipping calculations, or price discussions, etc. Its a clean deal and the buyer's final cost is clear and unchanging start to finish, and many buyers will opt for this for just those reasons. But, the deal is predicated on a Full Price Offer, and when the protocol changes to a "negotiation" style sale, all bets are off, and everything is now on the table, is it not? The fact that ebay leaves a little note to that fact, regarding shipping, is a convienient device for settling the shipping matter from authority and I've yet to have a buyer object after negotiating a lower price, and then being billed for shipping by ebay.

Now, as buyer, I want to make a purchase, but I decide to opt for "best offer", and make a low ball attempt, at just one half the asking price. Let's say a camera lens priced at $300 w/ free shipping. So I'm offering $150. I really do not expect the seller to continue to offer me the free shipping incentive with such an offer. If the seller accepts, I consider it "a deal", and happily pay the shipping because I'm still way under the asking price of $300. It would be rude of me to expect the seller to ship the item for free after I slashed his price in half. No? The point is, all things are negotiable, when negotiations are initiated, shipping cost included.
@denisus_vjtvma9i wrote:
I'm not very ebay savvy and I don't understand most of the terms that are being talked about here. But, if I've placed a bid on an object and won the auction and in the original listing it was stated "free expedited shipping" but now when I proceed to checkout I see that I do have to pay shipping.. is that ok? The item is in the US and I'm here as well..so why would it not be free?

No it isn't. If your listing had free shipping, it stays free shipping even if BO is used.

_____________________________
"Nothing is obvious to the oblivious"

wagesea · ‎09-18-2015

I found that when I accept a "Best Offer" the acceptance amount is for the price item ONLY and whatever other terms there are point back to the original listing. You CAN negotiate with the buyer on shipping or discounted shipping or free shipping ( put other terms in the notes) then simply send an invoice after acceptance and have the buyer pay from the invoice. Whether this is proper or not I dont know but it has worked successfully for me

globalminds608 · ‎04-01-2016

I just find out that - price + free shipping is what the buyer sees. I was thinking like you that I would have the option to accept the offer + shipping- since the free shipping was set up for the bin, not the best offer. I am eliminating all free shipping in items with best offer.

nicepickinbob · ‎06-27-2016

@globalminds608 wrote:
I just find out that - price + free shipping is what the buyer sees. I was thinking like you that I would have the option to accept the offer + shipping- since the free shipping was set up for the bin, not the best offer. I am eliminating all free shipping in items with best offer.______________The last sentence here is profound and simple solution to this dilema, thanks I wished I had read it sooner or thought more clearly.

the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth · ‎06-27-2016

It's not the responsibility of the buyer to ensure the seller makes enough profit. If buyers keep doing this, there must be some sellers out there who are taking the sale. Otherwise it would be a huge waste of time to continue.

Sometimes I throw things up for sale at no profit because I want them to go to a new home. I want them to move quickly and get out of my house. Sometimes I have cheaper items up as loss leaders to bring people to my other listings or after they purchase, to my website.

Sellers are on here for all different reasons. This is a business. If a seller is insulted by a monetary offer, they need to grow a thicker skin. They also need to remember that unless they sell in a niche market, they likely will never see that buyer again. Why should that buyer care what is in the best interest of the seller?

fusion150 · ‎07-15-2016

As a buyer I find this issue unnecessarily confusing when it comes to free shipping items. If I see an item that says XXX - free shipping, I expect that the BIN price is for XXX at my door. If I offer some amount less, I expect that is for XXX at my door. Simple.

I understand the seller motivation to increase the offer by tacking on shipping, but it makes me extremely wary of making any offer for an item ever again, since I have no idea what my offer will be increased by after acceptance. Will the seller tack on $25, $50, $100? I'm in the dark, because there was no shipping cost stated in the the listing for me to consider when making my offer.

If this is really the way it is supposed to work, that needs to be clearly stated somewhere. And I will refrain from considering making any offers in the future. If he BIN price is too much, I'll just ignore th listing.