eBay

sin-n-dex · ‎04-27-2024

Customer contacts me, wants three coins. They're on her watch list, I send her offers. She wanted to buy them as a gift for someone.

She messages me that when she gets my offers it makes her "check out" instead of adding to the cart, and it's charging her the full shipping amount on each of the three coins instead of letting her get combined shipping.

I tried and tried to explain what's going on (how eBay is forcing this, has nothing to do with my store), and that no one knows why it picks some customers and not others to make the checkout button appear instead of adding to cart.

Well she likely doesn't trust I'll refund since from what I hear from my customers, many sellers do not refund anything even when they overcharge things like shipping... so now she's not buying the coins, and I just lost a $39 all because EBAY doesn't understand about people wanting to buy multiple items and combine shipping.

Who are they to decide if I want the customer to check out now or not? I don't have that enabled in my store, there's no immediate payment required, so if the customer wants to put it in their cart and request an invoice, I say to eBay "let them do just that".

C.

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-27-2024

I agree that it is annoying that they ever require immediate payment if the seller does not want it.

Is it possible that the require immediate payment for offers got checked off? I didn't think it applied to offers that sellers send out but I could be wrong.

Bottom of this page.... https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/buyerrequirements

If not, the only way around if it the buyer doesn't trust you to refund later on is to make one listing for all items.

sin-n-dex · ‎04-27-2024

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
I agree that it is annoying that they ever require immediate payment if the seller does not want it.
Is it possible that the require immediate payment for offers got checked off? I didn't think it applied to offers that sellers send out but I could be wrong.
Bottom of this page.... https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/buyerrequirements

If not, the only way around if it the buyer doesn't trust you to refund later on is to make one listing for all items.

This is what I see when I go to that page:

That's the only thing I see regarding immediate payment.

That's a brilliant idea to combine and make a single listing, I don't know why I didn't think of that an hour ago since I've done that in the past to avoid this constant check out and refund cycle we go on. But I think in this case I might have spooked the buyer and they don't trust me (which I'll agree is a default position most buyers have with people they haven't bought from before until proven otherwise). I should be thankful so many buyers do trust me, this is actually the first time I've knowingly lost a sale because of this. My partner says it probably happens a lot more, but the buyer never tells me what's going on.

C.

tobaccocardyahoo · ‎04-27-2024

She wanted to buy them as a gift for someone.

Words that raise my expectations of a return of some or all of the items.

My worst risk of returns from customers, on all sites, has been early Christmas present orders in October.

wastingtime101 · ‎04-27-2024

I fully agree it's a bad situation that eBay needs to address. If a seller does not check auto-pay on offers in their buyer requirement settings then eBay should not force it.

That said, since so many buyers are distrusting of "refund after the fact" due to the number of sellers that don't follow through, why not offer a choice of a post-sale refund as easiest option, or a custom listing at the agreed upon price if they're not comfortable with the promise of a post-sale refund?

Edit: Or you can cancel all pending offers, then lower item price to offer price so buyer can add to cart - tell them first come, first serve.

GLORIOUS!

Confused about the switch to eBay discounted shipping? Read this discussion to make an informed decision about opt in / opt out.

ten_o_nine · ‎04-27-2024

and I just lost a $39 all because EBAY doesn't understand about people wanting to buy multiple items and combine shipping.

-----------------------------------------------

How? I think you just lost a sale.

itsjustasprain · ‎04-27-2024

@wastingtime101 wrote:
That said, since so many buyers are distrusting of "refund after the fact" due to the number of sellers that don't follow through, why not offer a choice of a post-sale refund as easiest option, or a custom listing at the agreed upon price if they're not comfortable with the promise of a post-sale refund?

If that buyer cannot trust a written statement saying flat-out 'I am not able to combine the charges with an invoice but I will immediately refund the excess shipping after your payment' or something like that then I would say that is more a problem with the buyer than the system. I have actually had that same issue in some multiple purchases of my own but the seller has simply said 'go ahead and pay it as-is and I will fix it later' and they always do.

I mean - I know the selling and combining procedures have big flaws - but good grief... if the buyer is not going to believe a promise provided IN WRITING then that is just sad.

doc-holmes · ‎04-27-2024

@itsjustasprain wrote:
@wastingtime101 wrote:
That said, since so many buyers are distrusting of "refund after the fact" due to the number of sellers that don't follow through, why not offer a choice of a post-sale refund as easiest option, or a custom listing at the agreed upon price if they're not comfortable with the promise of a post-sale refund?
If that buyer cannot trust a written statement saying flat-out 'I am not able to combine the charges with an invoice but I will immediately refund the excess shipping after your payment' or something like that then I would say that is more a problem with the buyer than the system. I have actually had that same issue in some multiple purchases of my own but the seller has simply said 'go ahead and pay it as-is and I will fix it later' and they always do.

I mean - I know the selling and combining procedures have big flaws - but good grief... if the buyer is not going to believe a promise provided IN WRITING then that is just sad.

I get it. Even if it is in writing, if the seller doesn't follow through, will eBay do anything? Probably not. I'd probably take a chance of its a few bucks and the seller seems trustworthy, but I get why some may not.

sin-n-dex · ‎04-27-2024

@tobaccocardyahoo wrote:
She wanted to buy them as a gift for someone.

Words that raise my expectations of a return of some or all of the items.

My worst risk of returns from customers, on all sites, has been early Christmas present orders in October.

I've had some people buy things for gifts, some of the boxed coins and stuff make good presents to people who like the theme, but aren't really coin collectors.

I suppose with the October Christmas shopping, they know they still have time to shop and can afford to send something back, it's not like a last minute gift where you really need a gift by the (although there has been some complaints about an occasion being ruined because the gift wasn't as good as they thought it would be).

C.

sin-n-dex · ‎04-27-2024

@wastingtime101 wrote:
I fully agree it's a bad situation that eBay needs to address. If a seller does not check auto-pay on offers in their buyer requirement settings then eBay should not force it.

That said, since so many buyers are distrusting of "refund after the fact" due to the number of sellers that don't follow through, why not offer a choice of a post-sale refund as easiest option, or a custom listing at the agreed upon price if they're not comfortable with the promise of a post-sale refund?

Edit: Or you can cancel all pending offers, then lower item price to offer price so buyer can add to cart - tell them first come, first serve.

Given thought of the few messages that were exchanged, I think they were mistrusting they'd get combined shipping from the get go, and the pay and check out was just the final straw.

I don't want to pester the buyer, I'll just have to do better next time.

It's also possible the buyer is considering it, and thus doesn't want to be pestered either, so I think I need to let this go. I have lots of stuff to work on tonight and a whole evening of no commitments to work on it, so I'll move on pretty quickly.

C.

sin-n-dex · ‎04-27-2024

@itsjustasprain wrote:
@wastingtime101 wrote:
That said, since so many buyers are distrusting of "refund after the fact" due to the number of sellers that don't follow through, why not offer a choice of a post-sale refund as easiest option, or a custom listing at the agreed upon price if they're not comfortable with the promise of a post-sale refund?
If that buyer cannot trust a written statement saying flat-out 'I am not able to combine the charges with an invoice but I will immediately refund the excess shipping after your payment' or something like that then I would say that is more a problem with the buyer than the system. I have actually had that same issue in some multiple purchases of my own but the seller has simply said 'go ahead and pay it as-is and I will fix it later' and they always do.

I mean - I know the selling and combining procedures have big flaws - but good grief... if the buyer is not going to believe a promise provided IN WRITING then that is just sad.

My go-to for customer service stuff on eBay just got home from work, so we're going to talk on the phone about this to get some good advice on how to talk to customers in future (to at least be doing my best when this happens again).

But you do have a point, if a seller promises something in writing, it should be believed. But I've had lots of problems with lots of sellers over the years, and some of my buyers have complained about other sellers, so that likely has something to do with it.

C.

sin-n-dex · ‎04-27-2024

@doc-holmes wrote:
I get it. Even if it is in writing, if the seller doesn't follow through, will eBay do anything? Probably not. I'd probably take a chance of its a few bucks and the seller seems trustworthy, but I get why some may not.

I think eBay can't do anything about that anymore then they can do something about the buyer who promises to be liable if tracking is not used. The buyer can say it will be their risk, but when the INR is filed, eBay goes by their rules to issue a refund.

I think having over 10K in feedback helps with the trustworthy part. And keeping a few bucks by not combining shipping will likely result in negative feedback, so it's not worth the risk. I have several checks along the way to make sure I get all shipping refunds done. I may catch it when they pay, or when I ship, if it gets completely missed, I will catch it when I reconcile at the end of the week. That's when I review and log all the figures.

C.

luckythewinner · ‎04-27-2024

But you do have a point, if a seller promises something in writing, it should be believed.

Why didn't you simply create a new listing that included all three coins the buyer wanted, at the exact price you had agreed to, with the exact shipping you had agreed on?

ittybitnot · ‎04-27-2024

I send her offers.

@sin-n-dex

Just so you know, in one of eBay's recent updates, they decided to ROLL OUT the latest 'enhancement' that makes all seller generated offers IPR. This was after all that other drama where they turned accepted offers into 'you sent an offer' that caused so much confusion for both buyers and sellers. I don't even think the different screens that were sent at random as we had discussed previously will be used. It will be pay or don't get it, or better pay INDIVIDUALLY or don't get it would be more accurate. Though the buyer can choose their payment source, there will be no opportunity to combine items for one invoice.

The inability to combine makes more money for eBay with individual transaction fees (30 0r 40 cents each instead of one fee for a combined order), and increases their number of items sold count for their GMV stats.

Based on your feedback, we’re extending these improvements to seller-initiated offers. When potential buyers are interested in your offer, they’ll be taken directly to checkout and, in order to accept the offer and secure the item, they’ll need to successfully complete payment.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/2024-Winter-Seller-Update/Reduce-unpaid-items-when-sending-offers-to-b...

Not sure if it is YOUR (un)lucky day or the buyer's for this "improvement" to hit at this time.

sin-n-dex · ‎04-27-2024

@luckythewinner wrote:
But you do have a point, if a seller promises something in writing, it should be believed.

Why didn't you simply create a new listing that included all three coins the buyer wanted, at the exact price you had agreed to, with the exact shipping you had agreed on?

Because I didn't think of that at the time. I should have thought of it, but I didn't. It was pointed out here afterwards.

C.