Bait and Switch: A "Best Offer" T-Shirt Bundle Deal Gone Wrong
Hello,
Recently, a buyer messaged me, asking if I would accept $15 for a t-shirt. I responded "Yes," and sent a $15 offer using eBay's inbox offer feature. They responded by sharing they were interested in four other shirts and inquired about a bundle deal. I agreed and asked them to send me the shirt descriptions so I could turn on Best Offer for them. They obliged. I turned on "Best Offer" and waited...
They submitted a $10 offer for one of the four shirts and I accepted. They paid the next day. They went on to inquire about the sizes of two of the four shirts even though the sizes and photos of the tags were clearly provided in each listing.
They never responded to the $15 offer I sent the previous day.
I never received offers for the other items. I was tempted to cancel the order but I knew the best thing to do was to ship and BLOCK. I also considered sending a polite note asking if they intend to buy the other items but I realized I didn't need to interact with them any further. I only accepted the $10 offer because I assumed they'd at least buy the $15 shirt they inquired about.
What do y'all think?
For additional context:
*The customer only has three positive ratings + a negative rating from more than a year ago.
*I mostly stopped using Best Offer because I was tired of people not paying within 48 hours or not paying at all, though I do still sometimes use the "blind" Best Offer feature where you send an offer to anonymous watchers. Most of my listings are Buy-It-Now and I have "must pay immediately" checked off 'cause I'm not here for games...
*This "bait and switch" scenario has never happened to me before. Every person who indicated an interest in multiple items has submitted offers for all items identified (after I turned on Best Offer for them) and paid to achieve a "bundle deal." I prefer this method so I don't have to remove and relist the items as one bundle/lot listing. I've done this several times over the years with zero issues until now.
Hmpf!
mdaheritage
OP2 years ago@mam98031 The transaction has been done and over with for some time. I already shipped and blocked. So, I wasn't looking for urgent advice as if the matter is still open; I was just looking for feedback and an opportunity to vent.
I agree that bait and switch isn't not the best term but I couldn't think of another phrase. The bait here was "I want a bundle deal for multiple items" and the switch was only buying one item for a deep discount after deciding not to buy multiple items.
Seems dishonest to me, and if the buyer changed their mind, they should have communicated that.
I'm sure they knew they would not have been able to purchase the shirt for $10 if I knew that was all they were interested in buying. That ought to be clear.
hurryagain
·2 years agoOh... the problem was that you accepted the $10.00 offer BEFORE getting the $15.00 sale in the bag.
Take this situation as a learning curve.
Send and block.
Sorry.
mdaheritage
OP2 years agoEdited: Agreed. I was naive because every other buyer I've done this with followed through. I should have known better!
mam98031
·2 years agoI personally don't think you were naive. Similar things have happened to most of us that have sold for awhile. I sure know I've experienced it over the years. There isn't a lot you can do to avoid them. Most buyers are very good to deal with. These that do stuff like this are just every now and again, thank goodness.
mam98031
·2 years agoWhere is the "bait and switch"? That would require you sending something and getting something other than what you sent back.
It just sounds like a buyer that ended up changing their mind. Nothing more than that.k
Ship the order you have and block the buyer if you don't want to deal with them again.