Buyer Made Offer, Now Complaining About Shipping Cost After I Shipped Item, What Should I Do?
I'm new to selling on eBay so I had a buyer send me an best offer late Thursday night. I didn’t see it until early Friday morning, but I accepted it when I woke up, printed the label around 10:30 AM, and dropped the package off at the post office later that day around 4:30 PM. Shipping was clearly listed as $60 not free and no returns that was shown on the listing when they sent the offer. Right after I shipped it, the buyer messages me saying: “The listing said free shipping. I did not agree to that price.†This is nearly 17 hours after they sent the offer, and after I already shipped the item.
I didn’t respond to them. Instead, I called eBay. They checked the listing, confirmed it showed $60 shipping, saw that nothing had been changed, and put notes on the transaction in case the buyer tries to open a case or leave bad feedback. Honestly feels like the buyer either didn’t read or is trying to pull something. So I'm just wondering if anyone dealt with something like this before? Should I even bother replying to the message? Appreciate any input.
short_circuit.lineman61
·1 year agoI would absolutely not mention anything about a return but would point out that all of the costs of the transaction including shipping are clearly displayed right above the "confirm and pay" button that you clicked on to make the purchase.
Also UPS would probably be faster but would definitely be lower cost and absolutely more reliable than priority mail. The only time I ever even consider priority mail now is if it is over 50 lb and will fit in a flat rate box.
rudy2828
·1 year agoBlock them now.
jonathanbrightlight
·1 year agoI would not block them yet, not until the situation is resolved as best as it can be. The reason for that is that once a block is in place, the buyer will continue to send messages that they think are being ignored, while the seller will have no idea because those messages will not be displayed to them. I’m glad we’re able to block messages from abusive buyers, but anyone you block from buying gets the same treatment.
stainlessenginecovers
·1 year agoMany buyers are new as well as sellers; so when someone 'sends' an offer, they assume that offer is 'what I'll pay for it', even though they are wrong and the original shipping price has NOTHING to do with the offer- that is NOT what most think.
Did the buyer already pay you in full before you shipped the item?
amybethshouse
·1 year agoDid he pay after you accepted his offer? You didn’t mention if you actually received payment
gleeshgo_40
OP1 year agoYes he did.
amybethshouse
·1 year agoThat’s good. Sorry for my confusion
johnrj1226
·1 year agoDon't know the specifics of the shipping charge - like the carrier and carriers shipping service, weight of the package or package out side dimensions or the ship from to ship to location - . ASSUMING your shipping charge was reasonable i e.. close to 60 bucks. Would NICELY and professionally advise them the shipping charge also includes a reasonable handling charge (allowable by eBay) that includes cost of a box, packing materials, etc (don't say miles driven to the PO or UPS store. The buyer knew the 60 buck shipping price up front - they just want to mess with you (chisel you down).
gleeshgo_40
OP1 year agoIt was a large box can't remember the exact dimensions on top of my head but it is being shipped via USPS priority mail from Virginia to Washington State.
gurlcat
·1 year agoAlthough they should have known, it's fairly easy to picture why they might not have. If they were looking at multiple listings with various item prices and shipping prices (including free shipping ones), they very well might have made this offer thinking it was one that had free shipping. Look at my screenshot ^ (message 5) -note how it doesn't show the shipping cost in the window where the buyer makes an offer. Then, if the seller has auto-payment enabled, as soon as they approve the offer, it charges the buyer's card. So the buyer never even got a chance to see the total including shipping (or tax by the way), before they paid.
12345jamesstamps
·1 year ago'new to selling'...how many eBay accounts as a 'new seller' do you have?
I see nothing on this account sold.
I would not answer email...let it go since it already got shipped.
The buyer paid...the less back and forth emails the better.
Don't 'open a can of worms'.
gurlcat
·1 year agoIf you believed a seller had ripped you off and they ignored your message about it, would that not open a can of worms for you?
gurlcat
·1 year agoAre you directly quoting (exact words) of this buyer saying "The listing said free shipping"? Is it possible they actually said "My offer said free shipping" or "My message said free shipping" or some other wording that wasn't "the listing"?
The Best Offer feature gives the buyer a text window to include a message with their dollar amount, if they want. It's fairly common for a buyer to write "and free shipping" in that message, so if your buyer did that and you didn't notice, then your accepting the offer would mean (to HIM) that you agreed to give free shipping, in addition to the discount of the item price.
gleeshgo_40
OP1 year agoHis exact words are "The listing said free shipping is did not agree to that price" and he never added any message to his offer.
cityslickercreations2004
·1 year agoI see your point. Perhaps the Best Offer prompt should show shipping charge to avoid that.
However, I am not holding my breath that will ever be changed.
jonathanbrightlight
·1 year ago@cityslickercreations2004 I would agree that would be a nice change. It does currently say that offers do not include shipping, but I think that might be confusing to some buyers.
inhawaii
·1 year agoI can only tell you what I would do in this situation.
I would (very nicely) explain that it was NOT free shipping. He is mistaken.
If the buyer no longer wants this order, he may return it for a full refund.
I would tell him that once he returns it and the tracking shows it has been delivered back to you, ebay will give him a full refund.
gurlcat
·1 year agoAre you talking about today (Friday)? If you mean LAST Friday, it's kind of late to ponder whether you should reply to a message from a week ago.
gleeshgo_40
OP1 year agoSorry I wrote that wrong I meant Friday as in today, I meant to say I dropped it off this evening.
gurlcat
·1 year agoThanks for quickly clarifying both those things. So with those established, I agree 100% with @cityslickercreations2004 . You should indeed reply, but in a way that's firm but gentle; the chance to "save face" is very important when dealing with a wrongfully angry person who has the upper hand, which all buyers have over sellers, once they've paid for something.
If this were my transaction, I would go to my Order screen, pull up the original listing, screenshot the area that shows the shipping cost, then write to the buyer something like, "I'm sorry but I think you might have confused my listing with another seller's of the same item when you were shopping. Mine stated $60 shipping, here is a screenshot."
farmalljr
·1 year ago@gleeshgo_40 what gurlcat said.
Let me offer you a few bits of advice. 1 - don't remind the buyer of "no returns" or they just might call your bluff. There is NO such thing as no returns/refunds with eBay's MBG. You can refuse to take it back, but you can't refuse to refund them. Very few buyers are unaware of the MBG and how to use it.
2- If you are not actually educated what your obligations are as to the MBG or as a seller in general, or how returns work, I would highly suggest you get to know that now, before you sell more stuff. Otherwise, you are in for a rude awakening and you will be very angry and frustrated. You might even damage your account out of ignorance.
3 - be NICE to the buyer. They may be trying to scam you or they may not understand all that well how offers work. Don't assume off the bat they are scammers (they MAY be but no one knows for sure). Do not let your emotions overload your words. Never give a buyer a reason to hold a grudge and try their best to make your life miserable. Being nice never hurt anyone.
cityslickercreations2004
·1 year ago"Shipping was clearly listed as $60 not free and no returns that was shown on the listing when they sent the offer. Right after I shipped it, the buyer messages me saying: “The listing said free shipping. I did not agree to that price.†This is nearly 17 hours after they sent the offer, and after I already shipped the item."
It is possible the buyer has this transaction confused with another. But, you need to stay on high alert. IMO, responding professionally to a neutral message/ question is appropriate. Perhaps you could send a screenshot of the listing and state you just aren't seeing free shipping...perhaps it was another listing... The point is to allow the buyer to save face. If they are up to no good, you will find out quickly enough.
"I didn’t respond to them. Instead, I called eBay. They checked the listing, confirmed it showed $60 shipping, saw that nothing had been changed, and put notes on the transaction in case the buyer tries to open a case or leave bad feedback."
The notes mean nothing. Buyer can open an INAD case, leave bad feedback, etc. You will have to handle each point if it happens. Please return here for advice if it does.
BTW. Once a BIN listing is sold nothing can be changed on it.