I think I just dodged a bullet
A buyer messaged me asking about my shipping price and why it’s so high. He says I should just throw it in with the item price showing free shipping instead of “bait and switching†buyers with a “hidden shipping costâ€. Those were his words, not mine. And personally I don’t think that’s considered bait and switch, but whatever. He accused me of circumventing eBay fees by charging such a high shipping price. Btw it’s a $40 item with a $10 shipping price.
So I told him the shipping is clearly shown for anyone to see, just like he’s able to see it hence his message. And showed him that the $10 shipping is quite accurate with the cost to ship the package. Then I said there’s no circumvention since eBay fees are charged on shipping too.
He just came back with this reply “bait and switch ebay sellers will become things of the past, your **bleep** and you know itâ€
Pew pew pew! Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
ca_olson
·8 months agoComplaints about shipping rates have long been a pet peeve of mine. To avoid the aggravation I added this statement to all my listings (or a close variation depending on how old the listing is):
- Please do not whine, whinge, complain, lament, whimper, grumble, fuss, **bleep**, **bleep**, or moan to me about shipping rates. I do not make money from shipping. If the total cost of an item, including shipping, is more than your willingness to pay, please feel free to buy it elsewhere.
Have I lost potential customers as a result? Probably. But I have received only one such complaint since including the statement many hundreds of listings ago (and that person was promptly blocked). Is the trade off worth it? Absolutely.
campanaelia
·8 months agoIt's only a numbers game, all that should matter is the total amount due at checkout.
That said, I am in a state with no tax on shipping so I would prefer $1 item and for $49 shipping for a $50 item.
tools*
·8 months agoI wouldn't respond. I would just add them to the blocked-buyer list and get on with my day.
bgt_masters_of_tiki_d
·8 months agoI got a negative from a buyer recently (ebay removed it), because the item took a day longer than quoted shipping time (1 day shipping, almost always same day). My listing stated Standard Shipping and I shipped USPS Ground Advantage. Buyer messaged me demanding a refund because I pulled a bait and switch on the handling time by not shipping the item First Class and I used an inferior cheaper shipping method than stated. I pointed out there hasn't been USPS First Class in years and its now called Ground Advantage. Shortly after I got a negative, saying I sell nice, clean items but to steer clear and use other ebay sellers that use faster shipping. I believe my item took 5 days.
libbywebst
·8 months agoDisconnect. Vulgar and abusive language. That's an automatic disconnect.
my_boston_baked_beans
·8 months agoBlock and run!
pastimpressions
·8 months agoI certainly don't condone the abusive rhetoric from that potential customer.
However, I a hard-pressed to be unforgiving as to a general ignorance of actual shipping costs.
Many, many consumers are surrounded by free shipping from all the major retailers.
(Whether that price is "baked into the cake" of the item and/or a super volume deal w/ package handlers)
Many, many customers seldom if ever go to a package handler/carrier counter to ship a parcel at retail rates.
This, IMHO, is a recipe for dissatisfaction with shipping costs in general, however they are incorporated.
My anecdotal evidence?
The myriad of A+++ sellers with perfect 5 out of 5-star ratings but 4.9 on shipping costs.
It's a safe bet that 90+ percent of the sellers with a blemish in this category effectively either break even or lose money on shipping.
People are just conditioned to the concept of free shipping.
How some of us manifest that conditioning is the stuff that dreams are made of.
cityslickercreations2004
·8 months agoWow! You certainly find your share of the de lulu buyers.
Seriously, quit responding ( aka defending) yourself to these people! They are not worth your time and energy. Get them out of your life asap. Online selling is hard enough.
I would have responded to the first query with a generic statement. I may have stated "I was sorry they were unhappy with my price but I was confident they could what they were looking to purchase."
Then I would block them before they had a chance to respond.
adamcartwright
·8 months ago@iamalwaysright
So many disturbed people and unintelligent feel empowered as keyboard warriors.
He probably felt triumphant after sticking it to you with that comment.
marnotom!
·8 months agoJust out of curiosity, are there similar items up for sale on eBay right now? If so, what are the sellers asking for the item and for shipping?
iamalwaysright
OP8 months agoYea I have a lot of competition with this item. There's low-ballers and high-ballers with it. Some with free shipping, some without. There's also overseas competition. I land somewhere around the 70-75% range with overall price on ebay so I think it's higher than average.
I'm at 912 items sold on this listing since it started in October so I think I'm okay with the conversion rate.
mamacassidy
·8 months agoIn addition to blocking him, I hope you reported his message, too.
"your **bleep* and you know it" is reportable, in my opinion.
We all know it probably won't do you any good, but if he has a habit of sending this nonsense and multiple people report him, he might get the boot.
iamalwaysright
OP8 months agoReally? I thought only feedback (and this board) has policies against profanity. Or do you mean I should report the message for using "your" instead of "you're"? That's a cardinal sin you know.
adamcartwright
·8 months ago@iamalwaysright
Probably can be reported under this Member-to-member Contact Policy
gurlcat
·8 months ago@iamalwaysright Heck yeah, buyers absolutely do not have the right to say whatever they want in messages. And you don't even have to go to the Help pages to start a report -you can do it right on the message, in the upper right hand corner (3 dots, click).
Now I could be mistaken but I believe I've seen it stated here that when you report a message it disappears from your inbox. So you might want to take a screenshot of it before reporting, in case you may need it later for any reason. Say for instance a really determined turd has a second account and starts writing to you from that one, referring to the previous message thread.
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iamalwaysright
OP8 months agoThanks for the tip. Boy, if I had a nickel for every time an ebay buyer cussed me out in messages... I'd probably still have less than a dollar, lol. 50 cents maybe.
gurlcat
·8 months ago@iamalwaysright Well cuss words were 25 cents in the Cuss Jar at my house growing up, and that was in the 80's. It's hard to guess the inflation rate on it though, I mean how do you tell kids not to cuss when bleepin' everybody's doing it now including the President, and nobody seems to bleepin care. Strangely enough kh -oros does though, even though supposedly only adults should be participating here. Ah well, what can you do.
stainlessenginecovers
·8 months agoThe general public is a HUGE group of VERY SCARY people.
inhawaii
·8 months agoThink of how stupid the "average" person is, then realize that half of them are stupider than that.
-George Carlin
msha3839
·8 months agoThey are not scary..in most cases , very scared…with proper approach…😈
stuff4divas
·8 months ago@iamalwaysright ..... 🤢......
dirk12955
·8 months agoBBL
BBL
BBL
Rinse and repeat
I'm baffled sometimes by the total self entitlement of people
and the fact that so many have no self control or self awareness
and can be so rude without even recognizing the fact that
they are being rude or caring.
soh.maryl
·8 months agoHave been in this world for 92 years and have progressed way beyond baffled to just not expecting much, so am surprised when I run into someone who appears to be with the program.
soh.maryl
·8 months agoDear Buyer:
So sorry to hear you're unhappy with my shipping cost and you feel I am baiting and switching.
After careful consideration, and based on a strong desire to make you happy, I am pleased to offer you several choices for your shopping pleasure.
You can buy the item for $40 plus $10 shipping. Or (special for you) you can buy it for $50 with free shipping.
Entirely your choice. Am just holding my breath waiting for your reply.
(Of course not, but oh, so tempting. )
msha3839
·8 months agoWhy you even trying to prove something to this buyer ? You set the price and that’s it..block this person immediately…
meme6253
·8 months agoBullet dodged for sure!, We get all kinds here that is for sure!
christworks
·8 months agoDodged a bullet, yes. I'm always grateful when idiots and psych patients message before buying. If their message doesn't signal "AVOID," I move on to reading the feedback they have left other sellers. I don't even engage unless I'm okay with that person buying. Otherwise, they go on my block list.
IMHO you should not have engaged, particularly sharing your business information. You do not have to justify your costs or how you run your business to anybody, especially buyers. It isn't their business.
inhawaii
·8 months agoDear buyer, Thank you for your inquiry. I can offer it to you for $50 with free shipping -or- $40 with $10 shipping, which ever you prefer. Then I would block them.
iamalwaysright
OP8 months agoI've actually done that before to buyers when I used to have free shipping. These buyers would message me to price match other sellers who "are selling it cheaper" (by $8) but fail to mention the other seller has a shipping price of $10. So I'd say I can lower the price by $8 too, but I'd have to charge $10 shipping. No skin off my back since I'd actually make $2 more in profit.
They'd get really peeved and reply that if I did that I'd actually be charging them $2 more than my price for them now. Then I'm like "So why are you messaging me in the first place?" Funny how all of a sudden their math skills work at convenient times.
soh.maryl
·8 months agoIt's fruitless to engage in a back-and-forth dialogue with a buyer like this.
Unless you get enjoyment out of it.
In the long run, it's probably better to just block.
rugerskick
·8 months agoAfter the first initial message like that, just block them, and be done with them. They just told you they would be a terrible buyer to deal with. Its very fortunate he messaged first. You could then simply block and spare yourself an impossible buyer experience.
funfactorychannel
·8 months agoI got a buyer asking me why my shipping so high. I was selling at 7 dollar item at 8oz and charging 4.99 shipping. Of course after explaining shipping is based on weight he ask how far low can I go? Blocked.
duffy4444
·8 months agoYep, looks like you dodged a bullet there, as long as one doesn't give in to any anger or sob story and end up shipping it. This type of buyer has red flags and probable future hassles all over it.
Looks like an immediate trip to your BBL and populating it with another ID... Sellers shouldn't even reply any longer to possible further communication from this type of buyer.
I'm always amazed at how stupid some buyers can be by thinking that sellers will cave in to such behavior. But of course a few sellers actually do cave in, out of being desperate for a sale -- any sale.
Cheers, Duffy
msha3839
·8 months agoBuyers are not stupid thinking that sellers will cave in..you know why? Because some sellers DO cave in and by doing it let buyers try the same approach on other sellers..
duffy4444
·8 months ago@msha3839:
I agree. That's what I said in the next sentence of my reply... "But of course a few sellers actually do cave in, out of being desperate for a sale -- any sale."
Cheers,
Duffy