Late Shipping Question
I recently had an item sell and got in touch with the buyer. However, we realized that the package dimensions listed in the ad were entered incorrectly and the shipping price was likely off. The buyer agreed to pay the new shipping cost but has not yet responded or sent an updated shipping label. Ebay keeps hounding me to honor the shipping deadline policy. Is the ding I will receive for late shipment a significant downside? The communication with the buyer is taking longer than expected and I have been told that I cannot extend the shipping deadline. I simply need more time. Any info would be appreciated.
42 comments
r_lresale
·1 year agoOh my! OP has another bike for sale offering freight shipping but no specefic carrier and pictured with accessories that he says doesn't come with it.....
ryry-jj
·1 year agoI think the buyer bought the shipping tag and sent it to the OP to place on the box to ship. That's why the seller refunded the initial incorrect shipping charge. Once FedEx receives the package, it is all on the buyer to make sure he receives it....that's my best guess
ryry-jj
·1 year agoAs far as I can tell, the seller and buyer will be on their own as far as shipping goes. You will need to get the tracking number to upload on eBay, or you will get a late "uploading tracking info" ding. That needs to be done asap. Anything goes wrong in shipping that will be between buyer-seller-fedex, eBay wont be involved to help.
simba6
·1 year agoYou should give back that extra money. Your not allowed to charge more and it's a very serious rule to break.
reallynicestamps
·1 year agoYou should give back that extra money.
Now I'm nervous.
Who paid for the label?
The seller?
The Buyer?
The company the buyer works for which doesn't know anything about it?
simba6
·1 year ago" The buyer agreed to pay the new shipping cost"
So I assume the OP purchased it. Still they leave more questions. If you ask them for more info, they seldom come back. I'm clueless.
albertabrightalberta
·1 year agohttps://www.ebay.com/help/policies/payment-policies/offering-buy-sell-outside-ebay-policy?id=4272&st=3&pos=1&query=Offering%20to%20buy%20or%20sell%20outside%20of%20eBay%20policy&intent=outside%20ebay&lucenceai=lucenceai&docId=HELP1286
"Offering to buy or sell outside of eBay is not allowed. Buyers and sellers also can't share contact information, including email addresses and phone numbers, prior to completing a transaction on eBay.
Contacting another eBay member to discuss moving a purchase off eBay exposes both the buyer and seller to the risk of fraud. It also means both buyer and seller are not covered by our protection programs."
12345jamesstamps
·1 year agoBikes should be sold as 'local pick up' only if not a store.
Only a real bike shop is experienced as shipping it...where you might want to check a bike shop near you for answers to some complicated questions.
It's just too complicated and anything can go wrong.
tay_7967
OP1 year agoUnderstandable. In the past I have shipped bikes through BikeFlights.com which is a service that is great for shipping them. I simply take the box to my local shop and have them print a label and take it to the UPS store. With eBay is there more risk in shipping compared to the method I just described? Does it mainly revolve around the fact that It takes a while for funds to be transferred into my account? Perhaps I could get in touch with the other buyers interested in the bike and ask if they are willing to take the purchase outside of eBay and go with the BikeFlights method.
albertabrightalberta
·1 year agoOh, great. Your account will be suspended in a heartbeat!
You can't take the sale outside ebay!
Oh good grief! No, you cannot do that. Creating a new account to circumvent restrictions or suspension will not end well for you. It's another violation of ebay policy.
tay_7967
OP1 year agoSo even if nothing about the transaction is discussed on eBay, I am not allowed to simply exchange contact information and negotiate over email or over the phone?
albertabrightalberta
·1 year agoNope, how would you even exchange contact information if "nothing is discussed on eBay?"
tay_7967
OP1 year agoMeaning no payment or PayPal links are sent. Just simply sending a username isn't allowed???
nobody*s_perfect
·1 year agoRegardless of how subtly you do it, the principle is the same: eBay doesn't want you to use their site to facilitate a transaction where they don't get their cut.
bdmh-enterprises
·1 year agoYou know how you "don't talk about Fight Club"? Well, eBay Rule #1 is "Don't exchange contact info".
Rule #2 just so happens to be "Don't create a new account to get around a suspension".
These two rules are HEAVILY enforced. They may be the only rules to have been CONSISTENTLY enforced for the 20+ years I've been selling here.
kensgiftshop
·1 year agoNo
albertabrightalberta
·1 year ago@tay_7967
JMHO but if you don't hear back from the buyer, cancel as OOS (out of stock).
As a new seller of expensive bikes, you are likely to attract scammers. I'd suggest you sell those bikes locally for cash on pickup. (I do see that you've also listed them on CL.) You won't have to worry about shipping, shipping prices, packing them and the best part: If you sell for cash, you won't have to wait for your funds to be released by ebay, which can take over a month.
tay_7967
OP1 year agoThank you. Yes I am selling the bikes on various different platforms and have shipped them out before. I am simply just new to using eBay and the process it involves. The bike is already packed and waiting to be shipped at this point, so I don't have to deal with that. The buyer has not responded in two days and today is the day in which I "need" to ship the item. If he does respond by the end of the day I assume my best bet is to just cancel the order and speak to one of the various other buyers that are interested in the bike.
albertabrightalberta
·1 year agoThose other various buyers who are interested: How did they contact you?
tay_7967
OP1 year agoThrough Ebay
powell-collectibles
·1 year agoPlease don’t sell anything else on eBay. Thanks!
chevymontecarlo88
·1 year agoHow much exactly is the shipping under charge?
tay_7967
OP1 year agoI am unsure. The item being shipped is a full size bike, so the shipping rates can vary drastically. I would just enter the correct package dimensions into the shipping calculator but there seems to be a glitch where it says the shipping is only 8 dollars. This can't be correct because the box dimensions at 67x35x12 inches. Ebay automatically selects an envelope as the method of packaging. I am unsure what to do at this point besides suck up the ding on my account or cancel the order.
If I cancel the order can the buyer just redo the sale once everything is figured out with the new shipping price? What is the punishment for cancelling the order?
mtgraves7984
·1 year ago"... but there seems to be a glitch where it says the shipping is only 8 dollars. This can't be correct because the box dimensions at 67x35x12 inches."
@tay_7967
I see the cost to ship the bike as $126.28 to me in Tennessee. It's not like you only charged $8. I'm confused...
nobody*s_perfect
·1 year agoQuite likely that is happening because your dimensions are too big for any of the shipping methods that eBay offers. When a seller selects an unavailable shipping method, eBay just defaults to the basic list of options which happens to have that envelope at the top. Your package has a length-plus-girth of (67 + 35 + 12 + 35 + 12 😃 159 inches, which is far above the USPS limit of 130 inches. I'm not sure about FedEx or UPS.
I strongly agree with the others' comments that you should give up trying to sell this on eBay, and stick to local pickup options.
Canceling the order IS getting a ding on your account. At this point you should just do it.
tay_7967
OP1 year agoThank you. It seems as though in the future I should only use eBay to ship smaller items😂. I agree that this is quite a mess that has been created lol. What does a ding from cancelling an order involve specifically? For a new account like me I guess it does not affect much and I could theoretically just create a new account if anything major is affected.
nobody*s_perfect
·1 year agoI've been on eBay since 1999 and I sure wouldn't consider shipping a bike.
If you cancel the transaction based on any reason other than "Buyer requested," you will get a defect point on your account. One lonely point will have no effect on your selling, but getting a second defect point cold get you restricted or even suspended. Here are details about eBay's seller performance policies:
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-policies/seller-performance-policy?id=4347
12345jamesstamps
·1 year agoTake a hit on the extra charge for shipping and ship it out.
Getting a 'ding' and maybe more are the 'kiss of death' here.
Sometimes it takes money to make money.
Knowing you won't see the money for this sale for 30+ days I can understand the situation.
tay_7967
OP1 year agoI would do this, but the buyer already had me send a refund on the original shipping price so that he could get a new shipping tag with the new price. There's no garuntee that I would receive payment for the shipping afterwards.
stainlessenginecovers
·1 year agoDoesn't matter- and now 3 things are wrong
1.) you cannot ask for more $$
2.) you cannot NOW get more $$ from the buyer (even after you refunded, which you should NOT have)
3.) you are now late and no reason is a good reason
So, just buy the correct label and ship it asap and learn from all those mistakes.
Check your listing with NOT being signed in- then change the zip code to the furthest (90620 for Cali, 10001 for NY) to see what cost is being shown; then, go to usps website and check that price (ebay may calculate you with a 'discount' (small) but you'll get an idea)
tay_7967
OP1 year agoWell at this point Im better off just cancelling the order and taking the ding.
Shipping is going to be around 300 dollars and the bike is only being sold for $425. Im simply not willing to ship the bike out for that much without the buyer paying shipping. The buyer seems to be pretty lenient which is why I am hoping for a response from them soon. I have other buyers who are interested in the item and would rather fix the shipping issue and try again. This would be my first eBay sale so one ding is likely not to create a massive difference.
albertabrightalberta
·1 year agoIt doesn't matter. You have two issues with this transaction.
1. You asked the buyer to pay more for shipping than you charged. (Your mistake and you have to eat it.)
2. You are at risk for not shipping on time.
As the seller, YOU set the dimensions and shipping cost. If you err, that's on you and is a violation of policy to ask the buyer for more money.
YOU also set your handling time and if you don't ship within that timeframe, that's a ding on your account.
12345jamesstamps
·1 year agoSomewhat complicated...buyer gave you the seller a refund of original shipping price.
You might take a hit on shipping where you pay total on shipping...without getting the money from buyer.
Buyer knows item has to be shipping when stated...so ship it.
It's a learning experience. We all made mistakes at some point.
And I wouldn't cancel the sale...that's a 'ding' as well. Also the 'kiss of death'
A cancel order is like an 'out of stock' order.
And the buyer can leave an unhappy feedback as well.
nobody*s_perfect
·1 year agoWhat? Buyers don't purchase shipping labels or "tags"; sellers do. Or are you trying to say that you thought you needed to refund before you could bill him for the new shipping price? No, it doesn't work that way.
You should have taken responsibility for your error, and shipped the item without asking for extra shipping money from the buyer, but that ship has sailed. Now you have a double mess: one error based on asking too little for shipping, and then a second error in apparently issuing a partial refund. IMHO you should just cancel the transaction, relist the item, and try again.
tay_7967
OP1 year agoThis is exactly what I am thinking. Yes, I made a mistake in the sale. That is my fault. Contrary to what everyone is saying, I DID NOT ask the buyer to pay the shipping cost. I explained the issue to him and he simply agreed to pay the second price, whatever it was from his local UPS store. Regarding the shipping tag, he claimed that he would send me a digital shipping tag that he got from his local UPS store. I am unsure if this would even be doable over eBay.
nobody*s_perfect
·1 year agoOh, what a mess. Cancel the transaction and apologize to the buyer.
"He simply agreed to pay the second price" certainly sounds like you were asking him to absorb the difference between the actual shipping cost versus what the listing showed.
albertabrightalberta
·1 year agoYou can't do that! He may have agreed but that doesn't mean it's right. You CANNOT charge a penny more than it was in the listing, even if you underestimated by $100.
buyselljack2016
·1 year ago@tay_7967
it's doable, but what happens when the buyer supplies the shipping label is that you, the seller, lose all control of the shipment.
Supplier of the label can divert the shipment.
You cannot prove delivery when you are not the one purchasing the label.
No proof of delivery can result in a 100% refund to the buyer.
It is generally recommended not to use someone else's provided shipping label.
tay_7967
OP1 year ago@buyselljack2016
Thank you. The buyer just got back to me and has a label that he got from FedEx that has shipping already paid for. So I would just print the label and put it on the box? If I am the one delivering the bike to FedEx in order to have it shipped, and have the printed out label, is that not a valid form that can be used to prove delivery? How about a tracking number that can be supplied by FedEx?
I see that the idea behind this is that the buyer can have the packaged shipped to a different location than their address on Ebay and then file for a refund. If I purchase insurance on my end when I drop off the package am I safe if the buyer does this?
buyselljack2016
·1 year agoYou cannot, as far as I know, insure someone else's package.
Their label, their package.
Could go smooth as silk. Could bite you where you sit.
reallynicestamps
·1 year agothe buyer already had me send a refund on the original shipping price so that he could get a new shipping tag
Why is the BUYER purchasing the shipping label?
You are sending it from your address to their address.
At this point, the best bet is to cancel the transaction.
You made the error in the dimensions.
You take reponsibility for your error, whether that is by paying the difference in shipping or taking the hit for ending the listing.
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 year agoYou cannot extend the shipping deadline.
Buyer does not have to pay any more shipping than was in the listing.
Ship or cancel the order and take a metrics hit.