Seller will not send invoice...what are my options?

[frogpants1701]

I'm hoping to get ahead of a potential problem with a seller and I'd like some advice. I messaged a seller asking if he would combine shipping for mulitple video game auctions, he said he would. The games were in great condition, but the set shipping cost per game was too high. I win 7 auctions and message the seller advising I was done and would pay as soon as I get the combine shipping invoice. A day goes by and he sends a response stating he would send me an invoice. I still have nothing, except 7 items sitting in my cart. I've received automated messages from ebay stating I need to pay. I send an invoice request today and receive an automated message after sending it....this seller does not combine shipping, but we'll send the request anyways. Still nothing. 

My question is....should he never send me an invoice....or if he opens a non payment case without sending me an invoice....what can I do? Am I stuck paying the full shipping price for each game, even though he said he'd combine shipping? I've never been in this situation, I don't know what I can actually do. I'm not saying the seller is doing anything wrong, I've just never had to wait for an invoice this long. I'd like to be prepared for it to go south. Hope for the best, be prepared for the worst. Thanks.

[creoleorchid]

When the seller told you he would combine shipping, did he give you a price? 

[femmefan1946]

Are both you and the seller in the same country?

Did you give him your zipcode when you asked for a  combined shipping discount?

• It may have been difficult for him to give the correct price without it. It's pretty common for buyers not to realize how important this is.

Did the purchase close on Friday?

• Some sellers don't work weekends.
• EBay sends out those automated emails, as you noticed. If the seller opens and Unpaid Item Dispute you have four days to pay.

If you don't pay, you get an Unpaid Item Strike, which hangs around for the next 12 months.

One can be removed. This is a lifetime thing, then you are considered to have learned a lesson and will be held responsible for any others.

Two UID Strikes will automatically Block you from bidding with thousands of sellers, especially in fraught categories like videogames.

EBay will end the buying account of a member who has 'too many' Strikes. They won't say how many is 'too many'.

I'm not sure if not paying would get you one Strike or seven.

Hmm-- if you go to Paypal, can you see his PP email? That is also his PP address. You might be able to contact him through that. Copy that email into eBay Messages too. You are trying to rouse him to action, not go around the eBay system.

[frogpants1701]

No, but I typically don't. Most sellers I deal with ask for the opportunity to figure out fair shipping after the fact. I'm good with that. Some ask I pay it all upfront, then they return the difference. Some add $1 for each additional item. Most just say they combine, then figure out a reasonable total after the auction and invoice me for it. It's worked so far, many times. I just didn't know if I have some 'out' here since he said he'd combine. If he opens an unpaid item case without sending me an invoice, do I have any recourse? Or is it pay or get 7 unpaid item strikes? If he just makes some honest attempt to reduce the shipping, I'm good with it. It won't cost $49 to ship a few games, that's why I asked for combine shipping. I'm defintely going to be patient, I just wanted to have it figured out ahead of time in case he hit me with 7 cases. 

[7606dennis]

Assuming that you asked the seller about combining shipping before bidding and winning these auctions, have you checked the listings themselves to see if the seller offered combined shipping and if the seller had combined shipping rules set up?

You mentioned that these were auction wins and were in your cart.  I'm not too sure how the cart works with regards to auctions since, by law, you have committed to buy by placing a bid.  If they are in your cart, I would think that they would already classed as committed to buy so I don't believe that would stop you from requesting an invoice.  Did you use the request invoice function of the cart or did you just message the seller to send an invoice?  Frankly, eBay's messaging system isn't as reliable as it should be.

If I'm not mistaken, eBay automatically keeps trying to get buyers to pay until items are paid for.   I don't think there is much the seller can do about that.  

[7606dennis]

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@frogpants1701 wrote:

No, but I typically don't. Most sellers I deal with ask for the opportunity to figure out fair shipping after the fact. I'm good with that. Some ask I pay it all upfront, then they return the difference. Some add $1 for each additional item. Most just say they combine, then figure out a reasonable total after the auction and invoice me for it. It's worked so far, many times. I just didn't know if I have some 'out' here since he said he'd combine. If he opens an unpaid item case without sending me an invoice, do I have any recourse? Or is it pay or get 7 unpaid item strikes? If he just makes some honest attempt to reduce the shipping, I'm good with it. It won't cost $49 to ship a few games, that's why I asked for combine shipping. I'm defintely going to be patient, I just wanted to have it figured out ahead of time in case he hit me with 7 cases. 

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Actually, I believe if the seller opens a UID, he would probably open one for each transaction.  So yes that would be 7 UID disputes and seven strikes if you did not pay them.  Hopefully, the seller doesn't have things set to open UID's automatically.

[mudshark61369]

@frogpants1701,

" I messaged a seller asking if he would combine shipping for mulitple video game auctions, he said he would. The games were in great condition, but the set shipping cost per game was too high. I win 7 auctions and message the seller advising I was done and would pay as soon as I get the combine shipping invoice. A day goes by and he sends a response stating he would send me an invoice. I still have nothing, except 7 items sitting in my cart". 

If there ends up being a problem, it is part of your own doing. If a seller does not mention combining shipping in their listing, the time to ask about that is BEFORE bidding on their auctions.

FYI,

The cart does not work with auction items. below is from ebay's info about the Cart.

"Items that can't be added to your eBay shopping cart

Some listings can't be added to the eBay shopping cart:

• Auction-style listings

• Motors Vehicle listings

• Real Estate listings

• Classified Ad listings

• International items listed in foreign currencies"

  _________________________________________________

In the future if you want a combined total for auction listings, after you win. You can select the seller's items from your purchase history, check them off and request a combined total from there. Not sure if you can do that using the app, but if you can't log into ebay the classic way, and you will be able to do that. It might help things along if you do That in addition to the one sent from the Cart, which may not give the seller the option of a returnable reply invoice.

You may also want to see if you can delete those auctions from the cart, or you may get the "you have unpaid items in your cart..." message in the future.

" I send an invoice request today and receive an automated message after sending it....this seller does not combine shipping, but we'll send the request anyways. Still nothing".

You received the message, because the seller has not set up shipping rules, not because the seller will not combine the shipping.  This seller's actions have me thinking they are new or inexperienced.  Did you look at their feedback profile before bidding on their auctions? If a seller does not have rules set up, and is inexperienced, they may have trouble finding out how to send a combined invoice.  If you feel this is the case, then message them, with this info.

Go to Site Map at bottom of most ebay pages Click >

Scroll almost to bottom of next page find Help Topics, and just under is the A-Z Index >

On Index Page select (C) >

Scroll down to "Checkout: combined invoices" > and read.

Since you wrote this on a Sunday, the seller may be busy because it is a weekend, also the P.O. is closed, and the seller may not use ebay to print shipping labels, but take things to the P.O. to get info.  Give them a day or so to do that.

"My question is....should he never send me an invoice....or if he opens a non payment case without sending me an invoice....what can I do? Am I stuck paying the full shipping price for each game, even though he said he'd combine shipping"? 

If the seller is not experienced, they probably do not know how to open an Unpaid Item Dispute (UID), and have not set up the Unpaid Item Assistant, which automatically opens disputes. If they do open a dispute, or one opens automatically, You can ask them to close it, since you have indicated you are willing to pay, but are waiting on the seller to send a combined invoice.  You may be able to reply to a dispute in the resolution console, stating you contacted the seller and are waiting for a combined shipping total.

" I've never been in this situation, I don't know what I can actually do. I'm not saying the seller is doing anything wrong, I've just never had to wait for an invoice this long. I'd like to be prepared for it to go south. Hope for the best, be prepared for the worst. Thanks".

As I wrote earlier, part of the reason you ARE in this situation, is because you did not read the whole description to see if the seller mentioned combining shipping, and asking before bidding if they would. That might have saved you time and stress. It doesn't seem like you checked the seller's feedback profile yet either.  If they are new or inexperienced you would have known that, and might have been prepared for there to be problems. If they are really new, they may run into PayPal's 21 day hold on their payments, in which case you will probably be back to ask about that.

Maybe you have never had to wait so long for an invoice, because you have been lucky so far. Not every seller combines shipping, or can have rules set up. eBay, does not require either of sellers.

[frogpants1701]

I appreicate the help, but as I stated before, I did ask ahead of time. I always ask ahead of time when combined shipping is not mentioned. I never win auctions, then just expect combined shipping. I didn't know if ebay would side with me and cancel the transactions or something due to the message he sent me prior to my bidding. There are currently 7 auction items sitting in my cart to be paid. Yes, I checked his feedback. I do that every single time I'm going to buy from someone. I do it to avoid problems.

I appreciate being told it's all my fault, but that doesn't help. Do I have any options here or not. Thanks. 

[Anonymous]

    Your options depend on how bad you really want the items. You could go ahead and purchase and pay the shipping. Then leave bad scores for shipping cost and Seller's communication. If the items aren't rare or hard to find you could ask the Seller to cancel the Transaction and be done with it. 

     Seems to me that you did right by asking first and that your purchases might have been influenced by what the Seller told you.  - 96

[kaykeecorp]

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@hogwild96 wrote:

    Your options depend on how bad you really want the items. You could go ahead and purchase and pay the shipping. Then leave bad scores for shipping cost and Seller's communication. If the items aren't rare or hard to find you could ask the Seller to cancel the Transaction and be done with it. 

     Seems to me that you did right by asking first and that your purchases might have been influenced by what the Seller told you.  - 96

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Yes you have options- but I'm not sure how good they are...

-does the seller have a return policy?

-I'm assuming all messages were on eBay- did the seller ever give you a new total of the items plus the combined shipping?

- even though I detest the dreaded eBay Customer (dis) Service dept- you may have to give them a call

[frogpants1701]

I checked, he doesn't offer returns. If he opens a unpaid case, guess I'll just have to call customer service and try that. If all else fails, I'll just pay the full amount. One last question though...if he never sends me an invoice and never opens a case...never communicates with me again..what happens? Do I contact cs at some point to void it all out? Do the items just sit in my cart forever? 

[creoleorchid]

If neither of you takes action, the items will age off after I think 32 days or close to it.

[chrysylys]

Have you tried calling the seller?


Not something I would generally do, but if you're in a jam....

[myangelandmyprincess]

This may seem silly but have you clicked pay just to see if a new total shows up?   Lately when I've requested an invoice for combined shipping I never see the invoice but the seller will have combined 

[frogpants1701]

I've checked for a new total a few times. Nothing. I know I'll get an email when he sends an invoice though. I've done one other sale just like this while I've been waiting on him. I've sent one polite message once a day, he keeps responding he'll send the invoice 'tomorrow'. Since he's responding, I don't want to contact him direclty. I really, really don't like that idea for any situation. Who knows, maybe he'll actually send it 'tomorrow'. Which is today. But maybe tomorrow.