eBay

tiramisu41 · ‎04-11-2018

Sold a book last night with free shipping. Listing indicated Economy Shipping (Media Mail) would be used. A few seconds before the item was paid for I get a message from the buyer saying book os a gift and she wants to make sure it's in gift-giving condition and that it will arrive before April 16th.

(Don't ask me why she didn't wait to hear back from me about her questions before purchasing, but that's water over the dam, now...)

Book is new; that's no issue. But there is no way given the buyer's (US) location that the book will arrive by Monday, April 16th via economy shipping. Even eBay's estimate said Tuesday, 4/17.

Message the buyer back, thank her for her purchase, affirm book is in gift-giving condition but advise her meeting her 4/16 deadline will be problematic given the fact the book was sold with free Economy Shipping AKA Media Mail.

Told her book could arive by her deadline if sent by Priority Mail, however, due to the fact expedited shipping costs considerably more than the economy shipping which was included free in the original listing, I couldn't absorb the cost but was willing to split the difference with her ($3.75 - her share) so that she would receive the book in time.

Asked her what she would like to do. Have the book sent Prioroty Mail at an additional cost or cancel the order since book cannot be guaranteed to arrive by her deadline using Media Mail as was stated in the listing?

No answer last night. Sent her a quick/polite message direct through eBay Messaging this morning. Still no answer. I don't want to pester/annoy her so I don't plan to message her again today.

Not suspicious about the buyer. Her initial communication was very pleasant. Feedback good and it looks as though she also sells on eBay.

However, I hate to send the book out Media Mail without hearing from her as I know it won't get there in time and she's bound to be disappointed. But, I really don't want to eat the cost of Priority Mail as it will mean I will lose nearly $4 on the sale if I do. Can't really cancel the sale as "Buyer Requested" because she hasn't responded to tell me that. I have two-day handling, so it's not a crisis situation yet in terms of getting the book in the mail.

So sitting here, trying to get my packages ready to be dropped at the PO and not sure to do about this one. What would you do?

tiramisu41 · ‎04-11-2018

@fern*wood wrote:
First thing I'd do is groan loudly and scare the cat. Then I would email explaining the situation, but since you are on a deadline to ship, always give the buyer a deadline to get back with you.

LOL @fern*wood. Coincidentally, the first thing that went out the door *was* the cat! He was driving me crazy all morning, and when I hadn't heard back from the seller yet, I was in no mood for "more fun." 😉

However, just got a message from the buyer a few minutes ago. She apologized for not seeing/responding to my messages earlier, but *it was her sister* who placed the order so she had to call her at work and read her the messages I'd sent in order to know how to proceed. (?)

Sis ostensibly was disappointed "as the book would have made a nice gift" but she wanted to cancel the order. Buyer wanted to know how to do that. I went in and cancelled per "Buyer Request," messaged buyer, told her/her sister needed to do nothing more, cancellation was already requested and money would automatically be credited back to the payment method originally used.

I told the buyer that I was also equally disappointed, but given the info her sister sent regarding a delivery deadline I knew couldn't be met, I wanted her to be aware of the problem and what other options were available to meet her delivery requirements. Thanked buyer but also suggested it's always a good idea to ask questions/affirm delivery timelines or other concerns BEFORE purchasing to avoid any disappointment/misunderstandings.

Just got another message from buyer thanking me for cancelling the order and saying she already has received notification of the cancellation/refund. So problem "solved" but no sale.

Could have been worse if I had shipped the book which I would have been forced to do according to my 2-day handling policy since buyer had already paid. Had I done so, I have no doubt the buyer/sister would have tried to file an INR request because it "didn't get there by the deadline specified." Unwinding that with eBay wouldn't have been fun and certainly not worth the time/trouble nor the red donut that also could have been left.

Regardless, thanks to all who took the time to weigh in. Lots of food for thought/ideas for how to handle a similar one in the future. Appreciate it.

View Best Answer in original post

missjen831 · ‎04-11-2018

Since your handling time is 2 days, I would give her 2 days to respond and then ship using the method specified in the listing or cancel using the reason "problem with buyers address" which is technically a fib but there is a problem with their address-you can't get the package to them by the date they need it by. I would not eat the cost of priority shipping, some may disagree but I personally do not go out of my way to accomodate buyers who make these kinds of requests after the purchase. If she had contacted you first, I would have a slightly different opinion 🙂

One life is all we have to live
Love is all we have to give

**Formerly known as MissJen316**

sandmansales · ‎04-11-2018

Don't know why seller's keep complicating their lives by making buyer's problems their problems and offering to lose money to boot.

All you had to do.:

Dear buyer,

In order to expedite shipping there will be an additional charge of $7.50 for Priority Mail . An invoice will be sent to your PayPal address. If the payment has not been made by the stated handling time of 2 days, your book will be shipped by Media Mail.

Please keep in mind, any payment delay will delay shipment.

Thank you for your business.

It's just that easy. And NEVER cancel a sale unless it's the last resort.

~Why be a second rate version of someone else when you can be a first rate version of yourself~

fern*wood · ‎04-11-2018

First thing I'd do is groan loudly and scare the cat. Then I would email explaining the situation, but since you are on a deadline to ship, always give the buyer a deadline to get back with you.

couldabeenworse · ‎04-11-2018

It's just that easy.

LOL. It's only "that easy" if buyer reads the email promptly, agrees to the upcharge, and replies in time for the seller to ship. Otherwise, the seller is in exactly the same boat as now.

cad777864 · ‎04-11-2018

@sandmansales wrote:
Don't know why seller's keep complicating their lives by making buyer's problems their problems and offering to lose money to boot.

All you had to do.:

Dear buyer,

In order to expedite shipping there will be an additional charge of $7.50 for Priority Mail . An invoice will be sent to your PayPal address. If the payment has not been made by the stated handling time of 2 days, your book will be shipped by Media Mail.

Please keep in mind, any payment delay will delay shipment.

Thank you for your business.

It's just that easy. And NEVER cancel a sale unless it's the last resort.

Perfect, i could'nt have worded it better. No one needs to give in to these people looking for freebies, ever. I never do, the only freebies i give are to kind respectful people. If this person is

a seller, she is trying to scam some free shipping, she knows better. That is why she is not responding.

nobody*s_perfect · ‎04-11-2018

This is why I always offer Priority Mail as a second choice in listings that offer Media Mail, although it is very rarely chosen.

I vote for: invoice the buyer for the extra postage cost, then if you don't hear from them in time just ship via Media Mail.

mcdougle4248 · ‎04-11-2018

Learn something new everyday.

I had a situation like this before when I was a new seller. Thank goodness my buyer was very quick with responses to my messages (and also very graceful to me being a new seller). The only thing that I could quickly figure out to do was cancel the order, refund, and relist the item with Priority Mail, which I did and everything turned out just fine. Lesson learned, I did revise all of my listings to offer Priority Mail.

New lesson for today. I did not know that a seller could direct invoice a buyer through PayPal. It just seemed that it would be something eBay would not allow because then they would not get their fee on the shipping charges.

tiramisu41 · ‎04-11-2018

@fern*wood wrote:
First thing I'd do is groan loudly and scare the cat. Then I would email explaining the situation, but since you are on a deadline to ship, always give the buyer a deadline to get back with you.

LOL @fern*wood. Coincidentally, the first thing that went out the door *was* the cat! He was driving me crazy all morning, and when I hadn't heard back from the seller yet, I was in no mood for "more fun." 😉

However, just got a message from the buyer a few minutes ago. She apologized for not seeing/responding to my messages earlier, but *it was her sister* who placed the order so she had to call her at work and read her the messages I'd sent in order to know how to proceed. (?)

Sis ostensibly was disappointed "as the book would have made a nice gift" but she wanted to cancel the order. Buyer wanted to know how to do that. I went in and cancelled per "Buyer Request," messaged buyer, told her/her sister needed to do nothing more, cancellation was already requested and money would automatically be credited back to the payment method originally used.

I told the buyer that I was also equally disappointed, but given the info her sister sent regarding a delivery deadline I knew couldn't be met, I wanted her to be aware of the problem and what other options were available to meet her delivery requirements. Thanked buyer but also suggested it's always a good idea to ask questions/affirm delivery timelines or other concerns BEFORE purchasing to avoid any disappointment/misunderstandings.

Just got another message from buyer thanking me for cancelling the order and saying she already has received notification of the cancellation/refund. So problem "solved" but no sale.

Could have been worse if I had shipped the book which I would have been forced to do according to my 2-day handling policy since buyer had already paid. Had I done so, I have no doubt the buyer/sister would have tried to file an INR request because it "didn't get there by the deadline specified." Unwinding that with eBay wouldn't have been fun and certainly not worth the time/trouble nor the red donut that also could have been left.

Regardless, thanks to all who took the time to weigh in. Lots of food for thought/ideas for how to handle a similar one in the future. Appreciate it.

nobody*s_perfect · ‎04-11-2018

@mcdougle4248 wrote:
... New lesson for today. I did not know that a seller could direct invoice a buyer through PayPal. It just seemed that it would be something eBay would not allow because then they would not get their fee on the shipping charges.

It's a PayPal money request, with no eBay involvement. eBay wouldn't even have any way of knowing that it had happened.

tiramisu41 · ‎04-11-2018

@nobody*s_perfect wrote:
This is why I always offer Priority Mail as a second choice in listings that offer Media Mail, although it is very rarely chosen.

I vote for: invoice the buyer for the extra postage cost, then if you don't hear from them in time just ship via Media Mail.

I agree offering another alternative to Media Mail is a good idea @nobody*s_perfect, but in this case the book was being sold with free shipping. Even with Media Mail, I was only going to make a couple of bucks. Just would make no sense for me to have also offered complimentary Priority Mail shipping in this instance as that would have meant the sale would have cost me more than what the item sold for in the first place.

And before anyone jumps on me to say I should have bigger margins and/or sell it via another platform, the book is too nice to donate or put in the circular file, but it's hard to compete with outfits like ThriftBooks on this site and I am not interested in going through setting up an Amazon seller account just to get rid of the handful of books I have in my store. It'll find another buyer sometime down the line. I'm okay with that.

nobody*s_perfect · ‎04-11-2018

@tiramisu41 wrote:
... in this case the book was being sold with free shipping. Even with Media Mail, I was only going to make a couple of bucks. Just would make no sense for me to have also offered complimentary Priority Mail shipping in this instance as that would have meant the sale would have cost me more than what the item sold for in the first place.....

You can set up your listing to offer free Media Mail shipping and a price for Priority Mail. Either calculated shipping or set up flat prices for shipping -- zero for MM and a fair increment for Priority depending on the weight of your item.

fern*wood · ‎04-11-2018

I don't think anyone is suggesting you offer free Priority shipping.

I always try to offer a second paid service when I offer free shipping---especially if the free one is media mail. Sometimes buyers choose to pay and upgrade to Priority when my first option was free 1st class. I'm fine with that.