Best offer and buyer location eBay glitch

[helpingrescuedogs]

I'm on the West Coast, so my shipping costs vary widely. I listed a set of dishes that were quite heavy at a price that I was comfortable with offering free shipping to any region. One of the factors that is very important to me in deciding how much flexibility I have with best offers is the buyer location. On these dishes, ebay showed me buyer location was right here in my county. Cool, I can accept the offer and net the same as I would for selling to a buyer on the east coast at listing price. After I accepted ebay showed shipping location as Ohio. My shipping cost goes from $8.50 to $20. I would not have accepted the offer if I knew it was shipping to OH. 

I've never had this happen before, so I think it is some kind new glitch with eBay. I messaged the buyer and told her that I could not ship to OH at that price and if she wanted to change the shipping address I would need another $9.99. She said fine, but then the next day messaged me that if she had to pay more to cancel it. I want to be able to cancel this order without getting hit with a defect. How do I do that and how do I make sure this doesn't happen again? 

[feefoo72]

This page has the information.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/getting-paid/cancelling-transaction?id=4136&rmvSB=true

These two statements contradict each other;

" I listed a set of dishes that were quite heavy at a price that I was comfortable with offering free shipping to any region."

Then;

" I would not have accepted the offer if I knew it was shipping to OH. "

Demanding more money after the sale is, in my opinion, very unprofessional and sloppy. I would be upset if you pulled that on me. 

[appleton.dpw]

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@feefoo72 wrote:

This page has the information.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/getting-paid/cancelling-transaction?id=4136&rmvSB=true

These two statements contradict each other;

" I listed a set of dishes that were quite heavy at a price that I was comfortable with offering free shipping to any region."

Then;

" I would not have accepted the offer if I knew it was shipping to OH. "

Demanding more money after the sale is, in my opinion, very unprofessional and sloppy. I would be upset if you pulled that on me. 

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The OP said they would ship free to any region at the full price they set.   With lower offers, they had to evaluate based on location.  The problem came when the shipping location changed for the lower offer they accepted.  Nothing unprofessional there, it's a legitimate issue.

[dhbookds]

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@feefoo72 wrote:

This page has the information.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/getting-paid/cancelling-transaction?id=4136&rmvSB=true

These two statements contradict each other;

" I listed a set of dishes that were quite heavy at a price that I was comfortable with offering free shipping to any region." Which was her original price.

Then;

" I would not have accepted the offer if I knew it was shipping to OH. "

She accepted the lowered best offer the price because destination was close enough to her to not have the highest shipping rates, which allowed room to lower the price. 

Demanding more money after the sale is, in my opinion, very unprofessional and sloppy. I would be upset if you pulled that on me. 

__________________________________________

I would cancel based on Buyers address........

With free shipping, it is tricky.......If I used it, I think I would add a statement that the price is based on shipping to XYZ zip code.   Normally, shipping isn't a consideration in B/O since calculated shipping will change depending on what zip the buyer uses on checkout, but since you are adding into the price, it's understandable you need to know where it will be mailed.

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[dtexley3]

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@helpingrescuedogs wrote:

I'm on the West Coast, so my shipping costs vary widely. I listed a set of dishes that were quite heavy at a price that I was comfortable with offering free shipping to any region. One of the factors that is very important to me in deciding how much flexibility I have with best offers is the buyer location. On these dishes, ebay showed me buyer location was right here in my county. Cool, I can accept the offer and net the same as I would for selling to a buyer on the east coast at listing price. After I accepted ebay showed shipping location as Ohio. My shipping cost goes from $8.50 to $20. I would not have accepted the offer if I knew it was shipping to OH. 

I've never had this happen before, so I think it is some kind new glitch with eBay. I messaged the buyer and told her that I could not ship to OH at that price and if she wanted to change the shipping address I would need another $9.99. She said fine, but then the next day messaged me that if she had to pay more to cancel it. I want to be able to cancel this order without getting hit with a defect. How do I do that and how do I make sure this doesn't happen again? 

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Did you view this offer on a mobile device?  The apps STILL DO NOT show the correct shipping when viewing Offers.  They show your local zone shipping rate.  ALWAYS view the offer via a browser before accepting if this may be an issue. 

Personally I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS review offers in a browser because this is not the only defect in the apps where Best Offers are concerned.

[feefoo72]

The buyer doesn't care about "issues." They don't care about ebay glitches. They don't care about the sellers problems. They care about buying and receiving their item at the price agreed. Everything else is just noise to the buyer. Your problems are not my problems.

A sale should be honored and the seller can work on their problem later. It's too bad that a glitch happened to the seller. That's not the buyers problem though, nor should it be. It is between the seller and ebay. 

Yes, they may lose some profit this one time, but they lost a customer.

Too many buyers complain, with good reason, that sellers reneged on their deals, cancel sales, demand more money. A deal is a deal. Don't make the sellers problem the buyers issue. Honor the sale and mitigate the ebay glitch with appropriate action later. 

[castlemagicmemories]

Problem with buyer's address?  I think that fits the situation and won't give you a defect.

I'm so sorry this put you in this situation.  

[buyselljack2016]

I had a deal like that once.

Offer was made with potential buyer showing "in state".

I accepted.  Buyer used a different address at checkout  (zone 6) when paying.

Not sure if that was what was done in your case.

In my case I came out OK, as I was able to use "flat rate" shipping.

[73ssnova01ks]

I have had a reverse of this exact issue 3 times now from buyers making an offer. Randomly, it seems. Two have sent me screenshots.

What happens is that when they make the offer, they get an email that shows that I accepted, and in the email it gives them the shipping cost as if my item was shipping from within their own zip code.

When they go to the payment screen, or when I send an invoice, it then shows them the correct shipping amount.  Which is obviously always more.

My items are always listed as calculated, with item + packing weight and dimensions listed. In over 20 years, I have not seen this issue until this month. 3 so far in June. 

Below is what one buyer stated that CS relayed to them when they called them about it:

I did talk to ebay they said that for some reason they are blaming you for not using the flat rate option, Ebay said by you not doing this then it automaticly charges people more money based on where they live.
They said that you must use the flat rate option to stop this from happening to your customers.
Ebay also said to tell you to discount the product sent to me to compensate the shipping charge.
Are you able to do that?

This isn't a scammer -  it was a $30 Falcon console bracket and cut floorpan section - not exactly a high fraud item.  My issue is that I am in Georgia, he is in Washington state - I 've been at this long enough to know that there is nothing positive to be gained from fighting it, and it's not the buyer's fault anyway - so I did invoice him with the shipping shown to him when he made the offer, which means that I am paying him to take this item...unbelieveable.

[dtexley3]

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@73ssnova01ks wrote:

I have had a reverse of this exact issue 3 times now from buyers making an offer. Randomly, it seems. Two have sent me screenshots.

What happens is that when they make the offer, they get an email that shows that I accepted, and in the email it gives them the shipping cost as if my item was shipping from within their own zip code.

When they go to the payment screen, or when I send an invoice, it then shows them the correct shipping amount.  Which is obviously always more.

My items are always listed as calculated, with item + packing weight and dimensions listed. In over 20 years, I have not seen this issue until this month. 3 so far in June. 

Below is what one buyer stated that CS relayed to them when they called them about it:

I did talk to ebay they said that for some reason they are blaming you for not using the flat rate option, Ebay said by you not doing this then it automaticly charges people more money based on where they live.
They said that you must use the flat rate option to stop this from happening to your customers.
Ebay also said to tell you to discount the product sent to me to compensate the shipping charge.
Are you able to do that?

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brian@ebay  Another bug or a new buyer scam?   Why would CS tell buyers that sellers MUST use flat rate shipping vs. calculated.  This creates a bad buyer experience and a headache for the seller.  

[learningalongtheway]

When you saw the offer in ebay, it showed you the buyer's zip code and you based accepting the offer on that. The problem is that once you accept it, upon check-out the buyer can change the shipping address to any location where you ship. Ebay should not allow this where shipping is free or when calculated shipping is not set up. I only had this happen once and I notified the buyer that the offer was accepted based upon their location and not the new one they added. They never responded and obviously knew what they were doing. The sale was canceled based on the address. Sellers should be able to cancel these with no penalty.  Ebay shouldn't be telling any buyer that this is the fault of a seller when they allow the address change after acceptance. The only way to prevent this would be to contact the potential buyer first or counter the offer with the same price and include a note that says the offer is only for that zip code.

[7606dennis]

The error was yours, OP.  By offering FREE SHIPPING you set what the shipping cost to the buyer would be.  Even if the buyer had purchased at your regular asking price you were bound to ship for free.  The fact that you accepted an offer for even less than your asking price would make no difference.  You are required to ship for free or be guilty of false advertising.

You cannot cancel the transaction without receiving a defect under eBay's rules.

[7606dennis]

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@castlemagicmemories wrote:

Problem with buyer's address?  I think that fits the situation and won't give you a defect.

I'm so sorry this put you in this situation.  

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Actually, I don't believe a seller can restrict free shipping to only certain domestic locations.  While the free shipping would not apply to any international locations, if the OP offered free shipping on the listing, if memory serves, it would have to apply to all domestic locations.  Therefore using "Problem with buyer's Address" would not be a valid excuse to cancel and avoid the defect.

Of course, it wouldn't matter even if the buyer had bought at the OP's asking price.  The fact that the OP accepted an offer below the asking price only cost the OP more.  Unfortunately for the OP, they did not take into account the cost of the free shipping when evaluating the offer or, as it would appear, the possibility of buyers from out of state when placing the listing.  It is probably lucky for the OP that someone from the east coast didn't buy the item, even at the OP's asking price.

[learningalongtheway]

If you paid attention to the OP, you would clearly see that they accepted the offer only because of the zip code ebay presented to them. Based on this, because shipping would be less to that zip code, they accepted the offer. The buyer changed the mailing address after the sale and never noted in their offer that it would be shipped to an address other than their own. This isn't an error on the seller's part.

[7606dennis]

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@learningalongtheway wrote:
If you paid attention to the OP, you would clearly see that they accepted the offer only because of the zip code ebay presented to them. Based on this, because shipping would be less to that zip code, they accepted the offer. The buyer changed the mailing address after the sale and never noted in their offer that it would be shipped to an address other than their own. This isn't an error on the seller's part.

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The point I'm making is that the OP made an error in listing the item with free shipping if they weren't willing to ship for free anywhere within the United States unless they blocked Alaska, Hawaii and the territories.  The OP would not be permitted, under eBay's rules, to ask a buyer from Ohio, Florida or New York for additional money for shipping even if the buyer had simply hit the buy now button and paid the full asking price.  An eBay seller is not allowed to advertise free shipping, but limit that free shipping to specific locations.  It makes no difference that the sale resulted from an accepted offer, the free shipping would have applied regardless of the buyer's zip code.  The OP should have known that or should review eBay rules before listing anything else.