Buyer's Best Offer Note "Free Shipping"

[lacey294]

Today a buyer sent me an offer of $22 for a $26 item.  Nearly clicked to accept the offer when, off to the side, I noticed 'free shipping'.  I was only about half awake and surprised I even saw it.  I hastily declined the offer.   

This made me wonder though, so I searched and all I could find were older posts, and even then the jury couldn't come to a definite conclusion.  

What if I hadn't noticed the buyers note for free shipping, and had accepted the offer?

If I would be bound to honor the free shipping:

What if my listing was set up to automatically accept Best Offers of $xx and a buyer included FS as part of the deal?

Would there be away to cancel the sale without getting dinged by ebay?

[sg51]

If you would have accepted the offer, the invoice presented to buyer would have included the original shipping (buyer cannot formally specify any modification to the shipping terms).

If buyer would have paid shipping, and then demanded a refund, you would have solid grounds to cancel the transaction.  Buyer ignored clear direction that a best offer cannot modify shipping terms.

[lacey294]

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@sg51 wrote:

If you would have accepted the offer, the invoice presented to buyer would have included the original shipping (buyer cannot formally specify any modification to the shipping terms).

If buyer would have paid shipping, and then demanded a refund, you would have solid grounds to cancel the transaction.  Buyer ignored clear direction that a best offer cannot modify shipping terms.

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That's pretty straight forward. TY  

If the buyer expected free shipping and I cancelled the sale because of this, would they still be able to leave feedback?

[sg51]

If the buyer expected free shipping and I cancelled the sale because of this, would they still be able to leave feedback?

Maybe (it depends on the cancel details), but such feedback would be removable.  It's hard to imagine ebay having any sympathy for such a trick.

[kensgiftshop]

When a buyer submits an offer, it's for the price of the item only.

Offers do not have anything to do with the shipping, they pay what shipping charge is shown in the listing.

[dtexley3]

As stated you are not bound to the "free shipping" buyer's note.  When I get these I decline the offer and include a note that states "Per eBay, offers cannot include changes to shipping" and link the page where "best offer" is defined.

For quite a while the buyers offer page did not state "Offers are for item price only", but that may have been fixed.  eBay could stop this in a heartbeat with a simple bot that refuses to let a buyer submit an offer with the phrase "free shipping" in the note.  They give us bots that take listings down for the wrong reason, but can't seem to put in a simple one that would solve this headache easily.

[pburn]

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@dtexley3 wrote:

eBay could stop this in a heartbeat with a simple bot that refuses to let a buyer submit an offer with the phrase "free shipping" in the note.  They give us bots that take listings down for the wrong reason, but can't seem to put in a simple one that would solve this headache easily.

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Oh, yeah. Great idea. Except when the note says, "Thanks for offering free shipping!" or "I'm glad you offer free shipping." or "I wouldn't have made this purchase without free shipping!" or about a million other references to "free shipping."

It's a perfect example of the law of unintended consequences.

[sg51]

For quite a while the buyers offer page did not state "Offers are for item price only", but that may have been fixed. 

So I just went to see just what it says, and it doesn't say that any longer.  It does however show that you are offering to pay the full shipping.

[lex-talon]

Whenever I receive offers with free shipping, they are declined. Always a good idea to check if the buyer left a note.

[wastingtime101]

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@lacey294 wrote:

What if my listing was set up to automatically accept Best Offers of $xx and a buyer included FS as part of the deal?

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That's a non-issue. When the buyer adds a note to seller the offer is not auto-accepted - you have to manually review it.

[go-bad-chicken]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

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@lacey294 wrote:

What if my listing was set up to automatically accept Best Offers of $xx and a buyer included FS as part of the deal?

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That's a non-issue. When the buyer adds a note to seller the offer is not auto-accepted - you have to manually review it.

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You are correct.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/selling-buy-now/adding-best-offer-listing?id=4144 

 

[go-bad-chicken]

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@lacey294 wrote:

Today a buyer sent me an offer of $22 for a $26 item.  Nearly clicked to accept the offer when, off to the side, I noticed 'free shipping'.  I was only about half awake and surprised I even saw it.  I hastily declined the offer.   

This made me wonder though, so I searched and all I could find were older posts, and even then the jury couldn't come to a definite conclusion.  

What if I hadn't noticed the buyers note for free shipping, and had accepted the offer?

If I would be bound to honor the free shipping:

What if my listing was set up to automatically accept Best Offers of $xx and a buyer included FS as part of the deal?

Would there be away to cancel the sale without getting dinged by ebay?

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It is my understanding that If the buyer ads "free shipping" or "I want a free pony" to their  best offer and you manually review the offer and accept then yes you are responsible for the free shipping. I am not sure about the pony.

But the auto accept feature for best offer will not automatically accept a buyers offer if they have included any message within their offer, whether it be "free shipping" or just "Thank you for considering my offer."

[dtexley3]

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@sg51 wrote:

For quite a while the buyers offer page did not state "Offers are for item price only", but that may have been fixed. 

So I just went to see just what it says, and it doesn't say that any longer.  It does however show that you are offering to pay the full shipping.

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brian@ebay reminder ping.

[lacey294]

And this is where the confusion lies.  Bound or not bound?  

At any rate, if I ever do slip and accidentally accept an offer where the buyer has tried to slip in free shipping I'll just send them a note.  If it gets ugly I'll just cancel the sale, on the grounds "buyer was asking for something...".

What would be really helpful, is if ebay would make all buyer's comments/notes display in bright red text....or is that asking too much? 

[go-bad-chicken]

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@lacey294 wrote:

And this is where the confusion lies.  Bound or not bound?  

At any rate, if I ever do slip and accidentally accept an offer where the buyer has tried to slip in free shipping I'll just send them a note.  If it gets ugly I'll just cancel the sale, on the grounds "buyer was asking for something...".

What would be really helpful, is if ebay would make all buyer's comments/notes display in bright red text....or is that asking too much? 

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I agree whole heartedly. A buyer's note within Best Offer should be up front and center as well highlighted.

Along with making sure the buyer's zip code is clearly displayed as this is an important factor when a seller is making their decision as to whether or not to accept, decline, or make a counter offer.

This appears to be a recent issue brought up by another seller in another thread. 

Where did buyer zip code go with offers?

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Where-did-buyer-zip-code-go-with-offers/m-p/30849927#M1578364