Comical & Perplexing Transaction/Seller

[venutian01]

This is one of the most perplexing and just entertaining "transactions" I have ever had in 20 years on Ebay. There is no resolution, and I'm not looking for one. lol

Seller has a 'lot' of really random, mixed stuff priced at $12.99 with an OBO option. I sell often, and I don't put that option in a fixed price listing unless I know I'm willing to consider a reasonable price drop to make a sale and get it down the road. Keyword is reasonable. So I offered them $10. Not the most generous, but not an insulting offer either, especially considering the item has been sitting for at least 4 months that I am aware. 

Offered was ignored for 24 hours and allowed to expire. 

Ok, I toss them an offer of $11.50. Not because I'm seriously trying to haggle over $1.50, but my brain is thinking "You refuse $10, but you're willing to take less than $13, so now I'm curious if you're willing to take any best offer at all?".  They countered me for $12. A whole 50 cents higher, and 99c below their price.  I wouldn't counter offer a buyer over 50c, but I took it and paid immediately. I wanted the lot, so I was just in the mindset of let's accept it, pay, and move on.

Next day, they cancel and refund on the grounds that item is lost or damaged. No message of any kind, so I had to ask them what happened. They tell me they're moving, stretched thin and they couldn't find the item but said that "If theres a way i can make this up to you please let me know". Now bear in mind, they have like 80 pos fb's as a seller, no negatives, so there's NO red flag or alarm to me about this seller at this point. People DO move, they get busy, they do sometimes lose track of an item for sale. It happens. I told them that I understand and if you ever find it, let me know. Honestly, I *never* expected to hear from them again.

Next day they write and tell me one of the movers found it, so I replied that I'm still interested to buy it when they have a break in their schedule to relist. 

Next day they write to tell me that "I have been instructed by e bay to relist the item so that you can purchase it..So,its up. I look forward to hearing from u.Thank you"

It was back up again at $12.99 OBO. Given that they cancelled on me, and told me to please let them know if there's any way to make it up to me".. I tossed an offer of $10 again. I included a message with the offer explaining that giving me a small break on the price would more than make it up to me. (Personally, I've done way more for a buyer when I've made much smaller mistakes)

Here's what makes this all just. So. Darn. Funny.

They countered a few hours later at.. you ready? $12.50. They want me to buy it again at 50c higher than the last time I purchased it, and a whopping 49c below their starting price. ROFL LOL

I can't even wrap my brain around the why at this point. It makes no sense financially, and way more time has been wasted than it ever deserved. If they didn't want to sell to me, then don't send me a counter offer, or message me to tell me you've relisted it. That doesn't make sense.

..and what do they even mean when they say they have been instructed by Ebay to relist the item so I can purchase it? Why would Ebay even be involved. I  didn't contact Ebay, I didn't leave a negative feedback, and last I knew we had left things on friendly terms.

I can't figure out what planet they're from 🙂

[nobody*s_perfect]

They're from planet flaky. Perhaps they called eBay to ask how to handle this terribly complicated situation. Or they're just referring to the general tips that eBay sometimes sends out or attaches to completed/canceled listings.

[gracieallen01]

Perhaps they didn't look at your feedback and figured you were just another low-baller wanting 20%+ discount on an assorted lot that may have been worth more than they listed it for?  For some people, moving time can be a period of stress, and patience/tolerance may be at a premium for them.  Just a thought.

[farmalljr]

Personally, I have no idea why someone would act like that. Some people are strange. I don't do business as a buyer OR a seller with people like that. It usually never goes favorably. 

[ed8108]

This story is not over if you buy it again, & see what happens next.

[venutian01]

There's an amusing followup, because they sent me a message:

"Dear (name omitted), Im sorry , but it was a great deal.I reposted so you could buy it but apparently you dont want it.Im now deleting the ad. .And just as i was within my rights to cancel the original order,I am now taking the ad down as it is no longer for sale ...
.Im sorry that you arent happy,....I did however try to please you,and still the best deal in town wasnt good enough,so now its gone. regards (name omitted)"

Let's review. They cancelled the transaction after I agreed to their price and paid. They didn't send me any kind of message on their own accord like "Hey, I'm sorry but I'm in the middle of moving and can't find the package, so I have to refund. I hope you understand".  I had to ask. They then mysteriously find the package one day later, and say that if they can do anything to make it up to me, to let them know. They then proceed to relist it at a higher price again, expecting me to purchase a second time and pay more, and they feel this is doing everything they can to please me.

Just.......weird. ROFL. I almost wonder if someone gave their account to a family member or friend, because this doesn't line up with their history as a seller, the majority of which is from about 6-12 months ago or later.

I had a deal recently where I went to give a buyer a small refund for postage, and I accidentally refunded the entire payment. Anyone who has ever made that mistake has found out, you can't re-invoice them through Ebay. At Ebay's instructions, I asked them for their email (and apologized of course) so I could make a request for payment through Paypal. I chopped several dollars off the price, because I was having to ask them to do something twice, due to my mistake. Even though I had good intent, it was still a mistake that required them to jump through another hoop.

If I could show you all a picture of the lot, you'd laugh. I just can't fathom being so emotionally invested in the perceived value of a box of brackets n bits, to act in this way over a couple of dollars. If I had something like that listed for 4+ months, and someone sent me an offer of $10 when my asking price is $13, I'm going to accept that every single time. If the person on the other end is friendly, that's nice, but if they never say a word and it's a perfectly smooth transaction, that's super too.

I'm here to buy stuff and/or make money.  🙂

[coastaltechsolution]

Maybe like you said the seller has a family member or friend running things while they move and get situated but from what I have read, not sure they picked the best applicant 😁

[venutian01]

I completely, totally agree and appreciate what you're saying. That's why, when they did respond to me to explain what happened, I sent back this message:

"That explains a lot, moving is very stressful and time consuming. I completely understand, and I very much appreciate your taking the time to respond and explain. I was just worried about what I had done or what happened. I would have been fine if you needed a week to find time to ship, given what you're in the middle of.

As for making it up to me, at some point in the future when your time and schedule permits, I would still like to by this LOT.  Please don't throw the box away".

I completely empathize with them. However, if I cancelled a sale on someone because I couldn't find the item (and we'll assume that is genuinely what happened) and then a couple days later relocate it, I'm not going to relist it for them at a higher price than they purchased it the last time. It would be no more than the previous price but really, I'm going to message them and tell them to toss me a BO of xxx instead, and chop a few dollars off.  As a way of making up for my mistake.

[venutian01]

At this point I'm done with talking to them, because this is just too strange, but just so folks understand, I'm not trying to be mean spirited towards them, but this is basically how I left it with them.

"I humbly suggest that you go to the Ebay home page, click on your profile in the upper left, click account settings, then scroll down and click on time away. You can set your account to pause all your listings for any duration of time, and there's an option that would prevent people from buying an item during this time away.  (All their stuff is fixed price btw)

Maybe you're just super stressed out from the move. In which case, I hope for your sake that you have a chance to finish up soon, and take some time for yourself to relax, unwind, and congratulate yourself on completing such a difficult transition in life. I wish you and your loved ones the best, stay safe, and hope you have better days ahead."

I'm wordy as hell I know, but I feel like I'm being nice. LOL  🙂

[Anonymous]

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@venutian01 wrote:

Seller has a 'lot' of really random, mixed stuff priced at $12.99 with an OBO option...So I offered them $10. Not the most generous, but not an insulting offer either...

Asking nearly 25% off is insulting in my book. 

I wouldn't be so quick to judge if I were you.

[venutian01]

I get the sense that you haven't read the entirety of the thread,  because there's NO way you did. At the end of the day, I accepted their price, which was only 99c below their asking price. I paid immediately,  and they STILL cancelled on me and refunded payment without making even a modicum of initiative to send me a message and explain. Not even to lie. LOL

Cancelling a paid transaction because they're apparently frothing over 99 cents, I'm going to judge that as very strange. Yes I am. Then, relisting it and expecting me to BIN at a higher price than I paid the last time over that 99 cents, after they abruptly cancelled the previous purchase, yes I'm going to judge that as strange behavior as well. 

If they were insulted, then block me and move on. Don't counter offer, don't accept payment, and then cancel without the basic courtesy of an explanation, and certainly don't expect the me to re-purchase it a second time at a higher price. 

Counter offering someone, anyone, at any time, over any thing, 50 cents higher, I'm also going to judge that as weird. rofl

If I am selling an item for $8 OBO, and a buyer offers me $6, am I supposed to feel insulted? I'm not here to have my feelings massaged. You CAN be polite, courteous, and professional, AND also emotionally detached from a transaction. In fact you probably should when doing business. 99 times out of 100, I would accept that kind of an offer, especially if the item had been sitting for months with no other interest. Even though technically, offering 6 dollars on an 8 dollar item is asking 25% off.

You are trying to apply some hard rule (percentage) where selling is concerned, and that's just not realistic. It's all relative to the starting price. If I go to a garage sale and something is tagged at $8 and I offer $6 in cash, that shouldn't be insulting anyone but snowiest of flakes. 

Now, if I walk into a dealership and ask to pay $30,000 on a $40,000 car, that's a bit different. I'm I am selling an item for $200 OBO, offering me $150 is probably not going to do it, because you'd be asking me to chop $50 off a price. I still wouldn't be insulted at that price point though, I just wouldn't accept. 

[katzrul15]

Now, if I walk into a dealership and ask to pay $30,000 on a $40,000 car, that's a bit different. I'm I am selling an item for $200 OBO, offering me $150 is probably not going to do it, because you'd be asking me to chop $50 off a price. I still wouldn't be insulted at that price point though, I just wouldn't accept. 

Agree....never understand why a Seller takes any offer personally - it is just business.  You offer and I might or might now take it.  I usually offer about 10-15% below where it is listed.  Sometimes a Seller is motivated and sometimes they are just not.

Your Seller is e-bay challenged.....what a Story!  Sorry you did not get the lot you wanted.

A few weeks back we did a best offer on a large sewing lot.  I offered about 12% below the price it was up for.  They declined about an hour later.  We had it on our watch list before the offer.....the following day they sent us (and a guess others) one of those, Hey since you're interested....here's an offer on this dandy item offer.  It was $3 less than what we had offered the day before.  LOL

We didn't buy it as I had bought the similiar lot from someone else when they declined our offer.  Peeps are perplexing sometimes.  Just wonder why all the story carpola about the move and we found it....just so much work!  LOL

[Anonymous]

I read the whole thing. I really don't see the point of the thread other than pointing to the fact that the whole thing that started this was your low ball offer.

Congratulations. You felt it important to call someone out on their odd selling behavior and post it on a public forum. Good for you...I wouldn't have done the same, just saying.

Also your statement about relativity when discussing percentages is flat wrong. 25% is more than double an ebay fee and double tax in most, if not all, states. So it's not a trifle matter, even on a $13 purchase.