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Got stuck with Final Value Fee due to unresponsive buyer

Just a cautionary tale to know your options and not immediately file a case.  

 

Buyer bought item but was unresponsive and did not pay so I filed a claim as soon as I could.  Buyer gets back to me claiming they didn't realize some of the books were ex-library though the listing made it clear.  Told me that if we went through with the sale he would just request a return later.  We settled on him paying for the final value fee, but since I opened up a claim, I couldn't even cancel the transaction and he could only pay me what he was invoiced - you can't change the invoice amount.  Long story short, I had to close the claim and mark it as payment received and I got stuck with the final value fee because he offered to Paypal me off the books but I didn't want to go outside of eBay to complete a transaction. Sucks all around.

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Re: Got stuck with Final Value Fee due to unresponsive buyer

Once you open up a claim you gave the guy a strike which is why i never open claims anymore. You got a mad buyer now. You should have cancelled after emailing him why he did not pay. Nothing you can do now. Don't ask for money or he might NEG you.

Message 2 of 11
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Re: Got stuck with Final Value Fee due to unresponsive buyer

No, that's not true. Only if you CLOSE the claim with the buyer not paying does the buyer gets a strike.

Message 3 of 11
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Re: Got stuck with Final Value Fee due to unresponsive buyer

the seller said they closed the claim. anways better to email and cancel later as i said. i had no headaches on ebay for 6 months except for one bad feedback which was resolved. everyone needs to adjust.

Message 4 of 11
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Re: Got stuck with Final Value Fee due to unresponsive buyer

The reason to open an Unpaid Item Dispute is to get your Final Value fees reimbursed and to give a strike to an unresponsive buyer. If i understand corrrectly, you were trying to be a nice guy and avoid putting a mark on your buyer's record once he got in touch and he agreed to pay the FVF. 

 

"No good deed goes unpunished" is the moral to your story. Once you discovered you couldn't change the invoice amount, would have been the time to tell your customer that you regret you are unable to accommodate him. You shot yourself in the foot when marking the item as Paid. 

 

You could send a PayPal invoice to them in the amount of the fees, but he is under no obligation to render the reimbursement. However, since you kept your side of the bargain and if he is an honest person, he might pay it. You have nothing to lose by doing so.

 

Most of my listings are BIN with Immediate Payment Required. For the few auctions, I open an UID a week after the sale. This gives stragglers plenty of time to pay. That's too long for some sellers, but giving the strike is a very important seller protection, one of the few we have.  Sometimes a cancellation of a transaction is appropriate, especially when it is buyer requested, but it helps all sellers when an Unpaid Item Dispute is closed if they have their Buyer Requirements set to weed out dead-beat buyers.

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Re: Got stuck with Final Value Fee due to unresponsive buyer

Good point and I agree. I didn't realize opening a claim would limit my options. Buyer was clearly unresponsive just because he didn't want the item anymore. Once you open a claim, you have to either mark it as payment received or continue through with a strike and, like all sellers, I'm terrified of negative feedback. I chose to eat the few dollars and just report him. To this day, neither of us has given the other one feedback, good or bad. I was trying to put myself in the buyer's shoes and think about times when I've had buyer's remorse, but the real issue here is that he was unresponsive for so long and that's why I chose to just report him. Thanks!
Message 6 of 11
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Re: Got stuck with Final Value Fee due to unresponsive buyer

@mr335writer Yes, he clearly deserved the strike, but you were very kind to put their interests ahead of your own. That is pretty rare to find and quite commendable. Cannot fault you for having responded with such courtesy and consideration. Thank you for sharing your experience.

Message 7 of 11
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Re: Got stuck with Final Value Fee due to unresponsive buyer

We settled on him paying for the final value fee,

 

No, you tried every which way to go behind eBay's back and outsmart them - and failed!

 

You're fortunate not to have gotten a 7-day ban like so many other users have posted about the past few days.

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage. ~ Anais Nin
Message 8 of 11
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Re: Got stuck with Final Value Fee due to unresponsive buyer


@countwilley wrote:

the seller said they closed the claim. anways better to email and cancel later as i said. i had no headaches on ebay for 6 months except for one bad feedback which was resolved. everyone needs to adjust.


Seller said "I had to close the claim and mark it as payment received".

Message 9 of 11
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Re: Got stuck with Final Value Fee due to unresponsive buyer

What a rude response for me trying to sympathize with a buyer who had remorse and was threatening to leave me bad feedback and try to return it anyway. What would you have done?
Message 10 of 11
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Re: Got stuck with Final Value Fee due to unresponsive buyer

Sounds like you were between a rock and a hard place. The Item not paid notice made him panic and put the blame on you. Not sure of a way out. I would have said he could pay or not pay, his choice. When he tried to return the items I would have used his message to beat the case. But then again I talk tough on the boards.

____________________________________________________________________
Prov 20:14 It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.
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