How can people be this dense?

[venutian01]

Well, I shall NOT be making this mistake again.

Buyer purchased item for $12 + shipping on 9/11, shipped 9/12, delivered on 9/16. As I was packaging it, I decided that $10 might be a more reasonable price, so I revised the listing for the remaining 3 units. I then issued the buyer a $2 partial refund and sent them a message on 9/11 to explain.

9/11 - Message TO buyer

"Hello,

First off, thank you for your purchase. I will be shipping it out Monday. As for the refund notification you will have received in an amount of $2, I have decided to reduce the price on the listing to $10. So the two dollar refund was a simple way to retroactively give you the new/lower price."

9/23 - Message from Buyer

"I'm sorry, I think your a little short on that refund. Please explain to me so I can explain it to Ebay how I pay 12.00 plus shipping for something and you only give me 2$ back."

How BAD can one's reading comprehension be? I price matched them of my own volition on the day of their purchase. I was just trying to be fair towards them. Mind you, they are messaging me a week after they have received it. 

The following is very optional reading:

Since I know it will get brought up, I do understand that ideally, you shouldn't message a buyer unless they have initiated it. The only reason I sent a message, is because I've had it happen in the past where (either due to combined ship savings or other) I issued a small partial refund, and the customer sends a message asking me why and if there's a problem. Even when the reason selected is shipping discount.

Instead of displaying a seller note in the body of the primary "You have been refunded" message, where most people would actually see it, you have to click on "see more details" and then click the tiny down arrow alongside the words show more. All of which assumes the seller even added a note. Most people don't know to do this, as adding two additional clicks/steps to read a message from the seller makes little sense.

[wrong66]

You should have learned from the first time you sent a refund and then a message to buyer. What was the "actual" cost of shipping that $12 item? If it was $8, for example, then you just poked a sleeping bear.

[slati_2013]

You can increase or lower your prices without any explanation to anyone. No good deed goes unpunished My first negative ever was when I included a hard to find battery for a rare vintage NASA camera, free of charge. Not included in the listing. The buyer gave me a negative because the battery which had to be re-celled was s bit bulky though it fit perfectly. Ever since that day I never do any good deed here on eBay. I only include what is in the listing. Next time increase or lower your price without refunding. 

[candd205]

I think your buyer got you confused with a different transaction, in which she is returning the item and expecting a full refund. Maybe just communicate with her a little more to make sure she understands why you refunded her the $2.

[buyselljack2016]

How?

Well, they are out there, and not everyone has a grasp of the english language, and this one certainly did not understand what was going on.

I just had a buyer purchase the wrong item.  Told them to send it back, and then they could purchase the correct item from me if desired.

They said, OK will send back Monday, and asked if I had the item they needed. I again repeated that I have the item that they need if they wished to purchase it.

Next message I got Monday was that they had  sent the item back, and want to know if I have the item that they need.

So yeah, it can get dense.

[ckimodog]

@venutian01 

Your kind gesture was misunderstood.  Like it has been said before, no good deed goes unpunished.  

Here's to better days  and better sales.  

Happy Selling!

[m60driver]

Never interact with a customer unless required to do so.  And plenty of stores reduce the price of an item after someone has purchased the item at the older higher price.  If such a buyer notices the reduction in price and requests a refund then that would be about the only reason to offer a $2 refund as a courtesy.  And never underestimate the stupidity of the masses as current events and beliefs in ridiculous conspiracy theories make so abundantly clear.

[monroe67]

"9/11 - Message TO buyer

"Hello,

First off, thank you for your purchase. I will be shipping it out Monday. As for the refund notification you will have received in an amount of $2, I have decided to reduce the price on the listing to $10. So the two dollar refund was a simple way to retroactively give you the new/lower price."

"How BAD can one's reading comprehension be? I price matched them of my own volition on the day of their purchase. I was just trying to be fair towards them."

Obviously, your buyer did misunderstand your first message.  I do think it could actually have been a little clearer.  Maybe something like:  "While you paid $12.00 for shipping, I was able to reduce that cost to only $10.00.  I have already issued you a refund in the amount of $2.00."  That seems more linear than "I decided to reduce the price" and "a simple way to retroactively give you the lower price."  

I don't know what your buyer was ranting about, though, by asking how he/she would explain that to eBay.  There is/was nothing to explain to eBay!  

"Since I know it will get brought up, I do understand that ideally, you shouldn't message a buyer unless they have initiated it."

Hmmmmm.  My selling ID gives refunds of over-paid postage seemingly all the time.  (Maybe too often?)  And I always message the buyer about a refund before a buyer initiates contact by messaging me!  I can't say I've ever heard or read any eBay rule or even suggestion that sellers should not contact buyers first.  (Is that A Rule like, girls are supposed to wait for boys to talk to them first?)  

Because I do contact my buyers often!  I sold a needlepoint kit earlier this year; after reviewing it carefully, I found that one particular wool fiber was missing.  I sent a message to the buyer, refunding her a couple dollars, as I recall, so that she could buy that fiber for herself.  I even gave her names of some yarn manufacturers and color names/numbers as possible substitutions for the missing fiber.  

I also have been known to send lightweight items without tracking numbers, in standard envelopes with regular postage stamps.  I recall sending a message to another buyer earlier this year, telling her the item she bought had been sent in a 6"x9" manila envelope with a couple USPS Caffe Latte stamps on it.  

Bottom line, I don't think you did anything wrong, and I do think your buyer was a little - unusual.

[inhawaii]

Raise the price or lower the price when ever you want.

I do it all the time.

But i NEVER notify a customer about a price change.

If it went up, good for him.

If it went down, tough luck.

[earthdreamer]

You may have been guilty adding an unnecessary complication to a simple transaction.

On days when I am doing a lot of buying from different sellers, I can see how I could easily misunderstand an extra communication from one of the sellers, or even confuse the sellers. 

"Keep it simple" is my own motto in transactions with my buyers. 

[venutian01]

I have politely responded, but I have not heard back. I'm certainly not going to press the issue, I'll just leave it be.

The item was sold for $12 + a shipping charge of $4.85. It wasn't $12 for the shipping, just to clarify.

As others have noted, I complicated the issue, albeit with good intentions. In the future, I'll just keep it simple. Also as suggested, while this person doesn't buy often on that account, they may well purchase often on other accounts, and might be confusing this with a different purchase/return.

...and just now I received this message from a different buyer with 10K feedback:

"THANKS for the great deal on the grips. You were so kind to do a partial shipping refund! Just what I needed although I would like to find a few more of these small ones. I thank you and my cats thank you--they get a few extra treats ;-)"

There are vastly more kind, friendly, great customers and people, but sometimes you get those exceptions and my brain goes "wait, what?" LOL

[erikstuff]

Being nice to people will blow up in your face as often as not.

I used to include 'extras' sometimes when I had an item that I thought a customer would like i.e. news article about an event where I got a famous person to sign the book purchased).

I bulk sold 20 45rpm records and included 5 extras in case there was a issue with one or two.  Well... the buyer complained that one of the records was "noisy."  The 5 "extras" concept was apparently too difficult...

Then one day I included several extra political buttons (free) with an order.  Well... after the complaint that one of the free buttons had a scratch I now just bundle all extras and sell as a "flea market lot."  No more freebees.

[venutian01]

Dear Monroe,

What you described, I do as well. Even with the example you gave involving the wool fiber, that's the same kind of thing I would do.

When it comes to contacting a customer, I wasn't suggesting there was a rule. There isn't. I was referring to conventional wisdom, which is that you don't message a buyer unless they message you first. Most people just want to pay for and receive their item, which is how most online sales work. The obvious exception is if there is a specific concern/problem that warrants you messaging first.

Assuming you have packaged the item well, shipped it promptly, and it's as described, you're basically never going to go wrong by not messaging a buyer. As my example shows however, there is a possibility that if you do, things can go a bit off track, because I introduced a variable.

I was chastising myself a little in my head when I was writing that, okay doke?

It's not an absolute. Nothing ever is. A lot depends on the item and category, as that greatly affects your customer base and their demographic. I was referring only to a general rule, which is that it's almost impossible to cause problems for yourself by being quiet. Ship it and zip it.

Does that help explain myself better? 🙂

[venutian01]

Upon self-reflection, I should have titled this thread "How can I be so dense?". LOL

Hey, if I can laugh at me, then you can laugh at/with me, and wouldn't you like to be a pepper too! I joke, but in all seriousness, I gotta be honest with myself and accept that while well intentioned, I kind of did a stupid.  🙂

[chapeau-noir]

Explanations just confuse some people.