How do I cancel a sale when eBay undercharged buyer for postage by $40!

[badkittyresale]

I listed 2 (identical) cookbooks for sale at $150/each. I offered free shipping within the U.S., and buyer pays actual price of shipping internationally.  Someone from Germany made me an offer of $70 for one of the books. After a bit of negotiation, I agreed to $90, mostly because I would still make a small profit and I knew shipping to Germany would be expensive for him. The payment I received was $116.  I was shocked! I looked on eBay and it turns out they had calculated the postage with incorrect weight and dimensions, even though they had all the book's vital stats.  I reached out to the buyer to let him know of the discrepancy. I told him if he wanted to send the additional money for postage I'd get it out right away, or I would understand if he would prefer to cancel the sale. No response. I reached out to that "Ask and eBay Pro!" thing, or whatever it's called. The person who answered me (after 18 hours) said eBay caps postage charges, which was both unhelpful to me in my current situation and unbelievable. Why would they not allow me to charge the actual postage when the discrepancy is so huge? I've reached out the buyer again and they're still not responding. I ended the other listing for fear of the same thing happening. I'm afraid if I cancel this sale on my own the buyer will leave me negative feedback and ruin my 100% rating. But if I send the book, I'm not only not making a profit, I'm in the red on this deal. What's the right thing to do?

[steady2304]

What are the dimensions of the book inside it's packaging?

[nobody*s_perfect]

Your listing is showing international shipping via First Class Package International for a 2-pound package, which costs $26.95 to Germany.  Shipping via Priority Mail costs $66.80 retail, is that what you're looking at?  The listing is using 2 pounds as the package weight; what is the actual weight of the package?

[ten_o_nine]

Are you sure this is not being shipped thru eBay international shipping? because you offer free domestic shipping. 

[fern*wood]

How did they get the wrong weight & dimensions in your listing? 

[badkittyresale]

It's about 5.5 lbs and dimensions packed will be about 15" x 11" x 3"

[badkittyresale]

That's the problem! That's wrong! The book alone weighs 5 pounds, and the package dimensions are also larger than eBay has.

[badkittyresale]

The cost to ship to Germany would be $66 whether it was shipped through eBay or USPS First Class International.

[ebooksdiva · Accepted solution]

If the shipping cost was calculated wrong that would mean when you listed you made an error in the weight and dimensions  of the packaging for the book. eBay can only go by the weight and  dimensions you put in your listing when it was created. 
You cannot ask your buyer for more money after they have made a purchase. 
The right thing to do is ship the item. Make this error a learning experience, we’ve all made the same mistake.

[steady2304]

Looking at your listing, when changing the country to Germany the shipping cost comes up as $26.95 by 1st Class International package. The calculator goes by what you entered in the listing when creating it. You can not ask the buyer for more postage due to your error when listing. That is why your buyer is probably ignoring you.

Your 2 choices are to ship and take the loss as a learning experience or hopefully convince the buyer to cancel the sale.

[badkittyresale]

They didn't ask me for weight and dimensions. I assumed they pulled it from the ISBN, though I'm not sure why that would show the book weighing less than half what it does, and it would only give dimensions for the book, not the package. eBay also wouldn't let me change these weights/dimensions on the remaining listing while it was active, which is why I had to end that listing.

[badkittyresale]

eBay didn't ask me for weight and dimensions when I listed. I assumed they pulled it from the ISBN, though I'm not sure why that would show the book weighing less than half what it does, and it would only give dimensions for the book, not the package. eBay also wouldn't let me change these weights/dimensions on the remaining listing while it was active, which is why I had to end that listing. And I'd love to have a conversation with the buyer, if only they would respond. 

[monica-sells]

the weight and dimensions are required on every listing ......otherwise, shipping calculations would be impossible....

(in fact, if you did not put 'anything' in those input boxes your listing would be rejected)

I realize it is after the fact, but you know what they say about "assumptions"

[steady2304]

@badkittyresale Unfortunately you are wrong. USPS 1st Class International package has a 4 pound weight limit so your cookbook can't ship using that service.

That is why the cost is $66.00. It has to be shipped by USPS Priority Mail International package. 

[ebooksdiva]

Nope they take the weight and dimensions from what ever you put in the listing not the ISBN, those are just estimates not actual weights and dimensions. Never go by that, always weigh your items and measure the packaging for accuracy.

Probably the reason you couldn’t edit the listing is because you may have had an existing offer still pending. When you send an offer, it locks down everything about the listing for the length of the offer, usually 48 hours, so you can’t change it.