What's the protocol for this situation?

[saintpaulgolf]

 So I sold an item back in February or so, and when the item was sold I couldn't find it. Looked everywhere and thought the person I live with donated it or something, so I told the buyer the situation and that there was nothing I could do about it, but if I found the item in the near future I would still be willing to get it to them. 

Well they hit me with a negative feedback, told me to p-ss off and that was about it. There was very little communication from them that I recall. Well I found the item (a coat) and I'm not sure how I'm supposed to procede at this point. I shot them an email immediately after I found it telling them I would keep my word and finish the transaction if they wanted, but their response was along the lines of "well it's not cold anymore - how much do you want for it?" as if to imply they want it...at a lower cost (it was already cheap, comparable to what it was new in the stores). 

So surely this has happened in the two decades eBay has been here. What's the protocol at this point? Just let by-gones be by-gones? 

[threshold.sales.group]

OP, unexpected out of stocks are going to happen to any inventory based business (from tiny ebay sellers to P&G), so don't beat yourself up over it. Since it's your first and you have a great track record, I doubt you need any lectures or brow beatings.   

IMO, I'd just move on and relist. Post a professional follow up / apology to the original buyer and get busy sourcing & listing. 

[*madison]

Well they hit me with a negative feedback, told me to p-ss off and that was about it. There was very little communication from them that I recall. Well I found the item (a coat) 

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Sellers often miraculously find the item after they have been negged.

The buyer probably didn't believe you had lost the item, and thought you was unhappy with the end price considering that particular coat sells for more...

[fuzzface50]

i wouldn't make the deal.

you already got the neg but to have it revised will make it worse. you will look like an easy person to "rollover" to get deals from  to try to protect your image and then you are going to get more undeserved negs besides just the 1 you actually desrved. Then you will look bad on both ends. So i would wear that one neg, it disappears after a year anyways and when my negs dropped off i shot up in search so 1 here or there at a time isn't really  that bad.

i would stop communicating with them and I would just put the coat aside until right before the next season and sell it then.

What i would do is reorganize the stuff you got listed. Yes, i have stuff all over that is suppose to go on ebay or some other site but the stuff THAT actually does get listed has their own area.  Small stuff in my house has its own room that kids or pets are not allowed in so nothing gets broke while listed and it doesn't get lost either when it does sell.  canceling sales do to broken or misplaced items can be the death of a seller here. 

Bigger items that are listed have their own pallet rack section in a side room off the main shop.

I also have an extra 35' camper with a slidout that i store stuff in that is listed on a different site too.

every time i don't follow my own rule, it bites me.  I had a case of window screens once that eventually sold thru a bin and you should have seen me pulling my hair out when i went to my rack and it wasn't there.  Couldn't find them anywhere. Just about ready to bite the bullet and tell the buyer when my wife asked if i was going to pull the mercedes out of storage soon?

Lightbulb went off in my head when she asked that and i ran up and looked in the storage part. Sure enough the screens were in the trunk.  i had good intention to put them on the rack when i was done taking pictures of them and put them in the trunk seeing the car was going up there anyways but i must have forgot when i put the car away to take those out and put them where they should have been. Out of sight, out of mind i guess.

You can have your selling stuff all over but anything listed should be stored in a controlled area or 2 .

Good luck to you and every other seller out there. Hope you all have a  endless supply of buyers/bidders

[vintagemoth12]

I am with castlemagic on this. I am not trying to be brutal at all but from your response and attitude, it doesn't seem like you have taken responsibility for what happened. It was your responsibility to keep up with the item if you are going to have it listed to sell. All I am hearing from you is how you aren't going to take less... etc.  Well, all coats go on sale at this time of year. I wouldn't want to pay now what I would pay in the winter for a coat.

I totally understand how this happened. Things happen. I have had this same experience where all of a sudden I wonder where something I have listed is. 

But if it were my fault, I wouldn't get mad at the buyer for leaving me a neg even if I did explain. Yes, they are being selfish by doing it because it sounds so immature that because they didn't get their way they are going to leave you a neg! 

Be thankful that you found it and you can now show that you are not shady. To prove it, I would have given them a discount of some kind. 

I am sorry if this makes you feel bad. It isn't my intention. It is just the truth in the way that business should be conducted. It is how I would want to be treated. 

[couldabeenworse]

Personally, I'd have accepted that my error warranted the feedback, and offered to send the coat at no charge when I found it.  If the buyer offered any sort of payment or feedback adjustment, that would be up to him.

[rosie247]

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@saintpaulgolfwrote:

 Whatever happened to "don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all..."? 

I do not understand this. 

That is something you tell children to keep them from saying things like " Why does your house stink? " and  "Why are you so fat?".  It is not a realistic concept for an adult trying to navigate life in the twenty first century. 

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[thefriedp_24]

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@vintagemoth12wrote: Yes, they are being selfish by doing it because it sounds so immature that because they didn't get their way they are going to leave you a neg! 

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They are not being selfish in the least for leaving the negative feedback. They had a lousy experience they had every right to express their feelings about that.

So many sellers complain about low sales and cancellations for any reason are large factor in that.

What most sellers here don't get is it the minute they decide to sell here they are expected to be professional. Keeping track of their inventory is a huge part of that. If they can't be professional and keep track of their items it causes a bad experience for the buyer.

[lovtaco0]

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@saintpaulgolfwrote:

So should I make them retract the negative...and then follow through with the transaction? I'd probably settle for a $5.00 loss if the negative was removed. 

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I don't think that negative does any harm to your account. Your reply was very professional and on point. I would not hesitate in making a purchase from you based on that FB.

[pingpong517]

reading your comments..you don't want to "look" shady and or whatever...

YOU listed and lost the item..so you should have ASAP cancelled and refunded....and you get the feedback that the buyer wants to put..fair or not. BUT you failed on this one --not having the item you sold...

SO with that...the iddea of looking for it latyer...well that is nice...and maybe a email saying you have the item again(found new one)  and would you like it at the same price( Throwing in free shipping...and no matter if you will lose money)... You give them a chance.....that is want you can do....that's all you can do.

if the buyer wants it or not..that on them..they have left a negative and they don't want or bought another one...so all you do is ask.

about "looking" shady.... that's just your EGO...who cares about "looks"...you can only do what you can when an issue happens...it happen, done.   selling in next season for a higher price , good for you if you get it , and that isn't so much shady as a business tyransaction un related to the first one....

if you are an honest person and have in good faith and honestly done all you could( admitting it was lost or donated)---then you live with yourself... good gosh who care what someone "thinks" --feedback will say whatever..we all and anyone who really knows-- understands there is more to a feedback than just one...too many saying the same..maybe...but **bleep** happens.... 

and yes thius happens tome a few times... and mostly works out ok...but it was on me and that was all i could do...refund , say sorry....offer a discount on something else...in the end..that's the best I could do.

[timemachine777]

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@dhbookdswrote:

The feedback seems to state the situation as you state it:

Seller canceled order saying He couldn’t find the item.

It does gripe buyers who have spent time and effort into finding what they want not to get it.......

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I've been in that spot a number of times as a buyer, but I don't get nasty about it.

[castlemagicmemories]

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@saintpaulgolfwrote:

Honestly, it's akin to a person who just got robbed and rushing to the nearest good samaritan or police officer asking for help, and then the good samaritan or police asking them about all the crimes they may (or may have not) committed in their past. 

I mean, there is no call for it. That's an extreme example, but it's just an example. 

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With all due respect, that analogy is quite a bit off for this discussion.  It is nowhere near being akin to what happened here~nor is it an accurate example.  You didn't get robbed, the buyer did when you didn't have what you had listed for sale.  And posters often delve deeper for the big picture.

Many times when someone starts a thread about an issue, they only see it as a one dimensional issue.  To give a complete perspective, posters delve deeper to find out more facts, and they may uncover things you would rather they did not.  This may seem to be malicious.   But it helps posters see if the OP is credible, and giving needed facts, and determines if the OP is fixated on the notion that this is not their fault, no matter what. 

I am sorry if you are upset but you are only looking at this from your point of view and not your buyers.  You feel that neg is unjust.  Yet posters here have stated that it is a factual summation of what happened.  I know you don't like it, but the buyer is entitled to express his opinion, and that is what he did.  He is not required to cut you any slack because you made a mistake, although it would have been nice if he did.  You don't know how many other  sellers have done that to this buyer, either.  Maybe he is just tired of looking the other way.

You said yourself you were very displeased when a seller did this to you, but you would not drop a neg on them.  That is great, but there is also the possibility that if you had that happen multiple times, you, too, would be inspired to say, enough already, and post a neg.

I am sorry you felt you had a bad Board experience, and no one should be bashed.  But if you just come to the Board for sympathy and vindication, or cannot accept other's opinions, or don't care for the way you are treated, then I can only suggest that the Board is not the place for you to come, for your own satisfaction.

[castlemagicmemories]

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@saintpaulgolfwrote:

I mean,...I just don't want to come off as a con artist, or if/when I list it down the road at a similar or higher price, it might look shady? 

The truth is I would probably send it to the person at the same price...but only if they would retract their negative feedback. 

But I am not going to take less for it. 

Eh, like you guys said, that was kind of the way I thought it was at at this point: it was over. 


My concern is though that if I relist it next Fall/Winter (I sell seasonal items in season: golf clubs in Spring/Summer; various items like coats strictly in season, so I wouldn't relist it again until next Fall/Winter) is that I will look shady. 

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IMO, it is not appropriate to attach conditions on this.  It was not the buyer's mistake, it was yours, and feedback extortion is a violation.  It was nice of you to contact the buyer when you found it, and it was nice of them to say they can take care of the negative.  But to make a feedback demand is not only a violation, but inappropriate since the mistake initiated with you.

[castlemagicmemories]

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@saintpaulgolfwrote:

Well they have emailed me back saying they will give me $35 if I cover the difference in shipping (so maybe $5 less than the original transaction) but they also say in the email "I think we can take care of that negative"

So should I make them retract the negative...and then follow through with the transaction? I'd probably settle for a $5.00 loss if the negative was removed. 

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With all due respect, sorry, but you can't "make" them do anything.  They could report you for feedback extortion, which would be a violation on your account.

[thefriedp_24]

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@timemachine777wrote:

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@dhbookdswrote:

The feedback seems to state the situation as you state it:

Seller canceled order saying He couldn’t find the item.

It does gripe buyers who have spent time and effort into finding what they want not to get it.......

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I've been in that spot a number of times as a buyer, but I don't get nasty about it.

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The buyer wasnt nasty, just factual.

[vintagemoth12]

Fried, I am actually glad you disagree with me.  I am glad that people want to keep others accountable. Glad that there are standards we still need and want to meet to be the professionals you speak of. I think if this had happened to me I would have "read" the tone of the seller and, used that to make my decision to give feedback. If they were truly sorry and I felt it was a mistake that they just couldn't control,  while being disappointed, I probably wouldn't neg them over it.

I really do understand that things happen. I usually go by how people treat me and their attitudes.

I really do think some buyers are too neg-happy and give them just to soothe their emotions rather than thinking through what could have actually happened... that a mistake could have occurred.