Working with a buyer on an item and another buyer purchased it

[bhladb]

Has anyone else ever had this happen?

I had an item listed and an overseas buyer was interested in purchasing it.  We messaged back and forth over a couple of days while I tried to get shipping rates nailed down for her.  I also lowered the price for her and sent her a message that it was all set for her.  Before she could complete the transaction, another buyer purchased the item.  How do I handle this situation?  

[wastingtime101]

Ship to the buyer that purchased and paid, apologize to the overseas buyer that a different buyer made the purchase and you're required to honor that sale.

Next time you can jack up the price ridiculously high and add best offer to reserve it for a buyer.

[ckimodog]

@bhladb 

You don't.  There is no situation. Perspective buyers are not buyers until they pay you.  That's what happens when you items are seen by millions of other people all over the world.  Snooze you loose.  Congrats on your sale & keep up the good work!!

Happy Selling! 

[slati_2013]

The trick when you plan to sell an item to a buyer is to raise the price to an absurd level, and then add the "make an offer" option and let the buyer make you an offer at the price agreed on. Lowering the price will definitely allow another seller to swoop in and buy it. Increasing the price absurdly is the way to prevent that. 

[lonebuck-books]

This is an easy one.  Ship to the buyer who paid for it.  Your overseas buyer waited too long.  It's the old "you snooze you lose" situation.  I list on multiple platforms and this happens fairly frequently to me.  A buyer is interested and asks questions on one platform and while waiting it sells on another.  I just delist on the other platforms and move on.  There isn't anything the potential other buyer can do to you.  

[a_c_green]

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@slati_2013 wrote:

The trick when you plan to sell an item to a buyer is to raise the price to an absurd level, and then add the "make an offer" option and let the buyer make you an offer at the price agreed on. 

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Don't forget to check the box for Immediate Payment Required, so that a sport bidder doesn't hit your absurd BuyItNow price just for yucks.

[monica-sells]

@ckimodog 

Quoted for truth....

"...You don't.  There is no situation. Perspective buyers are not buyers until they pay you.  That's what happens when you items are seen by millions of other people all over the world.  Snooze you loose..."

This just happened to me. Buyer asked for some price concessions on 2 items. I proposed a modest 5% discount if they bought both. (since FVF is not charged on international shipping).

Potential buyer acknowledged my offer, with no commitment. Overnight, another buyer bought those 2 items as well as 3 others and paid in full. The overseas buyer was furious with me....but they had made no commitment whatsoever, just acknowledged the offer.

These two items are replaceable, so I offered to procure them for him and I will honor the discount. Never heard back.....

me thinks they were ticked off...you snooze, you lose....

@wastingtime101 

additionally quoted for truth....

"...and you're required to honor that sale..."

[bhladb]

Thank you all for your responses!  

You all have given such great suggestions!  I will definitely use the high price/make an offer trick from now on when encountering similar situations.

Thank you!!

[duffy4444]

   This is what happens when buyers try to nickel-and-dime sellers over an extended period of time without committing to a purchase. Meanwhile, while all this back-and-forth negotiating is going on, any other buyer who purchases the item is the early bird that catches the worm, and is the one who gets the sale... You also exacerbated the issue when you lowered the price for everyone else to see, which allowed any other buyer to swoop in.

   The other responders here properly recommended to really jack up the price, allow for offers, and then you can safely scan any offers and sell to the original potential buyer with whom you negotiated the agreed-to price.

Cheers, Duffy 

[simba6]

The eBay offer process or the " shopping cart " does not place a hold on the item. It's still up for sale and another buyer can buy it.  You need to ship to the person that purchased the item.

It's the rule of the jungle here, be fast or lose.

[a_c_green]

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@bhladb wrote:

Thank you all for your responses!  

You all have given such great suggestions!  I will definitely use the high price/make an offer trick from now on when encountering similar situations.

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While I agree with that strategy in general, and even added my own suggestion about the Immediate Payment Required  setting above, I've only used it myself in very specific circumstances (known previous buyer, a unique item that he needed, and a discounted price for him only, in order to complete a set he'd bought in pieces).

Otherwise, when I'm feeling a little flexible in price for something I want to unload, I'll still leave it open for others to purchase at the listed price, and just caution my interested party that although I'm willing to lower the price to what they're offering, someone else is still free to buy it first. Thus they'll have a little motivation to be quick about responding.

[hartungcards]

You snooze, you lose.

[dirk12955]

The more back and forth,

The more likely that something will go wrong.

[lux.ra_14]

I had a "buyer" once who insisted my item was overpriced, and he sent a couple of nagging messages about it. I politely replied that it was newly listed and I wasn't entertaining lower offers at that time. He fired off one more snippy message, insisting that I sell to him "at a price that's fair to both of us."

I wasn't going to reply, but someone else came along and bought the item at full price. So I sent him a message -- Sorry, but the item has sold to someone else at a price that was fair to both of us. Thanks for your interest.

[dbfolks166mt]

     Only had this happen once and you handle it just as I did you ship to the buyer that purchased the item for the price you had it listed for.

    As for your foreign buyer not sure what the item was but you are in the EIS program so unless it was an item that was not qualified to ship under EIS or the buyer was in a country that would prohibit the importation of the item there should not have been any shipping to "nail down". The buyer should see the shipping cost through the listing and the fact that it goes through the EIS program. Following is an example of one of your listings.