eBay charging me fee for item never sold

[earlybebe]

someone emailed me about one of my listings. in their email they included their phone #.  i didn't respond to their email or phone #.  ebay sent me a warning. a warning as if i asked the person for their phone #.  i did not.  someone else wanted one of my high priced items.  they wanted to lay it away(3 people have asked for this).  i tried to alter the invoice to show a deposit with balance due.  i couldn't. i did this in the earlier days of eBay with no problem.  i told the buyer i had the item on anoother site, and they should go there because i can do a layaway. 

i get another WARNING from eBay.  the buyer never followed thru and never went to the other site. out of frustration, i took the item off of all the sites.  next thing i know eBay is charging me a selling fee of $700+, because i removed the item.

problem for me is that eBay zooms in on one email. if thy looked at any other emails that may have been sent by a buyer or seller, they would see what the deal is, and not just assume.  the eBay person i spoke to about the buyer sending me their phone # said he would have the warning removed. he never did.  i take full responsibility for my indiscretions, however, i resent being accused of something i had nothing to do with, and i resent someone making judgement without knowing all the facts.

[ersatz_sobriquet]

Ted you wrote that so concisely, clearly, and logically. 

How others can not see the absurdity of this move by ebay is beyond me. 

Am I for supporting sellers who sell off site to a buyer that found their active listing here? No. 

But ebay has crossed a line when they have zero proof. I really don't see how this policy can hold up in a court of law, guilty even IF proven innocent = no sale anywhere. 

[ted_200]

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@ersatz_sobriquet wrote:

Ted you wrote that so concisely, clearly, and logically. 

How others can not see the absurdity of this move by ebay is beyond me. 

Am I for supporting sellers who sell off site to a buyer that found their active listing here? No. 

But ebay has crossed a line when they have zero proof. I really don't see how this policy can hold up in a court of law, guilty even IF proven innocent = no sale anywhere. 

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I'm not even all that moved by this particular example, and the idea that OP was just "asking for it".   Even with what he posted here, I don't see any intent to intentionally beat eBay out of their fees by selling off-site... he simply wanted to accomodate a payment arrangement that eBay will not support.  The fact that the item never even sold to anyone at all is just icing on the cake. 

[d-k_treasures]

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@ted_200 wrote:

I fully expect eBay to encounter legal issues over this, sooner rather than later.  Not only because it's wrong, but because many of their sellers (the big toy seller, for example) are clearly making sales after someone sees something on eBay and then finds it on their own site cheaper, and I can assure you eBay is not charging that seller FVF on every single Ninja Turtle they sold anywhere because someone sent an eBay Message.

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ted - that big toy seller has links to their own website right in their ebay listings.

All sellers have to abide by the same rules indeed ................... what a crock.

[ersatz_sobriquet]

Instead of taking the time writing this stupid policy, they could have written a rather nice layaway policy for higher priced items like the OP DIDN'T SELL. 

[d-k_treasures]

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@ersatz_sobriquet wrote:

Instead of taking the time writing this stupid policy, they could have written a rather nice layaway policy for higher priced items like the OP DIDN'T SELL. 

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That's way beyond 5th grade ............

[markdown-media]

If you're talking about the one I think you are, I don't see any links to their store on their listing. They are all links to their own ebay store pages or other ebay listings. I think you may be mistaken.

[mistwomandancing]

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chrysylys wrote:

I don't.

No way this should be allowed to happen if the sale isn't recorded here.

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Do you believe eBay should allow members here to use this platform to display their wares, and then tell buyers where to go to make the purchase off of eBay, thus using eBay to make the purchase connection, but cutting them out of the fees due?

[ersatz_sobriquet]

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@markdown-media wrote:

If you're talking about the one I think you are, I don't see any links to their store on their listing. They are all links to their own ebay store pages or other ebay listings. I think you may be mistaken.

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I can't find it either. Maybe it used to be on their listings pages. Anyone find it? 

[ted_200]

Do you believe eBay should allow members here use this platform to display their wares, and then tell buyers where to go to make the purchase off of eBay, thus using eBay to make the purchase connection, but cutting them out of the fees due?

Not that it makes any difference what any of us believe... but no, I don't believe eBay should allow that.   I believe they should NARU the seller for violating policy... not randomly charge sellers fees for items that did not sell anywhere, or sold to someone who has never been to eBay, based on bot scans of Messages.

They're casting a very wide net here, pretty indiscriminately.  And they're not enforcing policy.  They're just monetizing policy violators. 

They said they were going to get rid of bad sellers too.  But they don't enforce policy, they didn't get rid of them, they just charge them 14% now! 

[mistwomandancing]

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ted_200 wrote:

Do you believe eBay should allow members here use this platform to display their wares, and then tell buyers where to go to make the purchase off of eBay, thus using eBay to make the purchase connection, but cutting them out of the fees due?

Not that it makes any difference what any of us believe... but no, I don't believe eBay should allow that.   I believe they should NARU the seller for violating policy... not randomly charge sellers fees for items that did not sell anywhere, or sold to someone who has never been to eBay, based on bot scans of Messages.

They're casting a very wide net here, pretty indiscriminately.  And they're not enforcing policy.  They're just monetizing policy violators. 

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I can well understand this viewpoint.

This attempt by eBay leaves many rough edges to smooth out, to charge a fee or no, to kick off or no, etc.  This isn't a pretty subject.  But I can absolutely see where most sites would jump on this particular seller's direction to a buyer to go get the mentioned merchandise on his other selling site. 

[tinlebarro-0]

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@ersatz_sobriquet wrote:

Instead of taking the time writing this stupid policy, they could have written a rather nice layaway policy for higher priced items like the OP DIDN'T SELL. 

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Paypal credit. If they dont qualify, they probably dont need to buy a 700 dollar doll

[ted_200]

This attempt by eBay leaves many rough edges to smooth out, to charge a fee or no, to kick off or no, etc.  This isn't a pretty subject.  But I can absolutely see where most sites would jump on this particular seller's direction to a buyer to go get the mentioned merchandise on his other selling site. 

Well, I can too... this isn't the one eBay will lose a Class Action over. 

However, I might add, had eBay not got all involved in dictating acceptable payments and payment terms, there is no reason this seller could not have accepted 3 payments for the item, and SOLD it.  HERE.  And eBay gets paid. 

eBay micromanaged themselves into this mess.  In this case, neither the buyer nor seller was trying to avoid any fees, they were tryng to buy/sell something!  To have site functionality blow up a deal... and then bill the seller for the fees... on an item that is still not sold...

[mistwomandancing]

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ted_200 wrote:

This attempt by eBay leaves many rough edges to smooth out, to charge a fee or no, to kick off or no, etc.  This isn't a pretty subject.  But I can absolutely see where most sites would jump on this particular seller's direction to a buyer to go get the mentioned merchandise on his other selling site. 

Well, I can too... this isn't the one eBay will lose a Class Action over. 

However, I might add, had eBay not got all involved in dictating acceptable payments and payment terms, there is no reason this seller could not have accepted 3 payments for the item, and SOLD it.  HERE.  And eBay gets paid. 

eBay micromanaged themselves into this mess.  In this case, neither the buyer nor seller was trying to avoid any fees, they were tryng to buy/sell something!  To have site functionality blow up a deal... and then bill the seller for the fees... on an item that is still not sold...

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Yes, micromanaged themselves into this mess is a good way to put it. 

I'm still not quite sure how I feel about all the facets of this.  I'll need to do quite a bit more considering from various angles until I come to a conclusion I will be more comfortable with.  I don't like it as it is, but I don't like the actions that led to this either. 

[ersatz_sobriquet]

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@tinlebarro-0 wrote:

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@ersatz_sobriquet wrote:

Instead of taking the time writing this stupid policy, they could have written a rather nice layaway policy for higher priced items like the OP DIDN'T SELL. 

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Paypal credit. If they dont qualify, they probably dont need to buy a 700 dollar doll

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I forget that paypal credit exists, as I'd never use it. 

Paypal credit qualification and judgment aside, people are allowed to spend their money as they choose, bad decisions or not, so they "don't need" the doll doesn't qualify. That's part of the "liberty" in freedom, justice, and liberty for all, in the spirit of our nation, and in that spirit I would rather not judge what people decide to do with their own money, as it is their right to decide. 

[d-k_treasures]

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@ersatz_sobriquet wrote:

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@markdown-media wrote:

If you're talking about the one I think you are, I don't see any links to their store on their listing. They are all links to their own ebay store pages or other ebay listings. I think you may be mistaken.

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I can't find it either. Maybe it used to be on their listings pages. Anyone find it? 

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@ersatz_sobriquet 

Search for a minecraft game, and go into that. The click on the Minecraft Store link.