Question: Free Shipping in Listing Title but charge for shipping under shipping rates

[epowerbargains]

Hello all - looking to confirm my understanding or get clarification if I am incorrect. Recently, I contacted a seller about an item I was interested in with a question. The listing had "FREE SHIPPING" in the title of the ad but in the body of the listing under shipping it showed a $6 shipping fee. I asked the buyer to please let me know if the item had free shipping or if there was a $6 shipping charge.

The response was interesting, the seller stated that they created that ad intentionally and that they (the seller) decided when they received the order if they wanted to give free shipping or charge based on the buyers address. I asked about calculated shipping and there was no response. I then looked at all the sellers listings - over 200 and each listing had "Free Shipping " in the title and then a charge for shipping in the body of the listing. So far, it has not caused any obvious damage to the sellers account they are at 100% positive feedback. 

There have been  several times for me as a seller when I forgot to update my "free shipping" in the title by mistake when adjusting price and adding shipping. When this happened I refunded the shipping along with an apology and explanation of my error to the buyer. 

Am I off base by thinking that if there is a conflict in an ad regarding shipping the seller must honor what is most advantageous to the seller? And,  it seems to me if this is a violation of eBay policy / practice then the seller is taking advantage of buyers who gravitate to free shipping in the listing title & then if challenged the seller  makes a fix if not they just carry on.  It seems to be both taking a risk for the seller & at the same time an unfair advantage over competitive sellers. 

Your thoughts - sometimes I overthink things.....so I welcome feedback. 

[epowerbargains]

Please note last paragraph should be "most advantageous to the BUYER not seller"

[ms.rodriguez*]

If you saw a shipping rate under SHIPPING, you will pay that shipping.  The seller is being deceitful with that title.  If you don't want the item, ask the seller to cancel your order immediately.   You can "encourage" him to cancel it because you can report him to ebay because he admitted that he did this based on buyer's address.  That is a no-no.

Once you bid, the seller can't edit that shipping rate. It's locked it.  This is a very deceitful seller.

[slippinjimmy]

You are not "off base", it's just another example of how a small number of sellers are contributing to the decline in the number of buyers here on eBay.

If I went to a site that stated they offered free shipping and then found out during checkout that it was not true I would do the following:

1 - not complete my purchase

2 - never return to that site

In the case of a Marketplace like eBay leaving as a buyer hurts ALL sellers not just the ones that abuse the system.

[epowerbargains]

I agree. I never placed an order because the conflict in the listing and the sellers response made me uncomfortable.  I suspect that the "free shipping " in the title is a way to attract business in a way that is improper and unfair to other honest sellers. 

[epowerbargains]

Yes, I did not purchase and would never purchase from that seller. I agree this type of behavior reflects poorly on the seller and does not help the image of eBay and other sellers. 

[ms.rodriguez*]

You do NOT abandon a site because of 1 bad deal with a seller.  I don't stop going to McDonald's because they gave me cold fries yesterday.    Ebay has millions of sellers.  There are bound to be a few bad apples in there.  

[slippinjimmy · Accepted solution]

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@ms.rodriguez* wrote:

You do NOT abandon a site because of 1 bad deal with a seller.  I don't stop going to McDonald's because they gave me cold fries yesterday.    Ebay has millions of sellers.  There are bound to be a few bad apples in there.  

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You might think that but when I ask people if they shop on eBay they frequently tell me they did in the past but no longer. It's never because of something eBay has done and always because of shoddy treatment by sellers.

It might not have happened 20 years ago but these days with literally thousands of alternatives for most goods it takes very little to lose a customer forever.

[ms.rodriguez*]

Sure that happens but it's dumb to cross off a site with millions of sellers due to 1 bad seller.    It's naive to abandon a site because of 1 seller.   

[epowerbargains]

i understand the point you are making. Some people are pretty sensitive to poor customer service and inferior products. In some situations, all it takes is one rude seller remark and/or poor customer service experience for some people to walk away in disgust forever. There are a few brick and mortar shops I refuse to patronize due to one horrible experience - so it can happen with online services as well. And some people think they are buying from "eBay" and don't really understand that eBay is composed of individual sellers. Sellers need to hold themselves to a high ethical standard & sometimes just accept that the customer is always right given how the eBay money back guarantee works. Sometimes it is frustrating but in the final analysis for me the vast majority of customers are really good people.  

[b86fiero]

Rather deceptive to state free shipping in the title but show a shipping charge in the description.  Probably violates eBay policy.

I purchased an item a few months that offered free shipping but then the seller added an import fee charge at checkout.  The fee did not show on my invoice before I paid.   

[epowerbargains]

I suspect it does violate policy - but other than a buyer having to go thru the hassle of disputing the charge I am not sure how this can be addressed. Seems like eBay might want to consider making sellers who post all of their listings with this contradiction in shipping cost - remove it.  It's unfair to buyers as well as other sellers.