is this normal ebay behavior? WWYD? (long)

[babymama]

Hi all -
I've had a not-so-great experience with an ebay vendor and I'm not sure whether I should ask for a refund and or give negative feedback. Hoping those of you more experienced on ebay will guide me. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, but am I being too accomodating here?

I won a raffle 10 days ago for a crib bumper. My winning bid was $10. Under S&H in the item description, it said exactly the following "Buyer will pay actual shipping costs. Thanks!" So when I won, I asked the vendor to calculate shipping using the cheapest option and give me a total so that I could pay for the item. She wrote back to say that she was estimating shipping to be $10 ($8 for box + $2 for box). Then she said "I think that should cover it. If the shipping ends up being cheaper, I'll refund the difference." (direct quote from her email to me.) OK, so $10 for shipping seems a little high to me, but I figure...no biggie, she'll refund me any difference.

Then when I tried to pay her by credit card (which was one of her auction payment options), she rejected my payment. I emailed her to ask her why, and she said she hadn't upgraded her paypal account, technical difficulties, yada, yada. SHe would let me know when I could try my payment again. When she let me know I could pay, I paid.

Today she wrote to say, "I sent the package...through Priority Mail, which was $8.50. Paypal charged me almost $1 as a fee for letting you use a credit card. I found an old box to reuse to stay under $10 that you paid for shipping/handling, so we should be pretty even (maybe I'm ahead 50 cents at most...). Hopefully that is okay with you."

Now, here's my dilemma....I feel like that $1 paypal cc fee she's taking is a HIDDEN FEE. Her auction never mentioned a cc fee, and she never mentioned it before today. Also I know it's just 50cents, but she *did * say she would refund me any difference. In my mind, I should be getting back $1.50. Although , if I had to choose, in principal the cc fee is more troubling to me than the 50cent refund.

Should I:
a) tell her that I feel mislead about the cc fee, since it was never mentioned in the auction? and ask for the 50 cents too (on principal)?
b) just ask for $1 back, but forget about the 50cents?
c) don't ask for any money back - I got a barely used PBK crib bumper for $20 after all.

Also, should I give her negative feedback? It wasn't a great experience, but I think that's mostly bc she's inexperienced.

BTW - I really hope she's not on these boards. I would die of embarrasment.


Lydia
Mama to Santiago, born 11/16/03
http://lilypie.com/baby1/041116/0/6/1/-6/.png

[jk3]

Before giving negative feedback, I'd contact the seller. I'm a little bit confused about the shipping method. Usually Priority Mail provides packages for free. 8.50 doesn't seem outrageous for a bumper but if the seller said she would refund the difference then she should. I always do.

Jenn
DS 6/03

http://lilypie.com/baby2/030603/2/5/1/-5/.png

[Toba]

It is against Paypal's and eBay's (and also Visa and Mastercard) rules to charge the buyer for using their service. You can report her to both Paypal and eBay and she will receive a warning, or be suspended if it's a repeat offense. Even if it was legal, she would have had to disclose any and all fees up front in the ad. Hope that helps.

~Kimberly Anne~
Noah Nevan, March 12, 2004

[babymama]

Good to know. I am going to look for the language in the user agreements, so that if I have a problem, I can cite the clause to her.
Thanks!
Lydia
Mama to Santiago, born 11/16/03
http://lilypie.com/baby1/041116/0/6/1/-6/.png

[pixelprincess]

It is true that you don't get charged for packaging with Priority mail. I'd let it go if I were in your shoes and wouldn't leave -ve feedback. (I think I have left only one and that too he was a psycho person that kept harassing me after giving him a refund). She was decent enough to provide an explanation and though the fee shouldn't have been charged without disclosure, it would have been worse if she was charging $$ handling or whatever. And like you say she may be inexperienced... i just found out about fees with a premier account on Ebay vs. a personal account.

Enjoy your bumper!

[babymama]

Thanks for your input. Good point about the free USPS box. I didn't think to ask her to use on of their boxes. Also I think you're right about contacting her to ask for cooperation before negative feedback. Thanks for the input!
Lydia
Mama to Santiago, born 11/16/03
http://lilypie.com/baby1/041116/0/6/1/-6/.png

[deborah_r]

Just to chime in to agree with the previous poster, I also just read in another thread that they are not allowed to pass those fees onto the buyer. If they don't want to pay those fees, they just need to not accept those forms of payment.

[jubilee]

I think I'd write her and let her know that she can't legally charge you for the credit card fee. Also point out the box is free from USPS. I'd personally ask for the 1.50 back or credit towards another item from her if she's got something for sale you are interested in. Plus you asked for cheapest shipping- which should be parcel post from USPS, I imagine it would have been way cheaper. Anyway, I'd leave positive feedback if she refunds the $1.50 and not mention any dispute in the feedback. I'd leave neutral feedback if she refuses to refund, and just say product was great, but her inexperience led to a dispute with overall charges.

[Kieransmom]

Wow...I don't think she can do that. If people pay me via paypal that's my cost not theirs. I didn't read what the other moms wrote but as far as I'm concerned, that's wrong!

Michelle
Mommy to Kieran, born 5/9/03

http://lilypie.com/baby2/030509/1/5/0/+10/.png[/img][/url]

[babymama]

Good point about passing fees on to buyer.

Lydia
Mama to Santiago, born 11/16/03
http://lilypie.com/baby1/041116/0/6/1/-6/.png

[babymama]

Sounds like from your response and others I've gotten in this thread that negative feedback is reserved for the most egregious vendors. I think you're right. THis seller doesn't fall into that category.

Lydia
Mama to Santiago, born 11/16/03
http://lilypie.com/baby1/041116/0/6/1/-6/.png

[babymama]

I'm leaning toward asking for my $1.50 back. Thanks!

Lydia
Mama to Santiago, born 11/16/03
http://lilypie.com/baby1/041116/0/6/1/-6/.png

[babymama]

Thanks for your support!!!

Lydia
Mama to Santiago, born 11/16/03
http://lilypie.com/baby1/041116/0/6/1/-6/.png

[babymama]

Thanks for all your help. The quick update is that she refunded my money and I gave her positive feedback (even though it wasn't completely heartfelt).

Basically I wrote to her and requested the refund based on the fact that she had said she would refund any difference on shipping. I also very gently pointed out the ebay doesn't allow her to surcharge buyers for cc fees (and included the link to the ebay policy).

So then, she wrote back and said that she would refund, but wanted me to know how much trouble she went through to find a box to use for shipping, so that she didn't have to buy a box and charge me for it.

I thanked her for agreeing to the refund, and told her I planned on leaving positive feedback (which I did). I also pointed out (as nicely as possible) that she could get a free box from the post office if she used priority shipping. I included links to the free boxes on usps.com.

Her package arrived yesterday, and I have to say that I am disappointed in the item. Her auction made it sound like the bumper was new bc she said it was "barely used", but the bumper is very obviously used and maybe was "barely used" BY HER, but she had to have bought it already used. It's got pilling and fading. It also came with dried bits of leaves/grass on the back of the bumper, as if it had been laid out outside and not shaken out. Also it's missing a tie!!! We know it's missing bc the top half of the bumper has a tie in that place, but it's missing it's corresponding tie on the bottom half of the bumper. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, but I feel duped.

I have learned that I need to ask lots of questions before bidding on ebay.
Buyer beware- so true.

Thanks again for all your help,
Lydia





Hi there -
Thanks for your message. I apologize for not getting back to you earlier.

I hope I'm not being difficult, but I would like to ask for a $1.50 refund.
When I wrote to you to request a total cost on the crib bumper plus
shipping, you estimated shipping to be $10 ($8 for postage and $2 for the
box), and specifically said that you would refund any difference. I
understand from your latest email that postage was $8.50, so I am requesting
the difference - $1.50.

After talking to others who are more experienced on ebay than I am, I have
learned that sellers are not allowed to charge buyers for credit card fees.
Please see the link below for the ebay policy on surcharges.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-surcharges.html

You may write a personal check or send cash in the amount of $1.50. Please
send to:

Here's my update:
Lydia
Mama to Santiago, born 11/16/03
http://lilypie.com/baby1/041116/0/6/1/-6/.png

[jk3]

I'm glad you got a refund but I'm sorry you are disappointed about the bumper. I've been lucky buying on Ebay but I try to only buy from sellers with some feedback history. I don't know if this seller is new to Ebay but it sounds like she is. Did you leave the feedback before you received the item?

Jenn
DS 6/03

http://lilypie.com/baby2/030603/2/5/1/-5/.png

[babymama]

Yes, I think I left feedback before I got the item. She had had good feedback, but now I realize that is was mostly all as a buyer, anad only 2 feedbacks (positive) as a seller. Can I change my feedback? I'm sure if I do though, that she will do the same to me (lower feedback rating).

Lydia
Mama to Santiago, born 11/16/03
http://lilypie.com/baby1/041116/0/6/1/-6/.png

[Saartje]

Lesson for the future: never leave feedback before you receive the item, so you know it is as described. You can't change your feedback, but you should contact her (and possibly cc eBay) about the item not being as described.

[steph2003]

Not to hijack your thread but I too am having an Ebay problem. I won & paid for an item (Land's End romper) but when I got the item it was not as described. The description said no stains but there is small stain on the front of the romper - looks like some discoloration from the washer. You know how sometimes darker colors do that (this romper was navy & blue) I have emailed the seller 2x now & no response from her. What is my recourse at this point? The item other then that is fine & the stain isn't that noticeable - in fact my son could use it for play clothes but still it is the fact that the description she put is misleading. I'm trying to give her the benefit of the doubt in that she is a fairly new Ebay seller with not a ton of feedback (but all good feedback so far) & that maybe she didn't see it? but she isn't answering my emails so what else to do?

[babymama]

A lesson learned, indeed.
Lydia
Mama to Santiago, born 11/16/03
http://lilypie.com/baby1/041116/0/6/1/-6/.png

[Saartje]

Contact the seller once more, and inform her that if she does not respond to your message you may contact eBay about a misrepresented listing and may leave negative feedback. Ask for contact information (a phone number), and try to resolve the matter between yourselves. (This is the first step eBay recommends.)

Further steps to take, including how to contact eBay about the matter, can be found at the link below.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/confidence/isgw-fraud-protection.html

[jubilee]

Another option is to contact www.squaretrade.com They offer free services (and paid services, if things get complicated) to help resolve and contact the other party. I had success with using them.

[Kieransmom]

<So then, she wrote back and said that she would refund, but wanted me to know how much trouble she went through to find a box to use for shipping, so that she didn't have to buy a box and charge me for it.>


My goodness, she should have thought about that before she decided to sell the item. That's not your problem!

Michelle
Mommy to Kieran, born 5/9/03

http://lilypie.com/baby2/030509/1/5/0/+10/.png[/img][/url]

[pixelprincess]

I am glad you got a refund...but after reading your update, I think you should get a full refund. Inexperience isn't an excuse to misrepresent products. Ebay doesn't let you change feedback once you have left it.