Shipping dispute - what are my rights?

ljandkg · Apr 29, 2007

I have a bit of a dispute going and I know a few guys here have had experience with things like this.

I won a card which had a shipping charge for overseas of $6. As u know - a bit high but if it's coming GP I'm not too worried -anyway it shows up with an 84 cent stamp on it in a $1 bubble pack. Overall a cost of about $2.

This got my goat. I emailled the guy and he said I agreed to the cost when I bid...of course I replied saying I thought it'd cost close to $6. He's written back saying the same thing basically - I should have asked before I bid about it....

Anyway I've emailed ebay checking what my rights are. I paid via paypal. They're yet to reply...

I know it's only $4 but to be honest - I could do with it and that's not the point. He charged $6 for shipping and only spent $2 sending the card. Anyone know what I can do? Neither of us have left feedback and so far all communication has been very polite....

Any experiences appreciated.
Al

Dr. Curlytek · Apr 29, 2007

Nothing will come out of ebay or Paypal, they are equally useless in these cases. If you can get the guy to say in an email that the extra money is to pay ebay or Paypal fees then you may be able to get something (at least ebay may take some action then). There needs to be some more regulated/uniform way of formulating shipping costs, with the amount of similar transactions that take place (ie. x cards from US to Australia) there should be an average number that cannot be exceeded by a particular percentage.

card_craze · Apr 29, 2007

it's a bit difficult cause 'costs' doesn't necessarily mean just top loader, stamp & bubble mailer, it took the seller's time to send the card and so on. The difficulty is that he clearly stated the cost and by bidding on it you agreed with the cost, unless otherwise specified (i.e. you contacted the seller and he agreed to reduce the costs).

Anyway, think on the bright side, you did get your card. Does it really matter if the stamp on it is only 84c or $4?

I agree with Curlytek, it's going to be difficult to get ebay/paypal to response. The value you are disputing is probably too small for them to take any action (considering they are paying their employees by the hour...).

ljandkg · Apr 29, 2007

I hope you're wrong but u probably aren't!!
I have just emailed the guy asking what the $6 was used for so will see if he replies....

ljandkg · Apr 29, 2007

card_craze said:
it's a bit difficult cause 'costs' doesn't necessarily mean just top loader, stamp & bubble mailer, it took the seller's time to send the card and so on. The difficulty is that he clearly stated the cost and by bidding on it you agreed with the cost, unless otherwise specified (i.e. you contacted the seller and he agreed to reduce the costs).

Anyway, think on the bright side, you did get your card. Does it really matter if the stamp on it is only 84c or $4?

I agree with Curlytek, it's going to be difficult to get ebay/paypal to response. The value you are disputing is probably too small for them to take any action (considering they are paying their employees by the hour...).

I don't agree with this philosophy- if u wanna sell cards on ebay u don't get paid for your time for it. Shipping to me is straight up the cost of the stamp and what u send it in.

For trading cards - all collectors pretty much send the card in a top loader and I wouldn't think he included that in the cost - if he did - he blows more than I originally thought - to me the stickler is this.....
He charged me $6 - it cost him $2 so he's skimmed $4 off the top. I even said in an email - maybe he didn't know what it cost - but now he knows he should refund $4 if he had any decency - and as I said I know it's only 4 bucks but the way I operate my card finances that could be the difference between me having enough for another card and not.

Brian Lee · Apr 29, 2007

Mate, welcome to Ebay....

Do you remember ever coming across items with a But It Now for $0.99 but with a postage fee of $15? That's how people do business on Ebay to avoid paying the 5.25% fee on final bid price. I think you should look at the entire deal as one item rather than breaking it down into sections and wondering if it's fair.

In this case, the seller jacked up the postage so he can start at lower price to get more attention for the item. Think about it, would you have paid the extra $4 if the shipping fee is only $2? if you would, you should not be complaining at all since after all you did get the item.

Cheers

bigsarg7 · Apr 29, 2007

hope everything works out for you but yeah I hate it when they overcharge for postage..

Dr. Curlytek · Apr 29, 2007

Brian Lee said:
Mate, welcome to Ebay....

Do you remember ever coming across items with a But It Now for $0.99 but with a postage fee of $15? That's how people do business on Ebay to avoid paying the 5.25% fee on final bid price. I think you should look at the entire deal as one item rather than breaking it down into sections and wondering if it's fair.

In this case, the seller jacked up the postage so he can start at lower price to get more attention for the item. Think about it, would you have paid the extra $4 if the shipping fee is only $2? if you would, you should not be complaining at all since after all you did get the item.

Cheers

While I sort of agree with this point, and certainly have no problem in thinking of it as all part of the same cost when it is a single item, I hate when they say there is a combined shipping discount (especially an undisclosed discount), then charge an extra 2-3 dollars for each SINGLE CARD. It's so hard to try and pre-contact every seller that you want to buy something off, especially when you do less frequent searches for stuff and find things that are ending in the next day or so.

Brian Lee · Apr 29, 2007

I agree with every word you say, so I always make sure whoever I am buying off have clear instructions on shipping costs, combined shipping costs, paying instructions etc (I have come across some sellers who don't accept PayPal payments from international buyers). But unlike you, I do a daily lookup on cards I want, so I normally get into contact with the seller 80% of the time. If they don't reply, I simply don't bid.

Once I bought a supposed 93-94 Shaq Finest Refractor and the guy sent me a regular card. I was lucky to get my money back after going through PayPal buyer protection.

Dr. Curlytek said:
While I sort of agree with this point, and certainly have no problem in thinking of it as all part of the same cost when it is a single item, I hate when they say there is a combined shipping discount (especially an undisclosed discount), then charge an extra 2-3 dollars for each SINGLE CARD. It's so hard to try and pre-contact every seller that you want to buy something off, especially when you do less frequent searches for stuff and find things that are ending in the next day or so.

Indigogazer · Apr 29, 2007

Yeah i generally don't bid on auctions unless the shipping is clear. In this case you knew the price he was charging and bid on the item, tho it cost him less to send than the quoted $6 you still bid thus leaving you not much of a leg to stand on, even tho i do agree it does suck. Worst part is if you neutral/neg him for it then he'll return the favour

nandalinnaung · Apr 30, 2007

that's one factor i don't wanna buy overseas...

The Truth · Apr 30, 2007

I have a 'friend' who just had the same problem Al . In this case, they nicely asked the seller about it, the seller straight up shoves it down their throat calling them names and telling them he will never ship overseas again because of the buyer. All this from a simple polite question about the sellers inflated shipping price. Then my 'friend' emailed back pointing out the seller can't charge for his time to drive to a post office (that's the comment from US seller's that says "I'm braindead") etc etc. The bad seller still continues to dish out shit!
So a complaint with paypal was filed. Now when they get their money back in a few days, they can re-make that payment correctly, minus some charges for the time spent having to make a paypal complaint

dead_end_cruiser · Apr 30, 2007

It was $6 when you bid on it. It got there in one piece. I dont see the problem. Your pissed cos its in his pocket instead of the post offices pocket?

WoobieZarz · Apr 30, 2007

You're just wasting your time.

Nothing can be done about it, and nothing ever will.

I just do 2 things after receiving them...

1 - email seller, see what they're doing with the other monies paid, and ..

2 - leave them a neg, if it's warranted.

I lost $18.50 to a seller who sold me a jersey, currently dealing with Ebay over trying to get them suspended, they (seller) told me themselves that they were claiming expenses such as listing fees, paypal fees, gas, time, etc....

Brian Lee · Apr 30, 2007

Why is it so important where the money has gone? there is only one answer to that, THE SELLER. Right from the beginning, you know he/she is the person you are going to pay, so if you think the deal is not fair in the first place. Why did you even bid on it? unless the item arrived damaged due to the cost cutting ways they mailed the item, otherwise, I don't think there is much of a case.

theflyinggerco · Apr 30, 2007

Its one of those things that annoy the shit out of you, but its part and parcel of buying from eBay. Some sellers are great; in fact the majority of them are, but when you get one bad apple it can really shit you.

I get the feeling this is more the straw that broke the camels back more than anything.

Dr. Curlytek · Apr 30, 2007

Brian Lee said:
Why is it so important where the money has gone? there is only one answer to that, THE SELLER. Right from the beginning, you know he/she is the person you are going to pay, so if you think the deal is not fair in the first place. Why did you even bid on it? unless the item arrived damaged due to the cost cutting ways they mailed the item, otherwise, I don't think there is much of a case.

Part of the point is that sellers don't say "S & H is $8, $2 to ship it and $6 in my back pocket", and the actual cost of sending varies so much it is not possible as a buyer to know how much is actual cost and also how well a particular seller is going to package your cards. If everything came to you in the same manner, then it would be easy to filter out the shithead sellers, but I usually only start to get really pissed if their S&H is well over 2-3 times the full "actual" postage cost (including the cost of packaging materials).

ljandkg · Apr 30, 2007

dead_end_cruiser said:
It was $6 when you bid on it. It got there in one piece. I dont see the problem. Your pissed cos its in his pocket instead of the post offices pocket?

So by this way of thinking - if an item said $18 shipping - u bid on it and it came with an 84 cent stamp u wouldn't have a problem?

I'm 'pissed' cos he's got $4 of mine he said he'd need for shipping and he didn't need it and has kept it. Mate can u see the issue here?
I don't see how some of u can't see the point. I KNOW I bid on it knowing the cost but he DIDN'T use $6, he sent for a few cents, and pocketed the rest.

Brian Lee - 'Why is it so important where the money has gone? there is only one answer to that, THE SELLER. Right from the beginning, you know he/she is the person you are going to pay, so if you think the deal is not fair in the first place'

Of course I bloody know where the money's gone!!!! I'm not an idiot. For christ sakes - the issue here is the shipping charge. I will explain this in little words and this is the last I'm writing as I'm getting more agitated replying to these comments than I actually am with the seller!!

I saw the item had a $6 shipping charge right. I did NOT have a problem with that. I considered this when bidding and adjusted my bid price lower to consider the highish cost. Then the card arrived in good shape etc, but it only cost him 84 cents to send. So he has charged $6 for shipping and only spent about $2 sending it - if u don't see the point now....

I Give Up.

By the way Mavs - yr probably right - will let u know what ebay says....

(Is there a smiley for exhaustion??)

dead_end_cruiser · May 1, 2007

ljandkg said:
So by this way of thinking - if an item said $18 shipping - u bid on it and it came with an 84 cent stamp u wouldn't have a problem?

I'm 'pissed' cos he's got $4 of mine he said he'd need for shipping and he didn't need it and has kept it. Mate can u see the issue here?
I don't see how some of u can't see the point. I KNOW I bid on it knowing the cost but he DIDN'T use $6, he sent for a few cents, and pocketed the rest.

Brian Lee - 'Why is it so important where the money has gone? there is only one answer to that, THE SELLER. Right from the beginning, you know he/she is the person you are going to pay, so if you think the deal is not fair in the first place'

Of course I bloody know where the money's gone!!!! I'm not an idiot. For christ sakes - the issue here is the shipping charge. I will explain this in little words and this is the last I'm writing as I'm getting more agitated replying to these comments than I actually am with the seller!!

I saw the item had a $6 shipping charge right. I did NOT have a problem with that. I considered this when bidding and adjusted my bid price lower to consider the highish cost. Then the card arrived in good shape etc, but it only cost him 84 cents to send. So he has charged $6 for shipping and only spent about $2 sending it - if u don't see the point now....

I Give Up.

By the way Mavs - yr probably right - will let u know what ebay says....

(Is there a smiley for exhaustion??)

I wouldnt care if the shipping was $50. The point is he hasnt hidden the cost from him, hes told him upfront what postage is. He was willing to pay it cos he wanted the card. I think its ridiculous this is even an issue.

mattyj · May 1, 2007

in the auction it says in the shipping costs

To Australia -- US $8.00
USPS Global Priority Mail
Service to Australia
(more services)

something along those lines, if it stated Standard International Delivery i dont see what your problem is because you know it only costs $.84c and you still choose to bid...

Shipping dispute - what are my rights?

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