posted on January 26, 2004 01:09:12 PM new
I have a buyer on a book for $8.99. Auction closed on 1/6 - tomorrow, it will be three weeks. He didn't respond to 2 post-auction emails I sent, so I sent a 3-day payment reminder through eBay. He responded with a letter and a check for $8.99 - no shipping. The 3-day notice said to "contact the seller" for shipping cost. Since I charge just the exact cost of shipping, and I give people the choice of Media Mail, Priority Mail or UPS, and the option of insurance, I need to get their info first.
I've gone through repeated rounds of email with this guy - most have been ignored. I've called him twice - most recently, last Tuesday. When I didn't get the $2 by Saturday, I emailed him again and asked when it had been mailed. He said he put $2 in an envelope and mailed it the day after our conversation (Wednesday), and it still ain't here.
I have a definite sense that he's hoping I'll throw up my hands and mail the book already since I do have the check for $8.99 (which I haven't cashed).
Guy has feedback of 300-plus, mostly positive. He's an experienced eBayer so he knows the $8.99 doesn't cover shipping.
I have 100% positive feedback of 90, and I don't want to ruin it.
I'm also bothered by something else in his letter: "I understand that it is new as you had advertised it." That's not what I said in in the ad, which makes it clear that it's a book with a 1990 copyright which is now out-of-print from my late father's library. I said that it "looks brand new," clean pages; no damage to the cover, etc. - but it isn't new. I re-iterated that to him in an email and offered to send him his $8.99 check back if there was any misunderstanding. Again, no response.
I sent a final notice via this AM - that if I didn't get his $2 in the mail or via PayPal by tomorrow, I would void the $8.99 check and return it.
This guy has claimed everything from shoulder surgery to computer problems when I've called. He gives me a hinky feeling, too.
Any advice on this one? I usually have such great bidders - all very considerate, considering that it's clear from the ads that I'm offering books and videos from my late father's library. Most of these guys are very sweet and thankful that I'm making the effort to make great vintage stuff available to them through eBay.
posted on January 26, 2004 01:14:15 PM new
i would just cash the check and let him know you are waiting for the 2 dollars so you can ship him the book.
so now the ball is in his court.
neg??who cares??
but then thats me,me thick skin seller!!
-sig file -------the lobster in the boiling pot of water who tries to prevent the others from climbing out.
posted on January 26, 2004 01:18:08 PM new
hello rozrr
my feelings is
void the check now. if the 2 dollars ever shows up it can be returned at their cost. I would send 1 last and final email tell them to send a self addressed envelope if they want their voided check back.
posted on January 26, 2004 01:21:14 PM new
Way too much commotion for a $9.00 sale. I'd tear up the check, notify him that you have done so, file NPB alert. If you receive pmnt (money order) in 10 days fine, if not, go FVFs and relist.
PS. Don't leave any feedback!
Life is not a dress rehearsal
[ edited by max40 on Jan 26, 2004 01:23 PM ]
posted on January 26, 2004 01:23:23 PM new
At this point, he's annoyed me so much playing dumb, I'd just as soon void the check and return it. If the $2 magically appears in the mail tomorrow, I'd mail the book. If it doesn't (and I doubt that it will), I feel I should void the check and send it back - and issue a negative for the first time. But I'm sure I'd get one in return. This is a new one for me. And, such a weird situation - hard to characterize it in 80-some characters. Maybe that's what I need help with - composition of a short but clear neg
posted on January 26, 2004 01:26:30 PM new
Yes, Sarnia, I feel he's jerking me around, and yes, Max, I feel it's way too much trouble for a $9 sale. I feel I want to neg ...and I'm such a pacifist
posted on January 26, 2004 01:30:14 PM new
Your neg to him does nothing but get you a neg in return. Filing for final value fees gets him noticed by Marge.
posted on January 26, 2004 02:34:17 PM new
why waste your 37 cents returning the check? just hold onto it until after you have finished the npb and fvf and then void and shred it....email him that you have done so...then block him as a bidder and forget him.
posted on January 26, 2004 02:38:19 PM new
she means meg-meg whitman.
if you shred the check and file for final value,you wasted your time for nothing.
i would cash the check and wait for the 2 dollars.
-sig file -------the lobster in the boiling pot of water who tries to prevent the others from climbing out.
posted on January 26, 2004 02:47:27 PM new
To summarize:
1) Cash check.
2) Send final email to customer advising you will ship the book when you receive $2.00.
3) Block bidder.
4) Illegitimi Non Carborundum.
spelling error
[ edited by rarebourbon on Jan 26, 2004 02:48 PM ]
posted on January 26, 2004 04:23:43 PM new
Thanks, everyone, for your comments.
I don't want to cash the $8.99 check without the $2 in shipping least he put in a claim with eBay that he paid for it but I refused to send it. That could put me in the position of having to send it, with shipping on me, versus defending myself against a charge of "fraud" over a lousy $2.
Watch - the $2 will show up tomorrow
Is eBay getting more in the way of NBP and FVF's these days?
The increase in insertion fees surprised me. I think they should lower the front end, to encourage more listings. But I guess they're moving in the direction of discouraging lower end items and/or making more of their money on insertion fees and not FVF's.
posted on January 27, 2004 04:55:19 AM new
From eBay's perspective, the resources used for $5 item are the same as for a $500 item. I know eBay wouldn't release the info, but I would love to see statistics on the NPBs - I have a feeling the greatest percentage of these (and other aggravations) are on low value items.
posted on January 27, 2004 12:13:06 PM new
Another day - and no two bucks. So, I just sent the guy another email informing him that I was voiding the sale and his $8.99 check. I am filing the NPB alert.
But still, it's bizarre. Guy is an experienced eBay'er. Feedback of 334, with 1 neutral and 2 neg's, but the feedback profile doesn't look bad. And, this is the sale of a BOOK. So I would expect literacy in reading the details of the ad on issues like shipping cost.
I would love to neg this guy since my sense is that he thought I would take his word for the fact that the $2 was "in the mail," and go ahead and ship the book - and end up eating the shipping cost. I am just itching - but will probably refrain.
posted on January 27, 2004 09:06:19 PM newi would just cash the check and let him know you are waiting for the 2 dollars so you can ship him the book. so now the ball is in his court.
This is an extremely bad idea. If you cash the check, from a legal standpoint, you accept the $8.99 as total payment. Then you don't a leg to stand on. You are obligated to send the book. The best thing to do is to file NPB, FVF and send the check back. You cannot keep the check or rip it up as the same rule applies. For 37 cents, well worth it to avoid a possible hassle down the road.
posted on January 28, 2004 04:08:55 AM new
Stone is correct voiding or riping up a check without the writers ok is a dangerous proceedure. Notify the buyer that you are returning the check because the amount did not include shipping charges.. FVF'em, neg'em what ever feels the best!
posted on January 28, 2004 06:57:36 AM new
Stonecold, Alldings -
That's what I finally decided to do. I sent him a "final notice" email on Monday - said if I didn't get the $2 in the mail by Tuesday, I would void his winning bid.
Yesterday, I drew a big X on his check, wrote void on it, and mailed it back. He had also sent a letter. I wrote across the top: "voided - incomplete - did not send $2 in shipping."
I kept xeroxes of both.
My sense of this guy is that he felt I would automatically deposit the $8.99 check (along with all of the others that were on incoming from my other auctions), and mail the book on his say-so that the $2 was on its way.
Or, get stuck with mailing the book once the check was cashed.
He was the only bidder, so there was no underbidder for a "second chance" offer. Therefore, he knew that I would want to complete the sale.
This guy has feedback over 300 - so he's an experienced eBayer. He would have to have known, starting off, that the $8.99 auction price doesn't include shipping.
A small thing - but my gut sense from the way he was acting was that he was trying to get over on me for a lousy $2.
posted on January 28, 2004 08:02:06 AM new
Sorry to hear you voided the check. Often the NPB alert gets the money in. I have had money come in as late as 7 weeks. It doesn't cost anything to wait, and it's easier than going through the whole reselling process. IMHO.
posted on January 28, 2004 08:26:37 AM new
Sorry to hear you voided the check. Often the NPB alert gets the money in. I have had money come in as late as 7 weeks. It doesn't cost anything to wait, and it's easier than going through the whole reselling process. IMHO.
posted on January 28, 2004 09:35:44 AM new
This has happened to me a few times also, and I found from passed experience that cashing the check and just waiting is not a good thing to do.
I also think that your right when you say he knows he owes you the shipping money but hes also hopeing you get tired and just ship the book to him, well don't do it.
Just file for your fees whatever he still owes you saying ....payment recieved but no shipping included.
I would not cash his check till I had all the money and I would let him know that also because once you cash his check you just accepted his payment and YOU didn't deliver the merchandice.
Write him an email and let him know that if you don't receive his payment for shipping by a certain date his check will be distroyed and the book will be relisted.
posted on January 28, 2004 10:21:48 AM new
I would have emailed once for additional payment, and held onto the check, If it did not come, I would go through the NPB process, then FVF, and tear up the check. It seems like a lot of work to go through for a $9 sale...
posted on January 28, 2004 10:54:32 AM new
i dont see anything wrong with depositing partial payment.
layaway plan-dont they send in partial payment??
dont forget a sale is made,and partial payment comes in,all you need is to wait for the remaining balance to fill the order.
afterall,you did set the book aside for him.
-sig file -------the lobster in the boiling pot of water who tries to prevent the others from climbing out.
posted on January 28, 2004 07:48:15 PM newi dont see anything wrong with depositing partial payment.
As stated earlier, depositing the check constitutes acceptance as payment in full.
layaway plan-dont they send in partial payment??
The big difference in this is when you do layaway with companies, you enter into a contract and you are given a receipt that details a payment structure. In this case, no such contract exists and depositing a partial payment consitutes the start and finish of a contract.
posted on January 28, 2004 08:18:45 PM new
If this would have been my sale and I had dinked around that long I would have mailed the book and moved on. Block the bidder and you will hear nothing from him again.What is it going to cost you to wrap the book in a brown paper bag stick a label on and probably for $1.24 your hassels would be done. Opps forgot the ziplock bag for protection. This is my perspecitive on this auction. You wasted more than $2.00 on all the time in the emailing you did with this buyer.
posted on January 29, 2004 07:05:25 AM new
Libra -
When he didn't answer my post-auction emails or the three-day notice, I got the contact info and called. Whoever answered said that he was out having surgery on his shoulder - so I gave him some leeway. His feedback was good. Then, the second time I called (had gotten the $8.99, but not the $2), he claimed computer problems. That's when I knew he was d*cking me around.
This book comes from my late father's library. He ain't getting it. No way. No how. No time.
Some people look to take advantage of an estate situation, which really gets me PO'd. If the book doesn't sell, books can always be donated. I'd rather do that.
posted on January 29, 2004 08:17:51 AM new
stone-
from what i understand,the only time accepting partial payment as payment in full is when the buyer writes on the check-payment in full and the seller still proceeds to cash it.
-
if the buyer has surgery,he may have other things on his mind like his health and finance,deductible and co-payment can come up to a tidy sum.
-sig file -------the lobster in the boiling pot of water who tries to prevent the others from climbing out.
