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I had a red fox pebble listed on ebay that a lady messaged about and wanted. The auction ended before she could buy it so I relisted it and she bought it. I asked her what her postal code was for shipping as she didn’t tell me before she bought it. The cheapest shipping said $16 to Quebec so I invoiced her for the same amount. Well the invoice was in US dollars not Can. which she knew ahead of time but because the shipping was also in US dollars she complained that it was about $5 more than what the shipping would be in Can dollars.
Then she started asking about the condition of the fox and saying it looked like there was a white spot on it in the photos like a defect. Well there were lots of white spots from the flash reflections in the photos and I looked it all over and assured her there was nothing wrong with it and that the spot was a reflection. I also explained that I didn’t realize there was $5 difference because of the exchange rate but any extra would cover my gas and handling fees to ship the box as I didn’t see how to change an invoice once sent. But to make her happy I did offer to cancel the auction and said she could pay me the amount she wanted directly through PayPal as that would save us both some money and save me on fees. Well she didn’t like that, stated I deliberately was ripping her off for $5 and that there was clearly something wrong with my fox and she wanted the auction cancelled completely and refused to pay for it. She did say before she has bought through here before and off ebay so I didn’t think it was a big deal.
Anyway my question now is since she did a buy it now and now refuses to pay for it is anything I can do or is it even worth fighting about? I really need the money and already packed the box and addressed it to her so can she back out simply because she didn’t like the shipping price or is she still obligated to pay for it if I don’t cancel it? I have already spent more time messaging about it then a $5 difference in price is even worth but at the same time I feel like she is the type who would probably buy it and then want to return it anyway or leave me negative feedback so I don’t know what to do. I get that we all want to save money but I have never someone send me a scathing 10 paragraph message before over a $5 difference in price and then claiming I lied about the condition of my item over a reflection in a picture.
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I hate sticky situations like this, Sometimes you just end up with a bad customer who can’t be pleased no matter what, It’s possible she has buyers remorse and is trying to find a way out of the purchase. If it were me I’d just cancel the whole thing and wash my hands of a difficult customer, not worth the stress of her getting the fox and then possibly complaining and returning it.
Also just to reduce the chance of people thinking a reflection is a imperfection, I always try and take extra photos of any piece without flash so that it can be seen in two different lights and giving a better idea of what they’re getting. The photos without flash may look bad and less pretty but at least the potential customer can see what they’re getting isn’t damaged and that any bright spots of just the gloss.
Here’s hoping you can find a solution with minimal fuss!
*Formerly meowmix101
Not currently open for PYO commissions.Also, be careful about asking a customer to send money through Paypal with the friend/family/gift option rather than the ‘paying for goods’ option to avoid seller fees (Heck, even asking for fees to be paid by customer is even a bigger no no.), if Paypal catches you do that they’ll suspend an account, I’ve heard it happen to other hobbiests.
*Formerly meowmix101
Not currently open for PYO commissions.If they’re going to be ugly, I’d be careful asking them to pay directly also. If it were me, I think I’d just cancel the sale, block the buyer, and move on.
For what it’s worth, it may have been a better move to offer to refund the $5 difference when the problem became apparent. I know you need it, but it’s not enough to make a difference and may have engendered a more charitable feeling in the buyer. I’ve done so when there’s been a discrepancy between my quote and the actual; most buyers have been surprised and grateful, and most have told me to just keep it.
Once (going to Australia) it happened, I offered, they didn’t respond, so I made the refund anyhow… when the buyer got the item they ripped me a new one about the overcharge. I pointed out I’d refunded them the difference, they said ‘oh yeah’ and I never heard from them again- but I did get a good feedback :lol.After she pays the full amount you can go back into paypal and click “issue refund” and it will let you do a partial refund, and you can send back the $5. You could just explain that you can’t change the invoice but can refund it after it since you didn’t realize the exchange was that high.
In my experience, a lot of sellers deliberately charge more for shipping knowing buyers won’t complain about a few bucks here and there, as a way to make more off ebay. (I’ve actually read forums about ebay advice advising sellers to do exactly this). Therefore, it’s a pet peeve of mine so I always ask for a refund of the difference if it’s $5 or more. So I can kind of see the buyers side. Kind of.
On the other hand, since it’s already caused conflict, I would be inclined to just cancel the sale rather than deal with the (likely) issues that will come up once she received the item. If it is a case of buyer’s remorse the buyer might just find more things wrong once it arrives, and it opens you up to more of a headache later. So I think my advice with this situation right now would be to just cancel it and let it go.
Regardless, it’s an unfortunately situation, sorry you’re dealing with all this!
I tried to figure out if I could change the invoice amount or do a new one but because I was using a mobile app I didn’t see any way to do that unless I just cancelled the transaction. I see now I think I could have sent another invoice so it would have gone from $16 US to $12 US for shipping which I didn’t think was that big a deal. I didn’t realize because our Canadian dollar went down more that there was more of a difference with the exchange rate as it used to be almost the same. They also said they attached pictures with the ‘flaw’ circled but there were no pictures attached so I asked them to send them again so I could see what they were talking about. I could take more pictures without the flash but we don’t have very good lighting here unless I go outside and the deck and ground are covered with a foot of snow right now. Usually I try my best to keep customers happy and have offered refunds before and given discounts before too but she just upset me right off the bat accusing me of lying about the condition and saying I was deliberately overcharging her when it was a simple mistake of miscalculating the exchange rate. I think even if I had sent the corrected amount on a new invoice she probably would have still refused to pay it. I guess I shouldn’t have said anything about her paying me directly but I am so used to buying and selling on here that I thought that would just be easier. I didn’t even say anything about paying it as a friend’s payment. I would have taken a goods payment if it meant saving ebay fees if I had just cancelled the ebay transaction. Anyway all my other transactions in the last while have gone smoothly but I guess you never know when you will get one that makes things difficult. Would there be any point in opening an unpaid item dispute though or can people leave you negative feedback if you do that?
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Well, it sounds like there’s two choices,
to continue dealing with a stressful time-consuming situation that’ll become more stressful and time consuming if you ship the fox, (in which case you may get money, will lose the fox, and will lose much more time and peace)
or to consider the time and stress you’ve already experienced a learning experience, cancel the sale, block them as a buyer and walk away. (in which case you won’t get money, but will keep the fox and only lose a little more time and peace, the time and peace you save could go towards selling the fox and other fundraising)
I’d personally go with the latter, but I wish you luck in either case. It doesn’t sound like an easy situation!
I finally found the tiny white spot she mentioned in the pictures but I decided to open the box and there was nothing on the fox at all so it must have been dust or a reflection. I took pictures and sent them to prove there was nothing wrong with it and I updated the invoice with the lower shipping just to prove I wasn’t trying to rip her off. If that doesn’t work I guess I will just cancel it and cut my losses. It’s only $50 but I have a bill owing this week for $150 so hopefully I can sell something else I have on kijiji or something. Thanks for the advice everyone. We will see what she says tomorrow.
Looking for rainbow or pink & teal grab bags!
Good Luck Kim!
Hopefully there won’t be any issues, however as others pointed out, she may end up being a ‘problem child’ even after all your hoop jumping. Keep your communications just in case and I’d also give her the option to cancel the order if she feels she wants to cancel prior to shipping out the item.I’d hate for you to ship it out then have her still not like it and then you have the ulcer hoping she mails it back okay after you refund her…. Good Luck again.
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*** Come visit me on deviantArt at http://ela-hara.deviantart.comWell funny thing is the she turned out to be a he. I suddenly got a notice that it was paid after I apologized and sent the new pictures and invoice and then he apologized and when he realized that there was nothing wrong with the fox and that is wasn’t my intention to overcharge. He also said he wanted to make sure I kept my perfect feedback score and didn’t have a problem now that everything was settled. So I guess we both overreacted as I thought the whole thing was a disaster but looks like now it’s fine. He even said the white spot was probably just a spec of dust or maybe part of a peanut stuck to it so he knows that it is still like new. So at least I was able to get paid to help with my bill and I called and got an extension on it for a couple more weeks anyway so it worked out.
Looking for rainbow or pink & teal grab bags!
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