I'll start by noting that this does not concern a RPG item, so if that turns you off completely, stop reading now.



*****



But it does concern some pretty crappy ebay behavior, so that may be generally interesting, and I think it's a common enough tool here that many folks will have an opinion.





So I'm looking to buy a new mobile phone, just waiting for the one I want to show up at a decent price.  I finally win an auction, and I'm pretty happy.



Timeline:



June 19 - auction closes, I've won

June 20 - I send a request to be invoiced

June 23 - I send a request to be invoiced

June 24 - I Contact Seller to ask if he will be invoicing

June 29 - I Contact Seller to ask if he will be invoicing

July 2, 8:25am- I think I know what's happening, but I send payment even without the invoice, as I'm confident that there's little financial risk

July 2, 10:46am - Payment refunded (*see below)

July 2, 10:48am - Unpaid item case opened by seller

July 2, 12:48pm - I respond to case, indicating that I will pay

July 2, 12:51pm - Case closed by seller, giving me no chance to fully respond

July 2, 1:10pm - I appeal the unpaid item case/strike, and it is immediately reversed



*Note attached to refund is:



YOUR PMT IS VERY LATE.

YOU HAD ONLY 7 DAYS TO PAY FOR THIS ITEM.

YOU PAID AFTER OVER 22 DAYS - UNACCEPTABLE



I'll note that a payment is not listed in the auction, but otherwise leave you to calculate the wrongness of the math on your own.  







So my theory as to what happened is that the closing price was much less than the seller actually wanted to get.  He lists the phone for $578 BIN or Best Offer, and then sometimes puts one up for straight auction, recently achieving prices of $371-$471 (based on previous feedback I can see), so my win at $365 is the bottom (good for me) but it's not like I lucked into a $100 win or something.  Anyway, that's my theory - if you have a different idea, let me know.





Now the real question: what should I do from this point?  I could leave negative feedback/DSRs.  I could file a non-performance complaint.  I could contact ebay beyond that.  I could pursue legal action (it is a violation of a contract).  Other ideas?





Obligatory auction link:  
** expired/removed eBay auction **

Yep; there's no payment period stated on their auction or home page and eBay will have a record of your requests for invoices if sent through their system. No harm in going for that, IMHO, even if it's safer to work on the presumption they might've sold elsewhere.

(Exceptions would be for international sales where a vindictive seller could cause no end of fun on duties & taxes payable )

yes its most definately the case that they didnt get as much as they wanted.

i would neg them with the exact reason and complain to ebay and let them have a hand in proceedings. things are bad enough without having to contend with things like that too.

Al

My comment is the same as everyone else's:  Add your neg to all the others in his feedback.  His feedback rating is 97.4%.  That would have been enough to keep me from bidding.

serleran wrote:Rule 1) Don't buy electronics on eBay.

Pretty good rule actually.  Especially with computers.  I know two people that purchased laptops off of Ebay.  One ended up with a ten year old laptop that didnt work and the other received a box full of bricks.  

Gnat the Beggar wrote:See Rule One above.

Neg him and move on, but avoid the electronics.
Get back to the RPG pages on E-Bay.
In fact, buy my stuff.
I promise I will send an invoice REAL quick!

Just to be clear...
If you get impatient about seeing an invoice after winning one of my listings, and decide to send payment without one.

I wont send your payment back....... Unless you overpay...
But even then I will only refund the difference and I WILL send your item(s) as soon as possible..... and as safely as possible (Using the shipping costs).

TheHistorian wrote:
Now the real question: what should I do from this point?  I could leave negative feedback/DSRs.  I could file a non-performance complaint.  I could contact ebay beyond that.  I could pursue legal action (it is a violation of a contract).  Other ideas?


Obligatory auction link:  
** expired/removed eBay auction **

I don't know the ins and outs of the various options, but I do know one thing -

If there's no consequence for doing it, those type of people will keep on doing it every time.

Follow through with at least one other option besides negging.  Hopefully, they'll get penalized, or at least concerned enough about their account to drop the BS tactics.

I have personally bought a few $1000's worth of electronics on eBay, but I also vested the sellers very carefully before I even considered buying from them.

I would personally Neg the seller's and I would also hit them in the DSR department.

As a hind-sight statement. I would have never even thought about buying from that seller. The seller's feedback responses say everything (just like everyone favorite cougar).