Seller issues

[paspaley]

I need some advice please.
1-I purchased an item on eBay with buy it now.
2-the seller then contacted me and said they made an error on the buy it now price and they were cancelling the transaction.
3-they also advised they were doing a refund.
4-I still wanted to buy and own then item but I just figured I had nowhere to go
5-today the seller contacted me and advised they had accidentally sent me the item and requested I return it
6-I totally understand the sellers issue, but the reality is I actually want to own the item at the buy it now price I always did.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[padi*0409]

If I really wanted it but didn't want to see the seller out of pocket I'd ask them how much extra they wanted, and when the item arrived I'd paypal them the extra. I certainly would not be returning the item unless they paid upfront for the postage.

[digital*ghost]

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@paspaley wrote:

6-I totally understand the sellers issue, 

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Then there is no issue.

They made multiple mistakes, granted, but anything less than returning the item (or the other option mentioned below) would be opportunistically taking advantage of those mistakes. (I'm assuming you have a full refund at this stage, as well). 

If you leave the package unopened, you can just mark it as return to sender - if there is any cost to return, it is the seller's to bear.

You could ask them what the intended price was and offer that if it is acceptable, but having the opportunity to get what you originally wanted doesn't mean it's ok to attempt that or try to force it - negotiate with the seller on the term that you understand their issue, and maybe a compromise will be reached that's favourable to you both. 

[springyzone]

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@paspaley wrote:
I need some advice please.
1-I purchased an item on eBay with buy it now.
2-the seller then contacted me and said they made an error on the buy it now price and they were cancelling the transaction.
3-they also advised they were doing a refund.
4-I still wanted to buy and own then item but I just figured I had nowhere to go
5-today the seller contacted me and advised they had accidentally sent me the item and requested I return it
6-I totally understand the sellers issue, but the reality is I actually want to own the item at the buy it now price I always did.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

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The first thing we probably need to know is what the item is, what it sold for and what the seller actually wants for it.

A: For instance, if they meant to type $199 and they accidentally listed it as $1.99, then I'd have pity on them. Naturally, any buyer would love to own it at $1.99 but it would be taking unfair advantage of a mistake.

B: However, let's say the buy it now price was $50 and they have decided they want $95 for it, then that wasn't an error, that's a change of mind after the fact.

C: The other thing that could happen is a seller may list something as buy it now when they meant it to be an auction and hoped that the bidding would send the price up. But even if that happened, selelrs should by rights list a starting price they would be happy to take as these days, auctions don't always lead to bidding frenzies. Often there is only one bid.

So what you need to establish is what the seller now wants for it.

Also-has the seller actually made a refund?

If they haven't, then you have some decisions to make.

Here's how I might be inclined to play it (if there has been no refund)

1. If I wanted the item and I could see the seller had made a transcription error (as in example A), I would decide if I was prepared to pay what the seller wanted or if I was prepared to make an offer for what I thought was reasonable. If the seller accepted, then I'd transfer the balance of the money to the seller after the item arrived and I had checked it was all as described.

2. If it was scenario B or C, I'd just keep the item. Sorry, but it would just be too many mistakes by the seller. If they had the time to message you about a cancellation, then they had the time to make a refund on the spot. If they haven't done that, plus it is just a change of mind on the seller's part about pricing, too bad.

If they have refunded and they have accidentally sent off the package, that changes things somewhat.

I'd inform them when it arrives but I wouldn't be posting it back till they paid the return postage. And if I did still want the item, I'd be seeing if they would negotiate a fair price.

[digital*ghost]

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@springyzone wrote:

I'd inform them when it arrives but I wouldn't be posting it back till they paid the return postage. And if I did still want the item, I'd be seeing if they would negotiate a fair price.

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The seller doesn't need to pay return postage, though - as long as the package remains unopened, it can simply be marked as return to sender, it could even be refused at the point of delivery depending on the delivery method. If the buyer has a full refund, there is no need for the buyer to hold out for anything (effectively holding the package hostage for an unncessary postage payment). 

Maybe it's just me, but I don't have it in me to take advantage of other people's mistakes, even if the pricing wasn't an unintentional error, as such - someone else behaving unethically isn't license to do so ourselves, JMHO, and this "well, you've stuffed me around so I deserve this" or whatever attitude that sometimes creeps into situations like this really bothers me (just to be clear though, I am not saying that's what you've implied, just that I see it often in similar scenarios)  and I've been in similar circumstances before - some years ago, I won an auction for an item that I never received (was actually never sent, not entirely sure what the go was given how the seller eventually responded).

I contacted the seller but didn't get a reply after several days and a couple of attempts, so opened a PayPal dispute. When the seller finally got back to me, they were apologetic and clearly flustered, then sent me a payment of what I'd paid them, realised their mistake so refunded my payment as well to close the dispute, but still sent the item. They said I could keep everything, extra payment , plus the refund and item, but there wasn't even a question of me accepting that,  so immediately refunded the extra payment, and re-sent the original funds as well. 

[springyzone]

That's a fair comment about the postage. If a seller had refunded me already and I knew what was in the package, then refusing to accept it or marking return to sender would be an option, that way no extra expense for the seller or buyer.

It depends on how well marked a package is or how many things arrive by post I suppose.  I buy a lot online and and sometimes can't tell  what is in a parcel or who sent it till I open it.

And I would not keep item plus a refund from a seller as I would see that as taking unfair advantage of mistakes.

But if a seller sold me something then messaged me that they didn't want to sell it because they wanted more money for it and they were going to refund me instead. Then didn't refund me at all at that point. Well, I would not be impressed.

I suppose the issue is if the buyer is unethical if they buy a product, pay exactly what the seller asked for it (and are never refunded) and then receive it and keep it if they have a seller saying hey, I have changed my mind, I want it back. In the case of a genuine seller mistake, I think a buyer should  most definitely give some leeway and arrange a return.

If it is just a case of seller remorse though, seller change of mind after the sale, I am not so sure that it is being unethical if no refund was ever given.

To me, I would be wanting to know the nature of their mistake.

I find it a bit hard to judge just on the information given.

[digital*ghost]

Fair comments, too 🙂 I am working on the assumption that a refund was received, as I'm inclined to think if it wasn't, that would have been mentioned in the OP (it would be an important factor either way, especially at the point the seller contacted the buyer to ask for the item to be returned - money would have entered into the conversation there, I would think), but it's certainly still possible no refund has been received as yet, in which case things would have to be handled pretty differently.

A plausible, fully speculated scenario for how this may have happened, though, that doesn't necessarily mean the seller was being a jerk if no refund has yet been provided - If the seller is on managed payments, and gets daily payouts, depending on the timeline of events, they may not have had funds in their account to issue a refund at the time they decided to withdraw the item from sale. This would have kept the item in the "awaiting postage" list, where it could feasibly have been picked, packed and posted along with everything else, in error. At that stage, the seller would obviously become reluctant to refund, even though the funds were lower than they wanted, because they are certainly not going to refund after accidentally sending, thus giving the buyer the opportunity for a completely free item instead of a "reduced" price on it. (Reduced being in quotations for obvious reasons, lol). 

[springyzone]

You know what the really frustrating thing is? We have people come in and ask questions but a lot of the time they never pop back to enlighten us as to details or what actually happened next.

I guess I assumed the seller wasn't overly experienced simply because of the price as I thought an old hand would get the price right in ads but of course that isn't necessarily the case if they had a lot of ads to put up all at once. Mistakes could happen and with Buy it now, things could sell before they had a chance to change the ad.

If the seller did refund the buyer and has posted the parcel out by mistake, then obviously the buyer needs to return it (at seller's expense). If they really still would like the item though, they could discuss with the seller what sort of price they were actually after and if it seemed a reasonable price, just pay over the difference. That would be a win win for both. Maybe not as much of a bargain as the buyer had anticipated perhaps but they'd still get the item they were after.

[digital*ghost]

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@springyzone wrote:

If the seller did refund the buyer and has posted the parcel out by mistake, then obviously the buyer needs to return it (at seller's expense). 

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Sorry, just need to point out (again) that if unopened, the package can be rerturned to sender, which may or may not incur return postage charges when it makes it back to the seller. 

If it's a parcel, or otherwise has tracking, it can be identified by its tracking number.

If it's an untracked package, a simple description from the seller should ensure identification without opening.

There is no need for the package to be opened unless the buyer has negotiated with the seller and will be keeping it, or out of spite, I guess. 

[springyzone]

Yes, sure, that is the best way if possible. All I meant though is if for some reason that didn't work out, I think it would be up to the seller to arrange return postage.