Buyer wants measurements of item before paying, however, they have already won it

Hi - I would like some advice on an odd situion.

  • I have a dress up for sale.
  • A buyer has purchased it, however, now wants details (i.e. measurements, type of fabric) prior to actually paying for the item to ensure it fits them.
  • As I am not home at the moment, I have a friend who has agreed to post the sold item for me, however, I don't want to ask them to go around just to measure the item.
  • The buyer says they have a right to ensure that the item fits prior to them paying for it but I feel they shouldn't have bought it if they had any questions. The buyer did send a message a few hours before the auction closed but as I am ill at the moment, I am not keeping up with emails and didn't see it before the auction ended. So the buyer purchased it before they knew it would fit. 
  • I would like to just cancel the transaction and put it back up for sale to someone else but I think the buyer would get angry at this. 

Any advice on the above situation?

 

Cheers.

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Re: Buyer wants measurements of item before paying, however, they have already won it

If it is the Cue dress, there are no measurements in the listing. That is asking for trouble.

And possibly also the reason why it didn't go through on the first sale.

 

Having said that, it is up to the buyer to ask before placing a bid an an item.

 

I would just tell them the truth.

 

Dear buyer,

I am ill and not at home.

A friend has offered to send items out if they sell but I cannot ask them to go to my home and measure the dress for me.

They have already done so much and in hindsight I should probably have cancelled the listings.

I am quite happy to cancel the sale if you prefer and once I am able and at home, I shall relist it with measurements.

Please let me know. Thank you for your understanding in advance.

Kind regards,

 

 

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Re: Buyer wants measurements of item before paying, however, they have already won it

Are/were all the relevant measurements detailed in the listing?
If so, then ask them to refer to the item description.
If not, then if they open a return case against you then you are very likely to lose. This means you have to pay for return postage or refund and buyer keeps the item.
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Re: Buyer wants measurements of item before paying, however, they have already won it

If it is the Cue dress, there are no measurements in the listing. That is asking for trouble.

And possibly also the reason why it didn't go through on the first sale.

 

Having said that, it is up to the buyer to ask before placing a bid an an item.

 

I would just tell them the truth.

 

Dear buyer,

I am ill and not at home.

A friend has offered to send items out if they sell but I cannot ask them to go to my home and measure the dress for me.

They have already done so much and in hindsight I should probably have cancelled the listings.

I am quite happy to cancel the sale if you prefer and once I am able and at home, I shall relist it with measurements.

Please let me know. Thank you for your understanding in advance.

Kind regards,

 

 

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Re: Buyer wants measurements of item before paying, however, they have already won it

Modern Cue brand clothing is usually a tad on the small size for the tagged size. Their 1970's & 80's items were a better standard fit for the Aussie tagged size. Measurements in clothing listings these days are a must do thing! 

 

I'd suggest the OP does as Kopes suggests & send the same or a very similarly worded message. It may save a lot of hassle with regards to returns & refunds etc. (Especially as I saw something on Ebay title page about fashion fit & no hassle change of mind free returns during June!) I didn't read the full gist of the promotion but it sounded like a red flag for opportunists to bid/buy & return for free on any whim!

 

A bit of a worry since it's school formal season coming up very soon! Free formal hire?

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Re: Buyer wants measurements of item before paying, however, they have already won it

My advice, do what the buyer is asking. They sent you a message before the auction finished and you didn't reply. It's not their fault you didn't reply to their message. Normally I'd say tough luck to the buyer, but they did the right thing and tried to contact you. If you are too sick you can't reply to emails, you really should end your listings. Especially as they are a disaster waiting to happen.

 

You have absolutely no descriptions for anything, leaving yourself wide open for scammers and disgruntled buyers. If you aren't going to have any description at all, you have to expect buyers are going to ask questions. If you're not going to reply to buyer queries, you are going to find yourself in a fair bit of trouble. EBay will always side with the buyer. You stand to lose both the money and the item.

 

Send the buyer a message and ask if they would like to cancel, then cop the defect. Then end the rest of your listings until you are well enough and can fix them up so a buyer knows what they are buying.

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Re: Buyer wants measurements of item before paying, however, they have already won it

I've got a bit of a different slant on this.  

 

If OP was suddenly taken ill, and say required surgery, I would think that ending eBay listings would not be at the forefront of her thinking. Arranging for someone to feed the cat, dog and goldfish, and probably collecting the mail, would be about as far as she would get.

 

Okay, I will agree that her listings are a potential disaster given there are no measurements shown.  I also note on her feedback that others have been entirely happy, and I presume there were no measurements given on those listings either!!

 

BUT, the buyer DID press the button to buy the item, irrespective that OP didn't (wasn't in a position to) respond to that question, prior to the auction ending. 

 

So really, where does the onus lie - I would say with the buyer as she didn't have to purchase, but did anyway.

 

And to not pay till she gets information.......sorry, but I can't wear that one.  As far as I'm concerned, that sucks.

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Re: Buyer wants measurements of item before paying, however, they have already won it

I get that you can take ill suddently. I know that all too well. However, the OP has organised for someone to post any sold items, so eBay is in their mind despite being ill. If they are able to log in here to post a message, they are able to log in and end their listings until they are back on top of things. I had to end all mine last year due to illness and surgery. They stayed off until I was back in a position to be able to devote enough time to it.

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Re: Buyer wants measurements of item before paying, however, they have already won it

Go back 3 years and I was being blue lighted in an ambulance to hospital and was on the phone to foxy telling her to cancel my auctions, put my shop in holiday mode and email the few buyers who had paid that morning to ask if they wanted to wait or wanted a refund. As an affterthought I got her to ring OH and tell him why I hadn't arrived home lol.

____________________________________________________
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Re: Buyer wants measurements of item before paying, however, they have already won it


@5kazam wrote:

 

BUT, the buyer DID press the button to buy the item, irrespective that OP didn't (wasn't in a position to) respond to that question, prior to the auction ending. 

 

So really, where does the onus lie - I would say with the buyer as she didn't have to purchase, but did anyway.

 

 


I agree with you on these points - if we remove the seller's personal circumstances from the equation, if it had been the buyer posting the thread and they said something like "I asked a seller for more details, but they didn't reply before auction end. I decided to risk it and buy anyway - am I allowed to withhold payment or not pay at all if it's not suitable or the details I requested aren't ever provided?"

 

The answer would be a pretty simple no...just like it is for any other buyer who seeks to create or dictate terms post-sale (though there is a distinction between allowed and able). And they most likely would be told how unwise or silly they are for buying without getting a reply. 

 

But, at the same time it's not the buyer asking the question, and there are some more unusual circumstances for the seller, so in light of all that, I also agree with kopes approach / advice above. There probably isn't much positive at all to be acheived by attempting to force the sale when some basic info can't be provided, otherwise it could result in a small inconvenience avoided, for now, only to create bigger problems down the road. 

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Re: Buyer wants measurements of item before paying, however, they have already won it

The short answer is the buyer should not have pressed the Buy button if they weren't sure they really wanted the dress.

 

I am not one who believes you have any obligation (regardless of health) to be on call to answer questions in the last hours of an auction. If you do happen be go online & see a query, all to the good. But otherwise, buyers have to realise they may not get an answer by then. Even commercial establishments won't promise replies instantly, they often say within 24 business hours.

 

You did list the size & in the past I have bought lots of things without exact measurements, just based on the tag size.

 

But in future, in your listings, I think it would be worthwhile to write a couple of sentences just to deescribe overall condition a bit more.

Most people would like to know material & also, if it is pre owned, that there are no snags or marks. 'Good' is not enough.

 

In the circumstances, you're probably best doing as others have said-saying you can't send measurements and would they like to cancel.

 

I too remember seeing something on ebay about clothes being able to be returned free of charge, for any reason, during June. It isn't showing today on my screen but no doubt it is still there somewhere. You don't want further hassles if the buyer is already jittery.

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