topic Seller requesting additional funds in Buying

Seller requesting additional funds

julmum8 — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 11:51:57 GMT

Hi I purchased an item that was listed as free postage, paid in full and then have since received a message from the seller asking me to pay $5 towards postage costs as I live in country SA and they are claim postage will be extra (but it was listed and still is listed as free). This is a company with 1000's of items sold (so not a one off sale) but they have requested that I send my email details so that they can then get me to pay the additional $5 to them. I have said that I am not happy to make any payments outside of ebay.

Is this normal? If I need to pay the extra $$ how should I get them to invoice me for this or is this shonky and I shouldn't pay them anything extra.

Thanks in advance for any help with this.

Re: Seller requesting additional funds

sugar249 — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 12:47:19 GMT

Last time I checked Free postage is Free postage.

So unless there is something in the advert to say additional cost for country SA (I doubt it), it is free postage.

And definitely don't pay outside of Ebay.

Re: Seller requesting additional funds

countessalmirena — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 12:54:51 GMT

What is the item number? Perhaps the item showed as having free postage in the eBay app (if you’re using that) but was actually free pickup…?

Re: Seller requesting additional funds

julmum8 — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 13:03:10 GMT

Thank you and no I went back and checked and there is definitely nothing about extra postage costs for country areas etc

This was the first email I received - copied and pasted:

We're sorry to infrom you that the psotage is more than we could bear, could you pay extra AU $5 for the postage please ?
Thank you for your understanding

then I received this:

We could send you the invoice (through paypal ,please provide the email address) or send the account details,which one is ok for you ?

I did state that it was listed as free postage and that I would not be prepared to do any transactions outside of ebay.

I will re email them and state that postage was listed as free so I won't be paying any addition funds and see what they then say.

Thanks again

Re: Seller requesting additional funds

julmum8 — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 13:10:52 GMT

No pick up isn't even an option - ebay store 18,000 plus items sold - its a hoverboard seat supposed to be located in Australia and item is still listed as free delivery (there was multiple options and multiple available) with no mention of additional postage costs depending on location just option to pay for express post which I haven't selected and they have asked for a $5 payment to contribute to postage and asked I send my email or paypal account details

Re: Seller requesting additional funds

countessalmirena — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 13:25:23 GMT

If this had been an inexperienced seller, I’d be sympathetic to their position (although it is poor form to try to charge an additional amount subsequently). As it’s an experienced seller, it is difficult to understand how the seller could make a mistake of this nature. Listing with free postage is listing with free postage (or rather, “postage included”).

This may involve fee avoidance in addition to asking you for extra after the sale.

I agree – reply politely that you won’t be paying more than the listing stated, as that is part of eBay T&Cs.

Re: Seller requesting additional funds

sugar249 — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 20:17:51 GMT

just further to that if they then refuse to send the item, just wait for the ETA to pass and lodge an Item Not received claim, to get your money back.

Re: Seller requesting additional funds

paper-jack — Sat, 10 Jun 2023 00:35:29 GMT

The seller's feedback reveals they have tried this on other buyers. They seem to have lifted their game as negatives are not recent but if I were in your position, I'd be leaving this well alone and hope they don't send and do as Sugar249 recommends. (I'd be checking a seller's feedback before making a payment to be on the safe side)

Re: Seller requesting additional funds

springyzone — Sat, 10 Jun 2023 20:49:26 GMT

Extremely cheeky, considering this is a big seller with previous experience.

The message you showed us, where they say the postage is 'more than they can bear' is absolute nonsense.

If we were talking about a $50 mistake, I could perhaps understand. But even most mum & dad sellers could suck it up and put it down to experience for a $5 difference.

They are just greedy or lazy or both.

My take on it is they can't be bothered putting extra effort into their ads to show different postage to regional areas so they leave it as is and if a country address comes up, they just ask for extra on the sly. Paperjack says they have previous form for this.

Just do as others advise-say you paid in good faith as per the ad & expect them to honour it as it is not right to demand more after a firm sale & if they wanted more, they should have adjusted their ad.

Do not mention opening any claims with ebay, Do not mention giving bad feedback.

However, if they don't send it, you can claim item not received.

I feel they would be more ilikely to cancel the sale on you but if possible, give negative feedback once this is resolved one way or another.

Re: Seller requesting additional funds

julmum8 — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 07:34:58 GMT

Update - they cancelled the order and refunded.

Re: Seller requesting additional funds

*sons_n_daughters* — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 09:22:56 GMT

I am the last person to say leave negative feedback, but that should be an option for you should you choose to do so. I would.

Re: Seller requesting additional funds

twyngwyn — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 09:39:05 GMT

yep....screaming BS to me

Re: Seller requesting additional funds

springyzone — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 19:48:32 GMT

@*sons_n_daughters* wrote:
I am the last person to say leave negative feedback, but that should be an option for you should you choose to do so. I would.

I hope they do. Just with a factual account of what happened. I think sometimes feedback can be useful to other buyers, especially if a seller shows a pattern of behaviour.

Re: Seller requesting additional funds

*sons_n_daughters* — Thu, 15 Jun 2023 04:00:56 GMT

The OP has left feedback, which I think was good. Seems there have been other buyers who have been asked for postage on free postage items. 97% rating for a high volume seller, absolutely disgusting. The OP dodged a bullet by getting a refund.

Re: Seller requesting additional funds

sugar249 — Thu, 15 Jun 2023 05:05:35 GMT

@*sons_n_daughters* wrote:
The OP has left feedback, which I think was good. Seems there have been other buyers who have been asked for postage on free postage items. 97% rating for a high volume seller, absolutely disgusting. The OP dodged a bullet by getting a refund.

They did dodge a bullet, but they could have dodged the bullet easier by looking at the sellers Feedabck, and not buying in the first place.

Not sure why people put themselves in this position.

Re: Seller requesting additional funds

*sons_n_daughters* — Thu, 15 Jun 2023 10:27:35 GMT

@sugar249 wrote:
@*sons_n_daughters* wrote:
The OP has left feedback, which I think was good. Seems there have been other buyers who have been asked for postage on free postage items. 97% rating for a high volume seller, absolutely disgusting. The OP dodged a bullet by getting a refund.
They did dodge a bullet, but they could have dodged the bullet easier by looking at the sellers Feedabck, and not buying in the first place.

Not sure why people put themselves in this position.

Sadly, for a lot of people, they go for cheap. If it's 15c cheaper than another identical item, they click to buy without looking further. Remember, despite not being the case for years and years, ebay is the place for bargains.

I had only looked at the feedback. I just looked at the listing. OMG! While the feedback page states they are registered in Australia, the listing SCREAMS Chinese. Check this out!

ITEM IS JUST FRAM, NOT INCLUDE SCOOTER
Hoverboard will go kart ,just buy this kart fram
Perfect to make you enjoy the happiness with your Self Balancing Board Material: Aluminum alloy;Fits for 6.5" most model
Quick and easy to install,A few seconds makes your Hover boards like a GO-KART So cool~more fun
How to Use You need to grasp two pull rod, through them to control the speed,
if you want to move forward or speed up, please put the pull rod down,
if you want to slow down or retreat, please pull the pull rod behind.
Operation is the same with people standing on the scooter.

Features::

Color:Black,Red
Suit:Kids & Adult
Foot retractable rod:Yes
Weight:about 6 kg
Suit the scooter size:6.5",8",10"
Size:61 x 43 x 18cm
Max weight:100kg
Note:For kids and adult,we advise more than 6 years old,if the kids is less than 6 years old, we advice have a adult with the kids together.

If that's not Chinese rip off, I'll stand stuffed.

Re: Seller requesting additional funds

springyzone — Thu, 15 Jun 2023 19:53:42 GMT

@*sons_n_daughters* wrote:
The OP has left feedback, which I think was good. Seems there have been other buyers who have been asked for postage on free postage items. 97% rating for a high volume seller, absolutely disgusting. The OP dodged a bullet by getting a refund.

You inspired me to go have a look!

Yes, that seller seems to have a real pattern of asking for extra money for postage. I glanced through the neutrals as well as the negs.

I think part of the problem is a lot of buyers see the professional looking website, which ironically has a banner saying 'free shipping Australia wide', the seller has the word Oz in the username, they claim to be based in Braeside, they have sold over 65k products & have 97% rating. To the casual ebay browswer, that looks pretty good. They are focussed on the ad and may not actually go in to read the individual feedback comments.

97% by most standards would be okay. I know in ebay world it isn't, but I doubt most casual buyers realise that.

I agree that the feedback the OP left for that seller is good. What gets me is that the seller has a track record of asking for postage money & I think it is a shame most of those buyers don't seem to have reported him. Surely it should warrant a warning off ebay if brought to their attention? I don't know.