topic Re: item and postage in Buying

item and postage

elizarose2014 — Mon, 06 Mar 2017 03:36:17 GMT

I bid and won a painting in an auction last night that had on the listing Free Local Pick up but in the description it clearly said it was possible to post this with Australia Post, upon winning (and I was the only bidder) I immediately contacted the seller to give me the total with postage. I recieved a message back with a phone number to talk to the seller to 'work out how to post it" I have since tried to contact the seller several times today via phone and through messaging via ebay with no response what so ever, I have yet to pay for the painting but as the seller is not responding I have no idea what to do, should I wait a bit longer and risk the seller claiming I didn't pay or should I go ahead and pay ??? just not sure what to do, I have 100% good feedback myself as a buyer and a seller and don't want any negatives, any suggestions please

Re: item and postage

lyndal1838 — Mon, 06 Mar 2017 03:46:17 GMT

Give the seller a chance to get back to you....they could well be at work.

The seller cannot open a dispute for non payment for 4 days so don't worry about that. Even if they do open a dispute you still have 4 days to pay before they can close it and give you a strike.

You really should have asked for a postage quote before bidding....as it stands now the seller can charge what they want for postage and you are obliged to pay.

The seller cannot give you negative feedback....sellers have not been able to leave negatives for buyers for several years now.

Re: item and postage

elizarose2014 — Mon, 06 Mar 2017 03:54:10 GMT

Thankyou for replying, yes I realise I should have enquired prior but when I came across the auction it was too late to message the seller though as I said in the description it does say it can be posted, I also realise that if they charge some exorbitant postage cost I'll just have to pay it and if that happens it will be a lesson learnt.

Re: item and postage

curraone — Mon, 06 Mar 2017 04:18:42 GMT

Try to sit back and wait. The seller needs time to work out the postage, and may not be on the computer all the time.

Do not send any more emails or messages, as pointed out, the seller is probably at work and cannot answer you just yet.

Re: item and postage

phorum_junkie* — Mon, 06 Mar 2017 05:46:29 GMT

Definitely do not pay unless and until you receive an invoice that includes postage or it will be treated as a pick up item even if the seller posts it after you make a separate payment for delivery. Although pick up items are covered to a certain extent now with Paypal I think you would have a hard time if you did not receive anything.

No need to panic, as others have told you the seller can do nothing for 4 days and if they fail to provide you with an invoice including delivery a phone call to ebay would almost certainly see a non payment strike removed. Unless you get more than one a strike will have no impact on your account and nobody else but the seller will know you have one.

Re: item and postage

elizarose2014 — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 22:35:31 GMT

Thankyou for replying, the seller did contact me on Monday evening and said he was going to get a postage quote the following morning (Tuesday) but I have not heard from him since, I've sent him 2 more messages requesting the postage cost and in the last message I asked to either give me the postage or if he is unable to post the painting then to cancel the transaction, I've yet to hear back from him

Re: item and postage

padi*0409 — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 23:08:27 GMT

With the amount of emails you've already sent over a short period of time, the seller may see you as a possibly troublesome buyer and decide to cancel the transaction anyway.

just sayin'

Re: item and postage

elizarose2014 — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 02:18:23 GMT

thanks for your reply, I agree he may see me as a troublesome buyer but that is mutual, as I see him as a troublesome seller, looking at his feedback I see another buyer also has had problems with him as a seller.

Re: item and postage

lyndal1838 — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 03:36:03 GMT

Oh for heaven sake....it is less than 3 days since you won the painting. If the sller needs to take it to the PO to get the postage you need to be a bit patient.

I would say you are the troublesome one, not the seller as you should have asked for a postage quote before bidding.

The seller knows you want the postage so what is the point in sending message after message.

Re: item and postage

elizarose2014 — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 06:46:06 GMT

love a follower lyndal1838, the person that commented prior to my previous comment mentioned the word 'troublesome' and you jump in and mention it too ... if you had read all my comments you would have seen that I didn't have time to ask for a postage quote, the seller told me he would get back to me yesterday but still hasn't, ebay has sent me a message reminding me to pay for it and reading some of ebays help pages it says ... 'In general, you're expected to pay as soon as possible and no later than 2 days after you win or commit to buy an item'. .... bit hard to do when you are being ignored, I understand that people have busy lives but surely taking less than 5 mins to reply isn't that hard and I think thats just a common courtesy particularly as I'm the one prepared to give them my hard earned cash ... if they find that too hard to do they shouldn't be selling in the first place

Re: item and postage

lyndal1838 — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 07:02:03 GMT

Err, no, I replied to your post and you mentioned that you saw the seller as troublesome.

As far as most of us are concerned "troublesome" is a polite word that is acceptable on the boards.

The reminders from ebay are automatic.....everyone gets them after 2 days if the item is not paid for whatever reason.

How do you work out that you are being ignored? The seller has replied to you but just not as quickly as you think he should.

Nothing is going to happen to you if you don't pay in 2 days...or even 4 days. The seller is hardly going to open a dispute when he has not given you a postage amount.

Re: item and postage

elizarose2014 — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 07:36:34 GMT

my apologies lyndal, I am just feeling a little frustrated with this atm, he rang me monday night and said he was getting the postage quote first thing tuesday morning and would get straight back to me but I haven't heard from him since and then when I logged into ebay this morning I had a reminder to pay for it, I always promptly pay for anything I buy on here and have found that every seller I've purchased from has been prompt in return at posting the item to me and if they haven't been able to do so immediately they always send a message to let me know and I have always done the same for anyone that has bought from me.

I may very well be overreacting but this is a first for me.

Re: item and postage

lyndal1838 — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 07:47:46 GMT

To be honest, you are overreacting.....3 days is not very long to wait.

All sellers are different just as all buyers are different.

In an ideal world buyers would hit the button, win the item and pay....all within a few minutes. In real life it rarely happens that way.

Either the buyer is slack or the seller is slack in sending an invoice if it is not all straight forward.

Whether you like it or not, the fact that this transaction has not been straight forward is because you were not able to get the postage quote before bidding on the item. You really need to cut the seller some slack....he originally wanted the item picked up.

Just be patient....obviously the seller is not too worried so go with the flow and wait for the invoice.

Re: item and postage

*tippy*toes* — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 13:40:35 GMT

Sometimes life happens and there's not much you can do about it. The seller could have had a child rushed to hospital with an asthma attack, or a grandma interstate die. Stuff like that happens and it's happened to me. Believe it or not, sometimes sellers have the audacity to die before posting an item too. I know it's quite rude of them when that happens, but it does happen.

Next time you want a pick up item posted, it's always polite to ask the seller prior to buying. Some sellers request pick up for many reasons. Some just don't want the hassle of packaging it up and taking it to the post office. If this painting is oversized, the seller may have to hunt around for couriers, to hopefully get the best shipping price for the item he wanted picked up. Something he probably hadn't planned on doing given it was listed as pick up.

If you're so concerned about not paying yet, just pay for it and request the seller to invoice you for the postage cost when they've worked it out. At least that way you'll have no buyer protection in the event something goes wrong. Probably a blessing for the seller.

Re: item and postage

digital*ghost — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 01:30:04 GMT

For what it's worth, I don't think you come across as an unreasonable or troublesome buyer (and I am speaking in my capacity as a seller, rather than empathising as a buyer - you'd be welcome at my store any time).

To me, it sounds like your attempts at contacting the seller springs from concern over leaving the item unpaid, and subsequently concern over not receiving responses as promised by the seller, which I personally think is understandable. Ringing a few times over the course of the day on which the seller instructed because there was no response is not something that indicates 'trouble' to me, I call people back a little later if they don't answer the first time, too....

In saying that, generally, these days I'd make a couple of attempts at contact only, spaced over the course of a few days, and then drop it, though I may be tempted to be a little less patient if it was something I really wanted, as then I wouldn't be able to put it down to 'seller's loss' . The reality is that there's only so much you can do to get a seller to do what they need to on their end, so the only reason I send more than one message now is just in case the first one didn't go through (which happens from time to time with eBay messaging). It's clear that the seller's lack of response is an unexpected anomaly in so far as your experiences to date, and even if your attempts to communicate with them could be deemed harassing, all I really see is someone whose primary concern is being able to pay for the item - though you've mentioned being frustrated, and that this is concerning, on the whole you haven't said or done a thing that would concern me as a seller.

And, as PJ mentioned, if the item is being posted, don't pay without a new invoice with a postage quote.

Re: item and postage

elizarose2014 — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 23:00:48 GMT

thankyou for your reply digital*ghost, I have still not heard from the seller but this morning the item has shown up in my cart saying postage to my postcode is free, I've included a screenshot (have removed the sellers name) so do I take it from this that the seller has included free postage ? because I still see that it also says 'Local pickup' ... still just a little confused, do I go ahead with the payment or wait for confirmation from the seller ?

Re: item and postage

digital*ghost — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 00:12:12 GMT

At this stage I would presume that to mean that the seller still has not provided a new invoice with a postage quote (auction items do appear in the cart, and basically eBay wouldn't know that you're waiting for a postage quote). When items are in the cart have a postage option, it usually displays the method the seller selected (eg "standard", "Australia Post Parcel" etc).

If the seller has sent an invoice, there should be an email notification / copy from eBay, so I'd check for that first. A lot of sellers, when they make changes to postage prices, methods etc, hit a button labeled 'recalculate' thinking this applies their changes, but it doesn't (rather, it reverts the invoice to the original), so if you do have an invoice and nothing has changed, it may be due to that.

I'd almost be tempted to send them one last message and say something like "Thanks for sending through the invoice for shipping, I didn't expect free post but it's certainly very much appreciated - I'll send payment this evening".

If they are around, it might actually prompt them to get in touch so they can correct you. (Though, obviously if they're absent for another reason, that won't work, nor will it if they indeed meant to provide you with free shipping, so maybe a 30% chance or so of actually getting you the details you need).

Re: item and postage

elizarose2014 — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 01:06:31 GMT

no I've not received any email/message from Ebay but as I still haven't heard from the seller I have just now sent a similar message to the one you gave, I guess I'll just have to wait now and see if that gets me a response, thanks for your help digital*ghost

Re: item and postage

elizarose2014 — Thu, 16 Mar 2017 22:13:37 GMT

happy to say digital*ghost that your suggestion of sending that message did get a response from the seller who then gave me a postage cost that although was a liitle high I was happy to pay, so I went ahead and have paid for the item and postage 5 days ago and the payment has gone through, now I'm just waiting for an estmated delivery date, thankyou all for your advice it was very much appreciated.