Is it ok for a seller to jack up the starting price by $500 just before placing our bid?

[robertybob-46]

It seems the seller jacked the price up by $500 because we inquired if pickup was ok by a commercial operator. Is this permitted?

[robertybob-46]

there is a courier/packer who fits in with out of hours pickups. BUT we checked if this pickup was okay for them to quote on. Of course there must be limitations to remote areas. My original query should have said "just before auction expiry time" not 'just before placing our bid' It didn't really have much influence really

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

---

@robertybob-46wrote:
there is a courier/packer who fits in with out of hours pickups. BUT we checked if this pickup was okay for them to quote on. Of course there must be limitations to remote areas. My original query should have said "just before auction expiry time" not 'just before placing our bid' It didn't really have much influence really

---

if your original query to the seller was “just before auction expiry time" then maybe the seller did not have enough time to 'process’ what it was you were asking and they upped the price accordingly.  Had you enquired days out from auction end you may have had a different seller reaction to the request.

[chameleon54]

---

@k1ooo-slr-saleswrote:

---

@robertybob-46wrote:
The pickup is simply picked up and packed by the courier alone and it was made clear to the seller the courier would come at a time to suit him/her, as would be done if living nearby and doing a personal pickup. Seller didn't have to do anything physical or wait around or any of the extremely negative scenarios you suggested. Courier was sorted and had quoted before even asking the seller anything. There are couriers who DO things correctly & simply. That's why the seller was contacted, given all information

---

as someone who’s has been on the other end of a courier pickup, it is all well and good to say that the courier would be arranged at a time to suit the seller, but even that offer may not suit the seller.

I live in country Vic, out of a main town/city, and courier pickup is not something that is easily locked in to a definite time.  Limited numbers of couriers also contributes to uncertainty.

For city sellers, especially those who have day jobs, commute times to their day job may restrict the times that a courier might be able to pickup.  For example, I have a brother in Sydney who leaves home before 6.30am and regularly arrives home from work after 6pm.  For him to facilitate a courier pickup would be an impost he would not be prepared to accept.

Some may say that the seller could leave the item in a safe place on their property for the courier to pick up while the seller is not home, but this too gives rise to so many possible problems occurring.

edit:

and it was made clear to the seller the courier would come at a time to suit him/her

Maybe the seller didn’t like the ‘tone’ of the message you sent and felt you were coming from a position of directing them about how they should behave as a seller.

---

The same thought occured to me. It was the " tone " of the OP,s opening post that got me offside. If the OP has found it necessary to open a thread asking wether it breaches ebay policy for a seller to change the price of an item, that they have for sale, it does make you wonder about their attitude to other seller related issues.

It just seems like another example of the culture that ebay has fostered with its buyercenteric policies that have totally distorted some buyers perceptions of " THIER RIGHTS " !!!!.   ( until they decide they want to sell something...... then its all different..... )

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

@chameleon, I agree.

I have asked sellers of pickup items if I could arrange pickup by courier if I was to bid and win . . . . . but I always ask days out from the end of auction (or before hitting Buy-Now button).  I always end those messages with “I will understand if you say ‘no’, thanks for reading this message”.  More sellers have said “No” than “Yes”, and I have no problem with that.

@robertybob

Did the seller give you an answer to your request to use a courier? I only ask because I couldn’t see if you have told us or not.

Also, can you explain this post for me?

robertyrob wrote:  . . . . That's why I always use paypal, unfortunately it's cheaper than laying fraud charges

I don’t understand the bit about it’s cheaper than laying fraud charges.

[springyzone]

---

@robertybob-46wrote:
The pickup is simply picked up and packed by the courier alone and it was made clear to the seller the courier would come at a time to suit him/her, as would be done if living nearby and doing a personal pickup. Seller didn't have to do anything physical or wait around or any of the extremely negative scenarios you suggested. Courier was sorted and had quoted before even asking the seller anything. There are couriers who DO things correctly & simply. That's why the seller was contacted, given all information

---

I'm thinking it could be a combination of things.

It sounds from one of your posts as if the seller's revised price was the 'first' bid & it was near auction end so I do think the seller was worried the item was underpriced and yours might end up the only bid if they weren't careful.Plus your message raised some concerns so they acted immediately.

You haven't actually said if the seller lived in a remote location or not, just that they were 900km away. I don't think your message would have been rude, telling someone a courier would fit in with their times is not rude, it's useful information.

But immediately a seller would know that you would be paying via paypal & a seller pays fees for that. It's perhaps not as 'good' a sale to them as getting a cash pickup.

Then there's the issue of a courier. Apart from the issue of waiting around for one because I assume their time range would be over a period of hours, whereas local pick up could be nailed down to a more exact time. Depending on the seller's experience (and if they undervalued their item by $500, then they are not coming over as expert sellers) then this may have worried them in the sense that if you weren't happy with the item you might request a refund & they were concerned they would then be up for return courier costs.

All in all, I think they weren't rapt in what they saw as the potential headaches involved in selling to you,  they jacked up the price to discourage you but make it worth it if you did, with potential return costs covered.