Postage cost added after bid was placed

[sunupnow]

I placed a bid on an item *because* it said Free Shipping. 

The auction is not over yet, but now the item has shipping charges. If I win, I'll have to pay postage. Is that how it works? Is a seller able to do that? Doesn't seem right to me.

[digital*ghost]

A seller can't change the postage options (including the cost) after a bid has been placed - can you put up the item title? (Not seller ID) That way the members can have a closer look at the listing and maybe see what might have happened. 

[*sparklz*]

You can retract your bid as the seller has changed the listing after you have placed your bid.

http://offer.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?RetractBidShow

You will need to enter the item umber and select the reason.

If there is less than 12 hours to go you may not be able to retract your bid so contact the seller and ask that they remove your bid.

[sunupnow]

Hi .. thanks for responses ..

The bidding is over, I've won the item (111258049342).

I absolutely know it said free shipping when I first bid, and now there's a charge. The cost of the item and shipping is very small, so perhaps I shouldn't quibble. Am I being pedantic/greedy?

It just doesn't seem fair!

[tstore]

It definitely says $0.99 postage  ... 

[sunupnow]

Yes, I know it does now, but it didn't when I placed my bid.

In fact, when I came to look at it the day after I bid, I noticed that the listing had added postage, plus a note that said something like "item changed" or "conditions changed" or similar, but that in my "My eBay" the item still showed free shipping.

I thought it odd that it said one thing in the listing and another on My eBay; that's what caught my attention to the change.

[digital*ghost · Accepted solution]

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@sunupnow wrote:

I thought it odd that it said one thing in the listing and another on My eBay; that's what caught my attention to the change.

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It is odd, because the listing is showing as having no revisions, and there are only a very limited number of things a seller can change once an auction has a bid - postage is not one of them, and even if it was, it should show that it was revised.

I am not saying that it's impossible for this to have happend, but it definitely should have been, and there is no indication on the listing that it was revised at all, so there is no way for the members here to determine what information the listing had before you placed your bid.

Edit: The only possible explanation is that the seller is opted into business policies, which effect a global change on any listing using that policy, however eBay indicate that due to the limits on listing revisions, not all listings can be updated if a policy is changed. I have never tried to update a policy when an auction was live, so I don't know if it's possible to sneak those kinds of changes through, and it should still create a revision history on the listing, but who knows.

[sunupnow]

I see. Ok. 😕

I guess the lesson here for me then is to take screen shots. I almost did when I noticed the discrepancy between the shipping on My eBay and the actual listing.

I suppose I'm lucky that it's such a minimal amount. I'm not so cheap that I begrudge paying $1 for postage, it just didn't seem right so thought I'd ask.

Thanks for the information.

[digital*ghost]

There is one other thing I have noticed happening lately, but never used to...

If I add an item listed on another site to my watch list, the postage cost displayed in My eBay watch list is not the one for Australia (it's usually the one to the US), however once I click on the listing and view the postage information, the costs to Aus. are displayed properly. 

This often means I see the opposite of what you did - it shows as "free" on the listing, but a postage cost displayed in my watch list (and occasionally vice versa), but when I bid/win/pay, it remains as free post as that was already set for Oz. Still, that doesn't explain the notification re: changes to the listing. That usually only appears on revised BIN listings if they are changed after you purchased. (Or I've only ever seen that in those circumstances). 

[sunupnow]

Interesting. Will keep that in mind for the future. Thanks for the info. Cheers