advice please re buying an item

[grevilleas4me]

Saw a bulk lot of 6 books and the postage said “I have put $45.00 for postage but it may be a bit more or less and will charge what I am charged.   Will probably send to Auspost boxes x 3kg each, may be cheaper this way.”   Also had “no paypal, bank deposit or pickup only”.

I researched the books and they weigh approx 1 kg each – the seller lives in the next postal area so I calculated I would be paying for about 6 kg or 7 kg postage which would be max $16.75.     So I made a few bids, thinking it was still a bargain.

And I won and the invoice came with $45 postage.  I sent a “request total” email asking for postage as per the terms.   He sent reply saying I didn’t need an amended invoice and to pay into his bank (details given), ebay wouldn’t let him change the invoice, postage would be $28 (which is the rate for 19kg!!)

And I replied saying I did indeed want an invoice before paying, and included the tip about not hitting recalculate.  

And now I get this message “dont send money......books ruined, water leak/FLOODING.....sorry. Will have to cancel sale...so sorry!”

Sorry for the long story, but my question is what do I do now?  If he sends a cancel transaction request, do I consent?    I realise you can’t make a seller sell something if they don’t want to, but don’t really understand the seller’s problem.  

[horizon1907]

Personally, I would just forget about the seller & the books. The Seller sounds way too dodgy in all aspects.  Agree to cancel the transaction and see if he / she relists them and then you will thank yourself.   🙂

[*crikey*mate*]

maybe he is using a really big box. Boxes are cubed as well.

But as we know that's probably not the case, I'd find the books elsewhere.

He cannot refuse a safe payment method - makes me laugh a bit really cos he goes to that trouble to presumedly avoid the PayPal Fees but isn't concerned with the 9.9% fees on the excess postage he is charging?

Part of me thinks the seller just needs some guidance in online trading, but this one seems like just too many things to point out and help with and I doubt they would understand or be receptive anyway.

If you want, you can report to eBay as there are a lot of issues and really, someone should show them how - but I doubt eBay will do a whole heap, not that will affect him unless he is a large volume seller, anyway.

As for Cancellation Request

I guess it depends on what decision you can sl;eep with at night.

What would your motivation be for refusing? Punishing him? teaching Him? Spite?

You are not obliged to cancel a transaction, but you know you're not going to get the books anyway.

he can't leave you negatiove feedback, sop that's not a concern, but if you are a seller, make sure you put him on your BBL

[grevilleas4me]

and if he doesn't send a cancellation request?   what if he files a payment not received claim?

[davewil1964]

Forward eBay the message he sent you telling you not to pay if that happens. If you agree to a cancellation he gets his sale fees back, which could be significant.

I would report him anyway - he is not allowed to refuse Paypal if he offers it. And he must offer at least one of Paypal, Paymete or merchand credit card processing.

For future reference, however, the time to sort postage out is BEFORE you bid, not after you win.

[davewil1964]

He cannot refuse a safe payment method - makes me laugh a bit really cos he goes to that trouble to presumedly avoid the PayPal Fees but isn't concerned with the 9.9% fees on the excess postage he is charging?

If he charges $20 more than cost for postage, he is still $18 better off than being honest.

[ajarnjenny]

Can you really post 6 or 7 kg of books for $16.95?

[grevilleas4me]

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@ajarnjenny wrote:

Can you really post 6 or 7 kg of books for $16.95?

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when you are within the same postal area

[grevilleas4me]

But I would have paid the $28 postage - when I bid, I pay - but I really wanted an invoice to say that

[phorum_junkie*]

Perhaps they do not know how to send a revised invoice, a lot of sellers come here because they can't fathom why it reverts to the old amount when they click on the recalculate button, they forget that this is ebay and that recalculate means revert to the original invoice.

They could also have sent you a direct invoice through Paypal for whatever amount they wanted, you have the same buyer protection regardless of if it is an ebay transaction or not.