inappropriate payment method wanted by seller

[chunkychk]

The item I bid on and won was advertised as a unlocked phone. The seller placed a comment below the listing stating they would take $60.00 of the winning bid. They then wanted me to pay directly to them through paypal and refund me the $60.

I have asked for a new invoice and now they are calling me inappropriate  names. How do I report this??? Ebay help is less than helpfull!

Help!

[putney32]

well firstly, a seller CANNOT reduce the price of an item in an ebay invoice.

they can reduce the cost of the postage, but the item price on the invoice is FIXED at the sold price, and fees are payable by the seller on the final price.

a refund, if indeed he is going to make a refund, would be the only way he could possibly do a $60 discount!

make sure you use paypal 'cause he does sound a bit suss,   why list for a price and offer $60 off in the description????????

[*crikey*mate*]

seems to be a lot of people having trouble purchasing phones lately, eh?

[extra-keen · Accepted solution]

I'd be going through customer support until you get ebay's help phone number - Once you find it you will get a pin number. Then use that to get onto a real person. Explain to them what has happened. If all the messages are through the ebay messaging system, they should be able to see them. I'd not be trusting this seller if he is using abusive language.

The help phone number is open until 8pm during the week I think, so you can do it now.

[digital*ghost]

A quick look at the listing and I think the seller was actually trying to make up for some incorrect info in the description.

The seller added this (after bids had been placed, so they could only add info, not change it):

From the original Description: 

"...Not lockedPackage...."

On 09-Oct-13 at 10:46:15 AEDST, seller added the following information:

hi there , the phone is actually locked to my telstra network, but as ive been told its $60.00 to unlock the phone , so i am more than happy to deduct that from the final price to the winning bidder. thanks and sorry for the inconvenience .

[jameshouseofstyle]

chunky - there is absolutely nothing wrong with that! 

Not inapropriate - on the contrary, seller is 100% correct in their procedure, as that is the only way to issue a refund, as promised.

We do it all the time, and have done so for years, if we felt like giving something cheaper to people we like, or those who shop with us all the time.

That way Ebay gets their full fees, and what we do with the rest is none of their business.

Pay the seller as you'll not be getting another invoice to show price reduction.

[phorum_junkie*]

It looks like an inexperienc3d s3eller trying to do the best they can. I would suggest thst they just go ahead and pay to get the phoe unlocked and then you would be hppy to pay the purchasr price. Thst way if the phone is blocked and not locked you will be able to open a dispute for the whole payment. If the seller won't do that then I would just ask them to send you a mutual cancelltion which you will agree to and then relist it for the unlock fee less on a one day listing, with minimal description and let you know when t is goung live so you can purchase stright away.

[chunkychk]

Thank you all for your informative replies. Appreciated.

In the end I decided not to pay, due to the seller re-listing the item a day after I posted this message!

I looked at their feedback and there were a few poor feedbacks which led me to think I was better off not doing the 'expect a repayment back from the seller' process. I can see that this way would work though and I was interested to know that the seller cannot adjust the winning bid invoice. I have never sold anything on eBAY.

Thank you all.

[chunkychk]

Thanks for your time and reply. Comming from an experienced seller, it was great to hear what you do to keep trust and respect with your buyers. I was thrown off from my seller by thier inappropriate language in their emails to me about the situation, I was very careful not to e abusvie back to them. If I had purchased from you, I probably would have trusted you.

Cheers.