Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

If you sold something on eBay and it made 99p....

112 replies

DowntonTrout · 14/09/2013 22:07

And was worth much more-

I "won" an item on eBay and have paid 99p. My maximum bid was higher- a fair price- but no one else bid.

I am embarrassed. It is a collection only item, so I will have to front up and hand over £1. Actually I feel like a twat. It wouldn't be so bad if it was going to be posted. Plus the seller has not replied to me asking where to collect from. This makes me feel worse. Similar items are listed as buy it now for £25/35- I don't know if they're selling but it would have cost £75+ new. ( it is nearly new.)

So if you sell something like this and it only makes 99p do you just grin and bear it? How would you feel about someone turning up at your house with 99p and AIBU to feel bad? Should I give them more anyway?

OP posts:
IneedAsockamnesty · 15/09/2013 00:23

Well it was a Volvo just had mot and 12 months tax nothing wrong with it at all but he didnt know how to use eBay and refused to accept any help.

It sold for 2.45 his mother and I shamed him into sticking to the deal.

The look on his face was priceless

Ezio · 15/09/2013 00:29

Sock, what a painful lesson that was to his wallet.

FutTheShuckUp · 15/09/2013 00:39

Oh my god why can't I win a car for two quid!

squoosh · 15/09/2013 01:07

No one on the planet could shame me into selling a CAR that I had accidentally sold for £2.50. Listening to you and his mother was his real mistake.

What a dimwit.

MikeOxard · 15/09/2013 01:12

I sold a wedding dress for a pound. Bloody ebay. The buyer was thrilled and left me some lovely feedback.

Meh. I was kicking myself because it sold for nearly thirty quid the week before, but didn't quite meet the reserve, so I had put it on again with no reserve assuming it'd go for the same! That's ebay for you, you take the risk when you put the stuff on there.

tangerinefeathers · 15/09/2013 01:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Lovecat · 15/09/2013 01:48

I once won some silver cake tongs for £1.50, elsewhere on Ebay they were selling them for £10+ so I was pleased I'd got a bargain.

I heard nothing for a week, then the seller emailed me to say she'd forgotten about posting them and she was so sorry, because of this 'delay', she imagined I no longer wanted them so should she refund me? Shock I replied no, I still want them and she came back 'are you sure?' - call me suspicious but I'm fairly certain she wanted to relist them for a higher price! (she did post them out in the end, but I was thinking I was going to have to start a dispute to get my hands on them!)

murasaki · 15/09/2013 03:09

I won a pine drop leaf table for 99p when needing to refurnish the post divorce flat - when i went to pick it up, she was clearly needing out of there, but more broke than me (and moving herself, don't know why, but guessed it wasn't for good reasons), and intimated that she wished it had gone for more..I felt bad, gave her a fiver and refused change - I hope she is ok now, her table is much used, I do wonder about her every now and then. I really couldn't pay 99p for a table...

StupidFlanders · 15/09/2013 03:25

I once sold some unused baby formular for hardly anything and when she collected I found out she had a heap of kids some with special needs which is why she was glad to win.
She left with a few hundred worth of baby furniture etc which I was thrilled about going to a good home.

Sometimes the money means nothing- especially when the item is big or for a baby!

MammaTJ · 15/09/2013 04:41

I bet they ignore you and you have to start up a case against them

^^ That, do keep us updated!

Screwfox · 15/09/2013 05:14

Formular?!

LittleRobots · 15/09/2013 06:06

I won a monsoon dress for pennies for my daughter but the seller cancelled the sale and relisted. I complained to eBay, opened a case etc as I thought maybe he'd just got his wires crossed but there was little they could do. I left negative feedback.

Kathryn2967 · 15/09/2013 06:29

I often put things on eBay that I would give away but don't know anyone to give it too and there aren't many charity shops around here. I'd rather they went to someone who actually wants the item! Don't feel guilty

StupidFlanders · 15/09/2013 06:45

formula bought in bulk and had six tins with a year remaining on the expiration date!

Didn't know anyone who needed them!

alpinemeadow · 15/09/2013 06:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Saffyz · 15/09/2013 09:53

There are extra fees for using a reserve or a higher starting price. So people will list at 99p in the hope of still getting a high-ish price for their item but avoiding the fees. But then this means they risk selling the item at 99p.

If you list an item on eBay with a starting price of 99p, the listing fee won't be more than 10p. But the higher the starting price, the higher the listing fee. If the starting price is between £30 and £99.99, the listing fee is £1.

For a reserve between £50 - £99.99, the reserve fee will be 3% of the item sale price.

On top of that, there's a fee of 40p for using a "Buy It Now" price.

There's also the "Final value fee" and may also be other fees.

Here

Saffyz · 15/09/2013 09:55

alpine I think some people use a reserve rather than a higher starting price as it means they can still start the bidding at 99p to attract buyers. But they don't actually have to sell it if the reserve isn't met.

Chocolateporridge · 15/09/2013 10:01

I once won a lovely antique stripped pine dining table for 5 pence, collection only, on EBay. It was exactly the dimensions that I needed and I would have paid a lot more for it. I was too mortified to give the seller 5 pence cash in hand, so I used PayPal and gave her a big box of chocolates when I collected. It was still really embarrassing though Blush

Original poster
DowntonTrout · 15/09/2013 10:08

Still not heard anything.

I'm buying up large baby items in preparation for my DD and new GS coming to stay. Thought I might as well kit out a nursery for them and any more GC in the future to make things easier.

OP posts:
Thepowerof3 · 15/09/2013 10:53

I knew someone who used to pretend she lost/ damaged the item if it didnt sell for enough,

sarahtigh · 15/09/2013 10:58

the lowest reserve you can set is £50

Ezio · 15/09/2013 11:18

Ebay Tip.

Wait for free listing weekends, they have a few and my parents list like crazy people when its free.

GhostsInSnow · 15/09/2013 11:30

After I gave up with Freecycle I started using eBay to get rid of things I was happy to give away by listing on a BIN for £1.
I sold a table and 4 chairs for £1 on a BIN to a local lady who couldn't believe it lol. Turned out her DD was just setting up her flat so she was thrilled with them.
She said she was embarrassed to hand over the £1, I told her I'd only asked for that to cover my fees.

Sometimes its the quickest and easiest way to get rid of things Grin

issey6cats · 15/09/2013 12:19

i put lots of things on ebay at 99p start some collection and yep sometimes they sell at 99p and if the person picking them u[p gives me my money thats all that matters thats what i started it at, some [people pay by cash some pay by paypal dont matter to me its out my house and belongs to someone else so dont worry about it, but if the seller does not get back to you report them for being a non performing seller

oldgrandmama · 15/09/2013 12:29

Pick it up, hand over a quid, but maybe take a little box of chocolates too, as a nice gesture. Good to hear a happy Ebay story - I'm still fuming at being messed up by an Ebay seller last year - grrrrr!

Swipe left for the next trending thread