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AIBU?

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Original poster

AIBU to be annoyed with this buyer?

84 replies

thatfeeling · 17/02/2017 14:17

I was selling an item on ebay. It's worth £160, the item is discontinued and I was selling it for £110. Brand new and with the box. Large item and very heavy. P&P was stated at £10.

The listing came to an end with no bidders. Within the hour I had a message from a guy asking to buy the item as he really wanted it. Also, could I knock some money off? He asked me to relist the item with a Buy Now option with preferably money off my original starting bid.

I explained that I paid £110 for the item so I couldn't go any lower other wise I would be out of pocket and that I was selling it without a profit. I also pointed out that it's a discontinued item with already a substantial amount off the retail price so it was already a really good bargain.

He said fine so I listed it for £110 and he purchased it right away. He then emailed me again asking that seeing as how he'd paid so quickly, would it be possible for me to go to the post office that afternoon and post it.

The item was listed for 2nd class post with 2 day dispatch time. However, as a gesture of good will, I agreed and went straight to the post office.

Now, the postage came up lower than expected, so I opted for 1st class not 2nd class as advertised. It came to £6.

He then emailed me the next morning thanking me for the item and that he was really pleased and it, however, as the postage came to £6, please could I refund him the £4. He said me sending him the £4 via PayPal would be sufficient.

I feel I've already bent backwards for this buyer and abided by his slightly demanding requests as it is. The postage was clearly stated and by purchasing the item he accepted a contract to agree to pay.

To add to insult the ebay fees/paypal have come to almost £20 so I'm actually really out of pocket after the sale Sad

AIBU to feel pissed off at this comeback?

OP posts:
MagicMoments22 · 17/02/2017 14:46

Ignore - you told him the charges and it covers packaging as well

Original poster
thatfeeling · 17/02/2017 14:48

Chic - the item was heavy. I find it hard to gauge an accurate cost just by looking at it. As a buffer, I state post 2nd class but if the postage does come up lower than expected (not often), I up the class to 1st.

My main point he, he was the £10 P&P cost and agreed to it. He ultimately made the choice.

OP posts:
MagicMoments22 · 17/02/2017 14:48

I once sold something and they asked me to drive it to theirs - all for £2!

ThoraGruntwhistle · 17/02/2017 14:50

Can you explain to him that it cost £4 extra by giving him the actual cost of the wrapping etc? If you wrapped it in an old bin liner, he might have a point. If you've used bubble wrap and parcel paper etc, he can jog on.

BazookaJoe90 · 17/02/2017 14:50

If ever I sell on Ebay I just list the post charge as free, but make sure that I put enough on the item to cover it. I don't sell that much but when I do it's usually small items, not big wardrobes and such; it saves any whinging from the buyer about the cost of the post, and I use it as a bit of a selling point.

And your buyer is being a cheeky fucking arse, regardless of people on here saying the post charge was a bit high - it was clear that that was the cost of the postage you were charging if they were going to buy the item. I see cheap stuff all the time on Ebay and the first thing I do is look at the postage costs and if it's too much I don't bid.

Bluefrog26 · 17/02/2017 14:52

He agreed to the cost of p&p so doesn't matter if you were able to send it for free, that's what the agreement was. I think you can appeal to ebay if he leaves bad feedback and get it removed.

SheldonsSpot · 17/02/2017 14:53

eBay will side with him.

Your explanation that you couldn't tell the weight by looking or whatever, won't wash with them. Neither will claiming that it cost you £4 in sellotape, bubble wrap and paper.

Refund the £4, it's not worth the aggro or the bad feedback.

Original poster
thatfeeling · 17/02/2017 14:54

Agree blue. Even if I stated the P&P was £200 if he agreed to the sale then he agrees to the cost.

OP posts:
KitKat1985 · 17/02/2017 14:54

As a complete aside how on earth did you manage to ship a large and very heavy item for only £6? I had to send a Ebay package today (just slightly bigger than a shoebox) and because it was just over 2kg to send it second class and signed-for delivery was £13.

I'm quite pissed at DH who assured me that the item I was selling for him would definitely be under 2kg so only listed it as having £5 P&P

Suttonmum1 · 17/02/2017 14:56

Tell him the 4 pounds covers your bus fare to get the heavy item to the post office.

Original poster
thatfeeling · 17/02/2017 14:59

kitkat well obiously the parcel was weighed at £6. It was heavy so I didn't want to end up paying over the odds which I then would have to cover. The size was just within the parcel allowance. The post office lady pondered it for a while but said it was fine to be sent as a large parcel - just.

I didn't know this before hand. I didn't want to end up charging £10 then turning out that it was too big as a parcel and needed a courier or whatever and then all that would again be at my expense.

OP posts:
KitKat1985 · 17/02/2017 15:03

As another aside I sold 2 maternity dresses on ebay recently for 1p each (was hoping obviously by starting low it would attract more bids but the tactic failed, hey hum). 2 dresses were bought by the same buyer who then messaged me to ask if I could therefore just charge her one lot of P&P. I did feel tempted to reply that as she was pretty much getting the dresses for free anyway that she was taking the piss, but in the end I decided to do because I wanted the good feedback and it was my fault really for using such a risky selling strategy.

Dakota1 · 17/02/2017 15:04

I wouldn't give him any refund. He agreed to your terms, liked the item, and my oh my what a cheapskate he is being!

Original poster
thatfeeling · 17/02/2017 15:06

Ouch KitKat

I just feel some people want it all!

It wouldn't even occur to me to request a refund on P&P Confused I agree to the costs and pay regardless of actual sending costs.

OP posts:
KitKat1985 · 17/02/2017 15:06

Oh to be clear ThatFeeling I'm just wondering if I'm going wrong with my ebay P&P charges in what I asked above, and was hoping you knew some cheaper way to send parcels that I could benefit from!

KitKat1985 · 17/02/2017 15:10

I agree ThatFeeling. I only started using it this year and I'm discovering there are some proper cheeky feckers on ebay. Plus the charges are much steeper than what I initially thought they would be. Personally I don't think you owe the guy a refund. He agreed to the P&P charge. Tell him the extra £4 covers packaging and your fuel to drive to the post office.

downwardfacingdog · 17/02/2017 15:11

I would itemised what you spent on the packaging and fuel to the post office and then refund him 30p or whatever is left over. Then he won't have any reason to complain and you won't be out of pocket.

angiekk · 17/02/2017 15:11

This may have been said before, but ebay charge fees on total price - including postage, so although he thinks he has paid you £10 for the postage, you will not have received this, when ebay has taken their chunk.
If you can be bothered. Reply to him this and the fact that you have paid for packaging, petrol , parking to post office and your time to stand in a queue.

childmaintenanceserviceinquiry · 17/02/2017 15:15

I would part refund him £1-50 then the £2-50 covers you for ebay fees on postage of approx £1-50 and packing costs of a £1.

Use the ebay email system and be very polite and breezy. ie you are thrilled he got it so quickly, you had rushed to get it to the post office, hope he really likes it etc.

It shows ebay you are communicating with your buyer politely, respectfully etc. I dont think he could neg you for that.

SheldonsSpot · 17/02/2017 15:16

Unless you're a business seller, please ignore the posters advising you to tell him the costs also cover your petrol, parking and time in a queue, etc.

You can only include those costs as part of P&P if you're a business seller.

By telling him that, all it will do is give him ammunition to forward to eBay. They'll uphold his complaint if he makes one anyway, but even more so if you've told him that.

childmaintenanceserviceinquiry · 17/02/2017 15:17

For those people who are finding the over 2kg quite expensive try getting quotes from parcel2go. I find their system easy to use and gives good options.

Original poster
thatfeeling · 17/02/2017 15:19

No I'm not a business seller. Thanks for all your feedback and advice.

I think I'm going to email him back and state how happy I am that he liked the item and that he was happy, however, the P&P costs stand.

I'm going to leave it a day or so so cool off as I still feel a bit narky with his demands.

OP posts:
Trollspoopglitter · 17/02/2017 15:22

Well he agreed in good faith that you bloody weighed the item and looked online to calculate the shipping charge. Not just looked at it.

So when he can see the actual price was much lower than your inaccurate estimate - yeah, of course he expects a refund.

And I say this as someone who has in the past sent extra funds by PayPal to sellers when I can clearly see a postage stamp with a higher amount than I've been charged.

HollywoodStunt · 17/02/2017 15:23

I explained that I paid £110 for the item so I couldn't go any lower other wise I would be out of pocket

You're fortunate to have made that much back on it then considering once you'd bought it then it automatically became second hand and worth less, even if you'd never used it

SheldonsSpot · 17/02/2017 15:27

This type of thing is why I've stopped using eBay.

I've been forced to refund postage when I've sold an item (a crate of lego) and ended up having it hand delivered (one of DH's sales guys happened to be visiting area - 60 miles away - so did a small detour and dropped it off). eBay said petrol money wasn't allowed.

But I've also quibbled over a postage cost myself and had it part refunded. In your case I might have raised an eyebrow to myself as I do thing £10 on a £6 actual cost is a bit cheeky if I'm honest, if you'd have posted it second class (so guessing about £3.75) I'd definitely have been asking for a part refund.