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Author Topic: Question To eBay Sellers
Maurice Leakey
Film God

Posts: 5895
From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007


 - posted May 02, 2019 10:53 AM      Profile for Maurice Leakey   Email Maurice Leakey   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I am directing this to sellers on eBay.

I have recently bought a film from a seller in a EU country via Buy It Now. The postage quoted was Worldwide = US$27.75, and Europe = US$15.50. On the sales page the seller had added:-

"For European buyers only: If you buy the film, please don't pay it but wait for me to send you an invoice with the proper shipping charge. However, if you pay it, I will refund your extra money back. Thank you."

So I clicked Buy It Now and was immediately directed to a payment request mentioning US$27.75 for postage. I then realised that I might not have actually bought the film and was the seller aware that I had bought it. It occurred to me that this might not be the case and another buyer could have bought the film ahead of me.

I trusted the seller's comment (never having done any business with him before) and clicked to buy. It now showed up as a purchase on my eBay site. Eight hours later I did indeed get a refund of the excess postage previously paid.

Now, here's the question. Was I right to do what I did? Would the seller have known I had bought his film if he hadn't yet been paid?

I assume the situation would have been different if the sale had been an auction. This meant the seller would have known that the advertised item had been bought, even if he had not yet received the payment. Is this my correct assumption?

Your comments are welcome.

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Maurice

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Janice Glesser
Film Goddess

Posts: 3468
From: Sunnyvale, CA USA
Registered: Sep 2011


 - posted May 02, 2019 01:25 PM      Profile for Janice Glesser     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Yes Maurice...even with a bin the seller is notifed that a buyer has committed to buy but not paid yet.

--------------------
Janice

"I'm having a very good day!"
Richard Dreyfuss - Let It Ride (1989).

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Maurice Leakey
Film God

Posts: 5895
From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007


 - posted May 02, 2019 01:58 PM      Profile for Maurice Leakey   Email Maurice Leakey   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Thank you, Janice
That does help, but you say a seller is notified when a Buy It Now order has been placed, however, there doesn't seem to be a similar confirmation to the buyer.
Does this mean that a person committing to buy ensures that no other buyer can then get in?

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Maurice

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Mathew James
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 740
From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Dec 2014


 - posted May 02, 2019 02:52 PM      Profile for Mathew James   Email Mathew James   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Maurice, unless it is turned off in the ebay settings, by default, you should also get confirmation that you have committed to buy. Check the spam folder as well.
When you end a 'buy it now' listing by committing to buy, the auction is marked as ended and noone else can bid on that exact item.

"Now, here's the question. Was I right to do what I did? Would the seller have known I had bought his film if he hadn't yet been paid?"
Well, all you did was paid him for a higher shipping amount, which he then in turn refunded. So in essence, you added another step to the seller that was unnecessary..but other than that possible inconvenience to refund, there is no harm done. A trusted seller would be happy to have this 'inconvenience', which shows you are more concerned with paying for the item properly than causing trouble, which is becoming rarer these days!

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Cheers,
Matt 📽

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Maurice Leakey
Film God

Posts: 5895
From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007


 - posted May 02, 2019 03:03 PM      Profile for Maurice Leakey   Email Maurice Leakey   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Mathew

Thanks for your helpful comments. I initially decided to do as the seller requested, so I just clicked Buy It Now. As I said, the payment screen immediately came up.

I ignored the payment screen and went into my eBay account but there was no purchase indicated, nor any messages in my emails.

This was when I panicked slightly, and decided to go ahead and pay. This immediately confirmed my purchase and some hours later I received a refund for the over payment.

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Maurice

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Barry Fritz
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1061
From: Burnsville, MN, USA
Registered: Dec 2009


 - posted May 03, 2019 10:02 AM      Profile for Barry Fritz   Email Barry Fritz   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Hmmm. I am not so sure previous responses are correct. Several months ago I mistakenly clicked on a Buy It Now Button. I phoned EBay and asked if I had options to void the commitment. He viewed my account and said it had not registered and if I did not go any further, No harm no foul. He was correct as the auctioned item was still posted and there were no repercussions from my error.

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Maurice Leakey
Film God

Posts: 5895
From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007


 - posted May 03, 2019 10:14 AM      Profile for Maurice Leakey   Email Maurice Leakey   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Barry
Your comments do somewhat mirror my experience, other than being in touch with Ebay.
I was afraid of losing the film, so that was why I continued to actually pay.
The seller made no adverse comment on my action, and refunded part of the postage costs with no trouble at all.

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Maurice

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Mathew James
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 740
From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Dec 2014


 - posted May 03, 2019 10:26 AM      Profile for Mathew James   Email Mathew James   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Barry,
Sounds like a lucky glitch, but under normal circumstances it would have registered as a purchase.

However, There has been a slight change that may help explain some things. Under the old ebay system(ie. before the global shipping program was introduced) the policy of ebay was as follows:
"If you've placed a winning bid or clicked the Buy It Now button in a listing, you've committed to purchasing that item. If you don't pay for it, even if you've changed your mind, you violate the unpaid item policy."
This policy has not changed, however, since the GSP was introduced, there is an additional step after the BIN button is pressed, which is the 'commit to buy'. This allows the buyer to see the GSP shipping information first. This is ONLY for GSP auctions, otherwise the original policy would apply and you would go automatically to the 'purchase now' screen.

In general terms, when you place a bid for listings offering the "auction format" or click the Buy-it-Now link when purchasing "fixed price" listings, you are committing yourself(morally!) to purchase and pay for the item at the price stated and accepting the conditions of the listing.

What happens if you do not complete your transaction? Nothing, except eBay can track of those failed transactions and can suspend a member with too many such instances. Calling them was a good thing to do in your case!

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--
Cheers,
Matt 📽

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Barry Fritz
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1061
From: Burnsville, MN, USA
Registered: Dec 2009


 - posted May 03, 2019 10:53 AM      Profile for Barry Fritz   Email Barry Fritz   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I guess I was lucky, or is it possible EBay Canada and EBay U.K. Are a bit different than EBay in the U.S.? Anyway, I learned a lesson from my error. I was using my IPad when the error happened and I have discovered that sometimes, just hovering my finger closely over an area, will act the same as if I actually touching the screen.

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Antonis Galanakis
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 191
From: Europe Greece Athens
Registered: Jan 2009


 - posted May 06, 2019 01:44 AM      Profile for Antonis Galanakis   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Maurice
All the things you said, are the big problems for the sellers outside the main EBay sites. For example from Greece I live. We have to discover different methods to give an accurate shipping cost to the buyers, but usually this is not possible. If a seller is not from USA, Germany, France or UK it is impossible to create an accurate shipping cost. That’s why your “Buy it now” didn’t work. You probably had to pay the seller in order to see your buy (bid). My buyers have all these problems with me as a seller.
I am sure that your seller didn’t do something outside a proper and trust transaction. Forgive him (I do not know who is he) and us.
Antonis
Europe Greece

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Maurice Leakey
Film God

Posts: 5895
From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007


 - posted May 06, 2019 02:32 AM      Profile for Maurice Leakey   Email Maurice Leakey   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Antonis
Many thanks for your explanation regarding my Buy It Now. The seller acted quite properly as he had stated on his eBay site and promptly refunded my overpayment.

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Maurice

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