8mm Forum: Question To eBay Sellers

This is topic Question To eBay Sellers in forum General Yak at 8mm Forum.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://8mmforum.film-tech.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=005197

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on May 02, 2019, 10:53 AM:

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.

Posted by Janice Glesser (Member # 2758) on May 02, 2019, 01:25 PM:

Yes Maurice...even with a bin the seller is notifed that a buyer has committed to buy but not paid yet.

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on May 02, 2019, 01:58 PM:

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?

Posted by Mathew James (Member # 4581) on May 02, 2019, 02:52 PM:

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!

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on May 02, 2019, 03:03 PM:

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.

Posted by Barry Fritz (Member # 1865) on May 03, 2019, 10:02 AM:

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.

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on May 03, 2019, 10:14 AM:

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.

Posted by Mathew James (Member # 4581) on May 03, 2019, 10:26 AM:

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!

Posted by Barry Fritz (Member # 1865) on May 03, 2019, 10:53 AM:

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.

Posted by Antonis Galanakis (Member # 1455) on May 06, 2019, 01:44 AM:

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

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on May 06, 2019, 02:32 AM:

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.

UBB.classic^TM 6.3.1.2