eBay question... help :)

Ok, I ordered a pasta machine to try my hand at polymer clay things. The item listed as mint box, and it was going to be shipped $19/USPS. I got the item today, theres a hole on the side of the box that looks like a pencil was hit through it and they shipped through DHL. I checked the DHL rates and it was $10 cheaper!! It wasnt listed as shipping/handling, just shipping.

I sold on ebay many of times and I never had this happen or never went outside of what my auction stated. I emailed the seller and asked her what gives. In the meantime, what should I do? File anything through eBay?

Was the item injured? Was there any insurance requested by you? I imagine all you can do is leave negative feedback for excessive shipping then accept the negative ding in return. /sucks.

It was inside a USPS box turned inside out too lol. Once I hear from her, I'll more than likely put a negative for excessive shipping. Chalk another up to learning from eBay mistakes.

The box she said was MINT was the original box the machine came in. This is the box with the pencil sized hole.

See what the seller has to say - it's good that you're making her aware of the fact that you've done your homework and know how much DHL costs. I'd wait and hear her explanation but don't back down if you feel you were truly misled.
Good luck! :hi:

I think I got ripped.. lol :hi:

"buyer to pay costs" or flat rate in the auction?

If it is flat rate then I would let it go. DHL is generally a faster more secure way to ship than USPS.

If it was you paying the true cost of shipping then make the seller kick back the difference.

US $19.00 - US Postal Service Priority Mail® (within United States)

I thought if she stated USPS then she should've done the USPS not go through a cheaper route by DHL.

You paid $19 believing you were getting service from the USPS.

Send the seller an email. Explain that you received a box that was NOT in mint condition per the listing. Explain that you paid the shipping charge with the impression that she would use the shipper specified in her auction. Ask for a refund of the difference between the USPS and DHL charges (she may not give it to you, or she may withhold "handling", but you need to ask for what will make it right for you).

Decide whether asking her to make right the "mint condition" problem is worth it to you, and, if so, what you want from her. Then ask. Always be polite but firm.

If all you really wanted was the pasta maker, if the pasta maker is in satisfactory condition, and you don't really care if the box was mint or not, then I'd let that part go and concentrate on the shipping.

Don't do ANYTHING about feedback until the transaction is completely closed.

People try to get their profit that way. I think it stinks. Lately, the first thing I do before I bid on something is to see what they're charging for shipping and if it seems reasonable to me.

Emailing the seller is a good idea. I think the assumption is that if the shipping is stated up front, you agree to pay that much... even if the actual charge is less.

I would wait until you see what the seller says before you file anything with ebay.

if the shipping is stated in the auction terms, then by bidding, one is accepting the shipping charge.

In this case, though, if the seller said she was shipping through a specific carrier and then used another carrier, I think there's room for complaint.


ETA - I agree about talking to the seller first before taking any other action. Feedback should be the very LAST thing to take care of, after everything else is said and done. Give the seller a chance to make it right first.

But yeah -- filing a complaint is definitely a last resort!

If someone stated they would be charging $19 shipping for a pasta maker -- and they WEREN'T in Uzbekistan -- I'd pass on that auction.

I've seen auctions where the item is $1 and the shipping is $65 -- it's a sneaky way to guarantee profit and keep their ebay fees low. I believe that's against ebay rules.

against the rules. It's called fee avoidance, and eBay takes a very dim view of those trying to avoid paying the fees!

It takes a lot for eBay to get involved, though. In the OP's case, it's extremely unlikely that they would. Shipping is between the seller and the buyer, and unless it's a clearcut case of fee avoidance, or there are multiple complaints that indicated a pattern of fee avoidance, eBay will not get in the middle of it.

See my post on her reply below. I thought I seen $9 for shipping (my stupid blind error). Would I contact square trade? I wouldnt mind if she would refund me $10 and I wouldnt send the item back as I'm happy with the item itself.

Give her a chance to make things right before involving any other parties.

Actually, I wouldn't do square trade for this at all. Isn't the square trade fee $25?

did you see her reply to me?

Buyer protection is to make sure you get the product you purchased - it isn't for shipping disputes.

i had one asshole call me a snake after ignoring my emails trying to resolve a problem.
then the asshole tried to force me to mutually retract the feedback, thinking i'd give a shit about being called a snake. hey, i wasn't the one running a biz in a shoddy manner.
you get to comment on the feedback given you, so it's not the end of the world, but it sucks and most sellers wait for the praise to be nice back to you.

Hmmm. That *might* be eligible for removal. Years ago, eBay would remove feedback when "abusive" language was used. (They will also remove it if personal information is divulged in the feedback.) With their enormous growth, they may have tightened the rules about what they will and will not remove, but it couldn't hurt to ask if that qualifies.

and all i said was that seller ignored my emails for a month and then without getting in touch w/ me ever, cancelled and refunded.
i got a notice from ups that the pkg was cancelled, and somewhere in there was four words from seller (which i didn't see) saying "damaged item, refund issued". apparently that's all the customer service this asshole had time for. after a month i contacted ebay, just before i got the refund. and the seller was very nasty, so i gave him a neg for bad cutomer service. and then, for two months, i had to keep replying to ebay's emails immediately saying no i don't want conflict resolution i'm okay with what happened or else they would have ruled in this fuckers favor, and scrubbed my negative w/out my permisssion. in the meantime, he stated sending me personal emails trying to bully me. he stopped when i pointed out that it was turning into harrassment. ebay did not seem to care about it at all. fuck him, he did have quite a few complaints, and i bet there were a lot more until he screwed with these people leaving nasty feedback. .

"Hello, I shipped the pasta machine through DHL because the post office was more than $19 and DHL are faster than the post office. The title mint box was describing that the machine was in the original box and was in mint condition. The description does not say that the box is mint and you can see by the pictures that the box is not in mint condition. And the postal charge is clearly displayed. I am sorry if I was not clear enough in my description and if you are not happy with this item I will give you a full refund if you return it. Thank you.
Sue "

Here is the item listing link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4378540193&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1

What would you do?

My zip is 15692 and hers is 85029. The box weighed no more than 12 lbs.

would charge and make a decision from there. Good luck!

But the fact remains that the charge was listed for a specific shipper. (If the USPS shipping was MORE than she quoted, that would be her problem, not yours.) If I were the seller and found a shipper that would ship for almost half of what I charged the buyer, I would (and have done) refund the difference, less any charge for packaging materials (if I had to buy them).

What would I do if I were you? If I was happy with the pasta maker, I would probably let it go, chalk it up to a less-than-satisfactory experience, and never buy from that person again.

I would not give her a negative feedback, because you did get the item you wanted. If you want to ding her on the shipping, I'd give her a neutral (though some people react to that the same as a negative).

What would you ask for in the reply? I like the machine, relatively cheap for what it is, but the shipping was insane.

I am happy with the machine itself. Great working with my clays, but what my concern was, and I think you would agree as well, is that if the auction is listed as being shipped one way, then shipped another, then that is a type of breach of contract. If the USPS shipping was more than $19, that wouldnt and shouldnt be the buyers problem.

The total package weighs 8 lb 14oz, shipping from your zip to my zipcode would be $17.50 for priority or $7.70 for Priority flat rate. Through DHL, the same package would be $9.46. Overpayment of approximately $10 through a carrier that wasnt listed in the auction.

But that's because I have good feedback and I wouldn't want to risk it. And this happens so often -- and you did know shipping beforehand (even if it wasn't accurate. You were willing to pay it.)

BUT you might want to say, "Look. I feel cheated because you got $10 -- almost the price of the auction -- from me for nothing. If you don't want to refund that, I'm going to leave negative feedback to warn other buyers."

She'll leave you negative feedback -- that's the risk.