Having to pay more for shipping after already paying?

[Tiffoes]

Hi everyone, I'm in a bit of pinch. I recently won an auction on Ebay for Cutesaurus, I paid via Ebay's ''pay now'' button and sent out the money. I messaged the seller today to let her know that Paypal has to process the payment so it would take a few days. After sending her that message, she immediately replied with the following messages:

''Hi there I just received that. I was hoping you would wait for the invoice though as you live in the Netherlands shipping will be more. I went to the post office today and got the quote.''

''Hi there tiffany. Could you just cancel the payment so I can send you the adjusted invoice ? I need you to cover the shipping. Thanks !''

Shipping would suddenly cost 48 instead of 20, which wasn't mentioned on her listing at all. I offered to split the difference, so that we both don't have to suffer too much of a loss. Now she's threatening to cancel my order.

What should I do? I've never had trouble with sellers before.

[jrr74]

Did she say anywhere in her auction to wait for an invoice?  I am curious to know why shipping is so expensive.  If the seller is  shipping from the US, postage should not be anymore than $22.50.  She may have a handling fee but $48 is a huge jump.  I would call her out on the $48 and ask where she got that number from, especially if from the US.  Good luck

[achab1984]

WOW I would ask her how for the package weights. Post it on here and someone would be able to find out if that is the right price or not?

That price seems very high, I have shipped things to where you live and never had that high of a shipping price. Maybe if the box is big and weighted over 3lbs.
 

Feel free to pm me the info when you find out. I can check it out for you.

[banditpony]

International priority mail is expensive (A 4oz box would start at $40). A lot of sellers don't want to ship first class since there is less protection (no indemnity), and it takes longer-- which means more likely to get a case opened on them.

It was the seller's responsibility to list appropriate prices for each country. Did the listing say wait for the final price or contact the seller about the price? If not, then they should eat the cost. It's a hard lesson for sellers to learn, but most of us make that mistake.

But in the end, you can't force the person to ship.

[Tiffoes]

Nowhere on her listing did she mention I should wait for an invoice. Only that I could message her if I had any questions and that shipping costs are at the sellers expense. She lives in Canada and the listing said that shipping to the Netherlands would cost 20CAD. She also didn't message me about that invoice before I sent her a message, two days after I had won the auction.

I thought that splitting the difference would be an appropriate solution, but she ended reacting a bit cross; "It says at buyers expense. I'm sorry but if yp7 can't pay it I need to cancel i can't afford to just pay peoples shipping. You should know how expensive shipping is from so far away."

And then one hour later, because I don't respond fast enough; "I understand shipping is expensive. Did you want me to cancel the order ? I need to know if you want it because I will have to offer it to someone else. If I could ship without tracking im sure it would be less but due to ebays policies I cannot do that. Please let me know what you want to do. Thanks"

It's a shame Photobucket doesn't work anymore otherwise I could share screenshots to clarify stuff. I'm getting really bummed, I really want that Cutesaurus, should I just agree with her and try to get Ebay to help me afterwards? Is that even possible?

[jrr74]

Let it go.  You got her at a fair price, not a great one.  If you look at previous sold ones, they were selling for less a month ago.  If you find one that does not ship to the Netherlands, you can always ask someone on the arena to see if they can help out. 

[bluerose9978]

It's eBay's policy that sellers can't ask for more for shipping after the auction ends. It was up to the seller to have had the appropriate shipping method/cost marked in the auction. If I was you, I would just let the seller cancel the order. I guarantee another Cutesaurus will come along and probably at a better price with the appropriate shipping marked.

[Tiffoes]

She just cancelled my order while I was asleep. I guess I'll avoid dealing with this seller any longer, thanks for the help everyone. I'll try to find another Cutesaurus.

[achab1984]

Sorry to hear that, I would not buy from that seller again.

[Taffeta]

The order is cancelled but I would also communicate with Ebay that this seller is not listing accurate shipping costs for internationals and then is penalising those international people after the auction with unlisted shipping costs. This is against Ebay's rules.
It is not against ebay's rules to send an item uninsured, it just does not have the same protection, so she is wrong about that. But I am pretty sure adding unlisted charges is against the rules. I think ebay need to be aware that this happened, because far too many sellers see international buyers as fair game for ridiculous and inflated shipping costs (Ie pony cards for $50+ shipping cost), or simply do not do the full research before listing that they need to do if selling internationally.

I am sorry you didn't get Cutesaurus, but probably better it was cancelled at this point because imagine what it would have been like if something had gone wrong in transit.

[LadyMoondancer]

You can ship without tracking on eBay, but it's a bad idea.  There are too many scammers out there.  So a lot of sellers are now unwilling to ship overseas by first class.  It was the seller's responsibility to set eBay's shipping preferences correctly, but I can also see where she is coming from.  Maybe she is a newish seller?  Most of the them set their preferences so their buyers see a pretty accurate estimate of the shipping cost.

[Taffeta]

You can ship without tracking on eBay, but it's a bad idea. 

It is, but it's not against the rules. And Ebay don't really care what kind of shipping you use, they just want the tracking. I've had an item of Cutesaurus's weight sent to me from the US recently with tracking and it cost less than $20. It arrived safely. It's also much easier to do tracking numbers from the US out than it is from a lot of other countries out. In the UK we have to pay significantly more to track an item overseas, but I think that tracking comes automatically with some international services in the US.

There is a problem with people overcharging on shipping, whether through lack of knowledge or through a deliberate attempt to put off buyers or profit from them. I don't really know which it is, but those sellers disclose their shipping costs in auction listings so we know before we bid whether it is worth the expense. Sellers who do not disclose that high shipping price and try to add it on after the auction are being dishonest. They're essentially luring bidders in and then adding charges that aren't stated in the listing. We all get really fussy about not as described auctions, but I think that Ebay needs to know when the shipping cost is not as described as well. Even if that is just so that they can advise the seller so it doesn't happen again.

This is a problem that principally affects people outside of the US, and the hiked shipping charges also end up adding to the custom charges that we pay (so unnecessarily high shipping costs are a problem in that way, too). I think it's important sellers are aware of the importance of stating actual costs up front. If they don't, I think they are liable for the extra costs themselves. There is no reason a buyer should have their item held to ransom while a seller adds to the shipping price.

[LadyMoondancer]

$40 for a package to the Netherlands isn't overcharging, though, if the package is sent by US Priority Mail.  It's pretty much spot-on what the cost would actually be.  ($40.95 for a 7 ounce package.)

I agree that the seller should have set up the auction properly.  She probably just isn't an eBay expert and didn't / doesn't know how. (I mean, just the fact that the seller thought she needed to physically go to the post office to get a shipping quote . . . An experienced seller would know how to look it up online.) She did quickly offer the buyer the option to cancel the bid, though.  I get how annoying this situation is as a buyer, but I get where the seller is coming from;  hopefully she will figure out how to configure her auctions correctly in the future so that this situation doesn't occur again.

[bluerose9978]

$40 for a package to the Netherlands isn't overcharging, though, if the package is sent by US Priority Mail.  It's pretty much spot-on what the cost would actually be.  ($40.95 for a 7 ounce package.)

I agree that the seller should have set up the auction properly.  She probably just isn't an eBay expert and didn't / doesn't know how. (I mean, just the fact that the seller thought she needed to physically go to the post office to get a shipping quote . . . An experienced seller would know how to look it up online.) She did quickly offer the buyer the option to cancel the bid, though.  I get how annoying this situation is as a buyer, but I get where the seller is coming from;  hopefully she will figure out how to configure her auctions correctly in the future so that this situation doesn't occur again.

It sounds like the seller is from Canada. I know Canada shipping prices are insane. She should have international prices marked accordingly, though, or have the shipping calculator set up.

[Tiffoes]

The seller is from Canada! I tried to keep it fair for the both of us by offering to split the extra costs (+28CAD / 2 = 14CAD each). She declined, offered to cancel, but didn't wait for my reply. She just cancelled while I was asleep because once again; I didn't reply fast enough, I guess?? I can understand shipping prices being ridiculously high, the Netherlands has that problem too (tracking usually costs more). It's just a shame she didn't wait for me to say wether I'd just pay it, or cancel the order.

It's quite alright though, Taffeta is right, it would've been a hassle if something were to go wrong in transit. I've found a few different sellers that will be better fit to get me Cutesaurus!