Made a mistake on E-Bay - need advice!

[divad]

Each ebay listing has this above the item description...

 

Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing.

 

 

That would be fine, if eBay didn't auto-add information to your listing . . .

[Dano]

I think you've received a lot of good advice. I just checked your listing and that is an obvious mistake. I would send the book and block the bidder. It appears to me that your bidder just refunded somebody's money for not sending a purchased item. Ironic.

 

Yea - I'm not sure yet if I'll continue to block him. He didn't do anything wrong per say but I don't really like people jumping on an obvious error (typo). Its not life changing money involved but would people take a $3000 hit for an error like this. Or $30,000 hit? The concept is still the same so I'd expect the same responses if it was a $3 million dollar mistake, right?

 

Part of the fun as a buyer is to look for deals on eBay. He found a deal and took it. Now you are going to block him? He didn't do anything wrong. Even his email was cordial.

 

Are people honestly advocating for buyers to now only buy items on eBay that are close to what the items sell for? If the deal is too good, pass it by because the seller made a mistake? Or only make the seller honor the sale if he doesn't tell you the listing was a mistake?

 

 

Part of the fun as a buyer is to look for legitimate deals on eBay. At least for me. I wouldn't advocate, nor would in a kazillion years take advantage of a clear mistake. My mother from beyond the grave would hunt me down and smack me with her fly-swatter - and in this she would be correct.

[The Madness]

Sorry, but this one is on you. No doubt about it. I'm always afraid of error listings like this where I relist them, so I ALWAYS double check the listings within a minute of relisting it or so

[1Cool]

I think you've received a lot of good advice. I just checked your listing and that is an obvious mistake. I would send the book and block the bidder. It appears to me that your bidder just refunded somebody's money for not sending a purchased item. Ironic.

 

Yea - I'm not sure yet if I'll continue to block him. He didn't do anything wrong per say but I don't really like people jumping on an obvious error (typo). Its not life changing money involved but would people take a $3000 hit for an error like this. Or $30,000 hit? The concept is still the same so I'd expect the same responses if it was a $3 million dollar mistake, right?

 

Part of the fun as a buyer is to look for deals on eBay. He found a deal and took it. Now you are going to block him? He didn't do anything wrong. Even his email was cordial.

 

Are people honestly advocating for buyers to now only buy items on eBay that are close to what the items sell for? If the deal is too good, pass it by because the seller made a mistake? Or only make the seller honor the sale if he doesn't tell you the listing was a mistake?

 

 

What if as a buyer you accidently put in a bid for $100 for a book you only wanted to bid $10 for and you end up winning it for $98 - would you send over the $98 as a lesson learned. Most E-Bay buyers would refuse to pay siting accidental bidding.

[Dano]

I think you've received a lot of good advice. I just checked your listing and that is an obvious mistake. I would send the book and block the bidder. It appears to me that your bidder just refunded somebody's money for not sending a purchased item. Ironic.

 

Yea - I'm not sure yet if I'll continue to block him. He didn't do anything wrong per say but I don't really like people jumping on an obvious error (typo). Its not life changing money involved but would people take a $3000 hit for an error like this. Or $30,000 hit? The concept is still the same so I'd expect the same responses if it was a $3 million dollar mistake, right?

 

Part of the fun as a buyer is to look for deals on eBay. He found a deal and took it. Now you are going to block him? He didn't do anything wrong. Even his email was cordial.

 

Are people honestly advocating for buyers to now only buy items on eBay that are close to what the items sell for? If the deal is too good, pass it by because the seller made a mistake? Or only make the seller honor the sale if he doesn't tell you the listing was a mistake?

 

 

What if as a buyer you accidently put in a bid for $100 for a book you only wanted to bid $10 for and you end up winning it for $98 - would you send over the $98 as a lesson learned. Most E-Bay buyers would refuse to pay siting accidental bidding.

 

Ah, excellent point. Does the shoe fit differently when it's on your foot???

 

Dan

[THE_BEYONDER]

I think you've received a lot of good advice. I just checked your listing and that is an obvious mistake. I would send the book and block the bidder. It appears to me that your bidder just refunded somebody's money for not sending a purchased item. Ironic.

 

Yea - I'm not sure yet if I'll continue to block him. He didn't do anything wrong per say but I don't really like people jumping on an obvious error (typo). Its not life changing money involved but would people take a $3000 hit for an error like this. Or $30,000 hit? The concept is still the same so I'd expect the same responses if it was a $3 million dollar mistake, right?

 

Part of the fun as a buyer is to look for deals on eBay. He found a deal and took it. Now you are going to block him? He didn't do anything wrong. Even his email was cordial.

 

Are people honestly advocating for buyers to now only buy items on eBay that are close to what the items sell for? If the deal is too good, pass it by because the seller made a mistake? Or only make the seller honor the sale if he doesn't tell you the listing was a mistake?

 

 

What if as a buyer you accidently put in a bid for $100 for a book you only wanted to bid $10 for and you end up winning it for $98 - would you send over the $98 as a lesson learned. Most E-Bay buyers would refuse to pay siting accidental bidding.

 

mess happens.

 

Pay the bill & move on. Hope you don't do the same stupid mess again.

 

Ebay still asks buyers to confirm their bids.....no?

[HarveySwick]

I think you've received a lot of good advice. I just checked your listing and that is an obvious mistake. I would send the book and block the bidder. It appears to me that your bidder just refunded somebody's money for not sending a purchased item. Ironic.

 

Yea - I'm not sure yet if I'll continue to block him. He didn't do anything wrong per say but I don't really like people jumping on an obvious error (typo). Its not life changing money involved but would people take a $3000 hit for an error like this. Or $30,000 hit? The concept is still the same so I'd expect the same responses if it was a $3 million dollar mistake, right?

 

Part of the fun as a buyer is to look for deals on eBay. He found a deal and took it. Now you are going to block him? He didn't do anything wrong. Even his email was cordial.

 

Are people honestly advocating for buyers to now only buy items on eBay that are close to what the items sell for? If the deal is too good, pass it by because the seller made a mistake? Or only make the seller honor the sale if he doesn't tell you the listing was a mistake?

 

 

What if as a buyer you accidently put in a bid for $100 for a book you only wanted to bid $10 for and you end up winning it for $98 - would you send over the $98 as a lesson learned. Most E-Bay buyers would refuse to pay siting accidental bidding.

Yes.

 

[Broke as a Joke]

This happened to me before but on the buyer end. After I paid the guy messaged me and said he no longer had the book, sorry about that blah blah blah...He refunded my money and I didn't neg him, end of story

 

I guess you can get away with it if you somehow no longer have the book

[Old Fashion PB and J]

Honor the sale.

[miraclemet]

This happened to me before but on the buyer end. After I paid the guy messaged me and said he no longer had the book, sorry about that blah blah blah...He refunded my money and I didn't neg him, end of story

 

I guess you can get away with it if you somehow no longer have the book

 

Had a dealer do this to me a few years ago (with a under priced Dr Strange #1 CGC 9.6 pre-movie hype). He went on my "never buy from again" list. He saved a hundred bucks, but lost a potential long term customer.

[Jiminy_Cricket-migration]

Honor the sale.

 

[Broke as a Joke]

I think you've received a lot of good advice. I just checked your listing and that is an obvious mistake. I would send the book and block the bidder. It appears to me that your bidder just refunded somebody's money for not sending a purchased item. Ironic.

 

Yea - I'm not sure yet if I'll continue to block him. He didn't do anything wrong per say but I don't really like people jumping on an obvious error (typo). Its not life changing money involved but would people take a $3000 hit for an error like this. Or $30,000 hit? The concept is still the same so I'd expect the same responses if it was a $3 million dollar mistake, right?

 

Part of the fun as a buyer is to look for deals on eBay. He found a deal and took it. Now you are going to block him? He didn't do anything wrong. Even his email was cordial.

 

Are people honestly advocating for buyers to now only buy items on eBay that are close to what the items sell for? If the deal is too good, pass it by because the seller made a mistake? Or only make the seller honor the sale if he doesn't tell you the listing was a mistake?

 

 

What if as a buyer you accidently put in a bid for $100 for a book you only wanted to bid $10 for and you end up winning it for $98 - would you send over the $98 as a lesson learned. Most E-Bay buyers would refuse to pay siting accidental bidding.

 

Ebay buyers that overbid deserve to pay whatever high sticker shock price it ends up at. Guy bids $300 on a $50 dollar item to "secure" it, sorry you're stuck with that bid. This definitely goes both ways .

[Number 6]

What if as a buyer you accidently put in a bid for $100 for a book you only wanted to bid $10 for and you end up winning it for $98 - would you send over the $98 as a lesson learned. Most E-Bay buyers would refuse to pay siting accidental bidding.

 

I understand you're not happy about the situation, but don't start down the slippery slope of using the bad behavior of "most" eBay users as a justification for backing out of this transaction.

 

To answer your hypothetical: If I accidentally bid a high amount, I would suck it up, pay it, and learn to be more careful about placing my bids.

 

If I hit a Buy-It-Now on an item and then the seller immediately contacted me and told me the listed price was a mistake, I would shrug it off and let it go.

 

But you're not dealing with me - or anyone else on these boards - you're dealing with this guy. The hypothetical scenarios - changing dollar amounts and role reversals - really don't accomplish much other than to further agitate you about the situation.

 

It would be nice if this buyer would let you off the hook, but the fact that he's not doesn't automatically make him a jerk. He's simply expecting a seller to honor his listed price. Whether he himself honors his mistakes - while irritating - is immaterial. The question is: what kind of seller are you?

 

It also seems that you're making a lot out of what is supposedly an "obvious" mistake. Taking the number of views in 2 days as "proof" that it was being passed over as an obvious mistake is a big assumption. Extrapolating that "proof" into an expectation that he should have likewise passed or is obligated to forfeit the item is really reaching.

 

As has already been said, the "right" thing to do is honor the sale.

 

I don't say this lightly. I've made the mistake of shipping the wrong books to 2 different buyers on 2 separate occasions. I had to pay to make it right, the result being that I lost money on both transactions, one involved Neal Adams Batman books. It hurts, but you have to make it right as a seller and learn from your mistakes.

[Big.Mike]

This happened to my last year.

I have been selling comics and football merchandise on eBay for 12 years now,

and this was my first mistake.

 

I sold a Mini helmet, for $13.00.

I miss typed, I should have wrote "micro Helmet"

 

Micro Helmets are $13.00

Mini Helmets are $32.00

 

When I sent him the "micro helmet" my customer sent a barrage of

e-mail, that I was trying to rip him off.

 

I sent him his full refund and let him keep the micro helmet

because I did not have a Mini Helmet.

 

Was it my fault, Yea!

But I was still mad at him, of course.

 

This was my first mistake on eBay, and hopefully my last!!

 

 

 

[1Cool]

Bunch of great opinions being expressed and I love a good discussion. The thing that sent me over the edge at 2 am last night was the guy saying it had happened to him so he expected me to suck it up like he did. If something bad happens to me I'm more likely to give somebody else a break since I remember how much it sucked to get burned. If he would have said that he has been looking for this copy for awhile and really wanted it at this price I would have dealt with it better then him coming across as a person who knew it was a steal and I better suck it up. No compassion - rubbed me the wrong way.

[1Cool]

What if as a buyer you accidently put in a bid for $100 for a book you only wanted to bid $10 for and you end up winning it for $98 - would you send over the $98 as a lesson learned. Most E-Bay buyers would refuse to pay siting accidental bidding.

 

I understand you're not happy about the situation, but don't start down the slippery slope of using the bad behavior of "most" eBay users as a justification for backing out of this transaction.

 

To answer your hypothetical: If I accidentally bid a high amount, I would suck it up, pay it, and learn to be more careful about placing my bids.

 

If I hit a Buy-It-Now on an item and then the seller immediately contacted me and told me the listed price was a mistake, I would shrug it off and let it go.

 

But you're not dealing with me - or anyone else on these boards - you're dealing with this guy. The hypothetical scenarios - changing dollar amounts and role reversals - really don't accomplish much other than to further agitate you about the situation.

 

It would be nice if this buyer would let you off the hook, but the fact that he's not doesn't automatically make him a jerk. He's simply expecting a seller to honor his listed price. Whether he himself honors his mistakes - while irritating - is immaterial. The question is: what kind of seller are you?

 

It also seems that you're making a lot out of what is supposedly an "obvious" mistake. Taking the number of views in 2 days as "proof" that it was being passed over as an obvious mistake is a big assumption. Extrapolating that "proof" into an expectation that he should have likewise passed or is obligated to forfeit the item is really reaching.

 

As has already been said, the "right" thing to do is honor the sale.

 

I don't say this lightly. I've made the mistake of shipping the wrong books to 2 different buyers on 2 separate occasions. I had to pay to make it right, the result being that I lost money on both transactions, one involved Neal Adams Batman books. It hurts, but you have to make it right as a seller and learn from your mistakes.

 

At this point the discussion is purely educational since I've got the book packaged up and ready to ship out tomorrow.

[roulette44]

You should honor it. It's a reflection of who you are as a person and businessman.

 

I was the buyer in a situation like this. $4000 book priced at $3000 on their website and I snagged it. Then the dealer said that price was a mistake and the admin was supposed to raise it (another copy recently sold higher, but the $3000 price was still reasonable)

 

I said it didn't look like an obvious mistake and he should honor it. Not only did he not honor it. He then said "fine....I lost the book".....I then tried to be a good guy and offered him a different deal where I bought different books and he had to kick in an extra $300 price reduction (on $3000) to "pay" for the mistake. I was trying to let him off, because I thought he was a good guy. Not only did he say no to this too, he became dismissive of me.

 

I was embarrassed for him. Not about the $1000 loss (or $300 loss). It's just Amazing what people sometimes do.

 

1cool - You can probably get away with not completing the deal. Your worst case is losing the $5 eBay fee and a customer......but do you really want to kiss your wife, hug your kids, etc, after doing something like this?

 

Joey

 

 

[Erndog]

Yeah, it sucks, but as soon as you asked him to be let out of it, and he declined, you gotta honor it.

 

I think blocking him is harsh too as he didn't do anything wrong. And I wouldn't even say "his tone was poor" because I read what he said, and it wasn't THAT bad. Sometimes things come across even worse when typing. I'm sure you were ticked off so when you read what he said it came across worse than he intended.

 

It's a lesson learned. A crappy one no doubt, but one that didn't break the bank at least.

 

 

 

[telerites]

Does Ebay even give a seller a way to back out of a completed auction?

 

This actually happened to me here on the boards. I mistyped a dollar amount in one of my sales threads and a buyer jumped on it. If I remember correctly, I listed it for $5 and should have been $50.

 

It was a mistake but it my mistake and I honored it without recourse. It was carelessness on my part not the buyer's.

 

 

[InvstmntComcSuply]

Your worst case is losing the $5 eBay fee and a customer......

 

 

 

There are significantly worse repercussions. Cancelled transactions will now count against you for a year and will cause drops in search ranking and several other metrics. If you are a top rated seller, it will jeopardize your status. Over 2% of problems can have you booted from the TRS program. This can be very costly, as you lose the 20% discount as well as the USPS shipping discount.