Made a mistake on E-Bay - need advice!

[BassGMan]

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?

 

The dollar amount is all relative. I agree with taking the hit and in this case I would take the hit for sure. However, if you are an honorable dealer (small or large) and you run your business ethically and honestly, and if you are willing to let a buyer out of an honest mistake, then I see no reason not to give yourself the same courtesy if you feel it is reasonable. Had I been the buyer in this case and the seller told me what happened, I would definitely understand. Granted the seller was at fault this time but I do agree that the buyer is taking advantage of the situation, which is not really cool in my book.

[Roundguy]

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.

 

Yes but both partys have to agree on the back out i have done this for a seller who made a mistake on a price. It took a couple of days of mail back and forth to show ebay we were both willing to drop the sale like it never happened. Still sucks for me i thought i got a smoking deal in the end i can move on looking for that next steal.

[Aweandlorder]

You should honor the sale just because it will make you much more cautious next time you post on eBay... a lesson learned the hard way is what makes you a more successful businessman

[roulette44]

Sounds like the OP is doing what the boards have suggested. It's the right thing to do and you should feel good for it.

 

I'm a big believer in "what goes around, comes around", something, somewhere will make things right for you!

 

Joey

[Buzzetta]

$3,900 I'll take a negative.

 

$39.00 guy gets the book

 

Dollar amount is relative to a point. Most times though the guy gets the book.

 

 

 

[maloney414]

You're doing everything right. (thumbs u

 

Explain what happened to buyer.

Honor the sale when buyer acts like (I would have let you cancel. Just saying.)

Block buyer.

Move forward lesson learned.

 

Yes. I would block the buyer as well. I'd sleep ok with one less customer, but then again i'm not a dealer.

 

[Buzzetta]

Just for the record... I know firsthand that Stubhub (an eBay affiliate) sides with the seller in a case like this.

 

December 2010

Phish is at MSG

I needed a ticket to share in the groove.

Stubhub

 

I buy tickets that are XX.00

I get a phone call from Stub Hub saying that they are canceling my purchase as the seller called them to say that the price was supposed to be YX.00.

 

I argued and lost and stubhub did not even offer me a discount on any other purchase as I tried to get them to make it right.

 

I wound up only going on 12/30. It was still a great show but I didn't go to the other shows for that run.

 

 

[rjpb]

If you had caught it right away, you'd have an argument. You'd have certainly been in your rights to ask, as it's easy to make a mistake while listing - wrong title, picture, price, etc. Fortunately the only time on ebay that I forgot to change the price using a template - it was for more than I was going to ask - and I caught it right away.

 

One has to wonder if there were 10 views over 2 days before someone purchased it for $3, was it really worth the $39 in the first place?

[comicshark]

Honor thy self with a loss even though the hammer is small and not great.

[rjrjr]

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.

 

Is a $35 book listed at $3 a clear mistake though? I've bought many books over the years for fractions of their "value". I guess I'd need to understand which book we are talking about here.

[rjrjr]

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.

 

My problem isn't with you canceling the listing, but with blocking the buyer. What exactly did the buyer do wrong? His email to you was cordial and he didn't come off as an about the mistake.

 

I would honor an accidental bid, but it is really hard to accidentally place a bid on eBay. First, you have to enter the value and then you have to hit another button saying you accept the value you enter. I guess it is possible to make an accidental bid, but I'm hardly ever in that much of a rush when I'm buying things.

 

I see your point though. Did you list a lot of books? I guess if you list lots of books, its easy for one to get through at a price that you didn't mean to list it at.

 

Sounds like you got good advice, you seem like a nice enough person; I would just consider not blocking the bidder for this.

[1Cool]

Detective 385

 

Here is a link to the book. Looking at the scan it was probably closer to VF to VF+ but I didn't discount for the production looking coloration on the top edge. If you want to sell me a similar book for anywhere close to $3 - please send me a PM.

 

But that point is pretty moot. The buyer did not say he thought the price was legit. He basically said to suck it up and honor the error like he had to do.

[THE_BEYONDER]

Detective 385

 

Here is a link to the book. Looking at the scan it was probably closer to VF to VF+ but I didn't discount for the production looking coloration on the top edge. If you want to sell me a similar book for anywhere close to $3 - please send me a PM.

 

But that point is pretty moot. The buyer did not say he thought the price was legit. He basically said to suck it up and honor the error like he had to do.

 

There's the "right thing to do" & there's what you must do to feel 'right' about the situation.

 

I don't respond well to azzhats.

[CKB]

Just like there is a buyer-side wrist slap (non-paying bidder), there is also a seller-side wrist slap (non-performing seller).

 

Since you don't do this as a matter of course, the seller side wrist slap is not a concern for you. It's rarely a concern for any legitimate seller.

 

So you are really just needing to price how much the negative or neutral feedback will affect you. If your feedback already is excellent, and with the ability to respond directly to the buyer's comments, cancelling the sale is not the end of the world.

 

So I don't agree with the chorus that says to just eat it. Just as I would not try to force a retailer who misplaced a decimal point by accident in a price to honor the mistake, just as pricing mistakes by large online vendors are not always honored, just like non-paying-bidders are commonplace in the marketplace with little consequences to them, I think you asking for a mulligan here is quite ok.

 

 

[mystrymachine]

Unless the buyer jumps on another price error there is really no point in blocking him. A good businessman does not let emotions effect his work ethic.

[Pdx_glide]

Don't even worry about it. Tell eBay what you did and cancel the sale. I believe he won't even be able to give you feed back on a cancelled sale. Don't sweat it. I've done the same thing and sounds like the guys is being a real . Just cancel and contact eBay you'll be all good. Love how people say honor it or in some cases honour it. Easy to say when it's not your own cash. The guy had to know it was a mistake and it's the principle of the whole thing. Whether it's 3 bucks or 300 it was an obvious typo and you shouldn't lose your money cause of it. JMO. ?✌️

[THE_BEYONDER]

I'd proof read my responses if I was going to be giving others advice?

I'd honour the sale.

 

$35 is a very reasonable price for this lesson.

 

 

[HarveySwick]

I'd proof read my responses if I was going to be giving others advice?

I'd honour the sale.

 

$35 is a very reasonable price for this lesson.

He's Canadian.

[Hado]

I'd proof read my responses if I was going to be giving others advice?

I'd honour the sale.

 

$35 is a very reasonable price for this lesson.

 

 

Maybe he thinks there's no "u" in honour?

[Jiminy_Cricket-migration]

Don't even worry about it. Tell eBay what you did and cancel the sell. I believe he won't even be able to give you feed back on a cancelled sell. Don't sweat it. I've done the same thing and sounds like the guys is being a real . Just cancel and contact eBay you'll be all good

 

Incorrect. The buyer can leave neg FB on a cancelled sale, whether he agrees to it or not. Ebay will not remove it unless the FB contains profanity, personal info, etc.