Non-selling Ebay seller

[JohnPW]

I've won a few a few Ebay auction bargains where the seller didn't want to sell. I've given them a neg feedback which they deserve (gets remove after 1 year anyway), but are there any other consequences?

Does Ebay do anything else to deter it? Eg, suspend their account, put their listings lower down search results etc?

 

[marcros]

Nope. That might encourage them to not pay so many fees.

 

[AndyT]

I think I've had the same thing where the very nice old book that I'd "won" for the opening bid had somehow been damaged by a sudden flood and could not be sold... I don't think there is anything you can do about it but shrug and move on.

 

[graduate_owner]

I bought some circular saw blades for the maiden bid of 99p which was ridiculously cheap but that was the price. The seller claimed he had sent them but they never arrived, and I suspect he just didn't want to sell them for the price. (I don't blame him but he should have put a higher starting price or a reserve). He claimed they were lost in transit. Anyhow he said he would refund my money, which he did, via Paypal, but not until I started a case against him. I didn't get a refund though because the day after I closed the case, Paypal emailed me to say the refund had failed due to insufficient funds in the seller's account. Having closed the case, ebay could do nothing, and I had no satisfaction from paypal either. It was only about a fiver including postage, but I was not pleased and I felt ripped off. Lucky it was only a fiver. Moral - don't look at your paypal account and expect it to be correct. If you have a payment, check it is still there in about 10 days time before you can be certain of it. And don't expect any help from paypal either.

K

 

[rafezetter]

I bought some circular saw blades for the maiden bid of 99p which was ridiculously cheap but that was the price. The seller claimed he had sent them but they never arrived, and I suspect he just didn't want to sell them for the price. (I don't blame him but he should have put a higher starting price or a reserve). He claimed they were lost in transit. Anyhow he said he would refund my money, which he did, via Paypal, but not until I started a case against him. I didn't get a refund though because the day after I closed the case, Paypal emailed me to say the refund had failed due to insufficient funds in the seller's account. Having closed the case, ebay could do nothing, and I had no satisfaction from paypal either. It was only about a fiver including postage, but I was not pleased and I felt ripped off. Lucky it was only a fiver. Moral - don't look at your paypal account and expect it to be correct. If you have a payment, check it is still there in about 10 days time before you can be certain of it. And don't expect any help from paypal either.

K

I had something similar a few years back, but the value if the item wasn't that much higher than I paid - a scale model. I never got it, same sort of scenario - claimed he'd sent it etc etc.

Anyway a few weeks later I saw the same seller put the same item up using the SAME photo. I contacted him and said he'd committed online fraud (which he had) by falsely obtaining money for goods, I contacted these guys:

http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report_fraud

Got a case number and emailed it to the ebay seller. About 20 mins later I got a full refund.

If you get a case number even ebay and paypal will suddenly be helpful.

DON'T be put off by the small sums of money - you have no idea how many people may have been taken that way by that seller.

For Andy T's scenario, when they put the item up for auction, they effectively entered into a law bound contract, and if they refuse to send the item and cannot otherwise prove it was "damaged", then they are law bound to send it to you - if they do not, again it's online fraud.

Unless things have changed it used to be that a seller could withdraw an item up to 24 hours before auction ended without problems. If they left it to run until the end, the contract has been made "live" and they are contract bound to sell that item for that price, regardless of it's "true" value. It's called an "Auction" for a REASON.

I've won a few a few Ebay auction bargains where the seller didn't want to sell. I've given them a neg feedback which they deserve (gets remove after 1 year anyway), but are there any other consequences?

Does Ebay do anything else to deter it? Eg, suspend their account, put their listings lower down search results etc?

This is illegal. Final bid is final bid regardless - next time it happens follow my other post (now merged) for advice, and if they agree to send it tell them you expect it to be by recorded post and want to see the tracking numbers, otherwise you will involve the "fraud squad".

 

[artie]

My understanding is, if you buy an item and the seller charges you for delivery.

Then the item must be delivered to you or a full refund issued.

No blaming Royal Mail, Hermes or Parcel to go.

Your contract was with the seller.

 

[RogerP]

It works both ways. I sell quite a bit on eBay and have had very few problems but I did have one item appear to get lost in the post and naturally the buyer complained. I refunded his money and then made a claim with Royal Mail.

I happened to mentioned it to a friend who sells even more than me through eBay about it he said he'd just had a similar problem with RM. Low and behold It transpired it was the same buyer!

Wrote to the buyer politely enquiring if the item had turned up yet and also asked if my friend's item was still missing as if so we were jointly going to have strong words with RM. Perhaps they had a rogue postie stealing stuff (it's happened in the past).

He replied that by really strange coincidence the item had just arrived and he was just going to let me know when he received my mail.

Well I never, who'd have believed it, how odd.

I may be cabbage looking but I'm not that green!

One for the banned list and a note to eBay.

On checking I see now he's "not an eBay member"

 

[flh801978]

I have had 5 non performing sellers during december and january
all low final values or maiden bids
one seller was a college took my money and heard nothing had to involve ebay for a refund
one said he had posted promised a tracking number never arrived had to involve ebay then the item was relisted at 10x the price...never sold though
One came clean and said he had lost the item he refunded though
One said he couldnt sell but only after me having paid and arranged a lorry to collect
Another item never arrived he refunded after ebay involvement

So in those 2 months I've left 8 negatives ( one seller got 3 as 3 items)

Apparently ebay mark you down as a serial neg leaver
perhaps not if you have involved ebay in getting a refund

I would have thought that a phone call to ebay from Graduate Owner will resolve his problem as hed closed the case after he thought he had a refund in the offing..moral dont close untill you are absolutely sure the cash is yours

Ian

 

[JohnPW]

With auctions where I've paid by Paypal (either with my credit card processed by Paypal or from my Paypal account) and the seller is supposed to send by post, luckily I haven't any seller claim they have sent it but didn't arrive, although I've had items damaged by the courier (chucking it over garden gate) and items "not as described".

What I was talking about in my OP were collection only (or can collect) items and the sellers didn't reply to messages asking for their address, so it's obvious they didn't want to sell, and no money changed hands. I wasn't really bothered not getting the bargains although it would have been nice*, it's the waste of time and effort searching, watching, bidding, sending messages that's annoying.

*99p vice (Record 52 size).
*99p wooden handscrew, wooden jack and trying planes.

On the other hand, one seller did the honorable thing and I got a complete Record 050c with box and instructions for £1.20!

 

[rafezetter]

With auctions where I've paid by Paypal (either with my credit card processed by Paypal or from my Paypal account) and the seller is supposed to send by post, luckily I haven't any seller claim they have sent it but didn't arrive, although I've had items damaged by the courier (chucking it over garden gate) and items "not as described".

What I was talking about in my OP were collection only (or can collect) items and the sellers didn't reply to messages asking for their address, so it's obvious they didn't want to sell, and no money changed hands. I wasn't really bothered not getting the bargains although it would have been nice*, it's the waste of time and effort searching, watching, bidding, sending messages that's annoying.

*99p vice (Record 52 size).
*99p wooden handscrew, wooden jack and trying planes.

On the other hand, one seller did the honorable thing and I got a complete Record 050c with box and instructions for £1.20!

Tricky - but still worth a mention to ebay - they have posted items on their site agreeing to it's T&C's which is still a legal contract - a word to the seller to that effect, maybe with the "reporting online fraud" link might give them a nudge to honor it. You might not have their details but Ebay certainly do and will be obliged to provide them in a criminal investigation.

It's not about the bargain - the principle applies anywhere - selling a car and only getting £3,000 instead of £3,500 but without having put a reserve on it.

Using any auction house, online or otherwise, if you don't put a reserve whatever the bid is at the hammer... that's all you're getting, and you can be legally forced to honour it.

My opinion is the more people are allowed to pull this stunt the more common it will be to the point all sellers using the bid system may be inclined to try their luck for more, so they need a reminder it's illegal.

 

[graduate_owner]

Hi FLH,
What happened with me was I had no reply from the seller after the initial communication, so I opened a case with eBay. The NEXT DAY I had an email from paypal saying there had been a refund made to my PayPal account and sure enough, there it was. About 5 days later I checked my PayPal account and the refund was still shown, so I closed the case with eBay. The NEXT DAY (literally, the very next day) I had another email from Paypal saying the refund failed because the seller did not have enough funds in his account (£5).
EBay could not help because I had closed the case, but have me a telephone number for paypay. They told me to explain fully the details on line, but after writing it all out in detail, the message could not be sent ( can't remember why now).
So I just got fed up, I felt I had better things to do with my time, and wasn't worth messing about for a fiver.

I wanted members to be aware of the refund issue. It could be for a much larger amount for someone next time. The last time I had a refund I waited about 3 weeks before leaving feedback just to make sure the refund did not disappear again.

K

 

[JohnPW]

On Ebay's "Seller doesn't want to sell" help page is this:

Need to talk to someone?

Item: xxxxxxxxxxx
Item number: xxxxxxxxxx

You've purchased this item.

If the seller refuses to complete the sale, you can contact them. Sometimes sellers have a valid reason for not wanting to sell—for instance, if the item is broken or no longer available.
If a seller doesn’t have a valid reason for not completing a sale, your options depend on your situation, you should leave appropriate feedback for the transaction:

Then there 2 action you can take:

*I’ve paid for the item but haven’t received it yet, and I want to open an eBay Money Back Guarantee case.
*I haven’t paid for the item or I’ve been refunded, and I want to report the seller.

If you choose report the seller, you have to to phone Ebay (although it's a 0800 number).

It seems an item being broken or no longer available are valid reasons not to sell. So I wouldn't expect Ebay to take any actions against the seller apart from a very mildly worded warning saying something like they are obliged to sell etc but if the item's no longer available or broken then it's OK!

 

[JohnPW]

I've just had another seller who didn't want to sell. It's very simple, after the auction's ended, they just clicked "cancel" without having to contact the buyer first, that's it! They probably had to choose a "valid" reason, like item not available or item broken.

Of course the seller will get a well deserved negative feedback.

 

[Mike.S]

I recently had a similar occurence - 3 large cross cut saws 'sold' for 99p, cash on collection. The seller delayed responding to messages and then offered to deliver (all for 99p!) but needless to say it all went quiet. Just left negative feedback.

In case it's of interest I just collected a 'signed-for' package from Royal Mail, where I'd previously made two online requests for re-delivery. It was an ebay purchase and to avoid a long story I wont quote it in full. The interesting bit (at least for me) is that if RM can't find a 'signed for' parcel they do nothing - no notification to sender or recipient (despite my providing email and mobile details). It was only because I went down to the office and was a persistent nag that the guy eventually found the item in a drawer - apparently it had been 'mis-filed :evil:

 

[blackrodd]

I've sold a bit on flea bay in the past, The first item I offered was a motorbike wheel, with brand new tyre fitted.
Judging by previous research, This should have been sold for around £70.
I started at £9.99, and that's what it sold for!
I packed, and sent it, learning my first valuable lesson, which was do not start the bid at less than you're very bottom
acceptable price.
The next one, some time later was started at £39.99 eventually selling for around the £60. mark.
I have also decided that It's very easy, by starting too low, to be dealing with the cheap skate element, looking for a Bently for 50p! and prone to moaning about everything imaginable.
Regards Rodders

 

[Racers]

I won a rear shock for my motorbike for 99p and he sent it!

Pete

 

[Graham Orm]

On the opposite end of the scale.

I sold some boots that were in new condition. Obviously I put their size in the ad. They sold for a reasonable figure. Almost immediately the auction had ended, I got a message from the buyer saying he'd thought they were a different size and didn't want them. I contacted Ebay, they contacted him, he sent payment and I sent his boots.
All done very quickly.

 

[JohnPW]

I've sold a bit on flea bay in the past, The first item I offered was a motorbike wheel, with brand new tyre fitted.
Judging by previous research, This should have been sold for around £70.
I started at £9.99, and that's what it sold for!
I packed, and sent it, learning my first valuable lesson, which was do not start the bid at less than you're very bottom
acceptable price.
The next one, some time later was started at £39.99 eventually selling for around the £60. mark.
I have also decided that It's very easy, by starting too low, to be dealing with the cheap skate element, looking for a Bently for 50p! and prone to moaning about everything imaginable.
Regards Rodders

I think there's a couple of reasons why sellers start at a low price but don't accept their obligations if the final price is not to their liking.

Lower Ebay fees, and to attract more bidders ie higher final price.

As you say, if a seller doesn't want to sell for 99p, then don't start the auction at 99p!

 

[Graham Orm]

I wonder how it would affect things if you started at 99p but stated in the terms below that you were not prepared to sell for less than £20 rather than setting a minimum. Would Ebay see it and pull it?

 

[mseries]

I wonder how it would affect things if you started at 99p but stated in the terms below that you were not prepared to sell for less than £20 rather than setting a minimum. Would Ebay see it and pull it?

It's against the T&Cs, unless you set a reserve you have agreed to sell to the highest bidder - whomever and whatever the bid maybe. You've entered into the contract by listing the auction and the bidder has by bidding. Ebay charge for a reserve price so they'll not be too happy and I suspect will pull the auction if they learn about it as the seller is breaching their rules