Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Suprise Extra Shipping Charge On Ebay

I recently purchased an item off ebay that was fairly large and it was naturally going to cost a good amount to ship which I knew in advance. The amount I agreed to when buying the item was 127$. Yesterday I received a message from the seller telling me he shipped the item and it cost him more so he is sending me an extra invoice for the extra amount it cost and I have to pay it. I sent him a message that basically said sorry not paying this because we agreed you would ship for this amount when the listing ended.

I then called ebay and they told me that in a situation like this EBAY will FORCE me to pay him the extra money. The only way out of this is if I just ship the item back. Personally I feel violated because of this and truthfully I would have possibly paid the extra amount if the guy had asked me first rather than just shipping it putting me in a position where I am forced to pay for it or force to pay return shipping. I was wondering if anyone has ever had this happen to them. I personally never have, but if ebay is going to allow this how do I know the next seller wont bill me for 100 or 200 extra dollars after the sale and after he or she has shipped it?

I was going to say something negative about e bay but I will refrain in doing so....I agree with you that is totally wrong and you should not have to pay that.

I have shipped many large items and In most of my ads on ebay I state will not know the exact amount till after the auction ends. I sometimes think that I have the correct amount when I put in the shipping charge. I have at this point never been right, shipping is always more for larger items and it is a problem with me as well as he buyers. I do try to explain that though when emailing after a purhase or as some one asks before bidding. Even small items I have been on the short end too many times now.
The ebay thing is tough though, as they are looking out for buyers whom have been taken advantage of in the past. Also they are making more money on the shipping charges, which is self serving for them.
Just what I have seen.

I have never had that happen to me on eBay. To me as a seller I never charge more than what I say I will ship it for. It's not good business in my book. If it cost me more than I eat the cost if I quoted it cheaper. I recently sold a oil can and I quoted a price but then had to ship it ups which cost me more. I actually made no money because of it, but the way I look at it as it all comes out in the wash and a happy customer is a return customer.

I understand how you feel. The problem is that no matter how carefully a seller tries to get an accurate shipping rate, most times, it is not correct. I too have absorbed the excess in all cases but there comes a time when it becomes too much. I agree that communication was not good between both parties. That being said, cancel the Ebay buy and ship it back if you feel so strongly about it? Otherwise, I think you have learned an expensive lesson. Good Luck with whatever you do. Paul www.severngaspumps.com

I AGREE with s932 I just eat the extra shipping charges just the way it is. I sometimes make a little and occasionally lose some.

How much more is he trying to charge you? did he ship the item already? if not tell him to keep it because you entered into an agreement with them now they are trying to change the agreement after the fact seems like bad business.

most of these instances are caused by lack of research or laziness by the seller. It's very easy to 'closely' estimate shipping. If a seller fails to take the time to correctly estimate it, then they should be decent enough to eat the overage.

pretty simple, figure out the box you are going to use before listing, and then calculate shipping to one of the coasts. you'll lose on some, and come ahead on others... should all even out. I once sold an old bicycle on ebay, I charged $110 shipping... it ended up costing me $225. but I realized it was my fault, no reason that should go to the buyer.

refuse the package when it gets to your door, the carrier will automatically return it and you wont be liable for anything

Well here is whaat upsets me the most about this. I had no say in it at all. The item was shipped for this extra amount and then he sent me a message saying hey shipped it out here's the extra cost sent it to you in an invoice. Then to top it off ebay tells me we will force you to pay this, even though I never agreed to pay an extra charge.

I can tell you as a seller I have shipped items before that I have lost a lot on but here is the thing it was my fault for not getting my lazy butt off the couch and taking it to the ups or usps store to double check myself. I do not feel that I should punish my buyer because I was too lazy to take the item to the local ups or post office to check myself. And also I feel that I have entered into an agreement with that buyer that I will ship the item for the amount listed.

Also the fee was minimal an extra 27 dollars but my problem is with the fact that I was not even asked if this was okay. And now if I do not want to pay that I have ship it back which will ccost me 150 which he does not have to pay.He was a week late with shipping it and the whole time I was communicating with him. Then I am also upset because even though I entered into an agreement with this guy that it would cost this much to ship ebay tells me basically it does not matter what the original agreement is it can be changed. So what is to keep sellers from sending excessive amounts for "extra shipping charges" in the future like 100 extra dollars? Nothing I guess because ebay will force you to pay that.

Naturally the answer to this is pay the 27$ extra fee but to me it is more about my rights than the fee.

Frankly, I am surprised that ebay has sided with the seller on this. Usually it is the seller that gets it in the shorts on most deals involving returns or adjustments. Maybe they have changed their tune now that they get a piece of every dollar that changes hands, including the shipping. I always thought that if the seller posted a flat rate for shipping that the shipping was that amount...end of story. Guess times are changing. One thing I would try is to call ebay back a couple of times and see what different ebay people say about it. Maybe the ebay person you talked to was new or clueless in the matter. The latter is very possible. If you buy an item and it is not as represented, ebay makes sure the buyer gets a refund for everything, including return shipping in most cases. This is just a strange case if we know all the facts. Good luck....GB

If the item was shipped UPS, I believe you can refuse the package and it will go back to the sender free of charge.

Never heard of ebay MAKING someone pay more, after they (the buyer) have already paid. The seller can ask for more, but ebay doesn't force the buyer to pay extra afterwords. A seller can adjust the shipping amount after the sale, but not after the buyer has paid. If seller finds out shipping is more than expected and has not shipped out item yet, the can ASK for more or request to cancel the transaction, but I've never heard of ebay MAKING the buyer pay more after the sale and after it was shipped.

Also, never heard of one being able to send an extra/second invoice just for shipping, unless it was a paypal invoice they sent you...???

I just tried setting up an invoice on ebay, to people who have bought/paid from me recently... and can't do so. Not to say your BS'ing us jwood7, but something is fishy here.

...I never heard of someone sending the item, THEN asking for more money...seems to me the seller had the option of sending you an email, BEFORE he sent the item, explaining the circumstances...

I looked at it again it is a separate invoice through pay pal, but from the two ebay "specialtist" I talked to they informed me that "In a case like this I must pay the difference or ebay will make me pay this and they do not want that to happen so the best way to fix this problem is just pay the difference". Those were the exact words of the phone call I dealt with. Even the second guy I talked to after I asked to speak to someone else told me that the only two real options I had at this point because he already shipped it were pay the fee or return the item. But he did at least say that he finds this very strange that the seller did not ask me before shipping the item if this was okay. Which I believe would lead them into looking into this matter more?

But now that I realize this is a pay pal invoice and not an ebay invoice how can ebay force me to pay this like the ebay guy said? I mean I know ebay and pay pal are linked together but this makes no sense to me. And even more I went back to look at this guys feedback he had a few other people that have left negative feedback about this happening. (That stated I should have looked at his ebay feedback first which is my fault)

However, I did not realize I can refuse a package through UPS and that is what I will do so thank you Ryan for telling me that because it will fix the problem completely.

Call UPS to double check, but I am almost 100 percent positive that you can refuse it.

Ebay must have changed policies, I've had that happen twice and both times Ebay sided with me. First time seller contacted me immediatly and asked if I wanted refund on purchase price and cancel deal or pay more ?, I contacted Ebay and they said nope he has to sell and ship at original cost and suggusted I "open a case against seller" I contacted him and relayed message and he agreed to send out, he was so polite and humble his attitude was "lesson learned, cost of business etc." I ended up sending him half of new cost just because he made it so easy to deal with.
second time not as easy, guy was real jerk ! did't ship for 2 weeks and let several emails go unanswered, finally answered and told me shipping would cost more than entire deal made him and would I like to pay over $100 more or no deal. he was rude and abbrasive ! again I contacted Ebay and was told same thing, placing a bid and winning is entering into a contract and he has to ship at agreed cost or I could open case, leave negative feedback etc etc. Several unanswered and several rude emails later, (took weeks) with Ebays involvment he reluctantly sent item. It was poorly packaged, and broken ! obviously sending me a message so this time I did open a case against him and again with Ebays help ended up getting replacement part shipped at no aditional cost !
Buying or selling on ebay is again entering into a contract which should not be able to be changed by either party or we're all on a slippery slope, where does it end ? should a seller be able to charge more because it was snowing and it took him 3 hrs to get to post office ? or can a buyer change mind and say sorry I think I payed to much or have buyers remorse ? no. there needs to be protection for both sides of deal and honor between a buyer and seller. "Shipping costs estimated" or charging more and offering refund seem acceptable, but to ship a item then demand more is unexceptable.
just one man's long opinion, sorry/thanks