Another tale of ebay frustration

[DJ121]

Last night I won an auction for a Stormtrooper. It ended for a very decent price of 5.50. The seller listed FREE Shipping.

It did say in the item dscription that shipping would be three dollars. Well, seeing how we all know people are idiots and list incorrect information in descriptions all the time, I didn't pay any mind to it. Again the listing said FREE shipping.

Item ended, I pay instantly. Today I get a message from the seller. The free shipping was listed in error. I need three dollars, or we can cancel the transaction.

I sent him a message, he sent back a reply. I called ebay, explained the situation, and guess what? They sided with the SELLER..... telling me that mistakes happen, and I can either pay the three dollars or cancel the sale!

Another message to the seller, and at least we settled on 1.50 for shipping..... but still. WTF??

If it were me, and I made a "mistake" and listed an item for free shipping, I would have just sucked it up, took the hit and moved on. I don't know how you can accidentally list an item for free shipping in the first place. I guess compared to other horror stories this is just a minor inconvenience. And it really is. But It frustrated me enough to have to vent about it a bit. Anyone else ever get this from a seller, AFTER the item has been paid for?

[TheRealMrMaul]

It does happen. I err on the side that there WILL be a shipping cost. If it ends up being free, great. If not I knew it might be there. If it is only a couple dollars I wouldn't mind. If it were a larger dollar amount, I send a message to the seller before bidding, just to be safe.

[Washu]

In this case, the verdict was correct. Ebay itself is the one to blame. I know it sounds odd, but ebay is extremely messed up when it comes to programming. A lot works fine but you will bump into issues very often. One of these is the Free Shipping error. As a seller myself I have click onto my "Sold" item to see what I need to wrap. Half of them will list free shipping when they are not.

A lot of buyers understand and pay as normal. I did have a UK fellow who bought a $7 item and ebay said it was free shipping. He whined and pushed. I called ebay and they said they know of the bug. They paid me the item shipping cost and I sent the guy the toy.

Overall, legit issue. I predict ebay will not fix it for a long time.

[wwsatando]

Mistakes do happen. As a seller, sometimes it's more beneficial to list items with free shipping, while other times it isn't. When listing multiple auctions, I often use the "sell similar" tab because I'm only changing a few things on the next auction. I may intend to turn off the free shipping on the next, but sometimes forget. I've listed items and forgot to change the title before, but usually catch it at some point. Sure, it can be from a lack of paying attention, but that's still a mistake. I've eaten many a mistake, but I do it because I want to keep buyers. That being said, it's my choice. If someone else chooses not to, that's also understandable. I understand your frustration, but you would have been out nothing if the transaction were cancelled. In the end, no big deal.

[javd]

ive had times on the Ebay mobile app it shows FREE SHIPPING but on the computer its valued.

sometimes u have to be ok with it. remember the shipping cost is handling and materials. its ok to see it as $3 for someone to buy an envelope and mail it out and time taken.

[PMK916]

hey thats better than what happens to me....all the time! either my computer hates me or ebay is really messed up. i love to browse a zillion auctions per week and i bid and win a lot more than my wife would like me to. with that said - anytime i buy anything within the USA its not a problem but when bidding items from other countries i rely on the ebay to tell me what the american monetary equivalent of the other countries equates to. its wrong all the damn time. its my own fault for not checking exchange rates i guess but i just get excited and quick to hit buy it now far too often. turning a 50 dollar item into 75 is a bit of a suprise. ebay has never had any sympathy on this and my only other possible action to take was to back out from the win. i bid on things i want though so ive never rescinded a bid over this yet. i cant let something awesome slip away hahaha. point is - ebay is messed up and if youre on it a lot, youre gonna spend a lot of $ one way or another ....or maybe both ways hah. im of course multitasking on ebay as i type this. damn this bidder whos against me on this fett auction!!!!! my luck its someone from here!!!