ebay question.... Ive changed my mind

[davidst01]

I bid for a small item at auction on pay pal $8. I won the bid. Evidently I failed to read the charges correctly and dont like the fact that they want usd$16 import duties to post from the U.S to LOS.

the international priority shipping is $34 as well.

Contractually, what are my obligations to proceed? The emails are telling me 'thanks for your recent purchase' but I obviously haven't paid for it yet.

What happens if I dont pay. Im new to ebay. My paypal is linked to my ebay account. Or should I say that Ive used paypal for other items.

If I intend to try and sell stuff on there myself in the future can the above have negative implications on my future intentions?

thanks

[Foxman888]

Just send a message to the seller and say you have changed your mind for the reasons you have stated above.

Sometimes happens to me and i don't have a problem with it, it annoys me more when someone doesn't pay and then ignores any communication from me. That is when i open an 'Unpaid item' case against the buyer.

Do everything you can to avoid negative feedback. Feedback is king on Ebay.

Edited November 30, 2014 by Foxman888

[Anthony5]

I had a similar situation some time ago, just messaged the seller and explained my situation, and all was cleared.

[Chicog]

I had one where the seller decided he couldn't ship to my country even though he said he would, and still insisted on payment because I'd agreed to buy it!

Needless to say that case didn't take long to resolve, and he ended up begging me to buy it with free shipping and a big discount.

I told him to f--- off.

[Pib]

Ebay Rules About Bidding and Paying

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/buyer-rules-overview.html

Ebay Unpaid Item Policy

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/unpaid-item.html

Recommend you first contact the seller and see what you can work out.

[MANICMINER]

Buyers can no longer receive negative feedback. The worst a seller can do is give you an unpaid item strike, but you are allowed several of these before ebay will do anything against you - so just don't pay for item. If you want to avoid the unpaid item strike, you can contact the seller to cancel item, and he/she may send you a cancellation message.

[yankee99]

the worst case scenario is you don't pay and the seller leaves negative feedback which marks your account for a year. As a buyer this isnt a big deal unless your in a auction where the seller doesn't except bids from no or negative feedback bidders.

[elgordo38]

Buyers can no longer receive negative feedback. The worst a seller can do is give you an unpaid item strike, but you are allowed several of these before ebay will do anything against you - so just don't pay for item. If you want to avoid the unpaid item strike, you can contact the seller to cancel item, and he/she may send you a cancellation message.

Email the seller and tell him you changed your mind. Its only a $8 item. Yes the new policy of a large prepaid shipping cost plus prepaid duties are a rip off and I always check for these features when bidding. I cannot see how they can predetermine custom costs. A lot of times the seller will mark the item as a gift and avoid all customs.

[Pib]

Marking an item as a gift won't prevent customs....Customs Dept in all countries aren't fooled by that and may just heighten their interest in the package. Where the OP said $16 could be just the approx USPS International First Class charge for a package up to 16 ounces (see below image form USPS website) and has nothing to do with possible customs charges.

Edited November 30, 2014 by Pib

[BORRISGOODENUF]

The solution is very simple, via ebay contact send email to the seller expressing your desire to cancell the transaction.

Good luck!

[SOTIRIOS]

....quite a 'deal'....ending up near $80 for an $8 item...???

[ThaiSanookGuy]

just ignore them

[jacksam]

Fox man is correct. Explain that you made honest mistake and very sorry of their trouble. At worst you get negative feedback

[Honkeydog]

you get a negative feedback if you don't pay. Depends on seller can try to explain why you don't want to pay. theory is you should have read all the info.Too many negatives and you are offed ebay.

[Irishrogue]

Lots of Ebay sellers now use the Global Shipping Program which automatically deals with Import Duty. The local rule is that if the total of purchase and postage cost exceeds THB1000 then import duty is applied. I have found though that the system on Ebay is abused by using the highest postage cost to push the total above the limit of THB1000. I pay whatever duty is applicable but have on many occasions asked the seller to provide a lower cost method of postage if of course I am in no hurry to get the purchased item.

[USNret]

I will add this from the perspective of the seller, as my wife sells a lot of items on eBay. We live in the States and she ships all over the world.

Buyer -- READ the listing!! This is your obligation PRIOR to bidding. A reputable seller will clearly list all costs; there should be no surprises later on. Any winning bid or "Buy It Now" is a binding obligation to buy. Not to say that they can force you to pay, but you have entered into a contractual obligation. The seller incurs costs at the end of a successful sale -- paid or not -- and they cannot recover these costs. Furthermore, you may have outbid other legitimate buyers, thereby cheating the seller out a sale from some who truly would have paid for the item. For many sellers, the profit margin is slim and they have to sell two items to make up for one flaky buyer who doesn't pay.

In general, my wife will cancel the sale for anyone in a situation like yours -- but it's aggravating. She works hard for each sale, posts thorough & accurate information together with numerous photos, and spells out clearly the conditions of sale including shipping charges. She never charges for duty in advance -- that sounds really weird. Furthermore, she will not honor requests to mark as a gift. Her feeling is that this is breaking the law, and easily detected as the shipping label says eBay on it. Customs officials know this is not a gift and the seller, not the buyer, is the one who would suffer any legal consequences for filing false documentation.

Bottom line: Do your due diligence before placing a bid. If you win, you are expected to pay. For the OP, the shipping fee & duty are egregious and you never should have bid on the item. But you were warned in advance; there is no one to blame but yourself.

[MANICMINER]

Yes, i think OP has been hit by ebay's Global shipping program, where items are sent locally to ebay's fulfillment centre, and ebay handles the overseas delivery - hence the ridiculous charges. U.S and U.K sellers were automatically opted into the program, and many sellers were not aware of the charges. If the OP still wants the item, he should ask the seller if he can send the item direct to him by regular airmail, and ask for a new invoice.

[MANICMINER]

Yes, i think OP has been hit by ebay's Global shipping program, where items are sent locally to ebay's fulfillment centre, and ebay handles the overseas delivery - hence the ridiculous charges. U.S and U.K sellers were automatically opted into the program, and many sellers were not aware of the charges. If the OP still wants the item, he should ask the seller if he can send the item direct to him by regular airmail, and ask for a new invoice.

[duanebigsby]

As many suggested, be honest about your mistake and ask to opt out.

The listing menu is so automated that many U.S. sellers make mistakes when listing and their ad shows shipping to Thailand and a price, when their intention was U.S. only.

Always read the fine print and I now always ask them before bidding

if they ship and how much.

[Suradit69]

Buyers can no longer receive negative feedback. The worst a seller can do is give you an unpaid item strike, but you are allowed several of these before ebay will do anything against you - so just don't pay for item. If you want to avoid the unpaid item strike, you can contact the seller to cancel item, and he/she may send you a cancellation message.

Email the seller and tell him you changed your mind. Its only a $8 item. Yes the new policy of a large prepaid shipping cost plus prepaid duties are a rip off and I always check for these features when bidding. I cannot see how they can predetermine custom costs. A lot of times the seller will mark the item as a gift and avoid all customs.

Yes avoid anything that involves eBay Global shipping service.

It's just like using one of the couriers, like DHL or UPS, you end up paying way more than if the seller just takes it to the post office and sends it without eBay's "help."

Some sellers in the US mistakenly think this is a good deal for you and them. The only one that profits from it is eBay. Every time eBay adds "improvements" to their service it just manages to make things more difficult for all concerned. I've bought things from one seller before with no problem. He signed up for the Global shipping thing and now eBay won't even accept my bids claiming that he won't ship to Thailand. I contacted him and he can't manage to work around it even after long conversations with their customer "support." His loss since he's probably lost bids from others outside the US.

[Pib]

If it shipped via USPS to Thailand and the value listed on the customs slip is less than Bt1,000/approx $32 the chances of any customs being applied is very low (assuming customs believes the estimated value even if opening/examining the contents). Bt1,000 is a key trigger level for Thai customs.

[Eagleizer]

Unlike you, I did read before bidding and sent an email to eBay and asked about the pre-paid fees

Here is their answer:

"You may avoid buying items with the text: (No additional import charges at delivery! This item will be shipped through the Global Shipping Program and includes international tracking.) To save yourself from paying these import charges in advance. Better yet, ask your seller for a PayPal invoice excluding the import charges and pay the fee upon delivery. "

The price you are paying ($8) will not be taxed at Thai customs..

Don`t know what you bought, but I just bought a new gaming mouse:

Shipping Thailand: US $14.90 USPS First Class Mail Intl / First Class Package Intl Service

I do a lot of shopping at eBay, and in more than 50% of the cases, I

have to ask seller to use another shipment method to get the shipping

cost down.

Hope this helps!

Cheers

P.S. It`s not nice to don`t stand by a bid, and it`s not nice to be marked as a

bad eBayer either...

[Jaggg88]

Fox man is correct. Explain that you made honest mistake and very sorry of their trouble. At worst you get negative feedback

In the UK sellers cannot give buyer negative feed back.

[MANICMINER]

Fox man is correct. Explain that you made honest mistake and very sorry of their trouble. At worst you get negative feedback

In the UK sellers cannot give buyer negative feed back.

It's not just U.K: it's everywhere - feedback system changed about 2 years ago, so i don't know why so many are talking about negative feedback.

Edited December 1, 2014 by MANICMINER

[Pib]

Yes, the seller not being able to leave negative or neutral feedback changed a while back. That's probably why the great majority of sellers now give immediate positive feedback. See below eBay webpage talking how sellers can still protect themselves from unfair treatment from buyers.

http://pages.ebay.com/services/forum/sellerprotection.html

[mynameisphil]

The feedback thing sucks. I had a seller who didn't read the item was being sent from Thailand and gave negative after waiting about a week for delivery. It arrived next day (well within times stated through description) and they messaged me to let me know.

I politely asked if they could change the neg feedback but they went off on one and refused saying it should have been clearer. <deleted>. It was there in about 4 different places.

That's the only neg in about 6 years but it came just as I decided to start selling properly in bulk, and has definitely impacted sales a bit. 92% or whatever seems to look a lot worse than 100%.

And because of this feedback crap I can't respond. It's a joke.