Quick Ebay Question

[Eustace]

So I bought an item via Buy It Now after the seller agreed waive shipping fees. So I purchased said item, and then on the checkout page shipping was still included. I was worried that I'd risk the Live.com discount which requires checkout within 60 minutes of purchase, so I just paid the amount and asked for a refund of the shipping fees.

Seller has agreed, but says he cannot release that money until I leave him positive feedback. Is this right? It seems counterintuitive for me to leave positive feedback before he has completed his end of the bargain. It's not a lot of money, so it wouldn't be the end of the world if I ate shipping costs. Just curious.

 

[likeitaloud]

I'm not a proffesional but it sounds very much like a scam since once you leave him a positive feedback he has almost nothing to risk by not refunding you.

 

[Eustace]

My thougts exactly.

 

[likeitaloud]

You can try to wait for a response from someone who knows Ebay but if I were you I would probably tell him that I know what he is trying to pull and if doesn't do as we agreed I will leave a negative feedback.

You can also ask ebay representative on the phone/live chat what they think of it.

 

[finch]

Sounds like a scam, I never leave feedback until I've received the item purchased. Did you pay with PayPal? I know their also owned by eBay but if you did start a claim right away I've found them pretty good at investigating complaints and have been refunded twice myself, once a seller that never shipped and another on faulty goods.

 

[finch]

Edit: Forgot you are protected with PayPal, up to 2k I think if your a verified PayPal member.

 

[Eustace]

Yes, you have to pay with Paypal to get the Live.com deal. He shipped the item and provided a UPS tracking number, so he definitely shipped it. I wrote him back stating that I would only leave positive feedback after he completed his end of the bargain and refunded shipping costs.

 

[Eustace]

I hate scams. It's not a lot of money at all, so why would this guy dick around?

 

[HomerJ]

1. Probably not a scam. PayPal can hold funds for 21 days unless positive feedback is left or 3 days post-delivery confirmation. http://pages.ebay.com/sell/update08/rewardsfaq/#27 This PayPal hold might not even apply to the seller and it's not a good way of handling it but eBay has made a lot of sellers bitter. 2. You might be risking your cashback with a partial refund as some people have experienced.

 

[hadamulletonce]

I doubt this seller is attempting to scam you for a few bucks. My guess is the seller is trying to avoid a possible negative and going about it the wrong way.

Save some time and frustration. Dealing with ebay customer service can take forever and it won't get you anywhere. I'm guessing 2 hours of your time is worth more than the price of shipping. The only way a claim with paypal will work is if you report item not as described. You'll get a full refund after the item has been returned but you'll have to cover return shipping. You'll be out the same amount of money and no longer have your item and lose the live.com discount.

Send a friendly message and let the seller know you were happy with the transaction you just want to receive what was promised. You have no intention of leaving a negative. However, you are concerned that once you leave a positive they won't follow through on the commitment. It's nothing personal.

Let the seller know they are in violation of the ebay feedback extortion policy. It is a violation of this policy to hold a refund or an item hostage until positive feedback is left. Both parties are bound by the terms of the contract. This protects both the buyer and seller from extortion.

At this point the if the seller is not willing to issue the shipping refund as promised he is being unreasonable. Report him for feedback violation, leave a negative and eat the shipping.

If he refunds the money - leave a positive as promised.

 

[Trojanman74]

actually this happened to me as a seller. i just sold two pairs of shoes yesterday on ebay and they paid instantly through paypal. when i went to withdraw the funds paypal told me that to protect buyers they were holding my funds until i was either able to provide a tracking number or until the buyer left me positive feedback. they said that with bigger ticket items their concerns are for the buyer first and that they would hold the funds for 21 days to make sure no complaints from the buyer were made before i got access to the payment.

 

[hadamulletonce]

Originally Posted by Trojanman74

actually this happened to me as a seller. i just sold two pairs of shoes yesterday on ebay and they paid instantly through paypal. when i went to withdraw the funds paypal told me that to protect buyers they were holding my funds until i was either able to provide a tracking number or until the buyer left me positive feedback. they said that with bigger ticket items their concerns are for the buyer first and that they would hold the funds for 21 days to make sure no complaints from the buyer were made before i got access to the payment.


This policy slipped my mind. With some electronics sales and new sellers paypal holds the payment until positive feedback is left. If this is the case, the seller can't touch the transaction until paypal releases the hold. If a negative is left, the money remains on hold until the item has been returned.

What a pain.

 

[Eustace]

He could just transfer the cost of shipping to my paypal account from his account, not involving any refund of the money I paid. That's what I asked for in my response. That way it would not risk the Live.com discount, and I could have the money prior to leaving positive feedback. I guess seller assumes a risk that I could leave negative feedback, file a complaint with e-bay, and keep the shipping amount he refunded, so I'm not sure he'll go for it. I have 100% positives and a lot more transactions than him though so we'll see.

 

[jetfight]

the seller should have modified the auction description so that it was free shipping before you made the purchase

 

[el es dee]

he can refund it to you any time he wants, as a former ebay power seller i have lots of experience with this sort of thing