Am I in the wrong here?

[MidniteKitten]

I'm kinda' ticked :/ I purchased a cel on eBay listed at .99cents with no reserve, unfortuanately for the seller it sold for about 2$ and 10.25$ shipped total. I'm sure that's not an easy loss to swallow but when you list at no reserve you should be comfortable with letting it go at the starting price, if .99cents was too little it should have started at what was the least would be accepted no? So almost 3 weeks goes by and no cel, no contact from the seller.so I contact the seller to ask what's going on especially since I only live 4hrs away from where the seller lives it should have been 2-3 days max. The seller kindly lets me know that life has gotten in the way, and I sympathize, I know I've lost track of time before and slipped up. But then almost a week and a few days later after hearing from them I just get a refund, no contact to say hey, I quit, or whatever, just a refund. I'm pretty upset because honestly I wanted this cel (it wasn't even production, it was a fan cel). So I don't know what to do. I hate to leave negative feedback, but am I in the wrong to go ahead and leave the negative feedback? Doesn't ebay frown upon cancelling a deal because it didn't go for what you were wanting? Idk...some help please.

PS>(I know the seller is a member of the community, I'm not trying to bash or cause drama, I just want to know what should happen now)

[zerospace]

IMO, you are completely right for leaving a negative, though if I were in your shoes, I'd probably ask why you got the refund and no cel. If the person can explain, then you two should agree to cancel the transaction through eBay and call it a done deal (the seller can begin the cancellation process, and as soon as you agree, the transaction is cancelled 'officially').

On a side note, did the person sell anything around the same time that you can tell was shipped out (as in, other buyers left them feedback)? If so, then the "life in the way" excuse seems pretty weak. If you find that they re-list the cel for a higher price, you can report them to eBay, too.

Just my two yen .

[jenn-b]

Hmmm...this sounds extremely familiar. My dear friend and fellow moderator here has the exact same issue. I wonder if it's the same seller!

I think that is completely f-ing rediculous and I agree - if you don't want it to end low, set a minimum or reserve. If it sells, you are required to ship it. It is a binding contract with Ebay.

As I've told my dearest, you should hit the seller with negative feedback. Period.

[jenn-b]

As an elaboration, my friend got the same response about life being in the way. That does not automatically mean that the recipients do not want their product. As a matter of fact, you should really step it up to make certain that you don't receive negative feedback.

I'm certain that I have more ranting to do - and I think my friend does as well.

Hell, I'm half tempted to call the collector out on this. Let it be known how they handle transactions.

[Sky Rat]

I have to agree. Ebay has very clear cut rules. Once the auction has ended it’s too late to cancel the transaction (especially with nothing more than a vague explanation.) The seller broke a contract with you by not delivering the item after you paid for it, and future buyers have a right to be warned that they might find themselves disappointed if they deal with that person.

If you’re reluctant to actually leave negative feedback due to the crossing social paths aspect and the fact that you didn’t actually lose money, I’d at a very minimum leave neutral feedback with a description of what happened. There should be some sort of record to warn bidders. But I personally probably would have left negative feedback. Even if your money got refunded it was still held in limbo for 4 weeks, which might have prevented you from buying something else you wanted instead, etc, which is pretty uncool.

[teggacat]

Ditto to all the comments
Sky Rat is correct in that Ebay has very
clear cut rules, and shipping items is also expected in a
timely matter, as is the common courtesy of
communication between seller and buyer,
life gets in everyones way, it is not an excuse.
Neither is deciding not to send an item that was won
via ebay contracts because the end result didnt suit.
Some type of feedback is needed even if only to make
others aware of this seller's idea of fair.
Gosh, I have alot more comments but I
think I'd just better stop here

[Quacker]

Personally Mid.Kit I would still leave negative feedback. As you have written, this has dragged on needlessly for a few weeks now & you are quite upset/angry with what has happened.
In basic terms, the function of an auction is a Sale process whereby the price is determined by a pool or gathering of Buyers. If an item is not popular, it will not generate much interest from Buyers and therefore not demand a high price.
That is what has happened in your instance. You managed to actually find an item which the Seller thought would be popular & in a move to garner more Buyer interest, started their auction at a low price. Sometimes this method works, in this case it didn't. Now it is the Seller's fault that they didn't elect to enforce a Reserve or minimum-limit in the first place, because if there had been, I'm sure you would have bidded differently?
EBay is the on-line version of an auction house, You & the Seller entered into a binding contract once that auction ended: you to pay the amount stipulated & due at the end of the auction & the Seller to supply said item.

This they have not done and tried to stump up excuses, on top of that, they have simply refunded the money you paid with no further explanation. Leave the negative feedback, at least give warning to fellow collectors & Ebayers that the Seller has not honoured their transaction with you.
Hopefully the Seller themselves treats this as a learning experience, that if they start with a low auction price, to at least set a Reserve so this does not happen again.

[Sui Kune]

Oh lord, you aren't in the wrong at all. If the seller didn't want to sell for the starting bid, they should've put in a reserve or higher starting bid. That's all there is to it.

It also reminds me of a similar situation a friend of mine was in some years ago. She won a cel on eBay for starting bid or so, and the seller wasn't happy about it. She fought tooth and nail to even GET the cel, and after like a few months she finally got it, but the seller kept the matching douga as spite. I wish I knew who the seller was so I could avoid them and warn you guys about them, but alas, it's been too long. I almost wonder if it could be the same seller.

[Gonzai]

hmmm..... I wonder who Jenn's friend and fellow moderator could be.

Yep, I had the same experience MK, and from the sounds of it,
it, I am sure it was the same seller. I really don't understand,
cause I always thought of this person as a very respected cel
collector. I hear of these kind of stories, but I have never had
it happen to me before. It really kind of irritates me.

In my case, it was genga that I had originally sold the seller. I
got it back for dirt cheap, and I tend to feel the same as MK, like
she didn't want to lose out. Unfortunately, anyone who has ever
sold on eBay has had to deal with taking a loss. Hell, I have even
sold a cel for $2000 less than I paid. Its the breaks of the game.

The excuse I was given was that her and her husband only have
one car, and she can't possibly ever make it to the post office. Ok,
well, if that's the case, then what are you doing listing on eBay in
the first place?? Secondly, in this day and age, there is click and
ship. All you need is a printer.

Well, she refunded, however, it won't even be available to me
until the 25th. I won, I paid, I want my artwork. Will I leave
negative feedback??? I am still pondering.......??

[ReiTheJelly]

I would most definitely leave negative feedback. You kept up your end of the bargain: you promptly paid. This individual has more than neglected their end - they've outright refused to honor the purchase agreement and somehow feel that refunding your money will make everything better.


Like Gonzai said, just print the postage online via eBay and have the USPS pick it up FROM YOUR HOUSE. They offer such a service! *shock*


Just out of curiosity: does this person have currently running auctions? If so, do they have bidders?

[Gonzai]

No auctions that I know of, but I know of another member
of the cel community that is doing payments with them for
a pretty expensive cel. I think I will shoot her a pm with
a warning before its too late to get her monry back.

[MidniteKitten]

Ya Gonzai, it's definitely the same seller, just like you I was pretty sure they were well respected, but things happen all the time, don't know why, just sucks when you have to be the one on the receiving end.

The seller sent me a PM (did they send one to you too?) and I responded in hopes to make some kind of effort to remedy the situation, because honestly I'd much rather have the cel than the refund, if I wanted the money I wouldn't have been comfortable spending it in the first place ya'know?

Thanks everyone for your input, depending on how negotiations go hopefully I won't have to leave the negative feedback (I hate doing this, even when it's genuinely necessary) and all this will be resolved amicably. We'll see...

[Quacker]

Best of luck Kit!

[bran-chan]

Best course of action would be to report them to ebay. It's against their rules to do that and ebay needs to know about them. If they get enough strikes against them ebay kicks them out.

And do leave negative/neutral feedback. Other buyers need to be warned.

[jenn-b]

While doing so looking through her page I have found that she somehow "managed" to make it to the post office for at least two of her Ebay sales. I tried to fish back to the timeline where you were both affected, but Ebay is so difficult to navigate it's giving me a headache!

Anyhow, at least two cels were worth her taking the time to send them out.