OT (sort of) -- Some venting from an ebay seller

[cubsguy1969]

That's a fair point about his bid being pushed up. The third-place bidder was considerably lower. But what he bid initially was rendered irrelevant by the fact that he agreed to purchase the books for $200 (in my humble opinion anyway). And the books are massive. Beautiful old Shakespeare books that are not cheap to ship, even at media rates. So I was giving him a break there. Sigh. It's just frustrating when people don't have the decency to do what they say they're going to do. All he had to say was, "Sorry, I changed my mind."

[usernamealreadytaken]

I will chime in on the Customs declaration ask. Buyers from Canada always ask I do this (I believe it saves them $ somehow?). Anyway, I don't mind helping out but the form pretty much provides that lying is considered fraud and puts me, the seller, in a tuff spot. I don't like shipping to Canada amyway (either pay out the wazoo for registered mail, or cross your fingers).

[Bilko G]

Originally Posted by usernamealreadytaken

I will chime in on the Customs declaration ask. Buyers from Canada always ask I do this (I believe it saves them $ somehow?).

It can save Canadians duty fees. Sometimes, but not always on a larger purchase (over $100 or so), the Canadian government will charge a duty fee. Probably be about $40 bucks on a $200 purchase.

[cubsguy1969]

That's a good point about shilling, too. That hadn't occurred to me. Obviously, I don't do that.
I actually did explain to him that the previous buyer had been unreasonable to deal with and that he wanted me to lie on a customs form.

[cubsguy1969]

As for second-chance offers being scams (I'm definitely aware of that), I did send an e-mail offering to make it a buy-it-now so he'd feel more comfortable. No response.

[Bosox Blair]

Originally Posted by cubsguy1969

As for second-chance offers being scams (I'm definitely aware of that), I did send an e-mail offering to make it a buy-it-now so he'd feel more comfortable. No response.

I think your BIN idea is a smart solution to address that concern!

Cheers,
Blair

[barrysloate]

Cubsguy- seems like you handled the transaction professionally and that a lot of things went wrong with this deal. That happens sometimes. And as somebody said you can't get mad at the underbidder winning the lot for $107 because he may have left a $200 snipe.

I think you do have to go through with the transaction and just write the experience off. Several things just went wrong at the same time.

[cubsguy1969]

And one more thing. It was probably a week or so after the auction ended when I sent him the second-chance offer. The initial buyer and I bickered over e-mail for a few days.

[drdduet]

I wouldn't recommend backing out of your latest transaction....

[slidekellyslide]

I've only had to offer a second chance on a high dollar item once...the top bidder reneged and said that he entered the wrong amount so I contacted the underbidder and gave him the top bidder's ebay ID so he could check the guy out himself and see that it wasn't me shilling him. He paid me within minutes of the offer. I've been selling a lot on ebay lately and have had almost no problems...I expected to have a ton of problems with ebay's system weighted so heavily in favor of the buyer. You just have to be careful.

A Canadian recently won a big lot of airplane models from me...after I clearly stated in the auction "no international bidders on this lot"...he said that was no problem and that he would just pay with paypal and have me send them to his brother in Utah <----BIG RED FLAG!!! Never send to a different address than the one listed on the paypal account or you WILL GET SCREWED...I told the guy that I wanted a money order if he wants me to send them to his brother. He agreed. I don't think he's trying to scam me, but you can't be too careful.

[M's_Fan]

I never ship out of the U.S. Besides being a pain in the butt to ship international, I like the idea that my cards are staying in the good old U.S.A Maybe that makes me xenophobic or whatever.

[jb217676]

Originally Posted by M's_Fan

I never ship out of the U.S. Besides being a pain in the butt to ship international, I like the idea that my cards are staying in the good old U.S.A Maybe that makes me xenophobic or whatever.

Pretty close-minded statement there. If all U.S. sellers thought the same as you, how would an upstanding Canadian like myself get any cards? Most auctions are U.S. based.

(maybe those cards were originally made from Canadian trees and are just returning home?)

[rdixon1208]

I disagree with most of you. I wouldn't ship the books. I think I would take it personal if a guy stopped returning my emails after a deal had been made but before a payment was received.

[t206hound]

Originally Posted by rdixon1208

I disagree with most of you. I wouldn't ship the books. I think I would take it personal if a guy stopped returning my emails after a deal had been made but before a payment was received.

I've actually (just on a few occasions), blocked a bidder from my auctions just because he/she was a hassle to deal with. This wouldn't have helped you in this case as there weren't any higher bids, but it could have alleviated your aggravations with the person.

[byrone]

Originally Posted by jb217676

Pretty close-minded statement there. If all U.S. sellers thought the same as you, how would an upstanding Canadian like myself get any cards? Most auctions are U.S. based.

(maybe those cards were originally made from Canadian trees and are just returning home?)

There are 34 million of us, you know!

[Bosox Blair]

Originally Posted by byrone

There are 34 million of us, you know!

On the subject of writing off Canadian bidders, sellers should consider that in auctions you want as many bidders as possible to achieve the highest auction result. The population of Canada is about the same as the State of California. Would you want to write off bidders from the State of California? Another fact to consider is that Canada's economy over the last couple years has been (at least by some measures) stronger than the US economy. Canadians are spending more freely than Americans. And the exchange rate movement has made it more affordable for Canadians to buy items priced in US dollars.

All that said, if a seller feels like writing off the market of a whole country...feel free to lose money!

Cheers,
Blair

[FUBAR]

Originally Posted by M's_Fan

I never ship out of the U.S. Besides being a pain in the butt to ship international, I like the idea that my cards are staying in the good old U.S.A Maybe that makes me xenophobic or whatever.

You probably cost yourself some decent dollars.... I don't get it, i live by the border and i have shipped using the US post office, it is very easy and friendly to use. Its not different, you put a card in a holder, in an envelope , add postage and mail....

The ones that puzzle me are the guys who have listings that primarily Canadians would be interested in, but wont ship here. I collect MMA cards and Georges St. Pierre is a prime example. 90% of his fan base is here, but alot of US sellers wont ship his cards here. Real Stooooopid if you ask me!

Such a closed opinion M's, if i had the same opinon.. I've only been ripped off on ebay by Americans... but a closed mind, and thinking all Americans are the same would be silly! Your money spends just like mine does!

[FUBAR]

I will chime in on the fees us Canadians pay as i know exactly what it is.

We have to pay taxes on all imported items over $20 cdn value. The taxes vary by province. In BC where i am , it is 12% tax plus a 5$ service fee for the honor of charging you the tax. So on $220, it would be close to $30 he would have to pay. SOme provinces , it is 15.25 % and Alberta is only 5%

Now if someone sends it UPS rather then mail, we have to pay a 35$ (this amount may have changed) customs clearance fee in addition to the charges.

[Bosox Blair]

Not defending the "second chance" bidder, as he should have done things differently, BUT as a seller, you need to be aware that the second chance bidder may suspect shilling (ie. the seller or someone on his behalf pushes the bidding as high as it will go, wins, and the seller's whole intent is then to approach the second chance bidder with a story about the top bidder bailing out...which was the plan all along).

All I'm saying is that second chance bidders have a lot of possible concerns between possible shilling, scam contacts, etc.

Cheers,
Blair