seller says item now damaged

fsdss

just want some advice of what to do

went to see a bit of furniture that was advertised locally on ebay, starting at £99 my niece (who wanted it) liked it but could only offer £120.. the seller said no they wouldnt let it go for less than £150

i won the auction on sunday at £99,no other bidders, sent a message then today had a response saying..sorry, item at tip now as dog had poo'ed on item (dont believe that for one minute) on Saturday (auction ended sunday), tried to cancel auction but was unable.

however

seller has now opened a case cancelling purchase - what do i do with this? resigned to the fact that my niece wont get the sofa! if i accept, does that mean i cant leave feedback?

Crowqueen

You can still leave feedback but I wouldn't accept the cancellation, if only to make them think a bit more next time about listing at a start price that is actually going to be acceptable to them.

Sales are often slower during the summer as more people go on holiday and spend money on that rather than buying on eBay (I won't say going outside at the moment!). So this is a bad time to list something if you want lots of cash for it - but that is the seller's responsibility, not yours.

As you say, you know you won't get the item, as long as you have your money back, you are free to do whatever you feel is necessary. Even if you didn't actually pay, the seller cannot get any feedback removed because they have raised a cancellation rather than an NPB.

I would reject the cancellation and neg them calmly, something like 'Seller would not honour winning bid' or 'Seller claimed item was ruined and wouldn't sell it for winning bid' - just leave it like that short and sweet, don't look argumentative or hot-tempered, don't use meaningless words like 'buyer beware!!!' or 'avoid' or loads of exclamation marks. It's a bit of a tasteless way of putting it but it's probably not a good idea either to say what they've said to you; it might look a bit far-fetched and you want this neg to really hurt them so they will think twice about doing this in future.

If you are in two minds about negging, though, see whether they relist or not. Thankfully it's never happened to me (well, it might have done once, I can't really be certain, but at that time - 2005 - it wasn't all that common; it started to become a nuisance only in 2009 when they instituted free 99p listings) - so I can't say how I've dealt with this. It does seem to be current opinion that a neg is a good way to go, so long as you have either paid or the seller has used up their chance to raise an NPB.

You could also report them as a non-performing seller - if you have kept their messages.

It's all up to you though.

soolin

I agree, reject the mutual and consider a well worded neg.

Feedback is there to warn future bidders what a sellers like, so warn them off , but word it well- don't be emotive be calm and factual.

theonlywayisup

Further to add, do NOT let the case timeout (7 days from opening) or the buyer will get the cancellation and a refund of their fees. Paying them, may make them appreciate their actions more.

mazza111

It could be genuine, I doubt it though. I would follow the advice already given. Dog poo can be cleaned and doubt anyone would take something to the tip rather than clean it, especially when the costs are £100. I know which one I'd rather have.

Happened with me, advertised a jacket that had been worn a couple of times, went to iron it for packing it and noticed a small 3 corner tear. :mad: That was a low cost item though so didn't really matter. But thankfully the buyer was really understanding.

Crowqueen

I sold off bits surplus to my stamp collection a while ago - and it was a PITA keeping track of all the multiple little envelopes in which I had put the stamps. Before the 99p free listings, people were a lot more understanding; the 99p freebies though coincided with me stopping selling in any considerable volume, for a variety of reasons, including lack of sales of stamps to make it a viable business, which it was in danger of becoming at that point, sadly. A seller couldn't just list something for free at 99p, speculate on the price, then suddenly lose or damage the item if it didn't fetch what they wanted for it. They had to pay for every listing, so it forced them to think about things a bit more than just throw it up and see if it sold for what they wanted.

Not saying it is eBay's fault - that sort of thing is always the seller's lookout - but that was when it got really bad and buyers stopped giving people the benefit of the doubt. Numerous solutions have been proposed - including raising the threshold for free listings (so effectively rewarding sellers for their own idiocy) - but since it happens on this value of item, I doubt that would entirely stop it, as evidently people are prepared to speculate without the listing being free.

If it were genuine, the seller should still offer the item to the buyer, offer to get it cleaned and/or disinfected at their own expense (any lurking parasites, of which dog mess is full, might not be wiped off just with a cloth and would probably need proper sanitation afterwards; I certainly wouldn't put it anywhere near a child whose fingers get everywhere - although a bit of dirt does no harm, and I apparently used to eat soil, dog mess harbours some nasty, nasty stuff if it got into eyes or mouths and so on, so I'd want it eradicated, not just wiped off), and allow them to decide whether they wanted it or not. That's what people are normally advised to do.

I kind of think it's a poor excuse, and suggests more about the seller's thinking than the seller might want to put about. Paint would have done the job just as well :devil smiley:.

Taadaa

They could have cancelled the item on sat - you have 12 hours to do so before the auction ends. If anyone says the item is damaged they can and should offer photos of it if the item has been won and paid for. I had to end a listing when my cat damaged something - l emailed the highest bidder and explained why. It's common courtesy really.

pulliptears

I'd leave a neg along the lines of 'refused to sell, claimed item ruined with dog poo'. That way when he relists it any savvy buyer will check out his selling feedback and wonder if it's been cleaned up, then probably not bid

Crowqueen

Good point, Pullip. I'd be worried that that could be seen as wrecking though. The cyber-equivalent of dog's mess through the letterbox, if you will. Feedback is terribly subjective so it's as well to make sure you don't overdo it, even when it is justified.

pulliptears

Crowqueen wrote: »

Good point, Pullip. I'd be worried that that could be seen as wrecking though. The cyber-equivalent of dog's mess through the letterbox, if you will. Feedback is terribly subjective so it's as well to make sure you don't overdo it, even when it is justified.

Cant see how it would be. Its factual feedback based on what the seller has messaged OP. Shot himself in the foot a bit there

Crowqueen

I'd think it was overkill - but you obviously think it's better to go for the jugular. Bearing in mind people can see what feedback buyers leave for sellers, I'd not really want that on my profile. I also post on my buying ID on the official forums too - explaining it to people there would also be a little difficult. eBay have been known to remove FB for surprising reasons, even when justified - so I would still play safe.

Maybe we'll agree to differ on this one.