Think Ive messed up selling a bike on Ebay,any advice please?

Debt-Free-Wannabee

Hi everyone,
Ive been following Martins advice on making a few bob by selling on ebay,everythings been going good so far.

However......stupid me decided to put a bike on ebay,its an adults bike.I did put collection and then stupidly,very stupidly I also included I could send it by Courier for £25.I did see an advert for Courier service for bikes but didnt read it properly,complete and utter prat that I am(and yes a very hard lesson to learn).

Anyway it ended last night and the bike went for £72.I recieved a message from the winner saying they would like the courier service(they live at the other end of the country).Ive been to the one where it says £25 but its actually £50 and could possibly be more.All the other websites state the bike has to be dismantled,I havent got a clue:eek:

Im really panicing because Im at a loss on what to do?Ive really messed up havent I??

I was stupid offering courier service but is there any way I can sort this mess out.Please dont beat me up,Im doing that enough to myself right now.

krlyr

You could explain the situation to the buyer and see if they want to pay the difference or cancel the transaction
http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/sell/cancel-transaction-process.html

Ultimately they can't force you to sell if you don't want to. There is a contract between the pair of you but worst-case scenario is you don't send, and you get some negative feedback on Ebay. Guess it's worth weighing up whether you could make up the £25 loss in additional sales or not, and whether, morally, you feel obligated to follow through with the sale if they decide they want it at the price they won it at (look at it from their POV - you'd probably be miffed to win something then be told it's an extra £25 or they can't sell to you)

silvercar

Paisley freight would send it for £21.50.

I just googled "sending bike in the post" and that was the first one.

Debt-Free-Wannabee

Many thanks for your message krlyr.
I dont think I can ask her for anymore money than was asked for.It will be horrible having a negative as it will be my first but I can only blame myself for messing it up.
I was thinking of messaging the winner,maybe explain whats happened (she hasnt paid yet)and then offering her £10 for the inconvienance for messing her around.
God I hope she is understanding.Good idea or not?Losing £10 will be a lesson for me to read everything properly in future.

Debt-Free-Wannabee

silvercar wrote: »

Paisley freight would send it for £21.50.

I just googled "sending bike in the post" and that was the first one.

Hi silvercar,
Ive just found that link too so all might not be lost!

Now does anyone know where I can buy enough bubble wrap to pack a bike?it looks like I would have to cover it all over in bubble wrap.

warwicktiger

Bubblewrap = Freecycle

RedBern

Or go to a local bike shop and ask if they have a box you can have? There's always http://www.parcelmonkey.co.uk/bikes for delivery as well. Good luck, and stop panicking! It's nothing that can't be sorted!

LEJC

re the bubble wrap....possibly 2 options..either go to a house moving company or starage company...they will sell it much cheaper and on bigger rolls than high street shops...or even ask the courier company if they sell it/donate it

or you could try local shops who have parcels delivered and see if they have any that they are happy for you to take....i did this once with wilkinsons and they were really helpful in supplying some recycled packaging as it saves them having to dispose of it.

Debt-Free-Wannabee

Thank you so much for all your replies,its a good job Im not in work today,think its going to be a busy one searching everywhere for donated bubblewrap!
I guess I was panicing(still will be untill I can wave off the bike)its just that I hate letting people down,yes its unavoidable in some cases,Im just kicking myself that I didnt research "sending a bike" more than I did,roll on my debt free day when I wont have to rely on selling my stuff lol

krlyr

Good idea on asking a bike shop for a box actually. My dad used to work in one and I don't recall the bikes having bubblewrap around them, the boxes only just fit the bike (think they came with the pedals and one wheel off - asked nicely, the bike shop might be willing to do that for you too, perhaps try an independant one as opposed ot Halfords etc) so won't get rattled around.

If you do need to contact the seller about cancelling, I wouldn't rush in with the cash incentive. Think about how you might react if you were the buyer. I know if I received an apologetic email explaining a genuine mistake, I might well just let it slide - as opposed to the seller just going AWOL or being rude about it. We're only human, and most of us understand that, you might find they'd be willing to cancel the auction with no "compensation" at all if you were polite enough about it.

tyllwyd

I've bought a big roll of bubble wrap from an office supplies website in the past.