Shipping to Alaska eBay BS

Joined: 25 Dec 2004 Posts: 1949 Location: NY

So I just sold a guitar on eBay. The auction specifies USA shipping only. Well, the buyer lives in Alaska. Technically that's the USA, but the $50 hes paying for shipping isn't gonna cut it. Looks like over $200.

I know there is a spot on the listing to add additional charges for Alaska,Hawaii and PR. I guess I didnt see it or forgot to fill it out.

So am I an A-hole to want to cancel this transaction? The buyer never contacted me about living in Alaska, and has zero feedback.

Joined: 08 Jun 2009 Posts: 1110 Location: TN

Zero feedback should be a good enough reason for canceling.

Joined: 25 Dec 2004 Posts: 1949 Location: NY

Yeah.....I agree. I try to give people a chance. But I feel like I got sucker punched on this one. I would have rather it ended with no bids.

Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2012 10:53 pm

Just tell him it fell off the stand and the headstock snapped off

Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2012 11:04 pm

Get his phone number and see what y'all can figure out..,
He IS in the USA Wink

Joined: 06 Jun 2007 Posts: 12284 Location: Twin Cities

maybe see if he is willing to pay for the actual shipping cost

Joined: 19 Aug 2008 Posts: 4622 Location: UP of Michigan

I'm gonna go with not his fault on this one. You can try to work something out, but he didn't screw up the listing.

Joined: 25 Dec 2004 Posts: 1949 Location: NY

Well, he knows he lives in Alaska, the fact that I "screwed up" the listing shouldn't cost me $170. It doesn't make much difference because as typical of a zero feedback bidder.......he hasn't answered my emails.

Joined: 19 Aug 2008 Posts: 4622 Location: UP of Michigan

And Alaska is in the USA. I guess zero feedback could change things. If you didn't have some doubts you wouldn't be asking if wanting to cancel makes you an A-hole.

Joined: 28 Apr 2011 Posts: 1737 Location: in the past

thats why i say " within the continental US"....

Joined: 20 Mar 2005 Posts: 1127 Location: New Jersey

Just tell him you meant continental US and relist it dont take a hit like that

Joined: 19 Mar 2012 Posts: 1581

I have been in this situation before , well a little different but just do 1 of 2 things: Either say there was a Miscommunication or like Northwimds said , Say that thing broke while you were packaging it..
I HATE dealing with Folk with 0 Feedback...Do not pay any extra, Trust me, he shouldn't bash you & you are always able to give an explanation as what to happened...if you have enough sells & the "Buyers Protection Plan", people will always buy from you, I wouldn't sweat it bro Wink

Joined: 03 May 2008 Posts: 6628 Location: Minnesota

I would try and contact the seller, and explain the situation. If they throw a stink, you may risk bad feeback, but since they are zero feedback, it's probably a scam deal anyway, and you're in the clear.

Joined: 23 Nov 2005 Posts: 8255 Location: Ontario, Canada

I'm just gonna note that we all started with zero feedback. That being said they should make good effort to answer emails.

Joined: 25 Feb 2009 Posts: 49

might want to check priority mail. should be about $70 tops.

and you should add a "shipping is XX within continental US" disclaimer in your ad, and for AK and HI to contact for quote...

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 12252 Location: PEORIA ILLINOIS

they'll probably use the "it was holiday weekend. I wasnt around to answer the emails" which is kinda crap cause everyone is wificonnected these days via puter, tablet, phone, etc. unless they live in a cave or are old.

Joined: 01 Feb 2005 Posts: 12022 Location: Nevada

So if you say the headstock broke, could you handle being reported for lying when you relist it?

Joined: 06 Jun 2007 Posts: 12284 Location: Twin Cities

What if the shoe was on the other foot?

What if the item is a gift for someone?

We all started on eBay w/ no feedback right? That doesn't make it OK either

Joined: 03 May 2008 Posts: 6628 Location: Minnesota

After consideration, you ought to hold up your end of the deal.

It sucks that you made a mistake in your ad, but that's not the buyer's fault.

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 13396 Location: Earth

I sold a guitar about 7 years ago on Ebay to a guy in Canada when I was living in the US and listed the shipping as $60 for Continental US and Canada. The guitar was listed at $500 BIN and the shipping ended up being $200. I did message him to see if he knew of a better way or could go over the border to pick it up but in the end I had to bite the bullet. I could have killed the sale but my conscience would have gnawed at me. I learned after that. I would message the guy and see if you can work something out, but in the end it really sits on your shoulders to make good on it.... Or not.

Joined: 19 Mar 2012 Posts: 1581

Bottom line dude ,no matter what anybody says, the BEST thing to do is Contact the seller & be straight up with him..I just threw some choices as what you could do , but to some folks up top , That is NOT how I do Business! Just trying to help a fellow forum member out..If you did something wrong then you might have to eat up some money but it was just a MISCOMMUNICATION ,& I totally understand what you were saying buy u gotta be open minded and most folks will be understandable..But email him and keep the conversation Professional & Adult-like..I promise you , even if he gets a little upset keep your cool & he will most likely understand.. Wink

It's all about Positive communication man & knowing how to work with people. Funny cuz I have ALWAYS had issues with folks with 0% feedback, other than that , My score is 100% & Never had a return or complaint , nothing but Praise & People telling me Thanks for my dream Guitar or whatever I sold em'...Good Luck to you, & Just do what you thinks right in your heart! Oh yeah & if that 0% Feedback guy ain't replying or can't even respond in an email then that tells me he is full of B.S anyways! I will say it one last time, I have am an Avid eBay user , almost everyday & I cannot stand dealing with 0% people! I could name a Bunch of reasons, & let's just say one of the 0% guys costs me a $1000!!! Evil or Very Mad

...So just be careful dude & I would start selling within the Mainland, Good Luck! Wink

Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2012 10:32 pm

slaytanic wrote:

So if you say the headstock broke, could you handle being reported for lying when you relist it?

I was being a wiseass when I said that Mitch, he's in a bad spot but I am sure it will all get straightened out if the buyer is half human and does not want to take advantage of the situation

Joined: 15 Sep 2009 Posts: 336 Location: Syracuse, NY

Find another shipping method and absorb the difference. You shouldn't expect the someone else to pay for your mistake.

Joined: 19 Dec 2011 Posts: 421 Location: Northern Arizona

Yeah I think you screwed up the listing on this one, just contact him and tell him the situation and if you guys don't come to a solution you may have to take the fall for this one because it really is your fault. I always put shipping prices only for the lower 48 states on my listings.

Joined: 20 Mar 2007 Posts: 2472 Location: Ontario, Canada

I agree with what Dennis, Scott and a few others have said.

My thoughts:
1. You messed up your own add (I triple check mine so shipping isn't an issue)
2. Having zero feedback does not make anyone a bad buyer/seller. Everyone has to start somewhere. I personally had an ebay account for about three years before I bought a single thing, so it was a three year old account with zero feedback, but nobody gave me crap about it.

My suggestion:
Contact the buyer and explain the situation. In other words, tell them you messed up and politely ask them if they would mind covering the additional shipping. Or, possibly even splitting the difference because it was your miss.
If the buyer doesn't want to cover addition or split shipping, you might just have to step up and cover above what your add had list by yourself. I know that sucks, but I still say that's just part of doing good business. Chalk it up as another learning experience and try to let it go.

Just my opinion of course.

Shorty.

Joined: 30 Jul 2005 Posts: 13235 Location: MA

If it were me I would contact the buyer, usually I give them 7 business days to respond. I would say that I didn't calculate shipping to Alaska, and that the total is this (maybe a written quote from UPS, or whoever you're shipping with attached to the email as proof)

Tell him that you can't cover that amount by yourself, and you realize you weren't clear in the auction about continental US shipping.

Any reasonable buyer will understand this, I've done this with buyers and they have had no problem kicking the difference to me through paypal.

Has he paid? How long has it been since auction end/payment?

Joined: 20 Dec 2007 Posts: 4913 Location: Brooklyn, NY

MZDA wrote:

If it were me I would contact the buyer, usually I give them 7 business days to respond. I would say that I didn't calculate shipping to Alaska, and that the total is this (maybe a written quote from UPS, or whoever you're shipping with attached to the email as proof)

Tell him that you can't cover that amount by yourself, and you realize you weren't clear in the auction about continental US shipping.

Any reasonable buyer will understand this, I've done this with buyers and they have had no problem kicking the difference to me through paypal.

Has he paid? How long has it been since auction end/payment?

I agree with MZDA here. IF he doesn't but has already paid for the item, you'll have to us USPS to save yourself some coin. Tis the season.

Joined: 25 Dec 2004 Posts: 1949 Location: NY

I appreciate the honest responses. Yes if the shoe were on the other foot I would be pissed if someone tried to back out of a sale.

That being said.....The guitar in question is an old Kramer Voyager. The kind with the super long skinny points, and the guitar doesnt have a case, and if the shoe were on the other foot I would have specified before I bid.....hey, I live in friggin Alaska, is that going to be a problem?

I have emailed him numerous times. He refused to cancel the sale, and said USPS will ship it for $75, The measurements he used don't even cover the guitar itself, nevermind the packing and a box. Dont forget the $60 final value fee that I pay eBay either way....

I did offer to remove the neck from the guitar and ship it that way, so it wouldn't be oversized and it would be safer. No response yet.

The guy responds about every 36 hours. This doesn't really build my confidence. I also explained that I usually use Fed ex ground because I have never had a problem, this is not an option here. The auction ended the 22nd. He hasn't paid yet, but he doesn't really know what to pay yet, so I cant hold that against him. He has been a member on eBay since 2010, but only had one transaction that doesn't even count towards his feedback.

I am a good seller, I have 2185 positive feedbacks,and zero negatives. I may have dropped the ball by not specifying " I don't ship to Alaska" in the listing (I never would have thought of it), but I feel this is a good opportunity for someone to railroad me out of $650, and I'm not going to pay extra so it can happen.

Although I agree with what you guys are saying about manning up and doing the right thing.....I feel like I'll feel better being the A-hole who wouldnt sell a guitar, than the sucker who lost his guitar because he fell for a scam, or the guitar got broken and Paypal and the Post Office said "too bad". There's just too many things that can go wrong along the way.

Joined: 25 Feb 2009 Posts: 49

one other thought... unbolt the neck and send as two
boxes (insure and sig confirmation of course) thru USPS
priority mail.

the buyer would understand if you explain the shipping
charge issue, (and include a set of fresh strings)

Joined: 30 Jul 2005 Posts: 13235 Location: MA

NHDave wrote:

one other thought... unbolt the neck and send as two
boxes (insure and sig confirmation of course) thru USPS
priority mail.

the buyer would understand if you explain the shipping
charge issue, (and include a set of fresh strings)

If push comes to shove this sounds like the only viable solution.

Joined: 25 Dec 2004 Posts: 1949 Location: NY

Powerglide350 wrote:

I did offer to remove the neck from the guitar and ship it that way, so it wouldn't be oversized and it would be safer. No response yet.

Joined: 25 Dec 2004 Posts: 1949 Location: NY

EBay and this message board are two different things. I just had my PayPal account hacked a couple of weeks ago. Maybe if the guy would actually respond to me I would take the neck off and sell the guitar to him. I only sold it because I need the money, that hasn't changed, but now I feel like I'm dealing with a person that is almost impossible to get hold of. I bet he's even harder to track down after he reports to eBay the guitar isn't what he thought it would be, PayPal refunds his money and I have no money and no guitar. Can't happen? It already has....to me.

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 12252 Location: PEORIA ILLINOIS

if I were that guy, I'd be more pissed at you than you are at him. Think of how he prolly feels just trying to buy something on ebay for the first time and the seller keeps buggin him about shipping. He probably thinks you are trying to scam him

Joined: 25 Dec 2004 Posts: 1949 Location: NY

BLOODROOT wrote:

if I were that guy, I'd be more pissed at you than you are at him. Think of how he prolly feels just trying to buy something on ebay for the first time and the seller keeps buggin him about shipping. He probably thinks you are trying to scam him

Lol maybe that's why he's not responding

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 12252 Location: PEORIA ILLINOIS

Powerglide350 wrote:

BLOODROOT wrote:

if I were that guy, I'd be more pissed at you than you are at him. Think of how he prolly feels just trying to buy something on ebay for the first time and the seller keeps buggin him about shipping. He probably thinks you are trying to scam him

Lol maybe that's why he's not responding

just trying to look at it from his perspective. Im not raggin you. simple mistake. I made the same mistake before with an alaskan buyer. you just gotta suck it up and ship it. chalk it up to life lesson learned 19212343234

Joined: 19 Mar 2012 Posts: 1581

If someone like you has that many Positive Feedbacks, then there is NO reason why he should not respond back! Give him a little more time, & again if you have that many Feedbacks then I am sure you are a Legit seller & you sound like a nice guy who just had a Miscommunication problem...
If the buyer is an adult them he should understand , it just sucks on both parts ...Either way try and find a Happy medium where you can both come to an understanding..Not every sale is gonna come out Perfect on eBay & it's just a simple mistake , but not the end of the world Rolling Eyes

...But either way he does need to contact you , again especially if you have that much of a Positive history feedback! I know every buyer has to start out somewhere & everyone & situation is different but most 0% guys I have dealt with , well I always usually have some kind of problems with ..But every situation is different , so Good Luck to you both and hopefully you can get this resolved Wink

...let us know how it works out...I almost forgot about the lower 48 once too, so you gotta read VERY carefully buddy..Take it easy

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 13396 Location: Earth

2 thoughts...

First, I find that Ebay and CL users have a really bad habit of taking their time to get back at the person. You can list something for sale on CL, get an offer and then not hear from the person for days. Same goes with Ebay..

Which brings me to my second thought. When you list something for sale, put in the disclaimer that the buyer has 48 hours to arrange payment in full or the item will be re-listed and they will lose the sale.

This has saved me on more than one occasion... I don't understand what is wrong with people. I know when I buy something I can't wait to pay for it and get it shipped.

Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2012 12:09 am

Powerglide350 wrote:

EBay and this message board are two different things. I just had my PayPal account hacked a couple of weeks ago. Maybe if the guy would actually respond to me I would take the neck off and sell the guitar to him. I only sold it because I need the money, that hasn't changed, but now I feel like I'm dealing with a person that is almost impossible to get hold of. I bet he's even harder to track down after he reports to eBay the guitar isn't what he thought it would be, PayPal refunds his money and I have no money and no guitar. Can't happen? It already has....to me.

He won't respond?
Just yank the neck off and ship it.., he won't be the first buyer to receive a two piece guitar.
You'll save on shipping too.

Joined: 20 Dec 2007 Posts: 4913 Location: Brooklyn, NY

bassmantim71 wrote:

Powerglide350 wrote:

EBay and this message board are two different things. I just had my PayPal account hacked a couple of weeks ago. Maybe if the guy would actually respond to me I would take the neck off and sell the guitar to him. I only sold it because I need the money, that hasn't changed, but now I feel like I'm dealing with a person that is almost impossible to get hold of. I bet he's even harder to track down after he reports to eBay the guitar isn't what he thought it would be, PayPal refunds his money and I have no money and no guitar. Can't happen? It already has....to me.

He won't respond?
Just yank the neck off and ship it.., he won't be the first buyer to receive a two piece guitar.
You'll save on shipping too.

I always do it that way when I have the chance. Less likely to break the neck. Bubble wrap each piece then bubble wrap around it.

Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2012 1:04 am

Jeff, you do know that you can get his contact information which includes his phone number right? Why wait on snailmail when you can talk in person? I bet you would have this resolved one way or another very quickly

Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2012 4:06 am

i didn't read every single response on here, but have you checked with the post office? i will never use fedex or ups again. they are 3-5 times what the post office charges and they folks there told me that claims are paid out very quickly if there is any damage.

Joined: 25 Dec 2004 Posts: 1949 Location: NY

I appreciate you all taking the time to respond. I ended up talking with the buyer and we agreed to just cancel the sale. It turned out the guitar really wasnt for him, it was for his son. He didnt realize it would cost so much to ship and didnt really know much about guitars at all.

Ebay was contacted and I even got my fees back. It never felt so good to be back at square one. Lesson learned.

Joined: 06 Jun 2007 Posts: 12284 Location: Twin Cities

glad it worked out and no one got hosed - except the buyer's son Laughing

Joined: 25 Dec 2004 Posts: 1949 Location: NY

LOL. Yeah, pretty much.

Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2012 11:12 pm

Cool!

Joined: 09 Nov 2009 Posts: 71

Mr. Powerglide350,
Man knows what is right and what is wrong. The auction should have stated "the lower 48 states." Zero feedback is not a negative when it comes to buying; everyone make a "1st" transaction on the 'bay. You probably already know what you "should" do, but will you. Only you know. The buyer did nothing wrong, and to "trick" is no treat. You really did nothing wrong, but simply overlooked a "specific." Good luck to both of you and congratulations on the gift of "choice."

...wisdom

Joined: 13 Feb 2004 Posts: 5603 Location: phoenix az.

i ALWAYS PUT ONLY SHIP TO CONTINENTIAL USA NO ALASKA OR HAWAI

Joined: 20 Dec 2007 Posts: 4913 Location: Brooklyn, NY

Glad it worked out.