The message in the purchase proposal is binding
Summary: In a discussion about the binding nature of the message in the purchase offer, several participants, including salvatore21m, heavenwelkin, marioelegio, and magic.cool, shared their opinions. However, the specific contents of their responses were not detailed.
Good evening, I’m asking:
if you accept a purchase offer, with an attached message in which the potential customer asks for part of an item to be sent in exchange for a big discount on the purchase price, can the seller actually ship only the items requested, or does the original listing still apply and therefore is the seller still obliged to send all the items or to publish a new listing (which in some cases is a bit annoying, since most of the time new photos would have to be taken, and until the buyer pays you’re never completely sure)
Or again, if a seller accepts a purchase offer in which they write that the offer is valid only if another item is included, is the seller required to respect it, or can they play dumb, even if the buyer writes it again during the order process.
Or again, if the seller himself offers you other items in the purchase offer without relisting, is he required, once the buyer accepts, to ship only the items present in the listing.
In other words, for EBAY is it perfectly legitimate to sell only part of an item when a buyer’s intention is clear not to buy, under the stated financial terms, only the part advertised in a listing and the offer extends to multiple items.
I’ve been using ebay for many years and honestly I’ve never really asked myself the problem of having to redo a listing for sure, and I’ve completed many purchases this way (to be clear, for items of little value). Or does Ebay protect sellers and buyers in these cases? Have I been at risk of being the victim of scams all this time?
mocer-75
·1 year agoWell, those seem like the words of someone who wants to play smart... and I'll stop here...
salvatore21m
OP1 year ago[quote]"You could contest a possible negative with the fact that the sale was not regular because the buyer had gone beyond what was allowed with the purchase proposal by asking for items not present in the listing."[/quote]
the seller could contest that the sale was not regular despite the buyer’s intent being obvious through the exchange of messages, as was his opposition to completing the sale under conditions he does not find favorable. is that the point? If the seller, instead of canceling the sale as common sense would suggest, buys a label, is he still protected by ebay?
heavenwelkin
·1 year agoI don't understand where you're trying to go with this discussion......
Even with feedback, you don't have the mathematical certainty that you can have it removed because there can be many variables and it also depends on the content of the feedback.
If you accommodate all the buyer's requests and then they leave you a negative because they don't respect the agreement and you can prove it through eBay messaging, eBay takes that into account.
But then I'd like to understand one thing.....
When they make you a purchase offer with a specific message, don't you then get in touch with the buyer to define everything more clearly?
Or do you simply stick to that message with a few characters available, accept the offer and then ship without any further contact with the buyer?
salvatore21m
OP1 year agoif, in the specific case, the buyer asks for more stuff than what’s in the listing and I, as the seller, play dumb, and accept a purchase offer with a price pretty much identical to the listing price; and the buyer tells me I have to ship him everything because his offer that I accepted also included other items, I assume the only correct alternative is to cancel.
But if I still ship the item anyway even though I’m fully aware that the purchase offer was not limited to just the items in the listing, am I still in the right?
heavenwelkin
·1 year agomagic.cool
·1 year agoI’ll answer with what happened to me last month: an ad for a model kit like the ones that used to come with magazine issues at the newsstand. Price about 20% less than the total spent to buy everything (and labor to assemble it for free...).
Offer to buy: "I’ll offer you [50 euros less than the "buy now"] if you send me the model kit without the issues because I don’t need them".
I reply that I accept his offer but that, since I’ve already packed everything up (lie...) I’ll send him the issues too: if he doesn’t want them, he can throw them in the paper bin.
Moral of the story: better safe than sorry...
salvatore21m
OP1 year agoin this case no, but it’s happened often that I’ve accepted as a seller offers of this kind that include extra items or to ship, at the buyer’s request, part of the lot without making a new listing. And even as a buyer I’ve done the same, and honestly I thought that was the norm.
If you tell me that the seller can even have the negative feedback removed, this really opens the door to scams of all kinds.
If, for example, in the sale of a medium format camera I “throw in” an extra film back, the fact that it isn’t in the listing doesn’t make that proposal binding once it’s accepted? Isn’t the buyer protected in any way?
If as a buyer I make an offer in which, like in the example above, I only want a film back, if the seller accepts, it’s as if they had failed to honor any agreement. Interesting and at the same time unsettling.
I’m shocked by how many potential scams I’ve run into over all these years.
heavenwelkin
·1 year agoIn case of a dispute, what is described in the auction prevails.
The "buy offer" means that you make a monetary offer lower than the buy-it-now price.
It is not expected that in that little box the buyer writes: "I’ll offer you 50% if you remove that item from the auction and send me only the other one".
In case of a dispute, the seller is at risk.
Extra agreements outside the auction between you and the buyer are subject to eBay regulations.
Nowhere is it written what I wrote, but from experience I can tell you that usually the auction with its description prevails.
You may find the honest buyer just as you may find the slick one; if it usually happens to you to accommodate buyers' requests when they make a purchase offer plus a specific request and you feel safe, you can keep doing it without any problem.
The important thing is that you are aware of the risk.
heavenwelkin
·1 year agoIt has happened to me to receive purchase offers with specific requests and usually I behave as in the example:
Sale of a used gaming notebook with bag and other accessories such as gaming mouse and external gaming keyboard with external 24-inch display and 240gb ssd hard drive.
I receive a purchase offer much lower than the auction price and the buyer writes in the notes that they don't need the external monitor, they don't need the mouse and keyboard, and they don't even need the hard drive because they need at least 1tb.
In this case I leave the offer pending and contact the buyer via messaging and tell them that if they want it without the hard drive and operating system I will sell it to them as spare parts since the computer in those conditions is not usable.
Then I tell them I can remove the mouse, screen and keyboard.
The buyer writes back that they want it in used condition and then I tell them that I can't remove the drive with the system.
In the end, if we agree, I open a custom auction for them with the agreed price.
I would never even dream of accepting a purchase offer on those terms.
heavenwelkin
·1 year agoHi salvatore21m
The purchase offer refers to the item for sale, as is, in the condition it is in.
If a buyer makes a purchase offer, at most they can write in the notes that the proposed price includes shipping.
If a buyer wants to TOTALLY change things, they must send the seller a message and ask whether they sell pieces/parts of that item.
In that case the seller must create a new auction.
What happens if you accept the offer and take into account what is written in the notes?
What happens is that, in case of a dispute, you risk having to refund because maybe you and the buyer didn’t understand each other and they claim that some pieces are missing or the item turns out to be incomplete.
So that’s at your own risk, but personally I advise you to contact the buyer and tell them you will open a new auction dedicated to them.
Kind regards.
salvatore21m
OP1 year agoand in the case where I as the seller accepted an offer and told the buyer that it isn’t valid, can I still just ship what’s in the listing, ignoring the fact that the offer made by the buyer also includes another item from a different listing?
In this specific case, would Ebay side with the seller, who would simply ship only what’s in the listing? or can the buyer get the ruling in their favor by showing that through messages the seller was fully aware of the substance of the offer, did not reject the order, but shipped with economic terms that in no way satisfied the buyer?
marioelegio
·1 year agoWhat matters is the listing. Avoid shipping (or having shipped to you) things different from what was expected.
In case of a dispute, I think eBay sticks to the listing only, since the same also happens with requests to change the address (eBay isn’t interested in whether there have been messages in which the change was requested).
hi
mario
heavenwelkin
·1 year agoAvoid it because in case of a dispute you never know how it might end up, and usually buyers, besides ebay, can appeal to paypal or their credit institution.
If you have already accepted the purchase offer before coming here to ask on the forum, you made a mistake.
Now if you have accepted the offer and cancel the sale, you get a defect, nothing serious.
You could contest any negative feedback by pointing out that the sale was not regular because the buyer went beyond what was allowed with the purchase offer by asking for items not present in the listing.
salvatore21m
OP1 year agosorry for the lack of question marks. Mine are all questions 🙂