Unfair negative

[clearout300]

This is just beyond belief... let me explain this situation: 

I posted up a watch for sale at £32 (or so I thought). It instantly sold. I wasn't expecting that so I looked at the price and it was £22. Damn. It was a typo. I immediately contacted the buyer to say there has been a mistake and does he still want the watch? The buyer said "no" and so I said ok no problem, and cancelled the sale.

A few days passed and then the "buyer" left me a negative feedback saying to avoid me because I wanted to "increase the price of the sale".

I called eBay customer service who said that they've sided with the buyer. I told them: "I asked the buyer first if he wants to keep the order or cancel and he said yes, so I did cancel". I fully admit, the typo was my fault, but the buyer DID NOT insist he wanted the watch and instead said that he wished to cancel - so, I treated it as I normally would and cancelled the sale.

A negative in this situation seems ridiculously unfair. eBay disagreed. 

[*vyolla*]

I honestly don't think that the negative is unfair, I'd have left the same if I received a message telling me that a mistake had been made in the price and it should be higher.

Did you tell the buyer that you couldn't honour the transaction at £22?

[clearout300]

No I didn't tell the buyer that I couldn't honour the transaction at £22. 

[clearout300]

A typo makes all the difference - if I sold an item for £100 and I'd missed a 0 off the end, would I really be expected to honour the deal to stop a negative? It seems unfair to get a negative for that kind of mistake. If the item was totally not as described etc then a negative is more warranted.

[*vyolla* · Accepted solution]

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@clearout300 wrote:

A typo makes all the difference - if I sold an item for £100 and I'd missed a 0 off the end, would I really be expected to honour the deal to stop a negative? It seems unfair to get a negative for that kind of mistake. If the item was totally not as described etc then a negative is more warranted.

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Yes, you would be expected to honour the deal. There's nothing to stop you from cancelling as 'out of stock', but you would receive a defect and a potential negative. 

eBay have a Preview feature that sellers can use to check that their listing is correct before submitting it. 

[*vyolla*]

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@clearout300 wrote:

No I didn't tell the buyer that I couldn't honour the transaction at £22. 

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What did you say to them, or did your messages cross and they asked to cancel the transaction anyway?

[clearout300]

I was honest and said look, the item was very clearly mispriced (next nearest on eBay was £35), however, I'm prepared to take the hit, but can you just cover postage (+£5). Their response was "no". So I cancelled it. Then got the neg.

Very unfortunate I think. It's a shame that it led to a negative. But oh well, nothing I can do! Just have to be extra careful next time I list something.

[danthescan]

You deserve the Neg,as the wrong price was entered and you never proof read the listing before posting.

A simple mistake, but to then try to cancel because of it is not good is it.

Next time proof read, and if it is still posted  wrong then bite it and sell.

[vintage-emporium-jedburgh]

You got a negative  with a clear reason even though you dont agree

With most of our negatives we struggle to understanding what the logic behind it was

[johnwash1]

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@clearout300 wrote:

I was honest and said look, the item was very clearly mispriced (next nearest on eBay was £35), however, I'm prepared to take the hit, but can you just cover postage (+£5). Their response was "no". So I cancelled it. Then got the neg.

Very unfortunate I think. It's a shame that it led to a negative. But oh well, nothing I can do! Just have to be extra careful next time I list something.

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If it was £10 when the nearest was £100, as a buyer I'd have a little sympathy for the seller.

£22 when the nearest is £35?  Doesn't sound "clearly mispriced" to me at all.  I recently sold a book for £33 that's on Amazon at £60.  I'm happy with my sale, the buyer is delighted.  I recently sold a really niche book in immaculate condition for £12.  Elsewhere it was listed for many times that, but I'd been listing it since May and was happy to sell it at all.

However, I can't agree with the people saying you should have proof read your listing.  Takes me long enough to list my items as it is, without frittering away time on proofreading them when I could be using my time usefully doing... oh, for example, remonstrating with people on community forums.  Hmmm, put like that, I see I have my priorities seriously wrong.

😞

[strawbers]

Done it myself twice in the past year, once a typo where someone got a £20 item for £2, secondly when using the template of the previous listing and forgetting to change the price (someone got an item for £35 that I meant to list at £99.95).

Two people got great deals, I got two very happy customers...

[dekenba]

With the importance of feedback to the EBay selling model, you need to protect your feedback at any reasonable cost.

Personally, I'd have quite happily sold at the advertised price, as the amount you'd lose was not material, whilst explaining the situation to your buyer (i.e.  "You've got a great deal because I messed up pricing, but I'll 100% honour it") At worst, you'll lose a few pounds & maintain your feedback score. At best, you'll get a glowing review, which is always handy when potential buyers check your feedback score.

When this happens, many  sellers don't take a moment to step back & think strategically, they get hung up on the profit they lost. Getting into a buyers bad books just isn't worth the small amount of profit you lost. Swallow your mistake, turn it around as proof of your quality & trustworthiness as a seller, and it may even end up doing you good!

[susapric-68]

Legally when you make a sale online you enter into a contract with the buyer, they could if wanted take you to a civil court and make a claim against you for not honoring the price set in the contract. You got a neg so take that as a fair result and learn to check everything before posting

[edwardian-dreams]

Don’t worry about it

youve replied to their fibs and anyone reading will see that

[kath3735_wxmjn]

you made the mistake so it would be up to you to either cancel the transaction or honour the sale.   What buyer would say cancel the deal if the seller had not indicated that he would not sell for £22?

[kath3735_wxmjn]

So you wanted them to pay an extra £5 for your mistake?   I think they were justified to give a negative.

[kath3735_wxmjn]

have to slightly disagree with you there, i always double check my pricing and postage amounts before clicking the done button!   

[kath3735_wxmjn]

you are assuming that the sellers version is the correct one and not the buyers!  No one actually knows what the message actually was between the two parties.  I just find it difficult to believe that a buyer who had got a bargain like that would say cancel it.

[ed_58611]

Agreed. The seller has attempted to muddy the waters or not reveal the true ins and out here.

What is undeniable is that the seller broke eBay policy by adding a shipping fee post sale... it is only then that the buyer opted out. 

[clearout300]

This is/was over back in 2024. Not sure why the topic has been revived