eBay Question - Pickup Fee
 

I won an auction for a set of wheels on eBay. The seller quoted me $60 for shipping, but is now trying to add a $50 pickup fee.

Here is what his auction says:
"YOU ARE WELCOME TO PICK UP FROM SAN CLEMENTE CALIFORNIA BY APPOINTMENT ONLY. PAYMENT MUST CLEAR FIRST . 50 dollar pick-up fee will apply , THIS ITEM IS HEAVY E- MAIL ME FOR A SHIPPING and handling QUOTE"

I am not picking them up and do not feel that the pickup fee applies. Do you agree?

I'd tell him that he already quoted you $60 for shipping, and see what he says. Was this quote included in the description, or in an e-mail?

Sounds like $60 if he's shipping it to you and $50 if you're picking it up - not both. I would kill the deal if he won't agree to that. I've learned to ALWAYS read the specific shipping charges; too many idiots out there want to charge $20 shipping for something small, then the bastard USPS's it for $3.88. I won't buy from those idiots.

The $60 quote was in an email. It sounded to me like he wanted to have his cake and eat it too; I just wanted to bounce it off another set of eyes.

Must be miscommunication.

It's $60 to ship them or $50. to pick them up. He makes even more profit if you pick them up.

Can't be $110..........:eek:

I think by the lines "pick up fee" and "this item is heavy" he actually wants to charge you $50 for bending over and physically picking it up.


Actually it just looks like he is only charging $50 if you physically come in and pick it up. No idea why you would do that, but he is.

Put it this way: if the seller wants to charge you the $50 in addition to the $60 and that is not the way you reasonably saw it then you did not have a "meeting of the minds," there is no contract, and you both can walk away.

If you want to enforce the terms as you see them then look at it this way: He advertised his terms and you sought a clarification of them. He gave that to you in writing. If there is any ambiguity in the written language where reasonable people can disagree then a Court would typically hold that against the drafter of the language (the seller).

Look again at this language: "50 dollar pick-up fee "WILL" apply." That could only modify the pick-up option because the word "will" is conditional and would not make sense if it applied in every instance. Additionally, you were quoted $60 in the e-mail. The seller states if you e-mail him he will send you a "shipping AND handling" quote. You got your quote for shipping AND handling. Having both a handling fee and a pick-up fee would be redundant.

Sounds like a 1st year law school Contracts class analysis. :D

(Essentially the answer is correct, however.)

This sounds alot like the seller of the wheels I bought a coupla months back.
Claimed they were off a '95 E320-wrong. What's the sellers ID or zip code, if you don't mind my asking?

So he's charging you to pick up the item, because they're heavy? But you are the one doin the pickup, are you not!

Yeah, but you better be careful of the "walk away" fee.

Bet it's a big ticket.

Why do I see negative feedback coming?

I am sure negative feedback is in my future, but I believe in the principle of it. Personally, I think the whole $50 pick-up fee is a joke. If I am going to come to your place and pick up what I bought, why would I have to pay you $50 for that privelage?

Thanks for the comments everyone.

I got involved with an @$$clown that shipped me the wrong bumper cover for my old Caravan and then got pissed when I posted negative feedback because he said I ordered the wrong part and wouldn't replace it. There are opportunities for you to reply to feedback given to you to state your side of the case. That worked wonders for me and eventually he agreed to ship me the right part and withdraw his negative.

Sorry, but it's not clear to me from what I can read here in the thread: Has the seller stated explicitly that, in order for him to ship you the items, he wants both $60 shipping AND a $50 pickup fee?

If this isn't clear - and you're not picking the item up in person - then ask the seller to invoice you through the eBay system. That should make it clear what total amount he expects you to pay in order to receive the goods.

Correct. The issue started when I requested an invoice and it had the $60 shipping fee on one line and $50 on the Adjustments line.

It's not a joke. The seller can demand a pickup fee. He doesn't need to state it in the auction. If he lists the costs for shipping and does not mention a pickup or a fee, then he's not obligated to allow a pickup. If he does allow the pickup, he can charge what he wishes. You have the option of refusing the pickup and having the item shipped at the stated shipping cost.

I went through this scenario with the W126 wheels (of which you own one).

Got quite ugly when he demanded $60. to pickup $60 worth of wheels.

This guys name wouldn't happen to be jason bergstrom... Would it?

Forget him!


Tell him it's $60 only or you'll negative feedback him. Also tell him his reputation is sinking fast over here in the mB community.


Now, if you really want the wheels, pay the 110.

FWIW, I wouldn't pay the weasel the extra 50.00. Yep, it's the principle!

Question, can someone sign up on ebay and then bid rediculous bids to effeectively end someone's auctions...with no intention of ever paying up? How does ebay guard against this?

Of course. But, once you do it three times, and have a feedback rating of -3, you might be history............

Additionally, a seller might cancel your bid if you have a negative rating.

Pick up in person on wheels is often refused, because it implies an inspection before payment. At least it would in my case. If I bought wheels and went to pick them up, I wouldn't pay if they were damaged in some way that was not in the pictures or description.

When you pay and they ship, you get what they sent and have little recourse compared to inspection before purchase.

I do my EBay cars that way too. Never have them shipped, but go to see and ride in them first before paying. I call it verification of the validity of the EBay ad, to include verification of the VIN. An honest seller has no problem with that.

You are dealing with someone who doesn't want you to see the wheels before you buy them. My opinion anyway.

Ken300D

I confeses I didn't think of the seller cancelling the bid.
Been a long while since I bought on ebay.

Still, tacking a pick-up charge on top of a shipping charge without clearly stating it in the payment terms is sleazy biz imho.
:thumbsdow

For what it's worth, IMHO it's never a good idea to explicitly threaten negative feedback.

EBay has it's own weirdnesses, and this includes a list of behaviors that they've specifically identified by name. One of those is called, "feedback extortion". If the seller is savvy enough to report this to eBay, they may choose to hammer the "extorter".

I'm not suggesting that thorsen should agree to pay the seller's invoice as initially offered. IMHO, it's at best a case of sloppy work on the seller's part - at worst, a case of the seller trying to pull a fast one. In any case, it won't strengthen thorsen's position for him to do something that is easily identified as an "offense" by eBay. Remember that eBay is huge; don't expect a great deal of deep thinking from their personnel involved in handling disputes!

I'd first try to settle things amicably, explaining truthfully to the seller that I never would have expected that the "pickup fee" would apply in addition to the quoted shipping fee, and then see where the seller takes it from there. Sometimes it's difficult to distinguish malice from incompetence.

If things can't be worked out, and the transaction never takes place, then keep in mind that some sort of procedure must take place if the seller is to get his final value fee back from eBay. I don't think eBay offers a completely neutral, polite way for the participants to "call the whole deal off". So, even if you've mutually agreed not to do business, the seller may need to initiate an "unpaid item process", during which he'll have the option to offer to mutually agree with the buyer not to carry out the transaction - he gets the final value fee back, and you don't get an "unpaid item strike".

The seller could also try to stick the buyer with a UPI "strike", but IMHO, he'd be smarter not to open up that can of worms.