Hi All,

Hoping for a little guidance with respect to an eBay transaction.

Yesterday I happened to come across a very nice - OK, very, very nice - pen lot listed with a "Buy It Now" option. The "Buy It Now" figure was a decidedly non-trivial amount, but it represented an extremely attractive price for the lot in question. After hasty reflection, I clicked the button, made payment (immediate payment was required), and congratulated myself on a bargain.

This morning I had an email from the seller. It was brief, but it stated, in so many words, that the listing price was an error. There no rancor, and there was not the slightest suggestion of reneging on the transaction. In fact, the seller told me the pens would ship out immediately.

This communication has left me unsettled, though. Should I feel bad about taking advantage of what has now been characterized as an unfortunate mistake?

Let me be perfectly clear: this was not one of those egregious eBay listing errors - something like an obviously misplaced decimal point. It wasn't a luxury sedan listed with a "Buy It Now" figure of $50 instead of $50,000. Earlier this week I noticed a pen listing like that: a brand-new Merlot Cross Verve with a "Buy It Now" of $8.47. I didn't even dream of clicking that button; that would have represented bad faith on my part, since I knew the number to be an error.

This number, on the other hand, was high; it's just that it was a good deal lower than the prevailing market price for these pens. Not grotesquely out of proportion, perhaps, but a once-in-a-year bargain. And I, for one, tend to scour eBay for just those opportunities. Objectively speaking, regarding purchase price as a percentage of market value, I have done better than this in the past, and I hope to do so again.

I don't have to respond to the seller's message, of course, and I honestly don't know what to say. Since there's been no suggestion of rescinding the transaction, I don't intend to offer such an option. Do I say nothing? Thank the seller for his note? Post the world's best feedback after the pens arrive? Commiserate? (that last seems disingenuous).

I welcome your thoughts!

Cheers,

Jon

I wouldn't have the slightest hesitation in thanking him for his note and then sitting back waiting for the pen.

I think you have been exceptionally lucky. I have been buying and selling (not professionally) on Ebay for 3-4 years and nothing like this has never happened to me. Yes, I've managed to win things in auctions at substantially less than I would have expected, and I have similarly sold things for both more and less (sometimes a lot less) than I expected, but I don't believe I've ever benefited from an error, as such. If I'd found that Cross listing, I wouldn't have hesitated. There's no dishonesty there at all.

Hi,

Well, I do think, on balance, that I've had a run of good eBay luck over the years.

Full disclosure: my temptation to buy the Verve was tempered by the fact that I already own that very model (nice pen, by the way).

Then, too, I have been involved in several "Buy It Now" transactions in which the seller simply refused to ship the item in question because of what was represented to be a listing error (nothing of terribly high value). The reality is that it is impossible to compel an individual to bubble-wrap a pen and send it to you, notwithstanding the fact that you have "won" it. (Conversely, of course, it's impossible to compel a deadbeat buyer to send payment for an item he has won.)

In each case, a PayPal refund was issued; although in one case, that refund took several days. In that instance, the item was actually relisted - minus the "Buy It Now" option - prior to the refund. So, to be technical about the matter, that seller was actually selling an item that belonged, at that point, to me.

So if I steer clear of jumping on opportunities that I suspect to be honest listing mistakes, be assured that it is not the spirit of fair play alone that dictates my actions. Having been down this road a few times, I have no desire to relive the unpleasantness.

Congratulations, by the way, on your 100th post!

Cheers,

Jon

Your question is one that ultimately is best answered by you. COntributing factors would include:

*how long the pen(s) had been available (ie. was there time for the seller to have seen an error and fixed it)
*what sort of rating has the seller been receiving
*is the bargain ridiculously huge
*is the seller a private or business seller
*how will you feel if you continue to purchase the pen at the price quoted

In any case, I think you should respond, even if it is to say sorry, but it's mine, or to negotiate a price that you still think is reasonable.

Good luck.

Hi,

Thanks for the insights.

I think I've isolated one factor that really seems to have helped me to decide the matter. I asked myself if I had thought, when I came across the listing, that the "Buy It Now" price might have been an error. (Obviously, having encountered such mistakes before, I'm rather sensitive to the possibility.) And searching my memories, I was able truthfully to answer "no" - that thought hadn't even flickered through my mind. I thought that the price represented an excellent bargain - one that I was happy to take advantage of - but that was all.

You're right, of course, about replying to the seller, and I've done that - a message of thanks, not alluding to the mistake at all. The seller was truly gracious in his note, and I've decided to accept this unexpected good fortune in a similar spirit of graciousness.

Cheers,

Jon

"I look forward to getting the pen. What do you mean by listing error?"

That's all I would say. Continue the conversation, but keep the ball in the seller's court.

Firstly, are you sure it's an error and not just a new downturn in the market?

Secondly, if you're asking for advice then you obviously feel something badish it already. Go with your gut.

I have seen pricing errors on websites and I just email them and say "your website has a pricing error - of course, if you would like to sell it to me at that price, I'd be very happy!" Needless to say, they never hear back from them.

Taking advantage of a mistake is just that - taking advantage. If you're happy doing that then go for it. Clearly you're not, otherwise you wouldn't be asking for advice!

As a matter of interest what was the magnitude of the seller's error....$10...$50...??

I think I would try to put myself in the seller's position and, as guidance, ask what I would reasonably hope for from the buyer.

FWIW, I did once contact a seller and....politely & hopefully.... asked to withdraw a bid on a pen (make&model) which I had forgotten I'd just bought from another source..... he responded "Of course, no problem".

On reflection I think I'd probably try to negotiate a final price which we both felt was fair.

Hi,

I think the best way to answer might be in terms of percentages rather than dollar figures.

These were new pens, so one can look to the MSRP by way of reference. The purchase price was roughly 30% of MSRP.

Let me repeat, though: that purchase price was decidedly non-trivial, and I don't regard ~30% of MSRP as being beyond the realm of reasonableness. For example, one regularly sees the Sheaffer Royal Selangor pen offered at ~$100, which is probably somewhere around one-third of MSRP. I bought a NOS Sheaffer Balance LE from an FPN colleague for something like 30% of the $800 MSRP. A couple of months ago I picked up a brand-new Waterman Carene for around $50...from a knowledgeable person who knew precisely what he was selling, but who was liquidating old store stock. (I could adduce lots of other examples.)

So the price itself did not suggest - to my mind, at any rate - a mistake on the seller's part. If the seller had not alluded to the existence of a listing error, such a possibility would never have occurred to me. Honestly, I tend to wonder, at this point, whether I have spent more time thinking about this transaction than the seller has.

In any event, I have replied to the seller, in what I hope were gracious terms, and am now in "waiting-for-the-pen" mode. There has been no further communication from the seller, who seems to be a good sport, and who seems to have, as they say, "moved on." I hope to have the opportunity to leave extravagantly positive feedback.

***EDIT to say that the pens have arrived, safely and speedily, and they're perfectly lovely. No note, no recriminations; I suppose this one gets added to the list of "interesting" eBay transactions. Thanks, all, for your uncommonly helpful comments.

Cheers,

Jon