ebay question: Buyer wants nearly double over stated shipping. What would you do?

[Corellian Corvette]

So, I bought a Bandai Godaikin that I've been wanting for a while from a seller overseas. Those old Godaikin's are pretty big, but stated shipping was GBP 20.00 to the US. (a little over $40 US). About average from what I've seen so I didn't think anything of it. I paid a fair price for the item - not a deal but not overcharged.

Seller sends me a mail saying that he went to the post office and actual shipping is going to be GBP 39.00 and that's too much for him to absorb (that's over $80USD!!)

I write him back and say - I'm really sorry to hear that, I bid on the item factoring his actual stated shipping charge and that I wanted the item but I wasn't going to pay that much. I offered to split the difference (still nearly another $20 USD) beacuse I wanted the item.

I haven't heard back from him. What recourse do I have? What are the ebay rules against charging more than the stated price? What would you folks do?

[toys2cool]

I think what you proposed was pretty fair,but it did say $40 shipping so if it's doubled you have no obligation to buy it,That's a good excuse for ebay not penalize you with a warning or anything

[jds1911a1]

you can even pre-emtively report the shipping overcharge to ebay before he flames you

[cjefferys]

Those are cool toys, which Godaikin did you get? It's possible that the seller underestimated international shipping, fairly easy to do for the unexperienced international shipper, as those toys are pretty big and heavy, but it's not fair that he expects you to eat the extra, unexpected fees. If it was an item I really wanted, and thought the selling price was fair, I would have done the same thing you did: offer to split the difference. If he can't even agree with that, screw him, you certainly would have a case with ebay against him.

[Corellian Corvette]

Spoke with the seller. Seems like a very nice guy. His emails appeared that he was genuinely surprised and agreed to split shipping. Restores my faith in the ebay seller but I was worried becaue I wanted this one

I picked up Goggle V. Unfortunatley I have most of the "cheap" godaikins or the ones where you can get a respectable (e.g. still die-cast) knock-off. The ones I really want (Voltes V and Combattler V) are super, super expensive IMO.

[starsky]

those godaikins are awesome! i had the gigantor t-28 and that thing was huge and heavy!! definitely the jewel of my collection at the time. i ended up selling it to buy more megos!! something had to give- megos or godaikin? both require big $$$!!! although now they have the soul of chogokin line which is pretty detailed and less expensive but not quite the same as having the more impressive godaikin size robots.

[Adam West]

It sounds like splitting is a fair and even compromise.

Glad to hear everything worked out.

[MegoSteve]

I see eBay as a wild west frontier of sellers who each make their own rules, and most are private individuals with limited budgets, not corporations with deep pockets. I think of eBay as a flea market, not a shopping mall; I don't expect liberal return policies, and I don't expect much customer service, either.

As a seller myself, I wouldn't feel right making the seller absorb such a huge loss, especially if it's an item that's the seller didn't make much profit on. It's really not fair to expect a casual weekend seller to absorb an $80 loss on shipping, but it's tremendously cool he was willing to split the difference. I probably wouldn't have, honestly. I certainly see the point of view that it was the seller's fault for not double-checking shipping, though.

Glad to hear everything worked out well for you.

[cjefferys]

Man, I still remember seeing Godaikins for sale at Childs World. They were on "clearance" but were still expensive (due to the original retail prices being so high). Plus I didn't know who a lot of the Japanese robots were at the time. Now I'd especially love to get Combattler V, but yeah, he's pricey. Glad things worked out in the auction for you.

[theantiquetiger]

you can even pre-emtively report the shipping overcharge to ebay before he flames you

He may not be over charging him shipping, the shipping maybe this much. Looks more like a seller with a bad postage quote. Splitting it sounds fair,even though it is the seller's fault. I cannot see him not taking this offer if he is an honest seller.