Potential problem, wanting feedback

[rat]

Those who have traded with me know how I do things. I round values to account for any margin of error (shipping and materials) and explicitly state a total and make sure that they agree before I will give someone my paypal address for payment.

Someone wanted some freebies. I state in my freebie list that I reserved the right to limit how many items someone claims as to prevent them from mooching and to give other people a fair shot at getting something they want. Someone wanted 3 freebie items and said I could give him 4 more if I "feel generous." (That was over half the items I had in the list)

I told him to pick 2 out of those 4 because I did, indeed, "feel generous."

I sent the items off... and every time I send something off, I take a picture of it as I pack it, sealed and at the post office with the confirmation label and postage label attached to it with some post office background to prove that it was sent.

I got a message back from the guy who wanted more than half the shit out of my freebie list. He says that because shipping was lower than the stated total that he agreed to (without a scale or postage machine here, I have to estimate), he's asking for half the funds back and letting me "keep the rest for the walk to the post office."

I feel like I shouldn't even had to have responded the way I did, but I told him this: "I rounded the postage costs to send each item on top of giving you a couple extra just because you asked because "I felt generous."

You agreed to the total as I stated. That constitutes a contract and a transaction.

Otherwise, you can just refuse the package when you get it, unopened, and when I get it back, I'll refund you what you sent."

How do you guys feel about someone insisting dollar value refunds after making an agreement? Because at this point, having gone through the trouble and allowing him to take more than I would give a single person just because I was "feeling generous", I'm now "feeling taken advantage of." Quite the feat when it comes to freebie items... of which, I've left tips for in the past because I didn't want anyone to have to send something that ends up taking money out of their own pockets to do so. (I know how it can be on here, some folks have much tighter budgets than the rest of us realise.)

 

[morgwon]

I think he is being petty about what I am sure is a just a few bucks considering he didn't have to pay for any of the items. This is why most of the time I only include freebies with other items purchased. Sucks that he doesn't feel as generous as you did.

 

[bigddybn]

If he agreed to a price and paid the agreed price for items that were delivered then I'm not sure there is anything else to discuss here.

Tell him to piss off imo.

 

[bamaland]

keep your change, he agreed upon the said payment for shipping now if it come down to a little less when you actually got it weighted and shipped of course your free to do whatever you want with the change.

hell you can call it the handling fee if you want.. as well that's what your supposed to do if you pack the item yourself, charge a small handle fee if its costing you supplies to ship it out!

 

[rat]

I think he is being petty about what I am sure is a just a few bucks considering he didn't have to pay for any of the items. This is why most of the time I only include freebies with other items purchased. Sucks that he doesn't feel as generous as you did.

The total was $10 for 6 items.

512MB x 2 PC133 Memory Sticks
Generic 2GB USB Thumbdrive (Heatshrink Covered)
Transcend 2GB USB Thumbdrive (Missing Cap)
Smoke Grey HP 4GB USB Thumbdrive
SD/SDHC/MMC USB Card Reader - Black

He wants $5 back.

 

[dutnguye]

that is pretty damn petty. can you pm me the trader's name so i can avoid in the future

had that happen to me a while back similar situation, give a free dvd rom away as it condition, the guy claim it does not work and wants me to refund the shipping cost.
teach me a lesson about freebie

 

[kyang357]

It depends, if you told the guy it was $10 but it ended being $5, you should give back his money. You want to be honest and generous, right? Are you charging for a box, packing peanuts, your time, gas, and lunch?

Let's suppose that someone has a free case, you just need to pay shipping. He quotes you $30 for shipping but because you are in the same state, the shipping is actually $15, does he owe you a refund? If you say he does, then you owe him a refund.

If it's that hard then next time don't put your stuff in the freebie section or make sure to add "plus $5.00 for handling fee" to all your "just pay shipping" items. If you overestimate, you owe the refund. If you underestimate, you shot yourself in the foot. It is unfair but it is what it is.

 

[shoota]

Yeah no kidding, post up that dude's name so the good sellers out there can avoid him.

 

[sparkie99]

that is pretty damn petty. can you pm me the trader's name so i can avoid in the future

+1

It depends, if you told the guy it was $10 but it ended being $5, you should give back his money. You want to be honest and generous, right? Are you charging for a box, packing peanuts, your time, gas, and lunch?

Let's suppose that someone has a free case, you just need to pay shipping. He quotes you $30 for shipping but because you are in the same state, the shipping is actually $15, does he owe you a refund? If you say he does, then you owe him a refund.

I disagree. You as a buyer should do some work on your end to calculate what the reasonable cost is. If someone offers me a free case with $30 shipping fee, and if I thought that was unreasonable, I would say no to the deal. If I agreed to the deal, I really don't care if it costed him nothing to ship the case...

Btw, if this happened to me, I'd just give him the $5 back and tell him don't ever contact me for anything...

 

[dutnguye]

exactly, if he thought 10 dollars for all of those are unreasonable; he should done some research before agreeing to it

 

[rat]

It depends, if you told the guy it was $10 but it ended being $5, you should give back his money. You want to be honest and generous, right? Are you charging for a box, packing peanuts, your time, gas, and lunch?

Let's suppose that someone has a free case, you just need to pay shipping. He quotes you $30 for shipping but because you are in the same state, the shipping is actually $15, does he owe you a refund? If you say he does, then you owe him a refund.

If it's that hard then next time don't put your stuff in the freebie section or make sure to add "plus $5.00 for handling fee" to all your "just pay shipping" items. If you overestimate, you owe the refund. If you underestimate, you shot yourself in the foot. It is unfair but it is what it is.

Lemme repeat a crucial part of the whole deal that I explained in my first post.

I round values to account for any margin of error (shipping and materials) and explicitly state a total and make sure that they agree before I will give someone my paypal address for payment.

On top of that, If I were to refund him $5... That would actually result in the whole deal costing me almost $2 to send this stuff to him. Paypal fees, packaging material. This is on top of the fact that I felt like "being generous" and giving him more items in one shot.

Basically, you have to allow for variances. I've had to eat it before because I lowballed myself. I'm also someone who is on a fixed income, so it really is a problem when a situation arises that I have to take money out of my own pocket due to things like underestimating postage costs.

When the entire deal consists of an agreement PRIOR to the exchanging of funds for items... that deal is done. Fixed. You don't shake hands and then change your mind after what you already considered fair because you want to get 3 bucks back. If he really feels that strongly about $3 or $5 and would feel ripped off otherwise, he is free to refuse the package (unopened) and I'll refund him what he paid.

Don't agree if you don't want to pay. That simple. I try to keep it as close to actual costs as possible, but I do have to estimate. The actual difference here is barely $3.

I've refused freebies from people who I thought were estimating way too high for shipping costs. He had every chance to do that if he thought I was doing the same.

As far as I'm concerned, the deal is done.

And when it really comes down to how I feel about it... if you're going to be squabbling for a few bucks after you agreed to a rounded figure beforehand... You are one petty cheapassed motherfucker. Especially considering I gave away stuff that isn't exactly cheap or free elsewhere. (A single 512MB PC133 stick sells for $10. Before shipping.)

 

[Mugenx]

techrat, you don't owe this petty individual anything.

Move on and give him the finger!

 

[Crosshairs]

I honestly cant believe someone would ask for a partial refund on freebies....I would be to embarrassed about asking to even think about it.....but I digress.......

if they agreed to a price, then IMHO its a done deal....

 

[kyang357]

Btw, if this happened to me, I'd just give him the $5 back and tell him don't ever contact me for anything...

I'd give him what is owed to him.

exactly, if he thought 10 dollars for all of those are unreasonable; he should done some research before agreeing to it

$10 is definitely reasonable for all that good. He should be happy and not be so pissy about it.

On top of that, If I were to refund him $5... That would actually result in the whole deal costing me almost $2 to send this stuff to him. Paypal fees, packaging material. This is on top of the fact that I felt like "being generous" and giving him more items in one shot.

Basically, you have to allow for variances. I've had to eat it before because I lowballed myself. I'm also someone who is on a fixed income, so it really is a problem when a situation arises that I have to take money out of my own pocket due to things like underestimating postage costs.

When the entire deal consists of an agreement PRIOR to the exchanging of funds for items... that deal is done. Fixed. You don't shake hands and then change your mind after what you already considered fair because you want to get 3 bucks back. If he really feels that strongly about $3 or $5 and would feel ripped off otherwise, he is free to refuse the package (unopened) and I'll refund him what he paid.

Don't agree if you don't want to pay. That simple. I try to keep it as close to actual costs as possible, but I do have to estimate. The actual difference here is barely $3.

As far as I'm concerned, the deal is done.

And when it really comes down to how I feel about it... if you're going to be squabbling for a few bucks after you agreed to a rounded figure beforehand... You are one petty cheapassed motherfucker. Especially considering I gave away stuff that isn't exactly cheap or free elsewhere. (A single 512MB PC133 stick sells for $10. Before shipping.)

So let me get this right, you stand to make $3 profit from a freebie section or am I off? I'm not a penny pincher but I believe that if something is "free, just pay shipping" it should be just that. You should buy a scale to avoid all of this in the future.

Don't get me wrong, I understand your point. An agreement was made and that was final. Your items are nice and worth more than what he paid. He should be happy and tell you to keep the money for the trouble. I would also like to know this trader's name.

Bottomline, he got some nice stuff and shouldn't be so pissy about a few dollars.

 

[morgwon]

look at it the other way. If you bought something for $60 shipped and it turned out the shipping cost was more than than the seller anticipated reducing their expected cash in pocket. Would the buyer be willing to fork over extra money to help you out or would they say "we had agreed on $60 shipped you should have researched shipping cost beforehand"?

 

[rat]

look at it the other way. If you bought something for $60 shipped and it turned out the shipping cost was more than than the seller anticipated reducing their expected cash in pocket. Would the buyer be willing to fork over extra money to help you out or would they say "we had agreed on $60 shipped you should have researched shipping cost beforehand"?

While I don't want to conflate the issue by using examples of a transaction that is SIX TIMES what's involved in my case...

I think the important thing to keep in mind is that when an agreement is made, it's been agreed upon. Knowing how much actual postage cost after the fact doesn't change that the buyer thought the agreed upon price was fair before the package ever left the house. Trying to change the terms after the fact and wanting more is just douchy... whether it's the seller or the buyer. Regardless of how much, or little, it ends up being overall.

Yes, I've been shafted, and no... I didn't ask the buyer to send me more in those cases. This is the reason why I now round up when trying to decide shipping. So no, in your example, it would not be fair for the seller to expect more from the buyer because like everyone else is saying here in regards to the buyer... do your research.

Christ. Give a guy a good deal, feel generous because he asked... and still deal with this shit.

I'm hoping that the buyer will get the hint when he reads my bit about returning the items if he thinks what he agreed to is unfair after the fact. I won't out him on here unless he's actually trying to cause problems. Ie, threaten negative unless I do it his way. (Cause by that point, it would just be blackmail.) Until then, this is more of a making sure I'm not unaware of being unreasonable and a CYA thread.

 

[matrix563]

tape and time to ship (gas etc) are not free. $3 is a bit of a wide variance but he (buyer) definitely got his money's worth and then some.

and besides, i bought a book from this guy as a freebie and it cost him more to ship than we agreed upon and he was ok with it. he is not trying or going to make a profit on this deal in any circumstance

 

[morgwon]

btw techrat I am on your side. I was just saying that I am sure if you asked for extra to cover shipping cost he would not be so quick to offer to make up the difference.

 

[rat]

btw techrat I am on your side. I was just saying that I am sure if you asked for extra to cover shipping cost he would not be so quick to offer to make up the difference.

I understood that much and it's appreciated. I like talking about the situation to try to cover all possible points of view... but then I noticed something after responding to your example.

It could be any dollar amount... and the argument is the same.

And then I realised all this is over what really amounts to $3. What a fucking joke. I'm not even fighting to keep the $2 that would put me in the red, just the principle of it.

I'm just going to wait and see how he responds at this point.

 

[kyang357]

Wow, from the message you just sent me the other trader is a jackass. If it comes down to it, refund his money and I'll send you $10.00. Life is too short to worry about this tool.

 

[lagerter]

This is insane! If he doesn't like the shipping price, he should return the items to you. You were way beyond generous with him. Like several others have stated, he agreed to the price ahead of time. If he did not like the quoted price, he should not have entered into the transaction. It holds true for any transaction whether you are buying items or receiving freebies. If you don't like the price, decline the offer. Simple as that. Besides, the amount of goods that he received definitely qualify as freebies even if he believes he paid more than his fair share of shipping.
I have just finished a deal with techrat and was blown away by his procedures as a seller. If everyone operated on his scale of courtesy and professionalism, we wouldn't have threads like this one.

Now with that said, tell him to go jump in the lake!

 

[starhawk]

I have essentially no money in my budget (I'm unemployed & living with my mother, who is on Disability) and I would never even *dream* of being that pissy about such things.

I would politely suggest that this particular fellow (the buyer, of course) go take a jump into a rocky creek. Heck, I've got one in my backyard he can use, if he's in NC...

 

[Iamthelaw]

I honestly cant believe someone would ask for a partial refund on freebies....I would be to embarrassed about asking to even think about it.....but I digress.......

if they agreed to a price, then IMHO its a done deal....

Same thing. Someone was kindhearted enough to throw me some goodies for the cost of shipping. I guess people like the OP is dealing with don't have any kind of manners or training.

 

[Cbshahji]

i've only used the freebie thread once, and when sending payment i send more than what it suppose to be for postage (he told me postage and i send extra) as i was getting what i wanted for free and god damn pretty cheap as well. the list of items he got is pretty good, hack the thumb drive it self costs postage, so he(the freebie guys who got stuff, remember he's not buying so he can't be consider as buyer) shouldn't be picky.

and yes do pm us his/her user name so we can avoid him in future to be fair with others and keep the freebies thread keep going.

 

[wol-va-rine]

please post his nik because this is complete bullshit and just about everyone who deals on here will want to know who it is so they can stay away from him, his comment about the walk to the post office would've gotten a "fuck you" as a response from me, and all this over some free shit...? are you serious...? I would tell the dude to get bent, if he wants to bitch about the shipping cost which he agreed to, then tell him that in turn the items are now $5 each and now he owes you money, if he thinks he can change the agreement after the fact, then why can't you...?

 

[Zero82z]

He's not entitled to a damn thing. He agreed to the deal, paid, and got the items he was supposed to get. Done deal.

 

[veterator]

The total was $10 for 6 items.

512MB x 2 PC133 Memory Sticks
Generic 2GB USB Thumbdrive (Heatshrink Covered)
Transcend 2GB USB Thumbdrive (Missing Cap)
Smoke Grey HP 4GB USB Thumbdrive
SD/SDHC/MMC USB Card Reader - Black

He wants $5 back.

Hell, Im selling a bunch of USB drives in my for sale thread and I'd have gotten 7-8 bucks just on the 3 usb drives you listed and on that few of items I'd want them to cover some of the shipping. Shipping would be somewhere between 2-3 dollars to cover shipping+some material cost+gas. Im usually within about 50-60 cents on my estimations. Basically what Im saying is the guy would have had to have paid me around 10 dollars to get the 3 USB drives, look up their prices on other places "new" and it's less than half the price from most of my searching.

As for the other two items, the card reader is worth at least a dollar to someone. And the memory someone would probably pay 5 bucks for it without batting an eye if they needed it. I'd be extremely pissed if someone expected me to only get shipping costs on free items if they are just getting free items from me, the hassle alone of dealing with packing and arranging pickup or driving to the post office....blah.

So if this guy feels cheated, tell him you don't care if he sells the items to recover his money. And I would also like you to send me his name and other juicy details via PM, I'll send you one as well in case you miss this.

 

[Crosshairs]

it looks like you got plenty of feedback....I'm going to put this one to bed before the lynch mob get here..