Beware the "additional fee" on eBay invoices

[t206hound]

This may be an honest mistake from the seller, but I've asked him/her to cancel the transaction because it doesn't sit well with me. I went to pay for roughly a half dozen eBay items last night from multiple sellers. I usually just pay and don't scan the actual details, but some items were from the same seller, so I was checking for combined shipping. That's when I spotted the "additional fee." The seller included (whether intentional or accidental, I do not know) an additional fee that was equal to the item price plus the shipping... essentially double charging me.

I'm kind of stunned that this is allowed to be done on an invoice. It is called out separately with the amount in a red font, but it could have been easily missed here since the amount of the additional fee matched the total. Be aware of this when paying for eBay items. Make sure that no charges are being added that you were not aware of before you bid:

[Sean1125]

I would check to see if it is a mistake, if it's not a mistake and the seller didn't detail it (which from the sounds of it they didn't) I would let them rot...

[t206hound]

Originally Posted by Sean1125

I would check to see if it is a mistake, if it's not a mistake and the seller didn't detail it (which from the sounds of it they didn't) I would let them rot...

I've contacted the seller; he/she stated that there is some mistake and he/she doesn't see where the extra charge is occurring. It does appear on my invoice, and I've simply asked that the transaction be cancelled.

As I said, this is probably a legitimate mistake... but everyone should be aware of this ability since a dishonest seller could use it to his advantage.

[teetwoohsix]

Good catch Erick. Hopefully it really was a mistake, and not an intentional "hope he doesn't notice" move.

I remember I used to always, every month, get charged on my phone bill for one "3 way call". I never used to read the bill because I had unlimited long distance we would just pay it. One day, I was bored and was reading the bill and noticed the charge. I went back and looked and this charge was on each bill for many months before !!!!! Just one 3 way call, each month. My wife and I don't even know how to do a 3 way call. They told me it was probably happening because someone would make a call, hang up, and dial a number right away. This was a bogus excuse, and then I realized that: if this was done to everyone's bill, and if only 50% of the people noticed it, they were making a killing !!!!!!!!

Originally, they said there was no way to put a block on 3 way calls. After it started happening again, and I got a little irrate, they were suddenly able to block the 3 way feature

Sincerely, Clayton

[jcmtiger]

If the seller says it is a mistake, why not just pay the correct amount rather than cancelling transaction?

Joe

[yanks12025]

Has to be a mistake, I don't think someone is stupid enought to try to double charge someone. Maybe if they did $5 people wouldn't notice.

[t206hound]

Originally Posted by jcmtiger

If the seller says it is a mistake, why not just pay the correct amount rather than cancelling transaction?

Joe

I believe it was a mistake. The seller had no idea how to change or correct it even after talking to eBay. It was simpler just to cancel the transaction. No harm, just cardboard. I will definitely be checking out my invoices more closely from here on out.

[t206hound]

Originally Posted by yanks12025

Has to be a mistake, I don't think someone is stupid enought to try to double charge someone. Maybe if they did $5 people wouldn't notice.

You wouldn't think, but it wasn't obvious with a quick glance. If you just look at the right hand column, you might just assume that the $40.35 was the sum of the $35.35 and $5.00. Of course, with just one invoice it's obvious when eBay asked me to pay $80.70. But when I was making $300 in payments, it was not as clear. I do have a tendency to "glance" rather than "read."

[Jay Wolt]

How is an "additional fee" even an option?
If so, anyone can add a fee after a transaction if they so desire

[D. Bergin]

There are known Ebay "glitches" when buyers attempt to pay a combined invoice for more then one seller at a time.

The most annoying one to sellers and buyers alike is it often does not calculate the combined shipping for a particular seller, and breaks it down into separate payments for each item.

Seller ends up refunding the S&H payment back to the buyer according to their calculations, but in classic Ebay fashion, Ebay does not refund the cut they take out of shipping back to the seller unless you spend a half hour or more on the phone with them calling them out on it..........and most people think their time is better spent doing other things then trying to get a couple bucks or less back in fees.

I always try to encourage bidders who win more then one item from me to wait until "I" send them a combined invoice, ignore the one you get from Ebay, and not to pay right away.

I don't know if this situation falls into that "glitch" category, but it wouldn't surprise me. I don't think any seller is assuming you're paying a multiple seller invoice, making it easier for them to slip a double dip past you.

[D. Bergin]

The other possibility. The seller used the "Additional Charge / Discount" box to charge another buyer for an off-ebay purchase to wrap into an Ebay purchase and added it to YOUR box by mistake, while he was making up his invoices.

[Leon]

I probably wouldn't be real happy with a buyer if something got invoiced by mistake and they wanted to undo or cancel the transaction after I said I would fix it. But that is just me....

[drc]

I agree with Leon.

I tend to believe it was an honest mistake. From my experience with complicated web sites, it's easy to double click, check the wrong box, not check the right box and fill in something twice in different spaces. Plus, I don't believe a dishonest person trying to overcharge would double the amount-- too obviously an overcharge even to those who merely speed browse their invoices.

[deadballfreaK]

I once had a guy win several cards off me and when I changed the shipping to a combined total of one dollar I accidentally left out the decimal point (world's worst typist) and he got an invoice for $100 shipping. I got a frantic message about two minutes later saying his wife was about to kill him. I quickly corrected it and the buyer was nice, but I was embarrassed. I'm a lot more careful now. Honest mistakes can happen.