This is a first for me

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Posted By: Rob D.

On Tuesday morning I was the high bidder on a $1,200 card on eBay. As I usually do with sellers who accept PayPal, within a few minutes of the end of the auction I paid using the automatic checkout (in this case it was a third-party system that totals the amount -- Auctiva maybe? -- used by the seller that eventually sent me to PayPal so I could make the payment).

The shipping and handling charges were listed at checkout, as was the optional charge for insurance, which I paid. Late Wednesday night, after not hearing anything from the seller, I sent him a note asking to confirm that he received payment and did he know when the card would be shipped. This morning I received a reply that the card will ship tomorrow, along with a sarcastic comment "thanks for leaving me with the tax."

Both the seller and I are in the same state, so I totally understand the tax issue. But nowhere in his listing does it mention that Ohio residents must pay sales tax -- and most important (I think) -- he didn't have it factored into this own checkout form! But in his mind it's the buyer's fault for not computing the state tax and including it in the payment.

I wrote him back offering to pay the tax, but man, this seller has a 3,000-plus feedback rating, so it's not like he's an eBay newbie. So now I'll be sweating the safe arrival of the card for the next few days.

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Posted By: leon

You'll be fine...It was his mistake and you even took the high road.....let us know how it turns out. Yesterday, I got an invoice for a $130 card with another $133 tacked on for no apparent reason. I questioned it and am waiting for a response....The same thing (another $100+ charge) was done to me not too long ago too and the seller just said he made a mistake....such is ebay....

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Posted By: Matt

Sounds like the seller could work on his people skills, but that should be the worst of the problems with ebay sellers.

Leon - your case is much more concerning - in order to tack on an additional charge, the seller has to go edit a field that has nothing to do with the normal checkout process. It would be hard to do by accident. I'm wondering if a seller wouldn't do that hoping someone would just pay the invoice without noticing. Worst case, the buyer notices and the seller says "oops." Did you ask for any additional service like signature confirmation that would cause the seller to edit the additional charges field?

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Posted By: Tom Boblitt

to pay the tax. He could have accepted. I wouldn't think you'll have any major problems. I seriously doubt that he submits taxes on the stuff to begin with. How does that work with paypal? If they collect tax for a specific state, do they deposit that in your account and leave it up to you to report and pay it or do they remit it to that state on your behalf? I don't know. Anyway, you'll be okay.....

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Posted By: leon

I think you hit the nail on the head. I won some other auctions last night on ebay and had multiple ones to pay for. I was going to pay through the multiple paypal payment thingy and noticed, at the last minute, the extra charge. I unchecked that auction box and paid the others...with a note sent to this seller that tacked on the extra money. I didn't ask for anything extra....It's a fairly low dollar card ....relative to others.