E-Bay seller dillemma. Help me out.

[spoon]

This is the auction:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2213979211

I am the seller. I somehow incorrrectly counted the number of comics that I have listed. It says there are 265+ when there are actually 165+.

But, the list in the auction is correct.

The buyer wants free shipping. Free shipping on something like that would probably put me at little to no gain. That is a great price for those books anyhow. A few of those books in there are worth the auction price alone.

e-mails (After auction was over)

from bidder:
Hello,
I just realized that the description of this auction was incorrect.
It states that the auction is for 265+ issues of Daredevil, but when
I count up the issues there are only about 168. Could you please
clarify this inconsistency. I am still interested in purchasing the
lot, but if there are really only 168 issues than I feel a little
misled. Thanks alot.

me:
My fault, you are correct. I went back hand counted, and checked over my
list to see if I missed anything, still short. I either got my count
mixed up or counted all of the Daredevils I had in the box (I keep the
Daredevils separate). I don't know what to do. This is the first time I
have had a problem like this. The list in the auction is correct. I think
it is more than a fair price for all of the issues. Let me know your
thoughts.

bidder:

Well, I was bidding expecting a 265 issue lot. I would be happy if you
offered free shipping for this deal. Let me know. I will pay immediately
using PayPal. Thanks,

Moran

me:

Well, free shipping would pretty much put me in a no gain situation. If you would like I can just call it a no-go and re-list the item. It was an honest error on my part, but, the list in the auction is correct. I would be willing to pay for part of the shipping cost, but not all.

What would you do?

I think the seller and I are both at fault. The buyer didn't read the auction closely enough, and neither did I. I didn't really want to let them go at that price and wished I would have added a reserve. I will probably end up with a negative over this.

[Funk Buddy]

Ok, did that email come from the winner after the auction was over? I say you don't owe them anything. There was a mistake in the listing, but you were not out to screw anyone. The correct number of issues was listed in the body of the auction, I think that'd be good enough for eBay. If you do feel bad, offer a discount in the shipping and that's all. If you do complete this transaction with the winner, do not take PayPal at all. They might get pissed and do a charge back and we all know how that'll end up! You'll be out the goods and the money.

[punkoffgirl]

So the auction ended already?
Just because you made a mistake in the listing doesn't mean you need to offer free shipping. But you can tell him/her you'll gladly relist the auction if they do not want to buy it after all. It was an honest mistake, it wasn't like you were trying to rip the person off. The high bidder didn't do ANYTHING wrong, but you still don't have to do much more than offer to forget that they won & relist.

PS- I'm moving this to the eBay forum.

[Cmosfm]

Well, you can always cave in and ship it free....Media Mail.....which would run maybe 5-6 bucks I believe.

[dave2236]

media mail would be your best bet, but I would think it might be close to a 30 lb package...maybe $20-22

OR

Fed-Ex ground has good rates on heavy packages plus you get insurance and tracking.

[brykasch]

Well, what I would do, is just apologize for the mix-up on the listing ( you didn't realize this before the auction ended?) Then offer it to him for the ending price (your fault it ended low and you didn't put a reserve) and offer media mail shipping with insurance. DO NOT ACCEPT paypal from him for this. Tell him this is the only offer, or you can both forget about the deal and move on. I knwo you have 100% fb, but you have to realize that even the best seller gets negatives once in a while. What I do is keep a page detailing any negatives, that helps alot.

[Buyatari]

I'd tell him the choice is up to him.

He can either buy it or you will let him out of the deal due to the incorrect data and relist it.

I wouldn't take a loss on this one he is already getting a good deal.

Either he wants it or he doesn't.

[Cmosfm]

What is probably going on is the seller knew what the hell was going on from the beginning...and didn't mention it to you before it ended...and had plans on trying to get free shipping. Forget caving in, he knows and knew what was there...if he wants it he can buy it, if not, then let him go.

[Griking]

It looks like you made the same mistake in the item description as well.

"(1966-1998). This is the big one. Over 265 differnet issues of Daredevil."

Honestly, I'd probably think that I was bidding on a collection of 265 issues as well.

But if it was a mistake then it was a mistake. Give the guy the option to back out of the deal if he wants or offer to relist it correctly and let him re-bid on it. The most I'd offer for shipping would be free media mail which would be about $10. I'd say the difference of the 100 comic books would be worth $10.

[GameGuru]

Here is what I would do. I would tell him I will relist it with a Buy It Now for $65 and the second it is listed he hits BIN. Then he pays shipping. He saves $13 or so and you don't get stiffed on the shipping.