Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Here's the deal.....I had a snake for sale in the adds.I got a buyer. We worked out a deal....but when I checked out shipping it turned out to be over 1/3 the selling price and I agreed to pay for shipping.
I backed out of the initial deal and offered a compromise. I pay half, you pay half. I'm not going to blow $80.00 on a $200.00 deal. It's not worth it. Am I wrong for doing this???
I gave them plenty of time to get back to me but have heard nothing. $10.00 deposit????? What the heck?????? I just wanted some imput on this because I don't want a bad rep.
James C.
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Voices in the darkness... scream away my mental health. Can I.. ask a question.. to help save me from myself? Enemies fill up the pages, are they me?... Monday till Sunday in stages, set me free!!! " Diary of a Madman " Ozzy Osbourne

I got burned the same way once. I just ate it. Its not really not the other guys fault, and thats the way he will look at it. You should have checked the shipping cost before making the deal. I should have to lol. In the end its worth the loss now to save your repuation later, at least thats the decision I came to.

I haven't got burned yet but, this was totally by mistake. The last thing I shipped was 2 babies = $40.00 When I called they told me $80.00 !!! It's not worth me shipping for that. It was bad communication on my part. My rep is good.
James C.
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Voices in the darkness... scream away my mental health. Can I.. ask a question.. to help save me from myself? Enemies fill up the pages, are they me?... Monday till Sunday in stages, set me free!!! " Diary of a Madman " Ozzy Osbourne

the cost of shipping does flucuate and it shoud be the sellers job to know the cost of shipping especially when advertising a shipped price, your rep may be good with others but this guy may now dispise you and create some negitive vibes down the raod.
I think it would be worth eating the cost, learned your lesson and most importantly have a happy client who may give you more business in the future.
just my O.

nick

I'd have to agree with the others one bad rap could outweigh 1000 good ones. It was a complete deal now you have to eat it. Sometimes lessons are hard to learn. I had a similar situation last holiday season. Due to a computer crash that took a few days to fix I couldn't complete the transaction in a timely manner, there was a deadline for the delivery. When my PC was back up, I apologized for the delay, explained that I would ship the product, not livestock, overnight even though it would cost me more but would meet the deadline. Happy customer, good rating and he has since bought more product from me meaning more profit in the long run.

Ship it, eat it and apologize for even suggesting that what was your fault he should have to take ANY responsibility for. Kick yourself in the a$$ for not checking first and learn your lesson.
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Hope this helps.

BigT

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Voices in the darkness... scream away my mental health. Can I.. ask a question.. to help save me from myself? Enemies fill up the pages, are they me?... Monday till Sunday in stages, set me free!!! " Diary of a Madman " Ozzy Osbourne

I bought an animal and it was clear in the ad that the agreed upon shipping price was $40. To go from FL to NH I didn't think it was outrageous so I paid it. When the seller indicated she couldn't use FedEx because they were still recovering from a recent hurricane. I told her to wait until they or UPS or even DHL were up and running and ship the following week. She said she was going to use the USPS which I told her was illegal. She ended up using them anyway with a shipping fee of $24.30 written on the postmark. Guess who ate the shipping cost there? I paid $16 extra for a package to be shipped illegally and arrive in the afternoon. Guess who'll never buy an animal from that person again?

Yours is a perfect example of the situation, yes in reverse but an example of what is at stake, REPUTATION, HONESTY. You should get some money back. If you don't your not likely to remain a customer of that seller. I doubt you will buy from them again. I post my sales with "buyer pays actual shipping cost". Usually $35 covers most of my shipping. If I end up in a situation where I have to really guess, I go $5 up from what I think it will cost. I explain the situation to the buyer for approval. I also offer to refund any overcharge in increments of $5. In other words, 1-4 dollars under or over, no action. Overcharge $5 or more and I send them a check.
I've never had a single complaint from a buyer using this policy.
Send an email and ask for a refund on the overcharge.

Well, you should have known the cost of shipping ahead of time, at least an estimated cost. If the sale ends up being a break even, loss, etc. that's 100% your fault not the buyers. If you post a snake for sale, agree to include shipping, then it's a deal and you should follow through. Small price to pay for a lesson learned. What it comes down to is your word, your reputation. What's your reputation worth? What's your word worth? Accept responsibility for YOUR mistake. Obviously the buyer should get their deposit back.
I'm sure that my direct honest answer is not what you wanted to hear. This was a missed opportunity by you. You had a chance to show your level of integrity. Imagine if another buyer goes to that other site and reads up on you. Seller backed out, failed to honor the sale, etc. It could have read, seller underestimated shipping cost, resulting in loss but he honored the sale. Standup honest guy. Received a great snake, healthy, well packed, shipped properly, etc. If you were researching a seller how would you interpret these two examples.
Accept responsibility for your mistake, take the loss, it's not the end of the world and seize the opportunity to gain a new customer and a much more positive post about you on that other site.
Just my .02 cents
PS..Just a suggestion, it works for me, "buyer pays actual shipping cost". We get our boxes for free most of the time, the stuffing is cheap/free, and it's not much trouble or time to fill out paperwork and take the box to the carrier. I hate it when I see sellers making a profit on shipping.

your right.thats not what I wanted to here. I still havent heard from the buyer. Having a good rep is better. My bad "don't be hatin"
James C.
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Voices in the darkness... scream away my mental health. Can I.. ask a question.. to help save me from myself? Enemies fill up the pages, are they me?... Monday till Sunday in stages, set me free!!! " Diary of a Madman " Ozzy Osbourne

Where and why do you have to pay 80.00 for shipping is this a 8-10 foot 30lb plus snake?
UPS, Fed Ex would charge 65.00 MAXIMUM for a 8 foot snake in a 17x17x10 box

WHat is it your shipping?
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"Quality isn't Quality without customer service so I guess I sell quality"

Heck, FedEx regularly charges me through the nose.. I just sent 2 5lb sulcata tortoises to TX, and I paid $92 for shipping. And that was standard overnight, not early morning delivery.

What am I doing wrong??
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Bonnie Keller
VA Reptile Rescue
www.vareptilerescue.org

It all depends on the size of the box fed ex charges by volume weight

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Thanks and take care - Joe Rollo
'Tis not the stongest of the species that will eventually survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change' Charles Darwin