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Bought a car on ebay - now I can't buy it. Help
Irony - 7/6/11 at 07:26 AM

Before you all shout at me and burn me for being a heretic I haven't done this before. I have 100% feedback and over 300 transactions.

I am looking for a car for my girlfriend as she has just past her test (at 27!!!!! passed first time though). I tried to insure her on my GOLF GT TDI 150 but swiftcover just said 'NO'. Simply 'NO'. I am/was looking for a Polo/Ibiza/Fabia 1.4 16v as they are cheap on insurance and then last night a Seat Ibiza 1.9 SDI came on ebay and I flung in a bid maybe £150 quid lower than I thought it would go and I won it. The SD1 is soooo slow I thought it would also be cheap on insurance but no. Turns out the insurance company works on engine capacity rather than power. Tried to get the missus insured on it and again simply 'no' even though it has half the power of my golf the insurance remains the same.

I could

1. Tell the seller, sorry mate and explain
2. Drive the 2.5 hours and then drive 2 cars back, then sell it.
3. Send the seller a email and offer to pay the listing fees.

What happens if I refuse to buy it and he 'reports' me to ebay. I have a good ebay rating and I would rather not spoil it. However 1 negative wouldn't be a problem.

help

[Edited on 7/6/11 by Irony]

franky - 7/6/11 at 07:34 AM

3. Email him the above and offer to pay the listing fees

Thats a fair way of doing it.

[Edited on 7/6/11 by franky]

scootz - 7/6/11 at 07:41 AM

^^^what he said^^^

Irony - 7/6/11 at 07:42 AM

The car went for £850 and there was no reserve. What is the average cost on ebay to list this sort of thing?

Snuggs - 7/6/11 at 07:44 AM

Try a different insurance company.

My stepson (23) easily got insured on a 1.8 Almera Sport after only passing his test 3 months earlier and only 1 month after totalling his astra

Snuggs - 7/6/11 at 07:45 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Irony
The car went for £850 and there was no reserve. What is the average cost on ebay to list this sort of thing?



£40 fixed fee I think.

karlak - 7/6/11 at 07:47 AM

Personally,

I would buy it and then re-sell it.

None of the above was the sellers fault


I dont know what the bid amount under yours was, but you could offer to pay the difference between that Bid and yours - Assuming the 2nd bidder wants the car as a second chance offer.


Edit: think i have found the sale. The second bidder offered £20 less than you. See if you can get the sellers phone number and call them. I am sure that if they can selll to the 2nd bidder and you pay him the £20 difference. All would be happy ?



[Edited on 7/6/11 by karlak]

McLannahan - 7/6/11 at 07:56 AM

Hi - Having just been messed around on this exact issue....

Listing fee is £8. This is the least you could offer.

The final sale fee on that car would be £20. However he'd only be invoiced for this once the sale has gone through. If you didn't buy the car and he re-listed he'd not be charged that fee until the car did sell.

However.....You can't give negative feedback as the seller to you the buyer!!! So you've got nothing to loose by offering him the £8 (I think I may even get this back but my idiot buyer did pay me this back) and then walking away explaining the circumstances. He CANNOT leave you negative feedback (although he'll damn wish he could! )


HTH

to add....


http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/sell/motorfees.html

stevegough - 7/6/11 at 08:09 AM

As already said - don't let swiftcover dictate to you over this - shop around, it is a simple matter of putting her details on confused.com or Go Compare! or compare der meercat

Simples.

blakep82 - 7/6/11 at 08:24 AM

as above, try go compare, etc,
i was with norwich union for my G reg bmw 318, £450 a month it was. bought a N reg 328 and they wanted to double the cost. foreigner said there was an embargo or something...

anyway, went to elephant, £400 for the 328. don't stick with swift cover, there are plenty who will insure. cost might still be high as she's only just passed, but thats going to be the case with any car really

Irony - 7/6/11 at 08:25 AM

Thanks for the replies - I expected to be banned from ebay or something. I will email him and offer to pay the difference between the 2nd bidders bid or the listing fees.

I can't change insurance companies as I need to be insured on it and I am with Swiftcover

emidas - 7/6/11 at 08:28 AM

The transaction was completed in good faith by both parties and if I was the seller, I'd be pretty hacked off if the buyer wanted to default (which is what this amounts to), whatever the reason.

I've bid before a and won stuff that I was not expecting to - I've had to bite the bullet, go through with the purchase and then sold it on, sometimes at a loss and sometimes at a profit. Perhaps make the enquiries about paying the seller's fees etc but I think you should be prepared to honour your side of the deal.

I can understand you not wanting to go through with it but if everybody was to do this, the whole Ebay concept, which is based on honesty, faith and commitment, would fall apart.

Irony - 7/6/11 at 08:29 AM

quote:
Originally posted by karlak
Personally,

I would buy it and then re-sell it.

None of the above was the sellers fault


I dont know what the bid amount under yours was, but you could offer to pay the difference between that Bid and yours - Assuming the 2nd bidder wants the car as a second chance offer.


Edit: think i have found the sale. The second bidder offered £20 less than you. See if you can get the sellers phone number and call them. I am sure that if they can selll to the 2nd bidder and you pay him the £20 difference. All would be happy ?



[Edited on 7/6/11 by karlak]


Godd idea - how did you manage to search for a item that has previously been sold? I didn't think that was possible.

JoelP - 7/6/11 at 08:31 AM

advanced search / include finished listings

or something along those lines.

designer - 7/6/11 at 08:33 AM

Really you should 'bite the bullet' as you bid so you should buy.

Reverse the situation and you would not be too pleased.

If too many people start doing this the whole ethos of Ebay will suffer!

blakep82 - 7/6/11 at 08:33 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Irony
Thanks for the replies - I expected to be banned from ebay or something. I will email him and offer to pay the difference between the 2nd bidders bid or the listing fees.

I can't change insurance companies as I need to be insured on it and I am with Swiftcover


i'm with elephant as i mentioned, but i'm also a named driver on my dads car, and he's with aviva i think, my mums a named driver on mine (reduced the cost by £100) and she's with some sort of RBS company i think. you can be a named driver with a different company. unless i'm missing something? i don't pay too much attention to insurance things, they take my money and thats it really

Irony - 7/6/11 at 08:57 AM

I have sent the fella a email explaining the situation. Thankyou for the replies. I have offered him the relisting fees or the difference between my bid and the second highest bid etc. Guess he'll be cheesed off though.

Thanks to all those who made me feel really guilty and pointed out my lack of honour etc. I shall be hanging my head in shame for some time.

Humbug - 7/6/11 at 09:26 AM

I see that you've emailed the seller now, but...

For another car: as above - try the comparison sites (all the major ones, not just one - I have often found one or the other has a significantly cheaper option not available in the others).

Money Saving Expert has a guide here

Also, some of the insurers give a better deal for women (though I think they can't discriminate any more?)

Good luck

Dangle_kt - 7/6/11 at 09:28 AM

Well, going against the grain a bit I'd say, this sort of thing happens all the time. I've had about 10'occasions when I've won something dirt cheap and the seller claims it's suddenly "broken".

eBay is full of idiots on both sides of the fence, did message him and explain, offer to pay his listing fee of £8. Though you could pay nothing and there is nothing he can do.

You will get a non payment item strike, get 3 in a 6 month period and you will be banned from some auctions till the 6 months lapses. He has to give the item strike though, or he has to pay eBay fees on the 850...which will be a lot!

adam1985 - 7/6/11 at 10:53 AM

I have sold something before but the never paid or collected.
i went through the resolution center and theres a area for this they canceled the listing fees for me.

Liam - 7/6/11 at 11:14 AM

quote:
Originally posted by emidas
the whole Ebay concept, which is based on honesty, faith and commitment, would fall apart.


Ah ha ha ha ah ahaaa haa ahaaaaahah In your utopian dreams, maybe! Have you seen some of the scumbags that use Ebay?? All tongue in cheek - i agree with you in principle

OP - shoulda bought it. If you really couldn't sort out insurance, which would be surprising (I mean my wife is 29 and on a provisional license, but still reduces my premium on a 3 litre car), then you could have bullsh**ed it up a bit and sold it on. You did say it went for less than you expected.

Ah well. I should imagine there's a forum somewhere out there with a new thread today "Ebay to**er - what should I do"



[Edited on 7/6/11 by Liam]

tomgregory2000 - 7/6/11 at 11:28 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Liam

Ah well. I should imagine there's a forum somewhere out there with a new thread today "Ebay to**er - what should I do"



[Edited on 7/6/11 by Liam]


LOL

Alfa145 - 7/6/11 at 11:37 AM

Why not check the cost of insurance first before buying a car? There are plenty of online insurance websites that you can put hypothetical cars into to see what the insurance cost would be. If not you could be buying lots of cars before you find one that is sensible to insure.

Irony - 7/6/11 at 11:52 AM

I cannot get different insurance. My policy with Swiftcover already exists and I will need to transfer it over to the new car. My girlfriend will probably be a second driver on my policy until she can get proper job.

You guys are probably right and there is another forum labelled 'ebay to@@er' If he throws a major wobbler when he emails me back I will send him more cash

tony-devon - 7/6/11 at 12:37 PM

years back I got caught out like this through no fault of my own, just damned bad luck on my part, I was looking for a bike, bid on several, didnt get to be the high bidder on them, bid on a few more, and the same, was about 11 bikes in my bidding on section of myebay, then I found one, bid on it, was winning it, and won it, then within a 24 hour period I "won 4 others" people withdrawing their bids left me as the high bidder

at the time I was running a small business on the ebay account, didnt need the hassle, got a load of poo for it from the sellers, called a timewaster etc, but in the end I contacted ebay, showed them the history of bids, the fact that I had bought the bike I had won, they didnt exactly rush around, but eventually it got sorted.

I felt terrible when it happened, but was just poo luck on my part, now I bid on one thing at a time, too damned scared of it happening again

worst case scenario for you is about £40 costs in my opinion, or if he files non paying bidder, then he gets the costs back, and your just left with a red face.

locoboy - 7/6/11 at 12:39 PM

I run my works ebay shop and we sell between 100 and 150 items each week, we probably only ever get paid for 100-120 of them.

I currently have 8 cases open in the resolution centre worth £550.

I am likely never to get this money and complete the sale.

We turn over £15-20K per month on ebay and regularly have 2-3-4K of unpaid items outstanding.

Non paying bidders are the bain of my working life.

The decision to stop sellers leaving negative feedback is absolutely disgusting from a sellers perspective.

I always tell the bidder that it is a legally binding contract and they should just pay for the item and recuop their moneis by reselling it.

If i win the case ebay do no make them pay they just issue them with a non paying bidder strike, which is pretty well useless unless all sellers are aware that they can limit who is elegable to bid on their items based upon the number of unpaid item strikes a buyer has, most are not aare of this so the process goes on and on and on..............

I would feel compelled to go and get the car and resell it to recoup your fees.

eddie99 - 7/6/11 at 12:41 PM

Sorry maybe im missing something but why doesnt she just get insured with another company? theres no issues with being insured with different companies etc.. etc.. She'll easily get insurance with another company on that car and if you bid for it, you should get it. Its not the buyers fault and i would be pissed off if i was the seller.

Cancel your current insurance and you'll get what you haven't used back.

[Edited on 7/6/11 by eddie99]

Irony - 7/6/11 at 01:02 PM

quote:
Originally posted by eddie99
Sorry maybe im missing something but why doesnt she just get insured with another company? theres no issues with being insured with different companies etc.. etc.. She'll easily get insurance with another company on that car and if you bid for it, you should get it. Its not the buyers fault and i would be pissed off if i was the seller.

Cancel your current insurance and you'll get what you haven't used back.

[Edited on 7/6/11 by eddie99]


I have a GOLF GT TDI 150, which I cannot put my girlfriend on as a second driver as the insurance won't allow it. I bought the above Seat Ibiza thinking the SDI being non Turbo'd and half the power would be less insurance. But it's not, give or take a few pounds its the same. I assume because both are 1.9 diesels. This means I am paying the same insurance for a car which essentially half the power. Half the reason for me doing this is to save money because my girlfriend cannot get a job and is seemingly vastly over qualified for everything.

I could cancel my insurance and get reinsured with another company then put my girlfriend on the new policy but I have never cancelled insurance before and I have a feeling it would end up costing me cash. She could of course get insurance on the SEAT on a separate policy but instead of a reasonable quote for a car of roughly 65hp she will get a quote for a car with a 1.9litre engine which is the same as my Golf GT which will very high indeed.

indykid - 7/6/11 at 01:47 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Irony
car swapping stuff

So are you keeping both cars, or is this Seat replacing your Golf? If it's replacing the golf, I now understand, but from your previous posts, I assumed (as most others it seems) it was to be a second car.

If it is a second car, 'fronting' (insuring a driver as a named driver that's really the main driver to reduce costs) is naughty (though it of course would not have been how the first few years of my driving history got by......ahem!) and the insurance companies are getting keen on it now.

Ninehigh - 7/6/11 at 06:52 PM

I'd tell swiftcover they're talking the urine, a 27 year old woman with a mid-sized DIESEL car? Jeez I was driving an Astra diesel at that age and it was about £850-900 for the year AND I had points!

Yeah remind them it's diesel and thus about as powerful as a 1.4

Irony - 7/6/11 at 07:35 PM

It is a replacement for the Golf. I was hoping to sell that and recoup some cash.

Just received a reply from the Seller and he's not a happy bunny (unsurprisingly) and even though I offered double the money of the re-listing fee or to pay the difference between the top bids he is now insisting I own the car and wants to know when I intend to pick it up.

BigFaceDave - 7/6/11 at 07:44 PM

Im in he oppossite position at the minute, I sold my passat TDI estate on ebay saturday before last next day the guy came to pick it up took one look at it and told me it wasnt worth what he had bid on it! He said that it wasnt very clean inside (1997 car thats just had a full valet not immaculate but was put in the description) and also said it had too many miles despite the milage being listed in the listing very clearly he then started to suck in through his teeth as if to make me a lower offer when I pointed out it was a auction not a invite to come and haggle, to cutr a long story short he walked away leaving me massivley out of pocket and woudlnt you just know it ebay are on HIS side! I tried to cancel the transation so that I dont have to pay the commsion and guess what the idiot declined my cancelation so now I have to pay the commision and have had to pay to relist it!

I understand your predicament but lets put it another way at this point in the auction first time I had 55 watchers now I have relisted it poeple think there is something wrong with it and now I have 14 watchers, Sorry but the right thing to do is get the car and sell on not leave him with the hassle, not what you wanted to hear I know but I can understand where he is coming from

Ninehigh - 7/6/11 at 07:50 PM

I take it you put in the advert that it's being re-listed because the original winner misunderstood the concepts of "auction" and "reading the advert". I'd have put in complaints too, and then one about ebay when they sided with him that the car isn't as described (you come down and point out where it's not as described!)

Looks like you're going to have to bite the bullet, and sell it right back with a "bought for missus but she thinks it's fugly *joke about marital disagreement*"

Who knows you might make a few quid

mookaloid - 7/6/11 at 07:53 PM

I think it's time to bite the bullet and go and pick up your purchase.

Give it a good polish then re-list it - you should get most of your money back.

Potentially you could end up in the small claims court if the seller knows his legals so if you don't want to risk that ......

BigFaceDave - 7/6/11 at 07:57 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Ninehigh
I take it you put in the advert that it's being re-listed because the original winner misunderstood the concepts of "auction" and "reading the advert". I'd have put in complaints too, and then one about ebay when they sided with him that the car isn't as described (you come down and point out where it's not as described!)


Yes I was a bit sarky in my comments at the end, its a shame you can only say uk bidders only but cant say if your hungarian and struggle to speak english please dont bid! but I suspect I would get into a lot of trouble saying that!

Irony - 7/6/11 at 08:03 PM

I completely understand where the guy is coming from. I feel really bad, which is why I offered him double the fees etc. To be honest the cars worth more than the winning bid. If it wasn't a five hour round trip I would buy it and resell and make a couple of quid. But with the fuel and insurance I probably wouldn't make anything. I might as well just send him £40 quid. Looks like he won't be happy though

mookaloid - 7/6/11 at 08:29 PM

I wonder if there's anyone left on here that will be prepared to sell you anything in the future?

Ninehigh - 7/6/11 at 08:39 PM

quote:
Originally posted by mookaloid
I wonder if there's anyone left on here that will be prepared to sell you anything in the future?


I've not even looked at the site since I found paypal's security absolutely shocking.

Where's the seller based?

On the other hand if you don't give a carp just don't pay like the other gits, being that way inclined appears to be the best way

Irony - 7/6/11 at 08:39 PM

quote:
Originally posted by mookaloid
I wonder if there's anyone left on here that will be prepared to sell you anything in the future?


True, generally I either turn up with the cash or send payment first however.

scootz - 7/6/11 at 08:45 PM

quote:
Originally posted by mookaloid
I wonder if there's anyone left on here that will be prepared to sell you anything in the future?


I will...

scootz - 7/6/11 at 08:45 PM

... but I suppose that went without saying!

eddie99 - 7/6/11 at 08:46 PM

You can get temporary insurance cheap just for the day that you go pick it up. If its worth it and you have the money, go and get it and stick it up for more.

Irony - 7/6/11 at 08:54 PM

The blokes just emailed me and he's in a right grump. I will probably get some day insurance and go and pick it up then relist it.

robinj66 - 7/6/11 at 09:15 PM

Hope the car is as described when you get there.....

Ninehigh - 7/6/11 at 09:21 PM

quote:
Originally posted by robinj66
Hope the car is as described when you get there.....


Or nowhere near

Paul TigerB6 - 7/6/11 at 09:45 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Irony
I cannot get different insurance. My policy with Swiftcover already exists and I will need to transfer it over to the new car.



Can I ask why you must transfer?? You have an insurance requirement that they seemingly cant help you with at sensible cost (until you call to cancel and then often they suddenly find a way to drop the price). I've cancelled a policy part way through the year and bit the bullet on paying the admin fee / not getting as much of a refund as hoped - but it has always been worth it to move elsewhere to get insurance at a sensible cost.

Try Moneysupermarket.com - they always seem to come out cheapest for me. £212 currently on an MR2 mk1 though Esure using that comparison site

norfolkluego - 7/6/11 at 10:16 PM

As said, shop around, there's always one of the companies who are putting new business volume above profitability, you will get a better deal, try the comparison sites first then brokers such as Sureterm

Ninehigh - 7/6/11 at 11:34 PM

Actually good point, if you both actually want to keep the car tell them they're going to do it or you want your money back and you'll go to someone that will... They know you will and if they make you they know you'll never go back with them.