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eBay seller refuses to accept bike auction offer – says "would be unhappy if I sold to Scouser"

Shop says message was sent by ‘drunk’ manager who has pledged £200 to a Liverpool foodbank to apologise

An eBay shop refused to sell a bike to a man because he is from Liverpool. Ray Watt made an offer of £1,000 for a Giant TCR Advanced Pro during the auction, but was then sent a message by the seller saying, "Hi sorry too low, and would be unhappy if I sold to Scouser."

The Liverpool Echo reports that Watt expected that the offer would be seen as too low, but that he had been willing to pay more.

"I thought I'd bid £1,000 initially and then go up if needs be. I got a message back to say declined. I expected them to say we won't take that price but would take another price, maybe £1,200 or £1,300.

"But he came back saying he wouldn't sell to Scousers. I nearly fell over when I read it, I couldn't believe it."

ray watt twitter screenshot.PNG

The bike was being offered by Lainhead_electricals, which has 99.9% positive feedback on eBay.

Someone from the shop appears to have replied to Watt on Twitter since the Echo article was published.

Danny Grimes said: “My general manager got drunk last night and sent that stupid message. I am so very sorry. There is no excuse for it. It is difficult and people are stressed but it doesn't excuse what he did. We deserve all of the trolling. So very sorry.

“Some of our employees support Liverpool FC and maybe he thought it was funny at the time as I notice on company chat there is some banter. We will honour the offer you made and fine him for misconduct.  Please be assured we do not think what he said.”

Grimes added that the person in question was going to make a £200 donation to Liverpool food bank initiative Fans Supporting Foodbanks.

“We are not going to sack him as life’s a bit crap now and he’s decent chap. Hope he learns. All the best.”

Watt tweeted: “I think we can say that is a fair apology from the company and I hope this person in question never makes comments like this again.”

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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65 comments

Avatar
0-0 | 3 years ago
3 likes

Calm down, calm down.

YSB

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Langsam | 3 years ago
6 likes

To those saying the initial offer was 'insulting' - you can set up an automatic offer rejection on eBay at a level of your choice. 
Saves a lot of time when selling BiN/BO

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Smartstu | 3 years ago
3 likes

You lot could argue about anything! 🙄 The actual story is not the offer - but the great customer service and honesty shown by the company. Chapeau Lainhead Electricals!

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Captain Badger replied to Smartstu | 3 years ago
12 likes

Smartstu wrote:

You lot could argue about anything! 🙄 ....

no we couldn't 

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Compact Corned Beef replied to Captain Badger | 3 years ago
1 like

You're so wrong about that, you villain.

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Rendel Harris replied to Captain Badger | 3 years ago
11 likes

Captain Badger wrote:

Smartstu wrote:

You lot could argue about anything! 🙄 ....

no we couldn't 

The great Eddie Mair got his first journalism job partly because the interviewer looked at his application and said "I see it says here you enjoy a good argument." 

"No it doesn't," Eddie replied.

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Captain Badger replied to Rendel Harris | 3 years ago
2 likes

Rendel Harris wrote:

.....

The great Eddie Mair got his first journalism job partly because the interviewer looked at his application and said "I see it says here you enjoy a good argument." 

"No it doesn't," Eddie replied.

I really miss him on radio 4 - I don't listen in to PM much anymore, don't even know of it's still going

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Chris Hayes replied to Captain Badger | 3 years ago
0 likes

Eddie Mair now presents on LBC 4-7pm weekdays....It's not London-centric, despite its name.  

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Rendel Harris replied to Captain Badger | 3 years ago
2 likes

Captain Badger wrote:

Rendel Harris wrote:

.....

The great Eddie Mair got his first journalism job partly because the interviewer looked at his application and said "I see it says here you enjoy a good argument." 

"No it doesn't," Eddie replied.

I really miss him on radio 4 - I don't listen in to PM much anymore, don't even know of it's still going

It's not bad with Evan Davis, not a patch on Eddie but nobody is.

Avatar
bobrayner | 3 years ago
5 likes

Last time I listed something expensive online (a car, rather than a bike) I got several calls & messages from clowns offering half or 2/3 of the list price. They wasted a lot of my time. It gets pretty frustrating trying to sell stuff online. Come to think of it, last time I freecycled I got the same thing (ie I didn't want all the hassle of selling a £5 item, only to end up having a lengthy conversation with some clown on the internet who wants me to deliver his freebie in person, 30 miles away).

Selling stuff on the internet can be enraging. Especially if you have to spend all day dealing with the kind of punter who thinks they can get a cheeky 33% discount on a bike at a time when there's a severe national shortage of bikes.

But that doesn't excuse refusing to sell to a scouser, of course.  1

Avatar
Rik Mayals unde... replied to Lance ꜱtrongarm | 3 years ago
7 likes

A friend, who lived in a million pound plus house that he'd built, got so sick of telephone calls from a kitchen company wanting to sell him a new kitchen that one day he made an arrangement for someone to come down. The guy obviously thought he had set himself up for a bonus of the year when he arrived at the electric gates, parked next to Brian's Porsche 911 GT2 and Ferrari F40. He went in the house, his mouth dropped open when he saw their hand made kitchen, and told Brian he didn't need a new kitchen. Brian said "Exactly, I have just wasted your time just like you waste my time every time you call, now Fuck Off." 

He never got any more calls.

Avatar
Captain Badger replied to bobrayner | 3 years ago
1 like

bobrayner wrote:

Last time I listed something expensive online (a car, rather than a bike) I got several calls & messages from clowns offering half or 2/3 of the list price. They wasted a lot of my time. It gets pretty frustrating trying to sell stuff online. Come to think of it, last time I freecycled I got the same thing (ie I didn't want all the hassle of selling a £5 item, only to end up having a lengthy conversation with some clown on the internet who wants me to deliver his freebie in person, 30 miles away).

Selling stuff on the internet can be enraging. Especially if you have to spend all day dealing with the kind of punter who thinks they can get a cheeky 33% discount on a bike at a time when there's a severe national shortage of bikes.

But that doesn't excuse refusing to sell to a scouser, of course.

 

Thank christ I thought it was me that was going mad...

Avatar
Jetmans Dad replied to bobrayner | 3 years ago
4 likes

bobrayner wrote:

Selling stuff on the internet can be enraging. Especially if you have to spend all day dealing with the kind of punter who thinks they can get a cheeky 33% discount on a bike at a time when there's a severe national shortage of bikes.

Well, this was a sale that included a "Make an offer" facility ... and he made an offer. He explicitly said he was expecting them not to accept that initial offer, at which point negotiation starts and he also said he was willing to pay more if need be. 

The customer was within his rights to make a low ball offer, the seller within their rights to reject it out of hand or go back and see if the customer was prepared to go higher. That is, after all, how selling stuff works. 

Don't want to deal with that ... do it as a "Buy It Now" with a fixed price, or auction with a reserve

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Rik Mayals unde... replied to Jetmans Dad | 3 years ago
1 like

When I sell on eBay, I never open it to offers. I always set a reasonable starting price, and either offer free postage or I subsidise it and pay half. I still get messages offering insultingly low bids. The most annoying part is the rudeness. I recently had an item on eBay, it was a new unused and still sealed item. New cost £140. I started it at £80 including £3.00 postage. I got lots of low offers, the best one was a message which simply said "£50 buy now inc postage" And nobody bothers to leave feedback any more. Ebay has been ruined by rude ignorant people.

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Dingaling replied to Rik Mayals underpants | 3 years ago
2 likes

Quite agree. My wife and I are going through the house and selling off on ebay classified anything surplus to requirements. Anything useful, but out of date/old fashioned, is given away. Better stuff in good nick goes on at a fraction of the original price and people still come back offering a quarter of the asking price. They don't even get an answer and nor does anybody that writes without a polite address (Hi, Good Evening.....) or sign off.

Only a few pay the asking price plus postage because they know a bargain when they see one.

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andystow replied to bobrayner | 3 years ago
7 likes

My favorite is "what's the lowest you'll go on this?"

My response is, "you go first, what's the most you're willing to pay?"

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wycombewheeler replied to andystow | 3 years ago
1 like

andystow wrote:

My favorite is "what's the lowest you'll go on this?"

My response is, "you go first, what's the most you're willing to pay?"

That one used to wind me up when I was selling cars, got so fed up with it, i just quoted the original asking price.

Probably worse were the calls from other companies promising they could sell the car for the asking price, for listing with them. They were never interested in buying it for the asking price minus their fee though, so it seems they weren't quite as confident as they claimed.

After that checked the part ex vale against we buy any car and stopped messing about advertising private sale any more.

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Nepomucene | 3 years ago
14 likes

Isn't it one if the best replies by a business after a mistake has been made?

Apologies, gesture to the offended person, donation to a 3rd party and explanation of what happened and why they will not fire the person, but try to learn from it instead...

brilliant job!

 

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Miller | 3 years ago
3 likes

The offer isn't insulting, it's just the opening bid in what was expected to be a negotiation. A bike or anything is only worth what people are willing to pay for it and asking prices are often optimistic to say the least. Sellers need to be realistic, polite and not take things personally.

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Rik Mayals unde... replied to Miller | 3 years ago
2 likes

Yes, but, many people on eBay are rude, and will offer insulting low bids. That said, they did open it to offers. If I get insultingly low offers from rude eBayers, I just block them. Easy peasy, I can't be arsed being a great eBayer to fuckwits.

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Billy1mate replied to Miller | 3 years ago
1 like

I see it as an offer with room to increase, if the seller said yes great, if not, a bit of offer ping pong may ensue.

The seller's response was polite and apologetic and the donation was a decent gesture.

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Captain Badger | 3 years ago
1 like

The response was unwarranted, however the offer was insulting. Mr Watt and his ilk (ie chancers who want to get one over on others) are a pain in the arse on ebay and FB market-place

 

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Captain Badger replied to Captain Badger | 3 years ago
1 like

Add to that Mr Grimes and one other that, as far as can be seen, was not involved at all in the original exchange have twice now been doxxed on Twatter (not by Mr Watt I add), this is turning into a bit of a sorry episode....

 

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Rendel Harris replied to Captain Badger | 3 years ago
6 likes

Captain Badger wrote:

The response was unwarranted, however the offer was insulting. Mr Watt and his ilk (ie chancers who want to get one over on others) are a pain in the arse on ebay and FB market-place

What nonsense, that's how bargaining works, they would have set the price at a bit more than they wanted, he offers a bit less than they wanted, and they could meet in the middle at £1250 (which would be about right for that bike) and both be happy. If the sellers weren't willing to consider offers, that option can be disabled.

Avatar
Captain Badger replied to Rendel Harris | 3 years ago
2 likes

Rendel Harris wrote:

....

What nonsense, that's how bargaining works, they would have set the price at a bit more than they wanted, he offers a bit less than they wanted, and they could meet in the middle at £1250 (which would be about right for that bike) and both be happy. If the sellers weren't willing to consider offers, that option can be disabled.

In which case offer 1250, and be prepared to move on till you find someone who is selling at a fair price. But, these silly Pythonesque games of meet in the middle are a waste of everyone's time and good will.

 

Avatar
Boopop replied to Captain Badger | 3 years ago
1 like

Captain Badger wrote:

Rendel Harris wrote:

....

What nonsense, that's how bargaining works, they would have set the price at a bit more than they wanted, he offers a bit less than they wanted, and they could meet in the middle at £1250 (which would be about right for that bike) and both be happy. If the sellers weren't willing to consider offers, that option can be disabled.

In which case offer 1250, and be prepared to move on till you find someone who is selling at a fair price. But, these silly Pythonesque games of meet in the middle are a waste of everyone's time and good will.

 

That's just how bargaining works though, and I speak as someone who grew up going to car boot sales bargaining with sellers for video games! Whatever the buyer offers, the seller is going to use the "meet me half way" reasoning. That's why you offer below what you expect they're willing to sell for first.

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alansmurphy replied to Boopop | 3 years ago
4 likes

That's why I wouldn't go near a "It probably belongs in the tip" sale. Everything these days is classic or retro even when it was shit the day it was released. 

 

If someone sticks a £50 price on a coat stand then walk on, don't offer £1

 

I'm looking for a laptop for my lad and one was on Fleabay with a start price of £139 and my budget was around £160. I told the seller I wasn't the best in terms of knowing value and my kid had provided the spec he wanted, I asked if he had a BIN price in mind and he said he was looking for over £200. I said fair play and wandered off. Like a normal human!

 

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W12 Hatter replied to alansmurphy | 3 years ago
4 likes

alansmurphy wrote:

That's why I wouldn't go near a "It probably belongs in the tip" sale. Everything these days is classic or retro even when it was shit the day it was released. 

There's a shop in Golborne Road, near Portobello Road in north-west London, that has a sign in the window, "We buy junk, we sell Antiques".

 

Admirable honesty.

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Captain Badger replied to Boopop | 3 years ago
0 likes

Boopop wrote:

.....

That's just how bargaining works though, and I speak as someone who grew up going to car boot sales bargaining with sellers for video games! Whatever the buyer offers, the seller is going to use the "meet me half way" reasoning. That's why you offer below what you expect they're willing to sell for first.

In this case, it looks like the bargaining didn't work....

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mdavidford replied to Captain Badger | 3 years ago
0 likes

For the buyer, it (eventually) did - they got it for less than they were expecting, and the seller made a donation to charity on top of that.

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