As a buyer, you can request anything. Requesting things isn’t outrageous.
This guy has probably been burned too many time by people who don’t care. Understanding he just wants confirmation you’re not going to scrunch it into a Ball and throw it to his house is all they need.
I would imagine that the buyer’s ‘fear’ of the card being bought by someone else would have warranted the additional 9.99 paid but nevertheless classy reply! @sizzlinshibe
While you’re not wrong, its not the buyers place to give a list of instructions to send a card basically underwater. You think some seller who sends card in an envelop is going to read that and think, “Huh, I should do all this!”. No, they didn’t care nor understand from the start how to ship cards, they aren’t going to instantly change their packing. Its annoying and ridiculous imo. If the card gets damaged, it goes back, that is just how ebay works.
Its unfortunate, but that huge message isn’t convincing anyone who isn’t thinking about shipping in the first place is my point.
Exactly. I missed out on a $225 card about a month ago. Best Offer Listing. It was advertised on their site for $200(dacardworld), so I threw a $210 offer and left for work. The reason I don’t buy from their store is there’s no shipping option under $30-40 and I don’t know if they mark down items for International orders so I prefer paying $20 shipping with GSP.
I was sure by the time I came home I’d have my card and all would be well but it pretty much insta sold in minutes. I wanted to save $15 but I just aquired the very same card for $350 today. 
I think Best Offer listings so close to market value are a bad idea anyway… In that particular case, I think there was an auto decline at $201 or $205. Just make it BIN and I probably would have bought it above my budget.
A little late, but heres my take. I wouldn’t mind the second message… I’ve received similar requests in the past and I understand the reasons behind it. Truthfully I’m glad to receive them.
His shipping method would have little impact on how I personally ship and protect my cards… I’d suggest just assuring him that it will be safe and well protected, and maybe add an “extra” layer since he asked 
I typically overprotect shipments anyway, not just because I usually self-insure but because I also understand the extent of abuse packages can sometimes experience. After all we are all collectors here too… and naturally want are shipments to arrive to us safely and intact.
The first request is odd, but also not a big deal. Gary’s idea sums it up… Don’t step over a dollar to save a penny… and don’t make a mountain out of a mole hill. All that’s needed here is to reassure the buyer that you intend to do a good job. No need at all to correct him… why get caught up in all that jazz? Happy buyer = happy life.
If youre from europe buy from troll and toad. 5$ shipping and you never have to pay customs.
Dacardworld’s 40$ shipping plus paying customs makes it so expensive. I actually once bought from them and tried to cancel the order 2 hours later and they wouldnt let me do it. Saying it would be too much trouble and i should just send it back a few weeks later. Wouldnt recommend.
Thanks for the info. That’s very bad customer customer service. I’m actually in Canada and I face similar situations to you guys in Europe even if I’m like 20 minutes drive to the US border. I mostly blame our government though, getting taxed on $20 CAD purchases is silly. You compare to the states where anything below $2000 USD or so is fair game. That will probably change soon with Our honorable president’s ultra conservative Buy American Only shenanigans.
I’m interested as to why so many of you are okay with the buyer asking for a price reduction after committing to buy.
I get it, it was just a request, they were willing to pay the full price, etc, etc. But out of principle, this behavior is ludicrous.
Clicking “buy it now” enters you in a binding contract between buyer and seller. You don’t get to renegotiate the terms of a contract after you sign it!
I’m also speaking from the position of someone who is exclusively a buyer and even I can see a problem with this behavior.
Im with you there. If he was so scared that someone else was gonna snatch that card for that price then thats his problem and the only way to avoid that is to buy it now. Buying and then asking for a reduction is just wrong on so many levels I wouldnt even think about it. If someone did this to me I would honestly just cancel the sale and block the buyer.
Yea but he was just reserving it for himself so he could discuss a purchase. Nothing wrong with that at all, the BIN price is there so you can pay then negotiate.I dont see why everyone is getting so narky at the buyer, he just wanted to reserve the card
Stop anyone else who wanted to pay 89.99 because it was such a fair price, so would go quickly.
The seller should refund him 9.99, follw all emailed packing instructions and send some free stuff aswell. It is the standard and normal thing to do…If not then tbh neg feedback all day long. The customer is always right, and isf he asked for money back, free stuff and specific instructions, you do them! You dont bitch and moan…you take the money…bow to the customer…“thank you so much sir”,then do as he wishes. SIMPLE! Please lock this thread as I have fully answered the question.
Cheers
I like how nobody replied to my question below. Maybe I will do it next time I see an e4 member buy from me on eBay and see how long before I make it in the sour grapes thread (and rightfully so). 
That’s me too.
Buyer comes with too much “me-me-me” demands for my patience. I’d let someone else deal with him/her.
I gave my take on the situation in an earlier post very briefly:
“I think this is a seller’s decision – the buyer threw the ball into the seller’s court – the seller can either reprimand him for asking such a request or respond by giving him a discount out of kindness (since strictly business-wise, the buyer should receive no discount or bonuses). Same concept goes if the roles were reversed imo.”
In the reverse case, it is the buyer’s decision how to react – they can say no or reprimand the seller for such a request… or if they are so inclined to do so they can give in to the seller’s request out of kindness. Only if the seller refuses to ship the item because the buyer doesn’t pay the extra amount would I see that as behavior that 100% shouldn’t be tolerated.
The point I was making was never that I condoned the practice… So moving past that the point is, “how can I turn this situation into a good outcome.”
I’d personally rather have a happy customer with the possibility of a few more sales down the road than a couple extra $ in hand. So that’s why I said it’s “not a big deal”.
I see little difference between hitting the buy it now and then asking for ‘a little discount but it’s ok if you dont’
And
messaging sellers who don’t offer a best offer but bugging them with pm’s trying to knock down the price (usually lowballers).
Both are wrong but way more do the second.
For large sellers, either volume or value, I can understand that. However for infrequent or small scale sellers I disagree with the first statement. The guy has already paid for the item, if he messaged and asked/sent a best offer…fair enough.This guy has paid, checked out…the seller could have mailed out the card before seeing the message. The buyer had the money, paid for the item, held it at ransom as it was off the market…then negotiated 
its kind of cheating the intended system imo. Ok yes it is only 9.99, but even still! Im not saying cancel the transaction or be arsey as you do lose a potential customer for the future…that is for business and common ebay sellers. If its just a means to make a few extra pennies to support your hobby etc then not a huge issue anyways.
Hopefully the above kind of makes sense 
My kind of ebay selling would vary, so if someone bought an item then said can i have some money back? I would be polite and friendly as alway…however I wouldnt refund 9.99 back. If they wanted a deal then use the best offer, if accepted great. the small premium to guarantee the in demand item isnt much.
But yeaaa ^.^ the rant isnt aimed purely at your message, just a serious reply for the OP and my personal stance(not that is matters or anyone cares, but this is a forum so tough nuggie! 
).
I personally have had dozens of multi item buyers result from messages on firm BIN listings with no BO option.
Usually it is someone dropping a lot of cash on multiple items or it is someone looking to buy single items in extreme bulk. Sure if I am selling a set of 4 trainers for $5.79 BIN I don’t want BO’s coming through for any less so I do a BIN listing, but when someone wants to buy 20 of them and save on shipping I will glady go $5.25 or something reasonable to pass the stamp savings on to them. This happens frequently with me.
The card was not necessarily paid for. The buyer just hit BIN, it doesn’t mean they checked out yet. I wouldn’t have given them a discount, but it’s worth a shot. The fact this was Best Offer I’m pretty sure OP was accepting $75-80. It seems like they’ll throw a bonus and they have very politely dealt with that buyer.
Sure, it’s less than ideal to have picky buyers make such specific requests in regards to pricing and packaging, but I’m also not ok with the bunch of you guys that would just insta cancel and block that person from buying from you. It’s a breathe of fresh air to hear guys like @KingPokemon would accomodate that kind of buyer.
This is why he’s at the top of my list if I ever need some high end graded cards and I’ll be more than willing to pay a small premium when I buy from him again.
To buy it now, you have to pay to get it? Otherwise I could BIN on loads of items and just hold them at ransom? 
Im not sure so please do correct me as it sounds like I am worng aha! Yes I would pay a small premium to some of the sellers on this forum as I trust in them, their values and honesty.
It depends how the seller lists it. There’s an option you can check that requires instant payment when you click BIN, but as far as I’m aware very few sellers actually use it. I could be wrong though.