I have no idea how to handle this situation and am not sure what the proper rules or etiquette governing this issue are. Also I have searched google and ebay help and haven't found an answer so I pose it to TWW.

I purchased a new item for around $100 last weekend through "Buy It Now". Paid through Paypal. Yesterday I received two of the items in the US Mail. I only paid for one item though. Both items were delivered to me in seperate shipping containers and both containers were correctly addressed to me.

I have only opened and used one of the items. What do I do with the second item though? The seller has not contacted me at all during the transaction. Do I need to contact them?

4/26/2008 7:02:06 PM

How important is your feedback to you on eBay? If you don't care that much then forget it. If it is then the dude will probably find out sooner or later and call you out for not saying something.

4/26/2008 7:06:13 PM

I would get him to leave you positive feedback ASAP before he realizes that he sent you an extra one. See how many of that same item he sold. If its more than 3 then most likely he wont be able to figure out who he sent the duplicate too.

4/26/2008 7:08:18 PM

tell the seller what happened, and if he wants his item back he needs to Paypal you the money for shipping.

if he sends you the money, ship it out.

if he doesn't send you the money, keep it.

is this really that difficult?

4/26/2008 7:13:28 PM

I'll take whatever it is

4/26/2008 7:15:35 PM

Don't be a thief, send the other one back at the seller's expense.

4/26/2008 8:08:22 PM

sell it

4/26/2008 8:39:47 PM

put the 2nd one on ebay. duh!

4/26/2008 9:08:02 PM

^^^, ^^^^^

not rocket surgery

4/26/2008 9:36:52 PM

This is not a tough moral decision. Contact the seller and tell him you received two, he/she has probably been wondering why another customer has been bitching about not receiving the item when he/she know it was sent out. The longer you wait, the worse you are making it for them and it makes you look like a thief/unethical. If this happened to you, wouldnt you want someone to be honest and send you back what is yours?

4/27/2008 2:00:19 PM

Quote :

" not sure what the proper rules or etiquette governing this issue are."

i find that hard to believe. sounds more like you're just wanting affirmation that it's ok for you to steal the extra item.

4/27/2008 2:29:20 PM

BUY IT NOW items are usually marked up so high that they'll make enough profit off of one to almost pay for the 2nd one.

regardless, what i'd do is tell him about it, then ask him if he wants to pay for shipping. if he doesn't want to pay the shipping, then you gain $$$. if he does, you get good feedback.

4/27/2008 2:43:50 PM

this is so simple. email the seller tell him you got 2 boxes. ask him to send you a shipping label so you can send the second box back to him. no need to create a message board thread about it.

4/27/2008 4:40:05 PM

It's not yours, send it back. This is not a hard concept.

4/27/2008 4:42:48 PM

It depends what this new item is.

4/27/2008 5:00:37 PM

Quote :

"It's not yours, send it back. This is not a hard concept."

4/27/2008 5:04:43 PM

i agree with many others. This is not a hard ethical or moral decision - you paid for one, for some reason you got two, therefore you tell the seller that you got two and you will ship one back to him ASAP. Along the same line of reasoning, if the seller is ethical, he will compensate you for the shipping costs for the return.

4/27/2008 6:23:32 PM

This happened to me with a textbook once on half.com.


it was pretty sweet. I ended up selling each of them at the end of the semester for more than I had paid for one.

4/27/2008 9:41:49 PM

^^ i wouldn't ship it back to him until and unless he paid me for the shipping. but yeah, don't be dishonest.

4/27/2008 9:47:24 PM

keep it.

4/28/2008 1:07:11 AM

-Tell him you got 2.
-Request money for shipping.
-Ship.
-What goes around comes around.

4/28/2008 1:18:54 AM

I would keep it. The world is not looking to do you a favor so don't look a gift horse in the mouth... or whatever the saying is.

Anyway I would keep it for sure, unless it's an item that is pointless for me to have two of.... like a moose penis perhaps... who needs two of those anyways?

4/28/2008 1:33:48 AM

The people who say "keep it" are probably the same ones who bitch and moan and throw temper tantrums anytime they get fucked.

Let the seller know and get shipping money, didn't your mama teach you anything?

4/28/2008 9:26:04 AM

I had somebody send me 5 radar detectors once... I told him about it and he said whoever he uses to drop ship everything had no record of it so to just keep them

So I sold them on ebay

4/28/2008 9:33:51 AM

Quote :

"Don't be a thief, send the other one back at the seller's expense."

If the seller does not want to cover the shipping back to him, of course, then you're entitled to keep the item. But I'd say 7 times out of 10, the item is worth more to the seller than 2x shipping charges.

4/28/2008 10:31:45 AM

Quote :

"Don't be a thief, send the other one back at the seller's expense."

You can also mark the package as RETURN TO SENDER and just drop it back on your porch (if you havent opened it). That would save the return shipping for him.

Otherwise he should pay return shipping. Either way, do the right thing.

4/28/2008 8:43:55 PM

i don't understand why the internet is necessary to do the right thing.

4/28/2008 9:34:33 PM

I think it depends on the item, and the seller.

4/28/2008 10:22:57 PM

Quote :

"You can also mark the package as RETURN TO SENDER and just drop it back on your porch (if you havent opened it). That would save the return shipping for him. Otherwise he should pay return shipping. Either way, do the right thing."

4/29/2008 12:51:05 AM