Bad buyers coming out of the woodwork

I have a number of things on Ebay right now and they’re generating a lot of interest. They are also generating a lot of annoying questions from potential buyers. One buyer seemed to be asking if I would sell two items to her before the close of the auction. Is that even possible? I made the question and answer public and played dumb: “Are you asking if I’d be willing to combine shipping if you’re the winning bidder for both items? I’d be happy to!”

I also have it clearly stated in my policies that I’m not trying to make money off of shipping, though I made sure to cover my rear by saying that I measure each package to the best of my ability. I just received a question from a buyer asking, “Do you charge actual shipping costs, and do you refund if there is a difference?” (I have edited the question; it was replete with spelling and grammatical errors.) I went on to explain my policy again and that it could easily work in the buyer’s favor, but that in the case that I make a few extra cents “…I typically don't refund shipping because it's such a negligible amount and it would create a paperwork hassle during the times that I have multiple items on auction.” I checked out her feedback after responding to her. Quite a few negatives and neutrals; apparently she likes to haggle after she wins an auction.

I now remember why I took a break from Ebay. I’d sold a purse for a pittance to a woman who played dumb about my payment policy (I was Pay-Pal only at the time) and asked to send a check, then took over two weeks to send it. Nevertheless, I left her positive feedback. Her feedback for me was “It’s okay…it looked better in the picture.”