General Alter card trade gone wrong. What do I do?

[Velrun]

An alter artist made a deal with me. I would pay for an alter and she would paint it with all the details I requested. I was to pay for all shipping, taxes and vat costs.

I was told to wait for some time. I waited four months.

I was told to pay. I paid.

After some weeks, I was told the trade was cancelled. It left me in a pretty bad position but what could I do but accept the cancellation.

After a few weeks, some money came back. Not the same amount though. I lost about 30 kr. which is not a lot but also not nothing.

I showed the seller the difference in the amount of Kr. I shipped and the amount of Kr. I received.

The seller responded with her dog had died and that I was being petty and that she was not responsible to make up for the difference due to currencies can vary over time.

Then she instantly blocked me and I could not reply to the dog comment and the currency comment.

Story over. To clarify: She had made sure that she shipped all the money back that she had received but not made sure I received all the money I had shipped. Paypal takes cuts etc.

What do you think I should do?

The seller is an Admin

 

[LadyMapi]

Honestly? Accept that you're down 30 kroner — you aren't getting them back, and it isn't reasonable for you to expect to get them back.

She is absolutely correct that it's not the seller's responsibility to make up for any losses (or gains!) due to exchange rates. She has, after all, returned any and all profits she might have made on the commission.

To put it another way... imagine that the exchange rate moved the other way, and the money she shipped back to you came out to the amount of money you sent plus an extra 30 kroner. Would you send that 30 kroner back to her?

 

[sigh]

The "dog died" line wasn't needed from their side and really quite off-putting honestly, but overall agree. Fees will really take a toll, unfortunately, and exchange rate kinda is what it is. I doubt there was any ulterior motive since my understanding is that they sent back all the money they had ended up with.

 

[Mown]

She is absolutely correct that it's not the seller's responsibility to make up for any losses (or gains!) due to exchange rates. She has, after all, returned any and all profits she might have made on the commission.

I think that if you enter a trade agreement with someone and your inability to uphold your part of the bargain only inconveniences the other party instead of yourself, then it is at minimum quite disrespectful.

I wouldn't bother escalating what ultimately amounts to a chocolate bar, but I'd probably at least leave a bad review or something equivalent.

 

[sigh]

It likely inconveniences the artist as well in this case, because they have to a) make no money on a commission which is always less convenient than making money and b) maybe take away from a poor cashflow situation months after receiving the payment, rather than cancelling it much more immediately when it's a "money revolving door" situation that doesn't really ruffle much of anything.

 

[Zoss]

Doing the math, 30 kroner is roughly equal to $3 USD, right? If you want to go with the coldest of logic to chart a course of action, consider whether the sum of money and expressing your concurrent seething anger is worth not having access to this errant street artist long-term.

 

[Velrun]

Doing the math, 30 kroner is roughly equal to $3 USD

6 $

 

[Velrun]

I’ll do nothing then

I just find it odd the buyer always has to be the one paying vat, paying taxes, paying shipping, taking the risk of paying up front, paying the Paypal fee or other in order to make sure the seller receives the exact amount in their own currency.

But when the seller after several months cancels the deal, they only return the money they had on their account ignoring all those fees and also doesn’t concert to the correct currency.

It’s only $6 so I’ll take your advice and do nothing. I just wish the world was more fair. However I do live a priviliged life so maybe I shouldn’t complain.

 

[LadyMapi]

6 $

It's actually exactly $3 at the moment. The current exchange rate, as of the market closing on May 9th, 2022, from NOK to USD is 1kr to $0.10.

Also, here's the thing:

1. She does have to pay some of those fees to return your money — Paypal takes their cut both ways, for example.

2. The money is probably worth way more to her than it is to you. Like, almost by definition. You spent your disposable income on a luxury product, while it is entirely possible that the money that she sent back to you came out of her bill/food/rent money. This is one of the big reasons why the law generally sides with vendors.

Like, that's the big thing — if someone is working for commissions, they're generally doing so because their regular income does not meet their living expenses. I can almost guarantee you that she spent the money you sent her almost as soon as she got it, and that that money most likely wasn't being spent on fun things like Magic cards.

In other words, if the world were more fair, she probably wouldn't be working for commissions in the first place.

 

[Zoss]

Looping back around to this, @Velrun, I think it's perfectly fine to be angry/upset about this while still taking the moral high road of not making a big fuss over it. In fact, I think that "acknowledging one's feelings and doing the right thing anyways" takes a lot more willpower than "doing the right thing because you want to do it."

 

[shamizy]

This seller sucks. At least apologize for not following through on the request and putting it off for months. Like yeah, it's unfortunate that your dog died, but that has nothing to do with the job you were paid to complete. Four months ago.

Unfortunately not much you can do or and it doesn't really seem worth following up based off the amount lost, but it's still just really shitty service.

 

[LadyMapi]

Looping back around to this, @Velrun, I think it's perfectly fine to be angry/upset about this while still taking the moral high road of not making a big fuss over it. In fact, I think that "acknowledging one's feelings and doing the right thing anyways" takes a lot more willpower than "doing the right thing because you want to do it."

Yeah, this.

Does it suck that you lost money over this after months of getting no news? Yes, definitely, and she should have kept you informed about her progress (or lack thereof) way earlier.

It's just that "she sends you back the money she received" is basically the only simple way to handle refunds across two currencies that doesn't lead to issues. After all, if she was required to refund you for the amount you sent, there would be situations where she would still make money without doing anything¹.

¹ Let's say you sent her 600 kroner when it was a 10:1 exchange rate, meaning she gets $60. If the deal fell through when there was a 12:1 exchange rate and you asked her to send you your 600 kroner, she could send you $50 (which would become 600kr.) and pocket $10!

 

[Rusje]

Yeah, this.

Does it suck that you lost money over this after months of getting no news? Yes, definitely, and she should have kept you informed about her progress (or lack thereof) way earlier.

It's just that "she sends you back the money she received" is basically the only simple way to handle refunds across two currencies that doesn't lead to issues. After all, if she was required to refund you for the amount you sent, there would be situations where she would still make money without doing anything¹.

¹ Let's say you sent her 600 kroner when it was a 10:1 exchange rate, meaning she gets $60. If the deal fell through when there was a 12:1 exchange rate and you asked her to send you your 600 kroner, she could send you $50 (which would become 600kr.) and pocket $10!

Assuming Velrun is from the EU it is for webshops mandatory to reimburse the postal costs what you paid to get the order to you if you send the whole order back. One could extend this with fees and the nonsense of I got 10 dollar so I will convert 10 dollar will probably not fly in the EU. That said in this case there are only losers and I can completely understand that the costs made (fees and such) could be shared between the buyer and seller.

Your last argument is nonsense. One could make money or lose money but it is the risk of currency rates that should be at the seller not the consumer (again the European viewpoint consumer protection).

As a famous Disney film says: let it go.

 

[Velrun]

It's actually exactly $3 at the moment. The current exchange rate, as of the market closing on May 9th, 2022, from NOK to USD is 1kr to $0.10.

Wrong currency Lady

Here are the exact numbers




The difference is 31.25 Kr.

The currency I asked for in return was my own and not in USD. Just like when I paid her I paid in the currency she asked for.

 

[sigh]

The currency here is the Danish Krone (DKK) as far as I can tell, not the Norwegian Krone (NOK) nor the Swedish Kroner (SEK). I guess Europe really likes that word for currency.

 

[Velrun]

The currency here is the Danish Krone (DKK) as far as I can tell, not the Norwegian Krone (NOK) nor the Swedish Kroner (SEK). I guess Europe really likes that word for currency.

Yeah it's been around for many decades. So many things are quite odd to look at from a 2000's perspective.

 

[Velrun]

I would like to 'close' this thread if possible. I got the feedback I was looking for and I decided to do nothing as you all suggested.
But I'm not the boss so if you comment, there is nothing I can do about it.