Need advice

[meewchan]

I wouldn't be too worried yet. My package from Germany (my Christmas/birthday presents from my family) just arrived yesterday... and the sent on Dec. 16th! My Christmas letter from the 22nd just made it to them yesterday.

Just keep in touch with your buyers. I know it's hard not to be tense when there's a lot of money on the line but, honestly, they are very aware of how long packages can take via 1st to be delivered.

[Goldknight]

What about Paypal seller protection? Anyone familiar with that? My German buyer is screaming for a refund and has opened a case. The UK buyer has also opened a case, but willing to wait a little longer. The German buyer opened the case through ebay.de. Seriously?

[cutiebunny]

Might sound harsh, but why can't buyers ever accept responsibility for their poor choices? Nobody forced them to buy the item from you. Nobody forced them to choose the cheapest method of shipping. And unless they contacted you prior to paying for the item and asking for a more expensive but trackable mail service and you flat out refused, I can't be bothered to have any sympathy for them. I'm sorry, but if something is super important to me or I spent a lot of money on it, I'd spend the $15 or so extra just to make sure that there's some insurance and tracking on that puppy. This whole "the buyer should take responsibility for the failure of the post office to deliver the item" thing is crap.

I might be more in favor of the buyer if the E-bay seller has derived most of their feedback from purchasing items like many shady sellers on YJ have. But it's another thing if the seller has been around on the site for several years and have sold many items in the past with no issue. If the seller were going to opt to not send the item and run off with the money, why select those transactions?

[Kasi]

This probably depends on the purchase price in theory. Over $50, $100, $200, or more? But I don't agree with the buyers being "responsible" for what happens in transit, or the seller. Lets be honest, the service is the one at fault if something gets stolen (and I say stolen incase of misprinted labels etc, which aren't the fault of the postal service).
When you pay for shipping, it should get from point A to B, even if its not the most expensive option you can pick, and almost all of the time. It does arrive. I don't like the idea of being guilted into much pricier shipping by the postal service, just "to be sure" my parcel arrives. I would come out far worse in the long run paying hefty extras for a small chance of losing an item. Have been buying and shipping mostly international since 2006, haven't lost one parcel.

In terms of who eBay finds responsible, I don't find it fair it comes down to the seller, but those seem to be the rules. I wouldn't find it fair for a genuine seller to be out of pocket either, it's bad on both sides.

GK: I refunded a buyer for a "lost" parcel but it wasn't forced through PayPal's buyer protection. I was refunded the money back again when the item turned up. I can't really judge the honesty of your buyers though.

[cutiebunny]

When you pay for shipping, it should get from point A to B, even if its not the most expensive option you can pick, and almost all of the time. It does arrive.

Not if you live in Italy. The postal system is just as bad there now as it was in the 1950s when my relatives were sending money to family members in envelopes. With Italy, the rule of thumb is that, unless you send it registered or EMS, it won't arrive. Ever. Same thing with Mexico, Argentina, and a lot of other nations. I have no clue what these postal officials do with all the packages that grew legs and found their way to their abode, but, all of these countries are places where, if you plan on doing business, make it mandatory that all buyers pay for, at minimum, registered shipping.

I've always been the type to pay extra for postage for important items if it meant getting tracking on that package. I'd rather spend a couple extra bucks and either receive the item or compensation if it does get lost/stolen. At least, for me, it's a small price to pay for peace of mind knowing that that my important something will arrive. I do not feel that it is responsible, as a buyer, to select the cheapest method and then hold the seller accountable if the item doesn't arrive...especially if said buyer can show me a scan of the receipt showing that a package was sent to my country a couple of days after I paid for the item. I think it's garbage that E-bay forces sellers to refund the purchase and shipping price to buyers - It should be E-bay's insurance that should repay the buyers, not the sellers. After all, they allowed these scammy buyers to join the system and/or allowed these buyers to use E-bay's US service despite their country's postal service having a bad reputation. You, as a seller, expect that your buyers will be properly vetted by E-bay so that you have smooth, hassle free transactions. It's not your fault if E-bay continually allows a buyer to buy more items despite having several prior claims of 'missing items'. The same goes for sellers as well - If, out of the 10 items you've sold to different buyers only 2 managed to show up, E-bay should consider investingating the seller to find out why the items didn't show.

The problem is that E-bay is trying to have its sellers operate like a large business - If a package from Amazon or some other large company doesn't arrive, Amazon will either send you another product or issue you a full refund. But small businesses, and especially those people who are simply trying to liquidate their collections or treat E-bay like a garage sale, are the ones that hurt. They don't deal with the quanitities that large businesses do, and hence the lost of just one item is a big loss. In the case of artwork, most people can't issue people a replacement because they're one of the kind items.

[teggacat]

Ebay is a buyers world, buyers can do no wrong,
the sellers are vilified and are always wrong....
been down that road
on costlier cels I only offer Global Pri, no options anymore,
I learned my lesson the hard way too.

International priority mail doesn't normally offer tracking which leaves you unprotected.

actually, Killua, yes, Global Pri is trackable, I've got a cel I sent on 12/26, left the US on 12/28 and
just fell off the radar, buyer is screaming for refund, but there is the proof it was sent, so now it still hasnt
been scanned/updated on the delivery status, buyer opens a claim against me, funny, also on Ebay.de,
so I call USPS to open an inquiry on this parcel, again funny, less than 2 hours later this parcel shows up
at Germany Customs, processed and released, so I contact buyer [havent heard back from him yet] and
leave him a rather scathing message [he's been rather rude],
GK, chances are very good your parcels are hung up in customs.
These buyers need to have a tad of PATIENCE and maybe even try being less rude,
i once told a guy[buyer] "I dont fly the freakin' airplane"

[BuraddoRun]

Lets be honest, the service is the one at fault if something gets stolen (and I say stolen incase of misprinted labels etc, which aren't the fault of the postal service). When you pay for shipping, it should get from point A to B, even if its not the most expensive option you can pick, and almost all of the time. It does arrive. I don't like the idea of being guilted into much pricier shipping by the postal service, just "to be sure" my parcel arrives. I would come out far worse in the long run paying hefty extras for a small chance of losing an item.

I feel this way as well. Unfortunately, the postal service is a business just like any other shipping company, and when you get other countries involved, their postal services join in the mix. When buying or selling, we just have to choose whether it's worth the risk either way, on whether we pay that extra bit or not.

GK, I really hope your situation gets settled and it all works out. But yeah, I think that in the future, you should add tracking and insurance to ALL international EBAY sales, and add that cost to your total asking price.

[Goldknight]

Just an update. I received a message today from the UK buyer saying her package arrived over the weekend. Thanks GOD! Now I just have the Germany package to stress over.

[zerospace]

What about Paypal seller protection? Anyone familiar with that? My German buyer is screaming for a refund and has opened a case. The UK buyer has also opened a case, but willing to wait a little longer. The German buyer opened the case through ebay.de. Seriously?

Not sure about PayPal seller protection, GK .... haven't dealt with it in a LONG time. If your buyers have opened their cases on their respective eBay sites, the process may be different than the US site (it used to be that international transactions weren't subject to the same rules, but perhaps this has changed? Contact eBay to find out what might happen).

For the buyer screaming for the refund, if it were me, I'd tell them that if the item doesn't arrive by the end of January or perhaps a week or so into Feb. that you'll give them the refund, no problem at all. A month and a half is pretty reasonable, I think. If it hasn't arrived by then, it may be lost or stolen (or simply misdirected, but there's not much you can do about that. If it arrives months down the road... you're going to be out both the money and the item, but that's the risk of doing business on eBay and shipping via untraceable methods -- you can hope that you'll have an honest buyer who would pay you again, but yeah... I wouldn't hold my breath on that >_< if they're screaming for a refund when barely a month has passed and you're talking about international first class).

[ReiTheJelly]

What about Paypal seller protection? Anyone familiar with that?

It depends on the cost of the item you mailed. Since you have photos/scans of the label, you may be partially eligible for protection. But if the item is over $250, it *must* be sent with tracking/signature confirmation, or Paypal won't give all your money back. The best way to get this resolved is to upload all the pertinent information (messages between the buyer and yourself, and the photo of the label), then CALL Paypal's customer support number. I've found that things get resolved a lot quicker over the phone.

Because of some stuff that happened this past fall with a customer claiming her credit card was stolen (she filed more than $10k in charge-backs), I only ship with tracking now. Thankfully, the item she bought from me DID have tracking on the package and was fully insured, so I was able to get my money back from Paypal.

[Goldknight]

Would you believe that the Germany package just arrived? Insane...... I'm just glad this is all over. Thanks for all the advice.

[BuraddoRun]

Awesome news!

[kathpatty]

Sweet !!!

[Golden Boy]

GK FTW!