eBay

pearldrops2 · ‎10-26-2022

I just sold a Lenox vase for the second time. (High bidder on first listing didn't pay.) Interestingly, all the bidders on the first auction were China based. I just listed it again as "Buy It Now" and it sold within 20 or 30 minutes of listing it. The current buyer also appears to be in China. I don't ship internationally but he/she appears to be using a US based shipper. He/she did pay immediately but also immediately sent me an email through eBay, "please help me pack better."

My intuition is on high alert for some kind of scam, maybe claiming it arrived broken? I don't sell much on eBay and I shy away from selling anything that is breakable but I listed this vase as a favor to my sister.

To the seasoned sellers: How can I protect myself from possible false claims? If I take video of me packing this vase in miles of bubble wrap, taping up the box and affixing the postage label with the buyer's US shipping address is that enough, or do I need to do more? Advice please!

wastingtime101 · ‎10-26-2022

Video means nothing and eBay will not even look at it.

You can message the buyer and ask if the freight forwarder they're using will repack the item before forwarding it to them in China.

The goal with that is to get confirmation through messages that they're using a freight forwarder. That's info you can use to win a claim filed through eBay's money back guarantee.

If the buyer files a financial dispute with their credit card saying not as described or broken, there's nothing you can do to fight that.

These are the kinds of things that need to be considered before listing. Any seller can be scammed at any time so before you list, make the decision if you can afford to lose it should it come to that.

Most buyers are great. I hope your buyer falls into that category.

It's not a bad idea to use a bit of extra bubble/packing material on this one since it'll be going through a freight forwarder. I'm sure you already planned on packing well and double-boxing though. 😀

GLORIOUS!

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stephenmorgan · ‎10-26-2022

Jut a guess, but it could be that with the first sale they did not realize how much the shipping and import charges would be until after the sale was final and then they got scared off.

A vase is very easy to get broken. I would bubble wrap it, put it inside a box, bubble wrap the box and put in a larger box.

Anyone can rip you off in any number of varying ways. If you cancel the sale this could get you a defect and defects can increase you selling fees. Did you already receive payment for item? If you received payment and you are charged a International Fee then your item may be a International Shipment. If it is going to a re-shipper it just needs to arrive to them safely.

Basically you have to trust people and hopefully this is not a scam.

richards*rock*collection · ‎10-26-2022

I don't see any problem had the same thing happen to me many times and nothing ever happened, good though, and I think at this point your obligated to follow through on just the principle, you made an agreement, we don't have the authority to act on a whim and do something like cancel the sale, we must follow through unless you feel you can get a defect and if you get enough of those looks bad, but do what you want, I guess your an adult. I think an honest person would send it, but also don't list anything for sale here unless your willing to lose your item and the money because that could happen, good luck, sorry I cant do better for you, there are no guarantee's. A video wont pull any weight, use the eBay method a box in a box method, one that can be kicked down and up 2 flights of stairs and hit with a no.1 gold driver, that is all, cheers

pearldrops2 · ‎10-26-2022

Thank you! I had not thought of double boxing. Great advice!

eBay tells me the buyer has paid. Listing, sale and payment just went down tonight so I have not received payout from eBay yet. Tuesdays are my normal payout days.

lakefor94 · ‎10-26-2022

Video means nothing. Just pack the snot out of it just like @stephenmorgan stated.

For items going to reshippers, I pack them not to just make it to the reshipper, but to make the trek across the big water as well.

Posting ID

albertabrightalberta · ‎10-26-2022

When a buyer uses a freight forwarder, they lose their buyer protection. As long as you have tracking to the US address provided, you are protected.

albertabrightalberta
Volunteer Community Mentor

pearldrops2 · ‎10-26-2022

Thank you! I will attempt to get confirmation through messages that they are using a freight forwarder. That and the double boxing is great advice!

dbfolks166mt · ‎10-26-2022

When a buyer uses a freight forwarder, they lose their buyer protection. As long as you have tracking to the US address provided, you are protected.

One can only hope that is the case but eBay has waffled a number of times on this policy with regards to buyer protection under the MBG. There is also NOTHING that is going to protect the seller from a chargeback for NAD or INR. CC companies don't really give a crap about eBay's policies.

The question with regards to the use of FF and sellers that don't wish to sell internationally comes up at least once a month. There are certain countries that I refuse to sell to for various reason, China being in the group at the top of that list. I seldom get into the FF scenario and generally I ship and have few to no problems but I have canceled sales to China and a few other countries using problem with the buyers address. EBay frowns on this but it's not their merchandise, their risk or their money on the line.

stephenmorgan · ‎10-26-2022

@pearldrops2 wrote:
Thank you! I had not thought of double boxing. Great advice!
eBay tells me the buyer has paid. Listing, sale and payment just went down tonight so I have not received payout from eBay yet. Tuesdays are my normal payout days.

You can still check if it was an international sale. Do you know how to look up the View Orders Details? The International Fee of 1.65% lets you know it is an international sale. If you have that fee and the item is shipping to a US Address then it could be leaving the country. If it seems like a international sale you could ask the buyer if you really wanted to know.

gurlcat · ‎10-26-2022

I LOVE Chinese buyers! They make up a large portion of my sales, usually through freight forwarders but occasionally through ebay's Global Shipping Program, and I have not yet had a single problem with a single one of them. Once they pay they almost always vanish from the picture (rarely leave feedback and usually won't reply to an email if I have to write to them for some reason). But hey, I'm not complaining, because they often are the highest auction bidders and/or the ones who buy my BIN items freshly-listed, even if I try a price that feels like "pushing my luck" and assume I'll have to lower it. Russians and Ukranians were the same way, I sure do miss them. At least in my item categories, it's my fellow Americans who've been the most frequent PITA's.

The plea for good packing is just because they've received poorly-packed broken stuff before, and they honestly don't WANT to have to file claims. Someone who intends to scam with a damage claim wouldn't give you a heads-up about how to avoid it, lol.

EDIT: I see you're going to ask if they're using a freight forwarder. As I said, Chinese buyers often don't reply to emails, but don't take that as a bad sign or anything. And anyway the answer is YES, especially if the address is on the West Coast. And you don't need that information; you have an address to ship to and that's all you have to do.

rcaspindle-4 · ‎10-26-2022

Myself, I would risk any negative feedback and cancel the sale and update my account to - not shipping out of the country. Good Luck, hope everything works out for you.

albertabrightalberta · ‎10-26-2022

@rcaspindle-4 wrote:
Myself, I would risk any negative feedback and cancel the sale and update my account to - not shipping out of the country. Good Luck, hope everything works out for you.

But the OP is NOT shipping out of the country. The buyer has a US shipping address. There's nothing to update and the buyer didn't circumvent any ebay or seller rules.

albertabrightalberta
Volunteer Community Mentor