eBay

scottd-221 · ‎08-18-2017

Late last month I sold two British military medals, packaged them in an envelope and shipped them out. About two weeks later I recieved a message from the buyer claiming the envelope arrived but it was empty. I asked if he could send me pictures of the empty envelope. He claimed they must have fallen out in transit after the envelope was torn but the envelope had nothing on it indicating it was damaged in transit and it also appeared to have been purposely cut open. I called Ebay and reported what happended and opened a file with USPS to search for the lost mail. I havent heard anything bck from USPS, I naively refunded the buyer thinking I would be able to open a claim with Ebay to get my money back. I was very wrong. Is there anything I can do or am I just out of luck?

klassic*kids · ‎08-18-2017

Yikes. Would you send metals in small plaim, unpadded, envelope?

Happy 2018! May this upcoming year be a prosperous one!

dakotasmoke · ‎08-18-2017

Ebay doesnt reimburse sellers for items lost in the mail.

tellmemama · ‎08-18-2017

In a word, nope. Unless you can prove delivery via tracking, you are susceptible to claims of item not received whether they are fraudulent or not. Granted, some items are so low cost/low scam that it isn't worth paying the extra for tracking. That said, these medals would have been the perfect exception for your not shipping with tracking. Yes the buyer could be lying and actually received them.

Or they jammed up the PO sorting machines and are truly lost.

Joe

scottd-221 · ‎08-18-2017

Thanks for the replies. I assumed I messed up. I learned a lot of lessons on how to go about selling on Ebay, unfortunately paid for those lessons!

sg51 · ‎08-18-2017

I naively refunded the buyer thinking I would be able to open a claim with Ebay to get my money back.

Sure, that was wrong.

Can you explain the thought process which led you to that belief?

sg51 · ‎08-18-2017

I naively refunded the buyer thinking I would be able to open a claim with Ebay to get my money back.

If it would make you feel less naive, you were not going to achieve any better result than you got.

scottd-221 · ‎08-18-2017

From what I read I knew I was responsible for getting the items safely to the buyer. Since it didnt arrive safely to him I understood it was my responsibility to return their money. My thought was that if I would be able to demonstrate to Ebay that there was some sort of mix up/problem and I had actually shipped the items and upheld my end of the deal they might refund me because I was now out the medals and the money. I undertsand now that that belief was incorrect. I made a lot of mistakes with this transaction, from how I packaged the item to how I handled the case. Live and learn I guess.

sg51 · ‎08-18-2017

My thought was that if I would be able to demonstrate to Ebay that there was some sort of mix up/problem and I had actually shipped the items and upheld my end of the deal they might refund me because I was now out the medals and the money.

Ah. Well, that sort of thing does actually happen once in a while, but the essence of your case was that it's seller's responsibility to deliver the stuff to buyer. Shipping it doesn't count.

The kind of cases where ebay sometimes refunds seller is when buyer is pretty obviously a scammer, but ebay feels compelled to refund buyer (with seller's money). Then ebay has sometimes given a "courtesy refund" to seller.

18704d · ‎08-18-2017

You would file for the insurance with the USPS,

if someone opened and stole the items while in USPS possession.

Lynn

Lynn

You love me for everything you hate me for

.

southernfriedbelle · ‎08-18-2017

So sorry this happened to you. If you just shipped regular mail, (no tracking, no insurance), you're really out of options. Not sure you would have won an insurance claim with USPS or not, but if you had shipped priority mail, you would have at least had the option to try.

Sometimes it seems difficult to justify paying more for shipping, or in this case, setting the buyer paid shipping at a rate that provides adequate protection, especially when it's not a high dollar sale. Your experience, however, demonstrates the fallacy of this supposition.

There's no way to know the truth regarding if the buyer is being honest or not. In a war of words between buyer and seller, eBay will almost always favor the buyer. You were right to refund the buyer's money. EBay would have made you do it anyway, and at least you acted quickly and things didn't get ugly between you and the buyer.

From now on, make sure you are protecting your package against damage and loss while in transit. Part of your responsibility as a seller is to do all you can to make sure your item reaches the buyer in the same condition as your listing described it.

You did learn from this experience, although it cost you something to acquire that knowledge. Just move on from it, and try to be grateful the cost was relatively low! Sending my best wishes for your success in all your future selling endeavors! 😊

Belle

d-k_treasures · ‎08-18-2017

@tellmemama wrote:
In a word, nope. Unless you can prove delivery via tracking, you are susceptible to claims of item not received whether they are fraudulent or not. Granted, some items are so low cost/low scam that it isn't worth paying the extra for tracking. That said, these medals would have been the perfect exception for your not shipping with tracking. Yes the buyer could be lying and actually received them.

Or they jammed up the PO sorting machines and are truly lost.

The label has tracking. So if the buyer filed INR, they would have lost. The buyer would have had to file a SNAD.

_____________________________
"Nothing is obvious to the oblivious"

catlady1224 · ‎08-18-2017

@southernfriedbelle wrote:
So sorry this happened to you. If you just shipped regular mail, (no tracking, no insurance), you're really out of options. Not sure you would have won an insurance claim with USPS or not, but if you had shipped priority mail, you would have at least had the option to try.

Sometimes it seems difficult to justify paying more for shipping, or in this case, setting the buyer paid shipping at a rate that provides adequate protection, especially when it's not a high dollar sale. Your experience, however, demonstrates the fallacy of this supposition.

There's no way to know the truth regarding if the buyer is being honest or not. In a war of words between buyer and seller, eBay will almost always favor the buyer. You were right to refund the buyer's money. EBay would have made you do it anyway, and at least you acted quickly and things didn't get ugly between you and the buyer.

From now on, make sure you are protecting your package against damage and loss while in transit. Part of your responsibility as a seller is to do all you can to make sure your item reaches the buyer in the same condition as your listing described it.

You did learn from this experience, although it cost you something to acquire that knowledge. Just move on from it, and try to be grateful the cost was relatively low! Sending my best wishes for your success in all your future selling endeavors! 😊

Well said. You are so eloquent with your words 😼

southernfriedbelle · ‎08-18-2017

@d-k_treasures wrote:
@tellmemama wrote:
In a word, nope. Unless you can prove delivery via tracking, you are susceptible to claims of item not received whether they are fraudulent or not. Granted, some items are so low cost/low scam that it isn't worth paying the extra for tracking. That said, these medals would have been the perfect exception for your not shipping with tracking. Yes the buyer could be lying and actually received them.

Or they jammed up the PO sorting machines and are truly lost.
The label has tracking. So if the buyer filed INR, they would have lost. The buyer would have had to file a SNAD.

Wow, good catch, @d-k_treasures. You're right. And, the buyer would have won, 'cuz receiving an empty envelope is definitely Significantly Not As Described!😇😉

Belle