eBay

lindaegret8 · ‎02-15-2020

I had a very bad experience with a buyer.The item arrived damaged by USPS and I filed a claim but she ignored it.I was told by USPS that she must bring it to her local post office which was in the midwest and I am in the northeast.I was so upset it felt helpless and hopeless- ebay does nothing to insist that the buyer document the damage with the carrier that caused it and embay gave e totally wrong info about the insurance process.Long and short of it is the seller is responsible from beginning to end and there is no rule in place that the buyer has to document the damage.Apparently PayPal does require documentation but not ebay.So with a difficult uncommunicative buyer my item was never taken to the post office.( this is required by USPS)I refunded the buyer and had a 3 week window for the USPS insurance which the buyer ignored.It was a heavy fragile casserole vintage and gorgeous total loss .Lesson learned the USPS priority insurance is never going to work unless the buyer cooperates ebay has no provisions in place to make the buyer comply and document the damage.You will be responsible if you have an unhelpful buyer like I did.I will now only use ebay for items that are less prone to breakage and I am going to use many other platforms to sell- I was only using ebay and that will now change- was going to close the account but instead will pare it down and explore all those other possibilities out there.If you send an item priority and feel good that it has the insurance be aware that ebay wont help and if the buyer doesn't cooperate the insurance is worthless as mine was.

springs_2013 · ‎02-18-2020

I agree, but from my experience, even though the package made it to the buyer in perfect condition, the buyer can decide they don't like the item, so to get their money back without paying for return shipping, they purposely break it and claim that it was damaged during transit. Had a scammer that did it to me a few years back and you have to refund the buyer 100%. Not to mention the 2 bites of the apple, as well as ridiculous number of days allowed for the buyer to dispute.

genv · ‎02-18-2020

brian@ebay

If my car is in an accident, and I file a Claim, the Insurer must see the damage.

Why is it different on eBay ?

genv · ‎02-18-2020

If the recipient is claiming/alleging a loss, the party should be prepared to prove the loss/substantiate the Claim. Otherwise, costs go up for everyone. As does fraud. An honest person will willingly supply damage photos, or, bring the item to the inspection site.

I pack very well, and claims are rare. When they happen, USPS has been excellent in paying the Claim. I'm wondering if certain recipients have a higher incidence of receiving damaged goods. Perhaps the P.O. has those persons on their radar, and, asks them to bring items in. Or, it may be the Carrier or Route workers are too rough & inspection allows P.O. to mitigate the weak links.

Be it as it is, I am removing large, heavy, fragile items from online venues. Not worth the effort to pack, the stress during travel, the high fees, the low prices. Some things are better sold in person.

poppyswag · ‎02-18-2020

Local pick-up on ebay is not foolproof either, sorry to say. You are required to list with a cc or paypal option. Suggest other local listing venues.

brian@ebay · ‎02-18-2020

@genv wrote:

brian@ebay

If my car is in an accident, and I file a Claim, the Insurer must see the damage.

Why is it different on eBay ?

Hi @genv, based on the information in this thread the company insuring the package (USPS in this case) is asking to see the damage. eBay is not the insurer, so we do not have the ability to force a buyer to provide proof to the shipping company. If a seller wants to pursue a return through the eBay site, we will facilitate that. If the seller wants to pursue a claim through the shipping company they purchased insurance from, that is also an option but since eBay is not involved in that claim process the buyer and seller will need to work together to resolve that claim.

Brian,
Community Team

monster-deals · ‎02-18-2020

brian@ebay wrote:
we do not have the ability to force a buyer to provide proof to the shipping company.

Of course ebay has that ability.

jameshen1 · ‎02-18-2020

It's very uncommon for a buyer to not cooperate with an insurance claim.

Bwahaha! Brian has a great sense of humor.

genv · ‎02-18-2020

brian@ebay

based on the information in this thread the company insuring the package (USPS in this case) is asking to see the damage. eBay is not the insurer, so we do not have the ability to force a buyer to provide proof to the shipping company.

But, you (eBay) has the ability to FORCE a Seller to issue a full refund (including postage, which was a service (delivery) the Buyer received)... WITHOUT any form of proof.

There is no reason eBay cannot REQUIRE PROOF of damage/loss, none whatsoever.

coffeebean832 · ‎02-18-2020

brian@ebay wrote:
If a seller seeks protections from the shipping carrier then we'll approve a refund (if we're asked to step in) and let the seller and buyer work out the shipping insurance protections with each other.

It's very uncommon for a buyer to not cooperate with an insurance claim.

If it's so uncommon then it wouldn't cost eBay much to support the seller- and that little bit of cost would go a lot further with seller confidence in the platform. Just saying...

@lindaegret8- Make sure you report this buyer.

lindaegret8 · ‎02-18-2020

Thank you I did report the buyer she did some other suspicious things as well.Unfortunately ebay did not step in - they did nothing!I kept them informed of everything and I immediately let them know when I got a letter from USPS about the window of time for the item to be evaluated.The buyer wasn't communicating so I communicated with ebay but they did not help me except to listen and it was too involved to always repeat everything so I asked for supervisors and had them make notes- little good it did me- ebay was a mine of misinformation.I think they assume a buyer will be upstanding and report damage and act accordingly but they have no safety net for sellers when a buyer like the one I had doesn't communicate or help and may well have been pursuing some sort of scam.Really soured me on ebay was going to close the account but instead I will edit it down and use other websites as well.I will never sell anything that has any sentimental value in the event it is lost or damaged and I get another dreadful buyer I will not see any return for it! I will lose money and have nothing but aggravation and guilt that I chose to put a family heirloom on ebay which does not support sellers.

bigdeals.etc · ‎02-18-2020

brian@ebay wrote:
@coffeebean832 wrote:
Did you contact customer service? @Anonymous has said many times that if a buyer does not cooperate with an insurance claim then eBay may afford some protections to the seller.
Hi @coffeebean832, while the information @Anonymous provided previously was correct at the time, that information no longer matches our current processes. If a seller seeks protections from the shipping carrier then we'll approve a refund (if we're asked to step in) and let the seller and buyer work out the shipping insurance protections with each other.

A little OT but related, I've stopped purchasing insurance anymore because of my failed attempts at contacting the buyer to try and get them to cooperate with the insurance claim. It may be different for me because I used to only get insurance for international orders... since those orders are more prone to item loss. Perhaps it's much easier for domestic, I don't know.

There were many claims I had to file. The problem was that for international orders, I had to wait 45 days in order to file a claim for item loss. By then the buyer had already filed an INR and won the case or got their money back because of the time limits for cases. I would reach out to the buyer weeks later (when allowed to file the insurance claim) in order for them to fill out a required item loss affidavit for the insurance company. Many times the buyer drops off the face of the Earth and never heard from. Total loss for me as well as paying for insurance that I can't even complete the claim.

I mentioned this to CS long ago, and they said there's nothing they can do. That's why I stopped getting insurance.

picknparley · ‎02-18-2020

This ShipCover was news to me. Perhaps I just never saw it before. I read the info page on this ebay service and, as a seller, have a concern or two.

1) how long has ebay been in the insurance business?

2) why should sellers have to pay for this insurance when we're already paying extra FVF and tax on shipping fees?

3) this does nothing to stop the misuse and abuse affecting sellers.

Is this perhaps ebay's answer to all the scamming going on? Collect yet more money from the sellers to pay for the dishonesty running rampant on the site. I can't say I agree with this. If the scammers were pursued more seriously, and their actions thwarted, instead of being approved by ebay policies in the way of instant refunds, this suggested added cost would not even be up for discussion.

Please come up with something better than telling us we need to pay even more to get the service we should already be receiving with our store subscriptions.

mesodude · ‎02-18-2020

Sorry you're having to deal with this. About a decade ago I filed a claim for a stained glass window panel that my buyer received ruined and my experience at the time was that no two people at either the PO or eBay would give me the same explanation of the claims filing process. In my case, the buyer immediately sent me photo proof the item was destroyed and I refunded him on the spot (and offered him a credit on a future item, from what I recall). According to the USPS web site, they "may" require photo proof that an item was damaged. Somewhat bizarrely though, a clerk at my local PO insisted that before I would be refunded, I needed to ask the buyer to repackage and ship the box full of glass shards (no, seriously) back to me as proof of damage! After I explained to her that even if my buyer would agree to something so idiotic (after he'd already been refunded), I asked her why she believed the buyer's own PO couldn't inspect the package as effectively as she could. Her mouth fell open and she shooed me away from her window. 🤔 In the end, I received a refund without being required to submit any proof at all. But seriously, this lack of clarity between eBay and the USPS about insurance claims is ridiculous to me and I think you should be persistent until you talk to the right person (either at eBay or the PO). And it's ludicrous that a buyer shouldn't be required to offer proof an item arrived destroyed before being refunded.

brian@ebay · ‎02-18-2020

@picknparley wrote:

This ShipCover was news to me. Perhaps I just never saw it before. I read the info page on this ebay service and, as a seller, have a concern or two.

1) how long has ebay been in the insurance business?

2) why should sellers have to pay for this insurance when we're already paying extra FVF and tax on shipping fees?

3) this does nothing to stop the misuse and abuse affecting sellers.

Is this perhaps ebay's answer to all the scamming going on? Collect yet more money from the sellers to pay for the dishonesty running rampant on the site. I can't say I agree with this. If the scammers were pursued more seriously, and their actions thwarted, instead of being approved by ebay policies in the way of instant refunds, this suggested added cost would not even be up for discussion.

Please come up with something better than telling us we need to pay even more to get the service we should already be receiving with our store subscriptions.

Hi @picknparley, there seems to be a misunderstanding here. ShipCover is not an eBay service, they are a 3rd party company that offers shipping insurance. eBay is not in the insurance business. This additional insurance option has been available for many years. Since proof of damage is done through the eBay site (as opposed to having to take an item to a local post office) it tends to be an easier and quicker process for both the buyer and seller.

Brian,
Community Team