Buying claiming items are missing, but I sent them.

[nsuter]

I shipped a board game which was in about 15 small boxes inside one large shipping box.

Absolutely everything was in there when I shipped it. (I've done this 300+ times).

The buyer is claiming 5 of the items are missing.

Am I going to be forced to accept a return, refund the buyer, pay the high return shipping cost, and then discover the 5 items missing (stolen)?

[dbfolks166mt]

     If it goes through a freight forwarder according to everything that has been posted once it hits the freight forwarder the sellers job is done and the MBG coverage for the buyer ends. There is no reason for the seller to require a return or for the buyer to send it back. They received what they received and any issue is between them and the FF. How that plays out in real life may be questionable at times. 

     A lot of FF's repackage things prior to sending them forward so hard telling what may have happened to the missing boxes. 

[7606dennis]

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@nsuter wrote:

Good point, I will ask if the package was damaged in transit. The 5 missing items are not essential to playing the game as they were optional. This transaction was fishy to begin with as he kept asking me to ensure there is no value shown on the label or any other document. The buyer has 115 feedback, and a verified US address, so I had some confidence he was just legit. 

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Asking the buyer if the package was damaged in transit will not do any good since it is merely he said, she said and eBay will undoubtedly side with the buyer.  

[toysaver]

If you shipped Internationally or to a freight forwarding service you packages were opened and inspected and repacked with little regard or care to the contents.  Of course it could just be a scum bag buyer too.  

[nsuter]

Oh you guys are smart!

The US address I shipped too is for a Chinese company that looks to ship internationally. (uszcn.com)

The buyer only just reported the items missing to me today, 3 weeks after UPS delivered it to the US address. So I suspect the person received it in a foreign country and the freight forwarding service either did not send the 5 items, or I am getting scammed. I like to believe everyone is good at heart, so possibly this is the freight forwarding service that screwed up. I shipped it UPS with liability coverage and signature required. I doubt the buyer will want to ship the item back to the USA, but it a considerable auction ($550).

Oh boy, I just noticed that the person contacting me today is not the winner of the auction, and is "based in china", and has almost 5000 positive reviews. The actual winner had a US address, and is "No longer a registered user".

I am not sure if I should let this will play out or if I should proactively contact ebay.

You all are very helpful, thank you!

[katzrul15]

If the Buyer is NARU, you need to contact e-Bay today.  You will prevail.

[dbfolks166mt]

     Take the proactive approach as others suggested. Report the buyer and let eBay know the item went through a freight forwarder to a buyer in China who is NARU. Break off discussions with the buyer and this will hopefully go away unless the buyer opens a chargeback.  If the person who contacted you is not the actual buyer who was? This is starting to take some strange twists. 

     You may or may not be getting scammed but you should not be on the hook, again according to what people say, for anything that went through the freight forwarder. Once it was delivered to the FF you have no way of knowing what happened beyond that point and the buyer looses their MBG coverage once the FF has received the item. 

[dbfolks166mt]

     The request regarding the value is to avoid customs charges for the item going into China. I would not even bother to ask the buyer if it was damaged. That is a discussion he/she needs to have with the FF not you. 

[coffeebean832]

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@nsuter wrote:

Oh boy, I just noticed that the person contacting me today is not the winner of the auction, and is "based in china", and has almost 5000 positive reviews. The actual winner had a US address, and is "No longer a registered user".

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Then the buyer cannot file a claim through eBay- but they may be able to file a not as described claim via a payment dispute with their credit card. Report the ID that's been communicating with you through eBay customer service links. If this escalates it's not going to hurt to have this on record- and the fact that the buyer is using a different idea when the original was NARU- that new ID needs to be on eBay's radar. Make sure you add the new ID to your blocked buyer list.

[48hrs-clothing]

I would report the whole thing to eBay's trust team through CS.

Return can only be requested by original buyer's eBay member ID.

Noted that original buyer member ID is no longer a registered user.

Hope all works out to your satisfaction.

[varebelrose]

"the buyer looses their MBG coverage once the FF has received the item"

Not true for an INAD case, only INR.