eBay

porcupid_63 · ‎09-01-2017

I'm in ebay global shipping. I have a buyer who is international who is complaining that their item was ruined because of the way it was packaged, has to do with tape on the packaging ruining the item.

The way I package, there is no tape touching the item inside. The buyer provided photos (within the return details) but for some reason they don't load, I can't see them. I've tried uploading a test photo too and neither me or the buyer can see it. It just shows that we uploaded a default "broken image" thumbnail.

Do any of you know if ebay can sometimes re-package an item during global shipping program? I'm wondering if that could be the case and they caused the item to get ruined. I asked the buyer to just email me the photos, but he says he doesn't know how yet... weird.

emerald40 · ‎09-01-2017

It depends on who you ask.

But yes sometimes they will open a package to see if the item will be allowed into the country or if it is not labeled correctly.

And they will repackage if they feel seller did not do a good job doing it originally.

evry1nositswindy · ‎09-01-2017

I have read numerous posts here on the community that they repackage. I had an international buyer that I communicated back and forth with, and I asked about the package I sent. I shipped some wine glasses with very distinctive packaging. He said that it was received in the box I sent with the packaging intact. I believe your buyer has to go through Pitney Bowes for a refund. You are not responsible since they shipped it.

evry1nositswindy • seller since 2013
Volunteer Community Mentor

campesinoplastic2014 · ‎09-01-2017

They repackage, but it is not on a regular basis. It's somewhat of a rarity.

I would be interested in what format the photos were in and if they were possibly sent with the intent that they would not be viewable. It's very hard to find someone in 2017 who cannot send and receieve photos, THAT is a true rarity.

awarenessvinyl · ‎09-01-2017

I had an international buyer leave NEG feedback because the item they received was damaged, but the packaging was fine. I found that very odd. I figured the item was damaged in the package, but seller stated who packaged it damaged it.

Well, I know I did not damage it during packaging, as I do my own.

Now that I read this, it makes me wonder if my item wasn't repackaged and then damaged...... hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I of course did send a replacement item.

castlemagicmemories · ‎09-01-2017

Yes, they may repackage. It may be because they feel they can send it for less if there is less packing material in the box. But have read where the packing then causes item breakage.

You are only responsible for getting it safely to the Hub in KY. Anything thereafter is Pitney Bowes' responsibility.

littleloony · ‎09-02-2017

No they don't re- package your item. They just tape it up as tightly as possible so that they can get the cheapest rates for shipping!! All items I have received,using GPS have had the envelope taped in this way!

goodluckselling · ‎09-02-2017

As Emerald say. Yes, all package services will have instances where they need to open inspect and or repackage. The GSP has said when a package contains more than one item they will usually open and make sure what is suppose to be in there is there. They are responsibily after they recieve the package so this is one area they have said they need to inspect.

Another area they open and inspect is when the description of the item falls in a risk area for not being allowed to ship and or not allowed to ship to that area. They again are responsible for any issues after they recieve items.

What was the item in question?

porcupid_63 · ‎09-05-2017

@goodluckselling wrote:

What was the item in question?

It was a T- Shirt. Okay so the buyer finally sent me photos (via email). The poly packaging the buyer showed me isn't even the poly bag I used to ship the item in. Did ebay re-use an old poly bag that was already torn open and just taped it back up??? Talk about bad packaging. The tape clearly tore off part of the design of the shirt.

You guys said ebay will cover this since I was in GSP and sent it successfully to them? How do I go about dealing with this? I still need to calm the buyer down because as far as they know it's still my fault that I should fix.

This isn't even the poly bag I used to ship the item inThe tape pulled off part of the design because of substandard packing

castlemagicmemories · ‎09-05-2017

Ebay doesn't cover it; Pitney Bowes runs the GSP program and it is their responsbility. Your responsibility was to get it to KY and you did.

godzilla_goose · ‎09-05-2017

@porcupid_63 wrote:
@goodluckselling wrote:

What was the item in question?

It was a T- Shirt. Okay so the buyer finally sent me photos (via email). The poly packaging the buyer showed me isn't even the poly bag I used to ship the item in. Did ebay re-use an old poly bag that was already torn open and just taped it back up??? Talk about bad packaging. The tape clearly tore off part of the design of the shirt.

You guys said ebay will cover this since I was in GSP and sent it successfully to them? How do I go about dealing with this? I still need to calm the buyer down because as far as they know it's still my fault that I should fix.

porcupid_63,

How do you know for a fact that the poly packaging the buyer showed you isn't even the poly bag [you] used to ship the item?

From the first picture, I see a bar code strip that was taped to the poly bag. This is Pitney-Bowes' doing. That brown tape over the ragged hole in the bag is Pitney-Bowes' doing. If you affixed a shipping label on the poly page to ship the garment to Kentucky, Pitney-Bowes taped its own shipping label with your buyer's shipping address COVERING YOUR shipping label to the Global Shipping Center in Erlanger, Kentucky.

Why the hole is ragged is because the #!_%&!_#%&!#_%&* IMBECILE at the GSP facility in Kentucky, for some UNKNOWN reason to me, sliced open the poly bag several inches AWAY from an edge and NOT at an edge as you would open a letter sent in a business envelope. My best guess is that the #!_(%&!#_%&!#_% IMBECILE used a utility knife and cut open the poly bag without first shifting the T-Shirt. That is why the hole is ragged and NOT a straight line since the poly bag is NOT torn open but CUT open.

Two months ago, I bought a clothing item from a US seller located in Maryland and I sent her 2 photos of the damage that GSP (Pitney-Bowes) did to the item and two photos of the poly bag. The fabric showed a "cut line" abrasion that was the same length as the cut line in the poly bag the seller used to ship the clothing item. The seller never responded to me and I was NOT impressed at all with Pitney-Bowes as I knew the eBay seller was NOT responsible (for the damage). As far as I know, the seller is the only party that can file a damage claim with Pitney-Bowes since the seller is the CUSTOMER. It is NO different if you, the seller, shipped the item via the US Postal Service and the item gets damaged in transit to your buyer within the United States. You, the seller, have to file the damage claim with the US Postal Service since YOU are the customer of USPS. As far as I know, you the seller, have to file the damage claim with Pitney-Bowes even though YOUR buyer paid Pitney-Bowes to ship the T-shirt.

The BEST unsolicited advice I can give you is to STOP using the #%_*&#%_#!(%&_+ Global Shipping Program to ship your T-shirts. GSP is nothing but a headache and a rip-off to your buyers.

Godzilla_Goose

pjcdn2005 · ‎09-05-2017

The process for filing a claim due to gsp damage is the same as if you had sent the item directly. The buyer first has to open a return request seller stating that the item was damaged during the shipping process. Then you should phone eBay and ask for a gsp specialist to explain what happened. There may be a temporary hold on your funds in PP but in the end the gsp should refund the buyer in full without requiring a return.

porcupid_63 · ‎09-08-2017

@godzilla_goose wrote:

porcupid_63,

How do you know for a fact that the poly packaging the buyer showed you isn't even the poly bag [you] used to ship the item?

You're right. I quickly looked at the photo and assumed the barcode and that other dark marking on the other side of the bag was printed on the bag. I didn't realize they are merely stickers. And honestly I'm not familiar with GSP at all so I didn't know Pitney Bowes runs it and even sticks on their own labels and barcodes on the item.

This makes alot more sense now after your story/explanation. I pack the t shirts so tight in the poly bag (to be cost efficient), that it is nearly impossible to cut open and re-package in the same bag. There's no slack to begin with so it's obvious if anyone tries to do this, they can't close the bag completely anymore and would very likely have to tape the shirt. It's still not my fault with this because no one told me I had to leave enough slack in the packaging to be re-packaged in the same bag by Pitney Bowes.

I guess I'll have to call ebay about this. I hope they don't give me the run around.

doubledz-a2z · ‎09-08-2017

emerald40 wrote:
And they will repackage if they feel seller did not do a good job doing it originally.

They will repackage if they think they can make the package lighter in weight and smaller in size.

godzilla_goose · ‎09-08-2017

@porcupid_63 wrote:
@godzilla_goose wrote:
porcupid_63,
How do you know for a fact that the poly packaging the buyer showed you isn't even the poly bag [you] used to ship the item?

You're right. I quickly looked at the photo and assumed the barcode and that other dark marking on the other side of the bag was printed on the bag. I didn't realize they are merely stickers. And honestly I'm not familiar with GSP at all so I didn't know Pitney Bowes runs it and even sticks on their own labels and barcodes on the item.

This makes alot more sense now after your story/explanation. I pack the t shirts so tight in the poly bag (to be cost efficient), that it is nearly impossible to cut open and re-package in the same bag. There's no slack to begin with so it's obvious if anyone tries to do this, they can't close the bag completely anymore and would very likely have to tape the shirt. It's still not my fault with this because no one told me I had to leave enough slack in the packaging to be re-packaged in the same bag by Pitney Bowes.

I guess I'll have to call ebay about this. I hope they don't give me the run around.

porcupid_63,

I want to make something abundantly clear to you. YOU are NOT responsible for the damage done to your buyer's item. Pitney-Bowes IS.

I don't care that you packed the t-shirt tightly in the poly bag to be "cost-efficient". As far as I am concerned, If you had shipped the T-shirt directly to your buyer, I would sincerely HOPE that your buyer would take great care in opening the poly bag IF your buyer used a sharp instrument, be it a pair of scissors, or a knife or a box cutter, etc., to open the poly bag.

What really GRINDS me is the degree of STUPIDITY exhibited by Pitney-Bowes when they opened the poly bag. Even if there were some slack in the poly bag, why not get a pair of scissors and carefully cut ALONG an edge of the poly bag and NOT use a utility knife or box cutter to cut somewhere in the middle of the poly bag AWAY from an edge?

Whenever I had packages opened by my country's BORDERS/CUSTOMS agents, they do NOT cut open the packaging in the middle like Pitney-Bowes DOES. My country's BORDER/CUSTOMS agents always take great care in opening the packaging and cut along an EDGE and they re-seal the packaging with their own tape identifying that it was opened by CUSTOMS.

Pitney-Bowes is a Pain In The Nether . . . um . . . region.

Godzilla_Goose