Buyer claims item not received in China; USPS tracking stops in Shanghai

[gingersnap_nw]

A buyer claims they did not receive the phone I shipped them in July. The USPS tracking stops August 23 in Shanghai showing it on its way to the destination. I cannot get any further updates. The USPS office here in Chicago never answers their phone or returns my voicemails for assistance (no surprise).

eBay has now decided in favor of the buyer to refund the $700 paid because I cannot prove the item wasn't or was delivered.

Does anyone know how to appeal this to a higher review? I have tried twice so far and this is what they keep telling me.

I shipped the item and provided tracking information. Honestly I suspect a fraudulent buyer.

[comics-scifi-collectibles]

@gingersnap_nw   Did you ship using priority mail?  If not then you do not have delivery confirmation to the buyer.  China is not an edelcon country for 1st class. 

The best you can do now is to try to file an insurance claim with the postal carrier

😞 

https://faq.usps.com/s/article/Electronic-USPS-Delivery-Confirmation-International

Even if you shipped priority and the package doesn't show delivery you will be required to refund the buyer under the ebay MBG.  

[dbfolks166mt]

     Your suspicion is probably correct. Buyers in China are infamous for this type of dealing. Personally I do not sell to, or buy from China. You can file a missing mail claim with USPS but not sure if that will help you any depends on how far USPS's responsibility for delivery extended. If you have the serial number and/or the IMEI numbers you could report the phone as stolen. Before you appeal you may want to see what information you can collect from USPS. You may also want to try to issue a recall on the package through USPS. There is a cost for this but it is minimal compared to the $700 loss on the phone if you do not recover it. 

     For those countries I do sell to I ship everything through the eBay Global Shipping Program. They generate the invoice when the item sells and once the buyer pays I simply ship it to the eBay shipping center in Kentucky. They handle the customs stuff and send the package to the buyer. Supposedly once the package has been delivered to the shipping center your shipping responsibility has been fulfilled. Fortunately I have never had to test this policy. 

[wrong66]

Wow! You have to have a lot of faith to ship a $700 phone to China. If you sent it Priority Mail, with full insurance, you might very well be able to recover your money from USPS. If sent First Class, you're out of luck.

[gingersnap_nw]

This explains why the buyer asked me to use First Class, claiming they couldn't pay Chinese customs duties.

Thanks for the better explanation than I have been able to get from eBay or USPS.

I will file a claim with USPS and see what I can do there and I will also file a claim against the buyer on eBay though it sounds like this won't change a thing.

I think I am done selling on eBay because they are in no way interested in protecting sellers.

[dbfolks166mt]

     You are correct with regards to eBay and their MBG offering little protection for sellers. For the most part eBay leaves that to the seller to handle on their own and you can put some protections in place like limiting the countries you sell to, requiring signature delivery receipt and immediate payment for BIN items. However nothing is 100% guaranteed and eBay is becoming an increasingly high risk environment for sellers because it is so easy for buyers and scammers to basically steal merchandise, leaving the seller with little or no recourse. I still sell a few things on eBay but have also diversified to other online selling sites that offer a better balance between seller and buyer protection and in a lot of cases have lower fees than eBay. Whatever you decide to do I wish you the best of success in your continued ventures. 

[fab_finds4u]

Your buyer's customs fees are not your problem. To ship it First Class voids your protection and means free merchandise for the buyer.  THEY KNOW THIS and that's why they get you to send it First Class. A Priority Mail small flat rate box or flat rate envelope is also not able to be tracked after it arrives in China. The only safe way to send something to China is to send it calculated Priority Mail or Express Priority Mail.

I'm sorry this is an expensive lesson to learn. If you have the serial number I would report it stolen and have it blocked.

[jaelzion]

What is the basis of your appeal? In any INR case, if you can't prove the item was delivered via online tracking, the buyer will win. Why would this transaction be any different?

[kensgiftshop]

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@gingersnap_nw wrote:

I will file a claim with USPS and see what I can do there and I will also file a claim against the buyer on eBay though it sounds like this won't change a thing.

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Sorry that happened, but if you shipped First Class, won't do any good to file a claim with USPS.

With no tracking that shows the item was delivered, the buyer will get their money back, and there's nothing to file a claim on the buyer for.

[wrong66]

Sorry, but you did nothing to PROTECT YOURSELF on this one. Has nothing to do with eBay seller protection.

[glyph01 · Accepted solution]

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@gingersnap_nw wrote:

This explains why the buyer asked me to use First Class, claiming they couldn't pay Chinese customs duties.

Thanks for the better explanation than I have been able to get from eBay or USPS.

I will file a claim with USPS and see what I can do there and I will also file a claim against the buyer on eBay though it sounds like this won't change a thing.

I think I am done selling on eBay because they are in no way interested in protecting sellers.

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There is no claim to file with the USPS. None. Your package was not insured through USPS. The USPS will not lift a finger over first class mail intl packages so don't even bother. They only move if you shipped Registered Mail or a premium service such as Priority Mail Intl with or without full insurance or just the ordinary limited liability coverage that automatically comes with Priority Mail Intl.

What you do is protect yourself by yourself:

- Third party insurance is the way to go with first class intl pkg service. Even then you'll have to check their coverage policy for certain countries.

- When you're selling highly scammable items, really block intl buyers...block payments from non-US PayPal accounts (where applicable) within your PayPal account Seller Tools settings page via "Payment Preferences" option. This will also block intl buyers who want to use US freight forwarders too, they won't be able to pay! They'd have to open a US PayPal account and ship to US address, put in a US based funding source. This particular setting will cut out the nonsense once and for all as this won't work out well for them. With each bad experience you become more lean and mean, proficient and savvy.

- If buyer is a total US buyer, you can at least sick the authorities on them unlike intl buyers.

[pjcdn2005]

Seriously?  There is no definite proof that the buyer actually received the item. It's possible that they didn't and what you are suggesting is unethical as well as illegal. 

[wrong66]

Terrible advice! What are you thinking? That would just be another SCAM!

[gingersnap_nw]

Interesting idea.

[kensgiftshop]

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@gingersnap_nw wrote:

Interesting idea.

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Bad idea.