eBay

dkossy · ‎10-22-2019

Hi --

I sold a $75 book through the Global Shipping Program to someone in the UK. I'm in the USA. The item made it to the ebay warehouse, and was sent to the address in the UK but never delivered by an apparently incompetent private delivery service called Hermes. The buyer was very gracious and apologetic about even telling me about the problem. He knew it had nothing to do with me. I was assured twice by ebay that I had no liability and that the issue was now between the buyer and ebay. The buyer really only wanted the item but Hermes was so incompetent that they were unable to deliver it and the buyer had to open a case so he could get his money back. Today I went over to my Paypal account for an unrelated transaction and lo and behold, my balance was negative. They had debited my account for the undelivered UK item! Supposedly this is a "hold" which I suppose means it's temporary, and will be paid back when they resolve the case, but why oh why would they debit my account when I'm not at all liable? I talked to someone at ebay this evening who says I have to call again tomorrow, because the ebay UK team isn't open right now. Meanwhile, I have a negative Paypal balance. Anyone have this happen to them?

-- Donna K.

gwzcomps · ‎10-22-2019

Never had that happen, but I have gotten screwed other ways. I have had electronic items arrive non-working upon arrival that were sold through the GSP. In the past there were no problems since the problem was in the international leg. Supposedly any problems after it leaves the US distribution center were covered by eBay. Well that was all and good till they went back on their word. I had a few cases where I was told I had to figure out how to get my stuff back from overseas or refund and let the buyer keep the item. I have been opted out of GSP ever sense. No point in participating in the program. It will cost you more than you will make. If a buyer wants something bad enough they will use their own shipping forwarder. Then if they try to open a case they can't do much and are on their own.

reda3615 · ‎10-23-2019

Absolutely, that's the standard GSP procedure for Item Not Received: Your debit will be reversed in a few days, not 1 day, after Pitney Bowes covers the Herpes error for your buyer's payments to you and the overseas shipping/import fees.

dkossy · ‎10-23-2019

Update: I have just spoken with reps from both ebay and paypal. Wow. I am disgusted with this process. There will be a hold on the funds until they resolve the dispute which could last for another week! Ebay says I have no liability yet will continue to hold my funds. Paypal says there will be no penalties for having a negative balance but that in the meantime, I can't do anything on Paypal unless I add funds. Adding funds from my bank account takes 3-5 business days. Adding funds from a debit card would incur fees. So all of them are saying "you're not at fault, but we will screw you anyway." A particularly frank paypal dispute specialist told me that even though ebay claims the seller has no liability once the Global Shipping Program package is received at their warehouse, she has seen them go ahead and charge the seller anyway when there is a dispute. Up until now I have sold many expensive items through the GSP with no problems. I will now have to rethink my participation in the GSP.

no_zero369 · ‎10-23-2019

Maybe on of the lessons from this experience is "don't count your chickens before they hatch?"

Or... the way I work things is never assume the money from a sale is totally mine until the 30-day from delivery window has expired. I keep a 'contingency fund' in PayPal for returns etc. Only when it is clear a sale isn't going to be reversed do I turn around and transfer excess funds to my bank account.

Oh the joys of running a business and the many things to learn!

thehonorabletrader · ‎10-24-2019

@dkossy wrote:
Update: I have just spoken with reps from both ebay and paypal. Wow. I am disgusted with this process. There will be a hold on the funds until they resolve the dispute which could last for another week! Ebay says I have no liability yet will continue to hold my funds. Paypal says there will be no penalties for having a negative balance but that in the meantime, I can't do anything on Paypal unless I add funds. Adding funds from my bank account takes 3-5 business days. Adding funds from a debit card would incur fees. So all of them are saying "you're not at fault, but we will screw you anyway." A particularly frank paypal dispute specialist told me that even though ebay claims the seller has no liability once the Global Shipping Program package is received at their warehouse, she has seen them go ahead and charge the seller anyway when there is a dispute. Up until now I have sold many expensive items through the GSP with no problems. I will now have to rethink my participation in the GSP.

I understand you are frustrated. However, some perspective...

You have two options, offer international sales or don't. The easy answer is don't. Just don't ship international ever and don't make any additional sales. The second option is to offer international shipping. That gives you two options, either use GSP or do it manually.

You know what the GSP experience is gonna be. Let's look at it if you didn't use GSP. Let's say you shipped this item over to the UK and it did not get there (by the way, Hermes is a very common UK shippper, they don't rely on government post as much as we do in the US). The item may get lost. The buyer would get their money back regardless. You would lose. You are the one responsible for getting the item into your buyers hands.

So you have a business decision to make. Either don't sell internationally or do. But know if you want to reduce your risk you can use the GSP, but you will encounter funds holds during cases. Or you can not use GSP and then bear 100% of risk of loss, not just a funds hold. The decision is yours.

The information and situation you provided is not new or groundbreaking, this is the standard GSP experience that all sellers have been using for the past decade. This is why so many of the responses probably aren't as "on your side" as you would have hoped. This is just a learning experience. Now you know so you can make a more informed decision in the future about how you ship.

Cheers!